Nptee S04 g Cart yer Siete te Cale ts bows Cuts
pehator sete beret ieee cnete aveanah erate tats

Sa ee
Ts
narrate

-
ena vinsin remnen has =O b Tt agen enna yn

penecenes

Teast wp ae

een tee er te teen oon

Tecate ete tn eee CD Pink te wih ~ =
serene meres

pate eee TENET SAT ET Ie IT Fane a ae TS

Peas gate er nena canyne © eT EE ANTE OS BON Ia

Sl

Se

id A 1, Ne

hha 4

we } Me y
i

Niyries’

wi t
ne ANU iy
VAGAUR +

Ok

E) F's Tame ra

~

J

A WEB KEY

Nature

ILEUSTRATED JOURNAL OF SCIENCE

VOEUME, LXXIII

NOVEMBER, 1905 to APRIL, 1906

“ To the solid ground
Of Nature trusts the mind which builds for aye.’ —WWORDSWORTH

WV ondon
WE AC WIC IC IL, IEE IN SIN Des (Oh Eas sey 39, 10
NEW YORK: THE MACMILLAN COMPANY

'1$> Sy

Nature,
J ithe 14, 1906

Nature.
June 14; 1906_

LINDE

AseLt (Dr. O.), Phylogenetic Evolution of the Cetacean |

Dentition and the Systematic Relations of the
| Physeteridz, 516
Aberystwyth, Address at University of Wales, some

Characteristics of American Universities, Principal H. R.
Reichel, 44

Abetti (Dr.), Comet 1906a (Brooks), 494

Abney (Sir W. de W.), Instruction in Photography, 124

| Abram (Dr.), Extract of the Duodenal Mucous Membrane

counteracts Diabetes, 474
Absolute Motion, the Existence of, Daniel Comstock, 582
Absolute Motion, a Plea for, Prof. Arthur Schuster, F.R.S.,
462; Norman R. Campbell, 484; F. J. W. Whipple, 535
Absorption Spectra of Ultra-violet Rays by Vapour and
Liquids, Prof. E. Wiedemann, ror
Acoustics: the Reason why Deaf Mutes can hear Low
Notes better than High Ones, M. Marage, 96; the Con-
struction of a Vowel Organ, Prof. E. W. Scripture, 159;

an Acoustical Method for the Demonstration of the Mag- |

netism of Liquids, T. Terada, 197; Sound and Rhythm,
W. Edmunds, Prof. John G. McKendrick, F.R.S., 483
Actinium, a New Product of, Dr. O. Hahn, 559
Action of Wood on a Photographic Plate, Dr. William J.
Russell, F.R.S., 152

| Actualités Scientifiques, Max de Nansouty, 76
| Adami (Prof.), the Question of the Transference of Bovine

Tuberculosis to Man through Milk, 516

| Adams (G. I.), Geology of the Iola Quadrangle, Kansas, |

3097

Adams (Prof.), Sun-spot Spectra, 425

Adams (W. Poynter), Motor-car Mechanism and Manage-
ment, the Petrol Car, 580

Adulteration of Butter, the, C. Simmonds, 466, 535; J. H.
Lester, 535

Aeger in the Rivers Trent and Ouse, the, W. H. Wheeler,

Aéronautics: the Exploration of the Atmosphere over the
Tropical Oceans, Dr. A. L. Rotch and L. Teisserenc
de Bort, 54; Highest Kite Ascent, 207; Kite and Balloon
Ascents, Dr. Hergesell, 207; Tetrahedral Cell Kites de-
signed by Dr. A. Graham Bell, 275; Observations with
Registration Balloons in America, A. L. Rotch, 349;
Mathematical Investigation of Motions of Aéroplanes and
Aérocurves, Captain Ferber, 350; Obituary Notice of
Colonel Charles Renard, Ch. Ed. Guillaume, 423; the

Vertical Distribution of the Meteorological Elements above |

the Atlantic, Dr. A. L. Rotch and L. Teisserenc de Bort,
449; Ascents of Two Unmanned Balloons, 615

Afghanistan, Ruins of a Large City found in, 515

Africa: Transactions of the South African Philosophical
Society, Catalogue of Printed Books, Papers, and Maps
relating to the Geology and Mineralogy of South Africa
to December 31, 1904, Miss M. Wilman, 28; South
African Zoology and Palzontology, 56; Guide to the
Victoria Falls, F. W. Sykes, 58; Hippopotami at the
Victoria Falls, 84; Higher Education at the Cape, 110;
Ruins in Rhodesia, D. Randall Maclver, 213-4; Results
of Observations made with a Black Bulb Thermometer
in vacuo, J. R. Sutton, 324; a Grammar of the Kafir
Language, J. McLaren, Sir H. H. Johnston, K.C.M.G.,
481; Crustacea from Lakes Tanganyika, Nyasa, and
Victoria Nyanza, Dr. W. T. Calman, 526; Fresh-water

Sponges obtained from Lakes Victoria Nyanza, Tangan-

yika, and Nyasa, R. Kirkpatrick, 526

Agar (W. E.), Development of the Skull and Visceral

| Arches in Lepidosiren, 239

| Agchylostoma duodenale, Dub., the Anatomy of, A. Looss,
Prof. Sydney J. Hickson, F.R.S., 344

Age of the Earth and other Geological Studies, the, W. J.
Sollas, F.R.S., 513

Agriculture: Decay of Mangoes prevented by Immersion
in Solution of Formalin, 16; Nitrates and Nitrites as
Manure, Th. Schloesing, 95; Green Manures, H. Wright,
134; the Mexican Cotton-boll Weevil, Messrs. Hunter
and Hinds, 158; the Cotton Bollworm, A. L. Quaintance
and C. T. Brues, Fred. V. Theobald, 257; the Mexican

Cotton Boll Weevil, W. D. Hunter and W. E.
Hinds, Fred. V. Theobald, 2s) 9 Auto-cotton-
| picker, 159; Stage at which Grasses should be cut for

Fodder, H. H. Cousins, 206; the Useful Plants of the

Island of Guam, W. E. Safford, 221; Agricultural

| Education and Colonial Development, 250; Dr. J. Walter
Leather, 485; Bodenkunde, E. Ramann, 266; Soils and
Fertilisers, Prof. H. Snyder, 266; Minnesota Plant
Diseases, Dr. E. M. Freeman, 291; Agriculture in the
Trans-Caucasus for the Year 1905, Ravages of Locusts,
Consul Stevens, 324; the Electric Production of Nitrates
from the Atmosphere, Prof. Sylvanus P. Thompson,
F.R.S., at Royal Institution, 355; Death and Obituary
Notice of Prof. Alexander Miller, 371; the Mineral
Constituents of the Soil Solution, F. K. Cameron and
J. M. Bell, 398; Function of Organic Matter in Nitrifi-
cation, A. Miintz and E. Laine, 431; Experiments with
Egyptian Cotton in Sind, Muir MacKenzie, 445; English
Beet-sugar Industry, Cultivation Trials, G. Clarke, 446;
Sugar-cane Cultivation in Madras, C. A. Barber, 447;
the Agathi Plant, 470; Yams Cultivated in Jamaica,
Dr. W. Harris, 471; Agriculture and the Empire, Sir
W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, K.C.M.G., F.R.S., 488; M. J. R.
Dunstan, 511; the Utilisation of Nitrogen in Air by
Plants, T. Jamieson, 531, 607, A. D. H., 607; Annual
Report of the Imperial Department of Agriculture for
the Year 1904-5, Sir W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, K.C.M.G.,
F.R.S., 587; Death and Obituary Notice of Prof. Adolf
Emmerling, 589; the United States Reclamation Service,
591; Treatment of Seed with Copper Salts, E. Bréal,
600; Estimation of Carbon in Soils, A. D. Hall, N. H. J.
Miller, and N. Marmu, 623

Ahlum (C. Chester), Modification of the Volumetric Estim-

| ation of Free Acid in the Presence of Iron Salts, 431

| Air, Investigation of the Upper, 162

Aitken (Dr. John, F.R.S.), Interpretation of Meteorological
Records, 485, 534; Sea-sickness and Equilibration of the
Eyes, 560

Aitken (Prof.), Comet 1905), 109

Aitken (Prof. R. G.), Catalogue of Binary Star Orbits, 136

Alaska, the Mineral Wealth of, 595

Alcock (Dr. A., F.R.S.), Catalogue of the Indian Decapod
Crustacea in the Collection of the Indian Museum,
part ii., Anomura Fasciculus i., Pagurides, 317

Alder (the late Joseph), the British Tunicata,

| finished Monograph, 508

| Alford (Charles J.), Mining Law of the British Empire,

482
b

an Un-

IV Index Nature,

June 14, 1906

Algebra: Elementary Algebra, W. G. Borchardt, 293;
l’Algébre de la Logique, Louis Couturat, 386; a Text-
book of Algebra, A. E, Layng, Supp. to November 30,
viii. ; an Introduction to Algebra, R. C. Bridgett, Supp.
to November 30, viii

Alicyklischen Verbindungen, Chemie der, Prof. Ossian
Aschan, 601

Allan (J.), Battack Printing in Java, 455

Allbutt (Prof. T. Clifford, F.R.S.), on Professional Educa-
tion, with Special Reference to Medicine, an Address
delivered at King’s College, London, 530

Allen (A. O.), Advanced Examples in Physics, 57

Allen (Dr. F. J.), Border occasionally seen between Light
and Dark Regions on Photographic Plates, 29

Allen (H. S.), Dewar’s Method of producing High Vacua
by Means of Charcoal, 207

Almanac, the British Journal Photographic, and Photo-
grapher’s Daily Companion for 1906, 221

Alternate Current Generators, Parallel Running of, M.
Boucherot, 545

Altitudes and Azimuths, Graphical Methods of determining,
Mr. Littlehales, 63

Aluminium, the Production of, and its Industrial Use,
Adolphe Minet, 579

Amar (Jules), Gaseous Osmosis through a Colloidal Mem-
brane, 551

America: some Characteristics of American Universities,
Address at University of Wales, Aberyswyth, Principal
H. R. Reichel, 44; Wild Wings, Adventures of a Camera-
hunter among the Larger Wild Birds of North America
on Sea and Land, H. K. Job, 123; American Practice in
Refrigeration, H. M. Haven and F. W. Dean, 122;
Mathematical Lectures for American Mathematicians,
122; Plant-breeding in America, 242; American Insects,
Vernon L. Kellogg, 292; American Association for the
Advancement of Science, 303; New Orleans Meeting of
the American Association, 403; the Behaviour of
Platinum and Iridium in Chlorine Water and in Dilute
Hydrochloric Acid, 403; Popular Conception of the
Scientific Man, Prof. W. G. Farlow, 403; the Relation
of Mechanics to Physics, Prof. Alexander Ziwet, 403;
the Partition of Energy, Prof. W. F. Magie, 404; the
Sanitary Value of a Water Analysis, Prof. Leonhard P.
Kinnicutt, 404; the Generic Concept in the Classification
of the Flowering Plants, Prof. B. L. Robinson, 405 ;
Investigations and Commercial Tests in Connection with
the Work of an Engineering College, Prof. D. S.
Jacobus, 406; Preliminary Report on the Geology and
Water Resources of Central Oregon, I. C. Russell, 376;
a Geological Reconnaissance Across the Cascade Range,
G. O. Smith and F. C. Calkins, 376; Geology of the
Hudson Valley between the Hoosic and the Kinderhook,
T. N. Dale, 376; Report of Progress in the Geological
Re-survey of the Cripple Creek District, Colorado,
Waldemar Lindgren and F. L. Ransome, 376; Petro-
graphy and Geology of the Igneous Rocks of the High-
wood Mountains, Montana, L. V. Pirsson, 376; Twenty-
fifth Annual Report of the U.S. Geological Survey,
1003-4, 376; Indiana, Department of Geology and
Natural Resources, Twenty-ninth Annual Report, 1904,
W. S. Blatchley, 376; Physical Research in America,
427; Economic Geology of the United States, Heinrich
Ries, 437; the Yellowstone Reserve, 475; the Lincoln
Reserve, 475; the Gila River Reserve, 475; Publications
of the U.S. Naval Observatory, American Observations
of the Total Solar Eclipses of 1900 and rgo1, Rear-
Admiral Colby M. Chester, Dr. William J. S. Lockyer,
486

Amos (A.), Determination of Available Plant Food in Soil
by the use of Weak Acid Solvents, 357

Amundsen (Captain), Expedition to the North Magnetic
Pole, 59

Anatomy: Death and Obituary Notice of Prof. Albert
von Kolliker, 58; Development of the Thymus Gland in
the Lung-fish Lepidosiren paradoxa, Dr. T. H. Bryce,
304; Bearing of the Structure of Foetal Whale-flippers
on the Development of Additional Digits and Joints in
the Hand and Foot of Vertebrates generally, Prof.
Symington, 304; Topography of the Thorax and Abdo-
men, Prof. Potter, 252; the Anatomy of Agchylostoma
duodenale, Dub., A. Looss, Prof. Sydney J. Hickson,

F.R.S., 344; Death of Prof. W. F. R. Weldon, F.R.S.,
589; Obituary Notice of, 611

Anderson (R. H.), Remarkable Surface Outcrop of an Iron
Ore Deposit, 517

Anderson (W.), on the First Tertiary Rocks of Marine
Origin discovered in South Africa, 92

André (G.), Variations of Phosphoric Acid and Nitrogen
in the Juices of the Leaves of Certain Plants, 335

Andrew (G. W.), Interaction of well-dried Mixtures of
Hydrocarbons and Oxygen, 551

Andrews (Dr. Chas. W.), a Suggested Change in Nomen-
clature, 224

Angel (A.), Cuprous Formate, 431

Angot (A.), the Temperature of France, 230

Animals: Extinct Animals, Prof. E. Ray Lankester,
F.R.S., 6; Beasties Courageous, Studies of Animal Life
and Characters, D. English, 177; Northern Trails, some
Studies of Animal Life in the Far North, W. J. Long,
177; the Origin of Variations in Animals and Plants,
Prof. T. D. A. Cockerell, 197; Comparative Studies in
the Psychology of Ants and of Higher Animals, E. Wass-
mann, Lord Avebury, F.R.S., 315; the Intelligence of
Animals, Prof. W. Galloway, 440

Annandale (Dr. N.), the Dugong, 143

Anniversary Meeting of the Royal Society, Medal Awards,
129

Annuaires, French Astronomical, 233

Annular Nebula in Cygnus (N.G.C. 6894), G. Tikhoff,
395

Anomalous Tails of Comets, the, Prof. Barnard, 136

Anschauungen, Neuere, auf dem Gebiete der anorganischen
Chemie, Prof. A. Werner, Prof. A. Smithells, F.R.S.,
433

Antarctica: the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition,
42; Antarctic Earthquakes, Observations made with
Horizontal Pendulum in the Antarctic Regions, Prof. J.
Milne, F.R.S., at Royal Society, 210; the Voyage of the
Discovery, Captain R. F. Scott, Prof. J. W. Gregory,
FR.S., 297

Anthropology : Colour and Race, Dr. John Beddoe, F.R.S.,
14; Difference between Men and Women in the Recog-
nition of Colour and the Perception of Sound, Mabel S.
Nelson, 61; Anthropological Institute, 191, 213, 239, 351,
454, 503; the Biometrics of Brain-weights, 200; Origin
of Eolithic Flints from Natural Causes, S. H. Warren,
239; Relationships of the Race of Men whose Remains
have been discovered at Krapina, Prof. Goyanovié-
Kramberger, 252; Man, an Introduction to Anthropology,
Dr. W. E. Rotzell, 293 ; Psychology and Sociology of the
Todas and other Indian Tribes, Dr. W. H. R. Rivers,
334; the Senses of the Todas, Dr. W. H. R. Rivers,
517; Anthropological Notes, 354; Totemism among the
Khonds, J. E. Friend-Pereira, 354; Ethnography in
Assam, Major P. R. T. Gurdon, 354; Physical Anthro-
pology and Ethnology of British New Guinea, Dr. C. G.
Seligmann, 371; the Agaiambo Dwarfs, British New
Guinea, Sir F. Winter, 372; Origin of Mankind (accord-
ing to the Lamaic Mythology), Rai Sarat Chandra Das
Bahadur, 432; the Alpine Races in Europe, J. L. Myres,
492; Ancestor Worship in Japan, W. G. Aston, 503;
Paleolithic Implements from the Neighbourhood of
Southampton, W. Dale, 503; Tatu in Borneo, R. Shel-
ford and Dr. C. Hose, 503; Studies of Native Tribes,
549; Moro History, Law, and Religion, 549; Manners
and Customs of Australian Tribes, R. H. Mathews,
s49; the Extinct Indians of the Santa Barbara Islands,
Dr. G. Eisen, 567; the Euahlayi Tribe, a Study of
Aboriginal Life in Australia, K. Langloh Parker, 610;
see also British Association

Antiquities, the Preservation of, a Handbook for Curators,
Dr. Friedrich Rathgen, 412

Ants, Comparative Studies in the Psychology of, and of
Higher Animals, E. Wassmann, Lord Avebury, F.R.S.,

315 ;

Aplin (O. V.), the Bird Watcher in the Shetlands, with
some Notes on Seals—with Digressions, Edmund Selous,
414; Nature-tones and Undertones, J. Maclair Boraston,
414; the Birds of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, Rev.
J. E. Kelsall and Philip W. Munn, 465

Apparent Enlargement of the Moon at the Horizon, Ed.
Claparéde, 400

Nature,
June 14, 1906

Index Vv

Apri] Meteors, the, W. F. Denning, 560; John R. Henry,
560

Aquatic Plants of Our Waters, Microscopic, Dr. F. E.
Fritsch at London Institution, 499

Aquila, Nova, Nebulosity around, Prof. Frost, 279; Prof.
E. C. Pickering, 279

Aquilz, Nova, No. 2, J. A. Parkhurst, 136

Aquila, Nova, No. 2, the Supposed Nebulosity around,
Prof. Frost, 518; see also Astronomy

Arber (E. A. N.), the Origin of Gymnosperms, 542; Cata-
logue of the Fossil Plants of the Glossopteris Flora in
the Department of Geology, British Museum (Natural
History), being a Monograph of the Permo-Carboniferous
Flora of India and the Southern Hemisphere, 577

Archeology: Important Egyptian Finds of Theodore M.
Davis, 36; a Remarkable Discovery in Egypt, 468;
British Excavations in the Near East, 1904-5, 102; Notes
on Stonehenge, Sir Norman Lockyer, K.C.B., F.R.S.,
153, 224; Ruins in Rhodesia, D. Randall Maclver, 213-4;
Irish Cave Explorations, Dr. R. F. Scharff, 215; some
Questions for Archzologists, Sir Norman Lockyer,
K.C.B., F.R.S., 280; Mural Paintings and Engravings
of the Pyrenean Caves, E. Cartailhac and Father Breuil,
354; Notes on some Cornish Circles, Sir Norman Lockyer,
K.C.B., F.R.S., 366, 561; Natural History and Arche-
ology of the Waterlilies, 379; Copper and its Alloys in
Antiquity, Prof. W. Gowland, 381; Manuel de Recherches
préhistoriques, 411; the Preservation of Antiquities, a
Handbook for Curators, Dr. Friedrich Rathgen, 412;
the Origin of Bronze, Dr. John W. Evans, 414; Ruins
of a Large City found in Afghanistan, 515; the Evolu-
tion of an English Town, being the Story of the Ancient
Town of Pickering in Yorkshire, Gordon Home, 538;
Discovery of Sanctuary of Artemis Orthia, at Sparta,
589

Archimedes, the Cattle Problem of, 86

Architecture: a Descriptive Handbook of Architecture,
Martin A. Buckmaster, 52; Institution of Naval Archi-
tects, 571

Arctica: Expedition to the North Magnetic Pole, Captain
Amundsen, 59; Study of the Meteorological Observations
made during Nansen’s North Polar Expedition in 1893-6,
Prof. Mohn, 595

7 Argts, the Magnitude of, R. T. A. Innes, 64

Arithmetic, the Winchester, C. Godfrey and G. M. Bell,
Supp. to November 30, viii

Armagnat (H.), la Bobine d’Induction, 124

Armies, the Wastage in, by Disease, Prof. R. T. Hewlett,
105

Armstrong (E. Frankland), the. Mechanism of Fermentation,
71; Studies on Enzyme Action, vii., Synthesis of Maltose
and Iso-maltose, 93

Armstrong (Prof. Henry E., F.R-S.),
Action—Lipase, 94; Cooperation
Libraries, 438

Arth (G.), Prehistoric Mass of Metal found near Nancy, 180

Ascent of Sap in Trees, Frank Harris, 246

Aschan (Prof. Ossian), Chemie der Alicyklischen Verbind-
ungen, 601

Ascidians : the British Tunicata, an Unfinished Monograph,
the late Joseph Alder and the late Albany Hancock, Dr.
W. Garstang, 508

Ashe (S. W.), Electric Railways, Theoretically and Prac-
tically Treated, 169

Asia, Mast and Sail in Europe and, H. Warington Smyth,
Sir W. H. White, K.C.B., F.R.S., 536

Asia, Scientific Exploration in Central, Dr.
Merzbacher, 227

Asiatic Society of Bengal, 143, 423

Assheton (Mr.), Structure of the Placenta of an Elephant,

Studies on Enzyme
between Scientific

Gottfried

59

Asteroid (444) Gyptis, Variability of the, Dr. W. Valen-
tiner, 39

Aston (W. G.), Ancestor Worship in Japan, 503

Astronomy: Report of Inter-State Astronomical and
Meteorological Conference, Adelaide, May, 1905, 8;
Death of Prof. Ralph Copeland, 13; Obituary Notice of,
32; Our Astronomical Column, 17, 38, 63, 87, 109, 136,
160, 182, 208, 232, 255, 279, 305, 326, 351, 375, 400,
425, 448, 473, 404, 518, 544, 569, 592, 617; Astronomical
Occurrences in November, 17; in December, 109; in

January, 232; in February, 326; in March, 425; in April,
544; Wave-lengths of Silicium Lines, Prof. Frost and
J. A. Brown, 17; Report of the Yerkes Observatory,
Prof. Hale, 18; Observations of Jupiter’s Sixth Satellite,
18; Systematic Error in Transit Observations of Jovian
Spots, Stanley Williams, 38; Photographs of Jupiter’s
Sixth and Seventh Satellites, 122; Observations of
Jupiter, Major Molesworth, 4o1; New Spot on Jupiter,
W. F. Denning, 584, 607; the Spectrum of Nova Persei
No. 2, 18; Dr. K. Graff, 305; Reduction Tables for
Equatorial Observations, C. W. Frederick, 18; Photo-
graphic Star Catalogue, 18; the Leonid Meteors, 1905,
John R. Henry, 28; Death of Prof. Walter F. Wisli-
cenus, 33; Obituary Notice of, 57; Italian Observations
of the Recent Solar Eclipse, Cl. Rozet, 38; Intrinsic
Brightness of the Solar Corona during the Eclipse of
August 30, 1905, Charles Fabry, 167; the Total Solar
Eclipse of August 30, J. Y. Buchanan, F.R.S., 173;
Polarisation Phenomena at Guelma in the Eclipse 1905
August 30, H. F. Newall, 191; Spectroscopic Observ-
ations made during the Eclipse of the Sun of August 30,
1905, P. Salet, 191-2; Eclipse Spectra, M. Salet, 208;
Ionisation of the Atmosphere during Total Solar Eclipse,
Charles Nordmann, 208; Magnetic Observations during
the Total Eclipse of the Sun, Father P. Cirera, 400;
Eclipse Observations at Catania, 495; the Solar Eclipse
of 1905, Dr. W. J. S. Lockyer, 537; Photography of the
Solar Protuberances with Coloured Screens during the
Eclipse of August 30, 1905, H. Deslandres and G. Blum,
576; Employment of Selenium Cells during Total Solar
Eclipse, 617; Apparatus for Measuring Coronal Radi-
ation during an Eclipse, Prof. H. L. Callandar, 47;
Publications of the U.S. Naval Observatory, American
Observations of the Total Solar Eclipses of 1900 and
1901, Rear-Admiral Colby M. Chester, Dr. William J. S.
Lockyer, 486; the Total Solar Eclipse of the Sun of
January, 1907, Prof. David Todd, 617; Martian Meteor-
ology, Prof. W. H. Pickering, 38; a 300-Year Cycle in
Solar Phenomena, H. W. Clough, 38; some Suggestions
on the Nebular Hypothesis, Dr. Halm, 38; the Orbit of
o Coronz Borealis, Prof. Doberck, 39; Radial Velocities
of Certain Variable Stars, Prof. Frost, 39; Wariability
of the Asteroid (444) Gyptis, Dr. W. Valentiner, 39; a
Suggestion for the Next International Scheme, W. E.
Cooke, 63; Phcebe, the Ninth Satellite of Saturn, Prof.
W. H. Pickering, 63; Observations of Phoebe during
190s, 474; Graphical Method of determining Altitudes
and Azimuths, Mr. Littlehales, 63; the Meteors of Biela’s
Comet, Mr. Denning, 64; the Magnitude of 7 Argis,
R. T. A. Innes, 64; the Solar Observatory on Mount
Wilson, California, Contributions from the Solar Observ-
atory of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, Prof.
G. E. Hale, 67; a Lunar Theory from Observation, Dr.
P. H. Cowell, 80; Discovery of a Comet, 1905b, M.
Schaer, 87; Comet 1905), Prof. Hartwig, 109; Prof.
Aitken, 109; M. Ebell, 109, 136, 160; Prof. Wolf, 160;
Prof. E. Millosevich, 182; M. Giacobini, 182; Nova
Aquilz No. 2, Prof. Wolf, 87; J. A. Parkhurst, 136;
Nebulosity Around Nova Aquilae, Prof. Frost, 279; Prof.
E. C. Pickering, 279; the Supposed Nebulosity around
Nova Aquilze No. 2, Prof. Frost, 518; the Tenth Satellite
of Saturn, Prof. W. H. Pickering, 87; the Evolution of
the Solar System, F. R. Moulton, 87; Catalogue of
Variable Stars, 87; Star Calendar for 1906, 87; Royal
Astronomical Society, 95, 190, 334, 598; Royal Astro-
nomical Society’s Medal Awards, 370; an Untried
Method of Determining the Refraction Constant, Geo. A.
Hill, 110; Spectra of Bright Southern Stars, 110; a
Catalogue of 4280 Stars, 110; the Anomalous Tails of
Comets, Prof. Barnard, 136; Catalogue of Binary Star
Orbits, Prof. R. G. Aitken, 136; a Popular Introduction
to Astronomy, Rev. Alex. C.. Henderson, 149; Notes on
Stonehenge, Sir Norman Lockyer, K.C.B., F.R.S., 153,
224; another New Comet, 1905¢, Prof. Giacobini, 160,
182, 400; Mr. Morgan, 160; Prof. Millosevich, 182 ;
Prof. Hartwig, 208; E. Strémgren, 208; Mr. Denning,
208; Mr. Backhouse, 255; New Elements and Ephemeris
for Comet rgos5c, E. Strémgren, 232; Comet 1905¢
(Giacobini), R. T. Crawford, 279; Dr. Jost. 270:
A. Wedemeyer, 326, 351, 375. 425, 473, 544; Observ-
ation of Comet r1905c after Perihelion, Prof. H: R.

Vi Index

[ Nature,
June 14, 1906

Morgan, 518; Orbital Elements of Two Meteors, Dr. P.
Moschick, 161; Magnetic Disturbance during the Recent
Auroral Display, Th. Moureaux, 161; the Zodiacal Light
to the North of the Sun, Prof. Newcomb, 161; Discovery
of a Third New Comet, 1905d, Mr. Slipher, 182; the
Recent Aurora and Magnetic Disturbances, 182; the
Intrinsic Light of the Corona, Chas. Fabry, 182; Sug-
gested Name for Neptune’s Satellite, M. Fouche, 182;
the Companion to the Observatory, 1906, 182; Sun-spot
Periods, Prof. A. Schuster, 190; the Periodogram and its
Optical Applications, 2; the Periodicity of Sun-spots,
Prof. Arthur Schuster, F.R.S., at Royal Society, 378;
Sun-spot Spectra, Profs. Hale and Adams, 425; High-
level Chromospheric Lines and their Behaviour in Sun-
spot Spectra, Prof. A. Fowler, 599; Astronomical
Observations recorded in the Nihongi, the Ancient
Chronicle of Japan, E. B. Knobel, 190; Effect of the
Lunar Deflection of the Vertical on Latitude Observ-
ations, B. Cookson, 191; How to Know the Starry
Heavens, Edward Irving, 196; Measures of Double
Stars, Messrs. Lewis, Furner, and Bowyer, 208; Micro-
meter Measures of Double Stars, H. E. Lau, 232;
Micrometer Measures of Struve Double Stars, Dr. H. E.
Lau, 495; Double Star Orbits, Prof. Doberck, 305;
Graphical Method for Finding the Time of Moonrise,
Fr. W. F. J. Rigge, 208; Further Results obtained with
the Spectroheliometer, Dr. J. Halm, 215; a Fourth New
Comet (1905e), 232; the Expected Return of Comet
1892 V, J. Coniel, 232; French Astronomical Annuaires,
233; Astronomical Refraction, C. J. Merfield, 240; Death
of Prof. C. J. Joly, F.R.S., 251; Obituary Notice of,
273 ; Ephemeris for Holmes’s Comet (1892 III., 1899 II.),
H. J. Zwiers, 255; Photographs of the Solar Granula-
tions, Prof. Hansky, 255; the Orbit of ¢ Urs Majoris,
N. E. No6rlund, 255;
Cathedral, 258; Philips’ Large Planisphere, H. Gewecke,
269; Theory of the Motion of the Moon, Ernest W.
Brown, F.R.S., 272; a New Method of Determining the
Moon’s Position Photographically, Mr. Wade, 352; the
Apparent Enlargement of the Moon at the Horizon, Ed.
Claparéde, 400; the Figure of the Sun, Dr. C. L. Poor,
279; Stellar Magnitude of the Sun, Prof. Ceraski, 279;
Variability of Iris, Dr. H. Clemens, 279; Periodical
Comets due to Return this Year, W. T. Lynn, 305; the
Annular Nebula in Cygnus (N.G.C. 6894), G. Tilkhoff,
305; Right Ascensions of the Eros Comparison Stars,
Dr. Fritz Cohn, 305; Observations of Nova Geminorum,
Dr. Graff, 305; Discovery of a New Comet, M. Brooks,
326; Dr. Palisa, 326; Comet 1906a, Messrs. Crawford
and Champreux, 352; Prof. Hartwig, 375; M. Ebell,
375, 400, 425, 494; MM. Rambaud and Sy, 407; Dr.
Abetti, 494; Observations of Standard Velocity Stars,
Mr. Slipher, 326; a Fire near the Mount Wilson Observ-
atory, 326; Prof. Hale, 375; Report of the Meeting of
the Solar Commission at Innsbruck, 352; a Catalogue
of Spectroscopic Binaries, Prof. Campbell and Dr. H. D.
Curtis, 352; Observations of the Lyrid Meteors, April,
1904, Dr. Jirf Kavdn, 352; Notes on some Cornish
Circles, Sir Norman Lockyer, K.C.B., F.R.S., 366, 561;
Observations of Eros, 375; Catalogue of Stars within
Two Degrees of the North Pole, Dr. Caroline E. Fur-
ness, 375; the Increasing Period of 8 Lyre, Dr. Alex. W.
Roberts, 375; the United States Naval Observatory,
Rear-Admiral Chester, 375; the Collected Mathematical
Works of George William Hill, 409; a 300-Year Climatic
and Solar Cycle, Thos. W. Kingsmill, 413; Transpacific
Longitudes, Dr. Otta Klotz, 417; Life of Pietro Tacchini,
L. Palazzo, 425; the Heavens at a Glance, A. Mee, 425;
Fireball of January 27, 1906, W. F. Denning, 427;
Death and Obituary Notice of Prof. Samuel Pierpont
Langley, 443; Discovery of a New Comet, 1906b, Herr
Kopff, 448; Dr. Valentiner, 448; Comet 1906b, M. Ebell,
474, 544; Mr. Champreux, 474; Prof. Hartwig, 494;
Dr. Wirtz, 494, 544: Prof. Max Wolf, 494; the Ring
Nebula in Lyra, Dr. Newkirk, 448; Prof. E. E. Barnard,
448; a Cluster of Nebulze in Perseus, Dr. Max Wolf,
448 ; Twenty-five New Variable Stars, Miss Leavitt, 448 ;
the Glow surrounding the Lunar Crater Linné, Prof.
E. E. Barnard, 448; Measurements of Linné during the
Total Eclipse of the Moon, Prof. E. C. Pickering, 569;
R. H. Frost, 569; the Lunar Eclipse of February 8,

the Great Gnomon of Florence |

Dr. Wilson, 545; M. Quénisset, 545; First Photographs
of the Canals of Mars, Prof. Percival Lowell, 453; Re-
markable Variation in the Spectrum of y Bodtis, Drs.
H. Ludendorff and G. Eberhard, 474; a Brilliant Fire-
ball, Mr. Denning, 474; the Leeds Astronomical Society,
474; Discovery of a New Comet (1906c), Mr. Ross, 494;
Mr. Morgan, 494; Dr. Strémgren, 518, 569; a Pro-
gramme of Solar Research, Prof. Hale, 494; Harvard
College Observatory, Prof. Pickering, 494; Catalogue of
3799 Bright Stars, J. Bossert, 495; the System of the
Stars, Agnes M. Clerke, Prof. R. A. Gregory, 505; New
Variable Stars in the Region about y Sagitte, Prof.
Wolf, 518; some Tests of the Snow Telescope, Prof.
Hale, 518; Distillation of Titanium and the Temperature
of the Sun, Henri Moissan, 527; a Systematic Study of
Faint Stars, Prof. Pickering, 545; Stars having Peculiar
Spectra, Prof. Pickering, 545; Mrs. Fleming, 545; the
April Meteors, W. F. Denning, 560; John R. Henry,
560; the Temperature of the Sun, Henri Moissan, 569;
the Melbourne Observatory, 569; Mounting the 60-inch
Reflector at Harvard, 569; Our Stellar Universe, Thomas
Edward Heath, W. E. Rolston, 581; the Continuous
5925
Objective-prism Determinations of Stellar Radial Veloci-
ties, Geo. C. Comstock, 592; the Observation of Long-
period Variables, Prof. Pickering, 592; Explanation of
the Apparent Secular Acceleration of the Earth’s Orbital
Motion, P. H. Cowell, 598; Planetary Inversion, F. J. M.
Stratton, 599; der Bau des Fixsternsystems mit beson-
derer Bericksichtigung der photometrischen Resultate,
la Poursuite d’une
Ombre, Prof. Moye, 606; Catalogue of Pleiades Stars,

Spectrum of the Chromosphere, M. Deslandres,

Prof. Hermann Kobold, 603; a

Dr. R. S. Dugan, 617; Observations of Nebule, M.

Bigourdan, 617; a Large Photographic Nebula in Scorpio,

Prof. Barnard, 618

Astrophysics: Replicas of Diffraction Gratings, R. J.

Wallace, 21; the Probable Volcanic Origin of Nebulous

Matter, Prof. J. M. Schaeberle, 296

Atherton (W. H.), an Introduction to the Design of Beams,
Girders, and Columns in Machines and Structures,
Examples in Graphic Statics, 1

Atkinson (E. F. J.),
the Formation of Naphthalene Derivatives, 262

Atlantic, the Vertical Distribution of the Meteorological

Elements above the, Dr. A. L. Rotch and L. Teisserene

de Bort, 449

Atlas of the British Empire, Historical and Modern,

Specially prepared for Students, C. Grant Robertson and

J. G. Bartholomew, 484
Atlas, Philips’ Model, 484

Atlas, the Survey, of England and Wales, J. G. Bartholo-

mew, 218 ’
Atmosphere, the Electric Production of Nitrates from the,

Prof. Silvanus P. Thompson, F.R.S., at Royal Institu-

tion, 355 R
Atmosphere, the Exploration of the, over the Tropical

Oceans, Dr. A. L. Rotch and L. Teisserenc de Bort, 54

Atmosphere, Ionisation of the, during Total Solar Eclipse,
Charles Nordmann, 208

Atmospheric Circulation, the Pulse of the, Dr. W. N. Shaw,
BaRIS 25) 75

Atom, the Death-knell of the, 132

Atomic Disintegration, Prof. W. Meigen, 389

Atomic Disintegration and the Distribution of the Elements,
Donald Murray, 125; Frederick Soddy, 151; Norman R.
Campbell, 152; Geoffrey Martin, 152

Atomic Weight, Secondary Réntgen Rays and, Dr. Charles
G. Barkla, 365

Atoms, the Form of, in Relation to the Spectra, Prof. F.
von Lindemann, 392 : :

Atwater (Prof. W. O.), a Respiration Calorimeter with
Appliances for the Direct Determination of Oxygen,
276

Audition, Mesure et Développement de 1’, Dr. Marage,
Prof. John G. McKendrick, F.R.S., 292

Aurore, Magnetic Storms and, Dr. Charles Chree, F.R.S.,
ror, 173; F. C. Dennett, 152; Dr. Alexander Graham
Bell, 197; Prof. H. Gedmuyden, 197; the Recent Aurora
and Magnetic Disturbances, 182; Aurora of November 15,
Rowland A. Earp, 79; R. Langton Cole, 80; Prof.
M. P. Rudzki, 246; Aurorzee of November 15 and

with

Intramolecular Change leading to

a TE

Nature,
June 14, 1906.

Index

vil

December 12, Dr. Alexander Graham Bell, 223 ; Magnetic
Disturbance during the Recent Auroral Display, Th.
Moureaux, 161 i
Australia: Report of Inter-State Astronomical and Meteor-
clogical Conference, Adelaide, May, 1905, 8; Fragmenta
Phytographiz Australiz occidentalis, 1. Diels and E.
Pritzel, 149; Australian Story Book, the Little Black
Princess, a True Tale of Life in the Never-Never Land,
Jeanie Gunn, 155; the Bees of Australia, Prof. T. D. A.
Cockerell, 439; the Euahlayi Tribe, a Study of Aboriginal
Life in Australia, K. Langloh Parker, 610°
Avebury (the Right Hon. Lord, F.R.S.), Comparative
Studies in the Psychology of Ants and of Higher Animals,
E. Wassmann, 315; British Flowering Plants, 604
Ayers (Dr. H.), the Unity of the Gnathostome Type, 491
Azimuths, Graphical Method of determining Altitudes and
Mr. Littlehales, 63

Baccioni (G. B.), Seta Artificiale, 606

Backhouse (Mr.), Comet 1905c¢ (Giacobini), 255

Bacteriology: a Gelatin-hardening Bacterium, R. Greig
Smith, 24; Germicidal Action of Copper Salts and of
Bright Copper, Mr. Watkins-Pitchford, 61; Action of
Bacteria in the Souring of Milk, 85; Milk and Copper,
John Golding and Dr. Feilman, 399; Bacteriological
Examination of Milk, Dr. A. C. Houston, 492; Insects
as Carriers of Disease, A. E. Shipley, F.R.S., at the
British Association Meeting at Pretoria, 235; Action of
Hordenine Sulphate on Soluble Ferments and on Micro-
organisms, L. Camus, 383; Dangers of the Ingestion of
Dead Tubercle Bacilli into Tuberculous and Healthy
Animals, A. Calmette and M. Breton, 431; Developmental
Changes in Zoogloea, Dr. H. C. Bastian, 454; Analysis
of Tubercle Bacilli, G. Baudran, 504; Action of Radium
Emanation on Chromogenic Bacteria, Ch. Bouchard and
M. Balthazard, 576; Ropiness in Flour and Bread, its
Detection and Prevention, E. J. Watkins, 598; Bacterio-
logical Examination of Intestinal Contents of Sea-fowl
and of Fish, Dr. Houston, 619

Bailey (Dr. G. H.), Elements of Quantitative Analysis, 244

Bain (H. Foster), Fluorspar Deposits of Southern Illinois,
306; Zinc and Lead Deposits of North-Western Illinois,
306; Preliminary Report on the Geology of the Arbuckle
and Wichita Mountains in Indian Territory and Okla-
homa, 593

Baird (John Wallace), the Colour Sensitivity of the Peri-
pheral Retina, 260

Bairstow (L.), Resistance of Iron and Steel to Reversals
of Direct Stress, 617

Baker (R. T.), Lemon-scented Leptospermum, 456

Baker (W.), the Tsetse-fly and its Trypanosome, 118

Baker (W. M.), Elementary Dynamics, 245

Baldit (Albert), Dissymmetry of the Loss of Electricity in
Mountainous Countries, 48

Baldwin (Mr.), Propagation of Longitudinal Waves of
Magnetic Flux along Iron Wires and Rods, 358

Balfour (Henry), the Musical Instruments of South Africa,
66

Ballooning : Method Employed by the Prince of Monaco for
ascertaining the Conditions of the Upper Air by Means
of Unmanned Balloons, Prof. H. Hergesell, 181; see
also Aéronautics

Balthazard (M.), Action of Radium Emanation on Chromo-
genic Bacteria, 576

Baly (E. C. C.), Relations between Absorption Spectra and
Chemical Constitution, part i., Chemical Reactivity of
the Carbonyl Group 382, part ii., the Quinones and
a-Diketones, 382; Nitranilines and Nitrophenols, 382 ;
Spectroscopy, Supp. to November 30, ix

Banta (A. M.), the North American Cave-salamander
Spelerpes maculicaudus, 615

Bantu Speech of Southernmost Africa, the, Sir H. H.
Johnstone, K.C.M.G., 481

Barber (C. A.), Sugar Cane Cultivation in Madras, 447

Barbinger (D. M.), an Extinct Volcano in Arizona, 541

Barcroft (J.), Physiology at the British Association, 138;
on the Heat Production in the Organs of Secretion and
Excretion, 138

Barker (T. V.), Comparative
Perchlorates and Permanganates of the
Ammonium Radical, 624

Crystallographic Study of the
Alkalis and the

Barkla (Dr. Charles G.), Secondary Réntgen Rays and
Atomic Weight, 365; Polarisation in Secondary Rontgen
Radiation, 501; Secondary Rontgen Radiation, 502

Barnard (Prof. E. E.), the Anomalous Tails of Comets,
136; the Ring Nebula in Lyra, 448; the Glow Surround-
ing the Lunar Crater Linné, 448; a Large Photographic
Nebula in Scorpio, 618

Barnett (W. G.), Sounding Stones, 390

Barrett (Charles G.), the Lepidoptera of the British Islands,
a Descriptive Account of the Families, Genera, and
Species Indigenous to Great Britain and Ireland, their
Preparatory States, Habits, and Localities, 532

Barringer (D. M.), the Crater of Coon Mountain, Arizona,
229

Barron (T.), Death and Obituary Notice of, 371

Bartholomew (J. G.), the Survey Atlas of England and
Wales, 218; Historical and Modern Atlas of the British
Empire specially prepared for Students, 484

Bashore (Dr. Harvey B.), the Sanitation of a Country
House, 437

Baskerville (Dr. Charles), Radium and other Radio-active
Substances, their Application especially to Medicine, 2

Bassani (Prof. F.), Fish Fauna of the Pleistocene Clays of
Taranto, 327

Basset (A. B., F.R.S.), the Maximum Number of Double
Points on a Surface, 246

Bastian (Dr. H. Charlton), the Nature and Origin of
Living Matter, 361; Developmental Changes in Zooglea,

454

Bataks of Palawan, the,
Haddon, F-.R.S., 584

Bateman (H.), the Theory of Integral Equations, 190

Bates-Miiller Hypothesis of Mimicry, the, a Question of
Historical Accuracy, Prof. R. Meldola, EARS? “500!

Bather (Dr. F. A.), Cooperation between Scientific
Libraries, 413; Twilight Glows due to Eruption of
Vesuvius, 614

Batoka Gorge of the Zambesi, the,
Be Se) ane

Batsmen, Great, their
and C. B. Fry, 82

Baudran (G.), Analysis of Tubercle Bacilli, 504

Bauer (E.), Benzyl- and Phenyl-borneols and their Pro-
ducts of Dehydration, 527

Baumhauer (Dr. H.), die neuere
tallographie, 340

Bayley (R. Child), Border Occasionally seen between Light
and Dark Regions on Photographic Plates, 29

Bayliss (Jessie S.), the Galvanotropic Irritability of Roots,

Edward Y. Miller, Dr. A. C.

G. W. Lamplugh,

Methods at a Glance, G. W. Beldam

Entwickelung der Kris-

9

Becdle (Clayton), Chapters on Paper-making, 581

Beale (Prof. Lionel Smith, F.R.S.), Death and Obituary
Notice of, 540

Bean (B. A.), the Great Whale-shark, 516

Beasties Courageous, Studies of Animal Life and Char-
acters, D. English, 177

Beattie (Prof. J. C.), the British Association and Our
Colonies, 222

Beaulard (F.), Specific Inductive Power of Benzene
Water, 23

Beck (Prof. R.), on the Origin of Pegmatites as Products
of the Crystallisation of the Residual Mother Liquors of
a Solidified Plutonic Magma, 91

Becker (G. F.), the Linear Force of Growing Crystals,
108-9

Becknell (G. G.), the Residual Electromotive Force of the
Carbon Arc, 207

Becquerel (Henri),
Radium, 407 ,

Beddoe (Dr. John, F.R.S.), Colour and Race, 14

Beebe (Dr. S. P.), Outlines of Physiological Chemistry,
8

Bess of Australia, the, Prof. T. D. A. Cockerell, 439

Beet-sugar in England, the Growth of, 539

Beilby (G. T.), Influence of Phase Changes on Tenacity
of Ductile Metals, 70; Coal Consumption of the United
Kingdom, 398 :

Beilby (H. N.), Influence of Phase Changes on Tenacity
of Ductile Metals, 70

Beldam (G. W.), Great Batsmen,
Glance, 82

and

Properties of the a Rays emitted by

their Methods at a

Vili

Belgium, Forestry in, Prof. W. R. Fisher, 186
Bell (Dr. Alexander Graham), Magnetic Storms and Aurore,

197; Aurore of November 15 and December 12, 223;
Tetrahedral Cell Kites designed by, 275

Bell (A. H.), Notes on Volumetric Analysis, 459

Bell (G. M.), the Winchester Arithmetic, Supp. to

November 30, viii
Bell (Hesketh), Hurricanes in the West India Islands, 348
Bell (J. M.), the Mineral Constituents of the Soil Solution,

39)

Bell (R.), My Strange Pets and other Memories of Country
Life, 76

Bellars (A. E.), Velocity of Transformation of Sugars by
Alkalies, 527

Benedict (Prof. F. G.), a Respiration Calorimeter with
Appliances for the Direct Determination of Oxygen, 276

Benham (Charles E.), Heat a Mode of Motion, 246

Benham (Prof. W. B.), Carnivorous Habits of the New
Zealand Kea Parrot, 559

Benson (Dr. Margaret), Embryology of the Amentifere,
part ii., Carpinus Betulus, 167

Berger (E.), Action of Phosphorus Pentachloride on
B-Naphthol, 192

in ihrer wirkung auf

Bergwanderungen, Héhenklima und, g
F. Miller, and W.

den Menschen, N. Zuntz, A. Loewy,
Caspari, 553

Berkeley (Earl of), Determination of the Osmotic Pressures
of Solutions by the Measurement of their Vapour
Pressures, 380

Bernard (Henry M.), Catalogue of the Madreporarian Corals
in the British Museum (Natural History), 412

Berridge (Miss E.), Embryology of the Amentiferze, part ii.,
Carpinus Betulus, 167

Berthelot (M.), Insoluble Potassium Compounds contained
in Humic Materials, 262

Berthier (M.), Elongation of Wires by Flexion, 277

Besson (M.), iNGtion® of Peroxide of Nitrogen on Ammonia,

504

Bichel (C. E.), New Methods of Testing Explosives,

Biela’s Comet, the Meteors of, Mr. Denning, 64

Biermann (Dr. Otto), Vorlesungen iiber mathematische
Naherungsmethoden, 245

Bigourdan (M.), Observations of Nebula, 617

Biles (Prof.), on Steam Turbines as applied to Ocean
Liners, 64

Binaries, a Catalogue of Spectroscopic, Prof. Campbell and
Drs Hea: Curtis, 352

Binary Star Orbits, Catalogue of,
136

Biechemie der Pflanzen, Prof. Dr. Fr. Czapek, F. Escombe,
193; Corr., 341

194

Prof. R. G. Aitken,

Biology: Handbuch der Blutenbiologie, Ernst Loew, 26;
Biological Foundations of Sociology, Dr. G. Archdall
Reid, 94; the Principles of Heredity, with some Appli-
cations, Dr. G. A. Reid, 121, 223; My Life, a Record of
Events and Opinions, Alfred Ruscel Wallace, 145; the
Origin of Variations in Animals and Plants, Prof.

T. D. A. Cockerell, 197; New Creations in Plant Life,
an Authoritative Account of the Life and Work of Luther
Burbank, W. S. Harwood, 242; Cause of Sterility in
Zebra-pony Hybrids, E. Iwanoff, 252; die Vererbungs-
lehre in der Biologie, Dr. H. E. Ziegler, 318; die Mneme
als erhaltendes im Wechsel des organischen Geschehens,
Richard Semon, 338; the Nature and Origin of Living
Matter, Dr. H. Charlton’ Bastian, F. RS es OU
es Radiobes, ”” Butler Burke, 399; Geschichte der biolo=
gischen Theorie, seit dem Ende des siebzehnten Jahr-
hunderts, Dr. Em. Radl, 435; po omental Changes in

Zoogleea, Dr. H. C. Bastian, 454; la Nature et la Vie,
Henry de Varigny, 462; New Magazines of Biological
Chemistry, 474; Microscopic Aquatic Plants of Our

Waters, Dr. F. E. Fritsch at London Institution, 499;
Biometrical Study of Conjugation in Paramecium, Dr.
Raymond Pearl, 501; the British Tunicata, an Unfinished
Monograph, the late Joseph Alder and the late Albany
Hancock, Dr. W. Garstang, 508; Growth of the Oocyte
in Antedon, a Morphological Study in Cell-metabolism,
Dr. Gilbert Chubb, 574; Anales del Museo Nacional de
Buenos Aires, 581; Marine Biology: Remarkable
Ccelenterata from. the West Coast of Ireland, Prof.
Sydney J. Hickson, F.R.S., 5; the Percy Sladen Expedi-

Index

Nature,
June 14, 1906

tion in H.M.S. Sealark, J. Stanley Gardiner, 43, 184,
294; the Formation of Spicules, W. Woodland, 179;
Cheetognatha of the Siboga Expedition in the Dutch East
Indies, Dr. Fowler, 381; Pisciculture at Port Erin, 614;
Phosphorescent Marine Animals, Prof. McIntosh, 349;
Catalogue of the Madreporarian Corals in the British
Museum (Natural History), Henry M. Bernard, 412;

Meddelelser fra Mommissionen fra Havundersogelsen,
Serie Hydrografi, Serie Fiskeri, Serie Plankton, Jas.
Johnstone, 434; Observations on Gennadas, E. L.

Bouvier, 551

Biometrics of Brain-weights, the, 200

Birds : Catalogue of the Collection of Birds’ Eggs
British Museum (Natural History), E. W. Oates and
Captain S. G. Reid, 53; Wild Wings, Adventures of a
Camera-Hunter among the Larger Wild Birds of North
America on Sea and Land, H. ik, Job, 123; Monotremes
and Birds, Dr. H. Gadow, F.R.S., 222; Ootheca
Wolleyana, an Illustrated Catalogue of the Collection of
Birds’ Eggs formed by the late John Wolley, Prof. Alfred
Newton, 387; Eggs of the Native Birds of Britain and
List of British Birds, Past and Present, W. J. Gordon,
387; the Bird Watcher in the Shetlands, with some Notes
on Seals—and Digressions, Edmund Selous, O. V. Aplin,
414; Nature-tones and Undertones, J. Maclair Boraston,
O. V. Aplin, 414; the Birds of Hampshire and the Isle
of Wight, Rev. J. E. Kelsall and Philip W. Munn, O. V.
Aplin, 465; the Protection of Birds, 521; Bird-life at the
South Orkney Islands, Wm. Eagle Clarke, 570

Bjorling (P. R.), British Progress in Pumps and Pumping
Engines, 217

Black (Dr. R. S.), Leprosy in South Africa, 139

Black Princess, the Little, a True Tale of Life in the
Never-Never Land, Jeanie Gunn, 155

Blaise (E. E.), Migration of Carboxyl in the Dehydration
of Certain Acid Alcohols, 72

Blake (Sir Henry), the Pearl Fisheries of Ceylon, 491

Blakesley (T. H.), on Constant-deviation Prisms, 95

Blanc (G.), Mixed Derivatives of Dextrorotatory Camphoric
Acid and on B-Campholide, 71

Blatchley (W. S.), Indiana Department of Geology
Natural Resources, Twenty-ninth Annual Report,
76

Bibadlot n-Rays, the, A. A. Campbell Swinton, 413

Blood Parasites, the Practical Study of Malaria and other,
Dr. J. W. W. Stephens and S. R. Christophers, Prof.
R. T. Hewlett, 148

Blum (G.), Photography of the Solar Protuberances with
Coloured Screens during the Eclipse of August 30, 1905,
576

Blrenbiologie: Handbuch der, Ernst Loew, 26

Blythswood (Lord), Dewar’s Method of ‘producing High
Vacua by Means of Charcoal, 207

Bobine d’Induction, la, H. Armagnet, 124

Bécher (Prof. Maxime), a Problem in Analytic Geometry
with a Moral, 447

Bodenkunde, E. Ramann, 266

Bodroux J, Rapid Preparations of Solutions of Hydriodic
Acid,

Body eu ‘Mind,
259 5

Bogenlampen, die elektrischen, deren Prinzip, NKonstruk-
tion und Anwendung, J. Zeidler, H. Bohle, 27

Bohle (H.), die elektrischen Bogenlampen, deren Prinzip,
Konstruktion und Anwendung, J. Zeidler, 27

Bohr (Prof.), Effect of High Altitudes upon Health, 138

Boll Weevil, the Mexican Cotton, W. D. Hunter and W. E.
Hinds, 158, 257; Fred. V. Theobald, 257

Bollworm, the Cotton, A. L. Quaintance and C. T. Brues,
Fred. V. Theobald, 257

Bolton (Dr. Charles), Specificity and Action in vitro of
Gastrotoxin, 622

Boltwood (Bertram B.), Is Radium a Disintegration Pro-
duct of Uranium? 37

Bolza (Dr. Oskar), Lectures on the Calculus of Variations,

Eggs in the

and
1904,

the Training of the, Wilfred Mark Webb,

122

Bone (W. A.), Interaction of well-dried Mixtures of Hydro-
carbons and Oxygen, 551; Explosive Combustion of
Hydrocarbons, 551

Bonhote (J. L.), Mammals brought back by
Mission, 142

the Tibet

> @ Er oy ~ rerey ar

Nature,
June 14, 1906_

I[ndex ix

Bonney (Prof. T. G.), Relations of the Chalk and Boulder-
clay near Royston, 574

Bonnier (Gaston), the Habits of Bees and the Colours of
Flowers, 191

Bonnier (Pierre), Physiological Conditions of Oral Teach-
Ing, 359

Bontoe Igorot, the, Albert
Haddon, F.R.S., 584

Bookbinding, Report of the Committee on Leather for, 219

Books, an Inquiry for, G. Hammam, 464

Books of Science, Forthcoming, 476

¢ Bo@étis, Remarkable Variation tn the Spectrum of, Drs.
H. Ludendorff and G. Eberhard, 474

Boraston (J. Maclair), Nature-tones and Undertones, 414

Borax and Boric Acid on the Human System, Third
Treatise on the Effect of, Dr. Oscar Liebreich, 611

Borchardt (W. G.), Elementary Algebra, 293

Bordas (F.), Method of Determination of the Foreign
Materials contained in Cocoa and Chocolate, 504

Bordas (L.), Accessory Glands to the Silk-producing
Apparatus of the Larvee of Io Irene, 48

border occasionally seen between Light and Dark Regions
on Photographic Prints, Sir Oliver Lodge, F.R.S., 5,
54; Dr. F. J. Allen, 29; R. Child Bayley, 29

Borland (W. D.), Ignition of Nitro-compound Explosives
in Small-arm Cartridges, 525

Borneo: Everyday Life among the Head-hunters, and other
Experiences from East to West, Dorothy Cator, 203

Bornstein (Dr.), Landolt-Bérnstein—Physikalischchemische
Tabellen, Supp. to November 30, vi

Borough Polytechnic Institute, the Place of Polytechnics in
Education, Sir Norman Lockyer, K.C.B., F.R.S., at,
521

Bort (L. Teisserenc de), the Exploration of the Atmosphere
over the Tropical Oceans, 54; the Vertical Distribution
of the Meteorological Elements above the Atlantic, 449

Borzi (M.), the late Prof. Federico Delpino, 277

Bossert (J.), Catalogue of 3799 Bright Stars, 495

Boston Colloquium, the, Lectures on Mathematics, Edward
Burr Van Vleck, Henry Seely White, and Frederick
Shenstone Woods, 122

Botany : Wayside and Woodland Blossoms, Edward Step,
3; Vegetationsbilder, Drs. G. Karsten and H. Schenck,
4; Botany of the Far North of New Zealand, Dr. Ls
Cockayne, 16; the History of Emulsin, L. Guignard, 23 ;
a New Species of Eucalyptus, J. H. Maiden, 24; New
South Wales Linnean Society, 24, 216; Handbuch der
Blutenbiologie, Ernst Loew, 26; Flora of West Prussia,
J. B. Scholz, 36; Brazilian Rubber Plants, Dr. J. Huber,
36; India-rubber plants, A. Chevalier, 47; the Rubber
Industry, 277; Cultivation of Rubber in Bassein, Bom-
bay, 616; Influence of Different Kinds of Light Radi-
ations on the Migration of the Albumenoids in the Wheat
Grain, J. Dumont, 48; Index Kewensis Plantarum
Phanerogamarum, Sir W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, K.C.M.G.,
F.R.S., 75; the Kew Bulletin, Sir W. T. Thiselton-Dyer,
K.C.M.G., F.R.S., 534; Light Emission by Plants, Prof.
H. Molisch, 85; the Galvanotropic Irritability of Roots,
Dr. Alfred J. Ewart and Jessie S. Bayliss, 94; Morph-
ology of Aérial Bulbs, Marcel Dubard, 96; the Isolation
of the Infecting Organism (Zoochlorella) of Convoluta
roscoffensis, F. Keeble and Dr. F. W. Gamble, 117;
Increase in the Dry Weight of Green Plants in a Soil
to which Amides have been added, Jules Lefévre, 119;
Juglone, M. Brissemoret and R. Combes, 119; Sterile
Fruits Developed without the Intervention of the Male
Element, Th. Solacolu, 143; Fragmenta Phytographie

Ernest Jenks, Dr. A. C.

Australiz occidentalis, L. Diels and E. Pritzel, 149;
Linnean Society, 167, 214, 287, 381, 454, 503, 598;
Embryology of the Amentiferee, part ii., Carpinus

Betulus, Dr. Margaret Benson, Miss E. Sanday, and
Miss E. Berridge, 167; the Habits of Bees and the
Colours of Flowers, Gaston Bonnier, 191; Biochemie der
Pflanzen, Prof. Dr. Fr. Czapek, F. Escombe, 193; Corr.,
341; Death and Obituary Notice of F. W. Burbidge,
204; Casuarina stricta in New South Wales, R. H.
Cambage, 216; the Useful Plants of the Island of Guam,
W. E. Safford, 221; New Water-plant in the Pitch Lake
La Brea. J. H. Hart, 230; Welwitschia Mirabilis, Prof.
H. H. W. Pearson, 238; the Araucariew, A. C. Seward,
F.R.S., and Sibille O. Ford, 238; the Microsporangia of

the Pteridosperms, R. WNidston, F.R.S., 238; New
Creations in Plant Life, an Authoritative Account of the
Life and Work of Luther Burbank, W. S. Harwood,
242; Ascent of Sap in Trees, Frank Harris, 246; Insect-
ivorous Water-plant from Trinidad, Sir W. T. Thiselton-
Dyer, K.C.M.G., F.R.S., 246; Hydrocyanic Principle of
the Black Elder, L. Guignard, 262; Structure of Plants
Developed in the Light, without Carbon Dioxide, and
in Presence of Organic Materials, M. Molliard, 263;
Nutrition of Green Plants by Amides in the Absence of
Carbon Dioxide, Jules Lefévre, 359; Mechanism of
Carbon Assimilation in Green Plants, Francis L. Usher
and J. H. Priestley, 525; the Uses of British Plants,
Rey. Prof. G. Henslow, 270; Death and Obituary Notice
of Sir Mountstuart E. Grant-Duff, G.C.S.I., F.R.S.,
274; Better Methods of Propagation of Mushrooms, Dr.
B. M. Duggar, 276; the late Prof. Federico Delpino,
M. Borzi, 277; Illustriertes Handbuch der Laubholz-
kunde, part iv., C. K. Schneider, 293; Survey of the
Vegetation of the District South of Dublin, (G5 15.
Pethyridge and R. L. Praeger, 303; Rusts on Acacia in
Australia, D. McAlpine, 304; Rare Plants found in Scot-
land, J. G. Nicolson, 323; W. Young, 323; the Order
Bombacacex, 323; the Statolith Theory of Geotropism,
Prof. Schwendener, 349; the Oxlip, Prof. Errera, 374;
the Waterlilies, a Monograph of the Genus Nymphea,
Henry S. Conrad, 379; Untersuchungen ub. d. Einwirk-
ung Schwefliger Saure auf die Pflanzen, Prof. Dr. A.
Wieler, F. Escombe, 385; the Generic Concept in the
Classification of the Flowering Plants, Prof. B. L.
Robinson, 405; Organography of Plants, Dr. K. Goebel,
412; Flowering and Seeding of Bamboos in Europe, 422;
Indian Forest Fungi, Dr. E. J. Butler, 423; the Manila
Elemi Plant, E. D. Merrill, 423; die Spaltoffnungs-
apparat im Lichte der Phylogenie, ein Beitrag zur
““ phylogenetischen Pflanzenhistologie,’’ Dr. Otto Porsch,
436; Botanische Jahrbiicher, 437; Plants that Aid in the
Formation of Alluvial Flats in the Valleys of Aconcagua
and La Plata Rivers, Prof. G. F. Scott Elliot, 447;
Lemon-scented Leptospermum, R. T. Baker and H. G.
Smith, 456; Physiological Properties of West Indian
Boxwood, Harvey Gibson, 474; Bean containing Hydro-
cyanic Acid, Phaseolus lunatus, L. Guignard, 479 ; Death
and Obituary Notice of William Sowerby, 490; Webbia-
Raccolta di Scritti Botanici publicati in occasione del
50° anniversario della Morti di Fillipo Barker Webb,
510; the Origin of Gymnosperms, Prof. F. W. Oliver,
542; E. A. N. Arber, 542; Prof. A. C. Seward, 542;
a Newly Discovered Synangium, D. M. S. Watson, 542;
Atlas of Japanese Vegetation, Dr. Augustine Henry, 557;
Foliar Periodicity in Tropical Countries, H. Wright, 568 ;
Action of some Alkaloids with Respect to Pollen Tubes,
Henri Coupin, 576; British Flowering Plants, the Right
Hon. Lord Avebury, 604; see also British Association

Bouasse (M.), Elongation of Wires by Flexion, 277

Bouchard (Ch.), Action of Radium Emanation on Chromo-
genic Bacteria, 576

Boucherot (M.), Parallel Running of Alternate Current
Generators, 545

Bougault (J.), Use of Alcohol in the Preparation of Anti-
mony Tartrate, 480

Boule (Marcellin), Annales de Paléontologie, publiees sous
la direction de, 621

Boulenger (G. A., F.R.S.), Melanistic Form of the Wall-
lizard, 189

Bouvier (E. L.), Observations on Gennadas, 551

Bowyer (Mr.), Measures of Double Stars, 208

Boys (C. V., F.R.S.), a Gas Calorimeter, Paper at Royal
Society, 354

Brackenbury (C. E.), British Progress
Plant and Machinery, 217

Brain-weights, the Biometrics of, 200

Braine (C. D. H.), on Irrigation in South Africa, 65

Brau (M.), Toxin and Antitoxin of Cholera, 528

Bréal (E.), Treatment of Seed with Copper Salts, 600

Breton (M.), Dangers of the Ingestion of Dead Tubercle
Bacilli into Tuberculous and Healthy Animals, 431;
Effects of the Absorption of Tuberculin by the Digestive
Tube, 503

Breuil (Father), Mural Paintings and Engravings of the
Pyrenean Caves, 354

in Gas Works’

x [Index

Bridgett (R. C.), an Introduction to Algebra,
November 30, viii
Brightwen (Mrs.), Quiet Hours with Nature, 4
Brill (Dr.), on the Origin of the ‘‘ Tael,’’ 42
Brissemoret (M.), Juglone, 119
Britain, the Mammals of Great, and Ireland, J. G. Millais,
Supp. to November 30, iii
British Association, Meeting of, in South Africa (Continued)
Section C (Continued)—On the Classification of the
Karroo Beds, Prof. R. Brown, 90; on the Stormberg
Formation in Cape Colony, ALL. du Toit, 90; an
Artesian Well in the Karroo, Prof. A. Young, gl; on
Glacial Periods in South Africa, Mr. Rogers, 91; on
Changes of Climate as shown by Variations of the
Snow-line and Upper Tree-limit since Tertiary Times,
Prof. A. Penck, 91; on the Continent of Africa in
Relation to the Physical History of the Earth, Prof.
Sollas, 91; on the Sculpture of Mountains by Glaciers,

Supp. to

Prof. W. M. Davis, 91; on Baviaan’s Kloof, a Con-
tribution to the Study of .Mountain Folds, E. H. L.
Schwarz, 91; on the Rhodesian Banket, Prof. J. W.

Gregory, 91; on the Indicators of the Goldfield of
Ballarat, a Study in the Formation of Gold Pockets,
Prof. J. W. Gregory, 91; on the Origin of Pegmatites
as Products of the Crystallisation of the Residual
Mother Liquors of a Solidified Plutonic Magma, Prof.
R. Beck, 91; on the Magmatic Segregation of Sulphide
Ores; Prof. A: P: Coleman, 91; on Marginal Pheno-
mena of Granite Domes, Prof. Grenville A. J. Cole,
91; on the Zigzag Gorge of the Zambesi below the
Victoria Falls, G. W. Lamplugh, gi-2, 111; Recent
Work of the Geological Survey of the Transvaal, Mr.
Kynaston, 92; an Instrument devised by Mr. Oehmen
for Surveying Bore-holes, 92; on the Geology of Basuto-
land, Rev. S. S. Dornan, 92; on the Dolomite Form-
ation, C. B. Horwood, 92; on the First Tertiary Rocks
of Marine Origin discovered in South Africa, W. Ander-

son, 92; on the Evidences in the Transvaal of Glacial
Conditions in Permo-Carboniferous Times, E. T.
Mellor, 92; on the Diamond Pipes and Fissures of

South ‘Africa, H. S. Harger, 92 ; Geological Excursions,
92

Section D (Continued)—Recent Work on Gametogenesis
and its Bearing on Theories of Heredity, L. Doncaster,
39; on Cases of Extensive Mortality among Marine
Animals on the South African Coast, Dr. J. D. F.
Gilchrist, 39; on Ostrich-farming, Hon. Arthur
Douglass, 39; on the Origin of Mammals, Prof. Broom,
40; on some Early Stages in the Dev clopment of Peri-
patus, Dr. W. F. Purcell, 40; on the Migration of
Birds in the Southern Hemisphere, W. L. Sclater, 40;
on Locust Destruction in the Transvaal during the
Season 1904-5, C. B. Simpson, 40; on Convergent
Evolution as Illustrated by the Litopterna, Prof. W. B.
Scott, 40; on the Origin of Vertebrates, Dr. W. H.
Gaskell, F.R.S., 40; on the Growing Point of the
Vertebrata, Prof. Cleland, F.R.S., 41; Insects as
Carriers of Disease, A. E. Shipley, F.R.S., 235; Zoo-
logy at the British Association, Corr., Dr. S.. F.
Harmer, F.R.S., 125

Section E (Continued)—On the Outlines of the Physical
Geography of the Cape Colony, H. C. Schunke Holl-
way, 18; on the Physical Features of the Transvaal,
Tudor Trevor, 19; on the Climate of South Africa,
C. Stewart, 19; on the Indigenous Forests of South
Africa, Mr. Hutchins, 19; on the Geographical Cycle
in Arid Areas, Prof. Davis, 20

Section G (Continued)—On Colonial Dutch Architecture,
C. H. Smith, 64; on Steam Turbines as applied to
Ocean Liners, Prof. Biles, 64; on Roller Bearings,
Mr. How, 64; on Motor-cars in South Africa, A. oe.
Hennessey, 64; on Cape Government Railways, Mr.
Tippett, 64; on Electrical Power Distribution for the
Rand, Mr. Hammond, 65; on South African Harbours,
C. W. Methven, 65; on Irrigation in South Africa,
C. D. H. Braine, 65; the Copper Deposits of Little
Namaqualand, J. H. Ronaldson, 66

Section H (Continued)—On the Totemism of the Bantu,

FE. Sidney Hartland, 66; the Musical Instruments of
South Africa, Henry Balfour, 66; on Artificial De-
formation in Africa, Prof. von Luschan, 66; on the

Nature,
Sune 14, 1906

Mental Characteristics of the Bechuana, Rev. Canon
Crisp, 66; on the Art of the Bushman, W. A. Squire,
66; on the Basuto, A. E. Mabille, 67; on the Racial
Affinities of the Hottentots, Prof. von Luschan, 67;
the Rhodesian Ruins, Randall Maclver, 67

Section I (Continued)—Physiology at the British Associ-
ation, J. Barcroft, 138; on the Effect of Climate on
Health, Sir T. Lauder Brunton, F.R.S., 138; on the
Prevalence of Tuberculosis in South Africa, Dr.
Gregory, 138; Effect of High Altitudes upon Health,
Prot. Bohr, 138; on the Heat Production in the Organs
of Secretion and Excretion, Mr. Barcroft, 138; on the
Diseases which have Devastated the Stock of South
Africa, Mr. Hutcheon, 138; on Ticks as a Means of
‘Transmission of Disease, Chas. P. Lounsbury, 138; on
the Nature of Scurvy as it Exists in South Africa, Dr.
Gregory, 138-9; Plague Epidemics in Cape Colony, Dr.
Mitchell, 139; Leprosy in South Africa, Dr. R. S.
Black, 139; Prof. Sims Woodhead, 139; Rinderpest
and other Stock Diseases, Hon. George Turner, 139;
Dr. Theiler, 139; on the Conditions of Native Labour
in the Mines, Dr. Macaulay, 139; Dr. Irvine, 139; on
the Means of Estimating the Percentage of Chloro-
form Vapour in Air by Means of the Densimeter, Prof.
Waller, F.R.S., 139; on the View that the Compara-
tively Small Molecules into which the Food is Broken
Down in the Intestine do not Exist in the Blood as
Such, Dr. Pavy, F.R.S., 139; Evolution of the Present
Knowledge of Immunity Artificially Acquired, Dr. M.

Armand Ruffer, 139

Section K (Continued)—On Recent Advances in Our
Knowledge of Seaweeds, Prof. R. W. Phillips, 162-3;
on some of the Problems of Heredity, R. P. Gregory,
163; on the Value of Botanical Photographs, Prof.
F. E. Weiss, 163; on Educational Methods in the
Teaching of Botany, Harold Wager, F.R.S., 163;
A. C. Seward, F.R.S., 163; Prof. Douglas Campbell,
163; Methods of Teaching Botany in the James Allen
School for Girls at Dulwich, Miss Lilian Clarke, 163 ;
on the Floras of Tropical Africa, Prof. Engler, 163 ;
on the Phyto-geographical Subdivisions of South Africa,
Dr. Marloth, 163; on the Climate and Life Zones of
the Transvaal, J. Burtt-Davy, 163; Irrigation Farming
as carried on at the Orange River Farms at Baviaan-
krantz, F. B. Parkinson, 163; on the Dissipation of
Absorbed Solar Radiation by Xerophilous Plants, Dr.
Horace [. Brown, F.R.S., 164; Investigations into the
Development and Germination of the Spores of Wel-
witschia, Prof. H. H. W. Pearson, 164; on the Heal-
ing of Parenchymatous Tissues in Plants, Prof. M. C.
Potter, 164; Infection Phenomena in the Uredinez,
I. B. P. Evans, 164; on the Action of Calcium Com-
pounds on Plasmodiophora Brassicae, Dr. G. Potts,
16

Cae L (Continwed)—On the Development of Education
in the Colony, Rev. W. E. C. Clarke, 41; on the
Disabilities of the South African Schoolboy, W. W.

Way, 41; Agricultural Education, F. B. Smith, 42;
iN. 10). Hall, 42; on the Origin Of thes Tael,” Drz
Brill, 42

British Aecomancs and Our Colonies,
F.R.S ; Prof. J. C. Beattie, 222

Prof. John Milne,

“77 .
British Ascocianon? the Forthcoming Meeting of the, at
York, 564

British Birds Past and Present, Eggs of the Native Birds
of Britain and List of, W. J. Gordon, 387

British Colonies, a Historical Brae of the, the West
Indies, C. P. Lucas, C.B., 245

Mining Law of the,

British Empire, Charles J. Alford,
Bennett H. Brough, 482
British Excavations in the Near East, 1904-5, 102

British Flowering Plants, the Right Hon. Lord Avebury,
604

British Islands, the Lepidoptera of the, a Descriptive
Account of the Families, Genera, and Species Indigenous
to Great Britain and Ireland, their Preparatory States,
Habits, and Localities, Charles G. Barrett, 532

British Journal Photographic Almanac, the, and Photo-
grapher’s Daily Companion for 1906, 221

British Mosses, E. F., 54

British Museum: Catalogue of the Collection of Birds’

Nature,
June 14, 19c6

Index

XI

Eggs in the British Museum (Natural History), E. W.
Oates and Captain S. G. Reid, 53; Catalogue of the
Madreporarian Corals in the British Museum (Natural
History), Henry M. Bernard, 412 ; Catalogue of the Fossil
Plants of the Glossopteris Flora in the Department of
Geology, British Museum (Natural History), being a
Monograph of the Permo-Carboniferous Flora of India
and the Southern Hemisphere, E. A. Newell Arber, A. C.
Seward, F.R.S., 577

British Plants, the Uses of, Rev. Prof. G. Henslow, 270
British Progress in Engineering, 217

British Science Guild, the, 10

British Tunicata, the, an Unfinished Monograph, the late

Joseph Alder and the late Albany Hancock, Dr.
Garstang, 508

Broca (André), Photographic Study of the Duration of Dis-
charge in a Crookes’s Tube, 431

Brontosaurus, the Skeleton of, and Skull of Morosaurus,
Prof. Henry Fairfield Osborn, 282

Bronze, the Origin of, Dr. John W. Evans, 414

Brooks (M.), Discovery of a New Comet, 326

Brooks, Comet 1g06a, M. Ebell, 375, 425, 4943; Prof. Hart-
wig, 375; MM. Rambaud and Sy, 407; Dr. Abetti,

W.

494
Broom (Prof.), on the Origin of Mammals, 40
Broom (Prof. R.), on the Classification of the Karroo Beds,

go

Brough (Bennett H.), Mining Law of the British Empire,
Charles J. Alford, 482

Brown (Ernest W., F.R.S.), Theory of the Motion of the
Moon, 272

Brown (Dr. Horace T., F.R.S.), on the Dissipation of
Absorbed Solar Radiation by Xerophilous Plants, 164

Brown (J. A.), Wave-lengths of Silicium Lines, 17

Brown (J. C.), the Critical Temperature and Value of
ML/é@ of some Carbon Compounds, 382

Brown (John N.), Science Handbooks for Laboratory and
Class-room Elementary Physics, 578

Browne (Frank Balfour), Practical Sea-fishing, a Handbook
for Sea Anglers, P. L. Haslope, 51

Browne (M. A.), the Second Law of Thermodynamics, 102

Brues (C. T.), the Cotton Bollworm, 257

Brunhes (Bernard), Dissymmetry of the Loss of Electricity
in Mountainous Countries, 48

Brunton (Sir T. Lauder, F.R.S.), on the Effect of Climate
on Health, 138; the late Sir John Burdon-Sanderson,
150; Education in Connection with the Threefold
Character of Man, 259

Bryan (Prof. G. H., F.R.S.), the Second Law of Thermo-
dynamics, 125; the Engineer’s Unit of Force, 174; In-
tegral Calculus for Beginners, Alfred Lodge, 33

Bryce (Dr. T. H.), Development of the Thymus Gland in
the Lung-fish Lepidosiren paradoxa, 304

Buchanan (J. Y., F.R.S.), the Total Solar Eclipse of
August 30, 173

Buckman (S. S.), Brachiopod Homceomorphy, the Diphyoid
Terebratula, 575

Buckmaster (Martin A.), a Descriptive Handbook of Archi-
tecture, 52

Bihrer (C.), Climate of St. Moritz, 350

Buel (A. W.), Reinforced Concrete Construction, 457

Buenos Aires, Anales del Museo Nacional de, 581

Building : the Cement Industry of Manitoba, J. Walter
Wells, 108; Cements, Limes, and Plasters, their
Materials, Manufacture, and Properties, E. C. Eckel,

457; Cement and Concrete, L. C. Sabin, 457; a Treatise
on Concrete, Plain and Reinforced, F. W. Taylor and
S. E. Thompson, 457; Reinforced Concrete Construc-
tion, A. W. Buel and C. S. Hill, 457; Concrete Steel,
a Treatise on the Theory and Practice of Reinforced
Concrete Construction, W. Noble Twelvetrees, 457

Buisson (H.), New Determination of the Mass of a Cubic
Decimetre of Pure Water, 86; Cooper-Hewitt Lamp as
a Source of Monochromatic Light, 551

Bunsen (Robert), Gesammelte Abhandlungen von, 147

Burbank (Luther), New Creations in Plant Life, an Authori-
tative Account of the Life and Work of, W. S. Harwood,

242

Burbidge (F. W.), Death and Obituary Notice of, 204

Burch (Dr. George J., F.R.S.), Terminology in Electro-
physiology, 78

7

Burdon-Sanderson (Sir J. S., Bart., Death of,
105; Obituary Notice of, 127

Burdon-Sanderson (the late Sir. John), Sir Lauder Brunton,
BR: S:) 50

Burgess €c H.), Convection Effects in a Heated Liquid,

F.R.S.),

143

Burke (John Butler), Action of Radium on Gelatin Media,
5; ‘‘ Radiobes,’’ 399

Burnside (Prof. W.), Arithmetical Nature of the Coefficients
in a Group of Linear Substitutions of Finite Order, 71;
the Hessian Configuration and its Connection with the
Group of 360 Plane Collineations, 190

Bursaries at the Royal College of Science, Prof. John
Perry, F.R.S., 32
Burton (E. F.), Magnetic Susceptibility of Iron in

Colloidal Solution, 455

Burtt-Davy (J.), on the Climate and Life Zones of the
Transvaal, 163

Bury (Prof. J. B.), an Inaugural Lecture, 307

Butler (Dr. E. J.), Indian Forest Fungi, 423

Butter, the Adulteration of, C. Simmonds, 466, 535; J. H.
Lester, 535

Buxton (Prof. B. H.), Outlines of Physiological Chemistry,
483

Cabanis (Prof. Jean Louis), Death and Obituary Notice of,
420

Caddo, Traditions of the, George A. Dorsey, 317

Caird (Principal John), the Science of History, 307

Calcutta, Asiatic Society of Bengal, 143, 432

Calculus, Integral, for Beginners, Alfred Lodge,
G. H. Bryan; F.R-S., 337

Calculus of Variations, Lectures on the,
122

Calendar, Star, for 1906, 87

Calkins (F. C.), a Geological Reconnaissance Across the
Cascade Range, 376

Callandar (Prof. H. L.), Apparatus for measuring Coronal
Radiation during an Eclipse, 47

Calman (Dr. W. T.), Crustacea from Lakes Tanganyika,
Nyasa, and Victoria Nyanza, 526

Calmette (A.), Dangers of the Ingestion of Dead Tubercle
Bacilli into Tuberculous and Healthy Animals, 431;
Effects of the Absorption of Tuberculin by the Digestive
Tube, 503

Calorimeter, a Gas, C. V. Boys, F.R.S., at Royal Society,

Prof.

Dr. Oskar Bolza,

354

Cambage (R. H.), Casuarina stricta in New South Wales,
216

Cambridge: Cambridge Philosophical Society, 118, 1091,
455, 527, 599; the Revolution of the Corpuscle, A. A.
Robb at Cavendish Laboratory, 321; Cambridge Tracts
in Mathematics and Mathematical Physics, No. 2, the
Integration of Functions of a Single Variable, G. H.
Hardy, 558

Cameron (F. K.),
Solution, 398

Cameroons, on an Alleged New Monkey from the,
Pocock, 297; Dr. H. O. Forbes, 319

Camichel (G.), Fluorescence, 277

Campbell (A.), Use of Chilled Cast Iron for Permanent
Magnets, 357

Campbell (Prof. Douglas), on Educational Methods in the
Teaching of Botany, 163

Campbell (Norman R.), Atomic Disintegration and the
Distribution of the Elements, 152; a Plea for Absolute
Motion, 484

Campbell (Prof.),
352

Camus (L.), Hordenine, its Toxicity, 288; Action of
Sulphate of Hordenine on the Circulation, 336; Action
of Hordenine Sulphate on Soluble Ferments and on
Micro-organisms, 383

Canada: Canadian Electric Power Stations at Niagara,
Orrin E. Dunlap, 161; Summary Report of the Geo-
logical Survey Department of Canada for the Calendar
Year 1904 (1905), 376; in the Heart of the Canadian
Rockies, James Outram, 362; Canadian Tides, W. Bell
Dawson, 618

Canal, the Panama,

the Mineral Constituents of the Soil

15 IIe

a Catalogue of Spectroscopic Binaries,

198

xii

Candy (Hugh C. H.),
459

Gantrill (Te (Cs)

C:

Ci

Carbon, a New

lela

Index

Nature,
June 14, 1906

Introduction to Chemical Analysis,

Igneous and Associated Sedimentary
Rocks of Llangynog (Caermarthenshire), 381

ape, the, Geological Survey, W. Gibson, 187

ape, Higher Education at the, 110

Oxide of, Otto Diels and Bertram Wolf,
452

Sarnegie (D. J.), the Engineer’s Unit of Force, 6, 54
arnegie Institution of Washington, Contributions from the

Solar Observatory of the,
Mount Wilson, California,

the Solar Observatory on
Prof. G. E. Hale, 67

Carnivorous Habits of the New Zealand Kea Parrot, Prof.
W. B. Benham, 559
Carré (P.), Molecular Conductivity of the Phosphoric

Carrel (F.),
Carpenter (Dr.

c
Carpentry,
Carse (G. <A.),
Cartailhac
Cartography :

Carus-Wilson (Cecil),

Cz

Caspari (W.),

arpenter

Esters, 96

an Analysis of Human Motive, 318

H. C. H.), Properties of a Series of Iron-
Nickel-Manganese-Carbon Alloys, 108

(Prof.), Segmentation and Phylogeny of Arthro-
pods, 252

a Manual of, and Joinery, J. W. Riley, 363
Relation between the Velocity and the
Volume of the Ions of Certain Organic Acids and Bases,
599

(E.), Mural Paintings and Engravings of the
Pyrenean Caves, 354
the Survey
Bartholomew, 218
Sounding Stones, 246

iscade Range, a Geological Reconnaissance Across the, |
G. O. Smith and F. C. Calkins, 376

Hohenklima und Bergwanderungen in ihrer
wirkung auf den Menschen, 553

Atlas of England and Wales,

Io Ge

Catalogue of Variable Stars, 87

Catania,
Cator (Dorothy),

Causation,

Eclipse Observations at, 495

Everyday Life among the Head-hunters,
and other Experiences from East to West, 203

the New Science of, H. Croft Hillier, 194

Cavalier (J.), Pyrophosphoric Compounds, 600

Cave (C. J.

P.), Flying Kites in Barbados, 262

Cazes (E.), New Type of Compound in the Group of Rare

Metals, 287

Cement and Concrete, L. C. Sabin, 457

Cements,

Cement Materials and Industry,

Limes, and Plasters, their Materials, Manu-
and Properties, E. C. Eckel, 457

E. C. Eckel, 376

factures,

Centenary, the Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society of
London, 1805-1905, Dr. Norman Moore and Stephen

Ceraski
Cerruti (Dr.

Ch’iifu,
Chablay

Chadwick (S.),
Chaffer (Richard F.),
Challenger Society,
Champreux (Mr.), Comet 1906a, 352;

Chaney
Chapman (D. L.),

Paget, Prof. R. T. Hewlett, 388

(Prof.), Stellar Magnitude of the Sun, 279
Attilio), ‘‘ Bidder’s Organ’’ upon the Testes
of Bufo calamita, 328

Shantung, Sounding Stones at, Alfred Tingle, 222
(E.), Preparation of Ethylenic and Acetylenic
Hydrocarbons, 287

Action of Ultra-violet Light on Moist and
Dried Mixtures of Carbon Monoxide and Oxygen, 190

the Chelsea Power Station, Lecture
at the Institution of Electrical Engineers, 20

95, 381

Comet 1906b, 474
(Henry James), Death and Obituary Notice of, 419
Action of Ultra-violet Light on Moist
and Dried Mixtures of Carbon Monoxide ‘and Oxygen,
199

Chapman (Mr.), Palaeozoic Rocks and Fossils of Gippsland,

Chasse, Elevage et Piégeage,

16
A. de Lesse, 26

Chattaway (F. D.), Benzoic Sulphinide, 189
Chauffage des Habitations par Caloriféres, le, M. Raymond

Chauvenet (M.),
Cheddar, Rock Fall at,

Périssé, 100
Action of Glucose on eee a 263
Prof. S. H. Reynolds,

Cheirality of Form of Crystals of Epsom Salt? Dr. H. €.

Chelsea Power

Chemistry :

Pocklington, 270

Station, the, Richard F. Chaffer
Institution of Electrical Engineers, 20
Elementary Experimental Chemistry, A. E.
Dunstan, 3; Specific Inductive Power of Benzene and
Water, F. Beaulard, 23; Specific Heat of Solutions of

at the

Copper Sulphate, P. Vaillant, 23; the History of Emulsin,
L. Guignard, 23; the Use of Gasoline in Chemical and
Physical Laboratories, J. R. Foster, 29; Is Radium a
Disintegration Product of Uranium? Bertram B. Bolt-
wood, 37; Action of Radium and Other Salts on Gelatin,
W. A. D. Rudge, 119, 455; New Researches on the
Atomic Weight of Nitrogen, Prof. P. A. Guye, 37; the
Density of Nitric Oxide, “the Atomic Weight of Nitrogen,
P. A. Guye and Ch. Davila, 119; the Complete Separ-
ation of the Air into Pure Oxygen and Nitrogen, a

System of Fractional Distillation of Liquid Air, Georges
Claude, 119; Isothermal Distillation bo Nitrogen and
Oxygen, and of Argon and Oxygen, K. Inglis, 357;

Apparatus for Separation of Oxygen oe Nitrogen by
Liquefaction of Air, Georges Claude, 423; Composition
of the Hydrochloroferric “Colloid with respect to the
Amount of Hydrochloric Acid Present in the Suspending
Liquid, G. Malfitano, 47; Researches on the Affinity of
the Elements and on the Causes of the Chemical Simi-
larity or Dissimilarity of Elements and Compounds,
Geoffrey Martin, 49; Electrochemical Behaviour of
Thorium X, F. von Lerch, 62; Tensile Strength of
Copper-tin Alloys, IDE Ss Shepherd and G. R. Upton, 62;
Chemical Society, 71, 118, 189, 262, 357, 382, 431, 479,
551, 623; the Mechanism of Fermentation, E. Frankland
Armstrong, 71; Mixed Derivatives of Dextrorotatory
Camphoric Acid and on f-Campholide, A. Haller and
G. Blanc, 71; Volumetric Method of Estimating the
Cinchona Alkaloids, P. W. Robertson, 71; Stereo-
isomerism of Substituted Ammonium Compounds, H. 'O:
Jones, 71; the Fluorides of Selenium and Tellurium,
E. B; R: Prideaux, 71; Influence of Water and Alcohols
on the Boiling Point of Esters, J. Wade, 71; Bromine
Fluoride, E. B. R. Prideaux, 71; Migration of Carboxyl
in the Dehydration of Certain Acid Alcohols, E. E.
Blaise and A. Courtot, 72; the Study of Chemical Com-
position, an Account of its Method and Historical De-
velopment, Ida Freund, 74; Studies on Enzyme Action,
vii., Synthesis of Maltose and Iso-maltose, E. Frankland
Armstrong, 93; Studies on Enzyme Action, Lipase, Prof.
Henry E. ‘Armstrong, IDAIRES SS GYR Nitrates and Nitrites
as Manure, Th. Schloesing, 95 ; Molecular Conductivity
of the Phosphoric Esters, Pp. Carré, 96; General Method
for the Synthesis of aB-Glycidic Esters and of Ketones,
Georges Darzens, 96; Death and Obituary Notice of Dr.
James Monckman, 106; Relation of Stability to Electro-
chemical Efficiency in Hypochlorite Production, W. P.
Digby, 117; Condensation of Ketones with Mercury
Cyanide, J. E. Marsh and R. De Jersey Fleming-
Struthers, 118; Silicon Researches, J. E. Reynolds, 118;
Green Compounds of Cobalt produced by Oxidising
Agents, R. G. Durrant, 118; the Rusting of Iron,
E. Divers, 118; G. T. Moody, 623; Action of
Chloride of Silicon on Iron, Em. Vigouroux, r19;
Action of Nitrogen Sulphide on Organic Substances,
F. E. Francis, 118; Preparation of Racemic Amyl
Alcohol, P. Freundler and E. Damond, 119; Juglone,
M. Brissemoret and R. Combes, 119; the Tetrazoline
Group, S. Ruhemann and R. W. Merriman, 119 ; Atomic
Disintegration and the Distribution of the Elements,
Donald Murray, 125; Frederick Soddy, 151; Norman R.
Campbell, 152; Geoffrey Martin, 152; the Death-knell of
the Atom, 132; Decomposition of Ammonium Sulphate
by Hot Sulphuric Acid in the Presence of Platinum,
Marcel Delépine, 143; Commercial Silicide of Copper,

Paul Lebeau, 143; the Distillation of Copper, Henri
Moissan, 143; Benzylidene Derivatives of Anthrone and
Anthranol, A. Haller and M. Padova, 143; Intensive

Nitrification, A. Muntz and E. Laine,
Abhandlungen von Robert Bunsen, Prof. Arthur Smithells,
F.R.S., 147; the Colour of Natural Waters, Prof. W.
Spring, 159; Certain Radio-active Properties of Uranium,
T. Godlewski, 160; Silico-aluminides, Em. Vigouroux,
167; a-Decahydronaphthol and the Octahydride of
Naphthalene, Henri Leroux, 167; Victorium and the
Ultra-violet Phosphorescence of Gadolinium, G. Urbain,
167-8; Prulaurasine, H. Hérissey, 168; Introduction to
the Study of Organic Chemistry, John Wade, 172;
‘Mathematics ”? applied to Chemistry, Geoffrey Martin,
175; the Reviewer, 175; the Physical and Chemical
Properties of Iron Carbonyl, Sir James Dewar and H. O.

143 ; Gesammelte

Watare, noe
Junge tee Index Xili
Jones, 188; Constitution of Silver Nitrites, P. C. Ray Lebeau, 335; a Silicide of Thorium, O. Hénigschmid,

and A. C. Gafiguli, 189; Benzoic Sulphinide, F. D.
Chattaway, 189; Action of Heat on a-Hydroxycarboxylic
Acids, H. R. Le Sueur, 189-90; Action of Ultra-violet
Light on Moist and Dried Mixtures of Carbon Monoxide
and Oxygen, S. Chadwick, J. E. Ramsbottom, and D. L.
Chapman, 190; Estimation of Carbon Monoxide in Air
by lodic Anhydride, Albert Lévy and A. Pécoul, 335;
Difficulties Presented by the Estimation of Carbon Mon-
oxide in Gaseous Mixtures, Armand Gautier and M.
Clausmann, 455; Silver Dioxide and Silver Peroxynitrate,
E. R, Watson, 190; Caro’s Permonosulphuriec Acid, T. S.
Price, 190; Distillation of Gold, the Alloys of Gold and
on a New Method of Preparation of the Purple of Cassius,
Henri Moissan, 191 ; New Solvent for Gold, J. Moir, 623 ;
Solution of Platinum in Sulphuric Acid, Marcel Delépine,
192; New Compound of Fluorine and Bromine, Paul
Lebeau, 192; Action of Phosphorus Pentachloride on
B-Naphthol, E. Berger, 192; Crystallised Hamatin, MM.
Piettre and Vila, 192; Diastatic Hydrolysis of Xylane,
Gaston Seilliére, 192; Biochemie der Pflanzen, Prof. Dr.
Fr. Czapek, F. Escombe, 193; Corr., F. Escombe, 341;
New Methods of Testing Explosives, C. E. Bichel, 194;
Dewar’s Method of producing High Vacua by Means of
Charcoal, Lord Blythswood and H. S. Allen, 207;
Physical and Chemical Properties of Solutions of Chloro-
form and other Anzsthetics, Prof. B. Moore and Dr.
Herbert E. Roaf, 213; Chemische Technologie, Dr. Fr.
Heusler, 243; Elements of Quantitative Analysis, Dr.
G. H. Bailey, 244; Insoluble Potassium Compounds Con-
fained in Humic Materials, M. Berthelot, 262; Hydro-
cyanic Principle of the Black Elder, L. Guignard, 262 ;
Influence of some Factors on Experimental Partheno-
genesis, Yves Delage, 262; Benzoyl Nitrate, F. E.
Francis, 262; Chemical Dynamics of Alcoholic Ferment-
ation by Yeast, A. Slator, 262; Intramolecular Change
Leading to the Formation of Naphthalene Derivatives,
E. F. J. Atkinson and J. F. Thorpe, 262; Solubility of
Zine Hydroxide in Alkalis, J. Moir, 262; the Slow Com-
bustion of Carbon Disulphide, N. Smith, 262 ; Determin-
ation of the Rare Gases in Natural Gaseous Mixtures,
Charles Moureu, 263; Action of Acetylene on Iodine
Pentoxide, Georges F. Jaubert, 263; Action of Glucose
on Selenious Acid, MM. C&chsner de Coninck and Chau-
venet, 263; Action of Ammonia Gas on the Tribromide
and Triiodide of Phosphorus, C. Hugot, 263; New Mode
of Preparation of Barium, M. Guntz, 263; Exercises in
Quantitative Chemistry, Harmon Northrop Morse, 268;
Cheirality of Form of Crystals of Epsom Salt, Dr. H. C.
Pocklington, 270; Death of Dr. H. J. P. Sprengel,
F.R.S., 274; Obituary Notice of, 302; the Coagulation
of Colloidal Solutions of Ferric Hydroxide, F. Giolitti,
278; New Type of Compound in the Group of Rare
Metals, C. Matignon and E. Cazes, 287; Electrolytic
Preparation of Spongy Tin, D. Tommasi, 287; Cuprous-
silicide, Em. Vigouroux, 287; Reduction of Chlorides of
Silver and Copper by Calcium, L. Hackspill, 287; Pre-
paration of Ethylenic and Acetylenic Hydrocarbons, E.
Chablay, 287; Hordenine, a New Alkaloid extracted from
the Germs of Barley, E. Léger, 288; Action of Hordenine
Sulphate on Soluble Ferments and on Micro-organisms,
L. Camus, 383; Radio-activity, Prof. E. Rutherford,
F.R.S., Hon. R. J. Strutt, F.R.S., 289; Higher Mathe-
matics for Students of Chemistry and Physics, with
Special Reference to Practical Work, Dr. J. W. Mellor,
290; First Steps in Quantitative Analysis, J. C. Gregory,
293; Chlorides in Nerve Cells and Fibres, Prof. A. B.
Macallum and Miss M. L. Menten, 311; Refractory
Metals in the Electric Furnace, Prof. Henri Moissan,
325; Unsuccessful Attempt to Liquefy Helium, Prof.
Olszewski, 325; Influence of the Reaction of the Medium
on the Activity of Amylase and on the Composition of
Saccharified Starch, L. Maquenne and Eug. Roux, 335;
Group C(OH) of the Tertiary Alcohols, Louis Henry,
335; the Whitening of Wheaten Flour, E. Fleurent, 335;
Influence of Colouring Matters on Form of Crystals,
P. Gaubert, 335; Variations of Phosphoric Acid and
Nitrogen in the Juices of the Leaves of Certain Plants,
G. André, 335; Utilisation of Nitrogen in Air by Plants,
Thos. Jamieson, 531, 607; A. D. H., 608; New Mode of
Formation of Silicon Soluble in Hydrofluoric Acid, Paul

335; Combustion of Acetylene by Oxygen, Paul
Mauricheau-Beaupré, 335; the Electric Production of
Nitrates from the Atmosphere, Prof. Sylvanus P. Thomp-
son, F.R.S., at Royal Institution, 355; Refractive Indices
of Crystallising Solutions, H. A. Miers and F. Isaac,
357; Effect of Constitution on the Rotatory Power of
Optically Active Nitrogen Compounds, M. B. Thomas
and H. O. Jones, 357; Determination of Available Plant
Food in Soil by the Use of Weak Acid Solvents, A. D.
Hall and A. Amos, 357; Silicon Thiocyanate, J. E.
Reynolds, 357; New Compounds of Fluorine, E. B. R.
Prideaux, 357; Causes of ‘‘ Blowing’’ in Tins of Con-
densed Milk, Dr. G. H. Pethybridge, 358; Rapid Pre-
parations of Solutions of Hydriodic Acid, F. Bodroux,
359; Alloy of Thorium and Aluminium, O. Hoénigschmid,
359; Researches on the Halogen Compounds of the
Borates of Barium and Strontium, L. Ouvrard, 359;
Nutrition of Green Plants by Amides in the Absence of
Carbon Dioxide, Jules Lefévre, 359; Jahrbuch der
Chemie, 364; Death and Obituary Notice of Prof.
Alexander Miiller, 371; New Method of Directly Trans-
forming a-Benzoylamino-p-hydroxycinnamic Acid into
Tyrosine, Dr. P. W. Latham, 374; the Critical Tempera-
ture and Value of ML/@ of some Carbon Compounds,
J. C. Brown, 382; Oxidation Products of the Hydroxy-
benzoic Acids, A. G. Verkin, 382; Hydroxylamine-aB-
disulphonates, T. Haga, 382; Benzenediazo-y-semi-
carbazinocamphor and its Derivatives, M. O. Forster,
382; Relations between Absorption Spectra and Chemical
Constitution, part i., Chemical Reactivity of the Carbonyl
Group, A. W. Stewart and E. C. C. Baly, 382; part ii.,
the Quinones and a-Diketones, E. C. C. Baly and A. W.
Stewart, 382; part iii., Nitranilines and Nitrophenols,
E. C. C. Baly, W. H. Edwards, and A. W. Stewart,
382 ; Sublimation of Sulphur at Ordinary Temperatures,
R. J. Moss, 383; Rotatory Powers of Hexahydrobenzy-
lidene and Qénanthylidencamphors, A. Haller and F.
March, 383; Condensation of the Acetylenic Nitriles with
Alcohols, Ch. Moureu and T. Lazennec, 383; Cyclo-
hexylacetone, P. Freundler, 383; Engineering Chemistry :
a Manual of Quantitative Chemical Analysis for the use
of Students, Chemists, and Engineers, Thomas B. Still-
man, 387; the Form of Atoms in Relation to their
Spectra, Prof. F, von Lindeman, 392; the Mineral Con-
stituents of the Soil Solution, F. K. Cameron and J. M.
Bell, 398; Development of the Swedish Chemical 1In-
dustries, 399; Determination of the Molecular Weight
of Silver Vapour by Nernst’s Torsion Balance, H. v.
Wartenburg, 400; Behaviour of Platinum and Iridium in
Chlorine Water and in Dilute Hydrochloric Acid, 403;
the Sanitary Value of a Water Analysis, Prof. Leonhard
P. Kinnicutt, 404; Calcium Iodomercurates, A. Duboin,
408 ; Sulphides of Phosphorus, H. Giran, 408; Strontium,
MM. Guntz and Roederer, 408; Recombination of the
Ions in Saline Vapours, G. Moreau, 408; Zur Erkenntniss
der Kolloide, Ueber irreversible Hydrosole und Ultra-
mikroskopie, Richard Zsigmondy, Dr. J. A. Milroy, 410;
Memorial to Dr. W. H. Perkin, 419, 444; the Perkin
Jubilee and Chemical Industries, Sir Henry E. Roscoe,
F.R.S., 438; Thermochemistry, Prof. van ’t Hoff, 421;
Ionisation in Gases from Coloured Flames, Percival
Lewis, 424; Fusion and Distillation of Metals of the
Platinum Group, Prof. Henri Moissan, 424; Society of
Chemical Industry, 430, 525, 598; Carburetted Water
Gas in the Bunsen Burner, M. Chikashige, 430; Loss
of Nitre in the Chamber Process, J. K. H. Inglis, 430;
Removal of Nitrous Acid from Concentrated Nitric and
Sulphuric Acid, O. Silberrad and B. J. Smart, 430;
Spontaneous Crystallisation of Supersaturated Solutions,
H. Hartley, 431; New Tropeines, H. A. D. Jowett and
A. C. O. Hann, 431; Modification of the Volumetric Esti-
mation of Free Acid in the Presence of Iron Salts, C.
Chester Ahlum, 431; Resolution of 2: 3-Dihydro-3-
Methylindene-2-Carboxylic Acid into its Optically Active
Isomerides, A. Neville, 431; Cuprous Formate, A. Angel,
431; Solubility of Triphenylmethane in Organic Liquids,
H. Hartley and N. G. Thomas, 431; Condensation of the
Acetylenic Nitriles with Phenols, Ch. Moureu and I.
Lazennec, 431; Function of Organic Matter in Nitrifica-
tion, A. Mintz and E. Laine, 431; Synthesis of Tertiary

XiV Lndex lisse <4. os
Alcohols Derived from Paramethyleyclohexane, Paul Method, P. Haas, 551; Chemistry in Rural Schools, Prof.
Sabatier and A. Mailhe, 431; Presence of Formaldehyde R. Meldola, F.R.S., 558; T. S. Dymond, 583; the Labor-
in Caramelised Substances, A. Trillat, 432; Neuere atory Book of Dairy Analysis, H. Droop Richmond, 558;
Anschauungen’ auf dem Gebiete der anorganischen a New Product of Actinium, Dr. O. Hahn, 559; Physical
Chemie, Prof. A. Werner, Prof. A. Smithells, F.R.S., and Chemical Characters of Huff, .572; the Production of

433; What is Whiskey? 441; a New Oxide of Carbon,
Otto Diels and Bertram Wolf, 452; Chemical Constitu-
tion of Protoplasm as Shown by the Rate of Tissue Dis-
integration, Dr. H. M. Vernon, 454; Origin of the Salt
in the Sea, R. L. Taylor, 455; Addition of Chloric Acid
to Isobutylene Oxide, Louis Henry, 455; Lavorotatory
Lactic Acid, E. Jungfleisch and M. Godchot, 456; Notes
on Volumetric Analysis, J. B. Russell and A. H. Bell,
459; Introduction to Chemical Analysis, Hugh C. H.
Candy, 459; an Elementary Text-book of Inorganic
Chemistry, R. L. Whiteley, 459; Elementary Chemistry,
Progressive Lessons in, F. R. L. Wilson and G. W.
Hedley, 459; a Three Years’ Course of Practical Chem-
istry, George H. Martin and Ellis Jones, 459; Second
Year Chemistry, a Handbook for Laboratory and Class
Work, Prof. Edward Hart, 461; the Adulteration of
Butter, C. Simmonds, 466, 535; J. H. Lester, 535; the
Coal-tar Colour Industry, 469; Electrical Conductivity of
Solutions of Potassium Iodide in Liquid Iodine, Gilbert

N. Lewis and Plumer Wheeler, 473; Rubidium and
Caesium Alums, Dr. Cesare Roncagliolo, 473; New
Magazines of Biological Chemistry, 474; Nitrogen
Halides from Camphoryl-y -Carbamide, M. O. Forster

and H. Grossmann, 479; Stereoisomeric Halogen Deri-
vatives of Camphor, T. M. Lowry, 479; Coagulating
Actions of Colloids, W. P. Dreaper and A. Wilson, 479;
Resolution of a-Phenyl-a'-4-hydroxy-phenylethane by
l-Menthylcarbimide, R. H. Pickard and W. O. Little-
bury, 479; Synthesis of Optically Active Modifications of
A*-p-Menthenol(8) and A*:*(g)-p-Menthadiene, F. W.
Kay and W. H. Perkin, jun., 479; Iodomercurates of
Calcium and Strontium, A. Duboin, 480; Use of Alcohol
in the Preparation of Antimony Tartrate, J. Bougault,
480; Outlines of Physiological Chemistry, Dr. S. P.
Beebe and Prof. B. H. Buxton, Prof. Benjamin Moore,
483; Pure Lithium : its Preparation by the Electrolysis
of Lithium Bromide, O. Ruff and O. Johannsen, 494;
a Simple Arrangement for Purifying Mercury, G. A.
Hulett and H. D. Minchin, 494; Action of Hot Sulphuric
Acid on Salts of Platinum and Iridium in the Presence of
Sulphate of Ammonium, Marcel Delépine, 504; Action of
Peroxide of Nitrogen on Ammonia, MM. Besson and
Rosset, 504; Action of Silicon Chloride upon Cobalt, Em.
Vigouroux, 504; Method of Determination of the Foreign
Materials contained in Cocoa and Chocolate, F. Bordas
and M. Touplain, 504; Glue, Gelatine, and _ their
Allied Products, Thomas Lambert, 510; Carbide from
which Ethylene is Evolved by Water, 518; Studies on
the Synthesis of Peptides and Proteids, Prof. Emil
Fischer, 519; Ignition of Nitro-compound Explosives in
Small Arm Cartridges, W. D. Borland, 525; Velocities
of the Ions of Alkali Salt Vapours at High Temperatures,
Prof. H. A. Wilson, 526; Distillation of Titanium and
the Temperature of the Sun, Henri Moissan, 527;
Benzyl- and Phenylborneols and their Products of De-
hydration, A. Haller and E. Bauer, 527; an Indicator for
Strong Acids and Bases, Dr. Fenton, 527; Action of
Acid Chlorides of Acetylenic Acids on Ketonic Com-
pounds, S. Ruhemann, 527; Velocity of Transformation
of Sugars by Alkalies, R. S. Morrell and A. E. Bellars,
527; Action of the Amino-ethers and Imino-chlorides on
Organo-magnesium Derivatives, R. Marquis, 528; Pre-
paration of Glycidic Ethers and of Aldehydes in the
Hexahydroaromatic Series, Georges Darzens and P.
Lefébure, 528; the Forthcoming International Congress
of Applied Chemistry, 548; Polonium and _ Radio-Tel-
lurium, 549; Dysprosium, G. Urbain, 551; Commercial
Preparation of Calcium Hydride, Georges F. Joubert,
551; Influence of Substituents in the Trinitrobenzene Mole-
cule on the Formation of Additive Compounds with
Arylamines, J. J. Sudborough and N. Picton, 551; Inter-
action of Well-dried Mixtures of Hydrocarbons and
Oxygen, W. A. Bone and G. W. Andrew, 551; Explosive
Combustion of Hydrocarbons, W. A. Bone and J. Drug-
man, 551; Occurrence of Methane among the Decomposi-
tion Products of Certain Nitrogenous Bases as a Source
of Error in the Estimation of Nitrogen by the Absolute

Aluminium and its Industrial Use, Adolphe Minet, 579;
Death and Obituary Notice of Prof. Adolf Emmerling,
589; the Possibility of Utilising the Temperature of
Transition of Sodium Bromide Dihydrate into the Anhy-
drous Salt as a Fixed Point in Accurate Thermometry,
Prof. Theodore W. Richards and R. C. Wells, 591-2;
Variation of the Properties of the Hydroxyl Group of
Alcohols, Waried Forms of Alkyl Radicals, Prof. Louis
Henry, 592; Relation between the Velocity and the
Volume of the Ions of Certain Organic Acids and Bases,
T. H. Laby and G. A. Carse, 599; Pyrophosphoric Com-
pounds, J. Cavalier, 600; Pure Ferromolybdenums, Em.
Vigouroux, 600; Chemie der alicyklischen Verbindungen,
Prof. Ossian Aschan, 601; Seta Artificiale, G. B. Baccioni,
606; Third Treatise on the Effects of Borax and Boric
Acid on the Human System, Dr. Oscar Liebreich, 611;
Explosions of Coal-gas and Air, Prof. Bertram Hopkin-
son, 622; Estimation of Carbon in Soils, A. D. Hall,
N.H.J. Miller, and N. Marmu,,623; Dynamic Isomerism
of Phloroglucinol, E. P. Hedley, 624; Comparative Crys-
tallographic Study of the Perchlorates and Perman-
ganates of the Alkalis and the Ammonium Radical, T. V-
Barker, 624; Constitution of Salicin, J. C. Irvine and
R. E. Rose, 624; Reaction of Ellagic and Flavellagic
Acids, A. G. Perkin, 624; Landolt-Bornstein—Physik-
alisch-chemische Tabellen, Drs. Bornstein and Meyer-
hoffer, Dr. J. A. Harker, Supp. to November 30, vi

Chester (Rear-Admiral Colby M.), the United States Naval
Observatory, 375; Publications of the U.S. Naval Ob-
servatory, American Observations of the Total Solar
Eclipses of 1900 and 1901, 486

Chevalier (A.), India-rubber Plants, 47

Chevalier (J.), Crystallisation of Drops of Potash-alum, 167,
Studies in Crystallisation, Sodium Nitrate, 358

Chikashige (M.), Carburetted Water Gas in the Bunsen
Burner, 430

Children, Medical Inspection and Feeding of, in Schools,
286

Chinese Names of Colours, E. H. Parker, 297; Dr.
Giovanni Vacca, 365; Prof. Reginald A. Fessenden, 390;
Alfred Sang, 390; L., 535

Cholera, Toxin and Antitoxin of, MM. Brau and Denier,
528

Chree (Dr. Charles, F.R.S.), Magnetic Storms and Aurora,
101, 173; Analysis of Atmospheric Electricity Results at
Kew, 623

Christophers (S. R.), the Practical Study of Malaria and
other Blood Parasites, 148

Chromosphere, the Continuous the, M.
Deslandres, 592

Chronometry : the Time of France, 394

Chubb (Dr. Gilbert), Growth of the Oocyte in Antedon, a
Morphological Study in Cell-metabolism, 574

Church (Prof. A. H., F.R.S.), Precious Stones cor-
sidered in their Scientific and Artistic Relations, Supp
to November 30, x

Church (W. R. M.), a Horizontal Rainbow, 608

Chwolson (O. D.), Lehrbuch der Physik, 362; Traité de
Physique, 362

Cirera (Father P.), Magnetic Observations during the Total
Eclipse of the Sun, 400

Cities, Garden, in Theory and Practice, A. R. Sennett, 2

Civil Engineering : a Text-book for a Short Course, Lieut.-
Col. G. J. Fiebeger, 196

Claparéde (Dr. Ed.), Esquisse d’une Théorie biologique dx
Sommeil, 293

Claparéde (Ed.), Apparent Enlargement of the Moon at the
Horizon, 400

Clapp (F. G.), Limestones of South-western Pennsylvania,
306

Clark (Alex.), Molecular Forces and Newtonian Laws, 51

Clarke (G.), English Beet-sugar Industry, Cultivation
Trials, 446

Clarke (Miss Lilian), Methods of Teaching Botany in the
James Allen School for Girls at Dulwich, 163

Clarke (Wm. Eagle), Bird-life at the South Orkney Islands,

$79

Spectrum of

Nature,
June 14, 1906

Index

XV

Clarke (Rev W. E. C.), on the Development of Education
in the Colony, 41

Classen (Prof. Dr. J.), Sammlung Schubert XLII., Theorie
~der Electrizitat und des Magnetismus, 4; Zwolf Vor-
lesungen tiber die Natur des Lichtes, 606

Claude (Georges), the Complete Separation of the Air into
Pure Oxygen and Nitrogen, a System of Fractional Dis-
tillation of Liquid Air, 119; Apparatus for Separation of
Oxygen and Nitrogen by Liquefaction of Air, 423

Clausmann (M.), Difficulties Presented by the Estimation of
Carbon Monoxide in Gaseous Mixtures, 455

Clayden (Arthur W.), Cloud Studies, 416

Cleavage, Rock, C. K. Leith, 376

Cleland (Prof., F.R.S.), on the Growing-point of the Ver-
tebrata, 40

Clemens (Dr. H.), Variability of Iris, 279

Clerke (Agnes M.), the System of the Stars, 505

Climatic and Solar Cycle, a 300-Year, Thos. W. Kings-
mill, 413

Climatology : Meteorologie und
Wilhelm Trabert, 149

Cloud Studies, Arthur W. Clayden, Prof. H. Hildebrand
Hildebrandsson, 416

Clough (H. W.), a 300-Year Cycle in Solar Phenomena, 38

Cluster of Nebulze in Perseus, Dr. Max Wolff, 448

Coal-mining : Coal-mining in the Philippines, O. H. Rein-
holt, 324; Unprecedented Mining Disaster at Courriéres
Colliery, 468, 490

Coast Protection, Sea, 369

Cobb (J. A.), Halation, 54

Coblentz (William W.), Investigations of Infra-red Spectra,
619

Cockayne (Dr. L.), Botany of the Far North of New
Zealand, 16

Cockerell (Prof. T. D. A.), the Origin of Variations in
Animals and Plants, 197; the Effect of Food on the Colour
of Moths, 341; the Bees of Australia, 439

Cockin (G. M.), Limestone of the Lower Carboniferous
Series in Cannock Chase Coalfield, 526

Coelenterata from the West Coast of Ireland, Remarkable,
Prof. Sydney J. Hickson, F.R.S., 5

Cohn (Dr. Fritz), Right Ascensions of the Eros Comparison
Stars, 305

Cole (Prof. Grenville A. J.), on Marginal Phenomena of
Granite Domes, 91; an Introduction to Geology, J. E.
Marr, F.R.S., 247; Cooperation between Scientific
Libraries, 464

Cole (R. Langton), Aurora of November 15, So

Coleman (Prof. A. P.), on the Magmatic Segregation of
Sulphide Ores, 91

Colloids, Ultramicroscopic Studies of the, Dr. J. A. Milroy,

Klimatologie, Prof. Dr.

410

Colombian Earthquake, the, 395

Colonial Development, Agricultural Education and, 250;
Dr. J. Walter Leather, 485

Colonies, the British Association and our, Io Gs
Beattie, 222

Colorado, Report of Progress in the Geological Re-survey
of the Cripple Creek District, Waldemar Lindgren and
F. L. Ransome, 376

Colour of Moths, the Effect of Food on the, Prof. T. D. A.
Cockerell, 341

Prof.

Colour-sensitivitv of the Peripheral Retina, the, John
Wallace Baird, 260

Colours, the Naming of, Alfred H. Crook, 246

Colours, Chinese Names of, E. H. Parker, 297; Dr.

Giovanni Vacca, 365; Prof. Reginald A. Fessenden, 390;
Alfred Sang, 390; L., 535

Colours, Photography in Natural, 330

Columbian Museum, Recent Ethnological
from the, 300

Combes (R.), Juglone, 119

Comets: the Meteors of Biela’s Comet, Mr. Denning, 64;
Discovery of a Comet, 1905b, M. Scharr, 87; Comet
19056, Prof. Hartwig, 109; Prof. Aitken, 109; M. Ebell,
109, 136, 160; Prof. Wolf, 160; Prof. E. Millosevich, 182;
M. Giacobini, 182 ; the Anomalous Tails of Comets, Prof.
Barnard, 136; another New Comet, r1905c, Prof. Giaco-
bini, 160, 182, 400; Mr. Morgan, 160; Prof. E. Millo-
sevich, 182; Prof. Hartwig, 208; E. Strémgren, 208;
Mr. Denning, 208; Mr. Backhouse, 255; R. T. Craw-
ford, 279; Dr. Jost, 279; A. Wedemeyer, 326, 351, 375,

Publications

425, 473, 544; New Elements and Ephemeris for Comet
1go5c, E. Strémgren, 232; Observation of Comet 1905¢
after Perihelion, Prof. H. R. Morgan, 518; Discovery of
a Third New Comet, 1905d, M. Slipher, 182; a Fourth
New Comet (1905e), 232; the Expected Return of Comet
1892 V., J. Coniel, 232; Ephemeris for Holmes’s Comet
(7892) UNIS) 1899 811-)5 Hei Zwiers; 255 5° Periodical
Comets Due to Return this Year, W. T. Lynn, 305;
Discovery of a New Comet, M. Brooks, 326, Dr. Palisa,
326; Comet 1906a, Messrs. Crawford and Champreux,
352; M. Ebell, 375, 400, 425, 494; Prof. Hartwig, 375;
MM. Rambaud and Sy, 407; Dr. Abetti, 494; Discovery
of a New Comet, 1906b, Herr Kopff, 448; Dr. Valentiner,
448; Comet r906b, M. Ebell, 474, 544; Mr. Champreux,
474; Prof. Hartwig, 494; Dr. Wirtz, 494, 544; Prof.
Max Wolf, 494; Discovery of a New Comet (1906c), Mr.
Ross, 494; Mr. Morgan, 494; Comet 1906c, Dr. Strom-
gren, 518, 569

Commercial Economy in Steam and other Thermal Power
Plants as Dependent upon Physical Efficiency, Capital
Charges, and Working Costs, Prof. Robert H. Smith, 338

“Companion to the Observatory,” the, 1906, 182

Compere (Mr.), Insect Enemies of Insect Pests, 373

Comstock (Daniel), the Existence of Absolute Motion, 582

Comstock (Geo. C.), Objective-prism Determinations of
Stellar Radial Velocities, 592

Concrete, Cement and, L. C. Sabin, 457

Concrete Construction, Reinforced, A. W. Buel and C. S.
Hill, 457 :

Concrete Steel: a Treatise on the Theory and Practice of
Reinforced Concrete Construction, W. Noble Twelvetrees,

Goce a Treatise on, Plain and Reinforced, F. W.
Taylor and S. E. Thompson, 457

Conference of Delegates of Local Scientific Societies, 39

Congress of Applied Chemistry, the Forthcoming Inter-
national, 548

Coniel (J.), the Expected Return of Comet 1892 Wen 2a?

Coninck (CEchsner de), Action of Glucose on Selenious Acid,
263

Conrad (Henry S.),
Genus Nympheea, 379

Conway (Prof. A. W.), Electromagnetic Mass, 353

Cook (J.), Rainfall in Mysore for 1904, 17

Cook (O. F.), Kinesis the Main Factor in Evolution of
Organisms, 616 ;

Cooke (W. E.), a Suggestion for the Next International
Scheme, 63

Cookson (B.), Effect of the Lunar Deflection of the Ver-
tical on Latitude Observations, 191

Coomaraswamy (A. K.), Mineralogy of Ceylon, 134

Cooper (W. R.), Alternate Current Electrolysis as Shown
by Oscillograph Records, 117

Cooperation between Scientific Libraries, Dr. Thomas Muir,
372; Dr. F. A. Bather, 413; Prof. Henry E. Armstrong,
F.R.S., 438; Prof. Herbert McLeod, F.R.S., 438; Prof.
Grenville A. J. Cole, 464; Dr. Hugh Marshall, 513

Copeland (Prof. Ralph), Death of, 13; Obituary Notice of,

the Waterlilies, a Monograph of the

32 ;
Corals: Catalogue of the Madreporarian Corals in the
British Museum (Natural History), Henry M. Bernard,

12

Gonnieh (C. J.), Death and Obituary Notice of, 347

Cornish Circles, Notes on Some, Sir Norman Lockyer,
ReGIB EsReS=, 360. 561

Corona, the Intrinsic Light of the, Chas. Fabry, 182

« Coronz Borealis, the Orbit of, Prof. Doberck, 39

Corpuscle, the Revolution of the, A. A. Robb at Cavendish
Laboratory, Cambridge, 321

Correns (C.), Ueber Vererbungsgesetze, 606

Coste (Maurice), Electrical Conductivity of Selenium, 72

Cotton Boll Weevil, the Mexican, W. D. Hunter and W. E.
Hinds, 158, 257; Fred V. Theobald, 257

Cotton Bollworm, the, A. L. Quaintance and C. T. Brues,
Fred V. Theobald, 257

Country Life, My Strange Pets and other Memories of,
R. Bell, 76

Coupin (Henri), Action of Some Alkaloids with Respect
to Pollen Tubes, 576

Courtot (A.), Migration of Carboxyl in the Dehydration of
Certain Acid Alcohols, 72

Xvi

Natxre,
June 14, 1506

Cousins (H. H.), Stage at which Grasses should be Cut
for Fodder, 206

‘Couturat (Louis), L’Algébre de la Logique, 386

‘Cowell (Dr. P. H.), a Lunar Theory from Observation, 80;
Explanation of the Apparent Secular Acceleration of the
Earth’s Orbital Motion, 598

‘Cowper-Coles (Sherard), the Centrifugal Process for In-
creasing the Rate of Deposition of Electrolytic Copper,

Geatee Catalogue of the Indian Decapod Crustacea in the
Collection of the Indian Museum, part ii., Anomura,
Fasciculus I. Pagurides, Dr. A. Alcock, F.R.S., 317

Crane (W. R.), Geology of the Iola Quadrangle, Kansas,

ie rolaey : the Tympanic Region of the Mammalian Skull,
Dr. P. N. van Kampen, 276

Crawford (R. T.), Comet 1905¢ (Giacobini), 279; Comet
1g06a, 352

Crichton-Browne (Sir James), the Work of Sanitary In-
spectors, 347

Cricket, Science and Art of, G. W. Beldam and C. B. Fry,
82

Crisp (Rev. Canon), on the Mental Characteristics of the
Bechuana, 66

Crook (Alfred H.), the Naming of Colours, 246

Crook (T.), Geikielite and the Ferro-magnesian Titanates,
358

moe (S. Irwin), New Vernier Rule and Scale, 232

Cross (H. H.), Mode in which the American Prongbuck
Protects its Young, 470

Crossland (Cyril), Sounding Stones, 297

Crowther (Samuel), Rowing and Track Athletics, 605

Crustacea: Two Decapod Crustacea from Fresh-water
Pool on Christmas Island, Dr. J. G. de Man, 262; Cata-
logue of the Indian Decapod Crustacea in the Collection
of the Indian Museum, part ii., Anomura, Fasciculus I.
Pagurides, Dr. A. Alcock, F.R.S., 317; Crustacea from
Lakes Tanganyika, Nyasa, and Victoria Nyanza, Dr.
W. T. Calman, 526

Crystallography: the Linear Force of Growing Crystals,
G. F. Becker and A. L. Day, 108-9; Crystalline Struc-
ture of Electro-deposited Copper, Prof. A. K. Hunting-
ton, 117; Determination of the Angle between the Optic
Axes of a Crystal in Parallel Polarised Light, Dr. J. W.
Evans, 166; Crystallisation of Drops of Potash-alum, J.
Chevalier, 167; Kristallinische Flussigkeiten und flussige
Kristalle, Rudolf Schenck, 242; Die neuere Entwicke-
lung der Kristallographie, Dr. H. Baumhauer, 340;
Studies in Crystallisation, Sodium Nitrate, H. A. Miers
and J. Chevalier, 358; Comparative Crystallographic
Study of the Perchlorates and Permanganates of the
Alkalis and the Ammonium Radical, T. V. Barker, 624

Crystals, Cheirality of Form of, of Epsom Salt, Dr. H. C.
Pocklington, 270

Cuffe (O. F. Wheeler), Sounding Stones, 464

Cunnington (W. A.), the Third Tanganyika Expedition,
310

Cunynghame (H.), a Geometrical Political Economy, 386

Curie (Mme.), Diminution of the Radio-activity of Polo-
nium with Time, 359

Curie (Prof. Pierre), Death and Obituary Notice of, 612

Currents in the Straits of Messina, Prof. Platania, 621

Curry (Dr. C. E.), the Electromagnetic Theory of Light,
316

Curtis (Dr. H. D.), a Catalogue of Spectroscopic Binaries,
352

Customs and Festivals, Old, W. Semple, 582

Cygnus, the Annular Nebula in (N.G.C. 6894), G. Tikhoff,

395
Czapek (Prof. Dr. Fr.), Biochemie der Pflanzen, 193

Dairy Analysis, the Laboratory Book of, H. Droop Rich-
mond, 558

Dale (T. N.), Geology of the Hudson Valley between the
Hoosic and the Kinderhook, 376

Dale (W.), Palzolithic Implements from the neighbour-
hood of Southampton, 503

Daly (R. A.), Association of Granophyre with Gabbro, 17

Damond (E.), Preparation of Racemic Amyl Alcohol, 119

Danish Fishery Investigations, the, Jas. Johnstone, 434

Lndex

Darton (N. H.), Preliminary Report on the Geology and
Underground Water Resources of the Central Great
Plains, 593

Darzens (Georges), a General Method for the Synthesis of
aB-Glycidic Esters and of Ketones, 96; Preparation of
Glycidic Ethers and of Aldehydes in the Hexahydro-
aromatic Series, 528

Date of Easter, Formula for finding the, Chas. Leigh, 535

Davalque (Gustave), Death of, 543

Davenport (Cyril), Leather for Libraries, 53

Davila (Ch.), the Density of Nitric Oxide, the Atomic
Weight of Nitrogen, 119

Davis (Prof.), on the Geographical Cycle in Arid Areas, 20

Davis (Prof. W. M.), on the Sculpture of Mountains by
Glaciers, gt

Davis (Theodore M.), Important Egyptian Finds of, 36

Davison (Dr. Charles), the Doncaster Earthquake of April
23, 1905, 141; the San Francisco Earthquake of April 18,
608

Dawson (W. Bell), Canadian Tides, 618

Day (A. L.), the Linear Force of Growing Crystals, 108-9

Dean (F. W.), American Practice in Refrigeration, 122

Deerr (Noél), Sugar and the Sugar Cane, 75

Delage (Yves), Influence of some Factors on Experimental
Parthenogenesis, 262; Capture of a Whale (genus Kogia)
near Roscoff, 359

Delépine (Marcel), Decomposition of Ammonium Sulph:
by Hot Sulphuric Acid in the Presence of Platinum, 1
Solution of Platinum in Sulphuric Acid, 192; Actio
Hot Sulphuric Acid on Salts of Platinum and Iridiv
the Presence of Sulphate of Ammonium, 504

Delpino (the late Prof. Federico), M. Borzi, 277 |

Denier (M.), Toxin and Antitoxin of Cholera, 528 e-

Denison (Dr. R. B.), the Accurate Measurement of | ar
Velocities, 166

Dennett (F. C.), Magnetic Storms and Aurorae, 152

Denning (W. F.), the Meteors of Biela’s Comet, 64; C.
1905c, 208; Fireball of January 27, 1906, 427; a 4
liant Fireball, 474; the April Meteors, 560; New Spot
Jupiter, 584, 607

Deposits on Telephone Wires, A Subscriber, 270

Design, Essays on Evolution and, Prof. John Young, 556

Deslandres (H.), Photography of the Solar Protuberances
with Coloured Screens during the Eclipse of August 30,
1905, 576; the Continuous Spectrum of the Chromo-
sphere, 5a2

Despaux (M.), Explication méchanique de la Matiére de
PElectricité et du Magnétisme, 51

Despecher (Jules), Death of, 321

Destructive Effects of Lightning? What Causes the, Sir
Samuel Wilks, Bart., F.R.S., 296

Deutscher Kamera Almanach, 1906, Fritz Loescher, 318

Developer, Phosphorescence of Pyro-soda, T. A. Vaughton,
389

Dewar (Sir James), the Physical and Chemical Properties
of Iron Carbonyl, 188

Dexler (Mr.), the Dugong, 373

Diabetes: Extract of the Duodenal Mucous Membrane
Counteracts, Drs. Moore, Edie, and Abram, 474; Pro-
tective Mechanism against Excess of Alkali, Drs. Edie
and Whitley, 474

Diels (L.), Fragmenta Phytographiz Australie Occiden-
talis, 149

Diels (Otto), a New Oxide of Carbon, 452

Diffraction Gratings, Replicas of, R. J. Wallace, 21;
Thomas Thorp, 79; the Writer of the Note, 79

Diffusion of Solids, the, John H. Howell, 464

Digby (W. P.), Relation of Stability to Electrochemical
Efficiency in Hypochlorite Production, 117

Dillon (T.), Sounding Stones, 270

Dinosaur, a Large-headed, C. W. Gilmore, 228

“Discovery,” the Voyage of the, Capt. R. F. Scott, Prof.
J. W. Gregory, F-R.S., 2097

Disease, Insects as Carriers of, A. E. Shipley, F.R.S., at
the British Association Meeting at Pretoria, 235

Disease, the Wastage in Armies by, Prof. R. T. Hewlett,
105

Diseases, Minnesota Plant, Dr. E. M. Freeman, 291

Disinfection on Ship-board, Methods of Rat Destruction
and, Drs. Haldane and Wade, 619

Disintegration, Atomic, Prof. W. Meigen, 389

le.

Nature.
June 14, 1906.

Diurnal Variation of JIonisation in Closed Vessels, Dr.
O. W. Richardson, 607

Divers (E.), the Rusting of Iron, 118

Doberck (Prof.), the Orbit of o Corone Borealis, 39; |
Double Star Orbits, 305 |

Doncaster (L.), Recent Work on Gamitrogenesis and _ it:

Bearing on Theories of Heredity, 39; Colour-Inheritance
in Rats, 191; Breeding Experiments with , Lepidoptera,

454
Dornan (Rev. S. S.), on the Geology of Basutoland, 92
Dorsey (Dr. G. A.), the Cheyenne, 300; Traditions of thc
Caddo, 317
Double Star Orbits, Prof. Doberck, 305
Double Stars, Measures of, Messrs. Lewis,
Bowyer, 208
Double Stars, Micrometer Measures of, Dr. H. E. Lau,
232; Struve and Dr. H. E. Lau, 495
Douglass (Hon. Arthur), on Ostrich-farming, 39
Dowling (Commander R.), Ships and Shippings, 150
Dreaper (W. P.), Coagulating Actions of Colloids, 479
Droysen (J. G.), Erhebung der Geschichte zum Rang einer
Wissenschaft, 307; Grundriss der Historik, 307
Drugman (J.), Explosive Combustion of Hydrocarbons, 551
du Toit (A. L.), on the Stormberg Formation in Cape
Colony, 90
Dubard (Marcel), Morphology of Aérial Bulbs, 96
Dublin Royal Society, 215, 358, 383, 599
tuboin (A.), Calcium Iodomercurates, 408 ; Iodomercurates
of Calcium ard Strontium, 480
dley (W. M.), Carbondale, Pennsylvania, Tornado of

Furner, and

C igust 30, 1905, 423 ‘
C an (Dr. R. S.), Catalogue of Pleiades Stars, 617
gar (Prof. B. M.), Present-day Problems of Plant
Co ysiology, 253; Better Methods of Propagation of
“ .-shrooms, 276
oe s2m (P.), Les Origines de la Statique, Supp. to Novem-

c 30, ix.

mont (J.), Influence of Different Kinds of Light Radia-
sons on the Migration of the Albumenoids in the Wheat
, Grain, 48

Dunlap (Orrin E.), Canadian Electric Power Stations at
Niagara, 161

Dunstan (A. E.), Elementary Experimental Chemistry, 3

Dunstan (M. J. R.), Agriculture and the Empire, 511

Durnford (Lieut.-Col. C. D.), the Flight of
Fishes, 373

Durrant (R. G.), Green Compounds of Ccbalt Produced
by Oxidising Agents, 118

Dyeing, Battack Printing in Java, J. Allan, 455

Dymond (T. S.), Chemistry in Rural Secondary Schools,
583

Dynamics: Elementary Dynamics, W. M. Baker, 245:
the Dynamics of Particles and of Rigid, Elastic, and
Fluid Bodies, Prof. Arthur Gordon Webster, 555

Flying

Earp (Rowland A.), Aurora of November 15, 79

Earth, the Age of the, and other Geological Studies, W. J.
Sollas, F.R.S., 513

Earth Tremors in India, Prof. W. Galloway, 464

Earth’s History, a Metrical and Pictorial Record of the,

2

Earth’s Internal Heat, Radio-activity of Ordinary Matter
in connection with the, Hon. R. J. Strutt, F.R.S., 173

Earthquakes in Italy, 13; Earthquake in Manchester, 106;
Mount Athos Earthquake of November 8, 132; Antarctic
Earthquakes, Observations made with Horizontal Pen-
dulum in the Antarctic Regions, Prof. J. Milne, F.R.S.,
at Royal Society, 210; the Colombian Earthquake, 395;
Earthquake at Buenaventura, Colombia, 421; The Kangra
Earthquake of April 4, 1905, 418; Earthquake at She-
makha, Baku, 421; at Fort de France, 421: at St.
Lucia, 421; Earthquake in Bashahr, 469; in Formosa,
490; in South Formosa, 589; the San Francisco Earth-
quake of April 18, 613, 614; Dr. C. Davison, 608; Earth-
quake at Sarajevo, 613; at Oregon, 613; Earthquake in
New Zealand and Australia, 614; Earthquake Origins,
Major E. G. Harboe, R. D. Oldman, 620

Easter, Formula for finding the Date of, Chas. Leigh, 535

Eastman (C. R.), Affinities to Lung-Fishes of the Arthro-
dira, 422

Index

| Eclipses :

XVii

Ebell (M.), Comet 1905b, 109, 136, 160; Comet 1906@
(Brooks), 375, 400, 425, 494; Comet 1906b, 474, 544
Eberhard (Dr. G.), Remarkable Variation in the Spectrum
of ¢ Bodotis, 474

Eckel (E. C.), Cement Materials and Industry, 376;

Cements, Limes, and Plasters: their Materials, Manu-

factures and Properties, 457

Italian Observations of the Recent Solar Eclipse,
Cl. Rozet, 38; the Total Splar Eclipse of August 30,
J. Y. Buchanan, F.R.S., 173; Eclipse Spectra, M. Salet,
208; lonisation of the Atmosphere during Total Solar
Eclipse, Charles Nordmann, 208; Magnetic Observations
during the Total Eclipse of the Sun, Father P. Cirera,
400; Eclipse Observations at Catania, 495; the Solar
Eclipse of 1905, Dr. W. J. S. Lockyer, 537; Effect of
Solar Eclipse on Fish, A. Mosely, 584; a la Poursuite
d’une Ombre, Prof. Moye, 606; Employment of Selenium
Cells during Total Solar Eclipse, 617; Publications of the
U.S. Naval Observatory, American Observations of the
Total Solar Eclipses of 1900 and 1901, Rear-Admiral
Colby M. Chester, Dr. William J. S. Lockyer, 486; the
Total Solar Eclipse of the. Sun of January, 1907,
Prof. David Todd, 617; a Lunar Theory from Ob-
servation, Dr. P. H. Cowell, 80; the Lunar Eclipse of
February 8th, Dr. Wilson, 545; M. Quénisset, 545;
Measurements of Linné during the Total Eclipse of the
Moon, Prof. E. C. Pickering, 569; R. H. Frost, 569

Economic Geology in the United States, 306

Economie Forestiére, G. Huffel, 605

Economy, Commercial, in Steam and other Thermal Power
Plants as Dependent upon Physical. Efficiency, Capital
Charges, and Working Costs, Prof. Robert H. Smith,
338

Economy in Nutrition, Physiological, 328

Edie (Dr.), Protective Mechanism against Excess of Alkali,
474; Extract of the Duodenal Mucous Membrane
Counteracts Diabetes, 474

Edinburgh Royal Society, 119, 215, 239, 358, 383, 575

Edmunds (W.), Sound and Rhythm, 483

Education: Some Chracteristics of American Universities,
Address at University of Wales, Aberystwyth, Principal
H. R. Reichel, 44; Higher Education at the Cape, 110°
Secondary Schools and Endowments, 178; New Build-
ings of the Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical
College, 208; Technical Education for Fishermen, 211 ;
Agricultural Education and Colonial Development, 250 ;
Agricultural Education and Colonial Development, Dr. J.
Walter Leather, 485; the Training of the Body and
Mind, Wilfred Mark Webb, 259; Physical Training in
Elementary Schools, Colonel Malcolm Fox, 259; Educa-
tion in Connection with the Threefold Character of Man,
Sir Lauder Brunton, 259; Physical Exercises in the
Infant Department, Dr. Kerr, 260; Medical Inspection
and Feeding of Children in Schools, 286; the Possi-
bility of Introducing a Comprehensive Syllabus of Scien-
tific Teaching within the Time Limits of a Classical
Curriculum, Rev. W. Madeley, 309; the Present State
of the Army Examinations, J. Talbot, 309; the Royal
College of Science, 344, 442; Practical Science for
Schools, Presidential Address Delivered before the Phy-
sical Society by Prof. J. Perry, F.R.S., 402; the Place of
Polytechnics in Education, Sir Norman Lockyer, K.C.B.,
F.R.S., at Borough Polytechnic Institute, 521; on Pro-
fessional Education with Special Reference to Medicine,
an Address delivered at King’s College, London, on
October 3, 1905, Prof. T. Clifford Allbutt, F.R.S., 530:
Report of the Education Committee of the London
County Council submitting the Report of the Medical
Officer (Education) for the year ending March 31, 1905
Physical Condition of Children in Elementary Schools,
Dr. Kerr, 548; Dangers of Teaching Elementary Chem-
istry to Children, 544; Chemistry in Rural Schools,
Prof. R. Meldola, F.R.S., 558; T. S. Dymond, 583;
see also British Association

Edwards (W. H.), Nitranilines and Nitrophenols, 382

Eggs: the Toxicity of Eggs, Gustave Loisel, 72; Ootheca
Wolleyana, an Illustrated Catalogue of the Collection of
Birds’ Eggs formed by the late John Wolley, Prof.
Alfred Newton, 387; Eggs of the Native Birds of Britain
and List of British Birds, Past and Present, W. J.-
Gordon, 387

XVUl

Index

Nature,
June 14, 19c6

Egypt: Erosive Effect of the Discharge from the Assouan
Dam, 16; Use of Platinum Resistance Thermometers in
Determining the Temperature of the Air at Helwan,
E. B. H. Wade, 107

Egyptology: Important Egyptian Finds of Theodore M
Davis, 36; a Remarkable Discovery in Egypt, 468

Eisen (Dr. G.), the Extinct Indians of the Santa Barbara
Islands, 567

Ekman (W. Walfrid), Influence of the Earth’s Rotation
on Ocean Currents, 86

Electricity: Sammlung Schubert xlii., Theorie der Elec-
trizitat und des Magnetismus, Prof. Dr. J. Classen, 4;
Terminology in Electro-Physiology, Dr. David Fraser

Harris, 5; Prof. J. S. MacDonald, 28; Dr. A. D.
Waller, F.R.S., 78; Dr. George J. Burch, F.R.S.,
78; Memorial Bust of the late Dr. Joule un-
veiled, 14; the Chelsea Power Station, Richard
F. Chaffer at the Institution of Electrical En-

gineers, 20; Ergebnisse und Probleme der Elektronen-
theorie, Prof. H. A. Lorentz, Dr. H. A. Wilson, 27;
Die Elektrischen Bogenlampen deren Prinzip, Konstruk-
tion und Anwendung, J. Zeidler, H. Bohle, 27; Influ
ence of the Size of Crystals of Mercurous Sulphate on
its Relations to Electromotive Force, H. V. Steinwehr,
37; the’ Centrifugal Process for Increasing the Rate of
Deposition of Electrolytic Copper, Sherard Cowper-
Coles, 37; the Theory of Phasemeters, Dr. W. E
Sumpner, 47; Dissymmetry of the Loss of Electricity
in Mountainous Countries, Bernard Brunhes and Alber
Baldit, 48; Explication méchanique de la Matiére dé
l’Electricité et du Magnétisme, M.° Despaux, 51; Pro-
gress of the Telegraph and Telephone Industries during
Recent Years, John Gavey, C.B., 58; Electrochemical
Behaviour of Thorium X., F. von Lerch, 62; Electrical
Conductivity of Selenium, Maurice Coste, 72; the Gal-
vanotropic Irritability of Roots, Dr. Alfred J. Ewart and
Jessie S. Bayliss, 94; a Dynamometric Brake for
measuring the Power of Motors, A. Krebs, 96; Alternate
Current Electrolysis, Prof. E. Wilson, 117; Alternate
Current Electrolysis as shown by Oscillograph Records,
W. R. Cooper, 117; Crystalline Structure of Electro-
deposited Copper, Prof. A. K. Huntington, 117; Rela-
tion of Stabiiity to Electrochemical Efficiency in Hypo-
chlorite Production, W. P. Digby, 117; Portable Gold-
Leaf Electrometer for Low or High Potentials, C. T. R.
Wilson, 118; Conductivity of Concentrated Aqueous Solu-
tion of Electrolytes, Prof. J. Gibson, 119; La Bobine
d’Induction, H. Armagnat, 124; Transit of Ions in the
Electric Arc, A. A. Campbell Swinton, 141; Dielectric
Strength of Air, A. Russell, 142; Electrical Conductivity
of Flames for Rapidly Alternating Currents, Dr. H. A.
Wilson and E. Gold, 142; Magnetism and Electricity
for Students, H. E. Hadley, 146; Canadian Electric
Power Stations at Niagara, Orrin. E. Dunlap, 161; Elec-
trical Conductivity of Dilute Solutions of Sulphuric
Acid, W. C. D. Whetham, F.R.S., 166; the Theory of
Experimental Electricity, W. C. D. Whetham, Maurice
Solomon, 169; Electric Railways, Theoretically and
Practically Treated, S. W. Ashe and J. D. Keiley,
Maurice Solomon, 169; Modern Electric Practice,
Maurice Solomon, 169; Death of Lewis Wright, 178;
Effect of Hydrogen on the Discharge of Electricity from
Hot Platinum, O. W. Richardson, 191; the Residual
Electromotive Force of the Carbon Arc, G. G. Beck
nell, 207; the Ions of Pure Water, Prof. J. Walker, 215;
Effect of Electric Oscillations on the Magnetic Proper-
ties of Iron, J. Russell, 216; Electrical Measurements
on Metals, Dr. C. E. Fawsitt, 216; Spectra of the
Different Phases of the Electric Spark, G. A. Hemsa-
lech, 263; Kathodic Pulverisations, Ch. Maurain, 262°
What Causes the Destructive Effects of Lightning?, Sir
Samuel Wilks, Bart., F.R.S., 296; the Electromagnetic
Theory of Light, Dr. C. E. Curry, 316; Modern Light-
ning Conductors, Killingworth Hedges, 340; the Electric
Production of Nitrates from the Atmosphere, Prof, Syl-
vanus P. Thompson, F.R.S., at Royal Institution, 355;
Influence of the Rays of Radium on the Resistance of
Certain Solid and Liquid Dielectrics, Prof. A. Righi,
375; Electromagnetic Mass, Prof. A. W. Conway, 383;
the Metallic Arc in High Vacua, R. E. Loving, 399;
Behaviour of Platinum and Iridium in Chlorine Water

and in Dilute Hydrochloric Acid, 403; Photographic
Study of the Duration of Discharge in a Crookes’ Tube,
André Broca and M. Turchini, 431; Electrical Conduc-
tivity of Solutions of Potassium Jodides in Liquid Iodine,
Gilbert N. Lewis and Plumer Wheeler, 473; Some Ap-
plications of the Theory of Electric Discharge through
Gases to Spectroscopy, Prof. J. J. Thomson, F.R.S., at
Royal Institution, 495; Production of an Electrically
Conductive” Glass, Charles E. S. Phillips, 512; Mechan-
ism of the Positive Light, P. Villard, 527; Les Quan-
tités Elémentaire d’Electricité: Ions, Electrons, Cor-
puscles, Dr. O. W. Richardson, 529; Spectral Series in
Relation to Ions, Dr. J. Stark, 533; Wireless Telegraphy
from Coney Island Station, 540; Cooper-Hewitt Lamp
as a Source of Monochromatic Light, Ch. Fabry and H.
Buisson, 551; Unilateral Electric Conductivity over
Damp Surfaces, Prof. F. TI. Trouton, 575; Oscillation
Valves for Rectifying High-Frequency Electric Currents,
Prof. J. A. Fleming, 575; the Magnetic Inertia of
Charged Conductor in a Field of Force, Oliver Heavi-
side, F.R.S., 582; Analysis of Atmospheric Electricity
Results at Kew, Dr. C. Chree, F.R.S., 623

Elektronentheorie, Ergebnisse und Probleme der,
H. A. Lorentz, Dr. H. A. Wilson, 27

Eliot (Sir John, F.R.S.), a Preliminary Investigation of
the More Important Features of the Meteorology of
Southern Asia, the Indian Ocean, and Neighbouring
Countries during the Period 1892-1902, 136.

Elles (Miss G. L.), the Highest Silurian Rocks of the
Ludlow District, 312

Elliot (Prof. G. F. Scott), Plants that Aid in the Forma-
tion of Alluvial Flats in the Valleys of Aconcagua and
La Plata Rivers, 447

Emmerling (Prof. Adolf), Death and Obituary Notice of,
589

Emperor Penguin, Life History of the, Edward A. Wii-
son, at Royal Institution, 211

Empire, Agriculture and the, Sir W. T. Thiselton-Dyer,
K.C.M.G., F.R.S., 488; M. J. R. Dunstan, 511

Engineering: An Introduction to the Design of Beams,
Girders, and Columns in Machines and Structures, with
Examples in Graphic Statics, W. H. Atherton, 1;
Mechanics for Engineers, a Text-book of Intermediate
Standard, Arthur Morley, 1; Garden Cities in Theory
and Practice, A. R. Sennett, 2; the Engineer’s Unit of
Force, D. J. Carnegie, 6, 54; The Reviewer, 6, 54, 174°
Prof. G. H. Bryan, F.R.S., 174; the’ Chelsea Power
Station, Richard F. Chaffer at the Institution of Elec-
trical Engineers, 20; Mechanics of Materials, Mansfield
Merriman, 25; die Vermessungs- und Absteckungs-
Arbeiten fiir den Simplon Tunnel, Prof. C. Koppe, 30;
Progress of the Telegraph and Telephone Industries dur-
ing Recent Years, John Gavey, C.B., 58; Surveying Work
of the Simplon Tunnel, Francis Fox, 84; a Dynamo-
metric Brake for Measuring the Power of Motors, A.

Prof.

Krebs, 96; Le Chauffage des Habitations par Caloriféres, -

M. Raymond Périssé, 100; Properties of a Series of
Iron-Nickel-Manganese-Carbon Alloys, Dr. H. C. H.
Carpenter, R. A. Hadfield, and Percy Longmuir, 108;
the Evolution of the Steam-Turbine, Hon. Charles A.
Parsons, C.B., F.R.S., and G. G. Stoney, 157; Electric
Railways, Theoretically and Practically Treated, S. W.
Ashe and J. D. Keiley, Maurice Solomon, 169 ; Dam under
Construction at Niagara Falls, 181; Civil Engineering, a
Text-book for a Short Course, Lieut.-Colonel G. J
Fiebeger, 196; the Panama Canal, 198; National
Engineering and Trade Lectures, 217; British Progress
in Municipal Engineering, W. H. Maxwell, 217; British
Progress in Pumps and Pumping Engines, P. R. Bjér-
ling, 217; British Progress in Gas Works’ Plant and
Machinery, C. E. Brackenbury, 217; Behaviour of Mate-
rials of Construction under Pure Shear, E. G. Izod, 231;
the Disaster at Charing Cross Station, 275 ; Commercial
Economy in Steam and other Thermal Power Plants as
Dependent upon Physical Efficiency, Capital Charges,
and Working Costs, Prof. Robert H. Smith, 338: the
Elastic Fluid Turbine, R. M. Nelson, 350; Sea Coast
Protection, 369; Engineering Chemistry, a Manual of
Quantitative Chemical Analysis for the Use of Students,
Chemists, and Engineers, Thomas B. Stillman, 387;
Coal Consumption of the United Kingdom, G. T. Beilby,

Nature,
June 14, 1906

Lndex

XIX

398; Investigations and Commercial Tests in Connection
with the Work of an Engineering College, Prof. D. S
Jacobus, 406; Smoke Abatement, a Manual for the Use
of Manufacturers, Inspectors, Medical Officers of Health,
Iengineers, and Others, William Nicholson, 411 ; Death «
Carl Heinrich Von Siemens, 540; Heat and Steam
(Elementary), an Introductory Supplement to a Text
book of Marine Engineering for the Use of Nava!
Officers, Engineer-Commander Tompkins, 557; Messrs.
Richardson, Westgarth ond Co,’s New Form of Con-
denser, Prof. R. S. Weighton, 572; Motor-car Mechan-
ism and Management, the Petrol Car, W, Poynter Adams,
580; see also British Association

England: the Survey Atlas of England and Wales, J. G.
Bartholomew, 218; the Evolution of an English Town,
being the Story of the Ancient Town of Pickering in
Yorkshire, Gordon Home, 538; the Growth of Beet-
sugar in England, 539

Engler (Prof.), on the Floras of Tropical Africa, 163

English (D.), Beasties Courageous, Studies of Animal Life
and Characters, 177

Entomology: Entomological Society, 23, 117, 167, 214
430, 526, 575, 598; Annual General Meeting of, 302;
the Supposed Numerical Preponderance of the Males ir
Odonata, R. J. Tillyard, 24; Accessory Glands to thc
Silk-producing Apparatus of the Larve of Io Irene, L.
Bordas, 48; Panurgus morricet, a New Species of Bee,
Rey. F. D. Morice, 117; the Tsetse-Fly and its Try-
panosome, W. Baker, 118; the Seat of the Recognition-
Sense among Ants, H. Piéron, 134; the Mexican Cotton-
Boll Weevil, Messrs. Hunter and Hinds, 158; the Cotton
Bollworm, A. L. Quaintance and C. T. Brues, Fred. V.
Theobald, 257; the Mexican Cotton-Boll Weevil, W. D.
Hunter and W. E. Hinds, Fred. V. Theobald, 257; the
Romance of Insect Life, Edmund Selous, 172; the Habits
of Bees and the Colours of Flowers, Gaston Bonnier,
191; American Insects, Vernon L. Kellogg, 292; Com-
parative Studies in the Psychology of Ants and of Higher
Animals, E. Wassmann, Lord Avebury, F.R.S., 315;
the “Borer” Beetle, E. P. Stebbing, 323; Bark-Boring
Beetles in Pine-Forests, E. P. Stebbing, 348; Agriculture
in the Trans-Caucasus for the Year 1905, Ravages o!
Locusts, Consul Stevens, 324; the Effect of Food on the
Colour of Moths, Prof. T. D. A. Cockerell, 341; Insect
Enemies of Insect Pests, Mr. Compere, 373; W. S. Har-
wood, 373; the Felted Beech Coccus, Cryptococcus fagi,
397; Stick Insect, O. viridipes, Prof. Rehn, 397; th
Bees of Australia, Prof. T. D. A. Cockerell, 439; the
Intelligence of Animals, Prof. W. Galloway, 440; Breed-
ing Experiments with Lepidoptera, L. Doncaster and
Rey. G. H. Raynor, 454; Influence of Temperature on
Insects, F. Merrifield, 516; Argynnis niobe from the
Pyrenees, Cevennes, and South Tyrolese Mountains, H.
Rowland-Brown, 526 ;the Lepidoptera of the British Islands,
Charles G. Barrett, 532; Calcara Observed on the Legs
of Some Hymenoptera, Rey. F. D. Morice, 598

Epsom Salt, Cheirality of Form of Crystals of, Dr. H. C.
Pocklington, 270

Equations of the Wave Theory, the, 241

Equatorial Observations, Reduction Tables
Frederick, 18

Equilibration of the Eyes, Sea-sickness and, Alfred Sang,
oe Dr. John Aitken, F.R.S., 560; Geoffrey Martin,
504

Erkenntnis und Irrtum, Prof.
November 30, vii.

Eros Comparison Stars,
Fritz Cohn, 305

Eros, Observations of, 375

Errera (Prof.), the Oxlip, 374

Eruption of Vesuvius, the, 565, 588; see also Volcanoes

Escombe (F.), Untersuchungen tb. d. Einwerkung Schwe-
fliger Sdure auf die Pflanzen, Prof. Dr. A. Wieler, 385 ;
Biochemie der Pflanzen, Prof. Dr. Fr. Czapek, 193;
Corr., 341

Esquisse d’une Théorie biologique du Sommeil, Dr. Ed.
Claparéde, 293

Ethnology : Expedition to the Andes, Baron Erland Nor-
denskjold, 34; Everyday Life among the Head-hunters,
and other Experiences from East to West, Dorothy Cator,
203; Oraibi Natal Customs and Ceremonies, H. R.

for, ©; W.-

Ernest Mach, Supp. tc

Right Ascensions of the, Dr.

Voth, 300; the Cheyenne, Dr. G. A. Dorsey, goo; the
Bontoc Igorot, Albert Ernest Jenks, Dr. A. C. Haddon,
F.R.S.,.584; Negritos of Zamabales, William Allan Reea,
Dr. A. ‘C. Haddon, F.R.S., 584; the Nabaloi Dialect,
Otto Scheerer, Dr. A. C. Haddon, F.R.S., 584; the
Bataks of Palawan, Edward Y. Miller, Dr. A. C. Had-
don, F.R.S., 584

Euahlayi Tribe, the, a Study of Aboriginal Life in Aus-
tralia, W. Langloh Parker, 610

Europe: Travels of a Naturalist in Northern Europe,
Norway, 1871, Archangel, 1872, Petchora, 1875, J. A.
Harvie-Brown, 50

[Europe and Asia, Mast and Sail in, H. Warington Smyth,
Sir W. H. White, K.C.B., F.R.S., 536

Evans (Dr. J. W.), the Rocks of the Cataracts of the
River Madeira, 141; Determination of the Angle between
the Optic Axes of a Crystal in Parallel Polarised Light,
166

Evans (Dr. John W.), the Origin of Bronze, 414

Evans (J. B. P.), Infection Phenomena in the Uredinez,
16

Bolton the Evolution of the Solar System, F. R. Moul-
ton, 87; Organic Evolution, C. W. Saleeby, 99; Colour-
inheritance in Rats, L. Doncaster, 191; Nebula to Man,
Henry R. Knipe, 342; Geschichte der biologischen
Theorie, seit dem Ende des siebzehnten Jahrhunderts,
Dr. Em. Radl, 435; Essays on Evolution and Design.
Prof. John Young, 556; Kinesis the Main Factor in
Evolution of Organisms, O. F. Cook, 616

Evolution of an English Town, the, being the Story of the
Ancient Town of Pickering in Yorkshire, Gordon Home,

8

Peon (Dr. Alfred J.), the Galvanotropic Irritability of
Roots, 94

Ewart (Prof.), the Tarpan and its Relationship with Wild
and Domestic Horses, 119

Excavations in the Near East, 1904-5, British, 102

Exploration of the Atmosphere over the Tropical Oceans,
the, Dr. A. L. Rotch and L. Teisserenc de Bort, 54

Exploration, Polar, 356

Explosives: Researches on Explosives, Sir Andrew Noble,
Bart., K.C.B., F.R.S., 116; New Methods of Testing
Explosives, C. E. Bichel, 194; Die Explosivstoffe mit
besondere Berucksichtigung der Neuren Potente die
Schiessbaumwolle (Nitrocellulosen), Dr. Richard Escales,
364; Ignition of Nitro-compound Explosives in Small
Arm Cartridges, W. D. Borland, 525

Extinct Animals, Prof. E. Ray Lankester, F.R.S., 6

Eyes, Sea-sickness and Equilibration of the, Alfred Sang,
511; Dr. John Aitken, F.R.S., 560; Geoffrey Martin,

584

Fabry (Charles), Intrinsic Brightness of the Solar Corona
during the Eclipse of August 30, 1905, 167; the In-
trinsic Light of the Corona, 182; Cooper-Hewitt Lamp
as a Source of Monochromatic Light, 551.

Faint Stars, a Systematic Study of, Prof. Pickering, 545

Falkland Island Fox, the, R. N. Rudmose-Brown, 365

Faraday Society, 117, 214

Farina (R.), Prospecting in the Transbaikalian Goldfields,
398

Farlow (Prof. W. G.), the Popular
Scientific Man, 403

Fawsitt (Dr. C. E.), Electrical Measurements on Metals,
216

Feeding of Children in Schools, Medical Inspection and,
286

Feilden (Col. H. W., C.B.), the Stone Age of the Zambesi
Valley, and its Relation in Time, 77

Feilman (Dr.), Milk and Copper, 399

Fenton (Dr.), an Indicator for Strong Acids and Bases,

Conception of the

527

Ferber (Captain), Mathematical Investigation of Motions
of Aéroplanes and Aérocurves, 350

Fertilisers, Soils and, Prof. H. Snyder, 266

Fessenden (Prof. Reginald A.), Chinese Names of Colours,
390; Method of Producing Waves of Frequency Inter-
mediate between Heat Waves and Hertzian Waves, 428

Festivals, Old Customs and, W. Semple, 582

Fever, Mediterranean, 550

XX Index

Fiebeger (Lieut.-Col. G. J.), Civil Engineering, a Text-
book for a Short Course, 196

Field Columbian. Museum, Recent Ethnological Publica-
tions from the, 300

Fighting Man of Japan, the, F. J. Norman, 271

Figure of the Sun, the, Dr. C. L. Poor, 279

Finsen’s (Dr.) Light-treatment of Disease, Dr.
Pernet, 323

Fire near Mount Wilson Observatory, the, 326; Prof. Hale,
375

Fire Prevention, Experimental Tests of the Fire Resistance
of Concrete Floors, 617

Fireball, a Brilliant, Mr. Denning, 474

Fireball of January 27, 1906, W. F. Denning, 427

First Steps in Quantitative Analysis, J. C. Gregory, 293

Firth (Prof. C. W.), a Plea for the Historical Teaching of
History, 307

Fischer (Prof. Emil), Studies on the Synthesis of Peptides
and Proteids, 519

Fish, Effect of Solar Eclipse on, A. Mosely, 584

Fisher (Prof. W. R.), Forestry in Belgium, 186

Fisher (Rev. O.), a Well-sinking at Graveley, 118

Fisheries: Report on Fishery and Hydrographical Investi-
gations in the North Sea and Adjacent Waters, 1902-3,
J. Johnstone, 255; Method of Studying the Distribution
and Seasonal Fluctuations of Fishes, Dr. Fulton, 256;
Experiments on the Marking and Liberation of Living
Fishes, Mr. Garstang, 256; Transplantation of Fishes,
Mr. Garstang, 257; Meddelelser fra Kommissionen fra
Havundersdgelsen, Serie Hydrografi, Serie Fiskeri, Serie
Plankton, Jas. Johnstone, 434; the Pearl Fisheries of
Ceylon, Sir Henry Blake, 491; Pearling Industry of
North Australia, W. Saville-Kent, 492

Fishermen, Technical Education for, 211

Fishing: Practical Sea-fishing, a Hand-book for Sea
Anglers, P. L. Haslope, Frank Balfour Browne, 51

Fixsternsystems, Der Bau des, mit besonderer Beriicksicht-
igung der photometrischen Resultate, Prof. Hermann
Kobold, 603

Flame Cones, Oscillation of, Harold E. Temple, 512;
Prof. A. Smithells, F.R.S., 512; Prof. W. Galloway,
584

Flammarion (Camille), Thunder
Climatology of 1905, 471

Flatters (Mr.), Hand Microtome, 23

Fleming (Mrs.), Stars having Peculiar Spectra, 545

Fleming (Prof. J. A.), Oscillation Valves for Rectifying
High-frequency Electric Currents, 575

Fleming-Struthers (R. De Jersey), Condensation of Ketones
with Mercury Cyanides, 118

Fleurent (E.), the Whitening of Wheaten Flour, 335

Flint (Dr. Austin), Handbook of Physiology for Students
and Practitioners of Medicine, 269 .

Flint (Dr. James M.), the Oceanography of the Pacific,
586

Florence Cathedral, the Great Gnomon of, 258

Flowering Plants, British, the Right Hon. Lord Avebury,
604

Fog: Is London Fog Inevitable? Dr. W. N. Shaw, 493

Folklore : Traditions of the Caddo, George A. Dorsey, 3173
the Evolution of an English Town, being the Story of
the Ancient Town of Pickering in Yorkshire, Gordon
Home, 538; Old Customs and Festivals, W. Semple,
§82; Lectures on the Early History of Kingship, Dr.
J. G. Frazer, Supp. to November 30, iv

Food: the Effect of Food on the Colour of Moths, Prof.
T. D. A. Cockerell, 341; the Adulteration of Butter, C.
Simmonds, 466, 535; J. H. Lester, 535

Forbes (Dr. H. O.), on an Alleged New Monkey from the
Cameroons, 319 :

Force, the Engineer’s Unit of, D. J. Carnegie, 6, 54; The
Reviewer, 6, 54, 174; Prof. G. H. Bryan, F.R.S., 174

Ford (Sibille O.), the Araucariez, 238

Forestry : Forestry in South Africa, D. E. Hutchins, 107
in Belgium, Prof. W. R. Fisher, 186; Future Forest
Trees, A. H. Unwin, 244; the Avenues and Fruit Gar-
dens of Quetta, E. P. Stebbing, 253; Forests and Rivers,
319; the “Borer” Beetle, E. P. Stebbing, 323; Bark-
boring Beetles in Pine-forests, E. P. Stebbing, 348; the
Felted Beech Coccus, Cryptococcus fagi, 397; Method of
Rearing Young Teak Plants, R. S. Pearson, 397; Fores-

George

and Lightning, 106;

Nature,
June 14, 190

try in the United States, 475; the Yellowstone Reserve,
475; the Lincoln Reserve, 475; the Gila River Reserve,
475; the Black Locust Tree in America, Dr. Charles A.
White, 541; Economie Forestiére, G. Huffel, 605

Forster (M. O.), Benzenediazo-y -Semicarbazinocamphor
and its Derivatives, 382; Nitrogen Halides from Cam-
phoryl-y-carbamide, 479

Foster (J. R.), the Use of Gasoline in Chemical and
Physical Laboratories, 29

Foster (Sir C. Le Neve), a Treatise on Ore and Stone
Mining, 220

Foster (Sir Michael, K.C.B.), Simple Lessons on Health
for.the Use of the Young, 76

Fouche (M.), Suggested Name for Neptune’s Satellite, 182

Foulds (James), Peculiar Ice Formation, 464

Fowler (Dr.), Cheetognatha of the Siboga Expedition in
the Dutch East Indies, 381

Fowler (Prof. A.), High-level Chromospheric Lines and
their behaviour in Sun-spot Spectra, 599

Fox (Colonel. Malcolm), Physical Training in Elementary
Schools, 259

Fox (Francis), Surveying Work of the Simplon Tunnel, 84

Fox, the Falkland Island, R. N. Rudmose-Brown, 365

France: a French Book on Sport and Trapping, 26;
French Astronomical ‘‘ Annuaires,’’ 233; the Time of
France, 394; Climatology of 1905, MM. Flammarion and
Loisel, 471

Francis (F. E.), Action of Nitrogen Sulphide on Organic
Substances, 118; Benzoyl Nitrate, 262

Fraser (Captain H. A. Denholm), Survey of India, Experi-
ments made to determine the Temperature Coefficients of
Watson’s Magnetographs, 250

Frazer (Dr. J. G.), Lectures on the Early History of
Kingship, Supp. to November 30, iv

Frederick (C. W.), Reduction Tables for
Observations, 18

Freeman (Dr. E. M.), Minnesota Plant Diseases, 291

Freer (Paul C.), Scientific Research in the Philippine
Islands, Description of New Buildings, 57

Fresnel’s Theory of Double Refraction, James Walker,

Equatorial

319

Freund (Ida), the Study of Chemical Composition, an
Account of its Method and Historical Development, 74

Freund (Mr.), the Dugong, 373

Freundler (P.), Preparation of Racemic Amyl Alcohol, 119 ;
Cyclohexylacetone, 383

Friend-Pereira (J. E.), Totemism among the Khonds, 354

Fritsch (Dr. F. E.), Microscopic Aquatic Plants of our
Waters, Lecture at London Institution, 499

Fritsch (Prof. Karl von), Death of, 302

Frost (Prof.), Wave-lengths of Silictum Lines, 17; Radial
Velocities of Certain Variable Stars, 39; Nebulosity
around Nova Aquilae, 279; the Supposed Nebulosity
around Nova Aquilz No. 2, 518

Frost (R. H.), Measurements of Linné during the Total
Eclipse of the Moon, 569

Froude (J. A.), the Science of History, 307

Froude (R. E.), Yacht Measurement Rules, 572

Fry (C. B.), Great Batsmen, their Methods at a Glance,
82

Fulton (Dr.), Method of Studying the Distribution and
Seasonal Fluctuations of Fishes, 256

Functions of Real Variables, Lectures on the Theory of,
J. Pierpont, 483

Furner (Mr.), Measures of Double Stars, 208

Furness (Dr. Caroline E.), Catalogue of Stars within Two
Degrees of the North Pole, 375

Gadow (Dr. H., F.R.S.), Monotremes and Birds, 222

Galbraith (Dr. J. J.), the Temperature of the Monkey, 216

Galdieri (Dr.), Corals of Capri and Triassic Shells of
Giffoni, 327

Galloway (Prof. W.), the Landslide in the Rhymney Valley,
425; the Intelligence of Animals, 440; Earth Tremors
in India, 464; Oscillation of Flame Cones, 584

Galton (Dr. Francis, F.R.S.), Nomenclature of Kinship,
its Extension, 150; Request for Prints of Photographic
Portraits, 534

Gamble (Dr. F. W.), the Isolation of the Infecting
Organism (‘‘ Zoochlorella’’) of Convoluta roscoffensis,
117

Nature,
June 4, 1906

Index Xxi

Ganguli (A. C.), Constitution of Silver Nitrites, 189

Garden Cities in Theory and Practice, A. R. Sennett, 2

Gardiner (J. Stanley), the Percy Sladen Expedition in
H.M.S. Sealark, 43, 184; the Percy Sladen Expedition
in H.M.S. Sealark to the Indian Ocean, the Seychelles
Archipelago, 294

Gardner (Dr. Percy), the Methodical Study of Man, 307

Garstang (Mr.), Experiments on the Marking and Liber-
ation of Living Fishes, 256; Transplantation of Fishes,

257

Garstang (Dr. W.), the British Tunicata, an Unfinished
Monograph, the late Joseph Alder and the late Albany
Hancock, 508

Gas: British Progress in Gas Works’ Plant and Machinery,
C. E. Brackenbury, 217; the Control of the Gas Supply
of the Metropolis, 273; a Gas Calorimeter, C. V. Boys,
F.R.S., at Royal Society, 354; Gas for Heating and
Lighting Laboratories, Alex. Pardy, 513; Prof. Vivian
B. Lewes, 513

Ga'ses : Impossibility of Negative Impulse Waves in Gases,
Gy6z6 Zemplén, 71; some Applications of the Theory of
Electric Discharge through Gases to Spectroscopy, Prof.
J. J. Thomson, F.R.S., at Royal Institution, 495;
Diurnal Periodicity of Ionisation of Gases, Alex. Wood,
583

Gaskell (Dr. W. H., F.R.S.), on the Origin of Verte-
brates, 40

Gasoline, the Use of, in Chemical and Physical Labor-
atories, J. R. Foster, 29

Gaubert (P.), Influence of Colouring Matters on Form of
Crystals, 335

Gautier (Armand), Difficulties Presented by the Estimation
of Carbon Monoxide in Gaseous Mixtures, 455

Gautrelet (Jean), the Reaction of the Blood a Function of
Nutrition, 504

Gavey (John, C.B.), Progress of the Telegraph and Tele-
phone Industries during Recent Years, 58

Gedmuyden (Prof. H.), Magnetic Storms and Aurore, 197

Gelatin, Action of Radium Salts on, W. A. Douglas Rudge,
78
7

Gelatin Media, Action of Radium on, John Butler Burke, 5

Gelatine, Glue, and their Allied Products, Thomas Lambert,
510

Gems: Precious Stones considered in their Scientific and
Artistic Relations, Prof. A. H. Church, F.R.S., Supp. to
November 30, X

Geography: Death and Obituary Notice of Ferdinand
Baron von Richthofen, 8; Death of Major-General Sir
Charles Wilson, K.C.B., F.R.S., 14; Guide to the
Victoria Falls, F. W. Sykes, 58; Immanuel Kant,
Physische Geographie, 98; the Oxford Geographies, A. J.
Herbertson, 99; the Geography of New Zealand, P.
Marshall, 123; the Survey Atlas of England and Wales,
J. G. Bartholomew, 218; a Historical Geography of the
British Colonies, the West Indies, C. P. Lucas, C.B.,
245; Altitude of the Forest-line in the Austrian Alps,
Prof. R. Marek, 253; the Third Tanganyika Expedition,
W. A. Cunnington, 310; Polar Exploration, 356; in the
Heart of the Canadian Rockies, James Outram, 362 ;
the Making of East Yorkshire, a Chapter in Local Geo-
graphy, T. Sheppard, 364; the Nile Quest, a Record of
the Exploration of the Nile and its Basin, Sir Harry
Johnston, K.C.B., 391; Historical and Modern Atlas of
the British Empire specially prepared for Students,
C. Grant Robertson and J. G. Bartholomew, 484; Philips’
Model Atlas, 484; Table of Areas of the Orographical
Regions of England and Wales, Nora E. MacMunn, 494;
Geographical Society Medal Awards, 541; see also British
Association

Geology : Death and Obituary Notice of Ferdinand Baron
von Richthofen, 8; Death of Captain F. W. Hutton,
F.R.S., 13; Obituary Notice of, 32; Palawozoic Rocks
and Fossils of Gippsland, Messrs. Thiele, Chapman, and
Hall, 16; Association of Granophyre with Gabbro, R. A.
Daly, 17; Transactions of the South African Philo-
sophical Society, Catalogue of Printed Books, Papers,
and Maps relating to the Geology and Mineralogy of
South Africa to December 31, 1904, Miss M. Wilman, 28 ;
the Stone Age of the Zambesi Valley and its Relation in
Time, Col. H. W. Feilden, C.B., 77; Geological Features
of British New Guinea, A. Gibb Maitland, 108; a Well-

sinking at Graveley, Rev. O. Fisher, 118; Geological
Society, 141, 215, 312, 356, 381, 502, 526, 574, 623; Geo-
logical Society’s Medal Awards, 274; the Coast-ledges in
the South-west of the Cape Colony, Prof. E. H. L.
Schwarz, 141; the Glacial Period in Aberdeenshire and
the Southern Border of the Moray Firth, T. IF. Jamie-
son, 141; the Rocks of the Cataracts of the River
Madeira, Dr. J. W. Evans, 141; Geology of the Gangetic
Plain, E. Molony, 143; the Cape Geological Survey, W.
Gibson, 187; Summary of Progress of the Geological
Survey of the United Kingdom and Museum of Practical
Geology for 1904, 204; Geology of the Moose River Gold
District in Halifax, Prof. J. E. Woodman, 206; Physical
History of the Great Pleistocene Lake of Portugal, Prof-
E. Hull, 215; Geological Structure of the Sgurr of Eigg,
Dr. A. Harker, 215; Geology of the New Hebrides, D.
Mawson, 216; the Rocks of Cape Colville Peninsula,
Auckland, New Zealand, Prof. Sollas, F.R.S., 234; an
Introduction to Geology, J. E. Marr, F.R.S., Prof.
Grenville, A. J. Cole, 247; Death of Prof. Karl von
Fritsch, 302; Economic Geology in the United States,
306; Economic Geology of the United States, Heinrich
Ries, 437; Limestones of South-western Pennsylvania,
F. G. Clapp, 306; Geology of the lola Quadrangle,
Kansas, G. I. Adams, E. Haworth, and W. R. Crane, 307 ;
the Highest Silurian Rocks of the Ludlow District, Miss
G. L. Elles and Miss I. L. Slater, 312; the Carboniferous
Rocks at Rush (County Dublin), Dr. C. A. Matley, 312;
Les Variations periodiques des Glaciers, H. F. Reid and
E. Muret, 320; the Genesis of Mineral Veins, Prof. J.
F. Kemp, 324; the Scoglio di Revigliano, Prof. de
Lorenzo, 327; Granitoid and Filonian Rocks of Sardinia,
Carlo Riva, 327; the Clay-with-Flints, A. J. Jukes-Browne,
356; Footprints from the Permian of Mansfield, G. Hick-
ling, 356; the Making of East Yorkshire, a Chapter in
Local Geography, T. Sheppard, 364; Death and Obituary
Notice of T. Barron, 371; Rock Cleavage, C. K. Leith,
376; Cement Materials and Industry, E. C. Eckel, 376;
Preliminary Report on the Geology and Water Resources
of Central Oregon, I. C. Russell, 376; a Geological Re-
connaissance Across the Cascade Range, G. O. Smith
and IF. C. Calkins, 376; Geology of the Hudson Valley
between the Hoosic and the Kinderhook, T. N. Dale,
376; Report of Progress in the Geological Re-survey of
the Cripple Creek District, Colorado, Waldemar Lind-
gren and F. L. Ransome, 376; Petrography and Geology
of the Igneous Rocks of the Highwood Mountains, Mon-
tana, L. V. Pirsson, 376; Twenty-fifth Annual Report
of the U.S. Geological Survey, 1903-4, 376; Indiana
Department of Geology and Natural Resources, Twenty-
ninth Annual Report, t90q4, W. S. Blatchley, 376;
Canada, Summary Report of the Geological Survey De-
partment of Canada for the Calendar Year 1904 (1905),
376; Igneous and Associated Sedimentary Rocks of Llan-
gynog (Caermarthenshire), T. C. Cantrill and H. H.
Thomas, 381; Buttermere and Ennerdale Granophyre,
R. H. Rastall, 381; the Landslide in the Rhymney Val-
ley, Prof. W. Galloway, 425; Relation of the Law to
Underground Waters, D. W. Johnson, 426; a Treatise-
on Metamorphism, Charles Edward van Hise, 450;
Death and Obituary Notice of J. G. Goodchild, 469;
Influence of the Geological Structure of English Lake-
land upon its Present Features, Dr. J. E. Marr, F.R.S.,
502 ; Constitution of the Interior of the Earth as Revealed
by Earthquakes, R. D. Oldham, 502; the Tarannor
Series of Tarannon, Dr. Ethel M. R. Wood, 502; the
Age of the Earth and Other Geological Studies, W. J.
Sollas, F.R.S., 513; Limestone of the Lower Carboni-
ferous Series in Cannock Chase Coalfield, G. M. Cockin,
526; the Evolution of an English Town: being the Story
of the Ancient Town of Pickering in Yorkshire, Gordon
Home, 538; Geological Notes, 546; Geology of the West
of Asia Minor, Prof. Dr. A. Phillipson, 546; Geologische
Beobachtungen in den Alpen, Dr. G. Steinmann, 546;
Rocks Allied to Greisen in the Olifants River Valley,
H. Kynaston, 547; Correlation of the Members of the
Transvaal System, Prof. Schwarz, 547; Geological
Problems of Rhodesia, F. P. Mennell, 547; Chalk and’
Drift in Moéen, Rev. Edwin Hill, 574; Relations of the
Chalk and Boulder-clay near Royston, Prof. T. G.
Bonney, 5743; Catalogue of the Fossil Plants of the Glos-

XXil

sopteris Flora in the Department of Geology, British
Museum (Natural History), being a Monograph of the
Permo-Carboniferous Flora of India and Southern Hemi-
sphere, E. A. Newell Arber, A. C. Seward, F.R.S., 577;
Preliminary Report on the Geology and Underground
Water Resources of the Central Great Plains, N. H.
Darton, 593; Preliminary Report on the Geology of the
Arbuckle and Wichita Mountains in Indian Territory and
Oklahoma, J. A. Taff and H. Foster Bain, 593; Geology
of the Perry Basin in South-eastern Maine, G. O. Smith
and David White, 593; Glacial Beds in the Griqua Town
Series of Hay, A. W. Rogers, 600; Death of Dr. N. S.
Shaler, 613; Case of Unconformity and Thrust in the
Coal-measures of Northumberland, Prof. G. A. L. Lebour
and Dr, J. A. Smythe, 623; see also British Association

Geometry : Pangéométrie, ou Précis de Géométrie fondée
sur une Théorie générale et rigoureuse des Paralléles,
N. J. Lobatschewsky, 100; the First Book of Geometry,
Grace Chisholm Young and W. H. Young, 267; a
Geometrical Political Economy, H. Cunynghame, 386;
a Problem in Analytic Geometry with a Moral, Prof.
Maxime Bécher, 447; Elementary Modern Geometry,
H. G. Willis, Supp. to November 30, viii

Gewecke (H.), Philips’ Large Planisphere, 269

Giacobini (Prof.), another New Comet, 1g05¢, 160
400; Comet 1905b, 182

Giacobini, Comet 1905c, Mr. Morgan, 160; Prof. E. Millo-
sevich, 182; Prof. Hartwig, 208; E. Stromgren, 208;
Mr. Denning, 208; Mr. Backhouse, 255; R. T. Craw-
ford, 279; Dr. Jost, 279; A. Wedemeyer, 326, 351, 375,
425, 473, 544

Gibson (G.), Dust due to Eruption of Vesuvius, 614

Gibson (Harvey), Physiological Properties of West Indian
Boxwood, 474

Gibson (Prof. J.), Conductivity of Concentrated Aqueous
Solutions of Electrolytes, 119

Gibson (W.), the Cape Geological Survey, 187

Gilchrist (Dr. J. D. F.), on Cases of Extensive Mortality
among Marine Animals on the South African Coast, 39

Gilmore (C. W.), a Large-headed Dinosaur, 228

Giolitti (F.), the Coagulation of Colloidal Solutions of Ferric
Hydroxide, 278

Giran (H.), Sulphides of Phosphorus, 408

Girty (G. H.), Comparison between the Carboniferous
Faunas of Western America and those of Other Areas,
547

Glaciers, Les Variations periodiques des, H. F. Reid and
E. Muret, 320

Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College, New
Buildings of the, 208

Glass, Production of an Electrically Conductive, Charles
E. S. Phillips, 512

Glossopteris Flora, Catalogue of the Fossil Plants of the,
in the Department of Geology, British Museum (Natural
History) ; being a Monograph of the Permo-Carboniferous
Flora of India and the Southern Hemisphere, E. A.
Newell Arber, A. C. Seward, F-R:S., 577

Glow Surrounding the Lunar Crater Linné, Prof. E. E.
Barnard, 448

Glue, Gelatine, and their Allied Products, Thomas Lambert,
510

Gnomon of Florence Cathedral, the Great, 258

Godchot (M.), Lzevorotatory Lactic Acid, 456

Godfrey (C.), the Winchester Arithmetic, Supp. to Novem-
ber 30, vill

Godlewski (T.),
Uranium, 160

Goebel (Dr. K.), Oceanography of Plants, 412

Goethe's Philosophie aus seinen Werken, 98

Gold (E.), Electrical Conductivity of Flames for Rapidly
Alternating Currents, 142

Gold Field at Manhattan in Nevada, a New, 471

Golding (John), Milk and Copper, 399

Goodchild (J. G.), Death and Obituary Notice of, 469

Gordon (W. J.), Eggs of the Native Birds of Britain and
List of British Birds Past and Present, 387

Gorjanovié-Kramberger (Prof.), Relationships of the Race
of Men whose Remains have been Discovered at Krapina,
252

Gottingen Royal Society of Sciences, 360

Goursat (Edouard), a Course in Mathematical Analysis, 511

182,

,

Certain Radio-active Properties of

Index

Nature,
June 14, 1906

Gowers (Sir W. R., F.R.S.), Heat a Mode of Motion in
the Seventeenth Century, 175

Gowland (Prof. W.), Copper and its Alloys in Antiquity, 381

Graff (Dr. K.), Observations of Nova Persei (No. 2) and
Nova Geminorum, 305

Grammar of the Kafir Language, a, J. McLaren, Sir H. H.
Johnstone, K.C.M.G., 481

Grant-Duff (Sir Mountstuart E., G.C.S.I., F.R.S.), Death
and Obituary Notice of, 274

Granulations, Photographs of Solar, Prof. Hansky, 255

Granulations on the Solar Surface, Prof. A. Hansky, W. E.
Rolston, 401

Graphical Method for finding the Time of Moonrise, Fr.
W. F, J. Rigge, 208

Graphical Methods of Determining Altitudes and Azimuths,
Mr. Littlehales, 63

Gratings, Replicas of Diffraction, R. J. Wallace, 21;
Thomas Thorp, 79; the Writer of the Note, 79

Great Batsmen, their Methods at a Glance, G. W. Beldam
and C. B. Fry, 82

Great Britain and Ireland, the Mammals of, J. G. Millais,
Supp. to November 30, iii

Greenwood (R.), Influence of Increased Barometric Pres-
sure on Man, 598

Greenwood (William Henry), Death and Obituary Notice of,

34

Gregory (Dr.), on the Prevalence of Tuberculosis in South
Africa, 138; on the Nature of Scurvy as it Exists in
South Africa, 138-9

Gregory (J. C.), First Steps in Quantitative Analysis, 293

Gregory (Prof. J. W.), on the Rhodesian Banket, 91; on
the Indicators of the Goldfield of Ballarat, a Study in
the Formation of Gold Pockets, 91; the Voyage of the
Discovery, Captain R. F. Scott, 207

Gregory (Prof. R. A.), the System of the Stars, Agnes M.
Clerke, 505

Gregory (R. P.), on Some of the Problems of Heredity, 163

Grossmann (H.), Nitrogen Halides from Camphoryl-y-Car-
bamide, 475

Guam, the Useful Plants of the Island of, W. E. Safford,
221

Gudger (E. W.), Florida Pipe-fish, 205

Guignard (L.), the History of Emulsin, 2; Hydrocyanic
Principle of the Black Elder, 262; Bean Containing
Hydrocyanic Acid, Phaseolus lunatus, 479

Guillaume (Ch. Ed.), Obituary Notice of Colonel Charles
Renard, 423

Guillemard (H.), Influence of High Altitudes on the General
Nutrition, 120

Guillet (Dr. L.), the Nickel-vanadium Steels, 350

Gunn (Jeanie), the Little Black Princess, a True Tale of
Life in the Never-never Land, 155

Guntz (M.), New Mode of Preparation of Barium, 263;
Strontium, 408

Gurdon (Major P. R. T.), Ethnography in Assam, 354

Guye (Prof. P. A.), New Researches on the Atomic Weight
of Nitrogen, 37; the Density of Nitric Oxide, the Atomic
Weight of Nitrogen, 119

Gyptis, Variability of the Asteroid (444), Dr. W. Valentiner,
39

Haas (P.), Occurrence of Methane among the Decomposi-
tion Products of Certain Nitrogenous Bases as a Source
of Error in the Estimation of Nitrogen by the Absolute
Method, 551 ;

Hackett (F. E.), Secondary Radiation from Compounds, 383

Hackspill (L.), Reduction of Chlorides of Silver and Copper
by Calcium, 287

Haddon (Dr. A. C., F.R.S.), the Bontoc Igorot, Albert
Ernest Jenks, 584; Negritos of Zamabales, William Allan
Reed, 584; the Nabaloi Dialect, Otto Scheerer, 584; the
Bataks of Palawan, Edward Y. Miller, 584

Hadfield (R. A.), Properties of a Series of Iron-nickel-man-
ganese-carbon Alloys, 108

Hadley (H. E.), Magnetism and Electricity for Students, 146

Haffkine (W. M.), the Serum Therapy of Plague in India,
"368

Haga (T.), Hydroxylamine-aB-disulphonates, 382

Hahn (Dr. O.), a New Product of Actinium, 559

Halation, J. A. Cobb, 54

Se

Nature,
June ¥4, 1906

Haldane (Dr.), Methods of Rat Destruction and Disintec-
tion on Shipboard, 619

Hale (Prof.), Report of the Yerkes Observatory, 18; the
Solar Observatory on Mount Wilson, California: Con-
tributions from Solar Observatory of the Carnegie Insti-
tution of Washington, 67; the Fire near Mount Wilson
Observatory, 375; Sun-spot Spectra, 425; a Programme
of Solar Research, 494; Some Tests of the Snow Tele-
scope, 518

Hall (A. D.), Agricultural Education, 42; Determination of
Available Plant Food in Soil by the Use of Weak Acid
Solvents, 357; Estimation of Carbon in Soils, 623

Hall (A. L.), Mode of Occurrence of the Tin-ore in Bush-
veld Area, North-east of Pretoria, 546

Hall (Mr.), Palaeozoic Rocks and Fossils of Gippsland, 16

Hall (William), Tables and Constants to Four Figures,
Supp. to November 30, viii

Haller (A.), Mixed Derivatives of Dextrorotatory Camphoric
Acid and on B-Campholide, 71; Benzylidene Derivatives
of Anthrone and Anthranol, 143; Rotatory Powers of
Hexahydrobenzylidene and (Enanthylidencamphors, 383 ;
Benzyl- and Phenylborneols and their Products of Dehy-
dration, 527

Halm (Dr. J.), Some Suggestions on the Nebular Hypo-
thesis, 38; Further Results obtained with the Spectro-
heliometer, 215

Hammam (G.), an Inquiry for Books, 464

Hammond (Mr.), on Electrical Power Distribution for the
Rand, 64

Hampshire, the Birds of, and the Isle of Wight, Rev. J. E.
Kelsall and Philip W. Munn, O. V. Aplin, 465

Hancock (the late Albany), the British Tunicata, an Un-
finished Monograph, 508

Hann (A. C. O.), New Tropeines, 431

Hann (Prof. Julius), Lehrbuch der Meteorologie, 270

Hansky (Prof. A.), Photographs of the Solar Granulations,
255; Photographies de la Granulation Solaire faites a
Poulkowa, 401

Harboe (Major E. G.), Earthquake Origins, 620

Hardy (G. H.), the Integration of Functions of a Single
Variable, Cambridge Tracts in Mathematics and Mathe-
matical Physics, 558

Harker (Dr. A.), Geological Structure of the Sgurr of Eigg,
215; Experiments on Earth-currents at Kew Observatory,
526; Landolt-Bornstein—Physikalisch-chemische Tabellen,
Drs. Bornstein and Meyerhoffer, Supp. to November 30,
vi

Harmer (Dr. S. F., F.R.S.), Zoology at the British Asso-
ciation, Corr., 125

Harris (Dr. David Fraser), Terminology in Electro-physi-
ology, 5

Harris (Dr. W.), Yams Cultivated in Jamaica, 471

Harris (Frank), Ascent of Sap in Trees, 246

Harris (Rollin A.), a Manual of Tides, 248; Tidal Re-
searches, 388

Hart (J. H.), New Water-plant in the Pitch Lake La Brea,

230

Hart (Prof. Edward), Second Year Chemistry, a Handbook
for Laboratory and Class Work, 461

Hartland (E. Sidney), on the Totemism of the Bantu, 66

Hartley (E. G. J.), Determination of the Osmotic Pressures
of Solutions by the Measurement of their Vapour Pres-
sures 380

Hartley (H.), Solubility of Triphenylmethane in Organic
Liquids, 431; Spontaneous Crystallisation of Super-
saturated Solutions, 431

Hartwig (Prof.), Comet 19056, 109; Comet 1905c, 208;
Comet 1906a (Brooks), 375; Comet 1906b, 494

Harvard, Mounting the 60-inch Reflector at, 569

Harvard College Observatory, Prof. Pickering, 494

Harvard University, Contributions from the Jefferson

Laboratory of, 427

Harvie-Brown (J. A.), Travels of a Naturalist in Northern
Europe: Norway, 1871, Archangel, 1872, Petchora, 1875,
50

Harwood (W. S.), New Creations in Plant Life: an
Authoritative Account of the Life and Work of Luther
Burbank, 242; Insect Enemies of Insect Pests, 373

Harzer (H. S.), on the Diamond Pipes and Fissures of
South Africa, 92

Harzer (Prof.), Mathematical Study in Japan, 135

L[ndex

XXIll

Haslope (P, L.), Practical Sea-fishing, a Handbook for Sea
Anglers, 51

Hatcher (J. B.), New Horned Dinosaurs from Wyoming,
205

een (H. M.), American Practice in Refrigeration, 122

Havundersggelsen, Meddelelser fra Kommissionen fra, Serie
Hydrografi, Serie Fiskeri, Serie Plankton, Jas. Johnstone,

434
Haworth (E.), Geology of the Iola Quadrangle, Kansas,

397

Haynes (G. S.), the Pharmacological Action of Digitalis,
Strophanthus and Squill on the Heart, 542

Head-hunters, Everyday Life among the, and other Ex-
periences from East to West, Dorothy Cator, 203

Health, Simple Lessons on, for the Use of the Young, Sir
Michael Foster, K.C.B., 76

Health and Temperance, a First Reader in, W. Taylor, 532

Hearnshaw (Prof. F. J. C.), Erhebung der Geschichte zum
Rang einer Wissenschaft, J. G. Droysen, 307; the
Science of History, J. A. Froude, 307; Grundriss der
Historik, J. G. Droysen, 307; the Science of History,
Principal John Caird, 307; Introduction aux Etudes His-
toriques, Langlois and Seignobos, 307; an Inaugural
Lecture, Prof. J. B. Bury, 307; a Plea for the Historical
Teaching of History, Prof. C. H. Firth, 307;
Methodical Study of Man, Dr. Percy Gardner, 307

Heart of the Canadian Rockies, in the, James Outram, 362

Heat: Specific Heat of Solutions of Copper Sulphate, P.
Vaillant, 23; Influence of Phase Changes on Tenacity of
Ductile Metals, G. T. Beilby and H. N. Beilby, 70; Tem-
perature and Efficiency of Thermal Radiation, J. Swin-
burne, 95; Researches on Explosives, Sir Andrew Noble,
Bart., K.C.B., F.R.S., 116; Heat a Mode of Motion in
the Seventeenth Century, Sir W. R. Gowers, F.R.S., 175;
Heat a Mode of Motion, Charles E. Benham, 246; the
Temperature of the Monkey, Drs. Sutherland Simpson
and J. J. Galbraith, 216; Value for the Latent Heat of
Water, Prof. A. Leduc, 254; a Respiration Calorimeter
with Appliances for the Direct Determination of Oxygen,
Profs. W. O. Atwater and F. G. Benedict, 276; the
Thermal Dilatation of Compressed Hydrogen, Prof. A. W.
Witkowski, 325; Commercial Economy in Steam and
other Thermal Power Plants as Dependent upon Physical
Efficiency, Capital Charges, and Working Costs, Prof.
Robert H. Smith, 338; a Gas Calorimeter, C. V. Boys,
F.R.S., at Royal Society, 354; the Critical Temperature
and Value of ML/@ of some Carbon Compounds, J. C.
Brown, 382; a Definition of Temperature, Geoffrey
Martin, 390; Inversion Point of the Joule-Kelvin Effect,
Prof. Alfred W. Porter, 390; Effect of High Temperatures
on Radium Emanation, W. Makower, 407; Method of
Producing Waves of Frequency Intermediate between
Heat Waves and Hertzian Waves, Prof. Reginald A.
Fessenden, 428; Heat and Steam (Elementary), an Intro-
ductory Supplement to a Text-book of Marine Engineer-
ing for the Use of Naval Officers, Engineer-Commander
Tompkins, 557; the Temperature of the Sun, Henri
Moissan, 569; Elevation of the Boiling Point of Aqueous
Solutions of Electrolytes, Rev. S. M. Johnston, 575; the
Possibility of Utilising the Temperature of Transition of
Sodium Bromide Dihydrate into the Anhydrous Salt as a
Fixed Point in Accurate Thermometry, Prof. Theodore
W. Richards and R. C. Wells, 591-2; Vapour Pressure
of a Pure Liquid at Constant Temperature, Prof. Sydney
Young, 599

Heath (Thomas Edward), Our Stellar Universe, 581

Heating and Lighting Laboratories, Gas for, Alex. Pardy,
513; Prof. Vivian B. Lewes, 513

“Heavens at a Glance, The,” A. Mee, 425

Heaviside (Oliver, F.R.S.), the Magnetic Inertia on a
Charged Conductor in a Field of Force, 582

Hedges (Killingworth), Modern Lightning Conductors, 340

Hedley (E. P.), Dynamic Isomerism of Phloroglucinol, 624

Hedley (G. W.), Elementary Chemistry, Progressive Lessons

the

In, 459

Hegel (G. W. F.), Encyclopadie der Philosophischen Wis-
senschaften im Grundrisse, 98

Helium in Relation ta Radio-active Processes, Prof. E.
Rutherford, F.R.S., Hon. R. J. Strutt, F.R.S., 289

Helland-Hansen (Mr.), Hydrography of the Faerée-Shetland
Channel, 255

XXIV

Index

Nature,

June 14, 1906

Hemsalech (G. A.), Spectra of the Different Phases of the
Electric Spark, 263
Henderson (Rev. Alex.

Astronomy, 149
Hennessey (A. T.), on Motor-cars in South Africa, 64
Henriksen (G.), the Iron-ore Deposits of Sydvaranger, 398
Henry (Dr. Augustine), Atlas of Japanese Vegetation, 557
Henry (John R.), the Leonid Meteors, 1905, 28; the April

Meteors, 560
Henry (Louis), Group C (O.H.) of the Tertiary Alcohols,
Addition of Chloric Acid to Isobutylene Oxide, 4553
ariation of the Properties of the Hydroxyl Group of

Alcohols, Varied Forms of Alkyl Radicals, 592
Henslow (Rev. Prof. G.), the Uses of British Plants, 270
Herbertson (A. J.), the Oxford Geographies, 99
Heredity : the Principles of Heredity, with Some Applica-

tions, G. A. Reid, 121 Bale IO, Dis Aas

C. W. Saleeby, 171; Colour-inheritance in Rats, L. Don-

caster, 191; Die Vererbungslehre in der Biologie, Dr.

H. E. Ziegler, 318; a Property which Holds Good for all

Groupings of a Normal Distribution of Frequency for Two

Variables with Applications to the Study of Contingency-

tables for the Inheritance of Unmeasured Qualities, G.

Udny Yule, 574; Inheritance of Coat Colour in Horses,

C. C. Hurst, 597; Ueber Vererbungsgesetze, C. Correns,

606
Hergesell (Prof.), Future Problems of Maritime Meteor-

ology, 135; Method Employed by the Prince of Monaco
for Ascertaining the Conditions of the Upper Air by Means
of Unmanned Balloons, 181; Kite and Balloon Ascents,

20
Hérissey (H.), Prulaurasine, 168
Hermit Crabs, Indian, 317
Hertzian Waves, Method of Producing Waves of Frequency

Intermediate between Heat Waves and, Prof. Reginald A.

Fessenden, 428
Heusler (Dr. Fr.), Chemische Technologie, 243
Hewlett (Prof. R. T.), Scientific Research in the Philippine

Islands, (1) Description of New Buildings, Paul Freer, (2)

a Catalogue of the Library, Mary Polk, 57; the Wastage

in Armies by Disease, 105 ; the Practical Study of Malaria
and other Blood Parasites, Dr. J. W. W. Stephens and

S. R. Christophers, 148; the Serum Therapy of Plague in

India, W. M. Haffkine, 368; the Royal Medical and

Chirurgical Society of London Centenary, 1805—190s,

Dr. Norman Moore and Stephen Paget, 388; Microscopes

and Accessories: How to Make and Use Them, 412;

Natural Science in Hygiene, or the Life-history of the

Non-bacterial Parasites Affecting Man, Dr. James Rodger

Watson, 484; Scientific Reports of the Local Government

Board, 619
Hickling (G.), Footprints from the Permian of Mansfield,

356

35
Hickson (Prof. Sydney J., F.R.S.), Remarkable Coelenterata

from the West Coast of Ireland, 5; the Anatomy of Agchy-

lostoma duodenale, Dub., A. Looss, 344
Hildebrandsson (Prof. H. Hildebrand),

Arthur W. Clayden, 416
Hill (C. S.), Reinforced Concrete Construction, 457
Hill (Geo. A.),

fraction, 110

C.), a Popular Introduction to

22

Hill (George William), the Collected Mathematical Works |

of, 409

Hill (Leonard, F.R.S.), Influence of Increased Barometric
Pressure on Man, 598

Hill (Rev. Edwin), Chalk and Drift in Méen, 574

Hillebrand (Mr.), the Nature of Carnotite, 547

Hillier (H. Croft), the New Science of Causation, 194

Himstedt (D.), Light Emitted by Radium Bromide due to
the Impact of the Becquerel Rays on the Particles of
Nitrogen, 325

Hinds (W. E.), the Mexican Cotton-Boll Weevil, 158, 257

Hise (Charles Edward van), a Treatise on Metamorphism,
450

Histology : the Mammalian Cerebral Cortex I. Order, In-
sectivora, Dr. G. A. Watson, 238; Histology and Physi-
ology of the Placenta in the Ungulata, Dr. J. W.
Jenkinson, 430

Historical Chemistry, an Essay in, Ida Freund, 74

Historical Geography of the British Colonies, the West
Indies, C. P. Lucas, C.B., 245

Heredity, |

Cloud Studies,

an Untried Method of Determining the Re- |

Historical and Modern Atlas of the British Empire,
Specially Prepared for Students, C. Grant Robertson and
J. G. Bartholomew, 484

History: Erhebung der Geschichte zum Rang einer Wis-
senschaft, J. G. Droysen, Prof. F. J. C. Hearnshaw, 3075
the Science of History, J. A. Froude, Prof. F. J. C.
Hearnshaw, 307; Grundriss der Historik, J. G. Droysen,
Prof. F. J. C. Hearnshaw, 307; the Science of History,
Principal John Caird, Prof. F. J. C. Hearnshaw, 307;
Introduction aux Etudes Historiques, Langlois and Seig-
nobos, Prof. F. J. C. Hearnshaw, 307; an Inaugural
Lecture, Prof. J. B. Bury, Prof. F. J. C. Hearnshaw,

307; a Plea for the Historical Teaching of History, Prof.

C. H. Firth, Prof. F. J. C. Hearnshaw, 307; the
Methodical Study of Man, Dr. Perey Gardner, Prof.
F. J. C. Hearnshaw, 307; Lectures on the Early History
of Kingship, Dr. J. G. Frazer, Supp. to November 30, iv

Hobson (Dr.), Improper Double Integrals and on the
Arithmetic Continuum, 71

Hochgebirg, Die Photographie im, Emil Terschak, 388

Hoff (Prof. van °t), Thermochemistry, 421

Hoffman (I. L.), Fatal Accidents in Coal Mining in the
United States, 231

Hohenklima und Bergwanderungen in ihrer wirkung auf
den Menschen, N. Zuntz, A. Loewy, F. Miiller and W.
Caspari, 553

Holland (Dr. T. H.), Mineral Production of India, 493;
Occurrence of Bauxite in India, 547

Holland (Dr. W. J.), the Osteology of the Diplodocus, 541

| Holloway (H. C. Schunke), on the Outlines of the Physical

Geography of the Cape Colony, 18 i
Holmes’s Comet (1892 III., 1899 I1.), Ephemeris for, H. J.
Zwiers, 255

| Holothurioidea, an Account of the Deep-sea, Collected by

the Royal Indian Marine Survey Ship Investigator, R.
Koehler and C. Vaney, 114 ;
Home (Gordon), the Evolution of an English Town ; being
the Story of the Ancient Town of Pickering in Yorkshire,

8

Menigechaid (O.), a Silicide of Thorium, 335; Alloy of
Thorium and Aluminium, 359

Hope (Linton), Motor-boats, 572 F

Hopkinson (Prof. Bertram), Explosions of Coal-gas and
Air, 622

Horizon, the Apparent Enlargement of the Moon at the, Ed.
Claparéde, 400

Horizontal Rainbow, a, W. R. M. Church, 608

Horse in Norway, the, Dr. F. H. A. Marshall, 119

Horse, the Origin and Influence of the Thoroughbred, W.
Ridgeway, 126 ; x

Horses, the Tarpan and its Relationship with Wild and
Domestic, Prof. Ewart, 119

Horticulture : Insect Enemies of Insect Pests, Mr. Compere,
373; W. S. Harwood, 373 :

Horwood (C. B.), on the Dolomite Formation, 92

Hose (Dr. C.), Tatu in Borneo, 503

House, the Sanitation of a Country,
Bashore, 437 ws ;

Houston (Dr. A. C.), Bacteriological Examination of Milk,
492; Bacteriological Examination of Intestinal Contents
of Sea-fowl and of Fish, 619

How (Mr.), on Roller Bearings, 64

Howell (John H.), the Diffusion of Solids, 464

Huber (Dr. J.), Brazilian Rubber Plants, 36 :

Hudson Valley, Geology of the, between the Hoosic and
the Kinderhook, T. N. Dale, 376

Huff, Physical and Chemical Characters of, 572

Huffel (G.), Economie Forestiére, 605 7

Huggins (Lady), Spectrum of the Spontaneous Luminous
Radiation of Radium, 334

Huggins (Sir William, K.C.B., O.M., F.R.S.), Spectrum
of the Spontaneous Luminous Radiation of Radium, 334

Hugot (C.), Action of Ammonia Gas on the Tribromide and
Triiodide of Phosphorus, 263 Lane

Hulett (G. A.), a Simple Arrangement for Purifying Mer-
cury, 494 ;

Hull (Prof. E.), Physical History of the Great Pleistocene
Lake of Portugal, 215

Hulme (E. Wyndham), Leather for Libraries, 53

Human Motive, an Analysis of, F. Carrel, 318

Human Will, Causality and the, 194

Dr. Harvey B.

Nature,
June 14, 1906.

Index

XXV

Hume (David), Dialoge tiber natirliche Religion,
Selbstmord und Unsterblichkeit der .Seele, 98
Hunter (W. D.), the Mexican Cotton-boll Weevil, 158, 257
Huntington (Prof. A. K.), Crystalline Structure of Electro-
deposited Copper, 117; Concentration of Metalliferous

Sulphides by Flotation, 214

Hurst (C. C.), Inheritance of Coat Colour in Horses, 597

Hutcheon (Mr.), on the Diseases which have Devastated
the Stock of South Africa, 138

Hutchins (D. E.), on the Indigenous Forests
Africa, 19; Forestry in South Africa, 107

Hutchinson (Dr. J., F.R.S.), the Etiology of Leprosy, 214

Hutton (Captain F. W., F.R.S.), Death of, 13; Obituary
Notice of, 32

Hydraulics : Canadian Electric Power Stations at Niagara,
Orrin. E. Dunlap, 161

Hydrodynamics : Experimental Results in Connection with
the Hydrodynamical Theory of Seiches, P. White and W.
Watson, 383

Hydrography : a Manual of Tides, Rollin A. Harris, 248;
Report on Fishery and Hydrographical Investigations in
the North Sea and Adjacent Waters, 1902-3, J. John-
stone, 255; Hydrography of the Faerdée-Shetland Chan-
nel, Messrs. Helland-Hansen and Robertson, 255; Hydro-
graphical Researches in the Southern North Sea and in
the English Channel, D. Matthews, 256; Tidal Re-
searches, R. A. Harris, 388; S. S. H., 389; Meddelelser
fra Kommissionen fra Hayundersdselsen, Serie Hydro-
grafi, Serie Fiskeri, Serie Plankton, Jas. Johnstone, 434;
Canadian Tides, W. Bell Dawson, 618; Currents in the
Straits of Messina, Prof. Platania, 621

Hydrology in the United States, 183; Relation of the Law
to Underground Waters, D. W. Johnson, 426; Inter-
Colonial Irrigation Commission, 563

Hydrosole und Ultramikroskopie, ueber irreversible, zur
Erkenntniss der Kolloide, Richard Zsigmondy, Dr. J. A.
Milroy, 410

Hygiene: Simple Lessons on Health for the use of the
Young, Sir Michael Foster, K.C.B., 76; Text-book of
Hygiene based on Physiology for the Use of School
Teachers, A. Watt Smyth, 170; Use of Copper Sulphate
in the Purification of Water, Dr. Howard Jones, 230;
the Work of Sanitary Inspectors, Sir James Crichton-
Browne, 347; the Sanitary Value of a Water Analysis,
Prof. Leonhard P. Kinnicutt, 404; Natural Science in
Hygiene, or the Life-history of the Non-bacterial Para-
sites affecting Man, Dr. James Rodger Watson, Prof.
R. T. Hewlett, 484; a First Reader in Health and Tem-
perance, W. Taylor, 532

uber

of South

Hymenoptera: the Bees of Australia, Prof. T. D. A.
Cockerell, 439
Ice Formation, Peculiar, James Foulds, 464; Rev. A.

Irving, 485; W. Larden, 485; W. B. Wright, 534

Ichthyology : Development of Plaice in the Baltic Sea, Dr.
C. G. J. Petersen, 35; Morphology of the Scales in Cer-
tain Bony Fishes, Dr. H. W. M. Tims, 59; Florida Pipe-
fish, E. W. Gudger, 205; Development of the Skull and
Visceral Arches in Lepidosiren, W. E. Agar, 239; De-
velopment of the Thymus Gland in the Lung-fish, Lepido-
siren paradoxa, Dr. T. H. Bryce, 304: the Flight of
Flying-fishes, Lieut.-Colonel C. D. Durnford, 373; Sty-
lophthalmus paradoxus, Dr. O. Rabes, 470; Embryology
of Lung-fishes and Fringe-finned Ganoids, Prof. J. G.
Kerr, 567

Igorot, the Bontoc, Albert Ernest Jenks, Dr. A. C. Haddon,
F.R.S.,, 584

Illustriertes Handbuch der Laubholzkunde, part iv, C. K.
Schneider, 293

Increasing Period of B Lyrz, the, Dr. Alex. W. Roberts,
375:

Index Kewensis Plantarum Phanerogamarum,
Thiselton-Dyer, K.C.M.G., F.R.S., 75

India: Mortality caused by Wild Animals and Venomous
Snakes during 1904, 15; Rainfall in Mysore for 1904, J.
Cook, 17; an Account of the Deep-sea Holothurioidea
Collected by the Royal Indian Marine Survey Ship In-
vestigator, R. Koehler and C. Vaney, 114; a Preliminary
Investigation of the More Important Features of the
Meteorology of Southern Asia, the Indian Ocean, and

Wise eclee

Neighbouring Countries during the Period 1892-1902, Sir
John Eliot, F.R.S., 136; Survey of India, Experiments
Made to Determine the Temperature Coefficients of
Watson’s Magnetographs, Captain H. A. Denholm Fraser,
250; the Percy Sladen Expedition in H.M.S. Sealark to
the Indian. Ocean, the Seychelles Archipelago, J. Stanley
Gardiner, 294; Catalogue of the Indian Decapod Crus-
tacea in the Collection of the Indian Museum, part ii,
Anomura, Fasciculus i., Pagurides, Dr. A. Alcock, F.R.S.,
317; the Serum Therapy of Plague in India, W. M. Haff-
kine, Prof. R. T. Hewlett, 368; Plague Epidemic, the
Immunity of Europeans, 422; Experiments with Egyptian
Cotton in Sind, Muir Mackenzie, 445; Sugar Cane Cul-
tivation in Madras, C. A. Barber, 447; Earth Tremors in
India, Prof. W. Galloway, 464; the Agathi Plant, 470;
Mineral Production of India, T. H. Holland, F.R.S.,
493; Annual Report of the Imperial Department of Agri-
culture for the Year 1904-5, Sir W. T. Thiselton-Dyer,
K.C.M.G., F.R.S., 587; Cultivation of Rubber in Bas-
sein, Bombay, 616

Indiana, Department of Geology and Natural Resources,
Twenty-ninth Annual Report, 1904, W. S. Blatchley, 376

Induction, La Bobine d’, H. Armagnat, 124

Industrial Society of Mulhouse, Prize Subjects of the, 164

Infra-red Spectra, Investigations of, William W. Coblentz,
619

Inglis (I. K.), Isothermal Distillation of Nitrogen and
Oxygen and of Argon and Oxygen, 357

Inglis (J. K. H.), Loss of Nitre in the Chamber Process,

430
Innes (R. T. A.), the Magnitude of » Argus, 64
Innsbruck, the International Meteorological Conference at,

I

Taosbrnele Report of the Meeting of the Solar Commission
at, 52

Thorman Chemistry, an Elementary Text-book of, R. L.
Whiteley, 459

Inquiry for Books, an, G. Hammam, 464

Insectivorous Water-plant from Trinidad,
Thiselton-Dyer, K.C.M.G., F.R.S., 246

Insects : the Romance of Insect Life, Edmund Selous, 172;
Insects as Carriers of Disease, A. E. Shipley, F.R.S., at
the British Association Meeting at Pretoria, 235;
American Insects, Vernon L. Kellogg, 292

Institut Central Ampélologique Royal Hongrois, Annales
de 1’, 620

Institution of Electrical Engineers, Lecture at, the Chelsea
Power Station, Richard F. Chaffer, 20

Institution of Naval Architects, 571

Instrumente, die optischen, Dr. Moritz von Rohr, 461

Integral Calculus for Beginners, Alfred Lodge, Prof. Gale
Bryan, F.R.S., 337

Integration of Functions of a Single Variable, the, Cam-
bridge Tracts in Mathematics and Mathematical Physics,
No. 2, G. H. Hardy, 55

Intelligence of Animals, Lord Avebury, F.R.S., 3153 Prof.
W. Galloway, 440

International Congress of Applied Chemistry, the Forth-
coming, 548

International Meteorological Conference at Innsbruck, 331

International Scheme, a Suggestion for the Next, W. E.
Cooke, 63

Interpretation of Meteorological Records, R. T. Omond,
512; A. Lander, 584; Dr. John Aitken, F.R.S., 534

Interpretation of Nature, the, C. Lloyd Morgan, ORES es
26

Tatectiaat Tract of Mammals, the, Dr. Chalmers Mitchell,
618

Intrinsic Light of the Corona, the, Chas. Fabry, 182

Inventor of the Nicol Prism, the, 340, 371; Prof. Silvanus
P. Thompson, F.R.S., 340

Inversion Point of the Joule-Kelvin Effect, Prof. Alfred W.
Porter, 390

Investigation of the Upper Air, 162 .

Investigator, an Account of the Deep-sea Holothurioidea
Collected by the Royal Indian Marine Survey Ship, R.
Koehler and C. Vaney, 114

Ionisation of the Atmosphere during Total Solar Eclipse,
Charles Nordmann, 208

Ionisation in Closed Vessels, Diurnal Variation of,
O. W. Richardson, 607

Sime Wiew a:

Dr.

XXV1

Index

Nature,
June 4, 1906

Ionisation of Gases, Diurnal Periodicity of, Alex. Wood,
8

loses Electrons and Corpuscles, Dr. O. W. Richardson, 529

Ions and Organisms, 195

Ions, Spectral Series in Relation to, Dr. J. Stark, 533

Ireland, the Mammals of Great Britain and, J. G. Millais,
Supp. to November 30, iii

Ireland, Remarkable Coelenterata from the West Coast of,
Prof. Sydney J. Hickson, F.R.S., 5

Iris, Variability of, Dr. H. Clemens, 279

Iron: Elementary Practical Metallurgy, Iron and Steel,
Percy Longmuir, A. McWilliam, 509

Irrigation : Water Supply and Irrigation Papers, 183 ;
Colonial Irrigation Commission, 563

Irrtum, Erkenntnis und, Prof. Ernst Mach, Supp. to Novem-

Inter-

ber 30, vii
Irvine (Dr.), on the Conditions of Native Labour in the
Mines, 139

Irvine (J. C.), Constitution of Salicin, 624

Irving (Edward), How to Know the Starry Heavens, 196
Irving (Rev. A.), Peculiar Ice Formation, 485

Isaac (F.), Refractive Indices of Crystallising Solutions, 357
Italian Observations of the Recent Solar Eclipse, Cl. Rozet,

3
Iwanoff (E.), Cause of Sterility in Zebra-pony Hybrids, 252
Izod (E. G.), Behaviour of Materials of Construction under
Pure Shear, 231

Jackson (C. E.), Examples in Physics, 578

Jackson (Daniel D.), the Movements of Diatoms Caused by
the Evolution of Gas, 159

Jacobus (Prof. D. S.), Investigations and Commercial Tests
in Connection with the Work of an Engineering College,

00

Jahrbuch der Chemie, 364

Jamieson (T.), the Utilisation of Nitrogen in Air by Plants,
531, 607

Jamieson (T. F.), the Glacial Period in Aberdeenshire and
the Southern Border of the Moray Firth, 141

Japan: the Fighting Man of Japan, F. J. Norman, 271;
Atlas of Japanese Vegetation, Dr. Augustine Henry, 557

Jar and the Genie, the, Maurice Solomon, 169

Jaubert (Georges F.), Action of Acetylene on Iodine Pent-
oxide, 263; Commercial Preparation of Calcium Hydride,

Sor

Javal (Emile), Physiologie de la Lecture et de 1’Ecriture,
268

Jefferson Physical Laboratory of Harvard University, Con-
tributions from the, 427

Jenkin (A. P.), Periodicity of Rainfall, 209

Jenkinson (Dr. J. W.), Histology and Physiology of the
Placenta in the Ungulata, 430

Jenks (Albert Ernest), the Bontoc Igorot, 584

Jensen (H. I.), Possible Relation between
Minima and Volcanic Eruptions, 210

Jentink (Dr.), Wild Swine of the Malay Archipelago, 35

Job (H. K.), Wild Wings, Adventures of a Camera-hunter
among the Larger Wild Birds of North America on Sea
and Land, 123

Johannsen (O.), Pure Lithium, its
Electrolysis of Lithium Bromide, 494

Johnson (D. W.), Relation of the Law to Underground
Waters, 426

Johnston (Sir Harry, K.C.B.), the Nile Quest, a Record
of the Exploration of the Nile and its Basin, 391

Johnston (Sir H. H., K.C.M.G.), a Grammar of the Kafir
Language, J. McLaren, 481

Johnston (Rev. S. M.), Elevation of the Boiling Point of
Aqueous Solutions of Electrolytes, 575

Johnstone (J.), Report on Fishery and Hydrographical In-
vestigations in the North Sea and Adjacent Waters,
1902-3, 255

Johnstone (Jas.), Meddelelser fra Kommissionen fra
Havunders¢gelsen, Serie Hydrografi, Serie Fiskeri, Serie
Plankton, 434

Joinery, a Manual of Carpentry and, J. W. Riley, 363

Joly (Prof. C. J., F.R.S.), Death of, 251; Obituary Notice
of, 273

Jones (B. M.),
Titanates, 358

Sun-spot

Preparation by the

Geikielite and the Ferro-magnesian

Jones (Dr, Howard), Use of Copper Sulphate in the Purifi-
cation of Water, 230
Jones (Ellis), a Three Years’ Course of Practical Chemistry,

459

Jones (H. O.), Stereoisomerism of Substituted Ammonium
Compounds, 71; the Physical and Chemical Properties
of Iron Carbonyl, 188; Effect of Constitution on the
Rotatory Power of Optically Active Nitrogen Compounds,

357

Jost (Dr.), Comet 1905¢ (Giacobini), 27

Joule (Dr.), Memorial Bust of, Unveiled, 14

Joule-Kelvin Effect, Inversion Point of the, Prof. Alfred
W. Porter, 390

Jovian Spots, Systematic Error in Transit Observations of,
Stanley Williams, 38

Jowett (H. A. D.), New Tropeines, 431

Jukes-Browne (A. J.), the Clay-with-flints, 356

Jungfleisch (E.), Laevorotatory Lactic Acid, 456

Jupiter: Observations of Jupiter’s Sixth Satellite, 18;
Photographs of Jupiter’s Sixth and Seventh Satellites,
182; Systematic Error in Transit Observations of Jovian
Spots, Stanley Williams, 38; Observations of Jupiter,
Major Molesworth, 4o1; New Spot on, W. F. Denning,
584, 607

Kafir Language, a Grammar of the, J. McLaren, Sir H. H.
Johnston, K.C.M.G., 481

Kampen (Dr. P. N. van), the Tympanic Region of the
Mammalian Skull, 276

Kanal-Strahlen Normal to their Direction,
Light by, Dr. J. Stark, 389

Kangra Earthquake of April 4, 1905, the, 418

Kant (Immanuel), Physische Geographie, 98

Kant’s (Immanuel) Kleinere Schriften zur
Metaphysik, 98

Karsten (Dr. G.), Vegetationsbilder, 4

Kavan (Dr. Jitf), Observations of the Lyrid Meteors, April,
1904, 352

Kay (F. W.), Synthesis of Optically Active Modifications of
A‘-p-menthenol(8) and A*:*(°)-menthadiene, 479

Kea Parrot, Carnivorous Habits of New Zealand,
W. B. Benham, 559

Kearton (Richard and Cherry), Pictures from Nature, 148

Keeble (F.), the Isolation of the Infecting Organism
(‘‘ Zoochlorella ’’) of Convoluta roscoffensis, 117

Keiley (J. D.), Electric Railways, Theoretically and Prac-
tically Treated, 169

Kellogg (Vernon L.), American Insects, 292

Kelsall (Rev. J. E.), the Birds of Hampshire and the Isle
of Wight, 465

Kelvin (Lord), Form of Initiational Disturbance more Con-
venient than that of §§ 3-31 of Previous Papers on
Waves, 358; Illustrations of the Indefinite Extension and
Multiplication of a Group of Two-dimensional Deep-sea
Waves, Initially Finite, 359; Initiation and Continued
Growth of a Train of Two-dimensional Waves due to
the Sudden Commencement of a Stationary Periodically
Varying Forcive, 359

Kemp (Prof. J. F.), the Genesis of Mineral Veins, 324

Kerr (Dr.), Physical Exercises in the Infant Department,
260; Report of the Education Committee of the London
County Council submitting the Report of the Medical
Officer (Education) for the Year ending March 31, 1905,
Physical Conditions of Children in Elementary Schools,

Emission of

Logik und

Prof.

548

Kerr (Prof. J. G.), Embryology of Lung-fishes and Fringe-
finned Ganoids, 567

Kerr (Richard), Nature through Microscope and Camera,

104

Kesteven (H. Leighton), Prosobranchiata, No. S) the
Ontogenetic Stages represented by the Gastropod Proto-
conch, 24

Kew Bulletin, the, Sir W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, K.C.M.G.,
BARES 36534

Kew Index of Flowering Plants, the, W. T. Thiselton-
Dyer, K.C.M.G., F.R.S., 75

Kidston (R., F.R.S.), the Microsporangia of the Pterido-
sperms, 238

King’s College, London, on Professional Education with
Special Reference to Medicine, an Address Delivered at,
by Prof. T. Clifford Allbutt, F.R.S., 530

Nature,
June 14, 1906.

Index

XXvil

Kingsmill (Thos. W.), a 300-Year Climatic and Solar Cycle,

13

Kinmioutt (Prof. Leonhard P.), the Sanitary Value of a
Water Analysis, 404

Kinship, Lectures on the Early History of, Dr. J. G.
Frazer, Supp. to November 30, iv

Kinship, Nomenclature of, its Extension,
Galton, F.R.S., 150

Dr. Francis

Kirkpatrick (R.), Fresh-water Sponges obtained from Lakes |

Victoria Nyanza, Tanganyika, and Nyasa, 526

Klotz (Dr. Otto), Transpacific Longitudes, 417

Knipe (Henry R.), Nebula to Man, 342

Knobel (E. B.), Astronomical Observations Recorded in the
Nihongi, the Anciént Chronicle of Japan, 190

Kobold (Prof. Hermann), der Bau des Fixsternsystems mit
besonderer Beriicksichtigung der photometrischen Re-
sultate, 603

Kohler (Dr. August), Photographs of Diatoms taken by
the Zeiss Apparatus Designed by, Photomicrography with
Ultra-violet Light, Mr. Rheinberg, 287

Keehler (R.), an Account of the Deep-sea Holothurioidea
collected by the Royal Indian Marine Survey Ship
Investigator, 114

KOlliker (Prof. Albert von), Death and Obituary Notice of,
58

Kopff (Herr), Discovery of a New Comet, 19066, 448

Koppe (Prof. C.), die Vermessungs- und Absteckungs-
Arbeiten fiir den Simplon Tunnel, 30

Kostlivy (Dr. S.), the Climate of Beyrout, 568

Krebs (A.), a Dynamometric Brake for Measuring the
Power of Motors, 96

Krebs (Dr. Wilhelm), Barometrische Ausgleichsbewegung
in der Erdatmosphare, 595

Kristallinische Flussigkeiten und flussige Kristalle, Rudolf
Schenck, 242

Kristallographie,
Baumhauer, 340

Kynaston (H.), Recent Work of the Geological Survey of

die neuere Entwickelung der, Dr. H.

the Transvaal, 92; Rocks allied to Greisen in the
Olifants River Valley, 547
Laboratories: the Use of Gasoline in Chemical and

Physical Laboratories, J. R. Foster, 29; New Museum
and Laboratories of Zoology at Liverpool, 88; Mathe-
matics for the Laboratory, Dr. J. W. Mellor, 290; Con-
tributions from the Jefferson Physical Laboratory of
Harvard University, 427; Gas for Heating and Lighting
Laboratories, Alex. Pardy, 513; Prof. Vivian B. Lewis,
513; the National Physical Laboratory, 514; the Labor-
atory Book of Dairy Analysis, H. Droop Richmond, 558

Laby (T. H.), Relation between the Velocity and the
Volume of the Ions of Certain Organic Acids and Bases,
599

Laguerre, CEuvres de, 97

Laine (E.), Intensive Nitrification, 143 ; Function of Organic
Matter in Nitrification, 431

Lamb (Prof. H.), Sommerfeld’s Diffraction Problem and
Reflection by a Parabolic Mirror, 479

Lambert (Thomas), Glue, Gelatin, and their Allied Pro-
ducts, 510

Lamplugh (G. W., F.R.S.), on the Zigzag Gorge of the
Zambesi below the Victoria Falls, 91-2, 111

Lander (A.), the Thunderstorm of February 8, 472; Inter-
pretation of Meteorological Records, 584

Lander and Smith (Messrs.), New Meteorological Instru-
ments, 472

Landolt-Bornstein—Physikalischchemische Tabellen, Drs.
Bornstein and Meyerhoffer, Dr. J. A. Harker, Supp. to
November 30, vi

Landslide in the Rhymney Valley, the, Prof. W. Galloway,
425

Landslip in Méen, 132

Langley (Prof. Samuel
Notice of, 443

Langlois (M.), Introduction aux Etudes Historique, 307

Lankester (Prof. E. Ray, F.R.S.), Extinct Animals, 6

Larden (W.), Peculiar Ice Formation, 485

Latham (Dr. P. W.), New Method of Directly Transform-
ing a-Benzoylamino-p-hydroxycinnamic Acid into Tyro-
sine, 374

Pierpont), Death and Obituary

Lau (Dr. H. E.), Micrometer Measures of Double Stars,
232; Micrometer Measures of Struve Double Stars, 495
Laubholzkunde, Illustriertes Handbuch der, part iv., C. K.
Schneider, 293

Laundry Work for Students and Teachers, the Art and
Practice of, Margaret Cuthbert Rankin, 172

Laveran (A.), Two Heamatozoa of the Partridge
Turkey, 47; Identity of Surra and Mbori, 263

Law, Mining, of the British Empire, Charles J. Alforc,
Bennett H. Brough, 482

Law, Relation of the, to Underground Waters,
Johnson, 426

Layng (A. E.), a Text-book of Algebra, Supp. to November
30, viii

Lazennec (I.), Condensation of the Acetylenic Nitriles with
Alcohols, 383; Condensation of the Acetylenic Nitriles
with Phenols, 431

le Dantec (M. Felix), Introduction 4 la Pathologie générale,

and

D. W.

460

Le Sueur (H. R.), Action of Heat on a-Hydroxycarboxylic
Acids, 189-90

Leather (Dr. J. Walter),
Colonial Development, 485

Leather for Bookbinding, Report of the Committee on, 219

Leather for Libraries, E. Wyndham Hulme, J. Gordon
Parker, A. Seymour-Jones, Cyril Davenport, and F. J.
Williamson, 53

Leavitt (Miss), Twenty-five New Variable Stars, 448

Lebeau (Paul), Commercial Silicide of Copper, 143; New
Compound of Fluorine and Bromine, 192; New Mode of
Formation of Silicon Soluble in Hydrofluoric Acid, 335

Lebour (Prof. G. A. L.), Case of Unconformity and Thrust
in the Coal-measures of Northumberland, 623

Leduc (Prof. A.), Value for the Latent Heat of Water,
254; Density of Ice, 335

Leeds Astronomical Society, the, 474

Lefébure (P.), Preparation of Glycidic Ethers and of Alde-
hydes in the Hexahydroaromatic Series, 528

Lefévre (Jules), Increase in the Dry Weight of Green Plants
in a Soil to which Amides have been added, 119; Nutri-
tion of Green Plants by Amides in the Absence of Carbon
Dioxide, 359

Léger (E.), Hordenine, a New Alkaloid extracted from the
Germs of Barley, 288

Legibility and Visual Acuity, J. Herbert Parsons, 265

Leigh (Chas.), Formula for finding the Date of Easter,

Agricultural Education and

§35

Leith (C. K.), Rock Cleavage, 376

Lejeune (P.), Prehistoric Mass of Metal found near Nancy,
180

Leonid Meteors, 1905, the, John R. Henry, 28

Lepidoptera of the British Islands, the, a Descriptive
Account of the Families, Genera, and Species Indigenous
to Great Britain and Ireland, their Preparatory States,
Habits, and Localities, Charles G. Barrett, 532

Leprosy, the AEtiology of, Dr. J. Hutchinson, F.R.S., 214

Lerch (F. von), Electrochemical Behaviour of Thorium X,
62

Leroux (Henri), a-Decahydronaphthol and the Octahydride
of Naphthalene, 167

Lesse (A. de), Chasse, Elevage et Piégeage, 26

Lester (J. H.), the Adulteration of Butter, 535

Lévy (Albert), Estimation of Carbon Monoxide in Air by
Iodic Anhydride, 335

Lewes (Prof. Vivian B.), Gas for Heating and Lighting
Laboratories, 513

Lewis (Gilbert N.), Electrical Conductivity of Solutions of
Potassium Iodides in Liquid Iodine, 473

Lewis (Mr.), Measures of Double Stars, 208

Lewis (Percival), Ionisation in Gases from Coloured Flames,
424

Li (Mr.), Rainfall Observations for the Years 1896-1904
at Seoul, Corea, 324

Libraries, Cooperation between Scientific, Dr. Thomas
Muir, 372; Dr. F. A. Bather, 413; Prof. Henry E. Arm-
strong, F.R.S., 438; Prof. Herbert McLeod, F.R.S., 438;
Prof. Grenville A. J. Cole, 464; Dr. Hugh Marshall,
51

Libeadies, Leather for, E. Wyndham Hulme, J. Gordon
Parker, A. Seymour-Jones, Cyril Davenport, and F. J.
Williamson, 53

XXVill

Index

Nature,
June 14, 1906

Lichtes, Zwo6lf Vorlesungen tuber die Natur des, Dr. J.
Classen, 606

Liebreich (Dr. Oscar), Third Treatise on the Effect of
Borax and Borie Acid on the Human System, 611

Light: the Intrinsic Light of the Corona, Chas. Fabry,
182; the Analytical Theory of Light, J. Walker, 241;
the Electromagnetic Theory of Light, Dr. C. E. Curry,
316; Emission of Light by Kanal-Strahlen Normal to
their Direction, Dr. J. Stark, 389

Lighting Laboratories, Gas for Heating and, Alex. Pardy,
513; Prof. Vivian B. Lewes, 513

Lightning Conductors, Modern, Killingworth Hedges, 340

Lightning, Thunder and, Camille Flammarion, 196

Lightning? What Causes the Destructive Effects of, Sir
Samuel Wilks, Bart., F.R.S., 296

Lindeman (Prof. F. von), zur Theorie der Spectrallinien,

392

Lindgren (W.), the Production of Gold and Silver in the
United States, 306; Report of Progress in the Geological
Re-survey of the Cripple Creek District, Colorado, 376

Linné, the Glow surrounding the Lunar Crater, Prof.
E. E. Barnard, 448

Linné, Measurements of, during the Total Eclipse of the
Moon, Prof. E. C. Pickering, 569; R. H. Frost, 569

Linnean Society, 118, 167, 214, 287, 381, 454, 503, 598

Linnean Society, New South Wales, 24, 216, 384

Liquid Crystals, 242

Liquids, an Acoustical Method for the Demonstration of
the Magnetism of, T. Terada, 197

Littlebury (W. O.), Resolution of a-Phenyl-a!-4-hydroxy-
phenylethane by I-menthylearbimide, 479

Littlehales (Mr.), Graphical Method of Determining Alti-
tudes and Azimuths, 63

Liverpool, New Museum and Laboratories of Zoology at,
88

Living Matter, the Nature and Origin of, Dr. H. Charlton
Bastian, F.R.S., 361

Lobatschewsky (N. J.), Pangéométrie, ou Précis de Géo-
métrie fondée sur une Théorie générale et rigoureuse des
Paralléles, roo

Local Government Board, Scientific Reports of the, Prof.
R. T. Hewlett, 619

Lockyer (Commander H. C., R.N.), Ships and Shippings,
Commander R. Dowling, 150

Lockyer (Sir Norman, K.C.B., F.R.S.), Notes on Stone-
henge, 153, 224; some Questions for Archzeologists, 280;
Notes on some Cornish Circles, 366, 561; the Place of
Polytechnics in Education, Address at Borough Poly-
technic Institute, 521 ‘ é

Lockyer (Dr. William J. S.), Publications of the U.S. Naval
Observatory, American Observations of the Total Solar
Eclipses of 1900 and 1901, Rear-Admiral Colby M.
Chester, 486; the Solar Eclipse of 1905, 537; Studies of
Temperature and Pressure Observations, 504

Locusts, Ravages of, Agriculture in the Trans-Caucasus
for the Year 1905, Consul Stevens, 324

Loder (Sir Edmund, Bart.), a Living Specimen of a Dwarf
Species of Cavy, 430 ]

Lodge (Alfred), Integral Calculus for Beginners, 337

Lodge (Sir Oliver, F.R.S.), Border Occasionally seen
between Light and Dark Regions on Photographic Prints,
5, 54

Loeb (Jacques), Studies in General Physiology, 195

Loescher (Fritz), Deutscher Kamera Almanach, 1906, 318

Loew (Ernst), Handbuch der Blutenbiologie, 26

Loewy (A.), Héhenklima und Bergwanderungen in ihrer
wirkung auf den Menschen, 553 ;

Loisel (Gustave), the Toxicity of Eggs, 72

Loisel (M.), Climatology of 1905, 471

Loisey (E. de), the Manufacture of Chilled Rolls, 3908

London: the Control of the Gas Supply of the Metropolis,
273; Report of the Education Committee of the London
County Council submitting the Report of the Medical
Officer (Education) for the Year ending March 31, 190s.
Physical Condition of Children in Elementary Schools,
Dr. Kerr, 548 d

London Institution: Microscopic Aquatic Plants of our
Waters, Dr. F. E. Fritsch at the, 499

Long (W. J.), Northern Trails, some Studies of Animal Life
in the Far North, 177

Longitudes, Transpacific, Dr. Otto Klotz, 417

Longmuir (Percy), Properties of a Series of Iron-Nickel-
Manganese-Carbon Alloys, 108; Elementary Practical
Metallurgy, Iron and Steel, 509

Looss (A.), the Anatomy of Agchylostoma duodenale, Dub.,

344

Lorentz (Prof. H. A.), Ergebnisse und Probleme der Elek-
tronentheorie, 27

Lorenz (Prof. H.), Modern Refrigerating Machinery, its
Construction, Methods of Working, and Industrial Appli-
cations, 122; Lehrbuch der technischen Physik, 364

Lorenzo (Prof. de), the Scoglio di Revigliano, 327

Lounsbury (Chas. P.), on Ticks as a Means of Trans-
mission of Disease, 138

Loving (R. E.), the Metallic Arc in High Vacua, 399

Low (A. H.), Technical Methods of Ore Analysis, 532

Lowell (Prof. Percival), First Photographs of the Canals
of Mars, 453

Lowry (T. M.),
Camphor, 479

Lucas (C. P., C.B.), a Historical Geography of the British
Colonies, the West Indies, 245

Lucet (M.), Two Hamatozoa of the Partridge and Turkey,

Stereoisomeric Halogen Derivatives of

47

Luciani (Dr. L.), Physiologie des Menschen, 606

Ludendorff (Dr. H.), Remarkable Variation in the Spectrum
of ¢ Boétis, 474

Lull (R. S.), New Horned Dinosaurs from Wyoming, 205

Lunar Crater Linné, the Glow surrounding the, Prof. E. E.
Barnard, 448

Lunar Eclipse of February 8, the, Dr. Wilson, 545; M.
Quénisset, 545

Lunar Theory from Observation, a, Dr. P. H. Cowell, 80

Luschan (Prof. von), on Artificial Deformation in Africa,
66; on the Racial Affinities of the Hottentots, 67

Lyle (Prof.), Propagation of Longitudinal Waves of Mag-
netic Flux along Iron Wires and Rods, 358

Lynn (W. T.), Periodical Comets due to return this Year,

305

Lyra, the Ring Nebula in, Dr. Newkirk, 448; Prof. E. E.
Barnard, 448

B Lyrz, the Increasing Period of, Dr. Alex. W. Roberts,

375
Lyrid Meteors, Observations of the, April, 1904, Dr. Jin
Kavan, 352

Mabille (A. E.), on the Basuto, 67

Macallum (Prof. A. B.), Chlorides in Nerve Cells and
Fibres, 311

McAlpine (D.), Rusts on Acacia in Australia, 304

McAtee (W. L.), the North American Cave-salamander,
Spelerpes maculicaudus, 615

Macaulay (Dr.), on the Conditions of Native Labour in the
Mines, 139

McClelland (Prof. J. A.), Energy of Secondary Radiation,
215; Secondary Radiation from Compounds, 383

MacDonald (Prof. J. S.), Terminology in Electro-physi-
ology, 28; Handbook of Physiology for Students and
Practitioners of Medicine, Dr. Austin Flint, 269

Mach (Prof. Ernst), Erkenntnis und Irrtum, Supp. to
November 30, vii.

Machinery : Modern Refrigerating Machinery, its Construc-
tion, Methods of Working and Industrial Applications,
Prof. H. Lorenz, 122

McIntosh (Prof.), Phosphorescent Marine Animals, 349

Maclver (D. Randall), the Rhodesian Ruins, 67, 213-4

McKendrick (Prof. John G., F.R.S.), Mesure et Développe-
ment de 1’Audition, Dr. Marage, 292; Sound and
Rhythm, W. Edmunds, 483

Mackenzie (Muir), Experiments with Egyptian Cotton in
Sind, 4

Maclachlan (Dr. J.), Influence of Thymus Feeding on

Allantoin Excretion, 358

McLaren (J.), a Grammar of the Kafir Language, 481

MacLean (Dr.), Creatinin the Cause of the Masking of the
Sugar Reaction in Urine-testing, 542

McLeod (Prof. Herbert, F.R,S.), Cooperation between
Scientific Libraries, 438

MacMunn (Nora E.), Table of Areas of the Orographical
Regions of England and Wales, 494

MeWilliam (A.), Elementary Practical Metallurgy, Iron and
Steel, Percy Longmuir, 509

ee

Nature,
June v4, 1906

Madeley (Rev. W.), the Possibility of Introducing a Com
prehensive Syllabus of Scientific Teaching within th:
Time Limits of a Classical Curriculum, 309

Madreporarian Corals, Catalogue of the, in the British
Museum (Natural History), Henry M. Bernard, 412

Magie (Prof. W. F.), the Partition of Energy, 404

Magnetism: Sammlung Schubert, xlii., Theorie der Elec
trizitat und des Magnetismus, Prof. Dr. J. Classen, 4
Explication méchanique de la Matiére de 1’Electricité e
du Magnétisme, M. Despaux, 51; Magnetic Disturbance
during the Recent Auroral Display, Th. Moureaux, 161
Magnetic Storms and Aurora, Dr. Charles Chree, F.R.S.
1o1, 173; Dr. Alexander Graham Bell, 197; Prof. H
Gedmuyden, 197; F. C. Dennett, 152; the Recent Auroré
and Magnetic Disturbances, 182; Magnetism and Elec
tricity for Students, H. E. Hadley, 146; Action of
Magnetic Field on the Goldstein Rays (Canal-strahlen)
Henri Pellat, 192; an Acoustical Method for the Demon-
stration of the Magnetism of Liquids, T. Terada, 197;
Effect of Electric Oscillations on the Magnetic Properties
of Iron, J. Russell, 216; Survey of India, Experiments
made to Determine the Temperature Coefficients of Wat-
son’s Magnetographs, Captain H. A. Denholm Fraser,
250; Use of Chilled Cast Iron for Permanent Magnets,
A. Campbell, 357; Propagation of Longitudinal Waves
of Magnetic Flux along Iron Wires and Rods, Prof.
Lyle and Mr. Baldwin, 358; Magnetic Observations dur-
ing the Total Eclipse of the Sun, Father P. Cisera, 400;
Magnetic Susceptibility of Iron in Colloidal Solution,
E. F. Burton and P. Phillips, 455; Instrument for Illus-
trating the Magnetic Properties of Iron, A. H. Peake,
455; the Magnetic Inertia of a Charged Conductor in a
Field of Force, Oliver Heaviside, F.R.S., 582; Improved
Apparatus for Measuring magnetic Rotations and Obtain-
ing a Powerful Sodium Light, W. H. Perkin, sen., 623

Maiden (J. H.), a New Species of Eucalyptus, 24

Mailhe (A.), Synthesis of Tertiary Alcohols Derived from
Paramethylcyclohexane, 431

Maitland (A. Gibb), Geological Features of British New
Guinea, 108

Major (Dr. Forsyth), Certain Rodents from the Pleistocene
of the Western Mediterranean Countries, 106

Makower (W.), Effect of High Temperatures on Radium
Emanation, 407 .

Malaria: Insects as Carriers of Disease, A. E. Shipley,
F.R.S., at the British Association Meeting at Pretoria,
235; the Practical Study of Malaria and other Bloox
Parasites, Dr. J. W. W. Stephens and S. R. Christo-
phers, Prof. R. T. Hewlett, 148

Malay Archipelago, Wild Swine of the, Dr. Jentink, 35

Malfitano (G.), Composition of the Hydrochloroferric Col-
loid with Respect to the Amount of Hydrochloric Acic
present in the Suspending Liquid, 47

Mammalian Types, some, 343

Mammals, the Intestinal Tract of, Dr. Chalmers Mitchell,
618

Mammals of Great Britain and Ireland, the, J. G. Millais,
Supp. to November 30, iii.

Man (Dr. J. G. de), Two Decapod Crustacea from Fresh-
water Pool on Christmas Island, 262

Man: an Introduction to Anthropology, Dr. W. E. Rotzell

293

Man, Nebula to, Henry P. Knipe, 342

Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, 142, 215,
455

Mangoes, Decay of, Prevented by Immersion in Solution
of Formalin, 16

Mann. (Charles R.), Physics, 578

Maquenne (L.), Influence of the Reaction of the Medium
on the Activity of Amylase and on the Composition of
Saccharified Starcn, 335

Marage (Dr.), the Reason Why Deaf Mutes can Hear Low
Notes better than High Ones, 96; Mesure et Développe-
ment de 1’Audition, 292

March (F.), Rotatory Powers of Hexahydrobenzylidene and
CEnanthylidencamphors, 383

Marcolongo (Roberto), Meccanica Razionale, 318

Marek (Prof. R.), Altitude of the Forest-line in the Aus-
trian Alps, 253

Marine Biology: Remarkable Coelenterata from the West
Coast of Ireland, Prof. Sydney J. Hickson, F.R.S., 5;

Index

XXIX

the Percy Sladen Expedition in H.M.S. Sealark, J.
Stanley Gardiner, 43, 184; the Percy Sladen Expedition
in H.M.S. Sealark to the Indian Ocean, the Seychelles
Archipelago, J. Stanley Gardiner, 294; an Account of th:
Deep-sea Holothurioidea Collected by the Royal Indian
Marine Survey Ship, Investigator, R. Koehler and C.
Vaney, 114; the Formation of Spicules, W. Woodland,
179 ; Phosphorescent Marine Animals, Prof. McIntosh, 349 ;
Cheetognatha of the Siboga Expedition in the Dutch East
Indies, Dr. Fowler, 381; Catalogue of the Madrepo-
rarian Corals in the British Museum (Natural History),
Henry M. Bernard, 412; Meddelelser fra Kommissionen
fra Havundersggelsen, Serie Hydrografi, Serie Viskeri,
Serie Plankton, Jas. Johnstone, 434; Observations on
Gennadas, E. L. Bouvier, 551; Pisciculture at Port Erin,
61

Marloth (Dr.), on the Phyto-geographical Subdivisions of
South Africa, 163

Marmu (N.), Estimation of Carbon in Soils, 623

Marquis (R.), Action of the Amino-ethers and Imino-
chlorides on Organo-magnesium Derivatives, 528

Marr (J. E., F.R.S.), an Introducticn to Geology, 247;
Influence of the Geological Structure of English Lake-
land upon its Present Features, 502

Marsh (J. E.), Condensation of Ketones
Cyanide, 118

Marshall (C. R.), a Text-book of Materia Medica for
Students of Medicine, 339 :

Marshall (Dr. F. H. A.), the Horse in Norway, 119

Marshall (Dr. Hugh), Cooperation between Scientific
Libraries, 513

Marshall (P.), the Geography of New Zealand, 123

Martian Meteorology, Prof. W. H. Pickering, 38

Martin (Geoffrey), Researches on the Affinity of the
Elements and on the Causes of the Chemical Similarity
or Dissimilarity of Elements and Compounds, 49 ; Atomic
Disintegration and the Distribution of the Elements, 152;
“Mathematics” applied to Chemistry, 175; a Definition
of Temperature, 390; Sea-sickness and Equilibration of
the Eyes, 584

Martin (George H.), a Three Years’ Course of Practical
Chemistry, 459

Mast and Sail in Europe and Asia, H. Warington Smyth,
Sir W. H. White, K.C.B., F.R.S., 536

Materia Medica for Students of Medicine, a Text-book of,
C. R. Marshall, 339

Materials, Mechanics of, Mansfield Merriman, 25

Mathematics: Method for the Measurement of Angles, 16;
Researches on the Affinity of the Elements and on the
Causes of the Chemical Similarity or Dissimilarity of
Elements and Compounds, Geoffrey Martin, 49 ; Proceed-
ings of the London Mathematical Society, 52; Mathema-
tical Society, 71, 190, 287, 382, 479; Improper Double
Integrals and on the Arithmetic Continuum, Dr. Hobson,
+1; Arithmetical Nature of the Coefficients in a Group
of Linear Substitutions of Finite Order, Prof. W. Burn-
side, 71; the “Cattle Problem” of Archimedes, 86;
CEuvres de Laguerre, 97; Auslese aus meiner Unter-
richts- und Vorlesungspraxis, Dr. Hermann Schubert, 100,
365; Pangéométrie, ou Précis de Géométrie fondée sur
une Théorie générale et rigoureuse des Paralléles, N. Ve
Lobatschewsky, 100; the Boston Colloquium, Lectures
on Mathematics, Edward Burr Van Vleck, Henry Seely
White and Frederick Shenstone Woods, 122; Lectures on
the Calculus of Variations, Dr. Oskar Bolza, 122;
Mathematical Study in Japan, Prof. Harzer, 135;
“Mathematics” applied to Chemistry, Geoffrey Martin,
175, The Reviewer, 175; the Hessian Configuration and
its Connection with the Group of 360 Plane Collineations,
Prof. W. Burnside, 190; the Theory of Integral Equa-
tions, H. Bateman, 190; New Vernier Rule and Scale,
S. Irwin Crookes, 232; Vorlesungen tiber mathematische
Naherungsmethoden, Dr. Otto Biermann, 245; the
Maximum Number of Double Points on a Surface, A. B.
Basset, F.R.S., 246; Death of Prof. C. J. Joly, F-R.S..
251; Obituary Notice of, 273; the First Book of
Geometry, Grace Chisholm Young and W. H. Youns,
o67: Theorv of the Motion of the Moon, Ernest W.
Brown, F.R.S., 272; Higher Mathematics for Students
of Chemistry and Physics with Special Reference to
Practical Work, Dr. J. W. Mellor, 290; Elementary

with Mercury

Nature,

KOCK [ndex June 14, 1906

Algebra, W. G. Borchardt, 293; Meccanica Razionale,
Roberto Marcolongo, 318; Science and Hypothesis, Prof.
H. Poincaré, Prof. Arthur Schuster, F.R.S., 313; Wis-
senschaft und Hypothese, Prof. H. Poincaré, Prof.
Arthur Schuster, F.R.S., 3133; Integral Calculus for
Beginners, Alfred Lodge, Prof. G. H. Bryan, F.R.S.,
337; Theorem in Hyper-complex Numbers, J. H. Mac-
lagen Wedderburn, 358; L’Algébre de la Logique,
Louis Couturat, 386; a Geometrical Political Economy,
H. Cunynghame, 386; the Collected Mathematical
Works of George William Hill, 409; A Problem in
Analytic Geometry with a Moral, Prof. Maxime Bécher,
447; Sommerfeld’s Diffraction Problem and Reflection
by a Parabolic Mirror, Prof. H. Lamb, 479; Lectures
on the Theory of Functions of Real Variables, J. Pier-
pont, 483; a Course in Mathematical Analysis, Edouard
Goursat, 511; Formula for Finding the Date of Easter,
Chas. Leigh, 535; the Integration of Functions of a Single
Variable, Cambridge Tracts in Mathematics and Mathe-
matical Physics, No. 2, G. H. Hardy, 558; a Property
which Holds Good for all* Groupings of a Normal Distri-
bution of Frequency for Two Variables with Applications
to the Study of Contingency-tables for the Inherit-
ance of Unmeasured Qualities, G, Udny Yule, 574;
Death of Prof. Gabriel Oltramare, 613; the Winchester
Arithmetic, C. Godfrey and G. M. Bell, Supp. to Novem-
ber 30, viii; a Text-book of Algebra, AE. (Wayng,
Supp. to November 30, viii; an Introduction to Algebra,
R. C. Bridgett, Supp. to November 30, viii; Elementary
Modern Geometry, H. G. Willis, Supp. to November 30,
viii; Tables and Constants to Four Figures, William
Hall, Supp. to November 30, viii

Mathews (R. H.), Manners and Customs of Australian
Tribes, 549

Matignon (C.), New Type of Compound in the Group of
Rare Metals, 287

Matley (Dr. C. A.), the Carboniferous Rocks at Rush
(County Dublin), 312

Matteucci (Dr. V. F. L.), Eruption of Vesuvius, 614

Matthews (D.), Hydrographical Researches in the
Southern North Sea and in the English Channel, 256

Maurain (Ch.), Kathodic Pulverisations, 263

Mauricheau-Beaupré (Paul), Combustion of Acetylene by
Oxygen, 335 :

Mawson (D.), Geology of the New Hebrides, 216

Maximum Number of Double Points on a Surface, the,
A. B. Basset, F.R.S., 246

Maxwell (W. H.), British Progress in Municipal Engineer-
ing, 217

Maxwell’s Theory of Light, 316

Mayer (Prof. W.), Death of, 346

Mayet (M.), the Inoculation of Cancer, 263

Meccanica Razionale, Roberto Marcolongo, 318

Mechanics: an Introduction to the Design of- Beams,
Girders, and Columns in Machines and Structures, with
Examples in Graphic Statics, W. H. Atherton, ies
Mechanics for Engineers, a Text-book of Intermediate
Standard, Arthur Morley, 1; Mechanics of Materials,
Mansfield Merriman, 25; Coefficient of Utilisation of
Helices, Edgar Taffoureau, 143; Ascent of Sap in Trees,
Frank Harris, 246; the Relation of Mechanics to
Physics, Prof. Alexander Ziwet, 403; les Origines de
la Statique, P. Duhem, Supp. to November 30, ix

Medicine: Radium and Other Radio-active Substances,
their Application especially to Medicine, Dr. Charles
Baskerville, 2; Sir Frederick Treves on the Army Medical
Service, 15; Death of Sir J. S. Burdon- Sanderson, Bart.
Pilea aeLOse Obituary Notice of, 127; the late Sir
John Bordon: Sanderson, Sir fader Branton: F.R.S.
150; Handbook of Physiology for Students and Prac.
titioners of Medicine, Dr. Austin Ibias, “dois Ye. Se
Macdonald, 269; Medical Inspection and Feeding of
Children in Schools, 286; a Text-book of Materia Medica
for Students of Medicine, C. R. Marshall, 339; the
Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society of London Cen-
tenary, 1805-1905, Dr. Norman Moore and Stephen
Paget, Prof. R. T. He »wlett, 388; on Professional Edu-
cation with Special Reference to Medicine, an Address
delivered at King’s College, London, on October ay
1905, Prof. T. Clifford Allbutt, F.R.S., 530; the Phar.
macological Action of Digitalis, Strophanthus, and Sguill

on the Heart, G, S, Haynes, 542; Creatinin the Cause
of the Masking of the Sugar Reaction in Urine-testing,
Dr. MacLean, 542

Mediterranean Fever, 550
Mee (A.), the Heavens at a Glance, 425

Meidinger (Dr. Johann), Death of, 58

Meigen (Prof. W.), Atomic Disintegration, 389

Melanistic Form of the Wall-Lizard, G. A. Boulenger,
F.R.S., 189
Melbourne Observatory, the, 569

Meldola (Prof. R., F.R.S.), the Bates-Miiller Hypothesis

of Mimicry, a Question of Historical Accuracy, 100;
Chemistry in Rural Schools, 558

Mellor (Dr. J. W.), Higher Mathematics for Students of

Chemistry and Physics, with Special Reference to Prac-
tical Work, 290

Mellor (E. T.), on the Evidences in the Transvaal of
Glacial Conditions in Permo-Carboniferous Times, 92

Memory, Stimulus and, 338

Mennell (F. P.), Geological Problems of Rhodesia, 547

Menschen, Physiologie des, Dr. L. Luciani, Dr. J. A.
Milroy, 606

Menten (Miss M. L.), Chlorides in Nerve Cells and Fibres,
It

Merneld (C, J.), Astronomical Refraction, 240

Merriam (Dr. C. H.), Is Mutation a Factor in Evolution of
Higher Vertebrates? 491

Merrifield (F.), Influence of Temperature on Insects, 516
Merrill (E. D.), the Manila Elemi Plant, 423
Merriman (Mansfield), Mechanics of Materials, 25
Merriman (R.), the Tetrazoline Group, 119

Merzbecher (Dr. Gottfried), the Central Tian-Shan Moun-
tains, 227

Mesure et Développement de l’Audition, Dr. Marage, Prof.
John G. McKendrick, F.R.S., 292

Metallurgy : Death and Obituary Notice of William Henry
Greenwood, 34; Methods for Determination of Man-
ganese in Iron and Steel, A. A. Read, 36; Properties
of a Series of Iron-Nickel-Manganese-Carbon Alloys,
Dr. H. C. H. Carpenter, R. A. Hadfield, and Percy
Longmuir, 108; Handbook of Metallurgy, Prof. Carl
Schnabel, 124; Prehistoric Mass of Metal Found near
Nancy, G. Arth and P. Lejeune, 180; Composition of
a Cast-Iron Cannon Ball Found under Old Moat of the
Bastille, A. Porlier, 181; Physics of Ore Flotation, J.
Swinburne and Dr. G. Rudorf, 214; Concentration of
Metalliferous Sulphides by Flotation, Prof. A. K.
Huntingdon, 214; the Nickel-Vanadium Steels, Dr. L.
Guillet, 350; the Largest Steel Ingot Ever Made, 371;
Copper and its Alloys in Antiquity, Prof. W. Gowland,
381; the Manufacture of Chilled Rolls, E. de Loisy,
398; the Origin of Bronze, Dr. John W. Evans, 414;
Overstraining of Iron by Tension and Compression, Dr.
James Muir, 501; Elementary Practical Metallurgy, Iron
and Steel, Percy Longmuir, A. McWilliam, 509; Re-
sistance of Iron and Steel to Reversals of Direct Stress,
Dr. T. E. Stanton and L. Bairstow, 617

Metamorphism, a Treatise on, Charles Edward van Hise,

459

Metaphysics: Immanuel Kant’s Kleinere Schriften zur
Logik und Metaphysik, 98; the Metaphysics of Nature,
Carveth Read, 290

Meteorology: Report of Inter-State Astronomical and

Meteorological Conference, Adelaide, May, 1905, 8;
Rainfall in Mysore for 1904, J. Cook, 17; Constantly
Occurring Secondary Maxima and Minima in the Yearly
Range of Meteorological Phenomena, Dr. van Rijckevor-
sel, 36; Martian Met~rology, Prof. W. H. Pickering,
38; the Exploration -.f the Atmosphere Over the
Tropical Oceans, Dr. A. L. Rotch and L. Teisserene de
Bort, 54; Cyclone in the Philippine Islands, 61; Aurora
of November 15, Rowland A. Earp, 79; R. Langton
Cole, 80; Magnetic Storms and Aurora, Dr. Charles
Ghree, FiR:S:) “101, 1734) (Bs (CC) “Dennett, “152; Dr
Alexander Graham Bell, 197; Prof. H. Gedmuyden, 197;
Aurore of November 15 and December 12, Dr. Alexander
Graham Bell, 223; Aurora of November 15, Prof. M. P.
Rudzki, 246; Symons Gold Medal Awarded to Lieut.-
General Sir Richard Strachey, F.R.S., 84; the Climate
of the Bonin Islands, T. Okada, 86; Royal Meteor-
ological Society, 95, 262, 357, 455, 527; Rainstorm of

Nature,
June 14, 1906

August 24 to 26 in Counties Dublin and Wicklow, Sir
John W. Moore, 95; the Gales of November 26, 107;
Rainfall of China and Corea, T. Okada, 107; Use of
Platinum Resistance Thermometers in Determining the
Temperature of the Air at Helwan, E. B. H. Wade, 107;
Future Problems of Maritime Meteorology, Prof. Herge-
sell, 135; a Preliminary Investigation of the More Im-
portant Features of the Meteorology of Southern Asia,
the Indian Ocean, and Neighbouring Countries during the
Period 1892-1902, Sir John Eliot, F.R.S., 136; Meteoro-
logie und Klimatologie, Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Trabert,
149; Investigation of the Upper Air, 162; the Pulse of
the Atmospheric Circulation, Dr. W. N. Shaw, F.R.S.,
175; Method Employed by the Prince of Monaco for
Ascertaining the Conditions of the Upper Air by Means
of Unmanned Balloons, Prof, H. Hergesell, 181; Highest
Kite Ascent, 207; Kite and Balloon Ascents, Dr. Herge-
sell, 207; Flying Kites in Barbados, C. J. P. Cave,
262; Observations with Registration Balloons in
America, A. L. Rotch, 349; Ascents of Two Unmanned
Balloons, 615; Thunder and _ Lightning, Camille
Flammarion, 196; Rainfall of Chemulpo, 207; Period-
icity of Rainfall, A. P. Jenkin, 209; the Forms of
Cirrus-clouds, Prof. Oslhoff, 209; Recent Studies of
Periods in Meteorology, 209; Seasons in the British Isles
from 1878, Dr. W. N. Shaw, 210; Correlation of Hydro-
graphic, Biological, and Meteorological Data, Otto
Petterson, 210; the Temperature of France, A. Angot,
230; Severe Gale of January 5-6, 254; Lehrbuch der
Meteorologie, Prof. Julius Hann, 270; Rainfall of 1905,
Dr. H. R. Mill, 304; Rainfall Observations for the
Years 1896-1904 at Seoul, Corea, Mr. Li, 324; Results
of Observations Made with a Black Bulb Thermometer
in Vacuo, J. R. Sutton, 324; the International Meteor-
ological Conference at Innsbruck, 331; Hurricanes in
the West India Islands, Hesketh Bell, 348; Climate of
St. Moritz, Dr. A. Nolda and C. Bihrer, 350; Weather
of Canada for 1903, 374; Rainfall of South Australia,
Sir Chas. Todd, 399; a 300-Year Climatic and Solar
Cycle, Thos. W. Kingsmill, 413; Cloud Studies, Arthur
W. Clayden, Prof. H. Hildebrand Hildebrandsson, 416;
Death and Obituary Notice of Henry James Chaney,
419; Carbondale, Pennysylvania, Tornado of August 30,
1905, W. M. Dudley, 423; Tornado at Meridian, Missis-
sippi, 447; Hurricane in South Pacific on February 7
and 8, 447; the Vertical Distribution of the Meteor-
ological Elements above the Atlantic, Dr. A. L. Rotch
and L. Teisserenc de Bort, 449; Wintry March Weather
over the British Islands, 469; Climatology of 1905, MM.
Flammarion and Loisel, 471; Meteorological Report of
Ceylon for 1904, 471; New Meteorological Instruments,
Messrs. Lander and Smith, 472; the Thunderstorm of
February 8, Mr. Lander, 472; Interpretation of Meteor-
ological Records, Dr. John Aitken, F.R.S., 485, 534;
R. T. Omond, 512; A. Lander, 584; a More Rational
Treatment of Climatology, R. de C. Ward, 493; Is
London Fog Inevitable? Dr. W. N. Shaw, 493 ; Weather
during Week Ending March 29, 517; the Climate of
-Beyrout, Dr. S. Kostlivy, 568; Meteorological Office’s
Annual Summary for 1905, 568; Konstant auftretende
secundare Maxima’ und Minima in dem jahrlichen Ver-
lauf der Meteorologischen Erscheinungen, Dr. van
Rijckevorsel, 594; Studies of Temperature and Pressure
Observations, Dr. William J. S. Lockyer, 594; Study of
the Meteorological Observations Made during Nansen’s
North Polar Expedition in 1893-6, Prof. Mohn, 595;
Barometrische Ausgleichsbewegung in der Erdatmo-
sphare, Dr. Wilhelm Krebs, 595; a Horizontal Rainbow,
W. R. M. Church, 608

Meteors: the Leonid Meteors, 1905, John R. Henry, 28;
the Meteors of Biela’s Comet, Mr. Denning, 64; Orbital
Elements of Two Meteors, Dr. P. Moschick, 161;
Observations of the Lyrid Meteors, April, 1904, Dr.
Jiff Kavdn, 352; Fireball of January 27, 1906, W. F.
Denning, 427; a Brilliant Fireball, Mr. Denning, 474;
the April Meteors, W. F. Denning, 560; John R. Henry,
560

Methven (C. W.), on South African Harbours, 65

Metropolis, the Control of the Gas Supply of the, 273

Meunier (Prof. Stanislas), Dust Due to Eruption of
Vesuvius, 614

Index

XXXI

Mexican Cotton-Boll Weevil, the, W. D. Hunter and
W. E. Hinds, Fred V. Theobald, 257

Meyer (G.), Light Emitted by Radium Bromide due to
the Impact of the Becquerel Rays on the Particles of
Nitrogen, 325

Meyerhoffer (Dr.), Landolt-Bérnstein—Physikalisch-chem-
ische Tabellen, Supp. to November 30, vi

Micrometer Measures of Double Stars, Dr. H. E. Lau,
232

Micrometer Measures of Struve Double Stars, Dr. H. E.
Lau, 495

Microscopy: Royal Microscopical Society, 23, 118, 287,

357, 503, 575; Simple Portable Camera for Use with
the Microscope, E. Moffat, 23; Hand Microtome, Mr.
Flatters, 23; Nature through Microscope and Camera,
Richard Kerr, 104; the Movements of Diatoms Caused
by the Evolution of Gas, Daniel D. Jackson, 159; the
Formation of Spicules, W. Woodland, 179; Segmentation
and Phylogeny of Arthropods, Prof. Carpenter, 252;
Photographs of Diatoms taken by the Zeiss Apparatus,
Designed by Dr. August Kohler, Photomicrography with
Ultra-Violet Light, Mr. Rheinberg, 287; Elements of
Applied Microscopy, Charles-Edward Amory Winslow,
365; Microscopes and Accessories: How to Make and
Use Them, Prof. R. T. Hewlett, 412; Microscopic
Aquatic Plants of Our Waters, Dr. F. E. Fritsch
at London Institution, 499; Death and Obituary Notice
of Prof. Lionel Smith Beale, 540; a Newly Discovered
Synangium, D. M. S. Watson, 542

Miers (H. A.), Refractive Indices of Crystallising Solu-
tions, 357; Studies in Crystallisation: Sodium Nitrate,
358

Milk, Action of Bacteria in the Souring of, 85

Milk, Bacteriological Examination of, Dr. A. C. Houston,
492

Milk and Copper, John Golding and Dr. Feilman, 399

Mill (Dr. H. R.), Rainfall of 1905, 304

Millais (J. G.), the Mammals of Great Britain and Ireland,
Supp. to November 30, iii

Miller (Edward Y.), the Bataks of Palawan, 584

Miller (N. H. J.), Estimation of Carbon in Soils, 623

Miller (W. G.), Cobalt-Nickel Arsenides and Silver De-
posits of Temiskaming, Ontario, 231

Millosevich (Prof. E.), Comets 1905b and r905c, 182

Milne (Prof. John, F.R.S.), the British Association and
Our Colonies, 77; Antarctic Earthquakes, Observations
Made with Horizontal Pendulum in the Antarctic
Regions, Paper at Royal Society, 210

Milroy (Dr. J. A.), Zur Erkenntniss der Kolloide : Ueber
irreversible Hydrosole und Ultramikroskopie, Richard
Zsigmondy, 410; Physiologie des Menschen, Dr. L.
Luciani, 606

Mimicry, the Bates-Miiller Hypothesis of, a Question of
Historical Accuracy, Prof. R. Meldola, F.R.S., 100

Minchin (H. D.), a Simple Arrangement for Purifying
Mercury, 494

Minerals: Minerals Recently Found in the Binnenthal,
R. H. Solly, 167; Mineral Production of India, T. H.
Holland, F.R.S., 493; the Mineral Wealth of Alaska,
59

Minot Mineralogy of Ceylon, A. K. Coomaraswamy
and James Parsons, 134; Mineralogical Society, 166,
358; the Production of Gold and Silver in the United
States in 1904, W. Lindgren, 306; Copper Production
of the United States, W. H. Weed, 306; Fluorspar De-
posits of Southern Illinois, H. Foster Bain, 306; Zinc
and Lead Deposits of North-Western Illinois, H. Foster
Bain, 306; Kleinite, Dr. A. Sachs, 325; Geikielite and
the Ferro-Magnesian Titanates, T. Crook and B. M.
Jones, 358; the Iron-Ore Deposits of Sydvaranger,
G. Henriksen, 398; Technical Methods of Ore Analysis,
A. H. Low, 532; Death of Gustave Davalque, 543; the
Nature of Carnotite, Messrs. Hillebrand and Ransome,
547; Analysis of Dumortierite, Mr. Schaller, 547; Occur-
rence of Bauxite in India, Dr. T. H. Holland, 547;
Precious Stones Considered in Their Scientific and
Artistic Relations, Prof. A. H. Church, F.R.S., Supp.
to November 30, x

Miners’ Worm, Prof. Sydney J. Hickson, F.R.S., 344

Minet (Adolphe), the Production of Aluminium and _ its
Industrial Use, 579

XXXII Index Nature,

June 14, 1906

Mining: Various Minerals Raised in the United Kingdom
in 1904, 36; Salt Mining at Detroit, Michigan, 206; a
Treatise on Ore and Stone Mining, Sir C. Le Neve
Foster, 220; Cobalt-Nickel Arsenides and Silver Deposits
of Temiskaming, Ontario, W. G. Miller, 231; Fatal
Accidents in Coal Mining in the United States in 1904,
F. L. Hoffman, 232; ‘Fatal Accidents in Mines and
Quarries of the United Kingdom during 1905, 278; Coal
Mining in the Philippines, O. H. Reinholt, 324; Coal
Consumption of the United Kingdom, G. T. Beilby,
398; Gem Production in Brazil, 398; Prospecting in the
Transbaikalian Goldfields, R. Farina, 398 ; Unprecedented
Mining Disaster at Courriéres Colliery, 468, 490; a New
Gold Field at Manhattan in Nevada, 471; Production of
Minerals in Great Britain in 1905, 471; Mining Law of
the British Empire, Charles J. Alford, Bennett H.
Brough, 482; Mineral Production of India, T. H.
Holland, F.R.S., 493; Remarkable Surface Outcrop of
an Iron Ore Deposit, R. H. Anderson, 517; Low Cost
of Ore Dressing at Osceola Copper Mine, Lake Superior,
543; Mode of Occurrence of the Tin-Ore in Bushveld
Area, North-east of Pretoria, A. L. Hall, 546; the Occur-
rences of Gold in the Pretoria Series (Lydenburg Gold-
field), Mr. Thord-Gray, 547; the Mineral Wealth of
Alaska, 595

Minnesota Plant Diseases, Dr. E. M. Freeman, 291

Mitchell (Dr.), Plague Epidemics in Cape Colony, 139

Mitchell (Dr. Chalmers), the Intestinal Tract of Mammals,
618

Mneme als erhaltendes im Wechsel des organischen
Geschehens, Die, Richard Semon, 338

Modern Electric Practice, Maurice Solomon, 169

Moffat (E.), Simple Portable Camera for Use with the
Microscope, 2:

Mohn (Prof.), Study of the Meteorological Observations
Made during Nansen’s North Polar Expedition in
1893-6, 595

Moir (J.), Solubility of Zine Hydroxide in Alkalis, 262;
New Solvent for Gold, 623

Moissan (Prof. Henri), the Distillation of Copper, 143;
Distillation of Gold, the Alloys of Gold, and on a New
Method of Preparation of the Purple of Cassius. ror;
Refractory Metals in the Electric Furnace, 325; Fusion
and Distillation of Metals of the Platinum Group, 424;
Distillation of Titanium and the Temperature of the Sun,
527; the Temperature of the Sun, 569

Molecular Forces and Newtonian Laws, Alex. Clark, 51

Molisch (Prof. H.), Light Emission by Plants, 85

Molliard (M.), Structure of Plants Developed in the Light
without Carbon Dioxide, and in Presence of Organic
Materials, 263

Mollusca: Prosobranchiata, No. 4, the Ontogenetic Stages
Represented by the Gastropod Protoconch, H. Leighton
Kesteven, 24; Lamellibranchs with Multiple Mouths,
Paul Pelseneer, 528

Molony (E.), Geology of the Gangetic Plain, 143

Monckman (Dr. James), Death and Obituz ary Notice of,
106

Monkey from the Cameroons, on an Alleged New, R. I.
Pocock, 297; Dr. H. O. Forbes, 319

Monotremes and Birds, Dr. H. Gadow, F.R.S., 222

Montana, Petrography and Geology of ‘the Igneous Rocks
of the Highwood Mountains, L. V. Pirsson, 376

Moody (G. T.), Rusting of icant 623

Moog (R.), Influence of High Altitudes on the General
Nutrition, 120

Moon: a Lunar Theory from Observation, Dr. P. H.
Cowell, 80; Graphical Methods for Finding the Time of
Moonrise, Fr. W. F. J. Rigge, 208 ; Theory Rot the Motion
of the Moon, Ernest W. Brown, F.R.S., 272; a New
Method of Determining the Moon’s Position Photo-
graphically, Mr. Wade, 352; the Apparent Enlargement
of the Moon at the Horizon, Ed. Claparéde, 400: the
Glow Surrounding the Lunar Crater Linné, Prof. E. E.
Barnard, 448; Measurements of Linné during the Total
Eclipse of the Moon, Prof. E. C. Pickering, 569; R. H.
Frost, 569

Moore (Dr.), Extract of the Duodenal Mucous Membrane
Counteracts Diabetes, 474

Moore (Prof. B.), Effects of Alkalies and Acids. and of
Alkaline and Acid Salts upon Fertilised Eggs of '

Echinus esculentus, Study in Relationship to the Causa-
tion of Malignant Disease, 213; Physical and Chemical
Properties of Solutions of Chloroform and Other Anzes-
thetics, 213; Outlines of Physiological Chemistry, Dr.
S. P. Beebe and Prof. B. H. Buxton, 483

Moore (Sir John W.), Rainstorm of August 24 to 26 in

Counties Dublin and Wicklow, 95

Moore (Dr. Norman), the Royal Medical and Chirurgical

Society of London, Centenary, 1805-1905, 388

Morbology : Two Hzmatozoa of the Partridge and Turkey,

A. Laveran and M. Lucet, 47; Yellow Fever in Panama,
84; the Wastage in Armies by Disease, Prof. R. T.
Hewlett, 105; the Practical Study of Malaria and Other
Blood Parasites, Dr. J. W. W. Stephens and S. R.
Christophers, Prof. R. T. Hewlett, 148; Effect of Acid,
Alkali, and Certain Indicators in Arresting or Other-
wise Influencing the Development of the Eggs of Pleuro-
nectes platessa and Echinus esculentus, E. Whitley, 213 ;
Effects of Alkalies and Acids and of Alkaline and Acid
Salts upon Fertilised Eggs of Echinus esculentus, Study
in Relationship to the Causation of Malignant Disease,
Prof. B. Moore, Dr. Herbert E. Roaf and E. Whitley,
213; the ‘Etiology of Leprosy, Dr. J. Hutchinson,
F.R.S., 214; Insects as Carriers of Disease, A. E. Ship-
ley, F. R. S., at the British Association Meeting at Pre-
toria, 235; Identity of Surra and Mbori, A. Laveran,

263; the Inoculation of Cancer, M. Mayet, 263; the
Anatomy of Agchylostoma duodenale, Dub., A. Looss,
Prof. Sydney J. Hickson, F.R.S., 344; Plague Epidemic,
the Immunity of Europeans, 422; Dangers of the In-
gestion of Dead Tubercle Bacilli into Tuberculous and
Healthy Animals, A. Calmette and M. Breton, 431;
Analysis of Tubercle Bacilli, G. Baudran, 504; Effects
of the Absorption of Tuberculin by the Digestive Tube,
A. Calmette and M. Breton, 503; the Question of the
Transference of Bovine Tuberculosis to Man through
Milk, Prof. Adami, 516; Extract of the Duodenal
Mucous Membrane Counteracts Diabetes, Drs. Moore,
Edie, and Abram, 474; Protective Mechanism against
Excess of Alkali, Drs. Edie and Whitley, 474; Mediter-
ranean Fever, 550

Moreau (G.), Recombination of the Ions in Saline Vapours,

408

Macrae (C. Lloyd, F.R.S.), the Interpretation of Nature,

265

Morgan (Mr.), Another New Comet, 1905c, 160; Discovery

of a New Comet (1906c), 494

Morgan (Prof. H. R.), Observation of Comet 1905c after

Perihelion, 518

Morice (Rev. F. D.), Panurgus moricei, a New Species of

Bee, 117; Caleara Observed on the Legs of Some Hymen-
optera, 598

Morley (Arthur), Mechanics for Engineers, a Text-book of

Intermediate Standard, 1

Morosaurus, the Skeleton of Brontosaurus and Skull of,

Prof. Henry Fairfield Osborn, 282

Morphology: the Visual Organs of the Ascidians of the

Salpa Group, W. Redikorzen, 134; Growth of the Oocyte
in Antedon, a Morphological Study in Cell-Metabolism,
Dr. Gilbert Chubb, 574

Morrell (R.S.), Velocity of Transformation of Sugars by

Allsalies 527

Morse (Harmon Northrop), Exercises in Quantitative

Chemistry, 268

Moschick (Dr. P.), Orbital Elements of Two Meteors, 161
Mosely (A.), Effect of Solar Eclipse on Fish, 584 °
Mosquitoes: Yellow Fever in Panama, 84: Insects as

Carriers of Disease, A. E. Shipley, F.R.S., at the
British Association Meeting at Pretoria, 235

Moss (R. J.), Sublimation of Sulphur at Ordinary Tem-

peratures, 383

Mosses, British, E. F., 54
Moths. the Effect of Food on the Colour of, Prof. T. D. A.

Cockerell, 341

Motion, the Existence of Absolute, Daniel Comstock, 582
Motion. Heat a Mode of, in the Seventeenth Century, Sir

W. R. Gowers. F.R.S., 175

Motion, Heat a Mode of, Charles E. Benham, 246
Motion. a Plea for Absolute. Prof. Arthur Schuster,

F.R.S., 462; Norman R. Campbell, 484; F. J. W-
Whipple, 535

Nature,
June 14, 1906

Lndex

XXXIli

Motion of the Moon, Theory of the, Ernest W. Brown,
Roose 2 72

Motor-Car Mechanism and Management, the Petrol Car,
W. Poynter Adams, 580

Moulton (F. R.), the Evolution of the Solar System, 87

Mount Vesuvius, Eruption of, 540; see Volcanoes

Mount Wilson Observatory, A Fire Near the, 326; Prof.
Hale, 375

Moureaux (Th.), Magnetic Disturbance during the Recent
Auroral Display, 161 °

Moureu (Charles), Determination of the Rare Gases in
Natural Gaseous Mixtures, 263; Condensation of the
Acetylenic Nitriles with Alcohols, 383; Condensation of

_ the Acetylenic Nitriles with Phenols, 431

Moye (Prof.), 4 la Poursuite d’une Ombre, 606

Muir (Dr. James), Overstraining of Iron by Tension and
Compression, 501

Muir (Dr. Thomas),
Libraries, 372

Mulhouse, Prize Subjects of the Industrial Society of, 164

Miller (F.), H6henklima und Bergwanderungen in ihrer
Wirkung auf den Menschen, 553

Miller (Prof. Alexandre), Death and Obituary Notice of, 371

Municipal Engineering, British Progress in, W. H. Max-
well, 217

Munn (Philip W.), the Birds of Hampshire and the Isle of
Wight, 465

Muntz (A.), Intensive Nitrification, 143; Function of Or-
ganic Matter in Nitrification, 431

Muret (E.), les Variations periodiques des Glaciers, 320

Murray (Donald), Atomic Disintegration and the Distribu-
tion of the Elements, 125

Museums: Catalogue of the Collection of Birds’ Eggs in
the British Museum (Natural History), E. W. Oates and
Captain S. G. Reid, 53; New Museum and Laboratories
of Zoology at Liverpool, 88; Summary of Progress of
the Geological Survey of the United Kingdom and
Museum of Practical Geology for 1904, 204; Catalogue
of the Indian Decapod Crustacea in the Collection of the
Indian Museum, part ii., Anomura, Fasciculus i.,
Pagurides, Dr. A. Alcock, F.R.S., 317; Catalogue of the
Madreporarian Corals in the British Museum (Natural
History), Henry M. Bernard, 412: Catalogue of the
Fossil Plants of the Glossopteris Flora in the Depart-
ment of Geology, British Museum (Natural History),
being a Monograph of the Permo-Carboniferous Flora of
India and the Southern Hemisphere, E. A. Newell Arber,
A. C. Seward, F.R.S., 577; Anales del Museo Nacional
de Buenos Aires, 581

Mycology: British Mosses, E. F., 54

Myres (J. L.), the Alpine Races in Europe, 492

Mvthology: Origin of Mankind (according to the Lamaic
Mythology), Rai Sarat Chandra Das Bahadur, 432

Cooperation between Scientific

Nebaloi Dialect, the, Otto Scheerer, Dr, A. C. Haddon,
Bess, 5 04,

Naherungsmethoden, Vorlesungen iiber mathematische, Dr.
Otto Biermann, 245

Naming of Colours, the, Alfred H. Crook, 246

Nansouty (Max de), Actualités Scientifiques, 76

Naples, Memoirs of the Royal Society of, 327

National Antarctic Expedition, the Work of the, Capt.
R. F. Scott, Prof. J. W. Gregory, F.R.S., 297

National Engineering and Trade Lectures, 217

National Physical Laboratory, the, 514

Native Tribes, Studies of, 549

Natural Colours, Photography in, 330

Natural History: Quiet Hours with Nature, Mrs.
Brightwen, 4; Death of Captain F. W. Hutton, F.R.S.,
13; Obituary Notice of, 32; New South Wales Linnean
Society, 24, 216, 384; Travels of a Naturalist in
Northern Europe: Norway, 1871, Archangel, 1872, Pet-
chora, 1875, J. A. Harvie-Brown, 50; Catalogue of the
Collection of Birds’ Eggs in British Museum (Natural
History), E. W. Oates and Captain S. G. Reid, 53; My
Strange Pets and Other Memories of Country Life,
R. Bell, 76; Nature through Microscope and Camera,
Richard Kerr, 104; the Seat of the Recognition-Sense
among Ants, H. Piéron, 134: My Life: a Record of
Events and Opinions, Alfred Russel Wallace, 145; Pic-

|

tures from Nature, Richard and Cherry Kearton, 148;

Sporting Sketches, E. Sandys, 149; Linnean Society,

167, 214, 287, 381, 454, 503, 598; Beasties Courageous :

Studies of Animal Life and Characters, D. English, 177;

Northern Trails: Some Studies of Animal Life in the

Far North, W. J. Long, 177; the Habits of Bees and the
Colours of Flowers, Gaston Bonnier, 191; Alleged Sheep-
killing Habit of the New Zealand Kea Parrot, 205 ; Car-
nivorous Habits of the New Zealand Kea Parrot, Prof.
W. B. Benham, 559; Nature in Eastern Norfolk, Arthur
H. Patterson, 221; Death and Obituary Notice of
Harrison Weir, 251; Frigate-Birds as Letter-Carriers,
322; Habits of Diamond-Tailed Geckos, 322; Nebula to
Man, Henry R. Knipe, 342; More Natural History
Essays, Graham Renshaw, 343; Death and Obituary
Notice of C. J. Cornish, 347; the Falkland Island Fox,
R. N. Rudmose-Brown, 365; Natural History and
Archeology of the Waterlilies, 379; Catalogue of the
Madreporarian Corals in the British Museum (Natural
History), Henry M. Bernard, 412; the Bird Watcher in
the Shetlands, with Some Notes on Seals—and Digres-
sions, Edmund Selous, O. V. Aplin, 414; Nature-Tones
and Undertones, J. Maclair Boraston, O. V. Aplin, 414;
the Intelligence of Animals, Prof. W. Galloway, 440;
the Birds of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, Rev. J. E
Kelsall and Philip W. Munn, O. V. Aplin, 465; Mode
in which the American Prongbuck Protects its Young,
H. H. Cross, 470; the Natural History of Selborne, Rev.
Gilbert White, 581

Natural Science in Hygiene, or the Life-history of the
Non-bacterial Parasites Affecting Man, Dr. James Rodger
Watson, Prof. R. T. Hewlett, 484

Natural Selection: Death and Obituary Notice of Canon
Tristram, F.R.S., 469

Nature, La, et la Vie, Henri de Varigny, 462

Nature, the Interpretation of, C. Lloyd Morgan, F.R.S.,
26

Mae: the Metaphysics of, Carveth Read, 290

Nature and Origin of Living Matter, the, Dr. H. Charlton
Bastian, F.R.S., 361 :

Naval Architecture: Mast and Sail in Europe and Asia,
H. Warrington Smyth, Sir W. H. White, K.C.B.,
F.R.S., 536; Institution of Naval Architects, 571 ,

Naval Observatory, the United States, Rear-Admiral
Chester, 375

Navigation : Yacht Measurement Rules, R. E. Froude, S72 F
Motor-Boats, Linton Hope, 572; James A. Smith, 572;
Gas Engines for Ship Propulsion, J. E. Thornycroft, 572

Nebula to Man, Henry R. Knipe, 342 :

Nebula in Cygnus (N.G.C. 6894), Annular, G. Tikhoff, 305

Nebula, the Ring, in Lyra, Dr. Newkirk, 448, Prof. E. E-
Barnard, 448 ;

Nebula in Scorpio, a Large Photographic, Prof. Barnard, 618

Nebula, Cluster of, in Perseus, Dr. Max Wolf, 448

Nebulz, Observations of, M. Bigourdan, 617

Nebulz, Stars and, Prof. R. A. Gregory, 505

Nebular Hypothesis, Some Suggestions on the, Dr. Halm, 38

Nebulosity around Nova Aquila, Prof. Frost, 279; Prof.
E. C. Pickering, 279

Nebulosity around Nova Aquilae No. 2,
Prof. Frost, 518

Nebulous Matter, the Probable Volcanic Origin of, Prof.
J. M. Schaeberle, 296

Negritos of Zamabales, William Allan Reed, Dr. A. C.
Haddon, F.R.S., 584

Nelson (Mabel S.), Difference between Men and Women
in the Recognition of Colour and the Perception of
Sound, 6i

Nelson (R. M.), the Elastic Fluid Turbine, 350

Némec (Prof. B.), Studien iiber die Regeneration, 170

Neptune’s Satellite, Suggested Name for, M. Fouche, 182

Neville (A.), Resolution of 2: 3-Dihydro-3-Methylindene-2-
Carboxylic Acid into its Optically Active Isomerides, 431

New Orleans Meeting of the American Association, the,
402; see also American Association

New South Wales Linnean Society, 24, 216, 384

New South Wales Royal Society, 240, 456

New Zealand: Botany of the Far North of New Zealand,
Dr. L. Cockayne, 16; the Geography of New Zealand,
P. Marshall, 123; Carnivorous Habits of New Zealand
Kea Parrot, 205; Prof. W. B. Benham, 559; the Rocks

ivr

the Supposed,

XXXIV

Index

Nature,
June 14, 1906

of Cape Colville Peninsula,
Prof. Sollas, F.R.S., 234

Newall (H. F.), Polarisation Phenomena at Guelma in
the Eclipse 1905 August 30, 191

Newcomb (Prof.), the Zodiacal Light to the North of the
Sun, 161

Newkirk (Dr.), the Ring Nebula in Lyra, 448

Newsholme (Dr.), the Decline of Human Fertility, 230

Newton (Prof. Alfred), Ootheca Wolleyana: an Illustrated
Catalogue of the Collection of Birds’ Eggs formed by the
late John Wolley, 387

Newtonian Laws, Molecular Forces and, Alex. Clark, 51

Niagara, Canadian Electric Power Stations at, Orrin. E.
Dunlap, 161

Nicholson (William), Smoke Abatement: a Manual for the
Use of Manufacturers, Inspectors, Medical Officers of
Health, Engineers, and Others, 411

Nicol Prism, the Inventor of the, 340, 371; Prof. Silvanus
P. Thompson, F.R.S., 340

Nicolson (J. G.), Rare Plants found in Scotland, 323

Nile Quest, the, a Record of the Exploration of the Nile
and its Basin, Sir Harry Johnston, K.C.M.G., K.C.B.,

Auckland, New Zealand,

391

Nitrates, the Electric Production of, from the Atmosphere,
Prof. Silvanus P. Thompson, F.R.S., at Royal Institu-
tion, 355

Nitrogen, Utilisation of, in Air by Plants, Thos. Jamieson,
531, 607; A. D. H., 608

Nobel Prize Awards, 156

Noble (Sir Andrew, Bart., K.C.B.,
Explosives, 116

Nolda (Dr. A.), Climate of St. Moritz, 350

F.R.S.), Researches on

Nomenclature, a Suggested Change in, Dr. Chas. W.
Andrews, 224
Nomenclature of Kinship; its Extension, Dr. Francis

Galton, F.R.S., 150

Nopesa (Baron), Carnivorous Dinosaurs from the Oxford
Clay, 15; Kerunia from the Egyptian Eocene, 15

Nordenskjéld (Baron Erland), Expedition to the Andes, 34

Nordmann (Charles), JIonisation of the Atmosphere
during Total Solar Eclipse, 208

Norfolk, Eastern, Nature in, Arthur H. Patterson, 221

Norlund (N. E.), the Orbit of & Ursa Majoris, 255

Norman (F. J.), the Fighting Man of Japan, 271

North Pole, Catalogue of Stars within Two Degrees of
the, Dr. Caroline E. Furness, 375

Northern Trails; Some Studies of
Far North, W. J. Long, 177

Nova Aquilz, Nebulosity around, Prof. Frost, 279, 518;
Prof. E. C. Pickering, 279 ie,

Nova Aquila No. 2, Prof. Wolf, 87; J. A. Parkhurst, 136

Nova Geminorum, Observations of, Dr. K. Graff, 305 ‘

Nova Persei (No. 2), the Spectrum of, 18; Observations of,
Dr. K. Graff, 305

Nutrition, Physiological Economy in, 328

Nymphza, a Monograph of the Genus, the Waterlilies,
Henry S. Conard, 379

Animal Life in the

Oates (E. W.), Catalogue of the Collection of Birds’ Eggs
in British Museum (Natural History), 53 ze

Objective-prism Determinations of Stellar Radial Veloci-
ties, Geo. C. Comstock, 592

Observatories: Report of the Yerkes Observatory, Prof.
Hale, 18; the Solar Observatory on Mount Wilson, Cali-

fornia, Contributions from the Solar Observatory of the

Carnegie Institution of Washington, Prof. G. E. Hale,

67; a Fire Near the Mount Wilson Observatory, 326;
Prof. Hale, 375; the Companion to the Observatory,
1906, 182; the United States Naval Observatory, Rear-

\dmiral Chester, 375; Publications of the U.S. Naval
Observatory, American Observations of the Total Solar
Eclipses of 1900 and 1901, Rear-Admiral Colby M.
Chester, Dr. William J. S. Lockyer, 486; Photographies
de la Granulation solaire faites &A Poulkowa, Prof. A.
Hansky, W. E. Rolston, 401; Harvard College Observ-
atory, Prof. Pickering, 494; Mounting the 60-inch Re.
flector at Harvard, 569; the Melbourne Observatory, 569

Oceanography of the Pacific, Dr. James M. Flint, 586

Oehmen (Mr.), an Instrument Devised by, for Surveying
Bore-holes, 92 :

Okada (T.), the Climate of the Bonin Islands, 86; Rainfall
of China and Corea, 107

Oldham (R. D.), Constitution of the Interior of the Earth
as revealed by Earthquakes, 502; Earthquake Origins,
Major E. G. Harboe, 620

Oliver (Prof. F. W.), the Origin of Gymnosperms, 542

Oliver (T.), Relation between Normal “Take-up” and
Degree of Twist in Twisted Threads, 383

Olszewski (Prof.), Unsuccessful Attempt to Liquefy
Helium, 325

Oltramare (Prof. Gabriel), Death of, 613

Omond (R. T.), Interpretation of Meteorological Records,
512 ;

Ophthalmology : Physiologie de la Lecture et de |’Ecriture,
Emile Javal, J. Herbert Parsons, 268

Optics: Border occasionally seen between Light and
Dark Regions on Photographic Prints, Sir Oliver Lodge,
F.R.S., 5, 54; Dr. F. J. Allen, 29; R. Child Bayley, 29;
Light Emission by Plants, Prof. H. Molisch, 85; on
Constant-Deviation Prisms, T. H. Blakesley, 95; De-
termination of the Angle between the Optic Axes of a
Crystal in Parallel Polarised Light, Dr. J. W. Evans,
166; the Analytical Theory of Light, J. Walker, 241;
the Colour Sensitivity of the Peripheral Retina, John
Wallace Baird, 260; the Electromagnetic Theory of
Light, Dr. GC. E. Curry, 316; Fresnel’s Theory ‘of
Double Refraction, James Walker, 319; the Inventor of
the Nicol Prism, 340, 371; Prof. Silvanus P. Thompson,
F.R.S., 340; the Practical Photographer, No. 27, Photo-
graphic Optics and Lenses, No. 28, the Optical Lantern
for Projection and Enlarging, 437; die optischen Instru-
mente, Dr. Moritz von Rohr, 461; Sommerfeld’s Diffrac-
tion Problem and Reflection by a Parabolic Mirror, Prof.
H. Lamb, 479; Talbot’s Lines, J. Walker, 502;
Mechanism of the Positive Light, P. Villard, 527;
Cooper-Hewitt Lamp as a Source of Monochromatic
Light, Ch. Fabry and H. Buisson, 551; Improved
Apparatus for measuring Magnetic Rotations and obtain-
ing a Powerful Sodium Light, W. H. Perkin, sen., 623

Orbit of a Coronz Borealis, the, Prof. Doberck, 39

Orbit of ¢ Ursee Majoris, the, N. E. Norlund, 255

Orbital Elements of Two Meteors, Dr. P. Moschick, 161

Orbits, Double Star, Prof. Doberck, 305

Ore Analysis, Technical Methods of, A. H. Low, 532

Ore and Stone Mining, a Treatise on, Sir C. Le Neve
Foster, 220

Oregon, Preliminary Report on the Geology and Water
Resources of Central, I. C. Russell, 376

Organic Chemistry, Introduction to the Study of, John
Wade, 172

Organic Evolution, C. W. Saleeby, 99

Organisms, Ions and, 195

Organography of Plants, Dr. K. Goebel, 412

Orientation: the Great Gnomon of Florence Cathedral,
258

Origin and Influence of the Thoroughbred Horse, the, W.
Ridgeway, 126

Origin of Living Matter, the Nature and, Dr. H. Charlton
Bastian, F.R.S., 361

Origines de la Statique, les, P. Duhern, Supp. to November
30, ix

Orkney Islands, Bird-life at the South, Wm. Eagle Clarke,

570

Ornithology : Travels of a Naturalist in Northern Europe,
Norway, 1871, Archangel, 1872, Petchora, 1875, J. A.
Harvie-Brown, 50; Catalogue of the Collection of Birds’
Eggs in the British Museum (Natural History), E. W.
Oates and Captain S. G. Reid, 53: Wild Wings, Adven-
tures of a Camera-hunter among the Larger Wild Birds
of North America on Sea and Land, H. K. Job, 123;
the Exterminated Réunion Starling, G. Renshaw, 134;
Life-history of the Emperor Penguin, Edward A. Wilson
at Royal Institution, 211; Frigate-birds as Letter-carriers,
322; Habits of Diamond-tailed Geckos, 322; Death and
Obituary Notice of Sir Robert L. Patterson, 347 ; Ootheca
Wolleyana, an Illustrated Catalogue of the Collection of
Birds’ Eggs formed by the late John Wolley, Prof.
Alfred Newton, 387; Eggs of the Native Birds of Britain
and List of British Birds, Past and Present, W. J.
Gordon, 387; the Bird Watcher in the Shetlands, with
some Notes on Seals—and Digressions, Edmund Selous,

Nature,
June 14, 1906

L[ndex

XXXV

O. V. Aplin, 414; Nature-tones and Undertones, J.
Maclair Boraston, O. V. Aplin, 414; Death and Obituary
Notice of Prof. Jean Louis Cabanis, 420; European and
other Birds introduced into Victoria, 422; the Birds of
Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, Rev. J. E. Kelsall
and Philip W. Munn, O. V. Aplin, 465; Death and
Obituary Notice of Canon Tristram, F.R.S., 469; the
Protection of Birds, 521; Bird-life at the South Orkney
Islands, Wm. Eagle Clarke, 570

Osborn (Prof. H. F.), New Dinosaurs from the Laramie
Cretaceous, 229; the Skeleton of Brontosaurus and Skull
of Morosaurus, 282

Oscillation of Flame Cones, Harold E. Temple, 512;
A. Smithells, F.R.S., 512; Prof. W. Galloway, 584

Oslhoff (Prof.), the Forms of Cirrus-clouds, 209

Ossat (Prof. de Angelis d’), Corals of Capri and Triassic
Shells of Giffoni, 327

Ouse, the Aeger in the Rivers Trent and, W. H. Wheeler,

Prof.

29) p
Oustalet (Jean Frédéric Emile),
Notice of, 85
Outram (James),
362
Ouvrard (L.), Researches on the Halogen Compounds of
the Borates of Barium and Strontium, 359
Oxford Geographies, the, A. J. Herbertson, 99

Death and Obituary

in the Heart of the Canadian Rockies,

Pacific, the Oceanography of the, Dr. James M. Flint, 586

Padova (M.), Benzylidene Derivatives of Anthrone and
Anthranol, 143

Paget (Stephen), the Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society
of London, Centenary, 1805-1905, 388

Palzobotany : New Type of Stem from the Coal-measures,
Dr. D. H. Scott, 503; Catalogue of the Fossil Plants of
the Glossopteris Flora in the Department of Geology,
British Museum (Natural History), being a Monograph
of the Permo-Carboniferous Flora of India and the
Southern Hemisphere, E. A. Newell Arber, A. C. Seward,
BARS <5 5177,

Palzoichthyology : Affinities to Lung-fishes of the Arthro-
dira, C. R. Eastman, 422

Palzolithics : the Stone Age of the Zambesi Valley, and its
Relation in Time, Colonel H. W. Feilden, C.B., 77;
Anales del Museo Nacional de Buenos Aires, 581

Paleontology : Extinct Animals, Prof. E. Ray Lankester,
F.R.S., 6; Carnivorous Dinosaur from the Oxford Clay,
Baron ’Nopcsa, 15; Kerunia from the Egyptian Eocene,
Baron Nopesa, 15; South African Zoology and Pala-
ontology, 56; Prothylacinus and the other Marsupial-like
Carnivores of the Santa Cruz Beds are True Marsupials,
W. J. Sinclair, 63; Certain Rodents from the Pleistocene
of the Western Mediterranean Countries, Dr. Forsyth
Major, 106; Large Cretaceous Turtle from Kansas, G. R.
Wieland, 134; Myriacanthus paradoxus from the Lower
Lias of Lyme Regis, Dr. A. S. Woodward, 141; New
Horned Dinosaurs from Wyoming, J. B. Hatcher, 205 ;
R. S. Lull, 205; the Former Occurrence of the African
Wild Cat, Gmel., in Ireland, Dr. R. F. Scharff, 215;
New Dinosaurs: from the Laramie Cretaceous, Prof.
H. F. Osborn, 229; the Skeleton of Brontosaurus and
Skull of Morosaurus, Prof. Henry Fairfield Osborn, 282 ;
a Large-headed Dinosaur, C. W. Gilmore, 228; Nebula
to Man, Henry R. Knipe, 342; Fish Fauna of the

Pleistocene Clays of Taranto, Prof. F. Bassani, 327;
Corals of Capri and Triassic Shells of Giffoni, Prof.
de Angelis d’Ossat, 327; Dr. Galdieri, 327; Liassic

Dentaliide, L. Richardson, 526; the Osteology of the
Diplodocus, Dr. W. J. Holland, 541 ; Comparison between
the Carboniferous Faunas of Western America and those
of other Areas, G. H. Girty, 547; Brachiopod Homceo-
morphy, the Diphyoid Terebratule, S. S. Buckman, 575;
the Silurian Fossils described as Arthrophycus and

Deedalus, C. L. Sarle, 590; Annales de Paléontologie,
publiées sous la Direction de Marcellin Boule, 621
Palawan, the Bataks of, Edward Y.. Miller, Dr. A. C.

Haddon, F.R.S.,
Palazzo (L.), Life of Pietro Tacchini, 425
Palisa (Dr.), Discovery of a New Comet,
Panama Canal, the, 198
Pangéométrie, ou Précis de

326

Géométrie fondée sur une

Théorie générale et rigoureuse des Paralléles, N. J.
Lobatschewsky, 100

Paper-making, Chapters on, Clayton Beadle, 581

Paper-making, the Use of Wood Pulp for, M. C. Phillips,
397

Parallel Running of Alternate Current M.
Boucherot, 545

Pardy (Alex.), Gas for Heating and Lighting Laboratories,
x3

Paris Academy of Sciences, 23, 47, 71, 95, 119, 143, 167,
I9l, 262, 287, 335, 359, 383, 407, 431, 455, 479, 503,
527, 551, 576, 599; Prizes Awarded and Proposed by the,
233;

Parker (E. H.), Chinese Names of Colours, 297

Parker (J. Gordon), Leather for Libraries, 53

Generators,

Parker (K. Langloh), the Euahlayi Tribe, a Study of
Aboriginal Life in Australia, 610
Parkhurst (J. A.), Nova Aquila No. 2, 136

Parkinson (F. B.), Irrigation Farming as carried on at the
Orange River Farm at Baviaankrantz, 163

Parsons (Hon. Charles A., C.B., F.R.S.), the Evolution of
the Steam-turbine, 157

Parsons (James), Mineralogy of Ceylon, 134

Parsons (J. Herbert), Physiologie de la Lecture et de

criture, Emile Javal, 268

Parthenogenesis, Influence of some Factors on Experi-
mental, Yves Delage, 262

Patents in Germany in 1905, 614

Pathology : Introduction 4 la Pathologie générale, M. Félix
le Dantec, Prof. Wm. St. C. Symmers, 460; Death and
Obituary Notice of Prof. Lionel Smith Beale, 540

Patterson (Arthur H.), Nature in Eastern Norfolk, 221

Patterson (Sir Robert L.), Death and Obituary Notice of,
347

Pavy (Dr., F.R.S.), on the View that the Comparatively
Small Molecules into which the Food is Broken Down
in the Intestine do not Exist in the Blood as such, 139

Peake (A, H.), Instrument for illustrating the Magnetic
Properties of Iron, 455

Pearl (Dr. Raymond),
in Paramecium, 501

Pearl Fisheries of Ceylon, the, Sir Henry Blake, 491

Pearling Industry of North Australia, W. Saville-Kent,
92

Pearson (F. R.), Problems in Practical Physics, 28

Pearson (Prof. H. H. W.), Investigations into the Develop-
ment and Germination of the Spores of Welwitschia, 164 ;
Welwitschia mirabilis, 238

Pearson (R. S.), Method of Rearing Young Teak Plants,

397

Pécoul (A.),. Estimation of Carbon Monoxide in Air by
Iodic Anhydride, 335 :

Peculiar Ice Formation, James Foulds, 464; Rev.
Irving, 485; W. Larden, 485; W. B. Wright, 534

Pellat (Henri), Action of a Magnetic Field on the Gold-
stein Rays (Canal-Strahlen), 192

Pelseneer (Paul), Lamellibranchs
528

Penck (Prof. A.), on Changes of Climate as shown by
Variations of the Snow-line and Upper Tree-limit since
Tertiary Times, 91

Penguin, Life-history of the Emperor,
at Royal Institution, 211

Penrose’s Pictorial Annual, 269

Peptides and Proteids, Studies on the Synthesis of, Prof.
Emil Fischer, 519

Percy. Sladen Expedition in H.M.
Gardiner, 43, 184

Percy Sladen Expedition in H.M.S. Sealark to the Indian

Biometrical Study of Conjugation

A.

with Multiple Mouths,

Edward A. Wilson

S. Sealark, the, J. Stanley

Ocean, the, the Seychelles Archipelago, J. Stanley
Gardiner, 294

Periodicity of Sun-spots, the, Prof. Arthur Schuster,
F.R.S., at Royal Society, 378

Periodogram and its Optical Applications, Prof. Arthur

Schuster, F.R.S., at Royal Society, 378
Periods in Meteorology, Recent Studies of, 209
Peripheral Retina, the Colour Sensitivity of the, John

Wallace Baird, 260
Périssé (M. Raymond),

Caloriféres, 100 :
Perkin (A. G.), Oxidation Products of the Hydroxybenzoic

le Chauffage des Habitations par

XXXVI

Acids, 382; Reaction of Ellagic and Flavellagic Acids,

62

Perkin (Dr. W. H.), Memorial to, 419, 444

Perkin Jubilee and Chemical Industries, the, Sir Henry E.
Roscoe, F.R.S., 438

Perkin (W. H., jun.), Synthesis of Optically Active Modifi-
cations of A%’-p-Menthenol(8) and A*:*(g)-p-Menthadiene,

479

Perkin (W. H., sen.), Improved Apparatus for measuring
Magnetic Rotations and obtaining a Powerful Sodium
Light, 623

Pernet (Dr.
Disease, 323

Perry (Prof. John, F.R.S.), Bursaries at the Royal Col-
lege of Science, 32; Practical Science for Schools, Pre-
sidential Address delivered before the Physical Society
by, 402

Persei, Nova, No. 2, the Spectrum of, 18; Observations of,
Dr. K. Graff, 305

Perseus, Cluster of Nebulae in, Dr. Max Wolf, 448

Petersen (Dr. C. G. J.), Development of Plaice in the
Baltic Sea, 35

Pethybridge (Dr. G. H.), Causes of “Blowing” in Tins
of Condensed Milk, 358

Pethyridge (G. H.), Survey of the Vegetation of the Dis-
trict South of Dublin, 303

Petrography and Geology of the Igneous Rocks of the
Highwood Mountains, Montana, L. V. Pirsson, 37

Petrol.Car, the, Motor-Car Mechanism and Management,
W. Poynter Adams, 580

Petterson (Otto), Correlation of Hydrographic, Biological,
and Meteorological Data, 210

Pflanzen, Biochemie der, Prof. Dr. Fr.
Escombe, 193; Corr., 341

Pharmacology : Death of Prof. W. Mayer, 346

Philippine Islands, Scientific Research in the, (1) Descrip-
tion of New Buildings, Paul C. Freer, (2), a Catalogue
of the Library, Mary Polk, Prof. R. T. Hewlett, 57;
an Ethnological Survey of the, Dr. A. C. Haddon,
F.R.S., 584

Philips’ Large Planisphere, H. Gewecke, 269

Philips’ Model Atlas, 484

Phillips (Charles E. S.), Production of an Electrically Con-
ductive Glass, 512

Phillips (M. C.), the Use of Wood Pulp for Paper-making,

George), Dr. Finsen’s Light-treatment of

Czapek, F.

397

Phillips (P.), Magnetic Susceptibility of Iron in Colloidal
Solution, 455

Phillips (Prof. R. W.), on Recent Advances in Our Know-
ledge of Seaweeds, 162-3

Phillipson (Prof. Dr. A.), Geology of the West of Asia
Minor, 546

Philology : a Grammar of the Kafir Language, J. McLaren,
Sir H. H. Johnston, K.C.M.G., 481

Philosophy: Things and Sensations, Prof. Stout, 17°
Goethe’s Philosophie aus seinen Werken, 98; Immanuel
Kant, Physische Geographie, 98; Dialogue itiber natir-
liche Religion, tiber Selbstmord und Unsterblichkeit der
Seele, David Hume, 98; Immanuel Kant’s Kleinere
Schriften zur Logik und Metaphysik, 98; G. W. F.
Hegel, Encyclopadie der Philosophischen Wissenschaften
im Grundrisse, 98; Cambridge Philosophical Society,
118, 3191, 455, 527, 599; Philosophic Foundations of
Science, Prof. Arthur Schuster, 313; Essays on Evolu-
tion and Design, Prof. John Young, 56; Erkenntnis und
Irrtum, Prof. Ernst Mach, Supp. to November 30, vii

Phcebe, the Ninth Satellite of Saturn, Prof. W. H.
Pickering, 63

Phoebe, Observations of, during 1905, 474

Phosphorescence of Pyro-Soda Developer, T. A.
Vaughton, 389

Phosphorescent Marine Animals, Prof. McIntosh, 349

Photography : Border occasionally seen between Light and
Dark Regions on Photographic Prints, Sir Oliver Lodge,
F.R’S., 5, 54; Dr.-F: J. Allen, 29); R. Child Bayley,
29; Photographic Star Catalogue, 18; Halation, J. A.
Cobb, 54; Nature through Microscope and Camera,
Richard Kerr, 104; Wild Wings: Adventures of a
Camera-Hunter among the Larger Wild Birds of North
America on Sea and Land, H. K. Job, 123; Instruction
in Photography, Sir W. de W. Abney, 124; Pictures

Index

Nature,
June 14, 1906

from Nature, Richard and Cherry Kearton, 148; Action
of Wood on a Photographic Plate, Dr. William J.
Russell, F.R.S., 152; the Practical Photographer, 172;
Photographs of Jupiter’s Sixth and Seventh Satellites,
182; Photography for the Press, 196; the British Journal
Photographic Almanac and Photographer’s Daily Com-
panion for 1906, 221; Photographs of Solar Granula-
tions, Prof. Hansky, 255; Deutscher Kamera Almanach,
1906, Fritz Loescher, 318; Photography in Natural
Colours, 330; a New Method of Determining the Moon’s
Position Photographically, Mr. Wade, 352; Die Photo-
graphie im Hochgebirg, Emil Terschak, 388; Phosphor-
escence of Pyro-Soda Developer, T. A. Vaughton, 389;
Photographies de la Granulation Solaire faites a Poul-
kowa, Prof. A. Hansky, W. E. Rolston, 401; Photo-
graphic Study of the Duration of Discharge in a
Crookes Tube, André Broca and M. Turchini, 431;
the Practical Photographer, No. 27, Photographic Optics
and Lenses, No. 28, the Optical Lantern for Projection
and Enlarging, 437; First Photographs of the Canals
of Mars, Prof. Percival Lowell, 453; Request for Prints
of Photographic Portraits, Dr. Francis Galton, F.R.S.,
534; Photography of the Solar Protuberances with
Coloured Screens during the Eclipse of August 30, 1905,
H. Deslandres and G. Blum, 576; Death and Obituary
Notice of Hermann Schnaus, 589; Observations and
Photographs of Black and Grey Soap Films, Herbert
Stansfield, 597; a Large Photographic Nebula in Scorpio,
Prof. Barnard, 618
Photomicrography with Ultra-Violet Light, Photographs of
Diatoms taken by the Zeiss Apparatus, Designed by
Dr. August Kohler, Mr. Rheinberg, 287
Phylogeny: Die Spaltéffnungsapparat im Lichte der
Phylogenie, Ein Beitrag zur “phylogenetischen Pflanzen-
histologie,’’ Dr. Otto Porsch, 436
Physical Condition of Children in Elementary Schools, Dr.
Kerr, 548
Physics: Replicas of Diffraction Gratings, R. J. Wallace,
21; Thomas Thorp, 79; the Writer of the Note, 79;
Ergebnisse und Probleme der Elektronentheorie, Prof.
H. A. Lorentz, Dr. H. A. Wilson, 27; Problems in
Practical Physics, F. R. Pearson, 28; the Use of Gasoline
in Chemical and Physical Laboratories, J. R. Foster, 29 ;
Physical Society, 47, 95, 142, 357, 502, 526, 575; Prac-
tical Science for Schools, Presidential Address at
Physical Society, Prof. J. Perry, F.R.S., 402; Mole-
cular Forces and Newtonian Laws, Alex. Clark, 51;
Explication méchanique de Ia Matiére, de 1’Electricité
et du Magnetisme, M. Despaux, 51; Death of Dr.
Johann Meidinger, 58; Influence of Phase Changes on
Tenacity of Ductile Metals, G. T. Beilby and H. N.
Beilby, 70; Impossibility of Negative Impulse Waves in
Gases, Gy6zd Zemplén, 71; Influence of the Earth’s
Rotation on Ocean Currents, W. Walfrid Ekman, 86;
New Determination of the Mass of a Cubic Decimetre
of Pure Water, H. Buisson, 86; Convection Effects in
a Heated Liquid, C. H. Burgess, 143; the Movements
of Diatoms caused by the Evolution of Gas, Daniel D.
Jackson, 159; the Stability of Motion of Viscous Liquids,
F. R. Sharpe, 159; the Accurate Measurement of Ionic
Velocities, Dr. R. B. Denison and Dr. B. D. Steele,
166; Radio-activity of Ordinary Matter in Connection
with the Earth’s Internal Heat, Hon. R. J. Strutt,
F.R.S., 173; the Physical and Chemical Properties of
Iron Carbonyl, Sir James Dewar and H. O. Jones, 188;
an Acoustical Method for the Demonstration of the
Magnetism of Liquids, T. Terada, 197; Dewar’s Method
of Producing High Vacua by Means of Charcoal, Lord
Blythswood and H. S. Allen, 207; Physical and Chemical
Properties of Solutions of Chloroform and other Anzs-
thetics, Prof. B. Moore and Dr. Herbert E. Roaf, 213;
Physics of Ore Flotation, J. Swinburne and Dr. G.
Rudolf, 214; the Analytical Theory of. Light, J. Walker,
241; Kristallinische Flussigkeiten und flussige Kristalle,
Rudorf Schenck, 242; Heat a Mode of Motion, Charles
E. Benham, 246; Fluorescence, G. Camichel, 277;
Elongation of Wires by Flexion, MM. Bouasse and
Berthier, 277; Higher Mathematics for Students of
Chemistry and Physics, with Special Reference to Prac-
tical Work, Dr. J. W. Mellor, 290; Science and Hypo-
thesis, Prof. H. Poincaré, Prof. Arthur Schuster, F.R.S.,

Nature,
June 14, 1906

Lndex

XXXvil

313; Wissenschaft und Hypothese, Prof. H. Poincaré, |
Prof. Arthur Schuster, F.R.S., 313; Fresnel’s Theory |
of Double Refraction, James Walker, 319; the Thermal
Dilatation of Compressed Hydrogen, Prof. A. W. Wit-
kowski, 325; Atti della Reale Accademia della Scienze
Fisiche e Matematiche di Napoli, 327; Density of Ice,
A. Leduc, 335; La Théorie moderne des Phénoménes
physiques, Radio-activité, Ions, Electrons, Prof. Augusto
Righi, 340; Isothermal Distillation of Nitrogen and
Oxygen, and of Argon and Oxygen, I. K. Inglis, 357;
Propagation of Longitudinal Waves of Magnetic Flux
along Iron Wires and Rods, Prof. Lyle and Mr. Baldwin,
358; Form of Initiational Disturbance more Convenient
than that of §§ 3-31 of Previous Papers on Waves,
Lord Kelvin, 358; Illustrations of the Indefinite Exten-
sion and Multiplication of a Group of Two-Dimensional
Deep-Sea Waves, Initially Finite, Lord Kelvin, 359;
Initiation and Continued Growth of a Train of Two-
Dimensional Waves due to the Sudden Commencement
of a Stationary Periodically Varying Forcive, Lord
Kelvin, 359; Lehrbuch der Physik, O. D. Chwolson,
362; Traité de Physique, O. D. Chwolson, 362; Lehr-
buch der technischen Physik, Prof. Hans Lorenz, 364;
Secondary Réntgen Rays and Atomic Weight, Dr.
Charles G. Barkla, 365; Death and Obituary Notice of
Prof. A. S. Popow, 371; Determination of the Osmotic
Pressures of Solutions by the Measurement of their
Vapour Pressures, Earl of Berkeley and E. G. J. Hartley,
380; Relation between Normal “Take-up” and Degree
of Twist in Twisted Threads, T. Oliver, 383; Experi-
mental Results in Connection with Hydrodynamical
Theory of Seiches, P. White and W. Watson, 383;
Atomic Disintegration, Prof. W. Meigen, 389; Emis-
sion of Light by Kanal-strahlen Normal to their Direc-
tion, Dr. J. Stark, 389; Inversion Point of the Joule-
Kelvin Effect, Prof. Alfred W. Porter, 390; the Rela-
tion of Mechanics to Physics, Prof. Alexander Ziwet,
403; the Partition of Energy, Prof. W. F. Magie, 404;
Apparatus for Separation of Oxygen and Nitrogen by
Liquefaction of Air, Georges Claude, 423; Ionisation in
Gases from Coloured Flames, Percival Lewis, 424; Con-
tributions from the Jefferson Physical Laboratory of
Harvard University, 427; Method of Producing Waves
of Frequency Intermediate between Heat Waves and
Hertzian Waves, Prof. Reginald A. Fessenden, 428 ;
Death and Obituary Notice of Prof. Samuel Pierpont
Langley, 443; Expansion of a Gas into a Vacuum and
the Determination of the Specific Heat at Constant Pres-
sure for Gases, G. F. C. Searle, 455; Behaviour of
Liquid Films Formed from a Solution of Saponin in
Water, H. Stansfield, 455; a Plea for Absolute Motion,
Prof. Arthur Schuster, F.R.S., 462; Norman R. Camp-
bell, 484; F. J. W. Whipple, 535; the Existence of Abso-
lute Motion, Daniel Comstock, 582; the Diffusion of
Solids, John H. Howell, 464; Some Applications of the
Theory of Electric Discharge through Gases to Spectro-
scopy, Prof. J. J. Thomson, F.R.S., at Royal Institution,
495; Production of an Electrically Conductive Glass,
Charles E. S. Phillips, 512; the National Physical
Laboratory, 514; Les Quantités élementaire d’Electricité :
Ions, Electrons, Corpuscles, Dr. O. W. Richardson, 529;
Spectral Series in Relation to Ions, Dr. J. Stark, REG
Gaseous Osmosis through a Colloidal Membrane, Jules
Amar, 551; the Dynamics of Particles and of Rigid,
Elastic, and Fluid Bodies, Prof. Arthur Gordon Webster,
§55; Physical and Chemical Characters of Huff, 572;
Elevation of the Boiling Point of Aqueous Solutions of
Electrolytes, Rev. S. M. Johnston, 575; the Organised
Science Series: (1) First Stage Physiography, 578;
Science Handbooks for Laboratory and Class Room:
Elementary Physics, John N. Brown, 578; Examples in
Physics, C. E. Jackson, 578; Advanced Examples in
Physics, A. O. Allen, 578; Physics, Charles R. Mann
and George R. Twiss, 578; Diurnal Periodicity of Ionisa-
tion of Gases, Alex. Wood, 583; Oscillation of Flame
Cones, Harold E. Temple, 512; Prof. A. Smithells,
F.R.S., 512; Prof. W. Galloway, 584; Observations and
Photographs of Black and Grey Soap Films, Herbert
Stansfield, 597; Vapour Pressure of a Pure Liquid at
Constant Temperature, Prof. Sydney Young, 599;
Zwolf Vorlesungen tiber die Natur des Lichtes, Dr. J.

Physiography :

Pickard (R. H.),

Classen, 606; Diurnal Variation of Ionisation in Closed
Vessels, Dr. O. W. Richardson, 607 ; Death and Obituary
Notice of Prof. Pierre Curie, 612; Landolt-Bérnstein—
Physikalisch-chemische Tabellen, Drs. Bornstein and
Meyerhoffer, Dr. J. A. Harker, Supp. to November 30, vi
the Organised Science Series, (1) First
Stage Physiography, 578

Physiology: Terminology in Electro-physiology, Dr. David

Fraser Harris, 5; Prof. J. S. MacDonald, 28; Dr. A. D.
Waller, F-R.S., 78; Dr. George J. Burch, F.R.S., 78;
Influence of High Altitudes on the General Nutrition,
H. Guillemard and R. Moog, 120; Death and Obituary
Notice of Prof. Iwan Michaelowitsch Ssetschenoff, 133 ;
Text-book of Hygiene based on Physiology for the Use
of School Teachers, A. Watt Smyth, 170; Crystallised
Hamatin, MM. Piettre and Vila, 192 ; Studies in General
Physiology, Jacques Loeb, 195; the Biometrics of Brain-
Weights, 200; the Temperature of the Monkey, Drs.
Sutherland Simpson and J. J. Galbraith, 216; Effects
of Varying Diets upon Growth and Nutrition, Dr.
Chalmers Watson, 239; Physiologie de la Lecture et de
l’Ecriture, Emile Javal, J. Herbert Parsons, 268; Hand-
book of Physiology for Students and Practitioners of
Medicine, Dr. Austin Flint, Prof. J. S. Macdonald, 269;
a Respiration Calorimeter with Appliances for the Direct
Determination of Oxygen, Profs. W. O. Atwater and
F. G. Benedict, 276; Chlorides in Nerve Cells and
Fibres, Prof. A. B. Macallum and Miss M. L. Menten,
311; Physiological Economy in Nutrition, 328; Action of
Sulphate of Hordenine on the Circulation, L. Camus,
336; Respiration of Salamanders, Miss Seelye, 348;
Influence of Thymus Feeding on Allantoin Excretion, Dr.
J. Maclachlan, 358; Physiological Conditions of Oral
Teaching, Pierre Bonnier, 359; Anti-Coagulating Power
of the Blood Serum of the Lower Animals, J. Sellier,
408; Histology and Physiology of the Placenta in the
Ungulata, Dr. J. W. Jenkinson, 430; Articulation of the
Vertebrate Jaw, H. G. F. Spurrell, 430; Chemical Con-
stitution of Protoplasm as Shown by the Rate of Tissue
Disintegration, Dr. H. M. Vernon, 454; Recuperative
Effects of Raw Meat after Fasting, Charles Richet, 456;
Protective Mechanism against Excess of Alkali, Drs.
Edie and Whitley, 474; Physiological Properties of West
Indian Boxwood, Harvey Gibson, 474; Outlines of
Physiological Chemistry, Dr. S. P. Beebe and Prof.
B. H. Buxton, Prof. Benjamin Moore, 483; Sound and
Rhythm, W. Edmunds, Prof. John G, McKendrick,
F.R.S., 483; Effects of the Absorption of Tuberculin by
the Digestive Tube, A. Calmette and M. Breton, 503;
the Reaction of the Blood a Function of Nutrition, Jean
Gautrelet, 504; Hohenklima und Bergwanderungen in
ihrerwirkung auf den Menschen, N. Zuntz, A. Loewy,
F. Miller, and W. Caspari, 553; Influence of Increased
Barometric Pressure on Man, Leonard Hill, F.R.S., and
M. Greenwood, 598; Physiologie des Menschen, Dr. L.
Luciani, Dr. J. A. Milroy, 606; the Intestinal Tract of
Mammals, Dr. Chalmers Mitchell, 618; Specificity and
Action in vitro of Gastrotoxin, Dr. Charles Bolton, 622 ;
Plant Physiology: Studien tiber die Regeneration, Prof.
B. Némec, 170; Present-Day Problems of Plant Physi-
ology, Prof. B. M. Duggar, 253; British Flowering
Plants, the Right Hon. Lord Avebury, 604; see also
British Association

Resolution of a-Phenyl-a’-4-hydroxy-
phenylethane by I-menthylcarbimide, 479

Pickering (Prof. E. C.), Nebulosity around Nova Aquile,

279; Measurements of Linné during the Total Eclipse of
the Moon, 569

Pickering (Prof. W. H.), Martian Meteorology, 38; Phoebe,

the Ninth Satellite of Saturn, 63; the Tenth Satellite of
Saturn, 87

Pickering (Prof.), Harvard College Observatory, 494; the

Observation of Long-Period Variables, 592 ; a Systematic
Study of Faint Stars, 545; Stars having Peculiar Spectra,

545

Pickering in Yorkshire, the Evolution of an English Town,

being the Story of the Ancient Town of, Gordon Home,

53
Picton (N.), Influence of Substituents in the Trinitroben-

zene Molecule on the Formation of Additive Compounds
with Arylamines, 551

XXXVill

L[ndex

[ Nature,
June 14, 19c6

Pictorial Annual, Penrose’s, 269

Pictures from Nature, Richard and Cherry Kearton, 148

Piéron (H.), the Seat of the Recognition-Sense among
Ants, 134

Pierpont (J.), Lectures on the Theory of Functions of Real
Variables, 483

Piettre (M.), Crystallised Hamatin, 192

Pirsson (L. V.), Petrography and Geology of the Igneous
Rocks of the Highwood Mountains, Montana, 376

Plague Epidemic, the Immunity of Europeans, 422

Plague in India, the Serum Therapy of, W. M. Haffkine,
Prof. R. T. Hewlett, 368

Planets: Observations of Jupiter’s Sixth Satellite, 18;
Photographs of Jupiter’s Sixth and Seventh Satellites,
182; Systematic Error in Transit Observations of
Jovian Spots, Stanley Williams, 38; Observations of
Jupiter, Major Molesworth, 401; New Spot on Jupiter,
W. F. Denning, 584, 607; Variability of the Asteroid (444)
Gyptis, Dr. W. Valentiner, 39; Phoebe, the Ninth Satel-
lite of Saturn, Prof. W. H. Pickering, 63; Observations
vf Phoebe during 1905, 474; the Tenth Satellite of Saturn,
Prof. W. H. Pickering, 87; Suggested Name for Nep-
tune’s Satellite, M. Fouche, 182; Variability of Iris, Dr.
H. Clemens, 279

Planisphere, Philips’s Large, H. Gewecke, 269

Plant Physiology : Studien tiber die Regeneration, Prof. B.
Némec, 170; Present-Day Problems of Plant Physiology,
Prof. B. M. Duggar, 253; British Flowering Plants, the
Right Hon. Lord Avebury, 604

Plants: the Origin of Variations in Animals and Plants,
Prof. T. D. A. Cockerell, 197; New Creations in Plant
Life : an Authoritative Account of the Life and Work of
Luther Burbank, W. S. Harwood, 242; the Uses of
British Plants, Rev. Prof. G. Henslow, 270; Minnesota
Plant Disease, Dr. E. M. Freeman, 291; Organography
of Plants, Dr. K. Goebel, 412; the Utilisation of Nitrogen
in Air by Plants, T. Jamieson, 531, 607; A. D. H., 608;
Microscopic Aquatic Plants of our Waters, Dr. F. E.
Fritsch, at London Institution, 499

Platania (Prof.), Currents in the Straits of Messina, 621

Pleiades Stars, Catalogue of, Dr. R. S. Dugan, 617

Pocklington (Dr. H. C.), Cheirality of Form of Crystals of
Epsom Salt, 270

Pocock (R. I.), on an Alleged New Monkey from the
Cameroons, 297

Pohl (R.), Light Emitted by Radium Bromide due to the
Impact of the Becquerel Rays on the Particles of Nitro-
gen, 325

Poincaré (Prof. H.), Science and Hypothesis, 313 ; Wissen-
schaft und Hypothese, 313

Polar Exploration, 356

Polk (Mary), Scientific Research
a Catalogue of the Library, 57

Polonium and Radio-Tellurium, 549

Polytechnics, the Place of, in Education, Sir Norman
Lockyer, K.C.B., F.R.S., at Borough Polytechnic Insti-
tute, 521

Poor (Dr. C. L.), the Figure of the Sun, 279

Popow (Prof. A. S.), Death and Obituary Notice of, 371

Porlier (A.), Composition of a Cast-Iron Cannon Ball
found under Old Moat of the Bastille, 181

Porsch (Dr. Otto), Die Spaltéffnungsapparat im Lichte der
Phylogenie, Ein Beitrag zur phylogenetischen Pflanzen-
histologie, 436

Portraits, Request for Prints of Photographic, Dr. Francis
Galton, F.R.S., 534

Porter (J. T.), Selective Reflections, by Various Crystals,
in the Infra-Red Spectrum, 182

Porter (Prof. Alfred W.), Inversion Point of the Joule-
Kelvin Effect, 390

Positive Rays, the Spectrum of the (Canal-strahlen), Dr.
J. Stark, 79

Potter (Prof.), Topography of the Thorax and Abdomen,

in the Philippine Islands,

252

Potter (Prof. M. C.), on the Healing of Parenchymatous
Tissues in Plants, 164

Potts (Dr. G.), on the Action of Calcium Compounds on
Plasmodiophora Brassice, 164

Poulkowa, Photographies de la Granulation Solaire faites
a, Prof. A. Hansky, W. E. Rolston, 4o1

Praeger (R. L.), Survey of the Vegetation of the District
South of Dublin, 303

Precious Stones considered in their Scientific and Artistic
Relations, Prof. A. H. Church, F.R.S., Supp. to Novem-
ber 30, x

Preservation of Antiquities, the, a Handbook for Curators,
Dr. Friedrich Rathgen, 412

Press, Photography for the, 196

Price (T. S.), Caro’s Permonosulphuric Acid, 190

Prideaux (E. B. R.), the Fluorides of Selenium and Tel-
lurium, 71; Bromine Fluoride, 71; New Compounds of
Fluorine, 357

Priestley (J. H.), Mechanism of Carbon Assimilation in
Green Plants, 525

“Prima Philosophia,”

an Essay towards the, Carveth Read,

290
Pritzel (E.), Fragmenta Phytographia Australiz occiden-
talis, 149

Prize Subjects of the Industrial Society of Mulhouse, 164

Prizes Awarded and Proposed by the Paris Academy of
Sciences, 233

Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society, 52

Protection of Birds, the, 521

Proteids, Studies on the Synthesis of Peptides and, Prof.
Emil Fischer, 519

Psychology: Esquisse d’une Théorie biologique du Som-
meil, Dr. Ed. Claparede, 293 ; Comparative Studies in the
Psychology of Ants and of Higher Animals, E. Wass-
mann, Lord Avebury, F.R.S., 315; an Analysis of
Human Motive, F. Carrel, 318; Die Mneme als erhal-
tendes im Wechsel des organischen Geschens, Richard
Semon, 338; the Senses of the Todas, Dr. W. H. R.
Rivers, 517; Influence of Bias and of Personal Equation
in Statistics of Ill-defined Qualities, G. Udny Yule, 551

Public Schools Science, Masters’ Conference, Wilfred Mark
Webb, 308

Pulse of the Atmospheric Circulation, the,
Shaw, F.R.S., 175

Pumps and Pumping Engines, British Progress in, P. R.
Bjorling, 217

Purcell (Dr. W. F.), on Some Early Stages in the Develop-
ment of Peripatus, 40

Purvis (J. E.), Influence of Very Strong Electromagnetic
Fields on the Spark Spectra of Ruthenium, Rhodium, and
Palladium, 71; Influence of Very Strong Electromagnetic
Fields on the Spark Spectra of (a) Vanadium, (b) Plati-
num and Iridium, 527

Pyro-Soda Developer, Phosphorescence of, T. A. Vaughton,
389

Dr. W. N.

Quaintance (A. L.), the Cotton Bollworm, 257

Quantitative Analysis, Elements of, Dr. G. H. Bailey, 244

Quantitative Analysis, First Steps in, J. C. Gregory, 293

Quantitative Chemistry, Exercises in, Harmon Northrop
Morse, 268

Quénisset (M.), the Lunar Eclipse of February 8, 545

Questions for Archaeologists, Some, Sir Norman Lockyer,
K.C:B:, E:R-S:, 280

| Quiet Hours with Nature, Mrs. Brightwen, 4

Rabes (Dr. O.), Stylophthalmus paradoxus, 470

Radial Velocities of Certain Variable Stars, Prof. Frost, 39

Radio-activity of Ordinary Matter in Connection with the
Earth’s Internal Heat, Hon. R. J. Strutt, F.R.S., 173

Radiography : Radium and other Radio-active Substances,
their Application especially to Medicine, Dr. Charles
Baskerville, 2; Action of Radium on Gelatin Media, John
Butler Burke, 5; Action of Radium Salts on Gelatin,
W. A. Douglas Rudge, 78; Light Emitted by Radium
Bromide due to the Impact of the Becquerel Rays on the
Particles of Nitrogen, D. Himstedt and G. Meyer, 325;
Prof. B. Walter and R. Pohl, 325; Scintillations Pro-
duced by the Electronic “8-Rays” emitted by Radium,
C. W. R., 341; Influence of the Rays of Radium on the
Resistance of Certain Solid and Liquid Dielectrics, Prof.
A. Righi, 375; Properties of the a Rays emitted by
Radium, Henri Becquerel, 407; Effect of High Tempera-
tures on Radium Emanation, W. Makower, 407; Action
of Radium Emanation on Chromogenic Bacteria, Ch.
Bouchard and M. Balthazard, 576; Certain Radio-active

Nature,
June 14, 1906

Index

XXXIX

Properties of Uranium, T. Godlewski, 160; Ex-
periments on Canal-strahlen, Prof. Thomson, 191;
Action of a Magnetic Field on the Goldstein Rays
(Canal-strahlen), Henri Pellat, 192; Energy of Secondary
Radiation, Prof. J. A. McClelland, 215; Kathodic Pul-
verisations, Ch. Maurain, 263; the Present Position of
Radio-activity, Frederick Soddy at R6ntgen Society, 285 ;
Radio-activity, Prof. E. Rutherford, F.R.S., Hon. R. J.
Strutt, F.R.S., 289; La Théorie moderne des Phénoménes
physiques, Radio-activité, Ions, Electrons, Prof. Augusto
Righi, 340; Diminution of the Radio-activity of Polonium
with Time, Mme. Curie, 359; Secondary Rontgen Rays
and, Atomic Weight, Dr. Charles G. Barkla, 365;
Polarisation in Secondary R6ntgen Radiation, Dr.
C. G. Barkla, 501; Secondary Réntgen Radiation, Dr.
C. G. Barkla, 502; Secondary Radiation from Com-
pounds, Prof. J. A. McClelland and F. E. Hackett, 383 ;
** Radiobes,’’ J. Butler Burke, 399; the Blondlot n-Rays,
A. A. Campbell Swinton, 413; Polonium and Radio-Tel-
lurium, 549; a New Product of Actinium, Dr. O. Hahn,
559; Transmission and Refiection of the Radiation from
Radio-active Substances, Prof. J. J. Thomson, 599 ; Death
and Obituary Notice of Prof. Pierre Curie, 612

Radium: Radium and other Radio-active Substances : their
Application especially to Medicine, Dr. Charles Basker-
ville, 2; Action of Radium on Gelatin Media, John Butler
Burke, 5; Scintillations Produced by the Electronic “B-
Rays” emitted by Radium, C. W. R., 341; see Radio-
graphy

Radl (Dr. Em.), Geschichte der biologischen Theorie, seit
dem Ende des siebzehnten Jahrhunderts, 435

Railways, Electric, Theoretically and Practically Treated,
S. W. Ashe and J. D. Keiley, Maurice Solomon, 169

Rainbow, a Horizontal, W. R. M. Church, 608

Ramann (E.), Bodenkunde, 266

Rambaud (M.), Observation of the Brooks Comet (1906a),

07

Revepottom (J. E.), Action of Ultra-Violet Light on Moist
and Dried Mixtures of Carbon Monoxide and Oxygen, 190

Rankin (Margaret Cuthbert), the Art and Practice of
Laundry Work for Students and Teachers, 172

Ransome (F. L.), Report of Progressin the Geological Re-
Survey of the Cripple Creek District, Colorado, 376

Ransome (Mr.), the Nature of Carnotite, 547

Rastall (R. H.), Buttermere and Ennerdale Granophyre, 381

Rat Destruction and Disinfection on Shipboard, Methods of,
Drs. Haldane and Wade, 619

Rathgen (Friedrich), the Preservation of Antiquities, a
Handbook for Curators, 412

Rational Education, another Plea for,
Allbutt, F.R.S., 530

Ray (P. C.), Constitution of Silver Nitrites, 189

Raynor (Rey. G. H.), Breeding Experiments with Lepidop-
tera, 454

Read (A. A.), Methods for Determination of Manganese
in Iron and Steel, 36

Read (Carveth), the Metaphysics of Nature, 290

Recherches préhistoriques, Manuel de, 411

Reclamation Service, the United States, 591

Redikorzin (W.), the Visual Organs of the Ascidians of
the Salpa Group, 134

Reduction Tables for Equatorial
Frederick, 18

Reed (William Allan), Negritos of Zamabales, 584

Refraction Constant, an Untried Method of Determining the,
Geo. A. Hill, 110

Refraction, Fresnel’s Theory of Double, James Walker, 319

Refrigeration: Modern Refrigerating Machinery, its Con-
struction, Methods of Working, and Industrial Applica-
tions, Prof. H. Lorenz, 122; American Practice in Re-
frigeration, H. M. Haven and F. W. Dean, 122

Regeneration, Studien tiber die, Prof. B. Nemec, 170

Rehn (Prof.), Stick Insect, O. viridipes, 397

Reichel (Principal H. R.), Some Characteristics of American
Universities, Address at University of Wales, Aberyst-
wyth, 44

Reid (Captain S. G.), Catalogue of the Collection of Birds’
Eggs in the British Museum (Natural History), 53

Reid (Dr. G. Archdall), Biological Foundations of Sociology,
94; the Principles of Heredity, with Some Applications,
121; the Princivles of Heredity, 223

Prof. T. Clifford

Observations, C. W.

Reid (H. F.), les Variations périodiques des Glaciers, 320

Reinholt (O. H.), Coal-Mining in the Philippines, 324

Renard (Colonel Charles), Obituary Notice of, Ch. Ed.
Guillaume, 423 ;

Renshaw (Graham), More Natural History Essays, 343; the
Exterminated Réunion Starling, 134

Replicas of Diffraction Gratings, R. J. Wallace,
Thomas Thorp, 79; the Writer of the Notice, 79

Report of the Committee on Leather for Bookbinding, 219

Result of War affected by Soldier’s Stature, John H. Twigg,
340, 441; Major-General W. E. Warrand, 414

Retina, the Colour Sensitivity of the Peripheral,
Wallace Baird. 260

FG

John

Reviews AND Our BOOKSHELF.

An Introduction to the Design of Beams, Girders, and
Columns in Machines and Structures, with Examples in
Graphic Statics, W. H. Atherton, 1

Mechanics for Engineers, a Text-book
Standard, Arthur Morley, 1

Radium and other Radio-active Substances; their Applica-
tion especially to Medicine, Dr. Charles Baskerville, 2

Garden Cities in Theory and Practice, A. R. Sennett, 2

Elementary Experimental Chemistry, A. E. Dunstan, 3

Wayside and Woodland Blossoms, Edward Step, 3

Quiet Hours with Nature, Mrs. Brightwen, 4

Sammlung Schubert XLII., Theorie der Electrizitat und
des Magnetismus, Prof. Dr. J. Classen, 4

Vegetationsbilder, Drs. G. Karsten and H. Schenck, 4

Extinct Animals, E. Ray Lankester, F.R.S., 6

Report of Inter-State Astronomical and Meteorological Con-
ference, Adelaide, May, 1905, 8

Mechanics of Materials, Mansfield Merriman, 25

Handbuch der Blutenbiologie, Ernest Loew, 26

Chasse, Elevage et Piégeage, A. de Lesse, 26

Ergebnisse und Probleme der Elektronentheorie, Prof. H. A.
Lorentz, Dr. H. A. Wilson, 27

Die elektrischen Bogenlampen, deren Prinzip, Konstruk-
tion und Anwendung, J. Zeidler, H. Bohle, 27

Transactions of the South African Philosophical Society,
Catalogue of Printed Books, Papers, and Maps Relating
to the Geology and Mineralogy of South Africa to Decem-
ber 31, 1904, Miss M. Wilman, 28

Problems in Practical Physics, F. R. Pearson, 28

Die Vermessungs- und Absteckungs-Arbeiten fiir
Simplon Tunnel, Prof. C. Koppe, 30

Researches on the Affinity of the Elements, and on the
Causes of Chemical Similarity or Dissimiliarity of Ele-
ments and Compounds, Geoffrey Martin, 49

Travels of a Naturalist in Northern Europe: Norway, 1871,
Archangel, 1872, Petchora, 1875, J. A. Harvie-Brown, 50

Practical Sea-Fishing, a Handbook for Sea Anglers, P. L.
Haslope, Frank Balfour Browne, 51

Molecular Forces and Newtonian Laws, Alex. Clark, 51

Explication méchanique de la Matiére, de I’Electricité et
du Magnétisme, M. Despaux, 51

A Descriptive Handbook of Architecture, Martin A. Buck-
master, 52

Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society, 52

Catalogue of the Collection of Birds’ Eggs in the British
Museum (Natural History), E. W. Oates and Captain
S. G. Reid, 53

Leather for Libraries, E. Wyndham Hulme, J. Gordon
Parker, A. Seymour-Jones, Cyril Davenport, and F. J.
Williamson, 53

Bureau of Government Laboratories, (1) Description of New
Buildings, Paul C. Freer, (2) a Catalogue of the Library,
Mary Polk, Prof. R. T. Hewlett, 57

Contributions from the Solar Observatory of the Carnegie
Institution of Washington, Prof. G. E. Hale, 67

A Student’s Text-book of Zoology, Adam Sedgwick, F.R.S.,

of Intermediate

den

re)

The Study of Chemical Composition: an Account of its
Method and Historical Development, Ida Freund, 74

Index Kewensis Plantarum Phanerogamarum, W.
Thiselton-Dyer, 75

Sugar and the Sugar Cane, Noél Deerr, 7:

My Strange Pets, and Other Memories of Country Life,
R. Bell, 76 :

xl Index

Nature,
June 14, 1906

Simple Lessons on Health for the Use of the Young, Sir
Michael Foster, K.C.B., 76

Actualités scientifiques, Max de Nansouty, 76

Great Batsmen, their Methods at a Glance, G. W. Beldam
and C. B. Fry, 82

CEuvres de Laguerre, 97

Goethe’s Philosophie aus seinem Werken, 98

Immanuel Kant, Physische Geographie, 95

Dialoge ber natirliche Religion, Uber Selbstmord und

Unsterblichkeit der Seele, David Hume, 98

Immanuel Kant’s Kleinere Schriften zur Logik und Meta-
physik, 98

a. W. F. Hegel, Encyclopadie der philosophischen Wissen-
schaften im Grundrisse, 98

The Oxford Geogr aphies, A. J. Herbertson, 99

Organic Evolution, C. W. Saleeby, 99

Le “Chauflage des Habitations par Caloriféres, M, Raymond
Périssé, 100

Auslese aus meiner Unterrichts-
Dr. Hermann Schubert, 100

und Vorlesungspraxis,

Pangéométrie, ou Précis de Géométrie fondée sur une
Théorie générale et rigoureuse des Paralléles, N. J.
Lobatschewsky, 100

Nature through Microscope and Camera, Richard Kerr, 104

An Account of the Deep Sea Holothuriadea Collected by
the Indian Marine Survey Ship Investigator, R. Koehler
and C. Vaney, 114

The Principles of Heredity,
Reid, 121

The Boston Colloquium, Edward Burr Van Vleck, Henry
Seely White and Frederick Shenstone Woods, 122

Lectures on the Calculus of Variations, Dr. Oskar Bolza,
122

Modern Refrigerating Machinery,
of Working, and Industrial
Lorenz, 122

American Practice in Refrigeration, H. M.
F. W. Dean, 122

The Geography of New Zealand, P. Marshall, 123

Wild Wings, Adventures of a Camera-hunter among the
Larger Wild Birds of North America on Sea and Land,
E) Ke Joby 128

Instruction in Photography, Sir W. de W.

La Bobine d’Induction, H. Armagnat, 124

Handbook of Metallurgy, Prof. Carl Schnabel, 124

The Origin and Influence of the Thoroughbred Horse, W.
Ridgeway, 126

A Preliminary Investigation of the More Important Features
of the Meteorology of Southern Asia, the Indian Ocean,
and Neighbouring Countries during the Period 1892—

with some Applications, G. A.

its Construction, Methods
Applications, Prof. H.

Haven and

Abney, 124

1902, Sir John Eliot, F.R.S., 136
My Life, a Record of Events and Opinions, Alfred Russel
Wallace, 145
Magnetism and Electricity for Students, H. E. Hadley, 146
Gesammelte Abhandlungen von Robert Bunsen, Prof.

Arthur Smithells, F.R.S., 147
The Practical Study of Malaria and other Blood Parasites,

Dr. J. W. W. Stephens and S. R. Christophers, Prof.
R. T. Hewlett, 148
Pictures from Nature, Richard and Cherry Kearton, 148

Meteorologie und Klimatologie, Prof. Dr, Wilhelm Trabert,
149

A Popular Introduction to Astronomy, Rev. Alex. C.
Henderson, 149
Fragmenta Phytographie Australie Occidentalis, L. Diels

and E. Pritzel, 149

Sporting Sketches, E. Sandys, 149

Ships and Shipping, Commander R. Dowling, Commander
H. C. Lockyer, 150

The Little Black Princess, a True Tale of Life in the

Never-never Land, Jeanie Gunn, 155

The Theory of Experimental Electricity, W. C. D.
Whetham, Maurice Solomon, 169 ;

Electric Railways, Theoretically and Practically Treated,
S. W. Ashe and J. D. Keiley, Maurice Solomon, 169

Modern Electric Practice, Maurice Solomon, 169

Text-book of Hygiene based on Physiology for the Use of
School Teachers, A. Watt Smyth, Me

Studien iiber die Regeneration, Prof. B. Némec,

Heredity, C. W. Saleeby, 171

The Practical Photographer, 172

170

Introduction to of Organic Chemistry, John
Wade, 172

The Romance of Insect Life, Edmund Selous, 172

The Art and Practice of Laundry Work for Students and
Teachers, Margaret Cuthbert Rankin, 172

Beasties Courageous, Studies of Animal Life and Character,
D. English, 177

Northern Trails, some Studies of Animal Life in the Far
North, W. J. Long 177

Water Supply and Irri igation Papers, 183

Ninth Annual Report of the Geological Commission of the
Cape of Good Hope, W. Gibson, 187

Scan der Pflanzen, Prof. Dr. Fr. Czapek, F. Escombe,

the Study

Nees Methods of Testing Explosives, C. E. Bichel, 194

The New Science of Causation, H. Croft Hiller, 194

Studies in General Physiology, Jacques Loeb, 195

Civil Engineering, a Text-book for a Short Course, Lieut.-
Colonel G. J. Fiebeger, 196

Thunder and Lightning, Camille Flammarion,

Photography for the Press, 196

How to Know the Starry Heavens, Edward Irving, 196

Everyday Life among the Head-hunters, and Other Experi-
ences from East to West, Dorothy Cator, 203

Summary of Progress of the Geological Survey of the
United Kingdom and Museum of Practical Geology for
1904, 204

National Engineering and Trade Lectures, British Progress
in Municipal Engineering, W. H. Maxwell, 217

British Progress in Pumps and Pumping Engines,
Bjorling, 217

British Progress in Gas
C. E. Brackenbury, 217

The Survey Atlas of England and Wales, J. G. Bartholo-
mew, 218

Report of the Committee on Leather for Bookbinding, 219

A Treatise on Ore and Stone Mining, Sir C. Le Neve
Foster, 220

The Useful Plants of the Island of Guam, W.
221

The British Journal Photographic Almanac
grapher’s Daily Companion for 1906, 221

Nature in Eastern Norfolk, Arthur H. Patterson, 221

The Central Tian-Shan Mountains, 1902-1903, Dr.
fried Merzbacher, 227

The Rocks of Cape Colville Peninsula,
Zealand, Prof. Sollas, F.R.S., 234

The Analytical Theory of Light, ilo Ay alker, 241

Kristallinische Flussigkeiten und flussige Kristalle,
Schenck, 242

New Creations in Plant Life, an Authoritative Account of
the Life and Work of Luther Burbank, W. S. Harwood,
242

Chemische Technologie, Dr. Fr. Heusler,

Future Forest Trees, A. H. Unwin, 244

196

Paes

Works’ Plant and Machinery,

E. Safford,

and Photo-

Gott-

Auckland, New

Rudolf

243

Elements of Quantitative Analysis, Dr. G. H. Bailey, 244
Elementary Dynamics, W. M. Baker, 245
A Historical Geography of the British Colonies, C. P.

Lucas, C.B., 245

Vorlesungen tiber mathematische Naherungsmethoden, Dr.
Otto Biermann, 245

An Introduction to Geology, BIR-S:,
Grenville A. J. Cole, 247

A Manual of Tides, Rollin A. Harris, 248

Survey of India, Captain H. A. Denholm Fraser, 250

Report on Fishery and Hydrographical Investigations in
the North Sea and Adjacent Waters, 1902-3, 255

The Cotton Bollworm, A. L. Quaintance and C. T. Brues,
Fred. V. Theobald, 257

The Mexican Cotton Boll Weevil, W.
W. E. Hinds, Fred. V. Theobald, 257

Jj. Bo Marrs Prof.

D. Hunter and

The Colour Sensitivity of the Peripheral Retina, John
Wallace Baird, 260

The Interpretation of Nature, C. Lloyd Morgan, F.R.S.,
265 .

Bodenkunde, E. Ramann, 266

Soils and Fertilisers, Prof. H. Snyder, 266

The First Book of Geometry, Grace Chisholm Young and
W. H. Young, 267

Physiologie de la hectare et de I'Ecriture, Emile Javal
Is Herbert Parsons, 268

Natxre,
June 14, 1906

Lndex

xli

Exercises in Quantitative Chemistry,
Morse, 268

Handbook of Physiology for Students and Practitioners of
Medicine, Dr. Austin Flint, Prof. J. S. MacDonald, 269

Penrose’s Pictorial Annual, 269

Philips’ Large Planisphere, 269

Lehrbuch der Meteorologie, Prof. Julius Hann, 270

The Uses of British Plants, Rev. Prof. G. Henslow, 270

The Fighting Man of Japan, F. J. Norman, 271

Theory of the Motion of the Moon, Ernest W. Brown,
E.Rgs., 272

Report of Interdepartmental Committee on Medical
spection and Feeding of Children
Elementary Schools, 286

Radio-activity, Prof. E. Rutherford, F.R.S., Hon. R. J.
Strutt, F.R.S., 289

The Metaphysics of Nature, Carveth Read, 290

Higher Mathematics for Students of Chemistry and
Physics, with Special Reference to Practical Work, Dr.
J. W. Mellor, 290

Minnesota Plant Diseases, Dr. E. M. Freeman, 291

Mesure et Développement de |’Audition, Dr. Marage, Prof.
John G. McKendrick, 292

American Insects, Vernon L. Kellogg, 292

First Steps in Quantitative Analysis, J. C. Gregory, 293

Man, an Introduction to Anthropology, Dr. W. E. Rotzell,
293

Elementary Algebra, W. G. Borchardt, 293

Illustriertes Handbuch der Laubholzkunde, C. K. Schneider,
293

Esquisse d’une Théorie biologique du Sommeil, Dr. Ed.
Claparéde, 293

The Voyage of the Discovery, Captain R. F. Scott, Prof.
J. W. Gregory, F.R.S., 297

Oraibi Natal Customs and Ceremonies, H. R. Voth, 300

The Cheyenne, G, A. Dorsey, 300

Erhebung der Geschichte zum Rang einer Wissenschaft,
J. G. Droysen, Prof. F. J. C. Hearnshaw, 307

The Science of History, J. A. Froude, Prof.
Hearnshaw, 307

Grundriss der Historik, J. G, Droysen, Prof. F. J. C.
Hearnshaw, 307

The Science of History,
F, J. C. Hearnshaw, 307

Introduction aux Etudes Historiques, Langlois and Seig-
nobos, Prof. J. G. C. Hearnshaw, 307

An Inaugural Lecture, Prof. J. B. Bury, Prof. F. J. C.
Hearnshaw, 307

A Plea for the Historical Teaching of History, Prof. C. H.
Firth, Prof. F. J. C. Hearnshaw, 307

The Methodical Study of Man, Dr. Percy Gardner, Prof.
F. J. C. Hearnshaw, 307

Science and Hypothesis, Prof. H. Poincaré, Prof. Arthur
Schuster, F.R.S., 313

Wissenschaften und Hypothese, Prof. H. Poincaré, Prof.
Arthur Schuster, F.R.S., 313 :

Comparative Studies in the Psychology of Ants and of
Higher Animals, E. Wassmann, Lord Avebury, F.R.S.,

Harmon Northrop

In-
attending Public

1 Ma 4Cc

Principal John Caird, Prof.

315

The Electromagnetic Theory of Light, Dr. C. E. Curry,
316

Catalogue of the Indian Decapod Crustacea in the Collec-
tion of the Indian Museum, Pagurides, A. Alcock,
Hokes 37,

Traditions of the Caddo, George A. Dorsey, 317

Meceanica Razionale, Roberto Marcolongo, 318

Die Vererbungslehre in der Biologie, Dr. H. E. Ziegler,
318

An Analysis of Human Motive, F. Carrel, 318

Deutscher Kamera Almanach, 1906, Fritz Loescher, 318

Les Variations periodiques des Glaciers, H. F. Reid and
E. Muret, 320

Atti della Reale Accademia delle Scienze fisiche e mate-
matiche di Napoli, 327

Integral Calculus for Beginners, Alfred Lodge, Prof. G. H.
Bryan, F.R.S., 337

Die Mneme als erhaltendes Prinzip im Wechsel
organischen Geschehens, Richard Semon, 338

Commercial Economy in Steam and other Thermal Power
Plants as Dependent upon Physical Efficiency, Capital

des

Charges, and Working Costs, Prof. Robert H. Smith,
38

A Text-book of Materia Medica for Students of Medicine,
C. R. Marshall, 339

Die neuere Entwicklung
Baumhauer, 340

La Théorie moderne des Phénoménes physiques, Radio-
activité, Ions, Electrons, Prof. Augusto Righi, 340

Modern Lightning Conductors, Killingworth Hedges, 340

Nebula to Man, Henry R. Knipe, 342

More Natural History Essays, Graham Renshaw, 343

The Anatomy of Agchylostoma duodenale, Dub., A. Looss,
Prof. Sydney J. Hickson, F.R.S., 344

The Nature and Origin of Living Matter, Dr. H, Charlton
Bastian, F.R.S., 361

Lehrbuch der Physik, O. D. Chwolson, 362

Traité de Physique, O. D. Chwolson, 362

In the Heart of the Canadian Rockies, James Outram,
362

A Manual of Carpentry and Joinery, J. W. Riley, 363

Die Explosivstoffe, mit besonderer Berucksichtigung der
neuren Patente die Schiessbaumwolle (Nitrocellulosen),
Dr. Richard Escales, 364

Lehrbuch der technischen Physik, Prof. Hans Lorenz, 364

The Making of East Yorkshire, a Chapter in Local Geo-
graphy, T. Sheppard, 364

Jahrbuch der Chemie, 364

Elements of Applied Microscopy, Charles-Edward Amory
Winslow, 365

Auslese aus meiner Unterrichts- und Vorlesungspraxis, Dr.
H. Schubert, 365

Serum Therapy of Plague in India, W.
368

Rock Cleavage, C. K. Leith, 376

Cement Materials and Industry, E. C. Eckel, 376

Preliminary Report on the Geology and Water Resources
of Central Oregon, I. C. Russell, 376

A Geological Reconnaissance across the Cascade Range,
G. O. Smith and F, C. Calkins, 376

Geology of the Hudson Valley between the Hoosic and the
Kinderhook, T. N. Dale, 376

der Kristallographie, Dr. H.

M. Haffkine,

| Report of Progress in the Geological Re-survey of the

Cripple Creek District, Colorado, Waldemar Lindgren
and F. L. Ransome, 376

Petrography and Geology of the Igneous Rocks of the
Highwood Mountains, Montana, L. V. Pirsson, 376

Twenty-fifth Annual Report of the U.S. Geological Survey,
1903-4, 376

Indiana, Department of Geology and Natural Resources,
W. S. Blatchley, 376

Canada: Summary Report of the Geological Survey De-
partment of Canada for the Calendar Year 1904 (1905),
76
7

The Waterlilies, a Monograph of the Genus Nymphza,
Henry S. Conard, 379

Untersuchungen ub. d. Einwirkung schwefliger Saure auf
die Pflanzen, Prof. Dr. A. Wieler, F. Escombe, 385

L’Algébre de la Logique, Louis Couturat, 386

A Geometrical Political Economy, H. Cunynghame, C.B.,
86

Octhess Wolleyana, an Illustrated Catalogue of the Collec-
tion of Birds’ Eggs formed by the late John Wolley, 387

Eggs of the Native Birds of Britain and List of British
Birds Past and Present, W. J. Gordon, 387

Engineering Chemistry, a Manual of Quantitative Chemical
Analysis for the Use of Students, Chemists, and
Engineers, Thomas B. Stillman, 387

Die Photographie im Hochgebirg, Emil Terschak, 388

The Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society of London,
Dr. Norman Moore and Stephen Paget, Prof. R, T.
Hewlett, 388

The Nile Quest, a Record of the Exploration of the Nile
and its Basin, Sir Harry Johnston, K.C.B., 391

Zur Theorie der Spectrallinien, Prof. F. yon Lindemann,

2

Breceranties de la Granulation solaire faites 4 Poulkowa,
A. Hansky, W. E. Rolston, gor

‘The Collected Mathematical Works of George William Hill,
409

Zur Erkenntniss der Kolloide, Ueber irreversible Hydrosole

xlii

Index

Nature,
June 14, 1906

und Ultramikroskopie, Richard Zsigmondy, Dr. J. A.
Milroy, 410

Manuel de Recherches préhistoriques, 411

Smoke Abatement, a Manual for the Use of Manufacturers,
Inspectors, Medical Officers of Health, Engineers, and
others, William Nicholson, 411

The Preservation of Antiquities, a Handbook for Curators,
Dr. Friedrich Rathgen, 412

Organography of Plants, Dr. K. Goebel, 412 Ed

Catalogue of the Madreporarian Corals in the British
Museum (Natural History), Henry M. Bernard, 412

Microscopes and Accessories, how to Make and Use them,
Prof. R. T. Hewlett, 412

The Bird Watcher in the Shetlands, with some Notes on
Seals—and Digressions, Edmund Selous, O. V. Aplin,

I 5 '
Nene tones and Undertones, J. Maclair Boraston, O. V.
Aplin, 414

Cloud Studies, Arthur W. Clayden, Prof. H. Hildebrand

Hildebrandsson, 416

Relation of the Law to Underground Waters, D.
Johnson, 426

Contributions from the Jefferson, Physical Laboratory of
Harvard University, 427 ;

Neuere Anschauungen auf dem Gebiete der anorganischen
Chemie, Prof. A. Werner, Prof. A. Smithells, F.R.S.,

W.

433 ie ed)

Meddelelser fra Kommissionen fra Havunders¢gelsen, Serie
Hydrografi, Serie Fiskeri, Serie Plankton, Jas. John-
stone, 434

Geschichte der Biologischen Theorien, seit dem Ende des
siebzehnten Jahrhunderts, Dr. Em. Radl, 435 : ;

Der Spaltéffnungsapparat im Lichte der Phylogenie, ein
Beitrag zur ‘‘ phylogenetischen Pflanzenhistologie,’’ Dr.
Otto Porsch, 436

Economic Geology of the United States, Heinrich Riss, 437

Botanische Jahrbiicher, 437

The Practical Photographer, Photographic Optics and
Lenses, the Optical Lantern for Projection and Enlarg-
ing, 437

The Sanitation of a Country
Bashore, 437 :

A Treatise on Metamorphism, Charles Richard van Hise,
50

Gane Limes, and Plasters, their Materials, Manufac-
ture, and Properties, E. C. Eckel, 457

Cement and Concrete, L. C. Sabin, 457

A Treatise on Concrete, Plain and Reinforced, F. W.
Taylor and S. E. Thompson, 457

Reinforced Concrete Construction, A. W. Buel and C. S.
Hill, 457

Concrete Steel, a Treatise on the Theory and Practice of

House, Dr. Harvey B.

Reinforced Concrete Construction, W. Noble Twelve-
trees, 457

Notes on Volumetric Analysis, J. B. Russell and A. H.
Bell, 459

Introduction to Chemical Analysis, Hugh C. H. Candy, 459

An Elementary Text-book of Inorganic Chemistry, R. L.
Whiteley, 459

Elementary Chemistry, Progressive Lessons in, F. R. L.
Wilson and G. W. Hedley, 459

A Three Years’ Course of Practical Chemistry,
H. Martin and Ellis Jones, 459

Introduction A la Pathologie générale, Félix le Dantec,
Wm. St. C. Symmers, 460

Die optischen Instrumente, Dr. Moritz von Rohr, 461

Second Year Chemistry, a Handbook for Laboratory and
Class Work, Prof. Edward Hart, 461

La Nature et la Vie, Henry de Varigny, 462

The Birds of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, Rev. J. E.
Kelsall and Philip W. Munn, O. V. Aplin, 465

A Grammar of the Kafir Language, J. McLaren, Sir H. H.
Johnston, K.C.M.G., 481

Mining Law of the British Empire, Charles J. Alford,
Bennett H. Brough, 482

Outlines of Physiological Chemistry, Dr. S. P. Beebe and
Prof. B. H. Buxton, Prof. Benjamin Moore, 483

Lectures on the Theory of Functions of Real Variables,
J. Pierpont, 483

Sound and Rhythm, W.
McKendrick, F.R.S., 483

George

Edmunds, Prof. John G.

Historical and Modern Atlas of the British Empire,
specially prepared for Students, C. Grant Robertson and
J. G. Bartholomew, 484

Philips’ Model Atlas, 484

Natural Science in Hygiene, or the Life-history of the
Non-bacterial Parasites affecting Man, Dr. James Rodger
Watson, Prof. R. T. Hewlett, 484

Publications of the U.S. Naval Observatory, Rear-Admiral
Colby M. Chester, 486

The System of the Stars, Agnes M. Clerke, Prof. R. A.
Gregory, 505

The British Tunicata, the late Joshua Alder and the late
Albany Hancock, Dr. W. Garstang, 508

Elementary Practical Metallurgy, Iron and Steel,
Longmuir, A. McWilliam, 509

Glue, Gelatine, and their Allied Products, Thomas Lam-
bert, 510

Webbia-Raccolta di Scritti Botanici publicati in occasione
del 50° Anniversario della Morti di Fillipo Barker Webb,
510

A Course in Mathematical Analysis, Edouard Goursat, 511

The Age of the Earth and other Geological Studies, W. J.
Sollas, F.R.S., 513 :

Les Quantités Elementaires d’Electricité, Ions, Electrons,
Corpuscles, Dr. O. W. Richardson, 529

On Professional Education, with Special Reference to
Medicine, Prof. T. Clifford Allbutt, F.R.S., 530

The Utilisation of Nitrogen in Air by Plants, T. Jamie-
son, 531

Technical Methods of Ore Analysis, A. H. Low, 532

The Lepidoptera of the British Islands, a Descriptive
Account of the Families, Genera, and Species Indigenous
to Great Britain and Ireland, their Preparatory States,
Habits, and Localities, Charles G. Barrett, 532

A First Reader in Health and Temperance, W. Taylor,

Percy

532

Mast and Sail in Europe and Asia, H. Warington Smyth,
Sir W. H. White, K.C.B:, F.R.S., 536 :

The Evolution of an English Town, being the Story of the
Ancient Town of Pickering in Yorkshire, Gordon Home,
538

Report of the Education Committee of the London County
Council submitting the Report of the Medical Officer
(Education) for the Year ended March 31, 1905, 548

Reports of the Commission appointed by the Admiralty,
the War Office, and the Civil Government of Malta for
the Investigation of Mediterranean Fever under the
Supervision of an Advisory Committee of the Royal
Society, 550

Hohenklima und Bergwanderungen in ihrer Wirkung auf
den Menschen, N. Zuntz, A. Loewy, F. Miiller, and W.
Caspari, 553 :

The Dynamics of Particles and of Rigid, Elastic, and Fluid
Bodies, Prof. Arthur Gordon Webster, 555

Essays on Evolution and Design, Prof.
556

Heat and Steam (Elementary), an Introductory Supplement
to a Text-book of Marine Engineering for the Use of
Naval Officers, &c., Engineer-Commander Tompkins, 557

Atlas of Japanese Vegetation, Dr. Augustine Henry, 557

The Integration of Functions of a Single Variable, G. H.
Hardy, 558

The Laboratory Book of Dairy Analysis, H. Droop Rich-
mond, 558

Inter-Colonial Irrigation Commission, 563

Catalogue of the Fossil Plants of the Glossopteris Flora
in the Department of Geology, British Museum (Natural
History), being a Monograph of the Permo-Carboniferous
Flora of India and the Southern Hemisphere, E. A.
Newell. Arber, A. C. Seward, F.R.S., 577

The Organised Science Series, (1) First Stage Physio-
graphy (Section i.), 578

Science Handbooks for Laboratory and Class-room,
mentary Physics (Third Year), John N. Brown, 578

Examples in Physics, C. E. Jackson, 578

Advanced Examples in Physics, A. O. Allen, 578

John Young,

Ele-

Physics, Charles R. Mann and George R. Twiss, 578

The Production of Aluminium and its Industrial Use,
Adolphe Minet, 579

Motor-car Mechanism and Management, W. Poynter

Adams, 580

N, , eo¢
jie L[ndex xliii
Our Stellar Universe, Thomas Edward Heath, W. E. | Reynolds (Prof. S. H.), Rock Fall at Cheddar, 372

Rolston, 581

Chapters on Paper-making, Clayton Beadle, 581

Anales del Museo Nacional de Buenos Aires, 581

The Natural History of Selborne, Rev. Gilbert White, 581

The Bontoc Igorot, Albert Ernest Jenks, Dr. A. C. Had-
don, F.R.S., 584

Negritos of Zamabales,
Haddon, F.R.S., 584

The Nabaloi Dialect, Otto Scheerer, Dr. A. C. Haddon,
F.R.S., 584

The Bataks of Palawan,
Haddon, F.R.S., 584

Preliminary Report on the
Water Resources of the Central Great Plains,
Darton, 593

Preliminary Report on the Geology of the Arbuckle and
Wichita Mountains in Indian Territory and Oklahoma,
J. A. Taff and H. Foster Bain, 593

The Geology of the Perry Basin in South-eastern Maine,
G. O. Smith and David White, 593

William Allan Reed, Dr. A. C.

Edward Y. Miller, Dr. A. C.

Geology and Underground
N. H.

Chemie der alicyklischen Verbindungen, Prof. Ossian
Aschan, 601
Der Bau des Fixsternsystems, mit besonderer Beriick-

sichtigung der photometrischen Resultate, Prof. Hermann
Kobold, 603

British Flowering Plants, the Right Hon. Lord Avebury,
604

Rowing and Track Athletics, Samuel Crowther and Arthur
_ Ruhl, 605

Economie Forestiére, G. Huffel, 605

Physiologie des Menschen, Dr. L. Luciani,
Milroy, 606

Seta Artificiale, G. B. Baccioni, 606

Zwéolf Vorlesungen iiber die Natur des Lichtes, Dr. J.

, Classen, 606

A la Poursuite d’une Ombre, Prof. Moye, 606

Ueber Vererbungsgesetze, C. Correns, 606

The Euahlayi Tribe, a Study of Aboriginal
Australia, K. Langloh Parker, 610

Third Treatise on the Effects of Borax and Boric Acid on
the Human System, Dr. Oscar Liebreich, 611

Thirty-third Annual Report of the Local Government
Board, 1903-4, Prof. R. T. Hewlett, 619

Investigations of Infra-red Spectra, William W. Coblentz,

Drie ae

in

Life

619
Annales de 1’Institut Central Ampélologique Royal Hon-
grois, 620

Annales de Paléontologie, publiées sous la Direction de
Marcellin Boule, 621

LITERARY SUPPLEMENT.

The Mammals of Great Britain and Ireland, J. G. Millais,
Supp. to November 30, iii

Lectures on the Early History of Kingship, Dr. J. G.
Frazer, Supp. to November 30, iv

Landolt-Bornstein—Physikalisch-chemische Tabellen, Drs.
Bornstein and Meyerhoffer, Dr. J. A. Harker, Supp. to
November 30, vi

Erkenntnis und Irrtum, Prof.
November 30, vii

The Winchester Arithmetic, C. Godfrey and G. M. Bell,
Supp. to November 30, viii

A Text-book of Algebra, A. E. Layng, Supp. to November
30, Viii

An Introduction to Algebra,
November 30, viii

Elementary Modern Geometry, H. G. Willis, Supp. to
November 30, viii

Tables and Constants to Four Figures,
Supp. to November 30, viii

Les Origines de la Statique, P. Duhem, Supp. to November
30, ix

Spectroscopy, E. C. C. Baly, Supp. to November 30, ix

Precious Stones considered in their Scientific and Artistic
Relations, Prof. A. H. Church, F.R.S., Supp. to
November 30, x

to

Ernest Mach, Supp.

R. C. Bridgett,

to

Supp.

William Hall,

Reynolds (J. E.), Silicon Researches, 118; Silicon Thio-
cyanate, 357

Rheinberg (Mr.), Photography of Diatoms taken by the
Zeiss Apparatus designed by Dr. August Kohler, Photo-
micrography with Ultra-violet Light, 287

Rhymney Valley, the Landslide in the, Prof. W-. Gallo-
way, 425

Rhythm, Sound and, W. G.
McKendrick, F.R.S., 483

Richards (Prof. Theodore W.), the Possibility of Utilising
the Temperature of Transition of Sodium Bromide -Di-
hydrate into the Anhydrous Salt as a Fixed Point in
Accurate Thermometry, 591-2

Richardson (Dr. O. W.), Effect of Hydrogen on the Dis-
charge of Electricity from Hot Platinum, 191; Ions,
Electrons, and Corpuscles, 529; Diurnal Variation of
Ionisation in Closed Vessels, 607

Richardson (L.), Liassic Dentaliide, 526

Richardson, Westgarth (Messrs., and Co.),
Condenser, Prof. R. S. Weighton, 572

Richet (Charles), Recuperative Effects of Raw Meat after
Fasting, 456

Richmond (H. Droop),
Analysis, 558

Richthofen (Ferdinand Baron von), Death and Obituary
Notice of, 8

Ridewood (Dr. W. G.), Microscopic Sections of the
Skeletal Tube found in the Restored Tail of Dormice,
261

Edmunds, Prof. John

New Form of

the Laboratory Book of Dairy

Ridgeway (W.), the Origin and Influence of the Thorough-

bred Horse, 126
Ries (Heinrich), Economic Geology of the United States,
Rigue (Fr. W. F. J.), Graphical Method for finding the

Time of Moonrise, 208
Righi (Prof. A.), Influence of the Rays of Radium on the

Resistance of Certain Solid and Liquid Dielectrics, 375 ;

la Théorie moderne des Phénoménes physiques, Radio-

activité, Ions, Electrons, 340 ‘
Right Ascensions of the Eros Comparison Stars, Dr. Fritz

Cohn, 305
Rijckevorsel (Dr. van), Constantly Occurring Secondary

Maxima and Minima in the Yearly Range .of Meteor-

ological Phenomena, 36; Konstant auftretende secundare

Maxima und Minima in dem jahrlichen Verlauf der

Meteorologischen Erscheinungen, 594
Riley (J. W.), a Manual of Carpentry and Joinery, 363
Ring Nebula in Lyra, the, Dr. Newkirk, 448; Prof. E. E.

Barnard, 448
Riva (Carlo), Granitoid and Filonian Rocks of Sardinia,

327
Rivers, Forests and, 319
Rivers (Dr. W. H. R.), Psychology and Sociology of the

Todas and other Indian Tribes, 334; the Senses of the

Todas, 517
Roaf (Dr. Herbert E.), Effects of Alkalies and Acids, and

of Alkaline and Acid Salts, upon Fertilised Eggs of

Echinus esculentus, Study in Relationship to the Caus-

ation of Malignant Disease, 213; Physical and Chemical

Properties of Solutions of Chloroform and other Anes-

thetics, 213
Robb (A. A.), the Revolution of the Corpuscle, at Caven-

dish Laboratory, Cambridge, 321
Roberts (Dr. Alex. W.), the Increasing Period of B Lyre,
Rabedson (C. Grant), Historical and Modern Atlas of the

British Empire, specially prepared for Students, 484
Robertson (Mr.), Hydrography of the Ferée-Shetland

Channel, 255
Robertson (P. W.), Volumetric Method of Estimating the

Cinchona Alkaloids, 71
Robinson (Prof. B. L.), the Generic Concept in the Classifi-

cation of the Flowering Plants, 405
Rock Cleavage, C. K. Leith, 376
Rock Fall at Cheddar Cliffs, 347; Prof. S.

Rocke masses) the Transformations of, 450

Rocks of Cape Colville Peninsula, Auckland, New Zealand,
the, Prof. Sollas, F.R.S., 234

Roederer (M.), Strontium, 408

Rogers (A. W.), on Glacial Periods in South Africa, 91;
Glacial Beds in the Griqua Town Series of Hay, 600

H. Reynolds,

xliv

Index

Nature,
June 14, 1906

Rohr (Dr. Moritz von), die optischen Instrumente, 461

Rolston (W. E.), Granulations on the Solar Surface, Prof.
A. Hansky, 401; Our Stellar Universe, Thomas Edward
Heath, 581

Ronaldson (J. H.), the Copper Deposits of Little Namaqua-
land, 66

Roneagliolo (Dr. Cesare), Rubidium and Czsium Alums,
73

Rantaen Radiation, Polarisation in Secondary, Dr. C. G.
Barkla, 501

Réntgen Radiation, Secondary, Dr. C. G. Barkla, 502

Réntgen Rays, Secondary, and Atomic Weight, Dr. Charles
G. Barkla, 365; see also Radiography

R6ntgen Society, the Present Position of Radio-activity,
Frederick Soddy at, 285

Roots, Regeneration in, Prof. B. Némec, 170

Roscoe (Sir Henry E., F.R.S.), the Perkin Jubilee and
Chemical Industries, 438

Rose (R. E.), Constitution of Salicin, 624

Ross (Mr.), Discovery of a New Comet (1906c), 494

Rosset (M.), Action of Peroxide of Nitrogen on Ammonia,

504

Rotch (Dr. A. L.), the Exploration of the Atmosphere over
the Tropical Oceans, 54; Observations with Registration
Balloons in America, 349; the Vertical Distribution of
the Meteorological Elements above the Atlantic, 449

Rotzell (Dr. W. E.), Man, an Introduction to Anthro-
pology, 293

Roux (Eug.), Influence of the Reaction of the Medium on
the Activity of Amylase and on the Composition of
Saccharified Starch, 335

Rowing and Track Athletics, Samuel Crowther and Arthur
Ruhl, 605

Rowland-Brown (H.), Argynnis niobe from the Pyrenees,
Cevennes, and South Tyrolese Mountains, 526

Royal Astronomical Society, 95, 190, 334, 598; Medal
Awards, 370

Royal .College of Science, the, 344, 442; Bursaries at the,
Prof. John Perry, F.R.S., 32

Royal Dublin Society, 215, 358, 383, 599

Royal Institution: Life-history of the Emperor Penguin,
Edward A. Wilson, 211; the Electric Production of
Nitrates from the Atmosphere, Prof. Sylvanus P. Thomp-
son, F.R.S., 355; some Applications of the Theory of
Electric Discharge through Gases to Spectroscopy, Prof.
J. J. Thomson, F.R.S., at, 495

Royal Irish Academy, 215

Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society of London, Cen-

tenary, 1805-1905, Dr. Norman Moore and Stephen
Paget, Prof. R. T. Hewlett, 388

Royal Meteorological Society, 95, 262, 357, 455, 527

Royal Microscopical Society, 23, 118, 287, 357, 503, 575

Royal Society, 70, 93, 116, 141, 166, 188, 213, 238, 311,
334, 380, 407, 453, 501, 525, 551, 574, 597, 622; Medal

Awards, 33; Anniversary Meeting of the Royal Society,
Medal Awards, 129; Antarctic Earthquakes, Observations
made with Horizontal Pendulum in the Antarctic
Regions, Prof. J. Milne, F.R.S., 210; a Gas Calorimeter,
C. V. Boys, F.R.S., 354; (1) the Periodogram and its
Optical Applications, (2) the Periodicity of Sun-spots,
Prof. Arthur Schuster, F.R.S., 378

Royal Society, Edinburgh, 119, 215, 239, 358, 383, 575

Royal Society of Naples, Memoirs of the, 327

Royal Society, New South Wales, 240, 456

Royal Society of Sciences, Gottingen, 360

Rozet (Cl.), Italian Observations of the
Eclipse, 38

Rudge (W. A. Douglas), Action of Radium Salts on Gela-
tin, 78; Action of Radium and other Salts on Gelatin,
We Ga)

Rudmose-Brown (R. N.), the Falkland Island Fox, 365

Rudorf (Dr. G.), Physics of Ore Flotation, 214

Rudzki (Prof. M. P.), Aurora of November 15, 246

Ruff (O.), Pure Lithium, its Preparation by the Electro-
lysis of Lithium Bromide, 494

Ruffer (Dr. M. Armand), Evolution of the Present Know-
ledge of Immunity Artificially Acquired, 139

Ruhemann (S.), the Tetrazoline Group, 119; Action of Acid
Chlorides of Acetylenic Acids on Ketonic Compounds,

Recent Solar

527
Ruhi (Arthur), Rowing and Track Athletics, 605

Rural Schools, Chemistry in, Prof. R. Meldola, F.R.S.,
558; IT. S. Dymond, 583

Russell (A.), Dielectric Strength of Air, 142

Russell (Dr. William J., F.R.S.), Action of Wood on a
Photographic Plate, 152

Russell (I. C.), Preliminary Report on the Geology and
Water Resources of Central Oregon, 376

Russell (J.), Effect of Electric Oscillations on the Mag-
netic Properties, 216

Russell (J. B.), Notes on Volumetric Analysis, 459

Rutherford (Prof. E., F.R.S.), Radio-activity, 289

Sabatier (Paul), Synthesis of Tertiary Alcohols derived’
from Paramethyleyclohexane, 431

Sabin (L. C.), Cement and Concrete, 457

Sachs (Dr. A.), Kleinite, 325

Safford (W. E.), the Useful Plants of the Island of Guam,
221

y Sagittee, New Variable Stars in the Region about, Prof.
Wolf, 518

Sailing Craft in Europe and Asia, H. Warington Smyth,
Sir W. H. White, K.C.B., F.R.S., 536

Saleeby (C. W.), Organic Evolution, 99; Heredity, 171

Salet (P.), Spectroscopic Observations made during the
Eclipse of the Sun of August 30, 1905, 191-2; Eclipse
Spectra, 208

Salmon (the late Dr. George, F.R.S.), Memorial to, 274

Sammlung Schubert XLII., Theorie der Electrizitat und
des Magnetismus, Prof. Dr. J. Classen, 4

San Francisco Earthquake of April 18, the, 608, 613, 614;
Dr. C. Davison, 608

Sanday (Miss E.), Embryology of the Amentiferze, part ii.,
Carpinus Betulus, 167

Sandys (E.), Sporting Sketches, 149

Sang (Alfred), Chinese Names of Colours, 390; Sea-sick-
ness and Equilibration of the Eyes, 511

Sanitation: Smoke Abatement, a Manual for the Use of
Manufacturers, Inspectors, Medical Officers of Health,
Engineers and others, William Nicholson, 411; the
Sanitation of a Country House, Dr. Harvey B. Bashore,
37

Sap in Trees, Ascent of, Frank Harris, 246

Sarat Chandra Das (Rai Bahadur), Origin of Mankind
(according to the Lamaic Mythology), 432

Sarle (C. L.), the Silurian Fossils described as
phycus and Deedalus, 590

Satellite, Observations of Jupiter’s Sixth, 18

Satellite, Suggested Name for Neptune’s, M. Fouche, 182

Satellites, Photographs of Jupiter’s Sixth and Seventh, 182;
see also Astronomy

Saturn, Phoebe, the Ninth Satellite of, Prof. W. H. Picker-
ing, 63

Saturn, the Tenth Satellite of, Prof. W. H. Pickering, 87

Saville-Kent (W.), Pearling Industry of North Australia,
492

Scheeberle (Prof. J. M.), the Probable Volcanic Origin of
Nebulous Matter, 296

Schaer (M.), Discovery of a Comet, 1905), 87

Schaller (Mr.), Analysis of Dumortierite, 547

Scharff (Dr. R. F.), the Former Occurrence of the African
Wild Cat, Gmel., in Ireland, 215; Irish Cave Explor-
ations, 215

Scheerer (Otto), the Nabaloi Dialect, 584

Schenck (Dr. H.), Vegetationsbilder, 4

Schenck (Rudolf), Kristallinische Flussigkeiten und flussige
Kristalle, 242

Schiessbaumwolle (Nitrocellulosen), die Explosivstoffe mit
besonderer Berucksichtigung der neuren Patente die, Dr.
Richard Escales, 364

Schloesing (Th.), Nitrates and Nitrites as Manure, 95

Schnabel (Prof. Carl), Handbook of Metallurgy, 124

Schnaus (Hermann), Death and Obituary Notice of, 589

Schneider (C. K.), Illustriertes Handbuch der Laubholz--
kunde, part iv., 293

Scholz (J. B.), Flora of West Prussia, 36

Schools, Chemistry in Rural, Prof. R. Meldola, F.R.S.,
558; T. S. Dymond, 583

Schools, Practical Science for, Prof. J. Perry, F.R.S., 402

Arthro-

|Schubert (Dr. Hermann), Auslese aus meiner Unterrichts-

und Vorlesungspraxis, 100, 365

Schuster (Prof. Arthur, F.R.S.), Sun-spot Periods, 190;

Nature,
June 14, 1906,

Science and Hypothesis, Prof. H. Poincaré, 313 ; Wissen-
schaft und Hypothese, Prof. H. Poincaré, 313; (1) the
Periodogram and its Optical Applications, (2) the Period-
icity of “Sun- -spots, Papers at Royal Society, 378; a Plea
for Absolute Motion, 462

Schwarz (Prof. E. H. L.), on Baviaan’s Kloof, a Contri-
bution to the Study of Mountain Folds, 91; the Coast-
ledges in the South-west of the Cape Colony, 141; Cor-
relation of the Members of the Transvaal System, 547

Schwendener (Prof.), the Statolith Theory of Geotropism,

Schareet the Treasury and Men of Science, 9; the British
Science Guild, 10; Bursaries at the Royal College of
Science, Prof. John Perry, ER-S:, 32.5 Conference of
Delegates of Local Scientific Societies, 39; Scientific

(1) Description of

Research in the Philippine Islands,
a Catalogue of the

New Buildings, Paul C. Freer, (2)

Library, Mary Polk, Prof. R. T. Hewlett, 57; Actualités
Scientifiques, Max de Nansouty, 76; Science and Art of
Cricket, G. W. Beldam and iG: B. Fry, 82; Scientific

Exploration in Central Asia, Dr. Gottfried Merzbacher,
227; the Application of Scientific Methods to the Study
of History, Prof. F. J. C. Hearnshaw, 307; Public
Schools Science Masters’ Conference, Wilfred Mark
Webb, 308; Science and Hypothesis, Prof. H. Poincaré,
Prof. Arthur Schuster, F.R.S., 313; Wissenschaft und
Hypothese, Prof. H. Poincaré, Prof. Arthur Schuster,
F.R.S., 313; the Royal College of Science, 344, 442;
Science and Art of Carpentry, 363; Practical Science for
Schools, Presidential Address delivered before the
Physical Society by Prof. J. Perry, F.R.S., 402; the
Popular Conception of the Scientific Man, Prof. W. G.
Farlow, 403; Science in Archzology, 411; Cooperation
between Scientific Libraries, Dr. Thomas Muir, 372; Dr.
F. A. Bather, 413; Prof. Henry E. Armstrong, F.R.S.,
438; Prof. Herbert McLeod, F.R.S., 438; Prof. Gren-
ville A. J. Cole, 464; Dr. Hugh Marshall, 513; Forth-
coming Books of Science, 476; Scientific Reports of the
Local Government Board, Prof. R. T. Hewlett, 619;
Erkenntnis und Irrtum, Prof. Ernst Mach, Supp. to
November 30, vii

Scintillations Produced by the Blectronic
emitted by Radium, C. W. R., 341

Sclater (W. L.), on the Migration of Birds in the Southern
Hemisphere, 40

Scorpio, a Large Photographic Nebula in, Prof. Barnard,
618

Scotland: the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition, 42 ;
New Buildings of the Glasgow and West of Scotland
Technical College, 208

Scott (Capt. R. F.), the Voyage of the Discovery, 297

Scott (Dr. D. H.), New Type of Stem from the Coal-
measures, 503

Scott (Prof. W. B.), on Convergent Evolution as Illustrated
by the Litopterna, 40

Scripture (Prof. E. W.),
Organ, 150

Sea Coast Protection, 369

Sea-Fishing, Practical, a Handbook for Sea Anglers, P. L.
Haslope, Frank Balfour Browne, 51

Sea-sickness and Equilibration of the Eyes,
511; Dr. John Aitken, F.R.S., 560; Geoffrey
584

Sealing in Newfoundland Waters, Last Season’s, T. South-
well,

Searle (G. F. C.), Expansion of a Gas into a Vacuum and

“ g-Rays ”

the Construction of a Vowel

Alfred Sang,
Martin,

the Determination of the Specific Heat at Constant
Pressure for Gases, 455
Secondary Schools and Endowments, 178

Sedgwick (Adam, F-.R.S.), a Student’s
Zoology, 73

Seelye (Miss), Respiration of Salamanders, 348

Seiches, Experimental Results in Connection
Hvggeynarical Theory of, P. White and W.
393

Seignobos (M.), Introduction aux Etudes Historique, 307

Seilligre (Gaston), Diastatic Hydrolysis of Xylane, 192

Seismology : the Doncaster Earthquake of April 23, 190s,
Dr. Charles Davison, 141; Determination of the Dis-
tance of the Epicentre of an Earthquake from the

Duration of the Preliminary Tremors, Pre. Raffaelo

Text-book of

with the
Watson,

L[ndex

xlv

Stiatteri, 206; Antarctic Earthquakes, Observations made
with Horizontal Pendulum in the Antarctic Regions,
Prof. J. Milne, F.R.S., at Royal Society, 210; the Colom-
bian Earthquake, 395; the Kangra Earthquake of April
4, 1905, 418; Earth Tremors in India, Prof. W. Gal-
loway, 464; Experiments on Earth-currents at Kew Ob-
servatory, Dr. J. A. Harker, 526; the San Francisco
Earthquake of April 18, Dr. C. Davison, 608; Earth-
quake Origins, Major E. G. Harboe, R. D. Oldham,
620

Selborne,

Selenium Cells,
Eclipse, 617

Seligmann (Dr. C. G.), Physical Anthropology
nology of British New Guinea, 371

Sellier (J.), Anti-coagulating Power of the Blood Serum of
the Lower Animals, 408

Selous (Edmund), the Romance of Insect Life, 172; the
Bird Watcher in the Shetlands, with Some Notes on
Seals, with Digressions, 414

Semon (Richard), Die Mneme als erhaltendes im Wechsel
des organischen Geschehens, 338

Semple (W.), Old Customs and Festivals, 582

Sennett (A. R.), Garden Cities in Theory and Practice, 2

Serotherapy: Serotherapy in Cases of Bleeding, Emile
Weil, 24; the Inoculation of Cancer, M. Mayet, 263;
the Serum Therapy of Plague in India, W. M. Haffkine,
Prof. R. T. Hewlett, 368; Toxin and Antitoxin of
Cholera, MM. Brau and Denier, 528

Seward (A. C., F.R.S.), on Educational Methods in the
Teaching of Botany, 163; the Araucariez, 238; the
Origin of Gymnosperms, 542; Catalogue of the Fossil
Plants of the Glossopteris Flora in the Department of
Geology, British Museum (Natural History), being a
Monograph of the Permo-Carboniferous Flora of India
and the Southern Hemisphere, E. A. Newell Arber, 577

Gilbert White, 581

the Natural History of, Rev.
Total Solar

Employment of, during

and Eth-

Seychelles Archipelago, the, the Percy Sladen Expedition
in H.M.S. Sealark to the Indian Ocean, J. Stanley
Gardiner, 294

Seymour-Jones (A.), Leather for Libraries, 53

Shaler (Dr. N. S.), Death of, 613

Shantung, Sounding Stones at Ch’tifu, Alfred Tingle, 222
Sharpe (F. R.), the Stability of Motion of Viscous Liquids,

159

Shaw (Dr. W. N., F.R.S.), the Pulse of the Atmospheric
Circulation, 175; Seasons in the British Isles from 1878,
210; Is London Fog Inevitable? 493

Shelford (R.), Tatu in Borneo, 503; “Flying” Snakes, 525

Shepherd (E. S.), Tensile Strength of Copper-Tin Alloys,
62

Sheppard (T.), the Making of East Yorkshire,
in Local Geography, 364

Shetlands, the Bird Watcher in the,
a with Digressions, Edmund Selous,

Shipley (AvEE eB ReSs)y
Address at the Meeting of the
Pretoria, 235

Ships and Shipping, Commander R. Dowling, Commander
Ea 1G. WWockyer RON., 150

Siemens (Carl Heinrich von),

Silberrad (O.), Removal of Nitrous
trated Nitric and Sulphuric Acid, 430

Silicium Lines, Wave-lengths of, Prof.
Brown, 17

Silk, Seta Artificiale, G. B. Baccioni, 606

Simmonds (C.), the Adulteration of Butter, 466, 535

Simplon Tunnel, Die Vermessungs- und Absteckungs-
Arbeiten fiir den, Prof. C. Koppe, 30; Surveying Work of
the, Francis Fox, 84

Simpson (C. B.), on Locust Destruction in the Transvaal
during the Season 1904-5, 40

Simpson (Dr. Sutherland), the
Monkey, 216

Sinclair (W. J.), Prothylacinus and the Other Marsupial-
like Carnivores of the Santa Cruz Beds are True Mar-
supials, 63

Sladen, the Percy, Expedition
Stanley Gardiner, 43, 184, 294

Slater (Miss I. L.), the Highest Silurian Rocks of the
Ludlow District, 312

a Chapter

with some Notes on
O. V. Aplin,

Insects as Carriers of Disease,
British Association at

Death of, 540
Acid from Concen-

Frost and J. A.

Temperature of the

in H.M.S. Sealark, §J-

xlvi

Index [

Nature,
June 14, 1906

Slator (A.), Chemical Dynamics of Alcoholic Fermentation
by Yeast, 262

Slipher (Mr.), Discovery of a Third New Comet, 19054,
182; Observations of Standard Velocity Stars, 326

Smart (B. J.), Removal of Nitrous Acid from Concentrated
Nitric and Sulphuric Acid, 430

Smith (C. H.), on Colonial Dutch Architecture, 64

Smith (F. B.), Agricultural Education, 42

Smith (G. O.), a Geological Reconnaissance across the
Cascade Range, 376; Geology of the Perry Basin in
South-eastern Maine, 593

Smith (H. G.), Lemon-scented Leptospermum, 456

Smith (James A.), Motor-Boats, 572

Smith (N.), the Slow Combustion of Carbon Disulphide,
262

Smith (R. Greig), a Gelatin-hardening Bacterium, 2

Smith (Prof. Robert H.), Commercial Economy in Steam
and other Thermal Power Plants as Dependent upon
Physical Efficiency, Capital Charges, and Working Costs,
338

Smithells (Prof. Arthur, F.R.S.), Gesammelte Abhandl-
ungen van Robert Bunsen, 147; Neuere Anschauungen
auf dem Gebiete der anorganischen Chemie, Prof. A.
Werner, 433; Oscillation of Flame Cones, 512

Smoke Abatement; a Manual for the Use of Manufac-
turers, Inspectors, Medical Officers of Health, Engineers,
and Others, William Nicholson, 411

Smyth (A. Watt), Text-book of Hygiene Based on Physi-
ology for the Use of School Teachers, 170

Smyth (H. Warington), Mast and Sail in Europe and Asia,
536

Smythe (Dr. J. A.), Case of Unconformity and Thrust in
the Coal-measures of Northumberland, 623

Snow Telescope, Some Tests of the, Prof. Hale, 518

Snyder (Prof. H.), Soils and Fertilisers, 266

Society of Chemical Industry, 430, 525, 598

Sociological Society, 94, 503

Sociology, Biological Foundations
Reid, 94

Soddy (Frederick), the Second Law of Thermodynamics,
125; Atomic Disintegration and the Distribution of the
Elements, 151; the Present Position of Radio-activity,
Lecture at Réntgen Society, 285

Soils : Bodenkunde, E. Ramann, 266; Soils and Fertilisers,
Prof. H. Snyder, 266

Solacolu (Th.), Sterile Fruits Developed without the Inter-
vention of the Male Element, 143

Solar Commission at Innsbruck, Report of the Meeting of
the, 352

Solar Cycle, a 300-Year Climatic and, Thos. W. Kings-
mill, 413

Solar Eclipse: Italian Observations of the Recent Solar
Eclipse, Cl. Rozet, 38; the Total Solar Eclipse of
August 30, J. Y. Buchanan, F.R.S., 173; Ionisation of
the Atmosphere during, Charles Nordmann, 208; Solar
Eclipse of 1905, Dr. W. J. S. Lockyer, 537; Effect of
Solar Eclipse on Fish, A. Mosely, 584; Employment of
Selenium Cells during Total Solar Eclipse, 617; the
Total Solar Eclipse of the Sun of January, 1907, Prof.
David Todd, 617

Solar Granulations, Photographs of, Prof. Hansky, 255

Solar Observatory on Mount Wilson, California, the Con-
tributions from the Solar Observatory of the Carnegie
Institution of Washington, Prof. G. E. Hale, 67

Solar Phenomena, a 300-Year Cycle in, H. W. Clough, 38

Solar Research, a Programme of, Prof. Hale, 494

Solar Surface, Granulations on the, Prof. A. Hansky, 401;
W. E. Rolston, 401 :

Solar System, the Evolution of the, F. R. Moulton, 87

Soldier’s Stature, Result of War affected by, John H.
Twigg, 340, 441 i

Solids, the Diffusion of, John H. Howell, 464

Sollas (Prof., F.R.S.), on the Continent of Africa in Re-
lation to the Physical History of the Earth, 91; the Rocks
of Cape Colville Peninsula, Auckland, New Zealand, 234;
the Age of the Earth and other Geological Studies, 513

poly (R. H.), Minerals Recently Found in the Binnenthal,
107

Solomon (Maurice), the Theory of Experimental Electricity,
W. C. D. Whetham, 169; Electric Railways, Theoretic-

of, Dr. G. Archdall

J

ally and Practically Treated, S. W. Ashe and J. D.
Keiley, 169; Modern Electric Practice, 169

Sommeil, Esquisse d’une Théorie biologique du, Dr. Ed.
Claparede, 293

Sound and Rhythm, W. G.
McKendrick, F.R.S., 483

Sounding Stones at Ch’iifu, Shantung, Alfred Tingle, 222

Sounding Stones, Cecil Carus-Wilson, 246; T. Dillon, 270;
Cyril Crossland, 297; W. G. Barnett, 390; O. F.
Wheeler Cuffe, 464

South African Philosophical Society, 600

South African Zoology and Palzontology, 56

Southwell (T.), Last Season’s Sealing in Newfoundland
Waters, 35; Last Season’s Catch of the Dundee Whal-
ing Fleet, 446

Sowerby (William), Death and Obituary Notice of, 490

Spaltéffnungsapparat im Lichte der Phylogenie, die, Ein
Beitrag zur ‘* phylogenetischen Pflanzenhistologie,’’ Dr.
Otto Porsch, 436

Spectroscopy : a Catalogue of Spectroscopic Binaries, Prof.
Campbell and Dr. H. D. Curtis, 352; Some Applica-
tions of the Theory of Electric Discharge through Gases
to Spectroscopy, Prof. J. J. Thomson, F.R.S., at Royal
Institution, 495; Spectroscopy, E. C. C. Baly, Supp. to
November 30, ix

Spectrum Analysis: Wave-lengths of Silicium Lines, Prof.
Frost and J. A. Brown, 17; the Spectrum of Nova
Persei, No 2, 18; Replicas of Diffraction Gratings, R. J.
Wallace, 21; Thomas Thorp, 79; the Writer of the
Notice, 79; Influence of Very Strong Electromagnetic
Fields on the Spark Spectra of Ruthenium, Rhodium,
and Palladium, J. E. Purvis, 71; the Spectrum of the
Positive Rays (Canal-strahlen), Dr. J. Stark, 79; Emis-
sion of Light by Kanal-strahlen Normal to their Direc-
tion, Dr. J. Stark, 389; the Spectrum of the Magnesium
Spark under Various Conditions, W. W. Strong, 86;
on Constant-deviation Prisms, T. H. Blakesley, 95;
Absorption Spectra of Ultra-violet Rays by Vapour and
Liquids, Prof. E. Wiedemann, 101; Spectra of Bright
Southern Stars, 110; Polarisation Phenomena at Guelma
in the Eclipse 1905 August 30, H. F. Newall, 191; Spec-
troscopic Observations made during the Eclipse of the
Sun of August 30, 1905, P. Salet, 191-2; Eclipse Spectra,
M. Salet, 208; Selective Reflection by Various Crystals
in the Infra-red Spectrum, J. T. Porter, 182; Further
Results obtained with the Spectroheliometer, Dr. J.
Halm, 215; Spectra of the Different Phases of the
Electric Spark, G. A. Hemsalech, 263; Spectrum of the
Spontaneous Luminous Radiation of Radium, Sir William
Huggins, K.C.B., O.M., F.R.S., and Lady Huggins,
334; the Flame Spectrum of Mercury, C. de Watteville,
acq; Relations between Absorption Spectra and Chemical
Constitution, part i., Chemical Reactivity of the Car-
bony! Group, A. W. Stewart and E. C. C. Baly, 382;
part ii., the Quinones and a-Diketones, E. C. C. Baly
and A. W. Stewart, 382; part iii., Nitranilines and Nitro-
phenols, E. C. C. Baly, W. H. Edwards, and A. W.
Stewart, 382; Zur Theorie der Spectrallinien, Prof. F.
von Lindemann, 392; the Metallic Are in High Vacua,
R. E. Loving, 399; Sun-Spot Spectra, Profs. Hale and
Adams, 425; Influence of Very Strong Electromagnetic
Fields on the Spark Spectra of (a) Vanadium, (b) Pla-
tinum and Iridium, J. E. Purvis, 527; Remarkable
Variation in the Spectrum of ¢ Bodtis, Drs. H. Luden-
dorff and G. Eberhard, 474; Spectral Series in Relation
to Ions, Dr. J. Stark, 533; Stars having Peculiar Spectra,
Prof. Pickering, 545; Mrs. Fleming, 545; the Con-
tinuous Spectrum of the Chromosphere, M. Deslandres,
592; Theory of the Widening of Lines in the Spectrum,
Prof. J. J. Thomson, 599; High-level Chromospheric
Lines and their Behaviour in Sun-Spot Spectra, Prof.
A. Fowler, 599; Investigations of Infra-red Spectra,
William W. Coblentz, 619

Sponge Fishery of the Bahamas, 252

Sponges, Fresh-Water, obtained from Lakes Victoria
Nyanza, Tanganyika, and Nyasa, R. Kirkpatrick, 526

Sport : Chasse, Elevage et Piégeage, A. de Lesse, 26

Sporting Sketches, E. Sandys, 149 ;

Sprengel (Dr. H. J. P., F.R.S.), Death of, 274; Obituary
Notice of, 302

Edmunds, Prof. John

Nature,
June £4, 1906.

L[ndex

xl vii

Spring (Prof. W.), the Colour of Natural Waters, 159

Spurrell (H. G. F.), Articulation of the Vertebrate Jaw, 430

Squire (W. A.), on the Art of the Bushman, 66

Ssetschenoff (Prof. Iwan Michaelowitsch), Death
Obituary Notice of, 133

Standard Atlas of England and Wales, 218

Stansfield (Herbert), Behaviour of Liquid Films formed
from a Solution of Saponin in Water, 455; Observations
and Photographs of Black and Grey Soap Films, 597

Stanton (Dr. T. E.), Resistance of Iron and Steel to Re-
versals of Direct Stress, 617

Stark (Dr. J.), the Spectrum of the Positive Rays (Canal-
strahlen), 79; Emission of Light by MKanal-strahlen
Normal to their Direction, 389; Spectral Series in Rela-
tion to Ions, 533

Stars: Photographic Star Catalogue, 18; the Spectrum of
Nova Persei No. 2, 18; Radial Velocities of Certain
Variable Stars, Prof. Frost, 39; a Suggestion for the
Next International Scheme, W. E. Cooke, 63 ; Catalogue
of Variable Stars, 87; Star Calendar for 1906, 87;
Spectra of Bright Southern Stars, 110; a Catalogue of
4280 Stars, 110; Catalogue of Binary Star Orbits, Prof.
R. G. Aitken, 136; Nova Aquilze No. 2, J. A. Park-
hurst, 136; Nebulosity around Nova Aquilz, Prof. Frost,

and

279; Prof. E. C. Pickering, 279; the Supposed Nebu-
losity around Nova Aquilz No. 2, Prof. Frost, 518;
How to Know the Starry Heavens, Edward Irving, 196;
Measures of Double Stars, Messrs. Lewis, Furner, and
Bowyer, 208; Micrometer Measures of Double Stars,
H. E. Lau, 232; Double Star Orbits, Prof. Doberck,

305, Micrometer Measures. of Struve Double Stars, Dr.
H. E. Lau, 495; the Orbit of Urse Majoris, N. E.
Norlund, 255; Right Ascensions of the Eros Comparison
Stars, Dr. Fritz ‘Cohtt, 305; Observations of Standard
Velocity Stars, Mr. Slipher, 326; a Catalogue of Spec-
troscopic Binaries, Prof. Campbell and Dr. H. D. Curtis,
352; Observations of Eros, 375; Catalogue of Stars
within Two Degrees of the North Pole, Dr. Caroline E.
Furness, 375; the Increasing Period of 6 Lyre, Dr.
Alex. W. Roberts, 375; the Ring Nebula in Lyra, Dr.
Newkirk, 448; Prof. E. E. Barnard, 448; Twenty-five
New Variable Stars, Miss Leavitt, 448; Remarkable
Variation in the Spectrum of ¢ Bodtis, Drs. H. Luden-
dorff and G. Eberhard, 474; Catalogue of 3799 Bright
Stars, J. Bossert, 495; the System of the Stars, Agnes
M. Clerke, Prof. R. A. Gregory, 505; New Variable
Stars in the Region about y Sagitte, Prof. Wolf, 518;
a Systematic Study of Faint Stars, Prof. Pickering, 545 ;
Stars having Peculiar Spectra, Prof. Pickering, 545;
Mrs. Fleming, 545; Objective-prism Determinations of
Stellar Radial Velocities, Geo. C. Comstock, 592; the
Observation of Long-period Variables, Prof. Pickering,
592; Der Bau des Fixsternsystems mit besonderer
Beriicksichtigung der photometrischen Resultate, Prof.
Hermann Kobold, 603; Catalogue of Pleiades Stars, Dr.
R. S. Dugan, 617

Statics: an Introduction to the Design of Beams, Girders,
and Columns in Machines and Structures, with Examples
in Graphic Statics, W. H. Atherton, 1; Les Origines de
la Statique, P. Duhem, Supp. to November 30, ix

Statistics: Mortality caused by Wild Animals and Venom-
ous Snakes during 1904, 15; the Decline of Human
Fertility, Drs. Newsholme and Stevenson, 230

Stature, Result of War affected by Soldier’s, John
H. Twigg, 340, 441; Major-General W. E. Warrand, 414

Steam: Heat and Steam (Elementary), an Introductory
Supplement to a Text-book of Marine Engineering for
the Use of Naval Officers, Engineer-Commander Tomp-
kins, 557

Stebbing (E. P.), the Avenues and Fruit Gardens of Quetta,
253; the “Borer” Beetle, 323; Bark-boring Beetles in
Pine Forests, 348

Steel, Concrete, a’ Treatise on the Theory and Practice of
Reinforced Concrete Construction, W. Noble Twelvetrees.

457

Steel, Elementary Practical Metallurgy, Iron
Longmuir, A. McWilliam, 509

Steele (Dr. B. D.), the Accurate Measurement of Ionic
Velocities, 166

Steinmann (Dr.
Alpen, 546

and, Percy

G.), Geologische Beobachtungen in den

Steinwehr (H. v.), Influence of the Size of Crystals of Mer-
curous Sulphate on its Relations to Electromotive Force,

37

Stellar Magnitude of the Sun, Prof. Ceraski, 279

Stellar Universe, Our, Thomas Edward Heath, W. E.
Rolston, 581, see Stars

Step (Edward), Wayside and Woodland Blossoms, 3

Stephens (Dr. J. W. W.), the Practical Study of Malaria
and other Blood Parasites, 148

Stevens (Consul), Agriculture in the Trans-Caucasus for
the Year 1905, Ravages of Locusts, 324

Stevens (Mr.), Structure of the Placenta of an Elephant, 59

Stevenson (Dr.), the Decline of Human Fertility, 230

Stewart (A. W.), Relations between Absorption Spectra
and Chemical Constitution, part i., Chemical Reactivity
of the Carbonyl Group, 382; part. ‘ie, the Quinones and
a-Diketones, 382; Nitranilines and Nitrophenols, 382

Stewart (C.), on the Climate of South Africa, 19

Stiatteri (Pre. Raffaello), Determination of the Distances
of the Epicentre of an Earthquake from the Duration of

the Preliminary Tremors, 206

Stillman (Thomas B.), Engineering Chemistry, a Manual
of Quantitative Chemical Analysis for the Use of
Students, Chemists, and Engineers, 387

Stimulus and Memory, 338
Stomata and Phylogeny, 436
Stone Age of the Zambesi Valley, the, and its Relation in

Lime, ‘Col. H. W. Feilden, €.B., 77

Stonehenge, Notes on, Sir Norman Lockyer, K.C.B.,
F.R.S-} 153, 224

Stones, Sounding, at Ch’iifu, Shantung, Alfred Tingle, 222

Stones, Sounding, Cecil -Carus-Wilson, 246; T. Dillon,
270; Cyril Crossland, 297; W. G. Barnett, 390; O. F.

Wheeler Cuffe, 464
Stoney (G. G.), the Evolution of the Steam-Turbine, 157
Stout (Prof.), Things and Sensations, 17
Strachey (Lieut.-General Sir Richard, F.R.S.),

Gold Medal awarded to, 84
Straits of Messina, Currents in the, Prof. Platania, 621
Strange Pets and other Memories of Country Life, My,

R. Bell, 76
Stratton (F. J. M.), Planetary Inversion, 599
Strémgren (Dr. E.), Comet 1905c, 208; New Elements and

Ephemeris for Comet 1905c, 232; Comet 1906c, 515, 569
Strong (W. W.), the Spectrum of the Magnesium Spark

under Various Conditions, 86
Strutt (Hony Rea bok),

Symons

Radio-activity of Ordinary

Matter in connection with the Earth’s Internal Heat,
173; Radio-activity, Prof. E. Rutherford, F.R.S., 289
Struve Double Stars, Micrometer Measures of, Dr. H. E.

Lau, 495
Submarine Telegraph Cables, Death of Jules Despecher,
321

Sudborough (J. J.), Influence of Substituents in the Trini-
trobenzene Molecule on the Formation of Additive Com-
pounds with Arylamines, 551

Sugar and the Sugar Cane, Noé!l Deerr, 75

Sugar, Beet-, the Growth of, in England, 539

Sulphur-Dioxide on Plants, the Action of, Prof. Dr. A.
Wieler, F. Escombe, 385

Sumpner (Dr. W. E.), the Theory of Phasemeters, 47

Sun: the Zodiacal Light to the North of the Sun, Prof.
Newcomb, 161; the Figure of the, Dr. C. L. Poor, 279;
Stellar Magnitude of the, Prof. Ceraski, 279; Magnetic
Observations during the Total Eclipse of the Sun, Father
P. Cirera, 400; the Solar Eclipse of 1905, Dr. W. J. S.
Lockyer, 537; Photographies de la Granulation Solaire
faites 4 Poulkowa, Prof. A. Hansky, W. E. Rolston,
401; the Temperature of the, Henri Moissan, 569

Sun-spot Minima and Volcanic Eruptions, Possible Rela-

tion between, H. I. Jensen, 210

Sun-spot Spectra, Profs. Hale and Adams, 425

Sun-spots, the Periodicity of, Prof. Arthur Schuster,
F.R.S., at Royal Society, 37

Surface, the Maximum Number of Double Points on a,
A. B. Basset, F-R.S., 246

Sutton (J. R.), Results of Observations made with a Black
Bulb Thermometer in vacuo, 324

Swedish Chemical Industries, Development of the, 399

Swinburne (J.), Temperature and Efficiency of Thermal
Radiation, 95; Physics of Ore Flotation, 214

xl viii

Index

Nature,
June 14, 1906

Swinton (A. A. Campbell), Transit of Ions in the Electric
Arc, 141; the Blondlot n-Rays, 413

Sy (M.), Observation of the Brooks Comet (1906a), 407

Sykes (F. W.), Guide to the Victoria Falls, 58

Sylviculture: Forests and Rivers, 319

Symington (Prof.), Bearing of the Structure of Feetal
Whale- -flippers on the Development of Additional Digits

and Joints in the Hand and Foot of Vertebrates
Generally, 304
Symmers (Prof. Wm. St. C.), Introduction a la Patho-

logie générale, M. Félix le Dantec, 460

Tables and Constants to Four Figures, William Hall, Supp.
to November 30, viii

Tacchini (Pietro), Life of, L. Palazzo, 425

Taff (J. A.), Preliminary Report on the Geology of the
Arbuckle and Wichita Mountains in Indian Territory and
Oklahoma, 593

Taffoureau (Edgar), Coefficient of Utilisation of Helices, 143

Talbot (J.), the Present State of the Army Examinations,
309

Tanganyika Expedition, the Third, W. A. Cunningtor,

Taylor (F. W.),; a Treatise on Concrete,
inforced, 457

Taylor (R. L.), Origin of the Salt in the Sea, 455

Taylor (W.), a First Reader in Health and Temperance,
532

Technical Education for Fishermen, 211

Technical Methods of Ore Analysis, A. He ow,;: 532

Technologie, Chemische, Dr. Fr. Heusler, 243

Telegraphy : Progress of the Telegraph and Telephone In
dustries during Recent Years, John Gavey, C.B., 58;
Wireless Telegraphy from Coney Island Station, 540

310

Teleology : the Interpretation of Nature, C. Lloyd Morgan,
PRS. 205
Telephony: Progress of the Telegraph and Telephone In-

dustries during Recent Years, John Gavey, C.B., 58;

Deposits on Telephone Wires, A Subscriber, 270
Telescope, some Tests of the Snow, Prof. Hale, 518
Temperance, a First Reader in Health and, W. Taylor,

532
Temperature, a Definition of, Geoffrey Martin, 390
Temperature and Pressure Observations, Studies of, Dr.

William J. S. Lockyer, 594

Temperature of the Sun, the, Henri Moissan, 569

Temple (Harold E.), Oscillation of Flame Cones, 512

Terada (T.), an Acoustical Method for the Demonstration
of the Magnetism of Liquids, 197

Terminology in Electrophysiology, Dr. David Fraser
Harris, 5; Prof. J. S. MacDonald, 28; Dr. A D. Waller,
F.R.S., 78; Dr. George J. Burch, E.RS. , 73

Terschak (Emil), die Photographie in Hochgebirg, 388

Theiler (Dr.), Rinderpest and other Stock Diseases, 130

Theobald (Fred. V.), the Cotton Bollworm, A. L. Quaint-
ance and C. T. Brues, 257; the Mexican Cotton Boll
Weevil, W. D. Hunter and W. E. Hinds, 257

Therapeutics: Dr. Finsen’s Light-treatment of Disease, Dr.
George Pernet, 323; the Serum Therapy of Plague in
India, W. M. Haffkine, Prof. R. T. Hewlett, 368

Thermochemistry, Prof. van ’t Hoff, 421

Thermodynamics, the Second Law of, M. A. Browne,
Prof..G. Ei Bryan, Ge RiS-, 125); H. Soddys a2'5

Thermometry : the Possibility of Utilising the Temperature
of Transition of Sodium Bromide Dihydrate into the
Anhydrous Salt as a Fixed Point in Accurate Thermo-
may: Prof. Theodore W. Richards and R. C. Wells,

—2

5
an hiele (Mr.), Palzeozoic Rocks and Fossils of Gippsland, 16

102 ;

Thiselton-Dyer (Sir W. T., K.C.M.G., F.R.S.), Index
Kewensis Plantarum Phanerogamarum, 75; Insectivorous
Water-plant from Trinidad, 246; Agriculture and the

Empire, 488; the Kew Bulletin, 534; Annual Report of
the Imperial Department of Agriculture for the Year
1904-5, 587

Thomas (H. H.), Igneous and Associated Sedimentary

Rocks of Llangynog (Caermarthenshire), 381
Thomas (M. B.), Effect of Constitution on the Rotatory
Power of Optically Active Nitrogen Compounds, 357
Thomas (N. G.), Solubility of Triphenylmethane in Organic
Liquids, 431

Plain and Re- |

Thomas (Oldfield), the Regeneration of a Bony Structure,
the Tail-vertebrae of a Dormouse, 261

Thompson (Prof. Silvanus P., F.R.S.), the Inventor of the
Nicol Prism, 340; the Electric Production of Nitrates
from the Atmosphere, Lecture at Royal Institution, 355

Thompson (S. E.), a Treatise on Concrete, Plain and
Reinforced, 457

Thomson (Prof.), Experiments on Canal-Strahlen, 191

Thomson (Prof. J. J., F.R.S.), some Applications of the
Theory of Electric Discharge through Gases to Spectro-
scopy, Discourse at Royal Institution, 495; Theory of
the Widening of Lines in the Spectrum, 599; Trans-
mission and Reflection of the Radiation from Radio-
active Substances, 599

Thord-Gray (Mr.), the Occurrences of Gold in the Pretoria
Series (Lydenburg Goldfield), 547

Thornyeroft (J. E.), Gas Engines for Ship Propulsion, 572

Thoroughbred Horse, the Origin and Influence of the, W.
Ridgeway, 126

Thorp (Thomas), Replicas of Diffraction Gratings, 79

Thorpe (J. F.), Intramolecular Change leading to the Form-
ation of Naphthalene Derivatives, 262

Thunder and Lightning, Camille Flammarion, 196

Tian-Shan Mountains, the Central, Dr. Gottfried Merz-
becher, 227

Tidal Researches, R. A. Harris, 388; S. S. H., 389

Tides: the Aeger in the Rivers Trent and Ouse, W. H.
Wheeler, 29; a Manual of Tides, Rollin A. Harris, 248;
Canadian Tides, W. Bell Dawson, 618

Tikhoff (G.), Annular Nebula in Cygnus (N.G.C. 6894),
305

Tilghman (B. C.), the Crater of Coon Mountain, Arizona,
22

Tillyard (R. J.), the Supposed Numerical Preponderance of
the Males in Odonata, 24

Time of France, the, 394

Time, the Stone Age of the Zambesi Valley, and its Re-
lation in, Colonel H. W. Feilden, C.B., 77

Tims (Dr. H. W. M.), Morphology of the Scales in Certain
Bony Fishes, 59

Tingle (Alfred), Sounding Stones at Ch’iifu, Shantung, 222

Tippett (Mr.), on Cape Government Railways, 64

Todd (Prof. David), the Total Solar Eclipse of the Sun
of January, 1907, 617

Todd (Sir Charles), Rainfall of South Australia, 399

Tomes (C. S.), Minute Structure of the Teeth of the Creo-
donts, 357

Tommasi (D.), Electrolytic Preparation of Spongy Tin, 287
Tompkins (Engineer-Commander), Heat and Steam (Ele-
mentary), an Introductory Supplement to a Text-book of
Marine Engineering for the Use of Naval Officers, 557
Touplain (M.), Method of Determination of the Foreign
Materials contained in Cocoa and Chocolate, 504
Toxicity of Eggs, the, Gustave Loisel, 72

Toxicology : Hordenine, its Toxicity, L. Camus, 288; Bean
containing Hydrocyanic Acid, Phaseolus lunatus, L.
Guignard, 479

Trabert (Prof. Dr.), Meteorologie und Klimatologie, 149

Track Athletics, Rowing and, Samuel Crowther and Arthur
Ruhl, 605

Traditions of the Caddo, George A. Dorsey, 317

Training of the Body and Mind, the, Wilfred Mark Webb,
259

Transactions of the South African Philosophical Society,
Catalogue of Printed Books, Papers, and Maps relating
to the. Geology and Mineralogy of South Africa to
December 31, 1904, Miss M. Wilman, 28

Transit Observations of Jovian Spots, Systematic Error in,
Stanley Williams, 38

Transpacific Longitudes, Dr. Otto Klotz,

Transvaal, Irrigation in the, 563

Treasury, the, and Men of Science, 9

Trees: Future Forest, A. H. Unwin, 244; Ascent of Sap
in, Frank Harris, 246

Trent and Ouse, the Aeger in the Rivers, W. H. Wheeler,
29

Treves (Sir Frederick), on the Army Medical Service, 15

Trevor (Tudor), on the Physical Features of the Transvaal,

417

19
Trillat (A.), Presence of Formaldehyde in Caramelised

Substances, 432

Nature,
June 14, 1906.

Index

xlix

‘Trinidad, Insectivorous Water-plant from, Sir W. T. | Variability of Iris, Dr. H. Clemens, 279

Thiselton-Dyer, K.C.M.G., F.R.S., 246
Tristram (Canon, F.R.S.), Death and Obituary Notice of,

Tromeal Oceans, the Exploration of the Atmosphere over
the. Dr. A. L. Rotch and L. Teisserenc de Bort, 54

Trouton (Prof. F. T.), Unilateral Electric Conductivity over
Damp Surfaces, 575

Tubercle Bacilli, Analysis of,
Morbology

Tunicata, the British, an Unfinished Monograph, the late
Joseph Alder and the late Albany Hancock, Dr. W.
Garstang, 508

Turchini (M.), Photographic Study of the Duration of Dis-
charge in a Crookes’ Tube, 431

Turner (Hon. George), Rinderpest and other Stock Diseases,

G. Baudran, see

594 5

I

“Twelnettecs (W. Noble), Concrete Steel, a Treatise on the
Theory and Practice of Reinforced Concrete Construc-
tion, 457

Twigg (John H.), Result of War affected by Soldier’s
Stature, 340, 441

Twiss (George R.), Physics, 578

Uhlenhuth (Paul), Blood-relationship of Man and Apes, 616

Ultramikroskopie, Ueber irreversible Hydrosole und, zur
Erkenntnis der Kolloide, Richard Zsigmondy, Dr. J. A.
Milroy, 410

Ultra-violet Rays, Absorption Spectra of, by Vapour and
Liquids, Prof. E. Wiedemann, 101

Underground Waters, Relation of the Law to, D. W. John-
son, 426

Unit of Force, the Engineer’s, D. J. Carnegie, 6, 54; the
Reviewer, 6, 54, 174; Prof. G. H. Bryan, F.R.S., 174

United Kingdom, Summary of Progress of the Geological
Survey of the, and Museum of Practical Geology for 1904,

20

United States: Hydrology in the, 183; a Large-headed
Dinosaur, C. W. Gilmore, 228; Economic Geology in the
United States, 306; Heinrich Ries, 437; the United States
Naval Observatory, Rear-Admiral Chester, 375; Forestry
in the United States, 475; Preliminary Report on the
Geology and Underground Water Resources of the Central
Great Plains, N. H. Darton, 593; Preliminary Report on
the Geology of the Arbuckle and Wichita Mountains in
Indian Territory and Oklahoma, J. A. Taff and H. Foster
Bain, 593; Geology of the Perry Basin in South-eastern
Maine, G. O. Smith and David White, 593

Universities : University and Educational Intelligence, 22,
46, 69, 93, 115, 140, 165, 188, 212, 238, 260, 286, 310,
332, 356, 380, 406, 428, 452, 478, 500, 524, 550, 573,
596, 621; some Characteristics of American Universities,
Address at University of Wales, Aberystwyth, Principal
H. R. Reichel, 44; New Museum and Laboratories of
Zoology at Liverpool, 88

Unterrichts- und Vorlesungspraxis, Auslese aus meiner, Dr.
H. Schubert, 100, 365

Unwin (A. H.), Future Forest Trees, 244

Upton (G. R.), Tensile Strength of Copper-tin Alloys, 62

Urbain (G.), Victorium and the Ultra-violet Phosphor-
escence of Gadolinium, 167-8; Dysprosium, 551

¢ Ursee Majoris, the Orbit of, N. E. Norlund, 255

Useful Plants of the Island of Guam, the, W. E. Safford,
221

Usher (Francis L.), Mechanism of Carbon Assimilation in
Green Plants, 525

Utilisation of Nitrogen in Air by Plants, the, T. Jamieson,
531, 607; A. D. H., 608

Vacca (Dr. Giovanni), Chinese Names of Colours, 365
Vaillant (P.), Specific Heat of Solutions of Copper Sulphate,

23

Valency, a Revised Doctrine of, Prof. Arthur Smithells, 433

Valentiner (Dr. W.), Variability of the Asteroid (444) Gyptis,
39; Discovery of a New Comet, 1906b, 448

Vaney (C.), an Account of the Deep-sea Holothurioidea
collected by the Royal Indian Marine Survey Ship
Investigator, 114

Variability of the Asteroid (444) Gyptis, Dr. W. Valentiner,

39

Variable Stars: Radial Velocities of Certain, Prof. Frost,
39; Catalogue of Variable Stars, $7; Twenty-five New
Variable Stars, Miss Leavitt, 448; New Variable Stars in
the Region about y Sagitta, Prof. Wolf, 518; the Observ-
ation of Long-period Variables, Prof. Pickering, 592

Variables, Lectures on the Theory of Functions of Real,
J. Pierpont, 483

Variations, the Origin of, in Animals and Plants, Prof.
T. D.-A. Cockerell, 197

Varigny (Henri de), la Nature et la Vie, 462

Vaughton (T. A.), Phosphorescence of Pyro-soda Developer,

399

Vegetation, Atlas of Japanese, Dr. Augustine Henry, 557

Vegetationsbilder, Drs. G. Karsten and H. Schenck, 4

Velocity Stars, Observations of Standard, Mr. Slipher, 326

Vererbungsgesetze, Ueber, C. Correns, 606

Vererbungslehre in der Biologie, die, Dr. H. E. Ziegler, 318

Vermessungs- und Absteckungs-Arbeiten fur den Simplon
Tunnel, die, Prof. C. Koppe, 30

Vernon (Dr. H. M.), Chemical Constitution of Protoplasm
as shown by the Rate of Tissue Disintegration, 454

Vertebrata, Zoology of the, Adam Sedgwick, F.R.S., 73

Vesuvius, the Eruption of, 565, 588; see Volcanoes

Vie, la Nature et la, Henri de Varigny, 462

Vigouroux (Em.), Action of Chloride of Silicon on Iron,
119; Silico-aluminides, 167; Cuprous-silicide, 287; Action
of Silicon Chloride upon Cobalt, 504; Pyrophosphoric
Compounds, 600

Vila (M.), Crystallised Hamatin, 192

Villard (P.), Mechanism of the Positive Light, 527

Vines, Two Diseases of, 620

Visual Acuity, Legibility and, J. Herbert Parsons, 268

Viticulture : Two Diseases of Vines, 620

Vleck (Edward Burr Van), the Boston Colloquium, Lectures
on Mathematics, 122

Volcanoes : Possible Relation between Sun-spot Minima and
Volcanic Eruptions, H. I. Jensen, 210; Eruption of Mount
Vesuvius, 274, 347, 540, 565, 588; Dr. V..F. L. Matteucci,
614; Twilight Glows and Dust due to Eruption of
Vesuvius, Prof. Stanislas Meunier, 614; G. Gibson, 614;
Dr. F. A. Bather, 614; the Crater of Coon Mountain,
Arizona, D. M. Barringer and B. C. Tilghman, 229; an
Extinct Volcano in Arizona, D. M. Barbinger, 541; the
Rocks of Cape Colville Peninsula, Auckland, New Zea-
land, Prof. Sollas, F.R.S., 234; the Probable Volcanic
Origin of Nebulous Matter, Prof. J. M. Schaeberle, 296 ;
Activity of Mont Pelée, 421; Activity of La Soufriére,
421; Eruption of Volcano in Samoa, 490

Volumetric Analysis, Notes on, J. B. Russell and A. H.
Bell, 459

Voth (H. R.), Oraibi Natal Customs and Ceremonies, 300

Wade (Dr.), Methods of Rat Destruction and Disinfection
on Shipboard, 619

Wade (E. B. H.), Use of Platinum Resistance Thermo-
meters in determining the Temperature of the Air at
Helwan, 107

Wade (J.), Influence of Water and Alcohols on the Boiling
Point of Esters, 71

Wade (John), Introduction to the Study of Organic Chem-
istry, 172

Wade (Mr.), a New Method of determining the Moon’s
Position Photographically, 352

Wager (Harold, F.R.S.), on Educational Methods in the
Teaching of Botany, 163

Walker (J.), the Analytical Theory of Light, 241; Fresnel’s
Theory of Double Refraction, 319; Talbot’s Lines, 502

Walker (Prof. J.), the Ions of Pure Water, 215

Wallace (Alfred Russel), My Life, a Record of Events and
Opinions, 145

Wallace (R. J.), Replicas of Diffraction Gratings, 21

Waller (Dr. A. D., F.R.S.), Terminology in Electra-
physiology, 78; on the Means of estimating the Per-
centage of Chloroform Vapour in Air by Means of the
Densimeter, 139

Walter (Prof. B.), Light Emitted by Radium Bromide due
to the Impact of the Becquerel Rays on the Particles of
Nitrogen, 325

War, Result of, affected by Soldier’s Stature, John H.
Twigg, 340, 441; Major-General W. E. Warrand, 414

] L[ndex

Nature,
June 14, 1906

Ward (R. de C.), a more Rational Treatment of Clima-
tology, 493

Warrand (Major-General W. E.), Result of War affected
by Soldier’s Stature, 414

Warren (S. H.), Origin of Eolithic Flints from Natural
Causes, 239

Wartenburg (H. v.), Determination of the Molecular
Weight of Silver Vapour by Nernst’s Torsion Balance,
00

Wesson (E.), Comparative Studies in the Psychology of
Ants and of Higher Animals, 315

Wastage in Armies by Disease, the, Prof. R. T. Hewlett,
105

Water, Use of Copper Sulphate in the Purification of,
Dr. Howard Jones, 230

Water Analysis, the Sanitary Value of a,
P. Kinnicutt, 404

Water Supply and Irrigation Papers, 183

Water-lilies, the, a Monograph of the Genus Nymphza,
Henry S. Conard, 379

Water-plant, Insectivorous, from Trinidad,
Thiselton-Dyer, K.C.M.G., F.R.S., 246

Waters, Relation of the Law to Underground, D. W.
Johnson, 426

Watkins (E. J.), Ropiness in Flour and Bread, its Detec-
tion and Prevention, 598

Watkins-Pitchford (Mr.), Germicidal
Salts and of Bright Copper, 61

Watson (Dr. Chalmers), Effects of Varying
Growth and Nutrition, 239

Watson (Dr. G. A.), Mammalian Cerebral
Order Insectivora, 238

Watson (Dr. James Rodger), Natural Science in Hygiene,
or the Life-history of the Non-bacterial Parasites affect-
ing Man, 484

Watson (D. M. S.), a Newly Discovered Synangium, 542

Watson (E. R.), Silver Dioxide and Silver Peroxynitrate,
190

Watson (W.), Experimental Results in Connection with the
Hydrodynamical Theory of Seiches, 383

Watteville (C. de), the Flame Spectrum of Mercury, 359

Wave-lengths of Silicium Lines, Prof. Frost and J. A.
Brown, 17

Wave Theory, the Equations of the, 241

Waves: Form of Initiational Disturbance more Con-
venient than that of §§ 3-31 of Previous Papers on
Waves, Lord Kelvin, 358; Illustrations of the Indefinite
Extension and Multiplication of a Group of Two-
dimensional Deep-sea Waves, Initially Finite, Lord
Kelvin, 359; Initiation and Continued Growth of a Train
of Two-dimensional Waves due to the Sudden Com-
mencement of a Stationary Periodically Varying Forcive,
Lord Kelvin, 359

Way (W. W.), on the Disabilities of the South African
Schoolboy, 41

Wayside and Woodland Blossoms, Edward Step, 3

Webb (Fillipo Barker), Webbia-Raccolta di Scritti Botanica
publicati in occasione del 50° anniversario della Morti
di, 510

Webb (Wilfred Mark), the Training of the Body and Mind,
259; Public Schools Science Masters’ Conference, 308

Webster (Prof. Arthur Gordon), the Dynamics of Particles
and of Rigid, Elastic, and Fluid Bodies, 555

Wedderburn (J. H. Maclagen), Theorem in Hyper-complex
Numbers, 358

Wedemeyer (A.), Comet 1905¢ (Giacobini), 326,
425, 473,

Weed (W.

Prof. Leonhard

Sie Wo “0s

Action of Copper

Diets upon

Cortex, :;

375;

351,
544 :
H.), Copper Production of the United States,

306

Weighton (Prof. R. S.), Messrs. Richardson, Westgartk
and Co.’s New Form of Condenser, 572

Weights and Measures: Death and Obituary Notice o%
Henry James Chaney, 419

Weil (Emil), Serotherapy in Cases of Bleeding, 24

Weir (Harrison), Death and Obituary Notice of, 251

Weiss (Prof. F. E.), on the Value of Botanical Photo-
graphs, 163

Weldon (Prof. W. F. R., F.R.S.), Death of, 589; Obituary
Notice of, 611

Wells (J. Walter), the Cement Industry of Manitoba, 108

Wells (R. C.), the Possibility of utilising the Temperature
of Transition of Sodium Bromide Dihydrate into the
Anhydrous Salt as a Fixed Point in Accurate Thermo-
metry, 591-2

Werner (Prof. A.), neuere Anschauungen auf dem Gebiete
der anorganischen Chemie, 433

West Indies, the, a Historical Geography of the British
Colonies, C. P. Lucas, C.B., 245

Whaling: Last Season’s Catch of the Dundee Whaling
Fleet, T. Southwell, 446

Wheeler (Plumer), Electrical Conductivity of Solutions of
Potassium Iodides in Liquid Iodine, 473

Wheeler (W. H.), the Aeger in the Rivers Trent and Ouse,

29
Whetham (W. C. D., F.R.S.), Electrical Conductivity of
Dilute Solutions of Sulphuric Acid, 166; the Theory of
Experimental Electricity, 169
Whipple (F. J. W.), the Existence of Absolute Motion, 535
Whiskey ? What is, 441
Whitaker (A.), Breeding Habits of British Bats, 106
White (David), Geology of the Perry Basin in South-
eastern Maine, 593
White (Dr. Charles A.), the Black Locust Tree in America,

541

White (Henry Seely), the Boston Colloquium, Lectures on
Mathematics, 122

White (P.), Experimental Results in Connection with the
Hydrodynamical Theory of Seiches, 383

White (Rev. Gilbert), the Natural History of Selborne, 581

White (Sir W. H., K.C.B., F.R.S.), Sailing Craft in
Europe and Asia, H. Warington Smyth, 536

Whiteley (R. L.), an Elementary Text-book of Inorganic
Chemistry, 459

Whitley (E.), Effects of Alkalies and Acids, and of Alka-
line and Acid Salts, upon Fertilised Eggs of Echinus
esculentus, Study in Relationship to the Causation of
Malignant Disease, 213; Effect of Acid, Alkali, and
Certain Indicators in Arresting or otherwise Influencing
the Development of the Eggs of Pleuronectes platessa
and Echinus esculentus, 213; Protective Mechanism
against Excess of Alkali, 474

Wiedemann (Prof. E.), Absorption Spectra of Ultra-violet
Rays by Vapour and Liquids, ror

Wieland (G. R.), Large Cretaceous Turtle from Kansas,

134

Wieler (Prof. Dr .A.), Untersuchungen iib. d. Einwirkung
schwefliger Sdure auf die Pflanzen, 385

Wilks (Sir Samuel, Bart., F.R.S.), what causes the De-
structive Effects of Lightning? 2096

Williams (Stanley), Systematic Error in Transit Observ-
ations of Jovian Spots, 38

Williamson (F. J.), Leather for Libraries, 53

Willis (H. G.), Elementary Modern Geometry, Supp. to
November 30, viii

Wilman (Miss M.), Transactions of the South African
Philosophical Society, Catalogue of Printed Books,
Papers, and Maps relating to the Geology and Mineralogy
of South Africa to December 31, 1904, 28

Wilson (A.), Coagulating Actions of Colloids, 479

Wilson (C. T. R.), Portable Gold-leaf Electrometer for
Low or High Potentials, 118

Wilson (Dr.), the Lunar Eclipse of February 8, 545

Wilson (Dr. H. A.), Ergebnisse und Probleme der Elek-
tronentheorie, 27; Electrical Conductivity of Flames for
Rapidly Alternating Currents, 142; Velocities of the
Ions of Alkali Salt Vapours at High Temperatures, 526

Wilson (Edward A.), Life-history of the Emperor Penguin,
Lecture at Royal Institution, 211

Wilson (F. R. L.), Elementary Chemistry, Progressive
Lessons in, 459
Wilson (Major-General Sir Charles, K.C.B., F.R:S:)2

Death of, 14
Wilson (Prof. E.), Alternate Current Electrolysis, 117
Winchester Arithmetic, the, C. Godfrey and G. M. Bell,
Supp. to November 30, viii
Winslow (Charles-Edward Amory), Elements of Applied
Microscopy, 365
Winter (Sir F.),
Guinea, 372
Wireless Telegraphy from Coney Island Station, 540

the Agaiambo Dwarfs, British New

|

Nature,
June 14, 1906

[ndex hi

Wirtz (Dr.), Comet 1906b, 494, 544

Wislicenus (Prof. Walter F.), Death of,
Notice of, 57

Witkowski (Prof. A. W.), the Thermal Dilatation of Com-
pressed Hydrogen, 325

Wolf (Bertram), a New Oxide of Carbon, 452

Wolf (Prof.), Nova Aquila No. 2, 87; Comet 1905b, 160;
Cluster of Nebulz in Perseus, 448; Comet 19066, 494;
New Variable Stars in the Region about y Sagitte, 518

Wood, Action of, on a Photographic Plate, Dr. William
JeeRussell) BRS. 152

Wood (Alex.), Diurnal Periodicity of Ionisation of Gases,
583

Wood (Dr. Ethel M. R.), the Tarannon Series of Tarannon,
502

Woodhead (Prof. Sims), Leprosy in South Africa, 139

Woodland (W.), the Formation of Spicules, 179

Woodman (Prof. J. E.), Geology of the Moose River Gold
District in Halifax, 206

Woods (Frederick Shenstone),
Lectures on Mathematics, 122

Woodward (Dr. A. S.), Myriacanthus paradoxus from the
Lower Lias of Lyme Regis, 141

Worms: the Isolation of the Infecting Organism (‘‘ Zoo-
chlorella ’’) of Convoluta roscoffensis, F. Keeble and Dr.
F. W. Gamble, 117

Wright (H.), Green Manures, 134; Foliar Periodicity in
Tropical Countries, 568

Wright (Lewis), Death of, 178

Wright (W. B.), Peculiar Ice Formation, 534

33; Obituary

>

the Boston Colloquium,

Yellow Fever in Panama, 84

Yerkes Observatory, Report of the, Prof. Hale, 18

York, the Forthcoming Meeting of the British Association
at, 564

Yorkshire, the Making of East, a Chapter in Local Geo-
graphy, T. Sheppard, 364

Yours (Grace Chisholm), the First Book of Geometry,
207

Young (Prof. A.), an Artesian Well in the Karroo, 91

Young (Prof. John), Essays on Evolution and Design, 556

Young (Prof. Sydney), Vapour Pressure of a Pure Liquid
at Constant Temperature, 599

Young (W.), Rare Plants found in Scotland, 323

Young (W. H.), the First Book of Geometry, 267

Yule (G. Udny), Influence of Bias and of Personal Equation
in Statistics of Ill-defined Qualities, 551; a Property
which holds Good for all Groupings of a Normal Distri-
bution of Frequency for Two Variables, with Applica-
tions to the Study of Contingency Tables for the In-
heritance of Unmeasured Qualities, 574

Zamabales, Negritos of, William Allan Reed, Dr. A. C.
Haddon, F.R.S., 584

Zambesi Valley, the Stone Age of the, and its Relation in
Time, Colonel H. W. Feilden, C.B., 77

Zambesi, on the Zigzag Gorge of the, below the Victoria
Falls, G. W. Lamplugh, F.R.S., 91-2, 111

Zeidler (J.), die elektrischen Bogenlampen, deren Prinzip,
Konstruktion und Anwendung, 27

Zemplén (Gy6z6), Impossibility of
Waves in Gases, 71

Ziegler (Dr. H. E.), die Vererbungslehre in der Biologie,

Negative Impulse

31

Ziwet (Prof. Alexander), the Relation of Mechanics to
Physics, 403

Zodiacal Light to the North of the Sun, the, Prof. New-
comb, 161

Zoogleea, Developmental Changes in, Dr. H. C. Bastian,
454

Zoology: Extinct Animals, Prof. E. Ray Lankester,
F.R.S., 6; Wild Swine of the Malay Archipelago, Dr.
Jentink, 35; South African Zoology and Paleontology,
56; Structure of the Placenta of an Elephant, Messrs.
Assheton and Stevens, 59; a Student’s Text-book of
Zoology, Adam Sedgwick, F.R.S., 73; Hippopotami at
the Victoria Falls, 84; Death and Obituary Notice of
Jean Frédéric Emile Oustalet, 85; New Museum and
Laboratories of Zoology at Liverpool $88; Breeding

Habits of British Bats, A. Whitaker, 106; the Tarpan
and its Relationship with Wild and Domestic Horses,
Prof. Ewart, 119; the Horse in Norway, Dr. F. H. A.
Marshall, 119; the Origin and Influence of the Thorough-
bred Horse, W. Ridgeway, 126; Zoological Society, 142,
189, 261, 357, 430, 454, 525, 574; Mammals brought
Back by the Tibet Mission, J. L. Bonhote, 142; the
Dugong, Dr. N. Annandale, 143; Messrs. Dexter and
Freund, 373; Melanistic Form of the Wall-lizard, G. A.
Boulenger, F.R.S., 189; Monotremes and Birds, Dr. H.
-Gadow, F.R.S., 222; the Mammalian Cerebral Cortex,
I., Order Insectivora, Dr. G. A. Watson, 238; ‘the
Regeneration of a Bony Structure, the Tail-vertebre of
a Dormouse, Oldfield Thomas, 261; Microscopic Sec-
tions of the Skeletal Tube found in the Restored Tail
of Dormice, Dr. W. G. Ridewood, 261; on an Alleged
New Monkey from the Cameroons, R. I. Pocock, 207;
Dr. H. O. Forbes, 319; Bearing of the Structure of
Foetal Whale-flippers on the Development of Additional
Digits and Joints in the Hand and Foot of Vertebrates
generally, Prof. Symington, 304; ‘‘ Bidder’s Organ”
upon the Testes of Bufo calamita, Dr. Attilio Cerruti,
328; Minute Structure of the Teeth of the Creodonts,
C. S. Tomes, 357; Capture of a Whale (Genus Kogia)
near Roscoff, Yves Delage, 359; the Falkland Island
Fox, R. N. Rudmose-Brown, 365; Alligator’s Nest, 373;
Histology and Physiology of the Placenta in the
Ungulata, Dr. J. W. Jenkinson, 430; a Living Specimen
of a Dwarf Species of Cavy, Sir Edmund Loder, Bart.,
430; Articulation of the Vertebrate Jaw, H. G. F.
Spurrell, 430; the Unity of the Gnathostome Type, Dr.
H. Ayers, 491; Is Mutation a Factor in Evolution of
Higher Vertebrates? Dr. C. H. Merriam, 491; Phylo-
genetic Evolution of the Cetacean Dentition and the
Systematic Relations of the Physeteride, Dr. O. Abel,
516; the Great Whale-shark, B. A. Bean, 516; ‘‘ Flying”
Snakes, R. Shelford, 525; Crustacea from Lakes Tan-
ganyika, Nyasa, and Victoria Nyanza, Dr. W. T.
Calman, 526; Fresh-water Sponges obtained from Lakes
Victoria Nyanza, Tanganyika, and Nyasa, R. NKirk-
patrick, 526; the North American Cave-salamander,
Spelerpes maculicaudus, A. M. Banta and W. L. McAtee,
615; Blood-relationship of Man and Apes, Paul Uhlen-
huth, 616; the Mammals of Great Britain and Ireland,
J. G. Millais, Supp. to November 30, iii; see also British
Association

Zsigmondy (Richard), zur Erkenntniss der Kolloide, ueber
irreversible Hydrosole und Ultramikroskopie, 410

Zuntz (N.), Héhenklima und Bergwanderungen in ihrer
Wirkung auf den Menschen, 553

Zwiers (H. J.), Ephemeris for Holmes’s Comet (1892 iii.,
1899 ii.), 255

INDEX TO LITERARY SUPPLEMENT.

Algebra: a Text-book of Algebra, A. E. Layng, Supp. to
November 30, viii; an Introduction to Algebra, R. C.
Bridgett, Supp. to November 30, viii

Arithmetic, the Winchester, C. Godfrey and G. M. Bell,
Supp. to November 30, viii

Baly (E. C. C.), Spectroscopy, Supp. to November 30, ix

Bell (G. M.), the Winchester Arithmetic, Supp. to
November 30, viii

Bornstein (Dr.), Landolt-Bérnstein—Physikalischchemische
Tabellum, Supp. to November 30, vi

Bridgett (R. C.), an Introduction to Algebra, Supp. to
November 30, viii

Britain, the Mammals of Great, and Ireland, J. G. Millais,
Supp. to November 30, iii

Chemistry : Landolt-Bérnstein—Physikalischchemische Ta-
bellen, Drs. Bérnstein and Meyerhoffer, Dr. J. A.
Harker, Supp. to November 30, vi

Church (Prof. A. H., F.R.S.), Precious Stones considered
in their Scientific and Artistic Relations, Supp. to
November 30, X

Duhem (P.), les Origines de la Statique, Supp. to November
30, ix

lii

L[ndex

Nature,
June 14, 1905

Erkenntnis und Irrtum, Prof. Ernst Mach, Supp. to

November 30, vii

Folklore: Lectures on the Early History of Kingship, Dr.
J. G. Frazer, Supp. to November 30, iv

Frazer (Dr. J. G.), Lectures on the Early History of King-
ship, Supp. to November 30, iv

Gems :
Artistic Relations,
to November 30, x

Precious Stones considered in their Scientific and
Prof. A. H. Church, F.R.S-, Supp.

Geometry, Elementary Modern, H. G. Willis, Supp. to
November 30, viii i
Godfrey (C.), the Winchester Arithmetic, Supp. to

November 30, viii
Great Britain and Ireland, the Mammals of, J. G. Millais,
Supp. to November 30, iii

Hall (William), Tables and Constants to Four Figures,
Supp. to November 30, viii

Harker (Dr. J. <A.), Landolt-Bornstein—Physikalisch-
chemische Tabellen, Drs. Bérnstein and Meyerhoffer,
Supp. to November 30, vi

History of Kingship, Lectures on the Early, Dr. J. G.
Frazer, Supp. to November 30, iv

Ireland, the Mammals of Great Britain and, J. G. Millais,
Supp. to November 30, iii

Irrtum, Erkenntnis und, Prof. Ernst Mach, Supp. to
November 30, vii

Kingship, Lectures on the Early History of, Dr. J. G.
Frazer, Supp. to November 30, iv

Landolt-Boérnstein—Physikalischchemische Tabellen, Drs.

Bornstein and Meyerhoffer, Dr. J. A. Harker, Supp to
November 30, vi

Layng (A. E.), a Text-book of Algebra, Supp. to November
30, viii

Mach (Prof. Ernst),
November 30, vii
Mammals of Great Britain and Ircland, the, J. G. Millais,

Supp. to November 30, iii
Mathematics: the Winchester Arithmetic, C. Godfrey and

Erkenntnis und Irrtum, to

Supp.

G. M. Bell, Supp. to November 30, viii; a Text-book of
Algebra, A. E. Layng, Supp. to November 30, viii;
an Introduction to Algebra, R. C. Bridgett, Supp.. to
November 30, viii; Elementary Modern Geometry, H. G.
Willis, Supp. to November 30, viii; Tables and Constants
to Four Figures, William Hall, Supp. to November 30,
viii

Mechanics: les Origines de la Statique, P. Duhem, Supp.
to November 30, ix

Meyerhoffer (Dr.), Landolt-Bornstein—Physikalischchem-
ische Tabellen, Supp. to November 30, vi -

| Millais (J. G.), the Mammals of Great Britain and Ireland,

Supp. to November 30, iii

Mineralogy: Precious Stones considered in their Scientific
and Artistic Relations, Prof. A. H. Church, F.R.S.,
Supp. to November 30, x

Origines de la Statique, les, P. Duhem, Supp. to November
30, Ix

Philosophy: Erkenntnis und Irrtum, Prof. Ernst Mach,
Supp. to November 30, vii

Physics: Landolt-Bornstein—Physikalischchemische Ta-
bellen, Drs. Bornstein and Meyerhoffer, Dr. J. A.

Harker, Supp. to November 30, vi

Precious Stones considered in their Scientific and Artistic
Relations, Prof. A. H. Church, F.R.S., Supp. to
November 30, X

Science: Erkenntnis und Irrtum, Prof. Ernst Mach, Supp-
to November 30, vii

Spectroscopy, E. C. C. Baly, Supp. to November 30, ix

Statics: les Origines de la Statique, P. Duhem, Supp. to
November 30, ix

Tables and Constants to Four Figures, William Hall, Supp.
to November 30, viii

Willis (H. G.), Elementary Modern Geometry, Supp. to
November 30, viii

Winchester Arithmetic, the, C. Godfrey and G. M. Bell,
Supp. to November 30, viii

Zoology : the Mammals of Great Britain and Ireland, J. G.
Millais, Supp. to November 30, iii

R. CLAY AND SONS, LTD., BREAD ST. HILL, E.C,, AND BUNGAY, SUFFOLK.

|

A WEEKLY ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL OF SCIENCE

““To the solid ground
Of Nature trusts the mind which builds for aye.’’—WoORDSWORTH.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1905.

DWO TEXT-BOOKS ON MECHANICS.

An Introduction to the Design of Beams, Girders,
and Columns in Machines and Structures,
Examples in Graphic Statics. By W. H. Atherton.
Pp. xiv+236. (London: Charles Griffin and Co.,
Ltd., 1905.) Price 6s. net.

Mechanics for Engineers, a Text-book of Intermediate
Standard. By Arthur Morley. Pp. xi+282.
(London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1905.) Price
4s. net.

M R. ATHERTON’S book is for engineering

1 students whose mathematical knowledge does
not include the calculus. and such readers will find
it a very useful source of information.

The style is very unconventional—a trait which is
rather helpful than otherwise—but occasionally the
disregard of grammatical niceties and the ordinary
rules of composition is carried too far.

The author does not trouble himself in the least
about discussions as to absolute and gravitation units
of force and the so-called ‘‘ engineer’s unit of mass ”’
(which is about 32.2 pounds). He is a practical
engineer, as is sufficiently obvious from the words,
“There are only two units of force that will be of
much use to us—namely a pound for light work and
a ton for heavy work’; but there is a suggestion of
an ancient conundrum about his statement, ‘‘ So far
as we are concerned, force is measured in terms of
some unit of weight, as that of a ton of iron.”
Chapter vi. contains a good exposition of the theory

with |

| —to give the particle rule for calculating all moments

““c

of the bending of beams, together with some useful |

cautions and explanations of certain discrepancies
between theory and practice. The moments of resist-
ance of beams of various cross-sections are all calcu-
lated by elementary non-calculus methods. The
calculation of moment of inertia (the absurdity of
which term the author very properly emphasises) is
made in the same manner. It would be a great help
to students—even to those who can use the calculus

NO 1879, VOL. 73]

of inertia with reference to a triangular (and thence
any polygonal) area; the moment of inertia of a
triangular area about any axis whatever can be calcu-
lated by replacing the triangle by three equal particles
at the middle points of the sides, their masses being
represented by 44, where A=area of triangle.

While the whole of the book will be found useful,
the chapter on the comparative strengths of tubes of
various forms may be specially mentioned.

Mr. Morley’s work differs from that above noticed
in excluding all technical knowledge and terms, so
that it is suitable to all students of dynamics, whether
engineers or not. It does not employ a knowledge
of calculus, its range being covered by algebra and
elementary trigonometry, and its scope being that of
the London intermediate engineering examination
and that for the A.M.I.C.E. The work adopts the
plan of founding the science of force on Newton's
axiom ii., so that kinetical principles precede the
treatment of equilibrium (statics). The great import-
ance of the direct application of the principles of
momentum and energy is recognised at the outset
by supplying a large number of excellent examples of
these principles, that the work thoroughly
modern in conception and method. There is a large
and commendable use of squared paper diagrams for
calculating velocities, forces, work, &c., in cases in
which these are variable according to other than the
most simple laws.

The poundal is, happily, not employed, but the
engineer’s unit of mass’’ is adopted in order to
save the definition of force, viz. “ force is the rate
of change of momentum.’’ It is doubtful if many
students are helped by this device, or if they really
understand what they are doing when they say that
the mass of a body is W/g. We must confine our-
selves to a few brief observations on a work which
we commend very highly. Is not a ‘‘knot’’ a speed
—a geographical mile per hour? The newspapers
sometimes speak of ‘‘ 20 knots an hour,’’ so does the
author (p. 20). It is a pity that he speaks of
“accelerating forces’? (p. 43, &c.), because it

B

so is

’

is

bo

NATURE

[ NOVEMBER 2, 1905

essential to teach a student that acceleration is the
inevitable property of every force. The motion in
Atwood’s machine is calculated first by the strictly
valid method of introducing the tension, and then
by the old method of moved=W,+W,;
accelerating forcee=W,—W.,, &c.,’’ which latter should
either be unmentioned, or, if mentioned, justified (if
possible). The formal statement ‘*‘ when a force acts
upon a body and causes motion, it is said to do
work’? (p. 48) is very dangerous doctrine. The
tension of an inextensible pendulum cord certainly
does no work, though it exists in the motion. Are
we to suppose that safety is contained in the word
“causes ’’? If so, the metaphysician must be heard.
On the important and almost universal fallacy con-
cerning ‘‘ centrifugal force’? the author is a clear
and safe guide.

A large collection of the ordinary statical problems
is followed by a discussion of centres of gravity,
moments of inertia and rotatory motions of rigid
bodies, and a chapter on graphic statics, the whole
being illustrated by a large collection of very well
chosen examples. M.

““ mass
”

INDUCED RADIO-ACTIVITY.

Radium and Other Radio-active Substances; their
Application especially to Medicine. By Dr. Charles
Baskerville. Pp. 164. (Philadelphia: Williams.
Brown, and Earle, n.d.)

ROF. BASKERVILLE’S book is disappointing.
On opening a work on a scientific subject by
an original worker in the field of which it treats one
expects to find the original materials thoroughly
digested and worked up, and the relative merits of
rival theories and conflicting experimental data care-
fully weighed; one hopes, too, to find novel sugges-
tions for the interpretation of existing data, and
hints to guide experimental research in the future.

In the present work these things are not to be
found. It may be said, broadly, that the book is no
more than a collection of abstracts of original papers,
put together, indeed, in some approach to a con-
secutive order, as regards subject-matter, but without
the attempt to weld them into a homogeneous whole.
We constantly find, for instance, that views which
have no serious claims to attention, either from the
authority of their authors or from the arguments
they put forward, are treated with quite as much
respect as the opposite conclusions of leading
workers in the subject, which are supported by strong
experimental evidence.

In some cases the author even goes so far as appar-
ently to endorse conclusions which are opposed to
his own. On p. 88 we have a picture, underneath
which the following explanation is given :—

“This is a radiograph of a gold fish which had
been placed in water rendered radio-active by having
suspended in it for 24 hours a closed tube (our italics)
containing ten milligrams of radium of high activity.
By this process the water was rendered radio-active,
and the fish was then placed in the water, and,
although the radium had been entirely removed, the

No. 1879, VOL. 73]

fish itself was rendered radio-active, and, when placed
on a photographic plate, photographed itself by its
own radio-activity.”’

As Prof. Baskerville, contrary to his usual custom,
mentions no name in connection with this experi-
ment, we assume that it is his own. None the less,
we read, on pp. 92-93 :—

“ Piffard calls attention to the fact that no authori-
tative statement has been given as to the rendering
of water or other substances radio-active by the
presence of a closed tube of radium. He further
detected defects in tubes, air bubbles, &c., and regards
the statements concerning induced activity by means
of closed tubes as based upon the use of defective
tubes. As Curie and Rutherford have shown, in-
duced activity requires a naked exposure to radio-
active bodies.”

For our own part, we have no belief in radio-activity
having been produced in the fish under the conditions
described. The photographic effects may have been
due to imperfect closing of the tube of radium, or they
may have been produced by some direct chemical effect
of the fish’s skin on the film. But however that may
be, the author’s attitude in emphasising equally two
opposite statements is not intelligible. Prof. Basker-
ville has shown great industry in bringing together
the results of different experimenters, but we cannot
think that he has presented his collection judiciously.

GARDEN CITIES.

Garden Cities in Theory and Practice. By A. R.

Sennett. Vol. i., pp. xix+557. Vol. ii., pp. xii-+
555. (London: Bemrose and Sons, Ltd., 1904.)
Price 21s. net.

HESE two handsome volumes represent the

amplification of a paper on ‘‘ The Possibilities
of Applied Science in a Garden City ’? which was
read by Mr. A. R. Sennett before Section F of the
British Association in 1903.

The author first deals very fully with the engineer-
ing problem involved in the laying out of garden
cities. A comparison of the various plans on which
the great cities of the world have been built is given
in a most lucid and interesting manner, after which
the author shows with many clear and convincing
arguments that the best type is that known as the
rectilinear configuration, which is the one he adopts
—the worst of all being the curvilinear type, not only
from an esthetic, but also from a practical point of
view.

An interesting account of the rebuilding of London
after the great fire is given in chapter ii. The
various plans, especially those of Sir Christopher
Wren and Sir John Evelyn, are fully discussed. The
plan of the former was more or less adopted, although
all his proposals were unfortunately not adhered to,
with the result that many fine architectural effects
are lost to the metropolis. We cannot do better than
recommend those who are interested in this important
subject to read the author’s own account, which
should excite interest even in the apathetic. In
regard to the spacing out of the area for his proposed
garden city, the author has carefully considered every

NOVEMBER 2, 1905]

INET RTE

4
ro)

detail. The proportion of the area to be occupied by
the public thoroughfares, promenades, avenues, and |
private gardens is fully discussed. By a_ most
ingenious and original plan of allotment, each house
in the city stands in its own ground without being
unduly overlooked or interfered with by neighbouring
dwellings, but at the same time fitting harmoniously
into the whole. Instead of the usual oblong or
rectangular arrangement, the author subdivides the
ground into polygonal or, more precisely, hexagonal
plots. This he shows preserves a uniform frontage
length, and at the same time admits of great elasticity
as regards the size of the allotments which different
inhabitants may desire.

The city proposed by the author would consist of
three separate areas, viz. the city proper, the village
with its industrial zone, and the agricultural fringe.
Each department is so arranged and laid out that the
maximum amount of comfort and utility is combined
with the minimum amount of expense. The city as
a whole is so designed that it shall be self-supporting.
All needless expense and extravagance are scrupulously
avoided. The artisan’s dwelling is made for the
artisan, and the same applies to the housing of every
erade and class of society. All are suitably provided
for. Public buildings and offices, railway stations,
&c., are grouped together within easy access of each
other in the centre of the city.

The sanitary and hygienic conditions of every kind
are treated in an able and scientific manner. Every
health-promoting device that ingenuity can suggest
brought forward in its proper place. It
beyond the scope of a review to mention these in
detail. Suffice it to say that nothing is suggested
which cannot be easily put into practice ; and, further,
many of the author’s valuable and common-sense
suggestions might with great advantage be adopted
in our present cities.

The sociological aspect of garden cities is treated
in a rational and scientific manner. The doctrine of
“equality ’? which was urged by some when the site
of the first garden city was acquired is relegated to
its proper place by the author, who reminds his
readers that the outcry for equality has proved the
curse of industrial England, and points out the
absurdity of ranking the ‘‘ loungers—the quasi-inert
and industrially passive atoms—as of equal national
value to the active workers or energy-imparting unit.”’
The decentralisation of industry is one of the great
objects of garden cities—hence the authorities can
deal with nothing below the industrial unit.

Under the heading ‘‘ Charity ’’ the problem of deal-
ing with the poor and infirm is discussed. The
various pitfalls and dangers attendant upon in-
discriminate charity are shown by actual examples.
The problem is a serious one; but in this, as in other
cases, the author finds a way of overcoming the
difficulty, especially as regards garden cities which
are untrammelled by established practice or tradition,
and where methods such as the Elberfeld system, so
successfully adopted in the town of that name and |
in Leipzig, and which the test of time—half a century

is 1s

NO. 1879, VOL. 73]|

—has proved to be sound in principle, might quite
easily be put into practice.

The work contains a wonderful amount of valuable
information written in a readable style, while the
illustrations are numerous, well chosen, and admirably
reproduced.

OUR BOOK SHELF.

Elementary Experimental
Dunstan. Pp. viill+173.
(Cor 9052), Prices.

So many books on elementary chemistry have been
published within the last few years that it is rather
difficult to imagine why any more should be written,
unless there is something strikingly novel in the style
or matter of the book. For anything novel we search
in vain in the little book before us.

After being introduced to the metric system, in
chapter ii. the student is supposed to find out the
difference between chemical and physical changes by
having to note the effect of heat upon sulphur, lead,
magnesium, and sugar, and at the end of each experi-
ment he has to state whether the change is physical
or chemical. Chapter iii. deals with air, chapter iv.
with active air. In chapter x. we come to solution,
which to our mind would have been better treated
earlier.

Formule are not mentioned until p. 130, and on
p. 131 the union of atoms to form molecules is shown
in a diagrammatic manner which we venture to
think will leave the student very little wiser than
before. Almost all through the book the equations
are written in words and not expressed in symbols,
as, for example, zinc+sulphuric acid=zine sulphate +
hydrogen. This is not necessarily objectionable in
an elementary book, but to formulate all the equations
which occur in the course of the book in an appendix
is simply wasting type, because the student will never
look at them. Furthermore, will the student under-
stand the action of nitric acid upon copper by writing
the equation in this manner ?
2NO
H,O + 3Cu=
3 ©
It is then explained that the copper oxide is acted
upon by a further quantity of nitric acid, &c.

Some of the experiments which the student is sup-
posed to carry out are more for the lecture table than
for the laboratory. For instance, on p. 121 the
student has ‘‘ to find the proportions in which oxygen
and hydrogen combine to form water.’”? Dry
hydrogen and oxygen have to be collected in a eudio-
meter over mercury and then sparked. On p. 122 a
similar experiment has to be carried out, but in this
case to show the volume of steam formed. These are
not experiments for elementary students, and we doubt
whether the author himself allows his students to
carry them out.

The book is very fully illustrated, and some of the
exercises are undoubtedly good, but for the book to
be really useful to the student will require a consider-
able amount of discrimination on the part of the
teacher as to what experiments the student can him-
self be trusted to worl: out.

Wayside and Woodland Blossoms. By Edward Step;
with coloured pictures by Mabel Step. First series,
pp. Xiiit176+127 plates. Second series, pp. xv+
171+127 plates. (London: Frederick Warne and
Co., 1905.) Price, each volume, 6s. net.

Asoutr ten years ago Mr. Step prepared two handy

little volumes which many country ramblers have

E.

and

Chemistry,

By A.
(London :

Methuen

2HNO, ) 2NO+H,0 +3Cu0.

A NATURE

[ NovEMBER 2, 1905

found of service in identifying British wild flowers
and discovering something about their affinities and
the significance of their structure. These volumes
have now been completely re-arranged, and the plates
have all been newly drawn, so that the revised edition
is substantially a new work. In the original books,
plants were roughly arranged in the order of’ the
seasons in which their flowers appear, but in the
present volumes a more natural grouping is followed,
series i. containing representatives of the plant
families from the Buttercups to the Composites in-
clusive, and series ii. from the Composites to the
Grasses and Ferns. This arrangement is much more
instructive than the former one; and in connection
with the descriptions of family characters given at
the end of each volume it should facilitate the further
study of plants in more elaborate works.

The coloured plates in the two volumes are, with
few exceptions, very fine, and will enable the country
rambler easily to identify the flowering plants he
meets. In almost every case the pictures are truer
to nature than those in the original volumes, though
these left little cause for complaint. The picture, for
instance, of Lady’s Smock is much superior to that
in the old edition; so is that of Germander Speedwell.
The Chicory flower, however, is better represented in
the old volume than in the new; and in neither is
the illustration of Tamarisk satisfactory. The ideal
way to depict flowers for purposes of identification
would be to take tri-colour photographs of the flowers
and reproduce them by the three-colour process of
printing. This method, which has been successfully
adopted in the illustration of a few natural history
objects, might have been profitably used by Mr. Step
instead of lithography. No doubt there are difficulties
to be overcome, but they are not very great, and
success should attend the work in which the
advantages of colour photography are brought into
requisition. But while we await these faithful photo-
graphic reproductions, it is good to possess Mr. Step’s
two pocket guides with their clear descriptions and
plates, and we are glad that such attractive books
exist to awaken interest in plant life.

Quiet Hours with Nature. By Mrs. Brightwen.
Pp. xvi+271. (London: Fisher Unwin, 1904.)
Price 2s.

Mrs. Bricutwen's books no longer need to be re-
commended to beginners in natural history. A fresh
collection of her simple and sympathetic accounts of
animal and vegetable life as studied and enjoyed in
her own garden and park is sure to be welcome to
all boys and girls who have once begun to take an
intelligent interest in natural objects. All we need
say about this volume is that, besides some pleasant
papers about her tamed wild animals, including
squirrels, field-voles, a rook, and even a stag-beetle,
which followed his benefactor across the lawn, it
contains others on the trees in her garden and some
of the plants in her conservatory, all well calculated
to arouse just such an interest in common things as
may carry the young reader on to more exact and
elaborate studies of nature. The bool: is charmingly
illustrated by photographs and drawings.

One word of criticism may be allowed. It is surely
as well, in introducing young folks to the study of
nature, not to lead them to think that there is an
essential difference between the ‘ professional ”’
entomologist or ornithologist and the ordinary
observant field-naturalist; or if there be a real differ-
ence, it may be as well not to emphasise it. On p- Ig
Mrs. Brightwen quotes a scientific description of the
head of Eristalis tenax, with the comment :—‘* Now

NO 1870, VOL. 73]

this may be very interesting to a professional entom-
ologist, but it does not convey much information to
an ordinary reader, and yet this is the scientific de-
scription of my drone-flies, interesting creatures which
I kept through a whole winter until they were coaxed
into the circle of my winged friends.”’ It is true
that the description conveys but little to an “* ordinary
reader,’’ but a very little trouble will make it convey
a great deal, and this small amount of trouble, or of
instruction if it can be had, is exactly what our
young “ nature-lovers ’’ should be encouraged to face,
As it happens, the example of Eristalis is a good one;
for the history of its confusion with the bees is a
most interesting one, showing how much delusion
may arise, and not only delusion, but myth, merely
from the want of a little knowledge of structure.

Sammlung Schubert, XLII. Theorie der Electrizitat
und des Magnetismus. Vol. ii. By Prof. Dr. J.
Classen. Pp. ix+251; with 53 figures. (Leipzig:
G. J. Goschen’sche Verlagshandlung, 1904.) Price
7 marks.

Tuts forms the second part of an introductory text-
book of electricity and magnetism in which chief
stress is laid on the mathematical side. In this
volume the Faraday-Maxwell conception of elec-
trical phenomena still forms the central idea; but,
since the representation of simple magnetic pheno-
mena in terms of a distribution of energy in a medium
presents considerable difficulty from the mathematical
standpoint, the classical conception based on action at
a distance is retained, but regarded merely as a
mathematical device and not as a physical concep-
tion. In the section on electromagnetism the author
adopts the special form of equations developed by
Hertz in his paper on the fundamental equations of
electromagnetism for bodies at rest, and expresses
his strong opinion in favour of generally adopting
these in all treatises of mathematical physics.

Only one part of Maxwell’s characteristic treat-
ment of the subject finds no place here, and that
is his demonstration of the connection between the
fundamental equations of electricity and the general
Lagrangian equations of mechanics.

Vegetationsbilder. By Drs. G.
Schenck. Third series.
plates i.—xviii.

Karsten and H.
Parts i.-iii., containing
(Jena: Gustav Fischer, 1905.)

Boranists who possess the first two series of the
“‘ Vegetationsbilder,”’ or who have had the opportunity
of admiring these magnificent series of photographic
reproductions, will be glad to see that the third series
is rapidly taking shape. The subject of epiphytic
flower-gardens arising out of ants’ nests, which
formed part of a previous number, by Mr. E. Ule, is
more fully treated in the first part of this series by
the same authority. The ant-gardeners are species of
Azteca, most often Azteca Traili and Camponotus
femoratus. The plates represent different stages in
the formation of the gardens; the plants which
develop from seed brought in by the ants are chiefly
aroids, bromeliads, and species of Gesneracez. In
the second part Mr. E. A. Bessey presents a study
of the sand-dunes, shifting and stationary, of Russian
Turkestan with a vegetation of Calligonum, Salsola,
Tamarix, and other xerophytes; the arboreous Salsola
is particularly interesting. The photographs of Tava,
forming the third part, have been supplied by Prof.
M. Biisgen, Mr. H. Jensen, and Dr. W. Busse. The
subjects chosen include the teak forests, an expanse
of the lotus, Nelumbium speciosum, a sand-dune
bound by the creeping Spinifex squarrosus, and a
bamboo forest.

NOVEMBER 2, 1905]

NATURE 5

LEDER S RO! THE EDITOR.

[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions
expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake
to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected
manuscripts intended for this or any other part of NATURE.
No notice is taken of anonymous communications. |

Remarkable Coelenterata from the West Coast of
Ireland.

I wave been allowed to examine a small collection of
Alcyonaria and Antipatharia that has been obtained by the
fisheries branch of the Department of Agriculture for
Ireland from deep water off the west coast of Ireland, and
as this reveals some features of special interest I should
be glad of am opportunity to write a short preliminary
note upon it pending the examination of the species in
detail.

The most interesting feature, perhaps, is the Coralliid,
Pleurocorallium johnsoni, from 382 fathoms, about sixty
miles off Achill Island. The family of precious corals to
which this species belongs has hitherto only been obtained
in the Mediterranean Sea, the Japanese seas, off Madeira
and the Cape Verde islands, and in the Banda Sea. The
specimens obtained by the Challenger in the Banda Sea
were ‘‘dead,’’ but I have recently published a preliminary
note on a new species of precious coral from deep water
off the coast of Timor, which was captured “‘ alive’’ by
the naturalists of the Siboga Expedition.

The distinction between the genus Corallium, to which
C. nobile, the precious coral of the Mediterranean,
C. japonicum, and C. reginae, the new species. from
Timor, belong, and the genus Pleurocorallium is not a
distinction of very great importance, and, as_ recently
pointed out by Kishinouye, cannot, with convenience, be
much longer maintained. If, however, for the present we
retain the two generic names it must be noted that
Corallium no longer maintains its monopoly of corals that
are precious, as the species Pleurocorallium elatius yields
some of the most valuable classes of coral obtained in the
Japanese fishery. Both in Japanese waters and off the
Cape Verde Islands the valuable and the commercially
worthless Coralliidae occur in the same fishing area, and
consequently it would not be a matter for surprise if a
renewed investigation of the locality from which the Irish
Fishery Department obtained its specimen of Plewro-
corallium johnsoni yielded some specimens of commercial
value.

I should not like to suggest the prospect of a coral
fishery off the coast of Ireland, as the sea is too stormy
and the water too deep at the station from which the
specimen came to render any such fishery commercially
successful, but it would be a matter of considerable
scientific interest to find that precious corals are growing
within a few miles of our British coasts.

The second feature of interest is the occurrence in these
waters of at least three species of Antipatharia. This
group of Coelenterata is one which I thought was entirely
exotic. I can find no mention of any Antipatharians in
any of the lists of the British marine fauna that I have
examined, but perhaps some of your readers could inform
me if I have overlooked any references to them. The
species are, I believe, Cirrhipathes spiralis, Antipathella
gracilis, and a species which I think must be new, but is
allied to Stichopathes liitkeni in some respects.

Among the other interesting things in the collection
are representatives of the alcyonarian genera Ceratoisis,

Stachyodes, and Eunephthya, which I believe are new
to the British fauna. The two pennatulid genera
Kophobelemnon and Umbellula were obtained in deep

water off the west coast of Scotland by the Knight Errant
(Kophobelemnon only) in 1880, and by the Triton in 1882.
These also have now been found off the west coast of
Ireland. Although these genera may now be included in
the British fauna as being found within the British area
as defined by the British Association committee of 1888,
they really represent the fauna that is common to the
‘“mud line’? of Murray of the eastern side of the North
Atlantic Ocean.

Thus Pleurocorallium occurs off the Cape Verde Islands,
Stachyodes off the Azores, Ceratoisis grayti off the coast

NO. 1879, VOL. 73]

of Portugal, Antipathella gracilis off the coast of Madeira,
Kophobelemnon and Umbellula off the west coast of Scot-~
land. These genera, with many others that live with
them, constitute a fauna which is quite distinct from the
ordinary shallow-water fauna of the British area.
SypNney J. Hickson.
Victoria University of Manchester, October 24.

Action of Radium on Gelatin Media.

SOME misapprehension appears to exist in certain
quarters as to the precise nature of the bodies I have
called radiobes, as distinct from such aggregations as
those which M. Dubois has obtained by the action of the
salts of barium, radium, and manganese upon bouillon,
M. Dubois describes his bodies as ‘‘ grosses vacuolides,”’
and their appearance is quite different from that of the
bodies I have described, judging by the drawings which
have been reproduced in the Revue des Idées during the
last few months.

I have observed two distinct types of bodies, of an
entirely different order of magnitude, one type, radiobes,
extremely minute and only visible with the highest powers :
the other visible with an ordinary magnifying glass. The
latter are decidedly crystalline in their structure, and
resemble the bodies obtained in various ways by the action
of salts on gelatin. They are like the ones described by
Schenck, and very like those obtained by Dubois and
others.

The smaller type cannot be said to be large in any
sense of the word, and are like the minutest visible diplo-
cocci or biscuit-shaped cocci. ‘They do not exceed this size
to any great extent.

It is therefore desirable that the two types should not
be identified, as their appearance, order of magnitude,
structure and behaviour seem to be quite different.

M. Dubois has not noticed these, and therefore it
seems to me that his claim to priority is quite irrelevant.

Cambridge, October 21. Joun Butter Burke.

Border occasionally seen between Light and Dark
Regions on Photographic Prints.

I HAVE once or twice been asked why photographs are
apt to show a line or band or edging along the boundary
of a bright and dark region. My assistant, Mr. E. E.
Robinson, has thought of the reason, and it may be con-
venient to publish it. In a developed film the exposed
portion perceptibly differs in thickness from the unacted-on
portion, and accordingly the linear boundary of two con-
trasted regions may sometimes act as a cylindrical lens,
and during printing either concentrate or disperse the light
on the positive immediately beneath it.

October 20. Outver Lopce.

Terminology in Electro-physiology.

I woutp deem it a favour to be assigned the space of
a letter in order to make a suggestion in connection with
the above still vexed subject.

It cannot be said that even now all is peace in the
realm of electrical terminology as applied to physiological
phenomena, in spite of Dr. Waller’s helpful efforts in this
direction. Dr. Waller’s term ‘‘ zincative’’ admirably
expresses that a given region (a) of excited tissue is
“electromotive like the zinc of a voltaic couple,’’? is, in
fact, a source of current towards a region (g) of less excited
or non-excited tissue (the current,

of course, travelling in the tissue ose
from the region A to the region ?:
B, and in the external circuit = +
from the region B to the region
A); but it leaves untouched the
solution of the old muddle over a
the use of the signs + and —.
Confessedly, ‘‘ zincative’’ avoids any reference to +

and —, but every teacher of physiology knows that sooner
or later the + and — must appear, and with them all
the ambiguities of “‘ negativity of action,’”’ &c., if the
student is to make his notes ‘‘ agree’? with his text-book.

1 “The Signs of Life from their Electrical Aspect,” p. 17. (Murray, 1903

6 INA TD OLE

A large part of the difficulty arises from the different
points of view taken by the electrician and the physio-
logist respectively, the electrician being concerned chiefly
with the surfaces of conductors, the physiologist being
interested chiefly in the interiors of living tissues.

Thus the above expression, “* region a,’’ is electrically
ambiguous, for it may mean (1) either the surface of the
region A, or (2) the interior of the same: certainly physio-
logically (and it may be also electrically) these are two
very different things.

Are we speaking of surfaces or interiors when we talk
of tissues and their electromotive states? This seems to
me the gist of the initial obscurity.

In Dr. Waller’s terminology a is
the electrically-minded student wishes to distribute his
+ and — somehow. The electrician says a is ‘* negative ”’
to B, because he is thinking of the surface at a to
which current has been coming from B, as he _ finds
by the galvanometer; but the physiologist, conceiving of
what is going on inside the excited portion of tissue A, says,
or should say, ‘‘a is electropositive to B,’’ because he
finds that current in the tissue must have come from A
to B. The ambiguity is bound up with not distinguishing
the surface from the interior.

All doubt, it seems to me, is removed when we say,
the region a is, as to its interior, electropositive to B, but
as to its surface electronegative to B; as to its interior, a
is a ‘* positive plate,’’ as to its surface a ‘‘ negative pole.”’
Both these ideas are necessarily connoted by ‘‘ zincative,’
only implicitly, however; for teaching purposes they must
be made also explicit.

“Negativity of action’’ is then intelligible when it is
distinctly laid down that it is only the surface of the active
region that is being considered, for if the interior of the
active tissue is thought of, then positivity of action must
be the term descriptive of the electrical state.

If, then, the qualifying term ‘‘internally’’ or
cx externally,” as the case requires, be added, no loophole

“e

zincative ’’ to B; but

for confusion is left; thus, A is internally electropositive
to B, externally electronegative to B; B is internally
electronegative to a, externally electropositive to a; for

“ 2) 66

externally, galvanometrically ”’ may be used.
Personally I think the use of the term ‘‘ negativity of
action ’’ is, especially if used in teaching, objectionable,
because misleading and mysterious; ‘‘ internal positivity
of action’’ certainly seems to describe a real state; as
terms, the one is but the converse of the other. I have,

however, no more sympathy with those people who persist

in finding “negativity of action ’’ entirely meaningless than
I have with those who will not understand * negative
pressure ’’ or negative quantities of any kind.

Davip Fraser Harris.
Physiological Department, University, St. Andrews,
October 31.
The Engineer’s Unit of Force.

In a review of some recent works on mechanics in your
issue of October 19, the reviewer calls to account two of
the authors whose books are rey iewed for “implying that
the unit of force in the engineer’s system is a variable
quantity.’

Perhaps there may be others than the authors referred
to and myself who would welcome more explicit enlighten-
ment on the subject of the constancy of the engineer’s
unit of force. D. J. CaRNEGIE.

October 23.

THE engineer’s unit of force is equal to the earth’s
present attraction on the standard pound mass at a specified
place, viz., for this country, London. Its magnitude is
such that it produces unit acceleration when acting on a
mass of 32-182 .. Ib., the engineer’s unit of | mass,
sometimes called a slugg (sluggish). The formula
M=W/g, where M is the mass in sluggs, is true for any
latitude, g being the acceleration of gravity there, and W
the weight of ‘the mass in pounds force, as would, for
instance, be registered at the place by a massless spring
balance which had been graduated in London. If the
pound-poundal system of units is an absolute dynamical
one, so also is the pound- slugg or engineer’s system.

Tue Revirwer.

NO. 1879, VOL. 73]

[ NOVEMBER 2, 1905

PROF, LANKESTER’S “ EXTINCT ANIMALS.

HOSE who, like the writer, had the good fortune
to be present at the Royal Institution last
Christmas and listened to Prof. Lankester’s course of
holiday lectures to young people will recall the fact
that, although a goodly space was occupied by boys
and girls from school, the theatre was elsewhere
crammed with ‘‘ grown-ups,’’ who were quite as
much interested and amused as the juvenile audience
for whom these discourses were really designed.

It is, in fact, an open secret that quite elderly
young people, as much as schoolboys and girls, enjoy
their ‘* ologies ’? when given to them in a form easy
of digestion and with as few hard words as possible.

Before the memory of those pleasant afternoon dis-
courses has faded from our minds comes a reprint of
them in book form, with reproductions of more than
200 of the illustrations given in the text as we saw
them on the screen.

Every boy and girl who heard those lectures will
wish for a copy of this charming book, and those
who did not will now read with delight the pictured
story of extinct animals for themselves; nor will the
“old boys” fail to take it up also.

Prof. Lankester explains that extinct animals are
those which no longer exist in a living state.
Animals, of course, die daily, and men too, but the
lecturer fells us of extinct kinds of animals which no
longer exist on the surface of the globe in a living
state, although once they flourished and held their
own.

He then informs his young friends of his own
early experiences as a boy in visiting the British
Museum and being fascinated by the huge head of
an Ichthyosaurus from Lyme Regis with its large
and bony-plated eyes, and its jaws, more than 3 feet
in length, armed with powerful teeth.

Then the huge ground-sloth from South America
attracted his wonder and admiration by its vast bulls,
and he learnt that living upon the leaves of trees,
but being too heavy to climb, it stood on the ground
and pulled the trees down to it in order to feed on
the young branches.

Their remains, often with the bones of the same
individual lying in one spot, occur in the vast

‘“ pampas formation ” and in the alluvial mud of the
great rivers such as the La Plata. Here, too, one
meets with the giant armadillo, and another strange
creature, called the Toxodon, like a huge guinea-pig,
nearly as big as a rhinoceros, with tremendous chisel-
like teeth in front.

Prof. Lankester shows the thigh-bone of a giant
reptile from North America more than 6 feet “long
(known as Atlantosaurus). What the size of the
entire animal must have been we can best judge by
paying a visit to the Cromwell Road Museum to see
the skeleton of the Diplodocus lately set up there,
which is 80 feet long and fully 14 feet high!

Passing rapidly over such forms as the ancient
rhinoceros, the northern hippopotamus, the beaver,
and great auk—once common in Britain, but now
extinct—the author tells how zebras, quaggas,
antelopes, and giraffes are being fast killed off in
Africa by our sportsmen, whilst the dodo and
““Steller’s sea-cow ’’ were eaten up long ago, like
the giant tortoises, by our early voyagers, who
victualled their ships with these rare anim: als.

The author next explains the causes which have
brought about the migration of some animals and the
extinction of others, and how changes of climate and

By E. Ray T.ankester, M.A., LL.D., F.R.S.
(London : ‘Archibald Constable and

1 “ Extinct Animals.”
Pp. xxiv+332; with 218 illustrations.
Co., Ltd., 1905 ) Price 7s. 6d. ne*.

NOVEMBER 2, 1905 |

NATORE

7

alterations of coast-lines have modified the existing
lands so much that, as in our own islands, Great
Britain and Ireland were, at no remote geological
time, joined to France, and a continental, instead of
an insular, climate prevailed here, with hotter
summers and colder winters, suited to the mammoth

”

Fis. 1.—A drawing showing the probable app-acance in life of Arsinditherium (original); from the Upp=r
From Lankester’s ‘f Extinct Animals.’

Eocene of the Fayiim, Egypt.

and reindeer which roved quite freely from land to
land. ;

He explains what ‘‘ fossils’? are, and how the
sedimentary deposits, in which extinct organisms
occur, have been gradually laid down on the sea-
floor or along coast-lines. From minor changes he
illustrates those greater ones which took place
long since involving whole continents, so
that where London now is was formerly the
sea with marine shells and fishes, aptly re-
minding one of Lord Tennyson’s lines :—

“Oh Earth! what changes hast thou seen—
There where the great street roars
Was once the stillness of the central sea.’

The story of the living and_ extinct
elephants is well told, and we get the latest
evidence of the progenitors of these very
ancient prehistoric beasts, the result of Dr.
Andrews’s explorations and discoveries in the
Fayim, Egypt, which has carried their
ancestry back to the Eocene Palaomastodon
and Meritherium. Near to the elephants
comes the wonderful Arsinditherium, also
from the Fayim, with a pair of prodigious
horns on the front of its skull, a form of
animal which may possibly have had a short
proboscis like the tapir (Fig. 1).

The birds and reptiles come in for due
share of attention, and from their striking
forms they add largely to the attractiveness
of the illustrations. The comparison of the
wings of Pterodactyle, bird and bat is most
instructive, showing that reptiles, as well as
mammals and birds, enjoyed the power of
flight, as some also equally possess the power
of swimming. Dimetrodon was undoubtedly
swimming reptile (see Fig. 2).

Fishes, Mollusca, scorpions and Crustacea, also
“ sea-lilies,’? are dealt with in these lectures, and, as
might naturally be expected, these simpler forms of
life made their appearance far earlier in geological

NO. 1879, VOL. 73]

)

the Permian of Texas. A: ( i ] fi
fitted for aquatic progression.) From Lankester’s * Extinct Animals.

a |
€

| times than the more highly organised creatures now

| living on our earth.
More surprising still is it to find that the marine
| king-crabs (Limulus) and the scorpions (the latter at
first aquatic, and afterwards terrestrial air-breathers)
| which are met with in the Upper Silurian rocks in
America, Scotland, and

ane’ = Sweden have survived all
the Old World changes of
land and sea, the king-
crabs being still found
living in the China and

Indian seas and on the east
coast of North America,
and the scorpions have
spread over the dry lands
of North and South
America, Africa, and other
countries, and are so little
changed in appearance
whole generations of other
animals having appeared
and disappeared entirely—
that we might almost
imagine they would go on
for ever!

Although it would be
quite impossible for the
author or anyone else to
describe so vast a number
of groups of living and
extinct organisms in one
series of lectures and after-
| wards to present them in book form with more than

awe

200 illustrations in a single volume of 350 pages, at
least Prof. Lankester knows how to give, in an
| attractive form, a vast amount of information agree-
| ably, and to excite the interest of the merest tyro
| (whether young or old) and awaken a desire in him
| or her to learn more. Fortunately the author is also

Fic. 2.—Probable appearance in life of the Theromorph Reptile, Dimetrodon, from

As big as a large dog. (It had a huge back-fin, evidently

director of the Natural History Museum, where he has
abundant opportunities to add still more to our
personal knowledge of extinct animals. :
We give the book a hearty welcome, feeling sure
| that its perusal will draw many young recruits to the
| army of naturalists and many readers to its pages.

8 NATURE

[NovEMBER 2, 1905

ASTRONOMY AND METEOROLOGY IN
AUSTRALIA.

VERY important paper has been issued recently

by the Government printer of Adelaide, South
Australia.‘ It is a report of an Inter-State Astro-
nomical and Meteorological Conference, convened in
May last, in view of the possible transfer of the
observatory departments to the Federal Government
as provided for in the Commonwealth Constitution
Act. The official directors of the observatory depart-
ments of the several States were invited, and there
were present Sir Charles Todd, K.C.M.G., F.R.S.
(Government astronomer for South Australia), who
was called to the chair, Mr. H. A. Lenehan (acting
Government astronomer for New South Wales), Mr.
W. E. Cooke (Government astronomer for Western
Australia), Mr. P. Baracchi (Government astronomer
for Victoria), Mr. A. A. Spowers (chief surveyor for
Queensland), and Mr. H. C. Kingsmill (Government
meteorologist for Tasmania).

The report represents briefly, in the first place, the
present arrangements for public astronomical and
meteorological work in the several colonies and the
provision for weather telegrams. It then proceeds to
give its proposals for the future in twenty-two resolu-
tions. Six of them refer to work in astronomy,
magnetism, or seismology; the remaining sixteen
indicate a scheme of organisation of the meteor-
ological service of the Commonwealth. The scheme
is framed on the idea of the establishment of a central
federal institution for theoretical and scientific
meteorology, ‘‘ where the observations for the whole
of Australia should be collected, discussed and pub-
lished, and where all 'the higher problems of meteor-
ological science may be investigated; but such
institution should have nothing to do with the daily
weather service and issue of forecasts.’? Duties con-
nected with the latter services, according to the
scheme, are to be entrusted to an official in each State;
and to the regulation of those services and their rela-
tion to the telegraph service the greater number of the
twenty-two recommendations are devoted.

Appendices give the separate views of Mr.
Baracchi, Mr. Cooke, and Mr. Kingsmill upon some
of the recommendations.

The really important matter is the proposal for a
separate establishment for the discussion of meteor-
ological observations for the whole Commonwealth.
The idea will be warmly welcomed by all those who
desire to see the multitudes of meteorological observ-
ations brought into the most effective relation with
practical life. That such an institution should have
“nothing to do with the daily weather service and
issue of forecasts ’’ should probably be understood in
an administrative sense. The ultimate effect of a
scientific establishment upon forecasting would be a
good deal more than nothing.

The calling together of the Inter-State Conference
for the business-like discussion of the organisation
of astronomical and meteorological work will also
be warmly applauded in this country. It is one
more expression of the fact that work in astronomy
and meteorology is of more than local interest and
importance. While doubtless real progress in either
must still depend upon individual energy and in-
dividual genius, exchange of material has become a
recognised necessity, and exchange of ideas an in-
dispensable assistance.

It is therefore a pleasant duty to chronicle the
appearance of this most promising scheme, which
will put the Australian Commonwealth in a position
to continue the excellent work of Russell and take

1 Report of Inter-State Astronomical and Meteorological Conference,
Adelaide, May, 1905. (By Authority, C. E. Bristow, Government Printer.)

NO. 1879 vol. 73]

its share in tracing out the mysteries of the meteor-
ology of the Indian Ocean. When we remember the
powerful appeal of Sir J. Eliot at Cambridge for the
cooperation of the British dominions in working out
meteorological problems of the widest application the
solution of which is foreshadowed by the suggestions
of relationship between meteorological phenomena in
different parts of the world and of their connection
with solar changes, we can only hope that this pro-
posal for the federation of Australia for scientific
prosecution of meteorological work is a step in the
direction of a wider federation for a similar purpose.
On this planet, north and south and east and west
are not so far apart that we in this country or our
comrades in America or Africa can affect to regard
the meteorological organisation of Australia as a ques-
tion which does not concern us, and we shall watch
the development of the scheme which is put forward,
confident in its power of contributing in large measure
to the pursuit of a common purpose in an organised
manner. W.N. S.

FERDINAND BARON VON RICHTHOFEN.

= unlooked-for death of this distinguished man
of science has sent a thrill of deep regret all
over the world among those who take interest in the
progress of geology and geography. Though he had
passed the limit of three-score vears and ten, he re-
mained up to the last so active in mind and body, so
full of an almost youthful interest in the advances
of science, so keenly solicitous and enthusiastic over
the welfare of the institutions with which he was
connected, that all who knew fim looked forward to
still many years during which his inspiration and
guidance would continue to be at the service of those
departments of investigation which have long been
so deeply indebted to him; but this augury proved
vain. While sitting at his writing table, apparently
in his ordinary health, a sudden seizure deprived him
of speech. Yet, as he remained otherwise fully
conscious, it was hoped that the symptoms might
soon pass away. A little later, however, another
seizure attacked him during a deep sleep, and after
two days and a half he passed peacefully away on
October 6, without illness or suffering of any kind.

Belonging to a noble family that possesses large
estates in Silesia, Richthofen was born there on May 5,
1833. His early education was received at a seminary
under the management of Roman Catholic ecclesi-
astics, from which he passed to the University of
Breslau and then to that of Berlin, where he took
his degree of Doctor in Philosophy in 1856. By this
time a study of the writings of Leopold von Buch
and Alexander von Humboldt had kindled in him a
vivid appreciation of the attractions of geological and
geographical research. Like the two great masters
from whom he drew his inspiration, he appears to
have begun his career as an author by publishing
some of the results of his investigation of eruptive
rocks. His earliest papers, which began in 1856,
dealt with the intrusive melaphyres of Moravia and
the trachytes of Hungary.

Repairing to Vienna, he made the acquaintance of
the geologists of that capital, and notably of the
eminent director of the Austrian Geological Survey,
Ritter von Hauer, with whom he formed a lasting
friendship. He was induced to become a volunteer
in this survey and to assist in working out the com-
plicated structure of parts of the eastern Alps. He
spent two busy seasons among the Dolomite Moun-
tains, which in after years he looked back upon as
one of the happiest periods of his life. The results
of these field-surveys were embodied by him in his

a

NOVEMBER 2, 1905]

NATURE 9

essay on the Dolomite region, which was a remark-
able production for so young a man.

In the midst of his Alpine work he was offered a
post as geologist on a Prussian expedition to Japan,
China, Siam, and the adjacent regions. The oppor-
tunity of foreign travel and exploration was too tempt-
ing to be resisted. Quitting his Austrian labours he
sailed for the East, and during the next two or three
years, from 1860 onwards, contributed to the scientific
journals various papers descriptive of some of the
tracts which he visited. Owing to circumstances
which prevented him at the time from undertaking
exploration in the heart of Asia, he crossed the Pacific
and spent several years in western North America,
where he specially devoted himself to a detailed study
of the igneous rocks of that marvellously volcanic
region. It was there that he prepared his now classic
memoir on the “ Principles of the Natural System
of Volcanic Rocks,’? which was published in English
among the memoirs of the California Academy of
Sciences. This sojourn in America enabled him,
moreover, to obtain a mastery of the English
language, such as few foreign men of science could
equal.

The opportunity of returning to Asia came at last
in the autumn of the year 1868, and he eagerly
availed himself of it. He spent some years in
travelling over most of the provinces of the vast
empire of China, studying their physical features and
geological structure, and forming an_ extensive
collection of their rocks and fossils. So voluminous
were the data which he gathered together that they
filled a series of massive volumes, of which the first
appeared in 1877, and the Atlas in 1885. This work
placed him in the front rank of scientific pioneers.
It not merely made known for the first time the
physical geography and geology of a vast territory,
but presented contributions of great value towards the
elucidation of disputed problems in science.

Richthofen’s reputation as a travelled and accom-
plished geographer had now spread so widely that in
the year 1875 he was offered, and accepted, the chair
of geography in the University of Bonn, where he
spent eight happy and fruitful years, and where he
married the accomplished lady to whom he had been
long attached. From Bonn he was called to occupy
a similar position at Leipzig, whence, after only three
years, he was invited to become professor of geo-
graphy in the University of Berlin. In the metropolis
of the German Empire he found ample scope for his
rare faculties of exposition and organisation. Besides
the ordinary duties of his professorship, he instituted
meetings of various kinds for promoting the cultiva-
tion of geographical and geological studies, and
amassed a wonderful collection of boolss, maps, instru-
ments, models, and other illustrations of the physical
features of the earth’s surface. His enthusiasm in
these efforts was rewarded three years ago by his
appointment as director of the new geographical
institute in Berlin, where he had ample space to
arrange and display the remarkable mass of material
which he had gathered together with the view of
bringing home to the mind and eye the characteristic
aspects of land and sea and the history of exploration
and discovery in oceanography. ;

_Baron von Richthofen was a geographer of the
highest type. To him the mere addition of so many
hundred square miles of territory to what was already
known of the earth’s surface, and the opportunity of
affixing the names of friends and benefactors to peaks
and promontories and inlets, were matters of com-
paratively little moment. It was the grand features
of land and sea that interested him, their origin, their
history, their relations to each other, their influence

No. 1879, VOL. 73]

on the progress and destiny of mankind. His early
geological training eminently fitted him for investi-
gating these problems on the ground, and kept him
from making the mistakes which attention restricted
to mere superficial features has so often produced. He
possessed in rare measure the qualities which ensure
the success of an explorer—health and strength, alike
of body and mind, a wide range of natural know-
ledge, courage, patience, endurance, tact, and kindli-
ness. It may have been the consciousness of the
possession of these qualities, combined with a recollec-
tion of the pleasure which their exercise had given
him in his varied wanderings in Europe, Asia, and
America, that led him to write, in the midst of his
university and other work, his admirable ‘* Fuhrer fiir
Forschungsreisende,’? which was published in 1886.
No one but a born and trained explorer, who had
enjoyed ample experience by flood and fell, all over
the globe, could have given to the world such a
volume, so full of the ripest practical knowledge, so
broad in its conception of what exploration should
be, and so clear and emphatic in its statement of the
accomplishments which are needed for the making of
a successful traveller. Every department of observ-
ation is luminously presented in his chapters, which
may be regarded as a contribution of the first import-
ance to physical geography and geology. The
volume is one which ought to be put into the hands
of every man who proposes to undertake the examin-
ation of new or little known regions, and who is
willing to learn beforehand what is expected of him
by those most competent to judge.

With Berlin as his headquarters, and a home there
which attracted men from all lands, the Baron and
his gracious and devoted wife formed the centre of a
large circle of friends; but he journeyed far to attend
meetings and congresses, where his handsome
presence and genial tall were always welcomed.
Hence not many men of science of his day were more
widely known personally than he. He received end-
less marks of appreciation from learned societies and
academies, both in the Old and in the New World.
Our own Royal Society honoured itself by including
him in its list of foreign members. His death has
left a blank in scientific society which no living man
is competent to fill. For many a year he will be
regretted by all who even only slightly knew him, and
mourned by those who were privileged to enjoy his
friendship.

THE TREASURY AND MEN OF SCIENCE.

Ap ite subjoined letter from the Earl of Crawford
appeared in Monday’s Times. The parsimony
of the Government in everything relating to the scien-
tific work needed for the State service is well known;
what is not yet known generally is how much the
administration is weakened by the entire absence of
science, and therefore of the scientific spirit, in the
higher ranks of the Civil Service, and especially of
the Treasury. The official action described by Lord
Crawford is another indication of the inability of the
official mind to understand that science has any place
in the nation’s activities.

To the Editor of the “ Times.”

Sir,—The death, noted by you to-day, of my dear
friend and colleague Dr. Copeland, His Majesty’s
Astronomer for Scotland, creates a vacancy in the
scientific staff of Great Britain.

Will you permit me, Sir, to offer a word of warning
to any who may be asked to succeed him?

Students or masters of astronomy are not, in the

10

WATCTEE

[ NOVEMBER 2, 1905

selfish sense, business men, nor are they as a general
rule overburdened with this world’s goods. It
behoves them henceforth to take more care as to their
future in case of illness or physical infirmity, and not
to trust to the gratitude or generous impulse of the
Treasury Department.

In old days it was the custom when a man dis-
tinguished in science was brought into a high position
in the Civil Service that he was credited with a certain
number of years’ service ranking for pension. This
practice has been done away with and a bargain
system substituted. A short while ago the growing
agonies of heart disease caused Dr. Copeland to feel
that he was less able to carry on the duties of his
post, and he determined to resign; but he learnt that
under the scale, and in the absence of any special
bargain, the pension he would receive would not
suffice for the necessities of life. The only increase
his friends were able to get from the Treasury was
an offer to allow him about half-a-crown a week
extra by way of a house.

Indignant and ashamed of my Government I per-
suaded Dr. Copeland to withdraw his resignation and
to retain the official position which he has honoured
till his death.

I trust, Sir, that this memorandum of mine may
cause eminent men of science who are asked to enter
the service of the State when already of middle age
to take heed for their future welfare.

I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
CRAWFORD.

2 Cavendish Square, October 28.

The number of years given by Act of Parliament was twenty, because
the ordinary civil servant joined at twenty to learn his work, and men of

science joined at about forty because they had to learn it before they were
of any use to a Government department.—[Ep. ]

THE BRITISH SCIENCE GUILD.

HE inaugural meeting of the British Science Guild,

the organisation and objects of which were stated
in Nature of October 12 (vol. Ixxii. p. 585), was held
at the Mansion House on Monday, October 30. The
Lord Mayor presided. | Among those who had ac-
cepted the Lord Mayor’s invitation to attend were the
following :—

The Bishop of Ripon, Lord Strathcona, Mr. Haldane,
K.C., M.P., Sir Norman Lockyer, Lady Lockyer, Sir
Michael Foster, Sir William Ramsay, Lady Ramsay, Sir
J. F. Maurice, Sir J. Wolfe-Barry, Sir W. Bousfield, Sir
G. T. C. Bartley, Sir E. W. Brabrook, Sir C. Bridge, Sir
Lauder Brunton, Sir A. Geikie, Sir W. Mather, Sir H. T.
Wood, Dr. G. T. Beilby, Dr. Caird, Captain Creak, Dr.
Ferrier, Dr. W. Garnett (represented by his son), Mr.
Gifford, Dr. Glazebrock, Prof. Gowland, Mr. R. A. Had-
field, Prof. J. Larmor, Prof. Lealey, Dr. Lockyer, Mr.
C. W. Macara, Prof. Meldola, Prof. Perry, Mr. J. H.
Reynolds, Dr. Shaw, Mr. A. Siemens, Mr. Swinburne,
Rev. T. R. Stebbing, Mr. Carmichael Thomas, Prof. S. P.
Thompson.

The following are extracts from letters expressin

o
. “a: . 5
regret at inability to attend the meeting.

Mr. Chamberlain :—
“TI am very sorry to find that I cannot possibly be in
London on Monday the 3oth inst. . . . I very much regret

that I cannot take an active part in the meeting on this
occasion, but possibly some more convenient opportunity
for showing my interest may occur at a later time.”

Lord Roberts :—

““T am very sorry to refuse the request contained in
your letter of the 12th instant, but I have so much on hand
at present that I could not manage to attend... . I
recognise the value of the Guild and wish I could help it.”’

NO. 1879, VOL. 73]

Lord Rayleigh :—
““T fear I shall not be able to come to the meeting .. .

but I shall be very pleased to join in the movement and
become a vice-president if desired.”’

The following report of the meeting is reproduced,
in great part, from Tuesday’s Times :—

The Lord Mayor in a few words welcomed those who
had accepted invitations to be present, and called upon
Sir Norman Lockyer to read the report of the organising
committee.

Sir Norman Lockyer, having read the report, said that
the organising committee was grateful for the consent the
Lord Mayor so readily accorded to them to hold their
first meeting at the Mansion House. He had every hope
that under such auspices the guild might do for British
national endeavour in the future what so many ancient
guilds, each in its special line of action, were founded to
do in the long past. When his own views as to the
importance, nay the burning necessity, of such a movement
as that throughout the land, among all classes, and in
touch with all employments, were expressed some time
ago, he suggested that it might be brought about by ex-
tending the functions of some existing organisation, such,
for instance, as the British Association; but he was soon
made to see that that was to take a too narrow view of
the matter. It was not a question merely of science and
scientific men; it was a question of conducting all our
national activ’ties, State service, private service, and what
not, under the best possible conditions with the greatest
amount of brain-power. To show that it was not a question
only for scientific men, he would just refer for a moment
to the matter of education. He yielded to none in respect
for those studies which embraced ancient civilisations and
their literatures, but they alone were as incapable of form-
ing the complete man as would be instruction in the mere
facts of science apart from the actual use of the methods
of observation and discovery. A complete education must
be based upon things and thinking, as well as upon words
and memory. We wanted one kind of education for every-
body—the best. We wanted that education carried as far
as possible in the case of each individual, whether the
time for education was long or short. No one should be
stopped, save by his own incapacity, from proceeding
further down the fair stream of education which should
make the complete man, both educationally and physically.
We want that stream freed from the impediments with
which it was at present dammed—they might spell the
word as they liked. These impediments were many of
them needlessly hurtful, and most of them unnecessary
from a large point of view.

Indeed, they wanted to revert to the ideal of the ancient
university, from the curriculum of which natura rerum
was never absent, and in which the poor student was
always cared for. The western world was wondering at
the efficiency of both the navy and the army of Japan.
There was really nothing to wonder at. Most of the
reasons suggested for what had happened were, he held,
entirely wrong. If the Japanese religion or the old
Japanese civilisation had been in question, then China
would have followed suit. What really had happened in
Japan was that for the last thirty years everybody, from
the Mikado to the smallest boy and girl, had been taught
to think. They had been dealing with things as well as
words in their schools, and they represented at the present
moment the maximum of efficiency and brain-power as the
result of that treatment. Mr. Chamberlain, Lord Rose-
bery, and others had referred to the great relative advance
of the commerce and industry of Germany and the United
States. He would again point out that these were
examples of lands with complete and numerous State-aided
universities. Surely it was more than a coincidence when
we found in those lands the State service and all the
national activities carried on in the full light of modern
science by men who had received a complete training. If
the guild helped us in any way to improve our national
position in this respect it would not have been founded in
vain, but there was certainly much for it to do along
many lines.

The Bishop of Ripon moved the first resolution :—

NOVEMBER 2, 1905 |

IMA TORE: it

‘* That the Right Hon. R. B. Haldane be elected president
of the British Science Guild.’’ He said they had met
together to enforce as far as they could what had fallen
from Sir Norman Lockyer’s lips. He supposed that all of
them who had reflected would realise that the time had
come in which it was desirable that an organisation
specifically directed to that end should take its place among
the useful institutions and associations of this country.
He was quite sure that those who had thought hitherto
of the somewhat aimless way in which the benevolent
had gone about their work and the somewhat haphazard
way in which, indeed, some of the industrious had pursued
theirs, must realise that those ways were not likely to
conduce to the general welfare, or even to conduce to the
very object which the benevolent and the industrious had
in view. He knew there were some who still looked
askance at the words science and scientific method, and
they had a sort of dim idea that science and scientific
methods had come to destroy some of the most beautiful
instincts of our nature. They were inclined to say to
people that the new fangled notions had come in to
incommode them in their activities, to destroy their
cherished notions, and to check their benevolent intentions.
But that was to misunderstand, as he took it, the whole
situation. No person, however devoted he might be to
_the cause of science and scientific method, believed for a
moment that science would be able to create faith or to
create charity. They might, however, do a great deal to
give confidence to faith, and certainly might guide the feet
of charity into the ways and methods of wisdom. The
value of applying science and scientific methods to all
forms of human endeavour lay in the simple fact that
there was the educating power which charity and benevo-
lent impulse so generally and so legitimately desired.
Everyone desired to help the needy; but who did not
know that the methods of indiscriminate charity had
really ended in defeating the ends which the charitable
had in view? But the scientific study of economic con-
ditions was capable of putting into the hands of the
charitable the proper method of dealing with the needy.
He could only recall to their minds what an eminent
Frenchman said in speaking of France after the war. He
said, speaking of his fellow-countrymen and of the sub-
ject which had occupied Sir Norman Lockyer’s mind that
day—namely, the subject of general and specific education
from a national standpoint—that they had been defeated,
not by Bismarck and Moltke alone, but by Kant and
Hegel, Goethe and Schiller and Humboldt, and other
great minds which Germany had produced. They had
been defeated, in fact, he said, by the brain—the educated
brain and the scientific method of those who contended
against them. It was not the victory of arms alone,
but the victory of brain brought to bear upon the field of
war. He could imagine two classes of men becoming
strongly and earnestly interested in this endeavour. He
could understand the benevolent saying, “‘ Teach us how
to do good,’’ and he could understand those who were
interested in the prosperity of the nation saying, ‘‘ Teach
us how best to procure it.’? The benevolent mind was
constantly brought into anxiety and suspense by questions
of solicitude concerning the safety and the health of our
fellow creatures, but here was a simple method by which
science might come and say to the benevolent, ‘‘ We are
helping you to prepare the way.’’ Let him direct their
attention to two great institutions which existed, one in
Holland and the other in Germany. There were two
museums, called Museums of Safety, the purpose of which
was to show in working models every appliance which had
been devised by the care and the study of scientific men

and experts for the protection of life and limb, for the |

promotion of health, for preventing the accident in the
mine, the accident in the mill, the danger to health
arising from noxious vapours in some of our great places
of employment, and the accumulated dust which gets into
the lungs of the worker. These and other important
matters affecting the safety and the welfare of the people
were dealt with in these museums. People were taught
the best method of feeding their children by showing
them what might be called the various values, the health
values, of foodstuffs. [They were shown also in economical
fashion how a house might be built. These museums

NO. 1879, VOL. 73]

existed, and, with their working models, were open five
days in the week for the inspection and instruction of
the public. What were those great Museums of Safety
which they found in Charlottenburg and Amsterdam
but living witnesses of how scientific methods might be
brought to bear on the protection of the health and life
of the people of the world? Our manufacturers, and
perhaps our farmers, had been content to go on in what
might be called jogtrot ways, not watching how far know-
ledge had advanced beyond them, and the mere rule of
thumb and the traditional methods had prevailed some-
times to the detriment of industry, often to that of the
consumer. Those things were precisely the way in which
that Science Guild might come forward and do what had
been done in Germany, so that there might be places
where the manufacturer and farmer might go and get
scientific advice of the best character. Those were things
which meant the one thing for which the guild had come
into existence—namely, the application of scientific methods
to human endeavours throughout the world. Precisely
because the pressure of the competition of the world had
become so great it was for us to say that the old England
that we loved and were proud of should hold her place
among the nations of the world, and as she had the
courageous heart and the enthusiastic spirit so also she
should be given the clear-thinking brain and the well-
studied handicraft and industry. The urgency of the
thing was clear, and the only way in which it could be
applied was clear also. He concluded by proposing Mr.
Haldane as president, and spoke of him as one.who knew
what was necessary for the public good, and essential for
its industrial prosperity, and who added to that the weight
of his name and the strong position which he held in the
legal and political world.

Lord Strathcona seconded the motion. In doing so he

' said that it must be a great relief and satisfaction to all

of them to find that they had placed before them some-
thing which savoured in no sense of party politics—an
object which was for the general good.

Sir W. Mather supported the motion. He said that
in this country we had the foundations for the highest
scientific industry the world possessed. We had in
many of our industries the most brilliant scientific
methods and processes. We had plenty of science in
England; we knew what the Germans knew, and what
the Americans knew. The trouble was that the people
of England had not been trained to enable them to use
largely the methods of science and the principles of
science which the people of other countries—not the select
men, not the men specially gifted, not the men of genius
only, but the men who had the conduct, even in subor-
dinate positions, of some of the departments of scientific
manufacture—possessed. The association had for one of
its objects the promotion of scientific education through-
out the Empire by encouraging the universities and other
institutions, where the bounds of science were extended,
or new applications of science were devised. What men
like himself looked for in adopting scientific methods
generally throughout their workshops was the foreman
class, the subordinate managers, the managers who could

carry out the advance of science which emanated from
the top. He had just returned to England after four
months’ absence in the United States, and he found,
while in America, that the whole tendency and trend

of American thought and feeling was to take masses of
their young men and train them, so that they might

take their part not as managers, employers, capitalists,
and so on, but as workers in their industries. That
society had before it its greatest work in looking to

the education of the people of England. It should work
upon the Government of the day, Liberal or Conservative,
and take care tfiat there should be sufficient expenditure
and sufficient convenience provided throughout the length
and breadth of the land to enable our young people to
have some opportunities in their lives like those which
were afforded to the young people of the United States.

The resolution was carried unanimously.

Mr. Haldane, who was received with cheers, said he
gratefully acknowledged that resolution and the honour
which they had conferred upon him in electing him
president of ihat new organisation. He did not know

12 NATURE

[NovEMBER 2, 1905

that he had other quaiifications for it than this—that the
matter was one which interested him intensely. Nearly
ten years ago, when the political party to which he
belonged went out of office, he looked about for some-
thing to do, and he thought he might as well turn his
hand to the somewhat cobwebbed state of the higher
education of this country. After a time he approached
the Government, and he found them sympathetic, and
they had remained throughout that period sympathetic.
There were those who said that some time or other they
would go out and another Government ‘come in. He
hoped in the same way to have a chance of approaching
that Government and trying to persuade it to be sym-
pathetic. Why was it that so many people had come
together that day—people of different minds but converg-
ing upon the same idea—to call for an activity which
should be unhasting and unresting, the organisation of
the higher science in its application to the affairs of this
country? He thought it was because almost every year in
an increasing fashion brought us in this nation an awaken-
ing. We were not the only nation which had received an
awakening. Japan wakened up the nations of the West
from their dogmatic slumber not long since, and we had
perhaps not even yet assimilated the lesson which that
awakening had taught the world. He agreed with Sir
Norman Lockyer that that organisation ought not to
mean merely science. It ought not to mean merely instruc-
tion; it ought to mean the bringing of method, the bringing
of thinking, into the modes of government which applied
to our public affairs and which applied to our private
industries alike. That was what we wanted, and without
that we should fall behind, and that kind of organisation

meant science, and it meant education. The Bishop
of Ripon alluded to the question of the Poor
Law. There was a _ very interesting pamphlet which

was published the other day, and which he commended to
all of them who had not read it—the report of the Birming-
ham brass-workers on what they found when they went
to Berlin to compare the condition of the working men
of their own trade with that of similar working men in the
German capital. One thing which they discovered was that
in Germany the unemployed question had been to a great
extent solved. There were two ways in which they could
deal with the unemployed question without solving it. One
was to do nothing at all, but say that so-called economic
laws must work their way. That view, he thought, opinion
nowadays condemned. But there was another way which
he hoped the nation would condemn just as severely, and
that was to grant public money in response to any demand
which was made by ignorant people without recognising
the fact that steps of that kind merely meant that one got
a body of honest but weak people who came to depend,
not on their own exertions, but on what the State would
do for them. The brass-workers found organisation.
They found that science had been set to work to solve
the problem of the unemployed. They found that the
unemployed were sifted out by State, municipal, and
Private charitable organisations directed and employed
by the State. They were sifted into classes. Those who
wanted work and could not get it were provided for to
almost a complete extent by the cooperation of the Govern-
ment and the employers and the municipalities. Those
who had not got work and did not want it were put into
places which were not prisons, but where they were forced
to work for a very moderate wage, which was saved up
for them and given to them afterwards. The Birmingham
brass-workers came back with the view that the provision
for the German brass-worker was superior to anything
even in Birmingham. They were too enthusiastic. He
had lived in Germany, and he knew that the things
they saw there would never be tolerated in this country.
From the cradle to the grave the German was ruled.
Paternal government was exercised over him, well aided
by what he might, figuratively speaking, call the birch
rod. At no point of his existence was he a free man,
and the result was that in Germany to-day there was
something like a revolt, and an aspiration for our British
freedom. A pamphlet had been published on the Germans
and their Fatherland, in which a plea was put forward
for the study and imitation of English institutions. It
had had an immense circulation in Germany, and ought

No. 1879, VOL 73]

to be translated into English. The writer advised his
readers to go to see Eton and Harrow, ‘where there
might not be much learning, but where the boys ruled
the school, set up public opinion among themselves,
and as a result turned out governors of men and
patriots, instead of men who, like the Germans, when
they left their country felt in the recollection of their
schools that they had left an almost prison life. That
great German authority was under the same delusion as
the Birmingham brass-workers. He was too enthusiastic.
But in that pamphlet the German Emperor was quoted
as making the observation that the real truth about the
matter lay between the German and the British systems.
We had to see how we could get the German faculty of
organisation, train people to think more of it, and apply
it to the various departments of our affairs. Our execu-
tive Government was about as disorganised an_institu-
tion as anybody could conceive. Suppose they wanted to
appoint a man of high scientific mind as an official. They
were at once told that it would be against the rules of
the department. In vain they would reply they were
bringing in a man of science for public purposes; the
answer would be that the Civil Service rules made it
difficult to do anything of the kind. Some of them had
been trying to impress upon the nation that the organisa-
tion of the highest education of the universities ought
not.to be left to haphazard. He was chairman of a com-
mittee which sat last year, and they made a_ report
which had been more lucky than most reports. One of
its recommendations related to the grants to the university
colleges of this country, and was that a scientific advisory
body should be created and put at the elbow of the
Treasury to advise it in giving money to the univer-
sities. He was glad to say that a sympathetic Chancellor
of the Exchequer had adopted that suggestion, and in
the course of the winter they would learn who the advisory
members were to be. Let them take another department
—the Board of Trade. The Board of Trade ought to be
a great ministry of commerce. We had a vast home trade
as well as a vast foreign trade, and the statistics relating
to them should be of the most authoritative kind. There
was the same necessity for scientific methods in relation
to the Home Office and the departments with which it
dealt. For himself he believed that things would not be
right until we had a scientific corps under a permanent
committee, just as the Defence Committee was under the
Prime Minister to-day. He meant a body that would not
consist merely of officials of the ordinary kind, but should
consist of the most eminent men of science, who would
go there because they were honoured and put on the foot-
ing upon which they deserved to be placed, and were
recognised as a body of men who would be at the elbow
of the department, and could organise the scientific work
of the State. He hoped that if they got to that, the
example of a Government adopting science would be fol-
lowed by the municipalities, as he believed it was going
to be followed more and more by our manufacturers.
There was great work for that association to do. We
lived in a country where science was not so much appre-
ciated as it should be. Our people liked to see cash
over the counter, and they did not like to wait for
deferred payment. But we were waking up, and we had
this enormous advantage, that our very individualism had
produced some of the finest scientific talent of the world.
He did not like to mention men on that platform, though
he could do so, whose names ranked with the highest of the
world. We had produced, to speak of those who were
absent, our Kelvins, our Rayleighs, our J. J. Thomsons,
than whom the world had no greater, to say the least of it.
He had no doubt that if the British nation were given a
chance it could beat the world. But we wanted know-
ledge. This was a new century; we had a new Sovereign;
we might have a new Parliament; we should have a
new chance. Let us see to it that we used our oppor-
tunities. The midnight call had come, let us take heed
that we were ready. Knowledge was power. That was
the great lesson of to-day. Let us hold to it that know-
ledge was power, and that without knowledge there was
no real power in these times of intense competition.

Mr. C. W. Macara (president of the Federation of
Master Cotton Spinners’ Associations) moved :—‘‘ That

NOVEMBER 2, 1905 |

NATURE 13

those whose names are given in the provisional list as
vice-presidents and officers of the British Science Guild
be elected in those capacities and asked to serve.’

This list is as follows :—

Vice-presidents: The Right Hon. the Lord Mayor of
London, Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, O.M.,, R.A., the
Right Hon. Lord Alverstone, G.C.M.G., F.R.S., Lord
Balcarres, M.P., the Right Hon. the Earl of Berkeley,
Admiral Sir Cyprian Bridge, G.C.B., Sir William
Broadbent, Bart., K.C.V.O., F.R.S., Sir Walter Buller,
K.C.M.G., F.R.S., Sir J. Burdon-Sanderson, Bart.,
F.R.S., Major-General Sir Owen Tudor Burne, G.C.1.E.,
K.C.S.1., the Right Hon. Joseph Chamberlain, M.P.,
F.R.S., Sir William Church, Bart., K.C.B., Sir George
Sydenham Clarke, K.C.M.G., F.R.S., Sir John Colomb,
K.C.M.G., M.P., the Right Hon. the Earl of Donough-
more, the Right Hon. Earl Egerton of Tatton, Sir John
Eliot, K.C.I.E., F.R.S., Sir Michael Foster, Kk Gabs,
M.P., F.R.S., the Right Hon. Sir Edward Fry, F.R.S.,
Sir Archibald Geikie, F.R.S., Mr. F. Du Cane Godman,
F.R.S., the Right Hon. Sir John Gorst, K.C., M.P.,
F.R.S., the Right Hon. Lord Haliburton, G.C.B., Sir
Joseph Hooker, G.C.S.I., F.R.S., Sir Alfred Jones,
K.C..1.G., the Right Hon. Viscount Knutsford, G.C.M.G.,
Prof. Ray Lankester, F.R.S., Dr. J. Larmor, F.R.S., Mr.
C. W. Macara (president of Federation of Master Cotton
Spinners’ Associations), Sir Charles McLaren, Bart.,
K.C., M.P., the Right Hon. Sir Horace Plunkett,
K.C.V.O., F.R.S., the Right Hon. Lord Rayleigh, O.M.,
F.R.S., Prof. Rhys, the Lord Bishop of Ripon, Mr. E.
Robertson, K.C., M.P., the Right Hon. Lord Tennyson,
P.C., G.C.M.G., Sir Philip Watts, K.C.B., F.R.S., His
Grace the Duke of Wellington, K.G., G.C.V.O., Sir John
Wolfe-Barry, K.C.B., F.R.S.; chairman of committees:
Sir Norman Lockyer, K.C.B., F.R.S.; vice-chairmen: Sir
William Abney, K.C.B., F.R.S., Sir Lauder Brunton,
F.R.S., the Right Hon. Sir John Cockburn, K.C.M.G.,
Sir Gilbert Parker, M.P.; trustees: the Right Hon. Lord
Strathcona and Mount Royal, G.C.M.G., Sir Henry
Roscoe, F.R.S.; hon. treasurer: the Right Hon. Lord
Avebury, F.R.S.; hon. assist. treasurer: Lady Lockyer,
16 Penywern Road, S.W.; hon. secretary: Mr. C.
Cuthbertson, pro tem.

Admiral Sir Cyprian Bridge seconded the motion. In
doing so he said that the officers of the Japanese navy
had frequently mentioned to him the satisfaction it was
to them, and the benefit it had been to them, to have
been brought up by officers of the British Navy.

The resolution was agreed to.

Sir J. Wolfe Barry moved :—‘‘ That the president, vice-
presidents, and officers and the other members of the
Guild mentioned in the provisional list be elected members
of the general committee of the Guild.’’ He said that
the movement must be looked upon as an educational
movement, to educate the people at large and the Govern-
ment and political parties not to undervalue the great
resources of science in the development of the kingdom.
Much had been done, and he had only to look back on the
progress of the nineteenth century to see how leading a
part science had taken in the development of the nation.
But everybody must admit that we must not rest and be
thankful for what had been done. An immense amount
remained. This country must not stand still. It had
the most vigorous competitors, who brought all the pro-
duct of science into the contest which they waged against
us in so many industrial and social ways. The business
of that guild would be, he thought, to urge everybody to
go forward in hope, and we must not suffer ourselves to
be left behind by the development of other nations from
whom we might learn much. At the same time, he firmly
believed that this country had nothing to fear if only it
were true to itself.

Major-General Sir J. F. Maurice seconded the resolu-
tion, which was passed.

Sir W. Ramsay moved a vote of thanks to the Lord
Mayor. In doing so he said that in England we had
a great deal of scientific ability. Much of it was
organised, but its application to the affairs of the State,
to the Army, to the Navy, to the service of the nation

NO 1879, VOL. 73}

at large, could be very much better organised than it
was. The object of that guild was to attempt to effect
that organisation, which was so much required. If that
was so he was sure they would all agree that to promote
the object of that guild was one of the most important
tasks which the nation could undertake. He hoped they
would all unite to promote that object and gain adherents
for the guild, with the result that before many years we
should be less of a disorganised rabble and more of an
organised army than we were now.

Dr. Robert Caird seconded the motion,
heartily carried.

which was

NOTES.

WE regret to announce that Prof. Ralph Copeland,
Astronomer-Royal for Scotland and professor of astronomy
in the University of Edinburgh, died on October 27, at
sixty-eight years of age.

Captain F. W. Hurton, F.R.S., curator of the Canter-
bury Museum, Christchurch, New Zealand, and president
of the New Zealand Institute, died on October 27 while
returning home by the R.M.S. Rimutaka at the con-
clusion of a visit to England. He was sixty-eight years
of age, and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in
1892.

AN interesting gathering of the old pupils of Mr. Francis
Darwin, F.R.S., formerly reader in botany, was held in
the botany school of the University of Cambridge on
October 28, when his portrait, by Mr. W. Rothenstein,
was presented to the botanical department by a body of
subscribers, all formerly his pupils. To Mr. Darwin him-
self was presented a handsome book containing autographs
of his pupils. Speeches were made by members of the
staff and by other botanists regretting the severance, after
twenty-one years, of Mr. Darwin’s connection with the
botanical department.

At a meeting of the general committee of the British
Association held on Tuesday, Leicester was adopted as
the place of meeting of the association in 1907 ‘by the
following resolution, which was passed unanimously :—
‘‘That having regard to the fact that no meeting of the
Association has as yet been held in Leicester, the general
committee decides to accept the cordial invitation from that
town, and at the same time expresses its most hearty
appreciation of the kind and courteous invitation from the
city of Dublin, and ventures to express the hope that the
invitation may be renewed at an early date.”

On Monday, October 30, a strong earthquake shock,
lasting four seconds, was recorded at Catanzaro in the
afternoon; and two earthquake shocks, one rather marked
and the other slight, were observed at Monteleone in the
evening.

WE have received a letter from Dr. Faulds in which he
replies to the review of his book on October 19 (supple-
ment, p. iv). The more important part of his letter lies
in the assertion that he had devised a method of ciassify-
ing finger-prints. Where can an exact description of his
method be found? His book contains only generalities
about it, and his present letter goes no further.

At the annual general meeting of the Royal Society of
Edinburgh, held on October 23, the following officers and
members of council were elected :—President, the Right

Hon. Lord Kelvin, G.C.V.O., F.R.S.; vice-presidents,
Hon. Lord M‘Laren, Prof. Flint, Dr. R. Munro, Sir
John Murray, K.C.B., F.R.S., Dr. R. H. Traquair,
F.R.S., Prof. Crum Brown, F.R.S.; general secretary,

Prof. George Chrystal; secretaries to ordinary meetings,

14 NATURE

[ NovEMBER 2, 1905

Prof. D. J. Cunningham, F.R.S., Dr. €. G. Knott ;
treasurer, Mr. P. R. D. Maclagan; curator of library and
museum, Dr. Alex. Buchan, F.R.S.; councillors, Prof.
Andrew Gray, F.R.S., Dr. R. Kidston, F.R.S., Dr. D.
Noél Paton, Prof. John Chiene, C.B., Prof. J. Graham
Kerr, Dr. W. Peddie, Dr. L. Dobbin, Prof. J. C. Ewart,
FR:S., Dra BS Ni Peach, BsRsS); Dr. J ji: Dobbie;
F.R.S., Prof. G. A. Gibson, Prof. J. P. Kuenen.

,

An International Fisheries Exhibition, to include every-
thing connected with the sea—either oceanographical or
sea fisheries business—will be held at Marseilles under
official control from April to October, 1906. The oceano-
graphical part of the exhibition will illustrate the work
of the principal biological societies, marine zoological
laboratories, and similar institutions. The investigations
of the Prince of Monaco will occupy a large room, and
France, Germany, Portugal, the Netherlands, Norway,
Sweden, America, Japan, and England will have separate
spaces allotted to them. The practical and industrial side
of fisheries in many parts of the world, as well as the
products of the sea, will be represented. Applications for

space will be received up to January 15, 1906, by the
agents, Exposition de Marseille, 5 rue des Mathurins,
Paris, who will also supply any further information

required.

Major-GENERAL Sir Cuartes Witson, K.C.B., F.R.S.,
died on October 25 at Tunbridge Wells in his seventieth
year. Trained as a soldier, his aptitude for work outside
the routine of regimental duty soon led to his appoint-
ment in directions in which his scientific attainments could
be utilised. In 1858, when he was but twenty-two years
of age, he was appointed secretary to the North American
Boundary Commission. From 1864-6 he was engaged on
surveys of Jerusalem and Palestine, and for two years
after this with the Ordnance Survey of Scotland, when he
again left home to undertake the survey of Mount Sinai.

This piece of work was followed by seven years as the |

director of the topographical department of the War
Office. From 1876 to 1878 he was engaged on the
Ordnance Survey of Ireland, and from 1886 to 1894 Sir
Charles Wilson was the director-general of the Ordnance
Surveys at headquarters. He was elected a Fellow of the
Royal Society in 1874, and was twice president of the
geographical section of the British Association, in 1874
at Belfast and in 1888 at Bath. He served as a vice-presi-
dent of the Royal Geographical Society from 1897-1902.
He was the author of several works on those countries in
the east where his surveying work was done, in addition
to one or two well known guide-books. It is interesting,
in view of the attention given in recent years to the
claims of geography to be included in the subjects required
of army officers, to remember that Sir Charles Wilson, in
his British Association address in 1874, spoke of the
influence which the physical features of the earth’s crust
have on the course of military Operations, and of the
consequent importance of the study of physical geography
to all those who have to plan or take part in a campaign.

A MEMORIAL bust of the late Dr. Joule was unveiled on
October 28 at Sale, near Manchester. The ceremony was
performed by Sir William Bailey, president of the Man-
chester Literary and Philosophical Society, who delivered
an address. In the course of his remarks, Sir William
Bailey said that Joule was born in New Bailey Street,
Salford, in the year 1818. He studied under Dalton, who
advised Joule’s father to send him, on the completion of
his studies, to Sturgeon, the inventor of the soft

No. 1879, VOL. 73]

iron

magnet. Under his instruction Joule became a competent
electrician, and the inventor of electric welding. Mr.
Denny Lane was at the British Association meeting at
Cork in 1843 when Joule read his first paper on the
‘Mechanical Equivalent,’’ and he assisted Dr. Joule to
drum up an unwilling audience of six people, of which
one. Sir William Bailey compared, in one part
of his address, the coal consumption from the year 1840
to the present day. In 1840 the Britannia, 740 horse-
power, Cunarder, used more than 4% lb. of coal, in 1862
the Scotia used 31 lb., in 1881 a steamboat used 2 lb.,
and to-day the lowest consumption is 1 lb. per horse-
power per hour; much of this economy may fairly be
credited to knowledge of the mechanical equivalent.
There are about 13-500 British thermal units in a pound
of good coal, and if there is no loss in consuming it there
would be a power equal to five horses obtained from it;
but engineers know that the best engines under the most
scientific conditions and skilful attention with boilers under
the most skilled superintendence only give a duty of
t horse-power for r lb. of coal. Joule invented electric
welding in 1855. With a battery of six Daniel cells he
succeeded in fusing steel wires and uniting steel, brass,
and platinum to iron. Again, his experiments proved that
it takes $ lb. of zinc to fuse 1 lb. of iron. Some portion
of Joule’s library and apparatus is at the Manchester
Technical School.

he was

Tue sixth annual Huxley lecture of the Anthropological
Institute was delivered on Tuesday, October 31, by Dr.
John Beddoe, F.R.S., ex-president of the institute; the
chair was taken by Prof. Gowland. The lecturer chose
as his subject *‘ Colour and Race,’’ and dealt mainly with
the problems of Central Europe and the British Isles.
After asserting the right of pigmentation to a high place
among somatological data, Dr. Beddoe traced the history
of the colour question, maintaining the correctness of his
own methods as against those of Virchow and others; he
showed, incidentally, that the latter gave incorrect results
in certain areas. After adverting to the influence of heat,
humidity, and various kinds of disease in causing selection
of brunettes in certain localities, he passed on to explain
in detail pigmentation maps of Central Europe which he
had prepared; fairness was shown to increase from south
to north, both in Europe and the British Isles, but it was
open to question whether in the latter case historical
rather than climatic grounds were not mainly operative.
On the map of Ireland the traces of invading races were
strongly marked; but in England the Saxons had not
exterminated the preceding races, as was sometimes
imagined. In conclusion, the lecturer asserted the proba-
bility of a change in the direction of dark pigmentation in

this country, due to the predominant influence of the
proletariat. The Huxley memorial medal was then pre-
sented to the lecturer by the president, and suitably

acknowledged by the recipient.

IN an interesting article in the Times (October 28), some
of the current theories on the ztiology of the disease known
as “ beri-beri’’ are reviewed. That of Dr. Hose, which
ascribes the disease to the consumption of mouldy rice, is
considered to accord with the facts better than any other.
It must, however, be admitted that in the opinion of those
best qualified to judge, this dietetic theory cannot be
maintained. At the same time, it would be well, in the
present state of our knowledge, to examine critically all
theories, and it is stated that experiments are being made
at Cambridge, under Prof. Sims Woodhead’s direction, to
test the truth or otherwise of Dr. Hose’s theory.

NOVEMBER 2, 1905 |

INCA TCO TCE, 15

Ar a largely attended meeting of the Brighton and
Sussex Medico-Chirurgical Society held at Brighton on
October 27, Sir Frederick Treves gave an address on the
Army Medical Service. He pointed out that in the South
African campaign the admissions to hospital were 746 per
1000 on account of disease, and only 34 per 1000 for
wounds. Our present medical department is totally in-
adequate, and a sufficient reserve must be created. Sir
Frederick concluded by pointing out what appeared to
him to be needed to make the Army Medical Service as
perfect as possible. The points were :—(1) The Director-
General should be the head of his department and be
responsible for its efficiency and economical administration ;
(2) he should have direct access to the Army Council and
Secretary of State; (3) he should have control of the money
voted for the medical service; (4) the service remaining,
as at present, ‘‘under the supervision of the Advisory
Board ’’; (5) an efficient Army Medical Reserve should be
formed; (6) the combatant officer should have some
knowledge of hygiene as applied to campaigning and
barrack life, and a like knowledge, of a still more elemen-
tary character, should be possessed by the private soldier ;
(7) the Army medical officer should be vested with such
authority and provided with such personnel as would enable
him to carry out those sanitary arrangements in the field
which experience had proved to be absolutely essential to
secure the minimum loss of life from disease.

Dr. J. Huser, of Pard, has sent us a separate copy
of his paper on the formation of colonies in the ant Atta
sexdens, from the Biol. Centralblatt, to which brief refer-
ence has already been made in these columns.

THE annual report of the Geological Survey of New
Jersey for 1904 includes an illustrated account by Mr. C. R.
Eastman of the Triassic fish-fauna of New Jersey, pre-
faced by a general popular dissertation on fossil fishes.
This Triassic fish-fauna is singularly limited but remark-
ably constant throughout the eastern United States, from
Virginia northwards, comprising only half a dozen generic
types, of which four are severally represented only by a
single species.

WE have received five numbers of the Proceedings of the
U.S. Nat. Museum, the contents of four of which are
devoted to the invertebrate faunas of America and the
Philippines. New generic types of South American moths
are discussed by Mr. H. G. Dyar in No. 1419, while other
new forms of the same are described by Mr. W. Warren
in No. 1421. A revision of North American fleas, by Mr.
C. F. Baker, forms the subject of No. 1417, in which the
author directs attention to the circumstance that fleas
infesting rats in the tropics are more near akin to those
which attack man than is the case with the rat-fleas of
cooler climates, and to the bearing of this fact on the pro-
pagation of plague. Hymenoptera from the Philippines
form the subject of No. 1424; while in No. 1425 Mr.
W. H. Dall discusses the ‘* Universal Conchologist ’’ of
Thomas Martyn, published in 1784, and the value of the
technical names employed therein.

Mucu interesting information with regard to scientific
progress in India will be found in the report of the
Madras Government Museum and Connemara Public
Library for 1904-5, drawn up by Mr. E. Thurston, who
recently returned to his charge after a period of
furlough in this country. The scheme for a systematic
ethnographical survey of India, recently sanctioned by the
Government, enters largely into this report, Mr. Thurston
pointing out the difficulties connected with making such
a survey in a country of the size of India, and referring

NOn1S79, YOU. 7,3)|

to the somewhat unsatisfactory nature of the replies
received from some of those who have undertaken to fill
up papers connected with the subject. The museum is
fortunate in having acquired the valuable series of pre-
historic objects collected by Mr. R. B. Foote, late of the
Indian Geological Survey, during his long residence in
Madras. It may interest numismatists to learn that
certain ancient lead coins kept wooden cabinet
enclosed in an iron safe were found to be reduced to

powder, the metal having been converted into carbonate.

in a

We have received separate copies of two papers by
Francis Baron Nopcesa, the one from the Geological
Magazine for July, and the other from the Annals and
Magazine of Natural History of the same date. In the
former the author describes, with a restored figure, a
large portion of the skeleton of a large carnivorous dino-
saur from the Oxford Clay of Oxford in the collection
of Mr. J. Parker of that city. In place of referring this
splendid specimen to the well known genus Megalosaurus,
Baron Nopesa considers that it indicates a genus apart,
and he identifies it with Streptospondylus, typified by a
few vertebrze and limb-bones in the Paris Museum from
the Kimeridgian of Havre. Among other peculiarities, the
Oxford dinosaur is stated to differ from Megalosaurus in
possessing four (in place of three) hind-toes. It may be
mentioned in this connection that Phillips, in his descrip-
tion of the typical species of the last named genus, ex-
pressly stated that he was uncertain whether there might
not have been a fourth hind-toe. In the second paper the
author gives a new interpretation of the problematical fossil
Kerunia, from the Egyptian Eocene, which has been re-
ferred by one authority to a cephalopod and by a second
to a hydractinian polyp. According to the author, both
these authorities were to a certain degree right, for he
regards Kerunia as a hydractinian in which a cephalopod
took up its residence (symbiosis). The union of the two
organisms was apparently so intimate that while the
encrusting zoophyte undertook the construction of the shell
of the mollusc, the latter controlled to a certain extent
the growth of the zoophyte.

A RETURN has been published, we learn from the Pioneer
Mail, regarding the measures adopted for the extermination
of wild animals and venomous snakes during the year 1904.
The total mortality among human beings reported to have
been caused by wild animals was 2157, against 2749 in
1903. The most noticeable decrease occurred in Madras
and the United Provinces, namely, from 438 and 404 in
1903 to 237 and 193 in 1904 respectively. In the Central
Provinces (including Berar), also, there was an appreciable
decrease—from 470 to 351. The destruction of human life
by tigers in 1904 was smaller than in the previous year,
the number being 786 against 866. As usual, the greatest
mortality occurred in Bengal. The year’s returns show a
marked decline in the number of deaths caused by wolves
—from 463 in 1903 to 244 in 1904, the decrease occurring
principally in the United Provinces, where the mortality
from this cause fell from 278 to 90. It is pointed out that
the number of wolves destroyed in the United Provinces
has fallen from more than 1200 in each of the years 1902
and 1903 to 650 in 1904; and the belief is expressed that
this points to a genuine decrease in their numbers. The
mortality from snake-bite rose from 21,827 to 21,880. It
is reported that in the Seoul district of the Central
Provinces anti-vénin was used with success in two cases,
and the question of introducing more generally the treat-
ment of snake-bite by potassium permanganate is under the
consideration of the local Government. The total number
of snakes killed was 65,378.

16

INA TOPE.

[NOVEMBER 2, 1905

Dr. L. Cockayne contributes a short article on the far
north of New Zealand to the Young Man’s Magazine
(August 1). The narrow strip of land lying north of the
thirty-fifth parallel is for the most part a barren waste
traversed by a few diggers of kauri gum. A belt of man-
groves lines the estuary in Rangaumu Bay, and about
North Cape are found the purple-flowered composite,
Cassinia amoena, the crimson-flowered Veronica speciosa,
and the curious leafless parasite Cassythia paniculata.
Especially interesting is the Reinga, a rocky mass jutting
out into the sea, whence, according to Maori lore, the
Maori spirits took their final leap into the unseen world.

Ir is interesting to find, as noted in the Agricultural
News (September 9), that the new Barbados varieties of
sugar-cane, known as B208 and Br47, have yielded good
results in Queensland; the latter seems to be especially
hardy and proof against fungoid attacks. A remedy is
suggested in connection with an unsatisfactory shipment
of mangoes that the decay which is caused by fungi or
bacteria acting on the bruised surface of the fruit may
be in some measure prevented by immersion in a weak
solution of formalin; it is said that with due precaution
the formalin does not spoil even such delicate fruit as
strawberries.

At the beginning of this year an improvement was
effected in the general style of the Indian Forester, and
now, owing to the departure of two members of the con-
trolling committee, a more permanent arrangement for
a board of management, presided over by the Inspector-
General of Forests, has been established. Mr. E. P.
Stebbing, who continues to act as editor, discusses in the
August number the pros and cons of fire protection in
teak forests, and concludes with the recommendation to
consider how fires can be controlled so as to yield the
maximum benefit with a minimum of damage. He also
furnishes the life-history of a cecidomyid fly which pro-
duces galls or pseudo-cones on Pinus longifolia. Mr.
E. M. Hodgson presents an interesting account of the
arrangements for fire protection in the Mandui range, Surat
district.

In Bulletin No. 26, Bureau of Government Laboratories,
Manila, Dr. Richard Strong gives an admirable survey of
the clinical and pathological significance of the Balantidium
coli, a protozoon parasitic in man and swine, and causing
diarrhoea and pseudo-dysentery.

Tue contents of the Bulletin of the Johns Hopkins
Hospital for October (xvi., No. 175) are chiefly devoted
to medical subjects, but include an interesting summary

of our present conceptions as to the cause of the heart
beat by Mr. E. G. Martin.

Tue Journal of Anatomy and Physiology with the October
number commences its fortieth volume, and Sir William
Turner, F.R.S., who has been an associate editor since
its foundation, contributes a preface. The size of the
page has been much enlarged, which, it is hoped, will be
more advantageous for the reproduction of drawings.
The number contains ten important articles and several
excellent plates.

THE papers in the October number of the Journal of
Hygiene (v., No. 4) maintain a high standard. Among
others, Dr. H. S. Willson writes on a new process for
the isolation of the typhoid bacillus from water by means
of precipitation with alum, Mr. Crofton on anti-bacterial
sera, Mr. de Korté on a sarcosporidium of a monkey, Dr.

NO. 1879, VOL, 73

Graham-Smith on a piroplasma parasite of the mole, Dr.
Nuttall on the prevalence of anopheles, Dr. Harden on the
chemical action on glucose of the lactose-fermenting
organisms of faeces, and Dr. Haldane on the influence of
high air temperatures.

ATTENTION is directed in the Engineering and Mining
Journal, of New York, to the remarkable developments at
Mount Morgan, Queensland, whereby the mine of that
name is being converted from a great gold mine into a
copper mine. Diamond-drill borings have revealed large
bodies of copper gold ore below the previous openings in
the gold ore sufficient to warrant the erection of smelting
works capable of treating 10,000 tons of ore monthly.

Ar the first meeting of the autumn session of the
Institution of Mechanical Engineers, an interesting paper
on the manufacture of cartridge-cases for quick-firing guns,
by Colonel L. Cubillo and the late Mr. A. P. Head, was
submitted. The object of the paper was to describe the
new plant recently completed at the Royal Spanish Arsenal
at Trubia, Spain, for the manufacture of brass cartridge-
cases from 3 inches to 6 inches in diameter.

A STRIKING photograph is reproduced in Engineering
of October 27 showing the extraordinary erosive effect of
the discharge from the Assouan dam. The whole of the
water of the Nile passes through sluices in the face of
the dam. These sluices are at different heights, so that
water is never discharged under a head of more than
29-5 feet, which limits the velocity of discharge to less
than 35 feet per second. Even at this velocity, however,
the water has proved capable of lifting a boulder, weigh-
ing more than 60 tons, out of its natural bed in apparently
solid rock, and hurling it back against the dam.

Tue following method, requiring only a scale and a
pair of dividers, for the measurement of angles is given
in the Engineer. Suppose the length of an are of go° to
be 90 mm., the length of the radius of the corresponding
arch will be 180/7=57-3 mm. Every millimetre, there-
fore, measured as an arc struck with this radius corre-
sponds to an angle of 1°. For example, if an angle of
33° is required, describe an arc of 57-3 mm. radius and
mark off upon it with a pair of dividers 10 mm. three
times, and finally 3 mm. for the odd 3°. The method is
equally applicable to British measures if the standard
radius is taken at 5-73 inches, when the degree corresponds
to one-tenth of an inch.

THe October issue of the Journal of the Franklin
Institute, of Philadelphia, contains an account of the in-
vention and development of the telautograph. Electric
transmission of handwriting has received attention ever
since telegraphic transmission of printed characters was
effected. Prof. Elisha Gray exhibited a telautograph at
Chicago in 1893, but cost and difficulty of manufacture
led to its abandonment. ‘The instrument has been brought
to its present state chiefly through the experimental work
of Mr. G. S. Tiffany. It is a variable current instrument
with several interesting features, including what may be
termed a straight line D’Arsonval movement, which is
used to work the receiver. A large number of private line
telautographs are now in actual use in the United States.

IN a series of papers in the Proceedings of the Royal
Society of Victoria (n.s., vol. xviii., part i., August)
Messrs. Thiele, Chapman and Hall add to the knowledge
of the Palawozoic rocks and fossils of Gippsland. A series
of graptolites, including both some new forms and severak

NOVEMBER 2, 1905]

NATURE 17

well known British species, mark the Ordovician age of
certain black slates; a new species of Receptaculites comes
from Silurian rocks, while some Devonian fossils are re-
described.

Tue frequent association of the acid igneous rock
granophyre with the basic gabbro has attracted the atten-
tion of many geologists, and two explanations have been
offered—(r) that the two rocks have been differentiated,
during slow consolidation, out of a uniferm magma of
intermediate composition; and (2) that one of them repre-
sents the unaltered original magma, while the other has
been formed by part of it absorbing and assimilating
foreign material. Mr. R. A. Daly, of the International
Boundary Commission, describes (Amer. Journ. Sct., 4th
ser., vol. xx., No. 117, September) cases he has observed
in British Columbia and elsewhere which appear to him
to prove conclusively the second theory to be correct.
Gabbro-sills, intrusive in a quartzite, have been converted
into an acid rock along the upper contact by absorption
of silica from the quartzite, the other rock constituents
retaining very nearly their original proportions.

WE have received the report on rainfall registration in
Mysore for 1904 prepared by Mr. J. Cook, director of
meteorology in that province; it contains valuable statistics
relating to the seasonal and geographical distribution over
that extensive area. The number of Government stations
is now 201; but with regard to a few of the stations the
director has to lament culpable inattention on the part of
the officials concerned, who have allowed the gauges to lie
for months without being suitably fixed. Among the heavy

falls in twenty-four hours may be specially mentioned
20-67 inches in June, in the Shimoga district, and
13-70 inches in July, in the Kadur district. The geo-

graphical distribution is plainly exhibited by two maps,
one for the year 1904, and another showing the average
for thirty-five years, 1870-1904; the abnormality of the
distribution owing to the failure of the north-east
monsoon rains is strikingly represented. The thirty-five
years’ average for the whole province is 37-12 inches; the
average for the Kadur district is 74-26 inches, and for the
Chitaldrug district 21-46 inches.

Pror. Stout’s paper on ‘‘ Things and Sensations,’’ read
to the British Academy in May, has been published by
Mr. Henry Frowde. Prof. Stout maintains that the
problem for philosophy is not, Is there an external world?
but What is the external world, and how do we know it?
He points out that in one aspect the thing and its sensible
appearance are regarded as entirely one, and in another
aspect as separate and independent. He rejects the solu-
tion that the sensible appearance is merely the thing itself
appearing, examines hastily but suggestively the views
of Locke and Kant, and comes to the conclusion that there
is an actual existence other than sensation. This he calls
the independent not-self, and he describes it as not un-
knowable and as not matter, but only one constituent of
the complex unity which we call matter. In the concluding
section of his admirable essay he argues that we must
apprehend this independent not-self as another self, or as
a partial aspect of another self more or less like our own.

Tue fifth volume of the new series of the Proceedings
of the Aristotelian Society has been published by Messrs.
Williams and Norgate at tos. 6d. net. The volume in-
cludes the papers read before the society during the session
1904-5, an abstract of minutes of the proceedings, and the
report of the executive committee.

NO. 1879, VOL. 73]

Tue first two parts of a ‘‘ Three Years’ Course of
Practical Chemistry,’’ by Messrs. George H. Martin and
Ellis Jones, science masters of the Bradford Grammar
School, have been published by Messrs. Rivingtons at
1s. 6d. each. The second part, dealing with the work of
the second year of the course, was originally published
privately, and was reviewed in our issue for December 1,
1904 (vol. Ixxi. p. roo). An introduction to each volume
has been provided by Prof. J. B. Cohen.

Amonec the articles in the current number of the
Quarterly Review is one dealing with the aborigines of
Australia, written by Mr. Andrew Lang. This article
reviews the work of the chief observers of the primitive
peoples of Australia, examining exhaustively the researches
of Mr. A. W. Howitt, Mr. F. J. Gillen, and Prof. Baldwin
Spencer. Mr. Lang differs from all these on some points
of theory, though he is profuse in his admiration of the
matter and manner of their work, except as regards
linguistic and philological research. The hypothesis put
forward by Mr. Lang is the converse of that apparently
entertained by Messrs. Spencer and Gillen. To quote the
concluding paragraph of the article:—‘‘ they probably
regard the Arunta lack of religion as primitive, just as
they think the totemism of the Arunta most archaic.
They do not indulge in the comparative method in either
case; and it is the comparative method that leads us to
our conclusions.’’ The same number of the review con-
tains an article on food supply in time of war.

OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN.
ASTRONOMICAL OCCURRENCES IN NOVEMBER :—

Nov. 3. 13h. 35m. to 1qh. 56m. Transit of Jupiter's Sat. IIT.
(Ganymede).
5» 5. 10h. 59m. to 12h. 4m. Moon occults » Aquarii
(mag. 4°8).
»» 9. 15h. 52m. to 16h. 51m. Moon occults y Piscium
(mag. 4°7).
4, 13. 6h. 35m. to 7h. 16m. Moon occults a Tauri
(aig. T°).
3: 13. 9h. 7m. Minimum of Algol (8 Persei).

14-16. Epoch of Leonid shooting stars (Radiant 151° + 23°).
15. Venus. Illuminated portion of disc = 07930. Of
Mars =0°879

”

”

» 16. 5h. 56m. Minimum of Algol (B Pcrsei).

5, 17-21. Epoch of Andromedid shooting s!ars, with probable
maximum November 18 (Radiant 25° +43>)

», 20. Saturn. Major axis of ring =39'°62, Minor axis
EO:

s) 23. 2th. Jupiver in opposition to the Sun.

5,24. 18h. Venus in conjunction with the Moon. Venus
35.42 9: ;

;, 26. 17h. Mercury at greatest elongation, 21° 41’ E.

5 27. I8h. Mercury in conjunction with the Moon.

Mercury 6° 33’ S.

WAVE-LENGTHS oF SiLictum Liyes.—Because of their
especial utility in radial-velocity determinations, Prof.
Frost and Mr. J. A. Brown have re-measured the wave-
lengths of the silicium lines at AA_ 4553, 4568, and 4575,
which were simultaneously identified by Sir Norman
Lockyer and Mr. Lunt, and designated ** group iii.’’ by the
former observer.

The three spectra measured in this new determination
were obtained by passing a strong spark between poles
containing metallic silicium and titanium, the sharp
titanium lines providing useful standards of wave-length
in the subsequent calculation. As a titanium line occurs
near enough to the silicium line at A 4553 to interfere with
the measures of the latter, only those photographs were
used on which the faintness of the other titanium lines
showed that this possible source of error might be
neglected.

As a result of this research the following values were
obtained for the wave-lengths sought:—A 4552-64,

18 NA TORE

[ NOVEMBER 2, 1905

A 4567-90, and A 4574-79. The values obtained by previous
observers are given below for comparison :—

r r r
Gill (from stars) fee 4552°79 ... 4567°90 ... 4574 68
McClean (from stars) ... 4552.6 ... 4567°5 . 4574°5
Lockyer (spark) ... ... ... 4552°8 43680 45749
Exner and Haschek (sj ark)... 4552°75 4567°95 ... 4574°9
The importance of having the exact wave-lengths of

these lines in stellar radial-velocity determinations is shown
by the differences which would be introduced into Prof.
Frost’s recent work on the Orion stars by the change from
Exner and Haschek’s values, as given above and previously
used by Prof. Frost, to the new wave-length values.
They are as follow :—

Correction (Frost and Browi.—Exner and Haschek)

av InaA In kilometres
4553 —o'll4 tenth-metres == 7'°51
45608 —0°053 m9 = -3°48
4575 — 0°109 a = yf
Report or THE YERKES OpseRvaATory.—Prof. Hale’s

report of the work performed at the Yerkes Observatory
during the year ended June 30, 1904, has just been re-
ceived, and shows that, during that period, neither the
results obtained nor the private pecuniary support accorded
to the institution fell below the average of previous years.

The Carnegie Institution of Washington has renewed
the grant of 4ooo dollars made to the observatory for the
previous year, and the money is to be employed in further-
ing the investigations of stellar parallaxes, the observations
of variable stars, and the reduction of the solar photographs
obtained with the spectroheliograph of the Kenwood
Observatory during the years 1892-5.

The Snow telescope, which was destroyed by fire in
December, 1902, has been rebuilt from a gift of 10,000
dollars made by Miss Snow, and has since been erected
at the Mount Wilson Solar Observatory.

A gift of a further 10,000 dollars from the Carnegie
Institution provided for an expedition, for solar research,
to Mount Wilson, where an independent observatory has
since been erected under the direction of Prof. Hale, who
thus severs his more immediate connection with the Yerkes
Observatory.

The Bruce telescope having an aperture of 10 inches and
a focal length of 50 inches has now been completed, and,
under the direction of Prof. Barnard, is yielding splendid
results. This telescope gives sharp definition over a field
about 9° in diameter.

The 4o-inch refractor is used for the Rumford spectro-
heliograph, the Bruce spectrograph, and several other
attached instruments, and continues to give increased satis-
faction.

After describing the above, Prof. Hale gives a somewhat
detailed account of the excellent work performed in each
department, and thereby shows what an important place
in the astronomical world is filled by the Williams Bay
observers and observatory. ; :

OBSERVATIONS OF JuPITER’S SIxtTH SaTELLITE.—The
results of a series of photographic observations of Jupiter’s
sixth satellite, made at Greenwich with the 30-inch re-
flector of the Thompson equatorial during August,
September, and October, are published in No. 4051 of the
Astronomische Nachrichten. Thirteen photographs were
obtained on eight nights, and the time and length of each
exposure, and the position angle and distance determined
therefrom, are given in the table published. So far as
possible, the two latter quantities have been compared
with those given by Dr. Ross’s ephemeris which appeared
in No. 4042 of the Astronomische Nachrichten, and the
differences are appended.

In order to facilitate the measuring process, the over-
exposed image of Jupiter, on each plate, was reduced with
ferricyanide of potassium, leaving an easily measurable
reversed image, but the present results are to be considered
as only provisional.

Tue SpectRuM oF Nova Prrser No. 2.—No. 3, vol. lvi.,
of the Harvard College Observatory Annals contains a

NO. 1870; VOL. 73

detailed résumé of the spectroscopic results obtained at
the observatory in connection with Nova Persei No. 2.

Particulars of the photographs obtained are first given,
and then each plate is discussed in order, and a descrip-
tion of the spectral changes and of the principal lines in
the spectrum given. Special remarks are made in refer-
ence to any peculiar appearance or changes in the spec-
trum, such as took place when the star was rising to its
maximum brightness and subsequently when its magnitude
was oscillating. In this connection an interesting com-
parison is drawn between the changes which take place
in the spectrum of Mira Ceti during the light-variations
of that star and those which were observed in the Nova
spectrum. From this comparison it is deduced that both
in the case of Nove and variable stars of long period the
hydrogen lines do not become bright until the star has
attained a large portion of its light.

Repuction TABLES FOR EQuaTORIAL OBSERVATIONS.—
Appendix No. 3 to vol. iv. of the Publications of the U.S.
Naval Observatory contains a series of tables for the re-
duction of equatorial observations.

These tables have been compiled by Mr. C. W. Frederick,
who, in the introduction to them, develops the formula
for the construction of the tables of differential refraction
for micrometer observations made with an equatorial,
describes a method of determining the instrumental con-
stants, and explains the use of the six tables included in
the work.

The first three tables show the corrections for differential
refraction, for the latitude of the Washington Observatory,
to be applied separately according to the method of observ-
ation pursued.

Tables iv., v., and vi. give the instrumental constants
of the 26-inch equatorial, of the Naval Observatory, for
use under analogous conditions.

PuotoGraPHic STAR CATALOGUE.—From a communication
made by M. Loewy to the Paris Academy of Sciences, we
learn that the first volume of the ‘‘ Catalogue photographique
du Ciel ’’ has been published by the Bordeaux Observatory,
relating to the region dec. +16° to +18°, which they
undertook to observe. This volume contains the rectilinear
coordinates of 49,772 stars, and completes the set of four
similar publications undertaken by the French observatories
(Algiers, Paris, Toulouse, and Bordeaux) as part of the
international cooperative scheme (Comptes rendus,
October 9).

GEOGRAPHY AT THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION.

[XN arranging the programme of work for the South

African meeting, the organising committee of Section E
tried to secure papers summarising the geographical con-
ditions of the ‘* subcontinent,’’ as it is locally called, or
those dealing with general geographical problems. The
number of papers by South Africans was smaller than
might have been expected, the local committee discovering
that geography was the subject for which it was most
difficult to secure papers. South Africa is in the position
of having many specialists interested in geographical
aspects of their specialisms, but has as yet no geographers
giving all their time and energy to the subject.

In spite of this, the programme of the section was a
full one, and it would have been difficult to dispose of
more business than was accomplished.

It will be most convenient to consider first those papers
which deal with Africa.

Mr. H. C. Schunke Hollway, vice-president of the
section, communicated a paper on the outlines of the
physical geography of the Cape Colony. This was illus-
trated by a new orographical map specially prepared by
the Surveyor-general, Mr. Cornish-Bowden, showing con-
tour lines at 1500, 3000, 4000, 6000, and 8000 feet. Un-
fortunately, sufficient data for plotting the 500-feet contour
line—one of the most interesting of all—do not exist; and
even the lines shown on this map are only approximations.
Here, at the outset, the lack of a good topographical
map was bewailed, and throughout the wanderings of the
members in South Africa this deficiency was felt at every

4

NOVEMBER 2, 1905]

turn. Mr. Schunke Hollway traced the first efforts to
obtain levels, and showed how the railway surveys had
been the chief means of securing the knowledge we
possess of relief. He then discussed the natural divisions
of the Cape Colony, distinguishing (1) the coast, and (2)
the Orange River basin. The coast, varying from 80 miles
to 170 miles wide, he divided into (a) the eastern region,
a narrow tract of land which rose in terraces from
sea, east of the south-east sweep of the Sneeuwbergen,
Tandjesbergen, and Bankberg ranges, to where it dipped
into the Fish River, and along that river to the sea;
(b) the south-western region, which nearly coincided with
the folded mountain belt, and stretched as a narrow zone
of mountains not more than 85 miles wide from the
Olifants River in the west to the Fish River in the east;
(c) the lower Karroo region, a comparatively narrow strip
of land between the southern mountain belt and the water-
shed, which extended from Uitenhage and Somerset East
to the north end of the Bokkeveld Karroo, south of
Calvinia; (d) the north-west coast region, which lay
between the Olifants and the Orange rivers. The Orange
River region consisted broadly of a hollow plain which
sloped gently from east to west, with but few isolated
ridges and hills scattered over its surface. It was 1000
miles long, rose to more than 3000 feet within 80 miles
of the coast, and remained above this height for 250 miles
in width. Seen from the tableland, the Roggeveld and
other bordering mountains seemed insignificant, but seen
from the Karroo the escarpment presented the appearance
of a magnificent mountain range. This rose to the
Drakensbergen or Kahlamba mountains in the east, 180
miles of which lay within the colony, with an average
ridge level of Sooo feet. In the west, valleys containing
settlements at more than 6000 feet were to be found. After
a detailed examination of each region, its economic con-
ditions were briefly discussed, and their relationship to
rainfall pointed out.

The physical geography of the region further north was
discussed in Mr. Tudor Trevor’s paper on the physical
features of the Transvaal. He divided the country
into :—(1) the plateau country or High Veld; (2) the slopes
of the plateau locally called Banken; and (3) the basement
country locally called Low or Bush Veld. These were sub-
divided as follows :—

Square Per
: 4 : miles cent
High Veld... . True High Veld ... 14,900 ... 12°7
Middle Veld... peat iye- =) LO, SOON OKO
Outliers (Zoutpansberg and
Waterberg) ee 4400) Se7,
Total 38,100 ... 32°4
Slope Country ... Main Slope... ... ... ... 19,700 .. 16°7
Outliers (Zoutpansberg and
Waterberg) Pee 17,4 OOM Ors
Total 27,100) fe... 2350
Low Veld ... ives H2VOOO) a (4450
Total ... 117,200

He described the water systems and pointed out the
absence of alluvial deposits, and directed attention to the
steady diminution of the water in springs in recent historic
times.

Mr. F. S. Watermeyer dealt with a wider area in his
geographical notes on Africa south of the Limpopo. He
gave a brief historical sketch of the cartography of South
Africa, a summary of the history of its population, and
an account of the physical features and climatic conditions,
especially with regard to the influences on the develop-
ment of pastoral and agricultural pursuits.

Mr. C. Stewart, Government meteorologist, communi-
cated at Cape Town a paper on the climate of South
Africa. The uniformity of mean annual temperature was
pointed out—the Royal Observatory, Cradock, Bloemfon-
tein, and Johannesburg being all about 62° F.—the
higher altitude neutralising the lower latitude. The mean

NO. 1879, VOL. 73]

NATURE

the |

| South Africa.

19

temperature curve was at a maximum in February; it
fell rapidly until June, slightly to July, and rose with
a peculiar flattening in September to the maximum. The
minimum of the year occurred in a cold spell in July.
The flattening in September was associated with an increase
in the cloud curve coincident with the change in the prevail-
ing winds from north-west in August to south in September.
As to rainfall, there were three regions :—(1) the south-
west winter rain region; (2) the small area in the south

| of constant rains; and (3) the east, with summer rains.

Rain came with north-westerly winds in the west, with
south-westerly winds in the south and east, and sometimes
with north-easterly winds in the east.

Remarkable winds, locally called “‘ Berg winds,’’ blew
from the plateau at right angles to the coast and raised
the temperature. At Port Nolloth they blew when de-
pressions were commonest in South Africa—from autumn
through winter to spring—and made it warmer in winter.
The storms of South Africa were associated with A de-
pressions, and so were similar to those of southern
Australia.

Mr. Hutchings read a paper on the indigenous forests of
He divided them into :—(1) the dense
evergreen indigenous forests of which yellow-wood was the
chief species, commonly called the yellow-wood forest;
(2) the open timber forest, which generally occupied drier
country than the yellow-wood forest, and was of inferior
type, though it might contain trees of first importance, such
as the cedar forest of Clanwilliam and the Rhodesian teak
(Afzelia cunanzensis) forest of Wankie ; (3) the scrub forests
of the dry, hot coastlands and portions of the interior,
where the rainfall was scanty and uncertain. There was
no timber of large size in the scrub forests, and not much
in the open timber forests. The yellow-wood forests were
found in the rainy regions of the south coast, where they
appeared as dense evergreen woods disposed in two storeys.
The lower storey was formed by stinkwood, assegai, hard
pear, ironwood, &c., and the upper storey by the large
yellow-wood trees, which attained the stature and
dimensions of the largest oak trees in Europe. For 1200
miles from Cape Town to the north-east Transvaal the
species remained much the same, but in the Rhodesian
forests most of the trees were deciduous and of different
species to those of the yellow-wood forest.

Major Stevenson Hamilton, warden of the game pre-
serves, gave an interesting account of the past and present
distribution of game in the Transvaal, and of the attempts
which were being made, with gratifying success, to prevent
its extermination.

Two papers dealt with Africa as a whole. Mr. J. Bolton
discussed the boundaries and areas more particularly of
British colonies and protectorates. The boundary treaties
and agreements which have resulted in boundary surveys
were specially treated, as these surveys are almost the
only pieces of scientific map-making in the continent.

Messrs. Herbertson and Waite showed a new map of
the annual rainfall of Africa, based on all available data.

Two papers were communicated on surveying and
mapping. The triangulation of the gold fields was de-
scribed by Mr. van der Steer, who had helped Mr. Melville,
vice-president of the section, to carry out the triangulation
of the central and most important section. This paper will
be published in full in the Journal of the Institute of Land
Surveyors of the Transvaal.

Colonel Johnston, late director-general of the Ordnance
Survey, gave a very clear account of the history and work
of the survey, and described the various maps which it
issues, illustrating his remarks by specimens and by lantern
slides. He pointed out the various advantages to be derived
from a topographical survey of South Africa, and showed
that it need not be so expensive an operation as was
commonly supposed.

There were very few papers dealing with geographical
exploration. At Cape Town Mr. L. Bernacchi lectured on
the results of the National Antarctic Expedition with the
Discovery, in which he paid special attention to the mag-
netic and meteorological results. Mr. Ferrar, another
member of the expedition, gave an evening lecture at
Pietermaritzburg on the same subject. A paper on the
voleanic Gough Island, by Mr. Rudmose Brown, of the

20

Scottish Antarctic Expedition, was read at Cape Town.
Two new buntings, a rich marine fauna, and three new
species of plants were obtained. The desirability of further
exploration from South Africa was pointed out. In the
course of the discussion it was suggested that a meteor-
ological station on Gough Island might be of use to South
African weather services. Mr. Yule Oldham gave a
summary of the history of the discovery of the coasts of
Africa, illustrated by an admirable selection of lantern
slides of contemporary maps, showing the various stages
in the progress of discovery. The proceedings at Johannes-
burg were opened by Mr. Douglas W. Freshfield, who de-
scribed the Sikhim Himalayas, and the route followed by
our troops towards Lhasa; this was the only other record
of travel. Mr. Freshfield delivered one of the evening
lectures at Durban, choosing for his subject ‘‘ Mountains.”

Some interesting discussions toolk place on questions of
physical geography at a joint meeting with the geological
section, an account of which will shortly be published.
At Johannesburg, Prof. Davis, of Harvard, communicated
a paper on the geographical cycle in arid areas—a deduc-
tive essay based on observed facts. Starting from sugges-
tions in Prof. Passarge’s great work on the Kalahari
Desert, he traced the probable sequence of land forms in an
elevated and arid region rarely subjected to water erosion,
illustrating his remarks by admirable blackboard sketches.
He pointed out that, starting with a rough, uneven land,
the occasional water erosion would not be related to sea-
level, and at an early stage the depressed areas would be
slowly filled up, forming lakes of rock waste. In course
of time, the slopes would be so worn down and. adjacent
basins so filled that one communicated with its neighbour.
Ultimately a large ‘‘ integrated’’ basin would be formed;
wind action would increase with smoothness, and might
even transport waste outside arid area. This would waste
the whole surface and reduce it to a common level, and
wearing away by wind might even lower the surface below
sea-level. It was suggested that wind erosion might
explain the pans of the Transvaal, the origin of which had
occasioned considerable speculation.

Two papers were of special interest to teachers of geo-
graphy. Captain Ettrick W. Creak, F.R.S., vice-president
of the section, maintained that the use of globes was
essential in teaching geography, and that systematic lessons
should be given with globes.

Mr. J. Lomas showed how excursions could be used in
teaching geography, and illustrated his points by views
taken on some excursions which he had conducted.

The committee of the section asked for the re-appointment
of the committees on researches in the Indian Ocean, and
on the local names given to geological and topographical
features in different parts of the British Isles. They, along
with sections B, C, and E, asked for the appointment of
a committee to report on the quantity and composition of
rainfall and the discharge of lakes and rivers in different
parts of the globe.

The whole journey from England to the Victoria Falls
and back may be regarded as the longest, most interesting,
and most profitable geographical excursion ever made by
the section. This has been described in NATURE by another
pen, and so need not be recapitulated here. In South
Africa the most elaborate special excursions were those
arranged by the geologists, and the long trek from Pretoria
to Mafeking. These permitted members to see the country
more intimately than was possible from the train: The
thanks of those geographers who were allowed to take
part in these must be recorded.

Since the above was written, the sad news has come that
the president of the section, Admiral Sir William Wharton,
died at Cape Town on Thursday, September 28, after a
short illness. The value of the proceedings in this section
was greatly increased by his intimate knowledge of many
parts of the world, by his keen interest in all geographical
problems, and by the genial way in which he induced those
present to take part in the discussions. An account of his
career was given in Nature of October 12 (p. 586), but the
writer may be permitted to say how very much the success
of the meetings of the geographical section was due to the
president, whose loss will be deeply deplored by all who
were privileged to come in contact with him.

NO. 1870, VOL. 73]

NAT GT

[ NOVEMBER 2, 1905

THE CHELSEA POWER STATION.*

‘THE development of electric traction as applied to rail-

ways in Great Britain is about to make one more
step forward with the electrification of the underground
railways in London, and as this scheme is almost com-
plete, a short description of the power scheme may be
of interest.

In most large power schemes that have been completed
during the last few years, it has not always been con-
venient to place the main power station near the centre
of the system of power distribution, owing to cost of
ground, &c., but this difficulty is got over by employing
a number of small distributing stations which are con-
veniently situated in the area of supply, and are supplied
with power from a large main generating station. -

The main generating station of the underground electric
railway will supply the entire power necessary for the
working of the Inner Circle, which it is working in con-
junction with the Metropolitan Railway Company’s station
at Neasden, and for the whole of the District Railway.
It will also furnish power to the Baker Street and
Waterloo, and the Great Northern, Piccadilly, and
Brompton tube railways on their completion.

Coal for the boilers’ furnaces is lifted out of barges by
two large cranes, each working a 27-cwt. grab bucket,
which deposits it in a holder where it is automatically
weighed. From the holders the coal is carried by means
of automatic conveyors to the coal bunkers, which are
situated in the top of the boiler house immediately over
the boilers. The coal falls from these through chutes to
automatic stokers as required, and as the ash accumulates
beneath the boiler furnaces it is removed by means of an
ash railway. Thus the handling of the coal is almost
wholly automatic from the moment the coal leaves the
barges until it is returned to the barges as ash.

The boiler house consists of a basement and two floors,
and is 450 feet long by roo feet wide. In the basement
there are eight pumps for pumping the water into the
boilers. The boilers are on two floors, each containing
thirty-two boilers, with floor space available for eight
more boilers on each floor should they be required. They
are divided into groups of eight, and each group supplies
steam direct to the steam turbine engine to which it is
permanently connected. Each group is fitted with
economisers for heating the water before it is pumped into
the boilers.

The main engine-room is 75 feet wide by 450 feet long,
and consists of a basement and one floor.

The eight horizontal steam turbine engines are each
coupled direct to a three-phase alternating current
generator, and it seems hardly conceivable that each one
of these sets is capable of transforming the heat energy
of the coal into electrical energy equivalent to 7500 horse-
power, while the total output of the station is 76,000 horse-
power. The electrical generators are of the fixed armature
type, having a four-pole revolving field, and generate
at a pressure of 11,000 volts. A system of forced lubri-
cation is employed on the turbines, thus ensuring efficient
lubrication.

In addition to the above, there are four high-speed
engines of 175 horse-power connected to generators which
supply the magnetising current for the revolving fields.
The condensing system for condensing the steam after
it has performed its useful functions in the engines is very
ingenious, and is so arranged that the pumps for pumping
the cooling water through the condensers have merely to
overcome the friction of the pipes.

One of the most interesting features of the whole system
is the switch-board and control system. The system
employed aims at having the entire control of the gener-
ating in a small space, and at the same time having no
dangerous voltages on any part of the control board.

The system is almost analogous to the nervous system
of the human body, having the control board as the
brain, which it virtually is. All the big high-voltage
switches are operated by small electric motors, and it is
these motors which are operated from the control board,
and as a low-voltage current is used for this purpose:

1 Abstract of a paper read before the students’ section of the Institutio.
of Electrical Engineers by Richard F. Chaffer.

NOVEMBER 2, 1905]

there is little or no danger to the operator through faulty
switch-gear.

The switch-board proper is carried by three galleries
extending the whole length of the north side of the engine-
room and continued along the east end. The control board
is on the middle gallery and projects slightly, so that the
operator has a clear view up and down the engine-room.
From the switch-board the energy is distributed to the
various substations situated at various points along the

system, and it is there converted to low-voltage direct
current at 550 volts, and thence distributed to the live
rail. Throughout the whole station it is remarkable to

NATURE

NO
=

38 grains of Anthony’s pure snowy cotton in 2} ounces of
pure amyl acetate, precipitating the resultant collodion in

a large tray of pure water—constantly agitating the
mixture—thoroughly drying the precipitate, and then re-
dissolving it in the same quantity of pure amyl acetate.
The collodion thus obtained is carefully filtered, and is
then ready for use. :

The grating to be copied is levelled in a roomy drying
cabinet, which, in order to preclude dust particles, should
be as free from draughts as possible, the surface dusted
with a soft camel-hair brush, and the collodion flowed
over it evenly. The author uses about twenty-five drops

Fic. 1.—Armature of 5:00 K.W. Generatcr.

find the
employed.
Thanks are due to Mr. Chapman, general manager and
chief engineer, for permission to view the station, and to
the Institution of Electrical Engineers for the accompanying
illustration of the armature of one of the generators.

extent to which labour-saving devices are

REPLICAS OF DIFFRACTION GRATINGS.

ROM an article in No. 2, vol. xxii., of the Astro-
physical Jogynal, we learn that Mr. R. J. Wallace,

of the Yerkes Observatory, has attained great perfection
in the production of replicas from plane diffraction gratings.
After some amount of previous research, he decided on
following Thorp’s method in its essentials with several
modifications which his experience suggested. Mr. Thorp
first Mooded his original grating with high-grade oil before
pouring on the celluloid solution on which the replica was
made. Mr. Wallace found it better to omit the oil. In
the original method a solution of gun-cotton in amyl
acetate with camphor added was employed as the material
for the replica, but Mr. Wallace found that he could obtain

much clearer and brighter copies by not adding the
camphor. His successful solution is made by dissolving

NO. 1879, VOL. 73]

of the solution in copying a 2-inch grating. The grating
is then replaced on the levelled support and left to dry
for about eight to twelve hours; the longer the drying
period the better is the resulting copy. After being
thoroughly dried the grating is placed in pure distilled
water at normal temperature together with the glass

(‘‘ white optical crown’’) support, which has previously
been evenly coated with the adhesive medium, plain hard
gelatin. After a few minutes’ soaking the edge of the
film may be sprung from the grating, and the whole of
it is then detached and immediately placed on _ the
previously prepared gelatin and clamped there.
Perfect contact is obtained by drawing a piece of the softest
velvet rubber very lightly over the surface in the direction
of the length of the lines.

The contraction suffered by the replica during the
twenty-four hours’ drying period slightly alters the number
of lines per inch, but the effect is very small. In some
of Mr. Wallace’s copies this alteration produced 572 lines
per mm. instead of the 568 lines that occupied the same
space on the original. Two reproductions of the sclar
spectrum, one taken with the original grating, the other
with the copy, show the resulting increase of dispersion
caused by the contraction, and also show that everything
which is resolved by the original grating is also resolved
equally well under the same conditions by the copy.

surface

22

NATURE

[NovEMBER 2, 1905

The grating replicas, unmounted, transmit the more
refrangible radiations up to A 2613, practically without
absorption, but the glass used as supports for the copies
is opaque beyond A 3400, therefore Prof. Wood has pro-
posed that mica should be employed for the supports where
“ultra-violet ’? work is to be prosecuted. Reproductions
of some spectrograms obtained with and without the mica
screens show the value of Prof. Wood’s suggestion.

Mr. Wallace recommends the “‘ copying ’’ process as
the most efficient method of cleaning a dirty grating, and
he has also tried it for the production of replicas of
concave gratings, but as yet without any notable success.

UNIVERSITY AND BDUCATIONAL
INTELLIGENCE.
Oxrorp.—Mr. T. S. Moore has been elected to a fellow-
ship at Magdalen College after an examination in

Mr. Moore was educated at the East London
Technical College; he gained a postmastership in natural
science at Merton in 1898, was placed in the first class in
mathematical moderations in 1900, and in the natural
science school in 1902. He was lately appointed lecturer
in chemistry in the University of Birmingham.

St. John’s College recently procured an important
change in its statutes which will be of great assistance in
the new forestry scheme. The college was bound by the
statutes of 1877 to endow a chair of mechanics and civil
engineering so soon as its revenue permitted; by the new
statute this obligation is removed, and instead St. John’s
is to contribute in and after 1908 600l. a year to the
Sibthorpian professorship of rural economy. It is under-
stood that the main subject to be entrusted to the future
professor is pathological botany, so that he will have an
important share in the instruction of the forestry students.
St. John’s has also placed a considerable plot of land near
Bagley Wood at the disposal of Prof. Schlich for the
purpose of starting a “‘ forest garden.”’

At the first meeting of the delegacy which is to super-
intend the instruction of the Indian forestry students Prof.

chemistry.

Schlich was appointed secretary, and Mr. D. H. Nagel
(Trinity College) assistant secretary.
Prof. Osler and Prof. Miers were among the new

members of the hebdomadal council who were elected on
October 26.

The examinations for natural science scholarships this
term will take place at the following dates :—December 5,
Balliol, Christ Church, and Trinity; December 12,
University, Lincoln, and Magdalen; December 19, Jesus
College.

CAMBRIDGE.—A memorial has been presented to the
council of the senate requesting the council to take steps
by the nomination of a special syndicate or otherwise to
ensure the consideration of the following questions :—
(1) the advisability of imposing on all such candidates,
as may not otherwise be qualified for exemption, the pass-
ing of the previous examination or of another examin-
ation, in lieu of the previous examination, as a condition
precedent to matriculation in the university; (2) the possi-
bility of obtaining the cooperation of the University of
Oxford with the University of Cambridge in establishing
a joint examination which should qualify for matriculation
in either university. This memorial has been signed by
some seventy influential members of the university. It has
been referred by the council of the senate to the studies
and examinations syndicate.

The electors to the Allen scholarship give notice that
they are prepared to receive applications from candidates.
Any graduate of the university is eligible for the scholar-
ship provided that his age on the first day of the Lent
Term 1906 does not exceed twenty-eight years. Next year
the scholarship is open to candidates who propose to under-

take research in medicine, mathematics, physics and
chemistry, biology and geology, moral science. The

scholarship is tenable for one year, during which period
it will be the duty of the student to devote himself to
research in Cambridge or elsewhere. The emolument of
the student is 250/., or such smaller sum as the fund, after

NO. 1879, VOL

= 4

re)

payment of all expenses, shall be capable of providing.
Every candidate must send to the Vice-Chancellor, Trinity
Hall Lodge, on or before February 1, 1906, his name and
a definite statement of the course of research which he
proposes to undertake, together with such evidence of his
qualifications as he thinks proper, and with the names of
not more than three referees to whom the electors may
apply for information. The election will be made towards
the end of the Lent term, 1906.

In its report upon its reserve fund, the museums and
lecture rooms syndicate enumerate a number of varying
sums spent upon the museums. It has granted tool.
toward the expenses of housing Prof. Bonney’s collections
in the Sedgwick Museum, and has also allotted some
smaller sums to the furnishing of the rooms in the new
medical schools. It is a pity there are not sufficient funds
at the disposal of the syndicate to fit up the Humphry
Memorial Museum, the bare walls of which cry for shelves
and showcases.

Tue annual general meeting of the Association of
Teachers in Technical Institutes will be held at the Birk-
beck College on Saturday, November 4, at 3 p.m., with
Mr. W. J. Lineham, chairman of the association, in the
chair.

A coursr of eight lectures on. fields of force will be
given in Columbia University, New York City, by Prof.
V. F. K. Bjerknes, professor of mechanics and mathe-
matical physics in the University of Stockholm, on Fridays
and Saturdays in December. The lectures will be open,
without charge, to teachers and advanced students in
physics. During March and April, 1906, a course of
lectures will be given by- Prof. H. A. Lorentz, professor
of physics in the University of Leyden.

Tue Berlin correspondent of the Times states that in
the presence of the German Emperor, the American
Ambassador, the German Foreign Secretary, the Prussian
Minister of Education, and other men of distinguished
eminence, an inaugural lecture was delivered in English
by Prof. Peabody, of Harvard University, in the central
hall of Berlin University on Monday, October 30. Prof.
Peabody discussed the advantages of the scheme put for-
ward by the German Emperor for the exchange of
lecturers between German and American universities, and
read a letter which he had received from President
Roosevelt approving of the scheme.

We have received an advance copy of the report of the
work of the department of technology of the City and
Guilds of London Institute for the session 1904-5. The
report refers to some of the ways by which the institute
is able to cooperate with the central educational authori-
ties for Great Britain and Ireland, in assisting and guiding
schools in their arrangements for the provision of techno-
logical instruction, and in effecting a proper coordination
between workshop and class teaching. The department
of technology suggests schemes for complete courses of
evening instruction for artisans and others engaged in
different industries, and prepares detailed syllabuses in the
technology of each trade subject. The institute registers
classes in any of the subjects contained in its programme,
provided the conditions preliminary to registration are
fulfilled. During the past session 2601 classes were
registered in 364 towns. These were attended by 41,618
students, being 671 more than in the previous session.
Before registering a class, the institute requires that the
qualifications of the teacher shall be submitted to, and
approved by, the department of technology. During the
session under review, 195 new names have been added to
the institute’s register of teachers in technology, and 149
have been provisionally approved. The institute has in-
augurated a system of inspection of trade classes by pro-
fessional experts. During the past session 149 classes
were inspected by members of the institute’s staff. The
report also contains full statistics relating to affiliated
technological classes, and instructive extracts from some
of the examiners’ reports on the results of the examin-
ations, 1905.

NOVEMBER 2, 1905 |

NA) TORE

25

SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES.

Lonpon.

Entomological Society, October 18.—Dr. T. A. Chapman,
vice-president, in the chair.—Mr. H. Rowland-Brown
exhibited series of Erebias taken this year in the Pyrenees,
including Erebia lefebvrei, with the varieties pyrenaca,

Obth., from Mt. Canigou, E. Pyrenees, and _ var.
intermedia, Obth., from Gavarnie. He also showed for
comparison E. glacialis var. nicholli, from Campiglio,

which at one time was supposed to be identical with
lefebvrei, then considered to be the Pyrenean form of
E. melas; specimens of E. gorgone and E. gorge from
the Lac de Gaube, Cauterets, and from Gavarnie; and a
short series of Lycaena orbitulus from the Central Alps,
L. orbitulus var. oberthuri, Stgr., L. pyrenaica, and
L. pheretes from the Brenner and Cortina districts. It
was remarked that there seemed to be a greater superficial
affinity between pyrenaica and pheretes (not reported from
the Pyrenees) than between pyrenaica and orbitulus.—Mr.
E. C. Bedwell exhibited eight specimens of Apion
laevigatum, Kirby, one of the rarest indigenous Apions,
found on August 31, sheltering under plants of Echiwm
vulgare in the Lowestoft district—Mr. R. Shelford
showed a Ligzeid bug, the fore-limbs of which were re-
markably well adapted to fossorial habits and comparable
with those of the mole cricket; a Brenthid beetle with
a deep channel running along the dorsal part of the pro-
thorax and occupied by achari; and an Anthribid beetle
with a crescentic sulcus on the prothorax. All the speci-
mens were from British North Borneo.—Mr. C. J. Gahan,
on behalf of Mr. C. O. Waterhouse, exhibited a living
example of Phancroptera quadripunctata, which species
had been found in some numbers in a vinery near Chester.
—Mr. W. J. Kaye brought for exhibition a long variable
series of Heliconius numata from the Potaro River,
British Guiana, clearly proving that these very variable
forms were only aberrations, and not a subspecies, at
least in this locality—Mr. A. H. Jones exhibited a collec-
tion of Lepidoptera made by him in Majorca during the
first half of last June, and remarked upon the great
scarcity of lepidopterous life in the island. Only thirteen
species of butterflies were observed, all of the commonest
kinds and without any indication of variation, with about
six species of moths (all occurring in Britain), including
Agrotis saucia, Acidalia ochrata, and A. degeneraria, the
latter, interesting in point of colour, being much redder. Mr.
Jones also exhibited Melanargia.lachesis var. canigulensis
from Le Vernet, showing on the under side in the males
a strong resemblance to M. galathea, and Melitaea aurinia
var. iberica, Obth., from Montserrat, near Barcelona, and
a melanic specimen of Erebia stygne, taken by Mr. R. S.
Standen last June at St. Martin du Canigou, Le Vernet.
—Mr. F. P. Dedd communicated a paper on a parasitic
Lepidopteron from Queensland, Australia.—Commander
J. J. Walker read a paper by Mr. E. G. R. Meade-
Waldo on a collection of butterflies and moths made in
Morocco, 1900-01-02. The species enumerated included a
Coenonympha and a Satyrus new to science. But for so
luxuriant a country as that visited it was remarkable how
few butterflies and moths were observed.

Royal Microscopical Society, Octoher 18 —Dr. Dukin-
field H. Scott, F.R.S., president, in the chair.—An old
Wilson screw-barrel simple microscope, date about 1750,
presented by Major Meade J. C. Dennis. The secretary
traced the history of microscopes’ focusing by means
of a screw cut on the body-tube from Campani_ in
1686, Grind! in 1687, Bonanni in 1691, Hartsoeker in
1694, to Wilson in 1702, who was followed by Culpeper
somewhere before 1738 and Adams in 1746.—A simple
portable camera for use with the microscope: E. Moffat.
The arrangement comprised a vertical telescopic standard,
drawing out to 28 inches, having a clamp at the lower end
for securing it to the edge of a table. At the upper end
was fixed a mahogany board } inch thick by 4 inches by
5 inches, hinged at the pillar so as to close up, and having a
hole in the centre about 3 inches in diameter. There were
two spring clips for securing the dry plate while making
the exposure, and guides for keeping it in position hori-
zontally. The back of the dry plate was covered by a
piece of cardboard painted dead black, the spring clips

NO. 1879, VOL. 73]

referred to pressing upon this card. Depending from
the board was a tapered bag of black Italian cloth about
17 inches in length, with a rubber ring at the lower end
to secure the covering to the eye-piece of the microscope.
The apparatus can be closed up into a space 5 inches by
9 inches by 13 inches, and will go into a large pocket or

knapsack. The weight, if made of aluminium, should not
exceed 13 lb. It will work well up to 700 diameters, and
can be made in brass for 21s. Aluminium would cost

more.—A form of hand microtome devised and used by
Mr. Flatters. The microtome was made of brass, having
the tube 3 inches deep and 1 inch diameter inside. The
spindle had twenty-eight threads to the inch, and had a
notched disc at the lower end, acted on by a spring stop the
tension of which could be adjusted. Three discs were
supplied, permitting sections being cut of 1/2000 to 1/1200
inch in thicknéss for each notch that the dise was turned.
The knife-plate was made of hardened brass, the aperture
on the under side being of the same diameter as the tube,
but somewhat less on the upper side to prevent the speci-
men turning.—The Finlayson ‘‘ comparascope ’’: Messrs.
R. and J. Beck. The president said they had the instru-
ment before them some time ago in a less developed form ;
it seemed likely to be extremely useful to microscopists, as
it could be applied to any microscope, and afforded a
ready means of comparing objects directly under conditions
which rendered it possible easily to detect slight differences.
—Notes on aragotite, a rare Californian mineral: Prof.
Henry G. Hanks. The mineral, which is a_hydro-
carbon, was first described by Mr. F. E. Durand in a
paper read by him before the California Academy of
Sciences on April 1, 1872. It was not until 1893 that Prof.
Hanks obtained specimens of the mineral. These he sub-
jected to various experiments, and disputes Mr. Durand’s
conclusion that it might be some modification of idrialite.
He gives a table showing that in chemical composition,
colour, streak, hardness, and_ specific gravity aragotite
differs from idrialite.
Paris.

Academy of Sciences, Octoher 25.—M. Troost in the
chair.—Some facts concerning the history of emulsin; the
general existence of this ferment in the Orchidacee: L.
Guignard. The examination of various parasitic plants
showed the constant presence of emulsin; it would appear
that there is a constant relation between the presence of
this ferment and parasitism. On further work, however,
this was not found to be the case, since a careful examin-
ation of Orobanche Galii and O. Epithymum gave no
emulsin. Numerous plants of the Orchidaceze, both
indigenous and exotic, proved to have emulsin in their
aérial and subterranean roots.—On the decapod Crustacea
collected by the yacht Princesse Alice in the course of the
voyage of 1905: E. L. Bouvier.—Report on a memoir
of M. Bachelier on ‘‘ continued probabilities’: H.
Poincaré.—Observation of the eclipse of the sun of
August 30: F. Jehl. The observations were made at the
Observatory of Aosta (Italy) under excellent atmospheric
conditions, and included the times of contacts, visual
observations of the spectrum, and temperature changes.—
On discontinuous groups: Frédéric Riesz.—Researches on
gravitation: V. Crémieu. The experiments described
show the possibility of carrying out the Cavendish experi-
ment in a liquid. Full details of the arrangement of the
apparatus are given, but the publication of the results is
reserved for a later paper.—On the specific inductive power
of benzene and water: F. Beaulard. L. Gretz and
L. Fomm have pointed out the existence of a phenomenon
of polarisation which is in contradiction with the funda-
mental hypothesis of Poisson-Mossotti, and this relation
has been utilised by the author as the basis of his method
of measurement. The specific inductive powers thus found
were 1-657 for benzene and 11-04 for water.—On the specific
heat of solutions of copper sulphate: P. Vaillant. The
solutions were heated by an incandescent lamp, the current
and electromotive force being measured directly. If the
specific heat of solution be regarded as the sum of that
of the solid copper sulphate and water, negative values
are obtained, but this is not the case if the substance in
solution be regarded as CuSO,.5H,O. Even on_ this
assumption constant values are not obtained for the specific
heat, and several possible explanations are put forward.—

NALORE

| NovEMBER 2, 1905

On the composition of the hydrochloroferric colloid as a
function of the amount of HCl in the liquid: G.
Malfitano.—On some aromatic ethylene oxides: MM.
Fourneau and Tiffeneau. A study of the conditions
under which the ethylene oxides tend to pass over into
aldehydes.—New researches on the development of green

plants: Jules Lefévre. The author’s experiments lead to
the same conclusion as those of Moll and Cailletet, if
carbonic acid is absorbed by the roots it is not utilised
by the plant.—An analysis of some anthropometric
measurements of men and women of the gipsies: Eugéne
Pittard.—Serotherapy in cases of bleeding: Emile Weil.
In the cases known as “ bleeders,’? in which a_ slight

wound continues to bleed, it is shown that this effect is
due to a property of the blood itself. This disease can be
remedied by the injection of normal human or bovine
serum. Details are given of the cure of ‘one case, who,
on the twenty-fifth day after the last injection, for the
first time in his life, had a tooth removed with only the
normal loss of blood.—The distribution of fine sediment
on the bed of the ocean: J. Thoulet.

New Soutu WALEs.

L nnean Society, Auzust 30.—Mr. T. Steel, president, in
the chair.—Crustacea dredged off Port Jackson in deep
water: F. E. Grant. Six species of Malacostraca were
taken, of which four species, referable to the genera
Hyastenus, Cymonomops, Latreillopsis, and Paguristes, are
described as new. Of the remaining two species, Ebalia
tuberculosa and Ibacus alticrenatus, only the former has
previously been recorded as belonging to our fauna.—Notes
on Prosobranchiata, No. 4, the ontogenetic stages repre-
sented by the gastropod protoconch: H. Leighton
Kesteven. The present contribution is a continuation of
the writer’s attempts to unravel the puzzles presented by
the gastropod protoconch. He finds that he is able to
define four stages of growth represented, and supposes an
‘ideal’? protoconch to be composed of (1) the ‘‘ plug ”
of the primitive shell gland; (2) a portion formed by the
veliger; (3) a portion formed during the nepionic stage ;
and finally (4) a portion formed during early neanic stages.
—On a new species of Eucalyptus from northern New
South Wales: J. H. Maiden. This is a large white
gum, much resembling the blue gum (E. saligna) when
growing, and the timber of which is specially esteemed.
Its timber, however, as compared with that of E. saligna,
is white from the sap to the heart. Its closest affinity
appears to be with E. Deanet, Maiden.—A gelatin-harden-
ing bacterium: R. Greig Smith. The bacterium was
isolated from the tissues of Schinus molle, which was
exuding a turquoise coloured gum-resin. When it was
grown upon ordinary glucose gelatin, the medium became
deep brown in colour, and was not liquefied when heated
to the boiling point of water. Tannin, formaldehyde, or
oxidising enzymes could not be detected.—On the sup-
posed numerical preponderance of the males in Odonata :
R. J. Tillyard. Reasons are given for concluding that
the ratio of the numbers of the sexes in the dragon-flies
or Odonata is a ratio of equality. The idea of the pre-
ponderance of the males, suggested largely by the examin-
ation of collections, and voiced from time to time by
naturalists, has not been confirmed by experience in rear-
ing a large number of nymphs of Lestes feda.

DIARY OF SOCIETIES.

THURSDAY,

CuemicaL Society, at 8.30.—Solution and Pseudo-solution, part iv.,
Some of the Arsenious Properties of Arsenious Sulphide and Ferric
Hydrate: E. Linder and H. Picton.—The Molecular Conductivity of
Water: P. Blackman.—The Stereoisomerism of Substituted Ammonium
Compounds: H. O. Jones.—The Influence of very Strong Electro-
magnetic Fields on the Spark Spectra of Ruthenium, Rhodium, and
Palladium 3 ak KE. Purvis.—Note on the Fluorides of Selenium and
Tellurium; B. R. Prideaux.—The Constitution of Glutaconic Acid:
jp 15 Bee —Some Alkyl Derivatives of Glutaconic Acid and of 2 :6-
Dioxypyridine: H. Baron and J. F.

NOVEMBER 2.

®-Methylglutaconic Acid and of aB-Dimethylglutaconic Acid: F. V.
Darbishire and J. F. Thorpe
LINNEAN Sociery, at 8.—Plant BCDIOEYs interpreted by Direct Response

Rev. G. Henslow.

NO. 1879, VOL. ae

to the Conditions of Life:

Thorpe.—Note on the Formation of |

ROntTGEN Society, at 8.15.—Tbe Ruhmkorff Coil: Prof. Wertheim-
Salomonson.
Civic anp MECHANICAL ENGINEERS’ SOCIETY, at 8.—Sea Defences:

Baron H. T. H. Siccama.

FRIDAY, NovEMBER 3-
Geo.ocisTs’ AssOciaTION, at 8.—Conversazione.

MONDAY, NoveMter 6.

Royat GEOGRAPHICAL Society, at 8.39.—Introductory Remarks: The
President, Sir George D. T. Goldie, K.C.M.G., F.R.S.—Travels in the
Mountains of Central Japan : Rey. Walter Weston.

Society or CuemicaL INvusTrRy, at 8.—Evaporation zz vacuo of
Solutions containing Solids: Dr. J. Lewkowitsch.

WEDNESDAY, Novemper 8,
GEOLOGICAL Society, at 8.

THURSDAY, NoveMBER go.

MaTHEMATICAL SOCIETY, at 5.30.—Annual General Meeting.—The
Continuum and the Second Number-class: G. H. Hardy.—On the
Arithmetical Nature of the Coefficients ina Group of Linear Substitu-
tions of Finite Order (second paper): Prof. W. Burnside.—On the
Asymptotic Value of a Type of Finite Series: J. W. Nicholson,—On an
Extension of Dirichlet’s Integral: Prof. T. J. 1’A. Bromwich.—(1) On
Improper Multiple Integrals; (2) On the Arithmetic Continuum: Dr.
E. W. Hobson.

INsTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Inaugural Address:
John Gavey, C.B.

FRIDAY, NoveMBER to.

Rovat. ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, at 5.

Puysicav Society, at 8.

Matacotocicat Society, at 8.—(r) Descriptions of New Species of
Drymzus, Amphicyclotus, and Neocyclotus from Central and Scuth
America; (2) Description of a New Species of Achatina from Mashona-
land: S. I. DaCosta.—Ona Collection of Land and Freshwater Shells

from Sumatra with Descriptions of New Species, part i.: Rev. R. Ash-
ington Bullen. On a New Species of Oliva: F. G. Bridgman.—On the
Anatomy of Exsis macha and Solen fonesti and S. viridis: H. H.
Bloomer.
CONTENTS. PAGE
Two Text-Books on Mechanics. By M....... I
Induced’ Radio-Activity. ~~ <= - cememienin +) + amr
Garden/Cities’ = 37-2. «= 3 eI)» =
Our Book Shelf :—
Dunstan: ‘‘ Elementary Experimental Chemistry”. . 3
Step: ‘‘ Wayside and Woodland Blossoms”... . 3
Brightwen : ‘‘ Quiet Hours with Nature” Se
Classen : ‘Sammlung Schubert, XLII.” 4
Karsten and Schenck: ‘ Vegetationsbilder ” on 4
Letters to the Editor :—
Remarkable Ccelenterata from the West Coast of
Ireland.—Prof. Sydney J. Hickson, F.R.S. . .
Action of Radium on Gelatin Media.—John Butler
Burke. 5
Border occasionally seen between Light and Dark
Regions on Photographic Prints.—Sir Oliver
Lodge, F.R.S.. . 5 Ure : . os
Terminology in Electro- physiology. (With Diagram.)
—Dr. David Fraser Harris... . 5
The Engineer's Unit of Force. =D: J. ‘Carnegie,
The keviewer 6
Prof, Lankester’s ‘‘ Extinct Animale i itustyaied.) a! SO
Astronomy and Meteorology in Australia. By
ViGOS ISS Bio oa) c te Gs
Ferdinand Baron von Richthoren: ish7 AN (Ee a oe 8
The Treasury and Men of Science . ios) wo) EO
The British Science/Guild) 2.) 2) -aemennen eo
Notes ¢ b.8 13
Our Astronomical Column: —
Astronomical Occurrences in November ...... 17
Wave-lengths of Silicium Lines 17
Report of the Yerkes Observatory Sate os 18
Observations of Jupiter's Sixth Satellite 5 18
The Spectrum of Nova Persei No.2 ........ 18
Reduction Tables for Equatorial Observations Bed os)
| Photographic Star Catalogue .. . Baie cols é, a: aS
Geography at the British Association. ...... 18
The Chelsea Power Station. (Zustrated) By
Richard Chatter scans alee S600 2)
Replicas of Diffraction Gratings .......... 21
University and Educational Intelligence ..... 22.
| ‘Societiesjand Academies; 2 2) oacmeusms- - lees
Diaryiof SoctetieSi.. 2, 2 eer spt a-0 i= eMenICENetE n> (<) ism

INVA TE Cina a

25)

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 49, 1905.

STRENGTH OF MATERIALS.

Mechanics of Materials. By Mansfield Merriman.
Tenth edition, re-written and enlarged. Pp. xi+
507. (New York: Wiley and Sons; London : Chap-
man and Hall, Ltd., 1905.) Price 21s. net.

HE great development of engineering schools in
the United States has led to the production of

a considerable number of technical text-books
primarily intended for students. It may at once be
stated that, taken as a whole, these books are in-
creasingly scholarly and sound; but they are largely
compiled from similar European text-books, and often
disclose a want of any serious independent investi-
gation of the subject dealt with.

The present book is in some respects an excellent
treatise, and as it has reached a tenth edition it must
have been found useful. It deals with the elastic
and, to a limited extent, with the plastic properties
of materials of construction and the application of the
laws of strength of materials to the simpler machine
parts and structures. The treatment is essentially
theoretical, and the book must be judged by the way
in which it presents theory to students. The first
point which strikes a reader is the great looseness of
terminology. In the first two or three pages tension,
tensile force, pull and axial force are all used as
equivalent, which may not be wrong, but is confusing.
Also a compression is a shortening, a sliding (in shear)
is a detrusion, and the word strain does not appear
in the volume, which is unusual. Young’s modulus
is termed throughout the modulus of elasticity; the
condition that lateral contraction is unhindered is not
explained. The coefficient of rigidity is referred to
(p. 38) as the ‘‘ modulus of elasticity for shear,’’ but
the relation of E and G is not discussed until p. 465.
The volumetric modulus is described on p. 467, but
these are the only elastic coefficients mentioned.

The author has an aggravating way of describing
a thing at first very crudely and inaccurately, but
without any reservations, giving a revised statement
much later on and a further revision later still, and
this in the case of quite simple matters. Take, for
instance, the treatment of shear. On p. 35 the author
tales as the typical example of shear a force P acting
at the end of a T-shaped short beam. This is, of
course, a case of shear and bending, and the rect-
angular elevation of the beam would not become a
rhombus as the author states. The shear on hori-
zontal planes is not referred to, and the unit stress is
given as P/a without any caution that it is not
uniformly distributed; and it is from this complex
case that he deduces, as if it were a simple shear, the
coefficient of rigidity. All this is inaccurate and con-
fusing to students. It is not until p. 264 that it is
explained that shear on one pair of planes is accom-
panied by an equal shear on a pair of planes at right
angles, and on p. 465 the author goes back to re-
presenting shear as a single couple on a pair of
parallel planes. In both Figs. 15 and 181 the de-

No. 1880, VOL. 73]

formation is so drawn that a student would infer a
change of volume in shear, and nowhere, so far as
can be found, is the constancy of volume in shear
referred to. On p. 14 the end of a beam strained by
a couple is used as an illustration of shear. The
unit shearing stress is given as P/a, which is only
the mean stress, and it is added that the bar will
shear off when P/a is ‘‘ equal to the ultimate shear-
ing strength of the material,’? which is not the case.
Can a more misleading statement for a student be
imagined than (p. 14) ‘‘ tensile and compressive
stresses usually act parallel to the axis of a bar, but
shearing stresses at right angles to it ’’? or this state-
ment, p. 363, ‘it is best to consider shear as a sign-
less quantity’’? All these matters are elementary,
and they are not so much wrong as slovenly and
confusing—and similar faults occur constantly.

When the elastic limit is exceeded, the strains in-
crease faster than the stresses. ‘‘ Therefore the elastic
properties of a bar are injured when it is stressed
beyond the elastic limit.” It would not be exact, but
it would be more accurate, to say that the elastic
properties are improved by straining beyond the
elastic limit. ‘‘ Accordingly it is a fundamental rule
that the unit stresses should not exceed the elastic
limit.’ The large deformation in ordinary materials
beyond the elastic limit is the primary reason for
limiting stresses to the elastic strength. It would be
undesirable for a bridge to deflect several feet. The
elastic limit is always assumed by the author to be a
definitely fixed stress, and its variation under variation
of loading is never referred to.

‘““The stresses are usually computed for dead and
live loads separately regarding each as a static load.
The live load, however, really produces greater
stresses than the computed ones.”’

The live load undoubtedly may cause rupture when
an equal dead load would not, but the author’s state-
ment is extremely doubtful, and the question is one
of the most fundamental in applying the rules of
strength of materials, and should on no account be
slurred over in a text-book. The account of Wohler’s
fatigue experiments (p. 352) is very brief and im-
perfect. American bridge builders have never fully
accepted Wohler’s results, and have been disposed to
explain the smaller working stress in members sub-
ject to great variation of stress as justified by the
effect of impact. Practically it does not matter much
whether the reduction of the working stress is termed
an ‘‘allowance for impact’? or ‘tan allowance for
fatigue,’ but it is a fundamental point, and the
author’s treatment of it on p. 358 will not much help
a student. The author’s theory that a live load pro-
duces more stress ‘‘ because it is applied quickly,”
and the statement that the dynamic stress T can be
expressed in terms of the static stress S by the rela-
tion T=¢(t)S, where ¢(t) is a function of the time
of application, will require much more investigation
before it is accepted. The effect of variation of stress
in inducing fatigue, the effect of impact or of loads
which have kinetic energy before deformation begins,
and of loads which are unbalanced so that they
acquire kinetic energy during deformation, require

iG

26

NATURE

{| NoVEMBER 9g, 1905

careful discrimination. The effects should not be
lumped together as due to suddenness.

A good deal of space is devoted to what the author
terms ‘ true He takes the well known
strain equations Ee, =S,—AS,—AS,, &c., and, because

stresses.”’

Ee, is of the same form as stress in terms of ex-
tension, he calls Ee, the ‘‘ true stress ’’ due to the
‘‘apparent stresses’’ S,, S,, S,. This is to use the
tenn. in a totally new sense. The real
stresses which balance the external forces are only

stress *

; an imaginary stress which is
It is impossible here to

‘“ apparent stresses ”’
greater is the ‘‘ true stress.”’
follow the author to the curious results he arrives at,
which involve a revision of all the ordinary formulas
of strength. It is not difficult to see from what point
he has drifted. He throughout implicitly assumes
that the condition of security in a structure depends
on the maximum stress. He nowhere discusses the
other views which have been taken. Now one of
these is that security depends, not on maximum stress,
but on maximum strain. What the author does with
his equations is to make security depend on the
maximum strains ¢,, &c.; but this does not justify
him in calling Ee, a true stress.

A HANDBOOK OF FLOWER BIOLOGY.

Handbuch der Blutenbiologie. Vol. iii. Part ii. By
Ernst Loew, assisted by Otto Appel, completing
the work commenced by Paul Knuth. Pp. v+6o1.
(Leipzig: Wilhelm Engelmann, 1905.) Price 18s.
net, in paper cover.

“HE work which the late Prof. Knuth projected |

and commenced—a ‘‘ Handbook of Flower-
Biology,’’ to replace Hermann Miller’s ‘‘ Fertilisation
of Flowers ’’—is now complete. It runs as follows :—

vol. i., an advanced text-book of flower biology;
vol. ii., an account of observations made in Europe

(two parts); vol. iii., an account of observations made
outside Europe (also two parts).

Ernst Loew, who, after Knuth’s death, undertook
the completion of the worl, appends to the last part
a review of the collected extra-European observations.

There can be no doubt of the preeminent fitness
of Dr. Loew for his task; but the result on close
criticism is found just a little disappointing on account
of omissions, e.g. Willis’s observations on Phacelia,
Monarda, and Ixora, and Keeble’s on Loranthus, in-
correct citations—at the rate of one per page in the
literature-list—an imperfect index, far many
printer’s errors, and illustrations not always, I believe,

too

drawn from the living flower.

Dr. Perey Groom (Nature, vol.
marked on omissions and printer’s
ing the preceding part of this work.

Of the body of the worlk, it is to be said that, besides
abstracting all pertinent publications that have fallen
into Dr. Loew’s hands, it gives to the world a con-
siderable number of original observations made by
Knuth in Java, Japan, and California, and a few of
Loew’s made in the Berlin Botanic Garden, and
that the names of North American insects have been
subject to a revision by Prof. Robertson, of Carlin-
ville, Illinois.

NO. 1880, VOL. 73]

Ixxi. p. 26)
errors in review-

re-

Of the review, it is to be explained that it centres |
on a discussion of the fertilising agents in countries
outside Europe. I greatly appreciate the vast amount
of labour which Dr. Loew has put into it. He could
hardly have made greater use of the fragmentary
material to hand. But the account of fertilisation in
the tropics wants atmosphere; it is such as a man
would write who had no particular experience of their
vegetation. Twelve pages of the review are given
to this account: first, Dr. Loew borrows from Prof.
Warming a description of the vegetation of Lagoa
Santa, in Brazil; then he goes on very successfully
to discuss the part which birds play in fertilising
flowers. In the place of the description of Lagoa
Santa, one had hoped to find a more general de-
scription of tropical seasons. Nearly twelve pages.
are given to an account of fertilisation in New
Zealand and the Antarctic islands—chiefly to a com-
parison of Arctic and Antarctic flowers, wherein

Loew sees less agreement than does Delpino. Four
and a half pages are given to South Africa with

Madagascar—an ill-assorted union, three to the cactus
region of N. America, six to the Arctic region in-
cluding Spitzbergen, and twenty-six to the forest
belt of N. America. I have here set down the
number of pages devoted to each region because they
rightly indicate the proportion in which the regions.
have been studied.

In dealing with the forest belt of N. America, Loew
depends, of course, on Robertson’s excellent work ;
there alone he really finds facts enough to enable
him to work in the statistical methods which he has
used so extensively in his writings regarding Euro-
pean flowers.

A time will
America ask
flower biology.

when the botanists of North
handbook of North American
work shows how far from
readiness material it, and how very much
further readiness material for a handboolx
of flower biology for any other part of the world.
Until we get such handbooks, Loew’s volume of
Knuth’s work will remain very useful on account of
its suggestions, its references, its information, and
especially as a companion in travel. Ie 1BIe 18%

come
for a

Loew’s
is for

from is

A FRENCH BOOK ON SPORT AND
TRAPPING.

Chasse, Elevage et Piégeage. By A. de Lesse.
Encyclopédie Agricole. Pp. xii+532; illustrated.
(Paris: J. B. Bailliere and Son, 1905.) Price

5 franes.
ae volume before us is one of a series dealing not
only with subjects pertaining to agriculture in
its proper and more restricted sense, but likewise with

practically everything connected with country life
which has any bearing at all on that pursuit. In the

present instance, the subject of the trapping and
snaring (piégeage) of animals, which, in the case of
noxious species is, of course, a matter of consider-
able importance to the agriculturist, serves to
establish a connection between sport (especially in
the French sense of that term) on the one hand and
agriculture on the other, and thus justifies the in-
of the in the series. In connection

clusion volume

INCA TCE Es 27

with the subject of trapping and snaring, we may
take occasion to remark that the agitation which has
been set on foot in this country against traps of an

unduly cruel nature (indeed, against ‘‘ gin-traps ’’ of

all kinds) does not appear to have reached the other
side of the Channel, or, at all events, does not seem
to have had any effect there. For in the present
volume there a cut of an unfortunate falcon
ensnared in one of the abominable pole-traps, without
a word of condemnation of snares of that description
(unnecessarily cruel from the fact that they are in
many cases only visited at long intervals).

The volume commences with a series of chapters
pointing out the commercial importance of “la
chasse,’’ first as a source of revenue to the State,
then as a source of food-supply, next in connection
with rendering unfertile tracts profitable, and finally
in relation to the rural population. The second
section of the volume is devoted to game protection
and the natural and artificial rearing of game birds,
in the course of which the English and French
methods of pheasant breeding are contrasted and their
relative merits compared. Sporting dogs—other, of
course, than hounds—-form the subject of the third
section, which is illustrated with a number of cuts
(not by any means always of the best) of some of the
chief breeds, and the manner of training dogs for
their special duties. Then comes a dissertation on the
various methods of destroying animals commonly
classed as injurious to the game-preserver and the
agriculturist, in the course of which, as already
mentioned, every kind of trap and gin, no matter
how cruel, is described in detail, while the reader is
also instructed in the various methods of employing
fire-arms and poison for the same end. The more
legitimate forms of sport, including, however, small-
bird-shooting and _ rabbit-netting,
account of the legislation connected with the subject,
form the concluding sections of the volume. The
whole subject of ‘‘ la chasse ”’ or ‘‘ le sport ’’ is viewed
so differently by our French neighbours and by our-
selves, that it is somewhat difficult to give an un-
biased opinion on the merits of the volume before us.
Probably, however, it is thoroughly well suited to the
class of readers for whom it is specially intended,
although we cannot but regret that an attempt was
not made to inculeate more humane views in the
matter of the destruction of so-called noxious animals.

IRS

is

OUR BOOK SHELF.

Ergebnisse und Probleme der Elektronentheorie. By
Prof. H. A. Lorentz. Pp. 62. (Berlin: J. Springer,
1905.)

Tuts book contains a lecture given by Prof. H. A.

Lorentz before the Elektrotechnischen Verein at

Berlin, December, 1904, to which certain additions

have been made. It is a most interesting semi-

popular account of the present position of the electron
theory, which is due largely to the author.

The lecturer begins with a short historical intro-
duction, and then goes on to discuss the properties
of kathode rays, which, of course, are negative
electrons. He describes the methods by which the
ratio of the mass to the charge of these rays has been

NO. 1880, VOL. 73]

together with an |

determined, and Kaufmann’s beautiful research on
the 6 rays from radium, which, in conjunction with
J. J. Thomson’s and Abraham’s theoretical investi-
gations, has led to the conclusion that the mass of
these rays or electrons is entirely electromagnetic in
its origin.

The most interesting part of the lecture now
follows, where a description is given of the electron
theory of the conductivity of metals. The beginnings
of the electron theory of metallic conductivity we owe
to Weber and Kohlrausch, and its recent develop-
ments to Riecke, Drude, and J. J. Thomson. Lorentz
here adopts J. J. Thomson’s view, that the con-
ductivity of metals is entirely due to the presence in
them of freely moving negative electrons, and that
the positive electrons are practically fixed, and so do
not contribute to the conductivity. Riecke and Drude
have so far supposed that both the positive and
negative electrons move. The lecture contains an
interesting discussion of the special difficulties of these
rival hypotheses, neither of which has yet been made
to fit in with all the facts.

According to the electron theory of metallic con-
duction, the electrons move about between the metal
atoms so that they are practically in the gaseous
condition and the results of the kinetic theory of
gases can be applied to them. On these assumptions
the ratio of the conductivity for heat to the electrical
conductivity can be calculated, and the result is that

i-a(c),

where k=heat conductivity, e=electrical conductivity,
T=absolute temperature, e=charge carried by one
electron, and a=the gas constant. According to this
equation, #/0 should be the same for all metals and
proportional to the absolute temperature. The experi-
mental results so far obtained agree on the whole
very well with these conclusions, and form a striking
confirmation of the general truth of the theory. The
observed absolute value of £/a also agrees fairly well
with that calculated by means of the formula just
given.

The electron theory also gives a fairly satisfactory
explanation of the phenomena of thermoelectricity and
contact potential difference, but it is very difficult to

| reconcile completely with the facts on the Hall effect.

H. A. Lorentz’s lecture shows that many problems of
the electron theory still await a solution, but it also
shows the immense progress which has recently been
made, and suggests the idea that very soon nothing
but ether and electrons will be retained in our concep-
tion of the physical universe. H. A. WILson.

Die elektrischen Bogenlampen, deren Prinzip, Kon-

struktion und Anwendung. By J. Zeidler. Edited
by Dr. G. Benischke. Pp. x+143. (Brunswick :
Friedrich Vieweg und Sohn, 1905.) Price 5.50
marks.

Tue book published under the above title forms the
sixth pamphlet of ‘Elektrotechnik in Einzel-
Darstellungen.’’ The author divides the contents
into four parts. In the first one he shows great
ingenuity in classifying lamps; he also explains the
actions of series, shunt, and differential arcs, and
describes the precautions which are necessary to
ensure steady burning. :

In the second part we find the constructions of
various types of arc lamps, the sizes of carbons to
be used, the advantages and disadvantages of flame
and enclosed arcs, and an article on inverted lamps.

The third part deals with the distribution and calcu-
lation of light. It describes the construction of polar
and Rousseau curves, the meaning of hemispherical
intensity, the power-factor of alternate current flame

28

NA DORE

[NovEMBER 9, 1905

ares, the calculation of light for interior and exterior
places, and concludes with tables giving the reflect-
ing powers of various surfaces, and the horizontal
illumination required for different places.

The last part illustrates the construction and
application of auxiliary plant, including steadying
resistances, choking coils, transformers, safety appli-
ances, &c.

The book is intended chiefly for students. As such
it might be improved by including a little more of
the theory of the are, of which the author says prac-
tically nothing. Very few engineering students will
find sufficient time to study works such as “ The
Electric Arc,’ by Mrs. Ayrton, unless they make the
study of are lamps their speciality.

The second part will form a good advertisement
for the A.E.G. Company’s lamps, as most of the dia-
grams _ represent designs made by this firm. But
although it is quite easy to deduct the principles of
action of other lamps from the diagrams given, one
does not like to see in a text-book. the productions
of one manufacturer only, as it reduces the work
almost to a catalogue. Of great interest is Foster’s
hot-wire arc lamp, although its commercial value has
yet to be proved.

The most useful part of the book is the third one,
which will be welcomed by many students who are
able to read German. Also the fourth part contains
much useful matter. ;

The book is practically free from printer’s errors.
The few which occur may easily be detected by even
the most elementary reader.

Taken as a whole, the pamphlet will be found
useful addition to electrical engineering literature.

H. Boute.
Transactions of the South African Philosophical
Society. Vol. xv. Part v. Catalogue of Printed

Books, Papers, and Maps relating to the Geology

and Mineralogy of South Africa to December 31,

1904. By Miss M, Wilman. Pp. 283-467. (Cape

Town, 1905.) Price 12s. 6d.

Tuts excellent bibliography represents months of
patient labour spent on a bewildering but necessary
task, and now happily carried to a successful termin-
ation. The whole civilised world appears to have had
something to say on African geology. The labour
entailed in drawing up these lists, which easily super-
sede all others, will therefore be obvious. The
author has had, indeed, to exercise considerable
acumen in discarding numerous papers, &c., often
containing mere references to geology, in order to
bring the lists even within their present compass.
As it is, a few works, since they are mentioned in
earlier lists, have had to be included, although they
add little to geological literature. The title is
generally sufficient to warn the inquirer.

Part i. deals with works on the general geology of
South Africa, part ii, contains a list of geological
maps, while part ili. is exclusively devoted to works
on meteorites. The print is clear, and the names of
authors are distinctly marked in Clarendon type.

W.
\ Pearson,
and London: Oliver

Problems in Practical Physics. By F. R.
M.A. Pp. 30. (Edinburgh
and Boyd, 1905.) Price 6d.

THESE problems are intended to accompany pr actical

work in a laboratory, and should serve to give practice

in working out results. The subjects. on which
examples for solution are set include the parts of
physical science studied in a first year’s course.

Teachers of mathematics may find the booklet useful,

as it will provide interesting applications of simple

mathematical principles to practical problems coming
within simple laboratory experience.

no. 1880 VOL. 73]

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions
expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake
to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected
manuscripts intended for this or any other part of NATURE.
No notice is taken of anonymous communications. |

Terminology in Electro-physiology.

My attention has been directed to a letter in your
columns (p. 5) commenting upon the ambiguous use made
in physiological literature of two opposed terms, ** nega-
tive ’’ and *‘‘ electropositive.”’

To me also it seems a misfortune that this ambiguity
has ever arisen, nor do I see any necessity why it should
be allowed to persist. There is no obvious reason why, in
scientific papers, the terminology of the physicist should
not be adhered to. The ‘‘ negativity’’ of a point is de-
tected by means of the current which flows towards it, or
tends to flow towards it, through some form of external
indicator connecting it to the point which is spoken of as
‘positive."’ These terms, and these terms alone,
adequately express the facts of all the experimental obsery-
ations made. Any other terminology differing from this
is necessarily based upon some inference as to the mode
of causation of the currents detected. Since it is the
causation of these currents which is the main crux of the
research work undertaken in this subject, the admission
of such an inference seems a certain road to the confusion
of ideas.

In all cases where an effort has to be made to carry
home to an audience the more exact ideas existing in the
author’s brain, in all cases where parables are not only
admissible but necessary, I think the terms suggested by
Dr. Waller are of extreme value. Anyone acquainted with
the explanatory use he has made of them in his ‘* Animal
Electricity *’ will agree. Whilst sincerely admiring his
profoundly clever method of administering large doses of
knowledge by means of this and similar parables, I have
observed two things. In the first place, that duller wits,
hugely mistaken, sometimes assess his knowledge as
mainly one of parables. In the second place, that less
expert persons are apt to carry conclusions derived from
parables to a bitter and unjustifiable extremity.

Sheffield University. a J. S. MacDonatp.

The Leonid Meteors,

Tue remarkable
1903 and
whether

1905

displays of these meteors observed in
1904 may naturally raise the expectation as to
the approaching Leonid epoch will exhibit an

abundant fall of shooting stars. Observers, it is true, will
have to contend against the impediment offered by the
light of the gibbous moon; but, it may be remarked, this

can only affect the smaller ‘class of meteors, as the brilliant
apparitions of 1866, 1867, and 1886 were witnessed at a
similar phase of our satellite.

The Leonid events of the past two years afford striking
illustrations of the meteoric cycle of nineteen years, being
associated respectively with the Leonid meteor displays of
1865 and 1866, and the present November ample
promise of furnishing another example of the same period.

Unlike the Leonid falls of 1865 and 1866, that of
November 14, 1867, was brilliantly reproduced on the first
completion of this cycle on the morning of November 15,
1886, the spectacle being of extraordinary splendour
(Nature, vol. Ixi., p. 491).

The Leonid maximum of 1905 will fall on the night of
November 15, and, according to calculations by the present
writer, will be visible both over Europe and America.
The shower-will be of second-class order, that of 1866
being regarded as of first, and will commence early in the
night, the first maximum occurring on November 15
1th. G.M.T. From this hour up to about three o'clock
on the morning of November 16 the Leonids will probably
gradually

gives

increase in numbers, the second maximum of
the night becoming due on November 15, 15h. 10m. The
final maximum on November 15 occurs at 21th., and will

consequently be visible to American observers only.
Dublin. Joun R. Henry.

NOVEMBER 9, 1905]

NA TORE

29

Border occasionally seen between Light and Dark
Regions on Photographic Plates.

Tue reason mentioned by Sir Oliver Lodge (p. 5) for
the border seen between light and dark regions on photo-
graphs is not the only one. In the denser regions of a
negative the developer gets more exhausted or restrained
than in the thinner regions, and this affects the adjacent
parts. At the junction of a dense and a thin area the
edge of the thin part is made thinner by the restraining
compounds (bromide, oxidised pyrogallol, &c.) derived from
the denser part, while, on the contrary, the edge of the
denser part is made denser by the less exhausted developer
flowing from the thin area. This effect is apt to be the
more marked when the developer is already well restrained,
as by staleness or the addition of much bromide.

Cambridge, November 4. F. J. ALLEN.

Tue explanation of a well known phenomenon in photo-
graphy, given by Sir Oliver Lodge in his letter to you

last week (p. 5), does not take into consideration the
following facts :—
(1) The ‘ perceptible difference in thickness ’’ between

the acted-on and unacted-on portions of a negative is only
perceptible to our unaided senses when certain developers
are employed containing substances which act powerfully
on the gelatin. Most modern negatives certainly have no
perceptible difference in thickness, certainly not enough
difference to give rise to so marked an effect as that
referred to.

(2) The difference in thickness is most marked in the
carbon”? transparencies from which many _ enlarged
negatives are made. Here it can be both seen and felt;
in the other case it cannot. We might therefore expect
this cylindrical lens effect to be most marked when using
such a transparency, but the careful comparison of a
number of enlarged negatives made in these two methods
reveals not the slightest difference between them.

In my own mind I have always accounted for the
phenomenon in the following way :—The sensitive film
ordinarily can only be approached by the developer from
its outward face, hence the action over an area where the
light action has been the same is uniform. But if that
area is bordered by one where there has been little or no
light action, the developer absorbed by such parts is not
spent in doing any or much work in those parts, and, so
far as any lateral diffusion is concerned, is practically fresh
developer. Hence the borders of an exposed portion, where
it comes against an unexposed portion, are attacked by
fresh developer diffusing both from the front and from the
unexposed part, and we should therefore expect to find a
border line of greater density there, as in fact we do.
For a similar reason we should expect to find a less dense
line on the border of the more transparent portion, as
is the case, though it is not often so noticeable as the
former.

That this is the true explanation is, I think, made
manifest by the fact that the line in question can be quite
easily distinguished on plates exposed in Spurge’s actino-
meter, where there is certainly no opportunity of a
“cylindrical lens effect,’’ and especially when develop-
ment has been pushed far. R. Cuitp Baytey.

20 Tudor Street, London, E.C., November 6.

3

The Use of Gasoline in Chemical and Fhysicai
Laboratories.

EXPERIMENTAL work has so thoroughly established its
claims to a reasonable share in the curriculum of every
secondary school that very few schools are now with-
out proper laboratories. No inconsiderable number of
these schools are, however, beyond the limits of the
ordinary gas supply, and the question of providing a sub-
stitute for ceal-gas has presented no little difficulty. The
matter became urgent some time ago at the Llanberis
Intermediate School, mainly for heating purposes, but also
for lighting. Investigation seemed to point to two possible
substitutes—acetylene and gasoline. Both have been used,
but not to any very large extent, in this country. An
account was given in the School World for January 1902,
of the use of acetylene in Felsted School.

No. 1880, VOL. 73]

For a small installation, where light is the first con-
sideration, it would probably be admitted that acetylene
is highly satisfactory, but even for lighting _ the use of

mantles has rendered gasoline a very severe rival. The
problem is different when heat is the chief factor. In most

cases of schools the gas is required to meet both demands,
and gasoline seems to possess the advantage.

The questions for consideration are cost and efficiency.

In reference to cost, estimates were obtained to supply
the chemical and physical laboratories and to light the
whole building, and showed that the initial cost of plant
and fitter’s work would be about fifty per cent. higher for
acetylene than for gasoline, and the estimated cost of
maintenance for the former was also much higher.

Efficiency may be considered under the following
heads :—(a) The relative simplicity of the generating plant ;
(b) the ease of manipulation; (c) the nearness to which
the gas approaches in use to coal-gas; (d) the risk of
explosion.

(a) The plant used in the Llanberis School was supplied
by the Walworth Manufacturing Co., of Boston, U.S.A.,
and consists essentially of three parts :—(1) A large shallow
cylindrical copper tank, holding 250 gallons, buried some
30 feet or more from the building, which is filled with
gasoline through a pipe and closed air-tight by a screw
cap. Two other pipes, an inlet and outlet, are fitted into
the top of the tank and pass under ground to the cellar
of the building. (2) In the cellar a pump, worked by a
weight on pulleys, forces air through the inlet pipe on to
the surface of the gasoline in the tank. Evaporation is
rapid (gasoline boiling from about 35° C. to 70° C.), and
the mixture of vapour and air is driven through the outlet
pipe into (3) an automatic mixer, by which a definite and
known amount of air can be added, so that the proper
proportion for burning may be constantly maintained. The
whole plant is extremely simple, and was easily put up by
a local gas-fitter under my direction.

(b) It requires very little attention. The weight has to
be wound up about once a week; the mixer adjusted, by
moving a small wheel along a rod, about once every two
or three months; and the tank filled about every twelve or
eighteen months. The frequency of the recurrence of these
operations clearly depends on the size of the plant relative
to the demands upon it.

(c) The burners differ slightly from the ordinary coal-gas
bunsens, but give an excellent flame for ordinary laboratory
purposes. The most noticeable difference is that the flame
is more easily blown out. This gives a little trouble with
an ordinary foot blowpipe, but a slight modification, which
I hope to carry out, suggested by my friend Mr. B. B.
Turner, of Storrs Agricultural College, Connecticut (who
has used gasoline for some years, and who brought it to
my notice), will probably get over the difficulty. The plant
supplies enough gas to light the whole building as well as
for laboratory purposes.

(d) The risk of explosion is very slight, as any escape is
at once detected by the strong smell, and the limits of
explosion are narrower than those of coal-gas and very
much narrower than those of acetylene. The absence of
any heating arrangements to aid the evaporation, such as
are proposed by some makers, considerably reduces the risk
of explosion. J. R. Foster.

THE ABGER IN THE RIVERS
OUSE.

AVING had an opportunity of witnessing the
bore, or aeger as it is locally called, in the
River Trent at Gainsborough during the recent high
equinoctial tides, which did so much damage all along
the east coast, I send you the following description,
which may interest some of your readers, more
especially as I am not aware of any trustworthy
account of this bore that has yet been published.

The Trent is a tributary of the Humber, and joins
that river about 16 miles above Hull and 4o
miles from the North Sea. The width of the Trent
at the junction is from 2500 feet to 3000 feet at high
water, diminishing to 7oo feet 13 miles from the

TRENT AND

30

IVA POR

[ NOVEMBER 9, 1905

junction. This wide space is encumbered with a mass |
of sand banks. The width of the Humber below the
junction averages about 4500 feet, and this channel |
also feeds the Ouse, which is a continuation of the
Humber. This width is double that of the Trent
and Ouse combined. The rise of ordinary spring |
tides at Trent mouth is 15 feet, increasing at equi-
noctial tides to 19 feet. The tide has a run of |
47 miles up the Trent, and reaches to 87 miles from |
the North Sea, the flood lasting three hours and the
ebb nine hours.

The bore, or aeger, is caused by the check of |
the tidal flow through the shoal water of the sand |
banks and the contraction of the waterway, the tidal
current overrunning the transmission of the foot of
the wave. It first assumes a crest somewhere
between Burton Stather, 3 miles from the mouth of
the Trent, and Amcotts, 2 miles further on, depending
on the condition of the tide, the water rising almost |
simultaneously 3 feet. In ordinary spring tides the
bore does not extend more than 7 or 10 miles above
Gainsborough. In high spring tides it diminishes

Fic. 1.—The Aeger in the Trent.

to 1 foot in height at Torksey, 35 miles from the
mouth of the river, and then gradually dies out.

The bore was to be seen under exceptionally favour-
able conditions on September 30 and October 1 last,
being the second and third days after the new moon.
The tides were laid down in the Admiralty tide tables
for the Humber as the largest of the year. The
moon was in perigee on September 29, and had
11.21 degrees south declination. The wind was from
N.E. to N.W., a direction which brings the largest |
tides, and was blowing at Spurn with a force of from
6 to 7. Inland the force was only about 3 on the
Beaufort scale. There was a limited quantity of
fresh water running down the river, the velocity at
low water being 2 miles an hour. The depth in the
channel between Gainsborough and the Humber is |
now about 6 feet, but there are several shoals with |
not more than 2 feet to 24 feet over them. The tide |
was exceptionally high, rising in the Humber at Hull |
nearly 3 feet higher than ordinary spring tides, and
within 10 inches of the record tide of March, 1883.

The bore could be heard approaching about half a
mile from the place of observation, and passed with
a crest in the middle of the river of from 4 feet to |
45 feet extending across the full width of the river, |
which is here about 200 feet at high water. At the
sides the breaking wave rolled along the banks 6 feet
or 7 feet high. The crest was followed by five or
six other waves of less height, terminating in a mass

NO. 1880, VOL. 73]

_ Naburn with a crest 1 foot 6 inches high.

of turbulent broken water for a distance of 100 yards.
The velocity of the wave, as nearly as it could be
measured, was about 15 miles an hour, the current
running up after the bore had passed at the rate of
4; miles an hour, and at its maximum, about half
flood, 5 miles an hour. The tide rose 4 feet in the
first four minutes after the arrival of the bore, 5 feet
in the first half hour, and 8 feet in two hours, when
it attained its maximum height and commenced to
fall; but the tide continued running up the river
for another hour after this, at the reduced velocity
of 2 miles an hour. There were some steamers and
barges lying at the wharves, and a row-boat in the
middle of the river. These rose with the wave and

| suffered no harm.

These bores were considered by the men on the
river as fair specimens of those which come with
high tides, and as never exceeded in height to any
extent. When the river is full of fresh water and the
ebb is heavy the bore is less pronounced, and does
not show at all on neap tides. It was reported that
at Owston Ferry, which is 8 miles nearer the Humber
than Gainsborough, the crest of the
aeger was 8 feet, but this was prob-
ably at the side of the river. A
boat which was in the middle of the
river when the wave came was for
an instant completely out of sight
of a spectator on the bank.

The photograph from which the
illustration is taken is by Mr. E. W.
Carter, of Gainsborough, and is
copyright.

In the Ouse during spring tides
there is a less pronounced bore. In
ordinary spring tides it commences
at a shallow reach in the river at
Sand Hall, 2 miles above Goole,
attains its greatest height 4 miles
above Selby, and then gradually
dies out. The crest of the bore is
from 2 feet to 3 feet, and the break-
ing wave at the sides 6 feet or
7 feet. In summer, when the ebb
current is low, the aeger reaches
Since the
improvement of the channel of the river below Goole

these aegers have become smaller.
W. H. WHEELER.

SURVEY OF THE SIMPLON TUNNEL.

7E have appreciated many of the difficulties the
engineers encountered in the construction of

the Simplon Tunnel and have offered our congratu-
lations on the successful completion of the work. But
the difficulties that have been most readily appre-
hended have been those arising from the outburst
of water from the hot springs in the track, the high
temperature, and the mechanical boring and removal
of the rock. In the happy completion of a task of
great magnitude, which at one time threatened to
end in a catastrophe, people are apt to forget the
onerous preliminary work necessary to set out the
line of the tunnel, to arrange the gradient so as to
provide not only for efficient drainage at either end,
but to secure the continuity of the separate tunnels
at the point of junction, and so render it possible to
work simultaneously at both ends. We are therefore
glad to see an article by Prof. C. Koppe in Himmel
und Krde for August! bringing these matters forward,
and making us familiar with the work which has

1 “Die Vermessungs- und
Tunnel.”

Absteckungs-Arbeiten fiir den Simplon

NOVEMBER Q, 1905 |

INA TORE 31

. . 1. . .
been so efficiently carried out by Prof. Rosenmund | instrument and permitted accurate observation of the

of Zurich.

Before the work of boring and perforation can be
begun, there are three elements which have to be
determined with an accuracy which must be greater
in proportion to the difficulties of construction. These
are the direction, the length, and the altitude above
sea-level. Assuming that the places of entrance and
exit of the tunnel have been marked by suitable pillars,
the determination of these three elements begins; and
that of the level is the least difficult, because the
surveying engineer trusts to direct measurements.
By the aid of accurate levelling instruments, it is
possible to derive the difference in altitude of two
stations 50 kilometres apart with no greater error
than 3 cm. This is effected by the use of the
levelling staff, which is read by means of an accurate
level, the staff being placed vertically at two stations
a convenient distance apart, and the sum of the
differences of each pair of readings being taken. The
surveyor apparently trusts entirely to the accuracy
with which his theodolite can be levelled. Several
determinations of the difference of level of the two
ends of the tunnel were made, but between the two
last there was a discrepancy of only 2 cm., a more
than sufficient degree of accuracy. The actual differ-
ence of level between the two ends was 52-439 metres.

The second element, that of the length of the
tunnel, is to be derived indirectly from triangula-
tion, the length being reckoned from the same points
that have served for the determination of difference
of level, and, as a matter of fact, these points are
at some distance from the actual openings. A base
line being given, the construction and the solution
of the triangles present little difficulty, for here great
accuracy is not required, and the probable error that
Prof. Rosenmund was content to leave in his worl:
amounted to +0.7 metre. The distances measured
are as follows :—

The length between the columns mark- metres

ing the axis of tunnel... : 20,091-33
Distance of northern column from

tunnel opening ... <0 was “eo 317-78
Distance of southern column from

tunnel opening ... 44:84

Actual length of tunnel ... 19,728-71

The third element, that of direction, at all times
presents some difficulty, and, in the case of moun-
tains, where local attraction enters as a disturbing
factor, the problem requires very delicate treatment.
In a tunnel 20 kilometres long, an error in direction
of one minute, which is usually the limit of accuracy
sought in technical work, would produce an error of
6 metres, and the tenth part of such an error would
be too great. Recourse is necessarily had to triangu-
lation, and the angular measurements must be made
with the greatest care. Well-defined signal posts
must be erected to mark the angles of the selected
triangles, and the points of reference in these pillars
defined with the utmost accuracy. The form which
Prof. Rosenmund preferred consisted of cylindrical
towers of brick about eight feet high, of which the
axis Was an iron tube the upper edge of which reached
the top surface of the tower. A wooden pole carried
this iron tube vertically upwards, and the whole was
surmounted by a conical tin covering, the highest
point of which was vertically over the centre of the
iron axis. Eleven of these piers were erected, and
when signals were made from any pillar the conical
top was removed, and the theodolite was placed cen-
trally over the middle of the iron tube in the cylin-
drical tower, which afforded a solid support for the

NO. 1880, VOL. 73]

other stations. With the care exercised, it might have
been anticipated that the sum of the angles of any
triangle would differ from 180° by the known amount
of the spherical excess, within the errors of observ-
ation. But the discrepancies were much larger, vary-
ing from 4 to 8.5 seconds, and these deviations could
be explained only by attributing to the mountain an
attractive force, which sensibly displaced the direc-
tion of the plumb-line. In other words, the theo-
dolite was not placed horizontally. The amount of
the deviations from the vertical, with the azimuths in
which they occur, is shown in the following table :—

Deviation

Station from vertical Azimuth
North point of axis... 13-9 248 26
Oberried = 19-1 Bc 195 12
Birgischwald ... 16-4 188 5
Rosswald 230 560 a 230 262 56
Spitzhorn : 175 314 18
Monte Leone... Ros se Os ots oO
Hillehorn Sn Bi Ree Sez oe 244 3
Seehorn a6 nh wes 15:6 ses 75 28
Alpe Wolf... =e Sex a 36 40
Genuina 23 250 Been Ont 192 3
South point of axis... 538 139 II

Assuming these deviations from the vertical to arise
from the attraction of the mountain mass, an hypo-
thesis which was confirmed by rigorous astronomical

observation, it was found possible to reduce the
closing errors of the triangles very materially. The

solution of the whole network of triangulation showed
that the tunnel’s axis was fixed with a probable error
of +0".7, and that the direction of the tunnel could
be fixed with sufficient accuracy by pointing the
telescope, placed on one of the piers at the entrance
of the tunnel, to any other signal tower, and revolving
the telescope through a known angle.

It would be interesting to enter into the details
by which the path of the tunnel was checked as the
work progressed, more especially as curious refractive
effects, akin to those seen in ‘‘ mirage,’’ occurred to
render the observations somewhat difficult and un-
certain. These disturbing effects were more noticeable
when observing towards the north end of the tunnel,
where the difference of temperature between the
internal and external atmosphere was greatest. On
the southern side, the external air being warmer than
on the north side, the ‘‘ mirage’’ was not so con-

spicuous. But we have only space to refer to the
degree of success which resulted from the care
bestowed on this difficult undertaking—a_ success

which could not be adequately tested until the junc-
tion of the engineering parties in the middle of the
tunnel was effected. To take the three elements in
order, it was found that the level agreed within
o-1 metre of the calculations. The length as measured
differed 2 metres from the calculated value, but, as
mentioned, this was a factor in which great accuracy
was not needed, because, if the direction were given
correctly, it was only necessary to continue the
borings until the engineers from the south and north
sides met in the middle. The direction was most
satisfactory. The wall of one tunnel was absolutely
continuous with the wall of the other; an attempt
was made to compare the opposite walls of the tunnel
for confirmation, but this attempt was frustrated by
a projecting piece of rock. No better result could
have been anticipated, and the utmost credit attaches
to Prof. Rosenmund and his assistants.
We (EeiPs

32

NAT ORE

[ NOVEMBER 9, 1905

BURSARIES AT THE ROYAL
SCIENCE.
CIENCE scholars selected from the whole of Great
Britain for their ability and promise, maintaining
themselves on 17s. od. per week, were this year
saved from much privation by secret gifts of small
bursaries—see the subjoined audited account. I have
no right to ask for help from the generous men who
helped me last year, but I have all the sturdiness of
a chartered begga ask in a good cause.

COLLEGE OF

It was originally intended that these bursaries
should be given only to such National Scholars as

required assistance, but some of the subscribers have
given me power to assist other students of the college.
Also one of the two City Companies has given me
power to grant an occasional bursary of more than
ten pounds. It is understood that every student is
morally bound to repay this money to the fund at
some future time. Joun PrErry.
October.
RoyaL COLLEGE OF SCIENCE.

BURSARIES 1904-1905.

BALANCE SHEET.
Moneys Received and Paid by Prof. Perry.

RECEIVED PAID
Balance from last year £24 20 Dec. 16 ¢o Feb, 28.
August, 1904. | 25 students re-
Dr. Sprague ... ... 20 © 0] ceived half bur-
R. Kaye Gray, Esq... 10 00 saries, £5 each...£125 O00
Seplenber, 1904. January 31, 1905.
Prof. J. Perry Sa I student received
mUleS) ee I 60 a half bursary of
November, 1904. LT NOs: 7 100

Ke turned halfbursary 5 00) February 15.

Sir Andrew Noble... 10 © 0 I siudent received
December, 1904. . the second half of
The Drapers’ Co. ... 100 0 0 his bursary... . 5 00
Broke Be ie March 2410 June Is.
rules) i. Wi. 2 19 O) 22 students re-
January, 1905. ceived second

J. Drinkwater, Bsq: 1
The Goldsmiths’ Co. 100
April, 1905. | I student received
Prof. J. Perry (slide | second half ... Felon
rules) .. ... ... 3 If O| 2 students refused
| theirsecond halves
| Balance in hand
\

1 0, halves, £5 each...
00) June s

IIo OO

22 19 0

Total £277 Total £277 19 o
Twenty-three

51. each,

19 0}
students received tol,
and one received 15].

Audited and Signed by Jounx W. Jupp.
Dated June 22, 1905.

each, two received

DR.- RALPH COPELAND.
STRONOMERS will have learned with profound
regret that Dr. Ralph Copeland, Astronomer
Royal for Scotland, died on October 27 at the Edin-
burgh Observatory in the sixty-eighth year of his
age. Dr. Copeland enjoyed a more varied life than
generally falls to the lot of astronomers. The love
of travel and adventure seemed with him to be only
second to his desire to advance the interests of astro-
nomy.
Born in Lancashire, he early went to Australia,
where, on the somewhat uncongenial soil of a sheep-

run, he acquired his first telescope and diligently
used it. Then he was for a short time attracted by

the excitement of the gold diggings, but he forsook
these to return to England, having determined to
devote himself to astronomy. He matriculated at the
University of Gottingen, and enjoyed the advantages
of instruction from Prof. Klinkerfuss. For a while
he took part in the routine work of the Gottingen
Observatory, but the love of adventure still pos ssessed

NO. 1880, VOL. 73]

him, and we find him in 1867 taking part in an ex-
pedition to explore the east coast of Greenland, climb-
ing mountains and otherwise distinguishing himself,
so that on his return he was awarded the Order of the
Red Eagle by the German Emperor. Shortly after
his return to Europe he came to England, and though
he was connected with both the observatory of Lord
Rosse at Birr Castle and with that at Dunsink, he
is better known for his work in connection with both
expeditions of 1874 and 1882 to observe the transit of
Venus. In the first he was a member of Lord
Lindsay’s (now Earl of Crawford) unsuccessful ex-
pedition to Mauritius, but on the occasion of the
second transit he was more fortunate at Jamaica.
Before returning to England he spent some time in
the Andes of Peru and Bolivia, at altitudes varying
from 10,000 feet to 15,000 feet above sea- level, where
he carried out a series of researches on the trans-
parency of the atmosphere, the spectra of planetary
nebulz and of certain classes of stars.

In 1889, when the Earl of Crawford presented his
instrumental equipment to the Edinburgh University,
Dr. Copeland became regius professor of astronomy
and Astronomer Royal for Scotland. Here his great
work consisted in the re-construction of the National
Observatory at Blackford Hill, the full development
of the capacity of which was denied him by reason of
his failing health. But he still enjoyed opportunities
for foreign travel. Norway, India, Spain, were ‘all
visited in turn for the observation of solar eclipses.
His favourite instrument on these expeditions was a
telescope of long focal length.

Dr. Copeland’s acquaintance with astronomical
literature was wide and intimate, and his collection
of works having reference to some departments, such
as cometary astronomy, was probably unique for its
completeness. In cometary observation he was par-
ticularly interested, and it will be recalled that for
many years he gave valuable assistance to observers
of comets by calculating and circulating ephemerides

which he printed at a small press of his own. For
some time he gave further encouragement to the
science by editing, in conjunction with Dr. Dreyer,

the periodical Copernicus, devoted to the publication
of high-class papers. In fact, Dr. Copeland’s activi-
ties were by no means limited to what may be called
his official duties. He had the gift to interest by
his varied knowledge and experience, and used it
liberally. He was held in estimation by a large circle
of friends and pupils for the picturesqueness with
which he imparted his information and his readiness
to assist and encourage. The writer is among those
who will gratefully acknowledge the charm of his
manner and the kindnesses received at his hands.

Vi. tse

CAPTAIN Fo W. HUTTON IVER: S.
ATURAL science has sustained a heavy loss in
1 the death of Captain F. W. Hutton, curator of
the Canterbury Museum, president of the New
Zealand Institute, and formerly professor of biology

and geology in Canterbury College, University of
New Zealand. The second son of the Rev. H. F.
Hutton, Rector of Spridlington, in Lincolnshire,

Frederick Wollaston Hutton was born at Gate Barton

in that county on November 16, 1836. He was
educated at the grammar school at Southwell, and
afterwards at the Naval Academy at Gosport. After

serving for three years in the India mercantile marine
he entered the Army, becoming ensign in the 23rd
Royal Welsh Fusiliers in 1855. He served in the
Crimea (1855-6), and saw further active service during
the Indian Mutiny, being present at the capture and
relief of Lucknow. He was made lieutenant in 1857.

NOVEMBER 9, 1905 |

NEAT CRE:

33

In 1860 he furthered his military studies at the Staff
College at Sandhurst, passing the examinations in

1861. At this date geology was taught in the Royal
Military College by Prof. T. Rupert Jones, and
Hutton, who had taken up the subject with

enthusiasm, contributed in 1862 to the Journal of the
Royal United Service Institution (vol. vi.) an essay
on ‘*‘ The Importance of a Knowledge of Geology to
Military Men.’”? The importance, strange to say, does
not appear to be so fully recognised nowadays.
Hutton became captain in 1862, and served for a
time as Deputy-Assistant Quartermaster-General at
Dublin; but in 1866, having retired from the Army,
he emigrated to New Zealand, and devoted himself
to the study of natural BASIE and especially to
zoology and geology. In 1871 he was appointed
assistant geologist on the Gesonicel Survey of New
Zealand, in 1873 provincial geologist of Otago and
curator of the Otago Museum, and in 1877 professor

of natural science in the Otago University. In 1880
he settled at Christchurch, having become professor
of biology and geology in the University of New

Zealand, a post which he held until 1893, when he
became curator of the Canterbury Museum at Christ-
church. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society
in 1892.

One of his earliest geological papers, a sketch of
the physical geology of Malta, was published in the
Geological Magazine (1866). From this date his
work related mainly to the country of his adoption.
He prepared official reports on the Lower Waikato
district and on the Thames gold-field in 1867, and a
ee on the geology and gold-fields of Otago (with

H. F. Ulrich) in 1875. To the Geological Society
aa London he contained in 1885 an excellent sketch
of the geology of New Zealand, which gave a com-
prehensive summary of the knowledge attained at
that time, and in 1887 he sent to the same society an
account of a recent eruption of Mt. Tarawera in
North Island. He contributed many other geological
papers to the Geological Society and Geological

Magazine. While distinguishéd as a geologist, the
importance of his researches on zoology was early

recognised, and he was elected a corresponding
member of the Zoological Society in 1872.

He contributed articles on the Fevoine! and flora of
New Zealand, on the land mollusca, the fishes, and
the birds, including the extinct moas. Some of these
articles were printed in the Transactions of the New
Zealand Institute, the Proceedings of the Linnean
Society of New South Wales, in the Proceedings of
the Zoological Society, in Ibis, and other journals.

He was an ardent student of evolution, and
among other works issued in 1899 ‘‘ Darwinism and
Lamarckism, Old and New,’ and in tg02 ‘“‘ The
Lesson of Evolution.’

After an absence of nearly forty years he paid a
visit to this country, and received a hearty welcome
from his many scientific friends. He was returning
to his home at Christchurch when the announcement
of his death on October 27 was received by telegram
from the Cape. We are indebted to an obituary
in the Times for some of the above particulars.

BBY Ww.

NOTES.

has this year made the following
The awards of the Royal medals have
received the King’s approval :—The Copley medal to Prof.
D. I. Mendeléeff, of St. Petersburg, for his contributions
to chemical and physical science; a Royal medal to Prof.
J. H. Poynting, F.R.S., for his researches in physical
science, especially in connection with the constant of

1880, VOL. 73]

Tue Royal Society
awards of medals.

gravitation and the theories of

ation; a Royal medal to Pref. C.

electrodynamics and radi-
S. Sherrington, F.R.S.,
for his researches on the central nervous system, especially
the Davy medal to Prof. A.
Breslau, for his in organic

in relation to reflex action;
Ladenburg, of researches
chemistry, especially in connection with the synthesis of
natural alkaloids; the Hughes medal to Prof. A. Righi, of
Bologna, on the ground of his experimental researches in

| electrical science.

Tue following is a list of those who have been recom-
mended by the president and council of the Royal Society
for election into the council for the the
anniversary meeting on November Lord
Rayleigh, O.M.; treasurer, Mr. A. B. Kempe; secretaries,
Prof. Joseph Larmor and Sir Archibald Geikie; foreign
secretary, Mr. Francis Darwin; other
council, Dr. Shelford Bidwell, Sir T.
Prof. J. Norman Collie, Prof. W. R. Dunstan, Prof. J. B.
Farmer, Prof. F. Gotch, Dr. S. F. Harmer, Sir William
Huggins, K.C.B., O.M., Prof. E. Ray Lankester, Dr.
J. E. Marr, Mr. G. B. Mathews, Mr. H. F. Newall, Sir
W. D. Niven, K.C.B., Prof. John ovis J, tals
Starling, Prof. W. A. Tilden.

year 1906, at

30 :—President,

members of the
Lauder Brunton,

Perry,

At a meeting of the council of the British Association
on November 3 it was decided that, in consequence of
strong representations by the local committee, the meeting
at York next year shall be opened on Wednesday,
August 1, which is earlier than the usual date of the
opening meeting.

Tue council of the British Association has received a
gift of 5o/. from Mrs. John Hopkinson, to be devoted to
some investigation which may be suggested at the next
meeting by the committee of recommendations.

Tue Paris Academy of Moral and Political Sciences has
to Dr. Calmette, of
bacteriology

awarded a prize of the value of 6o0ol.
Lille, in recognition of his
preventive medicine.

work in and

WE regret to see the announcement of the death, at
forty-five years of age, of Prof. Walter F. Wislicenus,
professor of astronomy in the University of Strasburg and

editor of the *‘ Astroromischer Jahresbericht.”’

A CHRISTMAS course of lectures, adapted to a juvenile
auditory, will be delivered at the Royal
Prof. H. H. Turner, F.R.S., on astronomy,
December 28 of this year to January 9, 1906.

Institution by
from

Dr. Maurits SNELLIN informs us that he has resigned
the directorship of the section of terrestrial magnetism and
seismology at the Koninklijk Nederlandsch Meteorologisch
Instituut. Dr. Snellin’s private address is now Apeldoorn,
Holland, and any papers intended for him _ personally
should be sent to this address.

At the inaugural meeting of the eighty-seventh session
of the Institution of Civil Engineers, held on Tuesday,
November 7, Sir Guilford Molesworth, K.C.I.E., the re-

tiring president, introduced to the members his
successor in the chair, Sir
an address to the
fluence of scientific

development of engineering practice.

formally
who delivered
traced the in-
the

Alexander Binnie,

members, in which he

gation
The
sequently presented the medals and premiums

the council for papers dealt with

thought and inves upon
president sub-
awarded by
at the institution in the

course of the past session.

34

NALROCRE

[NovEMBER 9, 1905

Tue fifteenth International Congress of Americanists
will be held at Quebec on September 10-15, 1906. Papers
in each division of the congress will take precedence in
the order of the receipt of abstracts. Copies of regulations
referring to papers may be obtained from Prof. F. Boas,
department of anthropology, Columbia University, New
York. The names of intending members or associates
should be sent to Dr. N. E. Dionne, Librarian to the
Legislative Assembly, Quebec.

Science reports that the Alvarenga prize for 1yo5 has
been awarded to Dr. Chalmers Watson, of Edinburgh, for
his essay entitled ‘‘ The Importance of Diet; an Experi-
mental Study from a New Standpoint.’’ This prize is
given by the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, and
consists, each year, of the income of the bequest of the
late Senor Alvarenga, amounting to about 36/1. The next
award will be made July 14, 1906, provided that an essay
deemed by the committee of award to be worthy of the
prize shall have been offered. Essays intended for com-
petition must be received by the secretary of the college
on or before May 1, 1906.

WE regret to learn that Mr. William Henry Greenwood,
the eminent metallurgist, died on October 31 at fifty-nine
years of age. He was educated at the Royal School of
Mines, and at various periods in his career he held im-
portant positions at the works of Sir J. Whitworth and
Co., the St. Petersburg Ordnance Works, and_ the
Birmingham Small Arms Works. From 1885 to 1889 he
was professor of metallurgy at Sheffield. He was the author
of a well known manual of metallurgy, of a treatise on
steel and iron, and of a series of metallurgical lecture
diagrams, and contributed various papers to the Institution
of Civil Engineers, the Iron and Steel Institute, and other
technical societies of which he was a member.

Tue Society of Arts will commence its 152nd session
on November 15 with an opening address from the chair-
man of its council, Sir Owen Roberts. Among the papers
set down for the Wednesday evenings before Christmas
is one on the commerce and industries of Japan, by Mr.
W. F. Mitchell, at which the Japanese Minister will pre-
side. Sir William will give an account of the
recent meeting of the British Association in South Africa,
and Mr. F. Martin-Duncan will describe recent applications
of the kinematograph for scientific purposes. A course of
Cantor lectures by Prof. J. A. Fleming on electric
waves will also be given before Christmas. Among the
courses of meetings after
one under the Cantor trust on modern
Sir William E. White, and one under the
Howard trust, by Prof. Silvanus P. Thompson, on high-
speed electric generators. The usual course of juvenile
lectures will be given this year by Prof. Herbert Jackson,
the subject being flame and combustion.

Preece

lectures announced for the
Christmas is

warships, by

Baron ERtanp NORDENSKJOLD has published through
Reuter’s Agency some details of his eighteen months’ ex-
pedition to the Andes, which was undertaken for the pur-
pose of penetrating the northern fore of Bolivia and
studying the Indian tribes along the various tributaries of
the Amazcn in practically unknown districts. Baron
Nordenskjold left England in January, 1904, his intention
being to travel vid the Peruvian port of Mollendo to Puno
on Lake Titicaca, at an altitude of 12,000 feet, and thence
to La Paz, the Bolivian capital. He visited in all three
tribes, the Yamiacas, and Atsapuacas, who,
until a couple of years ago, lived like people of the Stone

NO. 1880, VOL. 73]

Guarayos,

Age. The two last mentioned, in the main, still retained
their original customs. No white man had ever previously
visited the Atsapuacas, but yet they were in possession of
tools, which they had obtained through other tribes. The
expedition was unable to get into contact with a fourth
tribe. The explorers marched through their territory and
were constantly watched by the people, who, while abstain-
ing from molesting the strangers, would not have any
dealings with them. Baron Nordenskjold states that the
Quichuas and Aymaras, living round Lake Titicaca and
in the fells of the Andes, are an interesting study for the
ethnologist, as they have retained many customs unaltered,
or but slightly modified, since the time of the Incas.

FRoM a report in the Times we learn that the old
students of the Royal School of Mines resident in South
Africa held their annual dinner at the Rand Club,
Johannesburg, on October 7. Mr. J. Harry Johns pre-
sided, supported by Mr. A. R. Sawyer and Mr. H. H.
Webb. In proposing the toast of *‘ The Royal School of
Mines,’’ the chairman emphasised the importance of teach-
ing students to put scientific knowledge to practical use.
He laid stress upon the importance of training in
mechanical engineering and electricity, and congratulated
the Government upon choosing a_ thoroughly practical
engineer to fill the chair of mining at the Royal School
of Mines. Mr. Brodigan, in replying, endorsed the general
opinion that, considering the national importance of the
mining industry to Great Britain, the Government should
endow more liberally the leading mining school of the
world. A letter was read from the Commissioner of Mines
(Mr. H. Weldon), in which he offered a scholarship of
321. to be competed for by the mining students of the
Transvaal Technical Institute. Mr. Webb proposed that a
register should be kept of all old School of Mines
students residing in the country, and stated that the Con-
solidated Gold Fields of South Africa would always be
ready to provide work for a certain number of students
who had finished the graduation course at the Royal School
of Mines. The students would earn enough at such work
to maintain them while they were gaining practical ex-
perience. In connection therewith, those who have studied
at the Royal School of Mines are requested, should they
come to South Africa, to send their names and qualifications
to Mr. C. B. Horwood, Rand Club, Johannesburg.

Tue tercentenary of the birthday of Sir Thomas Browne,
author of the ‘ Religio Medici,’’ ‘‘ Urn Burial,” &c.,
physician and philosopher, who was born in Norwich on
October 19, 1605, was celebrated in Norwich on October 19
with a remarkable display of enthusiasm and _ interest.
A statue by Mr. Henry Pegram, A.R.A., has been placed
in the Haymarket at Norwich, close to the site of Sir
Thomas Browne's house, and was unveiled by Lord Ave-
bury in the presence of a distinguished company, including
representatives of the Royal Colleges of Physicians and
Surgeons, London, and of several of the universities and
learned societies, who were afterwards entertained at
luncheon by the members of the memorial
committee.

executive

In the University Review for October (ii., No. 6)

Viscount Mountmorres writes on the development of the

tropics. The article is an indictment of our colonial policy
on the west coast of Africa, and the energy of other

nations in developing their possessions in this region is
contrasted with the lethargy exhibited in our treatment of
our own colonies. This applies not only in commerce but
in scientific investigations, and, save for several excellent

NOVEMBER 9, 1905 |

INNATE ORL 35

experimental botanical gardens, there is a whole class of
important questions dealing with the mineral, vegetable,
and animal products of the country which is practically
left to private individuals for solution.

Sir FREDERICK TREVES gave the opening address of the
winter series of the Edinburgh Philosophical Institution
on October 31, Lord Rosebery presiding. Sir Frederick’s
subject was ‘‘disease’’; he said that the common con-
ception of disease is that it is a calamity, and its end
‘destruction, whereas disease is one of the good gifts, for
its motive is always benevolent and protective. He demon-
strated his proposition by a number of instances, showing
that the phenomena of disease always tend to recovery
and repair, though he acknowledged that in the case of
malignant disease the assertion could be made that there
was nothing good in it, to which no answer could at
present be given.

Mr. L. W. Lampe, of the Geological Survey of Canada,
has favoured us with a copy of a paper, from the Trans-
actions of the Royal Society of Canada, on species of
Hyracodon and the ancestral horse-like genus Mesohippus
from the Oligocene of the Cypress Hills, Assiniboia.

No. 3 of the Brooklyn, N.Y., Musewim ivews records
improvements and additions to the central and children’s
museums in that city. A special feature is the collection
of insects in the children’s museum, this group being re-
garded as a peculiarly suitable one for infantile study
owing to the number of its representatives and _ their

adaptations to different modes of life.

Part vy. of the first volume of the Records of the
Albany Museum contains papers on Hymenoptera by
Messrs. Cameron and O’Neil, and two on fossil reptiles
and fishes by Dr. R. Broom. Several new generic types
of fossil reptiles are described, but their affinities are for
the most part doubtful; the one fossil fish recorded is
referred to the European ganoid genus Ccelacanthus.

An elaborate account of the alimentary tract of the
mosquito is contributed by Mr. M. T. Thompson to the
Proceedings of the Boston (U.S.A.) Society of Natural
History, vol. xxxii., No. 6. The ordinary gnat (Culex
pipiens) and two other species of the same genus afforded
material for the investigation, Anopheles not being
sufficiently abundant.

THE contents of Biologisches Centralblatt of October 15
include an article by Mr. H. Kranichfeld on the probability
of the preservation and continuity of favourable variations
in animals, with arithmetical calculations; a second (to
be continued), by Mr. K. C. Schneider, on the elements
of comparative animal physiology; and a third (likewise
not completed) on ‘“‘ or nerve-fibrilla, by Dr.
Max Wolff, of Jena.

neurons,’

In the October issue of the American Naturalist Prof.
B. M. Davis continues his detailed account of the structure
of the vegetable cell, while Prof. T. D. A. Cockerell
furnishes a diagnosis of the bees of the genus Diadasia,
and Dr. H. W. Shimer describes a variety of the brachio-
pod Terebratalia transversa from Alaska, remarkable for
the extreme thickness and rugosity of the shell, its abraded
umbo, and the presence of a small perforation on each side
of the aperture for the pedicel.

THE latest issues of the Proceedings of the U.S. Nat.
Museum include a list of American cochlidian moths, with
descriptions of new genera and species, by Mr. H. G.
Dyar; and descriptions of new South American moths, by

NO. 1880, VOL. 73]

Mr. W. Schaus, of Twickenham. The latter comprises no
less than 479 species regarded as new, many of them
indicating previously unknown generic types, one of th=
latter being designated Rothschildia, in honour of the
owner of the Tring Museum.

THE October issue of the Zoologist contains a summary
of the results of last season’s sealing in Newfoundland
waters by Mr. T. Southwell, of Norwich. It is very
interesting to note that, owing to a postponement of the
date for taking the young, the product of a given number
of seals has exceeded that yielded by the same number
last year by no less than 779 tons. That seals are still
abundant is evident from the statement that one of the
vessels came upon a “ patch ’’ of some 600,000, of which
only a few could be killed. ‘These northern harp-seals are
stated to differ from those killed further south.

To vol. xxvi., No. 3, of Notes from the Leyden Museum
Dr. Jentink contributes an important and well illustrated
paper on the wild swine of the Malay Archipelago. In
the author’s opinion all these pigs are indigenous, and each
island form represents a distinct species, the long-snouted
Sus oi of Sumatra thus being distinct from the Bornean
Sus barbatus. Dr. Jentink appears to be unaware that
Mr. Lydekker, on the evidence of photographs sent by
Dr. H. N. Ridley, recorded in the Field for last year the
existence of a representative of this long-snouted group in
the Malay Peninsula.

Mr. J. Wimmer, of Vienna, has sent us a copy of a
“booklet ’’ of sixty-four pages by himself entitled
““Mechanik der Entwicklung der tierrischen Lebewesen,’’
published at Leipzig by Mr. J. A. Barth. In this work the
author discusses, with the aid of diagrams and mathematical
formulas, the mechanical adaptations of animals of all
classes to the conditions of their existence, and in relation
to their modes of progression. One chapter is devoted, for
instance, to the mechanics of the external form of the
body, a second to those of its internal structure, and a
third to those of the movements of the limbs. The work
appears to be a concise summary of all the essential facts
connected with the subject.

NaTuRE-STupy on the part of children formed an essential
feature in a paper on local museums (and the discussion
which followed) read at the Worcester conference of the
Museums Association, as reported in the October issue
of the Museums Journal. While it was generally agreed
that the proper function of local museums is to exhibit
local faunas, floras, and antiquities, difference of
opinion was expressed as to whether it is desirable to enlist
the services of children in making such collections, one
speaker strongly disapproving of any encouragement being
given to children to collect. The discussion also took into
consideration the question as to whether museum curators
should be called upon to assist in teaching, but the general
opinion was that if any such instruction was demanded
from them it should be confined to educating the teachers.

some

IN part xii. of the report of the Danish Biological
Station to the Board of Agriculture, Dr. C. G. J. Petersen
discusses the question whether plaice undergo their whole
development, from egg to adult, in the open parts of the
Baltic Sea. It is well known that the pelagic eggs of the
plaice are shed between November and April (most of
them in the depth of the winter), and also that the fry
are pelagic until such time as they become unsymmetrical,
when they seek the warm shallow water of flat sunny
shores, this taking place in that part of the Baltic known

as the Skaw during May and June. It has been found,

36 NATURE

[ NovEMBER 9, £905

however, that the number of fry which visit the shores
bears no proportion to the vast quantities of spawn that
are shed; and it is concluded that this loss is accounted
for by the fact that the whole development can only take
place in cases where the young fish, when they cease to
be pelagic, are in such localities that they can be carried
by the current to the warm shallow water of the shores,
such fry as sink in the cold depths of the Baltic itself
inevitably perishing.

In the report on the botanic station, Grenada, it is
mentioned that Mr. R. D. Anstead has been appointed
agricultural superintendent, and Mr. G. F. Branch agri-
cultural inspector.

NEw species of flowering plants recorded by Mr. J. N.
Rose in vol. xxix. of the Proceedings of the United States
National Museum include Dahlia Chisholmi, Parnassia
mexicana—the first species of the genus from Mexico—
a Henchera and Polianthus, all from Mexico, and an
umbellifer, from the coast of Georgia, with fruits like a
Carum and leaves modified into hollow-jointed phyllodes,
which is made the type of a new genus, Harperia.

A COMPREHENSIVE account of the distribution and ecology
of the flora of west Prussia, by Mr. J. B. Scholz, appears
in vol. xi., part iii, of the Schriften der naturforschender
Gesellschaft in Danzig. The original flora is described as
Baltic, and this has been enriched by the invasion of a
south-east European or pontic element, consisting of plants
requiring warmth and dryness, that have advanced from
the steppe regions. Characteristic pontic species are
Artemisia scoparia and Scutellavia hastifolia in the river
valleys, and in the region of the Vistula are found Stipa
pennata, Stipa capillata, Adonis vernalis, Campanula
sibirica, and others. The writer has paid special atten-
tion to the plant associations of the moors, heaths, and

forests, as they help to elucidate former migrations of
plants.

THE analysis of the species of Hevea is complicated
partly owing to the close relationship existing between
them and partly on account of the difficulty of obtaining
flowers and fruit. Dr. J. Huber, of the museum at Para,
who has made a study of Brazilian rubber plants, has
published a synopsis in vol. iv. of the Boletim do Museu
Goeldi, Para. The section Euhevea has not been
augmented, but in the section Bisiphonia the variety
cuneata has been raised to specific rank, and two new
species have been formulated. Of the twenty-one species
enumerated, none seems likely to rival the well known
Hevea brasiliensis; Hevea Benthamiana and. Hevea
discolor are considered to be the best rubber-bearing trees
growing on the Rio Negro.

Tue Century Magazine for November contains an account
of the very important Egyptian finds of Mr. Theodore M.
Davis, of Newport, early in the current year. Among the
tombs of the kings at Thebes were found those of ‘Toua
and Tioua, father and mother of Queen Tii, wife of
Amenhotep IIT. and mother of the heretic King Akhenaten.
In addition to the ordinary appurtenances of tombs, such
as vases, the find includes stools, chairs, beds, and other
furniture magnificently overlaid with gold. One of the
objects found was a chariot, the pole of which was broken,
as were many other things; Maspero explains this as a
method of killing the object and making it available for
the use of the dead, and his view would hardly be ques-
tioned by anthropologists, or, we may suppose, by Egypt-
ologists. The writer of the article, however, Mr. Greene,

NO. 1880, VOL. 73

appears to doubt this explanation, holding that the custom
may have been practised in Peru, but that the Egyptians
were on too high a level of culture for it to be thinkable
that such savage ideas survived among them. This view
will hardly commend itself to experts; in fact, savage
survivals are conspicuous in Egypt. The article is excel-
lently illustrated with one plate in colours and many
photographs, both of the tomb and the objects found
there, and of the difficult task of conveying them to a
place of safety in Cairo through a land in which honesty
is not one of the prevailing features.

Mr. A. A. Reap gives in Engineering the results of a
comparison of the principal methods for the determination
of manganese in iron and steel. The volumetric results
are slightly lower than those obtained by the gravimetric
method, but they agree sufficiently closely for practical
purposes. With ferromanganese the bismuthate method
gives rather too low a result as compared with the
ammonium acetate method, probably owing to a small
quantity of the permanganate having been decomposed
and filtered off with the excess of the sodium bismuthate.

Tue Home Office has just published the annual return
of the quantity and value of various minerals raised in
the United Kingdom in 1904. The total value of the
mineral output was 97,477,639l. as compared with
101,808,404l. in 1903. The decrease is due to a fall in
the average price of coal. The production of coal,
232,428,272 tons, was the highest hitherto recorded. The

| output of gold from Merionethshire rose from 5495 ounces

in 1903 to 19,655 ounces in 1904, the value of the gold
being 73,9251.

We have received from the author, Dr. H. Potonié,
professor at the Berlin School of Mines, a copy of the third
edition of his interesting work on the origin of coal
(Berlin: Borntraeger Brothers, 1905, price 4s.). It is an
admirably illustrated pamphlet of 53 pages prepared to
elucidate the diorama of a Coal-measure landscape ex-
hibited by the Erkelenz Boring Company at the Liége
International Exhibition. It is written in French and
German in parallel columns, the French translation having
been made by Prof. Gaspar Schmitz, of Louvain. Prof.
Potonié’s views as to the origin of coal are well known
from his previous publications. He now brings forward
further evidence to show that, just as at the present time
the deposits of humus almost exclusively formed
in situ, in previous geological times it was also the rule
that such beds were formed at the place where the plants
grew from which they were derived.

were

Dr. vAN RIjCKEVORSEL has sent us a copy of an elaborate
and valuable discussion entitled ‘* Constantly Occurring
Secondary Maxima and Minima in the Yearly Range of
Meteorological Phenomena.’’ Dr. van Rijckevorsel, who
is an honorary assistant attached to the Meteorological
Institute of the Netherlands, and has for many years been
known as a conscientious and painstaking investigator
in the domain of meteorology and terrestrial magnetism,
has divided the present work into two parts. The first
portion exhibits ordinary mean daily values and smoothed
means for many stations, mostly in the northern hemi-
sphere, for a large number of years, and for various
elements, with curves of the normal annual range of
temperature. The principal results of the investigation
show (1) that the resultant curve of daily normal tempera-
ture in. the northern hemisphere is a continuous zigzag
of maxima and minima; the rise from the winter minimum
to the summer maximum is not uniform, but occurs in

NOVEMBER 9, 1905 |

spells or periods which at times are so strongly pro-
nounced that the mean temperature falls, instead of
rising, for several days together, and these irregularities,
generally speaking, occur everywhere at the same time.
(2) That this phenomenon is apparently similarly exhibited
over the whole globe. (3) That probably other elements
than temperature, even those not generally reckoned as
meteorological, exhibit the same peculiarity. (4) That it
is not improbable that these occurrences are connected
with the sun’s activity. In the second portion of the
work the author endeavours to show that there is great
probability that the same phenomenon really occurs in the
southern hemisphere, but the data available do not at
present allow of positive conclusions. The magnitude of
the work undertaken may be gauged from the fact that
the observations of some 3636 years have been discussed.
In this portion of the discussion Dr. van Rijckevorsel has
departed from the usual method of treating the means of
observations from any particular locality as a separate unit,
but has thrown all the observations for any year together,
irrespective of place or date, as he considers that this
method gives better data for the object in view.

Tue Proceedings of the Mathematical Society of Edin-
burgh for the 1904-5 open with a systematic
paper on the properties of the envelope of the Wallace
or Simson line by M. Collignon, including not only geo-
metrical, but also kinematical considerations. Dr.
Mackay also publishes a bibliographical note intended to
accompany Collignon’s memoir. Mr. R. F. Muirhead gives
new proofs of Newton’s theorem on sums of powers of
roots, and also of Waring’s expression for the sum of
the powers in terms of the coefficients. Mr. E. B. Ross
contributes a neat discussion of the degree of contact
between a curve and its envelope; and in a paper on polar
loci Mr. D. G. Taylor, in order to get rid of the confusion
due to multiple values of ry for what seems to be
graphically one value of 6, imagines an infinite number
of parallel planes one above the other slit up from o to
along the initial line and joined together so as to form
a kind of helical surface. Dr. Muir communicates a note
on the condensation of continuants, and Prof. Bromwich
gives a useful method for distinguishing the ambiguous
cases in the solution of spherical triangles.

session

In the Transactions of the Faraday Society (vol. i., part
iii.) Mr. Sherard Cowper-Coles gives an interesting account
of the various processes which have been suggested for
increasing the rate of deposition of electrolytic copper on
a commercial scale. It is claimed that the centrifugal
process is at least ten times as rapid as any other process.
When the mandrel which constitutes the kathode is rotated
with sufficient rapidity, smooth, thick deposits of copper
in the form of tubes are obtained which show no trace of
lamination. The paper is illustrated by numerous plates,
in which the influence of the rate of rotation on the
character of the electrolytic copper is clearly evident.

THE supposition that radium is a disintegration product
of uranium has received considerable support from the
investigations of Strutt, McCoy, and Boltwood. The
question whether the production of radium from a pure
uranium compound can be experimentally detected would,
however, seem to be answered in the negative by recent
experiments of Mr. Bertram B. Boltwood, published in the
American Journal of Science, vol. xx., 1905. Observ-
ations on a solution containing 50 grams of uranium, which
extended over a period of 390 days, indicate that the
quantity of radium formed is less than 1-7xX10-"' gram.

NO. 1880, VOL. 73]

NATURE 37

This is less than one sixteen-hundredth of the quantity
which would be expected from the disintegration theory,
and the author concludes that one or more products of a
slow rate of change intervene between uranium and radium.

Tue Revue générale des Sciences for September 15 con-
tains a reprint of a lecture which was delivered by Prof.
P, A. Guye before the Chemical Society of Paris on new
researches on the atomic weight of nitrogen. The author
reviews the results already obtained, and concludes that
sufficient differences exist to render fresh determinations
necessary. The classic gravimetric methods are not con-
sidered sufficiently accurate, and a description is given of
new methods of determining the atomic weight of the
element based om the analysis of nitrous oxide. A spiral
of iron wire is heated electrically in a known weight of
the gas and the increase in weight found. In another
series of experiments, an iron spiral is similarly heated
in a known volume of nitrous oxide. The mean value
assigned for the atomic weight is 14-009. An article is
also contributed to the same number by MM. J. de
Kowalski and J. Dalemont on the teaching of applied
science at Fribourg University.

An important paper by Mr. H. v. Steinwehr on the
influence of the size of crystals of mercurous sulphate on

| its relations to electromotive force (‘‘ Vorlaiifige Mitteilung

iiber den Einfluss der Korngrésse auf das electromotorische
Verhalten des Merkurosulfats ’’) has lately been published
in the Zeitschrift fiir Instrumentenkunde, 1905, Heft. vii.
The paper deals with a subject of great interest, and
one which at the present time is occupying a great
deal of attention in all countries in connection with
the preparation of standard cells. The author experi-
mented on samples of mercurous sulphate obtained from
different makers, and found that they gave a differ-
ence of electromotive force equal to 5x10~-* volts; it was
also found that they varied in solubility. On examining
them under a microscope a difference in the size of crystals
was observed, the smaller crystals having a higher solu-
bility and higher E.M.F. The subject was pursued both
in the direction of reducing the crystals by grinding and
of increasing them by crystallisation, and the same result
was obtained, viz. the larger the crystals the lower the
solubility and the smaller the E.M.F. The author thinks
it highly probable that the size of crystals is the chief,
if not the only, cause of the differences observed in
different samples of mercurous sulphate. He further
criticises the conclusions of Hulett that it is the presence
of basic salt that affects the result. In conclusion, he dis-
cusses the electrolytic method of preparation suggested by
Hulett and Fr. A. Wolff and recommended by Carhart for
standard cells, stating that it is bound to lead to the pro-
duction of crystals of very varying size, and the device
used by them of continuing the stirring after the circuit
is broken cannot have the desired effect, as the crystal-
lisation of mercurous sulphate is very slow. We await with
interest the further communication by the author, and
hope he will then have some suggestion as to an improved
method of preparation.

We have received part i. of a book on leather dressing,
including dyeing, staining, and finishing, by Mr. M. C.
Lamb, director of the leather dyeing department, Herold’s
Institute, Bermondsey. This portion, containing thirty
pages, is the first of twelve monthly parts of which the
book will consist; it deals with sorting, splitting and
shaving, and is well printed and illustrated, the working

parts of the machines described being explained by

38

diagrams. Until the book is completed it would be im-
possible to form an opinion of its value, but the first part
promises well.

Tue annual report of the board of regents of the
Smithsonian Institution for the year ending June 30, 1904,
has now been published. As usual, the general appendix
to the report, which makes up about seven-eighths of the
volume of 804 pages, will prove most interesting to British
readers. This appendix contains more than fifty articles
upon scientific subjects to which special attention was
directed during the year with which the report deals.
Five of the articles represent addresses at the congress
of arts and sciences held at St. Louis during September,
1904. Among these may be noticed that of Prof. H. H.
Turner, F.R.S., on some reflections suggested by the
application of photography to astronomical research; Mr.
Cc. T. R. Wilson, F.R.S., on condensation nuclei; and Sir
William Ramsay, K.C.B., F.R.S., on the present problems
of inorganic chemistry. Two addresses delivered at the
Cambridge meeting of the British Association are also re-
printed. A generous selection of articles from important
American, French, German, and British scientific publi-
cations is included, and nearly every department of scien-
tific knowledge is represented. There are several articles
which appear to have been contributed specially to this
report, and of these may be mentioned the essays of Dr.
S. P. Langley on experiments with the Langley aérodrome
(see p. 645), Dr. J. O. Skinner on the house sparrow,
Dr. Theodore Gill on flying fish and their habits, Mr.
Edgar L. Hewett on a general view of the archeology of
the Pueblo region, Dr. Ales Hrdlicka on the painting of
human bones among the American aborigines, and Mr.
W. C. Gorgas on the sanitation of the Isthmian Canal
zone. The profusion and excellence of the plates and
other illustrations again call for remark. Readers who
are fortunate enough to have access to these yearly re-
ports are provided with an excellent means of keeping
abreast of current scientific studies.

OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN.

IraLiaN OBSERVATIONS OF THE RECENT SoLarR ECLipsE.—
A series of valuable observations of the partial eclipse of
the sun was made at Aosta (Italy) on August 30, and the
results are given in No. 17 (1905) of the Comptes rendus.

The times of contacts, the meteorological changes, and
the spectroscopic phenomena were observed in an atmo-
sphere of exceptional purity, and, in connection with the
last named, Dom Cl. Rozet describes what he believes to
be a unique observation. At about 1th. 4om. (Paris M.T.)
the cusp of the crescent sun (position angle about 90°)
was projected on to the widened slit of the spectroscope,
arranged perpendicular to the solar limb, and the lines
C and D, were seen very bright and showing a hazy,
cloud-like prominence.

The bright line in each however, was divided
sharply into three parts. First, on the red side was a
broad bright line with sharp edges, then came a narrow,
well defined dark line, and finally, on the more refrangible
edge, a bright line showing the form of the prominence
Was seen.

case,

MartiAN METEOROLOGY.—In No. 8, vol. liii., of the
Harvard College Observatory Annals, Prof. W. H. Picker-
ing discusses a number of photographs of Mars some of
which were taken with the 13-inch Boyden telescope at
Cambridge (Mass.) in 1888, and the others at Mt. Wilson,
with the same instrument, in 1890. Although these photo-
graphs do not show the canals and lakes, they show
sufficient variation, due to meteorological changes, tor a
discussion of Martian meteorology.

Prof. Pickering describes, in order, the appearance and

NO. 1880, VOL. 73]

NATURE

| NOVEMBER 9g, 1905

disappearance of clouds, snow, &c., and deduces therefrom
some valuable suggestions as to the seasonal changes which
take place on or above the planet’s surface, giving, in each
case, the equivalent terrestrial date at which these changes
occur. Nine reproductions from the original photographs,
on a scale of 1 mm.=200 km., accompany the paper, and
show the clouds, &c., to which Prof. Pickering refers;
the Sinus Sabzeus and the Syrtis Major are also shown
on some of them. On two occasions the height of the
clouds above the Martian surface was measured, giving
about 15 miles as the result, and Prof. Pickering suggests
that the existence or non-existence of such clouds in the
equatorial regions may account for the discrepancies noted
between various estimations of the amount of the polar
flattening.

In conclusion, Prof. Pickering points out that there is
now direct evidence of an effective atmospheric circulation
of moisture on Mars which would seem to account,
adequately, for the observed transfer of precipitation, during
the Martian year, alternately from pole to pole.

A 300-YEAR CycLE IN SoLarR PHENOMENA.—From a
lengthy discussion which appears in No. 1, vol. xxii., of
the Astrophysical Journal, Mr. H. W. Clough, of the
Washington Weather Bureau, arrives at the conclusion
that a 300-year cycle exists in solar, and the allied
terrestrial, phenomena. In the first place, Mr. Clough
discusses the observations of numerous terrestrial pheno-
mena which are supposed to be dependently associated
with solar changes, and finds that a 36-year cycle is
common to these and to solar variations. He then shows
that the 36-year cycle varies in length during a cycle of
300 years, and supports this by reference to old observ-
ations of various terrestrial phenomena, e.g. aurora, time
of grape harvest, &c., extending back to the early centuries
of the Christian era.

SOME SUGGESTIONS ON THE NeEBuLAR Hyroruesis.—In
a paper communicated to the Royal Society of Edinburgh,
and published in part vii., vol. xxv., of the Proceedings
of the society, Dr. Halm makes some suggestions, con-
cerning the probable genesis of the solar system, which
may overcome some of the difficulties experienced in the
acceptance of Laplace’s theory. Whilst the Laplaceian
hypothesis considers that the matter now forming the
planets was thrown off by the original rotating nebulous
mass, a consideration which is not consistent with the
principle of the constancy of the rotary momentum in a
system, Dr. Halm suggests that the conditions necessary
for the formation of planets were not introduced until
after the solar body had condensed from a non-rotating
nebula into a spherical body having a diameter probably
less than the distance of Mercury. This spherical body
then encountered a swarm of meteorites, and finally a ring
of these bodies, rotating with orbital velocities about the
solar nucleus, was formed.

The planets were formed subsequently by the evacuation
of the ring bythe larger nuclei existing therein, their
rotary motions being generated by the tangential impulses
given to each nucleus by the smaller masses falling into
it. Many subsidiary considerations are discussed in Dr.
Halm’s paper, but they are too lengthy to be given here.

Systematic ERROR IN TRANSIT OBSERVATIONS OF JOVIAN
Spots.—We recently referred in these columns (September
21) to a suggestion made by the Rey. T. E. R. Phillips
to account for a systematic error in eye-estimates of the
transits of Jupiter’s spots, and, in the current number of
the Observatory, Mr. Stanley Williams supplements Mr.
Phillips’s remarks with a brief discussion of his own
results, in which a similar, but larger, systematic error
seems to exist. Mr. Williams suggests that the phase-
darkening of any long feature such as the red spot, or
hollow, may introduce the error. For example, at the
quadrature preceding opposition the planet’s disc for some
distance from the preceding limb is less bright than it
is near to the following limb, but at the quadrature follow-
ing Opposition the reverse is the case. As the spot and the
hollow are so long, the transit is observed, in practice, by
comparing the relative spaces between their ends and the
limb, and if the latter are unequally bright, irradiation
may lead to such a systematic error as the one which
appears in the results.

NOovEMBER 9, 1905]

NATURE 39

Tue Orpit oF o CorOoN% Borearis.—As_ the orbits
calculated from the observations of o Coronz Borealis
show great divergence, ranging from 200 to Soo years,
Prof. Doberck has investigated this subject, and now
publishes the results in No. 4051 of the Astronomische
Nachrichten. The set of elements which he gives depends
upon Herschel’s measures of the angle, and shows the
period to be about 1679 years, and the motion to be direct.

Prof. Doberck states that the hypothetical parallax of
this system is o0”.064, but the actual parallax is probably
smaller, and that the mass of the system is probably
greater than that of the sun.

RapIaAL VELOCITIES OF CERTAIN VARIABLE STARS.—The
results obtained by Prof. Frost from a series of spectro-
graphic observations of certain variable stars (chiefly of
the Algol type) are given in No. 3, vol. xxii., of the
Astrophysical Journal.

R Canis Majoris, Z Herculis, and U Sagittae are shown
with certainty to be spectroscopic binaries, their deter-
mined velocities corresponding, in sense, to what would
be expected from the phase in the light variation at the
time of observation.

VARIABILITY OF THE ASTEROID (444) Gyptis.—The
variability of the apparent brightness of the minor planet
(444) Gyptis is suggested by the results obtained from a
series of observations made at Heidelberg and published
by Dr. W. Valentiner in No. 4050 of the Astronomische
Nachrichten.

In the same journal it is suggested, by Dr. Palisa, that
the magnitude of minor planet 1905 RB is also variable.

CONFERENCE OF DELEGATES OF LOCAL
SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES.
AS

it was not deemed expedient to call a meeting of

the delegates of the corresponding societies of the
British Association during the session in South Africa, it
was arranged that a special conference should be convened
subsequently in London. This meeting was held at the
rooms of the Linnean Society on Monday and Tuesday
(October 30 and 31), and was largely attended by repre-
sentatives of various scientific societies in England, Scot-
Jand, and Ireland.

Dr. A. Smith Woodward, who presided at the con-
ference, delivered an inaugural address rich in sympathy
with the efforts of the provincial societies to further the
progress of science, yet not without a word of gentle re-
proof to such societies as give undue prominence to the
picnic element, which rather tends to the estrangement of
the working naturalist. Probably the best work of the
smaller societies was, in the chairman’s opinion, that of
instruction in the current progress of science. He sug-
gested that it would be salutary to dwell on the unsolved
problems of science, and pointed out the need of books
which should treat of our ignorance rather than our know-
ledge, and so indicate the direction in which investigation
is still urgently needed. Dr. Woodward condemned’ as
extremely unfair the growing practice of certain societies
to solicit men of scientific renown to deliver popular
lectures without fee. Warm approval was expressed of the
recent action of the British Association in seeking to
extend its usefulness by including within its union the
smaller non-publishing societies and field clubs, which will
form henceforth a new class of associated societies distinct
from the group of affiliated societies which publish original
investigations in science.

Dr. W. Martin, of the Temple, introduced a discussion
on the law of treasure trove, with the view of inducing
the various local societies to assist in the preservation of
antiquities found within their sphere of influence. While
generally defending the law he advocated some revision,
especially in the mode of its administration. He suggested
that notices should be widely circulated, say at the post-
offices throughout the country, explaining to the public
that the finder of valuable relics would receive reasonable
remuneration. In a similar way, relics like stone imple-
ments might be secured, where desirable, by the State.

Mr. Morris Colles, the director of the Authors’ Syndi-
cate, and Mr. Harold Hardy explained the present law
of copyright as it affects the published proceedings of

NO. 1880, VOL. 73]

| rearing the chicks,

scientific societies. The general sentiment of the meeting
seemed, however, to be in favour, not of hindering in any
way the re-publication of papers, but rather of encouraging
the dissemination of knowledge by favouring publication,
naturally with due acknowledgment of the original source
of information.

Prof. G. S. Boulger read an interesting paper on the
preservation of our native plants, which led to a valuable
discussion. There seems no doubt that some of the rarer
indigenous plants are in serious danger of extermination,
not wholly through thoughtlessness on the part of the
public, but partly through the cupidity of botanists—an
evil which has increased since the extension of nature-
study. It was proposed that legislation should ultimately
be sought for the protection of certain plants, but that
meanwhile a circular should be issued bringing the subject
before teachers, members of field clubs, and _ others
interested in our flora and likely to assist in its con-
servation.

In addition to attending the two meetings, the delegates
visited the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons
under Prof. Stewart, and, on the evening of October 30,
dined at the Royal Societies Club, where they were received
as guests.

ZOOLOGY AT THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION.

HE work of Section D was formally opened on
Wednesday, August 16, with the president’s address
on ‘The Distribution of African Fresh-water Fishes,”’
which has already been printed in Nature (August 24,
p- 413). This was followed by a paper by Mr. L.
Doncaster entitled ‘‘ Recent Work on Gametogenesis and
its bearing on Theories of Heredity,’’ which took the form
of a résumé of the most important recent work on the
relation between the phenomena of nuclear division and
those of heredity. It was shown that whilst ample con-
firmation had been obtained of Weismann’s hypothesis that
the chromosomes are the bearers of inherited characters,
yet the most recent work on the maturation of the germ
cells had demonstrated the fact that they contained a
mechanism which seemed precisely adapted to bring about
that segregation of characters which forms the most funda-
mental part of the Mendelian theory ; it was difficult, there-
fore, to believe that the two things were unconnected.
The remainder of the paper was devoted to the consider-
ation of certain obvious difficulties standing in the way
of a complete correlation.

The programme for Thursday, August 17, was opened by
Dr. J. D. F. Gilchrist with a paper on cases of extensive
mortality among marine animals on the South African
coast, with suggestions as to their cause or causes. After
narrating specific cases of enormous quantities of fish
either dead, or alive but ‘‘ in a stiffened condition,’’ being
thrown up on various points of the coast, the author
suggested that these occurrences might be due to a peculiar
feature of the Cape seas, viz. the great difference in
temperature, salinity, and contents of the warm Agulhas
Stream of the Antarctic drift current, and expressed the
hope that his notes might be of some use in directing
attention to this problem and securing additional evidence
in connection therewith. The paper was followed by a
demonstration of the more interesting forms in a cellection
of deep-sea animals shown in the museum of the South
African College, special attention being devoted to certain
questions, such as methods of reproduction of deep-sea °
fish, the significance of luminous organs, and parasitism.
A short paper by Mr. A. H. Evans on the ostrich and its
allies was intended to be introductory to a contribution
on ostrich-farming by the Hon. Arthur Douglass, one of
the pioneers of the industry in the colony. In the latter
paper the writer supplied a large amount of interesting
information relating to the first commencement of ostrich
farming in 1867 and its growth up to the present time,
the best climatic and general conditions for the industry,
the results of artificial hatching as used in the early days
of the industry as compared with present methods of
the principal diseases of the birds, the
present different methods of farming them, the growth of
the export of feathers and the range of values, the improve-
ment of the breeds by selection to obtain better feathers,

40

NAAT:

[NOVEMBER 9, 1905

the prospects of future development Of the industry in
South Africa, and of its being successfully developed in
other countries. The reports of the committees on grants,
which were also taken on this day, did not offer any
special points of general interest.

The greater part of the sitting on August 18 was devoted
to a paper on the origin of mammals, by Prof. Broom, in
which the author had occasion to make extended reference
to his work on the Triassic reptiles of South Africa in
support of his views of a reptilian origin for the mam-
malian group. The author gave reasons for believing that
in early Permian times a cotylosaurian reptile, owing to
its frequenting marshy ground, took to walking with its
body well supported off the ground. This habit gave rise
to the forward direction of the ilium, and to the pubis
and ischium being turned backwards, as also to the great
development of the precoracoid. No member of this first
stage in the mammalian line was at present known, but
Pareiasaurus was apparently a considerably modified off-
shoot from it.

The next stage in the development arose by the marsh
animals finding that the new modification of the limbs
was specially suitable for progression on land. The new
type of land animal was better equipped than the normal
reptile, and took to predatory habits and became an active
carnivorous animal. These early carnivorous types form
the order of Therocephalians, of which about twenty genera
are known. Between the Upper Permian and the Upper
Triassic times the Therocephalians gave rise to the much
improved Theriodonts or Cynodonts. These Theriodonts
are almost mammals in every detail of structure, the only
essential difference being that the lower jaw has still a
small articular element, which hinges on a small quadrate
bone. The change from the Theriodont to the mammal
was probably brought about by a slight change of habit
necessitating some antero-posterior movement of the jaw,
the small quadrate bone becoming first a plate of bone
and then a plate of cartilage—the inter-articular cartilage,
the dentary taking the place of the articular. Neither the
auditory ossicles nor the tympanic have ever had anything
to do with the articulation. The mammalian malleus was
held to be the reptilian extra-stapedial and the mammalian
incus the supra-stapedial. The connection between
Meckel’s cartilage and the malleus, which is hyomandi-
bular, was held to be similar to that between the extra-
stapedial and the mandibular cartilage in the crocodile.
The mammalian tympanic was considered to be the homo-

logue of the distinct tympanic bone of Anomodonts and
Theriodonts. The paper gave rise to considerable dis-

cussion, in which Prof. W.
president, and others took part, and was followed by a
communication from Dr. W. F. Purcell on some early
stages in the development of Peripatus, in which the writer
maintained that an examination of the segmentation stages
of the ovum of Peripatus balfouri preserved in formalin
shows that the endodermal cells are oval or spherical

B. Scott of Princeton, the

bodies with well defined convex or flattened contours, but
without any anastomosing branches connecting the cells

with one another or with the ectoderm. The
the segmentation stages is therefore not a syncytium, as
maintained by Mr. A. Sedgwick. The remainder of the
session was devoted to an important paper on the habits
and peculiarities of South African ticks, by Mr. C. P.
Lounsbury, which the sectional committee resolved to
print in extenso in the Proceedings of the assoctation,
whilst certain details in the structure of the buccal
apparatus of a _ tick (Haemaphysalis punctata) were
elucidated in a concluding joint paper by Drs. Nuttall,
Smedley, and Cooper.

embryo in

The first day of the proceedings at Jchannesburg
(Tuesday, August 29) was opened by Prof. Herdman,
F.R.S., who gave an account, illustrated with lantern
views, of his well known investigations on the pearl-

oyster beds of Ceylon.
ing communication on
Harmer, F-.R.S.,

This was followed by an interest-

Cephalodisecus by Dr. S. F.
in which the author gave a preliminary
account of the new species discovered in African seas by
Dr. Gilchrist. The session was concluded with a demon-
stration of ankylostoma preparations by Mr. A. E. Shipley,
Saas :

The programme for Wednesday,

1880, vOU. 73]

August 30, was opened

by Prof. E. B. Poulton,
trated with

BRS ss

lantern slides, on

who gave a lecture, illus-
mimicry in South African

insects. This was followed by a paper by Mr. W. L.
Sclater, director of the South African Museum, on the
migration of birds in the southern hemisphere. For the

purposes of the paper the author took the list of birds
contained in the recently published volumes of the ** Fauna
of South Africa,’’ written by the late Dr. Stark and him-

self, together with those of the fourth volume, shortly to
be issued. The number of species described in the four
volumes was 814, which the author divided into five

categories, as follows :—residents, 631; northern migrants,
76; African migrants, 21; partial migrants, 50; and island
breeders, 36. Mr. Sclater stated that he considered it
would be most unwise to evolve any theories on migration
in South Africa at present, owing to the dearth of obsery-
ations hitherto recorded. He was, however, in hopes of
making some advance by the distribution of schedules
among the lighthouse keepers along the coast, teachers in
the echools all over the country, and any others who would
undertake to make the observations, for the purpose of
recording, day by day and month by month, the appearance
of different species of birds. 3

Mr. C. B. Simpson, the Transvaal Government eni:omo-
logist, then read a paper on locust destruction in the
Transvaal during the season 1904-5, in the course of which
the writer gave an outline of the history of the locust pest
in other countries, and then proceeded to describe the
locust invasions in South Africa, due to two species,
Acridium purpuriferum (the purple locust) and Pachytelus
sulcicollis (the brown locust). Although both species were
shown to have many natural enemies, yet every natural
method of decimation was found to be insufficient. There-
fore, in order to save the farmers’ crops, recourse had to
be had to artificial means. Amongst the methods adopted
were beating by hand, tramping with stock, crushing with
rollers, burning grass, driving into trenches, the use of
locust sereens, and spraying. The screens were described
in detail with the help of the lantern, the author stating
that twenty miles of them were distributed throughout
the Transvaal for the use of farmers. Spraying was, how-
ever, the most efficient means for the destruction of locusts.
The spray used was arsenate of soda, and it was given
to the farmers free, while the screens and spray-pumps
were lent without charge. The results of the campaign
in the previous year had been most gratifying. It was of
course stated that the Transvaal, still less South Africa,
could not expect to eradicate the pest completely on account
of the vast area of unoccupied country; but the author’s
department did hope to place in the hands of the farmers
a means whereby by combined action they could kill
the insects and protect their crops. If they could do this
they would consider that success had been achieved. With
the purple locust the author believed they had proved
that the farmers could do this, but with the brown locust
they had not yet had sufficient experience to be able to
tell whether they could prevent injury or not. The con-
cluding paper of the session, by Dr. H. Lyster Jameson,
was entitled ‘“* On Some South African Land Planarians,”
and dealt with certain points in their anatomy.

The concluding meeting of the section was held on
Friday, September 1, on which day Prof. W. B. Scott, in
an opening paper on convergent evolution as_ illustrated
by the Litopterna, maintained that while convergent evolu-
tion was admitted by most naturalists to be a frequent
and important phenomenon, there was a great difference
of opinion as to how nearly identical the results of such
a mode of development might be. So far as the Litopterna
were concerned, there were striking resemblances to certain
Perissodactyls in teeth, skull, and skeleton, but the differ-
ences were many and fundamental. It did not appear at
all likely that so complex a structure as a mammalian:

skeleton was ever produced in identical terms by two
independent series. (

In the course of the succeeding paper, on a neuro-
syncytial theory of development, Dr. W. H. Gask sll,

F.R.S., referred to his theory of the origin of vertebrates:
and pointed out that it was based upon the paramount
importance of the central nervous system as the chief factor
in the upward progress of the animal kingdom. Every
line of investigation pointed to the conclusion that the

NoveEMBER 9, 1905 |

NATURE

41

vertebrate arose from that group of invertebrates which
possessed a central nervous system most nearly similar to
that of a low vertebrate such as Ammoceetes, an inverte-
brate, therefore, belonging to the group of arthropods.
This argument had been worked out by the author in a
series of papers published in the Journal of Anatomy and
Physiology, and receives especial support from the pala-
ontological record. For the dominant race now, the biped
mammal man, arose undoubtedly from the highest race
evolved up to that time—the quadrupedal mammals; these
in their turn originated from the dominant reptiles; these
again from the amphibians, which were the most highly
organised group of their day. The amphibians themselves
came from the dominant race living in the sea at the
time—the fishes; so, too, according to the author’s theory,
the, fishes arose directly out of the race previously dominant,
i.c..the arthropod group. This theory necessitates the
formation of a new alimentary canal at the transition
from the arthropod to the vertebrate—a requirement which
is no more unlikely than the formation of a new respiratory
apparatus at the transition of a fish into an amphibian.
The reason why others have found this formation of a
new @limentary canal so difficult of acceptance is because
embryology—and embryology alone—in its recent teaching
makes the alimentary canal, and not the central nervous
system, the important organ around which the animal is
built up. The author, basing himself especially on Braem’s
papers in the Biologisches Centralblatt, pointed out that
in reality the germinal layer theory was a_ physiological
and not a morphological conception, that the one criterion
of hypoblast was not its mode of formation but its ultimate
fate; whether or no, the definite alimentary canal was
formed from it. Morphological laws of development must
exist, but to quote Samassa, ‘‘ one thing can be said with
certainty at the present time, the germinal layer theory is
not one of them.’’ The author suggested a re-consideration
of the whole matter, and, starting with the adult, pointed
out that the tissues of the body fall naturally into two
great groups, those which are connected with the central
nervous system, the master tissues of the body, and those
which live a free existence without any such connection.
The body might be looked upon as composed of a neuro-
epithe syncytium, in the meshes of which free cells
ive.

Prof. Cleland, F.R.S., in conclusion, read a communi-
cation on the growing-point of the Vertebrata, in the
course of which he pointed out that while the medullary
folds appear in close connection with the blastopore, and
the parts concerned with the cranium and its contents are
the first to appear, both mesoblastic somites and spinal
nerves appear in succession, each metamere behind that
which is immediately proserial to it. It follows, therefore,
that it is from the short space between the medullary
folds and blastopore that new metameres of the neuro-
muscular system are formed, and there is no reason to
doubt, the author held, that the visceral system is extended
in the same manner. The nucleated corpuscles of this
region furnished, therefore, in his opinion, the parents of
the corpuscles of which the successive metameres of the
trunk are composed, and they do so by giving off successive
series of corpuscles which belong each to a_ particular
metamére. e

EDUCATIONAL SCIENCE AT THE BRITISH

ASSOCIATION.

“THE most noteworthy feature in the educational science

section at the South African meeting of the British
Association was the address of its president, Sir Richard
Jebb, an address which was originally delivered at Cape
Town, and repeated with a little variation at Johannes-
burg. The address, which was printed in full in Nature
of September 28 (p. 545), dealt with the idea of a uni-
versity and the distinction which marks off the teaching
of a university from that of a higher technical school or
similar institution. :

The subject of the address was the more apposite in
that the most pressing educational question in South
Africa at the present time is the creation of a teaching
university. The present Cape University is an examining

NO. 1880, VOL. 73]

body only, and it has been suggested that the time has
come for it to grow into a teaching university by the
combination of the colleges at present preparing for its
examinations, much as the University of London was
so recently re-created. The difficulties, however, both of
funds and of conflicting interests have not yet been over-
come.

At Johannesburg, also, the successful start of the recently
established technical institute has led to a plan for its
growth into a university, with engineering, agriculture,
law and education as its main faculties, and it seems
not unlikely that liberal financial support would be forth-
coming should it be decided on fuller consideration to
adopt such a scheme.

At the sectional meetings a large proportion .of the
papers was contributed by teachers resident in South
Africa, so that opportunities were afforded to the visitors
of learning what were the more pressing educational
problems, and to the local members of discussing these
problems on a wider platform. At Cape Town the Rev.
W. E. C. Clarke gave a general review of the develop-
ment of education in the colony, laying particular stress
on the perennial difficulty of providing any efficient scheme

for the instruction of the widely scattered country popula-
tion. Mr. Clarke’s paper excited considerable interest, anc
led to renewed discussion, especially the latter portion,
which dealt with the status of the teacher in Cape Colony.
He spoke of the power of the Cape Teachers’ Union, and
deplored the tendency of their conferences to be rather
exclusively occupied with questions of salary and allow-
ances instead of leading’ public opinion on matters of
educational policy.

Mr. W. W. Way, principal of the Graaf Reinet College,
also contributed a brilliantly written and hard-hitting paper
on the disabilities of the South African schoolboy. He
pointed out how the semi-tropical climate, the wealth of
sun and air, the freedom and isolation of the life of the
South African boy, while they produce an alert and self-
reliant race, do not work well in the interests of education.
The youth are essentially undisciplined and unintellectual,
while the early physical development brings its own
dangers. Mr. Way touched upon the further difficulties,
both as to mind and morals, which arise out of the prox-
imity of the native, the co-existence of two languages, the
inferior type of teacher that characterised the past, and the
narrowing influence of many of the religious bodies in the
country. Nothing but an ampler endowment and a general
rise in the status of the teacher can induce in the future
South African a proper respect for his intellectual develop-
ment.

The general history and administration of education in
the other colonies were thoroughly dealt with at the
Johannesburg meeting in a series of papers contributed
by Mr. Warre Cornish, Mr. Gunn, and Mr. Duthie. They
ail showed certain common problems—the scarcity of suit-
able teachers and the necessity of improving their status
and training, the expense of providing adequate school
buildings, and the difficulties induced by the isolation
of the farms. This latter question of education upon the
Veld was also dealt with in a breezy paper by Mr. J. H.
Corbett, a vivid and sympathetic presentation of the case,
in which the author evidently trusted more to the self-
devotion of the individual teacher than to any possibilities
of organisation.

The second meeting at Cape Town opened with a paper
by Mr. W. M. Heller on the methods of teaching science,
with an introduction by Prof. H. E. Armstrong. At its
close Mr. Oscar Browning expressed his dissent from the
current view of the ‘‘ heuristic’? method—as an instru-
ment of education it was valueless, and all good teachers
of history and literature had worked by this method long
before Prof. Armstrong resuscitated its unhappy name.
Mr. A. D. Hall claimed that the value of the “* heuristic’
method lay in the inspiring ideal it set up; unrealisable
as it might be, the natural tendency of the teacher was
to drift along the other easier way of giving instruction
ex cathedra instead of by the path of discovery and experi-
ment. Mr. G. Fletcher, however, rather hit off the feeling
of the meeting when he suggested that a close time should
be declared for discussions of the ‘‘ heuristic ’’ method,
which had in past years occupied far too much of the

NAT ORE

[NOVEMBER Q, 1905

attention of the educational section.

Mr. Fletcher’s own
paper, which followed, dealt with the development of
technical education in a new country, and suggested that
many of the methods which had been successful in Ireland

in the way of creating public interest and of ¢
cooperation of the locality might well be adopted in South
Africa. Nor should the Administration be deterred from
making a start with technical education at any centre by
reports as to the apathy of the residents; Irish experience
would to show that supply of good instruction
would always produce an increasing demz ind for it.

liciting the

seem a

The very important question of agricultural education
was treated at Johannesburg by Mr. F. B. Smith, the
Director of Agriculture in the Transvaal, and by Mr.
A. D. Hall at Cape Town. Mr. Smith showed how
efficiently an intelligence department had already been
organised in the matter of agriculture in the Transvaal,

where the farmer had at his call a service for investigation
and advice which could not be rivalled in any other
British country. An enormous amount of work had now
been done on such matters as the introduction of improved
crops, the eradication of stock diseases, &c., and the
Afrikander farmer was beginning to rely upon the help
of the department. Mr. Smith further outlined the nature
of the course it was proposed eventually to establish in
the Transvaal in connection with the future university.
Mr. Hall was disposed to think that questions of economy
would necessitate the colonies concentrating their
efforts chiefly upon their expert staff for investi-
gation and work among the current generation
of farmers, and that there was not the same call
for another staff to give instruction in the higher
branches of agricultural science. The type of
instruction for which the most pressing demand
existed was a practical training in more improved
methods of farming, and this could well be de-
veloped in conne ction with the experimental farms
that had already been instituted in various parts

of the country. It seemed as yet hardly worth
while to create an elaborate teaching institution
to produce the small number of experts and

Government officers whom the country would re-

quire yearly, since suitable men could be picked
out during the earlier practical courses of instruc-
tion and sent home to complete their scientific

training.
One question, which recurred constantly during

the tour, both in section meetings and

versation, was that of native education,

in con-
a thorny

subject interwoven with many prejudices, both
racial and religious. The general feelings among
colonials is almost wholly opposed to education
of what may not unfairly be called the ordinary

missionary type, which seeks to teach the native
to read and write English. Many large employers

of labour refuse to engage any native acquainted
with English, and other experienced men declare Fic.
that the only effect of such a bookish training
as has been given in the past is to make the
native parasitic, either upon the white community or his

more primitive fellows. But education by means of handi-
crafts, and proceeding entirely in the natives’ own
language, meets with general approval, both as supplying
a much desiderated discipline and making the native more
efficient economically, and also as likely to prove a sound
method of eventually leading the native on to a higher
plane of civilisation. This is essentially a matter on which

the visitor can only speak with diffidence indeed, it is
claimed that many of the difficulties have arisen from the
ill-considered, though well meaning, action of people at

home.

The papers of more general interest included a discour

by Dr. J. H. Murray on ‘‘ the world words,’’ in which
he discussed, with appropriate illustrations from the
English language, the various types of words and the
manner in which they originated. Dr. Brill, rector of
the Grey Coll at Bloemfontein, again submitted a paper
of great interest on the origin of the ‘‘ Tael,’’ the form
of Dutch commonly spoken throughout South Africa. The
lael he holds to be a pure Dutch, ““ clipped,’’ however,
by the removal of practically all inflexions, genders, and
NO. 1880, VOL. 73

| by Mr.

1.—Scotia

ement exists in the
intercourse with the East,
Malayo-Portuguese origin.
Association who were
opportunities of seeing

irregular
language

forms. What little foreign e
he attributes to early
and rds it in the main as of
The members of the _ British
interested in education had many
the schools in the centres they visited, and also of inter-
course with the teachers at work in them. The raw
material with which the latter have to deal may not as
yet have imbibed any great keenness for learning, but the
general attitude of the citizens of the country towards
education, indicated, for example, in such matters as
scheel buildings (often in the smaller towns of Cape
Colony the most notable public building was the school),
shows life and determination which will not be long
before bearing fruit.

or
SI

as

THE SCOTTISH NATIONAL

EXPEDITION.

ANTARCTIC

A SUMMARY of some of the preliminary scientific
results of the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition
appeared in the August number of the Scottish Geo-

graphical Magazine, and this has now been issued in the
form of a corrected reprint, from the office of the expedi-
tion in Edinburgh. The pamphlet contains an introduction

W. S. Bruce, the leader of the expedition, a paper

in supposed Ross Deep 68
March 1904.

sounding

on the bathymetrical survey of the South Atlantic Ocean
and Weddell Sea, also by Mr. Bruce, and short papers on
the deep-sea deposits, by Dr. Harvey Pirie, on the meteor-
ology of the expedition, by Mr. Mossman, and on Diego
Alvarez, or Gough Island, by Mr. Rudmose Brown. An
account of part of the work of the expedition has already
appeared in these columns (Nature, March 2).

The most important facts brought to light in the course
the sounding and exploring work are those connected
the discovery of Coats Land, and the final removal
from the map of the “‘ Ross deep,’’ in which the Erebus
and Terror reported 4000 fathoms no bottom. The sup-
posed coast-line of the Antarctic continent south-east of
the Weddell Sea has hitherto been placed in about
80° S. lat., probably because of the belief, to which certain
te mpe rature observations seemed to give support, that
Ross’s sounding was really correct. The Scotia discovered

of
with

Coats Land in 72° 25 S.. 17° 27’ W., and skirted the
coast for 150 miles. Within 2 miles of the assigned posi-
tion of Ross’s sounding (68° 32’ S., 12° 49’ W.) the
Scotia touched bottom in 2660 fathoms, and the sounder
brought up a large sample of blue mud. Thus,’’ as Mr.

NOVEMBER 9, 1905 | IEA TE CRIS A3

Bruce puts it, “‘ after more than sixty years of doubt, Ross | through South Georgia to the Falkland Islands and South
Deep was removed from the map, and all the bathy- American continent.’ . . ‘‘ Antarctica, South America,
metrical maps based upon this sounding were no longer | and Madagascar, become connected with one another in a
‘of any practical use. It is interesting to contrast the most direct manner by this ‘ rise.’’’ Basing his arguments
methods of sounding employed on the two occasions by on these discoveries, Mr. Bruce strongly opposes Sir
Clements Markham’s theory, set
forth in his recent address to the
Royal Geographical Society, that the
Antarctic area consists of two land
masses of unequal size, Victoria
Land and Edward VII. Land, separ-
ated by a great barrier of ice, and
of two seas extending far to the
south, the Ross Sea and the Weddell
Sea.

The papers by Dr. Harvey Pirie
and Mr. Mossman contain many
points of great interest, although in
the nature of things the material
collected requires further elabor-
ation, and comparison with that of
the other expeditions, before its full
value becomes apparent. Dr.
Harvey Pirie’s observations give
much additional information bear-
ing on the variations in the relative
amounts of diatoms in the surface
waters and in the deposits, and the
remarkable differences in the metecr-
ological values for 1903 and 1904
enable Mr. Mossman to draw many
important conclusions as to the
factors controlling the climate. Mr.
: a rae ; ; ‘ Rudmose Brown gives an interesting
Fic. 2.—Scotia beset in heavy ice in 74.1'S. off Coats Land. The shearlegs show the position of the account of an island which has

baited trap in 161 fathoms.

curiously enough, remained unex-
plored until now, although it lies
comparing Mr. Bruce’s photographs, which we reproduce, | almost on the track of sailing-ships outward bound vid
with the illustration given in Ross’s book. Another dis- the Cape of Good Hope. :

covery of great importance is that of a ridge showing a |

continuation of the ‘‘ South Atlantic rise’? a thousand - —_—_—_—

THE PERCY SLADEN EXPEDITION IN
H.M.S. SEALARK.

I HAVE just received the accompanying communi-
cation from Mr. Stanley Gardiner, bringing the
account of his expedition to September 12, the date
of his letter. The letter is written from Coetivey.
I may remind readers of Nature that his fermer
communications appeared in the issues of August 10
and October 5. A. SEDGWICK.
Zoological Laboratory, Cambridge, October 23.

Since my last letter Cooper and I have had a tour
round the reefs of Mauritius, and have for the last
three weeks been working between the latter island
and the Seychelles Group. The Mauritius reefs vary
from fringing to barrier, the best example of the
latter being at Grand Port, where it is four miles
from the land. It has there a few small islets of
somewhat metamorphosed coral-rock, varying up to
40 feet high. At first it seemed as if they might
have been formed by hurricanes and blown sand, but
we discovered the same rock in the - immediate
vicinity overlying a basalt, 70 feet above the water.
The present islets probably represent the remains of
a considerable island, elevated for at least 100 feet,
extending along that part of the barrier reef.

Leaving Mauritius on August 21, we had three
days’ dredging and sounding off its reefs. The con-
tour is the same as that off atoll-reefs, a gradual
slope to 40 fms. (fathoms), succeeded by a steep to
150 fms., then tailing off in five miles to 1000 fms.
miles further south than it was previously known to exist. | The bottom at 150 fms. was covered by heavy blocks
There is thus a ridge ‘‘ extending in a curve from Mada- || of coral from the reef above. At 300 fms. we found
gascar to Bouvet Island, and from Bouvet Island to the | shell and small pieces of coral, and further out a
Sandwich Group, whence there is a forked connection bottom of bare coral mud, sweepings from the reef and
through the South Orkneys to Graham’s Land, and | Jand.

NO. 15€0, VOL. 73]

Fic. 3.—Meteorological Instrumeuts at Scoua Bay.

44

NABRORE

| NOVEMBER 9, 1905

Between Mauritius and Cargados there was a depth of
1962 fms., there being no marked connecting ridge, though
the bottom tails off very gradually from each bank. At
Cargados we remained for six days, examining the reefs
and islets, and dredging. It is a crescentic-shaped surface
reef, 31 miles long, on the south part of the Nazareth Bank,
which is roughly 220 miles long by 60 broad, with an
average depth of 33 fms. The land is of coral rock with no
signs of elevation, and is a great breeding resort for tern.
It is covered with guano, owing to which the land flora is
very scanty, only 18 different plants being found. Naturally
land animals were scarce, but 42 insects were secured,
four-fifths from the guano.

Cooper for the most part took the dredgings, and he
reported to me that he found near Cargados ‘* a wonder-
fully constant depth of 30-35 fms. over the body of the
bank, while towards its western edge there is a slight but
uniform rise to 27 fms., thus suggesting an incipient atoll
with its eastern side slightly tilted up above its western.
Over the plateau, where 30 hauls were made in different
directions, the bottom was either coral-rubble, white sand,
shell-rubble, weed. The three latter occurred only in
the central parts of the bank, while the coral-rubble,
though also found there, alone formed the raised edge of
the western side, being mostly in the form of large lumps.
From this rubble, which is of a bright red colour due to
an encrusting nullipore, we obtained a rich variety of
animal life, nearly all forms tinted with red. The absence
of living corals from the rim as well as from the plateau
in all depths over 20 fms. was a noticeable feature.””

or

About 25 different species of alga (not lithophytes) were
dredged, several from 40-50 fms. on the outer slope,

though none have so far been secured from more than
60 fms.

In the channel midway between Nazareth and Saya de
Malha banks we found a depth of 222 fms., the connection
being a ridge rapidly tailing off on its western side to more
than Soo fms. Saya de Malha itself really consists of
three banks, a northern, a very large central, and a small
south-eastern. The north bank we found to be separated
by a channel of 636 fms. from the central, while the depth
between the latter and the southern bank is only 130 fms.
All are of more or less atoll form, but the south side of
the central bank differs from all other parts of the same
banks and from the Nazareth Bank in tailing off very

gradually from 65 fms., the general depth in its
centre, to 200 fms. The area in this part beyond
120 fms., which is to some degree protected from the

prevailing south-east winds and currents, formed a rich
collecting ground, the bottom being composed of a white
rubble of bivalve and sea-urchin shells, evidently all swept
off the shallower bottom above. From 80 to 100 fms.,
where it is more exposed, the bottom is hard, being swept
bare by the currents, but still further north at 60 fms.,
where the eastern edge of the bank has only 10-20 fms. of
water, is soft mud with casts of pelagic foraminifera. A
considerable number of dredgings were taken at depths
above 20 fms., and fair collections have been obtained.
Only the regular deep-living corals were secured, but two
hauls at 26 and 29 fms. gave between them more than
20 species of corals, typical of shallow reefs. To the
north of the banks we dredged between 300 and
500 fms., the bottom being of the usual character at
such depths off coral reefs, though with rather more
rubble.

Leaving the Saya de Malha banks we ran a line of

soundings to the shallow bank, which surrounds the
Seychelles, the greatest depth found being 961 fms. Thus

our soundings prove the existence of a crescentic-shaped
ridge, 1100 miles long, with less than 1000 fms. of
water, arising on either side from a general depth of
2200 fms.

Now we are at Coetivy, the most southerly island of
the Seychelles Group. It is an atoll bank with a large
island to the east, where we shall camp for ten days, while
the ship goes to the Seychelles for coal. On her return
we propose to examine the line connecting the Seychelles
to Madagascar. J. STANLEY GARDINER.

September 12.

No. 1880, VOL. 73]

SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF AMERICAN
UNIVERSITIES.*

HE total amount of private benefactions to university
education in the States during the last thirty years
reaches the amazing figure of forty millions sterling; and
this is quite apart from the large annual appropriations
made by the Federal Government and by the State
Governments for technical colleges and State universities.
The total amount contributed by private benefactions in
the same period in these islands was about five millions.

The number of professors, lecturers, and other teachers
in the American universities and institutions of university
standing is very little short of the total number of
university students in the British Isles; the figures are
respectively 17,000 and 20,500.

A large and increasing number of the greatest industrial
and commercial firms in America restrict their highest
posts to college graduates. In Montreal two great rail-
the Grand

way companies—the Canadian Pacific and
| Trunk—have just clubbed together to establish and endow

in McGill University a department of railway engineering
for training the first-rate staff of officials, which they feel
to be indispensable to the rapid extension of their lines
in the great north-western territories now awaiting de-
velopment. Of our own industrial leaders, it would be
safe to say that at least nine out of ten would regard a
college training as an absolute disqualification.

The vigour of the professional schools is to be explained
by two features which differentiate them from our own :—
(1) The presence of a culture element; (2) the close and
almost organic connection between academic and industrial
life.

(1) Where a professional or higher technical school is
established in England, the tendency is to make it purely
technical, to banish all literary studies, and confine the
student's attention strictly to scientific study directly bear-
ing on his future profession. In America a broader view
is taken.

The great Morrell Act for agricultural and mechanical
colleges was thus expounded by its author :—** These
colleges were not established for the sole purpose of teach-
ing agriculture. It was never intended to force the boys
of farmers going into these institutions so to study, that
they should all come out farmers, but to give them an
opportunity to do so if they saw fit. Secondly it was a
liberal education that was proposed. Classical studies
were not to be excluded, and must therefore be included.”’

But further, the technical course itself in the great
majority of cases includes a culture element, supplied
not by Latin and Greek, but by French or German,
history, civics, and economics. The Massachusetts Insti-
tute of Technology in Boston, the greatest school of the
kind on the Continent, the Pratt Institute (Brooklyn),
the Armour Institute (Chicago), all make literary studies
of this kind an indispensable part of the curriculum for
their diplomas. The same is true of the great Guelph
College of Agriculture in Ontario: French, German, and
English literature have to be studied before the student
can graduate as B.S.A. of the University of Toronto;
and the reason was well put by the principal :—‘‘It is
not sufficient that our graduates should know their pro-
fessional work, they must have some knowledge of their
fellow-men and power of holding their own and of pre-
senting their subject to the educated public, which a
purely technical training cannot give.’’ These are the
words of a remarkable man who found Guelph in 1884
on the verge of extinction, and in twenty years has raised
it to a position of almost undisputed primacy among the
agricultural colleges of the continent, and transformed
thereby the agricultural industry of central Canada.

(2) Both professors and students are in the closest touch
with the industry which the school is intended to feed.
The former are not merely permitted, but encouraged to
take private outside work. The latter are required to
spend some part at least of their vacations in working
in mines, engineering works, on farms, &c., as the case
may be, and their reports on the work thus done contribute

1 Atridged from an address delivered before the Guild of Graduates of
the University of Wales at Aberystwyth, by Principal H. R. Reichel.

NOVEMBER 9, 1905 |

NA RORE

45

to form the professors’ estimate of their fitness for the

degree.
The universal

length of the undergraduate course is

four years, not three as with us; and I am bound to say
the lengthened period seems to me to have a decided
advantage in avoiding hurry and encouraging maturity

of growth. For several years the doubt has been grow-
ing in my mind whether our qualifying period of three
years can be regarded as satisfactory. We owe it, no
doubt, to the habit of mind inherited from the old London
University of regarding ability to pass a written examin-
ation as the true test of training. From this incubus
the American university is almost wholly free. A student
gets his degree for the regular work he does throughout
his university course, and though there is a test at the
end, that test hardly ever takes the form of a cumulative
examination in all he has been studying for two or three
years; often it is a thesis. The effect of this on the course
of study is very marked.

Post-graduate study is of comparatively recent growth
in the States, and largely the outcome of the foundation
and development of the Johns Hopkins University.

Like the Owens College in Manchester, Johns Hopkins
owes its origin to the philanthropy of a wealthy merchant
of Welsh descent. Its peculiar character, however, is due
to the academic prescience and statesmanship of its first
president. He saw that there were plenty of universities
and colleges of the ordinary undergraduate type, and that
what the country really needed was a university for
““sraduate study,’’ which at that time could only be
secured by going to Germany.

The method of teaching is based on that of the German
seminar, of which it has adopted the name, but it provides
for more constant and systematic intercourse between
professor and student. While the German seminar meets
weekly, the American meets every day, and the student
receives far more individual attention. The course again
is more exacting, the minimum length being three years,
and the average four and a half, starting, be it remem-
bered, from the completion of the B.A. degree. The aim
is to train in methods of original investigation—in short,
as it was well put to me by one of the professors, ‘‘ to
transfer to literary studies the methods of higher work in
science.’’ The work is based on the preparation of the
student’s dissertation for the doctorate. At every stage,
first in outline and subsequently in complete form, the
dissertation is discussed section by section, chapter by
chapter. Each department of study has its own seminar
room furnished with a departmental reference library.
The arrangement is not that of the lecture theatre, which
implies an orator and an audience, but rather that of the
committee room with a chairman and a ring of debaters.
The class, which would never exceed from twelve to
fifteen, sits at an oblong table, the professor, so to speak,
occupying the chair of the meeting at one end. Round
the walls at their backs are the shelves containing books
of reference, often running to several thousand volumes,
and these, it should be noted, are quite independent of the
central university library.

This seminar study was at first the sole, and is still
the main, work of the university, and that which has
made the name of Johns Hopkins famous throughout the
civilised world. An age more given to omens might have
seen in the remarkable fact that in the gigantic con-
flagration which recently swept away the centre of the
city of Baltimore, the university was the only public insti-
tution the buildings of which escaped scot free, a tribute
of the powers of nature to the unique position it holds
in American academical life. Its influence on higher
study through the whole North American continent ‘tes
been rapid and profound. It is not merely that a large

number of distinguished specialists has been produced
whose labours have raised the level of American learn-
ing; post-graduate study has become the ambition of the

American university, and more and more is being accepted
as that which differentiates it from the mere college.
There are few universities now which have not their
seminar rooms and departmental libraries, though it must

be admitted that in many cases these are at present only |

utilised for undérgraduate study
years.

of the third and fourth
But the growth in post-graduate work since Johns

NO. 1880, VOL. 73]

Hopkins was founded has been fairly staggering. In
1871 there were only 198 post-graduate students in the

States; twenty-five years later the number had risen to
4919, Or very nearly one quarter of the total number of
university students of all classes in the British Isles.

The great bulk of those who win the Johns Hopkins
doctorate naturally become university professors and
lecturers. At the same time there is a rapidly increasing
demand for them from the high schools, which are all
organised on the basis of specialist teaching in each de-
partment. The evidence, both at the schools and the
universities, supports the view that the Ph.D. candidate
for a school post would have the advantage over a B.A.
who had also been through a course of training in teach-
ing, and would command a higher salary, and that this
tendency is on the increase. It is felt that the man whose
knowledge is deepest is likely to make the best teacher,
and that lack of pedagogic skill at the start will be made
up for in the long run by greater inspiration.

The system of our own older universities
Oxford—is, it must be confessed,
graduate work. The explanation is to be found largely
in the difference of the undergraduate course. The
American university has no ‘‘ honours’’ schools for the
initial degree in which the energies of the best men are
devoted rather to amassing the results of other people’s
investigations over an immense area than to cultivating
the power of acquiring knowledge by their own. One
of my fellow commissioners, who had examined at Cam-
bridge in the law tripos, and bears a name of European
reputation, told me he was often perfectly ‘* horrified ”’
by the amount the young men knew; such a mass of
knowledge must have a most deadening effect on intel-
lectual vigour. Thus, while the actual attainment at the
initial degree is by no means so high as at Oxford and
Cambridge, at all events for the best students, there is a
far truer conception of learning, and an enormously larger
proportion of men go on to higher work and research.
In my visits to the universities the question was repeatedly
asked of me, ‘‘ What kind of men should we select for
the Rhodes scholarships? ’’ My answer has always been,
“ By all means, send us graduates. Undergraduates will
do Oxford little good, and may get out of touch with
American life; graduates will gain a wider experience
without being de- americanised. Nothing, at the same
time, would do so much for the revival of higher study
at Oxford as a steady supply of picked graduates of an
inquiring type.’’ ‘* But does Oxford want graduates? ”’
has been the usual reply. ‘* The experience of many men
we know who have been there is that it is practically
impossible to get assistance for post-graduate work ; after
a short trial they have generally gone on to Germany.
The justice of the criticism it is difficult to question.
Though the University of Oxford has created special post-
graduate degrees in order to attract graduates of other
universities for advanced study or research, the Oxford
college with its pot-hunting instincts stands in the way.
It makes, or thinks it makes, its name by the number
of first classes won by its undergraduates, and will, there-
fore, give no encouragement to the higher learning which
our Philistine upper class neither understand nor care for.
I have known a case where the whole tutorial influence
of a college was used to prevent one of its scholars com-
peting for a university prize essay involving original re-

at least of
less favourable to post-

search. It was not denied that the work might be
intellectually better for him, but then it might endanger
his “‘first.”’ The scholar, I am glad to say, had the
strength of mind to take his own line, and gained the
prize.

Let me conclude with a word about the ideals of the

students and their attachment to their old college or
university. I have said that the course is never less than
four ysars; when I add that there are hardly any scholar-
ships and that a large proportion of the students are
distinctly poor, you will doubtless ask how they manage
to do it? This brings me at once to what I unhesi-
tatingly affirm to be the most admirable feature of life
on the other side of the Atlantic, whether in the States or
in Canada, viz. the entire absence of the feeling that
honest work of any kind can be derogatory to an educated
man. The American and Canadian student whose friends

46

NATURE

[ NOVEMBER 9, 1905

cannot afford to keep him at college. pays his way either
by working during the long vacation in all sorts of manual
employment or by rendering what we should regard as
menial services to his fellow-students during term time,
much like the old ‘‘ servitors’’ at Oxford and Cambridge.
Nor does this create any social barrier. At one university
visited by some of my Mosely colleagues they were waited
upon during the college dinner by some very intelligent
looking young fellows, and found on inquiry that these
were students. Somewhat surprised at this, one of the
party asked if this would not tell against them socially.
Not in the least,’’ was the answer. ‘‘ That man over
there is president of one of the chief debating societies ;
that other is one of our best athletes and much looked
up to.’ It is the same in the women’s colleges. At
Vassar one girl keeps a bicycle cleaning shop; they act
as room-tidiers, clean shoes, &c. In Canada [I was in-
formed that at Queen’s University, Kingston, no less than
7o per cent. of the men students earn their fees and
maintenance for the coming session by working through
the summer on farms, on the railway, in mines, river
steamboats, &c. The fact is, the Transatlantic youth is
rather proud of being able to earn his own living; it makes
him feel himself more of a man, and it is not at all
uncommon for the son of rich parents to take work in
this way for the sense of independence it brings. It is a
fine spirit, and makes one blush when one thinks how very
different a reception such conduct would probably meet
with over here.

UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL
INTELLIGENCE.

Oxrorp.—The committee for the supervision of instruc-
tion in geography has appointed Dr. A. J. Herbertson,
director of the school of geography, for the remainder of
the term of five years for which the grants to the school
of geography have been voted. A syllabus of the examin-
ation for the diploma in this subject has been issued, which
includes regional geography, climatology and oceanography,
geomorphology, historical geography, and surveying.

The delegates of the common university fund have elected
Mr. G. W. Smith, New College, to the biological scholar-
ship at Naples for the year 1905-6.

Mr. M. H. Godby has been elected to a Dixon research
scholarship in chemistry at Christ Church.

CamBripGE.—An interesting insight into the way the
university is governed is given by the following figures.
A careful analysis of the poll- -book of the recent vote on
‘** compulsory ”” Greek gives the following results :—(1) Of
the residents, 288 voted in favour of the recommendation
that Greek should no longer be compulsory in the previous
examination; 240 voted against the recommendation—
majority of residents in favour of the recommendation, 48.
(2) Of the total number of members of the senate who.
voted, residents and non-residents included, 1591 were lay-
men, 1021 were clergymen. Of the laymen, 923 voted in
favour of the recommendation; 668 voted’ against it—
majority of laymen in favour of the recommendation, 255.
Of the clergymen, 132 voted in favour of the recommend-
ation; 889 voted against it—majority of clergymen against
the recommendation, 757.

The report on the proposed diploma of forestry was dis-
cussed on Thursday, November 2. Among the speakers
were the professor of geology, the professor of botany, the
secretary of the financial board, and the master of Gonville
and Caius College. The proposal was warmly welcomed.

The State medicine syndicate reports that last year
seventy-one candidates presented themselves for the diploma
in public health, and that twenty-four candidates entered
for the diploma in tropical medicine and hygiene, sixteen
of whom were successful.

The following have been
natural science tripos in
Glazebrook and Mr. C. T.
H. O. Jones, and Mr. H. B.

nominated examiners for the
1906 :—in physics, Mr. R. T.
R. Wilson; in chemistry, Mr.
Baker, Oxford ; in mineralogy,
Prof. Lewis, and Mr. H. L. Bowman, Oxford; in geology,
Mr. P. Lake and Dr. F. A. Bather; in botany, Mr. A. iG

NO. 1880, vol. 73]

Seward, and Mr. A. G. Tansley, of University College,
London; in zoology, Mr. A. Sedgwick, and Prof. MacBride,
of Montreal; in physiology, Mr. W. M. Fletcher, and Prof-
T. G. Brodie, of the Brown Institute; in human anatomy,
Dr. Barclay Smith, and Dr. A. Robinson, of Birmingham
University.

The Vice-Chancellor announces that Sir Archibald Geikie
will, on behalf of the board of geographical studies, deliver
a public lecture in the Sedgwick Museum on November 21,
at 5 p.m., on ‘‘ The Evolution of a Landscape.’? On the
evening of the same day, and at the same place, Dr. C-
Hose, of Sarawak, will lecture on Borneo.

The next combined examination for sixty-two entrance
scholarships and various exhibitions at Pembroke, Gonville
and Caius, King’s, Jesus, Christ’s, St. John’ s, and
Emmanuel colleges will be held on Tuesday, December ise
and following days, commencing at 9 a.m. on
December 5. Mathematics, classics, and natural sciences
will be the subjects of examination at all the above-men-
tioned colleges. Scholarships and exhibitions will also be
offered for history, for modern languages, and for Hebrew
at some of the colleges. A candidate for a scholarship or
exhibition at any of the seven colleges must not be more
than nineteen years of age on October 1, 1905. Forms of
application for admission to the examination at the re-
spective colleges may be obtained as follows :—Pembroke
College, Mr. “W. S. Hadley ; Gonville and Caius College,
the Master ; King’s College, Mr. W. H. Macaulay; Jesus
College, Mr. A. Gray; Christ’s College, Rev. J. W.
Cartmell; St. John’s College, Dr. Donald MacAlister, Dr-
J. R. Tanner, Mr. E. E. Sikes; Emmanuel College, the
Master; from any of whom further information respecting
the scholarships and other matters connected with the
several colleges may be obtained. The forms of appli-
cation must be sent in on or before Tuesday, November 28-

Mr. F. S. PINKERTON has been appointed professor of
applied mathematics at the University College of South

Wales, Cardiff.
By the will of Mr. J. E. Williams, of Chester, who died
on July 15, a legacy of 10,0001. is bequeathed to the

University of Wales, the income to be used in founding
new scholarships and prizes in his name, to be held upon
certain terms and conditions. In the event of the University
of Wales not accepting the legacy within six months, the
same is to be paid to the trustees of the University College
of North Wales at Bangor upon the same conditions. He
also bequeathed 10,000l. “to the University College of North
Wales at Bangor upon the same conditions, and 2o000l. for
the building fund of this college.

Ar the last meeting of the council of the University of
Birmingham, the Vice-Chancellor (Alderman C. G. Beale)
in the chair, the Chancellor (Mr. Chamberlain) announced
that a friend of the university, who desired to remain
anonymous, had promised a donation of 50,000l., the
amount to be applied towards the completion of the new
buildings at Bournbrook. The council desired the Chan-
cellor to convey its best thanks to the generous donor for
his munificent gift. This is the fourth amount of 50,o000l.
already contributed to the university endowment fund, the
other sums having been received from Mr. Andrew
Carnegie, Sir James Timmins Chance, and an anonymous
donor. The total fund is about 450,000l., to which must
be added annual contributions from the City Council (Goool.
per annum), and 5o0ol. each from the county councils of
Staffordshire and Worcestershire. The council has already
approved of expenditure upon the site and_ buildings
amounting to about 280,o00l., in addition to upwards of
80,000l. on equipment. It is hoped that a formal opening
of the new buildings may be possible in about eighteen
months’ time.

Tue Board of Education has issued the following list
of candidates successful in this year’s competition for the
Whitworth scholarships and exhibitions :—(1) Scholarships,
125!. a year each (tenable for three years): H. Topham,

Granthane C. W. Price, Devonport; W. F. Paffett, Ports-
mouth ; R. W. Bailey, Goodmayes (Essex). (2) Exhibi-
trons, sol. (tenable for one year): W. White, Southsea ;

NOVEMBER 9, 1905 |

NATURE

47

A. E. Humber, Portsmouth; G. Lees, Southsea; A. Ward,
London; A. W. Sawyer, London; C. E. G. House, Chat-
ham; H. Schofield, Halifax; J. M. Robertson, Pembroke
Dock; W. E. G. Sillick, Devonport; J. A. Cormack,
Glasgow; F. Clements, Chesterfield; B. J. Cole, Devon-
port; P. W. M. Sparey, London; S. Lees, Manchester ;
B. H. Penn, Bedford; W. H. Stock, Swindon; W. R.
Sinclair, Newcastle-on-Tyne; M. Bell, Bensham, Gates-
head; T. H. Essery, Devonport; S. H. Warren, Devon-
port; A. R. Valon, London; G. R. Wilkinson, Oldham ;
A. D. Johnston, jun., South Shields; W. C. A. Bowles,
London; A. L. Bird, Cambridge; T. N. Adlam, Trow-
bridge; J. Bedford, Chingford; P. P. Smart, Wolverton ;
C. L. Gransden, Chatham; W. F. Brown, Birkenhead.

Tue following list of successful candidates in this year’s
competition among science students for Royal exhibitions,
national scholarships and free studentships has been issued
by the Board of Education :—Royal exhibitions: Arthur B.
Middleton, Bradford, Manchester; William White, South-
sea; Alfred E. Humber, Portsmouth; George Lees, South-
sea; Frederick E. Pollard, Eastwood, Notts; James L.
Kent, Portsmouth; Frank Fielden, Halifax. National
Scholarships for Mechanics (Group A): Arthur T. Wall,
Plymouth; Arthur Cannon, Plymouth; William E.
Dommett, Southsea; Herbert J. London, London; Charles
E. G. House, Chatham; William E. G. Sillick, Devon-
port. Free Studentships for Mechanics (Group A): Charles
L. Gransden, Chatham; Harford G. Stephens, Leicester.
National Scholarships for Physics (Group B): John M.
Strang, Glasgow; Frederick Reid, Glasgow; John W.
Waters, Chatham; Dudley Orson-Wood, Chiswick ; George
F. Hemens, London; William F. Higgins, London ;
Walter C. M. Pettingill, Leeds. Free Studentships for
Physics (Group B): Frederick J. Harlow, Whitstable ;
Edward F. Pattenden, Whitstable. National Scholarships
for Chemistry (Group C): Harry F. V. Little, London;
Tom Thornley, Blackburn; Samuel Lamb, Bradley,
Bilston; Alan C. Webber, Brighton; John H. Jennings,
Plymouth; Robert O’F. Oakley, London. Free Student-
ships for Chemistry (Group C): Archibald Wise, Plymouth ;
Charles S. Garland, London. National Scholarships for
Geology (Group E): John W. Maxfield, Burnley; Ernest
Proctor, Burnley; James Mitchell, Burnley.

Tue annual general meeting of the Association of
Teachers in Technical Institutes was held at the Birkbeck
College, London, on November 4. The association, which
was founded a year ago, already has a membership of
300 exclusive of the Association of Teachers of Domestic
Sciences, which is affiliated with it. Mr. W. J. Lineham,
the president, was in the chair, and moved the adoption
of the report of the council, which was subsequently agreed
to. The council recommends in the report that meetings
of teachers in provincial technical institutes be called to lay
the claims of the association before them directly. A
resolution was passed instructing the council to call meet-
ings of the teachers in provincial technical institutes and
to consider the following matters with full powers to act
therein :—(a) The formation of local or provincial branches
of the association; (b) joint action or federation with the
West Riding Association of Teachers of Science, Art, and
Technology, the Federation of London Teachers, and other
bodies of teachers. One of the most important matters
discussed during the year has been the registration of
teachers. A scheme has been drawn up by the council,
and a circular has been issued to members pointing out
its importance upon the future status and_ professional
position of teachers in technical institutes. A scheme for
registration has already been formulated by the teachers of
domestic science. The council recommends that steps be
taken at an early date, by deputation or otherwise, to
urge upon public examining authorities the importance of
securing closer connection between the examiner and the
teacher. Various amendments to the constitution and rules
were decided upon, and the title of the association was
changed to that of ‘‘ The National Association of Teachers
in Technical Institutes,’’ and it was resolved that its
officers be a president, two vice-presidents, an hon. secre-
tary, and an hon. treasurer. Mr. Lineham was elected
president for the ensuing year.

NO. 1880, VOL. 73]

SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES.

ILONDON.

Physical Society, October 27.—Prof. J. H. Poynting,
F.R.S., president, in the chair.—lhe theory of phase-
meters: Dr. W. E. Sumpner. The author shows in the
paper that the theory of the instruments is the same
whether they contain iron or not, and however the coils
may be arranged; that they can be calibrated by direct-
current methods, although for use on alternating-current
circuits; and that a new type of instrument, containing
iron, conforms to the theory given. The main results of
the investigation are:—(1) Phasemeters for multi-phase
circuits are all equally accurate on balanced loads _pro-
vided they have been correctly calibrated and possess no
faults due to purely mechanical causes. Their accuracy
is not affected by variations in wave-form or in current-
frequency. (2) Phasemeters can be simply and accurately
calibrated for balanced loads by means of a direct-current
method of test. (3) The error of phasemeters on un-
balanced circuits is generally serious for loads which are
badly out of balance. ‘The error, like that of a wattmeter,
increases rapidly as the power-factor of the load diminishes.
It can only be reduced at the expense of complication in
the instrument, by increasing the numbcr of coils used in
the fixed and moving systems, and by arranging the coils
and magnetic circuits to be symmetrical in regard to one
another.—Apparatus designed for measuring the coronal
radiation during an eclipse: Prof. H. L. Catlendar. A
preliminary test of the apparatus with the thermopile
directly exposed to radiation of known intensity showed a
deflection of nearly 25 cm. for one-thousandth of a calorie
per sq. cm. per min., so that radiation one-millionth of
full sunshine could be detected with certainty without
using a mirror. When placed in the focus of the telescope
used, radiation one thousand times smaller than this could
be observed, so that even if the intrinsic heat-radiating
power of the corona were only one ten-millionth of the
solar surface it could still be measured to within 1 per
cent. The essential point in the observations was to
eliminate the variable effects of atmospheric radiation, for
which a differential method of observation with the two
halves of the pile was particularly suitable. In taking
observations on the corona, the motion of the moon during
totality was made use of to define the exact area of the
corona corresponding to the differential reading. At the
commencement of totality, the thermopile being centred
on the sun, the inner corona on the eastern limb would
be fully exposed, while on the western it would be partly
covered by the moon. At the end of totality the reverse
would be the case. The difference of the readings would
correspond to the radiation of the strip of the inner corona
uncovered by the motion of the moon between the two
readings. The area of the strip of corona considered could
be accurately determined from the times at which the
readings were taken.

Paris.

Academy of Sciences, October 30.—M. Troost in the
chair.—Iwo hzematozoa of the partridge and turkey :
A. Laveran and M. Lucet. The first of these was the
cause of the death of 97 out of 100 Hungarian partridges
imported into France. Its appearance and mode of division
corresponded with Haemamoeba relicta, a parasite which
has been known to be responsible for epidemics in many
birds, but not hitherto of the partridge. The other para-
site, found to be the cause of perityphlo-hepatitis in the
domestic turkey, appears to belong to a new species, and
is named Haemamoeba Smithi.—A criterion for the appli-
cation of the Gompertz-Makeham mortality law: Charles
Goldziher. The application of this law depends absolutely
on the regularity of the original series, but, so far, an
exact criterion for the exactitude of the limits between
which this application is possible has been wanting. This
is worked out in the present paper.—On the composition
of the hydrochloroferric colloid with respect to the amount
of hydrochloric acid present in the suspending liquid: G.
Malfitano. By increasing the concentration of the medium
in hydrochloric acid, the colloid tends to approximate to
the composition H(Fe,O,H,)Cl.—Observations relating to
some india-rubber plants: A. Chevalier. Whatever may
be the family to which a caoutchouec belongs, its richness

48

NATURE

[| NOVEMBER 9, 1905

in india-rubber is an individual peculiarity. The yield
may be very different in two individuals of the same age
and of the same size, living side by side, and having the
latex extracted at the same time.—The influence of

different kinds of light radiations on the migration of the

albumenoids in the wheat grain: J. Dumont. It was
found that the radiations which have the greatest effect
on the migration of the albumenoids in the wheat grain

are precisely those which act the least on the chlorophyll
function.—On the mechanical work furnished by wind-
mills: M. Ringelmann. The windmill studied was of the
type used in agriculture for raising water. Automatic
records were made of the velocity of the wind, the number
of turns of the vane, and of the water lifted. A table of
results for different velocities of the wind is given, and
from this the work obtainable from a windmill can be
calculated.—The accessory glands to the silk-producing
apparatus of the larvee of Io Irene: L. Bordas. The

liquid or slightly viscous substance secreted by the
accessory glands serves to agglutinate or unite the two
silk threads. It is possible, also, that it exerts a chemical
action on the threads, causing them to harden rapidly.—
On the existence of strata containing Clymenia in the
central plateau, Morvan: Albert Michel-Lévy.—On _ the
dissymmetry of the loss of electricity in mountainous

countries : and relief:
At the summit

volts is greater for

the comparative réles of height
MM. Bernard Brunhes and Albert Baldit.
of a mountain the rate of loss of
negative than for positive electricity. These results serve
to show why several authors have been led to think that
passing from the plain to a mountain leads to a great
exaggeration of the loss of negative electricity.

DIARY OF SOCIETIES.

THURSDAY, NovEMBER g-

MaTHEMATICAL SociIETY, at 5.30.—Annual General Meeting.—The
Continuum and the Second Number-class: G. H. Hardy.—On the
Arithmetical Nature of the Coefficients ina Group of Linear Substitu-
tions of Finite Order (second paper): Prof. W. Burnside.—On the
Asymptotic Value of a Type of Finite Series: J. W. Nicholson,—On an
Extension of Dirichlet’s Integral: Prof. T. J. I’A. Bromwich.—(1) On
Improper Multiple Integrals; (2) On the Arithmetic Continuum; Dr.
E. W. Hobson.

InstiruTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Inaugural Address:
John Gavey, C.B.

FRIDAY, NoveMBER to.

Rovat. ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, at 5.—(1) Observations of the Satellite of
Neptune from Photographs taken between Nov 11, 1go4, and April 15,
1905; (2) Micrometric Measures of Double Stars made with the 28-inch
Refractor in the Year 1904: Royal Observatory, Greenwich : Communi-
cated by the Astronomer-Royal.—(r) On the Secular Acceleration of the
Earth’s Orbital Motion : (2) On the Ptolemaic Eclipses of the Moon re-
corded in the Almagest: P. H. Cowell.—Observations of Phenomena of
Jupiter's Satellites made at Windsor, New South Wales, in the Years
1goo and 1902: John Tebbutt.—On the Corrections to Hansen’s ‘‘ Tables
de la Lune,” as deduced by Mr. Cowell: E. Nevill.

Puysicac Society, at 8 —The Question of Vemperature and Efficiency of
Thermal Radiation: J. Swinburne.—Note on Constant-Deviation
Prisms: T. H. Blakesley.

MaLacoLoGicaL Society, at 8.—(1) Descriptions of New Species of
Drymaus, Amphicyclotus, and Neocyclotus from Central and Scuth
America; (2) Description of a New Species of Achatina from Mashona-
land: S. I. Da Costa.—Ona Collection of Land and Freshwater Shells
from Sumatra with Descriptions of New Species, part i.: Rev. R. Ash-
ington Bullen. On a New Species of Oliva: F. G, Bridgman.—On the
Anatomy of Exsis macha and Solen fonesii and S. viridis: H. H.

Bloomer.
TUESDAY, NovemBeER 14.

{nsTITUTION oF Crvi_t ENGINEERS, at 8.—On Waterways in Great
Britain: J. A. Saner.

ZoovoGiIcaL Society, at 8.30.—On the Papillary Ridges in Mammals,
chiefly Primates: Dr. Walter Kidd.—On a Collection of Mammals
brought home by the Tibet Frontier Commission : J. Lewis Bonhote.—
Note on the Geographical Distribution of the Okapi: Dr. Einar Lénn-
berg.—Notes on Goral found in Burma: Major George H. Evans.—The
Mammals of Crete: Dorothea M. A. Bate.

MINERALOGICAL Society, at 8.—The Determination of the Angle! between
the Optic Axes of a Crystal in Parallel Polarised Th J We
Evans. —(1) On a Tabular Crystal of White Diopside ; (2) Ona erin
twin of Albite: Prof. W. J. Lewis.—Note on the Crystallisation of
Drops, especially of Pota~ -Alum: J. Chevalier.—Note on the Forma-
tion of Gypsum Crystals in a Disused Well at Chemical Works: C. J.
Woodward.—(1) Ilmenite from the Kollergraben, Binnenthal; (2) Ona
New Red Cubic Mineral; (3) On Seligmannite, Marrite, and Lengen-
bachite from the Lengenbach Quarry; (4) On Anhydrite and other
Minerals found in the White Dolomite of the Simplon Tunnel: R. H.
Solly.

WEDNESDAY, November 15.
Society of ARTs, at 8.—Opeiing Address of the Chairman of the
Council, Sir Owen Roberts.
ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY, at 8.
KOVAL METEOROLOGICAL SOciETY, at 7.30.—'lhe Rainstorm of August

NO. 1880, VOL. 73]

24-26, 1905, in Co, Dublin and Co. Wicklow: Sir J. W. Moore.—The
Aquameter: Dr. W. B. Newton.

Royat MicroscopicaL Society, at 8.—Exhibition of Microscope
Slides of Tsetse-Fly Dissections, Trypanosomes, etc.

THURSDAY, NovemMBeEr 16.

Roya Society, at 4.30.—The Physical and Chemical Properties of Tron
Carbonyl: Sir James Dewar, F.R.S., and H. O. Jones.—The Transit of
Ions in the Electric Arc: A. A. Campbell Swinton.—First Photographs
of the Canals of Mars: Prof. Percival Lowell.—On the Laws of Radia-
tion: J. H. Jeans.—The Pressure of Explosions. Experiments on Solid
and Gaseous Explosives: J. &. Petavel.—On Newton's Rings formed by
Metallic Reflection: Prof. R. C. Maclaurin.—The Accurate Measure-
ment of Ionic Velocities: Dr. R. B. Denison and Dr. B. D. Steele.

CHEMICAL SociETY, at 8.30.—Silicon Researches, Part ix., Bromination
of Silicophenyl Imide and Amide, and Formation of a Compound in-
cluding (SiN): J. E. Reynolds.— Condensation of Ketones with
Mercury Cyanide: J. E. Marsh and R. de J. F. Struthers.—Applica-
tion of the Microscopic Method of Molecular Weight Determination to
High Boiling Solvents : G. Barger and A. J. Ewins.—Green Compounds
of Cobalt produced by Oxidising Agents: R. G. Durrant.—Synthesis or
Tertiary Menthol and of Inactive Menthene: W. H. Perkin, Jun.—
Optically Active Reduced Naphthoic Acids, Part i., Dextro- A(2 or 3).
dihydro-r-naphthoic Acid: R. H. Pickard and A. Neville.

LinNEAN Society, at 8.—Contributions to the Embryology of the
Amentifere: Dr. Margaret Benson, Elizabeth Sanday and Emily
Berridge.—On the Ears ‘of certain Sharks: Prof. Chas. Stewart, F.R.S

FRIDAY, NoveMeBER 17-

INSTITUTION OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS,at 8.—The Seventh Report
of the Alloys Research Committee; On the Properties of a Series 0
Iron Nickel-Manganese-Carbon Alloys: Dr. H. C. H. Carpenter,
R. A. Hadfield, and P. Longmuir.

CONTENTS. PAGE
Strength of Materials. . . rare 25
A Handbook of Flower Biology. "By IOHeB:. .. Aas
A French Book on Sport and Trapping. ByR.L.. 26
Our Book Shelf :—
Lorentz: ‘‘ Ergebnisse und Probleme der Elektronen-

theorie.”—Dr, H. A. Wilson . . Perens.
Zeidler: ‘‘Die elektrischen Bogenlampen, deren
Prinzip, Konstruktion und Anwendung.”—H.
IBohle stem ne ot a es 27
Wilson: ‘‘ Transactions of the South African Philo-
sophical Society."—W. G._ . . o “oeged 28
Pearson: ‘* Problems in Practical Physics ” nh ae ee

Letters to the Editor:
Terminology in Electro-physiology.—Prof. Ve St
MacDonald, . . » eR)
The Leonid Meteors, 1905. —John R. Henry Pa 28
Border occasionally seen between Light and Dark
Regions on Photographic Plates.—Dr. F. J. Allen ;

R. Child Bayleys 2). <3 nema : « 729

The Use of Gasoline in Chemical and Physical
Laboratories.—J. R. Foster... +o fe SO)

The Aeger in the Rivers Trent and Ouse. (Zllus-
trated.) By W.H. Wheeler. . . eae

Survey of the Simplon Tunnel. By W. EP. oe 30

Bursaries at the Royal College of Science. Prof.
John) Perry, EoRISS a = Reece... See
Dr. Ralph Copeland. By W. E. SE Aas)
Captain F. W. Hutton, F R.S. Eye Heb. Ww. . ae 32
INGLES ames ae 4 ~ 1 eSS!

Our Astronomical Column :—
Italian Observations of the Recent Solar Eclipse . . 38
Martian Meteorology : mes! 2, oS ol
A 300-Year Cycle in Solar Phenomena... .. . 38
Some Suggestions on the Nebular Hypothesis. . . . 38
Systematic Error in Transit Observations of Jovian

Spots . . Sees =. CS

The Orbit of « Coronx Borealis. So CSO)

ee Velocities of Certain Variable Sirs... ae 39

Variability of the Asteroid (444) Gyptis . . . . 6 ED)
Conference of Delegates of Local Scientific

Societies . . = CC 9 042)

Zoology at the British ‘Association . . . Peet E%6)

Educational Science at the British Association . . 41
The Scottish National Antarctic aa (Lllus-

trated.) 42
The Percy Sladen Expedition in H.M.S. “Sealark.

By J. Stanley Gardiner .. . 43
Some Characteristics of American Universities.

By Principal H. R. Reichel . . . 0 Ae
University and Educational Intelligence {5 Sader
Societies and Academies . . ers . Pare coe Wir
Diaryrof SOCCte Sri tee tintin Hermes Sik)

INL CTLGLS

49

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 1905.

““ MATHEMATICS” APPLIED TO CHEMISTRY.
Researches on the Affinity of the Elements, and on
the Causes of the Chemical Similarity or Dis-

similarity of Elements and Compounds. By
Geoffrey Martin. Pp. xii+287. (London: J. and
A. Churchill, 1905.) Price 16s. net.

HE word ‘‘ mathematics ’? has been placed in the
title of this review in inverted commas, because,
although the mathematical formule employed appear
to be formally correct, the application of mathematical
formule to the data collected in Mr. Martin’s work
appears to the reviewer to be unjustified. To demon-
strate this a sketch of Mr. Martin’s scheme
necessary.

Mr. Martin’s endeavour is to find for each element,
and, if desired, for each compound, a formula which
will express its affinity for all other elements and
compounds, so that it may be possible, in his own
words, ‘‘ to discover the law regulating the chemical
attraction the elements mutually exert on each
other’; and this is achieved, according to him, by
“the construction of some geometrical figure which
will quantitatively pourtray the chemical properties of
the element.’’

The plan adopted is to arrange the elements into
series and columns, as in the usual periodic diagram;
the group numbers are plotted along a_ horizontal
ordinate OX, and the series numbers along an
ordinate at right angles to the former, OY. There
are ten points along OX, filled in the second group
by the elements Li, Be, B, C, N, O, F, and Ne, and
there are eleven points along the ordinate OY,
occupied in the first column by the elements H, Li,
Nak Ca, Rb, Ag, Cs, 2, ?, and Au. This. it will
be seen, gives one of the common forms of the
periodic table. Next, for any one element, having
one definite valency (one, it may be, of several
valencies which it may possess), perpendiculars are
erected on the point occupied by each of the known
elements, expressing by its height the affinity of that
element for each of the others. Thus, choosing the
element chlorine, and regarding it as monovalent,
vertical lines are to be erected, showing by their
length that that erected on, say, the point occupied
by cesium, expresses a high degree of affinity or
attraction; the vertical on the point occupied by
arsenic, for example, viewed as triad, would show
by its shorter length that the affinity of chlorine for
arsenic is less than it is for caesium; a repetition of
this process for all known elements produces a number
of points, 10x11, or 110 in number, if all spaces are
considered, or a smaller number, the number of the
actually known elements, in actual practice. Mr.
Martin imagined a curved surface to be drawn
through these points, and proceeds to develop equa-
tions which will represent that surface. He shows,
so far as the reviewer can see, correctly, that for the
complete characteristic equation for the supposed 110
elements, each of which is supposed capable of exist-

NO. 1881, VOL. 73]

is

ing in 8 degrees of valency, there are 2.3486 x 101°
different possibilities of associating degrees of
valency! However, by a device the author merci-
fully lowers this number to 8448, being 64 times 132;
132 represents the number of constants for the
characteristic affinity-surface for each element exist-
ing with only one of its possible eight valencies
exercised.

We have italicised the words ‘‘imagined a curved
surface to be drawn through these points ’’ because
there lies the crux of Mr. Martin’s attempt. What
reason has he to join his points? Does he imagine
that the interspaces are filled by an infinity of elements
of all conceivable atomic weights between the known
limits 1 and 240? If not, then the whole system is
discontinuous, and the characteristic surface is non-
existent.

But we will accept Mr. Martin’s method for the
moment, and inquire how he imagines affinity to be
measured, so as to obtain the lengths of his vertical
coordinates. The methods of estimating comparative
affinity may be taken as three in number. First, he
suggests that while the ‘‘ energy of combination ”’
should be measured by the heat generated by a re-
action starting from the absolute zero, such measure-
ments are impracticable, and, faute de mieux, the
“heats of formation ’’ at ordinary temperatures must
suffice. This method may be better realised by a
concrete example. One-third of the heat evolved
when boron burns in chlorine amounts to 34-7 calories ;
one-quarter of that of the formation of silicon
chloride is 39-4 calories. These numbers are approxi-
mately equal, hence the affinities of boron and of
silicon for chlorine are nearly the same. But this is
not always the case; for instance, as Mr. Martin
points out, 3(Si,H,)=8.2, whereas 1(C,H,)=5.2; yet
‘““ undoubtedly of these two bodies, the H is attracted
to the C in CH, with a greater intensity than it is
attracted to the Si in SiH,.’’ He therefore guards
himself by the statement that ‘‘it is only when the
heat evolved in the formation of a compound is very
great that it can be taken as measuring approximately
the attractive forces.’? There may be a little in this,
but the reviewer has read something like it before.
Second, an estimate of the relative affinity of the
elements in two similar compounds may be derived
from a consideration of their temperatures of decom-
position. Again, that suggestion is at least a century
and a half old. Third, temperatures of reaction may
be made a rough measure of affinity. For instance,
lead oxide is reduced by hydrogen at a lower tempera-
ture than iron oxide, hence the affinity of lead for
oxygen is less than that of iron. Estimates of such
affinities, and their application to the formation of
curved surfaces as described, fill 206 pages of the
work. Three appendices treat respectively the
causes of the absence of other compounds of elements
than those which contain the element at a high or
at a low grade of valency; the bearing on the pheno-
menon of life of the critical temperature of decom-
position of chemical compounds; and lastly, ‘‘ the
possible significance of alcohol drinking,’ in which
the glorious hope is held out to our remote de-

D

50

NA LORE.

LEBER 16, 1905

scendants of a world in which, owing to a decrease
in temperature below the freezing point of water, that
useful liquid will be replaced by alcohol!

There is a Scots proverb running thus :—‘‘ Mickle
cry and little ’oo (wool).’? The amount of ‘‘ wool ”’
in this work is surely insufficient for the ‘‘cry.’’ Yet
there are some suggestive passages, and the author
has evidently spent much time over his problem.

A word in conclusion as to the ‘‘ get-up’’ of the
book. The reviewer, in reading it, felt that he must
act as a proof-reader. There is hardly a page on
which a misprint does not occur; and such lapses as
‘““The only data available is the following: ’’; the
words uni- and tetra-valent in one line; ‘‘ to com-
pletly (sic) picture ’’; and the printing of almost every
sentence as a paragraph, make the reader’s task an
ungrateful one.

“cc

Something, no doubt, may be accomplished in
course of time when aifinity constants have been
numerically determined (and many are already

known) to show that they, too, are periodic functions
of the atomic weights; but Mr. Martin has not
succeeded in pointing out the lines on which this goal
is to be reached.

AN ORNITHOLOGIST’S JOURNALS
Travels of a Naturalist in Northern Europe:
1871, Archangel, 1872, Petchora, 1875
Harvie-Brown, 2 Pp. xxiit+541; with
coloured plates and other illustrations and 4 maps.
(London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1905.) Price 3).

net.
HE journals

two

Norway,
vols.
35.

the
volumes

which compose greater part of
to three
Archangel, and
Petchora about a quarter of a century ago, and the
author good-humouredly anticipates their being
garded as or ‘* cauld kail het again.’’
On this score, need for an
the the first

and,

these handsome relate

ornithological visits paid to Norway,

re-

“i

stale news ”’
there
tells his

technical

however, was no

apology, for author for
(apart reports),
besides, the naturalist’s
depends, not on their date (provided the date be
but on their intrinsic worth.

As Mr.

ologist,

story

time from previous

interest of a observations

given),

ornith-
of
natural

Harvie-Brown is an accomplished
and the
books on the

enthusiastic faunist, author
some delightful and valuable
history of Scotland, it goes without saying that these
journals contain some interesting scientific
and picturesque narrative.

is these

an

inform-
some But the
that have to
what seem to us dreary deserts of trivial and
commonplace monotony, and can hardly control
our impatience by remembering that there had to be
many trivial and commonplace days before the author
found the nesting-ground of the little stint. What
is published is just what was written down at the
close of each day, and it follows that items which
loomed large at the moment, such as the supper
menu, appear of little importance to the callous
reader, as doubtless to the journalist himself in re-
trospect at Dunipace. He such a gorgeous
NO. 1881, VOL. 73]

ation
trouble
traverse

to discover oases we

we

got

By At

| of the locality and in his story of the discovery.

a ie of birds—r1o1g skins and 1021 eggs from the
Petchora hunt alone—that we can sympathise with
his wish to live his hunting days on the tundra over
again; we only wish that his recapitulation had not
been so terribly in extenso. We are much interested
to read how Mr. Seebohm came in one evening, ‘‘ and
with a triumphant thump laid on the table, first a
Grey Plover, then a Snow Bunting, and then a
Curlew Sandpiper; lastly, and most triumphantly—
hurrah !—five Little Stints, long looked for, found at
last ’’; but we cannot get up much enthusiasm over
the bulls of the narrative.

The tour in Norway was more or less of a novelty
in 1871, and much is related that is now familiar.
Much has changed, but more remains the same, and
one unchanging feature of which the journal affords
abundant illustration is the human appetite.

The Archangel region had been but littke worked
by ornithologists when Mr. Harvie-Brown and (the
late) Mr. E. R. Alston explored there in 1872, and
they were richly rewarded. The journal becomes
more interesting, though our attention is still dis-
tracted by Ernst Craemers’s toothache, by the size
of the packing-case for the birds, by Alston’s loss of
his big knife (‘‘one made by Willsinson, of
London ’’), by the number of bowls of millx drunk,

| and so forth.

The most adventurous journey was that which Mr.
Harvie-Brown and Mr. Seebohm took in 1875 to the
region of the Petchora, where they were the first to
find the eggs of the little stint in Europe. The
author shows his powers in the graphic description
We
AOS the description of the nest :—

‘Rather untidy, rather rough and uneven round
its rim, very shallow, sparingly lined with dry grasses.
and a little leaf or two, which may have been plucked
by the bird as she sat in her nest. Round it, deep,
spongy, but not wet, yellow moss, the dark green
leaves and empty calices of the Arctic Bramble, a
tuft of round-stemmed green sedge with seed; a little
further off, the now flowerless plants of the sweet-
scented dwarf rhododendron, and bunches and patches

of long white grass and plants of a small cotton-
grass, and other plants and grasses, of which we

shall bring home specimens for identification.”’
There is a fine plate of stint’s eggs, and a careful

comparison of the little stint and Temminck’s stint.

Another beautiful plate contrasts the eggs of grey

| plover and golden plover.

In the course of the Petchora journal we find some
notes on habits which are interesting, e.g. those
relating to the fact that birds which do not perch, or
but rarely perch, in other countries, perch in Pet-
chora. Thus, on one occasion, by patiently follow-
ing up the ‘ tick tjuck ’’? of the common snipe, Mr.
Harvie-Brown had the satisfaction of seeing this
wader ‘‘ perched on the tip-top of one of the gaunt
branchless blasted larches, quite 7o feet from the
ground.’’ Curlews, gulls, snow-buntings, &c., were
also seen perching.

“Tt is, we think, undoubtedly forced upon them
by the great flooding of the country, and what was

originally forced upon them has become a favourite
habit.”’

NOVEMBER 16, 1905 |

NATURE

Si

The journal for July 7, 1875, gives an artificial
table for distinguishing the downs of ten species of
ducks, and that is the kind of minute detail more
of which we would gladly have welcomed. It is also
to the point to be told of the curious antics of the
Arctic (Richardson’s) skuas :—

“The birds often alighted within fifteen yards of
me, raised the wings over the baclk—when they did
this the white or dusky quills showed like a patch
upon the raised wings—shammed lameness and sick-
ness, and stood reeling from side to side as if mortally
wounded. If I followed them, they continued to try
and lead me off; but if I again approached the nest,
they flew boldly towards me, and stooped repeatedly.”’

There are some vivid pictures of the tundra and
its birds, there is an interesting account of the
Samoyédes, and there are some instructive notes on
the habits both of birds and men, for all of which
one is grateful, wishing only that there had been
more of this wheat and less of the journalistic chaff.

PRACTICAL SEA-FISHING.

Practical Sea-Fishing. A Handbook for Sea Anglers.
By P. L. Haslope. Pp. 274; illustrated. (London :
Upcott Gill, 1905.) Price 3s. 6d.

EA fishing is not a new form of sport, nor is it

a subject which has been neglected by authors.

We have several excellent works on it, such as ‘‘ Sea

Fishing ’’ by ‘‘ John Bickerdyke ’? in the Badminton

Library series, and ‘‘ Sea Fishing on the English

Coasts’ by Aflalo, so that a new book requires some

justification for its production.

The worl under review is perhaps worthy of a
place in the sea fisherman’s library, but it is, in our
opinion, in no way fitter to occupy that position than
either of the books already mentioned. It is obviously
written by a practical sea-fisherman who has tested
most, if not all, of the methods of rod and line fish-
ing which he recommends; but it is as obviously
written by a man whose experience has been mostly
confined to the south coast, as south coast methods
are much more often referred to than those of other
parts of the country.

The author does not, however, appear to be so
conversant with some of the methods of net-fishing
which he discusses as he is with those of rod and line
fishing. For instance, he considers the otter-trawl
“a much more manageable net ’’ for the amateur
than the beam-trawl, a point we think open to doubt.
It is true that the otter-trawl is more easily stowed
away on board, but we think that its advantage over
the beam-trawl for the amateur ends there, especially
if the vessel. is not a steamer. The difficulty of
getting the otter-trawl to spread out and of getting
it to fish properly is only known to those who have
tried, and we should certainly recommend the amateur
to use a beam-trawl, which, it is true, may capsize
when being lowered, but otherwise will always fish
when down.

When Mr. Haslope touches upon natural history
or the habits of sea-fish he is clearly not so much
at home as when he is discussing methods of capture.

NO. 1881, VoL. 73]

For instance, he refers to the angel fish, Rhina
squatina, as a species of ray. He mixes up Atherina
presbyter, the sand-smelt, and Osmerus eperlanus, the
true smelt, and says “‘ the Atherine, or sand-smelt, is
the variety generally met with’ (p. 100). In speak-
ing of the sand-eel, he says :—‘‘ Any not required for
bait should be fried and eaten, as they form a delicious

article of food when in roe, but are not so good in
winter ’’ (p. 52). In our experience the sand-eel

breeds in the winter; but perhaps Mr. Haslope means
that after they have spawned they are not so good.
He says of the grey mullet that ‘‘ they feed chiefly
on some kinds of sea-weed and decaying vegetable
matter ’’ (p. 95). It is true that alge are occasionally,
and perhaps often, found in the stomachs of grey
mullet, but we should put down the staple food of
the species as being animal. If we recollect rightly,
in the aquarium at the Plymouth laboratory these fish
are fed chiefly upon nereid worms. Day says that
they are very destructive to molluscs and minute
Crustacea, and that they also eat larvae and ova
(* Brit. Fishes,’ I., p. 234).

The English of the book is not all that can be
desired, and badly arranged sentences are far too
common. For instance, ‘‘In form this fish is very
slender and its shape has some resemblance to that of
a large sand-eel, which enables it to pursue its prey
with great rapidity’ (p. 50). ‘‘ Great quantities of
these crabs are taken in trammels and the shell on
the back is so sharp and rough that it quickly cuts
the twine, sometimes the nets almost
beyond repair. They are generally thrown away or
used as manure for the gardens ’’ (p. 60).

damaging

The directions as to skinning a ray are exceedingly
involved :—

“To skin a Ray, remove a small portion with a
sharp knife and grasp it with an old cloth in the
left hand. This affords a firm hold, and by its means
the whole skin can be readily stripped off. Mean-
while hold the fish firmly with the right hand, making
with a knife a hole, or an incision, to enable the
fingers to obtain a firm grip. Leave it upon the board
in the open air with the flesh side upwards, and when
dry it will have attained the consistency of horn,
GCS a co > (Go) slats) :

We prefer the old books on the subject of sea fish-
ing, although, as we have said, the practical advice
in the present worl: is thoroughly sound.

FRANK BaLtrour Browne.

MATTER AND FORCE.

(1) Molecular Forces and Newtonian Laws.
Clark. Pp. 237; illustrated. (Glasgow: W. and
R. Holmes, tg05.) Price 3s. 6d. net.

(2) Explication méchanique de la Matiére, de
V’Electricité et du Magnétisme. By M. Despaux.
Pp. 210. (Paris: Félix Alcan, 1905.)

(ay 4 Y deductions from the Newtonian Laws of

Force and Motion the Author accounts for’
all the facts of Magnetism, Electricity and Chemical

Affinity and proves their identity with gravitation ”’

(extract from circular of publisher). We ourselves do

not think that the author is successful in his attempt ;

By Alex.

52

WA DORAL

[NovEMBER 16, 1905

but this opinion of ours may possibly arise from the
difficulty we have felt in fathoming his arguments.
There is an originality of statement about them which
often makes it impossible to decide hurriedly as to
whether they are right or wrong. For example :—

““Klectricity is not to be confounded with the
electric spark—they are the direct opposites of each
other. Electricity is a force of attraction which
brings particles of matter into contact; the electric
spark is the kinetic energy produced by the action of
the electric force through the available distance, and
has a dispellant effect upon the particles. By the
conservation of energy the electric force ceases to act
when the spark is produced. The potential is then
converted into kinetic energy. This affords a con-
clusive reply to the theory, adopted by some eminent
authorities, that electricity and light are identical.
Light is a form of heat and has always a dispellant
effect upon the particles of matter. It is therefore
the direct opposite of electricity, which is a force of
attraction.’’

This is certainly not all wrong. The question is
how much of it is right? To those readers who are
attracted by the above extract we recommend the two
hundred and thirty-seven pages of this volume.

(2) Just as in the work reviewed above the depend-
ence of forces upon position is made the universal law,
so here the essential identity of all forces is sought for
in a kinetic view of matter.

All phenomena of attraction are explained, and can
be reproduced by the simple rotation of a screw or
turbine in water and in air. The turbine is pre-
sented as the universal motor which gives rise to
molecular attractive forces and the phenomena which
accompany them. The author claims to assume
nothing besides the propulsive motions produced by
rotations of molecular turbines, and congratulates
himself on the rare good fortune that everyone can
understand the effects of such rotation.

A number of experiments with ventilating fans are
described; the author then wanders off into a com-
parison of a magnet with a living being, and a con-
sideration of the position of man in the universe.

It is a commonplace to suppose that scepticism is
the beginning of belief; the author’s creed is accom-
panied by the usual doubt as to the validity of many
of the conclusions of modern science. The value of
his criticisms can be measured by his objections to
the recognition of the essential identity of light and
Hertzian waves. He disposes of the argument which
rests on the identity of velocity of the two phenomena
by saying that all waves produced in the ether, of
whatever nature they may be, must, in fact, have the
same velocity, since the velocity of a wave depends,
not on its form, but only on the elasticity and density
of the medium of transmission, which in this case
is the ether.

We cannot look upon this book as a serious con-
tribution to scientific literature, but we readily admit
that there are analogies between the effects of the
motions which the author describes and other physical
phenomena; and if these were systematically described
a very interesting volume could be made. But there
is so much here that is merely fanciful that we must
advise anyone who reads it to read it with caution.

NO. 1881, VOL. 73]|

OUR BOOK SHELF.

A Descriptive Handbook of Architecture. By Martin
A. Buckmaster. Pp. xvi+188. (London: George
Routledge and Sons, Ltd., n.d.) Price 3s. 6d. net.

Tuis is a little book which is intended to help those
to whom architecture is a subject of ever-increasing
interest. The author refers to a subject which Mr.
Banister Fletcher has already brought forward
prominently in the preface to ‘‘ The History of Archi-
tecture’? and in a paper read before the University
Extension Guild, namely, the inclusion of the study
of historical architecture in a liberal education. It
certainly seems that, owing to the ease of travel, the
use of photography and other causes, a knowledge
of the elementary principles and forms of the various
types of architecture might well be expounded to the
senior forms of educational institutions, and this way
of interesting the rising generation in matters which
appertain to everyday life and observation would tend
largely to increase interest in matters artistic and
practical.

Concerning the book under notice, much cannot be
expected for the low price at which it is published,
and it would probably have been better had the author
dealt with one period of architecture, and have done
that thoroughly, rather than have taken up so large
a field. It has resulted in an essay which is
‘“scrappy,’’ and from which we are afraid the atten-
tive student will gather very little of much use to
him.

One or two points call for revision. Why is
‘“ mediaeval ’’ architecture made to end at 1og0 when
most people hold that it commences about that time?

Plate iiia. is merely an enlargement of part of
plate xvili., and might be omitted. Some of the
illustrations are very poor; that on p. 20 would lead
the student to believe that the Temple of Theseus
and the Parthenon had suffered from an earthquake
since we saw them last spring!

The ground range of the columns to the Colosseum
is not Doric, dentils are wrongly spelt on pp. 25
and 27, and the Temple of Zeus, Athens, is given
another name on p. 28. The giving of exact dates
for each period, and the printing at the top of each

' page, are sure to mislead the student; for no style can

be truly confined within a period of such exactitude as,
say, 1377-1547, and the student should be warned
against such an attempt.

The line illustrations are of an amateurish descrip-
tion, and plates viii. and xi. should be re-drawn.

Plate xliv. seems to be a copy of a plate in a well
known history, though this is not acknowledged.
The division of early Christian architecture into
Roman and Byzantine is likely to confuse the student,
as Roman is always considered historically as pagan
architecture.

Proceedings of the London
Vol. ii. Pp. xx+490.
1905.)

THE present volume of Proceedings, though the size

of the page has been changed, and larger type is used,

contains about the same amount of subject-matter as
its predecessors. It affords evidence that the publi-
cation of researches in higher mathematics still
receives the same care and attention which it has for
many years past obtained at the hands of the small
body of workers who mostly travel up on Thursdays
by the 2.15 train from Cambridge to attend the meet-
ings in Albemarle Street with their-friends. It con-
tains interesting obituary notices of Mr. Ronald
Hudson and Dr. Pirie. Among the contributors we

Mathematical Society.
(London: Francis Hodgson,

NOVEMBER 16, 1905 |

NA TORE.

53

note the well known names of Dixon, Glaisher,
Hilton, Hobson, Jackson, Lamb, Love, MacMahon,
Morley, Volterra, Rayleigh, Young, and many other
mathematicians. An attempt to classify the papers
by subject-matter would be difficult, but a general
survey of the ground covered suggests that a not in-
considerable proportion, possibly as much as a half, of
the work done comes under the heading of
“* analysis. ”’ ,
But while the reputation of English mathematical
research is thus being maintained, it does seem a
pity that there is no society which has undertaken
the task of popularising the higher study of mathe-
matics in Our country in the way that has been un-
doubtedly done on the other side of the water by the
American Mathematical Society, with
containing full reports of meetings of mathematical
societies, educational appointments, and courses of
university lectures. The Mathematical

more practical and interesting. The duty of impress-
ing on the proper authorities the need of providing
more fully for instruction in advanced mathematics in
our technical colleges has not as yet been undertaken
by any body of mathematicians, yet the matter is an
urgent one as affecting national progress in the face
of foreign competition. In connection with most of
the papers before us, an enormous amount of work
is generally done in refereeing previous to publication.
Is it not possible that the energy thus expended might
with advantage be diverted into some such directions
as those above indicated ?

Catalogue of the Collection of Birds’ Eggs in the
British Museum (Natural History). Vol. iv.,
Carinate (Passeriformes, continued). By E. W.
Oates, assisted by Captain S. G. Reid. Pp. xviii+
350; 14 plates. (London, 1905.)

In this volume the authors record the eggs of seven-

teen families of passerine birds contained in the

national collection, thus carrying down the work to
the family Certhiida (creepers), so that another

volume ought, apparently, to bring their task to a

conclusion. The total number of species catalogued

in the volume before us is 620, which are represented
by no less than 14,917 eggs—figures which give some
idea of the heavy work the authors had to undertake.

Fortunately, the Radcliffe Saunders and the C. B.

Rickett collections were received in time to allow their

quota to be added to the MS.

We had hoped that as the work progressed the
authors would have seen their way to modify the
style of the paragraphs recording the distinctive
features of the various species catalogued. We regret
to see that this is not so, and with the same dreary
and wearisome iteration we find entry after entry
commencing with the statement that the eggs of
such-and-such a bird are of such-and-such form and
colour. As a matter of fact, if the English names of
the various species had been printed in the same lines
as their scientific titles there would have been no
occasion to mention the word “eggs ’”’ at all in the
descriptive paragraphs, which should commence
merely with a reference to their form and colouring.
By this means not only would much valuable space
have been saved (as might also be done in the mode
of making the entries themselves), but the reader
would have been spared that everlasting and utterly

its Bulletin |

Association |
has done much to render elementary mathematics |

superfluous repetition which is so irritating to any |

person of literary tastes. We may also direct attention
to the crude and schoolboy-like style of composition
characterising almost the whole of the paragraphs in
question. Reference may likewise be made to some

NO. 1881, VOL. 73]

imperfection in the method of recording localities.
If, for instance, it is necessary to tell us on p. 16
that certain places are in the Nilgiri Hills, it was
surely incumbent on the authors to give the same
piece of information on p. 8, while to wait until
p. 264 before stating that the Nilgiri Hills themselves
are in southern India is a very remarkable proceed-
ing. We are also surprised to learn (p. 162) that
Dharmsala is in Kashmir.

The great feature of the volume is the beauty of
the fourteen coloured plates of eggs, each containing
a large number of figures, all of which have been
drawn and coloured by Mr. H. Groénvold. These

| serve to illustrate very graphically the degree of

constancy or variation which obtains in the egg-
characters of the different family groups, and in
addition to this show some very remarkable examples
of individual variation or ‘‘ sports.”

Leather for Libraries. By E. Wyndham Hulme,
J. Gordon Parker, A. Seymour-Jones, Cyril Daven-
port, and F. J. Williamson. Pp. 57. (London:
Published for the Sound Leather Committee of the
Library Association by the Library Supply Co.,
1905.) Price 1s. 6d. :

Tuts interesting book, which may have a consider-
able influence on the improvement of book-binding,
consists of five chapters, one by each of the authors
whose names are on the title-page, three of whom
are members of the Sound Leather Committee of the
Library Association, and may therefore be considered
as authorities on the subjects of which they write.

When light leather is tanned by bark and many
other vegetable tanning substances the skin becomes
coloured, and this colour cannot be removed without
deterioration of the leather. In 1565 sumach tanning
was introduced into England; this process leaves the
skin white and in a suitable condition to receive the
necessary dye. Experiments conducted by the Society
of Arts Committee have shown that sumach tanning
is the most suitable for binding leathers. Un-
fortunately this process is a slow one, and other
tanning materials which act more rapidly have been
employed; some of these, however, have a deleterious
action on the leather, causing it to decay rapidly.
Another cause of the short life of some modern
leathers is the use of sulphuric acid at one stage of
the process. This acid combines with the fibre and
cannot be removed; it has a corrosive action on the
organic matter, which action has often been attributed
to the presence of sulphur in the coal gas used for
lighting. In some libraries, however, which are not
lighted by gas, the bindings have been found to perish
in the course of a few years, and the presence of
sulphuric acid in these leathers indicates the cause.
Sulphuric acid is also used in connection with the
aniline dyes frequently employed for colouring.
Another source of weakness is the splitting of the
leather in order to obtain smooth surfaces; this
process necessarily cuts the network of fibres, and
thus diminishes the strength of the material. The
tanner should have regard to the sources of the skins,
and if they are imported it is advisable to consider
the treatment that they have undergone before coming
into his hands.

It is impossible to do justice to this book in a short
notice, but the attention that has recently been directed
to the subject seems already to have borne fruit, for
in the advertisements of leather-sellers and bool-
binders at the end of the book there are such notices
as ‘‘ dressed according to the recommendations of the
Society of Arts Report ’’ and ‘‘ guaranteed free from
mineral acids.’’ M.

54 NALORE

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

{The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions
expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake
to return, or to correspond with the writers of,
manuscripts intended for this or any other part of NATURE.
No notice is taken of anonymous communications. |

rejected

British Mosses.

of Dr. Braithwaite’s ‘‘ British Mosses ”’
which appeared in your number of August 31 (vol. 1xxii-
Pp. 425), I attributed the finding of Guiharines tenella to
Lord Justice Stirling, and I did so on the authority of a
passage relative to* ‘the plant in Dr. Braithwaite’s supple-
ment. The Lord Justice is, I find, desirous that it should
be known that the entire merit of the discovery is due to
Mr. E. S. Salmon. ‘‘ I had the good fortune,’’ says the
learned judge, ‘* to be his companion when the little plants
were gathered, but his eye detected them in the field, and
by iba acuteness the true name of them was discovered.’’
I am glad to second the Lord Justice in his desire that no
mistake should be made in this matter, and I beg your
courtesy to insert this short note. Dee I
November 8.

In the review

Border occasionally seen between Light and Dark
Regions on Photographic Prints.

SINCE my recent brief note on a photographic appear-
ance, Mr. Burke has informed me that the subject attracted
the attention of Sir George Stokes, and was thought
worthy of a communication from him to the Royal Society

in May, 1882 (Proc. Roy. Soc., vol. xxxiv. p. 63).
Had I been aware of that I should, of course, have
referred to it. It seems to me now that there may be

more than one explanation of such an appearance.
OriverR Lopce.

Halation.

WHEN a photograph is taken of a dark object with a
bright object or the sky some distance behind it, blurring
occurs where the images of the objects meet.

That part of the bright object from which only a part of
the lens is visible (the rest of the lens being cut off by the
dark object) forms an image of varying brightness in the
shape of a band which covers the edge between the images
of the dark and light objects. If the bright object be at an
infinite distance from the lens, the breadth of the band
will bear approximately the same ratio to the diameter of
the lens as that which the focal length of the lens bears
to the distance of the lens from the near object.

It seems probable that many cases of halation are due to
this cause. J. A. Coss.

108 Church Road, November 13.

Richmond, Surrey,

The Engineer's Unit of Force.

I am much indebted to ‘‘ The Reviewer ’’ for his cour-
feous answer to my letter on the subject of the engineer’s
unit of force in your issue of November 2.

I readily admit that the engineer's unit of force may be
so defined as to make it a constant quantity independent
of locality; but does the engineer in actual work-a-day
practice make use of this invariable unit? In problems
involving the derived unit of work, does he not, as a
matter of fact, estimate the work done or the potential
energy, as the case may be, by multiplying together the
distance factor and the weight (i.e. the force) factor with-
out making any allowance for the variation of the latter
with latitude ?

The question at issue,
down to this :—is the title
be appjied to the variable

it seems to me, narrows itself
“engineer’s unit of force’’ to
unit in actual use by the
engineer, or is it to be restricted to the absolute gravi-
tational unit, which may be defined, but which in nine
cases out of ten is not actually applied in engineering
practice ? J. CARNEGIE.
Newton Abbot,

no. 1881, VOL. 73]

November 6.

[ NOVEMBER 16, 1905

Ir is quite true that in engineering practice a correction
for latitude is seldom made in regard to the gravitational
energy of a raised weight, the reason being that other and
very much larger sources of error are usually present.
But under sufficiently refined conditions this small correc-
tion is actually made. A Bourdon pressure gauge registers
pounds per square inch in absolute measure the same
everywhere. If Mr. Carnegie considers the pound force
to vary with locality, what is his value, in foot pounds,
for Joule’s equivalent at the centre of the earth?

But surely even Mr. Carnegie himself must use the foot-
pound unit, and hence the pound-force unit, in an absolute
sense, when applied to such quantities as the kinetic
energy of a rotating fly-wheel, the strain energy of a
stretched spring, the work done on the piston of a steam
engine, the energy of motion or of position of a
planetary body, Xe.

The present case is an illustration of the apparent in-
ability of academic writers to understand the engineer’s
position in this matter, and of the confusion which inevit-

or gas

ably arises from the combination of two closely related
systems of units. In any dynamical system the magnitude
of unit mass is quite arbitrary, and the pound mass

possesses no intrinsic merits over any other unit. Indeed,
the choice of the pound unit has proved to be a most un-
fortunate one, for the conception of inertia or mass, coming
as it does after that of force, finds the pound force already
established and ingrained in the mind, forming an effective

barrier against the practical adoption of the derived
poundal, and being a fruitful source of error on account

of the new and old meanings attached to the word pound.
People do not, and never will, think in poundals, and so
custom has compelled its advocates to incorporate into
their system the pound force and the foot-pound unit of
work, a tacit admission of its practical failure. Engineers
contend that this duplex system with its overlapping terms
is harmful and quite unnecessary. They advocate a single
system which, so far as_ possible, shall adopt units in
common use. The system used by them fulfils all require-
ments. It is an absolute dynamical system. Its termin-
ology is not divorced from common thought and speech.
It gives an exact and absolute meaning to the pound force
and consequently to the foot-pound unit of work, and its
unit of inertia has a distinct name of its own, never used
in the sense of force, thus avoiding the conflicting nomen-
clature of the present mixed system. The engineer’s and
the C.G.S. systems are sufficient for all purposes, and it
would be a great gain if the academic British system could
be abandoned. Tue Reviewer.

THE EXPLORATION OF THE ATMOSPHERE
OVER THE TROPICAL OCEANS.

HE study of the trade-wind region by the use of

kites was first proposed by Mr. A. L. Rotch

at the meeting of the British Association at Glasgow

in 1901, btters he and his assistant, Mr. Sweetland,
had obtained a series of observations with them
during a voyage across the North Atlantic. This

method of investigation was later adopted by other
meteorologists, notably by the French Scandinavian
expedition to explore the atmosphere, which, under
the direction of M. L. Teisserene de Bort, flew kites
in 1902 on the Baltic, and last year by Prof.
Hergesell, who communicated to the Aéronautical
Conference at St. Petersburg the interesting results
of a cruise on the yacht of H.S.H. the Prince of
Monaco in the vicinity of the Azores and Canaries.
During this voyage fourteen kite-flights, some of
which reached a great height, were made, and in a
communication to the French Academy of Sciences
on January 30 Prof. Hergesell said :—‘‘ Un courant
de S.W., qui correspondrait au contre-alizé théorique,
n’a jamais été trouvé par les cerfs-volants bien qu’ils
aient plusieurs fois dépassé la hauteur du Pic de
Ténériffe. Plusieurs constatations m’aménent a
| penser que les vents de S.W. observés au Pic par
plusieurs observateurs sont d’origine locale et dis a
Vinfluence de Vile.”

NOVEMBER 16, 1905]

NATURE 55

Thus Prof
wind which was found overlying the thin north-east
stratum is a return current, or anti-trade, for he
says:—* Der Luftersatz im Anti-passat erfolgte
deshalb vorwiegend in der von uns durchforschten

Gegend aus nordwestlichen Richtungen’’ (Aeéro-
nautical Conference, St. Petersburg, 1904, supple-

ment vil., p. 91).

It appeared to the writers that these conclusions,
which tended to invalidate the existence of the upper
anti-trade, required further investigations, and by
mutual consent we decided to have these carried on
by two of our assistants, Mr. Clayton, meteorologist
at Blue Hill, and M. Maurice, assistant at Trappes,
aboard the Otaria, a large fish-carrying steamer,
equipped with the electric Ikite-reel which M.
Teisserenc de Bort had used for Ixite-flying at sea.

Fic. 1.—The route of the Otavyia. The diagrams in centret of squares
show. the mean direction of surface winds in summer, ty Captain L.
rault.

A study of the high barometric pressures at the

Observatory of Trappes (see Comptes rendus, 1899)
led to the conclusion that there exists, generally, at
a moderate altitude, a zone of light winds which
ordinarily the kites cannot penetrate. While it is

true that at sea an artificial breeze may be created
by steaming in a direction contrary to that of the
wind, this method is inefficient in the trades, because,
if, as is usually assumed, there is almost complete
reversal in the directions of the upper and lower
winds, the top kite arrives in the south-west current
while the others are still in the north-east wind, and
consequently the flight is stopped just where the
change of regime commences. Therefore it is
necessary to employ a single kite and a boat which
is sufficiently fast to lift the kite regardless of the

NO. 1881, vol. 73]

Hergesell believes that the north-west }

as these conditions cannot
attain great heights
pilot- balloons already

direction of the wind, but
always be realised, in order to
on this expedition the paper
tried at Trappes were used. Since these balloons
were only intended to show the direction of the
wind, they did not usually carry instruments, and
their drift and height were determined by simul-
taneous angular measurements at the ends of a base-
line on the shore, with the exception of one balloon
which was observed from the boat. These soundings
of the atmosphere, executed at various paces) notably
at Madeira, Teneriffe and Cape Verde Islands, and
also over the open sea, gave the following results, to
which are added observations of winds on two tropical
mountains and during one of the kite-flights.

In the table on p. 56 the first column “indicates the
upper limit of the north-east trade, and the second
column the limit of the associated north-west wind,
these heights being expressed in metres. In the third
column the figures in parenthesis show the maximum

az ‘|
|

TENERIFFE

9 July 1905.

TENERIFFE

10 August 1905.

S' VINCENT

1 July 1905,

Fic. 2.—Direction of wind at great height, shown by the tracks of
balloons.

heights at which the balloons were observed moving

in the anti-trade, from south-east, south, or south-
west.
There follow observations at different heights on

the peaks of Teneriffe and Fogo, the figures after the
direction of the wind being its velocity in metres per
second. There is also noted the drift of the clouds
passing above the peaks. The diagrams (Fig. 2) re-
present the direction and speed of the balloons which
were sent up from Teneriffe on July 9 and from St.
Vincent on July 17.

The tables and figures show
ing toward the equator have a direction varying
between N.E. and N.W., these last being usually
above the N.E. stratum, the thickness of this layer
of the trades in the vicinity of Teneriffe being eno
3000 metres or 5000 metres. Above it blow S.E.,
and S.W. currents which form the anti-trades, ze
thickness being probably very great, though its
density is small. Thus, as was deduced from the
observations of clouds and volcanic dust, the east
wind in the vicinity of the thermal equator extends
very high. At the C

that the winds blow-

Cape Verde Islands the south-east

56

ISA TE CSI E:

| NOVEMBER 16, 1905

wind was observed by a balloon up to a height of
11 kilometres.

As is seen, these results confirm the accepted theory
of the trades and upper anti-trade in those parts of
the Atlantic explored by the Otaria (see chart of
route, Fig. 1), and prove that, contrary to the opinion
of Prof. Hergesell, there exists a return current, or
anti-trade, with a well defined southerly component.

We hope to give in a subsequent article the con-
clusions regarding temperature and humidity derived
from the kite-flights made on the Otaria.

Winds above the Atlantic, between latitudes 11° and
37° N., longitudes 15° and 26° W., observed during the
cruise of the S.Y. “‘ Otaria’’ in 1905.

Punta Delgada—

August 22 800 N.E. (4200) N.E.

Madeira—
Aug. 16, 1800 W.N.W.; 11,500 N.W. &S.W.'; (11,600) W.S,W.
»» 17, 2900 N.E.; 4,200 N.W.&N.E.; (12,500) W.S.W.

Trade Anti-Trade
~ 2S SS
Teneriffe— N.E N.W. SPE Soe
metres metres metres
July 7 400 3500 (7500)
» 9 300 4000 (5760)
LO) 3000 5200 (11,c00)
Aug. 10 3100 sls none (5900)
SRL Sac 2300 ? a0 (3900)
At sea near Palma—
Aug. 13 2600 3400 (6500)
St. Vincent—
July 17 3200 3700 (11,000)
4 Bits} 1300 none (2360)
oy 2S uf 650 1900 (11,000)
11° N., 26° W. (Kiles)—
July 24 ns 2500 (3000) E. ? strong
Peak of Teneriffe—
Aug. 8 ... Base, E. 2; 500, E. 0; 1000, calm; 1500, N. 2;
2000, N. 2; 2500, N.N.W. 4; 3000, wind
variable; 3500, S.; 4000?, Al.-Cu. clouds

moving from S.
Peak of Fogo—
July 27-28. Base, wind variable ; 500, E. 1; 1000, N.E.
1500, N. 9; 2000, N. 7; 2500, E.N.E.
3500 ?, Al.-Cu. from E.
A. L. Rotcu.
L. TEISSERENC DE Borr.

035;
73

SOUTH AFRICAN ZOOLOGY
PALA ONTOLOGY.

ate recent visit of the British Association to

South Africa affords a favourable opportunity
of directing attention to the zoological and palzonto-
logical work now being carried on by the museum
at Cape Town under the able direction of Mr. W. L.
Sclater, more especially as exemplified in that excel-
lent serial publication entitled the ‘‘ Annals of the
South African Museum.’’? Of this serial, which com-
menced in 1898, three volumes have been completed,
and some seven parts of the fourth volume published
up to the end of July of the current year, making a
total of at least twenty-nine separate parts, each
devoted to a special subject.

From the time that he took charge of the museum,
Mr. Sclater appears, indeed, to have determined to
devote all his energies towards increasing our know-
ledge of the fauna of South Africa. His mode of
accomplishing this praiseworthy object seems to be
threefold. In the first place, efforts have been made
to increase the collections in the museum at Cape
Town—both as regards the exhibition and the study
series—by all possible means, and thus to afford as |
ample a basis as possible for the worl of specialists,
and at the same time to awaken increased interest |

1 Mixed stratum of N.W. and S.W. winds.

NO. 1881, VOL. 73]

AND

on the part of the public in the museum itself. The
second part of the programme consists in the publi-
cation of monographs of such portions of the South
African fauna as are ripe for this mode of treatment.
As examples of work of this nature may be cited
the handsome volumes on the mammals and birds of
the country, published some few years since, and duly

noticed in our columns as they appeared.
Work of the above nature consists to a great
extent in collating, revising, and adding to the

labours of earlier naturalists; but, in addition to this,
much of an altogether newer type has to be made
known to the scientific world in such a rich, and in
many respects little-worked, field as that presented by
South Africa. And it is to worl of this latter de-
scription that the ‘‘ Annals of the South African
Museum ’’ are mainly devoted. Fortunately, the
officers of the Geological Survey of Cape Colony have
availed themselves of this excellent means of publish-
ing the results of researches into the palzontology
(both zoological and botanical) of this part of South
Africa, and the ‘‘ Annals ’’ accordingly promise to
afford within a few years a perfect mine of inform-
ation with regard to South African zoology and
palaontology.

Although the description of more or less entirely new
work occupies much of the ‘‘ Annals,’? monographs
of groups, or revised lists of groups already mono-
graphed, come within its purview. For example, the
moths of South Africa, which for many reasons could
not probably be monographed in separate volumes,
are in course of description by Sir George Hampson,
of the British Museum, and two parts of his mono-
graph have already appeared. Again, Mr. Sclater
has taken advantage of this mode of publication to
issue a revised list of South African birds, containing
such additions and corrections as have been made
since the issue of the volumes on this group in the
series devoted to separate monographs of the South
African fauna.

To mention by name all the papers included in the
volumes of the ‘t Annals’? already published would
be altogether beyond the limits of available space,
and it must suffice, therefore, to refer to a few others.
In the paleontological series, the first part of the
important account of the fossil floras of the Cape, by
Mr. A. C. Seward, of Cambridge, has already re-
ceived special notice in Narure. The molluscs and
brachiopods of the Bokkeveld beds respectively form
the subjects of two papers by Mr. F. R. C. Reed;
and these and the trilobites, which are described in
another paper by Mr. P. Lake, serve to demonstrate
the Devonian age of the beds in question, and thus
point to a definite period when at least a part of
what is now South Africa was beneath the sea. The
affinity of the trilobites to South American types is
noteworthy. A fifth paper, by Mr. F. Chapman, is
devoted to the foraminifera and ostracods from
shallow water deposits of Lower Cretaceous age in
East Pondoland. In the zoological series, in addition
to those already mentioned, six papers by Mr.
Peringuey, assistant director of the museum, form
an important contribution to our knowledge of South
African beetles; while in another part the Rev. O._
Pickard-Cambridge has described a number of new
spiders, including three new generic types; and there
are many other papers of equal importance and
interest.

In conclusion, we congratulate all those who have
done so much good which this serial has been the
means of communicating to the world, and trust that
financial considerations will not be allowed to interfere
with the continuation of such a valuable and
important publication. Re LL.

NOVEMBER 16, 1905 |

NATURE

Sf

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH IN THE PHILIPPINE
ISLANDS.

“THE valuable scientific work which is being carried

out in the Government laboratories, Manila,
has from time to time been noticed in these columns,
and the record for the third year is stimulating read-
ing and reflects the greatest credit on those by whom
it has been done, and on the enlightened Government
which has rendered it possible.

Dr. Paul Freer details in his report? the routine
work of the laboratories and the nature of the investi-
gations which have been carried out. In the chemical
laboratory the analysis of foods and drugs,
standardisation of weights and measures, and the
examination of the natural products of the country,
vegetable and mineral, are some of the subjects dealt
with. In the biological laboratory clinical investi-
gations and pathological examinations are carried
out, while valuable work is being done by the attached
botanist and entomologist. The serum laboratory has
been occupied in the preparation of an anti-rinderpest
serum, which greatly mitigates the ravages of the
disease, and of vaccine virus, while investigations
have been made on plague and on the preparation of a
cholera vaccine.

Fic. 1.—The New Laboratory Buildings, Manila.

While so much good work has been done in the |

past, we may expect considerable development in the
future, as Dr. Freer is able to chronicle * the erection

of new laboratories, the completeness of the arrange- |

ment and equipment of which will materially facilitate
scientific investigation.
tion shows the front elevation of the new buildings,
which have the form of the letter ‘‘ T,’’ consist of
two stories, and are erected on a site 23 acres in
extent, on which an up-to-date hospital is also to be
established, laboratory and clinical work thus being
brought into proper contiguity.

The eastern half of the structure is devoted to
biological work, and comprises rooms for the pre-
paration of culture media, bacteriological and patho-
logical laboratories and _ pathological museum,
botanical room and herbarium, entomological room,
and general biological laboratory, while the western
half is devoted to chemical and physical work, and
comprises laboratories for organic and physiological
chemistry, a commercial laboratory with stills, baths,
and machinery for carrying on commercial processes

1 Third Annual Report of the Superintendent of the Bureau of Govern-
ment Laboratories, Manila, 1905.

2 Bureau of Government Laboratories, Bu//. No. 22, 1905.
tion of New Buildinus, by Paul C. Freer, M.D., Ph.D.
of the Library, by Mary Polk, Librarian.

No. 1881, Vou. 73]

(1) Descrip-
(2) A Catalogue

the |

iz Na

The accompanying illustra- |

on a laboratory scale, rooms for photometry, adjust-
ment of weights and measures, assaying and mineral
analysis, organic combustions, agricultural work, food
analysis, &c., together with balance rooms, laboratory
for physical chemistry and physics, and a room for
spectroscopes and instruments of precision. All the
work tables are supplied with gas, electricity for light
and power, steam, vacuum, and compressed air.
There are in addition boiler and engine house, cold
storage, cremating furnace, photographic laboratory,
incubating chambers, animal house, serum laboratory,
&c. ; nothing, in fact, seems to have been forgotten.
Lastly, there is an excellent library of some 17,000
volumes, and the list of current periodicals on all
subjects is very complete. Reference is made to the
difficulties which have had to be overcome in pre-
serving the books from the ravages of damp and of
insects in this tropical climate. The legs of the book
presses (which are of metal) stand in tins of petro-
leum, which effectually prevents the access of insects
when the books are on the shelves, and varnishing
the books with the following varnish has been found
to be of service :—pure white shellac 50 grams, resin

20 grams, bichloride of mercury 1 gram, alcohol
rooo c.c. The constituents are mixed, and after
twenty-four hours are filtered. The report and

bulletin are illustrated with a num-
ber of plates, plans, and charts.
R. T. Hewett.

DR. WALTER F. WISLICENUS.

STRONOMERS have univer-
sally acknowledged the value,

the accuracy, and the completeness
of the ‘‘ Astronomische Jahres-
bericht,’’? which, appearing annually
for the last six years, has presented
an admirable history of the progress
of the science. The systematic ar-
rangement and organisation of its
contents have made this compilation
a necessity in every observatory, and
the announcement of the death of
its originator, Dr. Walter Wisli-
cenus, at the early age of forty-six
will have been received with pro-
found regret by all who know this
The deceased astronomer, who occupied the

work.
| position of Professor extraordinary at Strassburg,
| began his career at Dresden, but the fame of Win-
necke as a teacher, coupled with the advantages
| afforded by the efficient equipment of the new observ-

atory at Strassburg, induced Dr. Wislicenus to
| migrate to that university, with which he remained
connected until his early death.

Although Dr. Wislicenus will be best remembered
for his literary work, and particularly for that already
mentioned, his services to practical astronomy were
by no means few or unimportant. In 1882, while
still a student at Strassburg, he took part in the

| German expedition to Bahia Blanca to observe the
transit of Venus, and for this task he was eminently
fitted by the study he had made of the use of the
heliometer. He not only continued to observe with
this instrument after his return to Strassburg, but
added a series of meridional observations of the zone
—2° to —6°, and some of the results of his work are
incorporated into two papers, one on the determin-
ation of the period of rotation of Mars, and the other
on the absolute personal error in meridian observ-
ations; but his most important services were rendered

| in the cause of astronomical literature.

| Besides his articles in Valentiner’s ‘‘ Handworter-

58

NAT ORE

[| NovEMBER 16, 1905

’

buch der Astronomie ’ J
scopy, and chronology, he published a treatise on the
determination of geographical positions for the use
of travellers and explorers which was favourably re-
ceived. His periodical compilation on the current
history of astronomy has proved itself so useful and
important that it is to be hoped it will be continued
by some other hand. As a teacher of astronomy he
is acknowledged to have been very successful. His
presentation of the most recondite subjects was
masterly and edifying, arresting and retaining the
attention of his class.

NOTES.

Tue list of honours conferred by the King on the
occasion of His Majesty’s birthday, November 9, includes
the name of Prof. G. H. Darwin, F.R.S., who has been
appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath
(K.C.B.).. Dr. W. Saunders, director of the experimental
farms of the Canadian Department of Agriculture, and
Dr. M. A. Ruffer, president of the Egyptian Sanitary
Board, have been made Companions of the Order of St.
Michael and St. George (C.M.G.). Sir Felix Semon has
been appointed Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian
Order, and the honour of knighthood has been conferred
on Mr. Arthur Chance, president of the Royal College of
Surgeons in Ireland, and Prof. McFadyean, principal of
the Royal Veterinary College, Camden Town.

Tue death of Prof. Albert vor Kélliker on November 2,
at eighty-eight years of age, has deprived the scientific
world of one of the founders of modern systematic
histology, and the eldest of the illustrious teachers and
investigators in the realms of embryology and comparative
anatomy. An outline of his scientific work was given in
Nature of May 5, 1898 (vol. Iviii. p. 1), as a contribution
to our series of Scientific Worthies; but his memoirs and
other writings are so numerous that no adequate descrip-
tion of them can be contained within the limits of a short
article. In the course of that appreciative notice, it
was pointed out that von Kolliker was one of the first to
realise that the complete justification of the cell-theory
must be accomplished by a study of the whole history of
animal tissues, from the fertilised egg onwards; and his
papers on the development of Cephalopods (1844) and of
Amphibia (1846-7) represent the first results of this con-
viction. Von Kélliker went to Wurzburg in 1847 as pro-
fessor of human anatomy, and almost immediately joined
von Siebold in founding the Zeitschrift fiir wissenschaftliche
Zoologie, to the early numbers of which he contributed a
series of important papers. In the article already referred
to mention was made of the considerable series of embry-
ological and other papers, and of the masterly text-books,
of which he was the author. In 1896, as a recognition of
his brilliant scientific services, he was nominated a Knight
of the order pour le mérite. He was elected a foreign
member of the Royal Society in 1860, and received the
Copley medal of the society.

Dr. Cuartes WatpstTEIN has been created by the King

of Denmark a Knight of the Royal Danish Order the
Danebrog.

Tue Athenaeum announces the death, in his seventy-fifth
year, of Dr. Johann Meidinger, professor of physics at the
Technical Institute in Karlsruhe, and author of a number
of works dealing with the practical side of his subject.

Tue superintendent of Commercial Agencies in Canada
has expressed his conviction, the Journal of the
Society of Arts, that the establishment of a

NO} 1S0%, VOL. 7 3

says

service of

on stellar photometry, spectro- | commercial agents to reside in British possessions for the

purpose of reporting to the Commercial Intelligence Branch
of the Board of Trade in London would be of immense
benefit to the Empire at large. Such agents should report
on all matters concerning the resources, growth, local
enterprises, public contracts, openings for trade, and the
investments for capital, as is done by His Majesty’s con-
sular officers and commercial attachés in regard to foreign
countries. The superintendent adds that there is not in
the whole of Canada a British official who can answer
questions of the British exporter concerning Canada, while
the Americans ‘‘ have in the neighbourhood 190 officials.”’

At a meeting of the Incorporated Society of Medical
Officers of Health on November 10, Dr. Christopher Childs
read a paper On a comparative study of the Lincoln, Maid-
stone, and Worthing epidemics of typhoid fever. After dis-
cussing the features presented by these epidemics, Dr.
Childs advocated the retention of a staff of experts specially
to investigate, at the earliest opportunity, similar outbreaks
in the future, such a staff to consist of specially trained
medical officers, bacteriologist, chemist, and sanitary in-
spectors, and organised by an epidemiologist of repute.
Moreover, Dr. Childs advocated that in cases where water
authorities refuse to listen to the repeated warnings of the
medical officer of health with regard to the dangerous
character of a water supply, the Local Government Board
should take action to cause those authorities to take the
best practicable means for removing the dangers to which
attention has been directed.

At the opening meeting of the new session of the Insti-
tution of Civil Engineers on November 9, the new presi-
dent, Mr. John Gavey, C.B., gave an address in which he
reviewed the progress of the telegraph and telephone in-
dustries during recent years. As illustrating the growth of
telegraph and telephone accommodation provided by the
Post Office, Mr. Gavey remarked that the telegraph wire
mileage increased from 114,242 at March 31, 1880, to
338,120 at March 31, 1905. The telephone wire mileage
rose during the same period from 40 to 253,521. There
appears to be little prospect of serious competition
between telephony and telegraphy after a certain critical
distance has been reached. The determination of the dis-
tance over which telephonic speech is possible on various
types of telephone circuit is a question of the greatest
theoretical and practical interest. Telephone administra-
tions have carefully considered what are the extreme limits
of effective commercial speech, taking all the facts into
consideration, and allowing a large margin of safety, and
it is generally considered that from 42 to 46 miles of the
English standard cable is the effective commercial limit.
As to wireless telegraphy, the opinion was expressed that
it is not likely to supplant, or even to compete seriously
with, inland methods of communication; nor does it appear
probable that it will, at least in the near future, actively
compete with highly developed cable communication,
although it may supplement that service. In submarine
cable work the same progress may be noted as in other
branches of telegraphy, the mileage of cable having in-
creased from 87 nautical miles in 1852 to 212,894 miles in
1902, while it is still increasing. The problem of devising
submarine cables for long-distance telephones has yet to
be solved.

AN official guide to the Victoria Falls, compiled by Mr.
F. W. Sykes, the conservator, has been published by the
Argus Publishing Co., Ltd., of Bulawayo, at 1s. The
guide has been compiled for the use of visitors, and is
interesting throughout. On November 17, 1855, that is,

NoveEMBER 16, 1g05 |

NATORE

39

exactly fifty years ago, the falls were discovered by Living-
stone. The native (Sekololo) name for the falls is ‘* Mosi-
oa-tunya,’’ meaning ‘‘ the smoke which sounds.’ Viewed
from any of the surrounding hills, the rising columns of
spray, more particularly on a dull day, bear an extra-
ordinary resemblance to the smoke of a distant veldt fire.
At sunrise, during the rainy season, a dense white column
mounts upwards to a height of 1ooo feet, which is visible
at a distance of fifty miles from the falls. After a clear
description of the places of interest in the neighbourhood
of the falls, the book provides geological notes written by
Mr. G. W. Lamplugh, F.R.S., botanical notes by Mr.
C. E. F. Allen, ornithological notes by Mr. W. L. Sclater,
and hints and cautions to visitors.

Two letters from Captain Amundsen, of the Norwegian

vessel Gjéa, giving the earliest results of his expedition |

to the north magnetic pole, are published in Tuesday’s
Times (November 14). Captain Amundsen sailed in May,
1903, for Godhayn, on Disko Island, off the coast of Green-
land. In the course of his first letter, dated November 24,
1904, he remarks :—February turned out the coldest month,
with an average temperature of —40°-5 C. Commenced on
March 1, 1904, putting down the stores for the coming
spring voyage to the vicinity of the pole. Observed during
this tour—in the interior of the country—our lowest
temperature, —61°-7 C. Came back at the end of May.
The summer I have spent in magnetic observations around
the station. Wiik has put up the variation instruments—
October, 1903—and has attended to them the whole time.
Ristvedt is the meteorologist. Lieut. Hansen has to take
care of the astronomical observations. Lund and Hansen
have their hands full on board. The variation instruments
will be kept in function until June 1, 1905. Besides the
variation instruments, which have been in continual func-
tion, we also have made daily absolute observations. Along
with the meteorological observations, we have also made
observations of the aurora borealis. Besides we have ample
collections of ornithological, ethnographical, and botanical
matter, and some fossils. It is my intention to make my
way out of the ice and go direct to San Francisco in the
autumn of 1905. I will not omit to mention that the
variation on the spot varies between N. 10° W. and
N. 10° E. We have even found greater deviations. Most
frequently it is about 5° W. The inclination is about
89° 20’. Captain Amundsen’s second letter is dated May
22, 1905. In it he remarks :—This winter has not by far
been so hard as the former. The sea-ice, which last year
about this time measured about 380 cm., now is no more
than about 170 cm. The lowest temperature we had in
February, —45°. I commenced in February to circle the
magnetic station, and have just finished this task. The
magnetic variation house has been in uninterrupted activity.
Absolute magnetic observations have been made daily, and
at all temperatures. The meteorological registering instru-
ments have been in function all the time. The zoological
and ethnographical collections are constantly increasing.
The magnetic variation house will be pulled down in the

beginning of June, after nineteen months of uninterrupted
activity.

IN an article in the current number of the Fortnightly
Review the Marchese Raffaele Cappelli sketches the
growth of the ideas which led to the recent international
conference on agriculture held, at the initiative of the
King of Italy, at Rome. He enumerates also the
advantages likely to accrue from the International Institute
of Agriculture created on that occasion. At the close of
the conference referred to, a protocol was signed by the

NO. 1881, VOL. 73]

' representatives of all the Governments of the world—with
the exception of some minor ones—favouring the establish-
ment of the International Institute, and asking the re-
spective Governments to adhere to the same. In the
opinion of the writer of the article, the institute must aim
at regularising, promoting, and generalising its inter-
nationalism. It must provide for the rapid and general
diffusion of knowledge of technical improvements in the
economics of production. The institute must further under-
take the task of coordinating the efforts of many
cooperatives scattered throughout the world, so that they
may act in harmonious agreement. But most important
of all will be the services which the international corpor-
ation will be able to render in the field of the economics
of distribution. When once the institute is in full work-
ing order, it will be able to give an approximate idea of
the stock in hand of each kind of produce, and so provide
farmers with a trustworthy guide as to which crops they
will be able to cultivate to the best advantage in a given
year. The Marchese Raffaele Cappelli, in the course of
his inaugural address as president of the International
Congress of Agriculture held in Rome during 1903, adum-
brated the present tendency towards international dealings
in agriculture, and he is to be congratulated upon the
successful inauguration of an institute which will realise
the ends he has advocated.

WE have received the second part of vol. Ixi., and the
first part of vol. Ixii., of the Verhandlungen of the Natural
History Society of Rhenish Prussia, Westphalia, and
Osnabruck. Three papers, respectively by Dr. Krusch,
G. Miiller, and H. Westermann, are devoted to points
connected with the coal-fields of Rhenish Westphalia and
other districts coming within the purview of the society.
Zoology is represented by a paper on the migrations of
fresh-water planarian worms in the streams of the dis-
trict, in which the author, Prof. W. Voight, distinguishes
between the migrations of individuals and of species, and
further subdivides the former class into accidental and
periodical movements. In botany, Mr. F. Wirtgen
descants on rare and disappearing plants of the Rhenish
flora.

To the October number of the Quarterly Journal of
Microscopical Science Dr. H. W. M. Tims contributes a
suggestive paper on the development, structure, and
morphology of the scales in certain bony fishes. Such a
study, the author suggests, may not only throw light on
the relationships of fishes, but it may also help to solve
many problems in connection with the development of
tooth-germs, for there seems little reason to doubt that
scales and teeth are homologous. The question whether
scales are ever replaced is raised in the course of the
communication. Among the other contents of the same
issue reference may be made to a paper by Mr. H. L.
Kesteven on the developmental stages represented by the
embryonic shell, or protoconch, of the gastropod molluscs.

In the October issue of the Quarterly Journal of
Microscopical Science Messrs. Assheton and Stevens
describe the minute structure of the placenta of an

elephant belonging to Messrs. Sanger which in 1902 gave
birth to a calf in the Zoological Society’s Gardens. The
duration of pregnancy appears to have been no less than
twenty-eight months, although this is not absolutely
certain. By an unfortunate error in Sir William Flower’s
article ‘‘ Mammalia ’’ in the ninth edition of the ‘* Encyclo-
pedia Britannica ’’ (perpetuated in Flower and Lydekker’s

“Study of Mammals ’’), the proboscidean placenta is said
to be non-deciduate. The deciduate character of the zonary

60

NA LORE

[ NovEMBER 16, 1905

portion is, however, re-affirmed by the authors of the
paper before us. On the other hand, the zonary placenta
of the Sirenia is regarded as differentiated from the
proboscidean type by being mainly, if not entirely, non-
deciduate, although it is admitted that the two resemble
one another in the long villi, which tend to remain in
the walls of the uterus. Again, the resemblance of the
proboscidean placenta to that of the Carnivora is deemed
to be superficial, there being several important points of
difference, the former having three areas of attachment in
place of one. Another paper on development, by Dr.
F. H. A. Marshall, deals with the mode of formation of
the corpus luteum in various mammals.

In the Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural
History (vol. xxxiii., No. 7) Mr. A. H. Clarke gives a
descriptive list of birds collected in the southern Lesser
Antilles. Fishes collected in Tahiti form the subject of a
paper by Messrs. Jordan and Snyder in the Proceedings
of the U.S. Nat. Museum (No. 1422), a new species of
Holocentrus being described and figured. In other
communications, Mr. C. H. Eigenmann
phenomena of divergence and convergence in fishes (Biol.
Bulletin, vol. viii., pp. 59 et seq.), and contributes a_pre-
liminary note on the fishes of Panama as considered from
the standpoint of geographical distribution (Science, ser. ii.,

two

discusses the

vol. xxii., pp. 18-20). As regards the first paper, the
members of the American family Characinide present

examples of both divergence and convergence, some forms
being differentiated for carnivorous and others for
herbivorous habits, while yet others approximate to fishes
of quite different families. In the second paper it is con-
cluded from the evidence of the fresh-water fishes that
the Pacific slope fauna of tropical America was derived
from that of the Atlantic slope subsequent to the shutting-

off of a water-way between the Atlantic and Pacific
Oceans.

In Agricultural News (September 23) reference is made
to a memorandum written by Mr. M. Hesketh Bell,

Officiating Governor of the Leeward Islands, on the occur-
rence of hurricanes in the West Indies. Mr. Bell points
out that hurricanes do not occur in the West Indies so
frequently as is generally believed, and that the accounts
have in some instances exaggerated the amount of
damage; further, he suggests that a scheme of insurance
might be formulated which would offer great advantages
to the landowners and at the same time prove acceptable
to the underwriters.

Tue Bulletin of the Department of Agriculture, Jamaica,
for September, contains an account of the discussion on
cocoa cultivation which took place at the agricultural
conference held in Trinidad, also notes on the fungoid
and insect pests of cotton. The pests reported by the
Hon. T. H. Sharp and Mr. S. Stricker include the cotton
worm, which can be successfully treated when quite young
with Paris green; cut worms, which attacked the roots,
but also yielded to treatment with Paris green; and the
cercospora fungus.

THE report on the experimental agricultural work carried
on in St. Kitts during the year 1903-4 has been published
separately from the report on the botanic station. The
superintendent, Mr. F. R. Shepherd, writes hopefully of
the cotton industry and of the peculiar method generally
adopted of growing the cotton as a catch crop on cane
lands. Cotton seed was planted in May and June, and,
after the first picking, the bushes were pulled up and
sugar canes were planted. In the trials with

NO. 1881, VOL. 73]

varieties of

sweet potatoes and yams, the very large differences between
the yields of the better and poorer sorts furnish ample
proof of the value of comparisons based on practical ex-
periments to guide the cultivator in his choice of the best
varieties.

Dr. E. B. CoreLanp has compiled a list of ferns belong-
ing to the Polypodiaceze recorded for the Philippine
Islands, which is published in Publication No. 29 of the
Bureau of Government Laboratories, Manila. The families
are in accord with the ‘‘ Pflanzenfamilien,’’ but the sub-
family Gymnogramminez is placed under the Aspleniez.
Of the sixty-two genera represented, naturally the largest
is Polypodium, which is subdivided into six subgenera ;
a subgenus, Myrmecophila, is established for Polypodiwm
sinuosum and Polypodium lomarioides, and this is followed
by Drynariopsis, containing the species P. heracleum and
P. meyenianum. Two species of the myrmecophilous
genus Lecanopteris occur, and three species of Drynaria,
a genus which is characterised by having pocket-leaves
that collect detritus. In the same volume Dr. Copeland
gives a selection of about twenty fungi for the islands,
principally species of Coprinus, Phalliota, and Lepiota,
which are said to be palatable and harmless.

We have received the first number of Gas and Oil
Power, a new illustrated monthly review for factory
owners and other power users. It contains an exhaustive
article on the construction of internal combustion engines
by Mr. R. E. Mathot, and a special table of the cost of
power and light in the principal towns in England.

Ir has long been recognised that a wide field of profit-
able work has been opened for motors in connection with
British railways. The earliest steam motor seen on a
British railway began regular working in June, 1903, on
the Fratton and Southsea line of the London and South
Western Railway. It was designed by Mr. Dugald
Drummond, and proved so successful that numerous other
rail motor services have been introduced or sanctioned, for
which an improved type of motor has been designed by
Mr. Drummond. It seats eight first-class passengers and
thirty-two third-class passengers. The total length of the
car is 51 feet 2} inches, and it may be driven from either
end. When empty the vehicle weighs 31 tons 11 cwt.

THE annual progress report of the Geological Survey of
Western Australia shows that in r1g04, under the able
direction of Mr. A. Gibb Maitland, much valuable work
has been done in investigating the mineral resources of
the colony. An examination was made of the Pilbara,
Mount Morgans, Southern Cross, and Norseman goldfields.
The occurrence of telluride ore, petzite, at Mulgabble, and
of precious opal at Coolgardie was reported upon favour-
ably, and the reputed tin finds at Cuballing and of petro-
leum on the Warren and Donnelly rivers were investigated.
Analyses were made of manganotantalite from the Pilbara
district, of scheelite from the Nullagine district, and of
cobaltiferous asbolite, of no commercial value, from
Greenbushes.

EXCELLENT work is being done by the mines branch of
the Canadian Government under the direction of Mr. E.
Haanel, the latest departure being the inauguration of a
series of monographs on the economic minerals of Canada.
The first of the series, which has just been received, has
been written by Mr. F. Cirkel, and deals with the occur-
rence, exploitation, and uses of mica. It forms a hand-
some volume of 148 pages, and is accompanied by a
coloured geological map of the mica region of Ontario.
It contains a synopsis of all the available practical inform-

NovEMBER 16, 1905 |

IMAL TOPE.

61

ation on mica, and should lead to the development of the
large mica tracts now known only by name, and to a
search for the mineral in other parts of the Dominion.
At the present time only a small proportion of the Canadian
deposits are worked, many promising deposits having been
abandoned on account of lack of experience on the part
of those who directed the operations. In 1902 the value
of the world’s production of mica, in dollars, was as
follows :—India, 507,770; Canada, 242,310; United States,
98,859; Brazil and other countries, 55,200; total, 904,139.

In the Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, vol. xlix.,
Dr. A. G. Maddren has published a report of his expedition
to Alaska last year in search of remains of the mammoth
and other extinct mammals. The report contains a valu-
able description of the surface deposits of the country
which will interest students of glacial geology, and there
is an appendix of extracts from the published writings of
Kotzebue, Beechey, and later travellers who have visited
Alaska for a similar purpose. Dr. Maddren appears to
have failed to obtain any important fossil bones, but his
geological observations justify a few interesting conclusions.
He thinks that the climate of the Arctic and sub-Arctic
regions was never colder than it is at present. He is also
convinced that there are no deposits of ice in Alaska which
date back to the Pleistocene period, except the large
glaciers. He has not observed any ice-beds interstratified
with undoubted Pleistocene formations.

Tue well preserved fossil ganoid fishes from the black
Triassic shales of New Jersey, U.S.A., have long attracted
attention. They are sometimes found in numbers so great
as to excite public interest. The State geologist of New
Jersey, in his last annual report (for 1904), has accordingly
published a short account of these fossils, illustrated by
photographs, and preceded by some elementary remarks
on the study of fossil fishes in general. The chapter was
prepared by Dr. Charles R. Eastman, and contains a useful
summary of our knowledge of American Triassic fishes up
to date. Notwithstanding the abundance of individuals,
only six genera are represented—a curious contrast in this
respect to any fish-fauna now existing. The species are
also remarkably few, and some of them are difficult to
distinguish on account of the crushing and distortion to
which the fishes have been subjected during burial and
fossilisation. Dr. Eastman does not describe any new
forms.

Tue Philippine Islands experienced a very destructive
cyclone on September 26; the accounts that have hitherto
reached us are rather meagre, and are extracted from the
Manila Cablenews of September 28, which states that the
storm was the worst that has occurred in the last twenty
years. Some hundreds of houses were unroofed in Manila,
where the wind is said to have reached a velocity of
103 miles an hour; at the naval station at Cavite damage
was done to the extent of at least 100,000 dollars, but, so
far as is known, the loss of life has not been very great.
The Manila Observatory did good service in giving timely
notice of the approach of the storm, notwithstanding that
it was mostly dependent upon its own observations, as the
telegraph lines in south-east Luzon were destroyed. The
direction talken by the storm seems to have been from E.S.E.
to W.N.W., and the rate of advance was about 12 miles
an hour. The barometer fell from about 29-850 inches to
29-213 inches between oh. p.m. of September 25 and
zh. p.m. of September 26; compared with the fall in out
own latitudes, the amount, of course, is not excessive.
The rainfall in twenty-four hours amounted to 43 inches.

NO. 1881, VOL. 73]

Pror. J. Hann has made a very valuable addition to
our knowledge of the meteorological conditions prevailing
over the tropical regions of the earth by his publication
of ‘‘ Der tagliche Gang der Temperature in der inneren
Tropenzone,’’ which has been reprinted from the seventy-
eighth volume of the ‘‘ Denkschriften der mathematisch-
naturwissenschaftlichen Klasse der kaiserlichen Akademie
der Wissenschaften’? (Vienna, 1905). In his introduc-
tion he states that the mean temperatures of several
stations in the tropics have been placed too high on
account of inaccurate determinations of corrections which
were applied to compute the true means. The object of
the present investigation is therefore to determine the
mean temperatures more exactly, making full use of the
latest observations, and to employ a greater number of
stations well distributed in longitude which were not
previously available. Further, the two previous researches
by Dove were published more than half a century ago, and
no such complete work has since been published. In the
present investigation the observations at thirty-five stations
are utilised, and these are distributed over Africa, West
Indies, Central and South America, south Asia and north

Australia, and tropical oceans. To refer, even at the
shortest length, to the method of reduction, the numerous
tables, and the details given regarding each station

utilised would considerably extend this note, but those
interested in the investigation should make themselves
acquainted with the volume itself.

A VALUABLE paper by Mr. S. R. Williams on the
anatomy of Boophilus annulatus (Say), the tick which
transmits the Texas fever of cattle, is published in the
Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History,
vol. xxxviii., No. 8, p. 313.

Mr. Warkins-PitcurorD, bacteriologist and analyst to
the Government of Natal, has published some observations
on the germicidal action of copper salts and of bright
copper. He concludes that in cupric sulphate, in the pro-
portion of 1 part to 75,000 parts of water, we possess an
agent which promises to be both efficient and safe.

Le Radium for October (2° année, No. 10) contains
articles by Sir W. Ramsay, on a new element, radio-
thorium; by M. Bloch, on the electric conductivity of
selenium; by M. Charbonneau, on the transformation of
currents of high tension into static discharges; and by M.
Fraenkel, on the application of the X-rays in the study
of the distribution of the blood vessels; together with the
usual summary of researches connected with radio-activity-
It is altogether an excellent number.

We have received the second number of vol. i. of the
Memoirs of the College of Science and Engineering, Kyoto
Imperial University, containing reports on original work
carried out by members of the university. The present
number contains accounts of research in pure and physical
chemistry, geology, engineering, and electricity.

Tue Psychological Review (n.s., vol. xii., No. 5) con-
tains an account, by Mabel S. Nelson, of an investigation
of the difference between men and women in the recog-
nition of colour and the perception of sound. As a result
of many observations, the conclusion is formed that men
are clearly superior in the recognition of blue and women
possibly superior in the recognition of yellow. Both men
and women hear farther with the right than with the left
ear, men hearing better than women.

Recent American mathematical journals contain some
interesting papers. In the Transactions of the American
Mathematical Society for July 10 M. Poincaré gives a

62

NAT Rls

| NOVEMBER 16, 1905

characteristic discussion of the geodesic lines on convex
surfaces, with the aim of illustrating by a comparatively
simple case the difficult questions of dynamic stability and
instability in the problem of three bodies. Prof. E. W.
Brown investigates a general method for treating trans-
mitted motions and indirect perturbations such as arise
when the action of the earth on the moon is modified by
the influence of a planet on the earth’s motion. In a long
paper on the relation of the principles of logic to the
foundations of geometry, Prof. J. Royce directs attention
to a former paper by Mr. Kempe, which seems to have
been largely neglected, and proceeds to develop the logical
consequences of a theory suggested by, but more general
than, Kempe’s theory. Prof. Bromwich gives the classifi-
cation of quadrics in hyperbolic and elliptic space, Prof. J. E.
Wright writes on differential invariants, and Prof. Pierpont
on multiple integrals. The remaining papers, by Messrs.
Neikirk, Miller, Dickson, and Wedderburn, are all short,
and bear upon the theories of groups and numbers.—In
the July number of the Annals of Mathematics Dr. E. V.
Huntington begins a series of articles on the continuum
as a type of order, being a systematic elementary account
of the modern theory, put together for the sake, not only
of the mathematical student, but of non-mathematical
students of scientific method; and Prof. Dickson proves a
theorem in the theory of groups and applies it to the dis-
cussion of the real elements of certain classes of geo-
metrical configurations.—The Bulletin of the American
Mathematical Society gives in full a translation of M.
Darboux’s survey of the development of geometrical
methods, the address delivered by him at the St. Louis
International Congress of Arts and Sciences. In a short
note Dr. Morehead proves that F,,=22"+4+1 is not a prime
when n=7, and states that he is in possession of a method
for testing other similar cases. The only cases known to
be primes are the first four, proved to be so by Fermat.

IN a paper published in the Sitzungsberichte of the
Vienna Academy of Sciences (vol. exiv. P- 553), F.- von
Lerch describes an experimental investigation of the
electrochemical behaviour of thorium X, particularly as
regards the manner in which it differs from the ‘“ induced
activity’? of thorium. When thorium X is dissolved in
hydrochloric acid, and different metals are immersed in the
slightly acid solution, the active substance which separates
on the metal is not thorium X, but the induced activity :
the same holds true of the product separated from the acid
solution by electrolysis. On the other hand, from a solu-
tion of thorium X made alkaline with caustic potash or
ammonia, thorium X is usually deposited either by a
metal or under the influence of an electric current; but
in certain cases, for example with amalgamated zinc, the
induced activity is also thrown down.
thorium A and thorium B, and
between them, is also discussed.

The production of

the relation

existing

IN vol. ix., p. 441, of the Journal of Physical Chemistry
Messrs. E. S. Shepherd and G. R. Upton discuss the
tensile strength of copper-tin alloys in relation to their
chemical and physical structure. The test pieces made use
of were heated for a prolonged period at different tempera-
tures in order fully to attain the crystalline structure
normal to those temperatures, the heating being followed
by fixation of the properties by control of the rate of
cooling. Among other results, it was found that pro-
longed annealing tends to coarsen the crystalline struc-
ture, to decrease the tensile strength, and to increase the
ductility. In a second. paper Mr. E. S. Shepherd gives
an account of investigations of aluminium-zine alloys,

NO. 1881, VOL. 73]

from which it is concluded that these series of alloys
present no so-called definite compounds. There are, how-
ever, two series of solid solutions, that of zine in
aluminium and that of aluminium in zinc.

WE have received the annual address of the retiring
president of the Society of Public Analysts, reprinted from
the Analyst of April of this year. In the course of his
address, Mr. Fairley referred particularly to the necessity
that exists for a properly constituted authority to supervise
the standard for drugs. In ‘‘ Notes on the History of
Distilled Spirits,’’ published in the Analyst for September,
Mr. Fairley includes an interesting collection of illustra-
tions of ancient forms of stills used in several countries.
The manufacture of whiskey was a matter of common
knowledge amongst the people of Ireland when their
country was invaded by the English in 1170-2, its Celtic
name being ‘‘ uisque beatha,’’ meaning water of life. The
distillation of brandy began to take form in France as
a manufacturing industry early in the fourteenth century.
Originally known as brandwine, brandewine, or brandy-
wine, the term brandy came into use about 1657.

WE have received the first part of a ‘‘ Natural History of
the British Butterflies, their World-wide Variation and
Geographical Distribution,’ by Mr. J. W. Tutt. The work
is being published by Mr. Elliot Stock at 1s. net per part.

_Mr. R. W. Ropinson has prepared a revised edition of
‘©The Photographic Studio and what to do in it’’ by his
father, the late Mr. H. P. Robinson (London: Iliffe and
Sons, Ltd., price 2s. 6d. net).
made, but references to some matters now out of date
have been omitted. Amateur as well as_ professional
photographers who wish to know something of the poses
and practice of good portraiture will find Mr. Robinson’s
book a useful guide.

Few changes have been

“a

A seEconp edition of ‘‘ Thermodynamique,’? by M. G.
Lippmann, has been published in Paris by M. A. Hermann.
The edition has been edited by MM. A. Mathias and A.
Renault. The author endeavours first to elucidate the
principles of thermodynamics in such a way that they may
be applied intelligently. The facts upon which the prin-
ciples rest are then explained. The general method of
treatment adopted will enable the student to apply the
principles of thermodynamics to particular cases, and thus
render it unnecessary to search in a book for the right
equation to use.

Five parts of a work on the fauna of New England, to
be included in the occasional papers of the Boston Society
of Natural History, have been received. The society is
able to print this work by the aid of the proceeds of the
Gordon Saltonstall fund. The first part is a list of the
Reptilia, by Mr. Samuel Henshaw; the second of the
Batrachia, by the same authority; the third is by Mr.
Glover M. Allen, and deals with the Mammalia; the fourth,
by Mr. Hubert L. Clark, is concerned with the Echino-
dermata; and the fifth is a list of the Crustacea, by Miss
(or Mrs.) Mary J. Rathbun. When the series of lists is
complete we hope to review them in these columns. Parts
are to be published at irregular intervals, and though the
details of the lists will somewhat in the
different groups, each list is to include, first, the accepted
name (scientific and vernacular); second, reference to the
original description, with record of locality; third, refer-
ence to an authentic description and
fourth, habitat and occurrence.

several vary

illustration; and

AMERICAN paleontologists are becoming more and more
strongly convinced of the decisive character of the evidence
afforded by extinct faunas of a comparatively recent con-

NOVEMBER 16, 1905]

between South America, South Africa, and
A short time ago, Dr. W. B. Scott, in the

nection
Australia.

report of the results of the Princeton Expedition to Pata- |

gonia, announced his opinion that the fossil Santa Cruz
insectivore Necrolestes is closely allied to the South African
Chrysochloris, and that this relationship indicated a con-
nection between South Africa and South America. Now
Mr. W. J. Sinclair, of Princeton, in a paper published in
the Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society,
states unequivocally that Prothylacinus and the other
marsupial-like carnivores of the Santa Cruz beds are true
marsupials closely related to the Australian thylacine. He
, moreover, of opinion that the living South American
marsupial Ccenolestes and its extinct relatives are
annectant forms between diprotodonts and polyprotodonts,
and are also not far removed from the ancestral stock
which gave rise to the Australian phalangers. The exist-
ence of primitive opossums which cannot be regarded as
ancestral to the modern South American forms is also
an important determination. In view of the aforesaid
relations, coupled with the evidence afforded by the in-
vertebrate faunas, Mr. Sinclair considers himself juStified
in stating that ‘‘ considerable evidence is now available to
show that a land connection between Patagonia and the
Australian region existed not later than the close of the
Cretaceous or the beginning of the Tertiary, and it is
possible that at this time the interchange of marsupials
between the two continents was effected.”’

is

Tue Carnegie Institution of Washington has published
the first part of vol. i. of a “‘ Bibliographical Index of
North American Fungi,’’ by Prof. William G. Farlow,
professor of cryptogamic botany in Harvard University.
This part extends from Abrothallus to Badhamia. The
index owes its origin to the fact that in 1874 Prof. Farlow
found it impossible to ascertain what species of fungi were
known to occur in the United States, and he determined
to bring together all references to North American species
in the form of a card index. At the same time an authors’
catalogue was started to include the titles of all works
used in forming the catalogue of species. The latter
catalogue was printed in 1887, and was followed by a
supplemental list in 1888. A new edition with additions
up to 1905 is in preparation. It was found impossible to
obtain means of publication for the index until the
Carnegie Institution offered to provide the funds. It is
expected that the appearance of the present index will save
many American institutions much time and money involved
in the duplication of work. The index does not pretend
to be a summary of all references to North American fungi,
but is limited to those which concern the systematic
mycologist, and does not include references to papers on
fungicides and other technical subjects. We hope to review
the index when its publication has been completed.

Tue eleventh volume of the new series of the Reliquary
and Illustrated Archaeologist, containing the four quarterly
numbers published in 1905, is now available. Among con-
tributions which will appeal to men of science are Mr.
‘George Clinch’s papers on the Neolithic dwelling and on
Neolithic burial, Mr. John Patrick’s essays on the sculp-
tured caves of East Wemyss, and Mr. W. Heneage Legge’s
paper on glimpses of ancient agriculture and its survivals
to-day. The journal makes a successful appeal to all who
are interested in antiquities, architecture, the arts and
industries of man in past ages, and in kindred subjects.

THE eighth volume of the Transactions of the Rochdale
Literary and Scientific Society, dealing with the years
1903-5, has now been published. Among papers read before

No. 1881, VOL. 73]

NATORE

63

the society and printed in the volume the following may be
mentioned :—Mr. T. Stenhouse, the radio-activity of
radium and other compounds; Mr. W. A. Parker, on the
remains of fossil fishes found near Rochdale; Mr. W. H.
Sutcliffe, on the bullion mine of the Upper Carboniferous
rocks; Mr. C. W. R. Royds, on life in Antarctica; Mr.
W. Baldwin, on the palzontology of Sparth Bottoms, Roch-
dale; and Mr. W. H. Pennington, on some ancient colour-
ing matters. The latest report contained in the velume
shows that the total number of members at the end of 1904
was 249, and that the society had a balance of about 661.
in hand. The society is to be congratulated upon its con-
tinued activity and upon the way in which, by lectures,
field excursions, and other methods, it is disseminating an
interest in scientific subjects.

on

OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN.

A SUGGESTION FOR THE NEXT INTERNATIONAL SCHEME.—
As the work on the international chart of the heavens is
now nearing completion, Mr. W. E. Cooke, of the Perth
(W. Australia) Observatory, suggests that astronomers
should now begin to consider the next essential astro-
nomical problem which should be attacked internationally.
He suggests that the coordination of meridian observations
is desirable, and outlines the plans on which such work
might be commenced. These include the observation of
fundamental stars, of about the sixth magnitude, in every
part of the sky, and the formation of a main catalogue
comprising, say, three stars to each square degree of the
sky, that is, about 120,000 stars altogether. The accom-
plishment of this work would not only provide the
necessary reference stars for future observations, but would
give definite meridian work to a number of observatories
which at present are performing it in a casual manner and
often overlap each other’s programmes (Monthly Notices

R.A.S., No. 9, vol. Ixv.).

PHa@sBeE, THE NINTH SATELLITE OF SATURN.—Further
details concerning the discovery and recognition of Saturn’s
ninth satellite are published by Prof. W. H. Pickering in
No. 5, vol. liii., of the Harvard College Observatory
Annals.

Prof. Pickering describes the taking and the reduction
of each of the numerous plates on which the position of
Phoebe has been measured. Up to the commencement of
the present year 105 plates of Saturn had been secured
with the Bruce telescope, and Phoebe had been recognised
on 72 of these, the image on 69 of them being sufficiently
well defined to be accurately measured.

On comparing these plates with others which were
taken by Prof. Perrine with the Crossley reflector, it is
seen that with plates having had equal exposures, and on
which Phoebe is seen equally well, those taken with the
reflector show stars of about one magnitude fainter than
any to be found on the Bruce refractor plates.

Recent observations give the period of Phoebe as about
547:5 days, and the comparison of the observational results
with the different sets of elements shows that with the
revised elements the deviations are much smaller.

In No. 6 of the same volume Dr. F. E. Ross shows, in
detail, the procedure followed in calculating the elements
of Phoebe, and compares the three sets of elements which
have been computed with the observational results. The
discussion shows that slight changes in the previously
determined eccentricity and period will bring the plates
secured during 1898 into line with the more recent observ-
ations.

GRaPHICAL METHOD OF DETERMINING ALTITUDES AND
AzimutHs.—A simple method of finding the altitude and
azimuth of an observed body, the latitude of the observer
and the declination and hour-angle of the object being
known, has been devised by Mr. Littlehales, of the U.S.
Hydrographic Office, and is briefly described in No. 6,
vol. xxxiii., of the Monthly Weather Review of the U.S.
Department of Agriculture.

The plan of solution employs a stereographic projection

of the celestial sphere on the plane of the observer's

64

NATORE

[ NOVEMBER 16, 1905

meridian, and by laying off the predetermined data on
this projection—which is illustrated in the description—
the observer may quickly find the required quantities.

The editor of the Review, Prof. Cleveland Abbe, com-
mends Mr. Littlehales’s method to the attention of. all
who have occasion to solve spherical triangles to the nearest
minute of arc, whether in geodesy, navigation, astronomy,
or general mathematical work.

Tue Meteors oF BieLaA’s Comet.—In No. 363 of the
Observatory Mr. Denning directs attention to the prob-
ability of a strong shower of Andromedids this year. By
quoting the observational results obtained during recent
years, he shows that the shower has apparently developed
into an important annual phenomenon, and he expects that
the maximum display will take place on November 18,
although a watch should be kept from November 17 to
November 23. The position of the radiant is about
R.A. =25° dec. = + 43°, i.e. near to y Andromede.

Tue Macnitupe or 7 Arcts.—From a series of obsery-
ations made at Johannesburg during May and June, Mr.
R. T. A. Innes found the magnitude of 7 Argis for 1905-5
to be 7-67, and its colour, on Chandler’s scale, to be 7}.
On comparing these with the observations made in 1896,
he finds that the change, if any, since that date is quite
insignificant (Monthly Notices R.A.S., No. 9, vol. Ixv.).

ENGINEERING AT THE BRITISH
ASSOCIATION.

EFORE dealing with the actual work of the section, it

is desirable to put on record the fact that several of

the special lectures arranged by the council

clusively engineering in their character, namely, the lec-

tures delivered at Johannesburg by Prof. Ayrton on the

distribution of power, and by Prof. Arnold on steel as

an igneous rock, and the address given at Kimberley by

Prof. Porter on the bearing of engineering on mining.

In judging, therefore, the work done by Section G during

the South African meeting, the effect produced by these

lectures, delivered in all cases to large audiences, must be
kept in mind.

At Cape Town the first paper read was by Mr. C. H.
Smith, on colonial Dutch architecture. In this paper
Mr. Smith gave a brief account of the history and develop-
ment of the early architecture of Cape Colony. He pointed
out that building materials were exceedingly difficult to
obtain, but in spite of all difficulties the early Dutch
settlers, who were men of excellent taste and education,
commenced their labours on true lines. Although drawing
upon the well known principles of Dutch and Batavian
architecture, they adapted their buildings to the new
country, and developed a style distinctly their own. It
was to Governor Simon van der Stel that many of the
most picturesque houses in the Cape Peninsula were due.
He and his son, who succeeded him, were great builders
of houses and planters of trees. The author showed a
number of slides illustrating. some of the quaint old houses
in the Cape Peninsula and its neighbourhood, in particular
at Stellenbosch, famous for its beautiful situation and
surroundings. This paper proved a great attraction, and
drew a large audience.

The paper by Prof. Biles, on steam turbines as applied
to ocean liners, was the next dealt with. When _ this
paper was first promised, the author hoped that detailed
results of the running of the only two completed turbine
ocean steamers would have been available for his paper ;
unfortunately this was not the case, though Prof. Biles
stated that the results so far obtained had completely
justified the adoption of the turbine on ocean steamers.

He pointed out that such a great revolution as a change
from reciprocating engines to turbine engines had never |

before taken place in such a short time. The author gave

figures dealing with the gain in economy from an engineer- |

ing point of view; in the case of the turbine steamers the
Londonderry and the Manxman, as compared with the
Antrim and the Donegal, designed at the same time, and
having reciprocating engines, the Londonderry showed a
total economy of 2-4 per cent. and the Manxman_ of
7-7 per cent. Prof. Biles, in summing up the work which
had been done so far, stated that he was of opinion that

NO 1881, VOL. 73]

there was every indication that in the largest installations
on ocean liners there was an economy of power and cost
in the use of turbines as well assured as in the case of
channel steamers, and that there was little doubt that the
turbine would completely displace the reciprocating engine
in all moderate and high-speed liners.

Mr. How, in his paper on roller bearings, which was
read in his absence by the Recorder of the section, gave
some results of recent tests on line shafting when fitted
with roller bearings, and on tramway and railway vehicles.
In the Birmingham electric tramways it was stated that
a saving of 24-3 per cent. of tractive power per ton of
load was obtained, and that the net saving per car per
annum would amount to 381. 16s. 3d. Several railway
companies had experimented with roller bearings, and in
all cases a considerable economy in coal consumption had
resulted. On the Liverpool overhead railway, tests proved
that the reduction per ton mile of coal consumption was
equal to 9 per cent., and that longer trains could be
employed.

A very interesting paper was that on motor-cars in
South Africa, by Mr. A. T. Hennessey. The chief object
of the author was to make clear the special points in
car design and construction to which attention should be
paid if the motor-car is to be a success in South Africa.

| So far, of course, all the cars in use there are imported
| cars, and are built for conditions which prevail in Europe

and America, and not for the conditions which prevail
in South Africa. In comparing steam cars with petrol
cars, Mr. Hennessey came to the conclusion that the latter

| were the more suitable for South African conditions; in

were ex- |

fact, he was of opinion that the shortcomings and dis-
abilities of the steam car were greatly accentuated by the
climatic and road conditions of South Africa. The ques-
tion of the cooling of the cylinders in a_semi-tropical
country, with roads carried up very steep hills, is most
important, and very few imported cars have anything like
enough water-cooling capacity. As regards springs, also,
there has been great difficulty, and motorists at home
have very little idea as to the strain placed upon the
springs by the ordinary South African roads. In a motor-
car excursion, arranged for the visiting members of the
association on the Saturday of the Cape meeting, along
the beautiful coast road which runs from Cape Town
to Hout Bay, owing to a landslip on the mountain-side,
caused by the heavy rains of July and August, the visitors
had an ample opportunity of testing the kind of strain

| to which motor-cars are subjected in South Africa; the

cars had to charge through a mass of liquid mud and
stones, probably 12 inches in depth, and extending for
some 100 yards along the road. In many country dis-
tricts the author pointed out that it is a common occur-
rence for the centre of the track to be from 6 inches to
12 inches higher than the sides, which would render it
impossible for a car with only a 5-inch under-clearance,
which is the maximum clearance of many cars, to travel
over these country roads. This paper provoked a very
interesting discussion, in which the claims of the steam
car were strongly upheld by one or two of the speakers.
The most important paper read before the section in
Cape Town was Mr. Tippett’s, on Cape Government
railways. The author is one of the leading engineers in
the Cape Government Railway Service, and the Govern-
ment gave him every facility in the preparation of his
paper. The paper formed practically a complete record
of the growth of the railway industry in Cape Colony, and
of the methods adopted in surveying, in constructing, and
in working the railways. It bristled with statistics
and figures, and there were a number of excellent diagrams
and reproductions of photographs to illustrate the paper.
It will form a most valuable paper for reference pur-
poses to anyone engaged in studying the conditions of
railway construction and working in our South African
colonies. It is obviously impossible to give anything but
a very faint notion of the contents of a paper of such
length and importance in a brief summary, such as
this is, of the proceedings of the section. One or two
salient points to which the author devoted much attention
may, however, be briefly dealt with. The one is the
question of gauge. He pointed out that the original line
from Cape Town to Wellington, now part of the main
western system, which was constructed by a private com-

NOVEMBER 16, 1905]

NWA LOR,

65

pany, was built on the 4 feet 83 inch gauge, but when
the Government took over this line, and decided to take
in its own hands the construction of the railways, acting
on the advice of a strong commission, it decided to adopt
3 feet 6 inches as the standard gauge. That gauge
has been adhered to throughout South Africa with the
exception of one or two short branch lines, which are on
the 2-feet gauge, and at the present time a 2-feet gauge
line is in process of construction between Port Elizabeth
and Avontuur, a coast line, which will probably be even-
tually extended to Cape Town. The wisdom of construct-
ing a line such as this on a 2-feet gauge seems rather
doubtful, but the large bridges on it have been put up
of such a strength and of such dimensions as would enable
a 3 feet 6 inches gauge to be adopted later on. Another
point on which the author laid great emphasis was the
system of surveying which it was necessary to adopt in
a country where Ordnance maps are at present unavail-
able. The colonial-trained surveyors are able to carry out
work with rapidity and with accuracy by the use of the
tacheometer only, which would be impossible in the hands
of surveyors trained only in our home methods. If a
country like South Africa is to be developed by railways, it
is obvious that the cost of construction must be kept
down to the lowest possible figure, and, therefore, tunnels,
heavy cuttings, and heavy banks must be avoided. All
the members of the visiting party who travelled over the
main lines in all the colonies during the visit of the
association were struck with the extraordinary surface
character and curvilinear meanderings of the railway lines,
although by this system of construction the actual length
of the lines has been in many cases increased, and the
possible speed at which trains can be worked has been
lessened; nevertheless, when one compares travelling, both
as regards time and cost, on these lines with that in the
old days with ox or mule waggons, there is no doubt that
the wisest plan was to sacrifice, for the time being, possible
speed for economy in construction. The Cape lines, and
in faet all the lines which serve the Transvaal, suffer
from the same disability as the steamer lines which ply
between Europe and the Cape—heavy goods traffic is all
in one direction. No less than 80 per cent. of the goods
traffic on the Cape Government railways is in the shape
of up-country traffic; this means necessarily a large
number of empty waggons returning to the coast, and
must inevitably increase freight charges.

The section opened its proceedings at Johannesburg with
the president’s address, which was devoted to irrigation.
The subject is one of such paramount importance to
South Africa that no happier choice could have been made
of a president for Section G than that of Sir Colin Scott-
Moncrieff. Naturally the examples selected by the presi-
dent for illustration of the problem of irrigation for
agricultural purposes were India and Egypt, although he
had also a good deal to say with regard to the system
in foree in the United States and in Italy. It is to be
hoped that the information placed at the disposal of South
African engineers by this address will not fail to influence
the trend of legislation on this question in our South
African colonies.

Sir William Preece gave an interesting account of the
present condition of wireless telegraphy, and his paper,
bringing all the information on this question up to the
most recent date, was a welcome contribution to the trans-
actions of the section. Sir William Preece has on previous
oceasions contributed papers on this question to the
section, and has kept the section well informed of the
gradual progress in the evolution of wireless telegraphy
as a practical mode of communication.

Prof. Perry’s paper on the accidental breakage of wind-
ing ropes in mines concluded the first day’s work at
Johannesburg. In this paper certain examples were
worked out in full, and in an appendix to the paper the
whole of the mathematical treatment of the problem was
given by the author.

The second day’s proceedings were opened by Mr.
Hammond with a paper on electrical power distribution
for the Rand. After alluding briefly to the present ten-
dency at home, and at such situations as the Niagara
Falls, to construct large central supply stations, the author

problem had not yet been taken up on the Witwatersrand.
Two points were, therefore, discussed in the paper—one
was whether the working of the mines could not be
cheapened by the extended application of electrical power,
and the second, as a corollary, whether such electrical
power could not be more economically produced by a
central station rather than by each mine, or group of
mines, laying down its own plant. In colliery work in
Great Britain there is, and has been for the last year
or two, a steady growth in the application of electricity
to haulage and other work in the coal mines, and the
author advocated the adoption of electrical winding for
the Rand mines. He also pointed out that a considerable
increase of efficiency would be obtained by the abolition of
the surface compressed-air plant, and by the introduction
of electrically driven compressors, placed underground near
the actual workings. Mr. Hammond showed that the
total requirements of the Rand mines worked out at a
very high figure of horse-power hours (400,000,000), and
he proved by further figures that a central power station
would thus have a very favourable load factor. Assuming
a diversity factor of 60 per cent., and a 20 per cent. loss
in distribution and transformation, he estimated the plant
capacity at the central station would be 60,000 kilowatts.
Basing his further calculations on these figures, the author
then proceeded to work out fully the costs of generation
and distribution, the revenue which could be expected,
and the corresponding financial results. In concluding
his communication, which was one of great value, Mr.
Hammond referred to the case of the well known central
power station at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and expressed the
opinion that if on the river Tyne, where coal was avail-
able in large quantities at very low rates, it paid to
displace steam power by electric power, still more so would
it pay on the Rand.

Mr. Dew read a short paper on water-power plants,
Pilgrim’s Rest, Transvaal. In this paper the author gave
a list of plants in actual operation with the horse-power
developed, the type of prime mover, quantity of water,
and head, and dealt with a number of points of special
interest in the running of such plants.

On the Friday, the last day the section met, the first
paper was by Mr. C. W. Methven, on South African
harbours. This paper was one of great importance, and
must have involved an immense amount of work in its
preparation. Practically a complete history of the harbours
which have been built up round the South African coast
was given. As the author pointed out, there is a remark-
able absence of deep-water indentations forming natural
harbours between Cape Town and Delagoa Bay, and
therefore all the harbours have had to be artificially
created. After giving a brief account of the Table Bay
works, and the extensions now being carried out by Mr.
Hammersley Heenan, the author referred to the Algoa
Bay works, and the remarkable stride which had been
made within the last few years in the commercial pros-
perity of this harbour, in spite of the difficulties due to
its exposed condition and the heavy seas which frequently
make approach almost impossible. Mr. Methven then dis-
cussed very fully the formation and treatment of sand-bars
at the mouths of the rivers and lagoons on the south-east
African coast, which render the construction of harbours
and their maintenance such a difficult engineering problem.

Another valuable paper taken at this sitting was one
by Mr. C. D. H. Braine, on irrigation in South Africa,
dealing with the important question of the duty of water
used for irrigation purposes. The author stated that there
was very little information on the subject as regards
South African practice, and that therefore irrigation
engineers in South Africa had to be guided to a great
extent by experience in other countries, such as America,
Spain, India, &c. He pointed out how unskilled irriga-
tion frequently means a waste of from 25 per cent. to
50 per cent. of water, and that many crops were actually
impaired by excessive irrigation. For South Africa he
was of opinion that the duty actually used on the land
could be safely taken at the rate of 285 acres per cubic
foot of water per second, and he quoted statistics from
other countries to show that this was a reasonable allow-
ance. To show the value of irrigation in South Africa,

referred to the fact that he was surprised to find that this | the author gave figures as to increase in land values;

NO. 1881, VOL. 73]

66

INGAIM OYE,

[NovEMBER 16, 1905

land valued in the dry, unirrigated state at anything from
ros. to 30S. per acre was valued at rates of from 25]. to
rool. per acre when properly. irrigated.

The concluding paper, by Mr. J. H. Ronaldson, dealt

with the copper deposits of Little Namaqualand. The
author pointed out that from the very early days it had

been known that this district in the extreme west of Cape
Colony, lying just south of the Orange River, and bounded
on the west by the Atlantic Ocean, was a copper-producing

one. As early as 1685 one of the Dutch governors dis-
patched a party to explore the country, but it was not
until 1855 that successful work was begun. The district

in which the copper mines are situated lies in the hilly
ground about 50 miles from the coast, and is connected
with Port Nolloth by a 2 feet 6 inches narrow-gauge rail-
way, the property of the Cape Copper Co. During the
year 1904 about 85,000 tons of ore were raised, the per-
centage of copper ranging from 26 per cent. to as low

as 3-6 per cent. ABS del, 18}

ANTHROPOLOGY AT THE

ASSOCIATION.
African meeting will long be memorable to

members who are especially associated with Sec-
tion H, not so much on account of the high quality and
interest of the papers read (though, as will be seen, these
were often of considerable importance) as because it
afforded an opportunity of examining, measuring, and
photographing specimens of the native races, and (what

BRITISH

“THE South

was still more valuable) of visiting Bantu kraals, seeing
the native in his ordinary surroundings, and witnessing
some of his ceremonial rejoicings. “These visits and in-

vestigations were outside the strictly sectional work, and
can hardly be detailed here; but they cannot fail of per-
manent results in an increased comprehension of the con-
ditions of native life and of the great problems, scientific,
social, and political, connected with the native peoples of
South Africa, by all who were privileged to take part in
them.

Dr. Haddon’s presidential address, delivered on August 16
at Cape Town, has already been printed in full in Natu RE
(September 7, p. 471), and need not be further referred to
here than to point out its exceptionally comprehensive and
useful character as a summary of our present information
as to the process by which South Africa was peopled, and
a sane, earnest, and timely appeal for scientific study on
the spot of peoples, some of which are actually vanishing
before our eyes, and the others of which are undergoing
at the hands of the white race a process of so-called
civilisation which will issue in a few years in the total
destruction of their ancient institutions and _ beliefs.

The first paper read was by Mr. E. Sidney Hartland on
the totemism of the Bantu. He pointed out that to the
French Protestant missionary Casalis belongs the honour
of being the first to note the similarity between the totemic
practices and belief of the North American Indians and
those of the Bantu peoples. The object of the paper was
to examine the latter practices and belief, so far as they
have been recorded, with the view of ascertaining how far
they extend and what evidence there is of their former
existence where they are no longer preserved; whether
there is any essential difference between the practices and
belief of the Bantu and what is generally understood by
totemism elsewhere; and lastly, the process of decay.
The conclusions arrived at were that, though there is little
in what is recorded of the Bantu on the western side of
the continent down to the southern boundary of Angola
which points directly to totemism, there is “sufficient to
suggest that it once generally prevailed there, and that its
disappearance is due to contact with the Negro; that with
regard to the eastern and northern Bantu there: can be no
doubt about the prevalence of totemism which, though
now in decay, corresponded in all essential particulars ‘to
that of other races, such as the North American Indians
and the Australians; and that its decay was due to the
change in the reckoning of kinship from reckoning through
the mother only to reckoning through the father ‘only, and
to the ancestor-worship which had arisen upon the new
social basis thereby laid.

NO. 1881, VOL. 73]

Mr. L. Peringuey, curator of the South African Museum,
followed with an address on the Stone age in South
Africa. The substance of this address has been published
in the volume entitled *t Science in South Africa.”’ It was
illustrated by a carefully selected series of specimens from
the museum, which were examined with interest in the
course of an indecisive discussion which followed.

The session on Thursday, August 17, was opened by
Mr. Henry Balfour with a paper on the musical instru-
ments of South Africa. Mr. Balfour is already known as
an authority on the evolution of the musical bow. In the
bow of the Damaras. which is upon occasion temporarily
converted into a musical instrument, he recognised an
example of the earliest stage of development of a long
series of instruments culminating in various forms of the
harp. Other types of musical instruments were discussed,
of which the most interesting, as well as the most enig-
matical, was the goura of the Bushmen, an instrument
substantially identical with the iseba (or lesiba) of the
Basuto and some other Bantu tribes. On this instrument
the writer had little to add to what he had previously
published in the Journal of the Anthropological Institute.
Generally as to the development of musical instruments,
stress was laid on the importance of exact information
with the view of determining the geographical distribution
and evolution of the various types.

Miss B. Bullen-Burry read a paper discussing the social
and political questions raised in the United States by the
existence of the Negro in the midst of a white population.
This paper dealt with an aspect of ethnology rarely brought
before the section; but the state of things | described by the
writer and the problems involved are so similar to those

even more critical in character now engaging the attention
of politicians in South Africa, and on the satisfactory

solution of which depends the future of the country, that
it is much to be regretted that the writer had so small an
audience.

On Friday, August 18, Prof. von Luschan read a paper
on artificial deformation in Africa, abundantly illustrated
by lantern slides. He traced all deformations of the
human body to a foreign source, except possibly the tattoo-
ing in relief and the deformations of the lips.

"The Rev. Canon Crisp presented a paper (which was
read by the Rev. J. S. Moffat) on the mental character-
istics of the Bechuana. He dwelt on the peculiarities of

Sechuana grammar and construction,
various examples. The Bantu languages will express any
idea, however esoteric, and will do it with extraordinary
precision and often with great felicity. A foreigner who
has acquired one of them will often leave his own language
to use a Bantu word, because it conveys his thought more
aptly and tersely. Bantu proverbs and metaphors are often
most incisive, emphasising with much power and delicacy
what it is intended to say. The Bechuana are accustomed
to use their proverbs without any introduction, their
rapidity of thought enabling both speaker and hearers at
once to locate the idea to be conveyed. They are masters
in the art of destructive criticism, and their native shrewd-
ness, observation, and wit render them dangerous dis-
putants. Instances of the facility with which Bantu
acquire European learning and adapt themselves to Euro-
pean thought were given. This paper aroused much
interest on the part of the over-sea members who heard
it, and numerous questions on details were addressed to
Canon Crisp, though of discussion strictly speaking there
Was none.

A short paper by Mr. William Grant was read giving
an account of a visit in March, 1894, to Magato, the then
chief of the Mawenda in the Transvaal. The business of
the Cape Town meeting was then closed by the president
with a few appropriate words of appreciation of the assist-
ance rendered by Mr. Peringuey, who had kindly acted
as local secretary, and of the kindness with which the
visitors from the Mother Country had been received.

The session at Johannesburg was opened on Tuesday,
August 29, with a paper by Dr. S. Schonland, on arts and
crafts among the natives of South Africa, containing a
summary of present knowledge on the subject.

A paper followed by Mr. W. A. Squire on the art of the
Bushmen. It was illustrated by the exhibition of copies

illustrating them by

! of a number of Bushman drawings, on which the author

NoveEMBER 16, 1905]

NALORE 67

commented. The methods by which the artist achieved
such wonderfully spirited and life-like results were simple
indeed. Coloured earth, pounded stones, charcoal, blood,
and bird-fat constituted his pigments. A flat stone was his
primitive palette. His brushes were perhaps made of the
coarse hair of the male wildebeeste or buffalo. Elsewhere
he scratched on the walls of his rock-shelter with a stone
a little harder than the surface to be adorned. Much
interest is obviously shown in the details. Obscenity, as
such, is rare. By way of illustration of the technique
of these drawings, a copy of a Bushman battle picture
from the Natal side of the Drakensberg Range, near
Bushman’s Pass, and an unpublished drawing by a
member of the Kamilaroi tribe of eastern Australia were
exhibited, and compared to the disadvantage of the latter
in strength, vividness, and accuracy of portrayal. Finally,
the object and meaning of the drawings were touched
upon, but not discussed, by the author, possibly because
too little is Known as yet; perhaps too little ever will be
known to give rise to more than conjecture. It may be
observed, however, that the late Mr. G. W. Stow, the
author of a book recently published on the natives of
South Africa, formed a large collection of copies of Bush-
man drawings. These were examined by the president
and several members of the section after the meeting was
over, and a strong desire was expressed that they should
be published. If this could be done, a careful collation
might result in some conclusions as to the motives which
prompted and the circumstances which developed these
remarkable exhibitions of artistic power by a people usually
accounted so low in the scale of humanity—conclusions
which might, moreover, throw unexpected light on the
similar memorials left by the palzolithic people of central
France.

A descriptive summary of recent discoveries of stone
implements in South Africa was presented by Mr. J. P.
Johnson.

Mr. A. E. Mabille read a paper on the Basuto. As a
grandson of the famous missionary Casalis, who had lived
{except for a few years when he was completing his
education at Paris) his whole life in touch with the people,
the author was specially fitted to deal with the subject;
and the paper was valuable for the statistics it contained
and the picture it offered of the present condition and
customs of the Basuto under the British protectorate. In
the discussion which followed some exception was taken
to the use of the word Modimo for God, but the author
defended its use on the ground that it was the word long
ago adopted by the missionaries, and, whether rightly or
wrongly adopted at that time, its use was now fully under-
stood and accepted among the Basuto themselves.

On Wednesday, August 30, Prof. von Luschan read a
paper on the racial affinities of the Hottentots, in which
he contended, mainly on the evidence of the Hottentot
language, that the Hottentot were a Hamitic people which
had come into contact with the Bushmen and absorbed
Bushman characteristics. Apart from a few roots and
clicks, he declared the Hottentot language to be strictly
Hamitic. On the physical side, the loss of their original
high stature and the acquisition of steatopygia and of
the spiral curled hair of the Bushman have been the
penalties of intermarriage with the pigmy people.

Mr. Randall Maclver exhibited and described a number
of lantern slides of the Rhodesian ruins. UHis report on
his recent examination of the ruins was read in greater
detail at an evening meeting at Bulawayo. It may here
be said, however, that he has with some probability
established by his researches the native origin of the ruins,
and shown that most of them are of no great antiquity,
in no case going back to more than 600 or 700 years.
They are essentially Bantu kraals in stone. Great Zim-
babwe he identified with the capital of Monomotapa, as
described by the earlier Portuguese travellers. All the
problems connected with the ruins are not vet solved. We
are still ignorant what gave the artistic and military
impulses to the erection of these structures, against what
enemy they were planned, and what led to their ruin and
abandonment. These matters can only be determined, if
at all, by accurate scientific exploration, and not by mere
speculation like much of that which has been hitherto
wasted upon these mysterious remains.

No. 1881, VOL. 73]

Not the least important day in this section was Friday,
September 1. Besides papers by the well known
missionary M. Junod on the Thonga tribe (illustrated by
an interesting exhibition of native music, both vocal and
instrumental), and by Mr. J. W. Shepstone, C.M.G.,
giving a general sketch of the native tribes, two striking
communications were read, the one by the Rev. E.
Gottschling on the Bawenda, and the other by the Rev.
W. C. Willoughby on the totemism of the Bechuana.
Mr. Gottschling’s paper was partly historical, partly de-
scriptive, and gave a number of particulars hitherto un-
published relating to the Bawenda, a tribe of Bantu in the
north-east of the Transvaal, and their customs and beliefs.
Some of the details were of quite extraordinary interest.
Mr. Willoughby’s paper was a discussion of a number of
points connected with the totemic practices and of the
relation to them of various ceremonies not usually re-
garded as totemic in origin, in which oxen and certain
vegetables play an important part. The writer’s con-
clusions were open to much debate, for which little time

was found. The paper, however, as a whole was so
suggestive, directing attention to aspects of the Bantu

religious ceremonies other than those from which they are
usually regarded, that it will be a great pity if this paper,
as well as that of Mr. Gottschling, be not published in
some form accessible to anthropologists.

The business of the section was wound up with graceful
words of thanks by the president to the local committee,
and in particular to Mr. A. von Dessauer, the local
sectional secretary, to whose energy, forethought, and
organising ability the success of the Johannesburg meeting
was so largely due.

SOLAR OBSERVATORY ON
WILSON, CALIFORNIA.

THE

[N a report entitled ‘““A Study of the Conditions for

Solar Research at Mt. Wilson, California,’’ an outline
was given of the circumstances that have resulted in the
establishment of a solar observatory on Mount Wilson by
the Carnegie Institution of Washington. At the recent
annual meeting of the board of trustees, a grant of
150,000 dollars was authorised, for use during 1905. It
is expected that the first equipment will cost about twice
this sum, and that important additions will result in the
future from the operation of a large and well appointed
instrument and optical shop.

In April, 1904, a grant of 10,000 dollars was made by
the executive committee of the Carnegie Institution for
the purpose of bringing the Snow telescope to Mount
Wilson from the Yerkes Observatory. An expedition for
solar research was accordingly organised under the joint
auspices of the University of Chicago and the Carnegie
Institution, with the understanding that the funds granted
by the Carnegie Institution would be used for the con-
struction of piers and buildings, and for other expenses
incidental to the work, while the University of Chicago
would furnish the instrumental equipment and pay the
salaries of some of the members of the party.

It is a fortunate circumstance that the construction and
use of a great reflecting telescope, with a five-foot mirror,
is in the general plan of research laid down for the Solar
Observatory. In ‘‘ Year: Book’’ No. 2 (p. 49) of the
Carnegie Institution may be found a report on this sub-
ject, prepared at the request of Profs. Boss and Campbell,
my colleagues on the committee, and improved in many
particulars as the result of their criticisms. The prime
object of the Solar Observatory is to apply new instru-
ments and methods of research in a study of the physical
elements of the problem of stellar evolution. Since the
sun is the only star near enough the earth to permit its
phenomena to be studied in detail, special attention will
be devoted to solar physics. It is hoped that the know-
ledge of solar phenomena thus gained will assist to explain
certain stellar phenomena. Conversely, the knowledge of
nebular and stellar conditions to be obtained through
spectroscopic and photographic investigations with the

MOUNT

1 Abridged from No. 2 of “Contributions from the Solar Observatory of
the Carnegie Institution of Washington,” by Prof. G. E. Hale, director
of the Observatory

68

NADL ORE.

[ NovEMBER 16, 1905

five-foot reflector should throw light on the past and future
condition of the sun. All the principal researches will thus
be made to converge on the problem of stellar develop-
ment. The name ‘* Solar Observatory’ is regarded as
appropriate, since the spectroscopic study of stars and
nebula, to be carried on in connection with the solar
work, are essential elements in any attempt to determine
the mode of origin, the development, and the decay of the
sun as a typical star.

How, then, shall we attack in an effective manner the
complex problem of stellar evolution? It goes without say-
ing that I can offer no general answer to this question;
I can only point out the three principal lines of attack
which we hope to pursue at the Solar Observatory. These
involve :—

(1) The more complete realisation of laboratory con-
ditions in astrophysical research, through the employment
of fixed telescopes of the coelostat type, and through the
adoption of a coudé mounting for the five-foot reflector.
This should permit (a) the use of mirrors or objectives
of great focal length, thus providing a large image of the
sun for study with spectroscopes and spectroheliographs ;
(b) the use of long focus grating spectroscopes, mounted
in a fixed position in constant
temperature laboratories, for the
photography of stellar spectra requir-
ing very long exposures; (c) the use
of various laboratory instruments,
such as the radiometer, which cannot
be employed in conjunction with
moving telescopes.

(2) The development of the spectro-

heliograph in the various directions
suggested by recent work at the
Yerkes Observatory, including the

photography of the entire solar disc
with dark lines of hydrogen, iron,
and other elements; further applica-
tion of the method of photographing
sections of flocculi corresponding to
different levels; special studies of sun-
spots, &c.; and daily routine records
of calcium and hydrogen flocculi and
prominences.

(3) The construction of a five-foot
‘equatorial reflector, with coudé
mounting, and its use in the photo-
graphy of nebulz, the study of stellar
and nebular spectra, and the measure-
ment of the heat radiation of the
brighter stars.

It was originally intended that a
prolonged series of determinations of
the solar constant, extending over at
least one sun-spot period, should be
made an important feature of the
observatory’s work. The plans outlined
in ‘‘ Year Book ’? No. 2 accordingly included an equipment
at Mount Wilson for this purpose, and suggested, in
harmony with Dr. Langley’s view, that provision be made
for two additional stations, one near the summit of a
high mountain, at an elevation of about 12,000 feet, the
other at a much lower level on the same mountain. The
principal purpose of these two stations was to measure
the atmospheric absorption, in order to eliminate it from
the solar constant determinations. The recent develop-
ments of Dr. Langley’s researches at Washington have led
Mr. Abbot, who is associated with Dr. Langley in the
work, to the conclusion that entirely satisfactory results
can be obtained there by the method employed. The poor
atmospheric conditions with which the Washington
observers have so successfully contended, and the disturb-
ances arising from ground tremors in the heart of a large
city, would be largely eliminated at Mount Wilson. For
this reason it seems probable that results of higher pre-
cision could be obtained at this site.

In addition to the above mentioned observations, pro-
vision will be made at Mount Wilson for various laboratory
investigations necessary in conjunction with solar research.
In view of the importance of securing a complete record of
solar phenomena when magnetic storms are in progress,

NO. 1881, VOL. 73)

suitable magnetic apparatus, recommended by Dr. L. A,
Bauer, in charge of the department of terrestrial magnetism
of the Carnegie Institution, will be installed at a sufficient
distance from the electrical machinery.

As no description of the Snow telescope has been pub-
lished, the present brief account may be prefaced by a
statement regarding the construction of the telescope.

In 1900, after Prof. Ritchey had succeeded Prof. Wads-
worth as superintendent of instrument construction at the
Yerkes Observatory, a coelostat with mirror of 15 inches
(38 cm.) aperture was made, from Prof. Ritchey’s designs,
for the total solar eclipse of that year. This gave such
satisfactory results that the plan of constructing a large
ceelostat was again taken up. Unfortunately, however, no
funds were available for this purpose. In r1go1, during a
visit to the observatory of Prof. Cross, chairman of the
Rumford committee, I showed him the details of the
instrument, as worked out by Prof. Ritchey. The design
called for a coelostat of 30 inches (76 cm.) aperture, with
second plane mirror of 24 inches (61 cm.) aperture, the
latter mounted so as to slide north-east and south-west on
rails lying east of the ccelostat. The concave mirror, to

which the light was reflected from the second plane mirror,

Fic. 1.—The Snow Telescope when mounted at the Yerkes Observatory.

had a focal length of 61 feet, and a second concave mirror,
of 165 feet (50-3 m.) focal length, was also to be used.

At the kind suggestion of Prof. Cross, a grant of 500
dollars was made by the Rumford committee in aid of an
investigation to be undertaken with this telescope. Sub-
sequently, through the kindness of Prof. Pickering, chair-
man of the Draper committee, two other grants, of 500
dollars each, became available. With these funds, helped
out by small amounts obtained from other sources, the
work was begun.

A gift of 10,000 dollars from Miss Helen Snow, of
Chicago, in memory of her father, the late George W.
Snow, provided sufficient funds to complete the telescope
and to instal it in a suitable house. The ccelostat was
mounted on a brick pier, at a height of 15 feet (4-57 m.)
above the ground. In Prof. Ritchey’s design of the
previous instrument the rays were reflected in a north-
easterly direction from the ccelostat mirror to a second
plane mirror, which sent them toward the south-west to
one or the other of the concave mirrors. In designing the
Snow telescope, a new arrangement of the second mirror
was adopted by Prof. Ritchey, at the suggestion of Mr.
C. G. Abbot. As Fig. 1 indicates, the light is reflected
upward and to the south from the ccelostat mirror to a

NOVEMBER 16, 1905].

LATE

69

second plane mirror, mounted in a fork at the upper
extremity of an iron column, on a carriage which can be
moved along heavy iron rails. The position of this carriage
on the rails depends upon the declination of the observed
object; with a low sun the second mirror stands close to
the ccelostat, but with a high sun it must be moved away
in order to intercept the reflected beam. The ccelostat
itself may be moved east or west on its own rails, so that
a low object near the meridian may not be hidden by the
second mirror or its support.

With the exception of the solar and stellar spectro-
scopes, for which suitable gratings could not be obtained,
the Snow telescope was practically completed in the
autumn of 1903. On October 3 of that year it was
formally presented to the University of Chicago by Miss
Snow, in the presence of a number of guests.

In designing the new ccelostat house on Mount Wilson
I was influenced by two principal considerations :—(1) The
importance of placing the ccelostat as far as possible above
the ground, which had been indicated by observations
made with a telescope in a tree at elevations ranging
from 20 feet to 70 feet; (2) the importance of constructing
the house in such a way as to reduce to a minimum the
heating and the radiation of the floor, walls, and ceiling,

with the purpose of keeping the air within the house at |

the same temperature as the outer air.

The ccelostat, and the supports for the plane mirror
and the 6o-feet concave mirror, are now in place on the
piers, but heavy storms have prevented the mirrors from
being mounted. The concave grating stellar spectrograph
is nearly ready to be set up, and work is well advanced
on the smaller of the two spectroheliographs. The ultra-
violet glass prisms and lenses for the stellar spectrograph
have been completed by the Carl Zeiss Company, and
orders have been placed for the optical parts of the 30-feet
spectroheliograph and the Littrow spectrograph. Through
the courtesy of the president and trustees of the University
of Chicago, the Snow telescope and some of its accessories
will be used by the Solar Observatory for some time. It
will subsequently be replaced by a similar telescope con-
structed in our own instrument shop.

UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL
INTELLIGENCE.

Oxrorp.—The following examiners have been appointed
in the science schools:—in physics, Mr. W. C. D.
Whetham; in anatomy, Mr. A: H. Young; in physiology,
Mr. Leonard Hill; in pathology, Dr. E. W. Ainley
Walker; in forensic medicine, Dr. A. L. Ormerod; in
medicine, Dr. J. R. Bradford; in surgery, Mr. H. J. Stiles;
in obstetrics, Sir Arthur V. Macan; in preliminary physics,
Mr. C. E. Haselfoot; in preliminary chemistry, Mr. A.
Angel; in preliminary botany, Prof. J. Reynolds Green.

The Burdett-Coutts scholarship for 1905 has been awarded
to Mr. James A. Douglas, Keble College.

The Junior Scientific Club held its 276th meeting in the
museum on November 8. Prof. Gotch exhibited the
Gotch ophthalmic spinthariscope, and Dr. H. M. Vernon
read a paper on the chemical constitution of protoplasm.

CaMmBRIDGE.—The election of the well known _ scholar
Mr. F. C. Burkitt, of Trinity College, to the Norrisian
chair of divinity has a certain interest outside theological
circles. It is, we believe, the first time that a layman has
been elected to a chair of theology in the University of
Cambridge. The Norrisian chair is open to laymen, but
until this year has invariably been held by clergymen.
That the heads of houses, who form the electing body,
should have made this departure is perhaps a sign of the
times.

Mr. C. T. R. Wilson, Sidney Sussex College, has been
re-appointed demonstrator of experimental physics for a
period of five years from Michaelmas, 1905.

On Monday, November 6, the following were elected to
vacant fellowships at St. John’s College:—Mr. J. W. H.
Atkins, lecturer in English at the Victoria University,
Manchester, and Mr. Frank Horton, for research in
physics, 1903, Allen student, 1904; D.Sc. London and

No. 1881 VoL. 73]

| ordered to be communicated to Mr.

Mackinnon student of the Royal Society. Mr. Horton

joinea the university as an advanced student.

IN connection with Sir Donald Currie’s offer of 20,000l.
to Queen’s College, Belfast, on condition that a similar
sum is raised by those interested in the welfare of the
college, President Hamilton announced on November 11
that subscriptions forthcoming to that date amount to
nearly 16,0001. The remainder of the sum must be sub-
scribed, according to Sir Donald Currie’s conditions, before
Christmas.

WE learn from Science that Mr. Andrew Carnegie has
offered 20,o00l. to Union College, for an engineering build-
ing, on condition that the institution raises a like amount
for this purpose. Mr. Carnegie has also offered to give
Smith College one-half of 25,000]. required for a biological
laboratory. It is worthy of note that the first of the
initial group of seven structures that form the new Carnegie
Technical Schools, in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, has been
opened with a class of 120 students, selected from more

| than 600 applicants.

Tue Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction
for Ireland will award in July, 1906, not more than ten
open scholarships and ten limited scholarships to assist
students of domestic economy to undertake the full course
of instruction at the Irish Training School of Domestic
Economy, Dublin. Scholarships will entitle the holders to
free admission to the full course of training. The school is
not residential, and no subsistence allowance is given.
The scholarships will be awarded as the result of a com-
petitive examination. Forms of application may be obtained
from the secretary of the department after January 1
1900.

y

A Times correspondent reports that the trustees of the
Witwatersrand Council of Education have decided to dis-
pose of a sum of 115,000l., raised in 1899 to provide
elementary education for the Uitlander community, in the
following manner. The Transvaal Technical Institute is
to receive 60,000!., and 30,0001. is to be used to found a
public school at Frankenwald on the lines of an English
public school. The remaining 25,0001. will probably be
divided between Jeppestown High School and Johannes-
burg College, but is held over until the publication of the
report of the Government Commission on Secondary
Education. :

Ir is announced that a school for post-graduate medical
study, to be named ‘‘ The London School of Clinical
Medicine,”’ is to be established by the Seamen’s Hospital
Society at the Dreadnought Seamen’s Hospital, Greenwich.
The hospital contains 250 beds, and by the addition of
eminent members of the medical profession to the present
staff, and by an affiliation for teaching purposes with
other special hospitals south of the Thames, it is hoped
that a complete curriculum for post-graduate study may
be arranged. The new school will be complemental to the
same society’s School of Tropical Medicine at the Albert
Dock, which has proved such a success.

At the session of council of University College, London,
on November 6, the following resolution was adopted and
Bawden and Mr.
Speyer :—‘ That the most grateful thanks of the council
be offered to Mr. E. G. Bawden and Mr. Edgar Speyer
for providing and allotting the sum of 16,o00l.—to be
known as ‘ the Bawden Fund ’—to the fund for advanced
university education and research, thereby making up the
balance of the sum of 200,000]. necessary to complete the
financial arrangements for the incorporation of the college
in the university. The council are of opinion that by pro-
moting the incorporation of the college in the university
they can most effectually realise the purposes for which
the college was founded and can best advance the cause of
learning and science. They therefore feel that they can
congratulate Mr. Bawden and Mr. Speyer on helping to
complete an arrangement that is likely to have a far-
reaching influence in the furtherance of. advanced education
and research in London.”

7O
SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES.
Lonpon.
Royal Society, July 20.—**The Influence of Phase

Changes on the Tenacity of Ductile Metals at the Ordinary
Temperature and at the Boiling Point of Liquid Air.”’
By G. T. Beilby and H. N. Beilby, B.Sc. Communicated
by Prof. J. Larmor, Sec.R.S.

The observations recorded in this paper are intended to
prepare the way for a more direct attack on the problems
of molecular cohesion by the establishment of clearer views
as to the influence of changes of phase on the tenacity of
ductile metals at various temperatures.

Bice 4.

According to the phase theory of the hard and soft states
in metals which was first developed by one of the authors
more than a year ago, the changes of state from hard to
soft and from soft to hard were shown to be due to the
changes of phase brought about, in the one case by heat,
and in the other by mechanical deformation or flow. In
the ductile metals the crystalline is the mechanically un-
stable phase, while the amorphous only becomes thermally
unstable when a definite temperature is reached.

N95. 1881, VOL. 73]

NATURE

| differently oriented lamellz.

| NovEMBER 16, 1905

The comparative mechanical instability of the two phases
is well illustrated in the stretching of wires under tension.
Annealed wires, which are in the © phase, stretch when
they are stressed beyond the yield point; hardened wires,
which are partly in the A phase, do not stretch—they break
without extension when their limit of tenacity is reached.

The homogeneous © phase in ductile metals has no true

breaking point—it yields and stretches when _ stressed
beyond the elastic limit, and in so doing it passes partly

into the A phase, and rupture occurs at the breaking point
of the mixed structure. The tenacity of the mixed struc-
ture approaches, but never quite reaches, that of the
homogeneous A phase. For the purpose the authors had
in view it was necessary to obtain the metals as nearly as
possible in this homogeneous condition.

Wire drawing was the means employed for the break-
ing down of the © phase. After a wire had been stretched
to four or five times its original length by drawing it
through the holes of a wire plate, all the ordinary traces
of crystalline structure disappeared, but it still consisted of
minute ‘granules of the © phase embedded in a matrix of
the A phase. Further drawing at the same temperature
alters the mixed structure only slightly ; for each tempera-
ture there appears to be a certain mechanical equilibrium
between the phases. By lowering the temperature of
drawing, the © phase is further broken down into still
smaller granules, and the mixture approaches more nearly
to the homogeneous A state.

(a) Fig. 1 is a photograph of a gold wire which has
been etched after drawing The flow lines near the surface
consist of rows of granules. (b) On the same photograph,
shows the effect of heating another piece of the same wire
to about 400°. Removal of the surface by etching now
discloses the fully developed crystalline grains with their
The thermal transformation
from A to © has taken place, and the wire is restored to
the soft condition. Figs. 2 and 3 are photomicrographs
at higher magnifications, which show the details of struc-
ture more fully. Fig. 2 is the granular structure by oblique
light at a magnification of 250, and Fig. 3 is the crystal-
line structure by normal light at a magnification of Zoo.

The observations were made on wires which had been
as completely as possible converted into the A phase by
wire drawing at the ordinary temperature, and in every
case the tenacity observed was higher than any which had

been recorded by previous observers for equally pure
metals.
Tons per
square inch
Gold. Purity—9,997 per 10,000
Tenacity at 288° absolute (15° C.) ... 156
a5 Sey +) \=1S0mGs) 22°4
Silver. Purity—10,000 per 10,000
Tenacity at 288° absolute (15° C.)... 25°7
. 53°. 5. (= 10d) 34°4
Copper. Purity—9,g96 per 10,000
Tenacity at 288° absolute (15°C). ... 284
9 Boe as (—1805 €.) ... 36:0
The wires broken at the ordinary temperature showed

no general stretching. There was a slight extension of
from 4 per cent. to 1 per cent., due entirely to a sharp
reduction of diameter at the actual point of rupture. At
the boiling point of liquid air all the wires stretched from
It per cent. to 12 per cent. This stretching was uniform
over the whole length between the grips. This was con-
firmed by exact measurements of the diameter at a number
of points.

The appearance

of the fractured ends revealed several
points of interest. In every case the copper wires showed
the cupped formation at the extreme end. This formation
is evidently due to the lower tenacity of the central core,
due to the presence of gas bubbles which have been drawn
out into long tubes or cells. The silver wires occasionally
showed a slight cupped formation, but in this case the
gas bubbles to which it was due were globular, as if they
had been evolved at the moment of fracture. The gold
wires were practically free from sponginess, and the frac-
tures were almost perfectly viscous (Fig. 4).

By drawing wires at the lowest possible temperatures
the authors hope to obtain the ductile metals in their
condition of maximum tenacity, and from the figures then

NOVEMBER 16, 1905 |

NATURE

al

available to be able to calculate the molecular cohesion at | (5) the strongest spectral lines are not the most widely

the absolute zero.

July 29.—'‘ Studies on Enzyme Action. _VIII.—The
Mechanism of Fermentation.’’ By E. Frankland Arm-
strong. Communicated by Prof. H. E. Armstrong.

The experiments described, which were begun in the
Carlsberg Laboratory, Copenhagen, were undertaken to
ascertain, if possible, the manner in which the activity
of the various organisms giving rise to alcoholic ferment-
ation is dependent on, or influenced by, the enzymes which
they contain. The action of twenty selected yeasts on
each of the four hexose sugars glucose, fructose, mannose
and galactose, and on the disaccharides cane sugar,
maltose and milk sugar, was investigated. All the yeasts
tested were able to ferment glucose, mannose and fruc-
tose, but quite a number were unable to ferment galactose.
It is shown that inability to ferment galactose has nothing
to do with the absence from the yeast of any one of the
sucroclastic enzymes, since yeasts are to be found which
are without action on galactose; in fact, the fermentation
of glucose and galactose is brought about by different
mechanisms.

The results further indicate that the power of a yeast
to ferment mannose, glucose or fructose is clearly in no
way conditioned by the presence of a particular sucro-
clastic enzyme; indeed, it would seem that the occurrence
of alcoholic fermentation is altogether independent of the
presence of an enzyme—whether free or fixed—able to
induce the hydrolysis either of maltose or of sucrose.

The fact that the three hexoses which behave alike have
one common enolic form is of utmost significance as an
indication that the formation of the enol is the initial
stage in the fermentation of the hexose, and that the break-
down of the molecule commences at the terminal carbon
atom.

Chemical Society, November 2.—Prof. R. Meldola,
F.R.S., president, in the chair.—Molecular conductivity of
water: P. Blackman.—The stereoisomerism of substituted
ammonium compounds: H. O. Jones. Wedekind’s sup-
posed 8-phenylbenzylmethylallylammonium iodide is proved
to be in reality phenylbenzyldimethylammonitum iodide. At
present optical activity is the only evidence of stereo-
isomerism of quinquevalent nitrogen compounds of the type
Nabcd,X, and the hypothesis suggested by the author
(Trans. Chem. Soc., 1903, Ixxxiii., 1403), slightly de-
veloped, is adequate to explain all the known facts.—Note
on the fluorides of selenium and tellurium: E. B. R.
Prideaux. The fluorides of selenium and tellurium are
gaseous substances, easily condensable by cold, forming
white, snow-like solids. They have the formulae SeF, and
TeF,.—The constitution of glutaconic acid: J. F. Thorpe.
—Some alkyl derivatives of glutaconic acid and of
o-dioxypyridine: H. Rogerson and J. F. Thorpe.—
Note on the formation of B-methylglutaconic acid and of
aB-dimethylglutaconic acid: F. V. Darbishire and J. F.
Thorpe.—The influence of water and alcohols on the boil-
ing point of esters. A modification of Markownikoff’s
method of preparation: J. Wade. The Markownikoff
interaction proves on investigation to proceed in most
cases readily at 100°, and in presence of any strong acid;
it may be modified to afford a general and practically auto-
matic method of preparing the lower alkyl esters of such
acids as formic, acetic, propionic, and butyric.—Note on
bromine fluoride: E. B. R. Prideaux. Fluorine when
passed over bromine combines with it to form a pale yellow
liquid, which freezes to a white solid, melting at —2°, and
which probably has the formula BrF,.—Solution and
pseudo-solution: E. Linder and H. Picton. The authors
discuss (1) the physical and chemical properties of colloidal
arsenious sulphide ; (2) the physical and chemical properties
of colloidal ferric hydroxide; (3) dyeing, a phase of coagu-
lation.—The influence of very strong electromagnetic fields
on the spark spectra of ruthenium, rhodium, and
palladium: J. E. Purvis. The general results showed that
(1) most of the lines are divided into triplets, and that
there is a periodic or rhythmic change in the direction of
the vibrations of the constituents of the triplets; (2) some
lines become quadruplets, and within certain definite regions
of the spectrum their constituents also change the direc-
tions of their vibrations; (3) other lines become doublets ;
(4) the inner member of the triplets is usually the strongest ;

NO. 1881, VOL. 73]

separated when vibrating in the field; and (6) the decrease
in the width of the triplets does not proceed pari passu
from the less to the more refrangible end of the spectrum.
A volumetric method of estimating the cinchona alkaloids
by means of their double thiocyanates: P. W. Robertson.
Notwithstanding the complexity of double salts of this type,
the determination of the amount of thiocyanate removed
from solution by the alkaloids forms an accurate and speedy
volumetric method of estimating quinine in the commercial
drugs and in the assay of the crude cinchona bark.—The
osmotic pressure of sugar solutions in mixtures of alcohol
and water: P. S. Barlow.

Mathematical Society, November 9.—Prof. A. R.
Forsyth, president, in the chair.—The De Morgan medal
was presented to Dr. H. F. Baker.—On improper
double integrals and On the arithmetic continuum :
Dr. Hobson. In the first of these papers necessary
and sufficient conditions are obtained in order that a

double integral, of which the integrand becomes infinite
at an infinite number of points within the domain of
integration, can be transformed into a_ repeated in-
tegral, so as to be capable of being evaluated by suc-
cessive integrations with respect to two variables. The
second paper deals with some criticisms by J. Kénig
levelled against the fundamental notions of the theory of
sets of points and with the possibility of a general con-
struction of all irrational numbers. It is shown how a
general definition of all numbers rational or irrational can
be obtained, and that the set of numbers constructed by
means of the definition has the essential properties of the
continuum, that is to say, it is at once ‘‘ perfect’’ and
““connected.’’-—On the arithmetical nature of the co-
efficients in a group of linear substitutions of finite order
(second paper): Prof. W. Burnside. An irreducible group
of linear substitutions being given in any one of its possible
forms, it may be possible to choose new variables so that,
when expressed in terms of them, the coefficients of the
substitutions belong to an assigned domain of rationality.
The simplest domain of rationality for which this could
be possible is that defined by the characteristics of the
group. It is shown that, in general, apart from certain
exceptional cases, it is possible to exhibit the group so
that the coefficients belong to the domain of rationality
defined by the characteristics. The result is obtained with-
out introducing the theory of the reduction of the group
when regarded as a permutation-group.—The continuum
and the second number-class: G. H. Hardy. The paper
is a reply to a criticism by Dr. Hobson of a construction
for certain transfinite numbers given by the author in the
Quarterly Journal of Mathematics, vol. xxxv.—On the
asymptotic value of a type of finite series: J. W.
Nicholson.—On an extension of Dirichlet’s integral : Prof.
T. J. VA. Bromwich.

Paris.

Academy of Sciences, November 6.—M. Troost in the
chair.—On the mixed derivatives of dextrorotatory cam-
phoric acid and on 6-campholide : A. Haller and G. Blanc.
The esterification of camphoric acid by methyl alcohol and
hydrochloric acid gives poor yields, the acid ester being
produced in considerable quantity. By treatment with
phosphorus trichloride, the latter forms the corresponding
chloride, from which the neutral ester can be quantitatively
obtained by treatment with methyl alcohol. The com-
pounds obtained by the action of ammonia and _phenyl-
hydrazine upon the chloride are also described, and the
preparation of the B-campholide by the reduction of the
neutral methyl ester with sodium. The yields of the latter
ester are poor, and the attempt to prepare from it an
isomeric cyanocampholic acid was not successful.—The
evolution of the Tertiary mammals: the importance of
migrations: Ch. Depéret. The author emphasises the
importance of an exact study of the migrations of mammals
at different periods in order to explain the appearance of
a given group in strata not containing their immediate
predecessors, and gives details for the Eocene fauna.—
On recurrent convergent relations: Pierre Boutroux.—On
a certain category of functions: H. Padé.—On the im-
possibility of negative impulse waves in gases: Gy6z6
Zemplén. An impulse wave is a surface propagated in a

ee

NATURE

[NovEMBER 16, 1905

gas the density and velocity of which undergo abrupt vari-
ations. Such a wave is not purely adiabatic, even when
the gas is isolated from all sources of external heat. In
the case of a positive wave the gas itself is a source of
heat, and the entropy of the system increases; the inverse
case is not possible.—Remarks on the preceding note: M.
Hadamard.—Researches on gravitation: V. Crémieu. It
is shown that it is possible to repeat the Cavendish experi-
ment in liquids under conditions equal, if not superior, to
those realised in air.—On the electrical conductivity of
selenium: Maurice Coste. The selenium in these experi-
ments was placed between gold plates 1 mm. apart. The
gold has the advantage over other metals of not forming
a selenide, the conductivity of which might interfere with

the accuracy of the results. If the selenium is rapidly
cooled, the resistance is above 50 megohms, but after
annealing it falls to some thousand ohms. It has been

found that to obtain a selenium that is very sensitive to
the action of light it is necessary to have it in the metallic
state in a form as compact as possible.—The determination
of calorific conductivity: J. Thovert.—The ultra-violet
spectra of the purins: Ch. Dhéré. Thirteen photographs
were made on the same plate, the first being the comparison
spectrum, the others the absorption spectra of the aqueous
solution of the purin considered with progressively in-
creasing thickness. Results are given for 6-oxypurin,
xanthin, and uric acid.—On the reduction of oxides and
on a new method of preparation of the compound SiMn, by
means of aluminium: Em. Vigouroux.—Molecular trans-
positions and the migration of carboxyl in the dehydration
of certain acid- alcohols: E. E. Blaise and A. Courtot.
The ethyl ester of Bp- dimethyl-6-phenylhydracrylic acid,
under the influence of phosphoric anhydride, gives dimethyl-
atropic acid. The removal of water in this reaction must
have been preceded by the migration of the carboxyl group,
and furnishes the first example of such a migration.—On
the crystallography of a double compound of ammonium
chloride and nickel bromide: Fréd. Waltlerant.—Rheo-
tropism of some hydroids: Paul Hallez.—Experiments on
the toxicity of eggs: Gustave Loisel. The yolks of the
eggs of the chicken, duck, and tortoise contain substances

which, when injected into the veins, under the skin, or in
the general cavity of the body, determine promptly the
death of the injected animals.—Contribution to the study

of Corti’s organ: M. Marage.—On the nature of the
pigments of the blood: MM. Piettre and Vila. The
author has repeated Nencki’s work on the composition of
Teichmann’s crystals, and obtains analytical results for the
substance which vary with varying conditions of prepar-
ation, and hence concludes that the formula attributed to
the substance is illusory.—Researches on the fatty acids.
Experimental lesions: Jean Camus and Ph. Pagniez.—On
the age of the Vire granite: A. Bigot.—On the parallelism
of the Upper Eocene strata of Biarritz and Vincentin :
Jean Boussae.—On the storm of July 4 in the district of
Orleans: M. Maillard.

DIARY OF SOCIETIES.

THURSDAY, November 16

Roya Society, at 4.30.—The Physical and Chemical Properties of Tron
Carbonyl]: Sir James Dewar, F.R.S., and H. O. Jones.—The Transit of
fons in the Electric Arc: A. A. Campbell Swinton.—First Photographs
of the Canals of Mars: Prof. Percival Lowell.—On the Laws of Radiation :
Prof. J. H. Jeans.—The Pressure of Explosions. Experiments on Solid
and Gaseous uxplosives ; J _&. Petavel.—Uhe Accurate Measurement of
Tonic Velocities : Dr. R. B. Denison and Dr. B. D. Steele. —On Newton's
Rings formed by Metallic Reflection: Prof. R. C. Maclaurin.—The
Wlectrical Conductivity of Dilute Solutions of Sulphuric Acid : W. C. D.
Whetham, F.R.S.

CHEMICAL Society, at 8.30.—Silicon Researches, Part ix., Bromination
of Silicophenyl Imide and Amide, and Formation of a Compound in-
cluding (SiN): J. E. Reynolds. —Condensation of Ketones with
Mercury Cyanide: J. E. Marsh and R. de J. F. Struthers.—Applica-
tion of the Microscopic Method of Molecular Weight Determination to
High Boiling Solvents: G. Barger and A. J. Ewins. —-Green Compounds
ot Cobalt produced by Oxidising Agents: R. G. Durrant.—Synthesis of
Tertiary Menthol and of Inactive Menthene: W. H. Perkin, jun.—
Optically Active Reduced Naphthoic Acids, Part i., Dextro-A(2_or 3)-
dihydro-r-naphthoic Acid: R. H. Pickard and A. Neville.

Linnean Sociery, at 8.—Contributions to the Embryology of the
Amentifere: Dr. Margaret Senson, Elizabeth Sanday and Emily
Berridge.—On the Ears of certain Sharks: Prof. Chas. Stewart, F.R.S_

FRIDAY, November 17.

INSTITUTION OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—The Seventh Report
to the Alloys Research Committee; On the Properties of a Series of

1881,

VOL. 73

Iron Nickel-Manganese-Carbon Alloys: Dr.
R. A. Hadfield, and P. Longmuir.

MONDAY, NoveEmMBER 20.
Roya GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY, at 8.39.—First Exploration of the Hoh-
Lumba and Sobson Glaciers (Himalaya): Mrs. F. B. Workman.
SocroLocicaL SociETy, at 8.—The Origin and Function of Religion:

A. E. Crawley.
TUESDAY, NovEMBER 21.

ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE, at 8.15.—Exhibition of Photographs of
North American Indians: J. S. Chase.—Boomerangs: N. W. Thomas.
InsTITUTION oF CiviL ENGINEERS, at 8.—On Waterways in Great

Britain (Discussion): J. A. Saner.
WEDNESDAY, NoveEmMebeER 22.

GEOLOGICAL SociETy, at 8.—On a New Specimen of the Chimzroid Fish
Myriacanthus paradoxus, Ag., from the Lower Lias of Lyme Regis:
Dr. A. Smith Woodward, F.R.S.—The Rocks of the Cataracts of the
River Madeira, and the adjoining Portions of the Beni and Mamoré ;
Dr. J. W. Evans.—The Doncaster Earthquake of April 23, 1905: Dr.
C. Davison.

Society or Arts, at 8.—The Cinematograph and its Applications :
Ff. Martin-Duncan.

THURSDAY, NovEMBER 23.

Rovat Society, at 4.30.—Prolable Papers: On the Nature of the
Galvanotropic Irritability of Roots: Dr. A. J. Ewart and Miss Bayliss.—
Some Observations on Welwitschia mirabilis, Hooker-f. : Prof. H. H. W.
Pearson.—On the Effects of Alkalies and Acids, and of Alkaline and
Acid Salts, upon Growth and Cell Division in the Fertilised Eggs of
Echinus esculentus; a Study in Relationship to the Causation of
Malignant Disease: Prof. B. Moore, Dr. H. E. Roaf, and E. Whitley.—
A Note on the Effect of Acid, Alkali, and Certain Indicators in Arresting
or Otherwise Influencing the Development of the Eggs of Pleuronectes
platessa and Echinus esculentus: FE. Whitley.—On Certain Physical
and Chemical Properties of Solutions of Chloroform and other Anzs-
thetics. A Contribution to the Chemistry of Anzsthesia. (Second Com-
munication): Prof. B. Moore and Dr. H. E. Roaf.—(1) On the
Possibility of Determining the Presence or Absence of Tubercular Infec-
tion by the Examination of a Patient's Blood or Tissue Fluids : (2) On
Spontaneous Phagocytosis and on the Phagocytosis which is obtained
with the Heated Serum of Patients who have responded to Tubercular
Infection, or as the Case may be to the Inoculation of a Tubercle
Vaccine: Dr. A. E. Wright and Staff-Surgeon S. T. Reid, R.N.—On

H. C. H. Carpen.-z,

the Occurrence of the Heterotypical Mitosis in Cancer: Dr. E. F.
Bashford and J. A. Murray.

CONTENTS. PAGE

‘*Mathematics’’ applied to Chemistry ...... 49

An Ornithologist’s Journals. . e Ge

Practical Sea-fishing. ae Frank Balfour Browne Sagat

Matter and Force. . . ates Cpu eee. iit

Our Book Shelf :—
Buckmaster : *©A Descriptive Handbook of Architec-

tUKest arene Se
ss Prcecedings ‘of the London Mathematical Society, te
Vol. 52

Oates aa Reid: “© Catalogue ‘of the Collection of

Birds’ Eggs in the British Museum (Natural
History) ogee en ihe) 2 «ce ee
Hulme, Parker, Seymour-Jones, Davenport, and
Williamson : ‘‘ Leather for Libraries.” —H. M. . 53

Letters to the Editor: -
British Mosses.—E. F. . 54
Border occasionally seen between Light and Dark

Regions on mye erephis Prints.—Sir Oliver

Modgerh. hess). :. ss) ee 3) Sea
Halation.—J. A. Cobb : 54
The Engineer’s Unit of Force. =pi if Carnegie ;

The Reviewer : : 54

The Exploration of the Atmosphere over the
Tropical Oceans. (///ustvated.) By Dr. A. L. Rotch
and L. Teisserencde Bort . . 54
South African Zoology and Paleontology. ‘By R, it 56
Scientific Researchin the Philippine Islands. Cee

trated.) By: Prof. R. T. Hewlett. Bh ub
Dr: Walter Fe Waslicenus).; _ 7. (i aemeeen |) eee
Notes) = -s is 2 a co 6 kes

Our Astronomical Column :—
A Suggestion for the Next International Scheme . . 63

Pheebe, the Ninth Satellite of Saturn. . 63
Graphical Method of determining Altitudes and
Azimuths . : Ea Ec . i OS
The Meteors of Biela’s Comet Ge os =, Son
The Magnitude of » Argus. . 64
Engineering at the British Association. By T.H. B. 64
Anthropology at the British Association . . 66
The Solar Observatory on Mount Wilson, Cali-
fornia, (J/Justrated.) By Prof. G. E. Hale. ... 67
University and Educational Intelligence nog
Societies and Academies. (///ustvated.) oo ee
Diary of Societies. «2 2 0. . amen . 2 Speer

NAYTORE

73

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1905.
ae
ZOOLOGY OF THE VERTEBRATA.
A Student’s Text-book of Zoology. By Adam
Sedgwick, M.A., F.R.S. Vol. ii. Pp. xv+705;

illustrated. (London: Swan Sonnenschein and Co.,
Ltd.; New York: The Macmillan Company, 1905.)
Price 21s.
HE first volume of this ‘‘ Student’s Text-book of
Zoology ’’ was published in 1898, and dealt
with the invertebrate animals except echinoderms
and arthropods. It was then hoped that another
volume would suffice to complete the book, but that
sanguine estimate was far off the mark. After half a
dozen years the second volume has been completed,
thicker than the first by a hundred pages, and the

echinoderms, arthropods, enteropneusts, and tuni-
cates are still to follow. A fourth volume will be
required to deal with the principles of zoology. By

that time the so-called student’s text-book will require
another title.

The first volume has a well deserved reputation for
accuracy, clearness, terseness, and independence, and
in the crowd of text-books it has filled a definite place
to the satisfaction of teachers as well as of students.
Presupposing a knowledge of ‘‘ types,’’ it dealt with
the various classes in a systematic way, giving de-
tailed classifications and taking account of a very
large number of important forms. It was a successor
of Claus’s ‘f Lehrbuch,’”’ but stronger in its grip, and
vastly more interesting. The second volume is like
unto the first, and it has been worth waiting for.

After a short introduction on Chordata, the author
deals with the lancelets; then follows a discussion of
the general characters of Craniata, and so on through
the vertebrate series, each class, subclass, and order
having its definition and general exposition followed
by small print dealing with families and genera. The
definitions are models of terseness; the large-print
discussions of general characters are marvels of con-
densation and selective insight—almost peptonised
extract of zoology—and the small print is monumental
in its erudition. We took the last four vertebrates
that happened to come into the laboratory—a water-
shrew, a golden-crested wren, some young fierasfers,
a specimen of Palazospondylus—and for three out of
this fortuitous four we found interesting information
in this encyclopedic volume. There is, however,
another side to this relative exhaustiveness, that the
details of classification are apt to change rapidly, and
that many of the implied systematic conclusions must,
from the nature of the case, have been simply accepted
by the author because they were well vouched for
by specialists. But there does not seem to be any
way out of this except refraining from the very de-
tailed treatment which is part of the characteristic
aim of the book, or else adopting the cooperative
device, which is apt to mean a lack of unity. It says
much for the energy of the author that the classifi-
cation of teleostean fishes is substantially that worked
out by Mr. Boulenger, who supplied proofs of his
work before its publication.

NO. 1882, VOL. 73]

Leaving the question of the desirability of attempt-
ing so great exhaustiveness in what is at least called
a student’s text-book—a question which the gratefully
recognised utility of the first volume has in part at
least answered—we venture to express the hope that
the final edition of the whole worl will see some
re-arrangement. Even unconsciously the student has
what Herbert Spencer called an ‘* architectonic ”’
instinct; he likes some semblance of evolutionary
order in his text-book. But although Mr. Sedgwick
allows that enteropneusts and tunicates are chordates,
they are not discussed in this volume, but must
eventually be treated, we presume, at a remote
distance, remote even from Amphioxus. Similarly,
the annelids will be far away from the arthropods,
and other instances might be given which suggest
that the conditions of the production of this great
worlx have not favoured its architectural plan.

Another carping criticism which we must make is
this, that whereas the preface, like so many other
prefaces, holds out the promise of ‘‘ dealing fairly ”’
with habits as well as with morphological aspects,
find after all that we have to be grateful for
small mercies.

We confess also to some disappointment at the
severity of Mr. Sedgwick’s scientific mood, which
may be illustrated, for instance, by this sentence :—

we

‘“As to its (the group Mammalia) origin in evolu-
tion we have nothing to say for the very good reason
that there are no facts by which we can arrive at
any conclusion on the subject.”

(This does not, of course, refer to the affinities
between Mammalia and other classes of vertebrates,
which are briefly discussed.) Similarly, it is very
difficult to discover what positive view, if any, the
author holds in regard to the affiliation of Chordata
to an antecedent stock. Incidentally, the author lifts
just a little the veil with which he so successfully
conceals his evolutionist convictions. Thus he says
of the hag-fish :—

“To hold that a free-living animal, and a
myxinoid must after all be regarded as such, can lose
its eyes through disuse would seem to be an impossible
position.’’

With such useful things to say the author might,
to the advantage of his readers, have lifted the veil
rather oftener. Criticisms like that of the story of
the pedigree of horses are refreshing and salutary,
and we regret to learn from the preface that the
author has deleted a number of them. We look for-
ward to the fourth volume to reveal more fully the
author’s scepticism ‘‘as to the value of some hypo-
theses widely held as to the course of organic evolu-
tion.’? It need hardly be said that Mr. Sedgwick is
**4 convinced evolutionist ’’; he also believes in the
importance of natural selection, even in regard to
non-living things; but “ as to the origin of the mani-
fold properties of living matter we know nothing.
The Darwinian theory did not account for properties ;
it left their origin to an imperfectly understood inter-
action between the organism and the environment,
and further than this we cannot at present go.”

E

74

NA POLL

[ NovEMBER 23, 1905

In referring to the construction which must follow
criticism, Mr. Sedgwick says :—

“That is the task of the great band of workers
in many departments of Biology, who, undeterred
by failure and urged on by the fire, enthusiasm, and
generous aspirations of youth, return time after time,
generation after generation, to the assault of the
fortresses of nature well knowing that their material
reward will be small, that defeat means the world’s
neglect and that success, except the greatest, brings
but a pittance of its esteem. To them I inscribe this
book in the hope that it may serve if only to a small
extent to smooth over the difficulties of part cf the
road which at first they have to travel.”’

We may be allowed to thank the author for doing
more than ‘* smooth over ’’ the difficulties of the road
on which all students of zoology have to travel, for he
has cleared away many hindrances and pointed out
many pitfalls. It would serve little purpose, how-
ever, to enter into any discussion of the numerous
morphological problems in regard to which Mr.
Sedgwick has made some personal and luminous con-
tribution. We feel that we have not said enough in
regard to the excellence of his workmanship, but
praise of what is masterly is gratuitous. The book's
scholarliness, clearness, and carefulness of statement
are obvious, but those who work with it will discover
other virtues—a suggestive scepticism, a mature
judgment, and a more indefinable quality which we
can only hint at in the phrase ‘ morphological
insight. ’”

AN ESSAY IN HISTORICAL -CHEMISTRY.

The Study of Chemical Composition: an Account of
its Method and Historical Development. By Ida
Freund. Pp. xvit+650. (Cambridge: The Uni-
versity Press.)

\ A ISS FREUND is to be congratulated on having

[ 1 written a very interesting book. It is true

that her subject-matter is to be found in many other

quarters; she has really written a historical treatise

on what is generally called stoichiometry; but having
chosen as her title ** The Study of Chemical Com-
position,’’ she has left herself, so to spealx, unfettered,
and been able to write somewhat more dis-
cursively than if had compiled a
Indeed, in the preface to the work

has
she treatise.

she confesses :—

“Although anxious to trace separately the historical
development in the discovery and in the establish-
ment of certain laws and classes of phenomena, |
have made no attempt to produce anything sufficiently
complete or even sufficiently proportioned to deserve
the name of history. I have preferred to deal in
greater detail with a few researches, especially such
as I could repeatedly utilise from various points of
view, than to =:at a greater number more cursorily,
believing in what Lavoisier said more than a century
ago that ‘in such matters as these, the choice of
proofs is more important than their number.’ ”

The result is a fairly full, indeed in some instances
a very full, account of classical researches in the
sphere to which she has confined her attention; the
only omission is that of all reference to the laws of
dilute solutions, and in this she was guided by the

NO. 1882, VOL. 73]

fact that the subject has been recently fully treated
in many works which are easily accessible.
Beginning with a sketch of the method of .the in-
ductive sciences, quotations from Bacon, Jevons,
Kkant, Whewell, and Mill are introduced, with illus-
trations of deductive reasoning by Kepler, Lavoisier,
Davy and others, having as its basis classification,
generalisation, and law. Next follows a fairly de-
tailed study of the phlogistic theory, giving an
excellent summary of the views held by the phlogis-

tonists. Here Cavendish’s reasons for his choice of
the terminology of the phlogistic theory might
with advantage have been inserted. Examples of

Lavoisier’s and Stas’s work, and of Morley’s
thesis of water are given to illustrate the basis on

syn-

which the doctrine of the ‘* conservation of mass”
is founded. But laws may be of two kinds, exact
and approximate; the difference is illustrated by

Boyle’s law and van der Waals’s improved form. We
do not notice, the remark that van der
Waals’s formula itself is only a rough approximation
to the expression of the behaviour of gases under
high pressures. Landolt’s experiments, which may
be now accepted as a proof of the accuracy of the
constancy of mass, are cited; the reviewer does not
know if Landolt has published the fact that his doubts
disappeared only after he had used silica instead of
glass vessels.

Affinity is the subject of the next historical sketch;
here the views of Bergmann and Berthollet are very
well summarised; and this naturally leads to the
conception of fixed ratios by Proust, and the succeed-
ing work of Dalton and Berzelius, with reference to
the ideas contended for by Laurent.

The author now harks back to theories of matter,
taking up the subject ,at its earliest start in India
and Greece. The speculations of Bacon, Descartes,
Gassendi, and Boyle are described, generally in their
own words. Next follows a full account of Dalton’s
atomic hypothesis, of Gay-Lussac’s law of volumes,
and of Avogadro’s generalisation. Berzelius’s atti-
tude towards the rival views is explained, and a clear
account is given of the veteran Cannizzaro’s suc-
cessful attempt to obtain full recognition of the justice
of Avogadro’s views, so long overlooked. The deter-
mination of atomic weight by means of specific heat,
and an excellent account of Mitscherlich’s work and its
latest development by Retgers (this last, so far as the
reviewer knows, has not previously been accessible
except in original papers), complete this part of the

however,

subject. The periodic arrangement of the elements,
and its bearing on the determination of atomic

weights, leads naturally to a consideration of the
doctrine of valency, and Miss Freund has not omitted
to state the attempts which have been made to re-
present valency in terms of the electronic theory. A
chapter on isomerism follows, and the concluding
chapter treats of the constitution of matter and the
genesis of the elements.

From this sketch it will be seen that Miss Freund
has brought together, in a compact form, a great
deal of interesting matter. She has quoted freely
from the authors whose views she presents, and, on

NOVEMLEK 23, 1005]

NATURE 75

the whole, with great judgment. The worl: is pro-
fessedly a compilation, but it is a compilation by one
who knows the subject. It would perhaps have been
too much to expect that independent opinion on the
many matters discussed should have been expressed,
but we are at least put in possession of many views
in an interesting and readable ferm. The
should be read by all advanced students of chemistry.
W. R:

work

THE KEW INDEX OCF FLOWERING
Index Kewensis Plantarum
plementum Secundum,
omnium generum et specierum
MDCCCXCIVI usque ad finem
complectens. Ductu et consilio W.
Dyer confecerunt herbarii horti regii botanici
Kewensis curatores. Leucocoryne—Zygostates et
emendanda addenda. Pp. 105-204. (Oxford :

Clarendon Press, 1905.) Price 12s. net.

HE second and concluding part of supplement ii.
of the *t Index Kewensis’’ follows quickly on
the first. This means that we now have a list of
the names and synonyms of genera and species of
flowering plants published from the foundation of
binominal nomenclature to the end of 1900—complete
except for a serious gap in supplement i. represent-
ing the last third of the alphabet for the years 1886—
1895. Three parts of the first supplement appeared
between September, 1rg01, and November, 1903; the
fourth is therefore much overdue. Its delay is the
more to be regretted as the period with which it is
concerned was one of considerable activity in
systematic botany, including, for example, the great
development of the Berlin school under Dr. Engler’s
direction. It is to be hoped that the completion of
this portion of the work, for which Kew is not re-
sponsible, will soon be announced.

The best way to appreciate the Kew index is to
call to mind the time before its appearance, when
getting at the origin of a name meant often a long
book-hunt, and sometimes a remarkable revelation of
the wonderful and remote places in which it was
possible to publish names, such, for instance, as the
Melbourne Chemist and Druggist, in which, if we
remember rightly, some species were published by
the late Baron von Mueller. These literary researches
were often extremely interesting, but they were not
botany, and a failure by some botanists to realise their
importance often caused worry and inconvenience to
subsequent workers. In passing, we may note a
feature of the index to which reference was made at
the conference on nomenclature at Vienna last June.
It was pointed out that the list of names of genera
which a large majority of members agreed must be
retained, even though they were not the earliest pub-
lished names, departed very little from the names
recognised in the index—it might even have been
possible to have taken the index as a starting point.

The present number makes quite interesting read-
ing, for it marks in a striking way the progress: of
systematic botany during the five years under con-

NO. 1882, vor. 73]

PLANTS.
Phanerogamarum; Sup-

et synonyma
ab initio anni
annt MDCCCC

T. Thiselton-

nomina

sideration. Africa, especially tropical Africa, has
afforded much material for work, as evidenced by
parts of the Kew Floras, the catalogue of Dr.

Welwitsch’s Angolan plants, and other publications
in this country; and the numerous papers on African
botany issued from Berlin. The completion of the
‘* Flora of British India ’’ is chronicled by
citations in various genera of grasses; and there js also
ample indication of the of North American
botanists in working out their flora. Here and there
is evidence of an important monograph, as that of
Bromeliacee by Dr. Mez, or cf Monimiaceze by Miss
Perkins, in a list of new combinations or
reductions. Some entries under a quaint or unfamiliar
name form a record of antiquarian research and love
of priority; such, for instance, are those under
Sitanion, a name of Rafinesque which antedates the
well known Elymus; these names are promptly re-
duced to synonymy. It is, however, not always so
easy to follow the reductions. For instance, American
botanists seem generally agreed that Lewisia, a genus
founded by Pursh, must be restored for certain species
of Calandrinia; but the index quotes them only as
synonyms, referring them back to Calandrinia. In
looking down the columns one is struck by the large
number of personal species-names, which seems to
indicate a want of imagination on the part of some
authors; thus nineteen out of forty-two new species
of Polygala, and thirteen of twenty-two of Lissochilus,
have names recalling the person who first collected
or was in some way or other associated with the
plant. A few omissions might be noted, though that
has probably been done already by those concerned.
A curious citation is given, under Peperomia and
Panicum, of two species from Dr. Andrews’s Christ-
mas Island monograph.

In conclusion, we would express the hope that the
record of the next five years, now nearly ended, may
be available at as short an interval as possible.

ACB:

OUR BOOK SIIELF.

Sugar and the Sugar Cane. By Noél
Vili + 395 + XIX. (Altrincham: Norman
1905.) Price 7s. 6d. net

So many effects have sendy been ascribed by poli-
ticians and journalists to the Brussels Sugar Con-
vention, that one hesitates to add to its account: the
recent large output of sugar-cane literature in this
country, but there can be little doubt that the brighter
prospects which the Convention seemed to promise
sugar-cane planters has encouraged publication on
this subject, and hence the issue, within the com-
paratively short space of three years, of four books,
in English, dealing with the cultivation of the sugar
cane or of the production of sugar therefrom.

There was, of course, much leeway to make up,
since the interesting and important results achieved
during recent years as the result of the cultural ex-
periments carried on in British Guiana, the West
Indies, Mauritius, Hawaii, Java, Queensland, India,
and elsewhere were for the most part only available
in the uninviting form of Government reports, and
similarly there existed no general and concise account
of the improvements recently brought about in the
; machinery used in sugar factories.

numerous

activity

species,

Deerr. Pp.
Rodger,

NATURE

| NOVEMBER 23, 1905

Mr. Deerr sets out with the object of ‘‘ presenting
in one consecutive whole a general view of the cane
sugar industry,’’ and it may be said at once that he
achieves this object fairly successfully.

The arrangement of the volume coincides with the
sequence of operations in the production of sugar,
the earlier chapters dealing with such subjects
as cane varieties, cultivation, influence of soil and
climate, manuring and so on, and the later chapters
with the harvesting of the cane, its transport to the
factory, the extraction of the sugar, processes for the
preparation of the commercial varieties of sugar, the
disposal of molasses, the analysis of sugar products,
and so on.

The objection might be made that
later chapters, notably those relating to the use of
the polariscope, the estimation of ‘ glucose,’’? and
the analysis of sugar-cane products are not sufficiently
detailed to enable a novice to carry out the operations
described, and yet are so full as to be tedious to any-
one merely desirous of grasping the general principles
upon which the processes are based.

The book will, however, be found useful by
planters and sugar-estate managers who desire to be
au courant with the progress made on the scientific
side of their industry.

The volume is well illustrated—in this connection
particular mention may be made of the coloured
plates showing stems of some of the principal varie-
ties o is remarkably free from
errors, which is seein ‘to be attributed to the fact
that the bool ‘‘ was seen through the press ’’ by the
publisher, Mr. Norman Rodger.

My Strange Pets, and other
iene bya Ree belleiap:
Blackwood and Sons, 1905.) Price 6s.

““Tr is well known that the emu is a native of

Australia, where on its vast plains they might have

been seen in vast numbers ’’ (p. 2). “The kick of

an emu is a serious if not a dangerous one.

When sporting they spring up in the air, kicking side-

ways.’’ Sentences like the above occurring close

together at the beginning of a volume, and followed
later by others of the same type, make one wonder
whether the publishers or their printers keep a proof-
reader on their establishments. But grammatical
slips of this nature-are not the only faults by which
the work is disfigured, and the classically educated
reader will scz arcely fail to experience a severe mental
shock when he finds the statement on p. 51 that

““*Jemur,’ in the language of Madagascar, means

“night-wandering ghost.’ ”’

Apart, however, from blemishes, Mr. Bell’s book
contains much interesting information with regard to
the ways of many kinds of foreign creatures—from
emus and rheas to jerboas and snakes—in confine-
ment, accompanied by valuable hints as to the best
manner of keeping them in health. The author,
indeed, claims to have been the first to breed emus
in Scotland, and it is perhaps a little characteristic
of his nationality to find that the experiment under-
taken for amusement turned out a financial success.
The subject of foreign ‘‘ pets’? forms, however, only
a portion of the volume, and the author records a
number of more or less commonplace observations
regarding the animals of his own country. As he
appears to be an experienced angler, the statement
of his disbelief in the theory that fresh-run salmon
never habitually feed while in the rivers is worthy
the best attention of the officials of the Scotch Salmon-
Fishery Commission. ‘

Throughout his life the author appears to have been
‘specially interested in travelling menageries, and in

NO. 1892, VOL, 73]

some of these

Memories of Country
vi+308. (Edinburgh :

a chapter on this subject he reproduces a long extract
from the Scotsman of April 10, 1872, describing the
sale of Wombwell’s menagerie in that year. In this
extract Wombwell is stated to have purchased the
first rhinoceros and the first pair of giraffes ever
imported into this country. As regards the former
animal this statement is not strictly true, as witness
the Indian rhinoceros described by Dr. Parsons in
the early days of the Royal Society. If the state-
ment with regard to giraffes be trustw orthy, the fact
has been generally overlooked by writers, George the
Fourth’s giraffe, received in 1827, and the four young
animals obtained by the London Zoological Society
in 1836, being generally regarded as the earliest
importations. “Wombwell” s giraffes, it is stated, died
before they were publicly exhibited. Although con-
taining little that is absolutely new, the book is dis-
tinctly readable and entertaining. Rees

Simple Lessons on Health for the Use of the Young.

By Sir Michael Foster, K.C.B., M.P., &c. Pp.
vii+114. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.;
New York: The Macmillan Company, 1905.)
Price 1s.

Many writers have tried their hands at the produc-
tion of a small worl which shall suitably present to
a child’s mind those elementary facts of healthy living
which, as now generally recognised, should form an
essential part of. education; but it must be said that
hitherto no one has w holly succeeded. Many have
failed from an unnecessary elaboration of scientific
detail, and others from a faulty presentation of the
subject-matter.

Sir Michael Foster’s manual makes no pretence at
covering the whole of the necessary ground. He
makes it clear in the preface that his object is to
show how the reasons for some of the rules which
ought to guide us in the physical conduct of life
may be explained even to the very young. The sub-
jects dealt with are :—fresh air, food and drink, light
and cleanliness. The physiological basis of certain
health principles could not be more happily expressed ;
but as to how the individual can best meet -his
hygienic needs in his daily life and circumstance the
writer has little—far too littlek—to say. With this
reservation it may be said that Sir Michael Foster’s
little book is a model of what simple lessons on
health to the young should be, and that, as an illus-
tration of how these matters should be presented to
young children, it is unequalled by any other book
with which we are acquainted. For this reason, if
for no other, all those who are likely to have the
important duty cast upon them of instructing the
young on these vital matters should carefully study
its simple, clear, and wholly satisfactory method of
treatment.

Actualités scientifiques. By Max de Nansouty.
365. (Paris: Schleicher Fréres, 1905.)
frances.

Sucu a collection of short readings in French as is
here provided will prove of service to young students
of science who are either learning French or are
desirous of keeping up their knowledge of the
language by reading which will not take them far
from their serious work in science. There are eighty-
four popular essays, each of three or four pages,
divided into seven groups dealing respectively with
physics and chemistry, astronomy. and meteorology,
electricity and its applications, agriculture, hygiene,
psychology and physiology, and applied sciences.

The volume may appeal to a few general readers
interested in popular accounts of progress in pure
and applied science There are no illustrations.

Pp.
Price 3.50

NOVEMBER 23, 1905]

NABORE,

at

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions
expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake
to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected
manuscripts intended for this or any other part of Nature.
No notice is taken of anonymous communications. |

The British Association and our Colonies.

Tuat four hundred members of the British Association
have recently visited the principal places of interest in
South Africa, that they have been the recipients of magnifi-
cent hospitalities, that they have read papers and discussed
points of importance bearing upon the development of

African colonies, are facts well known to the reading
public. Although so much has been written and said about

what the association has done, but little has been con-
jectured as to possible outcomes from this remarkable
excursion. To many the expedition may appear as a
gigantic ‘‘ picnic,’ the members participating in which
have had a hurried glance at Africa and have returned
with that modicum of knowledge which is proverbially
regarded as dangerous. If, however, we turn to a list
of the names of those who were members of the association
party, and observe that it includes those of recognised
leaders in science, literature, and in a variety of pro-
fessions, casual conclusions of this nature are at once
dispelled. What is realised instead is that South Africa
has been visited by a number of specialists whose services
are frequently retained by Governments and corporate
bodies. No doubt these gentlemen have learned much,
but it is difficult to imagine that they left South Africa
without leaving some small return. Now that they are
back in Britain it is tolerably certain that they have
brought with them opinions bearing upon railways, mines,
agriculture, emigration, and on other matters connected
with the development of South Africa, all of which will
command attention. A well known eastern country which
sends its experts to exploit the western world attains a
similar end by systematised departmental methods.

The benefits of greatest importance, however, may be the
resultant of personal and friendly relationships which have
been established between leading men of science and prac-
tical workers in two related countries. These relation-
ships should stimulate reciprocity, remove misconceptions,
and pave the way to cooperation in various directions.
Regarded from this point of view, it is difficult to escape
from the conclusion that the meeting of the British
Association in South Africa has played an important part
in strengthening a union between a parent and its off-
spring.

Should views of this description meet favour, it remains
for members of the British Association and others to
consider the possibility of extending the work of such
national importance. One method by which this might be
attained would be the organisation of an_intercolonial
meeting of the British Association. The difficulties con-
nected with the organisation of such a convention, say in
London, to be supplemented by visits to various centres
in Britain, to which representatives and visitors from over-
sea connections should be invited, have already been in-
formally discussed by home and colonial members of the
British Association. They do not appear to be insuper-
able, and it may be anticipated that such an undertaking
would meet with national approval and support. i

Joun MILNE.

The Stone Age of the Zambesi Valley, and its
Relation in Time.

Apove and below the Victoria Falls stone implements
are present in profusion, both in the river gravels on the
highest margins of the Zambesi valley and also spread
broadcast, along with rolled gravel, on the basalt plat-
forms of the ancient river channel below the Victoria
Falls. Stone implements are also found in abundance
along the highest banks of the Zambesi below the present
falls, at the junction of the ‘‘ desert sands’’ and the
underlying basalts. (I use the term ‘‘ desert sands,’’ for,
though its surfaces are now wooded, it has been deposited
under A®olian desert conditions.) At the base of these

NO, 1882, vol. 73]

“ desert sands,’’? which form the highest margin of the
old Zambesi valley below the present falls, and resting:
immediately on the basalt platform, are horizontal beds
of chalcedony, ferruginous sandstone, and quartzite sand-
stone: these are certainly the products, and have been
formed at the base of the ‘‘ desert sands.”

These ‘‘ desert sands,’’ which occur on both sides of the
Zambesi valley, I was able to examine for some distance
below the Victoria Falls. They are of considerable thick-
ness, at places fifty, sixty, and perhaps a hundred feet in
depth. The railway from the falls to Bulawayo passes
through these sands, and good sections are to be met with.
There are no stone implements, pebbles, or stone of
any description to be found throughout their entire struc-
ture until we reach the very bottom, where the horizontal
beds of chalcedony, ferruginous sandstone, &c., rest m situ
on the basalts. he chalcedony layer varies in thickness
from a few inches to two feet or more. I may here re-
mark that the majority of the implements are made of
chalcedony; likewise to a great extent are the pebbly
gravels of the river, both above and below the Victoria
Falls. Of the thousands of implements and rolled pebbles
that I handled, very few were made of any other substance
but the rocks that lie at the base of the ‘* desert sands,”
and I did not find a single implement made of basalt or
dolerite. The quarries of the prehistoric men were the
beds that lie at the base of the ‘* desert sands,’’ and when
they were fashioning their implements along the horizon
of the chalcedony formation there can be no doubt that the
Zambesi was flowing at their feet, a smooth and noble
stream, precisely as it flows now through the “ desert
sands *’ above the present falls, and the basalt and dolerite
platforms were sunk under the waters of the river.

The evidences that the river gravels and included imple-
ments now resting upon the basalt platforms below the
Victoria Falls were deposited by the Zambesi when it
flowed at a height of 400 feet or 500 feet above its present
level are as follows :—Above the Victoria Falls, on the left
bank of the river, near the ferry to Livingstone Island,
the river gravels are well in evidence. They consist of
rounded pebbles of chalcedony, quartzites, and various.
other rocks; the contained implements are more or less
water-worn, and of the same character as those in the
gravels below the Victoria Falls. I took from this horizon
implements of Paleolithic type.

When we pass below the Victoria Falls to the Rain
Forest, we can realise without doubt that the Zambesi
once flowed over this area, and that its southern cliff must
once have been the falls of the river. In the water-worn
gullies of the Rain Forest implements and rounded pebbles
are to be found of the same character as those in the
beds above the Victoria Falls; they must have been de-
posited there by the river when the Rain Forest area
formed part of its bed. When we travel further down the
course of the old river-bed we find on the platforms and
promontories of the basalt, now eroded by deep lateral
ravines, which overlook the zigzags of the canon, where
the Zambesi rushes 400 feet below, deposits of implement-
bearing gravel. We cannot therefore escape from the
conclusion that these implements and pebbles were de-
posited there by the Zambesi when it flowed over these
surfaces prior to the excavation of the chasm. From these
surfaces I took implements some of which, if found in
Europe, would be called typical Paleolithic types.

If I am correct in my observations as to the method
of deposition of these implements, we may be satisfied
that an immense period of time has elapsed since Palazo-
lithic man lived on the banks of the Zambesi. We cannot
at present measure that period by our chronological record,
but we may be satisfied that man lived there when the
Zambesi below the Victoria Falls flowed 500 feet above its
present level, and before its waters had carved out through
hard basaltic beds the wonderful chasm that now extends
for forty miles below the Victoria Falls. Perhaps
geologists may in the future be able to arrive at some
trustworthy conclusions as to the rate of retrocession of
the falls of the Zambesi, and the carving out of its chasm,
which would give a more or less accurate determination
of the period when primzval man occupied the Zambesi
valley. At present we can only say that a great lapse of
time must have occurred; but this deduction, being based

78

NATORE

| NovEMBER 23, 1905

on recognisable geological factors, namely, the wearing
out of the eneoae of the Zambesi and the retrocession of
its falls; we have an advance in our positive knowledge as

to the remote age of the Palzolithic stone implement beds |

of South Neriaas H. W. FEILpEN.

Terminology in Electrophysiology.

Taine the diagram given by Dr. Fraser Harris (p. 5),
all writers will agree with him that A is positive plate
and negative pole, and I believe that the use of the word

““zincative ’’ has gone some way to promoting this agree-
ment.
Dr. Harris goes on to say that no loophole for confusion

could be left if the qualifying words externally or internally
were added, by stating, e.g., that A is internally electro-
positive to B and externally electronegative to B.

I find three objections to this suggested clarification :—
(1) The expressions thus qualified are .cumbrous, and must
infallibly become abbreviated in current language by
omission of the qualifying words.

(2) The expression ‘‘ externally electronegative
dicts the conventional use of the word “‘ electronegative
which is attached to the plate and not to the pole.

(3) There is no provision for the complementary qualifi-
cation to denote that a tissue is capable of being aroused
to electromotive action, i.e. capable of being rendered
zincative, 1.e. zincable.

I freely admit that this convenient jargon offends the
ear while arousing the understanding. I will gladly bury
the words ‘‘ zincative’’ and ‘‘ zincable’’ when they have
fully served their purpose as danger-signals that confusion
is possible; but until we have agreed that active tissue
shall be called ‘* externally or galvanome strically negative ”
or ‘internally electropositive ? I do not think loopholes
for confusion have been closed. I should be satisfied with
the old external word “‘ negative *’ if it did not involve the
conception of an internal ‘ propagation of a wave of
negativity,’’ and the occasional misstatement that a wave
of electronegativity is propagated through nerve and muscle.
I should be glad to say that A is electropositive to B if
I were not convinced that the prefix ‘‘ electro ’’ would be
occasionally dropped to the further confusion of the reader
accustomed to be told that A was (externally) negative.

So that, en attendant mieux, in order that there may be
no confusion as to my own meaning that A is externally
negative and internally positive, I say that A is like zinc
or zineative. The parable, if there be parable, is intended
to point out and avoid a confusion, but there appears to
be an unfortunate tendency to confuse an indication of
confusion with an introduction of confusion.

The physicist does not help us much. When he has
appreciated the ambiguity ef our physiological language,
which is of physical origin, he supposes it to be no more
than another case of the ambiguity familiar to us in the
naming of accumulator poles, where, in order to avoid the
perplexities that would arise from calling the same plate
positive during charge and negative during discharge, the
convention has become accepted always to call positive
the plate that is connected with the positive pole of the
charging battery or dynamo.

Our trouble is that there is among physiologists no
accepted clear convention analogous with this convenient
custom of miscalling the positive plate of an accumulator
in a perfectly intelligible manner. Therefore again, when
it seems particularly desirable to indicate seat of activity
and direction of current internally as well as externally
I still say ‘‘ zincative’’ in order that there may be no
mistake of meaning. A. D. Watter.

*” contra-

”

Botu Dr. Harris (p. 5) and Prof. MacDonald (p. 28)
somewhat misrepresent the use by physicists of the signs
+ and —. As applied to a closed circuit they are purely
relative, each point being simultaneously positive to all
points on one side of it and negative to all those on the
other. The-confusion arises from the fact that terms
belonging properly to electrostatics were adopted long ago
in describing the phenomena of the galvanic battery.

It is impossible to define direction in a circle—or any
closed circuit—with less than four points—one lying in a

NO. 1882, VOL. 73]

different plane from the other three. In a circle drawn on
paper, one of these is given, namely, the position of the
observer behind or in front of the paper. If we put two
others on the circle there is still ambiguity, for we may
go from + to — in either direction, as in the armature
coils of a dynamo; but with the use of three symbols the
ambiguity vanishes. Thus abc, bca, cab indicate one direc-
tion, and cha, ach, bac indicate the other. As with formula
containing an asymmetric carbon, the enantiomorph is
given by turning the diagram over.

In diagrams “of electric circuits some portion of the
apparatus, either the source of E.M.F. or the place where
it is being used, is tacitly taken as the third symbol, and
the signs + and — put on either side of it to indicate
which way the current flows. Dr. * Waller’s word
““zincative,’? to anyone who knows how zinc behaves,
indicates without possibility of error the direction of the
current across the region that generates it, and the elec-
trically-minded student may trace its course thence by
arrows, remembering that while the circuit is closed the
tail of each arrow is positive to its head, but directly the
circuit is broken the whole of the side that ends with a
head is positive to the whole of the side that ends with
a tail.

To the physicist the terminology formerly used by physio-
logists was most confusing—in my own case it conveyed
an entirely wrong impression until I had made an experi-
ment with my own hands. It is most desirable that the
anomaly should be removed, and in my opinion it may
best be done by dropping the unsuitable terms positive and
negative, and saying either that current flows from the
more active to the less active part of a tissue or that the
one is zincative to the other. GeorGE J. Burcu.

University College, Reading, November 11.

Action of Radium Salts on Gelatin,

On continuing the experiments detailed in Nature of
October 26, I found that lead and strontium salts pro-
duced the same results upon gelatin as was the case with
radium, but the strontium ‘* growths’ were much less
vigorous than the others.

On considering the results, it is seen that the metals
named are those which form insoluble sulphates, and it
occurred to the writer that the ‘‘ growths ’’ were simply
a precipitate of some insoluble body formed by the action
of the salts used upon the gelatin.

Various solutions of bouillon
pared, and to each were added a few drops
of radium or barium or lead salts, with the
in each case a precipitate was obtained which on careful
examination was found to consist of a sulphate, or at
all events an insoluble compound, containing sulphur.

The precipitate produced by the radium salt was tested
to see whether it was in any way different from that pro-
duced by the barium salt, but, with the exception that
it was radio-active, it appeared to be similar in all respects.
It was insoluble in strong acids, and gave a sulphide on
fusion with sodium carbonate on charcoal, and qualitatively
contained no other metal than barium.

In making the experiments, a few drops of the gelatin
were placed on a glass slide, and particles of radium and
barium salts added as described in the last communication.
The ‘‘ growths’’ appeared. Some solution of barium
nitrate or radium salt was now added to the liquefied jelly.

The usual precipitate appeared, and this was filtered off
through a porous tube. The clear jelly was now tested
with radium and other salts, and no growth could be seen
even after seven days.
I think this proves very conclusively what the alleged
growths ’’ are, viz. that they are nothing more than
finely divided precipitates of insoluble barium salts. I
have examined these precipitates with the highest micro-
scopic power at my disposal, and cannot, in any case,
perceive that there is anything of the nature of cell division
occurring.

Of course, many pairs of particles may be found, but
the grouping must be purely fortuitous.

As there is only a limited amount of matter in the
gelatin which can be precipitated by the radium, a con-
centration occurs at the point of contact of the salt with

and gelatin were pre-
of solution

result that

a

23)

NOVEMBER 1905 |

NATURE 79

the gelatin, and then a slow diffusion of the remaining salt
takes place downwards, and this might give rise to the idea
that the thing was really growing.
W. A. Doucias Rupce.
Woodbridge School, Suffolls.

The Spectrum of the Positive Rays (Canal-Strahlen

ys

In former publications (Ann. d. Phys., vol. Xiv., p. 524
1904; vol. xvi., p. 490, 1905; ‘‘ Die Elektrizitat in Gasen,’
Leipzig, 1902, pp- 446, 457) I have expressed the opinion
that the carrier of the line spectrum of a chemical element
is the positive atom-ion, while, on the other hand, the band
spectrum is due to the re-combination of positive atom-ions
with negative electrons. From this it would follow that
the particles of the positive rays (being positive atom-ions)
should emit the line spectrum of the gas in which they
are produced. Moreover, since these particles possess a
considerable velocity, their spectrum lines, observed in the
direction of the rays, should have a position and breadth
differing from the position and breadth when the
lines are observed in a direction normal to the rays.
Again, since the positive rays ionise the gas traversed by
them, re-combination of positive and negative ions must
take place in their path; the gas traversed by the positive
rays must therefore emit the band spectrum, which will
be superposed on the line spectrum due to the positive rays
themselves. The lines of the band spectrum must have
the same position whether they are observed in the direc-
tion of the positive rays or in a direction at right angles
to them, inasmuch as their carriers do not possess the
velocity of- the positive rays.

I now state briefly the results of an experimental spectro-
graphic examination of the light emitted by a gas traversed
by positive rays. (1) Nitrogen shows simultaneously the
band and the line spectrum, hydrogen shows simultaneously
the series spectrum (Ha, HB, ..) and the many lines
spectrum. (2) The line spectrum emitted normally to the
positive rays and the line spectrum emitted in the direction
ef the rays are different; the former shows in hydrogen
sharp lines of the known wave-length, while the latter
shows these ‘‘ stationary ’’ lines, and besides them, on their
ultra-violet side, new widened lines (‘* displaced ’’ lines).
(3) This displacement is greater when the velocity of the
positive rays is greater. (4) The lines of the band spectrum
(many lines spectrum) have the same position and breadth
whether they are observed in the direction of the positive
rays or in a direction at right angles to them. A full
account of the investigation will be published shortly.

Gottingen, November 3. J. Stark.

Replicas of Diffraction Gratings.

Kinpty allow me to correct a statement contained in
your notice of Mr. R. J. Wallace’s replicas of diffraction
gratings in your issue of November 2 (vol. Ixxiii. p. 21).

It is there stated, as also in the Astrophysical Journal
from which the extract was taken, that I first flood the
grating with oil in my method of producing replicas. This
I may say I have never done except when making experi-
ments, my procedure being exactly the same as Mr.
Wallace’s, viz. to flood the grating direct with the clarified
celluloid solution, dry it in much the same way, but using
special precautions to ensure perfectly even drying, stripping
and mounting in a similar manner to Mr. Wallace, but
leaving out the gelatin coating, which in my opinion is
quite unnecessary.

I.beg to enclose you one of Mr. Wallace's first quality
(average) replicas, kindly sent to me by him in exchange
for one of my own, as also a couple of mine for comparison.
The great difference to be noted in their surfaces and per-
formance is due to the peculiarities in the surfaces of the
criginal gratings, one of my own replicas having a bright-
ness in the first spectrum on one side of at least four times
that of the other, and twice that of Mr. Wallace’s replica.
_ The grating from which the very bright replica is taken
is a “ Rowland ”’ of 14,438 lines to the inch, and was
formerly the property of the late Dr. Common. The
original of the other is a very beautiful specimen of recent
work on the Rowland engine, 15,038 lines to the inch.
Now, whilst the latter when mounted on parallel plane glass

No. 1882, VoL. 73]

gives comparatively feeble spectra, when mounted on prisms
for direct-vision purposes, and tilting the prism to the
angle required for the minimum deviation for the diffrac-
tion spectrum, first order, the brightness approaches that
from the ‘‘Common”’ grating, whilst its much greater
freedom from scattered light renders it very suitable for
prominence and similar work, the dispersion being about
equal to five 60° flint glass prisms in the centre of the
spectrum, and decidedly greater at the red end.

This increase of brightness is, of course, attributable to
the form of the grooves, less interference being produced
under the latter condition, and this notwithstanding the
increase in dispersion.

It may be of interest to some to know that I have
succeeded in mounting these grating films on a perfectly
flattened ring of glass, so that, by avoiding the use of
glass as a base, light of very short wave-length can be
examined by this means, either in the one case by trans-
mission to about A 2600 or by reflection to as low as
r 1850, and possibly lower. (The discovery of this re-
flective property for ultra-violet light was made by Mr.
Morris-Airey, of the Victoria University, last year.) In
order to examine by reflection either a partial vacuum is
created behind the film when mounted on a glass ring or
the film is mounted on a concave surface, which, although
not giving the lines of the grating their true form, gives
very fair resolution.

1 have also succeeded in making concave replicas prac-
tically as perfect as plane ones, by rotating the grating
during the drying process at such a rate that the para-
boloidal curvature of the solution was practically the same
as that of the grating. Anyway, the difference is so slight
that when dry no rings can be seen on examining it by
monochromatic light before the film is stripped from the
grating. The difficulty of silvering these replicas satis-
factorily has, however, prevented further progress, for the
present at least.

In justice to Mr. Wallace I ought to say that, in a reply
to a letter from me, he states he obtained his information
from a patent I once took out in connection with the
application of these grating replicas to colour photography ;
but the method there described is not the one I have
adopted in making my replicas.

Tuomas THorRP.
Whitefield, near Manchester, November 6.

Tue article referred to by Mr. Thorp was, as mentioned
in its first two lines, simply a résumé of Mr. Wallace’s
article in the Astrophysical Journal; and the statement
corrected by Mr. Thorp was taken from that journal. It
may be said, however, that the three gratings sent by
Mr. Thorp have been compared, under similar conditions,
and the results are in full accordance with the descriptions
given above.

The second ‘‘ Thorp ”’ replica (15,120 lines) is a beautiful
specimen in appearance, having none of the mottling which
appears on the 14,438-line copy, but its first-order spectra
are excelled in brightness by the first-order spectrum on
one side of the latter, which is a similar replica to those
that have produced such remarkably good results in eclipse
and other observations when attached to just an ordinary
hand-camera or a simple modification thereof.

Tue WRITER OF THE NOTICE.

Aurora of Novembrsr 15.

Awn extraordinary aurora was seen here on November 15
at 6 p.m., in appearance something like a “‘ stormy ”
sunset. The lower part of the aurora was illumined with
a bluish-green light, and had an altitude at the centre of
about 10°. Above this, extending for a further ten cr
fifteen degrees, the sky was brilliantly illuminated with
streamers of a rosy red colour. I did not wait for its
disappearance, but at 9.30 p.m. red streamers were visible
in the N.N.W.

I looked for the Leonids this morning continuously from
1.20 to 2.35 from the vantage ground of. the Dartmoor
hills (1500 feet). I saw only one Leonid at 2.30, but
the moon would prevent small ones being seen. The night
was perfectly clear. Row tanp /. Earp.

Buckfastleigh, S. Devon, November 16.

80

NATURE

[NOVEMBER 23. 1905

TRAVELLING this evening between Plymouth and Exeter,
I pulled the screens over the light in my compartment to
enjoy the moonlight, and was rewarded by seeing a fine
display of aurora borealis, which was, I hope, witnessed
by some other of your readers.

“Between 9 p.m. and 9.30 p.m., when near Totnes, there
was a bright flattened arch near the northern horizon, with
white streamers rising from it at intervals, and very bright
patches of rose-red, extending from north-east to north-
west, and passing nearly overhead. At 9.15 one of these
patches, on the right of the Great Bear, was a veritable
*‘ pillar of flame,’’ and was more remarkable because of
its contrast to the moonlight, which was very brilliant.

I think I am right in saying that a similar display
has not been seen in the south of England for twenty-five
or thirty years, and the last ‘‘ rose-red’’ display that I
ean remember was in 1870. R. Lancton Cove.

November 15.

1

O* June 3, visitation day at the Royal Observatory,

Greenwich, the editor, who is a member of the
board of visitors, asked me to write an account of my
researches on the moon for Nature. I delayed doing
this tor a few months in order to render my account
more complete.

The moon’s longitude contains about 150, and the
latitude about roo, inequalities over o’.1. The argu-
ments of these inequalities, and the mean longitude
of the moon, require a knowledge of three angles
connected with the moon, viz. the moon’s mean
longitude, the mean longitude of perigee, and the
mean longitude of the node. The other angles in-
volved in the arguments define the position of the sun,
planets, the solar perigee, &c., and their values are
to be determined from other observations than those
of the moon.

The problem that I have had in view, therefore, is
to determine the values of three angles as functions
of the time, and to give a list of some 250 inequalities
in all as accurately as possible.

Before the time of Newton, this was clearly the
only way the problem of the moon’s motion could be
attacked, only the limit worked to was then more
nearly 500” than o!.1. Since the time of Newton, the
method has been almost entirely abandoned. Many
mathematicians have attempted to calculate how the
moon ought to move; the comparison between its
observed and theoretical course has been rough in the
extreme. No attempt has been made to verify from
observation the coefficients of those inequalities for
which a theoretical value had been calculated; observ-
ation has merely been required to furnish values for
those constants which are theoretically arbitrary, and,
as I shall show, the determination of these constants
has often been rendered less accurate than was
necessary by the tacit assumption that all theoretical
terms had been accurately computed.

My point of view, as I have said, is that which was
necessarily the only one before the time of Newton.
Let us consider the application of this most ancient
of all methods to the time when no observations were
possible except a record of eclipses.

The two principal inequalities of the moon’s longi-
tude are ’

22640" sin g+4586" sin (2D—g),

where g is the mean anomaly and D the mean
elongation of the moon. Whenever the moon is
either new or full, 2D =o; at such times, therefore, the
two inequalities are indistinguishable from a single
inequality

22640" — 4586” = 18054" sin g.
The *‘ evection,’’ as the smaller inequality is called,
could evidently not have been discovered until the

No. 1882, VOL. 73]

| dividual observations.

moon was observed near its quarters; moreover, a
correct value of the eccentricity of the moon’s orbit
could never have then been obtained. On the other
hand, so long as the sole object of astronomers was
to obtain places of the new and full moons it did
not matter whether the two inequalities were separ-
ated or not. Roughly speaking, material of a limited
class is always good enough for generalisations con-
fined to the same class; it is unsafe to extend the
generalisation to a wider class, as in this instance it
would be wrong to predict for the quarters of the
moon from the formula 18054” sin g.

When we have an extended series of observations
and wish to determine whether a term x sinat
runs through the errors, and, if so, to determine x, the
theory of least squares directs us to multiply each
error by sin at and add. But before equating

x= sin? at=e sin at

we must pause and consider whether there may not be
some other error y sin Bt running through the observ-
ations such that

y= sin at sin Bt is not zero.

Now an interfering term of this sort may arise in
two ways:—(1) B& may differ so little from « that
throughout the whole series of observations the differ-
ence between at and St does not take indiscriminately
all values from 0° to 360°; (2) the difference between
at and St may be exactly equal to the mean elongation
of the moon, in which case, since the observations
are not uniformly distributed round the month, the
two inequalities are liable to be confounded, just as
the elliptic inequality and the evection were con-
founded in the early days of astronomy. Interference
of the first kind can be eliminated by sufficiently
extending the series of observations, but no amount
of observations will obtain a correct result in the
second case if the mathematical point is overlooked.

As a result of attending carefully to these consider-
ations, I have succeeded in obtaining practically the
same value of the eccentricity of the moon’s orbit
from two different series of observations compared
with two different systems of tabular places. Hansen
and Airy have given values of the same quantity
differing by more than one second of arc. For the
same reason, the value of the parallactic inequality
of the moon obtained by me corresponds closely with
the value of the solar parallax obtained in other ways.
The consideration neglected by Airy in this case was
the possibility of error in the tabular semi-diameter.

I have determined from the observations the
coefficient of every term the coefficient of which was
known to exceed o'.1. This constitutes, as I have
said, the solution of the problem of the moon, as it
presented itself before the time of Newton. It forms,
too, the proper basis for comparing observation with
theory. Previously the only thing known about the
vast majority of terms was that whereas the apparent
errors of Airy’s tabular places frequently exceeded
20", those of Hansen’s seldom differed from the mean
of neighbouring observations by so much as 5", a
quantity that might be attributed to errors of observ-
ation entirely. When, however, Newcomb in 1876
came to re-determine the value of the moon’s eccen-
tricity (in his immediate object he was not particularly
successful owing to the neglect of the considerations
I have just set down), he brought to light a term the
coefficient of which is one second, and the argument
of which was at the time unknown. The discovery
of this term shows how unsafe it is to test the tables
by the mere inspection of the series of errors of in-
However, in all my far more

NOVEMBER 23. 1905]

NATURE

St

exhaustive search I only brought to light one fresh
inequality that runs through the errors, and that is
to all appearance due to an error in the adopted
parallax of the moon. My analysis, however, enables
me to say that the solution of the problem of three
bodies, as recently completed by E. W. Brown, is
final. This might fairly be inferred from its agree-
ment with Hansen and Delaunay, and from the
numerous equations of verification employed through-
out by Brown. But on my analysis a further remark
may be based; not only are Brown’s expressions a
correct solution of his differential equations, but those
differential equations do really represent, with all
necessary accuracy, the problem of three bodies as
presented by nature. The problem has been solved.
If in the future a method as much superior to Hill’s
as Hill’s is to Hansen’s were to be invented, it would
no doubt be worked out numerically, but no matter
how ingenious it might be, the test of its accuracy
would be—does it agree with Brown ? i

Another inference may be drawn from what I may
call my empirical lunar theory. As the coefficients of
solar terms are verified by Brown’s calculations with
a probable error of about 0.04, that is presumably a
measure of the accuracy of the constants. Moreover,
on comparing the planetary and figure of earth terms
with theory, larger discordances are found, especially
in the figure of earth terms and in the Jupiter evection
term. There is no special difficulty in obtaining these
terms from observation; they are presumably deter-
mined as accurately as the others. Consequently,
appreciable errors still exist in the theoretical values
of the figure of earth terms and the Jupiter evection
term.

Two suppositions of Hansen’s on which he founded
alterations of his tables have also been disproved, a
mechanical ellipticity of the moon and an eccentricity
in the face that it exhibits to the earth. 5

I come now to another class of investigations. The
theory of the moon is deficient in that it does not
explain the cause of a term of period of about 300
years and coefficient 15” which observation shows
to exist. This deficiency of theory is an inconvenience
in many ways. It renders the determination of the
secular acceleration of the moon, and the resulting
measurement of tidal retardation, impossible from
modern observations. It will be years, possibly two
centuries, before from observation alone a really
accurate estimate of the missing term can be given,
unless, as is much to be hoped, theory accounts for
it in the meanwhile. This unknown term renders
difficult also the determination of the motion of the
node and perigee. The position of the perigee is
found by measuring an arc equal to the mean anomaly
back from the mean position of the moon, and it is
fairly clear that the unknown term is also an in-
equality of the anomaly. Hence the motion of the
anomaly contains a periodic part that it is difficult
to allow for accurately. I have determined the motion
of the node and perigee over a period of 150 years,
and I get small differences from the theoretical values
recently published by Brown. Possibly the cause that
produces the term of long period also produces a
small motion of the node and perigee. Hansen
assumed an empirical term of 240 years’ period for
this unknown term, but before Hansen’s tables had
been in the Nautical Almanac for twenty years, New-
comb found it necessary to change the period assumed
to 273 years. Each assumption was associated with
an argument in the hope that it would turn out to be
the correct argument, but both in turn have been
disproved. My own idea as to the term is that its
period is more nearly 350 years, and I have no sugges-
tions to make as to its argument. There are also

NO. 1882, VoL. 73]

smaller terms of 40 and 7o years’ period approxi-
mately, or possibly the errors assume a more compli-
cated form still. The periods are so long that the
uncertainty is great.

The last section of my investigations deals with
the ancient solar eclipses and the value of the secular
accelerations. The three angles mentioned at the
outset of this paper as requiring measurement contain
terms proportional to the square of the time. It is
evident that these terms become of considerable
importance at remote epochs. . Also on their accurate
determination depend (1) the degree of assistance that
astronomy can extend to chronologists ; (2) a numerical
estimate of the tidal retardation of the earth's diurnal
rotation.

I have succeeded in showing that the alteration of
two of the secular terms renders total, or at any rate
central, five ancient eclipses which are partial accord-
ing to the existing tables. This may, of course, be
an extraordinary coincidence, but it seems more
natural to suppose that records of the eclipses have
come down to us because they really were striking
phenomena worth recording—in one case the account
says “fire in the midst of heaven,’’ which seems to
indicate the corona, and therefore totality. There is
also the further fact in favour of these corrections
that one of them is confirmed and the other supported
by the ancient lunar eclipses. It may be of interest
to mention that the most ancient eclipse of the five
was communicated to me from the British Museum
after I had deduced corrections from the other four,
and that the corrections already found satisfied the
condition of totality for the newly discovered eclipse-
To such an extraordinary piece of luck the words of
Virgil seem applicable :—

‘“Turne, quod optanti divom promittere nemo
Auderet, volvenda dies en attulit ultro.”’

It had occurred to me to wonder whether it was
worth while to write to the British Museum, but the
chance seemed so small that I was letting the days
slip by without doing so.

Ancient eclipses, therefore, give an accurate
measure of the relative distances of three points, the
positions of the node, the sun, and the moon. The
next question is, ‘‘ Where is the equinox relatively
to these three points?’’ My first interpretation of
my results proceeded thus :—The position of the sun
relatively to the equinox has never been called in
question. We may be assumed to know it. There-
fore my calculations determine the distance of the
node from the equinox. This view of the matter, I
now am glad to say, was found on examination to
be untenable. In the words of Dante, what I spun
in October did not last until the middle of November
(the date of the first meeting of the Royal Astro-
nomical Society) :—

““ qa mezzo novembre
non giunge quel che tu d’ottobre fili.”’
Purg., vi., 143-

The position of the node, in fact, may be inferred
with certainty from the gravitational calculations of
Prof. Brown. Hence my eclipse results determine the
position of the sun as well as of the moon. The con-
clusion is that the sun’s motion is being accelerated.
The most obvious hypothesis to account for this
observed fact—it does not follow that it is the only
hypothesis—is that the ether has a sensible retard-
ing effect. It may seem curious that the resistance
of the zther should accelerate the earth’s orbital
motion, but that undoubtedly would be the effect.
The total energy must be diminished, and this implies
that the planet falls in towards the sun and conse-
quently revolves faster in its orbit. P. H. Cowe Lt.

NATURE

[NovEMBER 23, 1905

SCIENCE AND ART OF ‘CRICKET.

HE golfing world already owes a debt of grati-

tude to Mr. Beldam for his ‘‘ Great Golfers.”’ |
This companion volume, setting forth on the same |
lines the styles of play of our greatest cricketers,
cannot fail to appeal strongly to all lovers of the |
most English of our national games. The method
adopted here is identical with that

trates some essential part of a particular stroke, it
is not possible to choose for reproduction any that
might be regarded as representative. W. G. Grace,
for example, is shown in twenty-six different atti-
tudes, and all have some lesson to tell. In the
photograph reproduced we have the finish of an on-
drive, in which the turn of the body has aided power-
fully in giving full effect to the stroke. The eyes are

of the earlier book. Each of the =
many batsmen pictured has been
photographed in one or more
characteristic attitudes before, dur-
ing, or after the striking of the
ball, and after a careful study of
every picture Mr. Fry has set
down his own interpretation for
the guidance of the reader. No

better guide could have been got,
for among the great cricketers of
our day Mr. Fry stands conspicu-
ous one who has studied the
art of cricket with phenomenal
success,

The book divided into two
parts. In part i. (individualities)
close on 300 photographs are given
of eighteen of our best known
batsmen, including Grace, Ranjit-
sinhji, Trumper, Fry, Hill, Jack-
son, Duff, MacLaren, and so on.
In part ii. (strokes illustrated) the
various kinds of recognised strokes
are systematically discussed and
illustrated by photographs of other
great batsmen. There of
course, a good deal of repetition
of the same ideas in the letterpress
of these two parts, but each has
its own value. In the one case it
the individual batsman whose
pose and actions are _ being
studied; in the other it is the kind
of stroke which is the obiect of
discussion, and this is helped out
by an appeal to the example of
a number of different cricketers.
The volume ends with a short but
very practical and interesting
chapter upon the art of timing
with the camera. We learn that
the operator sometimes used a
finger release of the shutter and
sometimes an electric. The latter
method enabled Mr. Beldam_ to
act, in same cases, both as bowler
and photographer. The requisites
for good work of this kind are

as

is

is,

is

complete knowledge of the me-
chanism and capabilities of the

camera, thorough acquaintance
with the game itself. and a deli-
cacy of judgment which must be

partly inborn and strongly de-
veloped by practice. We are not
told what proportion of photo-
graphs taken were failures, but the beauty and
clearness of the 600 here shown prove that Mr.

Beldam is a master hand in the art of talking action-
photographs.
Where almost every picture is admirable, and illus-
1 “Great Batsmen, their Methods at a Glance.” Ry G. W. Beldam and

C. B. Fry. Pp. xiv+716; illustrated by 600 Action-photographs. (London :
Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1905 ) Price 21s. ner.

NO. 1882, VOL. 73]

3. 1.—W. G. Grace—Finish of an On-drive.

still looking at the spot where the ball was when it
was struck. The whole series of photographs proves
that all great batsmen follow the ball with their eye
right up to the ‘moment of striking. It is this which
gives precision, just as in golf.

Ranjitsinhji is figured in twenty photographs, and
it is in the comparison of these with the attitudes of
other cricketers that the limitations of the method of

97

NOVEMBER 23,

1905 |

WELT ORL

2

83

instantaneous photography appear.
cases there is no appreciable difference between his |
attitudes and those of others; the characteristic style
of Ranjitsinhji depends upon the rapidity of the
successive movements which go to make the complete
stroke, and this is necessarily lost in the momentary
picture. One very characteristic poise of body is
given in the eighteenth of the series of pictures of
the Indian cricketer. Here we have the finish of the
well known leg-glance. To quote from Mr. Fry’s

‘

description :—‘‘ the unique part of the stroke is the |
foot work . . . the left foot is moved across right in
front of the wicket, passing immediately across the
right. The body from the hips upwards is twisted
round towards the leg-side. The bat, at the instant
it meets the ball, is perfectly upright just in front of
the left knee. Playing this stroke in this way would
be impossible for anyone less supple and less quick
than Ranjitsinhji.”’
This is not the place for d

No. 1882, voL. 73]

2 2 2 al
iscussing in any detail |

Except in a few |

Fic. 2.—K. S Ranj:tsinbji—Finish of the Leg-plance.

the many different kinds of strokes recognised in
cricket, though a good deal might be spoken regard-
ing the dynamical principles underlying some of the
methods indicated. For example, the lowering of the
grip of the right hand in defensive strokes, as when
| the player plays back, is the obvious way of getting
| a more powerful couple to act on the bat and prevent
| it being rotated by the impulse of the ball. The
player probably does not think of it in that way, but
by experience he has found it to be the most effective
method. The important distinction
between wrist play and arm play is
referred to again and again, and
the value of wrist play insisted upon
with great incisiveness. It seems to
us, however, that Mr. Fry occasion-
ally directs attention to evidence of
powerful wrist play in certain atti-
tudes where, strictly speaking, it

does not to any marked degree
exist. To bring out our meaning

more precisely, let us suppose the
batsman is taking his stand at the
wicket. His first position with the
bat resting in the block hole and his
eyes looking towards the bowler
gives him such a stance that when
he rises upright with the bat droop-
ing easily in front of him the face
of the bat is directed straight to-
wards the bowler. This is the zero
position through which the bat will
swing with its face always properly
oriented. If he lifts both arms at
the same rate by a rotation about a
horizontal axis parallel to a line
through the shoulders, the face of
the bat will still look in the same
direction; but if he moves the arms
in any other way the conditions of
the geometrical constraint imposed
by the grip of the hands on the
handle will necessitate a combined
rotational and translational motion.
Let anyone with bat in hand try to
shape for a drive or a cut and en-
deavour at the same time to prevent
the bat rotating round its own axis
of figure, and he will find himself
forced into the most awkward and
constrained of attitudes. In the de-
scription of plate xxii., showing
Grace preparing for the on-drive
the finish of which we have repro-
duced, the last sentence reads thus:
“Tf you study the turn of his bat
you will see that in order to bring
the face of the bat against the ball
he must put in a pronounced turn
of the wrist.’”’ The truth is that if
the right elbow is kept down the
bat must take the position shown,
and the accompanying turn of the

wrists is slight, involuntary, and
natural, and mainly in the left wrist. In plate

the geometrical conditions
of constraint compel a rotation of the bat round its
axis in the opposite direction. Let anyone go through
the motions slowly with the initial and final atti-
tudes as shown in these two plates, and he will find
the bat take the positions pictured passing through
the zero position with face looking front, and through
the whole motion he will not be sensible of any wrist
action at all. The coordinated but geometrically

xxiii., reproduced above,

84

DPA TDS RL

| NOVEMBER 23, 1905

complex movements of arms and body give to the

bat held by the two hands a complex screw motion
which may approximately be described as a rotation
about an oblique axis outside the bat altogether.
Plate ii. of L. C. H. Palairet’s series, showing his
second position, is a perfect illustration of the remarks
just made; with the attitude of body and arms as
given it would be impossible for the bat to have any
other position without an unnatural turn of the wrists.

The effect of the true wrist-action is well described
in the later part of the book. It is as effective in
cricket as in golf, bringing into play a rapid acceler-
ation just at the instant of impact. It is at the
foundation of all graceful batting. As Mr. Fry well
remarks, *‘ wrist-work is the chief secret of a versatile,
neat and effective style.”

The book is full of a great variety of most interest-
ing and instructive points. Those among us whose
cricket is a memory will almost wish they were
twenty or thirty years younger if only for the chance
of testing the soundness of the teaching of Messrs.
Beldam and Fry’s remarkable volume; while the
youthful devotee eager to improve himself in the most
attractive part of our national sport will get many
valuable hints from a careful perusal of its pages
and study of its pictures. (Op (Galt

NOTES.

Tue council of the Royal Meteorological Society has
awarded the Symons gold medal to Lieut.-General Sir
Richard Strachey, G.C.S.I., F.R.S., in recognition of the
valuable which he has done in connection with
The medal will be presented at the

work
meteorological science.

annual general meeting of the society on January 17,
1906.
THE suggestion made by Prof. Milne in our corre-

spondence columns this week, that an intercolonial meet-
ing of the British Association should be held in London,
is well worthy of consideration. Such a conference of
representatives of science in British dominions beyond the
seas and at home would strengthen the bond of union
existing between them, and do something to coordinate
the intellectual forces of our Empire. It is essential that
men of science widely separated from one another should
have opportunities of exchanging opinions upon investi-
gations and results in which they are interested; and the
advantages of such conventions are felt long after the
meetings have ended. It is probable that Prof. Milne’s
proposal will meet with the approval of members of the
association engaged in scientific work.

Memsers of the British Association who recently visited
the Victoria Falls will be interested to learn that the small
herd of hippopotami that frequents the islands above the
Falls, and adds substantially to the attractions of the place,
has again become troublesome. Apparently the animals
have been irritated by the increasing traffic on the Zambesi;
for a note in South Africa of November 18 states that
several boats have been upset, causing one fatality and
several narrow “Hippo, from any sentimental
point of view,’’ it is remarked, ‘‘ are hardly the sort of
things to be preserved as pets on a portion of the river
where there is constant traffic, and it is to be hoped that
every effort will be made to exterminate them before more
serious accidents occur. . . . Those desirous of seeing the
hippo in their natural haunts should find some more
solitary spot where there is less danger to human life.”

NO. 1882, VOL. 73

escapes.

Tue British Medical Journal announces that the next
meeting of the German Society of Experimental Psychology
will be held at Wiirzburg on April 10-13, 1906. Reports
will be presented on the following subjects :—(1) The rela-
tions between experimental phonetics and psychology (by
E. Krueger); (2) experimental zesthetics (by O. Kuelpe) ;
(3) the psychology of reading (by F. Schumann); and
psychiatry and individual psychology (by R. Sommer).

Tue account of the surveying work connected with the
construction of the Simplon Tunnel, in Nature of
November 9 (p. 30), may be supplemented by the following
final results, which have just been ascertained and are de-
scribed in the Times of November 18 by Mr. Francis Fox.
The actual measurements are as follows :—The length of
the tunnel, which is 123 miles, proves to be greater by

31 inches. The levels of the two galleries* were within
32 inches of one another. As regards direction, the axis
of the tunnel, driven from the north end, deviated

4 1-3 inches towards the west, whilst the line driven from
the south end deviated 3 2-3 inches towards the east; con--
sequently the greatest divergence from the true line was
4 1-3 inches, which is well within the calculated probable
error.

A Times correspondent gives in the issue of November 20
a graphic description of the means taken to stamp out
yellow fever in Panama. The first cases of the disease
were concealed, and it was not until a serious epidemic
was in progress that President Roosevelt, on his own
initiative, Congress having refused to aid him, appointed
Judge Magoon to Panama as Resident Governor of the
canal zone with autocratic power. The prevalence of fever
was bad enough, but the demoralisation of public spirit
in the American colony was worse. Governor Magoon
found that, while some in utter panic were fleeing from
the isthmus as a plague-spot, others had fallen into a state
of cynical bravado. They professed contempt for the
mosquito theory of disease dissemination, and refused to
obey the preventive rules which had been formulated.
They took a boastful delight in exposing themselves to
mosquito bites, and tore holes in the netting which had
been placed over the windows of the office buildings and
hotels. The Governor soon changed all this, expressed his.
own fear of the disease, insisted that the evidence of the
transference of the disease by mosquitoes was overwhelm-.
ing, and arranged for the fumigation of every building in
the city. Medical inspectors were also appointed who
daily examined every inhabitant. The effect cf these
measures is shown by the figures of the incidence of the
disease :—in May there were 38 cases; in June 62 cases;
in July, after the institution of these measures, 42 cases;
in August 27 cases; in September 6 cases; and since then:
not a single case, although a reward of 50 dollars, gold,
has been offered for a notification.

Mr. C. O. Stevens, writing from Bradfield, Reading,
states that on Friday last, November 17, widespread
attention was attracted and curiosity aroused by sounds
as of heavy-gun practice and rifle firing that made them--
selves felt, as well as heard, in the neighbourhood for-
miles around. They occurred, on and off, from about
11.30 a.m. until 4 p.m.

To the Irish Fisheries Board we are indebted for a copy
of the first instalment of a list of the marine copepod’
crustaceans of Ireland, by Mr. J. Pearson, published as
No. 3 of ‘‘ Scientific Investigations ’’ for 1904. The author
states that previous students have mainly confined their
investigations to the pelagic types, and that consequently

NOVEMBER 23, 1905 |

NAT ORE

85

much remains to be ascertained concerning the parasitic
and bottom-dwelling forms. The present section deals with
littoral types and those infesting fish.

In the report of the council of the Natural History
Society of Northumberland, Durham, and Newcastle-
upon-Tyne, attention is directed to the important work
which has been recently accomplished in the matter of
scientific publications. Unfortunately, this has somewhat
crippled the society’s resources, and unless additional sup-
port be accorded a pause must be made in the good work.
It is estimated that the total number of visitors to the
society’s museum during the year will be about 17,000.

Tue October issue of the Emu contains some beautiful
photographic illustrations of the haunts and nests of the
Australian lyre-bird, as well as of the bird itself. It is,
however, sad to learn that, in the opinion of Mr. Kitson,
the author of the accompanying notes, the lyre-bird is
destined to disappear ere long from the Victorian bush
unléss it develops the habit of nesting in trees, as is
occasionally its practice at the present time. The main
persecutor is the European fox, which has been introduced
with only too much success into its haunts. In South
Gippsland, on the other hand, man is the criminal, and
breech-loaders, forest spoliation, and bush-fires will, it is
thought, before long complete their fell work, and render
the lyre-bird unknown in a district where it formerly
occurred in thousands. A supplement to this issue contains
a useful “key ’’ to the birds of Australia drawn up by
Mr. A. C. Campbell on the ‘‘ dichotomous ’’ plan, that
i say, by according diagnostic

is to two

characters to each species.

contrasting

WE regret to have to record the death of that eminent
French naturalist Jean Frédéric Emile Oustalet, of whom
a brief obituary notice is published in a recent issue of
La Nature, to which journal the departed zoologist was a
constant contributor. Born at Montbéliard on August 24,
1844, Oustalet passed the whole of his scientific career in
the service of. the Paris Museum, which he entered as
an assistant in 1875. In August, 1900, he became pro-
fessor of ‘‘mammalogy,’’ with special charge of the
menagerie, and co-director of the Ecole des Hautes Etudes.
He died ‘‘in harness”? at St. Cast (Cétes du Nord) on
October 26. The laureate of the Institute of France in
1877, Mr. Oustalet was secretary to the committee for
ornithological investigations, and president of the Ornith-
ological Congress in 1900, He was a Chevalier of the
Legion of Honour, and had likewise received decorations
from other countries. Among his more important works
may be cited ‘‘ Recherches sur les Insectes fossiles,’’

““Monographies des Mégapodes,’’ and ‘‘ Les Oiseaux de
la Chine.”’

Tue Journal of the Royal Sanitary Institute for
November (xxvi., No. 10) contains an address by the Duke
of Northumberland on the occasion of the opening of the
new hospital for infectious diseases at Newburn; Prof.
Kenwood’s address on the public health delivered at the
opening of the medical session at University College; par-
ticulars of model cottages at Earswich, York, by Mr.
Appleton; and a discussion on aspects of the pure milk
question, together with notes, reviews, &c.

Tue Michigan State Agricultural College Experiment
Station has issued two useful Bulletins (June). No. 229
details interesting observations by Mr. Marshall on the
associative action of bacteria in the souring of milk. Ex-
periments prove that the activity of lactic acid-forming

NO. 1882, VOL. 73]

bacteria may be much increased by admixture with another
bacterium which itself does not produce lactic acid. In
No. 230 Mr. Sackett describes several bacterial diseases of
plants prevalent in Michigan, viz. pear blight, bacteriosis
of beans, black rot of cabbage, wilt of cucumber, soft
rot of sugar beet, and blight of Irish potato, tomato, and
egg-plant.

In the Arkiv for Botanik (vol. v., No. 3) Dr. J. Eriksson
takes up the subject of the origin and spread of rust
diseases in plants to combat the views of MWlebahn,
Marshall Ward, and others. Criticising the argument that
the uredo-stage can carry infection through a severe winter,
he lays stress on the want of proportion between the de-
velopment in autumn and the intensity of the disease in
the following summer.

As the first of a series of articles to appear in the Indian
Forester on Indian forest fungi, Mr. E. J. Butler describes
a trichosporium disease observed in Casuarina plantations ;
the fungus spreads through the cambium and ruptures the
bark. Considerable interest attaches to the notes by Mr.
F. B. Manson on the preparation and sale of rubber grown
on the rubber plantation at Mergui, from which it is
evident that good Para can be produced in Lower Burma.

IN a small brochure (‘‘ Die Lichtentwickelung in den
Pflanzen”) Prof. H. Molisch deals with the subject of
light emission by plants. The production of light is con-
fined to fungi, bacteria, and Peridinee in the plant world.
Prof. Molisch determined that the luminosity of meat is
caused by a bacterium, and showed that the bacterium
can generally be produced in a few days by partially
immersing a piece of meat in brine. The emission of light
from wood has been traced to the same source, and
similarly decaying leaves of oak and beech may become
luminous. The connection between nutrition, growth,
and luminosity has been studied by Beijerinck. As to the
teleological factor in the production of light, little is known
except that it is an oxidation process; Prof. Molisch
postulates a substance, photogen, that produces light waves
in the presence of oxygen.

A SCHEME of no little interest, and worthy of generous
support, has been initiated by the Midland Reafforesting
Association for planting trees on the spoil banks in the
black country. Anyone who has traversed the road from
Wolverhampton to Dudley by way of Gornal will have
realised something of the former beauty of this district.
The object of the association is to prove that plantations
are still feasible on the unsightly pit-mounds that cover the

land. Last autumn a six-acre plot was planted at Wednes-
bury and a small model plantation was formed at Old
Hill. The extension of the work that is now in progress

makes it necessary to employ a paid organising secretary.
To provide funds for this purpose, and to obtain a larger
balance than is at present available as working capital, Sir
Oliver Lodge, the president of the association, is appealing
for contributions. The honorary secretary is Mr. P. E.
Martineau, Bentley Heath, Knowle, Warwickshire.

SEVERAL interesting memoirs have been issued by the
Geological Survey of Queensland. One of the most
valuable of these is a general index (Publication No. 197)
to the various reports issued by the survey (Nos. 177 to
196), compiled by Mr. Russell Dixon. In Publication
No. 196 Mr. B. Dunstan gives notes on the gold deposits
near Mount Ubi, on the iron ore of Mount Lucy, on test-
ing samples for prospectors, on monazite in Queensland,
on a soil survey for Queensland, on boring for coal near
Townsville, and on the testing of Queensland coals. He

86

NALORE

| NovEMBER 23, 1905

also gives some mineralogical notes on agate pebbles occur-
ring in abundance on the surface of decomposed basalt at
Little River, on penetration-twin crystals of gypsum from
Eukalunda, on tellurides of gold, silver, and lead (hessite
and altaite) from Gympie, and on calcite crystals with
pyrites inclusions from Golden Gate, Croydon. In Publi-
cation No. 198 Mr. Lionel C. Ball describes the occurrence
of gold, platinum, tinstone, and monazite in the beach
sands on the south Queensland. The results
obtained indicate that this is a favourable field for the use
In Publication No. Mr. Lionel C. Ball
gives a preliminary report on the recent discovery of gold
at Oaks View, Rockhampton. The ore is a soft
ferruginous material resulting from the alteration of an
In Publication No. 200 Mr. Walter E.
the central Queensland (Dawson-
Mackenzie) Coal-measures. The coal is of permo-Carbon-
iferous age, and a promising forecast is given of the great
resources of this portion of Queensland in high-class steam-

coast of

of a dredger. 199

near

original serpentine.

Cameron describes

coal.

Tue pretty and well known lecture experiment showing
the alternations between longitudinal and torsional oscilla-
tions in a suspended spiral spring carrying a weight was
described by Wilberforce in 1894. In the Festschrift com-
memorative of the seventieth birthday of Adolf Willner
(Leipzig: B. G. Teubner, 1905) Prof. A. Sommerfeld de-
scribes further experiments with spiral springs and
discusses their use in the determination of Poisson’s ratio.
The following methods are distinguished :—statical observ-

some

ations, observations of the separate oscillation periods, con-
struction and measurement of the Lissajou curves, deter-
mination of the conditions of resonance.

In the Arkiv for mathematics, astronomy, and physics
cf the Swedish Academy, Mr. W. Walfrid Ekman gives an
investigation (in English) on the influence of the earth’s
rotation on ocean currents. It had been observed by Dr.
Nansen on the Fram that the drift produced by a given

wind did not follow the wind’s direction, but deviated
some 20°-40° to the right, and a mathematical investi-

gation by the writer of the present paper showed how this

deviation could be accounted for by the earth’s rotation.
taken of the
The
calculations show the existence of a surface current tend-
ing somewhat to follow the shore lines, but deviating 45°
from the direction of the wind in the absence of boundaries,

a midwater current with a velocity almost uniform and

In the present communication account is

influence of continents and of neighbouring currents.

parallel to the coast, lastly a bottom current compensating
for the flow of water from the land in the
surface current.

towards or

Tne Popular Science Monthly for November contains a
note by Prof. Mansfield Merriman on the ‘‘ cattle problem ”’
of Archimedes. This problem occurs in the ferm of a
poem of forty-four lines in a manuscript in the library of
Wolfenbittel, and it was brought into notice by Lessing
shortly after his appointment as librarian there in 1769.
The problem consists, in the first place, in determining the
total number of cattle grazing on the plain of Sicily,
divided into white, black, dappled, and yellow bulls and
cows, from seven equations of condition connecting the
numbers in the eight various categories. The problem
in this, form «is but. a further rider imposes
the additional that the number of white and
black bulls shall be a square ‘number, and the number of
dappled and yellow bulls a triangular number. Amthor
showed in 1880 that numbers satisfying these conditions

No. 1882, VOL 73]

easy,

conditions

could be found, but instead of the total number represent-
ing a possible herd of cattle, it would consist of no less
than 206,545 digits. Finally, in 1889 Mr. A. H. Bell, in
conjunction with two other mathematicians, began the
work of selution, and in the course of four years deter-
mined the first thirty or thirty-one and the last twelve
digits of the actual numbers. It is, however, pointed out
that to determine all the 206,545 digits would occupy a
thousand men for a thousand years.

Ix No. 2, vol. xxii., of the Astrophysical Journal Mr.
W. W. Strong, of the Dickinson College, Carlisle (Pa.),
describes the results obtained from a series of experi-
merts on the spectrum of the magnesium spark under
The spectra were photographed with
a q-inch Rowland grating having 14,400 lines to the inch,

various conditions.

Using magnesium poles, he found that the “ principal
series ’’ lines (AA 2802 and 2795) and the line at A 2852

were reversed in the end-on positions, but if a copper or
iron pole were substituted for one of the magnesium poles,
and the remaining magnesium pole was placed away from
the slit, the reversals did not occur. This seems to indicate
that the reversals are caused by the surrounding vapour
of magnesium, and, to prove this, the spark was made
to pass between an iron and a magnesium pole through
a fine hole. For holes of less than o-5 mm. in diameter
this ° reversing layer ’’ was entirely cut off, and the spec-
trum of the spark between the hole and the iron pole
never showed Other results, in connection
with other lines, were also obtained, but an attempt to get
a measurable ‘* Doppler ’’ effect was defeated by the diffuse
nature of the lines.

any reversal.

Tue Journal of the Meteorological Society of Japan for
June last contains several useful articles, including one (in
Japanese) by I. Hattori on oyster development and meteor-
ological conditions, and notes on the climate of the Bonin
Islands (in English) by T. Okada. In the summer of
1901 a Station was established by the Tokio Meteorological
Office at Peel Island, one of the largest of the group; the
station is situated in lat. 27° 5’ N. and long. 142° 11’ E.
In addition to the automatic records, observations have
been regularly made at 1oh. a.m. and 2h. p.m., and the
results are published for the years 1902-4. The principal
facts relating to this isolated Pacific station may be
interesting to some of our readers. The mean annual
temperature is 71°-8, the mean monthly maximum being
79°-5, in August, and the minimum 61°-5, in January; the
highest temperature recorded was 91°-4, in September, and
the lowest 45°-5, in February ; no frost or snowfall has been
recorded, and vegetation is astonishingly luxuriant. North-
westerly winds blow almost constantly from December to
February, inclusive; the easterly monsoon prevails from
July to October, inclusive. The rainy seasons are June
and September, and the driest months are April and
January; the total annual rainfall is about 54 inches, and,
on an average, there are 147 rainy days in a year. The
mean annual relative humidity is 75 per cent.

In the October number of the Journal de Physique
M. H. Buisson gives particulars of a new determination
of the mass of a cubic decimetre of pure water. The
author the usual method of determining the
volume of a solid by measurement of the linear dimensions ;
in his experiments two parallelepipeds of quartz, almost
cubes, of four and five centimetres edge were used, their
densities, and hence their volumes, being determined by
the hydrostatic method, after correcting all the data to
o° C. The geometrical dimensions of the cubes were then
ascertained by two distinct optical methods based on the

criticises

NOVEMBER 23, 1905]

DVCA TA ORCL:

87

principle of interference. By a comparison of the two sets
of values, the ratio of the litre to the cubic decimetre was
found in two determinations to be 1-000026 and 1-000029
respectively. The error on the kilogram is thus +26 to
+29 milligrams.

Messrs. SWAN SONNENSCHEIN AND Co., Ltp., have pub-
lished a third edition of ‘* Sanatoria for Consumptives,”’
by Dr. F. Rufenacht Walters. The beok, the first edition
ef which was reviewed in Nature fer July 6, 1899 (vel.
Ix. p. 221), gives a critical and detailed description, together
with an exposition, of the open-air or hygienic treatment
of phthisis.

Dr. H. C. VoGEL, directer cf the Astrophysical Observ-
atory at Potsdam, has edited the third edition of Newcomb-
Engelmann’s ‘‘ Populare Astronomie,’’ published by Mr.
W. Engelmann, Leipzig. Many additions have been made,
both. to the text and illustrations, particularly in the sec-
tions devoted to spectrum photometry, photo-
graphy, and other branches of astrophysics; and the whole
work has been satisfactorily revised. Short biographies of
deceased astronomers from Thales to Keeler,
according to their years of birth, are given near the end
of the volume.

analysis,

arranged

WE have received from Mr. H. K. Lewis, 136 Gower
Street, W.C., a copy of No. 23 of his Quarterly List of
additions to the circulating library. The list contains
more than 100 titles, and includes several important new
books and new editions on the various subjects covered
by the library. There are brief notes to most of the books
which, while not pretending to give the subscriber an
exact idea of the book, enable an opinion to be formed
on its general scope. On looking through the books in-
cluded we notice that, since the first number appeared,
considerable extension in the scope of the library has taken
place. The library has been long known as a_ useful
medium for the supply of medical literature, the
inclusion of all branches of technological and general
scientific books, commenced some two or three years ago,
should add to its value.

and

OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN.

DiscOVERY OF A Comet, 1905b.—A telegram from the
Kiel Centralstelle announces the discovery of a comet by
M. Schaer at Geneva on November 17. At 8h. 7-8m.
(M.T. Geneva) the position of the comet was

: R.A.=4h. 22m. 32s., dec. = +86°.
The apparent daily movement of this object is given as
—54° in R.A. (i.e. 3h. 36m.) and —1° in declination.

A second telegram from the same source announces that
the comet was observed at Bamberg on November 18-075.
The position, at 6h. 50-6m. (Bamberg M.T.), was

R.A.=oh. 58m. 19-5s., dec. = +80° go’ 5".
It thus appears that this object was first seen near to
Polaris, and is now travelling quickly down through
Cepheus towards Cassiopeia.

Nova Aouira No. 2.—The results of a number of
observations of Nova Aquila are recorded in No. 4052 of
the Astronomische Nachrichten.

On September 29 Prof. Wolf recorded the magnitude
of the Nova as 9-6-9-7, which indicated scarcely any
decrease in the brightness since September 17.

A photograph, taken on October 16 with fifty-six
minutes’ exposure, showed, however, that the Nova’s
magnitude had decreased to 10-8, that is to say, it had
fallen about 1-2 magnitudes in seventeen days. On this
photograph the image of the Nova is surrounded by a
faint uneven halo 1’ or 2! in diameter.

Tue TENTH SaTELLITE OF SaTURN.—No. 9, vol. liii., of
the Harvard College Observatory Annals contains an

account, by Prof. W. H. Pickering, of the discovery of j

Saturn’s tenth satellite, to which the name Themis has
been allotted.

NO. 1882, VOL. 73]

So far no variation of the satellite’s brightness has been
detected, its magnitude remaining constant at about 17-5.
As this magnitude is beyond the power of existing tele-
scopes, the satellite can never be observed visually until
more powerful instruments are available. The probable
diameter of Themis is about 38 miles; the orbit of the

satellite is inclined about 39°-1 to the ecliptic, and its
eccentricity and semi-major axis are about 023 ard
90,000 miles respectively. The period of revoluticn is

2085 days. As the observational data are, as yet, so few,
all the above values are to be considered as only approxi-
mate. A drawing accompanying the description represents
the orbit diagrammatically.

Owing to its great eccentricity, the orbit of Themis
crosses the erbits of both Hyperion and Titan, and, when
near to these bodies, the newly discovered satellite must
suffer enormous perturbations, the results of which are
discussed in Prof. Pickering’s paper.

Tue Evotutron or THE Sorar System.—Another
alternative to Laplace's theory of the formation of plane-

tary systems is suggested in an article by Mr. F. R.
Moulton, of Chicago University, in the Astrophysical

Journal for October. In 1900 this writer and Prof. T. C.
Chamberlin examined the older hypothesis from the
dynamical standpoint, and found so many conclusive con-
tradictions as to lead them to abandon it.

The theory now suggested supposes that the planets and
their satellites have been formed around primitive nuclei
of considerable dimensions existing in a spiral nebula
probably similar to these which Prof. Keeler showed to
be many times more numerous than all the nebule of
other types.

The growth of each nucleus was caused by the gradual
accretion of smaller masses, and the method of this
growth which is suggested accounts for all the different
types of bodies now found in the solar system, and for
their present motions and _ velocities, on dynamical
principles. ;

The criginal spiral nebula is supposed to have been
formed by the near approach of another star to the body
which is now our sun. This exterior attraction set up
tides in the seclar matter, and, being continued, actually
caused immense masses to be ejected and drawn out into
the spiral form. On this assumption the spiral would
emerge from the central nucleus in two directions, on
opposite sides, and this is the form generally shown on
photographs of such nebulz.

Mr. Moulton’s paper considers at length the explanation,
on this hypothesis, of the existing conditions, and a fuller
exposition of the theory is promised in a new work which
is to be published shortly.

CaTALOGUE OF VARIABLE STARS.—No. 7, vol. liii., of the
Harvard College Observatory Annals contains a second
supplement to the provisional catalogue of variable stars
which was issued in a previous volume of the Annals.
The original intention of the Harvard authorities was to
publish a supplement, similar to the one issued in 1903,
every five years, but the large number of variables recently
discovered renders a change of plan necessary. More than
400 variables are included in the present supplement, many
of them belonging to the nebulous regions investigated by
Miss Leavitt.

During 1904 the number of variable stars was increased
by 503, of which 431 were discovered photographically at
Harvard. The card-catalogue of variables which is being
compiled at Harvard now comprises about thirty-five
thousand cards.

Star CALENDAR FOR 1906.—We have received a copy of
a very useful star calendar compiled by [H.P.H.], and
published by Messrs. Hirschfeld Bros. The calendar
consists of four cards designed to hang on the wall for
ready reference. Each card contains the ordinary date-
calendar for the quarter, a table showing the positions of
the planets in regard to the constellations, and a star map
so marked that the constellations and stars which may be
observed on any evening during the quarter, may be
instantly recognised by their relative positions in regard
to the cardinal points and to the zenith. The price of the
calendar is Is. net.

g} >

NATURE

[ NovEMBER 23, 1905

MUSEUM AND LABORATORIES OF

ZOOLOGY AT LIVERPOOL.

HE new museum and laboratories of zoology of the

University of Liverpool were opened on Saturday last,
November 18, by the Earl of Onslow, formerly President
of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, and now chair-
man of committees of the House of Lords.

The history of the department of zoology at Liverpool
and the character of the new buildings are described in
a pamphlet issued by the university, and abridged at the
end of this record of the opening ceremony.

Preparatory to the actual ceremony of inauguration at
the new building, there was a large gathering in the arts
theatre of the university of guests of the ccuncil and
senate of the university. Apologies and letters ef regret
fer unavoidable absence were received from the president
of the Royal Society, Sir Archibald Geikie, Prof. Ray
Lankester, Sir Henry Roscoe, and many other men of
science. <A resolution passed at the meeting of the Linnean
Society of London on November 16, signed by the officers,

NEW

and congratulating the University of Liverpool and their
president (Prof. Herd-
man) on the new labor-
ateries, was received.

Dr. Nansen had accep-
ted the invitation and
hoped to be present, but
at the last sent his regrets
and a telegram saying :
““ Hearty congratulations
to the Zoological Depart-
ment of the University of
Liverpool.—NanseEn.”’

Lord Onslow was intro-
duced to the assembly
by the Chancellor, the
Earl of Derby; and in
the course of his remarks
he is reported by the
Liverpool Daily Post and
Mercvry to have spoken
as follows:

Lorp OxsS_ow ON SCIENCE
AND THE STATE.

In the first place he
wished to congratulate the
University of Liverpool on
their decision to set apart
a sum sufficient properly
to equip the museum
and laboratories of the
natural history and zoo-
logical department of the
university. He thought
that was a wise step, but
it was a step which could
only have been accom-
plished, in common with all the rest of the werk of |
the university, by the great liberality of the captains of |
industry in Liverpool, who had realised that the application |
of science to commerce was one of the most important |
things for commerce itself. When he looked back on the
list of benefactors to the Liverpool University, he found
the names of Brunner, Holt, Tate, Johnston, Rathbone,
and others, and he was struck by the fact that in Liverpcol
at any rate the application of science to commerce was
thoroughly appreciated. Although there was in_ this
country a great amount of private wealth and of private
benefaction, he was afraid it must be confessed that the
amount which had been devoted to the promotion of uni-
versity education ‘‘ pales its ineffectual fires ’’ before what |
had been done in America. In the United States of
America as much as 7,000,0001. had been bequeathed er
given in two years to the purposes of university education.
What was the reason for that? He thought that in a large |
measure it was due to the great difference between the
United States of America and this country. The difference
was that in the United States there were no hereditary
honours or titles, and if a man wanted the future gener- |
ation to have a record of his existence it could only be |

NO; 1882, VOL. 7.3)

done by associating his name either with a university or
with a chair in that university, cr by some other great
benefaction. The result was that the United States had

rich universities, such as that of Cornell, founded by
individuals, and he confessed that if he were a man of
great wealth he weuld much rather posterity would re-

member him as having founded a university or a chair of
a university than as having been a liberal subscriber to
the funds of his party. Though a good understanding
existed between this country and other Great Powers, pro-
vision should be made fer the war in commercial
supremacy. What were the armaments with which we
were to previde ourselves for the purpeses of defence in
the war of commercial supremacy? They were those pro-
vided by science and by scientific research. Fortunately
for us, the inventions of science could not be patented in
the interests of any cne particular country, but the slightest
improvement upon them could, and it was those improve-
ments, arrived at by scientific research, which would make
or mar the supremacy of any country in commerce. The

power of adding to a train-load that could be carried by
a locomotive in the other hemisphere might make a differ-

Fic. 1.— New Builcings of the Department of Zoology, University of Liverpool.

ence ef two shillings in the price of cern, which was the

shutilececk between the pclitical parties at the present
time. It was the same with all cur manufactures. The
greatness cf England in the past century had been due

to men cf science: like Faraday, Watt, Stephenson, and
Kelvin. Were we doing all that we ought to see that
any latent genius in the whole of the British nation got
the opportunity to come cut, and to give to the world those
great triumphs cf scientific research from which this
country had so enormcusly benefited? He thought it must
be confessed that until quite recently education in this
country was in a chaotic state. Even now it was only
in favoured cities and places that there was anything like
an educational ladder by which an intelligent boy at the
national schocl could, without cost to his parent, work his
way up until he took a university degree, and could devote
himself to scientific research for the benefit of his fellow-
countrymen. He had great hopes that a spirit was arising
in the nation now which saw the necessity of those educa-
tional facilities, and that by the assistance and liberality
of our citizens they would build up from the lowest to the
highest facilities that every citizen could avail himself of.
There were two great public questions before the people

NOVEMBER 23, 1905]

NATURE

89

of this country upon which the prosperity of the future

of the country depended. One of them was the re-organ-
isation of the Army, and the other was the organisation
of the education of the country. Both those questions

required the expenditure of large sums of money, and he
did not believe that under the present system it would be
possible to obtain those large sums unless in some manner

or ancther they could see their way to broaden the basis
of taxation. When the business of the fisheries of the
country was handed over to his (Lord Onslow’s) depart-
ment he naturally expected, as an ignorant Minister did,
that he would find the broad lines upon which it was
expected that he should sha ape his policy already laid down
by experts and men of science. But instead of that he
found a wall of ignerance as regarded everything that

affected the biological and physical condition of our terri-
terial waters. What they wanted to know was by scientific
research whether anything could be done to stem the
depopulaticn of the ocean if that depopulation was actually

LU

|
i

know how to protect human
eating contaminated shell-fish.
Liverpool University for the study of tropical diseases ;
they had ascertained much to protect the lives of their
fellow-subjects who went out to the malarial coasts of West
Africa; he sincerely hoped that they would be able also
to show them how they could avoid pollution from the
contamination of shell-fish. He hoped that all who had
worked in the laboratories of the university would be
stimulated to greater efforts by the better buildings in which
they would be housed.

The Chancellor read a communication received from Sir
Thomas Elliott, Permanent Secretary of the Board of
Agriculture and Fisheries, intimating that the Board were
pleased to award the university grant of 2001. for the
financial year ending March, 1906, in respect of the zoo-
logical work carried on in connection with the fishing
industry, and conveying the congratulations of the Board
on the completion of the zoological museum and_ labor-

beings from the danger of
They had done much in the

a

|_ONGITUDINAL

pe

SECTION

iin Pee f

Parr aa r

ScALE of FEET

Fic.

That work must be divided under two heads—
and biological. The statistical work could not,
of course, be properly performed by a university such as
that. That was a matter which must be taken in hand by
the central authority. He looked very largely to the
Lancashire Sea Fisheries Committee, acting in conjunction
with the University of Liverpool, to pursue the biological
part of those inquiries. He was in hopes that when the
expenditure of this country upon the international investi-
gation of the North Sea came to a close there might be
national funds available for assisting them in the research
which they had undertaken for some time past, and which
he could not doubt but with the opening of those new
buildings would be largely stimulated and increased, and
that thereby they might be assisted by them to solve prob-
Jems which were great and national. There was also the
great and important question of the connection of human
disease with shell-fish. They wanted to find out to what
extent there was contamination in shell-fish, and also what
was not dangerous to the human frame. It was really of
the very greatest possible importance that they should

No 1882, VOL. 73]

going on.
statistical

2.—New Buildings of the Department of Zoclogy, University of Liverpool.

atories, which they hoped would be of service “ both in
the advancement of scientific knowledge and in the solution
of many problems of importance to the fishing industry.’
Sir Thomas Elliott afterwards spoke.

Replying to a vote of thanks moved by
Muspratt and seconded by Sir John Brunner,
Onslow said he was not by any means alone in his
appreciation of not only the benefit, but the absolute
necessity of all Government departments in their respective
spheres availing themselves of the advantages of scientific
research. It applied not only to Government departments,
but equally to all the great industries, to the Navy and
the Army, and to every branch of national enterprise. In
regretting that the 2001. contribution to which Sir Thomas
Elliott had referred was regarded as small, Lord Onslow
said it was not the Board of Agriculture who was rich, it
was the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and when they got

Mire aK.
M.P., Lord

a few thousands out of the Chancellor of the Exchequer
for all the purposes of agriculture and fisheries, they
thought they had done very well when they were able to

contribute 2001. to one place.

90

The proceedings in the arts theatre then ended, and Lord
Onslow and the council and senate and guests walked
through the university grounds to the new zoology build-
ings, where, after a short speech by Prof. Herdman, Sir
John Murray addressed the assembly upon oceanography.
Mr. R. B. Haldane also delivered a brief speech, in the
course of which he remarked that by obtaining the grant
of 200l. from the Chancellor of the Exchequer Sir Thomas
Elliott had established a principle and connected the
University of Liverpool with His Majesty’s Government.

Tue DEPARTMENT OF ZOOLOGY.

The Derby chair of natural history was established by the
fifteenth Earl of Derby in 1881—an appropriate gift from
a descendant of the scientific founder’ of the celebrated
zoological collections once alive at Knowsley and now
secured to Liverpool in the Derby Museum of the Public
Galleries. The first Derby professor was appointed at the
end of 1881, and thus natural history was one of the
three or four scientific departments with which University
College opened in January, 1882. The work of the
Liverpool Marine Biology Committee has been so_in-
timately bound up with the Natural History Department
during the last twenty years that, although not, strictly
speaking, a part of the university organisation, it is im-
possible to omit a brief record of its history. Established
for the purpose of exploring the fauna and flora of Liver-
pool Bay and the neighbouring parts of the Irish Sea, it
brought a number of the local field-naturalists into close
relation with the university department and laboratory
methods, it gave rise to dredging expeditions and obsery-
ations and experiments at sea, which led on in later years
to sea-fisheries investigations, and it resulted in the accumu-
lation of collections which have proved of considerable
interest and scientific value. The ‘‘ local’’ collection in
the museum of the new buildings has been almost wholly
obtained through the work of the L.M.B.C.

Probably the most important outcome of this exploring
work has been the establishment of a marine biological
station on the west coast of England. After five years’
use of an old Dock Board observatory on Puffin Island,
off Anglesey, the committee moved their marine station
to Port Erin, at the south end of the Isle of Man, where
they have now a substantial, new, two-storeyed building,
measuring 95 feet by 45 feet, containing laboratories, an
aquarium, and a fish-hatchery, and provided with a large,
open-air, sea-water pond for the spawning and rearing of
fish. As to the results obtained from this institution (which
is under the direction of the Derby professor, and is worked
in connection with the university department), it will suffice
to state that during the last year thirty-six investigators
worked in the laboratory, about five millions of young
plaice were sent out to sea from the fish-hatchery, and more
than thirteen thousand visitors paid for admission to the
aquarium.

It was certainly to this marine biological work in the
past that the natural history department owed in the first
instance that connection with the local sea-fisheries authori-
ties which has recently developed into a formal agreement
between the university and the Lancashire and Western
Sea Fisheries Committee. The scientific work of the
local fisheries district is carried on in the laboratories by
assistants paid by the Fisheries Committee, and the pro-
fessor has been appointed honorary director of the scientific
work, and furnishes an annual report on the work of the
fisheries laboratory. A share of the laboratory accommoda-
tion in the new buildings will be devoted to the furtherance
of the work of the Liverpool Marine Biology Committee,
of the Lancashire and Western Sea Fisheries Committee, of
economic entomology, and of other useful applications
of zoology.

It has been recognised for some years that the accommo-
dation in the old college buildings was quite inadequate
to meet the wants of this department, and although some
extensions had been made, such as a wooden fisheries
laboratory on the roof and a convenient little museum
(given about ten years ago by the late Mr. George Holt),
these were temporary expedients which in some ways only
emphasised the pressing need for new and much larger

1 The thirteenth Farl of Derby, President of the I innean Society, 1828-
1893, and subsequently President of the Zoological Society.

NO. 1882, VOL. 73]

NATURE

| NOVEMBER 23, 1905

buildings. Research work offered to the department was
hampered, and in some cases had to be declined for want
of room. These facts were given expression to in the state-
ments of needs drawn up in connection with the university
movement of 1901-2, and after the establishment of the
university a sum of 18,0001. was voted to the council by
the university committee in October, 1902, for the purpose
of erecting and equipping a new department of zoology, to
contain a museum and a lecture theatre, the necessary
students’ laboratories, and also accommodation for sea
fisheries investigations and other lines of marine biological
research.
Tue New BvILpincs.

This zoological institute has a frontage of 123 feet on
the western side of Brownlow Street, is 41 feet from front
to back, and 84 feet in height from the street level. It is
built of red pressed brick relieved with white sandstone
from the Storeton quarries in Cheshire. The building
consists of a central tower containing the entrance hall
and staircase and some of the smaller rooms on each floor,
and of two blocks, the north and the south, which have
been treated rather differently as regards internal structure.
The south block has only three main floors, while the
north has five in the same height. The central tower
extends a storey higher. In the south block the three
floors accommodate (1) the museum with its large gallery ;
(2) the lecture theatre; and (3) the large junior laboratory
at the top of the building. In the north block, on the
two lower floors there are extensions of the museum to
receive special collections, and the rest of the space is
devoted to the senior class-room, senior and honours
students’ laboratories, the departmental library, and rather
large laboratory and store-room accommodation for the sea
fisheries department, the work of the economic entom-
ologist, of the marine biological committee, and other
practical applications of zoology. In the central tower,
along with the staircase, there are small rooms for the
professor and two demonstrators, the laboratory assistant,
with diagram, chemical, aquarium, photographic, macer-
ating rooms and students’ lavatories.

GEOLOGY AT THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION.
[N Section C the papers read were largely on subjects

of local interest, and in many cases by South African
geologists. The delivery of the presidential address in this
section having been fixed for the meeting at Johannes-
burg, the proceedings at Cape Town were opened with a
short address of introduction by the president, followed by
a lecture by Mr. A. W. Rogers, the director of the
Colonial Geological Survey, on the outlines of the geology
of the Cape Colony.

Among the subjects discussed, the Karroo claimed a
considerable share of attention. Prof. R. Broom, in a
paper on the classification of the Karroo beds, retained the
division into Dwyka, Ecca, Beaufort, and Stormberg
series. He subdivides the Beaufort series into three, and
the Stormberg into two parts on reptile evidence, and
correlates the various divisions with European strata
thus :—Dwyka and Ecca series with Lower and Middle
Permian, Lower Beaufort beds with Upper Permian,
Middle and Upper Beaufort beds with Lower and Upper
Trias, Lower Stormberg beds with Rhetic, and Upper
Stormberg beds with Lower Jurassic.

Mr. A. L. du Toit gave an account of the Stormberg
formation in Cape Colony. This uppermost division of
the Karroo beds consists of a considerable thickness of
nearly horizontal sandstones, shales, and volcanic rocks,
and includes (in descending order) :—(4) Volcanic Beds;
(3) Cave Sandstone; (2) Red Beds; (1) Molteno Beds. The
formation covers a considerable area in the east of the
colony, in the Stormberg and Drakensberg districts, the
summits of the mountains being commonly formed of the
lava flows of (4). The sediments were deposited in an
inland sea, the ‘‘ Karroo Lake,’’ the southern shore-line
of which ran along the present coast-ranges of the colony,
and thence north-eastward, outside and parallel with the
coast-line of Natal. The author suggests the correlation
of the Volcanic Beds and Cave Sandstone with the
Rajmahal series of India (Middle? and Lower Jurassic), and
cf the Molteno beds with the Kota-Maleri series of India
and the Wianamatta series of New South Wales (Rhzetic).

23

NOVEMBER 1905 |

NA TORE

QI

Prof. A. Young described a remarkable case of an
artesian well in the Karroo which shows a daily fluctu-
ation in its discharge. The curve obtained during some
weeks by a self-recording apparatus is very regular, and
has a period of almost exactly 123 hours. The ampli-
tude shows a marked variation, corresponding in time
with the phases of the moon, and analogous to marine
spring and neap tides. The outlet is more than 2700 feet
above sea-level, and the author suggests that the water,
which contains a large amount of inflammable gas, is
forced up from a great depth through fissures by the
pressure of natural gas, and that the observed fluctuation
is a minor effect, due to the moon, superimposed on the
effect of the constant gas-pressure. The phenomenon is
scarcely affected by barometric changes.

At a joint meeting with the Geographical Section on
the second day, Mr. H. C. Schunke-Hollway gave an
account of the physical geography of Cape Colony. Mr.
Rogers read a paper on Glacial periods in South Africa,
in which he described the glacial deposits of Table Moun-
tain Sandstone- (Silurian?) and of Dwylka- (Carboniferous)
age, each formed of materials derived from the north.
There is no satisfactory evidence of glacial action in
later times, the glaciated forms of certain hills in Griqua-
land West, cited by Stow, being now known to have been
produced at any rate not later than Dwyka times, since
similar forms may be traced underneath the surrounding
Dwyka conglomerate. They have been preserved by a
thick covering of Dwyka and other beds, which have only
recently been removed.

Prof. A. Penck (Vienna) contributed a paper on changes
of climate as shown by variations of the snow-line and
upper tree-limit since Tertiary times, in which, from a
consideration of the geological evidence as to the relative
height of the snow-line and tree-line in Glacial times, he
drew conclusions as to the cause of the glacial con-
ditions. The facts pointed to a lowering of temperature
as the cause of the glaciation rather than to an increase
of precipitation. Prof. Penck suggested that an examin-
ation of the higher parts of the Drakensberg might prob-
ably reveal traces of a Pleistocene Ice age in South Africa,
though hitherto satisfactory evidence of this has been
wanting.

Prof. W. M. Davis, of Harvard, brought forward
evidence for the sculpture of mountains by glaciers.‘ He
based his arguments principally upon the marked differ-
ence in form between valleys proved in other ways (e.g. by
the presence of striations) to have been once glaciated,
and those which have not been glaciated, the differences
being in nature and distribution such as glaciers would
cause on the assumption that they could erode.

Papers were also read by Prof. Sollas, on the continent
of Africa in relation to the physical history of the earth;
by Prof. J. Milne, on recent advances in seismology; by
Mr. E. H. L. Schwarz, on ‘* Baviaan’s Kloof, a Contribu-
tion to the Study of Mountain Folds’; and by Mr. H. T.
Ferrar, on the geology of South Victoria Land, giving
the results of his observations on Antarctic rocks and
glaciers made during the voyage of the Discovery.

Prof. Sollas sketched a possible way in which the present
distribution of oceans and continents on the globe may
have arisen. The earth is not strictly a spheroid, but
resembles an ellipsoid, of which the shortest axis passes
through the poles, while the longest lies in the plane of
the equator and emerges in Central Africa. The distribu-
tion of land and water is such as would obtain if the
earth had the form of a pear which had been somewhat
compressed in the direction of its core, and thereby caused
to bulge laterally. Africa would be situated on the broad
end of the pear, and would represent the remains of the
primeval continent—a supposition consistent with the
known absence of marine sediments over the greater part
of the interior, notwithstanding the thick accumulations
of flat-bedded strata existing there.

Mr. Schwarz’s paper contained an account of a remark-
able piece of geological structure observed in the valley of
the Baviaan’s River, a tributary of the Gamtoos River, in
the neighbourhood of Port Elizabeth. On the Baviaan’s
River occur certain outliers of Enon conglomerate (Creta-

1The papers by Prof. Penck and Prof. Davis will be published shortly in
the Geographical Journal.

No. 1882, vou. 73]

ceous) which have been found by bore-holes to occupy steep-
sided, basin-shaped depressions with no outlet, in Palaeozoic
rocks of the Bokkeveld and Witteberg series (Cape
system). The basins are bounded by faults or steep dip-
slopes, and are explained as having been formed by two
series of cross-foldings trending E.S.E. to W.N.W. and
N.E. to S.W., which took place while the country was
covered with the Enon conglomerate, the latter being
faulted down upwards of 1000 feet. The author objects
to the usual explanation of rock-folding as produced by
a direct tangential thrust against an obstacle, caused by
shrinkage of the earth’s crust, and suggests that it may
in fact be gradually produced by earthquake-waves
travelling through one kind of rock (say sedimentary beds
resting on granite) and encountering a mass of rock having
a different modulus of elasticity (as, for example, a boss
of the underlying granite). The effect of this would be
to heap up the strata in folds against the obstacle, some-
what as when waves break on the shore.

At Johannesburg a considerable number of the papers
were, appropriately, of mineralogical and _ petrographical
interest.

The proceedings opened with the delivery of the presi-
dential address by Prof. Miers (NATURE, August 24, vol.
Ixxii. p. 405).

Prof. J. W. Gregory followed with two papers of special
interest to gold miners. In one of these, on the Rhodesian
Banket, he stated that he had found during a recent ex-
amination of the district that the name had been applied
to several different rocks which are locally auriferous—
not only to an undoubtedly sedimentary conglomerate form-
ing the main mass of the material, but also to crush-
conglomerates and breccias, and to a diorite dyke with
segregations of amphibolite. The Rhodesian conglomerate
may probably be rightly called Banket, but differs con-
siderably from the Banket of the Rand in its fluviatile
origin, the greater variety in size and composition of the
pebbles, and its probably greater age. The question as
to the right of the Rhodesian deposit to the name of
““ Banket ’’ aroused considerable discussion.

In his second paper (on the Indicators of the goldfield
of Ballarat—a study in the formation of gold pockets)
Prof. Gregory showed the secondary origin of the so-called
‘“indicators,’’ or thin iron-stained bands, which traverse
the slaty country-rock of Ballarat and lead to rich
pockets of gold at the points where they intersect the
otherwise barren quartz reefs. The indicators are shown
by microscopic and field evidence to be narrow seams of
chlorite or rutile needles, which are not quite, though, as
a rule, nearly, parallel to the bedding, and cannot there-
fore be of sedimentary origin.

Prof. R. Beck, of Freiberg, gave a summary of recent
investigations on the origin of pegmatites as products of
the crystallisation of the residual mother liquors of a
solidified plutonic magma. Certain ore-veins have been
formed thus as metalliferous pegmatites, for example the
tin veins of Zinnwald and Embabaan, the copper ores of
Telemarken and the auriferous quartz-reefs of Berezowsk,
the Yukon district and Passagem, and other places in
Brazil. The presence of tourmaline in certain gold-quartzes
bears out this view of their origin.

Prof. A. P. Coleman, of Toronto, dealt with the mag-
matic segregation of sulphide ores. The recent complete
mapping of the eruptive sheet with which the nickel-ore
deposits of Sudbury (Ontario) are all connected, shows
that the Sudbury ore is, like the pyrrhotite nickel ores of
Norway described by Vogt, really a product of segregation
from the rock, of which it forms an integral part with
every gradation between ore and rock. Gravitation has
probably played a large part in the segregation process.

Prof. Grenville A. J. Cole read a paper on marginal
phenomena of granite domes, in which he upheld the view
that banded gneissic rocks are due rather to the incorpor-
ation of the surrounding rocks with the materials of an in-
vading granite than to simple dynamic metamorphism ;
the banding is produced by igneous flow, and is especially
marked in cases where the absorbed rocks were sedi-
mentary or already foliated.

On the second day Mr.
report of a journey,
association

G. W. Lamplugh gave his
made under the auspices of the
to examine the zigzag gorge of the Zambesi

92

NATURE

| NOVEMBER 23, 1905

below the Victoria Falls, from which he had just returned.
Mr. Lamplugh, who penetrated down stream for a distance
of 7o miles from the Falls, accepts and confirms the ex-
planation given by Mr. Molyneux, of Bulawayo, who
attributes the zigzags to the guidance of the stream-erosion
by transverse joints in the basalt plateau through which
the gorge has been cut.

Prof. Penck read a paper, illustrated by a fine series
of lantern slides, on the Glacial deposits of the Alps.

Mr. Kynaston, director of the Geological Survey of the
Transvaal, gave an account of the recent work of the
survey. Since its re-organisation in 1903, the attention of
the survey has been chiefly occupied with the later form-
ations forming the central portion of the country, and the
results obtained bear testimony to the able way in which
the work has been carried on. The igneous complex of
the Bushveld to the north of Pretoria may be mentioned
as forming an interesting petrographical province. It
illustrates the differentiation of a magma, in what is
probably an enormous laccolite, intruded between the
Pretoria and Waterberg series, into zones of increasing
basicity, ranging from the red granite of the central region
to the norites, pyroxenites, serpentine, and magnetite-
rock of the margin. x

Dr. F. H. Hatch explained the views arrived at by Dr.
Corstorphine and himself as to the correlation between
the pre-Karroo beds of the Transvaal and those of Cape
Colony (‘‘ Geology of South Africa,’’ 1905). Dr. Hatch
also exhibited an instrument, devised by Mr. Oehmen, for
surveying bore-holes, that is, for determining the amount
and direction of the inclination of the bore-hole to the
vertical at any given depth—a problem of considerable
importance in a country where diamond drilling is so
largely used as in South Africa, as a deep bore-hole may
deviate as much as 30° or more in its lower levels.

The Rev. S. S. Dornan gave an account of his observy-
ations on the geology of Basutoland. The rocks belong to
the Stormberg series, and consist of sandstones, mud-
stones, and shales forming the Molteno Beds and the over-
lying *‘ Red Beds.”’ Fossils are rare, but a few plant and
reptile remains have been found in the former. Above the
Red Beds lies the Cave Sandstone, a thick-bedded sand-

stone, which forms the crests of the hills and contains
caves sometimes showing Bushman paintings. Reptile
tracks are frequent, but few other fossils occur. The

higher ridges of the Drakensberg and Maluti ranges are
formed of lava-flows and intrusive sheets belonging to
the volcanic series) This communication was of special
interest on account of the difficulty of making observations
and collecting fossils in Basutoland, as it is a native
reserve, and ‘the natives are unwilling to allow any pro-
specting, fearing lest they might lose their country should
gold be discovered.

On the last day of the meeting Mr.
read a description of the Dolomite formation, which is
important as being practically the only source of under-
ground water supply in the Transvaal. The rock is prob-
ably a deep-sea deposit, which has subsequently undergone
dolomitisation in shallow water, and has lost in the process
all trace of organic remains, so that its age is unknown.
Mr. W. Anderson contributed a paper describing the first
Tertiary rocks of marine origin which have “been dis-
covered in South Africa. These comprise sands, marls,
and shales, with marine Mollusca (identified as probably
of Eocene age) and Foraminifera in the upper beds, while
in the lowermost shales occur numerous isolated bones of
Mammalia (elephant, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, &c.), with
water-worn fragments of fossil wood, and fish and crus-
tacean remains. The beds, which are confined to the coast
of Natal and Zululand, are probably of estuarine origin. A
calcareous grit, forming the Bluff at Durban, is also
probably Tertiary in age.

A paper by Mr. E. T. Mellor dealt with the evidences
in the Transvaal of glacial conditions in Permo-Carbon-
iferous times, and the distribution of the glacial con-
glomerates forming the base of the Karroo system, which
corresponds to the Dwyka conglomerate of Cape Colony.
Here, as in the country to the south, the striations, as
well as the nature of the boulders, point to a northerly
origin. Mr. Lamplugh read a note on the occurrence of
Dwyka conglomerate at Kimberley Mine.

no. 1882, VoL. 73]

C. B. Horwood

In a paper on the diamond pipes and fissures of South
Africa, Mr. H. S. Harger expressed his view that the
source of the diamond lay in a zone of ultra-basic rocks
—eclogites, lherzolites, and pyroxenites—in which it may
be an original constituent crystallising from the magma,
for it has been frequently found in garnets and more
rarely in olivine, and has been produced artificially in
the latter. The blue ground filling the diamond pipes and
the associated fissures is an altered breccia formed by the
shattering of these ultra-basic diamondiferous rocks during
a period of volcanic activity, probably in late Triassic or
Jurassic times. Mr. Harger’s paper was especially valu-
able as embodying the results of careful personal obsery-
ations carried on through several years on the occurrence
and associations of the diamond in the numerous mines
scattered up and down the country, some of which are
little known outside South Africa. An interesting collec-
tion of specimens of the associated minerals was on ex-
hibition in the adjoining museum.

Papers were also communicated to the meeting by Dr.
J. T. Carrick, on the geology of the West Rand; by Mr.
F. P. Mennell, on the plutonic rocks and their relations
to the crystalline schists; and by Mr. E. Heneage, on a
consideration of the Archean period of North America
and South Africa with reference to mineral occurrences.

Apart from the papers read, a more than usual amount
of interest attached this year to the geological excursions,
of which a large and most interesting series were
organised by Dr. Molengraaff, Prof. R. B. Young, and
Mr. Rogers, to whom, with the other gentlemen who acted
as leaders, the thanks of the section are especially due.

These excursions—many of which occupied several days
and were on a_ scale hitherto unprecedented, except
possibly at the Toronto meeting in 1897—afforded the
members of the Geological Section a unique opportunity
of seeing the most interesting features of the country
under the guidance of the men by whom they had been
investigated: members of the various surveys being spared
for the purpose by their respective Governments.

After the meeting at Cape Town Mr. Rogers led a party
through the Karroo, visiting, among much else of interest,
the folded ranges of the Hex River district, and exposures
of the Dwyka conglomerate (or Boulder-clay) and of the
Beaufort beds which have yielded Pareiasaurus and other
characteristic reptiles. While in Natal, several members
visited the glaciated surfaces and overlying beds at
Vryheid, under the guidance of Mr. W. Anderson, the
Government geologist, and Dr. Molengraaff, formerly ‘State
geologist of the Transvaal. During the meeting in
Johannesburg a number of afternoon excursions were made
to the gold mines and other points of interest, while after

its conclusion several more extended expeditions took
place. These included one to Vereeniging, under Dr.
Hatch, to examine the sandstones and coal-seams of the

Ecea series, which have yielded the Glossopteris flora, and
the associated beds, and to see Mr. T. N. Leslie’s collections
of fossil plants from the Ecca sandstone and of flint imple-
ments from the Vaal River. Another party had an oppor-
tunity of studying the norites and syenites of the Plutonic
complex of the “Bushveld, at the Pyramids and in the
neighbourhood of the Pienaar’s River, to the north of
Pretoria, under Mr. Kynaston and Mr. A. L. Hall; while
a third party, with Mr. Hall and Mr. Frames, visited the
Duivels Kantoor, at the eastern edge of the Transvaal
plateau, where the escarpment of the Black Reef series
and Dolomite overlooks the floor of Archzean rocks, on the
denuded surface of which they rest unconformably.

Excellent opportunities were also afforded of studying
the occurrence of the diamond, both at the Premier and
other Transvaal mines, under Mr. Cullinan, the chairman
of the Premier Diamond Company, and Messrs. Hall,
Harger, Kynaston, and Trevor, and at Kimberley through
the kind offices of Mr. Gardner Williams, the chairman. of
De Beers.

In addition to this, there was a great deal of interest to
the student of surface geology to be seen during the long
train journey, among which may be mentioned the hill-
country in the north of Natal, the flat and sandy bush-
scenery along the line to the north, and the wonderful
examples of weathering in the granite country of the
Matopo Hills. ©

NOVEMBER 23, 1905 | NATURE 93
NIV. J if elected members of the council, as representatives of the
NDC a ON senate of the University of London. The council offers
u 1 c two open scholarships of the value of 20]. each for one
Oxrorp.—Dr. Haldane, Fellow cf New College, has ! year for the course of secondary training beginning in

been re-appointed lecturer in physiology on the nomination
of the Waynflete professor. Lhe appointment is for three
years from January 1, 1906. Chemical physiology is the
particular subject assigned to the lecturer.

The degree of M.A. has been conferred, by a decree of
Convocation, on Dr. Schlich, secretary to the delegacy
for superintending the instructien of Indian forestry
students.

CaMBRIDGE.—An election to an Isaac Newton studentship
will be held in the Lent term, 1906. These studentships
are for the encouragement of study and research in astro-
nomy (especially gravitational astronomy, but including
other branches of astronomy and astronomical physics) and
physical optics. The studentship will be tenable for the
term of three years from April 15, 1906. The emolument
of the student wiil be 200l. per annum. Candidates for
the studentship are invited to send in their applications
to the Vice-Chancellor between January 16 and 26, 1906,
together with testimonials and such cther evidence as to
their qualifications and their proposed course of study or
research as they may think fit.

An appointment to the Anthony Wilkin studentship in
ethnology and archzology (Reporter, May 23, pp. 920-1)
will be made in January, 1906. Applicants should send in
their names, qualifications, and a statement of the research
which they wish to undertake, to the Vice-Chancellor before
January 1, 1906.

Mr. T. S. P. Strangeways, of St. John’s College, has
been re-appointed demonstrater of pathology for a period
of five years from Michaelmas, 1905.

Prof. C. S. Sherrington, F.R.S., and Prof. R. Threlfall,
F.R.S., have been elected honorary fellows at Gonville and
Caius College.

The State Medicine Syndicate has nominated Mr. J. E.
Purvis, Mr. G. H. F. Nuttall, Dr. J. Lane Notter, Dr.
R. D. Sweeting, and Dr. A. Newsholme to be examiners
in State medicine in the year 1905; and Mr. G. H. F.
Nuttall, Mr. C. W. Daniels, and Prof. Ronald Ross, C.B.,
F.R.S., to be examiners for the diploma in_ tropical
medicine and hygiene in the year 1905.

Dr. W. A.. Bone, F.R.S., has been appointed professor
of applied chemistry (fuel and metallurgy) in the University
of Leeds.

Mr. Cuartes W. E. Leicn, formerly of the Natural
History Museum, South Kensington, and late assistant
secretary and librarian to the Manchester Literary and
Philoscphical Society, has been appointed librarian of the
University of Manchester.

Tue following appointments, Science states, have been
made in the faculties of the George Washington Uni-
versity :—General Henry L. Abbott, U.S.A., to be pro-
fessor ef hydraulic engineering; Dr. Edward B. Rosa to
be professor of physics; and Brigadier-General George M.
Sternberg, U.S.A., to be professor of preventive medicine.

We learn from Science that President Eliot, of Harvard
University, has received a letter from President Pritchett,
of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, communi-
cating the fact that, in view of the recent decision of the
Supreme Court of the State in the case of John Wilson
and others v. the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
the corporation of the institute find it impossible to proceed
with the plan of cooperation between the university and
the institute which has been under consideration for the
past six months. The committee appointed by the Harvard

board at the request of the institute has consequently been
discharged.

At the annual general meeting of members of the Bed-
ford College for Women, held on November 17, the chair-
man, the Right Hon. A. H. Dyke Acland, announced that
the Parliamentary grant to Bedford College had for the
current session been increased from 2000. to 4oool. It
was also reported that past students had already con-
tributed 35001. to the building fund. Principal T. G.
Foster, of University College, and Lady Lockyer have been

NO. 1882, vor |

-4

January, 1906. The scholarships will be awarded to the
best candidates holding a degree or equivalent in arts or
science. Applications should reach the head of the training
department not later than Monday, December 18.

Sir W. H. Preece distributed the prizes and certificates
to the students of Birkbeck College on November 14, and
afterwards delivered an address on the simplicity of science.
Sir Wiiliam Preece said he has never believed that in
scientific and technical training Englishmen are far behind
the rest of the world. However lacking we may have
been in the upper regions of higher education, we have
never failed to encourage education in other ranges, and
Birkbeck College was one of the first in this country to
spread the love of science and to offer educational facili-
ties to those willing to use them in their leisure hours.
What is wanted now, he continued, is that men who make
fortunes in the metropolis shall become patriotic founders
of endowments for enabling us to distribute the teaching
advantages already existing to all classes of society. Sir
W. Preece incidentally remarked on the absence of
memorials to pioneers of science, mentioning especially Sir
Henry Bessemer—an old student of Birkbeck College.
Towards the conclusion of his address he suggested that
Members of Parliament, before being permitted to legislate,
should have to go through a course of instruction in
scientific modes of thought.

Ar a dinner given by the Society of Apothecaries on
November 14, Mr. John Tweedy, president of the Royal
College of Surgeons, responding to the toast *‘ The Royal
Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons,’’ dealt with the
subject of medical education. He said that, in accordance
with the promptings of the General Medical Council, the
Royal College of Surgeons has raised the standard of
general education of medical students, and has increased
the multiplicity and severity of the examinations. But Mr.
Tweedy would like to see the wheel turned back a little.
He thinks that too much is being attempted in the way
of examinations, and desires to see steps taken in the
direction of simplification, without any sacrifice of
efficiency. If some of the restrictions and regulations were
relaxed, he believes a better class of practitioner than is
possible under the present régime could be produced. The
student is over-taught, over-examined, so that he has no
time to reflect, to exercise his reason or his intellect. Mr.
Tweedy believes that the medical examinations are best
entrusted to professional corporations. Although he does
not go so far as to advocate deprivation of the universities’
power of granting qualifying degrees, he pointed out that

‘the universities do not possess a qualifying degree in law.

SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES.

Lonpon.

Royal Society, July 29.—‘‘ Studies on Enzyme Action.
VII.—The Synthetic Action of Acids contrasted with thar
of Enzymes. Synthesis of Maltose and Isomaltose.’’ By
E. Frankland Armstrong. Communicated by Prof. H. E.
Armstrong.

The belief has grown up of late years that the enzymes
which are capable of inducing the hydrolysis of di-
saccharides or bioses act reversibly; as yet, however, but
little has been done to define the theory of the process, and
no understanding has been arrived at as to the limitations
to which such changes are subject. The same is true of
the action of acids, which also act reversibly under certain
conditions.

The key to the interpretation of the changes which attend
condensation must be looked for in the behaviour of glucose
itself in solution.

The term glucose, in fact, has a double connotation, and
these two substances must usually be thought of under
the single name. As crystallised from alcohol, it consists
almost entirely of the a-form; but this changes over into
the B-form if maintained during several days at about
105°. If either form be dissolved in water, change takes
place of the one into the other; ultimately, the two forms

94

INSHI LOGIE.

[NOVEMLER 23. 1905

exist in sclution in equilibrium, in proportions which
depend on the conditions, the B-compound predominating.
Change takes place in a similar manner in other media.
The process by which a monose is converted into a biose
must be regarded as precisely similar to that by which
a-glucose and f-glucose are converted into the two methyl-
glucosides: the behaviour of maltose, in fact, is such as
to characterise it unquestionably as glucose-a-glucoside ;

isomaltose is presumably the stereoisomeric glucose-f-
glucoside.
When glucose undergoes condensation ‘* uncontrolled,”

it should give rise to beth maltose and isomaltose, the pro-
portions of which ultimately present in equilibrium would
depend on their relative stability under the conditions
operative at the time. But, inasmuch as hydrolysis under
the influence of enzymes is an absolutely selective process,
being so controlled that it takes place in one direction only,
it might be supposed that synthesis under their influence
would also be a controlled operation, and that the tendency
of the enzyme would be to repreduce the biose which it
hydrolyses: apparently this point of view was present in
Croft Hill’s mind and led him to suppose, at first, that
maltose was the actual product; as a matter of fact, it is
uncertain at present whether maltose is produced at all:

it is certainly not the sole or even the predominant
product.
The formation under the influence of the enzyme of a

single biose, isomeric with that which it hydrolyses, could
be accounted for on the assumption that both are produced

initially, but that the one again undergoes hydrolysis as
soon as it is formed, so that it all but disappears.
Proof is given in the present communication that when

the condensation is effected under laboratory conditions the
action takes place in the manner indicated above; in other
words, the two products required by theery are both
formed. Evidence is adduced to show that isomaltose is
the B-glucoside correlative with the a-glucoside maltose.
Experiments are described bearing on the formation of
isomaltose by the agency of the a-enzyme maltase and of
its correlative maltose by the agency of the B-enzyme

emulsin which leave little doubt that the two bioses are
producible from glucose. Whilst it is left undecided

whether maltase can give rise to maltose, evidence is cited
which at least renders it probable that emulsin does not
give rise to isomaltose.

“Studies on Enzyme
Armstrong, F.R.S.
The study of vegetable lipase is of special importance,

Action.—Lipase.”’’ By Henry E.

as the ordinary fats—which are hydrolysed under its in-
fluence with peculiar readiness—are not asymmetric
material but simply glycerides of acids of the acetic or

oleic series. The interest of the inquiry is enhanced by the
fact that animal lipase, according to Dakin, acts selec-
tively but the selective effect of lipase is of a different
order from that displayed, for example, by an enzyme of
the sucroclastic class, which can only
of a pair of enantiomorphous isomerides.

In the course of the experiments, Connstein’s
has been confirmed that the presence of acid is
to condition the hydrolysis and that practically any acid
is effective provided a sufficient amount be used. Aspartic
and glutamic acids—which are formed at an early stage
of the germination of seeds—were found to be highly
active; glycin and asparagin, however, were practically
without effect.

All attempts resulted in failure which were made to
obtain an extract containing an enzyme, whether from the
freshly-ground material directly or after this had been
deprived of the fatty matter and whether or no acid were
present. Apparently, acids do not act merely by liber-
ating the enzyme.

The Ricinus enzyme has been found to have but little
action, not only on ethylic butyrate, on acetin and on
dimethylic tartrate and racemate but also on_ ethylic
mandelate, which, according to Dakin, is readily attacked
by animal lipase.

It is difficult to resist the impression that the differences
observed are not merely consequences of differences in
stability of the various ethereal salts but that the Ricinus
enzyme is possessed of properties which make it specifically

NO! 1882, “OL, 72)

contention
necessary

attack one member-

capable of promoting the hydrolysis of
higher fatty acids.

Ivcerides of the

Received August 10.—‘‘ Fertility in Scottish Sheep.”
By Dr. F. H. A. Marshalt. Communicated by Prof.
ES AS Schater shakes:

Received August 18.—‘ The Pressure of Explosions.
Experiments on Solid and Gaseous Explosives.’’ Parts i.
and ii. By J. E. Petavel.

Part i. deals with the methods and apparatus used in
the research. Part ii. is devoted to a study of the proper-
ties of cordite.

Received September 7.—‘ On the Nature of the Galvano-

tropic Irritability of Rocts.’’ By Dr. Alfred J. Ewart
and Jessie S. Bayliss. Communicated by Francis Darwin,
For.Sec.R.S.

After the contradictory experiments of Miuller-Hett-

lingen, and Elfving, Briinchorst found that strong currents
produced a positive, and weak currents a negative, curva-
ture. Roots hence appeared to possess a_parallelotropic
irritability to electrical currents, reversible according to
the intensity, as in the case of heliotactic and heliotropic
irritability. The experiments were not altogether satis-
factory, ner did they reveal the mode of stimulation,
further investigations seemed desirable.

These have shown that the curvatures are produced by
the acid and alkaline products of electrolysis liberated on
opposite sides of the root. The acid products are more
effective than the alkaline, so that when the current is
led transversely through the subapical sensitive region
the curvature always takes place towards the positive
electrode; but if one electrode is placed upon the hypocotyl
and the other on the irritable zone, the curvature is always

towards the latter electrode, whether it be positive or
negative. These galvanogenic curvatures are hence chemo-
tropic in origin, as has been shown by direct experiments

with acids and alkalis. Thus, if the roots are imbedded
at varying distances in gelatin through which a current
is passed, the roots curve in regular order towards the
electrodes shortly after the acid or alkali, as evidenced
by phenolphthalein, has diffused near to them.

In addition, the application of the electrolysed region
of a root or of filter paper moistened with decincrmal acid
or alkali produces similar curvatures.

All these curvatures have been produced on a klinostat
and without any injury to the root. Indeed, in many cases
a constant current of 0-000009 of an ampere is sufficient
to cause a curvature. Using non- polarisable electrodes, no
response is given unless very streng currents are used,
since the stimulation is now dependent upon the restricted
internal polarisation in the root.

It is doubtful whether the electrical currents in the soil
call this special irritability regularly into play. The power
of curving towards faintly acid or alkaline regions must
aid the root greatly in reaching soil where soluble con-
stituents are most likely to be abundant, or where
anaérobic nitrogenous decomposition (with a production of
ammonia) or the subsequent aérobic nitrification (with a
production of traces of nitrous and nitric acids) are in

progress.
The non-development of any power of curving away

from strong acid or alkali is to be explained by the non-
occurrence of high local concentrations in normal soil.
Even when a strong local acidity or alkalinity is artificially
produced in the soil, the roots are killed before they can
curve away from it, and even if the apical zone did curve
away, the non-curving zone behind would be rapidly killed.

Scciolovical Society, Octoher 24.—Sir Tchr Cockburn
in the chair.—Biological foundations of sociology: Dr. G.

Archdall Reid. The author outlined modern teaching on
the subject of heredity, accepting the Weissmannian con-
clusion regarding the non-inheritance of acquired

characters. These principles he applied to human qualities
with especial reference to the possibilities of selective breed-
ing. Four main conclusions were reached :—(a) That
there is a confusion, in popular and in uncritical medical
opinion, of variation with acquirement. Many individual
acquirements are considered innate. (b) That racial

" NOVEMBER 23, 1905 |

INCA IMIS:

95

change through heredity is a process requiring very long
periods of time, so increase of natural ability by selection
of variations must remain, on the whole, inconsiderable.
(c) That the more important factor is individual acquire-
ment or education. The great output of genius during
the Athenian and Renaissance periods is to be explained,
not ‘in terms of natural ability, but as arising from ex-
ceptional opportunity. (d) That the one practicable methed
of improving the racial average of natural ability is by
the elimination of clearly degenerate types.

Challenger Society, October 25.—Mr. F. W. L. Holt
in the chair.—Charts illustrating the physical conditions
in the English Channel during 1903 and 1904: Dr. E. J.
Allen and D. J. Matthews. The observations, which
were conducted from the Plymouth laboratory of the
Marine Biological Association as a centre, had been made
by the association’s steamers Huxley and Oithona, by
ocean-going liners and cross-Channel steamers, and at
lightships and lighthouses. They extended from about
Dungeness to Cape Finisterre, and showed the north-

easterly movement of oceanic water of high salinity and |

temperature, the southerly movement of water of low
salinity from the Irish Sea, and the varying effects of
these movements on the waters of the English Channel in
different months.

Royal Astronomical Society, November 10.—Mr. W. I.
Maw, president, in the chair.—Observations of the sixth
and seventh satellites of Jupiter, from photographs taken
at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, with the 30-inch
reflector of the Thompson equatcrial : Astronomer Royal.
The photographs were shown on the screen, with diagrams
to illustrate the orbits of the satellites ——Observations of
the satellite of Neptune, from photographs taken at the
Royal Observatory, Greenwich, with the 26-inch refractor :
Astronomer Royal.—Expedition to Vinaroz, cn the east
coast of Spain, to observe the total solar eclipse of August
last: Father Cortie.—Eclipse expedition to Burgos: Mr.
Thwaites.—Eclipse expedition to Labrador: Mr.
Maunder.—Photograph of the partial phase of the recent
eclipse showing distinctly the entire disc of the moon:
Mr. Saunder.—(1) Secular acceleration of the earth’s
orbital motion; (2) Ptolemaic eclipses of the mocn as
recorded in the Almagest: Mr. Cowell. In a paper already
printed the author showed that the ancient solar eclipses
are satisfied by adopting the following secular terms :—
(1) in the distance of the moon from the node +4"-4, and
(2) in the distance of the moon from the sun +6"-8. He
now showed that these conclusjons are supported by the
eclipses of the mcon as given in the Almagest. Mr. Cowell
considered that a secular acceleration of the earth's orbital
motion does not contravene gravitational theory, as Prof.
Newcomb had suggested, since it might be ascribed to the
resistance of the ether.—Other papers were taken as read.

Physical Society, Noven ber 10.—Dr. C. Chree, F.R.S.,
vice-president, in the chair.—The question of temperature

and efficiency of thermal radiation: J. Swinburne. It has
long been known that various surfaces have different
emissivities, and it is generally held that at a given

temperature some bodies. radiate
their total radiation in the form of light. This view is
largely based on some experiments by Evans and
Bottomley, both of whom, the author remarks, make the
same slip in confusing difference of emissivity with differ-
ence of. efficiency at the same temperature. It is urged
that a body A at the same temperature as B cannot give
out radiation corresponding to a higher temperature of B,
for if it could, and A and B were enclosed in a perfectly
reflecting space, A would heat B to a higher temperature
than A.—Note on constant-deviation prisms: T. H.
Blakesley. It appears that any prism of three faces can
be made to give a spectrum in which the light, that
occupies the centre of the field of view of the telescope at
any moment, has undergone passage through the two
refracting surfaces of the prism in such a way that its
original angle of incidence is equal to its final angle of
emergence. This condition, which in the ordinary employ-
ment of the prism is associated with minimum deviation,
must be described as isogonal passage, the property which
has the minimum value being not the deviation, but the

NO. 1882, VOU. 73]

a larger percentage of

| prism

| and bottom, of the component colours, and in the
-a band of the resulting colours.

rate of passage across the field of view for a given motion
of the prism, to which alone in these instruments mction
has to be given to bring different parts of the spectrum
into the field, the telescope and collimator both remaining
fixed. If any triangle having the angles a, B, 7 is adopted
as the shape of a prism, the telescope must be set to make
one of these angles, say y, with the line of the collimator.
Then the prism being placed in the region between them,
a positicn can be fcund so that any ray selected will be
refracted through one of the sides containing the angle y,

reflected at the side opposite y, and finally refracted
through the remaining side containing y. On emergence

it will be parallel to the telescope, and its passage through
the refracting faces will be iscgonal. ‘Ihe prism will
affect the light to the same degree as one used in the

erdinary way, of refracting angle B—a, would do. The
sine of the angle of original incidence is equal to

usin (B—a)/2 fer every ray occupying the centre of the
field of view. If the prism is turned over, but the same
angle y employed, the telescope will remain unaltered, but
the spectrum will run in an opposite direction to the
first. Mr. Blakesley showed the case of two prisms in
which the spectra ran in different directions. The top
was slightly tilted by the insertion of a small
piece of silver paper between the prisms. By this means
one of the spectra was shifted upwards by a_ small
amount, and one could see in the telescope a band, at top
cenire
It was suggested that
spectroscopes on this plan could be advantageously
employed in measuring the motion in the line of sight of
heavenly bodies, as a line brought into coincidence with
itself for a terrestrial source in the two spectra would, in
the case of such motion, split up into two moving d
ways in the field of view. It was also explained ho
prisms could be placed in trains for increased dispersion.

Royal Meteorological Society, November 15.—Mr.
Richard Bentley, president, in the chair.—The rainstorm
of August 24 to 26 in counties Dublin and Wicklow :
Sir John W. Moore. The atmospheric disturbance which
caused the torrential rainfall was near the shores of Kerry
and Cornwall on August 24, and the next morning it was
near the Scilly Islands. Thence it travelled slowly: north-
wards up St. George’s Channel, its centre passing near
Dublin early on the morning of August 26. At this time
the system suddenly changed its course, crossing the
channel eastwards to Wales, and finally passing over
central England and out to sea at the mouth of the Humber
in a nerth-easterly direction. It appears that the rainfall
on August 25 exceeded 3 inches at all stations in the
counties Dublin and Wicklow, while it rose above 4 inches,
and even 5 inches, at stations near the Dublin and Wicklow
mountains. Sir John Moore is of opinion that this remark-
able downpour was brought about by the cooperation of
the following factors :—(1) a chill antecedent to the arrival
of the rain-bearing depression; (2) the slow progress of
the depression; (3) the fact that the counties Wicklow and
Dublin lay to the westward of the cyclonic centre, and so
received its north-easterly and northerly winds; and (4) the
physical configuration of those counties and their coast
line. As the result of this remarkable rainstorm a de-
structive flood occurred cver the low-lying parts of the
Bray urban district near the mouth of the Bray River.
At Little Bray the water rose to a height of 4 feet in the
streets, flooding houses, destroying domestic animals and
fowls, wrecking furniture, and covering floors, yards, and
gardens with a thick alluvial deposit.—The aquameter : Dr.
W. B. Newton. This is a new instrument fer measuring
accurately the amount of aqueous vapour present in the
atmosphere.

Paris.
Academy of Sciences, November 13 —M. Troost in the
chair.—Nitrates and nitrites as manure: Th. &chleesing,

jun. Nitrate of calcium is now produced by electrical
means from the air, and the salt thus obtained contains
nitrite. It was desirable to ascertain whether the calcium
nitrate is equivalent for manurial purposes to the sodium
nitrate in ordinary use, and also whether the nitrite was
in any way prejudicial. Cultivation experiments showed

that the two nitrates were equivalent, and that the presence

96

of nitrite was without objection.—On the floating spiked
Decapods collected by the American expeditions of the
Hassler and the Blake: E. L. Bouvier.—On the con-
gruences of skew cubics: M. Stuywaert.—On the develop-
ment of a uniform analytical function in an infinite pro-

duct: M. Zorettii—On the complementary geodesic
triangulations of the upper regions of the French Alps
(third expedition): P. Helbronner.—On a dynamometric
brake designed for measuring the power of motors, and
which allows of the utilisation, in an electrical form, of
the ater part of the work developed: A. Krebs. This

electrical brake has been successfully applied to measuring
the horse-power of motor-car engines of from 1 horse-power
to 200 horse-power. It has several advantages over the
friction dynamometer, as it can be used as long as may
be required without any danger of over-heating, and is not

liable to the errors introduced by the variations in the
coefficient of friction——On the electrical phenomenon
created in liquid chains, symmetrical as regards concentra-

the formation of a fresh surface of contact: H.
Chanoz.—On the liquefaction of air by compression with
external work: Georges Claude. <A continuation of an
earlier paper on the same subject, and giving an account
of the modifications which it has been necessary to make
in the arrangements of the apparatus to secure an increased
yield of liquid air.—On the molecular conductivity of the
phosphoric P. Carré. Measurements are given
for the monoalkylphosphoric esters derived from ethyl and
isobutyl alcohols, glycerol, erythritol, and mannide, and it
was found that the ionisation of the acid phosphoric esters
is considerably greater than with phosphoric acid itself.—
A general method for the synthesis of af-glycidic esters
and of ketones: Georges Darzens. In a previous paper
the author has shown that by the condensation of mono-
chloroacetic acid with ketones, trisubstituted glycidic esters
are formed by the saponification of which unstable acids

tion, by

esters :

are produced, the latter readily splitting up into carbon
dioxide and a ketone. This reaction has now been ex-

tended to a-chloropropionic acid, giving ketones of the type
RR,.CH—CO—CH,. The reaction appears to be quite
general; eight new glycidic esters and five new ketones
are described.—On the constitution of crystallised bodies :
Fred. Watlerant.—Observations relating to the morphology
of aérial bulbs: Marcel Dubard. Coleus Dazo shows a
tendency to accumulate its reserves in its aérial organs
when the conditions of growth are unfavourable to the
formation of subterranean stems. These reserves, of a
starchy nature, are deposited in the axillary buds originally
intended to form flowers.—The changes in the amount of
fragrant oil present in the plant during the accomplish-

ment of the functions of the flower: Eug. Charabot and
Alex. Hébert.—Comparison of the cycles of evolution of
the Orthonectidze and Dicyemide: F. Mesnil and M.
Caullery.—The formation of the vitellus in the sparrow :
M. Dubuisson.—The embryogeny of the Hexactinide: L.
Faurot.—The reason why certain deaf mutes can hear
low notes better than high ones: M. Mayrage. From

experiments on animals unprovided with any organ of hear-
ing, the author concludes that the perception of low musical
notes by deaf mutes is not hearing in the proper sense of
the word, but a special sense for low notes which is also
met with in the lower animals.—The increase in the
activity of the pancreatic secretion by calcium salts: C.
Delezenne. The experiments described show the import-
ance of calcium salts in developing the activity of pan-
creatic juice. A complete explanation of the effects pro-
duced is not, as yet, fortheoming.—On the tectonic at the
S.W. of Chott and Hodna: ips Savornin.—On the use
of hydrostatic pressure in tapping thermal springs: L.
De Launay.—The exploration of the free atmosphere above
the Atlantic Ocean, north of the tropical regions, on board
the yacht of the Prince of Monaco, in 1905: H.
Hergesell.

DIARY OF SOCIETIES.

THURSDAY, NoveMeBER 23.

Royvat Society, af 4-30.—On the Nature of the Galvanotropic Irritability
of Roots: Dr. J. Ewart and Miss Bayliss.—Some Observations on
Welwitschia Se Ae Hooker-f. : Prof. H. H. W. Pearson.—On the
Effects of Alkalies and Acids, and of Alkaline and Acid Salts, upon
Growth and Cell Division in the Fertilised Eggs of Echinus esculentus ;

NO. 1882, VOL. 73]

WAT OLE

[NovEMBER 23, 1905.

a Study in Relationship to the Causation of Malignant Disease:
Prof. B. Moore, Dr. H. E. Roaf, and E. Whiiley.—A Note on the
Effect of Acid, Alkali, and Certain Indicators in Arresting or Otherwise
Influencing the Development of the Eggs of Pleuronectes platessa
and Echinus esculentus: E. Whitley.—On Certain Physical and
Chemical Properties of Solutions of Chloroform and other Anzsthetics.
A Contribution to the Chemistry of Anzsthesia. (Second Communica-
tion) : Prof. B. Moore and Dr. H. E. Roaf.—(z) On the Possibility
of Determining the Presence or Absence of Tubercular Infection by the
Examination of a Patient's Blood or Tissue Fluids : (2) On Spontaneous
Phagocytosis and on the Phagocytosis which is obtained with the
Heated Serum of Patients who have responded to Tubercular Infection,
or as the Case may be to the Inoculation of a Tubercle Vaccine:
Dr. A. E Wright and Staff-Surgeon S. T. Reid, R.N.—On the Occurrence
of the Heterotypical Mitosis in Cancer: Dr. E. F. Bashford and J. A.
Murray.

emia on or ELectricaL ENGINEERS, at 8.—The Applications of
Electricity in the Royal Gun Factory, Woolwich Arsenal: Colonel
H. C. L. Holden, R.A., F.R.S.

FRIDAY, NovEMBER 24.

PuysicaL Society, at 5.—The Dielectric Strength of Air: A. Russell.—
On the Electrical Conductivity of Flames containing Salt Vapours for
Rapidly Alternating Currents: Dr. H. A. Wilson.—On the Lateral
Vibration of Loaded and Unloaded Bars: J. Morrow.

SATURDAY, NoveMBER 25.

Tue Essex Fievtp Crus (at Essex Museum of Natural History, Stratford),
at 6.30.—Report of Club's Delegate at Meeting of Corresponding
Societies’ Committee, British Association, 1905: F. W. Rudler, 1.S.0.—
Romance of Plant Life: F. Martin-Duncan.

MONDAY, NoveMBER 27.

Society oF Arts, at 8.—The Measurement of High Frequency Currents
and Electric Waves; Prof. J. A. Fleming, F.R.S.

INSTITUTE OF ACTUARIES, at 5.— Valuation by Select Tables:
Papers by Messrs. T. G. Ackland, O. F. Diver and G. King.

TUESDA Y, NovemMBeEr 28.

ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY, at 8.30.

InstTiTuTION oF CiviL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Discussion: On Waterways
in Great Britain: J. A. Saner.—Adso, time permitting: The Steam-
Turbine: The Hon. C. A. Parsons, C.B., F.R.S., and G. G. Stoney.

WEDNESDAY, NovEMbER 29.

Society oF Arts, at 8.—The British Association in South Africa:
William H. Preece, K.C.B., F.R-S.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER ft.

INSTITUTION OF CiIvIL ENGINEERS, at 8.—An Installation for the Bacterial
Treatment of Sewage, at Neath: W. L. Jenkins.

Separate

Sir

CONTENTS. PAGE
Zoology of the Vertebrata - Pano rect 73
An Essay in Historical Chemistry. BySWeR.... 31074
The Kew Index of Flowering Plants. By A.B. R.. 75
Our Book Shelf :—
Deerr: ‘‘ Sugar and the Sugar Cane” . . . 75
Bell: ‘‘My Strange Pets, and other Memories of
Country Life.’"—R.L. . . 76
Hosters <= Simple Lessons on Health for the Use of
the Young” . ice ieee
Nansouty: ‘‘ Actualités scientifiques ” 76
Letters to the Editor:
The British Secastelsen and our Colonies.—Prof.
Jobn Milne, F.R.S. . . 77
The Stone Age of the Zambesi V alleys Ende its Relaz
tion in Time. —Colonel H. W. Feilden,C.B. . 77
Terminology in Electrophysiology.—Dr. A. D,
Waller, F.R.S.; Dr. George J. Burch, F.R.S. 78
Action of Radium Salts on Gelatin. —W. A. mee
Rudge . . 78
The Spectrum of ‘the Positive Rays (Canale Strahlen).—
Drejanstar kee 79
Replicas of Diffraction Gratings. _Thomas Thorp ; ‘
The Writer ofthe Notice. . 79
Aurora of November 15.—Rowland ix) Earp; R.
Langton Cole. . 5 ; 79
A Lunar Theory from Observation. ” By Dr. P, H,
Cowell ... 80
Science and Art of Cricket. (Ulustrated.) By ©. G. K-82
Notes .. Alen . &
Our Astronomical Column :—
Discovery) of al(Gomet, 19054.) 5. ee) | ES
Nova Aquile No.2 . . ene. otc alg 87
The Tenth Satellite of Saturn : oD aeS fs//
The Evolution of the Solar System ........ 87
Catalogue of Variable Stars ©... 2 3) 5. « . ©) 087,
Star Calendar for 1906. . 87
New Museum and Laboratories of "Zoology ‘at
Liverpool. (/l/ustrated.). . - ae. (RSS
| Geology at the British Association ... . Cmca. Ce
University and Educational Intelligence 93
Societies, and Aicademies) sa. 1). ene 93
DiaryiofSocietiesmpe. = cae e) =) 1 eee 96

NATURE

97

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 1905.

MATHEMATICAL PAPERS.
(Paris :

LAGUERRE’S
CEuvres de Laguerre. Tome ii. Pp. 715.

Gauthier-Villars, 1905.) Price 22 francs.

HE publication of the mathematical papers of |
Laguerre, undertaken after his death in 1886

by MM. Hermite, Poincaré, and Rouché under the
auspices of the Academy of Sciences, has at length
been completed. <A first volume, to which M.
Poincaré contributed as a preface an admirable
appreciation of the author, appeared in 1898; and
now some eighty papers which treat of geometrical
subjects have been collected from the various scientific
journals and reprinted in a second and final volume
of more than 700 pages. Most of these papers are
of but four or five pages in length, for it was
Laguerre’s habit, when a mathematical investigation |
had aroused his interest, to return to it again and |
again as new ideas occurred to him; and so it comes
to pass that the majority of his writings on geometry |
may be classified as dealing with one or other of |
some half-dozen wide but distinct subjects. A

The discovery with which Laguerre made his entry
into the ranks of original investigators is of such
moment in the history of modern mathematics that |
we will pause in order to realise the condition of
geometrical knowledge at the time, and the circum- |
stances in which it was made. The first three of the
papers now under review bear the dates 1852-3, and
were written when the author, a student eighteen
years of age at the Institution Barbet, was still only
a candidate for admission to the Ecole Polytechnique.
It was a time when a great change in geometrical
thought had been initiated. Poncelet and Chasles
had begun to build up the theory of projective geo-
metry, and through it mathematicians had been made
to recognise that theorems previously regarded as
wholly without connection might in reality be but
different presentments of the same more fundamental
fact. But the structure was as yet very far from
complete; many of the chief features of the theory
as we now know it were still obscure and needed
explanation. It fell to Laguerre to provide the most
important and prolific discovery on which modern
geometrical theory has been founded, the inner mean-
ing of angular magnitude. In the second of his
three early papers was enunciated for the first time
the proposition that the sides of an angle form with
the two isotropic lines through the vertex a pencil
the anharmonic ratio of which depends only upon the
magnitude of the angle.

This was no chance discovery, lighted on by a
stroke of undeserved good fortune, for the rest of the
paper shows how true a grasp of the new principles
Laguerre had already obtained. He goes on to point
out that the proposition furnishes the solution of the
problem of homographic transformation of angular
relations—a problem which had baffled the founders
of projective geometry—and gives many further
developments and results, a special case of one of
which may be cited as illustrative. The well known

|

analytical

No. 1883, VOL. 73]

theorem of Menelaus concerning the ratios of the
segments into which the sides of a triangle are divided
by any straight line is identical with the theorem
that the angles of a triangle make up two right
angles; either theorem can be deduced from the other.
It is regrettable that English treatises upon analytical
geometry so rarely attribute theorems to their authors,

| for it is with this discovery, rather than any achieved

later in more advanced subjects, that we should wish
the name of Laguerre to be always associated.
Certainly no discovery has had so far-reaching an
influence upon geometrical research during the past
half-century.

In the twelve years which followed Laguerre pub-
lished nothing. His military duties as an officer ot
artillery at first absorbed him; then, having been
transferred to the manufactory of arms at Mutzig, he
found leisure to take up once more his favourite
study; it was not, however, until 1865, after his
recall to Paris to the Ecole Polytechnique, that he
published the first of the series of original papers
which he continued without intermission until his
death.

A large these are concerned with
geometry, and through an_ interesting
section of them runs an idea allied to his earlier
work, the use of imaginaries in geometry. Thus
in one of the first papers we find a full exposition of
the theory of foci as extended from conics to plane
curves of any class, and the distinction drawn
between ordinary foci and singular foci of a curve
which passes through the circular points. Another
such matter with which Laguerre frequently occupied
himself, and which seems never to have received the
attention it deserves, is the means of representing
in a concrete manner the points of a plane or in
space the coordinates of which are complex quantities.
Imaginary values of the coordinates may satisfy the
equation of a curve, and are then often spoken of as
the coordinates of an imaginary point on the curve;
cannot geometry suggest some mode of representing
these points similar to that of Argand, which plays
so important a part in the theory of equations in-
volving a single variable? No solution could be
satisfactory which varied with the coordinate-system
employed. Laguerre’s method was to represent a
pair of points the coordinates of which are conjugate
complex quantities by a real segment of a line, dis-
tinguishing the two imaginary points when necessary
by the sense in which the segment is measured; the
ends of the segment are the intersections of the lines
which join the imaginary points to the circular points.
Thus the line joining two real foci of a conic repre-
sents the two imaginary foci. It now becomes
feasible to express the conditions of collinearity, &c.,
of imaginary points by properties of their represent-
ative segments. For points in space a similar pro-
cedure is adopted; a point the coordinates of which
are complex is represented by a real circle, which
must be described in a definite sense.

Having extended the notion of a focus to curves
other than conics, it was natural that Laguerre should
study curves which possess focal properties; accord

F

number of

is

98

NA TORE

'
[ NOVEMBER 30, 1905

ingly he made many investigations upon special
quartic curves, both plane and twisted; he considered
the meaning of a focus of a curve traced on a sphere,
showing that the method of inversion changed the
ordinary foci of such a curve into foci of the inverse
curve; he published many investigations upon a class
of loci to which at the time considerable attention
was paid, anallagmatic curves and surfaces. Other
papers treat of the cyclide of Dupin, the curve of
intersection of two quadric surfaces, and a family of
curves called by Laguerre Cassinians: and it is to
be noted that while writing upon a particular curve
he would at times include theorems of wider appli-
cation.

A passing mention may be accorded to an interest-
ing statement of the addition theorem of hyperelliptic
functions closely resembling that derived from
Poncelet’s polygons in elliptic functions; to researches
upon Steiner’s Roman surface and its reciprocal,
known as Cayley’s cubic surface, and other appli-
cations of the theory of forms to geometry. Finally,
at the end of the book we meet with a series of papers
in which Laguerre’s discovery of geometry of direc-
tion is developed. The idea from which this sprang
is elementary enough; a straight line or a circle may
be traced out by a moving point in two opposite
senses, and therefore is regarded by Laguerre as com-
posed of two “ half-lines ’’ or two cycles. The notion
of tangency is modified when a curve is described
in a definite direction, so that a cycle is regarded as
possessing one tangent only parallel to a given half-
line. Following up this thought, Laguerre is led to
divide all curves into curves of direction, which can
be divided analytically into two trajectories traced
out in different and curves which have not
this property; he finds the form of the tangential
equation of the most general curve of direction. By
help of a highly ingenious ‘* transformation by re-
ciprocal half-lines,”’ it is shown how certain problems
may be greatly simplified; the problem of drawing
a circle to touch three given circles, for example, is
reduced to that of drawing a circle through three
points. The theory is extended also to spherical
geometry.

Laguerre’s life-worlk in geometry forms a volume
Which no mathematician can study without being
profoundly impressed by the ingenuity of the author
and his skill in handling every method which he
employs; papers such as his, models of clear polished
style, read with keen intellectual enjoyment.
Yet the book is laid down and we reflect
on the worl: as a whole, there comes a regretful con-
viction that what has been accomplished is very far
from all that could have been hoped for from the
powers of the author and his brilliant first achieve-

senses,

are
when

ment. Delicate in health and of retired life,
Laguerre’s isolation from the march of scientific

thought is betrayed in his writings. General notions
appealed to him solely by their applicability to par-
ticular problems, and he therefore chose to bestow
the utmost care upon a number of short discussions
of special topics. Let the reader, if he would
appreciate what is best in these collected writings of

NO. 1883, VOL. 73]

Laguerre, realise when he takes up the book that
its author was one of those who are content to apply
to small things powers capable of far higher work,
and he will find matter to arouse his interest and
admiration in every paper reprinted in the volume.

PHILOSOPHICAL STUDIES.

(1) Goethe’s Philosophie aus seinen Werken.
with an introduction, by Max Heynacher. Pp.
Vili+ 428. (Leipzig: Diirr’sche Buchhandlung.
1905.) Price 3.60 marks.

(2) Immanuel Kant, Physische Geographie. Second
edition. Edited by Paul Gedan. Pp. xxx+386.
(Leipzig: Durr’sche Buchhandlung, 1905.) Price
2.50 marks.

(3) Dialoge tiber nattirliche Religion, tiber Selbstmora
und Unsterblichkeit der Seele. By David Hume
Translated into German and edited by Dr. F
Paulsen. Third edition. Pp. 165. (Leipzig -
Durr’sche Buchhandlung, 1905.) Price 1.50 marks

(4) Immanuel Kant’s Kleinere Schriften zur Logik
und Metaphysik. Second edition. Edited by Karl
Vorlander. In four parts. Pp. xxxii+169, xl+
172, %X+175, xxxit+176. (Leipzig: Durrische
Buchhandlung, 1905.) Price 5.20 marks.

(5) G. W. F. Hegel, Encyclopddie der philosophischen

Edited.

Wissenschaften im Grundrisse. Second edition.
Edited by Georg Lasson. Pp. .Ixxvi + 522.
(Leipzig: Diirr’sche Buchhandlung, 1905.) Price

3.60 marks.
(1) ( ~ OETHE’S work was so many-sided, and
J) withal so voluminous, that it is a real

service to educated thought to have presented, as
here, a volume of extracts, in moderate compass, con-
taining in his own words an account of the great
writer’s philosophic and scientific views, and of the
influences exerted on him by different systems.
Herder, Spinoza and Kant all obviously attracted
him at various times, and his name must find a place
in any account of the theory of colour or of com-
parative anatomy—to name only two of the scientific
subjects in which he was interested. With these and
kindred matters the editor deals in a well-informed
introduction. He knows the literature well, his
Eckermann, the Goethe Jahrbuch, and Goethe’s
poetry. Goethe’s title to be regarded as a fore-
runner of Darwin is duly emphasised.

(2) That Kant should thus have lined the wings
of his spirit in the dregs of the sensible world will
astonish the average reader, for this work con-
descends to minute details regarding the animal,
vegetable, and mineral kingdoms, the characteristics
of different races of men, and the like. Even one of
the earlier parts, dealing with mathematical pre-
liminaries, is not at all speculative in its nature, and
only one or two paragraphs in the introduction, which
point out that geography deals with facts in space
as history with events in time, remind us of the
Critique of Pure Reason; but the services of Kant to
geography are not negligible, and have been attested
by Helmholtz.

The present edition a full statement of

contains

NOVEMBER 30, 1905]

NATURE

92

variant readings, and many corrections of the text
due to this editor.

(3) Hume’s dialogues on natural religion run on
much the usual lines. The characters are three in
number, Demea the representative of believing
scepticism, Philo of unbelieving scepticism, and
Cleanthes of conciliatory rationalism. But there is
this peculiarity in Hume’s treatment, that, while
there is no doubt that his own standpoint is that of
Philo, he has chosen to make Cleanthes the hero, and
concludes his work with the opinion that Philo’s
principles are more probable than Demea’s, but that
those of Cleanthes approach still nearer to the truth.
‘The essays on suicide and on the immortality of the
soul have been preserved only by accident, as their
author attempted to suppress them. The German
translation and introduction are from the pen of the
well known professor in Berlin, and, like everything
published in this philosophical series, are excellent.

(4) This volume contains about fifteen of Kant’s
smaller metaphysical and logical works, some of them
itranslated from Latin, some of them written before
the birth of the ‘critical’? philosophy, not all of
them interesting or important. They range over a
‘variety of themes, from the dreams of a spiritist (viz.
Swedenborg) to the well known prize-essay on the
progress of metaphysic since the time of Leibniz and

Wolf. This editor’s introductions to the various
essays and treatises are extremely helpful and
interesting.

(5) The encyclopedia, the only complete and

authentic statement of Hegel’s system—best known
to English readers by the late Prof. Wallace’s trans-
lations of its first and third parts—is here published
in an excellent form. In the introduction the editor
discusses (a) the fundamental ideas of the Hegelian
philosophy ; (b) philosophy as science; (c) the encyclo-
pedia, and Hegel’s relation to earlier systems.

OUR BOOK SHELF.

The Oxford Geographies. Vol. ii. The Junior Geo-
graphy. By A. J. Herbertson. Pp. 288. (Oxford:
Clarendon Press, 1905.) Price 2s.

WueEn a school-book treats of the geography of the
whole world in less than 300 pages of large, clear
print, interspersed with abundant diagrams, its claim
to compete with the ordinary class-book must be
based on the substitution of quality for quantity, wise
selection and arrangement for all-including compre-
hensiveness. The book before us may fairly make
such a claim. There. is nothing of the gazetteer about
it: its method is that of connected description; in
place of statistical tables we have an abundance of
distribution-maps, and continents and countries are
divided according to physical features more than by
political boundaries. Thus in the case of England the
counties are entirely ignored, and the pupil is spared
the necessity of learning as many “ facts ’’ about
Oxfordshire as about Lancashire. So, too, in the
case of Europe, there is a special section on Alpine
lands, which renders possible a connected account of
the railway routes across the Alps, and should prevent
the common misconception of the Alps as coextensive
with the political area of Switzerland.

Nearly one-third of the book is occupied with the
British Isles, and about as much with Europe, the

NO. 1883, VOL. 73}

remainder being about equally divided between Asia,
Africa plus Australia, and America. It would be
easier to form a judgment on the opening part if the
“Preliminary Geography,’’ which is intended to
precede it, had been published. As it stands, this
opening part, consisting of a large number of dis-
tribution-maps (orographical, climatic, industrial, &c.)
of the British Isles, with a discussion of their mean-
ing and relations, is full of suggestiveness to the
enthusiastic teacher, and in his hands is capable of
expansion into a course of practical geography.

In such a book the critic can, of course, find plenty
of missing ‘‘ facts,’? though we have found remark-
ably few of first-rate importance. Several which we
failed to find in the text turned up in the maps, which
is just as well in view of the importance which the
author attaches to the study of maps. (‘‘ Look at
the map and notice...’ is a constantly recurring
phrase.) Chicago, it is true, appears to be only
casually mentioned on p. 262, without any allusion
to its unique geographical position with reference to
the Mississippi basin and the great lakes; and along
with the trans-Alpine routes to which we have already
referred we should have expected to find some account
of the longitudinal route of the Orient express.
While the numerous diagram-maps form one of the
best features of the book, their execution is unequal,
the lettering on some being indistinct and the shading
sometimes amateurish. In the map of the chief
North American railways the names of the lines
might be given as far as possible, and the route of
the projected Grand Trunk Pacific continued to Port
Simpson instead of ending at Winnipeg; while in
Fig. 22 it seems unnecessary to distinguish part of
the Scotch coal-fields merely because the coal is of

Lower Carboniferous age. ING WIS ADS

Organic Evolution. By C. W. Saleeby, M.D. Pp.
124. (London and Edinburgh: T. C. and E. C.
Jack, n.d.) Price 1s. net.

Dr. SaLeesy has written a little book on a great
subject, and there is much to admire in his achieve-
ment. Without technicalities and with vivacious
clearness he discusses the history of the idea of
organic evolution, the so-called evidences which show
the validity of the evolution-formula, the conditions of
evolution (heredity and variation) and the factors in
the process (natural and sexual selection), the evolu-
tion of plants, the history of the horse, the past and
future evolution of man. And we can get all this for
a shilling! The author writes in an unconventional
chatty way, and is nothing if not up to date. He
seems, however, to have written in hot haste, for he
makes many slips. Perhaps it does not matter much
that he speaks of Alfred Russel Wallace as being in
1858 ‘‘a young surgeon,’’ but it is hard on the whale
to have it said of him that his five “‘ fingers, hand
and all, are buried deep in blubber, and serve him
no purpose whatever.’’ Surely Dr. Saleeby’s teacher,
Sir William Turner, to whom he gracefully refers,
will be rather shocked at this libel on the whale’s
flipper. Perhaps it does not matter much that a
certain Matthew Hay (Patrick Matthew ?) is credited
with having conceived the idea of natural selection
in the early years of the nineteenth century, but we
are somewhat baffled by being twice told that while
the hen has three and a half fingers, the embryo
chick has a five-fingered hand. If we dissect the
embryo we shall see this, we are told. We do not
like Dr. Saleeby’s version of the lineage of extinct
forms ‘* which continuously connect the horse of to-
day with a five-toed ancestor,’? but we object still
more to the statement that ‘‘ the adult or fully-
developed barnacle is far inferior to the larva, for it

100

is little more than a fixed fleshy stalk, upon which
grows the body and its shell ’’—‘‘a palpable case of
what we call degeneration.’’ If all degeneration were
on the lines of the barnacle’s life-history, it would be
difficult to distinguish it from progress. We wish
there had not been these and other blemishes in this
sprightly and interesting little book, for it is sure to
be popular. Hooves abe

Le Chauffage des Habitations par Caloriféres. By
M. Raymond Périssé. Pp. 173. (Paris: Gauthier-
Villars et Fils, n.d.) Price 23 francs.

Tuis little work is of a very practical nature; and
although it appeals more particularly to the engineer
and architect it may be read with advantage by the
general reader, for it sets out, in a manner which is
clear and easily intelligible to all, the advantages
which accrue from the systems of heating dwellings
by the various warming apparatus which are in-
stalled, not in the living rooms, but on the ground
floor or in the basement. The advantages in the
use of steam, hot-water, or hot-air apparatus, instead
of fireplaces or stoves, are certainly real ones; for
the house is more uniformly and better heated, at a
less expense, trouble, and risk, and the apartments
are not encumbered with the large stoves so generally
seen on the Continent.

The advantages and disadvantages of the different
systems are explained, and various applications of
these systems are illustrated. The reader is also told
how each may be best applied and regulated to meet
the variable requirements as to heat, the different
circumstances of the dwelling, the conditions of
occupancy, and the like.

Auslese aus
praxis.
Pp. 240.
4 marks.

meiner Unterrichts- und Vorlesungs-
By Dr. Hermann Schubert. Erster Band.
(Leipzig: G. J. GGschen, 1905.) Price

Ten chapters dealing with a variety of subjects—
logarithms, cyclotomy, the theory of physical dimen-
sions, systems of circles and spheres being the most
important. The principal novelty is the treatment of
logarithms (pp. 1-68), fair approximations being
obtained by combining inequalities such as

—log m+2 log (m+1)—log (m+2)>0.

The method is quite elementary and very ingenious,
but it has no practical value, and strilkes one as being
artificial. The chapter on dimensions (reprinted from
the Naturw. Wochenschr., 1895) is interesting, but
not convincing; its essential feature is

[mass]=[length]*[time]-?.

Pangéométrie; ou Précis de Géométrie fondée sur
une Théorie générale et vigoureuse des Paralléles.
By N. J. Lobatschewsky. Réimpression facsimilé
conforme a l’édition originale. Pp. 279-340, and list
of errata. (Paris: A. Hermann, 1905.) Price
5 francs.

LopBaTSCHEWSKy shares with the Bolyais the credit of
founding the theory of non-Euclidean geometry, in
which Euclid’s axiom of parallels is not assumed to
be true. His ‘‘ Pangéométrie’’ was communicated
to the mathematical faculty of the University of
Kazan in 1855 on the occasion of his jubilee; this
fact might well have been indicated in the present
reprint. It is the author’s last and most complete
exposition of his theory, and mathematicians will be
glad to have it in this accessible form, though, like
other similar reprints, it is rather trying to the eye-
sight.

NO. 1883, VOL. 73]

NARORL,

[NOVEMBER 30, 1905

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions
expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake
to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected
manuscripts intended for this or any other part of Nature.
No notice ts taken of anonymous communications.| j

The Bates-Miller Hypothesis of Mimicry: a Question
of Historical Accuracy.

A paPER dealing with the above subject, by the late Dr. A.
S. Packard, has just been published in the Proceedings of
the American Philosophical Society (vol. xliii., No. 178,
p- 393), in which this well known entomologist endeavours
to show that the markings of organisms (‘* pcecilogenesis *’)
are “‘ due to the physical rather than to the biological
environment.’’ I must leave it to others to consider how
far the late author has established his case as against
Bates, Fritz Miller, and those who have accepted the
theories of mimicry associated with these names. My
object in asking you to give space to this letter is to
point out a distinct error which, if allowed to pass un-
challenged, is likely to be accepted as a true statement of
Darwin’s views in the sense conveyed by the American
writer.

Happening to know the actual history of the Millerian
theory of mimicry through the courtesy of Mr. Darwin
himself, I can assure those who read the paper that the
passage which is quoted does not refer to that theory
at all. In the letter to Fritz Miller referred to (August
28, 1870) Mr. Darwin says:—‘‘ I should not be at all
surprised if your suggestion about sexual selection were
to prove true; but it seems rather too speculative to be
introduced in my book,’’ &c. (‘‘ More Letters,’’ vol. ii.,
p- 91). Now Dr. Packard quotes only the words which I
have italicised as ‘‘ Darwin’s own estimate of Miiller’s
little paper,’’ but this is a misstatement of the facts.
Darwin, it will be observed, is referring to a suggestion
about sexual selection, and I am in a position to state
what that suggestion was. At the date of the corre-
spondence quoted (1870), Fritz Miller had observed the
striking resemblances, or ‘* mimicry,’’ between butterflies
belonging to ‘‘ protected ’’ groups, as, in fact, Bates had
done before him. In searching for an explanation of this
apparent violation of the Batesian theory, he suggested
that it almost appeared as though the females of one pro-
tected species had been influenced in their choice by seeing
the predominant pattern of other protected species always
about them. Mr. Darwin was good enough to allow me
to read Miiller’s letter to him, and in forwarding it to me
in 1872 he added :—‘‘ You will also see in this letter a
strange speculation, which I should not dare to publish,
about the appreciation of certain colours being developed
in those species which frequently behold other forms
similarly ornamented ’’ (‘‘ Charles Darwin,’’ by E. B.
Poulton, p. 202). This is the ‘‘ suggestion about sexual
selection ’? to which Darwin refers in his letter to Miiller,
and, so far as my memory’serves me, I do not think this
speculation was ever formally published to the scientific
world.

The Miillerian theory which the late Dr. Packard con-
sidered that he had demolished was not published until
1879, the ‘‘ little paper’’ in question having been con-
tained in a number of Kosmos which Mr. Darwin
forwarded to me in that year. On reading the said note
I was at once convinced that Miiller had found the true
explanation of mimicry between protected groups, and
I accordingly directed Mr. Darwin’s attention to the
matter and published a translation of the paper (Proc.
Ent. Soc., 1879, p. 20) in order to bring it under the notice
of English entomologists. Writing to me in 1879 about

this paper, Mr. Darwin said :—‘‘ F, Miiller’s view of the
mutual protection was quite new to me’’ (Poulton, loc.
cit., p. 213). It is thus evident that Dr. Packard

confused a tentative speculation of Miiller’s, which was
contained only in a letter to Darwin, and probably never
intended for publication, with the now well known
Miillerian theory which was published formally some nine
years later.

R. MELpora.

NOVEMBER 30, 1905 |

INE AT: RLS

IG

Magnetic Storms and Aurora.

In view of the interest recently displayed in theories
as to the origin of magnetic disturbances, attention may be
directed to some rather curious phenomena exhibited during
the magnetic storms experienced lately. Usually when a
magnetic element during a storm suffers a large deviation
in one direction it does not simply return to, but over-
shoots, its original value, and oscillates about its undis-
turbed position. If we liken the curve to the outline of
an island on a map, a conspicuous indentation of the
coast line is usually accompanied by a correspondingly
pronounced promontory. Whilst this is much the more
common phenomenon, it is by no means very unusual to
have, as it were, an isolated bay in an otherwise straight
coast line; only when this happens the ‘‘ bay’’ seldom
forms a deep indentation, and the curvature of its outline
is seldom very great. On November 15, during the recent
display of aurora, a somewhat remarkable instance of a
nearly isolated ‘‘ bay ’’ presented itself in the declination
curve trace at Kew. Taking, again, the geographical
analogy, it resembles—as may be seen from the accom-
panying copy of the curve *—a regular estuary. We have,
commencing at 8.53 p.m., an easterly movement, which
in twelve minutes reduced the declination about 32’, while
in the subsequent twenty minutes the declination increased
34’, thus returning very nearly to the value it had half
an hour before. This was by no means the only movement
during the magnetic storm of November 15, but it was
far and away the most conspicuous one. Its remarkable
form would predispose one to attribute it to some very
special cause, which one would naturally associate with
the coexisting aurora. Curiously, however, a very similar

movement was experienced three days earlier, when no |

special auroral display seems to have been noted in this
country, the intervening days being free from any large
disturbance. This earlier disturbance—a copy of which is

also shown—took place on November 12, also in the even- |

ing, but nearly 23 hours earlier than that on November 15.
The conspicuous movement on November 12 began
about 6.30 p.m.
than on November 15, being about 35’-5, while the return
swing to the west was about 36/-5. The double move-
ment occupied about thirty-eight minutes, and so some-
what longer than on November 15, but this is chiefly due

Nov IS.

Nov./6

Nov. 15
Lie.

/o

Noy 16.
4. p.m.

G /0

g

to the movement on November 12 beginning and ending
somewhat less abruptly.

The total ranges of the declination disturbances on
November 12 and 15 were respectively about 42! and 50’.
The other elements were also disturbed, the horizontal

1 Two days’ curves—each with its base line—are taken on each photo-
graphic sheet ; the upper is always the earlier.

NO. 1883, VOL. 73]

The easterly movement was fully larger |

| later

force range being approximately 2007 on November 12
and 250y on November 15 (1 y=0-00001 C.G.S. unit). In
each of these horizontal force curves there was also a
prominent movement somewhat analogous to the above
movements in the declination, but not synchronous with
them, and with an increase of force. The horizontal force
movement on November 12 was the more striking, the
force increasing by about 1807y in thirteen minutes, and

Nov. MM.
EB ger a le ee

Navy [2

Nov //.

ebm.

10

Nov. /2
bam. :

& lo

then falling off about 155 y in the next thirteen minutes.
On November 15 the nearest analogous movement was
of a more normal character, an increase of 110 y, occupy-
ing about ten minutes, being followed by a fall of
160'y in the next twenty minutes. On November 12 the
prominent horizontal force change was only a few minutes
than the prominent declination change, but on
November 15 the most prominent horizontal force movement
preceded the prominent declination movement by about
2$ hours. There were considerable horizontal force move-
ments at the time of the prominent declination movement

| on November 15, but they were of a more commonplace

| and continuing for about thirty hours.

character. The disturbance on November 12 commenced
about 9.30 a.m., terminating about midnight; that on
November 15 lasted much longer, starting about 3.15 p.m.,

CHARLES CHREE.
National Physical Laboratory, November 21.

Absorption Spectra of Ultra-violet Rays by Vapour
and Liquids

IN connection with some letters recently published in
Nature (vol. Ixxii. pp. 557, 630), the following note may
perhaps have some interest. Researches on the above
named subject have been made in the physical institute
of the University of Erlangen. Dr. Pauer (Wied. Ann.,
Ixi., p. 363, 1897) has determined for a great number of
substances the position of the absorption bands, and Dr.
Miller (Erlangen Inaugural Dissertation, 1903, Sitzungs-
berichte der physikalisch-medicinischen Societat in Erlangen,
vol. Xxxiv., p. 188, 1902) has tried to get some values of
the absorption coefficients of vapours. By the researches
of Friedrichs and Grebe, the results of Pauer have been in
many respects amplified. Perhaps I may direct attention
to the fact that Dr. Pauer found that the law of Kundt on
the displacement of the absorption bands towards the red
with increasing refraction index or dispersion is true when
passing from the vapour to the liquid and then to the
solutions in different media. His observations were made
on benzol, toluol, the isomers of xylol and zthylbenzol,
chlorobenzol, bromobenzol, iodobenzol, anilin, nitrobenzol,
pyridine, bisulphide of carbon. Benzol and bisulphide of
carbon were especially carefully treated by him.

Erlangen, November 13 E. WIEDEMANN.

INA TA Less.

[NOvEMBER 30, 1905

The Second Law of Thermodynamics,

Is it not true that the Second Law of Thermodynamics
is contradicted by the known facts of diffusion? When,
for instance, masses of hydrogen and nitrogen are separ-
ated by a palladium partition, a difference of pressure is
set up, owing to the diffusion of some of the hydrogen
into the compartment which at first contained only
nitrogen. In this condition the system is able to do work
at the expense of its own heat, or heat entering from with-
out. The palladium, in fact, takes the place of Clerk
Maxwell’s Sorting Demon, though, in this case, the process
cannot be made continuous. M. A. Browne.

Christ’s College, Cambridge, November 19.

BRITISH EXCAVATIONS IN THE NEAR
EAST, 1904-5.
URING the past year British archeologists have
carried on the worl: of disinterring the remains
of the ancient civilisations of Greece, Egypt, and
Mesopotamia with energy. The excavations of the
Trustees of the British Museum at Ephesus have re-
sulted in interesting discoveries. The worl: was in-
tended to supplement and complete that carried out
under the auspices of the Trustees from forty to thirty
years ago on the site of the Great Temple of Diana
of the Ephesians. That work, carried out by the
late Mr. J. T. Wood, resulted in the planning of the
temple and the removal to England of many valuable
antiquities now in the British Museum. The present
work was entrusted by the trustees to the dis-
tinguished archeologist Mr. D. G. Hogarth. It has
resulted in the discovery, undreamt of by Wood, of
the remains of two earlier temples below that of the
Croesus temple, which he supposed to be the earliest,
and of a vast number of votive objects of the eighth
and seventh centuries B.c., among them many of gold
and silver, besides Egyptian blue composition scarabs
of the early twenty-sixth dynasty period. These were
found underneath the second or ‘‘ pra-Croesus ”’
temple. By the laws of Turkey, the antiquities,
especially those of precious metal, must go to the
Museum of Constantinople, but duplicates will come
to the British Museum. Much new knowledge of the
third or Croesus temple, discovered by Wood, has also
been gained. The two earlier ones seem to have been
of interesting construction. Much heavy pumping
work had to be carried out in the temple area, which
had become filled with water. Mr. Hogarth is to be
congratulated on having brought this interesting
work to a successful conclusion.

On the mainland of Greece, Lakonia has been
handed over by the Greek Government to the British
School of Athens for excavations. Several minor dis-
coveries of interest have been made, including that
of a fifth-century local heroén, or hero-shrine, with
its equipment of cultus-images, reliefs, figurines, and
votive cups, &c., near Monemvasia. The work was
carried out by Mr. R. C. Bosanquet, the Director of
the School, and Mr. F. C. Hasluck.

The Cretan work of the British School has now
been brought to a conclusion. The excavation of the
site of Palaikastro, in the province of Sitfa, has not
yet been completed, but is suspended, let us hope not
for long. Mr. R. McG. Dawkins was in charge,
and carried out his work most successfully under
adverse conditions, owing to the now unhappily re-
newed troubles in the island, due to the fixed deter-
mination (whether it be right or wrong) of the Cretan
people to effect their union with Greece. We can,
parenthetically, only pray that Candia may not be the
scene of riots, not for the sake of the Cretans, but
for that of the museum, which contains all the
trophies of the last few years’ wonderful discoveries

NO. 1883, VOL. 73]

| at Knossos and Phaistos, the destruction of which
| would be an irreparable loss to the whole civilised

world.

This by the way. Mr. Dawkins’s work has re-

| sulted in the discovery of the complete stratification

of the temple site back to the first post-Neolithic age,
and the discovery of fine pottery of the various stages
of the Minoan period. It is evident that the later
temple was built over the Minoan settlement, prob-
ably as the result of a survival of religious tradition
in connection with the site. The exploration of the
Minoan town has been regularly continued. In the
hills near by Mr. Dawkins also discovered a Neolithic
settlement with a very interesting deposit of twenty
stone axes, ‘‘ more than half of them in brand-new
condition. This discovery gives us, for the first time
in the AZgean, a definite idea of a Neolithic home-
stead.”

The explorations of Messrs. Arthur Evans and
Mackenzie at Knossos have been continued with the
assistance of Mr. Doll as architect. By the kindness
of Dr. Evans we are enabled to give a short sketch
of the results of his worl: this season in advance.
The chief work has been the exploration of the
magazines on the paved way leading west from the
*‘ Stepped Theatral Area’? (see Nature, October 5).
More stores of tablets relating to the royal chariots
and armoury have been found, and a complete build-
ing excavated. On the hillside beyond the Candia
road, the building to which the way led from the
palace has been found and partly excavated. It
proved to be a late Minoan house, larger than any
other dépendance of the palace, and in it were found
the remains of a shrine containing fetish images in
the shape of natural stalagmite blocks of quasi-human
form, together with a painted clay goat and other
figures. Owing to heavy rainfall, the modern wooden
pillars of the quadruple staircase in the main palace
gave way, and Dr. Evans was obliged to rebuild the
whole. This he did in more solid form with stone
pillars of ancient shape and appearance. More
interesting discoveries were made during the course
of the work. We regret to, learn that owing to

absence of outside support for the Cretan Explor-
ation Fund the Knossian excavations may shortly
be brought to an end. It is evident that an ex-
cavator cannot go on bearing indefinitely the greater
part of the cost of his excavations himself, as Dr.
Evans has done. There is much more of the

greatest importance to science to be found at Knossos,
and we again appeal to those who are interested to
subscribe to the Cretan Exploration Fund. There
ought to be some money somewhere for the most
important archeological exploration of the decade,
which, despite the claims of Egyptian excavations, Dr.
Evans’s work must undoubtedly be admitted to be.
We hope and confidently expect that, after a pause
of a year or two devoted to the full publication of the
momentous results hitherto obtained, Dr. Evans will
be enabled to proceed afresh with the exploration of
Knossos.

In Egypt the chief excavations of the year have
been those of the Egypt Exploration Fund. The
excavators employed by the fund were, as before,
Profs. Naville and Petrie, and Messrs. Hall, Currelly,
and Ayrton, Mr. Hall being lent, as last year, by the
British Museum. To Messrs. Naville, Hall, and
Ayrton was assigned the continuance of the excava-
tions at Dér el-Bahari, with the assistance of Mr.
and Mrs. H. Garnett-Orme, who kindly gave their
services to the Fund for this work. Messrs. Petrie
and Currelly, with a party of helpers, among whom
may be mentioned Captain Weill, of the French
génie, were commissioned to investigate and clear

NovEMBER 30, 1905 |

INA TYRES.

103

the well known temple of Sardbit el-Khadim, in the
Sinaitic peninsula. Captain Weill has made the
Egyptian inscriptions of Mount Sinai his special study.

The results of the first season’s work on the eleventh
dynasty temple at Dér el-Bahari were described in
Nature, June 16, 1904; those of the second season
have been equally interesting and important. The
new temple is, in fact, the oldest now known at
Thebes, and is the best preserved of the older temples
of Egypt. It is the only temple of its period (about
2500 B.c.) known to us, and is therefore important
as telling us previously unknown facts with regard
to the architecture and art of that time. The temple
is the funerary chapel of King Neb-hapet-Ra (formerly
called ‘‘ Neb-kheru-R a’’) Mentuhetep, the first great
Theban king. Last year’s excavations were brought
to an end when only a corner of the temple had been
uncovered. Those of this year have resulted in the
clearance of the main portion of it, leaving only the
western end to be excavated this winter. It is a
symmetrical rectangular building built upon an
artificially leveiied platform of rock. In the centre
is a square erection which was apparently the base
of a dummy pyramid of small size. Round this is an
ambulatory or corridor of octagonal pillars, the outer
wall of which was decorated with coloured reliefs.
The platform was approached from the east on its
centre line by an inclined plane or ramp, flanked by
colonnades of square pillars on the lower level. This
arrangement of platform, ramp, and flanking
colonnades was apparently copied by the later archi-
tects of the temple of Queen Hatasu or Hatshepsut
close by, which was excavated for the Egypt Explor-
ation Fund by Prof. Naville, assisted by Mr. D. G.
Hogarth and others, some years ago. The main
arrangement of the old temple, with its central
pyramid, &c., was not copied by MHatshepsut’s
architects.

A large number of fragments of the reliefs already
mentioned have been found this year as last, and
were exhibited at the annual exhibition of the Egypt
Exploration .Fund in the rooms of the Society of
Biblical Archeology in July of this year. The
brilliancy of their colouring and delicacy of their
workmanship were remarkable, and they form an
important addition to the chief known relics of
Egyptian art. The carving of some of the sculptured
hieroglyphs is of the finest style, which is not often
seen in Europe, and was hardly known to many who
had not visited Egypt and seen Abydos and Dér
el-Bahari. :

Apart from the actual temple-buildings, the two
most important discoveries were those of the sarco-
phagi of the priestesses of Hathor who were buried
within the temple, and six portrait statues of the
King Usertsen or Senusret III. of the’ twelfth
dynasty, representing him at different periods of his
life. The heads of two are missing. The portraits,
especially the two oldest, are very fine. One of the
white limestone sarcophagi is most beautifully carved
with scenes of offerings being brought to the deceased
priestess, of the cows of Hathor, &c. The sarco-
phagus and one of the statues are illustrated in an
article on the temple by Mr. Hall in the August
number of Man, from photographs taken by Mr.
Ayrton. ‘

The small votive offerings which were such a
feature of last year’s discoveries were not found in
any quantity this year, but instead a much larger
number of workmen’s tools, hoes, baskets, mallets,
&c., were found.

Prof. Petrie’s work consisted in the clearance and

planning of Sardbit el-Khadim and the study of the |

Wadi Maghara inscriptions.
NO. 1883, VOL. 73]

In the Wadi Maghara

an inscription of the early King Sa-nekht, whose
tomb was discovered by Mr. Garstang at Bet
Khallaf, in Upper Egypt, a few years ago, was found.
The peculiarities of the plan of Sarabit el-Khadim
had long been known, and now that they have been
fully made out they appear sufficiently curious to
demand some explanation, which Prof. Petrie has
attempted to give. He explains the building as not
primarily an Egyptian but a Semitic shrine, with
hanefiya courts like those of a mosque, while the
peculiar stele inscribed with records of Egyptian
miners and the upright stones, which are such a
feature of the place, he identifies as Semitic bethels
or baetyli. Prof. Petrie also claimed this as the only
Semitic temple known. His conclusions do not, how-
ever, seem to be altogether approved by other archee-
ologists, and Mr. R. C. Thompson, of the British
Museum, has criticised them in a recent article in
Man, to which Prof. Petrie has replied, with the

result of drawing a further reply from Mr.
Thompson. The point about this being the only
Semitic temple must undoubtedly be abandoned;

the Babylonian temples are far older. That they
are Sumerian is no argument against this, for
the Semites took over most of their religious ideas
from the Sumerians; but to an unprejudiced critic
the weakest point of Prof. Petrie’s argument
seems to be the identification of the stele as
bethels. If they were, they would, as Mr. Thomp-
son says, be inscribed, not with mere records of
Egyptian garrison and mining officials, with prayers
to the Egyptian goddess Hathor, as they are, but with
inscriptions of Semitic religious import, recording
dreams and prophecies, &c. Prof. Robertson Smith’s
“ Religion of the Semites ’’ should be consulted on
this point. The form of the stele is as Egyptian and
non-Semitic as their inscriptions; we may compare
with them the stela or obelisk of Usertsen I. at
Begig, in the Fayyam, and the two great stelze in
front of the funerary temple of King Sneferu at
Médim, discovered by Prof. Petrie himself in 1891.

A large number of interesting objects were brought
back by the expedition, and were exhibited by the
Egypt Exploration Fund at University College, Gower
Street, in July.

Excavations have been carried on by Mr. Garstang
for the University of Liverpool at Kom el-Ahmar, the
site of the ancient Hierakonpolis, at Hissaya, south
of Edfu, and at Esna. At Kom el-Ahmar Mr.
Garstang found interesting remains of the third
dynasty or earlier, at Hissaya graves of the Persian
period, and at Esna a series of town-remains from
Hyksos times until the twentieth dynasty. Two re-
markable tomb-structures were found, of eight or ten
chambers on the ground floor and a stairway leading
up to the first floor, where there was a similar series.
The site in general illustrated in an interesting fashion
the provincial art of Egypt at the period. Excavation
is to be resumed on it next year. We are indebted
for these details to the kindness of Mr. Garstang.

In Mesopotamia the excavations of the British
Museum at Kuyunjik, the site of Nineveh, have been
brought to an end under the direction of Mr. R. (Ce
Thompson, after the departure of Mr. L. W.
King. The excavations have resulted in the dis-
covery of many interesting buildings previously
unknown, including a temple of the god Nabu
and a new palace of Sennacherib. The planning
of the whole mound of Kuyunjik and its ruins has

been carried out to its completion. Messrs. King
and Thompson also visited the rock of Behistun
| or Bisutun in Persia, and re-copied the famous

historical inscription of Darius, originally copied by
Rawlinson. The text obtained by them will be the

INA TLROZLE

| NOVEMBER 30, 1905

most complete and authoritative existing. Messrs.
King and Thompson have also taken some unique
photographs of the monument.

In the Sudan, Dr. Budge, of the British Museum,
and Mr. J. W. Crowfoot, Inspector of Education in
the Sudan, have completed the work which the former
began at Meroe in 1903. They finally cleared out the
shrine of the largest pyramid, and made some in-
teresting explorations in the country near the Second
Cataract. Dr. Budge, whose services had been pre-
viously lent to the Sudan Government by the British
Museum in 1897, 1899, and 1903, is now engaged on
an account of his four missions to that country, which
is announced to appear in the spring.

We cannot close this account of British archzo-
ological work without a word of con-
gratulation to our American friends on
the success of the excavations of Mr.
Theodore N. Davis, assisted by Mr.
J. E. Quibell, the British Inspector of
Antiquities in Upper Egypt, in the
Valley of the Tombs of the Kings at
Thebes. Mr. Davis found the un-
touched tomb of Iuaa and Tuaa, the
father and mother of the great Queen
Tyi, consort of Amenhetep III. and
mother of the heretic King Alkhunaten.
The tomb was full of the most magni-
ficent furniture, chariots, &c., mostly
thickly overlaid with gold. Mr. Davis
will proceed with his excavations this
winter with the assistance of Mr. Ayrton,
who has left the Egypt Exploration
Fund for this purpose.

THE BEAUTY OF MINUTE
STRUCTURE IN NATURE.*

NE of the many ways of beginning
the study of natural science is
with a ‘ beauty-feast ’’—of flowers or
birds, of shells or gems, of anything—
for all natural things are beautiful, in
their proper setting at least. It is an
old-fashioned mode of approach, com-
mending itself to children and simple
minds, but one which often leads far
beyond esthetic pleasure to the joy of
understanding. It affords a dynamic
to investigation, and fosters a healthy
reverence for things. In school “ nature-
study”? the zsthetic factor should be
characteristic, though it is too often con-
spicuous by its absence. Indeed, if we
had to choose, we should prefer admir-
ation without science to science without
admiration. Buta simple bool: lile that
before us shows that there is no neces-
sary antithesis; it is a disclosure of beautiful things,
and yet within its limits it is quite scientific.

The author’s aim is to illustrate by well chosen
examples the beauty of minute structure, the beauty
which the microscope discloses, and he is to be con-
gratulated on his success. While older books on
“the wonders of the microscope ’’ had to be content
with drawings, some of which were exquisitely done,
this book presents us with photomicrographs of the
highest excellence. It is difficult to over-praise them.
Moreover, while the older books gave too much

1 “Nature through Microscope and Camera.” By Richard Kerr; with
65 photomicrographs by Arthur E. Smith. Pp, 197. (London: Religious
Tract Society, 190s.) Price 6s. net.

NO. 1883, VOL. 73]

prominence to curiosities and out-of-the-way objects,
we are here brought into close quarters with the
familiar, with diatoms and Foraminifera, the whelk’s
radula and the barnacle’s cirri, the butterfly’s
“tongue ’’ and the scales of the sole, the spine of the
sea-urchin and the spider’s foot, a gnat and a house-
fly’s eggs, the dodder entering the clover, the bud
of the lily flower, the sting of the nettle and the stem
of wheat, and so on through a long list. Along with
each of the sixty-five illustrations there is a short and
clear description, and a note of the conditions. of the
photograph, e.g. magnification, focal distance, and
exposure. The photographs were taken by Mr.
Arthur E. Smith, and are certainly among the finest
that have ever been published. They were taken. for

Fic. r.—Diatom, from Bori, Hungary, X1000. From ‘‘ Nature through Microscope and
amera.”’

the most part, on 12 by ro plates, and have been
somewhat reduced in the process blocks. Mr. Smith
contributes a useful chapter of practical hints on
photomicrography.

Mr. Kerr is an enthusiastic photographer, who
believes in his ‘‘ intellectual pastime ’’ as helping, in-
directly, to remedy some of the ills we are heir to,
such as ‘‘the amusement fetich.’’ But he is more,
he is a student of the beautiful things which he
delights in, and he can tell their story in a plain,
straightforward way. The moral that adorns his tale
is expounded by Prof. G. Sims Woodhead in a finely
conceived introduction; but we shall only say this,
that the whole spirit of this beautiful book is well

NOVEMBER 30, 1905 |

NATURE

105

expressed in the prefatory quotation from Sir J. F. W.
Herschel :—‘‘ To the Natural Philosopher there is no
natural object that is unimportant or trifling; from
the least of Nature’s works he may learn the greatest

lessons.”’ Je Anos

THE WASTAGE IN ARMIES BY DISEASE.

“| HE recent utterances of Sir Frederick Treves on

the subject of the Army Medical Service (see
Nature, November 2, p. 15), and the discussion on
enteric fever in the army which has appeared in the
columns of the Times, have again directed attention
to the inadequacy of the means taken in our army to
prevent the incidence of enteric fever and other filth
diseases. The crux of the matter is this: we have to
provide hospital accommodation for 10 per cent. of
our forces in the field, the Japanese for but 2 per cent.
Why this difference? In the South African campaign
no less than 746 per 1000 of the fighting forces were
admitted into hospital for disease which is mainly
preventable. In this war there were something like
450,000 admissions to hospital on account of sickness
and some 22,000 admissions on account cf wounds or
injuries received in action.

“Among those admitted to hospital on account of
disease alone, there were 14,800 deaths during the whole
war; further, so far as can be estimated at present, 42,741
of the total admissions to hospital on account of disease,
and 7998 of the deaths from disease, were due to enteric
fever, while 31,363 of the admissions and 1248 of the
deaths were from dysentery. In other words, no less than
one-tenth of the admissions on account of disease were
for enteric fever, and one-fourteenth were for dystentery,
or these two diseases alone were the cause of practically
one-sixth of the total admissions and about two-thirds of
the total deaths on account of disease; these two diseases
also accounted for nearly one-half of the total losses by
death from all causes during the war. As we know that
both enteric and dysentery belong to the group of diseases
which are largely the outcome of faulty environment, the
sanitary significance of these figures needs no argument.’’?!

How does the Japanese Army deal with the preven-
tion of disease? The following record sufficiently
answers this question :—

“The care of the sick and wounded occupied but a
small share of the time of the medical officers. The solu-
tion of the greater problem of preventing disease by the
careful supervision of the smallest details of subsistence,
clothing and shelter was their first and most important
duty. Nothing was too small to escape their vigilance,
nor too tedious to weary their patience, and everywhere,
in the field with the scouts or in the base hospitals at
home, the one prevailing idea was the prevention of disease.
The medical officer was to be found both in the front and
in the rear. He was with the first screen of scouts, with
his microscopes and chemicals, testing and labelling wells,
so that the army which followed should drink no con-
taminated water. When scouts reached a town, he imme-
diately made a thorough examination of the sanitary
conditions, and if cases of contagious or infectious disease
were found, he put a cordon around the quarter where
they were. A medical officer accompanied foraging parties,
and, with the commissariat officers, sampled the various
food, fruit, and vegetables sold by the natives before the
arrival of the army. If the food were tainted, or the fruit
Over-ripe, or if the water required boiling, notices to that
effect were posted in suitable places. So strict was the
discipline from commanding officer to rank and file that
obedience to the orders of the medical officer was absolute.
The medical officer also supervised the personal hygiene
of the camp. He taught the men how to cook, how to
bathe, how to cleanse the finger nails so as to free them
from bacteria, as well as how to live in general a healthy,
vigorous life, and it was a part of the soldier’s routine
to carry out these instructions in every particular. As a

1 Lieut.-Col. Firth, R.A.M.C., Journ. of Hygiene, Sept.

» 1905, P- 543-
NO. 1883. VOL. 73]

result of this system the medical officer was not obliged
to treat cases of dysentery and fevers that follow the use
of improper food and the neglect of sanitation. During
six months of terrible fighting and exposure in a foreign
country there was only a fraction of 1 per cent. of loss
from preventable disease.’’ +

It may be true that vehicles other than water, par-
ticularly dust and flies, convey the infection in enteric
fever, diarrhcea, and dysentery, but much can be done
by safeguarding the water supplies.

Diminish the incidence of these diseases by any
means whatever and the subsequent incidence of the
disease will naturally be lessened—cases beget cases.

It may or may not be practicable to sterilise the
drinking water for a big army in the field, but in
camps and in small campaigns such as our “ little
wars ’’ on the Indian frontier, and in Africa, a great
deal more could be done than has been done. Thus
in the Tochi Valley, in 1897, a force of some 4000 men
was condemned to inactivity and suffered severe'y from
diarrhoea, dysentery, and enteric. The British troops
averaged an annual strength of 622, and among them
there were 59 cases of enteric with 30 deaths, 371
cases of dysentery with 65 deaths, and 211 cases of
diarrhoea with 10 deaths. Here was an ideal instance
in which sterilisation of the water or distillation
for the sick (as the water was very saline) could
have been carried out, as there was plenty of fuel,
and the extra cost involved would probably have been
more than covered by the saving in pensions, &c.
Lieut. Nesfield, I.M.S., in the Tibet campaign used
his iodide iodate tablets (see Nature, July 27, Pp. 303,
and August 31, p. 432), with the result that of 700
men who drank water sterilised with them, none con-
tracted cholera, while of other batches of men passing
through the same region a few days later an average
of 3 per cent. contracted cholera.

There can be no question that the medical officers:
of our army are a devoted body of men, highly trained,
and fully alive to what should be done, but they are
too few adequately to cope with the problem of pre-
vention, and what is more they receive little encour-
agement in this direction from those in authority. In
addition, a body of intelligent trained non-commis-
sioned officers and men, a sanitary corps, is required
to carry out the policy of the medical officers. At
present guards for the water supply and similar pur-
poses are drawn from the ordinary strength of the
regiments, with, of course, no special training. In
the China Relief Expedition in 1900 the Japanese
provided three skilled men to take care of their sick
and wounded for every two provided by the other
armies. In olden times it was thought cheaper to
obtain a new soldier than to cure a sick or wounded
one; the reverse is the case nowadays if the authorities
would but appreciate it, and prevention is even better

than cure. R. T. Hewett.
NOTES.
WE announce with deep regret that Sir J. S. Burdon
Sanderson, Bart., F.R.S., late Regius professor of

medicine in the University of Oxford, died at Oxford on
November 23.

Pror. Emit Warpurc, president of the Reichsanstalt in
Charlottenburg, and Prof. Henri Moissan, of the University
of Paris, have been elected corresponding members of the

Academy of Sciences of Miinich.

THE twenty-first anniversary of the Royal Scottish
Geographical Society was celebrated by a dinner in Edin-
burgh on Monday, November 27- Prof. J. Geikie, the
president of the society, presided.

1 Brit. Med. Journ., 1904, ii. P- 1332.

106

NA LORE

| NOVEMBER 30, 1905

Tue death is announced of Dr. James Moneckman on
November 18, at the age of sixty-three. In 1879, after

-acting as honorary assistant to Prof. J. J. Thomson at
‘Cambridge, Dr. Monckman received the degree of D.Sc.

of London University. At Bradford he acted occasionally
as consulting analytical chemist, and he carried out some

‘researches in chemistry, as well as work in geology and

botany. He assisted in the formation of the Bradford
Scientific Society, and was thrice elected its president.

A pistincr earth tremor occurred in Manchester and
Salford about 3.45 a.m. on November 25. Many people

-dwelling on the north-west side of the city and borough

-that Argentina is the

-tremor lasting several minutes.

reported that they were disturbed from sleep by violent

shaking of their rooms and the ringing of bells. Some
persons reported that they heard a loud thud; others that
there was nothing but one violent shock, followed by a
In the Seedley district of
Salford some chimney stacks were displaced, but there was
no other damage.

Dr. F. AMEGHINO seems to be impressed with the idea
““centre of the universe,’’ and that

-almost every group of mammals may be traced back to

-a South American ancestor.

In the third of three papers

«dealing with the presence of a perforation in the astragalus
‘of several groups of mammals, published in vol. xiii. of

the Anales of the National Museum of Buenos Aires, he
gives, for instance, a phylogeny in which both pangolins
(Manidz) and aard-varks (Orycteropodide) are placed as
being derived from armadillos (Dasypodide). A more
unsound pedigree it would be almost impossible to invent.
Dr. Ameghino has detected the above-mentioned foramen
not only in Orycteropus, but also in Canis, Typotherium,

-and certain mammals from the Middle Miocene of France.

AmonG the contents of the November issue of the
Naturalist is a communication by Mr. A. Whitaker on the
breeding habits of British bats. Unfortunately, the author’s

-attempts to rear bats in captivity have been only partially

successful, in some degree owing to the circumstance that
it was not ascertained until too late that a female specimen
was pregnant. One noctule bat gave birth, however, to an
offspring almost immediately following its capture, and it
was noticed that the squeak of the ‘‘ baby ’’ was even more
high-pitched than that of its mother. When the young one
was eleven days old (and still blind and naked) the parent
escaped, but apparently returned and carried away her
offspring. Neolithic remains from the Durham caves form
the subject of a paper by Mr. C. T. Trechmann in the
same issue.

AccorpINnG to Museum News, No. 4, the Brooklyn
Museum, which is in the van of progress, has been trying

.the experiment of placing, for the use of visitors, books

relating on

to the subject of the specimens exhibited
tables alongside the various cases. So far the experi-
ment seems to have been a decided success, but whether
it could be repeated in this may be doubtful.
Apropos of descriptive labels in museums, it is stated in
the same periodical that if ninety-nine objects are labelled
and the hundredth is not so treated, visitors will pass over
all the former and inquire for the label for the latter.
Again, a visitor has been known to look at a label some
six feet long, inscribed in letters three inches high “‘ Atlantic
Right Whale,’’ and then turn round and ask the nearest
official “‘ what that animal is called’?!

country

No. 25 of the ‘‘ North American Fauna,’’ issued by the
U.S. Department of Agriculture, consists of an account of
the biological survey of Texas which has been recently

NO. 1883, VOL. 73]

carried out. This part, which is by Mr. V. Bailey, deals,
however, only with the determination of life-zones, and the
reptiles and mammals, the birds being reserved for a future
issue. The economical aspect of the subject has claimed
a large share of the attention of the workers, especially as
regards the suitability or otherwise of particular crops to
particular climatic zones. The mapping of these zones—
which are necessarily also life-zones—cannot fail to be of
advantage to agriculturists, for “‘as a crop becomes an
established success in one locality, a study of the zone-
map will show over what adjoining county it can be profit-
ably extended.’’ Of the nine new mammals described, all
but one are subspecies, thus showing how thoroughly the
country has been worked.

Dr. Forsytn Major has favoured us with a copy of an
interesting and important paper from the October and
November numbers of the Geological Magazine on certain
rodents from the Pleistocene of the western Mediterranean

“

countries. He first of all deals with the picas, or ‘* mouse-
hares,’’ of the extinct genus Prolagus, which, instead of

being confined to Sardinia and Corsica, is also continental,
and extends as far west as Spain. Next it is shown that
Hensel’s Mus orthodon, which has been supposed, appar-

ently owing to a misconception, to be akin to M.
sylvaticus, represents a genus—Rhagamys—by itself. It
has, for instance, tall-crowned molars with very thick

enamel, and nearly vertical tubercles, which when worn
present a characteristic pattern. Finally, the Pleistocene
Arvicola henseli is shown to form a kind of connecting
link between the Pliocene Mimomys, in which the molars
are rooted, and modern voles, the dentine surfaces of the
prisms of the latter being incompletely separated.

ReEcENT miscellaneous results of the work of the U.S.
Bureau of Entomology are summarised in Bulletin No. 54
of that section of the Agricultural Department. One article
is devoted to the sugar-cane beetle (Ligyrus rugiceps), on
which a special investigation was undertaken last year,
owing to the fact that the insect, and the best means of
checking its ravages, had received practically no attention
for the last five-and-twenty years. It is hoped that the
remedies suggested will be found efficient by southern
planters. ‘‘ Conchuella,’? a Mexican cotton-pest, which it
is feared may spread to Texas, has also received attention
at the hands of the bureau’s officers, while the demonstra-
tion of the efficiency of cold storage for ‘‘ cow peas ’’ (so
largely used as fodder and for the improvement of the soil
in the States) as a protection against the attacks of the
three species of weevils to which they are subject may be
regarded as a triumph for the bureau.

WE have received from the trustees a copy of “‘ A Guide
to the Fossil Reptiles, Amphibians, and Fishes in the De-
partment of Geology and Palzontology in the British
Museum (Natural History), Cromwell Road,”’ issued at the
price of sixpence. Although on the title-page merely stated
to be the ‘‘ eighth edition,’’ this excellent little handbook
has been entirely re-written by Dr. A. Smith Woodward,
the keeper of the department, whose name is a sufficient
guarantee that it is thoroughly up to date, and at the same
lucidly and simply written. In its new form it
constitutes a brief, popular introduction to the study of the
extinct representatives of the groups to which it is devoted.
The most striking illustration is one of Mr. Carnegie’s
dinosaur, Diplodocus, which from considerations of space
has. been mounted in the gallery mainly devoted to recent
reptiles, instead of among its fellow monsters. The plate
of the skulls of two of the wonderful extinct horned
tortoises—one from Queensland and the other from Pata-
gonia—likewise merits a word of commendation.

time

NOVEMBER 30, 1905]

NATURE

107

Mr. WINSLow and Miss RoGers have suggested a new
classification of the bacterial family Coccacez (Science,
xxi., No. 539, p- 669). The family is divided into two sub-
families, the Paracoccaceze and Metacoccacez, the former
being subdivided into two genera, Diplococcus and Strepto-
coccus, the latter into three genera, Micrococcus, Sarcina,
and Ascococcus. We are not sure that this revised classifi-
cation is a material improvement on the classifications
which already exist. For instance, the Pneumococcus is
included among the Diplococci, but culturally it is un-
questionably a short Streptococcus, and in the sputum may
occur in chains of four elements.

ALTHOUGH yams, the tubers of species of Dioscorea, are
extensively cultivated in the West Indies and the tropics
of South America for domestic consumption, their value as
a food does not appeal to the Ceylonese, who show a prefer-
ence for the less tasty and less nutritious imported potato.
In the Circulars (vol. iii., No. 1) of the Royal Botanic
Gardens, Ceylon, Mr. H. F. Macmillan has written some
notes on Dioscoreas with the object of directing attention
to their value as a vegetable, and also to assist cultivators
in identifying the different varieties.

TuHE members of the Scottish Antarctic Expedition were
prevented by stress of weather from making a complete
exploration of Gough Island, so that the collection of plants
obtained by Mr. R. W. Brown, and described in vol.
xxxvil. of the Journal of the Linnean Society, is probably
incomplete. Of the phanerogams and ferns, numbering
twenty-seven, the most conspicuous were Phylica nitida, a
tree characteristic of the Tristan da Cunha group, tussac-
grass, Spartina arundinacea, and the tree fern Lomaria
Boryana. The flora is very similar to that of Tristan da
Cunha, but two endemic species, a Cotula and an
Asplenium, were obtained.

At the recent Colonial Exhibition held in the Crystal
Palace, of the West Indian colonies Jamaica took the
foremost place, receiving, amongst other distinctions, the
gold medal presented by the West Indian Cable Company
for the best collective exhibit. Of Jamaica produce, oranges
and bananas are both much in evidence; the sugar and
rum industries are prospering, while the cultivation of
cacao, rubber, cotton, and tobacco are all more or less
suited to the climate. In the Agricultural News
(October 7) mention is also made of a tea plantation of
go acres that promises well under the careful management
of the owner, Mr. H. E. Cox. This and a plantation in
Carolina, U.S.A., are said to be the only tea plantations
in the western hemisphere.

Mr. D. E. Hurcurys, conservator of forests, Cape
Town, presents an admirable survey of the past history
and present condition of forestry in South Africa in the
recent record of ‘* Science in South Africa.’? The institu-
tion of a forest department in Cape Colony dates from
1881; since that time three-quarters of a million pounds
has been expended, and the staff now numbers no less
than 110 conservators and foresters. Yellow-wood fur-
nished by two species of Podocarpus, the most widely spread
indigenous timber trees, is not so valuable as the Clan-
william cedar, Callitris arborea, which takes the place of
Baltic pine; this cedar having been cut out in the past,
future supply is dependent upon the timber that is now
being raised in the Cedarberg country. Of exotic trees,
species of Eucalyptus and Cupressus have been largely
introduced for timber, and wattles for the production of
tan bark.

NO. 1883, VOL. 73]

Nrarty all parts of the British Islands experienced very
severe southerly and south-westerly gales on Sunday last,
November 26. which, in connection with the spring tides,
occasioned great damage, especially on the west and south
coasts, many houses being flooded, while the service in
the English Channel was quite disorganised. The weather
report issued by the Meteorological Office on Saturday
morning notified the approach of an important depression
off the coast of Ireland, and the chart for Sunday morn-
ing showed that the centre of the storm had already reached
the west coast of that country, and that the barometer
had fallen o-7 inch in the last twenty-four hours. In the
north-west of England the strongest winds were felt
between 1oh. p.m. and midnight, and the gusts reached a
velocity of 66 miles per hour; in the south-west of England
the velocity was at least 75 miles an hour. At the
mouth of the Thames it is estimated that the gusts were
at the rate of about 60 miles an hour. Notwithstanding
the great damage caused by wind and sea combined, it does
not appear that the wind-velocity was so great as in the
storm of March last, when a rate of 100 miles an
hour was recorded in the south-west of England, and
$3 miles an hour in the north-west. By Monday morning
the central part of the storm had advanced to the coast of
Norway.

In the Journal of the Meteorological Society of Japan
for September will be found a very useful summary (in
English) of the rainfall of China and Corea, by Mr. T.
Okada. Some years ago Dr. Supan published a valuable
paper on the subject in Petermann’s Mitteilungen, but
since that time the number of stations has increased, and
Mr. Okada has summarised in a handy form the results
for forty stations, mostly on the coasts of China and Corea,
for the years 1892-1901. The materials are obtained from
observations published by the Zi-ka-wei and Hong Kong
observatories, and other sources. In northern China the
average annual rainfall is under 40 inches; it increases to
the southward, and decreases from the coast towards the:
interior of the Empire, and in individual years it is subject
to large fluctuations. In Corea the annual fall is about
36 inches on the west coast, and is generally more than,
40 inches on the east and south coasts. In northern China
the wettest months are July and August, and February is
the driest month. In southern China the wettest month
is June, and the driest December. Tables are given show-
ing the average monthly falls at all stations. The coast
of central China has an average of 120 rainy days, southern
China 80 days, and northern China 60 days. Heavy rain-
fall in twenty-four hours is rather rare, but falls of 4 inches
frequently occur between April and August. In Corea falls
of more than 4 inches in a day rarely occur. There is only
one instance of more than 8 inches. A table is given show-
ing the greatest daily falls in each month for all stations.

A Report has been received on the use of platinum
resistance thermometers in determining the temperature of
the air at Helwan, the central Egyptian observatory.
The object of the paper is to justify the use of a special
form of platinum thermometer invented by the writer of
the report (Mr. E. B. H. Wade), in conjunction with Prof.
Callendar’s electric recorder. Instead of coiling the
platinum wires on mica supports, and enclosing them in
a solid tube for protection, as in the ordinary recorder,
Mr. Wade arranged them in an open manner on a light
ebonite frame, somewhat in the form of a gridiron, with-
out any kind of casing, the wire being completely exposed
to the air. It is claimed, among other things, that the
influences of radiation and the Joule effect are much

108

INA AMET.

[ NovEMBER 30, 1905

smaller in this type than in the ordinary one, that it acts
more rapidly in its indications, and that the combined
recorder and open thermometer may be standardised in
such a way as to require no control readings. The author
gives a number of tables which seem to show that the
advantages claimed are supported by the results obtained.
Specimens of thermograms obtained by the employment
of the usual and of the modified type show that the fluctu-
ations are more minute in the latter case. It is also
stated that Prof. Callendar has expressed approval of the
reasons which have led to the adoption of the modified
type of thermometer.

Tue Rendiconti of the Royal Lombardy Institution,
Xxxvili., 16, contains a short abstract of the report for
1904 of the meteorological observatory on Monte Rosa, by
Dr. Camillo Alessandri. The ‘‘ Capanna Regina Mar-
gherita,’’ of which the first wing was opened in 1893, has
from that time onwards been visited by many observers,
chiefly in connection with physiological researches, and
Prof. Mosso’s work in this direction is well known; but
it was not until May, 1904, that the Italian Meteorological
Office placed Dr. Alessandri in official charge of a meteor-
ological station there. During the short time available
up to the date of the report, observations were made of
temperature, atmospheric electricity, refraction, and time.
The climatic conditions occasion great difficulties with the
use of instruments, and the author proves the necessity
of devising new forms of instruments specially adapted to
these conditions. As a beginning, a new metallic thermo-
meter and a registering electrometer have been described
by Dr. Alessandri himself.

Tue twentieth Bulletin issued by the Geologicai Survey
of Western Australia (Perth) covers 127 pages, and forms
a further report by Mr. A. Gibb Maitland on the geological
features and mineral resources of the Pilbara goldfield. It
includes full details regarding the Nullagine, Warrawoona,
and Marble Bar fields, and is accompanied by coloured
geological and mining maps. Special interest attaches to
the Nullagine district cn account of the occurrence of gold
in sedimentary rocks bearing a close resemblance to the
auriferous conglomerates of the Witwatersrand. The
auriferous deposits of Werrawoona and of Marble Hill are
quartz reefs.

An interesting preliminary report has been issued by
the mines branch of the Canadian Department of the
Interior on the raw materials, manufacture, and uses of
hydraulic cements in Manitoba. It has been drawn up
by Mr. J. Walter Wells, and involved an examination of
the limestones, marls, clays, shales, and coal deposits of
the province. Particulars are added of the cement mills
in North Dakota, in Minnesota, and. in South Dakota; and
much information is given regarding the manufacture of
cement from the raw materials available that cannot fail
to be of practical value in furthering the cement industry
of Manitoba. In that province timber is becoming scarce,
and suitable building stone and bricks are expensive.
Cement is therefore coming into increasing use in house
and farm construction, in railway work, in municipal
work, and in factories and mills; and within the last
eight years the uses of concrete have been greatly extended
by the introduction of iron and steel reinforcements, con-
sisting of skeleton structures so arranged in the concrete
masses that rods, bars, wires, and bands help in resisting
stresses in tension. A very important application of re-
inforced cement concrete in Manitoba is the construction of

NO. 1883, VoL. 73]

grain elevators. The various applications of cement in the
province are well shown in photographic illustrations
accompanying the report.

Ar the last meeting of the Institution of Mechanical
Engineers a paper was read by Dr. H. C. H. Carpenter,
Mr. R. A. Hadfield, and Mr. Perey Longmuir on the
properties of a series of iron-nickel-manganese-carbon
alloys. It constituted the seventh report to the Alloys Re-
search Committee, and formed an interesting continuation
of the previous reports presented by the late Sir William
Roberts-Austen. The research was carried out at the
National Physical Laboratory, the alloys having been pre-
pared by Mr. Hadfield at his works at Sheffield. The alloys
contained on an average o-4a per cent. of carbon and 0-88
per cent. of manganese, and the following percentages of
nickel :—A, nil; B, 1-20; C, 2:15; D, 4-25; E, 4-08:
F, 6-425 G,7-95 3 El) 12-22; J, 15-98) and KK. 19:01. a bhe
report embodies the results of an exhaustive examination of
the mechanical, physical, chemical, and metallographical
properties of these alloys. It has previously been shown
that an increase in the content of nickel raises the maxi-
mum stress and lowers the extension. The present research
shows that, so far as industrial products are concerned, a
danger limit for nickel content is found at 43 per cent.
when carbon and manganese are present to the extent of
0-44 per cent. and o-88 per cent. respectively. The brittle
zone extends from about 5 per cent. to 16 per cent. of
nickel. The report, which covers 102 pages, contains a
mass of observations of the greatest scientific interest, and
the Institution of Mechanical Engineers is to be congratu-
lated on having promoted a costly research of which the
immediate practical value to the engineer is very slight.

WE have received from Mr. A. Gibb Maitland a copy
of an interesting paper read by him before the Western
Australian Natural History Society on the salient geological
features of British New Guinea. The territory was
annexed to the Crown in 1888, and in 1901 passed into
the possession of the Commonwealth of Australia. The
geology presents many points of interest. New Guinea
rests upon a submarine bank which has been termed the
Melanesian Plateau and is separated from another by an
abyss 2000 fathoms deep. The coral formations of British
New Guinea are very remarkable. All gradations from
reefs only a few feet above the water up to 2000 feet in
height were noticed. The reef masses are composed of
very hard limestones. Coral fragments do not appear to
be very common. The volcanic phenomena present all
phases, their products being scattered over almost the whole
length of the possession. The various sedimentary rocks
are well developed in many portions of the territory, and,
so far as at present understood, they comprise :—(1) Kevori
grits (post-Tertiary); (2) Port Moresby beds (Pliocene) ;
(3) Boioro limestones (undetermined age); (4) Purari River
beds (Cretaceous); (5) Strickland River shales (Jurassic) ;
(6) Tauri limestones (Devonian); and (7) metamorphic
rocks and crystalline schists. The last named are of con-
siderable economic importance in that they form the
original matrix of those deposits that have yielded, from
1888 to 1904, alluvial gold to the value of 255,115/. Frag-
ments of coal have been met with in the Purari River beds.
It is believed that the formation must attain a thickness
of 3000 feet, which would leave room for the intercalation
of coal seams. Should a coalfield exist it might exercise
a great influence on the future of the possession.

AN interesting paper on the linear force of growing
crystals is contained in the Proceedings of the Washington
Academy of Sciences (vol. vii. p. 283); the authors, Messrs.

NOVEMBER 30, 1905 |

NATURE

109

G. F. Becker and A. L. Day, direct attention to the fact
that in the study of ore deposits occurrences are observ-
able in which crystals have exerted a very considerable
force. Pyrites, for example, is formed in slate in such
a way as to drive apart the lamine of the rock without
any perceptible deformation of the crystals occurring. A
description is given of some experiments performed in
order to determine the lifting force exerted by crystals of
alum growing in a saturated solution whilst subjected to
the pressure of a heavy weight. Under the title “‘ An
Interesting Pseudosolid,’’ the same authors contribute an
account of some investigations of the behaviour of fresh
white of egg beaten into a fine foam with an equal volume
of powdered sugar. Cylinders of uniform size were cut
out of the mass of foam and subjected to compressive or
tensile stress, the changes in the dimensions being care-
fully observed. A series of photographs of the entire foam
cylinder after successive increments of compression was
made, and then, by superposing the plates, accurate traces
of the path of each component particle were obtained.
The authors consider that the results obtained offer a
confirmation of Prof. J. J. Thomson’s theory of solids.

Mr. Witnerm ENGELMANN, of Leipzig, has published a
fourth, revised edition of Prof. P. Groth’s ‘‘ Physikalische
Krystallographie und Einleitung in die krystallographische
Kenntnis der wichtigsten Substanzen.’’ The third edition
of Prof. Groth’s famous book was the subject of an article
in our issue for January 30, 1896 (vol. liii. p. 289). Many
students of crystallography will welcome the present edition.

e A SECOND edition of Dr. F. Mollwo Perkin’s ‘‘ Quali-
tative Chemical Analysis, Organic and Inorganic,’’ has
been published by Messrs. Longmans, Green and Co. The
first edition was reviewed in our issue for August 22, 1901
{vol. Ixiv. p. 397); and all that need now be said is that
more theory has been introduced, the portions dealing
with the analysis of acids and the treatment of the sub-
stance to be analysed have been recast, and several addi-
tions have been made, those in organic analysis being

specially intended for university and pharmaceutical
students.
A sixtn edition, revised and enlarged, of Prof. R.

Wiedersheim’s ‘‘ Vergleichende Anatomie der Wirbeltiere ”’
has been published by Mr. Gustav Fischer, of Jena. An
English edition, founded on the third German edition, was
reviewed in Nature for September 1, 1898 (vol. Iviii.
p- 409). It is only necessary to state here that this
standard work continues to grow in bulk; for instance, the
bibliographical appendix, which in the English edition re-
ferred to runs to some ninety pages, occupies in the new
edition nearly 140 pages.

Mr. Axset G. S. Joseruson, of the John Crerar Library,
Chicago, has sent us a copy of a pamphlet in which he
puts forward a proposition for the establishment of a
bibliographical institute. Mr. Josephson maintains that as
there are laboratories for chemical, physical, and hygienic
research, there should also be an institute for conducting
bibliographical research, where records of literary produc-
tions would be made systematically, and to which persons
desiring information of a bibliographical character could
turn with their inquiries. Such an institute, he remarks,
organised as a bureau of scientific information, would be
a boon to all investigators. The institute should be estab-
lished on an international basis, and its function should be
to record, classify, and evaluate printed literature. It
should be part of the regular duty of the staff of the
institute to index the society publications which are not

NO. 1883, VOL. 73]

included in existing indexes to periodical literature.
Bibliographies of special subjects should be prepared to fill
existing gaps. To establish such an institute on a reason-
ably permanent basis would, Mr. Josephson estimates, re-
quire an endowment of at least 200,0001.

OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN.

ASTRONOMICAL OCCURRENCES IN DECEMBER :—

Dec. 2. 5h. Saturn in conjunction with Moon (Saturn 1° 21’
S:):
»> 3. 10h. 49m. Minimum of Algol (8 Persei).
», ©. 7h. 38m. Minimum of Algol (8 Persei).
», 8. 5h. 35m. to 6h. 43m. Moon occults mw Ceti
(mag. 4°4).
»» 9. 4h. 49m. to 5b. 43m. Moon occults f Tauri

(mag. 4°3).

» 9. 5h. 48m. to 7h. 21m. Transit of Jupiter’s Sat. IIT.
(Ganymede).
», 10. 4h. 58m. to sh. 56m. Moon occults y Tauri
(mag. 3°9). /
s, 10. 14h. 52m. to 15h. 53m. Moon occults a Tauri
(mag. I°1).
,, 10. Saturn. Major axis outer ring =38"°34. Minor
axISe— aoe
,, 10-12. Epoch of December meteors (Geminids, Radiant
108° + 33°).
5, 15. Wenus. lIluminated portion of dise =o'970. Of

Mars =0-°900.
>, 16. 9h. 5m. to oh. 41m.
(Ganymede).

Transit of Jupiter's Sat. III.

5, 19. 19h. 53m. to 21h. 2m. Moon occults y Virginis
(mag. 3°0).

,, 22. Oh. Sun enters Virgo. Winter commences.

>> 23. 12h. 26m. to 14h.6m. Transit of Jupiter's Sat. III.
(Ganymede).

», 25. 16h. Mars and Saturn in conjunction (Mars
o° 30’ N.).

;, 26. 7h. Uranus in conjunction with the Sun.

;, 20. gh. 21m. Minimum of Algol (8 Persei).

5, 29. 6h. 10m. Minimum of Algol (8 Persei).

»» 30. 20h. Neptune in opposition to the Sun.

Comet 1905b.—The observation of comet 1905b at Bam-

berg on November 18 was made by Prof. Hartwig, who,
in addition to determining the position given in these
columns last week, recorded that the magnitude of the
comet was 7:5, that the object was round with a diameter
of 10’, and that the central nucleus had a magnitude
of 11-0.

An observation made by Prof. Aitken at the Lick Observ-
atory on November 18 gave the comet’s position, at
8h. 17m. 31s. (Mount Hamilton M.T.), as

R.A. (app.)=oh. 33m. 54-4s., dec.=+77° 17’ 26".

The appearance and the rapid apparent movement of this
object seem to point to its comparative proximity to the
earth (Astronomische Nachrichten, No. 4055).

The following elements and ephemeris, which have been
computed by Herr M. Ebell from the observations of
November 18, 19, and 20, are given in Circular No. 80
of the Kiel Centralstelle :—

Elements.
T = 1905 October 27°4926 (Berlin M.T.).
00 =135 38°7
8% =223 45°4 ; 19050
Z =138 54°6 J

log g =0'02626
Ephemeris 12h.

(Berlin M.T.)
8

1905 a log A Bright-
sem Ss: arty, ness

Dec. 2 23 30 49 +1 11'8 9°7150 0°20
6 23 30 49 —4 46°6 98163 o'l2

10 23 31 28 —8 36°1 99002 0°08

Brightness at time of. discovery =1-0.
An observation made at Bamberg on November 21 gave
corrections of —32s. in R.A. and +4/-1 in declination to
the above ephemeris.

110

NATL ORE

| NOVEMBER 30, 1905

An Untriep MetHuop oF DETERMINING THE REFRACTION
Constant.—In No. 8, vol. xiii., of Popular Astronomy, Mr.
Geo. A. Hill, of Washington, describes a new and, as he
believes, an untried method for determining the constant
of refraction. ;

Briefly, the method consists in observing the times at
which two stars, separated by about twelve hours in right
ascension, and both of nearly the same declination, transit
across a horizontal wire in the prime vertical. In each
case the refraction decreases the hour angle, and the arith-
metical sum of the hour angles of the two stars will differ
from the difference between their right ascensions by twice
the refraction, expressed in time, at the zenith distance at
which they were observed.

To make this observation Mr. Hill proposes the employ-
ment of an instrument similar in form and in the rigidity
of its parts to the modern zenith telescope. The telescope
is to be established in the prime vertical, and mounted so
that it is capable of rotation about a rigid vertical axis.
Two stops fixed to the base of the instrument would ensure
that when the telescope was rotated in azimuth about the
vertical axis its line of collimation would still be in the
prime vertical. Obviously the ideal position for the making
of the observations would be at or near to the earth’s
equator. Many other details of the proposed plan of
observations are given at length in Mr. Hill’s paper.

SPECTRA OF BRIGHT SOUTHERN STARS.—An appendix to
vol xxviii. of the Annals—the volume in which appeared
the ‘‘ Catalogue of the Spectra of Bright Southern Stars ”’
—has just been published by the Harvard College Observ-
atory. It contains two tables, in the first of which there
are given the particulars of sixty-nine stars which were
accidentally omitted from Table I. in the original volume,
and in the second the corrected classification of the spectra
of thirty stars which were previously wrongly described.

A CATALOGUE OF 4280 Stars.—No. 15 of the Publications
of the Cincinnati Observatory is devoted to a catalogue of
the positions and precessional constants of 4280 of the stars
given in Piazzi’s catalogue.

All the stars given by Piazzi that were north of the
equator in 1800, except those included in the Berlin
“Jahrbuch ’’ and eighteen of the Pleiades group, are in-
cluded in the catalogue, and the Piazzi number, the position
for 1900, the precession, the proper name, and the magni-
tude are given for each. An appendix contains the proper
motions of 35 stars which were placed on the observing
list, mostly taken from the Cambridge A.G. Catalogue.

HIGHER EDUCATION AT THE CAPE.

IGHER education in Cape Colony is at the present
time in a very interesting and perhaps critical con-
dition. It is indeed characteristic of the tardiness of
progress in that colony (the eternal motto is ‘* Wacht een
beetje’) that the crisis should not have arrived until
nearly eighty years after the foundation of the first institu-
tion designed to promote advanced studies—the South
African College in Cape Town. ‘The causes of this retard-
ation are to be found partly in dissipation of effort, partly
in the mischievous influence of an iron system of external
examinations. The South African College was started on
a small scale in 1829 through the liberality of a number
of citizens of Cape Town, who became ‘“ shareholders ”’
in the venture; but though after a few years it was
recognised as a public institution and received support
from the public treasury, it did not at first develop with
much rapidity; and in 1849 Bishop Gray, after an un-
successful attempt to buy out the majority of the ‘‘ share-
holders,’’ founded the Diocesan College as a rival institu-
tion in the suburbs, thus inaugurating the unhappy policy
of multiplying colleges from which the colony still suffers.
Four years later Sir George Grey’s administration instituted
a public board of examiners with power to grant certifi-
cates in various subjects, another fateful step, for from
that board there sprang in 1873 the University of the Cape
of Good Hope, the only body in South Africa which has
the right to confer degrees. The character of this so-called
university deserves notice. It was modelled on the old
University of London, the example of which it follows only
too faithfully. It is managed by a council, half the

NO. 1883, VOL. 73

members of which are appointed by Government, the
other half elected by the convocation of graduates. It
exercises the two functions of examining and granting
degrees, but it does not teach. So abhorrent to it, indeed,
is any connection with teaching that it does not allow
teachers of candidates to take part in the examinations,
a most deleterious prohibition, since in many subjects the
only experts belong to the staffs of the colleges. Dis-
satisfaction with this examining university is the chief
cause of the present crisis. Meantime the multiplication of
colleges and the wasteful reiteration of similar work in
a number of centres has gone on apace. Some of the
smaller colleges have, it is true, died out; but there still!
remain, in addition to the two already mentioned, the
Victoria College at Stellenbosch, which was incorporated
in 1881, the Huguenot College for Women at Wellington
(1898), and the Rhodes University College, which in 1904
took the place of St. Andrew’s College at Grahamstown.
The western province, therefore, has four colleges, all
within forty miles of Cape Town, and the eastern pro-
vince has one. They are bound hand and foot by the
syllabuses and regulations of the university, for the
examinations of which they prepare. Alike in strength
and in character, however, they vary greatly. The South
African College has in recent years developed with
wonderful rapidity. It now supports seventeen chairs and
has about 260 students, whom it draws in approximately
equal numbers from the British and from the Dutch, and
in thus bringing the two races together exercises a most
beneficent influence, which it rightly regards as one of its
chief claims to support. Its arts buildings are old and
need reconstruction, but blocks of science buildings have
lately been erected which would do credit to any unversity
in the Empire, and the intention is to house the arts
also on a similar scale. The only other college approach-
ing it in strength is that of Stellenbosch, which
has also developed recently, though it remains somewhat,
smaller and is less well equipped for the teaching of
science. That the two strongest colleges should be in such
close proximity is a particularly unfortunate result of the
short-sighted policy (or lack of policy) which has been
characteristic of the educational administration of the
colony in the past. On purely educational grounds this
duplication cannot be justified. But it is to be feared
that racial rather than properly educational motives have
led to the development of a second large college so near
to Cape Town, and this may be said without any reflection
upon the instruction given at it. For the Victoria College
is almost completely under the influence of the neighbour-
ing theological seminary of the Dutch Reformed Church;
its students are almost entirely Dutch; it is in sentiment
and in popular estimation the Dutch College. Even were
the instruction provided the best in the world, it would be
still altogether deplorable that this tendency to racial
separatism in education should have gained recognition and
support. Of the remaining colleges, that at Grahamstown ~
has a fairly large staff, but as yet few students and no
buildings, and in view of the backward state of education
in the east its position seems a little precarious, but if it
can encourage the schools in that part to improve it should
prosper. The Diocesan College and the Huguenot College
are both small, and probably they will in the end have to
unite with their more powerful neighbours.

The education provided by the colleges is not so good
as it might be under more favourable conditions. One at
least of them, the South African College, is in every way
competent to give as advanced instruction as most colonial
universities, and equally with them to promote research;
but it is hampered at once by the schools below it and
by the university above it. In mathematics, indeed, the
general standard of the schools is remarkably high; a few
schools maintain a fair standard in science as well, but in
literary subjects they are all miserably weak. This is
partly due to the absence of any proper system of secondary
or of intermediate education. The Education Department
is frequently accused of an undue affection for red tape,
with which it is said to strangle the more advanced and
ambitious schools in the interests of weaker country
schools, that have to be kept up to the mark by strict
regulations. However that may be, there is no advanced
secondary education in the colony. The schools do not

NOVEMBER 30, 1905]

NATURE

DTI

carry their classes beyond the matriculation examination
of the university, which thus serves as a general leaving
examination, and when their pupils have passed it there
is nothing for them to do, if they wish to prosecute their
studies further, but to go on to college, however young
and crude they may be. So long as the present university
system endures it is difficult to foresee any remedy for this.
The university does not demand of its candidates for the
higher examinations that they should have been trained
at a college, and were the schools to develop advanced
classes they would merely compete with the colleges in
teaching for the intermediate degree examination, the
standard of which would be still further lowered. What is
wanted is a system of secondary schools entirely indepen-
dent of any university, the pupils of which would not be
sent on to college until they had reached a decent maturity.
As things are, the whole educational system of the colony
is absolutely subject to the tyranny of external examin-
ations, and for this the university is chiefly responsible.

So unsatisfactory a state of affairs cannot endure much
Jonger. The only radical cure for it is one which Mr.
Rhodes attempted to bring about years ago, the institution
of a single teaching university in Cape Town. (The eastern
province is not yet sufficiently developed to support a
separate university, but in view of its great distance from
Cape Yown the college at Grahamstown might perhaps
remain as an affiliated institution until it is strong enough
to stand alone.) Such a teaching university Mr. Rhodes
would have endowed, and even though, through local
jealousies, the chance of his munificence has been lost, his
plan remains the wisest and even the most economical.
The Government is remarkably liberal in the cause of
higher education. It pays, usually up to a limit of 2o00l.
a year, half the salary of all professorships or lectureships
the institution of which it approves; it pays half the
expenses of general maintenance, and issues loans in
aid of building schemes on very favourable terins. In the
case of colleges which confine themselves to work above
the standard of matriculation and have not less than
seventy-five matriculated students—t.e. at present in the
case of the South African and Victoria colleges—the grants
in aid of salaries may be increased up to a limit of 350.
The public expenditure on behalf of higher education is
thus very considerable, but it is dissipated among several
centres, and the benefits accruing from it are necessarily
jess than they would be were it directed to the support
of a single teaching university.

Unfortunately, this ideal is even more unlikely of achieve-
ment now than it was in Mr. Rhodes’s lifetime. Public
‘opinion remains inert, but the colleges have grown, and
it would be almost impossible, and probably undesirable,
to force them into reluctant amalgamation. Yet something
must be done. The country colleges would prefer probably
the conversion of the present university into a federal
system of constituent colleges, a policy which has, of
course, been tried elsewhere, but without much _ success.
In Cape Town, on the other hand, the feeling is growing
that, even though other centres may stand aloof, the city
itself should do its best to realise Mr. Rhodes’s purpose
by founding a teaching university. In the South African
College it has the means of doing so, and when that
institution has completed its present scheme of develop-
ment its just claim to independence could not be refused.
Nothing could be more beneficial to the colony than such
‘a university in Cape Town with well staffed and well
equipped professional schools attached to it. Not only
would it raise the general standard of education, as no
merely examining body can, but it would draw together
and train together the best intellects among the youth of
the country, and would thus prove an invaluable factor in
the work of uniting the races. No doubt it is a costly
scheme, and since the Government cannot concentrate its
support of higher education, but will have to continue to
assist some at any rate of the local colleges, a great part
of the burden must fall on private benefactors. But at the
Cape itself to arouse enthusiasm for a great ideal should
not be difficult, and it may even be hoped that among the
men of millions ‘‘ who live at home at ease,’’ and who are
at last beginning to appreciate the dessert of universities,
some may be found willing to assist a scheme which is
mot the less deserving because it is South African.

NO. 1883, VOL. 73]

THE BATOKA GORGE OF THE ZAMBESI.*

WHEN I undertook to examine the geological structure
of the country around the Victoria Falls on behalf
of the council of the British Association, it appeared to
me that there were two essential matters on which our
information was very inadequate. The first was with
respect to the origin of the falls themselves and the singular
gorge associated with them, and the second as to the
course of the great river for 70 or 80 miles below the
falls. The opinion of David Livingstone, stated fifty years
ago, that the gorge must have been formed by the sudden
opening of a zigzag crack in the earth’s crust, had been
adopted without question by all subsequent travellers,
although hardly anything was known of the canon beyond
the immediate vicinity of the falls.
Before I left England last June, however, a timely store

of new information was forthcoming that materially
lightened my task. In an able article on ‘‘ The Physical
History of the Victoria Falls’? (Geograph. Journ.,

January), Mr. A. J. C. Molyneux, of Bulawayo, produced
strong evidence to prove that the majestic waterfall and
its concomitants have been slowly developed by the erosive
power of the Zambesi itself. With regard to the course
of the river below the falls, unpublished information was
most courteously placed at my disposal by the authorities
of the British South Africa Co., which showed that a dis-
tinguished officer of the company, Mr. F. W. Sykes, the
District Commissioner at Livingstone, had succeeded three
years ago in penetrating the hitherto unknown country
bordering its northern bank for some 40 miles to the east-
ward of the falls. The report on this journey prepared
by Mr. Sykes, and the beautiful photographs by which it
was illustrated, were sufficient in themselves to explain
the ruling features in the physiography of the district, and
incidentally afforded further testimony in favour of Mr.
Molyneux’s conclusions.

During my own examination of the district in July and
August last, I had the inestimable advantage of the
personal guidance of Mr. Sykes in my traverse of the
country on the northern side of the river from Victoria
Falls to Wankie’s Drift. In this traverse we were accom-
panied by Colonel Frank Rhodes,* and for part of the
distance by Lieut. Burgin, in command of a detachment
of native police. The journey entailed a devious and some-
what arduous march of about 120 miles across an almost
trackless country, consisting mainly of rugged stony
ground covered with low trees. Wankie’s Drift appears
to lie considerably to the eastward of the position assigned
to it on existing maps, its distance in an east-south-easterly
direction from Victoria Falls being probably not less than
75 miles as the crow flies.

Our route was roughly parallel to the course of the
Zambesi, at first south-eastward for about 20 miles (in a
direct line), then toward east-north-east for a further
35 miles, until we crossed the Ungwesi or-Kalomo River,
and finally east-south-eastward for nearly 40 miles, to the
river-crossing at Wankie’s. The deep impassable chasms
into which all the tributary streams are precipitated as
they approach the Zambesi, and the extremely rugged
character of the much-dissected ground between them, for-
bade any passage along the brink of the main gorge except
for short distances, and our general line of march was
therefore taken beyond the heads of the side-chasms, often
many miles from the Zambesi itself. At four places, how-
ever, before reaching the Ungwesi, we struck southward
to the main river; and at three of these we managed by
rough scrambling to descend into the bottom of the gorge.
Finding in these places that the ancient lavas of the
surrounding plateau—the ‘‘ Batoka Basalts’’ of Molyneux
—were still, as at the Falls, the only rocks exposed in the
gorge, we decided, as time was pressing, to continue along

1 Abstract of ‘Report on the Batoka Gorge of the Zambesi and the
Country between Victoria Falls and the Confluence of the Deka River,”’
brought before the Geological Section of the British Association at
Johannesburg on August 29, by G. W. Lamplugh, F.R.S.

2 ‘Ihe news, which reached me during the homeward voyage, of the
untimely death of Colonel Rhodes at Cape Town on September 21 has
overshadowed the otherwise delightful memory of this journey. To have
known Colonel Rhodes, the most cheery of travelling companions, at all was
inevitably to hold him in affectionate regard. His deep and cultured
sympathy in all that pertained to the magnificent Falls, and his efforts to

maintain their loveliness unimpaired, deserve the grateful remembrance of
all interested in Rhodesia.

112 NAT VOR, [NOvEMBER 30, 1905
the main route until the termination of the basalts was | the lava-flow before its onward movement had ceased, and
reached. These rocks proved unexpectedly to be con- | is not indicative of true ashes. In the whole course of
tinuous to Wankie’s, although the ‘‘ Batoka Gorge’’ (as | the journey I did not find any trace of an eruptive centre

it is proposed to name this cafion of the Zambesi) itself
ceases 6 or 8 miles above Wankie’s, giving place to an
open valley with a broad shallow river sprinkled with
islets.

On ferrying in a native ‘‘ dug-out ’’ across the Zambesi
at Wankie’s we were met by Mr. H. F. Greer, of the
British South Africa Co., who holds charge in the dis-
trict south of the river. Here Mr. Sykes and Colonel
Rhodes
Coal Mine, 35 miles distant, while Mr. Greer and myself
took a westerly course parallel to the Zambesi for about
60 miles, still traversing a basalt-country. We turned
aside twice in this westward journey in order to examine
the Zambesi valley at places eastward of those reached
from the north bank. One of these was at the confluence
of the Matetsi with the Zambesi, which is a little below
the termination of the narrow gorge; and the other place
was about 15 miles farther west, where the structure of
the cahon is not materially different from that which it
presents in the place where it had been last entered from
the northern side of the river.

Mr. Greer having very kindly undertaken to escort me
to the headwaters of the Deka River, where previous
information had led me to expect that the base of the
Batoka Basalts would be found, we then took a south-
westerly course to Matetsi Camp. Crossing the railway
there, we continued our journey westward, southward,
and south-eastward across the upper part of the basin of
the Matetsi River, and after some days of hard trekking
struck the higher reaches of the Deka, only to find that
the interminable plateau-basalts over which the whole of
our route had hitherto lain were still the underlying rocks,
and that the surrounding country gave no indication of
structural change. It had been our intention to return
from Deka to the Falls by the old traders’ route past
Pandamatenka and Gasuma; but as the Bushmen reported
that, owing to the exceptionally dry season, no water
would be found in Gasuma Vley, this plan became im-
practicable, and we decided to follow a north-eastward
route, parallel to the Deka River for about 60 miles, to
the Wankie Coal Mine. Geologically, this proved to be
the most interesting part of my journey, and I therefore
spent four days at Wankie in further investigation, profit-
ing greatly from the guidance and kind hospitality of the
manager of the mine, Mr. J. M. Kearney.

The basalts are cut off abruptly along the lower portion
of the Deka valley by a great fault striking approximately
north-east, which brings in the sandstones and shales with
which the Wankie coal-seams are associated. Some frag-
mentary plant-remains were collected from the Wankie
Coal-measures, and among these Mr. A. C. Seward has
recognised Vertebraria, which indicates that the deposits
are of Permo-Carboniferous age, as indeed had _ been
previously surmised. Returning by rail from Wankie
Mine to Victoria Falls, I spent a few more days in ex-
amining the head of the gorge and its surroundings, and
was then compelled to leave Rhodesia in order to join
the Association at Johannesburg.

The 600 miles of actual trekking that was accomplished
embraces a region of some 2000 square miles, of which
all except about 80 square miles east of the Deka is
underlain by the Batoka Basalts. The full extent of these
ancient lava-fields is still unknown, but, judging from
information that I obtained, it is likely to be not less
than 7000 square miles. Their thickness is also unknown,
but in the lower part of the Batoka Gorge, where the
original surface of the basalts must have been very con-
siderably lowered by denudation, the Zambesi has sunk for
800 feet further through these rocks without revealing
their base. In their prevalent characters they are remark-
ably uniform, consisting generally of thick bands of close-
grained dark-blue rock alternating with red, purple, or
ashy-looking amygdaloidal bands which mark off the sur-
faces of successive lava-flows. These less massive bands
frequently show a fragmental structure, and occasionally
pass into fine and coarse agglomerates suggestive of
voleanic tuffs or ashes; but I think that this struc-
ture may represent the brecciation of the solid crust of

No. .1883, VOL. 73]

struck southward to reach the railway at Wankie |

or volcanic orifice, and the rarity of dykes was also re-
markable. Neither did I find any interstratified sediments
among the basalts in the country traversed, though there
appear to be some interstratified red and green beds of
shaly aspect in the railway cuttings of the Katuna valley
west of the Deka, which I had no opportunity to examine.

Like similar ‘‘ plateau-basalts’’ in other parts of the
world, this immense mass of lava has probably had its
origin in ‘‘ fissure-eruptions,’’ by which a vast tract was

flooded under rapidly recurrent flows of high fluidity.

We still lack definite information as to the geological
age of the Batoka Basalts; by Mr. F. P. Mennell and
Mr. A. J. C. Molyneux they are regarded as most prob-
ably Tertiary, while Dr. S. Passarge correlates them with
the Loale Amygdaloid, which he considers to be of
Secondary age, perhaps Jurassic; but the evidence for
either view remains inconclusive.

The surface-deposits of sand, sandy limestone, cavernous
quartzite and hematite which locally overlie the basalts
in this part of the Zambesi basin, though of considerable
interest, must be dismissed for the present with the
remark that their mode of occurrence in this region is
not favourable to Dr. Passarge’s view that they represent
a definite order of events. The red sand (equivalent to
the ‘‘ Kalahari Sand’’ of Passarge, and probably in part
to the ‘‘ Forest Sandstone’’ of Molyneux) may, indeed,
denote a period of conditions different from those now
existing; but the limestones and quartzites appear to me
to be due to purely local circumstances that still prevail.

Let us now turn to regard briefly the physiography of
the region;' in which respect that wonderful natural
feature, the Victoria Falls, is, of course, the main pivot of
interest.

Above the Falls, the Zambesi flows sedately in a broad
mature valley with low sides, excavated in the upper por-
tion of the Batoka Basalts. The gentle slopes of this
valley are partly buried under ancient desert-sands—the
‘“ Kalahari Sand ’’ of Passarge—and all the features point
to a long continuance of relatively stable conditions during
which the river has done very little erosive work. On the
brink of the Falls its bed is still about 3000 feet above
sea-level; but at this point, suddenly, with a majestic
plunge, the Zambesi begins its impulsive descent from the
central plateau, and thereafter tears its way forcefully
across the mountainous margin of the continent, through
a succession of gorges alternating with relatively placid
reaches according to the variable endurance of the rock-
masses that lie in its path. It is to this rejuvenation of the
river at the present margin of the plateau, and its resultant
influence upon certain structures of the basalts, that, as
Mr. Molyneux has shown, we owe the magnificent Falls,
and not to any catastrophic rending of the earth’s crust.

The Batoka Basalts are traversed by a regular and
persistent system of close-set joints striking approximately .
east and west, and are also occasionally fractured in the
same direction by still bolder vertical planes, probably
representing lines of fault, that are sometimes accompanied
by veins of calcite and other minerals. At the surface
of the plateau the basalts are much weathered, and this
weathering sinks deepest along the joints and fractures,
whereby these become the lines of readiest erosion.

The rivers of this country are characterised by the
enormous difference that obtains between their volume in
the dry and in the wet seasons, a difference which affects
the great Zambesi proportionately almost as much as its
tributaries. During the shrinkage of the streams, the
greater portion of their broad rocky beds is laid bare,
and the water is confined within narrow gullies along
the joints and lines of readiest erosion, so that for more
than half the year it is in these channels only that there
is any wearing down of the stream-bed, while in flood-
time it is still along these gullies that the water is deepest
and most forceful, and that the chief portion of the detritus
(astonishingly scanty in these African rivers) is swept.
Thus, granting a sufficient gradient, these dry-season
channels become deepened and enlarged until they are

1 This portion of the report was illustrated by lantern slides showing the
chief features of the Gorge.

NOVEMBER 30, 1905 |

MALY RE

Ine

capable of carrying the flood-waters also, and the course
of the stream becomes fixed along them. We _ found
striking illustrations of these conditions both in the Batoka |
Gorge and in the beds of the tributaries in many places.
The sudden and acute bends that are so peculiarly
characteristic of the Zambesi below the Falls are in this |
way readily explicable.

A broad ancient river-flat, with low sloping banks on
both sides, excavated across the edges of the gently dipping
lava-flows, is distinctly traceable for many miles below
the Falls, until obscured by the breaking up of the plateau
by the gradually lengthening development of the lateral
chasms of the rejuvenated tributaries. This flat is com-
parable in breadth and general aspect to the valley of the
Zambesi above the Falls; and the presence of a few rounded
pebbles upon it above the brink of the gorge gives further
evidence for the former, flow of the river over its surface.
It is continued southward as a shallow depression in the
surface of the plateau for five or six miles from the Falls,
and then curves eastward.

It may be mentioned here, as a matter deserving the
attention of archeologists, that rudely chipped implements
of chalcedony, agate, and jasper are very abundant in
many places on this ancient river-platform, and also
upon the low rocky hummocks bordering the Zambesi
above the Falls. A few of these implements show signs
of wear as if by river-action, and may therefore possibly
be of considerable antiquity. We found them, here and
there, in profusion during the first 20 miles of our east-
ward journey, but very rarely during the later stages of
the trek. A collection of these implements was exhibited
at a meeting of the Anthropological Section.

The erratic zigzags of the Batoka Gorge swing to and
fro within this broad depression, but without escaping from
it. Even within the gorge, the river, still possessing a
high gradient, tends to confine itself within narrower limits
as it scoops out the less resistant portions of its bed,
leaving many abandoned channels, rock-terraces, and spur-
like ridges to break the severity of its canon walls.

Nowhere can these features be better studied than in
the left bank of the Gorge, about 7 miles below the Falls,
around the confluence of the Songwe, a little tributary
which has itself carved out a narrow chasm about three-
quarters of a mile long and more than 400 feet deep into
the margin of the plateau. As well for its savage magnifi-
cence as for its scientific interest, this spot deserves to
be visited; and one may be allowed to express the hope
that the responsible authorities will undertake the com-
paratively light work of clearing a track from the Falls,
to render it accessible to the tourist.

To one whose first impressions of the Zambesi had been
gained from the mile-wide river above the Falls, it was
astonishing to find the whole river, at its present low stage,
confined at this place within a channel not more than
35 yards in width—bordered, it is true, by a rocky scar,
about 3150 yards wide, honeycombed with deep ‘“‘ pot-
holes,’? which was evidently submerged during the floods.
After seeing it one could understand how the idea has
arisen—and still lingers—that part of the Zambesi is
swallowed up at the Falls into an underground channel.

But even this is not the narrowest limit within which
the great Zambesi can confine itself at low water; for on |
reaching the bottom of the gorge at the Tshimamba |

|
|

5)

Cataracts, some 20 miles east of the Songwe, we found the
whole river raging tumultuously through a water-channel
which, at one place, was less than 25 yards in breadth
(Fig. 1). This place is apparently the only part of the
interior of the Batoka Gorge that was ever penetrated by |
the white man until Mr. F. W. Sykes’s expedition of
1902. His predecessor here was David Livingstone, who |
in his second book of travels tells how he turned aside
on his eastward journey at the rumour of another great |
waterfall, and was disappointed to find, not a second
Victoria Falls, but only a bold cataract, in which the
river drops about 20 feet. Nevertheless, the Tshimamba
also, were it rendered more accessible, would be well
worth visiting, if but to see the mighty river shrunk to |
this littlke measure; and one may expect, sooner or later, |
to find it included within the ‘‘ grand tour of the |
Zambesi.”’

Although the surface of the basalt plateau falls steadily |

NO. 1883, VoL. 73]

eastward, the Zambesi within its gorge sinks somewhat
more rapidly in the same direction, so that while imme-
diately below the Victoria Falls the river is barely 4oo feet
below the lip of the gorge, this is increased to about 500
feet at the Songwe, to about 600 feet at the Tshimamba,
and to 800 feet at the place some 35 miles farther east
which we reached from the south bank. Aneroid observ-
ations showed a difference of more than goo feet between
the level of the river at the foot of the Falls and Wankie’s
Drift, which represents the descent of the water in passing
through the Batoka Gorge; and until this steep gradient
is very much reduced the Zambesi must continue to deepen
its channel along the easiest lines before there is time for
it to straighten out the angularities of its course.

The results attained by this selective erosion are
strikingly exemplified in the immediate surroundings of the
Victoria Falls. The wonderful Chasm, in places only
80 yards wide, into which the broad river is here precipi-

from a photograph by Mr. F. W. Sykes.

Fic. 1.—The Gorge immediately below the Tshimamba Cataract. The
depth of the cafion here is about 600 feet. WVhe Zambesi, in the fore-
ground, is confined in a channel from 20 to 25 yards wide. Note how
the strong jointing of the bisalt governs the course of the river and
tends to produce zigzags in the low-water channel.

tated, owes its chief features to the presence of an east
and west vein, probably a fault-plane, that cuts vertically
through the basalts. This vein, which I found to be well
exposed in the steep Recess or gully at the eastern end of
the Chasm, is partly filled with calcite and other soft vein-
stuff, and the rock adjacent to it is shattered and readily
decomposed. When the falls, in receding northward, struck
upon this vein, they readily hollowed out a_ transverse
trench across the whole breadth of the river, from which

the waters escape southward through a single narrow
channel. But, having passed this easy place, it is be-

coming increasingly difficult for the shallow river to support
a fall of its full width, and consequently the wearing back
of the lip is at present progressing most rapidly in a
comparatively narrow space at its western margin. Here
the “‘ Leaping Water ’’ pours a strong flood perennially
into the corner of the Chasm, and may eventually con-
centrate the whole of the river into its trough, unless, as
Mr. Molyneux has suggested, the deep oblique cleft that
is being rent across Cataract Island should gain precedence

114

in the backward race. The narrowness of the canon below
the falls, as compared with the breadth of the river above
them, shows that only by such concentration has the
Zambe 2si been enabled to tear out its gorge so far back into
the plateau.

Mr. Molyneux has
of the tributaries as

laid stress on the behaviour
proof of the erosive origin of the
Batoka Gorge. Above the Falls the tributaries have so
nearly reached their base-level relatively to the Zambesi
that they hold deep back-waters where they join the main

rightly

river, of which the Maramba, 2 miles from the Falls,
presents a good example. But below the Falls they
have at first been left in shallow open “‘ hanging
valleys,’ high above the main artery; and thus rejuven-

each little
into the

ated by a sheer drop of 350 feet or 400 feet,
stream has begun to work vigorously backward

From a photograph by Mr. F. Wi
Fic. 2.—Kalonga’s Cleft on the Karamba River.
feet high.

*. Sykes.
The walls are about 300

plateau along its own line of drainage. Each waterfall
tends to recede farther and farther within its own pre-
cipitous rift as we followed the Zambesi downward, so that
while at first it was possible to round the heads of these
by a detour of a few hundred yards, we found that
farther east not only do they extend far back into the
plateau, but many minor clefts branch out from them,
rendering the country a maze of dangerous chasms. In
these waterfalls and rifts the salient features of the
main gorge are often reproduced in miniature. The
most remarkable example that we visited occurs on the
Karamba, a stream which joins the Zambesi about 35 miles

east of the Falls. Some 5 miles above its junction with
the Zambesi this stream drops by a waterfall from its
open shallow valley into a gloomy recess, from which it
escapes by swerving at a right angle between nearly
vertical rock-walls, 300 feet in height, through a cleft

only 15 feet to 20 feet in breadth (Fig. 2).

NO. 1883, VOL. 73]

NA TORS

| NovEMBER

30,

1905

Batoka
gradual
descend

If further proof for the erosive origin of the
Gorge be needed, I would direct attention to the
falling off in the angle of slope of its sides as we

the river. At the Falls, where the gorge is freshly cut, its
walls are practically vertical; but a few hundred yards

below they are already beginning to show the effect of
weathering by a slight recession of their crest-line and
by indications of terracing along the planes of stratification.
At the Songwe confluence, 7 miles farther down, this re-
cession and terracing have become so pronounced that the
average angle of slope from base to crest is reduced to

60° or less; at the Tshimamba, about 30 miles below the
Falls, it is no more than 35°; and at the mouth of the
Karamba, 12 miles farther east, the sides of the gorge

have been weathered down into bushy slopes, broken here
and there by inconspicuous bars of crag, with an average
inclination of about 30°, which is also the character of the
canon at the place where it was visited still farther east-
ward.

If time had permitted, I should have liked to discuss
the curious difference between the broad basin of the
Matetsi and the narrow trough of the Zambesi within the
basaltic plateau, which presents an important problem in
the physiography of the region, especially when we re-

member that the Batoka Gorge terminates at a _ short
distance above the confluence of the Matetsi; but this

would open up too wide a subject for the present occasion.

In the face of all the evidence we must conclude—
not without a tinge of regret—that the Batoka Gorge can
no longer be allowed to stand apart, a unique curiosity,
among the valleys of the earth—that no exceptional forces
have been brought into action to produce its wonders and
its loveliness—but that the everyday effects of river and
rain, with time—that indispensable factor to the geologist
—a very long time—are ample to explain all its marvels,
as they have already explained the marvels of many another
noble canon of the world.

I must not let pass this opportunity of express-
ing my gratitude for the kindness shown to me _ by
the officers of the British South Africa Company in
Rhodesia and also in London, by the engineers of the

Wankie Coal Mine and of the Rhodesia railways, and
by many other friends in Rhodesia. To Mr. F. W. Sykes
I am peculiarly indebted for removing difficulties that,
xcept for his self-sacrificing cooperation, might have
proved insuperable. : GP Wee

INDIAN DEEP-SEA HOLOTHURIANS.*

HE most recent addition to the list of publications
issued by the Indian Museum, Calcutta, deals with

a collection of deep-sea Holothurians made by the survey
ship Investigator, which has rendered valuable service in
the interests of deep-sea research. The extreme utility of

this work, which will help to elucidate many of the
problems connected with deep-sea life, is enhanced by the
fact that the investigations have been carried on over

comparatively unknown ground, so far as the great depths
are concerned.

The area examined by the Investigator is a comparatively
wide one, and ranges over the northern part of the Indian
Ocean from the Persian Gulf to the east side of the Bay
of Bengal.

Most of the deep-sea expeditions appear to have confined
their labours to the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and even
the Challenger did not touch the northern part of the
Indian Ocean. The Siboga Expedition reached the extreme
south-eastern portion of the Investigator area, and a com-
parison of the Siboga Holothurians with those in the
paper under notice provides an interesting study, and, in-
cidentally, confirms the opinion that a knowledge of the

| distribution of deep-sea forms derived from an examination

|
|

| Indizn Marine Survey Ship Investigator.’

of isolated areas is apt to be misleading.

Of the seventy-five species and varieties described in the
report, no less than sixty are new to science. The
Synallactidz appear to be the predominant forms amongst
the deep-sea Holothurians of the Indo-Pacific region, both

1 ‘*An Account of the Deep-sea Holothurioidea collected by the Royal
By R. Koehler and C. Vaney.

Pp. 123; 15 plates. (Indian Museum, Calcutta, 1905.)

NOVEMBER 30, 1905 |

NATURE

115

with regard to species and individuals. In the Investigator
collection twenty-nine species are placed in this family, and
the Molpadiidee and Synaptidz are well represented. The
authors have found it necessary to form ten new genera,
and a seventh family—the Gephyrothurida—has been added
to the Aspidochirote.

There was a large number of specimens of the genus
Pelopatides and its allies in the collection, and the authors
were given an opportunity of revising the genus. Five
new genera were established to receive forms closely related
to Pelopatides. Dendrothuria is peculiar in having dendro-
chirote tentacles and an enormously developed pharynx.
Pseudothuria has no single distinctive characteristic, but
all its characters taken together separate it from the neigh-
bouring genera. The genus Allopatides has been formed
from a single specimen, and its main difference from
Pelopatides appears to be the richly dendritic form of the
spicules. It may be doubted whether this difference is of
generic value, especially as some species of Pelopatides
also possess branched spicules not differing greatly from
those in the new genus; the difference appears to be
merely one of degree. The genera Perizona and Bathyzona
have been formed mainly with regard to the position of
the pedicels. Five other new genera are also described.

The new family—Gephyrothuride—is founded on two
specimens which differ from all other Aspidochirotes in
the possession of ambulacral appendages on the bivium
only. In external appearance this form somewhat re-
sembles the Molpadiidz.

The collection includes some forms described by Walsh
in 1891; the authors have deemed it necessary to remove
all his species to other genera.

With every increase in our knowledge of the deep-sea
fauna, it becomes more possible to formulate with some
degree of completeness definite ideas as to the distribution
and the mode of evolution of the deep-sea forms; and the
work under notice is of importance in this respect, suggest-
ing as it does many interesting points in zoological
distribution.

Comparing the Siboga list of deep-sea Holothurians with
that of the Investigator, it is surprising to find that in the
two collections from adjacent areas there are only six
species common to both. The two gatherings are almost
entirely dissimilar with regard to the species present, but
an examination of the genera shows a close similarity.
It is perhaps noteworthy that those species common to
both districts are not confined to the eastern portion of the
Investigator area, as one might expect, but are scattered
equally throughout it.

Of the fifteen species previously described, six are
Atlantic and five Pacific forms; there are three species in
the collection the distribution of which has hitherto been
limited to the Atlantic.

The descriptions are clear and not too scanty, as is often
the case, and the plates are good. Altogether the authors
have made a most valuable contribution to the subject,
and they appear to have done extremely well with material
that was evidently not in the best state of preservation.

UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL
INTELLIGENCE.

Oxrorp.—The following decrees were approved by Con-
vocation last Tuesday :—The curators of the University
Chest were authorised to pay a sum not exceeding r5ol.
to the professor of botany to enable him to provide for
the teaching of forest botany, until the appointment of a
Sibthorpian professor under the new statutes of St. John’s
College.

Mr. Henry Balfour, Fellow of Exeter College, was re-
appointed curator of the Pitt-Rivers museum for seven
years at a stipend of 200]. a year, and the annual grant
of 2001. to the museum was renewed for seven years.

An examination will be held next February for a Rad-
cliffe Travelling Fellowship of the annual value of 2o0l.,
and tenable for three years. Candidates must have
qualified for the degrees of B.A. and M.B., and have been
placed in the first class in a university examination, or

NO. 1883, VOL. 73]

have gained a university prize. Names should be sent to
the Regius professor of medicine.

The following is a list of the probationers for the Indian
Forest Department and the Sudan nominated in 1905, with
the colleges to which they are now attached:—C. W.

Armstrong, scholar of Jesus College, Oxford; G. C,
Clarence, Magdalen College, Oxford; T. Clear, science
exhibitioner of Balliol College, Oxford; C. G. E. Dawkins,

Balliol College, Oxford; C. C. Gaunt, exhibitioner of St.
John’s College, Oxford; H. S. Gibson, Trinity College,
Oxford; H. M. Glover, mathematical demy of Magdalen
College, Oxford; J. Gunn, Edinburgh University, now at St.
John’s College, Oxford; J. K. Hepburn, Queen’s College,
Oxford; N. W. Jolly, Adelaide University, now at Balliol
College, Oxford (Rhodes scholar); W. A. H. Miller, St.
John’s College, Oxford; A. J. W. Milroy, Christ Church,
Oxford; A. A. F. Minchin, Exeter College, Oxford; R. L.
Robinson, Adelaide University, now at Magdalen College,
Oxford (Rhodes scholar); E. A. Smythies, Christ’s College,
Cambridge, and Balliol College, Oxford ; and G. C. Wilson,
Queen’s College, Oxford.

The Government of Mysore has sent two forestry
students, M. M. Machaya and B. V. Ramaiengar, both of
St. John’s College, Oxford, and of Madras University.

CampBripGE.—The Forestry Syndicate has now issued its
detailed report on the scheme for establishing a diploma
of forestry. It is proposed that a committee of the Board
of Agricultural Studies be appointed to be called the
forestry committee, the duty of which shall be to manage
the examinations in forestry and to direct the instruction
and training of candidates for the diploma. Details as to
the constitution and duties of the committee are printed
in this week’s Reporter.

The general board of studies has appointed Mr. J. G.
Leathem, St. John’s College, university lecturer in mathe-
matics from Christmas, 1905, until Michaelmas, 1910, and
has re-appointed Mr. C. T. R. Wilson, Sidney Sussex
College, university lecturer in experimental physics from
Christmas, 1905, until Michaelmas, 1910; both these
appointments have been confirmed by the special board for
physics and chemistry.

Mr. A. C. Seward,
appointed chairman of
sciences tripos, 1906.

The late Mr. G. R. Crotch, of St. John’s College, some
years ago left his collections of insects and his books to
the Museum of Zoology, and also after the death of
certain relatives his personal estate to the same museum.
His brother, Mr. W. D. D. Crotch, who recently died, has
left his residuary estate, the value of which is about
8oo0o0l., to the same museum.

of Emmanuel College, has been
the examiners for the natural

Str ALEXANDER R. Binnie will distribute the prizes at
the Merchant Venturers’ Technical College, Bristol, on
Thursday, December 21.

Tuer Public Schools Science Masters’ Association will
meet for the annual conference on January. 20, 1906, at
Westminster School. The president for the year, Sir Oliver
Lodge, will speak on the place of science in general
education. Papers will be read upon the army examin-
ation and on the possibility of introducing a comprehensive
syllabus of science teaching within the time limits of a
classical curriculum. After the conference there will be
an exhibition of scientific apparatus by various makers in
the new science buildings of Westminster School.

Tue North of England Education Conference will be
held at Newcastle-upon-Tyne on Friday and Saturday,
January 5-6, 1906. Among the subjects to be discussed
are the following :—The teaching of elementary mathe-
matics, paper by Prof. R. A. Sampson, F.R.S.; openers
of discussion, Dr. Jude and Mr. J. H. Kidson. Regula-
tions for secondary and higher elementary schools, papers
by Mr. W. Edwards and Mr. W. J. Abel; openers of dis-
cussion, Miss M. Moberly and Mr. P. M. Greenwood.
Organisation of evening classes, papers by Principal J. H.
Reynolds and Mr. J. Crowther; opener of discussion, Mr.
A. M. Ellis. Physical Training, papers by Prof. T. Oliver
and Captain H. Worsley-Gough; openers of discussion,
Dr. Ethel Williams and Captain F. C. Garrett. All com-

116

NATURE

[ NOVEMBER 30, 1905

munications with reference to the conference should be
addressed to the hon. secretaries, Mr. Alfred Goddard and
Mr. F. H. Pruen, Education Offices, Northumberland
Road, Newcastle.

SEVERAL changes have taken place, we learn from
Science, in the staff of the research laboratory of physical
chemistry of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Prof. W. D. Coolidge has accepted a position in the tech-
nical research laboratory of the General Electric Company
at Schenectady. To Prof. Coolidge has been due in large
measure the development of one of the most important
lines of work in progress in the research laboratory of the
institute—the investigation of the conductivity of aqueous
solutions at high temperatures. Mr. Yogoro Kato, who
has also been engaged on the conductivity investigation for
two years, has accepted a position in the Technical High
School of Tokio, where he will have charge of the work
in electrochemistry. Dr. Wilhelm Bottger will return as
privatdocent to the University of Leipzig, at which he will
conduct one of the laboratory courses in analytical chem-
istry. In place of these retiring members, Messrs. William
C. Bray, Guy W. Eastman, Gilbert N. Lewis, and Edward
W. Washburn have been appointed to the research staff.

Ar the distribution of prizes to the students of the
Mechanics’ Institute, Crewe, on November 22, Sir Oliver
Lodge delivered an address. He emphasised the import-
ance of the study of pure science and the application of its
broad principles, whereby it is possible to make discoveries
and to ascertain facts which are not known to the human
race. After all the ages of the human race there are
innumerable facts which we do not know, and it is now
and then given to a man here and there to find them out
and pass them on as common property never more to be
lost. Sir Oliver Lodge went on to say he does not believe
that a thing which really exists can go out of existence.
There is an infinitude before us, and it behoves us to realise
that and see to it that we fit ourselves for what is to come.
We are parts of an industrial organism, parts of a much
larger organism, the universe, and in the universe there
is one great law of evolution, of growth, and development.
The universe is not yet perfect; it is our privilege to help
in the process of making it more perfect. Things will not
be done on this planet unless we help to do them; we are
agents for helping in the process of evolution. Errors or
mistakes may cause dislocation or calamity in the great
scheme. We have the power of causing dislocation or
calamity by errors, or by living strenuous self-sacrificing
lives we have the power of cooperating in the great scheme
of helping towards the fruition, development, growth, and
progress of the universe of which we are an infinitesimal
part.

Tue inaugural address delivered by Dr. B. C. A. Windle,
F.R.S., president of Queen’s College, Cork, at the open-
ing of the session, is given the first place in the current
number of the University Review. Dr. Windle deals in
an exhaustive manner with the subject of examinations in
Ireland and with the university question. Four deadly
errors, he maintains, have long affected England and
Ireland. These errors are that acquisition of knowledge
and education are synonymous terms; that education—as
apart from mere knowledge—can be easily, nay, more, can
only be tested by examination; that a degree is in itself
an object of value; and that a degree means the same
however and wherever it may have been acquired. Dr.
Windle regards examinations as an evil, but at present a
necessary evil, and proceeds to discuss the objects such
examinations should have in view. By means of an ex-
amination, Dr. Windle explains, an endeavour is made to
ascertain whether the candidate has acquired the necessary
knowledge of facts to enable him to proceed to a further
stage of learning or—at the end of his course—a sufficient
knowledge of his profession to be trusted to go out into
the world and practise it independently. An examination
is intended, moreover, to ascertain whether a student has
acquired the proper methods of gaining and applying know-
ledge. To secure efficient examinations, the article lays
it down, every teacher should take a large share in any
examination which his students may have to confront, but
the judgment of the teacher should be supported or corrected

NO. 1883, VOL. 73]

by the assistance of an external examiner. The conclusion
of the article is that there is at present in Ireland, for the
great majority of its inhabitants, ‘‘ a university system
which almost necessitates a method of examination which
is harmful in its effects on education ; a method which leads
to subterranean complaints and accusations, which, though
they may be, and almost invariably are, false, are none
the less injurious to education generally; a method for
which, indeed, no excuse can be urged except the excuse
that the system arises out of the necessities of a position
which never ought to have been created.”’

SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES.
Lonpon.

Royal Society, Received September 28.—‘‘ Researches on
Explosives.’” Part iii. Supplementary Note. By Sir
Andrew Noble, Bart., K.C.B., F.R.S.

Since communicating to the Royal Society ‘‘ Researches
on Explosives,’’ part iii., the author has succeeded in
obtaining the paper (Preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin Sitz. Ber.,
vol. v. p. 175) by Messrs. Holborn and Austin on the
““ Specific Heat of Gases at High Temperatures.’’

The attention of these investigators has -been specially
directed to carbonic anhydride, and their researches show
a considerable (but rapidly decreasing) increment in the
specific heat of CO, with increase of temperature.

If we suppose the same law of increment which appears
to rule up to 800° C. to remain unaltered up to 1300° C.,
the increments at that temperature would vanish, and, if
this be so, the author finds that the specific heat of CO,,
at constant volume, should be taken at o-2111.

He has therefore re-calculated the specific heats given in
his recent paper, and as the specific heats of the exploded
gases at constant volume are reduced, the temperatures of
explosion given in his paper should also be reduced.

The temperatures the author gives have been obtained
by two different methods, firstly, by dividing the heats
determined by the calorimeter by the specific heats, and,
secondly, by using the equation of dilatibility of gases, and
determining the temperature from

t=p—p,/0-00367p, (1)
where p is the pressure in atmospheres obtained from the
explosion, and p, the pressure in atmospheres when the
volume of gases generated is reduced to 0° C. and 760 mm.
bar. pressure. :

The differences of the results are very remarkable.

Taking, for example, cordite as an illustration, it will
be seen that for the four highest densities given the
temperatures derived from the two methods are but slightly
different. At the higher density (0-5) the temperatures are
5275° C. and 5263° C., the higher being that derived from
equation (1); at density o-45 the temperatures from the
two methods are identical, at density 0-40 the tempera-
tures are 4902° C. and 4970° C., the lower temperature
being from equation (1), but after density 0-35 the
temperatures derived from equation (1) fall very rapidly.

The same general results are observable in the other
two explosives experimented with, and it should be noted
that in all three explosives, at the highest densities, the
temperatures given by equation (1) are greater than those
obtained by the second method.

The figures for the three explosives are given below,

= i heat !
the temperatures obtained from ilies Ge ae

ie A
specific heats gee

in italics.
Cordite.
D=o'so D=0'45 D=o0-40 D=0'35 D=0'30 D=0'25
5275" 5090" 4002” 4710° 4480" 4165"
203 5090 9970 4560 gS00 4770
D=0'20 D=o'rs D=o'1o TD=0'05
S 2775
4500
D=o'45 D=o025 D=o0'20
4713 3585 3240°
4624 SOAS 3570
=0'05

1 Water gaseous.

NovEMBER 30, 1905 |

NATURE

Fe

Nitrocellulose.

D=0'45 D=o0"40 D=0'35 D=o0'30 D=0'25 D=0'20
4305, 4007" 3630" 3320" 3060 2835
SOS4 3590 S795 3070 3539 F425

D=o0'15 D=0'10 D=0'05
2680 2520 2400
3345 295 3255

If these figures be examined, it will be noted that in
each explosive at the higher densities the temperatures
obtained by the two methods are nearly identical, those
determined from equation (1) being the higher, but as the
density of charge is decreased the difference at the very
low densities is remarkable; some of this difference is
doubtless attributable to the slow burning under feeble
pressures, and to the rapid cooling, by communication of
heat to the walls of the explosive vessel during the ignition
of the charge, but it is impossible to ascribe the whole
difference to this cause, and the author can only suggest that
the explanation is to be sought in the probable dissociation
of the carbonic anhydride and aqueous vapour at low
pressures, this dissociation being prevented wholly or
partially by the very high pressures at the higher densities.

Various substances such as carbon, metallic platinum,
tantalum, osmium, and titanium have been placed in the
charge, and all have been more or less fused and volatilised
during the small fraction of a second to which they were
exposed to the maximum heat.

A great part of the titanium was recovered in a fused
crystalline condition.

Osmium and thin platinum foil were volatilised, and
thick sheet platinum was recovered in the form of a button.

Received October 6.—‘‘ On the Isolation of the Infecting
Organism (‘ Zoochlorella’) of Convoluta roscoffensis.”’ By
F. Keeble and Dr. F. W. Gamble. Communicated by
Prof. S. J. Hickson, F.R.S.

The authors have obtained experimental proof that the
green cells (Zoochlorella) which occur in the superficial
tissues of the turbellarian Convoluta roscoffensis arise in
the body as the result of an infection.

Like those of previous investigators (Haberlandt), the
authors’ attempts to cultivate the green cells isolated from
the animal have failed. Indeed, the evidence points to
the conclusion that the green cells, once having entered
into the body of the animal, lose all power of separate
existence. Therefore, in order to solve the problem of
the nature of the green cells, the authors were compelled to
attack it at the other end, viz. to attempt to discover the
organism before its entrance into the body.

From their observations on the normal course of appear-
ance of the green cells in the bodies of just-hatched Con-
voluta, the authors were led to expect that the precursors
of the green cells would be discovered on or in the capsules
in which the eggs of Convoluta are laid. This proved
to be the case. By the isolation of such capsules green
colonies of a motile organism were obtained, and the
organism was proved to have the power of infecting young,
colourless Convolutas, hatched under sterile conditions, and
of giving rise in these animals to green cells identical with
those which occur in the normal adult.

The infecting organism is in its active state a unicellular
four-ciliate alga. It has a single basin-shaped chloroplast
occupying the greater part of the cell, an eccentrically
placed plate-like eye spot, and a large octagonal pyrenoid
at the posterior end of the body. The motile cells fre-
quently come to rest and surround themselves with a thick
striated wall. They may also in this resting stage undergo
vegetative division, giving rise to a “‘ palmella’’ condition.

These characters point to the membership of the infecting
organism with the Chlamydomonadinez.

Faraday Society, October 31.—Lord Kelvin, president,
in the chair.—Alternate current electrolysis: Prof. E.
Wilson. Experiments (Roy. Soc. Proc., vol. liv. p. 407)
made with platinum plates in dilute sulphuric acid show
that of the total energy supplied to the cell in a given
time, more is returned to the source when the frequency
is high than when it is low, the maximum coulombs being
of the order 0-0006 per sq. cm. in each case. If the
quantity of electricity be plotted coordinately with the
E.M.F. of electrolysis it is found that at the higher fre-
quency, for about the same maximum coulombs, the curve

NO. 1883, VOL. 73]

» Champion.

has relatively a smaller area, such reduction being prob-
ably brought about by the greater reversibility. An experi-
ment made at an intermediate frequency when the maxi-
mum coulombs were 0-0000023 per sq. cm. gave a still
higher value for the proportion of the total energy which
is returned to the source, demonstrating that the magni-
tude of the maximum coulombs has an important effect.
When a metal is dissolved in an electrolyte by alternate-
current electrolysis, the amount dissolved in a given time
at a given current density is smaller at high than at low
frequency. Besides this chief conclusion there are indica-
tions of other important effects. A complete investigation
would need to take accounts of the density and temperature
of the electrolyte, and possibly of other conditions.—
Alternate current electrolysis as shown by oscillograph
records: W. R. Ceoper. Although polarisation is of the
nature of capacity in an alternate current circuit, there is
a considerable difference. What might be termed the
E.M.F. of a condenser rises and falls as rapidly as the
applied pressure, but although the E.M.F. of polarisation
may rise as rapidly as the applied pressure, it falls more
slowly, with the result that under suitable conditions the
current curve may depart very considerably from the sine
form. Actual oscillograph records are reproduced in sup-
port of this view. In considering the subject it has been
very generally assumed that the current follows a sine
curve. Since the curve obtained depends very much on
the conditions of the experiment, it is necessary to define
the conditions very carefully before conclusions can be
drawn from different experiments. Oscillograph records
of electrolytic rectification were also shown.—Note on the
crystalline structure of electro-deposited copper: Prof.
A. K. Huntington. In Mr. Cowper-Coles’s process for
making copper wire electrolytically a spiral scratch or groove
on the mandril causes 'the copper deposited on it to part so
easily that a long ribbon can be obtained. The author’s
explanation is that the direction of the lines of crystallisa-
tion of an electro-deposited metal is the same as in a
casting made on surfaces having the same inclination, i.e.
the crystals form at right angles to the surface on which
the deposit or the casting is made.—Some observations
respecting the relation of stability to electrochemical
efficiency in hypochlorite production: W. P. Digby. The
author commenced by directing attention to the fact that
in all electrolytic methods of producing hypochlorite solu-
tions, only a small portion, rarely more than 18 per cent.,
of the chlorine usually present in the form of chloride is
converted into hypochlorite; and he suggested that the
amount of available chlorine produced from a sodium
chloride solution depends upon the relation which the
amount of unconverted sodium chloride actually present
between the electrodes bears to the current density.

Entomological Society, November 1.—Mr. F. Merrifield,
president, in the chair.—Exhibitions.—(1) Panurgus
morricet, Friese, a species of bee new to science taken
near Gibraltar, of which it was remarkable that,
whereas the species of this genus are wholly black, in
this species the ¢ face entirely, and the 92 partly, was
bright yellow, the legs partly yellow, and the abdomen
spotted down each side, somewhat as in Anthidium; and (2)
the unique type specimen of Eriades fasciatus, Friese, a ¢
of the Chelostoma group taken at Jericho in 1899,
in which again, while all its congeners are practically
unicolorous, the abdomen is brightly banded like a wasp:
Rev. F. D. Morice. A discussion followed as to the
reason of the peculiar coloration in the species under
review, the exhibitor pointing out that the colour mimicry
in this species could not be due to parasitism, both

Panurgus and Eriades being industrious genera—A ¢
specimen of the earwig Forficula auricularia taken
at Warwick in September last, with a drawing
of the cerci (forceps), which were very abnormal, the

broader basal part of the two appearing to be more or
less fused together, while the legs of the forceps also
were jointed to the basal part: W. J. Lucas.—Various
interesting insects from Guatemala recently received from
Sefor Rodriguez, including Heterosternus rodriguezi,
Cand., Pantodinus klugi, Burm., Plusiotis adelaida, Hope,
and a species of Orthopteron greatly resembling a dead
withered leaf, possibly a new species of Mimetica: G. C.
Two species of Coleoptera new to the British

118

NATURE

[NOVEMBER 30, 1905

Islands, Loemophilus monilis, F., taken in the neighbour-
hood of Streatley, Berks, and Dacne fowleri, n.sp., ftom
Bradfield, with specimens of D. humeralis and D. rufifrons
for comparison: Norman H. Joy.—A specimen of a new
Agathidium discovered last year in Cumberland, and now
taken by the exhibitor in Durham, and a series of
Prionocyphon serricornis from the New Forest with a draw-
ing of the larva, which he had found under water in the
boles of trees, but appeared to emerge for pupation and
descend into the ground: H. St. J. Donisthorpe.—Pre-
parations of the scents of some African butterflies collected
with the assistance of Dr. G. B. Longstaff during the
recent visit of the British Association, together with ex-
amples of the species investigated: Dr. F. A. Dixey.—
Papers.—A contribution towards the knowledge of African
Rhopalocera: P. I. Lathy.—A new species of the hymeno-
pterous genus Megalyra, Westwood: J. Chester Bradley,
Ithaca, N-Y.; USHA.

Linnean Society, November 2.—Prof. W. A. Herdman,
F.R.S., president, in the chair.—Exhibition of the tails of
trout and grayling to show the heterocercal origin of the
homocercal tail, by means of the hypural bones which
balance the vertebra turning upward towards the upper
lobe: Rev. G. Henstow.—Plant cecology, interpreted by
direct response to the conditions of life: Rev. G. Henslow.
Plant geography and plant surveying—that is, phyto-
topography—comprise records of the fluctuating distribution
of species within definite areas, and associations, the result
of natural selection. C&cology proper, or the physiology of
plant geography, imply what has been defined by Prof.
Tansley as ‘‘ the study of the vital relations of organisms
to their environment.’’ These include the origin of
adaptive structures, as varietal, specific, and generic

characters, by means of the protoplasmic response to what |

was formulated by Darwin as ‘‘ the direct action of the
conditions of life, leading to definite results, whereby new
subvarieties arise without the aid of natural selection.’’

Royal Microscopical Society, November 15.—Mr. G. C.
Karop, vice-president, in the chair.—Lucernal and solar
microscopes by Adams presented to the society: W. E.
Baxter.—Focusing magnifier made by Messrs. Taylor,
Taylor and Hobson: Dr. Hebb. The magnifier was a
small photographic auxiliary intended for focusing pur-
poses, being placed against the ground-glass screen of the
camera to magnify the image and examine its definition.
‘A new turntable invention: A. Flatters and W.
Bradley. The turntable was driven by clockwork, and
was designed for turning oval cells and ringing oval mounts
of any proportions from o” to 3”x1}". By the use of the
instrument it was also possible to run a ring round a
needle point, strike a straight line, or turn circles.—
Exhibition of dissections of the tsetse-fly and its trypano-
somes: W. Baker. Mr. Baker said that, in addition to
the slides illustrating the anatomy of the tsetse-fly, there
was a specimen of the larva of Ochromyia, also from
Africa, together with the perfect insect. The larva lives
in the sandy earth, and attaches itself to the flesh and
sucks the blood of the natives, causing very troublesome
wounds. There was likewise a specimen of the ova of
Schistosoma sinensis found in the body of a Chinaman who
died at Singapore.

Chemical Society, November 16.—Prof. R. Meldola,
F.R.S., president, in the chair.—Condensation of ketones
with mercury cyanide: J. E. Marsh and R. De Jersey
Fleming-Struthers. Acetone added to a_ solution of
mercury cyanide in aqueous caustic soda gives a white
precipitate, Hg,C,H,ON,, which dissolves on further
addition of acetone. The reaction forms a good test for
acetone applicable in presence of alcohol. The reaction
appears to be confined to ketones containing the group

-CO.CH,.—Silicon researches, part ix., bromination of
silicophenylimide and -amide, and formation of a com-
pouna including the group (SiN): J. E. Reynolds. Silico-
tetraphenylamide interacts quite regularly with about six
atomic proportions of bromine in benzene. In the first
stage bromine removes one of the aniline residues, and
there remains a substituted guanidine in solution. This

is then attacked with the formation of a soluble di-substi-

NO. 1883, VoL. 73]

tuted di-imide. The substituted di-imide finally reacts with
one molecular proportion of bromine, giving the compound
SiN.C,H,Br,.—Application of the microscopic method of
molecular weight determination to solvents of high boil-
ing point: G. Barger and A. J. Ewins. The apparatus
used with low boiling solvents is modified by the addition
of a ‘‘ hot stage,’’ whereby the tubes can be maintained at
about go° C.—Green compounds of cobalt produced by
oxidising agents: R. G. Durrant. The conclusions
arrived at are that these substances most probably all
contain the nucleus =Co.O.Co=, on the persistence of
which depends the green colour.—Dunstan, Jowett and
Goulding’s paper on ‘‘ the rusting of iron’’: E. Divers.
The author rejects the ‘‘ hydrogen peroxide’’ theory of
rusting advanced by Dunstan and his collaborators, and
suggests instead that the active agents are the oxygen and
the hydroxyl ions present in the water, the action being
represented thus, (O,+2H.HO)+4Fe+20,=4HO.Fe: O.
In reply, Prof. Dunstan pointed out that the view expressed
by Dr. Divers is not intelligible unless it amounts to what
is virtually the hydrogen peroxide theory, which accounts
for the inhibiting effect of potassium dichromate, as well
as of alkalis, on the formation of iron rust in presence
of water and oxygen.—Researches on the freezing points
of binary mixtures of organic substances; the behaviour of
the dihydric phenols towards p-toluidine, a-naphthylamine,
and picric acid: J. C. Philip and S. H. Smith. The
freezing-poirt curves indicate the existence of several new
compounds of the above substances. These are shortly
described.—Synthesis of tertiary menthol and of inactive
menthene: W. H. Perkin, jun.—The synthetical form-—
ation of bridged rings, part ii., some derivatives of dicyclo-
butane: W. H. Perkin, jun., and J. L. Simonsen.
Optically active reduced naphthoic acids, part i., dextro-
A2(or 3)-dihydro-1-naphthoic acid: R. H. Pickard and A.
Neville.—Hydrizino-halides derived from oxalic acid:
D. A. Bowack and A. Lapworth.—The action of nitrogen
sulphide on organic substances, part iii.: O. C. M. Davis.
The investigation of the action of nitrogen sulphide on the
aldehydes has been continued, and it has been found that
the reaction is not so general as was expected.—The action
of nitrogen sulphide on organic substances, part iv.: F. E.
Francis. Nitrogen sulphide acts on acetic and propionic
acids at their boiling points with the liberation of sulphur
dioxide and smaller quantities of nitrogen, and the form-

ation of the corresponding amides and _ di-amides.—
Tetrazoline, part iii.: S. Ruhemann and R. W.
Merriman.

CaMBRIDGE.
Philosophical Society, October 30.—Prof. Marshall
Ward, president, in the chair.—On a _ well-sinking at
Graveley, near Huntingdon: Rev. O. Fisher. Graveley

is in an extreme western corner of Cambridgeshire. The
well is 154 feet above O.D. It was begun in the spring
of 1905 in Boulder-clay, which proved to be 50 feet thick.
The Oxford-clay was then encountered and pierced through
252 feet. A bed of Oolitic Limestone was next met with,
and punched through a foot and a half. Another foot of
clay brought the auger to a second bed of rock, and no
supply of water having been obtained, the work was
abandoned.—On a portable gold-leaf electrometer for low
or high potentials, and its application to measurements in
atmospheric electricity: C. T. R. Wilson. The electro-
meter has an outer and an inner case; the latter is main-
tained by means of a quartz Leyden jar at a positive
potential which gives a convenient deflection when the gold
leaf is earthed; about 60 volts is generally convenient. If
the potential of the inner case is called V, then the instru-
ment is suitable for measuring potentials, positive or

| negative, in the neighbourhood of zero, and also positive

potentials differing by not more than a few volts from
2V. The displacement of the leaf for a change of potential
of 1 volt is the same in either case. For convenience in
charging the gold leaf to any desired potential, and for
other purposes, there is attached to the instrument a small
cylindrical condenser of variable capacity, consisting of a
sliding tube kept at a constant negative potential by means
of a quartz Leyden jar and a rod concentric with the tube
fixed to the terminal of the gold leaf. The instrument may
be applied to the study of the atmospheric potential
gradient at the earth’s surface and the earth-air current.

NOVEMBER 30, 1905]

INATOTEE

119

—Contributions to the knowledge of the tetrazoline group:
S. Ruhemann and R. W. Merriman. The authors have
continued the study of tetrazoline (see Trans. Chem. Soc.,
1902, Ixxxi., 261) especially with the view of determining
the constitution of the two compounds (previously de-
scribed) which are formed by the action of methyl iodide
on tetrazoline. They show that the one substance,
C,H.N,I,, is the additive compound of the other, C,H,N,I,
and point out the resemblance between the former com-
pound and the additive product of diazobenzene chloride with
iodine.—The action of radium and other salts on gelatin:
W. A. D. Rudge. The author has made experiments with
various metallic salts, and finds that those of barium, lead,
and strontium produce effects upon sterilised gelatin exactly
similar to that caused by radium preparations, and comes
to the conclusion that the ‘‘ growth’’ observed is not of
vital origin, and that the effect obtained by the radium
salt is probably due to the large proportion of barium which
it usually contains.—A suggestion as to the nature of the
““walnut’’? comb in fowls: W. Bateson and R. C.
Punnett.—The absence of isomerism in _ substituted
ammonium compounds: H. O. Jones.

EDINBURGH.

Royal Society, November 6.—Prof. Crum Brown, vice-
president, in the chair.—The conductivity of concentrated
aqueous solutions of electrolytes, part i.: Prof. J]. Gibson.
When the ratio of the specific conductivity to the concen-
tration measured in grams equivalent per cubic centimetre
was plotted against the concentration, curves were obtained
concave upwards. When, however, the concentration was
measured in grams equivalent per gram, the correspond-
ing graphs became in many cages accurate straight lines,
and in most others straight lines over a considerable range
of concentration. The point of maximum conductivity,
when determinable, lay within this straight line portion.
There were a few exceptions to the rules just stated. For
example, the graph for zinc chloride was nowhere straight,
but was concave upward.—The Tarpan and its relation-
ship with wild and domestic horses: Prof. Ewart. The
paper was a contribution to the important and difficult
question of the ancestry of our domestic breeds of horses.
The Tarpan, first described by Gmelin about 1740, had
usually been considered as the wild ancestor of the horses
of Europe; Dr. Nehring regarded it as the last survivor
of the prehistoric European horse, modified by infusion of
domestic blood, while Pallas and others thought it might
very well be the offspring of escaped domestic horses.
After a comparison of the characteristics as to hair, tail,
mane, and skeleton of Tarpan and other. breeds, Prof.
Ewart proceeded to describe the result of his recent ex-
periments on cross-breeding. Bearing in mind the fact
established by previous experiments, that the crossing of
carefully selected forms sometimes reproduced remote types
in all their original purity, he selected a Shetland pony
mare which seemed to be a blend of at least three varie-
ties, resembling the wild horse of the Gobi Desert in the
head, the forest variety in the mane, tail, and trunk, and
the Celtic pony in the limbs and hoofs. This mare was
crossed with a black Welsh pony. The first foal failed to
throw any light on the question, but the second foal had
developed into an animat, now three years old, which was
as typical a Tarpan as ever roamed the Russian steppes.
The general conclusion was that the Tarpan, once so
common in the east of Europe, could not be considered
as a true wild species, but was very probably derived from
at least three sources :—(1) from a variety of Celtic pony ;
(2) from a variety resembling the forest horse (Equus
caballus typicus); (3) from a variety identical with, or
closely related to, the wild horse of Central Asia (E. caballus
prievalskit)—The horse in Norway: Dr. F. H. A.
Marshall. The horses in Norway belonged to two dis-
tinct types, represented by the pure fjord horse and the
Gudbrandsdal horse. The former was probably by origin
identical with Prof. Ewart’s ‘‘ Celtic pony,’’ while the
latter belonged to the forest or cart-horse type. The fjord
horse was now, as formerly, typically light dun in colour.
The Gudbrandsdal was formerly of almost the same colour,
but it was now generally dark brown or black, owing to
an infusion of Danish and other foreign blood. The two
types of Icelandic horses were derived respectively from

NO. 1883, VOL. 73]

the ancestors of the fjord horse and of the Gudbrandsdal
horse.—Elimination in the case of equality of fractions
whose numerators and denominators are linear functions
ofthe variables: Dr. Thomas Muir. The investigation
led with great ease to an interesting identity between
a determinant of the (n+1)th order the constituents of
which were determinants of the nth order and one of the
nth order the constituents of which were of the (n+1)th
order, an identity which would be difficult to establish
directly.
PaRIS.

Academy of Sciences, November 20.—M. Troost in tle
chair.—Researches on the insoluble alkaline compounds
contained in living plant tissues: M. Berthelot.—On the
Thalassinidze collected by the Blake in the Gulf of Mexico :
E. L. Bouvier. This group of crustaceans occupies an
important place in the deep-sea collections made by the
Blake expedition. Several new species are described.—On
the attitudes of some Tertiary animals of Patagonia :
Albert Gaudry.—The evolution of terrestrial relief: A.
de Lapparent.—On the impossibility of negative waves
of shock in gases: P. Duhem. Remarks on a paper
on the same subject by M. G. Zemplén.—On the grains of
Sphenopteris : M. Grand’Eury.—On the observation of the
total eclipse of the sun of August 30, 1905, at Alcosebre,

Spain: G. Millochau. A résumé of results obtained
with the telespectrograph.—Interpolation formule for
continuous periodic functions: Maurice Fréchet.
On the development in continued fractions of the
function (F(h,1,h',«), and the generalisation of the
theory of spherical functions: H. Padé.—On a theorem of

M. Poincaré relating to the motion of a heavy solid:
Edouard Husson. A new demonstration of this theorem
is given.—On the application of the partial liquefaction of
air with a view to the complete separation of the air into
pure oxygen and nitrogen: Georges Claude. Details are
given of a system of fractional distillation of liquid air.
From too parts of air, about 14 parts of pure oxygen are
obtained by the process originally described by the author.
The improvements in the apparatus now described permit
of a practically complete separation of the two gases.—
The density of nitric oxide; the atomic weight of nitrogen :
P. A. Guye and Ch. Davila. The nitric oxide used in
these experiments was prepared by three methods, the action
of mercury upon sulphuric acid containing nitrous fumes,
the reduction of nitric acid-by ferrous sulphate, and the
decomposition of sodium nitrite by sulphuric acid in dilute
solution. The gas was dried by sulphuric acid and phos-
phoric anhydride, solidified in liquid air, and purified by
fractional distillation. The mean density found was 1-3402
grams per litre, practically identical with the value recently
found by Gray—1-3402. This leads to a value for the
atomic weight of nitrogen between the limits 14-006 and
14-010, a confirmation of the number 14-009 found in
previous researches.—The action of chloride of silicon on
iron: Em. Vigeouroux. Silicon chloride is decomposed by
iron a little below a red heat. No lower chloride of silicon
appears to be formed, the silicon set free forming an alloy
with the iron containing about 20 per cent. of Si, corre-
sponding fo the formation of the well known compound
Fe,Si.—On the preparation of racemic amyl alcohol: P.
Freundler and E. Damond. The alcohol is prepared by
the interaction of trioxymethylene with the magnesium
compound of secondary butyl bromide, details being given
of the precautions necessary to obtain a good yield.—The
diffusion of barium and strontium in the sedimentary
strata: L. Coliot.—On the increase in the dry weight of
green plants developed in the light, in the absence of
carbon dioxide, in a soil to which amides have been
added: Jules Lefevre. It has been shown experimentally
that the growth of green plants in a soil containing amides,
and in the absence of carbon dioxide, is accompanied by
a rapid increase in the dry weight. The growth under
these conditions is therefore real, and not merely a pheno-
menon of hydration.—On the structure and evolution of
Rhacodium cellare: F. Guéguen.—On juglone: M.
Brissemoret and R. Combes. Contrary to the usually
accepted view, it is shown that juglone exists already
formed in all the green organs of the walnut (leaves, stem,
nut). The method used for the extraction is given in
detail.—Rheotropism in some hydroids and Bugula: Paul

120

INA TO LE

[NOVEMBER 30, 1905

Hallez.—The influence of high altitudes on the general
nutrition: H. Guillemard and R. Moog. The observ-
ations were carried out at Paris, at the Grand Mulets
(3050 metres), and the summit of Mt. Blanc (4810 metres),
the changes in the urine being more specially examined.
It was found that the effect of high altitudes on nutrition
was to produce a diminution of the oxidation processes,
diminution of diuresis, and retention of the fixed elements.
—The spleen and the biliary secretion: N. C. Paulesco.
Experiments on dogs leads to the conclusion that the spleen
exercises no apparent influence on the formation of bile.
—Researches on the formation of haemoglobin in the
embryo: L. Hugouneng and Albert Morel.—The aurora
borealis of November 15 and the magnetic disturbances of
November 12 and 15: Th. Moureaux. The appearance
of the aurora corresponded to strong magnetic disturbances.
—Observations on atmospheric electricity in Grahamsland :
J. Rey.

DIARY OF SOCIETIES.

FRIDAY, DeEcEMEER 1.

INSTITUTION OF CiviL ENGINEERS, at 8.—An Installation for the Bacterial
Treatment of Sewage, at Neath: W. L. Jenkins

GroxocistTy’ AssociaTION, at 8.—Gazella Daviesii—A New Antelope from
the Norwich Crag of Bramerton: M. A. C. Hinton.—On Sections of the
Holocene Alluvium of the Thames at Staines and Wargrave: A. S.
Kennard and B. B. Woodward.

MONDAY, DEcEMBER 4.

Rovar GEOGRAPHICAL SocieTy, at 8.30.—Exploration in the Abai Basia
Abyssinia : H. Weld Blundell.

Society OF CHEMICAL INDUSTRY. at 8.—Notes on Gutta Percha and
Balata: Dr. W. A. Caspari—The Determination of Zinc in Zinc-
Aluminium Alloys: Dr. R. Seligman and F. J. Willott.—Distilled Water
Supply for ‘‘ Works” I.aboratories: Dr. R. Seligman.—The Estima-
tion of Naphthalene in Coal Gas: C. J. Dickinson-Gair.—Salts of the
Alkaloid Cinchonamine : B. F. Howard and F. Perry.

Society or Arts, at 8.—The Measurement of High Frequency Currents
and Electric Waves : Prof. J. A. Fleming, F.R.S.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 5.

INSTITUTION OF CiviL ENGINEERS, at 8.—The Steam-Turbine: Hon.
C. A. Parsons, C.B., F.R.S., and G. G. Stoney.

WEDNESDAY, Decemeer 6.

GroLocicat Society, at8.—The Physical History of the Great Pleistocene
Lake of Portugal: Prof. E. Hull, F.R.S.—The Geological Structure of
the Sgurr of Eigg: A. Harker, F.R.S.—lhe Buttermere and Ennerdale
Granophyre: R. H. Rastall.

ExTomococic 4x Society, at 8.—Descriptions of new Genera and Species
of African Galerucidz and Halticide : M. Jacoby.

Society or Arts, at 8.—The Manufacture of Sugar from British-grown
Beet : Sigmund Stein.

Society oF Pupric ANALysTs, at 8.—The Reducing Action of
Hydrogen, II., The Estimation of Traces of Arsenic by the Marsh-
Kerzelius Method, and the ‘Insensitiveness” of Zinc: A. C. Chapman
and H. D. Law.—Note on the Removal of Arsenic from Hydrochloric
Acid for Use in the Marsh-Berzelius Method: A. R. Ling and T.
Rendle.—Note on Dutch Cheese: C. H. Cribb.—Improved Arrange-
ment of Lenses for Reading Balance Graduations: G. 1. Holloway.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7.

Royat Society, at 4.30.—The Periodogram and its Optical Analogy ;
with an Illustration from a Discussion of Observations of Sun-spots : Prof.
A. Schuster, F.R.S.—(s) On a Property which holds good for all Group-
ings of a Normal Distribution of Frequency for two Variables, with Appli-
cations to the Study of Contingency-tables for the Inheritance of Un-
measured Qualities; (2) On the Influence of Bias and of Personal
Equation in Statistics of Ill-defined Qualities: an Experimental Study :
G. Udny Yule.—On the Inheritance of Coat-colour in Horses: C. C.
Hurst.—A _ Biometrical Study of Conjugation in Paramecium: Dr.
Raymond Pearl.—On Mathematical Concepts of the Material World:
A. N. Whitehead, F.R.S.—The Determination of the Osmotic Pressure
of Solutions by the Measurement of their Vapour Pressures: The Earl of
Berkeley and E. G. Hartley.—The Vertical Temperature Gradients on
the West Coast of Scotland and at Oxshott, Surrey: W. H. Dines, F.R.S.
—The Combination of Hydrogen and Oxygen in contact with Hot
Surfaces: Dr. W. A. Bone, F.R.S., and R. V. Wheeler.

Society oF Arts, at 4.30.—The Partition of Bengal: Sir James A.
Bourdillon, K.C.S.1.

CuHemicaL Society, at 8.30.—The Constitution of Nitrites, Part I., Two
Varieties of Silver Nitrite : P. C. Ray and A. C. Ganguli.—The Products
of Heating Silver Nitrite: E. Divers.—tthyl Piperonylacetate: W. H.
Perkin, Jun., and_R. Robinson.—A Contribution to the Chemistry of
Saccharin: F. D. Chattaway,—The Action of Heat on a-Hydrocarboxylic
Acids, Part I].: H. R. Le Sueur.—Studies on Optically Active
Carbimides, Part I]., The Reactions between 1-Menthylcarbimide and
Alcohols: R. H. Pickard, W. O Littlebury, and A. Neville.—The
Action of Ultra-violet Light on Moist and Dried Mixtures of Carbon
Monoxide and Oxygen: S. Chadwick, J. E. Ramsbottom and D. L.
Chapman.

NO. 1883, VOL. 73|

InsTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—The Charing Cross
Company's City of London Works: W. H. Patchell.

Civit AND MECHANICAL ENGINEERS’ SocirTy, at 8.—Concrete Mixers >
Dr. J. S. Owens.

Linnean Society, at 8.—On the Etiology of Leprosy : Dr. Jonathan
Hutchinson, F.R.S.—Some Notes on the Life-history of Warearitifere
Panesene: A. W. Allen.—Exhibition: Photographs of a Luxuriant
Specimen of Shortia uniflora, in the Rock-garden of Mr. W. T-.
Hindmarsh, at Alnwick.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8.
Rovat ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, at 5.

2

PuysIcaL Society, at 8.

Matvacotoaicat Society, at 8.—(1) A Revision of the Species of Cyclo-
stomatidz and Liotiide occurring in the Persian Gulf and North Arabian
Sea; (2) Description of Two Species of Marine Shells from Ceylon:
J. Cosmo Melvill.—A Pteropod Alias: (a) C. Hedley. (4) E. R. Sykes.—
(1) Descriptions of Four new Species of Marine Shells from Ceylon ; (2)
Description of a new Species of Physa from N.W. Australia: H. B.
Preston.—Notes (1) on the Dates of Publication of J. D. Wilhelm
Hartmann’s “ Erd- und Siisswasser-Gasteropoden,’’ 8vo, St. Gallen, 1840 >
(2) On Some ‘‘ Feeding Tracks” of Gastropods: (3) On Cement as a
Slug-killer ; B. B. Woodward.

CONTENTS. PAGE
Laguerre’s Mathematical Papers eee. Slr
Philosophical/Studiest, {. ) . < )suveneeeeus) neta
Our Book Shelf :—
Herbertson : ‘* The Oxford Geographies,” Vol. ii.—
AGM sD) See sas 8 99:
Saleeby : ‘‘ Organic Evolution.” —J. A. T. 209)
Périssé : ‘* Le Chauffage des Habitations par Calori-
CS Ao ss Woke. 2 GIS,
Schubert: ‘* Auslese aus meiner Unterrichts- und
Vorlesungspraxisia. «1. «> |) sega tne
Lobatschewsky: ‘‘Pangéométrie; ou Précis de
Géométrie fondée sur une Théorie générale et rigour-
Ghee Glas lteMES? 5 oS go 2 5 0 100
Letters to the Editor : —
The Bates-Miiller Hypothesis of Mimicry : a Question
of Historical Accuracy.—Prof. R. Meldola,
F.R.S. Seer. wy ve eaten fo) 2) asl ELON
Magnetic Storms and Aurora. (With Diagrams.)—
Dr CharlesiChrees RS: eer « welOy
Absorption Spectia of Ultra-violet Rays by Vapour
and Liquids.—Prof. E. Wiedemann .... . I0F
The Second Law of Thermodynamics.—M. A.
Browne COM Sd). Dae 6.) IML
British Excavations in the Near East, 1904-5 . . . 102
The Beauty of Minute Structure in Nature. (///us-
trated.) By J. A. T. a8 ae oa LOR
The Wastage in Armies by Disease. By Prof. R. T.

Fiewlett: 9) 0 Soemer est.) =<. s) beret sales LC
Ce) {aI Cos RRO: fo lo eget HIDE,
Our Astronomical Column :—

Astronomical Occurrences in December 109

(GometixQonG eames: = .: aie eens he LOG
An Untried Method of Determining the Refraction

Constant. Rene. | ic) cn eames ited he. toe oem

Spectra of Bright Southern Stars. . =: . . = .) 3) IIo

A) Catalocuetofe428oistars .. . 5 aemienien +) =) 3 ncn

Higher Educationjat the Cape : 2... io
The Batoka Gorge of the Zambesi. (///ustrated.)

By G. W. Lamplugh, F.R.S. 5 Dc GMOmCm owl:
Indian Deep-sea Holothurians. ByJ.P. .. . 114
University and Educational Intelligence ..... I15
Societies and Academies ..... oe) us) 0) EO)
Diary of Societies. . . . - 120

SUPPLEMENT
The Millais British Mammals. ByR.L. ..... iii
The Origin of Kingship. By N. W.T....... iv
A Compendium of Natural Knowledge. By Dr. J. A. é

Harker... 305 ees oe! ee eae vi
The Principles of Science. By N.R.C. . vii
Mathematics for Schools. . . EE ie viii
Statics in the Middle Ages. ByG. B.M.. es
Spectroscopy 5 ACen PRE ie QUAM EEL tr ic ix

| Precious Stones. ByJ.W.J. .-.... x

NAO RLE

2a

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7,

1905.

THE PRINCIPLES OF HEREDITY.
The Principles of Heredity, with Some Applications.
By G. A. Reid. Pp. xiii+359. (London: Chap-
man and Hall, Ltd., 1905.) Price 12s. 6d. net.

ee publication of this bool marks an epoch in

the history of the relation between medicine and
biology, inasmuch as it is an embodiment of the
recognition by medical men that they depend ulti-
mately for a precise knowledge of nature on the
professional biologist—who may or may not, at the
same time, be a medical man.

The book should be welcomed by doctors as con-
tainingy in the earlier chapters a_ straightforward
though rather brief account of theories of organic
evolution, and by biologists as giving a very full
account of the medical aspect of these problems, and
by both as an interesting collection, under the title of
““The Principles of Heredity,’’ of a mass of informa-
tion and ideas connected with that phenomenon.

The reader may object to the antithesis between
medicine and biology, but will, we hope, withdraw
his objection when it is explained that all that is

meant by it is the antithesis between applied and pure ;

biclogy.

The recognition by medical men of the value to
them of the information with which the biologist is
able to supply them is unquestionably a good thing;
yet it is a curious illustration of the fact that a new
movement of opinion cannot stand isolated and alone,
cannot be without consequences of one kind or
another, that one result of the popularity of the
entente between the doctor and the biologist may
prove harmful to biology, and through it perhaps
ultimately to medicine.

The danger is that the biologist, pure and simple,
the man who works at his subject for the mere joy
of investigation and discovery, may cease to exist.
So many workers of this type are becoming applied
biologists, whether they be sporozoologists devoting
themselves to malaria, students of heredity to eugenics,
or cytologists to cancer. We do not, of course, com-
plain of the application of biological knowledge; it is
obviously fitting and right that as much use should be
made of it as possible. But we do complain loudly
of the opinion that the application of such knowledge
is, or should be, the ultimate goal of him who acquires
it. Huxley strongly insisted on the fact that the fruits,
useful to mankind, of the tree of natural knowledge
fell unsought for and unexpected on the back of the
head of some obscure worker under its shade, and
never to him who worked there with outstretched
palm. Dr. Reid says, p. 331,

*‘ Hitherto the nature of their training has tended to
render medical men excessively conservative. Never-
theless they have already assimilated and put to
magnificent practical use one of the two great
scientific achievements of the age—Pasteur’s discovery

NO. 1884, VOL. 73]

of the microbie origin of disease. The other great
achievement, Darwin’s discovery of the adaptation of
species to the environment through natural selection,
has hardly been assimilated, and certainly put to no
practical use as yet. Both these discoveries should
have been made by medical men.’’

The fact that they were not is an illustration of the
truth of Huxley’s words.

Let it be emphasised again that we do not hold
that the gradual desertion of biologists from the ranks
of the pure to those of the applied is other than of
the greatest service to mankind. But if this de-
sertion means that the opinion that the natural
goal of the young biologist is to obtain a_posi-
tion in applied biology will grow, it is a bad
thing for science. So that even if it is only on
the ground that the utilitarianism which may lead
to the extinction of the pure biologist is a bad one, it
is to be deplored. If we are going to be utilitarians
let us at least be good ones, and let us recognise the
demonstrable fact that the only way in which the
knowledge and consequent control of nature can be
acquired is by encouraging the existence of the type
of man who works at his subject for its own sake.
Let us have less of the talk about the profound
significance of such and such a branch of investigation
to the sociologist and the statesman and more of the
frame of mind which finds expression in Bateson’s
words :—‘‘ We are asked sometimes, Is this new
knowledge any use? That is a question with which
we, here, have fortunately no direct concern. Our
business in life is to find things out, and we do not
look beyond.”’

With regard to this utilitarianism Dr. Reid appears
to us to steer the right course in his book, except,
perhaps, that he sails rather too near it when, pointing
out that a classical education is inefficient and does
not make us like the Greeks and Romans, he says,

“the true modern representatives of the great Pagans
are not to be found in college halls or country par-
sonages, but in thinkers and workers like Darwin,
Huxley, Kelvin, Cecil Rhodes, the strenuous men
who rule Egypt and India... .”

Surely the patient inquiring spirit which prompts a
man to devote himself to classics is the same as that
in the heart of the true man of science. One of the
greatest steps forward in the study of heredity itself
was made by a monk.

Dr. Reid’s bool is tolerably free from that looseness
in the use of scientific terms which is common enough
in purely scientific works, but which is simply ram-
pant in books on popular science.

The reader who wishes to familiarise himself with
the subject of heredity should be very careful to dis-
tinguish between the two meanings of the term re-
gression, the one which is a purely biological pheno-
menon and the other which is a purely statistical
conception. With regard to the use of that much-
abused word ‘‘ law,’’ our author males a statement
that at first sight seems to show that he has not
thought very seriously about the meaning of that

G

122

MAT ORE

{DECEMBER 7, 1905

word. But we do not believe our author wishes to be
taken seriously here :—

‘Even if we postulate a Deity as the Originator
of all things, yet the whole history of science, which
is that of civilisation, proves that it is more profit-
able to seek the explanation of natural phenomena in
natural laws (His laws) than in infractions of them—
in miracles.’’ (The italics are mine.)

We have one fault to find; in a work on the prin-
ciples of heredity one would have expected a fuller
discussion than is actually given of biometric and
Mendelian methods of dealing with that phenomenon :
medical men reading the book will get a very meagre
idea of the nature of the investigation being carried
on and of the definite results already achieved by these
two sets of workers.

Dr. Reid does good service in dealing a blow at
that teleology which is the curse of biological science
by exposing the falsity of the old idea that the
‘object ’’ of bi-parental reproduction is to ensure a
sufficient degree of variability in each generation
for natural selection to operate upon. He cites as
evidence for this Dr. Warren’s work on Daphnia
magna; but does not refer to a more recent and more
complete demonstration of the same truth by the
same author in the case of Aphis, to be found in
Biometrika, vol. i., p. 120.

These, however, are trifles, and do not detract from
the value of the book as a whole. ik, 1D); ID)

MATHEMATICAL LECTURES FOR AMERICAN
MATHEMATICIANS.

The Boston Colloquium. Lectures on Mathematics.
By Edward Burr Van Vleck, Henry Seely White,

and Frederick Shenstone Woods. Pp. xii+188.
(New York: The Macmillan Company, 1905.)
Price 2 dollars net.

Lectures on the Calculus of Variations. By Dr.
Oskar Bolza. Pp. xvi+272. (Chicago: The Uni-
versity Press, 1904.) Price 4 dollars net.

MONG the many ways in which the American
Mathematical Society has endeavoured to
popularise and develop the study of higher mathe-
matics, not the least remarkable and useful is the
practice of holding ‘‘ colloguia’’ in connection with
fhe summer meetings at intervals of two or three

years. It had been felt that the mere reading of a

long string of disconnected papers does not produce

much lasting impression on the minds of the
audience. On the other hand, even a short course

of university lectures will often adequately cover a
wide range of mathematical study. The society there-
fore decided in 1896 to arrange for courses of three
to six two-hour lectures, each dealing with a sub-
stantial part of mathematics. Four such colloquia
have been held, at Buffalo in 1896, at Cambridge in
1898, at Ithaca in 1901, and at Boston in 1903. At
each of the first three two courses of lectures were
given, and Prof. Oskar Bolza’s course on ‘‘ The
Simplest Type of Problems in the Calculus of Vari-
ations,’’ given at the Ithaca colloquium of

No. 1884, VOL. 73]

1gol,

forms the basis of one of the two volumes before us.
The chapters nearly follow the historic order laid
down in the introduction, which is also in close con-
formity with a logical sequence of treatment. The
study of the first and second variations of an integral
naturally leads to Weierstrass’s examination of the
conditions for a minimum and the distinction between
a ‘‘ strong ’’ and a ‘* weak ’’ minimum, a terminology
introduced by Kneser. The next steps are repre-
sented by Weierstrass’s theory of parameter represent-
ation, Kneser’s general theory based on the properties
of geodesics, and Hilbert’s existence-theorem. For
Weierstrass’s work (much of which is contained in
unpublished courses of lectures) the author has had
recourse to his own notes of a course (by Weierstrass)
which he attended in 1879, as well as to several other
sets of lecture notes, including one on Prof. Schwarz’s
lectures at Berlin on the same subject. »

At the next colloquium, held at Boston in
September, 1903, three courses of lectures were given.
The year marked the fiftieth anniversary of the
appointment of Prof. John Monroe Van Vleclx to the
chair of mathematics at Wesleyan University, and it
was fitting to the occasion that all the lecturers were
Van Vleck’s pupils, one of them being his son. Prof.
Henry S. White, of North-Western University, is re-
sponsible for the course of three lectures on ‘‘ Linear
Systems of Curves on Algebraic Surfaces,’’ Prof.
Frederick S. Woods, of the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology, for three lectures on ‘‘ Forms of Non-
Euclidian Space,’’ and Prof. Edward B. Van Vleck,
of Wesleyan University, for six lectures on ‘‘ Selected
Topics in the Theory of Divergent Series and Con-
tinued Fractions.’’ A bibliography of literature on
continued fractions extending over twenty pages con-
cludes the last named discourse.

Long formule involving x and y are like little
children—they ought to be ‘‘seen and not heard.”’
The success of these colloquia when originally de-
livered must have been in some considerable measure
due to the extent to which the authors have succeeded
in dealing with ideas and their symbolical represent-
ations without giving tedious demonstrations in
extenso.

“cc

INDUSTRIAL REFRIGERATION.

Modern Refrigerating Machinery, its Construction,
Methods of Working, and Industrial Applications.
By Prof. H. Lorenz. American Practice in Re-
frigeration. By H. M. Haven and F. W. Dean.
Pp. x+396. (New York: Wiley and Sons;
London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1905.) Price
17s. net.

T is to be regretted that no treatise exists on this
I subject which contains an exhaustive investi-
gation of the thermodynamical problems involved, and
of the physical properties of the various gases used as
media, with special reference to their practical appli-
cation to refrigerating machinery. In works on
thermodynamics, the matter is treated in general
terms. The physical constants are found in scattered

DECEMBER 7, 1905 |

NATURE

tables, and even with such a well-known gas as
carbon dioxide they have not been completely deter-
mined. It has become more and more necessary for
the engineer or manufacturer to be familiar with the
scientific researches and theoretical considerations
which lie at the base of his industry, and Germany
has come to be looked upon as the leader in funda-
mental work of this sort, but the ‘‘ Neuere Kuhl-
maschinen ’’ of Prof. Lorenz makes no pretence to be
of this comprehensive character. While refrigerating
machinery is sufficiently simple, the principles on
which it is based are not so easy of comprehension to
the working engineers and business men who use it
industrially. As a handbook for men of this class
and as a résumé of the subject, this manual has long
been known in Germany and on the Continent.
Various editions have been published as a volume of
the ‘Technische Handbibliothek,’’ and the present
translation under the title of ‘‘ Modern Refrigerating
Machinery ’’ is from the edition of rgor.

No space is taken up by a historical introduction,
but after some pages of an elementary character on the
principles of heat there follows a chapter on ‘‘ Methods
of Cold Production,’’ which gives a well arranged and
concise description of the manner in which refrigera-
tion is produced by different methods and of the
energy required. The chapter on compressors treats
chiefly of the important details of the machines, and
wisely does not touch upon matters which belong more
properly to generic and not to special machine design,
and has some instructive indicator diagrams. The
chapters which follow deal with condensers and
evaporators, the cooling of liquids and air, and the
manufacture of ice. They describe clearly the chief
features of the matter under discussion, and do not
enter upon general descriptions from which it is diffi-
cult to decipher the essential points. The pages de-
voted to very low temperatures, written four years
ago, have now become merely of historical interest.
The final chapter, on the performance of refrigerating
machines, or, as the translator calls it, ‘‘ The Yield of
Cooling Machines,’’ contains the only higher mathe-
matics in the book, which contrast rather strangely
with some of the simple definitions at the beginning.
The translation is poor. The German original is
closely followed. Such sentences as “ tightness to-
wards gases requires, besides faultless material, as
small a number as possible of tubulures and stuffing
boxes ”’ are not very clear to an English mechanic,
nor does the constant use of italics for the more im-
portant words add to the attractiveness of the pages.
The illustrations are numerous and excellent, and the
cuts are superior to those in the German edition.

In the same volume, though the pages are numbered
consecutively, is a separate worl: on ‘‘ American Prac-
tice in Refrigeration.’’ It contains some admirable
illustrations and useful data in regard to the con-
struction of cold storage rooms, but it is not quite
apparent what purpose the American authors could
have in view in reprinting tables from such well-known
beoks as those of Siebel and Wallis-Tayler.

GUE; B:

NO. 1884, vol. 73]

| (3) political and commercial.

123

OUR BOOK SHELF.
The Geography of New Zealand. By P. Marshall.
Pp. x+4or. (Christchurch, N.Z., and London:

Whitcombe and Tombs, Ltd., n.d.)

Tue author claims to have written ‘‘ according to
the spirit of the New Geography,”’’ to give due con-
sideration to the influence that the relief of the land
has upon the circulation of the atmosphere, the
climate, the distribution of flora and fauna, and the
settlement of population; he explains that the latter
is influenced considerably by the distribution of
mineral deposits, while the nature of the industries
affects the commerce of the country and shapes its
political institutions.

The work is for this purpose divided into three
parts, under the headings (1) historical, (2) physical,
There is a valuable
introduction by Prof. Gregory, and an important
chapter on geysers by the same writer, in which, how-
ever, he erroneously alludes to Strokur as being still
an active geyser, whereas it ceased to erupt in 1895.
The chapter on earthquakes by Mr. G. Hogben de-
serves special mention; the several kinds of earth
movements and their registration by the seismograph
are described. Of special interest to all lovers of
Ao te Roa—the unscientific reader as well as the
geographical student—are the chapter on the Maoris,
by Mr. A. Hamilton, and the descriptions of various
unique natural beauties.

At times the style is very explanatory and the
matter original. Occasionally the author’s meaning
is somewhat vague, as when he writes :—‘‘ the high
mountainous land here reaches the sea, and is in fact
truncated by it.”’ But on the whole the information
given is accurate and concise, and the arrangement
throughout careful.

As stated in the preface, the book is not merely
the result of the author’s and his contributors’ per-
sonal observation, but is a collection of facts and
figures from the previous writings of acknowledged
authorities on the islands of which it treats. The
letterpress is profusely illustrated with maps, repro-
ductions of photographs, sketches, and old prints.
These are all interesting, and many of the sketch-
maps serve well to illustrate the text.

NM: (Gaui:

Wild Wings; Adventures of a Camera-Hunter among

the Larger Wild Birds of North America on Sea
and Land. By H. K. Job. Pp. xxv+341; illus-
trated. (London: A. Constable and Co., Ltd.;

Boston and New York : Houghton, Mifflin and Co.,

1905.) Price tos. 6d. net.
DeEsPITE its somewhat pedantic title, this book is
much above the average of works of the same general
nature, and deserves a wide circulation, if only on
account of the earnest plea made by its author that
the camera may, at least to some extent, be sub-
stituted for the shot-gun in our intercourse with
birds. In this laudable endeavour he is supported by
the President of the United States, who, after stating
that wild-game shooting, under proper restrictions
and regulations, must be considered legitimate so
long as we breed domesticated animals for slaughter,
observes that ‘‘ there is altogether too much shooting,
and if we can only get the camera in place of the
gun and have the sportsman sunk somewhat in the
naturalist and lover of wild things, the next gener-
ation will see an immense change for the better in
the life of our woods and waters.”

The special feature of Mr. Job’s book is undoubtedly
formed by the illustrations, all of which, we are told,
are reproductions—and very excellent ones—of photo-

124

NATURE

[DECEMBER 7, 1905

graphs taken by the author himself. In a country
of the size and extent of America, with climates
ranging from the arctic to the tropical, and with
large tracts of more or less untrodden wastes, the
bird-lover and photographer has, of course, vastly
greater opportunities (especially among the larger
species, to which the author has confined his atten-
tion) than his brother in our own islands, and it
must be confessed that these opportunities have not
been neglected, for a more delightful book, both as
regards text and illustrations, it would be difficult to
produce.

The breeding colonies of brown pelicans of New
England must form a really marvellous sight. On
the occasion of the first visit of the author and his
party, the boat was run ashore without alarming the
birds. ‘‘ Then,’’ writes the narrator, ‘‘ we stood up
and shouted, but hardly a bird rose. There they sat
upon their nests, hundreds and thousands of them,
many within forty or fifty feet, solemnly gazing at
us. It was not until we sprang out upon the shore
that there was any considerable flight, and even then
we noticed that it occurred only within a radius of
fifty or sixty feet, the rest of the colony remaining
on their nests apparently in perfect unconcern.”’
Time after time the colony has been raided by feather
and egg hunters, but it is satisfactory to learn that
Pelican Island has recently been made by President
Roosevelt a Government reserve for wild birds.

Not less interesting is the author’s account of the
colonies of white ibises and Louisiana herons in the

Cape Sable wilderness, this being followed by a
fascinating description, with equally fascinating
photographs, of the colonies of sooty terns and

noddies on ‘‘ Lonely Bird Key,’’ in the Dry Tortugas
group, far out in the Gulf of Mexico. But if we were
to cite even a tenth of the passages to which we
should like to refer, editorial limits would be far
exceeded, and in bringing this brief notice of an
admirable bird-book to a close we cannot do better
than advise our readers to get copies for themselves.

Instruction in Photography. By Sir W. de W.
Abney. Eleventh edition, revised. Pp. 676. (Lon-
don: Iliffe and Sons, Ltd., 1905.) Price 7s. 6d.
net.

Tuts work, which for many years has held the premier

position among English text-books of photography,

is to a peculiar extent the record of the author’s own
experiments and investigations, and in the new edition
much new matter on the subject of colour photo-
graphy has been added, the product of the attention
which Sir W. de W. Abney has devoted to that
branch of photography for some years. In other
sections of the book it may be noted that the descrip-
tions of lenses are brought up to date, while the
chapter on sensitometry includes a description of Mr.

Chapman Jones’s plate tester. An entirely new

chapter has been added to the book entitled ‘‘ The

Failure of a Photographic Law,’’ and including the

well known experiments made by the author upon

the effect of intermittent exposures and upon the
failure of the reciprocity law. Here also will be found
an interesting discussion of the effect of temperature
upon the sensitiveness of plates, while the last part
of the chapter is devoted to an account of the author’s
researches upon the effect of different monochromatic
lights upon a plate. The book has been entirely
reset, larger type being employed throughout and
the printing generally improved. No alteration has
been made in the theoretical views set forth, and the
silver sub-bromide theory of the latent image is
adopted in its entirety. €. E. ik. M.

No. 1884, VoL. 73]

La Bobine d’Induction. By H. Armagnat. Pp. 228.
(Paris: Gauthier-Villars, 1905.) Price 5 francs.
In this book a very interesting account is given of
the induction coil in its theoretical and practical
aspects. The electromagnetic problems involved are
clearly stated, and the various factors which stand in
the way of a complete mathematical theory are con-
sidered in some detail. The effects of sparking at
the interruptor, the parts played by the iron core, by
the secondary capacity, &c., are carefully examined
and methods of experimental investigation are illus-
trated. The differences between mechanical and elec-
trolytic interruptors are discussed, and the more
purely theoretical part of the book concludes with a
chapter on the power and output of a coil and of the
factors upon which these depend. The methods of
measuring the electromagnetic constants of a coil are
indicated, as are the most common sources of break-
down, how they may be detected, and how in some

cases remedied.

In the description of the practical construction of
coils which follows, the different methods of winding,
insulation, &c., are described in detail, and the relative
dimensions of the various parts of coils of standard
makes are given. The particular features of different
types of interruptors, mechanical and electrolytic, upon
which efficient working depends are stated clearly
(although the action of the commonest mechanical
interruptor is not quite so simple as it is made to
appear, and might perhaps have been described in
greater detail in a book of this kind).

The principles of the action of several special forms,
such as Tesla’s, of induction apparatus used in prac-
tice are given in outline, and a final chapter is devoted
to a description of the various uses of induction coils.
The range of this chapter is perhaps indicated when
it is said that it includes the discussion of such ques-
tions as the ignition apparatus of explosion-engines
and the production of ozone.

A very useful bibliography, in which the references
are in most cases accompanied by short abstracts,
completes an excellent book.

Handbook of Metallurgy. By Prof. Carl Schnabel.
Translated by Prof. Henry Louis. Second Edition.
Vol. i. Copper—Lead—Silver—Gold. Pp. xx+
1123. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1905.)
Price 25s. net.

Tus volume is a translation of the second German
edition which appeared in 1902. Prof. Schnabel has
found it necessary to increase the length of the book
considerably, the translation being 214 pages longer
than that of the first edition. A number of new fur-
naces and other appliances are described, and in par-
ticular the account of the extraction of copper by
electro-metallurgical methods has undergone great
expansion. The older metallurgical methods are pur-
posely dwelt on by the author, who gives as his reason
that a knowledge of the development of metallurgy
stimulates inventive genius. It is equally certain
that the inclusion of the descriptions of out-of-date
methods helps to make books bully.

The merits and defects of the book remain much
the same as in the first edition. It contains a mass
of detailed information as to the dimensions of appli-
ances in use at particular works, the analyses of
products, and the like, but the discussion of the
principles underlying the practice is generally less
thorough. This is as much as to say that the book is
“‘practical.”? Prof. Louis is to be congratulated on
the translation, which makes a valuable work avail-
able to British students.

DECEMBER 7, 1905]

NATURE 125

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions
expressed by his correspondents, Neither can he undertake
to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected
manuscripts intended for this or any other part of NaturRE.
No notice is taken of anonymous communications.]|

The Second Law of Thermodynamics.

Tue point which Mr. Browne (p. 102) raises is covered
by Voigt (“ Thermodynamik,’’ vol. ii., § 69, pp. 209
et seq.). Ordinary diffusion of two gases at equal pressure
and temperature is an irreversible process involving loss
of available energy, but when the diffusion takes place
through porous membranes this available energy can be
utilised in a greater or less degree in the form of work,
and this is the case in Mr. Browne’s experiment. By
introducing the conception of ‘* semi-permeable partitions,”
Voigt obtains a reversible method of mixing or separating
gases. In this case the partial pressure of the mixture is
equal to the sum of the partial pressures of the components.
In ordinary diffusion the volume of the mixture is equal
to the sum of the volumes of the components. The work
of expansion from the former to the latter final state can
be utilised if a reversible transformation is employed. It
is lost in the case of ordinary diffusion. An equal amount
of work must, however, be supplied from without to
separate the gases. The results are fully in accordance
with the second law. G. H. Bryan.

Mr. M. A. Browne's letter (p. 102) raises an interesting
and difficult question which at some period of his career
must be faced by every student attempting to grasp for
himself the significance of the second law of thermo-
dynamics. As I, with difficulty and without much help
from the text-books, extricated myself from a_ similar
dilemma, perhaps the steps in the train of reasoning which
helped me may interest others.

There is no need to take the complicated case chosen by
Mr. Browne of the diffusion of hydrogen and nitrogen
through a palladium septum. A precisely analogous
difficulty exists in the simpler case of an ordinary cylinder
of compressed gas doing external work on expansion either
at the expense of its own heat or of the heat of uniform
temperature of its environment. The gas expands and does
an amount of external work W, while the equivalent H
units of heat flow into the gas from the surroundings, so
that the result of the process is that H units of heat at
the uniform temperature of the surroundings have been
quantitatively converted into external work. This is, no
doubt, contrary to many of the earlier statements of the
second law.

The test, of course, is to compress back the gas into
the cylinder, when at least W units of work have to be
converted back into heat during the process. Moreover,
this must be done whether or not the gas did work on
expansion. Although a gas expands freely into a vacuum,
doing no work, and, as Joule has shown, experiencing no
appreciable change of total energy in the process, to get it
back again into the cylinder, at least W units of work must
be converted into heat. I know of no better way of intro-
ducing thermodynamical considerations to the chemical
student than by commencing with the concrete case of a
gas cylinder. The extension of the same considerations to
all processes naturally occurring, the flow of heat from a
hot to a cold body, the diffusion of gases through septa,
the change of one allotropic form of element into another,
all follow as illustrations of the ‘‘ majestic’? and
“universal ’ law that that mysterious something which is
not energy, but an abstraction of energy—its availability for
work—tends always to a minimum, or, as others have it,
the entropy increases. The student passes his examin-
ation, no doubt, but if he is a philosopher he may prefer
to meet his difficulties singly, and not have them “ con-
centrated in a phrase.’’ It is possible that he may like to
think sometimes of a gas as expanding, because it is its
nature to. The reason is easily understood on mechanical
or kinetic considerations. But the attempt to replace these

NO. 1884, VoL. 73]

u&
considerations by the two ex cathedra statements—(1) the
entropy of a gas increases during increase of volume,
(2) the entropy of the universe tends to increase—and to
deduce from them the direction of natural tendency in the
case of a gas changing in volume, seems to the writer to
involve the thermodynamical equivalent of the fallacy of
“putting the cart before the horse.’? We cannot escape
mechanical and molecular considerations.

The University, Glasgow. F. Soppy.

Atomic Disintegration and the Distribution of the
Elements.

WitH reference to the association of uranium and
radium, would you permit me to put on record a point that
must have cecurred to many, though possibly not to some,
of those who are speculating so brilliantly about uranium
and its disintegration products. I refer to the extra-
ordinary conjunction in nature between silver and lead.
This conjunction is so frequent that it can hardly be casual.
A lead mine is a silver mine and a silver mine a lead
mine all the world over, and yet the chemical attraction
between silver and lead is slight, and the two metals are
not sufficiently common to concur by chance. It is to be
noted also that the concurrence, if the word may be used
in this sense, is usually of the order of ounces for silver
and tons for lead, and that the atomic weight of lead is 207
and of silver 108. Hence there appears to be some ground
for the suspicion that silver is a disintegration product of
lead. ~ Lead also happens to present special facilities for
experiment to test this surmise. It is cheap, and it is a
comparatively inexpensive matter to free ten tons of lead
from all traces of silver by the usual crystallising process,
and then put it aside for ten years and test again for
silver by the same process.

There are several other curious groupings of elements in
nature that seem to be worthy of consideration from the
transmutation point of view. One of these is the frequent
concurrence of copper and gold. In the Great Cobar
copper mine in New South Wales the gold occurs in the
ratio of about four ounces to the ton of copper. Such con-
junctions as gold and quartz are, of course, easily ex-
plained by chemistry and coincidence, and chemical forces
also sufficiently explain the concurrence of sulphur with
silver and lead, but the giant deposits of silver, lead, and
zinc, with smaller quantities of copper and still smaller
quantities of gold at Broken Hill, in Australia, to say
nothing of similar vast deposits in many other countries,
can hardly be due entirely to chemical and casual forces.
Anyone interested in the subject will find much statistical
and other information in the annual report of the Broken
Hill Proprietary Company. This document affords con-
siderable food for reflection, and a visit to the mine itself
is absolutely awe-inspiring. Walking through galleries of
glittering grey crystals of silver, lead, and zinc sulphide—
solid ore—for 300 feet across the lode, which is a mile or
more in length and of unknown depth, is one of the experi-
ences of a lifetime. Donatp Murray.

3 Lombard Court, London, E.C., November 30.

Zoology at the British Association.

IN your account, under the above heading, of the pro-
ceedings of Section D of the British Association at
Johannesburg, you state (p. 40) that in my paper on
Cephalodiscus I ‘‘ gave a preliminary account of the new
species discovered in African seas by Dr. Gilchrist.’’

I shall be obliged if you will allow me to say that my
communication to Section D consisted of an abstract of
the results which were published, last July, in my report
on “‘ The Pterobranchia of the Siboga Expedition,’’? and
that it did not include any account of Dr. Gilchrist’s
specimens of Cephalodiscus. S. F. Harmer.

King’s College, Cambridge, November 14.

[Our contributor was unfortunately engaged in the
committee room during Dr. Harmer’s introductory remarks,
and this led to the misunderstanding to which Dr. Harmer
directs attention.—EpiTor. |

126

NWA TROT

[ DECEMBER 7, 1905

THE THOROUGHBRED HORSE.’

Ag HE re-discovery of the so-called Equus
walskii, or Mongolian wild pony,

prze-
has during
the
puzzling

their wild or semi-wild representatives, and workers

on both sides of the Atlantic have been doing their |

best, with results more or less satisfactory .(at least
to themselves), to solve the problem. The subject,
like an apparently impregnable fortress, has been
attacked from several sides at once, in the hope that
if one plan fails another may succeed; and while one
worker has endeavoured to solve the mystery by the
study of apparently vestigial structures, a second relies

on cross-breeding, while a third believes that external
characteristics are alone sufficient to decide the ques-
tion. Prof. Ridgeway, on the other hand, has
primarily attacked the problem from the point of view
of the historian and the archaeologist, and it must be
acknowledged that naturalists owe him a large debt

Fic. 1.—Noywegian ponies, as examples of the typical dun type of the horse.
From Ridgeway’s ‘‘ The Yhoroughbred Horse.”

of gratitude for bringing
evidence with which, from the very nature of the case,
they are unfamiliar. Apparently, however, the author
soon discovered that salvation was not to be found
from archeological investigations alone, and that it
was essential for him to enter in some detail into the
natural history of Equus caballus and its allies. To

into prominence lines of

one who has thus been compelled by force of circum- |
his |

stances to enter on paths of study other than
own, tender treatment should be accorded by the
critic, and especially should this be so in the present
instance, when the author has called to his assist-
ance at least two naturalists who have specially
studied the Equidae.

As regards the two introductory chapters on the

horse family in general, a very large proportion has
little or no bearing on the subject, and might

advantageously have been omitted. As it stands, it

1 “The Origin and Influence of the Thoroughbred Horse.”
Ridgeway. Cambridge Biological Series. Pp. xvi+535; illustrated.
(Cambridge : The University Press, 1905.) Price 12s. 6d. net.

NO. 1884, VOL. 73]

last few years awakened renewed interest in the |
question of the origin and ancestry of our |
domesticated breeds of horses and their relations to |

By W. |

is to a great extent inaccurate and misleading. If,
for instance, the list of existing Equidze on p. 12 be
compared with the descriptions of species and races
later’ on, numerous discrepancies will be found. As
an example we may refer to the mention of the
chigetai, or dzeggetai (Equus hemionus), and of the
kiang (E. hemionus kiang) on pp. 44 and 45, and
the complete omission of the former on p. 12, where
the latter is quoted as EK. kiang. The difference
between species and subspecies is, however, a great
stumbling block to the author, as may be inferred
from p. 61, where it is stated that ‘‘ certain zebras
have been made into subspecies by some, though
there is no evidence that they are more than local
races,’’ and we are left in pleasing uncertainty
whether the wild Mongolian pony is a species by
itself or a race of Equus caballus. In connection
with this part of the subject, the omission of any
reference to the present writer’s latest paper (1904)
on wild asses, when his earlier ones are quoted, is
noticeable, as is also the statement (p. 143) that he
has sought to establish a relation between the ponies

of Java and Sulu and E. siva-

lensis. Perhaps too much is also
made of the expression ‘an
Indian domesticated horse’? in

reference to a certain skull (pp.
15g and 470) in the _ British
Museum, which probably belonged
to an imported animal. Strong
exception must be taken to certain
statements, even if they be quota-

tions, connected with fossil
Equide. It may or may not, for
instance, be admitted that the

horses of Asia and Europe have
an American ancestry; but to state
(p. 10) that Equus stenonis, the
earliest European fossil horse, was
one of the earlier immigrants,
and that while this species
‘was extending its range into
Europe and Africa, two others,
E. sivalensis and E. namadi-
cus, were finding their way
into India,” is neither more nor
less than nonsense, more especi-
ally since the Indian EF. sivalensis
is at least as old, if not older
than any known American true
horse !
It is time, however, to take
into consideration the author’s

views as to the chief existing types of horses,
which appear to be as follows :—First of all we have
the ‘* typical horse,’’? that is to say, Equus caballus
typicus, which we presume must be taken to be the
ordinary Scandinavian pony (Fig. 1), although the
author does not commit himself upon this point;
secondly, the Celtic pony (£. c. celticus) of Iceland,
the Hebrides, and other parts of north-western
Europe; thirdly, the tarpan and Mongolian wild pony,
which we may agree to call provisionally E. c. prae-
walskii; and fourthly, the Barb, Arab, and thorough-
bred stock, for which the author proposes the name
E. c. libycus. All the first three appear to be closely
allied, and are typically small animals with large
heads, short manes, and tails often imperfectly haired
at the base, while their general colour is dun with
black points. In temper they appear to be intract-
able, and when first domesticated they seem to have
been broken to harness instead of for riding, and to
have been controlled with the bit. The Norwegian
pony is believed to have considerable intermixture of

DECEMBER 7, 1905]

NWALRORE

127

southern blood, and if we allow for this it may be
asked whether there is sufficient justification for
separating the ‘‘ Celtic pony ”’ as a distinct race, and
whether both do not consequently come under the
designation of E. caballus typicus. If he be right in
identifying the original unaltered tarpan with the
Mongolian wild pony (przewalskii), the author has
done good service, as he certainly has in pointing
out that the mouse-colour of the tarpan in the Moscow
Museum is a sign of hybridism. Whether przewalskit
might not also be included under the name of EF. c.
typicus is another question that may be left open.

Turning to the author’s fourth type—the Barb,
Arab, and thoroughbred—we find this standing out
in marked contrast to all the above, so that in any
case we have two main groups of domesticated
horses. The Barb type, as it may be called for
brevity, is a larger horse than the dun northern type,
with a more delicate, although long, head, prominent
nostrils, curiously sinuous profile, full and profuse
mane and tail, a colour which appears to be typically
bay, relieved frequently by a white star on the fore-
head and one or more white ‘‘stockings.’’ The
occurrence of a depression in front of the eye-socket
(whether a remnant of the ancestral face-gland, or, as
some suppose, a point for muscular attachment is
immaterial) in the skull is admitted as a characteristic
of this type. From their large size these horses were
from the first used for riding, while their gentle dis-
position led to their being dominated by a nose-band
instead of a bit. All the dark-coloured horses of
Europe, notably the Shire horse, are believed to have
a more or less strong infusion of Barb or Arab blood,
which is, however, most predominant in the thorough-
bred.

In thus dividing domesticated horses into two main
types, the northern dun and the larger southern bay,
Prof. Ridgeway will, we think, command the consent
of most naturalists. Whether, however, he is right
in regarding the full mane and tail of the Barb type
as an original feature and not one largely due to
domestication may be an open question. Doubt may
be also legitimately entertained as to whether he is
justified in making North Africa the birthplace of the
bay type. In the first place, there arises a suspicion
that he has been biased by a former theory (now
happily abandoned) that the Barb type is the de-
scendant of the Somali zebra (Equus — grevyi).
Putting, however, this aside, it may be pointed out
that the author does not appear to give sufficient
weight to the fact that true wild horses are utterly
unknown in Ethiopian Africa, and that northern
Africa is but a small outlying part of the Holarctic
region, the fauna of which is to a great extent
identical with that of southern Europe and western
Asia. On these grounds, although we may admit
that the true Barb was the earliest representative of
the bay type to be domesticated, it seems extremely
improbable that the ancestral, and now extinct, form
of this race was confined to North Africa, while it is
much more likely that it ranged over a large extent
of south-western Asia in prehistoric times.

To follow the author in his extremely interesting
survey of the spread and modification of the domesti-
cated horse during historic times is unfortunately
quite impossible within the limits of our available
space, and we can only say that it will repay careful
reading. The early existence of the Barb type is
indicated by a figure of a Libyan woman riding one
of these horses, taken from a vase dating between
664 B.c. and 570 B.C.

In conclusion, the present reviewer, who has been
so largely quoted (and by no means in an altogether

NO. 1884, VOL. 73 |

friendly spirit) throughout the work, may perhaps be
permitted a few lines in which to explain his own
views on certain points. In the first place, he is
affirmed to have definitely assigned India as the birth-
place of the bay or Barb type; but reference to the

original article (Knowledge and Scientific News,
August, 1904, p. 174) will show that he merely

suggested the derivation of the ‘‘ thoroughbred and
eastern breeds generally . . . from an extinct Indian
species, E. sivalensis.’”’ It is true that the expression
‘““eastern breeds generally’? is somewhat too ex-
tensive, but it was meant to apply primarily to Turks
and Arabs; while as to E. sivalensis, the writer would
be the last to suggest that its range was limited to
India, and that it might not have had a wide dis-
tribution in Asia. In assigning the origin of the
Barb type to this or an allied fossil species rather
than to the European E£, stenonis, which likewise
presents a pre-orbital depression in the skull, the
reviewer was influenced by the fact that the latter is
definitely known to have been succeeded in the pre-
historic and Pleistocene deposits of north-west Europe
by horses which lack that feature. Moreover, if, as
Prof. Ridgeway urges, the northern dun and the
southern and eastern bay types are essentially distinct,
what is more likely than that they should have been
respectively derived from Pliocene types of which one
is northern. and the other eastern and_ possibly
southern? As regards the main thesis—the existence
of the two aforesaid main distinct types of domesti-
cated horses—the reviewer is in perfect accord with
the author of the work before him. IRs IE,

SIR J. S: BURDON-SANDERSON, BART., F.R.S.
N Thursday, November 23, in his seventy-seventh
year, this distinguished man passed quietly to
his rest after a protracted illness of. some months.
His death removes from the University of Oxford
one of its greatest personalities, whilst. biological
science, especially those branches immediately
associated with medicine—physiology and pathology—
has suffered an irreparable loss. The remarkable
tribute contained in the British Medical Journal issued
on December 2 shows the extent to which those who
are now working at these subjects honoured and
reverenced him as their master.

He was born at Jesmond, Northumberland, in
December, 1828, being connected on both his father’s
and his mother’s side with men of great distinction ;
the details of his ancestry are cited in Mr. Francis
Galton’s hereditary notes as one instance of those
family histories which show extraordinary mental
capacity or remarkable achievement distributed along
the ancestral line. He was never at a public school,
but was educated at home in that border county
which he always loved, and throughout his life he
manifested a special delight in sunlight, stretches of
wild moor, mountain streams, rocks, heather, wild
flowers, and wild birds. His powers of observation
and the interest with which he regarded all natural
objects were such that he might have become a
great naturalist, but his bent was evidently towards
medicine, and his parents, relinquishing their own
bias for the legal profession, sent him to Edinburgh
for a course of medical training. Goodsir and
Hughes Bennett were then the professors of anatomy
and physiology, and the latter seems to have exercised
great influence on the future physiologist, turning his
thoughts to cells and their living processes.

He soon showed some of those characteristics which
stamp indelibly the scientific work of his life. Thus,

128

NATURE

[DECEMBER 7, 1905

an entry in the minutes of the students’ scientific
meetings (Royal Medical Society) of 1850 states
that a dissertation was read by John Scott Sanderson,
of Newcastle, on vegetable irritability, and his first
publication in the Edinburgh Monthly Journal of
Medicine, 1851, was a criticism of the views held at
the time as to the metamorphosis of the coloured
blood corpuscles, founded on numerous experi-
ments and observations made by himself. After his
graduation in medicine he left Edinburgh and went
in 1851 to Paris in order to study chemical methods
under Wurtz. Associated with him were
Edinburgh student friends, including Marcet and
Pavy; he was soon attracted by the fame of Claude
Bernard, whose demonstrations he attended, and by
whom he was introduced to Magendie. On his return
to England in 1853 Burdon-Sanderson married Miss
Herschell (whose brother subsequently became Lord
Chancellor), and set up in London as a practising
physician, being also attached to St. Mary’s Hospital
as medical registrar. His wide knowledge and great
capacity were immediately recognised, and he was
made lecturer in botany ‘and afterwards in medical
jurisprudence at the medical school of this hospital.

An opportunity for the display of his powers on a
larger scale came in 1856, when he was appointed
Medical Officer of Health for Paddington. This office
he retained for eleven years, during the last seven
of which he held, in addition, the responsible position
of Inspector in the Medical Department of the Privy
Council, where he became closely associated with one
who became his great friend, the late Sir John Simon.
__From 1870 his work became more and more
identified with experimental investigation along
physiological lines, his aim being the more exact
study of the reactions of the body tissues in health
and in disease. Pathological inquiries were, in his
judgment, to be conducted in the spirit, and by the
experimental methods, which obtained abroad in con-
nection with physiology, and which he had followed
for two years under Claude Bernard. It is the
practical application of this physiological view which
gives his pathological work such transcendent im-
portance, for in the ’seventies he was the only English
pathologist who dealt with the subject in a way which
is in accordance with modern methods. A most
important outcome of this endeavour to investigate
disease by the use of experimental and_ strictly
scientific methods was the bringing over of Dr. Klein
to this country.

As assistant professor to Dr. Sharpey in University
College, London, from 1870 to 1874, and still more
as full Jodrell professor of physiology from 1874 to
1882, he exercised a profound influence upon the
advance of medical science. One important aspect
of this influence is the revolution which has been
effected in the methods of teaching physiology; this
was inaugurated by his organisation of class worlx for
practical physiological chemistry and for carrying
out simple experiments upon excitable tissues, muscle,
nerve, &c. Such practical worl, now a conspicuous
feature of all academic physiological teaching, was
initiated by Burdon-Sanderson, who insisted on its
importance, not merely for its obvious educational
utility in implanting a knowledge of fact and method,
but still more for its value as a means of cultivating
powers of observation and inference.

In 1882 he acceded to an urgent request that he
should come to Oxford as the first Waynflete pro-
fessor of physiology. He decided on this course
because he believed that it was for the highest
interests of medical education, the medical profes-

NO. 1884, VOL. 73]

several |

sion, and the public, that the University of Oxford
should regain the great position which she once held
in regard to medicine. As professor of physiology for
twelve years, and then as Regius professor of
medicine for nine years, he laboured consistently for
this end, and, as his life drew to its close, he had the
supreme satisfaction of realising that the end had been
practically attained. Departments of human
anatomy, physiology, and’ pathology, — efficiently
equipped and under competent professors, form the
material witness of this achievement, but the students
who have passed through the scientific medical course
at Oxford furnish still more cogent evidence of the
great resuscitation which he has brought about; for
Oxford this is his enduring monument.

Sir John Burdon-Sanderson was so distinguished
as a scientific man, and conducted important investi-
gations in so many branches of medical science,
that it is possible in the space of this memoir to
make only a brief reference to the most conspicuous
of his researches. As regards the whole of his
physiological and pathological work, extending over
a period of nearly fifty years, certain features stand
out prominently. His adoption throughout of experi-
ment as the only fruitful method; his belief that ‘* no
real advance could be made until it became possible
to investigate the phenomena by methods approach-
ing more or less closely to those of the physicist in
exactitude ’’; his constant anxiety that attention
should be focused upon the processes which are
observed in living tissues, whether normally present
in health or modified in disease; and finally his
conviction that all such processes, observed either in
isolated tissues or in particular organs of the body,
are to be regarded as exhibited because they are
inexorably linked with the interests of the whole
organism of which the particular structures form a
part—natural selection in its widest sense.

In practical medicine his desire for exactitude led
him to invent the stethograph for obtaining mensur-
able records of the respiratory movements of man,
and to modify Marey’s sphygmograph in order to
obtain such records of the arterial blood pressure.

In pathology he employed similar exact methods
for the investigation of the inflammatory process
and of infective diseases, particularly tuberculosis,
pyemia, and septicemia. His reports to the Privy
Council, and his other publications on these subjects,
reveal conceptions as to the character of the processes
involved in disease, and of the nature of the response
of the normal tissues to infective introduction, which
are still far ahead of the general knowledge of the
present day, and are viewed from the standpoint, in
all essentials, of the modern pathologist. A remark-
able instance of this is furnished by his early worl
on immunity, a subject which, in its recent develop-
ment, has acquired an importance for the health of
the community which it would be difficult to over-
estimate. Thus, three years before Pasteur published
his celebrated work on the subject, Burdon-Sanderson
showed that anthrax virus could be attenuated by
its transmission through the bodies of rodents, and
suggested that it might be possible, by using the
attenuated virus, to confer protection against the
disease.

In physiology he carried out from 1871 to 1878
experimental inquiries upon the mechanism of circula-
tion and of respiration, made an extensive investiga-
tion as to asphyxia, and was the first to show that
the nerve fibres in the corona radiata of the cerebral
hemispheres would, when locally excited, give rise
to definite body movements. But his main worl dealt

DECEMBER 7, 1905 |

NATURE

129

with the fundamental characters of those elementary
processes which are displayed by the excitable tissues
of both animals and plants when their activities are
aroused by definite stimulation; he thus returned to
the topic which had attracted him during his student
life at Edinburgh. The published researches of his
later years on this subject have become models for
all subsequent worl, commanding admiration on
account of the completeness of their design, and
carrying conviction through the security of their
foundation, which rests on the solid ground of
mensurable records. The electromotive phenomena
displayed -by active tissues appeared to him to furnish
the most trustworthy of such records, provided that
appropriate instrumental methods were employed in
their investigation; these he made every effort to
utilise, and for this end he introduced into physio-
logical method the recording capillary electrometer.
His publications on the electromotive phenomena of
the beating heart, on similar phenomena in the ex-
citable leaves of the Dionza plant, in voluntary
muscle, in the electrical organs of fishes, &c., are
examples of his activity in this field.

In the last year of his life he was still engaged
upon this engrossing subject, and was planning and
supervising investigations for the further elucidation
of the electromotive phenomena present in muscle
when thrown reflexly into activity. This piece of
work, and others on various subjects of like nature,
remain in an unfinished state, but, though fragmen-
tary, they are so suggestive that it may be hoped
they will be included in a future collection of his
numerous scientific papers.

In conclusion, reference must be made to that com-
manding influence which true greatness exerts over
ether scientific workers, moulding their thought,
stimulating their powers, and enriching their lives.
'The factors which contribute to the wielding of this
influence defy precise definition, since, apart from
acknowledged achievement in science, their essence is
to be sought for in certain mental, moral, and
physical qualities. In Burdon-Sanderson’s case con-
spicuous traits stamped him as a leader of men, for
his inspiring personality, his extraordinary charm of
manner, and his wonderfully expressive face made a
profound impression even on those whom he casually
met. But his students, using the term in its largest
sense, were conscious that the real impression made
upon them was the work of more potent factors; his
courtesy to even the humblest worker, the sympathetic
interest with which he followed all experimental
work, the breadth of his view, the profundity of his
knowledge, ever placed ungrudgingly at the disposal
of everyone who sought his help, the genuine
character of his devotion to scientific truth, and the
unwavering firmness with which he advocated the use
of experimental methods. All these combined to
attract and hold the younger physiologists and
pathologists, and since they realised that it was a
delight to him to mix with younger men the influence
he exerted was profound. He often expressed his
intense satisfaction at the vast change of which he
had been a witness, a change which has in thirty
years advanced British physiology and pathology into
the first rank. The name of Burdon-Sanderson will
be permanently associated with this extraordinary
advance, for it is generally recognised that by work,
example, and precept he has contributed in a very
special degree towards the creation in this country
of that vigorous band of workers who have given
English medical science such a wide reputation.

I.

No. 1884, VOL 73]

ANNIVERSARY MEETING OF THE ROYAL
SOCIETY.
‘(HE anniversary meeting of the Royal Society
was held on Thursday, November 30, when the
report of the council was presented, the president
delivered his address, and the new council already
announced (p. 33), for the year 1906, was elected.
In the evening the anniversary dinner was held at
the Hotel Metropole, Lord Rayleigh, the newly-
elected president, being in the chair.

The report of the council refers, among other
subjects, to the Royal Society Catalogue of Scientific
Papers, the International Catalogue of Scientific
Literature, the Meteorological Office, tropical diseases,
Antarctic work, seismology, the International Geo-
detic Association, Indian Trigonometrical Survey,
Astrographic Chart, and the National Physical Labora-
tory. A few matters recorded in the report have not
been announced or described in these columns, and
may therefore be mentioned here.

At the beginning of August, the Treasury expressed
willingness to place on the estimates a sum not ex-
ceeding 2001, as an annual national contribution
toward the expenses of the central bureau of the
International Seismic Organisation should the
adhesion of Great Britain to the international scheme
be agreed to. On November 2, the council, having
received a report on the subject from the Society’s
seismological committee, agreed to recommend that
H.M. Government should join the organisation,
and advised that Prof. Schuster be appointed the
representative of this country to the organisation.
The Treasury has agreed to the continuation by Great
Britain of its adherence to the Geodetic Convention
of 1895 for a further period of ten years from January
1, 1907, and to a payment during that period of an
annual subscription of 6000 marks. Also, at the
instance of the Royal Society, the Treasury has under-
taken that one-half the cost of printing the British
section of the International Astrographic Catalogue
executed under Prof. Turner’s direction, within a
limit of toool., shall be met from public funds.

The report of the council concludes with an expres-
sion of appreciation of Sir William Huggins’s services
to the Society during the five years in which he held
the office of president, and the announcement that
Lord Rayleigh had accepted nomination as his suc-
cessor.

In his presidential address, Sir William Huggins
dwelt upon the influence which discoveries of science
have had upon the general life and thought of the
world, especially during the past fifty years, and the
place that science should take in general education.
Some extracts from the address are subjoined :—

The influence of science during the last fifty years has
been in the direction of bringing out and developing the
powers and freedom of the individual, under the stimulation
of great ideas. To become all that we can become as
individuals is our most glorious birthright, and only as
we realise it do we become, at the same time, of great
price to the community. From individual minds are born
all great discoveries and revolutions of thought. New ideas
may be in the air and more or less present in many minds,
but it is always an individual who at the last takes the
creative step and enriches mankind with the living germ-
thought of a new era of opinion.

All influences, therefore, and especially all laws and
institutions which tend to lose the individual in the crowd,
and bring down the exceptional to the level of the average,
are contrary to the irresistible order of nature, and can
lead only to disaster in the individual and in the State.

I should not omit to mention the marvellous secondary
effects of scientific discoveries upon the mental progress of

130

the civilised world which are being wrought by their prac-
tical applications to the cheapening of paper, and to
improvements of the automatic printing-press, which, com-
bined with the linking together of all parts of the earth by
a network of telegraphic communications, put it in the
power of even the poor of the realm to read daily the news
of the world, and for a few shillings to provide themselves
with a library of classical works. Of scarcely less
educational influence upon the public mind are the new
methods of photography and mechanical repreduction, by
which pictures of current events and the portraits of those
who are making contemporary history, and also copies of
the world’s masterpieces of painting and of sculpture, are
widely disseminated with the cheap newspapers and
magazines among the mass of the people.

Golden will be the days when, through a reform of our
higher education, every man going up to the universities
will have been from his earliest years under the stimulating
power of a personal training in practical elementary science ;
all his natural powers being brought to a state of high
efficiency, and his mind actively proving all things under
the vivifying influence of freedom of opinion. Throughout
life he will be on the best terms with nature, living a
longer and a fuller life under her protecting care, and
through the further disclosures of herself, rising successively
to higher levels of being and of knowledge.

The importance to every man of a practical acquaintance
with elementary science is obvious. Would it be thought
possible that any nation could act so absurdly as to teach
its children other languages, and leave them in complete
ignorance of the tongue of the land in which they would
have to pass their lives? Would it not then be incredible,
if it had not become a too familiar fact, that the public
schools have, until recently, excluded all teaching of the
science of nature from their scheme of studies, though
man’s relation to nature is more intimate than to his
fellow countryman? We live, move, and have our being
in nature; we cannot emigrate from it, for we are part
of it. Yet our higher education leaves men, who in other
directions are well informed, much as deaf-mutes in the
presence of nature. They do not hear her most imperative
warnings, and can only get on haltingly in their everyday
intercourse with the natural forces to which their lives are
subjected, by means of the arbitrary signs of empirical
custom. The recent introduction of some amount of
science-teaching in our higher schools is quite inadequate,
alike in kind and in degree. It can be only through a
reform of the scheme of their examinations by the uni-
versities that we can hope to see science take the equal
part with the humanities in general education to which
she is entitled.

Two faculties of the mind which it is of the highest
importance, especially in early youth, to enlarge and
develop by exercise are wonder and imagination. Under
the ordinary premature language-teaching of the grammar
schools, even the wonder and imagination natural to young
minds become so stunted in their growth as to remain
more or less dormant throughout life. On the other hand,
natural science brings them into full activity and greatly
stimulates their development. Nature’s fairy tales, as read
through the microscope, the telescope, and the spectro-
scope, or spelt out to us from the blue by waves of ether,
are among the most powerful of the exciting causes of
wonder in its noblest form; when free from terror it
becomes the minister of delight and of mental stimulation.

And surely the master-creations of poetry, music, sculp-
ture, and painting, alike in mystery and grandeur cannot
surpass the natural epics and scenes of the heavens above
and of the earth beneath, in their power of firing the
imagination, which, indeed, has taken its most daring and
enduring flights under the earlier and simpler conditions
of human life when men lived in closer contact with nature
and in greater quiet, free from the deadening rush of
modern society. Of supreme value is the exercise of the
imagination, that lofty faculty of creating and weaving
imagery in the mind, and of giving subjective reality to
its own creations, which is the source of the initial impulses
to human progress and development, of all inspiration in
the arts, and of discovery in science.

Further, elementary science, taught practically with the
aid of experiment during a boy’s early years, cannot fail

No. 1884, VOL. 73]

NATURE

| DECEMBER 7, 1905

to develop the faculty of observation. However keen in
vision, the eyes see little without training in observation
by the subtle exercise of the mind behind them. From the
humblest weed to the stars in their courses, all nature is
a great object-lesson for the acquirement of the power of
rapid and accurate noting of minute and quickly-changing
aspects. Such an early training in the simpler methods of
scientific observation confers upon a man for life the
possession of an inexhaustible source of interest and delight,
and no mean advantage in the keen competitions of the
intellectual activities of the present day.

Training in the use of the eyes develops, at the same
time, alertness of the intelligence, and suppleness of the
mind in dealing with new problems, which, in after life,
will be of great value in facing unforeseen difficulties of
all kinds, which are constantly arising.

Science, practically taught, does more, for, under the
constant control of his inferential conclusions by the un-
bending facts of direct experiment, the pupil gradually
acquires the habit of reasoning correctly from the obsery-
ations he makes. In particular, he learns the most precious
lesson of great caution in forming his opinions, for he finds
how often reasoning, which appeared to him to be flawless,
was not really so, for it led him to wrong conclusions.
Further, from the constant study of nature, the student
comes so to look at things as almost unconsciously to
discriminate between those which are essential and those
which are only accidental, and so, gradually, to acquire
the faculty of classing the facts of experience, and of
putting them in their proper places in a consistent system
or theory. Are there any other studies, it may be asked,
by which, in the same time, a young mind could develop
an equally enlarged capacity for correct reasoning and
acquire so wide an outlook? Yet, notwithstanding the
immense intrinsic value of its teaching, science is but one
of the studies which are necessary for a wide and liberal
education. Intellectual culture, or, in other words, the
whole mind working at its best, requires, besides the train-
ing of all its powers harmoniously by the study of nature,
an acquaintance with many other kinds of knowledge,
especially of human history and the development of human
thought, and of the human arts. Humanistic studies and

experimental science are equally essential, and, indeed,
complement each other. Either alone leaves the mind

unequally developed, and its whole attitude one-sided, and
so produces a narrow type of mind, which is incapable of
taking a wide view even of its own side of thought, and
has but little sympathy with any subject outside it.

Improved methods of teaching the classical languages,
which would permit of the beginning of the study of them
at a later age, would leave ample time for an early training
in experimental science, which must soon come to be
recognised as an essential part of all education.

In future, no grammar or higher school should be con-
sidered as properly provided for unless furnished with the
necessary apparatus for teaching experimentally the funda-
mental principles of mechanics, physics, and biology. The
pupils should have the use of a small astronomical telescope,
and of microscopes for biological work. Such apparatus
and instruments can now be purchased at a very small cost.

Clearly, it is only by such a widening of the general
education common to all who go up to the universities,
before specialisation is allowed, that the present “* gap
between scientific students careless of literary form, and
classical students ignorant of scientific method ’’ can be
filled up, and the young men who will in the future take
an active part in public affairs, as statesmen and leaders of
thought, can be suitably prepared to introduce and
encourage in the country that fuller knowledge and appreci-
ation of science which are needed for the complete change
of the national attitude on all science questions, which is
absolutely necessary if we are to maintain our high position
and fulfil our destiny as a great nation.

This address was followed by the award of the
medals.

Copley Medal.

The Copley medal is awarded to Prof. Dmitri Ivanovitch
Mendeléeff, For.Mem.R.S., for his contributions to chemical
and physical science.

Prof. Mendeléeff, born at Tobolsk, in Siberia, in 1834,

DECEMBER 7, 1905]

NATURE

uaa

stands high among the great philosophical chemists of the
last century. As early as 1856 he published his own con-
clusion that paramagnetic elements have, in general,
smaller molecular volumes than diamagnetic elements, and
confirmed Avogadro’s view that electropositive elements
have larger molecular volumes than electronegative ones,
both of them results specially interesting in connection
with modern views of molecular structure. At that time
he had already assimilated and utilised the views of
Laurent, Gerhardt, and Williamson on molecular constitu-
tion, which made such slow progress in general. Since
then, in the words of Dr. Thorpe (Nature, June 27, 1889),
“There is, in fact, no section of chemical science which
he has not enriched by his contributions ’’—mineralogy,
chemical geology, organic chemistry, the nature and in-
dustrial importance of petroleum, but, above all, physical
chemistry and chemical philosophy.

Quoting again from Dr. Thorpe :—‘‘ His ‘ Principles of
Chemistry,’ published in 1889, and repeatedly reprinted, is
a veritable treasure-house of ideas, from which investigators
have constantly borrowed suggestions for new lines of
research. This book is one of the classics of chemistry ;
its place in the history of science is as well assured as the
ever-memorable work of Dalton.’’ In the course of its
preparation he developed the great generalisation known as
the periodic law of the elements, with which his name will
ever remain most closely associated, especially as a weapon
for predicting new elements, and for which he has received
the Davy medal of this society, as also have Newlands
and Lothar Meyer for their independent advances in the
same direction.

This law has changed the face of chemistry by impart-
ing to the study of its numerous independent elements that
close inter-connection which is a characteristic of advanced
physical theories.

Royal Medals.

A Royal medal is awarded to Prof. John Henry Poynting,
I’.R.S., on account of his researches in physical science,
especially in connection with the law of gravitation and the
theories of electrodynamics and radiation.

Prof. Poynting is distinguished both in theoretical and
experimental physics. His memoir, Phil. Trans., 1884,
““On the Transfer of Energy in the Electromagnetic
Field,’’ contains the fundamental proposition which is now
universally known as Poynting’s theorem. It was followed
in Phil. Trans., 1885, by a paper ‘‘ On the Connection
between Electric Current and the Electric and Magnetic
Inductions in the Surrounding Field,’? which works out
the current circuit on the supposition of motion of what
are now called Faraday tubes. These papers served greatly
to elucidate Maxwell’s theory, and give a representation of
the physical nature of the electric field which is now widely
utilised. His long-continued experimental and theoretical
researches on the constant of gravitation and on the mean
density of the earth are reported in a paper in the Phil.
Trans., 1892, and in the Adams prize essay for 1893.
Closely related to this subject is an experiment in search
of a directive action of one quartz crystal on another, Phil.
Trans., 1899, which, though leading to a negative result,
is a model of the application of refined methods to a
physical research of great delicacy. His recent paper,
Phil. Trans., 1903, ‘‘ On Radiation in the Solar System,
its Effect on Temperature, and its Pressure on Small
Bodies,”’ is of great interest and significance in cosmical
physics. He is the author of various theoretical papers on
physicochemical subjects, such as change of state and
osmotic pressure, which are conspicuous for originality of
conception and clearness of exposition. i
_ The other Royal medal is awarded to Prof. Charles Scott
Sherrington, F.R.S., for his work on the central nervous
system, especially in relation to reflex action.

Prof. Sherrington has published a series of important
papers upon the structure and function of the brain and
spinal cord. In the earlier of these he chiefly investigated
the course of the several groups of nerve fibres by means
oi the degeneration method. Passing from the study of
structure to that of function, he discovered that removal
of the fore brain causes a widespread rigidity of certain
muscles, which he called decerebrate rigidity. In the state
of decerebrate rigidity, the ordinarily observed reflexes of

No. 1884, VOL. 73]

the body become profoundly altered, and a study of the
normal and abnormal reflexes led him to the observation
that contraction of one muscle is commonly associated
with inhibition of its antagonist. Upon this he formulated
the law of the reciprocal action of antagonistic muscles,
which is now accepted as of fundamental importance in
the coordination of muscular movement. A further study
of reflex actions led him to lay down certain general prin-
ciples with regard to them. One principle deserves especial
mention, namely, that hurtful stimuli applied to the skin
produce a different form of reflex from that given by
stimuli which are not hurtful. This has served as a basis
for further investigation on the character of the nerve
impulses conveyed by different nerve-endings, on the course
taken by the impulses, and on their central connections.

In recent years a considerable amount of work has been
done in mapping out the areas of the skin supplied by each
of the cranial and spinal nerves. This work, essential
both to physiology and to clinical medicine, reteived its
chief impetus and most weighty contribution from the
careful and detailed observations of Prof. Sherrington.

The researches of Prof. Sherrington and Dr. Griinbaum,
on the localisation of the excitable areas in the cortex of
the cerebral hemispheres in the higher apes, have resulted
in placing the ‘“‘ motor area”? in this animal entirely in
front of the central sulcus. The result is now generally
accepted as true also for the brain of man—a point of
great importance in the surgery of the brain.

Prof. Sherrington’s researches have dealt with a
of subjects cognate with that of the central nervous system.
He has shed light on questions connected with the afferent
nerves of skeletal muscle, the efferent nerves of the arrec-
tores pilorum and of the cranial blood-vessels, the inner-
vation of various viscera, the trophic centre of the fibres
of the roots of the spinal nerves, the knee jerk, and with
the physiology of vision.

Davy Medal.

The Davy medal is awarded to Prof. Albert Ladenburg,
on account of his researches in organic chemistry, especially
in connection with the synthesis of natural alkaloids.

Thirty years ago, when the validity of Kekulé’s famous
formula for benzene was the subject of much discussion,
Ladenburg was the first to prove, by laborious research,
the important proposition that the six hydrogen atoms in
the hydrocarbon are similarly situated and discharge the
same functions, and hence that three, and only three,
di-substitution derivatives can exist.

He has also devoted many years to the study of the
natural alkaloids. This pioneer work, attended by many
experimental difficulties, was rewarded by success in the
synthesis, for the first time in 1886, of an optically active
compound identical with the alkaloid coniine existing in the
hemlock plant. Since that time he has largely added to
our knowledge of the chemistry of hyoscyamine, atropine,
and other alkaloids of the mydriatic class.

number

Hughes Medal.

The Hughes medal is awarded to Prof. Augusto Righi,
for his experimental researches in electrical science, in-
cluding electric vibrations.

Prof. Righi has been for many years a prominent and
active worker in the sciences of light, electricity, and
magnetism.

Among the subjects which have engaged his attention are
the Hall effect, and the change of electric conductivity of
bismuth in a magnetic field. At an early period he carried
out an elaborate investigation on the reflection of light at
the surface of a magnetised body, repeating and extending
Kerr’s observations with more powerful apparatus; in par-
ticular, he showed how the amount of the rotation of the
plane of polarisation depends upon the wave-length of the
light.

A valuable series of papers related to phenomena pro-
duced by the ultra-violet rays, including the first discovery
of the discharge of negative electricity from a freshly
polished zinc surface under their influence. He has also
investigated the potential in the neighbourhood of the
kathode in a Crookes’s tube, and made many experiments
on the spark discharge in gases and the action of the
Roéntgen rays.

132

NATURE

[ DECEMBER 7, 1905

His work on electric radiation has been collected in a
book, ‘‘ L’Ottica delle oscillazioni elettriche,’’ Bologna,
1897. He rendered fundamental service to exact experiment
on this subject by simplifying the practical conditions of
the problem; and he applied his improved apparatus to
numerous investigations on the behaviour of electro-
magnetic waves, of short and therefore manageable wave-
length, under very varied conditions, on their absorption,
polarisation, reflection and refraction, and on the behaviour
of dielectrics in the field of radiation. This work entitles
him to a high place among those who developed the lines
of experimental investigation opened up by the great dis-
coveries of Hertz.

More recently he has contributed substantially to the
study of the phenomena of radio-activity and the related
ionisations.

THE DEATH-KNELL OF THE ATOM.

Old Time is a-flying; the atoms are dying;
Come, list to their parting oration :—
“We'll soon disappear to a heavenly sphere

On account of our disintegration.

“ Our action’s spontaneous in atoms uranious
Or radious, actinious or thorious :

But for others, the gleam of a heaven-sent beam
Must encourage their efforts laborious.

‘“For many a day we've been slipping away
While the savants still dozed in their slumbers;

Till at last came a man with gold-leaf and tin can
And detected our infinite numbers.”’

Thus the atoms in turn, we now clearly discern,
Fly to bits with the utmost facility ;

They wend on their way, and in splitting, display
An absolute lack of stability.

’Tis clear they should halt on the grave of old Dalton
On their path to celestial spheres;

And a few thousand million—let’s say a quadrillion—
Should bedew it with reverent tears.

There’s nothing facetious in the way that Lucretius
Imagined the Chaos to quiver;
And electrons to blunder, together, asunder,
In building up atoms for ever!
W. R.

NOTES.

Tue Hayden memorial gold medal has been awarded by
the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia to Mr.
C. D. Walcott, director of the U.S. Geological Survey, in
recognition of the value of his individual contributions to
geological science.

Tue University of Basle, to which the late Prof. Dr.
Georg W. A. Kahlbaum was attached for nearly twenty
years, has received the sum of 100,000 francs from the
mother of the deceased professor. Further, Prof. Kahl-
baum’s scientific library and physical instruments are also
to be handed to the university.

From Berlin we learn, according to the Chemtker-
Zeitung, that the German State grant for the support of
scientific, technical, and similar undertakings is to be
increased by 115,000 marks. The sum of 179,500 marks
is to be spent upon increasing the accommodation for the
permanent exhibition devoted to the interests of the work-
ing classes; 120,000 marks to be a first instalment for an

1 Sung at the Chemical Laboratory dinner at University College,
November 17.

No. 1884, VOL. 73]

investigation of sleeping sickness; 30,000 marks to be
devoted to the development of the Starkstrom-laboratory
of the Reichsanstalt; 43,850 marks to be contributed to
the kite station on Lake Constance for experimental in-
vestigations of the higher air strata.

Tue annual conference of the Pharmaceutical Society
will be held in Birmingham in the week beginning July 23,
1906.

For the erection of a monument to Franz Reuleaux in
the Charlottenburg Technical School, an appeal for sub-
scriptions has been issued by the engineering department
of the school.

Mr. F. W. Dyson, F.R.S., chief assistant, Royal Observ-
atory, Greenwich, has been appointed Astronomer Royal
for Scotland, and also professor of practical astronomy,
Edinburgh University, in succession to the late Dr. Cope-
land.

An exhibition of electrical, optical, and other physical
apparatus has been arranged by the Physical Society, and
will be held on Friday evening, December 15, at the Royal
College of Science, South Kensington. Admission will be
by ticket only.

It is reported, Science says, that the Mexican Astro-
nomical Society has awarded the prize offered by the Bishop
of Leon for some notable astronomical discovery to Prof.
W. H. Pickering, of Harvard College Observatory, for the
discovery of the tenth satellite of Saturn.

An archeological museum, which will devote special
attention to Indo-Chinese matters, has been established by
the French Government at Pnompenh. The museum will
be under the scientific control of the Ecole francaise
d’Extréme-Orient, the chief of the archeological department
of which school will act as director of the new museum.

A DESCRIPTION is given in the Engineer of December 1
of some interesting machine-tools, formerly the property of
James Nasmyth, lately placed on view in the southern
galleries of the Victoria and Albert Museum. Although
associated primarily with the invention of the steam-
hammer, James Nasmyth did valuable work in the improve-
ment of machine-tools.

Aw extensive landslip has occurred in the Danish island
of Méen, destroying part of the beautiful scenery along
Lille Klint. From the beach, steep slopes of Boulder-clay,
thickly wooded, rise about 250 feet. The right bank of
the valley from Liselund Chateau, and the coast-cliff for
some 4oo yards to the south of it, in all some fifteen or
twenty acres of woodland, are described as having sunk
bodily. The sea had been encroaching, but underground
water is regarded as the cause.

A Times correspondent reports that a local Greek news-
paper publishes details of the earthquake of November 8,
which caused great damage to the various monasteries on
Mount Athos. The shocks, which were extremely violent,
occurred in the night. None of the monasteries escaped
without serious injury. The shocks were not confined to
the colony of monks. At Caryes the post-office, the police
station, and other public buildings have been ruined, and
at Cassandra, Jerissos, Gomate, and other villages within
the districts affected the churches and many houses have
been destroyed.

In the course of a lecture delivered at the Armstrong
College, Newcastle-on-Tyne, on December 2, the Hon.
C. A. Parsons, F.R.S., dealt with the application of

| turbines to Atlantic passenger steamers, and described the

DECEMBER 7, 1905 |

NADORLE 133

recent trials of the Cunarder Carmania with turbine
engines, and her sister ship, Caronia, with reciprocating
engines, the latter being one of the most economical vessels
ever built. The Carmania beat the Caronia by one knot,
and was at least 16 per cent. more economical than her
sister vessel driven by reciprocating engines. The
Carmania is the first example on so large a scale, and
it may be reasonably expected that improvements in detail
will increase still further the excellent results she realised.

Mayor Moopir, Governor of Hudson Bay, has received
a communication, dated May 22 last, from Captain R.
Amundsen’s Norwegian Expedition to the North Pole.
The Gjoa, with the expedition on board, spent last winter
in Simpson Strait, King William’s Land, 4oo miles north
of Fullerton. Captain Amundsen dispatched letters from
Fullerton in November, 1904, reporting the expedition well,
but short of dogs. The messenger reached Governor
Moodie’s headquarters on March 18 of this year, and on
March 26 he started back with ten dogs. The messenger
reached Captain Amundsen’s party on May 22, and then
returned to Fullerton with a second letter. This reported
that the observations of the party had been conducted
undisturbed since the establishment of the magnetic station
in October, 1903.

At a meeting of the council of the Invalid Children’s
Aid Association, held last week, Sir William Broadbent
delivered an address on the tuberculous children of the
metropolis, in which he pointed out that while consump-
tion, the most prevalent form of tuberculous disease, has
steadily diminished year by year for the last thirty years,
there has been no corresponding diminution in the death-
rate of tuberculous affections specially incident to infancy
and early childhood. He strongly urged the establishment
of country and sea-side homes where delicate children in
the pre-tuberculous stage, or those actually suffering from
tuberculosis, could receive the benefits of the open-air treat-
ment. After alluding to the sanitary defects of tenements
in which the poor too often have to live, he pointed out
that the greatest safeguard against tuberculosis in early
life, and against infantile mortality generally, is that the
child shculd be suckled by the mother.

THE council of the Iron and Steel Institute has arranged
that the annual general meeting of the institute shall be
held in London on May io-11, 1906. In place of the usual
autumn meeting, a joint meeting with the American Insti-
tute of Mining Engineers will be held in London on July
23-28. It is intended during the week following to give
the American visitors an opportunity of seeing some of
the iron-making districts. It is anticipated that the visit-
ing party will include many of the leading ironmasters who
entertained the Iron and Steel Institute in America in
1890 and 1904. The Lord Mayor of London has consented
to act as chairman of the London reception committee, and
to give an evening reception at the Mansion House.

LECTURES on agricultural subjects are given in connec-
tion with the County Technical Laboratories, Chelmsford,
on Friday afternoons, which is the market day of the
town. The lectures last about half an hour, and are
intended for farmers and others interested in agriculture.
A discussion follows the lecture. The subjects for the
December meetings, with the lecturers dealing with them,
are as follows:—The field culture of the potato, by Mr.
A. Steel; England as a producer of sugar from home-
grown sugar beetroot, by Mr. Sigmund Stein; some agri-
cultural facts and figures, by Mr. R. H. Rew. This
excellent plan of making it easy for farmers to hear of

NO. 1884, VoL. 73]

the results of modern agricultural research deserves to be
successful, and could be adopted with advantage in other
agricultural centres.

At a general monthly meeting of the members of the
Royal Institution, held on Monday, special thanks were
returned to Dr. Ludwig Mond, F.R.S., for his donation
of 5ool. to the fund for the promotion of experimental
research at low temperatures. It was announced that the
managers had elected Prof. W. Stirling Fullerian professor
of physiology. The following are among the lecture
arrangements at the Royal Institution before Easter :—
A Christmas course of six illustrated lectures, adapted to
a juvenile auditory, by Prof. H. H. Turner, on astronomy ;
Prof. E. H. Parker, three lectures on impressions of travel
in China and the Far East; Prof. William Stirling, six
lectures on a physiological subject; Dr. J. E. Marr, three
lectures on the influence of geology on scenery (the Tyndall
lectures); Mr. Benjamin Kidd, two lectures on the signifi-
cance of the future in the theory of evolution; Mr. Francis
Darwin, three lectures on the physiology of plants; Prof.
B. Hopkinson, three lectures on internal combustion
engines; Mr. J. W. Gordon, two lectures on advances in
microscopy; and Prof. J. J. Thomson, six lectures on the
corpuscular theory of matter. The Friday evening meet-
ings will commence on January 19, when Prof. J. J.
Thomson will deliver a discourse on some applications of

the theory of electric discharge to spectroscopy. Succeed-
ing discourses will probably be given by Prof. S. P.

Thompson, Mr. H. F. Newall, Mr. W. C. D. Whetham,
Dr. R. Caton, Dr. Hutchison, Sir Andrew Noble, Bart.,
Prof. P. Zeemann, Mr. W. B. Hardy, and others.

Tue Russian physiologist, Prof.
Ssetschenoff, emeritus professor of the University of
Moscow, who died on November 15, was born in 1829.
He first attended an engineering school in St. Petersburg,
but subsequently took up medicine, and, after passing his
final examination in Moscow in 1856, studied for some
time in Germany. By his interesting paper on brain reflex
he first attracted the serious attention of his colleagues of
the Medico-chirurgical Academy in St. Petersburg, in which
he was appointed an assistant professor of physiology in
1860, but on account of the strict censure to which his
further work was submitted, Ssetschenoff published the
results of his scientific investigations in Germany. A pupil
of Du Bois-Reymond, Helmholtz, Hoppe-Seyler, and Lud-
wig, he always remained in direct connection with Euro-
pean scientific circles. The greatest services which
Ssetschenoff rendered to science lie in the province of
physiological chemistry, as, for instance, his works on the
absorption of carbon dioxide by the blood. A complete list
of his numerous researches would clearly testify to his
many-sidedness and breadth of view. Moreover, he
earnestly endeavoured to popularise his special science to
the Russian mind by presenting it in an easily intelligible
form in such well written and well reviewed works as his
‘“* Physiological Studies,’’ ‘‘ Physiology of the Vegetable
Processes,’’ ‘‘ Psychological Studies,’’ &c. In 1870
Ssetschenoff was appointed professor of physiology in the
University of Odessa, and in 1876 to a similar post in St.
Petersburg, which he held until 1889. He then went to
Moscow, where he first acted as privatdocent and after-
wards (1891) as professor, retiring in 1896.

In the second part of his article on the histology of
cartilage and kindred tissues, published in vol. Ixxx.,
part ii., of the Zeitschrift fiir wissenschaftliche Zoologie,
Mr. J. Schaffer discusses these structures in the hag-fish
(Myxine), with special reference to the cranial skeleton
of that genus, adding an appendix on the cartilage of the

Iwan Michaelowitsch

134

NATURE

| DECEMBER 7, 1905

lampreys. The organisation of the ‘* bear-animalcules,’’ or
Tardigrada, those microscopic creatures found in damp
moss and the gutters of roofs, forms the subject of an
article by Mr. A. Basse; while the third and last com-
munication is the first portion of a memoir by Mr. S.
Hlava on the Radiata, the author dealing in this instance
with the anatomy of Conochiloides natans.

IN an important article on the cranial nerve-components
of the lamprey (Petromyzon), published
Morphologisches Jahrbuch, vol. xxxiv., part ii., Mr. J. B.
Johnston shows that the general arrangement is similar
to what obtains in fishes, although with certain markedly
primitive features. As the result of a study of the visual
organs of the the Salpa group, Mr. W.
Redikorzen arrives at the conclusion that the primitive
chordates possessed a series of paired organs of this nature
extending from the head to the tail—one pair to each body-
segment. Moreover, the pineal eye was certainly in the
first instance a dual structure, but later its two elements
coalesced and subsequently degenerated.

in Gegenbaur’s

ascidians of

This segmental
ocular type has entirely disappeared from vertebrates, and
is now represented only by traces among the lower groups.
The other papers in the same issue include one by Mr. T.
Mollison on the dorsal gland of Dendrohyrax, and a second
by Mr. J. Bohm on the reproductive organs of the sheep.

In the November issue of the Zoologist Mr. G. Renshaw
resumes his interesting series of ‘‘ obituaries ’’ of extermin-
ated animals, dealing in this instance with the Réunion
starling, the sole representative of the genus Fregilupus.
Easily recognised by its parti-coloured plumage and long
crest, this bird was probably discovered by Flacourt in the
middle of the seventeenth century. In the early part of
the last century it was abundant, but in 1833 had become
extremely scarce, and by about 1860 had probably ceased
to exist even in its last refuge in the interior of the island.
Twenty-one skins, of which one is in the Natural History
Museum (although not shown to the public), and two
skeletons, of which one is at Cambridge, are all the relics
of this interesting species Mr. Renshaw can identify. In
another paper Dr. J. Murie discusses the flying-fish cap-
tured in September last in a back-water connected with
the Medway estuary. It is believed to belong to Exocoetus
lineatus, a species not previously recorded as an occasional
straggler into British waters.

Tue almost complete shell of a large Cretaceous turtle
from Kansas has afforded Mr. G. R. Wieland the oppor-
tunity of enlarging our knowledge of the extinct genus
Toxochelys, his communication on the subject being pub-
lished in the November issue of the American Journal of

Science. The structure of the shell agrees with that
of certain extinct representatives of the Chelonidze
(Lytoloma), but the skull approximates to that of the

Chelydrida. That the genus should be classed with the
true turtles the author is convinced, although he believes
the limbs to have been independently modified for
swimming. The most interesting part of the paper relates,
however, to certain bony elements overlying the junctions
between the neural bones of the carapace, and it is sug-
gested that these, which may have been more extended in
other types, may represent the mosaic-like shell of the
leathery turtles (Dermochelyide). If this suggestion be
well founded, the puzzle of the origin of the carapace of
Dermochelys will be practically solved.

Tue Comptes rendus of the
Berne last year contains the full report of a series of
experiments undertaken by Mr. H. Piéron with the view of
ascertaining the seat of the recognition-sense among ants.

NO. 1884, VOL. 73]

zoological congress held at

The theory of a ‘‘ language-sense ’’ resident in the antennz
is rejected by the author, to some extent on the ground
that these organs are employed in feeling objects of every
kind, animate and inanimate. On the other hand, it is
inferred that these organs are endowed with an olfactory
sense, on which depends mutual recognition among ants.
As is well known, ants not only of different species, but
of different communities of the same species, display
marked hostility to one another. By making an infusion
of ants of one particular community, and anointing the
neuters of another community with this infusion, it was
found that in most instances the hostile ants thus treated
were not attacked by the members of the community from
which the infusion was made, this immunity from attack
lasting only so long as the influence of the infusion per-
On this and other experiments of a kindred nature
the author’s conclusions are mainly based. But to connect
these experiments with the antenna, an ant was deprived
of those appendages, when it was found to attack friends
and foes alike. Mr. Piéron has also favoured us with a
another paper, from the Bulletin de l'Institut
psychologique for 1904, on the réle of the muscular sense
in determining orientation among ants.

sisted.

copy of

Tue experimental station at Peradeniya, Ceylon, has
rapidly grown into public favour, and large numbers of
agriculturists visit the station to get practical lessons in
their craft. From the annual report of the controller, Mr.
H. Wright, published as vol. iii, No. 10, of the Circulars
of the Royal Botanic Gardens, it will be seen that a con-
siderable amount of time has been devoted to the subject,
of green manures. While the first object consists in grow-
ing a crop to turn into the soil, the additional advantage
possessed by leguminous plants of fixing free nitrogen has
led to their almost exclusive use. In a tropical country
green manures also prevent erosion of the soil by heavy
rain and the baking of the surface by the hot sun. Crota-
laria striata is strongly recommended for tea estates, since
it produces a heavy crop. A plant of a different kind is
the thornless dadaps, Erythrina lithosperma, from which
cuttings five feet long planted in the rainy season gave
a substantial yield. The Pondicherry variety of ground-
nut has also proved useful.

In the report of the director of the Mineralogical Survey
contained in the Ceylon Administration Reports much
valuable information is given by Mr. A. K. Coomaraswamy
and Mr. James Parsons regarding the occurrence of
corundum, of minerals containing rare earths, of precious
stones, of crystalline limestone, of mica, and of graphite.
With the aid of numerous illustrations, interesting de-
scriptions are also given of the native Sinhalese manu-
facture of iron and steel, and of the washing of gem-bearing
gravels. The minerals containing rare earths have been
derived from intrusive granite rocks. Thorianite contain-
ing more than 7o per cent. of thoria and 12 per cent. to
15 per cent. of uranium oxide occurs in moderate quantities
near Kondrugala. The whole amount obtained hitherto is
less than 30 cwt., and it is doubtful whether any very
extensive deposit occurs. Thorite, allanite, and minerals
of the samarskite group have also been found. The gems
met with are transparent and well coloured varieties of
corundum, spinel, zircon, tourmaline, topaz, garnet, chryso-
beryl, cordierite, amethyst, felspar, and beryl. Many of
these are exhibited in the mineral gallery of the museum
attached to the survey, and the director is making strenuous
endeavours to get together a thoroughly representative
collection which can always be consulted by visitors t9
Ceylon.

DECEMBER 7, 1905 |

NATURE 135

A USEFUL series of memoirs is being published monthly
in the Bulletin du Musée océanographique de Monaco. In
No. 44, for October, Prof. Hergesell discusses some future
problems of maritime meteorology ; by this name he refers
to the meteorological phenomena of the atmosphere over
the oceans. He remarks that if our knowledge is well
advanced over the land, it is much less so over the oceans,
and that our knowledge over the sea is due to a great
extent to such expeditions as those of the Challenger,
Gazelle, and Valdivia. Others might have been cited, e.g.
the Austrian expedition of the Novara in 1857-9. But we
cannot help remarking that the meteorology over the oceans
might be considered as fairly well defined, owing to the
labours during the last fifty years of such men as Maury
in the United States, FitzRoy and Toynbee in this country,
Leverrier and Brault in France, Buys Ballot and Andrau
in Holland, Neumayer in Germany, and, of course, in-
cluding their successors in the central meteorological offices
of the respective countries. But while much has been done
in the investigation of the upper air over the land by the
use of kites and balloons, both manned and unmanned (or
sounding ’’ balloons), and some surprising results have
been obtained, little has yet been done in this respect over
the oceans. The balloon ascents over the land have shown,
for- instance, that there is a warm stratum of air at a
height of about 11 kilometres; that the decrease of tempera-
ture with altitude ceases more or less abruptly, and that the
temperature actually increases for a further height of several
kilometres. This zone of inversion is probably intimately
connected with the general circulation of the atmosphere,
and it is most important to know the exact conditions
over the ocean, especially in equatorial and certain other
localities. We are glad to see that the Prince of Monaco
has succeeded in interesting the Emperor of Germany in
these questions, and that the cooperation of the German
Navy in elucidating them appears to be assured.

“

Or the papers read at the optical convention in June
last, a number of those having a special bearing on the
microscope are abstracted in the Journal of the Royal
Microscopical Society for October. In one of these papers,
dealing with equivalent planes of optical instruments, Mr.
Conrad Beck gives a simple explanation of the why and
wherefore of the particular arrangement of lenses adopted
in the compound microscope. A high-power microscope
may have an equivalent focal length of only a few
thousandths of an inch, but the plan of using lenses
separated by large intervals gives an instrument in which
the equivalent planes (i.e. the principal planes) are outside
the system of lenses, thus allowing sufficient working
distance between the front lens and the object.

In connection with Prof. Paul Harzer’s recent communi-
cation to the British Association (vide Nature, October 26),
we read with considerable interest an address delivered by
him at the University of Kiel on the Emperor’s last birth-
day, published by Lipsius and Tischer, of Kiel, dealing with
the development of exact sciences in ancient Japan. In the
Imperial Library of Tokyo there are no less than 2000
written and printed Japanese mathematical works extend-
ing back to the year 1595; and it is scarcely remarkable
that the determination of the ‘‘ Ludolphian Number ’’ (Pi)
played a prominent part in the thoughts of early Japanese
mathematicians. In 1627 the approximation 79/25 was
kknown, while in the second half of the seventeenth century
values had been obtained which are correct to 9 or 10
places.~ The well known value 355/113 was known in
1709, and in 1722 and 1739 values correct to 49 and 51
places had been found. Among the early “circle
scuarers ’’ Kowa Seki (1642-1708) occupied a leading place.

No. 1884, VOL. 73]

His methods, which were applicable to circular arcs
generally, depended on successive bisection, but in solving
the quadratic equations by means of series the binomial
expansion of the square root was used. During the
eighteenth century four series for Pi were known to

Naomaro Ajima, who also dealt with the ellipse. At the
beginning of the nineteenth century Enzo Wada was

acquainted with the catenary and cycloid, and it now
appears proved that Seki and his immediate successors

studied the binomial theorem, theory of numbers, the
properties of maxima and minima, determinants, and
spherical trigonometry. Of geodetical observations we

have records dating from 1613, and these culminated in
the measurements of arcs of the meridian by Ino
Chukei (?) in 1800-1818. On the other hand, even as late
as 1895, Prof. Harzer finds complaints of the neglect of
higher mathematical study in Japan. The question as to
how far the ideas of the early Japanese mathematicians
were imported from the west through the medium of the
Dutch trading ships or other means occupies a prominent
part in Prof. Harzer’s dissertation.

Tue twenty-fifth number (n.s.) of the Transactions of the
Oxford University Junior Scientific Club contains, in
addition to a list of the officers and new members and
balance sheet, a paper by Mr. A. F. Walden on some
recent views on the constitution of inorganic compounds,
which gives an account of Werner’s ideas as to the nature
of complex cobalt and chromium salts. Mr. ARS:
MacNalty deals with trypanosomiasis and sleeping sick-
ness.

In No. 18 of the Revue générale des Sciences M. Bernard
Brunhes, director of the Observatory of Puy-de-Déme, gives
an interesting account of recent work on terrestrial mag-
netism in central France. Notice is taken of the anomalies
met with by workers in other countries, and particular
emphasis is laid on the tendency of magnetic rocks to
produce these effects. The Puy-de-Déme affords: an
especially good example of the influence of magnetic rocks
on the terrestrial magnetism of a district. A description
is given of the method adopted in measuring the declin-
ation and inclination due to the permanent magnetisation
of the specimens of rock selected for experiment.

Tue delegates of the Clarendon Press, Oxford, have pub-
lished in pamphlet form, at sixpence net, an addendum to
Mr. J. Cook Wilson’s ‘‘ On the Traversing of Geometrical
Figures,’’ which was reviewed in the supplement to our
issue of October 19 (p. vi).

We have received from Messrs. A. Gallenkamp and Co.,
Ltd., of Sun Street, Finsbury Square, London, a copy of
the fifth edition of their general chemical and scientific
apparatus catalogue, which has been arranged to meet the
requirements of the session 1905-6. The catalogue runs
to 534 pages, and is profusely illustrated with clear and
helpful illustrations. The arrangement of prices and
details of sizes and similar facts in a simple tabular form
throughout, and the concisely expressed descriptions of the
forms of apparatus available, reduce the trouble of refer-
ence to a minimum. There is a good index provided also.
Special attention may be directed to the section giving
particulars of many forms of electrochemical apparatus,
which should prove of interest to teachers and students
of electrochemistry. The catalogue is worth examination
by teachers who have charge of chemical and physical
laboratories, and also by men of science engaged in research
work. The excellence of this and other similar catalogues
which have come before us recently is instructive evidence
of the progress which has been made in the teaching of
science in our schools and colleges.

136

NAT ORLS

[DECEMBER 7, 1905

OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN.

Comet 1905b.—Further observations of this comet are
recorded in No. 4056 of the Astronomische Nachrichten.
As an error was made in the Bamberg record of R.A. on
November 18, it became necessary for Herr Ebell to re-
calculate his elements and ephemeris, and the amended
results are contained in Circular No. 81 from the Kiel
Centralstelle. The corrected elements are as follows :—

T = 1905 October 25°7163 (Berlin).

0 =132 34°9
& =222 55°0 + 1905'0
z =140 37°1

log g =0'02188

The new ephemeris gives the position of the comet, at
12h. M.T. Berlin, on December 10 as a=23h. 30m. 53s.,
3=—7° 24'-1, but, as its brightness at that time will be
only 0-07 of its brightness when discovered (mag. 7-5), the
object will be a very difficult one to observe.

Tue AnomaLous Tai_ts oF Comets.—In No. 4, vol. xxii.,
of the Astrophysical Journal Prof. Barnard discusses the
anomalous forms presented by the tails of comets. The
generally accepted idea is that the tails are produced by
the sun’s repulsive force acting on the cometary matter,
but, from a study of a number of photographs—more
especially of Brooks’s (1893) comet—Prof. Barnard has
arrived at the conclusion that too much importance is
attached to this cause, and that the eruptive action of the
comet itself, and the active interference of external matter,
should also be included amongst the tail-producing causes.
Short, straight, minor tails, issuing from the nucleus at
considerable angles to the main tail, seem to corroborate
the existence of the comet’s own eruptive force, or, at
least, of some force in addition to that supplied by the
sun.

The rapid deflections and distortions of the tail or tails,
as in Brooks’s comet, suggest the existence of some resist-
ing medium which is not evenly distributed throughout
interplanetary space, and such a medium would also explain
the anomalous brightening up of some comets (e.g.
Sawerthal’s, May, 1888) and the disruption of such a comet
as Biela’s.

Finally, Prof. Barnard suggests that all bright comets
Possessing tails should be photographed hour by hour, as
the day by day photographs hitherto obtained are separated
by intervals so long that the changes recorded are not
necessarily connected.

Nova Aguita No. 2.—A number of photographs of the
region about Nova Aquilae, taken with the Bruce telescope,
and with the 24-inch reflector of the Yerkes Observatory,
are discussed by Mr. J. A. Parkhurst in the November
Astrophysical Journal. These show that in the spring and
summer of 1904 the Nova was at least fainter than the
fifteenth magnitude.

The final mean value obtained for the position of the
Nova for 1900 was

R.A.=18h. 56m. 48-96s., dec. =—4° 35’ 20"-3,
and a comparison of the images on different plates showed
that the Nova was only slightly coloured.

A reproduction of one of the photographs taken with the
24-inch reflector (exposure, three hours) shows that the
Nova is situated in a dark lane, almost devoid of stars, in
a very rich field in the Milky Way, and also illustrates, in
a very striking manner, the connection of Nove with the
galaxy.

CaTALOGUE OF Binary Star Orpits.—The results of a
critical study of all published double-star orbits are pub-
lished in Bulletin No. 84 of the Lick Observatory by Prof.
R. G. Aitken. ae

The catalogue is divided into two lists, of which the
first, relating to fifty-three stars, contains the elements of
those orbits which Prof. Aitken considers to be fairly trust-
worthy. The second contains the names, the period, and
the name of the computer of ninety-one stars of which
Prof. Aitken considers the published orbits are too untrust-
worthy to be of any practical value.

A number of critical and explanatory notes relating to
some of the individual stars accompany Prof. Aitken’s
catalogue. i

NO. 1884, VOL. 73]

INDIAN METEOROLOGY, 18 92-1902.

SIR JOHN ELIOT, in discussing recent meteorological

phenomena, says:—'‘ The period 1892-1902 was
unique in the meteorology of India for the magnitude and
persistence of the variations of rainfall, cloud, humidity
and temperature from the normal.”

This period can be divided into two parts, abnormal in
opposite directions :—1892-4 characterised by excess of
rain, cloud and humidity, and a reduced temperature, and
1895-1902 characterised by deficient rainfall, less cloud,
drier air, and an average temperature above the normal.

The normal rainfall for three years (taking the average
of 450 selected stations) is 123 inches, while the total rain-
fall for the period 1892-4 was 143-5 inches, an excess of
20:5 inches. The actual rainfall for the eight years 1895-
1902 was 303-8 inches against the normal 328-7 inches, a
deficiency of 24-9 inches.

During two years of this dry period the deficiency was.
so great over certain areas as to cause very seyere
droughts, which in turn caused famines. These two
famines were, both in affected area and affected popula-
tion, the worst during the last 150 years. The drought of
1896 and the famine of 1897 afflicted the United Provinces,
Central Provinces, Central India, and Rajputana, an area
of 300,000 to 400,000 square miles, 3,000,000 persons re-
ceiving relief. The drought of 1899 and the famine of
1900 affected South Punjab, Rajputana, Central India,
Berar, Central Provinces, Hyderabad, Bombay Presidency
and part of Orissa, Chota Nagpur, and Madras, an area
of 600,000 to 700,000 square miles, and 6,500,000 persons
required relief.

In discussing the meteorology of so large an area as
India, it is impossible to detail all the local variations,
bat from among some examples given, Kilba, a station
i1 the Simla district, may be mentioned. During the
eleven years under discussion, Kilba for ten years received
deficient rainfall, and instead of the normal 441-9 inches
received 304-4 inches, the deficiency being equal to 34 years”
normal fall.

Using the data from 450 stations selected by the late
Mr. Blandford as most trustworthy and representative,
and giving due weight according to the area represented
by each station, the average rainfall over India is given
in inches :—1892, 46-18; 1893, 50-16; 1894, 47-56; 1895,
38-90; 1896, 36-26; 1897, 40-94; 1898, 41-52; 1899, 29-85;
1900, 40-52; 1901, 36:86; 1902, 39-04, the normal annual
rainfall being 41-09 inches. The division of these years
into a wet and a dry season is obvious.

On examining-the amount of rainfall during the different
seasons of the year, the fact is brought out clearly that
all the seasons were affected by the abnormal conditions.
During 1892-1894 all parts of the year had a tendency to
excess rain. In 1893 the dry season had relatively more
excess rain than the wet season. During the dry period

1895-1902 there was a tendency to deficiency of rain
during all the seasons. Yet during a normal year the
meteorological conditions which obtain during the wet

season and the dry season are quite inverse of each other.

The persistence of the abnormalities through the seasons
is also shown by the observations of cloud amount,
humidity and temperature.

Discussing the geographical distribution of the rain, Sir
John Eliot points out that during the wet period 1892-4 all
parts of India received excess rain except in 1894, when
the Bombay and Malabar district and the Madras district
were deficient by 2 per cent. and 3 per cent. of the normal
respectively. In 1892 the excess was more marked in
those areas which received their south-west monsoon rain
by the Bombay or Arabian Sea current, in 1893 and 1894 in
those areas supplied by the Bay of Bengal current, and
the excess was relatively greater in those areas which are
near the interior limits of the fields of the two currents.
The abnormal extension and strength of the monsoon
currents are indicated by this excess in the interior.

During the period there was generally excess rain in

1 “A Preliminary Investigation of the more Important Features of the
Meteorology of Southern Asia, the Indian Ocean, ard Neighbouring
Countries auring the Period 1892-1go2."’_ With Appendices. By Sir John
Eliot, M.A., F.R.S., K.C.I.E. (Indian Meteorological Memoirs, vol. xvi.
part ii.)

DECEMBER 7, 1905 |

NATURE 137

Baluchistan, Afghanistan, Persia, Zanzibar, and Mauritius,
while the rainfall of Arabia, the Straits Settlements, and
Port Blair was generally in defect. The defect at Port
Blair is an illustration of the general rule that the rain-
fall of the Indian Sea area frequently varies inversely with
that of the land area.

During the dry period 1895-1902 there was an almost
continuous deficiency of rain over North Bombay, Central
Provinces, Central India, and the Punjab. There was
deficient rainfall for five years in Bengal, for four years
in United Provinces and Madras, and for seven years in
east and south Punjab. The interior districts suffered
more than the coast, and those supplied by the Bombay
current more than those supplied by the Bengal current.
In 1899 the rainfall of North Bombay was 48 per cent.
below the normal, and that of Rajputana and Central
India 31 per cent. below. For five years out of eight these
areas received at least 20 per cent. less rain than the
normal.

The countries bordering on Indian area, and including
Australia and South Africa, mostly suffered from want of
rain.

During the wet period 1892-4 the monsoons were re-
markable for the length of time over which they extended
and for the persistence and steadiness of the monsoon
conditions. In the dry period 1895-1902 the monsoons
were generally characterised by their shortness. In 1896
and 1899, the years of drought, there was no prolonged
delay in the commencement of the monsoon rains, but
they stopped earlier than usual by three to seven weeks in
the case of the Bombay current, and two to six weeks in
the case of the Bengal current. This abrupt termination
of the rains had a most disastrous effect upon the crops,
especially in the Gangetic Plain and the Central Provinces.
The crops dried and withered, and famine resulted.

The drought of 1896 was due in the United Provinces
to scanty rainfall throughout the whole season, whereas
in the Central Provinces and Berar it was due to the
early termination of the rains. The year 1899 was
characterised by the lack of heavy falls (i.e. falls of more
than 3 inches in twenty-four hours) over all India, and
especially so in the field of the Bombay current.

The data available show that the rainfall for all the
countries which depend for their rain on the Indian Ocean
was in excess during 1892-4, and in defect during 1895-
1902. The rainfall over Russia, Turkestan, and Central
Asia varied from the normal in the opposite manner.

The observations of cloud amount, relative and absolute
humidity and temperature, show that the curves for these
meteorological elements agree very closely with the curve
for rainfall.

In discussing the variations of atmospheric pressure, Sir
John Eliot refers to the important fact that the long-period
variations as disclosed by barometric observations are
similar in direction, amount and epoch over the whole of
India, and gives both annual and monthly data showing
this. Examination of the data giving the monthly vari-
ation of pressure from the normal shows that there were
fairly long periods of continued excess or defect of

pressure, that there was a decided oscillation of pressure. |
Sir }

The period of oscillation is given as about two years.
Norman Lockyer and Dr. Lockyer, in a recent paper deal-

ing with the rainfall of the Thames basin, refer to the |
and speak of a,
Sir John Eliot gives a table showing the |

annual pressure variation at Bombay,
3-8-year period. j
approximate dates of the changes from excess pressure and
vice versa, and notes that these changes almost invariably
occur about the time of the change of season. ;

If these oscillations were due to exchange of air between
the Indian Ocean and southern Asia, such as might
accompany the seasonal changes, then the oscillations of
pressure over these areas would be of similar period, but
of opposite phase; but comparison of the Indian data with
data from East Indies, China, South Africa, and Australia
shows that this was not generally the case during 1895-
_1902. In 1893, when there was a deficiency of pressure
recorded at Batavia, Singapore, Cape Town, Perth, and
Adelaide, there was excess of pressure at Mauritius,
Zanzibar, Hong Kong, and Zika Wei, and over India, but

NO. 1884, vor. 73]

in other years, notably 1896, 1898, and 1899, there was a
general agreement over the whole Indian Oceanic area and
southern Asia. According to Sir John Eliot, this was not
the case previous to the period under discussion. He
says (p. 273) :—‘‘ It was shown in the memoir’ that the
pressure variation at Mauritius from 1877 to 1889 presented
long period oscillations or variations of similar period but
opposite phases to the pressure variations in India,’’ and
also (p. 276) ‘‘ the usual relation based upon previous in-
vestigations is for the pressure variations in Southern Asia
to be of opposite character or sign to those of the Indian
Oceanic region.’’ Therefore he concludes that there was
some great and abnormal movement of air affecting the
barometric pressure over half the eastern hemisphere, but
he has no data available to show the region where the
opposite variation has taken place.

Sir Norman Lockyer and Dr. Lockyer, in their paper * on
“The Similarity of the Short Period Pressure Variations
over Large Areas,”’ refer to a set of curves representing
the pressure variations in Bombay, Colombo, Batavia,
Mauritius, Perth, Adelaide, and Sydney, saying “‘ the
striking similarity between these curves shows that over
the whole of this area, which includes both north and
south latitudes, the same kind of variations is in action,
and that therefore the whole region is intimately con-
nected meteorologically.”’ ;

These curves refer to the period 1874 to 1901. Attention
might be directed to the fact that the term “‘ long-period ”’
seems to be applied by Sir John Eliot to variations which,
when discussed by Sir Norman Lockyer, are called ‘* short-
period.”’

In another paper* by Sir Norman Lockyer and Dr.
Lockyer two pressure curves are given, one for Bombay
and one for Cordoba (Argentine), which are referred to
thus :—‘‘ Dealing with the pressure of Cordoba during the
high pressure months April to September, the curve re-
presenting the variation from the mean from year to year
is exactly the inverse of the curve representing the Bombay
and other Indian pressures for the same months over the
same period of time. The cause therefore which raises the
mean value for the low pressure months over the Indian
area would appear to lower the mean value of high pressure
months at Cordoba simultaneously. In fact we have a
see-saw.”’

In a further paper * by the same authors, the surface of
the globe is divided into two areas, one having the pressure
variations of the Indian type and the other those of the
Cordoba type.

These quotations show that there is evidently a differ-
ence of opinion on the question of the similarity or dis-
similarity of the pressure conditions of Southern Asia,
Australia, and Africa previous to the year 1892; and it is
quite possible that the meteorology of these regions during
the period, 1892-1902, was not so abnormal as Sir J. Eliot
suggests.

From a discussion of the observations of variation ot
solar radiation, as indicated by the black bulb thermometer,
Sir J. Eliot states that the data indicate that during
1891 to 1896 or 1897 there was an excess of solar radiant
energy, and during 1898-1902 there was defect.

As such a defect would diminish the supply of aqueous
vapour, and consequently the rainfall, accurate observations
of the variations in solar radiation should give an explan-
ation of the variations of the rainfall and air pressure.
Observations by means of the black bulb solar radiation
thermometers are, however, not considered very satis-
factory.

Appendices to this important memoir give extracts from
various official reports on the famines of 1897 and 1900
containing information with regard to the damage to crops

and cattle. A large amount of data is also given referring
to seasonal rainfall, rainy days, pressure, and dates of
commencement and termination of the monsoon rains

during the period discussed. Twenty-one plates of curves
relating to the same observations form a not unimportant
part of the volume which they conclude. W. M.

1 ‘Indian Meteorological Memoirs,”’ vol. vi.

2 Roy. Soc. Proc., vol. \xxi., p. 134.

3 Roy. Soc. Proc., vol. \xx.. p. 502.

4 Roy. Soc. Proc,, vol. \xxiii., p. 457

138

INCA TAGIK IE,

[DECEMBER 7, 1905

PHYSIOLOGY AT THE BRITISH
ASSOCIATION.

THE section of physiology concerned itself very largely
with the consideration of questions which are of
practical importance to workers in South Africa at the
present time. Such diseases as scurvy, leprosy, and plague
offer problems which demand instant consideration, and in
some cases legislation. The treatment of these maladies
formed the subject-matter of papers by the medical officer
for Cape Colony and his staff.

The diseases of cattle are at present of great importance
in South Africa; they played a prominent part in the
proceedings, both at Cape Town and at Johannesburg.
The fate of the four colonies, but especially of Rhodesia,
is intimately bound up with their value for rearing horses,
cattle, sheep, and goats. In recent years, and more
especially since the importation of stock from all parts of
the world during and after the Transvaal war, several
forms of disease have attacked the domestic animals of
South Africa. The severity of these diseases may be
judged from the fact that 97 per cent. of the horses at
Umtali died of horse-sickness in a recent epidemic. No
more pressing problems, therefore, than the cause and
prevention of stock diseases present themselves to the
students of pathology in South Africa. At Cape Town the
morning of August 17 was devoted to their consideration.
Two important communications were given by Mr.
Hutcheon, principal veterinary surgeon for Cape Colony,
and Mr. Lounsbury, Government entomologist in Cape
Colony. Mr. Hutcheon’s great experience of the subject,
extending as it does from a time when the parasitic nature
of these diseases was unknown, and his constant and
successful efforts to combat successive devastations, render
his communication especially valuable. In recent years Mr.
Lounsbury also has done a vast amount of first-class work
in connection with the habits and life-history of the various
forms of tick which act as intermediate hosts for the
piroplasmic organisms. At Johannesburg a very compre-
hensive paper on rinderpest was given by the Hon. George
Turner, and one of much interest on horse-sickness and
similar maladies by Dr. Theiler, principal veterinary
surgeon of the Transvaal. Colonel Bruce’s presidential
address dealt also with stock diseases.

The importance of South Africa as a health resort
occupied the entire sitting of August 16. Sir Lauder
Brunton opened a discussion upon the effect of climate
upon disease and upon health. Dr. Gregory and other
South African medical officials took part in this dis-
cussion. Results also of great scientific interest upon the
effect of high altitudes on health were given by Prof. Bohr,
of Copenhagen. Mr. Barcroft described the outcome of
recent researches upon the production of heat in the in-
dividual organs of the body, and indicated the bearing
of these investigations upon the heat-formation of the
body under varying climatic and dietetic conditions.

The morning of September 1 was devoted to purely
physiological topics.

Some of fhe more important communications may be
summarised as follows :—

August 16.—Discussion on the effect of climate upon
health. Sir T. Lauder Brunton, F.R.S., pointed out that
three primary points had to be thought of in considering
climate, its effect (1) on the human body; (2) on the
organisms which give rise to disease; (3) on the carriers
of disease. After a detailed investigation of the effects
of change of environment upon protoplasm, he showed that
for every cell there was an optimum degree of humidity
and of salinity; but more important than these was the
optimum temperature. When the temperature of the body
fell below 98°-4, the vitality, not only of muscle, but of
every other tissue, became reduced. The amount of heat
produced depended upon the activity of the tissues; the
loss of heat largely depended upon the environment
(especially the temperature and the humidity). The nature
of the soil greatly affected the humidity, but often patho-
logical conditions were put down to the climate which
were attributable in reality to the effect of the geological
structure of a locality upon its water supply; for instance,
the constipation experienced by many persons at sea-side
tesorts in the south of England was not due, as often

NO. 1884, VOL. 73]

supposed, to the sea air, but to the calcareous water.
Electrical conditions were referred to, especially the observ-
ations of Wier Mitchell and Dexter in America.

Dr. Gregory pointed to the prevalence of tuberculosis in
South Africa, of which 17 per thousand of the natives and
7 per thousand of the white population died annually. On
the other hand, scarlatina, small-pox, typhoid, and in-
fluenza existed in much milder forms than in Europe.

Prof. Bohr, speaking of the effect of high altitudes upon
health, introduced the results of his most recent investi-
gations upon the invasion and evasion coefficients of
oxygen in contact with liquid surfaces, and used these
coefficients to calculate the minimum barometric pressure
which was consistent with adequate respiration. He
showed how compensation was carried out at low pressures,
which, however, were higher than the absolute possible
minimum. The full account of his investigations appears
in Nagel’s ‘‘ Text-book of Physiology ’—article on
respiration—to which the reader is referred.

Mr. Barcroft dealt with the heat production in the
organs of secretion and excretion, and showed that these
organs were responsible for a much greater share of the
heat produced in the body than was formerly supposed.
The following figures might be taken as representing our
present knowledge of the heat formation per gram_ per
minute of certain organs when at rest :—The submaxillary
gland, 0-2 calories; the kidney, 0-15 calories; skeletal
muscle, 0-02 calories. In climates, therefore, where the
opportunity for heat loss was small (e.g. hot-damp climates)
these organs should not be unduly taxed.

Other speakers were Dr. A. J. Mitchell, Prof. Sims
Woodhead, Dr. Murray, and Prof. Halliburton, F.R.S.

August 17.—Mr. Hutcheon, principal veterinary surgeon,
gave an historical account of the diseases which had
devastated the stock of South Africa—pleuropneumonia,
redwater, rinderpest, east coast fever, biliary fever, horse-
sickness, &c. Of these, heartwater, rinderpest, and horse-
sickness were the results of ultramicroscopic blood-
parasites, whilst the redwater of cattle and the east coast
fever were definite piroplasmic diseases. Ticks were
responsible for the communication of heartwater, red-
water, and east coast fever; horse-sickness was probably
communicated by a mosquito. Mr. Hutcheon went fully
into the means that were now taken for preventing these
diseases. In the cases of redwater, heartwater, and rinder-
pest inoculation had been successfully carried out.

Mr. Hutcheon attributed the absence of horses in South
Africa to the fact that zebras took horse-sickness, but not
fatally, and thus the infection was kept alive.

Mr. Chas. P. Lounsbury, Government entomologist for
Cape Colony, treated of ticks as a means of transmission
of disease. The main features in the economy of ticks
were first discussed. Amblyomma hebracum is the tick
responsible for conducting the heartwater of goats,
sheep, and cattle. It therefore prevents the successful
farming of wooled sheep and Angora goats over a con-
siderable tract of the country. The tick becomes infected
at one stage of its life-cycle and communicates the disease
at another. The requisite condition of warmth is necessary
during the metamorphosis of the tick if the disease is to
be communicated. Sheep of the Persian breed take the
disease more mildly than other varieties, and the virus is
somewhat modified by passing through them. The progeny
of the transmitting tick appears to be innocuous. Haemo-
physalis leachi is responsible for the communication of
canine piroplasmosis. Unlike Amblyomma hebraeum, this
tick only communicates the virus by means of adults which
are the progeny of infected females. The virus, therefore,
passes through the egg, and remains latent in the nymphal
and larval stages.

African east coast fever is communicated, like heart-
water, by the nymphs or adults of ticks which have them-
selves fed upon a sick animal. Five species of the genus
Eurhipicephalus, viz. appendiculatus, nitens, evertsi,
simus, and capensis, have been proved to carry this disease.

Other speakers in this discussion were Colonel Bruce,
F.R.S., Sir W. Hely-Hutchinson, Mr. Robertson, Prof.
Sims Woodhead, and Mr. Bowhill.

August 18.—Dr. Gregory gave a comprehensive paper
recounting the deductions which he had been able to make
touching the nature of scurvy as it exists in South Africa.

DECEMBER 7, 1905]

NALORE

139

His main thesis was that the scurvy of South Africa is
infectious in its nature, and probably of bacterial origin.
It is subject to seasonal variation; it occurs in epidemics
which vary in the intensity of their virulence. Its in-
cidence is greatest amongst the native races, and it has
a very high percentage of recurrences. An anti-scorbutic
diet does not prevent it. It occurs where the diet contains
a plentiful supply of fish and vegetables, and does not neces-
sarily occur where these foodstuffs are deficient. /

Dr. Mitchell gave a detailed history of the plague epi-
demics in Cape Colony. He showed that the plague in
every case was introduced by rodents, and suggested more
stringent measures to prevent the introduction of infected
animals.

Dr. R. S. Black, formerly physician to the leper asylum
at Robben Island, gave an account of leprosy in South
Africa. He dwelt on the accumulation of evidence which
existed in favour of leprosy being an infectious disease,
and the absence of any data which had come under his
notice in favour of this disease being due to the eating
of fish. In the discussion which followed the paper Prof.
Sims Woodhead pointed out the importance to patients
themselves, and to the State, of removing any ambiguity
as to the infectious nature of leprosy. It could not be too
clearly understood by the native population that the policy
of segregation was not prompted by one of a number of
rival theories, but was the result of established facts.

On August 19 some of those who had attended the
section enjoyed the hospitality of the Cape Government
at Robben Island, where they were shown the admirable
arrangements for treating the lepers.

Johannesburg, August 29.—The proceedings of the sec-
tion opened with the president’s address. This has been
printed in extenso in the columns of Nature; it is there-
fore unnecessary to refer to it here further than to say
that it struck the key-note of the whole work of the day’s
sitting. Colonel Bruce dealt very fully with the stock
diseases of South Africa from the purely scientific side.
Those whose papers followed (the Hon. George Turner
and Dr. Theiler) dealt with rinderpest and other stock
diseases from the point of view of the practical student
of the problems which these diseases offered to the farmers
and to the executive of the Transvaal. The urgency of
the situation which was caused by the rinderpest epidemics
and the success of the means which were used to cope
with them are shown, as Mr. Turner pointed out, by the
fact that 986,518 animals are estimated to have been saved
by inoculation. Roughly, four thousand five hundred litres
of serum have been used for the inoculation at a cost of
7!. 10s. per litre. In some herds the method of “ simul-
taneous injection ’’ of virulent blood and immunising serum
has been so successful that only 14 per cent. of the cattle
have fallen victims to the epidemic, whilst 1-3 per cent.
have been killed by the injection.

Dr. Theiler’s paper dealt with stock diseases generally ;
the fact, however, that his name is so intimately connected
with recent advances of knowledge into the etiology and
prevention of horse-sickness accentuated the interest of that
part of his communication which dealt with this disease.
Briefly summarised, horse-sickness especially occurs in
low-lying districts during the rainy season. Animals
are infected only at night. The infection ceases as soon
as the frost comes. The disease is inoculable in animals
of the same species, but is not contagious. Horse-sickness
is distinct from ‘‘ blaau tongue’ or catarrhal fever, which
closely resembles it in most of the above character-
istics. The virus of horse-sickness is easily destroyed by
desiccation, but it is not affected by cold. Both the above
diseases are conveyed from animal to animal by insects.
Veterinary Surgeon Spreuill has succeeded, by hyper-
immunising sheep with virulent blood, in producing a
serum which is efficacious in cases of ‘‘ blaau tongue.”
The author has achieved immunity against horse-sickness
in mules and horses by simultaneous subcutaneous injec-
tion of serum and intravenous injection of virus.

August 30.—An interesting feature of the work of the
section, and one for which it is much indebted to the
officials, was a visit to the compound hospital, presided over
by Drs. Louis G. Irvine and Donald Macaulay. As an in-
troduction to the inspection, a paper was communicated by
Dr. Macaulay and Dr. Irvine upon the conditions of native

NO. 1884, VOL. 73]

’

labour in the mines. They pointed out the great difficulty
of persuading the native workers to care for their own
health, to take even the simplest precautions, for instance,
on coming up from the deep mining levels into the cold
air. The death-rate was much lower than formerly, but
it was still very high as the result of pneumonia and
phthisis. The main problem, however, is that of
acclimatisation.

Other papers were read by Dr. Leingme on diseases of
natives, Dr. Maberley on the pharmacology of South
African drugs, and Prof. McKendrick, F.R.S., on the effect
of radium on the electric currents of the retina.

September 1.—Prof. Waller, F.R.S., gave an account of
his recent researches into the means of estimating the
percentage of chloroform vapour in air by means of the
densimeter. . He showed how frequently the cause of death
was due, not to idiosyncrasy of the patient, but to an
unsuspected increase in the dose of chloroform. This
might occur whatever method was used, but it was specially
likely to happen when the so-called ‘‘ Edinburgh method ’’
of administration with a towel was used. His experi-
ments had shown in theory what had already been proved
by practice, namely, that a mask covered with donette
delivered the proper percentage of chloroform to the
patient, namely, 2 per cent.

Dr. Pavy, F.R.S., read a paper for which the thanks
of the section are due to him in an unusually large
measure. The main thesis was based upon Dr. Pavy’s
well known view that the comparatively small molecules
into which the food is broken down in the intestine do
not exist in the blood as such. This view is the result of
so much practical experience of the treatment of diabetes
and of so much careful thought and accurate work that it
must always command the respect of physiologists if not
their adherence. The part of Dr. Pavy’s paper dealing
with the mechanism which exists for building up such
molecules as sugar into the larger molecules of which they
form but a small part was of a much more speculative
nature. The author’s view was that this function was per-
formed by the lymphocytes, which took up sugar, &c.,
much as hemoglobin acquires oxygen. The sugar is thus
built up into the molecules of living protoplasm, and is
subsequently imparted to the plasma and indirectly to the
body.

Dr. M. Armand Ruffer gave a brief account of the
evolution of the present knowledge of immunity artificially
acquired. His own researches show that the serum of
rabbits injected with human, bovine, or ovine urine dis-
solves in vitro the red blood corpuscles of that species of
animals the urine of which has been injected. It is specific,
i.e. has no action on the red blood corpuscles of any
other species of animals. The author calls lysogen the
substance which, when injected, produces a haemolytic
serum. Lysogen dialyses slowly, is not precipitated com-
pletely by alcohol, but wholly by saturation with ammonium
sulphate or lead acetate. Simple exposure to air for one
month or more destroys it, though it resists putrefaction
and is not wholly destroyed by a temperature of 100° C.
Urine contains hzmosozin or hemosozins, t.e. a substance
or substances preventing the action of hemolytic serum.
Some urines, e.g. human urine, prevent the action of serum
dissolving human, bovine, and ovine red blood corpuscles ;
others, e.g. bovine urine, act only on a serum dissolving
bovine red blood corpuscles. Dialysed urine is just as active
as ordinary urine. Hzemosozin has practically the same
physical and chemical characteristics as lysogen. Bile
contains at least two groups of hamolysins, and at least
one hzmosozin. This hzmosozin is specific, i.e. pre-
vents the haemolytic action of the bile of that species of
animals from which the hemosozin was extracted, but not
the biliary hamolysins of any other species of animals.

The paper concluded by pointing out the necessity of
making sera with isolated substances, and not with the
crude products of bacteria. By injecting crude products
it is more or less a matter of chance what the properties
of the serum will be.

The proceedings ended at Johannesburg, as they had
done at Cape Town, with an expression of thanks to the
local officials of the section who had taken infinite pains
to bring the meetings up to the high level of interest which
they attained. J. BarcRort.

140

UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL
INTELLIGENCE.

CampripGe.—This week twelve of the larger colleges are
holding their entrance scholarship examinations. They are
divided into two groups of five and seven colleges re-
spectively. Judging from the number of candidates, which
is larger than ever before, there is an unprecedented desire

amongst schoolboys to share in the endowments of
Cambridge. ;
The annual dinner of the Cambridge Philosophical

Society will take place on Saturday, December 9. It will
be held in the hall of Christ's College, and Prof. Marshall
Ward will be in the chair.

The regulations for the diploma in mining engineering
have been published in the Reporter by the special board
for physics and chemistry, together with the schedules of
the proposed examinations.

The general board of studies has approved Dr. W. L. H.
Duckworth, of Jesus College, for the degree of Sc.D.

The special board for biology and geology has adjudged
the Walsingham medal for 1905 to Mr. W. S. Perrin, of
Gonville and Caius College.

Tue new buildings of the Glasgow and West of Scotland
Technical College, which when completed will be the
largest of the kind in Great Britain, are to be opened by
the Marquess of Linlithgow, Secretary for Scotland, on
December 21.

WE learn from Science that by the will of the late Mr.
Joseph E. Gillingham, numerous bequests are made to
educational institutions, including 10,0001. each to the
University of Pennsylvania for the veterinary department,
to Haverford College, to Swarthmore College, and to Bryn
Mawr College.

Tue British Medical Journal announces that Prof.
Czerny has resigned the chair of surgery in the University
of Heidelberg, which he has held since 1877, in order to
devote himself entirely to the duties of director of the
Institute of Cancer Research. He will be succeeded in the
chair of surgery by Prof. Garré, who accepted a call to
Breslau after the death of Prof. von Mikulicz.

A FEW months ago Sir Donald Currie offered a sum of
20,0001. to Queen’s College, Belfast, provided a like sum
was contributed by the friends of the college before the
end of the present month. The sum of 3000l. was required
to complete this contribution, and this has now been
subscribed by Sir Otto Jaffe, chairman of the executive
committee of the better equipment fund of Queen’s College.
The college will therefore now receive 40,000l. toward its
better equipment.

At the annual meeting of the court of Liverpool Uni-
versity on November 30, the Pro-Chancellor announced that
the university would shortly receive from the executors of
the late Mr. J. L. Bowes, of Liverpool, a sum of about
8oo00l., to be divided between the departments of modern
languages: and chemistry. A resolution was adopted to the
effect that the decision of the court as to the formation of
a school of military instruction be deferred until the court
is in possession of fuiler information as to the need of
such a proposed school, and that meanwhile the council
be requested to take no further steps towards its establish-
ment.

Tue new techno-chemical institute of the Charlotten-
burg Technical High School was opened on November 25
in the presence of a distinguished scientific audience, which
included the Imperial Minister of Education, Dr. Studt,
accompanied by Geh. Rat. Naumann and Freiherr von
Thielmann, Profs. Emil Fischer, van ’t Hoff, Landolt,
Nernst, Beckmann, Will, von Knorre, Liebermann, and
the following representatives of chemical industries :—Prof.
Duisberg, Prof. Lepsius, Dr. Oppenheim, Dr. Knietsch,
Dr. von Martius, Dr. Kunheim Kommerzienrat Brunck,
Messrs. Birkeland, Eyde, Pettersson, and others. The
new institute is a fine five-storeyed building, excellently
equipped with the best of modern chemical laboratory
arrangements and apparatus. The director, Prof. Dr.
O. N. Witt, in his opening address, after dwelling upon
the history and the aim of this, the newest addition

NO: 16Sy VOL.) 73)

NATURE

[ DECEMBER 7, 1905

to the Charlottenburg High School, detailed Birke-
land and Eyde’s method for the fixation of atmospheric
nitrogen, and illustrated his account by an experiment
carried out on a large scale. After the address the
Educational Minister, Dr. Studt, decorated Prof. Witt with
the Order of the Red Eagle, third class, and the architect,
Dr. Kérber, with the Order of the Red Eagle, fourth
class.

A DEPUTATION from colleges connected with the teaching
of agriculture who desired additional grants for research
and higher education in agricultural science from the
Imperial Exchequer was received by Sir Thomas Elliott
at the Board of Agriculture on Tuesday. Sir Isambard
Owen, the principal of the Armstrong College, Newcastle-
upon-Tyne, stated the case on behalf of the deputation.
It was urged that higher agricultural education was a
public necessity, the cost of which could not be reasonably
expected to be met in a very large proportion from local
sources, and that they were amply justified in asking for
State assistance. Sir Thomas Elliott, in reply, said that
the Treasury had not hitherto met the demands of. agri-
culturists illiberally altogether. Fifteen years ago the grant
was 4500l., and now it was 10,5501. Of course, it was
difficult to get increased local contributions owing to the
increase of educational burdens upon local authorities.
He quite agreed with the deputation that there was great
room for the development of scientific research. There were
great problems to be solved of an economic character which
would produce results far beyond the cost of investigation
or experiments. He thought the time had come for the
coordination of the various agencies for agricultural re-
search in this country. The Board had the fullest sympathy
with the work which the colleges had done, and he hoped
it would be able in some measure to meet their aspirations.

Avr the winter session last week the General Medical
Council considered the report of the education committee
on the question whether the adoption of the following
resolutions would not help to secure the attainment of the
object which the council had in view in instituting the
five years’ curriculum :—‘‘ (1) That the preliminary scientific
examination in physics, biology, and chemistry should be
passed before the student begins the qualifying study of
anatomy and physiology; (2) that before being admitted
to the final examination the student should produce evidence
that he has devoted the last year of his curriculum ex-
clusively to practical and clinical work and study.’? The
committee reported that the main effect of the proposed
change would be seriously to lengthen the curriculum and
thus to render entrance to the profession more difficult and
expensive. At present the curriculum is far more often one
of six or even more years—and this even in the case of
industrious students—than one of five. With regard to the
second resolution, the committee held that distinct evidence
of clinical and practical study in the fifth year should be
produced by the student, showing that his time in that
period of his curriculum had been mainly occupied in such
work, but they would not suggest any regulation which
should absolutely limit the work of each session of the
period of professional study. Dissatisfaction was, how-
ever, expressed with the committee’s report, and the sub-
ject is to be re-considered. The two following questions
were referred to the education committee to be investigated
and reported upon:—(1) As to the desirability of trans-
ferring the preliminary science subjects of physics, biology,
and chemistry from the curriculum of medical studies to
a stage preliminary to the commencement of the curri-
culum; and (2) as to the advisability of requiring a five
years’ period of study, even after removing from the curri-
culum these preliminary science subjects.

THE report of the Board of Education for the year 1904-5
has now been published. After a general review of the
work of the Board, detailed particulars of the following
classes of schools are given in order :—public elementary
schools, secondary schools and technical institutions, even-
ing schools and schools of art. In the section dealing with
secondary schools, the report lays it down that, “‘ although
it would be inexpedient and unjust to withdraw approval,
and the support hitherto given, from those schools which
have already been organised with a curriculum which. is
specialised from the first on the side of applied science, if

DECEMBER 7, 1905]

it can be shown that such a course is suitable to the
circumstances of the locality in which the school is placed,
yet it is not the intention of the Board to sanction the
adoption of this special course in any fresh school.’? This
decision is a little dificult to understand. If it can be
shown at present that some schools, in which science takes
a specially prominent part, are suitable to the locality in
which the school is placed, it would appear reasonable
to suppose that other localities in the future may demon-
strate the need for a precisely similar type of school, and
yet the Board has decided beforehand that—such demon-
stration notwithstanding—there shall be no more such
schools. Experience has shown that the so-called *‘ school
of science’ is capable of supplying just the training boys
from elementary schools in manufacturing centres require
to prepare them for their work in life, and it is to be hoped
in these cases that every encouragement will be given to
a definite course of study in science in the schools. All
educationists of experience agree with the Board’s
opinion, expressed in subsequent paragraphs of the report,
that premature specialisation in the work of ordinary
secondary schools is to be discouraged, and that a well
balanced curriculum, comprising literary and practical sub-
jects taught in a scientific manner, is of prime importance ;
but such agreement does not preclude the possibility of
applying special remedies to special needs. It is satis-
factory to find that the report contains abundant evidence
of a continued improvement in the work of secondary
schools and technical institutions.

SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES.

Lonpon.

Royal Society, November 16.—‘‘ The Transit of Ions in
the Electric Arc.’’ By A. A. Campbell Swinton. Com-
municated by the Hon. C. A. Parsons, C.B., F.R.S.

The paper describes an experiment designed to show that
in the electric arc the positive and negative electrodes emit
carriers or ions which are respectively positively and
negatively charged, and, after travelling across the arc,
bombard the opposite electrode. The method adopted re-
sembles that employed by Perrin to prove the negative
charge carried by kathode rays. A small hole was pierced
axially through one of the carbon electrodes, and immedi-
ately behind this aperture was fixed an insulated Faraday
cylinder of brass which had its aperture in line with, and
facing the aperture in, the electrode. A galvanometer con-
necting the insulated cylinder and the pierced electrode
measured any difference of potential between the two. The
second electrode was an ordinary carbon pencil, and as
this was made positive or negative it was found that positive
or negative charges respectively were communicated to
the insulated Faraday cylinder, provided the are covered
the aperture in the pierced electrode, but not otherwise.
These results, which confirm the theory as enunciated
above, were obtained both in air at atmospheric pressure
and also in vacuo up to what could be obtained with a
mechanical air pump. The galvanometer deflections in-
creased considerably with the degree of exhaustion, and
at any given degree a much larger deflection was obtained
when the second electrode was made negative and the
cylinder was being charged negatively than when the
contrary was the case, this corresponding with the known
fact that negative ions have a higher velocity than have
positive ions.

Geological Society, November 8.—Dr. J. E. Marr,
F.R.S., president, in the chair.—The coast-ledges in
the south-west of the Cape Colony: Prof. E. H. L.
Schwarz. The author compares the shelves of Cape
Colony with those described on the European and American
sides of the North Atlantic, and he places the ‘‘ absolute
base-level of erosion’’ at 12,000 feet in North America,
8000 feet in Europe, and 1200 feet in South Africa. With
these varying heights he correlates the topography of the
bordering continents—the sharp divides, open river-valleys,
permanent rivers and deltas, of Europe and America, where
_ the movement has been downward and has almost reached
bottom, in contrast with the flat undenuded divides, the
steep, narrow gorges, the waterfalls, and the rocky river-
gates, of South Africa, which is on the upgrade and prob-

No. 1884, VOL. 73]

NATURE

| of April 13, 1902.

141

ably near the top.—Lhe Glacial period in Aberdeenshire
and the southern border of the Moray Firth: T. F.
Jamieson. One of the most interesting features in the
glacial geology of Aberdeenshire is the Red Clay found
along the eastern coast of the county. The purer masses
of clay seem to have formed in a sheet of water lying in
front of the ice, between it and the land, during the retreat
of the Aberdeenshire ice, and at a time when the coast
was submerged beneath water to a level exceeding 300 feet
above the present coast-line. Evidence of the northward
motion of the ice is given from striz, the transport and
removal of flints, and the bending-over of the edges of folia
of gneiss. The Red Clay is underlain by a Grey Clay, and
sometimes covered by a similar one. The author has
recently discovered remains of a still older, dark indigo
in colour, and containing small fragments of sea-shells.
On the southern border of the Moray Firth the author
gives examples of glacial marking on the rocks, and refers
to the transport of boulders, including a huge mass of
Oolitic rocks 40 feet thick, a mass of clay once considered
to be an outlier of Lias, ‘‘ pipe-rock,’’ and the fossiliferous
Greensand débris at Moreseat, now considered to have been
transported by ice.

November 22.—Dr. J. E. Marr, F.R.S., president, in
the chair—On a new specimen of the chimeroid fish
Myriacanthus paradoxus, Ag., from the Lower Lias_ of
Lyme Regis (Dorset): Dr. A. S. Woodward. The
author, having proved that the dorsal fin-spine of the so-
called Ischyodus othorhinus is identical with an ichthy-
odorulite which has been named Myriacanthus granulatus,
inferred that the larger ichthyodorulite M. paradoxus
belonged to the same fish as the larger dentition named
Prognathodus Guentheri by Egerton. This question has
been settled by the discovery by Mr. S. Curtis, in the
Lower Lias of Black Ven, of a dorsal fin-spine in direct

‘ connection with a mass of decayed cartilage, dermal plates,

and teeth. The new fossil warrants the conclusion that
Myriacanthus is a chimeeroid, closely similar to the Upper
Jurassic Chimzropsis, with (1) a median chisel-shaped
tooth in front of the lower jaw; (2) a few tuberculated
dermal plates on the head; and (3) a tuberculated dorsal
fin-spine. In these respects it differs from all other known
chimzroids—even from the comparatively primitive types
which have been discovered during recent years in the
Japanese seas. The Myriacanthidz, in fact, have still no
nearer ally than Callorhynchus, with which Egerton
originally compared his so-called Ischyodus orthorhinus.—
The rocks of the cataracts of the: River Madeira and the
adjoining portions of the Beni and Mamoré: Dr. J. W.
Evans. The crystalline rocks of the cataracts of the River
Madeira and the lower waters of its tributaries are part
of a ridge with a north-westerly and south-easterly strike,
similar to that of the Andes in the same latitudes. This
strike is especially prevalent in equatorial regions. With
the exception of comparatively recent alluvial deposits and
a few pebbles of chert, pronounced by Dr. G. J. Hinde to
be of marine origin, but uncertain date, only crystalline
rocks are met with in the falls. They all appear to be
igneous, and are mostly massive in character, though some
dyke-rocks occur. In places they are typical gneisses, and
they are often banded, but in some cases they show no
signs of foliation. The prevailing type is acid, with a con-
siderable proportion of alkalies, especially soda; but some

of the rocks are distinctly basic in character.—The
Doncaster earthquake of April 23, 1905: Dr. Charles
Davison. The Doncaster earthquake of 1905 was a twin,

with its principal epicentre half a mile north of Bawtry,
and the other about 4 miles east of Crowle and close to
the centre of the disturbed area of the Hessle earthquake
The distance between the two epicentres
is about 17 miles. The disturbed area contains about
17,000 square miles, including the whole of the counties of
Lincoln, Nottingham, Derby, Stafford, Leicester, and Rut-
land, the greater part of Yorkshire, and portions of
Lancashire, Cheshire, Shropshire, Worcestershire, Warwick-
shire, Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire, and Norfolk.
The originating fault runs from about E. 38° N. to
W. 38° S., and appears to be nearly vertical within the
south-western focus and inclined to the south-east in the
north-eastern focus. The first and stronger movement took
place within the south-western focus. A twin-earthquake

142

NA TORE

[D&cEMBER 7, 1905

is probably due to the differential growth of a crust-fold
along a fault which intersects it transversely, the first
movement, as a rule, being one of rotation of the middle
limb, accompanied by the almost simultaneous slip of the
two arches, and followed soon afterwards by a shift of the
middle limb.

Zoological Society, November 14.—Mr. G. A. Boulenger,
F.R.S., vice-president, in the chair.—Exhibitions.—(1) The
mounted head and skin of a white water-buck (Kobus
ellipsiprymnus) from British East Africa; (2) two mounted
heads of the rhinoceros, one of which showed abnormal
growth of the anterior horn, whilst the other bore four
horns, viz. two on the nose, one between the ears, and one
nearly at the back of the head: Colonel W. H. Broun.
(1) Specimens of a very rare and interesting marsupial,
hitherto unique, in the Paris Museum, viz. Dactylopsila
palpator, Milne-Edw., which differed from D. trivirgata by
the extremely thin prolonged second finger; (2) two tusks
which had been obtained by Baron Maurice de Rothschild
during his recent expedition to Abyssinia: Hon. W.
Rothschifd.—Microscopic preparations of a new hzemo-
sporidian from the blood of an African stork (Leptoptilus
crumeniferus): A. S. Hurst. The exhibitor pointed out

that this parasite belonged to the genus Halteridium, but
differed from H. danilewskyi in its greater size (stade

moyen 7-10 #), and also in its method of sporulation, in
which the merozoites were more numerous, smaller, and
arranged in a_ ball-like rounded mass. The name

Halteridium crumenium was proposed for the new species.
—A letter from Mr. William Rodier, of Tambua Station,
Cobar, N.S.W., concerning the continued success of Mr.
Rodier’s plan for counteracting the rabbit pest: Dr. P. L.
€clater. The plan consisted simply in catching the rabbits
alive and killing the females only, letting the males go
free.—The Satyrus indicus of Tulpius, said to be the type
of the, genus Simia: H. Scherren. Remarks were made
with the view of showing that the animal was a gorilla,
and was recognised before the middle of the eighteenth
century as differing from a chimpanzee. The distinction
between the tschego and the ngina was, he said, known in
England in the first quarter of the nineteenth century.—
Papers.—On the papillary ridges in mammals, chiefly
primates : Dr. W. Kidd. The arrangements of the ‘ridges on
the hand and foot of twenty-four species were shown and
described, and their functions discussed. Arguments were
brought forward to show that their primary function was
to increase the delicacy of the sense of touch.—On the
mammals brought back by the Tibet Mission: J. L.
Eonhote. The collection was very small, containing
examples of only some eight species, three of which were

described as new, viz.:—(1) Vulpes vulpes waddelli,
subsp.n. Similar to V. flavescens, but the whole color-
ation much brighter, especially the median dorsal area,

which was deep red and markedly distinct from the colour
vt the flanks. (2) Cricetulus lama, sp.n. Allied to

phaeus, but much greyer in general coloration, and the
oh somewhat longer and stouter. (3) Microtus (Phacomys)

waltoni, sp.n. Closely allied in skull characters to Ph.
blythi. The general coloration, however, was fulvous-
grey, slightly greyer over the anterior part of the body.—

Notes on the ‘geographical distribution of the okapi: Dr.
E. Lénnberg.—Observations on the Goral (Cemas goral)

in Burma: Major G. F. Evans.—A collection of the
mammals of Crete: Miss D. M. A. Bate. Examples of
sixteen forms, of which six were described as new sub-

species, were contained in the collection, and these were
enumerated and remarked upon in the paper.

BLY sical Society, November 24.—Prof. J. H. Poynting,
F.R.S., president, in the chair.—The dielectric strength of
air . Russell. The author makes the assumption that
for distances apart greater than about a millimetre when
the disruptive voltage is V_ kilovolts the effective P.D.
between the ends of the Faraday tube which is subject to
the maximum stress is W—e, where e is the minimum
sparking voltage. Applying formulz which he has deduced,
using this assumption, to tests of Heydweiller, Steinmetz,
Algermissen, &c., the author finds that they agree in
making the dielectric strength of air 38 kilovolts per cm.
approximately. A knowledge of this quantity enables us
to find, not only the disruptive voltages between electrodes

No. 1884, VOL. 73]

of many geometrical shapes, but it also enables us to find
the ‘critical ’’’ pressure for overhead electric-power trans-
mission at high pressures.—On the electrical conductivity
of flames for rapidly alternating currents: Dr. H. A.
Wilson and E. Gold. The following is a summary of
the results :—(1) For rapidly alternating currents a flame
containing an alkali salt vapour behaves like an insulating
medium of high specific inductive capacity. (2) The con-
ductivity of different allxali-salt vapours in a flame for
rapidly alternating currents, as measured by the apparent
capacity of platinum electrodes immersed in the flame,
varies as the square root of the conductivity of the same
salt vapours for steady currents. This result confirms the
view that the negative ions from all salts have the same
velocity. (3) The apparent capacity varies nearly inversely
as the square root of the maximum applied P.D. (4) The
apparent capacity is nearly independent of the number of
alternations per second. (5) The apparent capacity is
nearly independent of the distance between the electrodes.
(6) The results (1) to (5) are in agreement with the
ionic theory of the conductivity of the flame for rapidly
alternating currents when the velocity of the positive ions
and the inertia and viscous resistance to the motion of the
negative ions are neglected in comparison with the effects
due to the number of ions per c.c. (7) The apparent
capacity per sq. cm. area of the electrodes is equal to
/ne/8rV,, where n is the number of positive ions per
c.c., e the charge on one ion, and V, the maximum applied
P.D. (8) Not more than one molecule in ten of salt
molecules is ionised at any instant, but each molecule is
probably ionised and re-combines several million times per
second. (9) The steady currents observed through salt
vapours in flames are very far from the maximum possible
currents corresponding to the number of ions produced per
second.—On the lateral vibrations of loaded and unloaded
bars: J. Morrow. This is a continuation of the work
previously communicated by the author on the vibration of
bars of uniform and varying sectional area. By means of
a method of continuous approximation the elastic displace-
ment curves and the frequency of the lateral vibrations of
bars can be determined to any required degree of accuracy.
The method is first applied to some cases of unloaded bars,
and also to massless bars carrying concentrated loads.
The paper then deals with the principal problems of loaded
bars which are themselves of appreciable mass.

MANCHESTER.

Literary and Philosophical Society, October 31.—Prof.
W. Boyd-Dawkins, F.R.S., vice-president, in the chair.
—On a biological aspect of cancer: F. J. Faraday. The
author directed attention to a paper with this title read by

him in 1899, and printed in vol. xliii. of the society’s
Memoirs. Several of the conclusions recently arrived at
by the cancer research committee were therein fore-

that cancer is not a microbic disease, but
arrest of development and differentiation
among the somatic cells, growth being restricted to mere
gemmation.—Some recent researches into the nutrition of
the egg cell in certain plants: Dr. Marie C. Stopes. The
special group of plants on which the author worked was
that including the pine trees, Ginkgo, and the Cycads,
viz. the Gymnosperms. Though the egg cells in this group
are in many ways different from those of the flowering
plants, the results have some bearing on the question of
nutrition of egg cells in general, as well as some points
of general technique. Much of the work was done in
conjunction with Prof. Fujii, of Tokio, with whom the
author is publishing a joint paper on the subject in
Germany.—A model to illustrate the propagation of sound
waves: Dr. H. Ramsden. The model consists of a
series of magnetised needles, suspended vertically so as to
vibrate in the same plane with their like poles downwards,
and is designed to show (since the needles were constructed
and regulated to have equal times of oscillation) most of
the phenomena of the longitudinal transmission of waves.

November 14.—Sir W. H. Bailey, president, in the chair.
—Seaweed: C. L. Barnes. The author read some extracts
from the classical writers which showed in how little
esteem seaweed was held by the ancients, it being re-
garded by them as the most useless of things. He then
showed, by an enumeration of some of the uses to which

shadowed, e.g.
is due to an

DECEMBER 7, 1905 |

NATURE

143

seaweed is now put, that the moderns had effectually
removed this reproach that had been put upon it.—An
experiment showing some convection effects in a heated
liquid: C. H. Burgess. A U-tube is filled in the lower
half with hydrochloric acid coloured by a dye, and in the
upper with plain acid, and the liquids are allowed to
diffuse so as to give a shaded band. The liquid is then
heated by the passage of an electric current, and is resolved
into a series of well marked layers.

Paris.

Academy of Sciences, November 27.—M. Troost in the
chair.—On the distillation of copper: Henri Moissan.
Copper can be readily distilled in the electric furnace.
When the vapour is condensed on a cool body, a felted
mass of copper filaments is obtained, presenting all the
properties of ordinary metallic copper. Copper at its boil-
ing point dissolves carbon, graphite, partly crystalline and
partly amorphous, separating out on cooling.—On the
benzylidene derivatives of anthrone and anthranol: A.
Halier and M. Padova. Amongst the reduction products
of anthraquinone, Liebermann isolated a compound
C,,H,,O, to which one of two formule could be assigned.
The reactions described in the present paper show that this
behaves as a tautomeric body, giving rise to derivatives
of the ketone, anthrone.—Researches on intensive nitrifi-
cation: A. Muntz and E. Laime. The principal aim of
the present research was to find out a means of producing
nitre on a large scale for the manufacture of explosives.
Animal charcoal! has been found to be the best support for
the nitrifying organism when strong solutions of ammonium
salts are employed, a litre of animal charcoal giving 8-1
grams of nitre per day. The maximum concentration of
ammonium sulphate permissible has been found to be
7-5 Srams per litre. It is shown that it would be possible
to produce nitrates in quantities sufficient for the manu-
facture of explosives in the case of the external supply
being stopped.—On the total eclipse of the sun of August
30, 1905: Ch. André. It is shown that the study of the
eclipse by a series of micrometric measurements gave
results at least as good as the direct determination of the
times of the external contacts.—On the luminous intensity
of the solar corona during the total eclipse of August 30,
1905: Charles Fabry. The observations were carried out
at Burgos with a Lummer photometer. The intensity
found was about three-quarters that of the full moon.—
On groups of continuous curves: Maurice Fréchet.—On
the non-uniform divergence and convergence of Fourier’s
series: H. Lebesgue.—On the coefficient of utilisation of
helices: Edgar Taffoureau. A motor of 205 horse-
power, working two helices of 7-767 metres diameter, can
sustain a useful weight of 506 kilograms.—On the definition
of the magnifying power of microscopical objectives: L.
Maiassez. The author proposes to define the magnifying
power as the magnification produced by the objective at
unit distance from its posterior face.—Researches on the
purity of electrolytes. The determination of an upper limit
of hydrolysis of concentrated saline solutions by the use
of symmetrical liquid chains presenting a fresh surface
of contact: M. Chanoz.—The difference of potential under
which the kathode rays are produced: Jean Malassez.
The author’s experiments tend to show that, contrary to
the views put forward by J. J. Thomson, the difference
of potential under which the kathode rays are produced
is the difference actually existing between the anode and
the kathode.—The decomposition of ammonium sulphate
by hot sulphuric acid in the presence of platinum: Marcel
Delépine. In the presence of platinum, ammonium
sulphate is destroyed by boiling sulphuric acid. The fact
has an important bearing on the determination of nitrogen
‘by the Kjeldahl method.—On a commercial silicide of
copper: Paul Lebeau. A commercial specimen of copper
silicide contained 51 per cent. of free silicon, 44 per cent.
of copper silicide, and 4 per cent. of silicide of iron. The
silicide was isolated, and, contrary to the accepted
view, and in spite of the excess of free silicon, was found
to consist of SiCu, instead of SiCu,—Chemical oxydases
acting in the presence of hydrogen peroxide: G. Baudran.
-——The molecular refraction and dispersion of compounds
containing the acetylenic grouping : Charles Moureau. It
is shown that the additive law in the case of the molecular

NO. 1884, VOL. 73]

refraction and dispersion of substituted acetylenes does not
correspond with the experimental facts.—The petro-
graphical examination of some volcanic rocks from the
Tuamotou Islands and Pitcairn Island: Albert Michel-
Lévy.—On sterile fruits developed without the intervention
of the male element: Th. Solacotu. The reserves accumu-
lated at the base of the flower or in the neighbouring parts
with a view to the normal development of the pistil after
fertilisation are utilised in certain species, even when
fertilisation has not taken place, with the formation of a
false fruit—On a new enemy of the coffee plant in New
Caledonia: 1. Gallaud. The disease is known locally as
Koleroga or Candellilo, and is caused by a fungus, Pelli-
cularta Koleroga.—Statistical researches on the evolution
of the height in flax: Mlle. M. Stefanowski and M.
Henri Chrétien.—The cervical covering in the nauplius
stage of Artemia salina: Nicolas de Zograf.—On a sup-
posed case of reproduction by budding in annelids: Ch.
Gravier.—The trophoplasmic spherules of the ciliated
infusoria: J. Kumstler and Ch. Gineste.—Researches on
a supposed ovulase of spermatozoids: Antoine Pizon.
Pieri’s theory, that the segmentation of the egg is started
by a ferment (ovulase) of spermatic origin, has been ex-
amined experimentally under more rigorous conditions than
those obtaining in Pieri’s original experiments, and no
evidence of the existence of such a ferment was obtained.
The author’s conclusion is that Pieri’s experiments were
not carried out with sufficient care.—The toxic power of
the seminal fluid and general considerations on the
poisonous character of the genital products: Gustave
Loisel.—On the influence of the salts intimately related
to the albumenoids and to the diastatic materials in
proteolysis: G. Malfitane.—On the function of salts on
the production of activity in the pancreatic juice: the
specific action of calcium: C. Delezenne.—The oxidation
of organic substances by ferrous sulphate in the presence
of extracts of animal tissues: F. BattelliiThe emersion
of the land during the Cretaceous period in Greece: Ph.
Négris.—On the geological structure of the Cantabrian
Cordillera in the province of Santander: Pierre Termier.
—On the Carboniferous and Permian deposits in Corsica:
M. Deprat.—The layer of fossil vertebrates of Maragha:
M. de Mecquenem.—Measurements of the intensity of
the earth’s electric field and of the ionisation of the
atmosphere during the total eclipse of the sun of August 30,
1905: G. Le Cadet.

Catcurta.

Asiatic Society of Bengal, November 1.—Some remarks
on the geology of the Gangetic plain: E. Molony. The
present valley of the Ganges in the United Provinces of
Agra and Oudh has been excavated from an older alluvium,
the eroding power of the river being due to submergence
in the lower part of the course of the river at some remote
period. The older alluvium sometimes forms islands in
the midst of the newer alluviums, or Khadir, and is
characterised by the presence of nodular limestone
(Kankar). The boundary between the two formations is
usually distinct. The main direction of the course of the
river is determined by the channels in the older alluvium,
erosion in which takes place very slowly. In stiff clay the
average rate is 11 feet per annum. The records of the
Lucknow boring indicate that the strata at a depth of
more than 1000 feet are inclined, probably from north to
south, and this is taken as evidence of a relative sub-
mergence of the southern portion of the Gangetic plain.
—Note on the species, habits, and external characters of
the dugong: Dr. N. Anmandale. The author has ex-
amined a considerable series of Indian and Australian
skulls and skeletons of Halicore. He regards the differ-
ences between them as individual, and sees no reason to
recognise more than one species, H. dugong. He gives
the measurements of a fully adult male recently caught in °
the Gulf of Manaar, and describes its external characters,
especially those of the head and mouth. He points out
that the dugong has probably altered its habits considerably
within the last half-century, at any rate in Indian waters,
and shows that its food includes true algze.—Hedyotis
stsaparensis, a hitherto undescribed Indian species : Captain
A. T. Gage. Description of a new species of Hedyotis
found by the author in the Calcutta Herbarium, from the
Nilgiri district. It is most nearly related to H. mollis

144

NATURE

[| DECEMBER 7, 1905

(Wall.).—Materials for a flora of the Malayan Peninsula,
No. 18: Sir George King, KX.C.I.E., F.R.S., and J. S.
Gamble, F.R.S. Owing to an unforeseen cause of delay,
it has been found necessary to postpone the publication
of the natural orders No. 75, Apocynaceze, No. 76,
Asclepiadacez, and No. 77, Loganiaceze, for a short while;
consequently the present part, No. 18 of the ‘* Materials
for a Flora of the Malayan Peninsula,’’ contains the orders
which succeed, viz. No. 79, Hydrophyllacez, to No. 85,
Lentibulariacee, inclusive, together with No. 87, Bignoni-
acez, and No. 88, Pedalince No. 78, Gentienacez, has
already appeared in part xvii., and No. 86, Gesneracee,
will come later on.

DIARY OF SOCIETIES.
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7. :

Royat Scciety, at 4.30.—The Periodogram and its Optical Analogy ;
with an Illustration from a Discussion of Observations of Sun spots : Prof,
A. Schuster, F.R.S.—(1) On a Property which holds good for all Group-
ings of a Normal Distribution of Frequency for two Variables, with Appli-
cations to the Study of Contingency-tables for the Inheritance of Un-
measured Qualities; (2) On the Influence of Bias and of Personal
Equation in Statistics of Ill-defined Qualities: an Experimental Study :
G. Udny Yule.—On the Inheritance of Coat-colour in Horses: C. C.
Hurst.—Further Experiments on Inheritance in Sweet Peas and Stocks
(Preliminary Account): W. Bateson, F.R.S., E. R. Saunders, and R. C.
Punnett.—A Biometrical Study of Conjugation in Paramacium: Dr.
Raymond Pearl.—On Mathematical Concepts of the Material World:
A. N. Whitehead, F.R.S.—The Determination of the Osmotic Pressure
of Solutions by the Measurement of their Vapour Pressures : The Earl of
Berkeley and E. G. Hartley.—The Vertical Temperature Gradients on
the West Coast of Scotland andat Oxshott, Surrey: W. H. Dines, F.R.S.
—The Combination of Hydrogen and Oxygen in contact with Hot
Surfaces: Dr. W. A. Bone, F.R.S., and R. V. Wheeler.—Fifth and Sixth
Catalogues of the Comparative Brightness of the Stars: in Continuation
of those printed in the P/rl. Tvans. {or 1796-99. (Prepared for press from
the original MS. Records by Colonel J. Herschel, R.E., F.R.S.): The
late Dr. Herschel, F.R.S.—On the Cytology of Malignant Growths : Prof.
J. B. Farmer, F.R.S., J. E. S. Moore, and C. E. Walker.—A Gas
Calorimeter: C. V. Boys, F.R.S.

Society oF ARTS, at 4.30.—The Partition of Bengal: Sir James A.
Bourdillon, K.C.S.1.

CHEMICAL SociETy, at 8.30.—The Constitution of Nitrites, Part I., Two
Varieties of Silver Nitrite: P. C. Ray and A. C. Ganguli.—-The Products
of Heating Silver Nitrite: E. Divers.—tthyl Piperonylacetate: W. H.
Perkin, Jun., and RK. Robinson —A Contribution to the Chemistry of
Saccharin: F. D. Chattaway,—The Action of Heat on a-Hydrocarboxylic
Acids, Part IJ.: H. R. Le Sueur.—Studies on Optically Active
Carbimides, Part I]., The Reactions between 1-Menthylcarbimide and
Alcohols: R.- H. Pickard, W. O Littlebury, and A. Neville —lhe
Action of Ultra-violet Light on Moist and Dried Mixtures of Carbon
Monoxide and Oxygen: 8. Chadwick, J. E. Ramsbottom and D. L.
Chapman.

INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—The Charing Cross
Company's City of London Works: W. H. Patchell.

Civit AnD MECHANICAL ENGINEERS’ Society, at 8.—Concrete Mixers :
Dr. J. S. Owens.

LINNEAN Society, at 8.—On the Etiology of Leprosy : Dr. Jonathan
Hutchinsox, F.R.S.—Some Notes on the Life-history of Marsarttifera
Paneseae: A. W. Allen.—Exhibition: Photographs of a Luxuriant
Specimen of Shortia uniflora, in the Rock-garden of Mr. W. T.
Hindmarsh, at Alnwick.

RONTGEN Society, at 8.15.—The Spontaneous Action of Radium and
other Bodies on Gelatin Media: J. Butler Burke.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8.

Roya ASTRONOMICAL Society, at 5.—Results of Recent Investigations
Relating to Sun-spot Periods : Prof. A. Schuster.—On the Present State of
Lunar Nomenclature: S A Saunder.—On a New Method of Determining
the Moon's Position Photographically: E. B. H. Wade.—Reproduction
photographique des Réseaux photographiques : H. Bourget.—(1) Position
of the Axis of Mars: (2) Comparative Charts of the Region following 6
Ophiuchi: Percival Lowell. —Comparison of the Results from the Falmouth
Declination and Horizontal Force Magnetographs on Quiet Days in Years
of Sun-spot Maximum and Minimum: Dr. Charles Chree.—Note on the
Astronomical Value of Ancient Statements of Solar Eclipses: Prof.
Simon Newcomb.—On the Conditions Determining the Formation of
Cloud Spheres and Photospheres : A. W. Clayden.—On Testing Parabolic
Mirrors; with some Results of the Tests as Applied to some Mirrors at
Oxford: Rev. C. D. P. Davies.—Promised pager: On the Astronomical
Observations recorded in the Nihongi, the Ancient Chronicle of Japan:
E. B. Knobel.

Mavacotocicat Society, at 8.—(1) A Revision of the Species of Cyclo-
stomatide and Liotiide occurring in the Persian Gulf and North Arabian
Sea; (2) Description of Two Species of Marine Shells from Ceylon:
J. Cosmo Melvill.—A Pteropod Alias: (a) C. Hedley, (4) E. R. Sykes.—
(1) Descriptions of Four new Species of Marine Shells from Ceylon ; (2)
Description of a new Species of Physa from N.W. Australia: H. B.
Preston.—Notes (1) on the Dates of Publication of J. D. Wilhelm
Hartmann’s “ Erd- und Siisswasser-Gasteropoden,”’ 8vo, St. Gallen, 1840 ;
(2) On Some ‘ Feeding Tracks” of Gastropods: (3) On Cement as a
Slug-killer : B. B. Woodward.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 11.

Society oF Arts, at 8.—The Measurement of High Frequency Currents

and Electric Waves: Prof. J. A. Fleming, F.R.S.
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 12.

ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY, at 8.30.

Faravay Society, at 8.—The Physics of Ore Flotation: J. Swinburne
and Dr. G. Rudorf.—The Concentration of Metalliferous Sulphides by

No. 1884, VoL. 73]

the Flotation Process: Prof. A. K. Huntington.—The Ions of Pure
Water: Prof. J. Walker, F.R.S.

InsTiTUTION oF CivIL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Adyourned Discussion: The
Steam-Turbine: Hon. C. A. Parsons, C.B, F.R.S., and G. G. Stoney.—

WEDNESDAY, DECEMEER 13.

Society or Arts, at 8.—The Commerce and Industries of Japan: W. F.
Mitchell.

THURSDAY, DECFEMPER 14

ROYAL Society, at 4.30.—Probadle papers: An Investigation into the
Structure of the Lumbo-sacral-coccyzcal Cord of the Macaque Monkey
(Macacus sinicus): Miss M. P. Fitzgera'd.—On the Distribution of
Chlorides in Nerve Cells and Fibres: Prof. A. C. Macallum and Miss
M. L. Menten.—The Mammalian Cerebral Cortex, with Special Reference
to its Comparative Histology. I. Order Insectivora: Dr. G. A. Watson. .
—Observations on the Development of Ornithorhynchus: Prof. J. T.
Wilson and Dr. J. P. Hill.—Further Work on the Development of the
Hepatomonas of Kala-Azar and Cachexial Fever from Leishman-Donovan
Bodies: Dr. lL. Rogers.—The Action of Anzsthetics on Living Tissues.
Part I. ‘the Action on Isolated Nerve: N. H. Alcock.—Report on the
Psychology and Sociology of the Todas and other Indian Tribes: an
Abstract of Work carried out by the Aid of the Gunning Fund of the Royal
Society for the year 1901-2: Dr. W. H. R. Rivers.—On the Sexuality
and Development of the Ascocarp of Husnaria Granulata, Quel.* V. H.
Blackman and Miss Helen C. I. Fraser.—On the Microsporangia of the
Pteridospermea with remarks on their Relationship to Existing Groups:
Robert Kidston, F.R.S.—The Araucariee, Recent and Extinct: A. C.
Seward, F.R.S., and Miss S. O. Ford.

MaTHEMATICAL SOCIETY, at 5.30.—On Well-ordered Aggregates: Prof.
A. C. Dixon.—Tables of Coefficients for Lagrange’s Interpolation
Formula: Col. R. L. Hippisley.—On the Representation of certain
Asymptotic Series as Convergent Continued Fractions: Prof. L. J.
Rogers.—On a New Cubic Connected with the ‘Triangle: H. L.
Trachtenberg.—Some Difficulties in the Theory of Transfinite Numbers
and Order Types : Hon. B. A. W. Russell.—The Imaginary in Geometry:
J. L. S. Hatton

INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Adjourned Discussion :
The Charing Cross Company's City of London Works: W. H. Patchell

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15.

INSTITUTION OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Adjourned Discussion:
The Seventh Report to the Alloys Research Committee : On the Proper-
ties of a Series of Iron-Nickel-Manganese-Carbon Alloys: Dr. H.C. H.
Carpenter, and Messrs. R. A. Hadfield and Percy Longmuir.— Pager:
Behaviour of Materials of Construction under Pure Shear: E. G. Izod.

Puysicat Society (at Royal College of Science, South Kensington), at 7.—
Exhibition of Electrical, Optical and other Physical Apparatus.

INSTITUTION OF Civil. ENGINEERS, at 8.—Tests of Street Illumination in
Westminster : E. E. Mann.

AERONAUTICAL SociETY,.at 8.—The Acoustical Experiments carried out
in Balloons by the late Rev. J. M. Bacon : Miss Gertrude Bacon.—The
Aéromobile : F. Webb.—A New Continuous Impulse Petrol Motor for
Dynamic Flying Machines: W. Cochrane.

CONTENTS. PAGE

The Principles of Heredity. By A. D. D. Moe oe
Mathematical Lectures for American Mathe-

maticians umes cs. ee 122

Industrial Refrigeration, By C.H.B. . 122

Our Book Shelf :—
Marshall: ‘‘ The Geography of New Zealand.” —
M. G. B.

“eyes > ee ee
Job: ‘* Wild Wings ; Adventures of a Camera- Hunter
among the Larger Wild Birds of North America on
Seatandiandiagrs =. |.) .)c eee ees 123
Abney : ‘‘Instruction in Photography.”—C. E.K. M. 124
Armagnat : ‘‘ La Bobine d’Induction”. . . . . . . 124
Schnabel: ‘‘Handbook of Metallurgy ” 124
Letters to the Editor: —
The Second Law of Thermodynamics.—Prof. G. H.
Bryan, F.R.S.; F. Soddy. Desi koe oe, ine
Atomic Disintegration and the Distribution of the
Elements.—Donald Murray ..... Rees 0s
Zoology at the British Association.—Dr. S. F.
Harmer, Fakes; . - oe ; - 5 LS
The Thoroughbred Horse. (///ustvated.) By R. L. . 126
Sir J. S. Burdon-Sanderson, Bart., F.R.S. By F.G. 127
Anniversary Meeting of the Royal Society B cnrsslt2e)
The Death-knell ofthe Atom. By W.R. . 132
Nites: i) 2: Geel eos. oo een vs Bas ig
Our Astronomical Column :—
Comet 9050)ter kaos < + Sen heel 9) > meen
The Anomalous Tails of Comets ........ 136
Nova AquilesNow2!'. 5. .°.... seni: . > stem
Catalogue of Binary Star Orbits. ........ . 136
Indian Meteorology, 1892-1902. By W. M. 03 136
Physiology at the British Association. By J.
Barcroft A A) CAC EES) 36 Gene oS
University and Educational Intelligence . .... 140
Societies and.Academies) = . - 7.2/2... - © ss mlam
Diaryjof/Societiesienc) crn) >) pmeeremrcineyet +) mmA

NATURE

145

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1905.

A GREAT NATURALIST.

My Life: a Record of Events and Opinions. By
Alfred Russel Wallace. Vol. i., pp. xii+435;
vol. ii., pp. vilit+459. With facsimile letters, illus-
trations, and portraits. (London: Chapman and
Hall; Etd., 1905.) Price 25s. net.

VERYONE will be glad that the Nestor of the
E evolutionist camp has been able himself to tell
us the story of his life. It has been a long life of
ever fourscore years, full of work, rich in achieve-
ment, starred with high ideals, and the story of it
must have been pleasant to write as it is pleasant to
read. It has been many-sided to a greater degree
than that of most scientific investigators, for Alfred
Russel Wallace has always had more than profes-
sional irons in the fire, and has always been as much
interested in practising biology as in theorising about
it. At the editor’s request we have confined our
attention, however, to what the author tells us of his
work as naturalist and biologist, though it is difficult,
and not altogether legitimate perhaps, to abstract off
one aspect of a life in this fashion.

There does not seem to have been anything defin-
able in Wallace’s inheritance to account for his be-
coming a great naturalist. Nor was there much in
his nurture to lead him in that direction except that
he was country-bred in beautiful and interesting
places. Thrown early on his own resources to make
his way in life, he began when about fourteen to
work at surveying—in which Herbert Spencer had
also his early discipline—and it was in trying to
understand his instruments and the earth he mea-
sured. that he first became scientific. He tells us that
in his solitary rambles, nature gradually laid hold of
him, claiming to be understood as well as enjoyed.
From the stars and the earth his interest spread to
flowers, and, with the help of Lindley’s ‘‘ Elements ”’
and Loudon’s ‘‘ Encyclopedia of Plants,’? he became
a keen field-botanist. He began to feel ‘‘the joy
which every discovery of a new form of life gives to
the lover of nature,’’ and this was the turning-point
of his life.

During a year of school-teaching at Leicester
(1844), Wallace got to know Bates, who made him an
enthusiastic entomologist, “‘ opening a new aspect of
nature,’’ and he also read Malthus’s famous essay,
“without which I should probably not have hit upon
the theory of natural selection.’? Another book that
impressed him was Humboldt’s “ Personal Narrative
of Travels in South America,’’? which awakened a de-
sire to visit the tropics, a desire soon strengthened by
Darwin’s “‘ Voyage of the Beagle.’’ It is interesting
to find that as early as 1845 Wallace was speculating
upon the origin of species, and had a warm appre-
ciation of the “‘ Vestiges of the Natural History of
Creation.”’

Early in 1848, when he was twenty-five, Wallace set
out, along with Bates, to explore and collect on the
Amazon, and on the tale of his adventures, long since

NO. 1885, VOL. 73]

told, the ‘‘ Life *’ threws some sidelights. There is a
vivid description of the disastrous fire on board the
rubber-laden ship which brought Wallace part of the
way home in 1852. The holocaust of all his treasures
was hard to bear, but what had been sent on during
his journey, and those notes and drawings which
were saved from the fire, sufficed to lay the founda-
tions of his scientific reputation, and, perhaps, as he
says, the disaster was, for him, a blessing in disguise,
for it made him continue his Wanderjahre.

The ‘‘ central and controlling ’? chapter in Wallace’s
life was his eight years’ wandering throughout the
Malay Archipelago, the story of which has fascinated
many thousands of readers. He had found his voca-
tion, and enthusiasm grew upon him. ‘‘Who ever,”’
he wrote, ‘‘ did anything good or great who was not
an enthusiast? ’’ The love of solitude grew upon
him; it was so ‘‘ very favourable to reflection.’’ For
though he was earning a competency by collecting,
and though his knowledge of many groups of animals
became expert, he was always pondering over big
problems, and some of his friends at home shook

their heads at his ‘‘ theorising.’’ ‘‘ The problem of
the origin of species was rarely absent from his
thoughts,’’ and at Sarawak, in 1855, he wrote what
Huxley called a ‘‘ powerful essay’’ on ‘‘ The law
which has regulated the introduction of new species ”’
—a hint of what was coming. At Ternate, in 1858,
when ill with intermittent fever, he began thinking
over what he had learned from Malthus, and the
theory of natural selection ‘‘ suddenly flashed upon
him.’’? He wrote straight off to Darwin, and every-
one knows how the two papers were read on the same
day at the Linnean Society, and how the two dis-
coverers were united in a friendship than which there
has been nothing finer in the history of science.

From 1862 to 1871 Mr. Wallace lived in London,
and the ‘‘ Life’? gives an account of his scientific and
literary labours, and interesting glimpses of many
scientific men whom he came to know, such as Lyell,
Spencer, Huxley, W. B. Carpenter, and St. George
Mivart. He tried for various posts, e.g. the secre-
teryship of the Royal Geographical Society (which
Mr. Bates obtained), and the guardianship of Epping
Forest (in connection with which he had some lumin-
ous ideas), but he was left free to continue his literary
and scientific work, and to try to make things better
for his country. Soon after his marriage, in 1866, he
began to migrate by stages into the country—to Grays
(where he wrote his ‘*‘ Geographical Distribution ’’),
to Croydon (where he wrote his ‘‘ Island Life ’’), to
Godalming, to Parkstone, and was able to live quietly
on his earnings and on a well-merited Civil List pen-
sion. Apart from his tour in America, where he gave
the Lowell lectures in 1886, occasional holidays, e.g.
at Davos, and occasional unprofitable scrimmages, his
life was very uneventful, as men count events. By
nature quiet, gentle, and reflective, he had no am-
bitions save for truth and justice; he was satisfied
with plain living and high thinking, and the esteem
of all who really knew him. Thus for many years
he has cultivated his garden and served his fellow-
men.

H

NWA TORE

[DECEMBER 14, 1905

The ‘Life’? contains many interesting appre-

ciations of other naturalists, but we must confine our-

selves to the relations between Darwin and the author.

From his solitude in Malay Wallace wrote home in
5

regard to ‘‘ The Origin of Species ’’ :—
“| have read it through five or six times, each

time with increasing admiration. It will live as
long as the Principia of Newton. Mr. Darwin

has given the world a new Science, and his name
should, in my opinion, stand above that of every
philosopher of ancient and modern times.”

To Mr.

“T do honestly believe that with however much
patience | had worked and experimented on the sub-
ject, I could never have approached the completeness
of his book, its vast accumulation of evidence, its over-
whelming argument, and its admirable tone and
spirit. I really feel thankful that it has not been left
to me to give the theory to the world.”’

Bates he wrote :—

As everyone knows, Wallace parted company with
Darwin over the possibility of giving a ‘‘ natural his-
tory ’’ interpretation of man’s highest qualities, and in
one of his letters Darwin expressed the fear that
his selectionist interpretation would quite kill him in
Wallace’s good estimation. But the author writes :—

““T never had the slightest feeling of the kind he
supposed, looking upon the difference as one which
did not at all affect our general agreement, and also
being one on which no one could dogmatise, there
being much to be said on both sides.”’

Wallace also differed from Darwin in regard to the
reality of sexual selection through female choice, as
to the distribution of Arctic plants in south temperate
regions, as to the feasibility of the provisional hypo-
thesis of pangenesis, andas tothe transmissibility of
acquired character. On the whole, however, he
admits that those critics are not far wrong who de-
scribe him as Darwinian than Darwin, and
even in the title of one of his most effective books he
persisted in his magnanimous subordination of him-
self. The fact is, the friends were too keen in the pur-
suit of truth to trouble about the boundaries of their
personal credit. Neither begrudged the other his due
meed of praise. Thus, if we may quote once more,
we find Darwin writing to Wallace :—

more

‘“T hope it is a satisfaction to you to reflect—and
very few things in my life have been more satisfac-
tory to me—that we have never felt any jealousy to-
wards each other, though in some sense rivals. I
believe I can say this of myself with truth, and I am
absolutely sure that it is true of you.”

In addition to his statement of the theory of
natural selection, his travels, and his work on distri-

bution, Mr. Wallace has in many ways enriched
natural history in the wide sense. There is his theory
of the ‘‘ warning colours’’ of inedible insects, his

theory of the correlation between the colours of female
birds and the nature of the nest, his theory of ‘‘ re-
cegnition-marks,’’ his criticism of sexual selection by
choice on the female’s part, his argument that much
that is called “‘ instinctive ’’ is due to instruction and
imitation, his conclusions as to the Arctic elements
in south temperate floras, his emphasis on mouth-
gesture as a factor in the origin of language, his

No. 1885, VOL. 73]

strong opinions as to the part natural selection has
played and still plays in the social evolution of
mankind. We might mention other contributions—
as to the permanence of oceanic and continental
areas, as to the causes of glacial epochs, as to the
glacial erosion of lake-basins, as to the affinities of
the Australian aborigines—but we have said enough.
It may be of interest, however, to notice that while
Wallace many years ago sided with Weismann, he
cannot see his way to recognise the validity of the
recent theories of discontinuous variation and muta-
tion.

In thinking of the work of Alfred Russel Wallace,
we see him as a “ synthetic type,’’ combining the vir-
tues of the old naturalist traveller with those of the
modern biologist. On the one hand, we see him with
a rich experience of the forms and species of animal
life, their distribution, habits, and inter-relations, but
with a wide outlook, equally interested in palms and
orchids, lakes and mountains. With “a positive dis-
taste for all forms of anatomical and physiological
experiment,’? he never took to any of the usual
methods of analysis, and even when he was most pre-
occupied with species he tells us that he was deter-
mined not to become a specialist. So, on the other
hand, we see him from first to last as a generaliser,
‘inquisitive about causes,’’ intent upon ‘‘ solving the
problem of the origin of species,’’ and contributing
much thereto. His ‘‘ Life ’’? also discloses what many
have had the privilege of knowing—the delightful per-
sonality of one who has had the honour of being
““Darwiniti emulum, immo Darwinium alterum,’’
and no etiologist merely, but a warm-hearted
humanist thinker, a fearless social striver, and one

““c

who realises the spiritual aspect of the world. He
has the satisfaction of a retrospect on a long and
happy life of work. : J. Avene

A HIGHER TEXT-BOOK OF ELECTRICITY
AND MAGNETISM.

Magnetism and Electricity for Students. by H. E.
Hadley. Pp. x+575. (London: Macmillan and
Co., Ltd., 1905:)| Price 6s.

‘HE object of this volume is to carry students a
stage further than that reached in the author’s

‘* Magnetism and Electricity for Beginners.’’ It has

been written in response to numerous requests from

teachers. Its scope is roughly that of a second- er
even third-year college course. Elementary differ-
ential and integral calculus is employed, but even
this is avoided whenever reasonably practicable.
Technical applications are dealt with in a minor way
only, the author considering, rightly in our opinion,
that they are best relegated to a special treatise.
Turning to the detailed treatment we find many
things to attract us. The method adopted for de-
scribing electrical phenomena may be alluded to as
the ‘‘lines of force method.’? There are a large
number of carefully thought out diagrams showing
the play of Faraday tubes in various cases. These
are in the main very accurate and suggestive as
sketch diagrams. In Fig. 112, however—illustrative

DECEMBER 14, 1905 |

INA OIC.

147

of Faraday’s ice-pail experiment—care should have
been taken to make the lines emanating from the
charged ball fall normally upon the vessel. The
properties of these lines are not dogmatically asserted,
but in general are derived, in the usual way, from
the inverse square law of force; exception must,
however, be made with respect to the lateral pressure
exerted by such tubes. In stating that the inverse
square law was experimentally verified first by
Coulomb the author seems to have forgotten
Cavendish, who, fully twelve years earlier, proved
that the index cannot differ from two by more than
1/5oth part.

We have alluded already to the diagrams; more
care than usual has been exercised in regard to these.
We are particularly attracted by one showing the
lines of force and induction of a horse-shoe magnet.
Compared with the usual paltry sketches of these
lines this is most excellent. The student ought to
be warned, however, that it represents rather an
artificial case, since the poles are taken as concen-
trated at points. In the absence of this warning
the student may be puzzled to account for the peculiar
configuration of the system of lines shown. Another
diagram which is now finding its way into text-
books is one (Fig. 354) showing the lines of electric
force due to a current. Much emphasis is usually
placed on the magnetic field, but the electric field is
almost entirely ignored. We are glad to see it now
beginning to take its proper place. It may be men-
tioned that if the conductors be taken as infinitely
deep, so as to reduce the problem to a two-dimensional
one, the lines of force are a family of rectangular
hyperbola, while the equipotential lines are the
orthotomic hyperbola.

Several omissions and errors require attention.
In the chapter on mechanics there is no definition
of mass—we are not even told that it is the quantity
of matter in a body. It is erroneous to state that
electrification and electric currents are forms of
energy (p. 22). A hollow soft iron cylinder does not
act as a perfect screen to magnetic force for points
inside it (p. 65). The proof of the formula for the
ballistic galvanometer (p. 282) is imperfect, since it
assumes that the current is constant while it flows;
whereas it essentially is never so in cases for which
this kind of galvanometer is used. A very little
change in the proof will put this right. In the
formula for simple pendulum or suspended coil the
time period should not be written with sin #/@ in the
denominator, since when so written the idea is con-
veyed that this is the proper form when the difference
between sin @ and @ is too large to be neglected. In
calculating the temperature of a wire when heated
by a current the emissivity should not be taken as
a constant, for Messrs. Ayrton and Kilgour confirmed
Péclet’s proof that it depends on the radius; for very
thin wires the values go up to many times that
quoted, except, of course, in a vacuum. Kelvin’s
proof of the existence of an E.M.F. distributed in a
circuit of two metals parts of which are at different
temperatures depended on the first law of thermo-
dynamics, and not upon the properties of a Carnot

NO. 1885, VOL. 73]

cycle (p. 374). The definition of units is antiquated ;
those described (p. 515) are now obsolete. On
Pp. 531, in connection with displacement currents the
word displacement is used on adjacent lines in two
senses, with consequent confusion to the meaning.
The treatment of the calculation of the propagation of
electrodynamic effects (p. 534) which is professedly
applicable to the case when the exciting current is
travelling along a wire is inapplicable to this case.
The display of mathematics in this calculation will
convey the erroneous impression of a thorough in-
vestigation. The result must be disastrous to a
student who is feeling his way toward a knowledge
of the subtleties of line-integration round a closed
curve. The error arises in part from forgetting that
the magnetic induction varies in the direction y as
well as in the direction x. Everything is, we believe,.
put right if the conductor be taken as an_ infinite
plane sheet; the variation which is omitted is in such
a case zero.

These few errors are the more unfortunate since
we think that the book will prove a very useful one.
We frankly think that it has been attempted to put
too much into small compass; most sections would
be improved by amplification in explanation of prin-
ciple at the sacrifice of detail. A little excision when
this edition is exhausted, a little more attention to
logical order and to the development of principles—
such suggestions are worth attending to, for the
book has the making of a very useful volume.

BUNSEN’S COLLECTED WORKS.
Gesammelte Abhandlungen von Robert Bunsen.
Edited by Wilhelm Ostwald and Max Bodenstein.
Vol. i., pp. cxxvit+535; vol. ii., pp. vi+660; vol. iii.,
pp. vi+637. (Leipzig: Engelmann; London:

Williams and Norgate, 1904.) Price 21. 1os. net.

HE appreciative and critical notices of Bunsen
and his work which appeared shortly after his
death hardly leave room for a review of the volumes
before us. In the Chemical Society memorial lecture,
which is justly given the place of honour in the pre-
fatory part of the first volume, Sir Henry Roscoe has
given a comprehensive survey of Bunsen’s work, and
has described the personality of the man in such a
way as to earn the gratitude of all old Heidelberg
students. !

In these three stately volumes we have a complete
collection of Bunsen’s contributions to science and a
book that will form part of the permanent literature
of chemistry. It is, indeed, a most striking fact that
all Bunsen’s writings are in their nature permanent
scientific literature, a fact that well deserves ponder-
ing at the present time. He made some mistakes,
he advanced some conclusions now untenable, but his
writings are of faithful observations, careful experi-
ments, laboratory methods. Of speculative theory
there is nothing, and of strictly polemical writing also
nothing. The books that are included in his writings
are accounts of methods of doing things that he him-

1 An account of Bunsen’s scientific work was given by Sir Henry Roscoe
in Nature of April 28, 1881 (vol. xxili. p. 597), as a contribution to our
series of ‘‘ Scientific Worthies.’ —EpiTor

148

INA TROLS

[ DECEMBER 14, 1905

self devised—gas analysis, mineral water analysis,
flame reactions. It is not easy to describe Bunsen’s
relation to chemical science. He was a_ perfect
type of ‘* Naturforscher,’’ a word for which there is
hardly an English equivalent. He lived in his labor-
atory, ever absorbed, he seemed, in finding his way
through natural problems, like a navigator always on
the bridge unknown archipelago.
His writings are hardly more than his log, and his
lectures were the narratives of his own particular
voyage in the region called chemistry. To a listener
who had a fair knowledge of chemistry and its litera-
ture it seemed as if there were no part of inorganic
chemistry which Bunsen had not made in some way
his own. In the laboratory it was the same; from
the making of a borax bead to the execution of the
most complicated analysis there was the Bunsen
method of doing things. Spectroscopy, gas analysis,
and electrolytic chemistry for long seemed wholly
his. No chemist had a broader or more philosophical
outlook than he; on the one hand he had a profound
distrust of theory that went in advance of experiment,
and on the other hand he despised all kinds of aim-
less or recipe work. Of the periodic classification
of the elements he said at one time, ‘‘ Ja, solche
Regelmassigkeiten findet man in den _ Borsen-
blattern ’’; of a well known standard work on analysis
he said ‘‘ Koch-buch! ’? and indignantly ordered its
removal. What a memorable experience it was for
a student to work with Bunsen through the Russian
Mint residues! The innumerable devices of his own,
the ‘‘nursing ’’ operations at different stages, the
tales of his earlier efforts and disasters, the eager
hope ‘‘ vielleicht steckt etwas neues darin,”’ the dry

sailing in an

assurance ‘ja, alle Wochen werden ein Paar neue
Platinmetalle entdeckt ’’—all these things come to
mind to recall the image of a man in whom the art
of a past master was combined with the artlessness
of a child.

It is impossible to estimate the influence of such a
man; but in the volumes which it is the object of
this notice to commend, it is possible to read the
record of his work and to catch something of the
spirit which animated the worker.

The collected works are published under the auspices
of the German Bunsen Society for Applied Physical
Chemistry, and are edited by Prof. Ostwald and Dr.
Bodenstein. We are therefore assured that the task
has been performed with pious care and with fulness
of knowledge. The original intention of publishing
a biography of Bunsen had to be abandoned owing
to his express order, so characteristic, that his literary
remains should be destroyed. He also desired that
from his own letters in the possession of others
nothing of a personal character should be published.
The gap thus left is probably not so great as might
be imagined, and one feels, after reading the pre-
fatory memoirs by Sir Henry Roscoe, Dr. Rathke,
and Prof. Ostwald himself, that we have probably all
we really need to know. ‘‘ Bunsen stories ’’ were
doubtless good to those who knew him, but to those
who did not they were apt to be like most tales of
university dons, and the collection which has been

NO. 1885, vol. 73]

privately published seems rather trivial, and jars some-
what on the ears of the faithful. But the collection
of his writings makes a noble monument, and the
thanks of all chemists are due to the Bunsen Society
and to the two editors who have undertaken the
laborious task and have executed it so well.

ARTHUR SMITHELLS.

OUR BOOK SHELF.
The Practical Study of Malaria and other Blood

Parasites. By Dr. J. W. W. Stephens and S. R.

Christophers. 2nd Revised Edition. Pp. iii+396

and xliv. (London: Published for the University

Press of Liverpool by Williams and Norgate, 1904.)

Price 12s, 6d. net.

Tuts volume gives a very full and complete account
of the practical methods employed in the study of
malaria and kindred protozoan diseases of man and
animals. The book being intended primarily for the
use of medical men in the tropics, who may be far
from any laboratory, abounds in practical hints and
suggestions which will enable good work to be accom-
plished with a minimum of apparatus, &c.

The methods of making and staining blood-films
are given very fully, and the appearances of normal
blood and of the various malaria parasites carefully
described. In connection with malaria, the methods of
catching, breeding, keeping, and feeding mosquitoes
for purposes of malaria study receive considerable
attention, and the life-history of the mosquito and the
characters of a number of the more important species
have no less than 200 pages devoted to them.
Chapters then follow on the clinical and epidemi-
ological study of malaria, and finally the hamamee-
bide, trypanosomes, spirocheetes, and filariae are con-
sidered. This entails descriptions of the anatomy and
classification of the chief species of ticks, fleas, tsetse
and other biting flies, and a mass of detail is thus
brought together in a form required by the investi-
gator for which he otherwise would have to search in
many scattered papers and works of natural history.
In this respect the book will be of great value in
laboratories of medical protozoology and the like.
There are few points to which exception can be taken,
for the book is the outcome of the authors’ own
experience on the subjects of which they write. It
may be doubted, however, if methylated spirit can
take the place of methyl alcohol for making up the
Leishman blood-stain, and the authors’ view that
blackwater fever is malaria plus hamoglobinuria
excited by chill, quinine, or other simple cause is open
to question.

The book can be recommended as a most valuable
guide, and the numerous illustrations, diagrammatic
though many of them are, enhance its usefulness.

R. T. HEWLETT.

Pictures from Nature. By Richard and Cherry Kear-
ton. Portfolio of fifteen Rembrandt photogravures.
Size rsin. x 11in. (London: Cassell and Co., Ltd.)
Price 1os. 6d, net.

Tue remarkable photographs taken by the Brothers

Kearton of animal life in many aspects have often

been described in these columns in terms of the

highest praise. The fifteen pictures of birds and othe
animals, among their natural surroundings, repro-
duced for the present portfolio, represent the high-
water mark of faithful portraiture in natural history.

The plates include the following subjects :—Black
throated diver, kittiwakes at home, leverets in their
form, kingfisher waiting for its prey, squirrel, puffins

DECEMBER 14, 1905]

INCA IM OT Selah

149

at home, young willow wrens, ring dove or wood
pigeon, young cuckoo and sedge warblers, hedgehog,
young long-eared owls, gannet or solan goose, peewit
or lapwing, sparrowhawk adding sticks to her nest,
and the great tit or oxeye.

These handsome pictures provide the best possible
tribute to the patient power of silent watching which
the Brothers Kearton have developed during the last
thirteen years in order to take advantage of oppor-
tunities of photographing animals in their natural
surroundings.

Meteorologie und Klimatologie. By Prof. Dr. Wil-
helm Trabert. Pp. 127; with 37 figures in the text.
(Leipzig: Deuticke, 1905.) Price 5 marks.

IN this little book, which forms part xiii. of Prof.
Klar’s ‘‘ Die Erdlkunde,’’ the author attempts to out-
line the general principles of meteorology and their
application to the study of climate in a single work.
The meteorological elements, and the making and
reducing of observations are first dealt with; next
comes a section on atmospheric physics, the distribu-
tion of temperature and its variations, the circulation
of the atmosphere, evaporation and condensation ;
and, finally, a section on weather and climate, which
includes chapters on weather forecasting, the chief
types of climate, and the climatic characteristics of
the main land divisions of the globe.

Where so much is attempted in so small compass,
there is, of course, constant risk of the treatment of
parts of the subject becoming hopelessly inadequate,
but Prof. Trabert has succeeded in avoiding this; the
essential points are selected with extraordinary skill
and presented with great clearness and conciseness.
The omission of details of construction of instruments
in part i. is especially satisfactory—most books on
meteorology are overburdened with matter which is
only wanted by practical observers—although in some
cases more modern types of instrument might have
been selected for illustration. The most successful
section of the book is, in our opinion, that on atmo-
spheric physics, in which the vertical distribution of
temperature and the forms of isobaric surfaces are
given the prominence they deserve, but do not always
get.

Prof. Trabert’s book is an excellent introduction to
such classics as Hann’s ‘‘ Lehrbuch’’ and ‘‘ Klimat-
ologie,’’ on which it is to a certain extent modelled,
and we strongly commend it to elementary students
and teachers.

A Popular Introduction to Astronomy. By the Rev.
Alex. C. Henderson. Pp. 114. (Lerwick: T. and
J. Manson, 1905.) Price 2s. 6d. net.

In this book there are three chapters, occupying sixty-

three pages, and a series of thirteen ‘‘ notes ’? which

take up the remainder of the text. In chapter i. we
find a very general, yet simple and instructive, descrip-
tion of the solar system, its probable origin, and the
nature, appearance, dimensions, and distances of its
various individual components. The explanations
given are brief, but they are lucid, and the verbal
illustrations are homely enough to appeal to the
simplest minds. Chapter ii. deals with the apparent
and real motions of the heavenly bodies, and here
again the beginner should find no difficulty in grasp-
ing the fundamental ideas. Comets are discussed in
chapter iii., which really consists of a description of

Biela’s famous comet and of the meteoritic genesis of

these bodies.

The thirteen ‘‘ notes ’’ comprise a mélange appar-
ently consisting of extracts and examples taken from
the author’s note-book, and it is rather difficult to
see to what class of reader they will appeal. Portions

No. 1885, VOL. 73]

of them are certainly too erudite to suit real beginners,
whilst they are not of the form to appeal to more
advanced students. For example, the observing of
the sunrise, combined with the consultation of a
year book, would hardly answer to the description of
an ‘accurate method ”’ of determining time. Double
stars, climatic variations, auroree, eclipses, the lunar
phases, and the zodiac are amongst other things dealt
with in this section of the book, W.7 Es Re

Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae occidentalis. By
L. Diels and E. Pritzel. Pp. 608. (Leipzig: W.
Engelmann, 1905.)

AttHouGH the floras of the different Australian

colonies present a certain homogeneity that unites

them into a definite ‘‘ Flora Australiensis,’’ there is
also a considerable diversity between the floras of the
eastern and western sides of the continent; that of
the western half is distinguished by its richness, the
singular modifications due to physical conditions and
the large proportion of endemic species. Exclusive of
the northern tropical region, the vascular plants of

Western Australia, according to the evidence of the

Government botanist, Mr. A. Morrison, do not fall far

short of 4000 species, and most of these are found in

the south-west. The writers of this volume travelled
through this portion of the colony, and also penetrated
into the interior from Geraldton to Cue, and as far as

Ranowna and Menzies in the Coolgardie district.

Phytogeographical limits are determined mainly by

the rainfall, which reaches a maximum of 39 inches

in the neighbourhood of Cape Leeuwin and diminishes
rapidly to 9 inches at Shark Bay in the North and

Southern Cross inland; the botanical provinces out-

lined in this volume have been mapped out in accord-

ance with the rainfall.

The book is primarily a systematic compilation of
the authors’ collections, and although there are in-
teresting notes on morphology and habit, the principal
feature is the intimate knowledge which the authors
display of the distribution of the various species. A
revised arrangement of the Verbenacez is given, with
analytical keys and numerous illustrations. Additions
have been made to most of the typical genera, to
mention only Acacia, Drosera, Hibbertia, and several
of the Myrtacee. Taken in conjunction with
Bentham’s ‘‘ Flora Australiensis,’? Baron von Muel-
ler’s ‘‘Fragmenta,’’ and Spencer le Moore’s notes,
these ‘‘ Fragmenta ”’ provide the necessary data for a
fairly complete flora of the colony. Dr. Diels pro-
poses to write a continuous phytogeographical account
later, wherein it may be expected that he will sum-
marise the extraordinary modifications of the desert
and other plants that are no less unique than those of
the Egyptian desert flora which Vollkens has so vividly
portrayed.

Sporting Sketches. By E. Sandys. Pp. viit389q;
illustrated. (New York: The Macmillan Company ;
London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1905.) Price
7s. 6d. net.

Mr. Epwyn Sanpys is so well known to bird-lovers

and sportsmen in general by such works as ‘* Upland

Game Birds ’’ that any volume of a somewhat similar

nature is almost sure of a hearty reception on the

part of that section of the public to which it more
specially appeals. In the volume before us the author
has collected together a number of articles on sport-
ing subjects which originally appeared in that excel-
lent American sporting magazine Outing, and to these
he has apparently added others which now see the
light for the first time. Whether, however, new or
old—and the author seemingly gives us no clue on
this point—the articles have such a freshness about

150

DEAT GS 5/3

{DECEMBER 14, 1905

them, and savour so strongly of the prairie or the river

bank, that the lover of an outdoor life must be hard
indeed to please if he cannot find matter of interest
on almost any page to which he may happen to turn.
The chapter-headings in some instances appear to be
designed, at least to an English reader, to conceal
rather than to elucidate the author’s subjects, and
we venture to think that some less recondite titles
than ‘‘ The Witchery of Wa-Wa’”’ and ‘‘ A Matter of
Mascalouge ’’? might have been selected without de-
triment to the picturesque style which the author
apparently favours. But when once this little diffi-
culty has been overcome, the reader will be able to
find his way about the book, and select those sections
in which he may be more specially interested.

The greater part of the book is devoted to fishing—
both in sea and river—and feathered game shooting,
and the English reader who desires to know the kind
of sport afforded by ruffed grouse and ‘‘ bob white ”’
will find his requirements fully satisfied in the
author’s pages. Nor will the naturalist fail to find
matter well worth his notice; and personally we have
been specially interested in the account of the death-
feigning instincts exhibited by the Carolina rail.
Seemingly, when it thinks itself unable to escape, one
of these birds suddenly “stiffens, topples over, and
apparently expires. It may be taken up and ex-
amined for a considerable time without its betraying
any signs of life. Place it among its dead fellows in
the shooting-boat, and after a longer or shorter
interval it may astonish its captor by either starting
to run about, or by taking wing and fluttering away
in the characteristic flight.”

This is only one of many instances where strange
habits of animals are recorded, and if not new they
are always interesting and warth the re-telling. As
a sample of the better class of sporting literature Mr.
Sandys’s work would be difficult to beat. Row

Ships and Shipping. By Commander R. Dowling.
With a preface by Lieut. W. G. Ramsay Fairfax,
R.N. Second Edition. Pp. xv+423. (London: A.
Moring, Ltd., 1905.) Price 5s. net.

A very excellent little volume and a most handy addi-

tion to any shipping office. The naval information

makes it also a very useful book to naval officers.

One slight improvement would be useful—port-to-port

distances round the coast of Great Britain and

Europe; for example, London to Plymouth.

H. C. Lockyer.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions
expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake
to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected
manuscripts intended for this or any other part of NaturRE.
No notice is taken of anonymous communications.]

The late Sir John Burdon-Sanderson.

Tue account of the life of Sir John Burdon-Sanderson in
Nature of December 7 is so admirable that any addition to
it may seem superfluous. Yet, as one who knew Burdon-
Sanderson for more than thirty-seven years, and who owed
more to him than language can well express, I shall be
grateful if you will allow me to say a few words more
about him. It seems to me that in one respect men may
be likened to mountains. The Matterhorn rises sharply
to a single peak, and there can be no doubt as to its
summit. Monte Rosa has more than. one summit, so
nearly on a level that a stranger would be unable to say
which is highest, and although each is higher than the
Matterhorn, the enormous bulk of the mountain takes away
from their apparent height and makes them less imposing.

no. 1885, VOL. 73]

In the same way it is easy to say what the great work has
been of any man who has distinguished himself in a
limited subject, but when a man’s work ranges over a
wide sphere it is not so easy. The account of Sir John
Burdon-Sanderson’s life in last week’s Nature clearly
shows the wide extent of his activity and the great number
of epoch-making discoveries which he made. If a scientific
man were asked which of these is the greatest, he would
probably answer according to his own personal bias. One
man would name his unique researches on motion in
plants; another his discovery of the possibility of attenu-
ating anthrax virus and thus producing immunity from
the disease; a third his researches on circulation and
respiration; and a fourth his work on muscle and nerve.
But all these things, important as they are, each one being
sufficient to make a man famous in a special department,
were only isolated outgrowths of his great work, and did
not constitute it. I believe that I am right in saying that
Burdon-Sanderson’s life-work may be defined in three short
sentences :—(1) He revolutionised physiology and pathology
in this country; (2) he found them consisting of book-
learning and microscopic observation; (3) he left them
experimental sciences.

When he first constructed a kymographion in 1867 by
the aid of a tin-plate worker near the Middlesex Hospital,
to which he was then attached, there was not, with the
exception of a few specimens of Marey’s sphygmograph, a
single recording physiological instrument in use in the
whole of this country. Now they are to be found in every
physiological laboratory, and every student knows how to
use them. When he began to work at pathology, it con-
sisted chiefly in descriptions of the naked-eye and micro-
scopical appearances of specimens of morbid anatomy.
Now the action of disease-germs and of toxins and the
reaction of the organism to them, the processes of disease
and not its results, engage the chief attention of path-
ologists, and the knowledge which experiments on these
processes have afforded regarding the means of producing
immunity and of curing by antitoxic sera has lessened, and
is daily lessening, the wholesale destruction of life by
epidemic diseases.

How Burdon-Sanderson accomplished his great work by
his researches, by his writings, by his example, and by
his personal influence was well described in last week’s
Nature, but I may perhaps be permitted to mention my
own case as an example of what Burdon-Sanderson did
for young men. I came to London knowing only one
man, who from age and infirmity was unable to help me;
but fortunately for me I had a letter of introduction to
Burdon-Sanderson. Instead of merely saying a few civil
things and then leaving me alone, as he might well have
done, he invited me to his house, advised me as to my
career, obtained for me a lectureship in the Middlesex
Hospital, to which he was then attached, gave me the free
use of his laboratory, afforded me facilities for both ex-
perimental and literary work, and, in short, laid for me the
foundation of any success I may since have had, so that
it is mainly to him that I owe it. How many there are
whom he has treated as he did me I do not know, for he
did not let his left hand know the good his right hand
was doing, but I do know that at least two others, Dr.
Ferrier, who has done such splendid work in physiology,
and Dr. Klein, who has done the same in pathology, owe,
like me, their first establishment in London to Burdon-
Sanderson. Such personal help as this in enabling young
men to pursue a scientific career must not only be regarded
as an evidence of the kindness and benevolence of his
character, but must be reckoned along with his researches,
his writings, his example, and his personal influence as a
means whereby he accomplished his great work of re-
volutionising physiology and pathology in this country.

Lauper BRUNTON.

Nomenclature of Kinship; its Extension.

THE method I adopted in your columns, August 11, 1904,
of briefly expressing kinship has proved most convenient ;
it has been used in a forthcoming volume by Mr. E.
Schuster and myself on ‘‘ Noteworthy Families.’’ I write
now to show that it admits of being particularised by the
use of foot-figures, as in the following example, which

DECEMBER 14, 1905 |

NATURE

151

refers to the more highly placed relatives of the newly
elected King of Norway.

Haakon VII., King of Norway (b. 1872).

JQ; Frederick, Crown Prince of Denmark
ih. © (Ec184a) ee

Ja,, fa Christian [X., King of Denmark.

tay, 670s George I., King of the Hellenes (b. 1845).
Ja, Sty Dagmar, widow of Alexander III., Tsar of

Russia, who d. 1894.

fa, St, son, Nicholas II., Tsar of Russia (b. 1868).

fay, 5% Alexandra, Queen of England (b. 1844).

fa, St, son, George, Prince of Wales (b. 1865).

fa,. st, da, also wife, Princess Maud (b. 1869) of
England.

The formule are to be read thus:—‘‘his (the K. of

Norway's) father is the 1st (eldest) son, and is Frederick,
C.P. of Denmark; ‘‘ his (the K. of Norway’s) father’s
father is Christian IX.’’; ... ‘‘ his father’s 2nd sister’s
Ist son is Nicholas II.’’; ... ‘‘ his father’s 1st sister’s
3rd daughter, who is also his (the K. of Norway’s) wife,
is the Princess Maud.’’ These foot-figures need not inter-
fere with the simplicity of the general effect, while they
enable a great deal of additional information to be included.
FRANCIS GALTON.

Atomic Disintegration and the Distribution of the
Elements.

Mr. Donato Murray's letter (p. 125) deals with a sub-
ject which I have been attempting, now for more than a
year, to attack experimentally. A similar experience to
that which Mr. Murray describes as the experience of a
lifetime occurred to me eighteen months ago in a visit to
the gold mines of Western Australia. Since then my
thoughts have been less concerned with the radio-elements
than with those like gold, platinum, thallium, indium, &c.,
which resemble radium in the minuteness and approximate
constancy of the proportion in which they occur in nature.

It is wonderful to reflect that mankind for thousands of
years has been passionately and determinedly engaged in
the search for gold, not on account mainly of its useful
qualities, but on account of its comparative scarcity. The
history of gold-getting presents a strange uniformity. The
search has been rewarded always with about the same
qualified measure of success, never with such success that
the value of gold has seriously depreciated. The common
saying that about the same amount of gold has to be put
into the earth in order to dig it out holds an economic and
probably a scientific truth. For may we not consider that
the history of these centuries of search, carried on with a
tenacity of purpose and a continuity approached in the case
of no other element, shows clearly that a natural law is
here involved no less than in the case of radium or
polonium? The history of gold-getting appears to be sub-
stantially the same in all countries in all times. We have
the initial prospecting in which the chances and difficulties
are so great that only the most adventurous attempt it;
the discovery of surface gold and the rush from all parts
of the earth; the phenomenal finds and the invariably much
greater proportion of failure; the tracing of the gold to its
source and the discovery of some cubic acres, or it may
be miles, of gold-bearing earth. Then at first only the
deposits averaging several ounces to the ton are thought
worthy of attention; but these rapidly give out, and atten-
tion is directed to the poorer and still poorer veins, while
at the same time the steady progress and evolution of the
pioneer camp, where often gold seems to be commoner than
water, into the civilised community served with railways,
electric power, and often elaborate water supply, cheapens
the cost of extraction to such an extent that deposits
averaging only a few grains to the ton can be made to
yield a profit. Finally, we have the same inevitable end
when science and organisation have done all in their
power, and the remaining ore contains just so much gold
as not to pay.

Let the case be stated a little differently. What would
be the effect of the sudden discovery in any one place of
some really large quantity of gold? There seems no doubt

that utter chaos would ensue in the commercial world, |

which might involve before it was got under control a re-
arrangement of the map of the world. Since nothing of

NO. 1885, VOL. 73]

the sort has ever happened, in spite of the most unprece-
dented struggles to that end, it is in accord with the
principles of natural evolution to conclude that such a
contingency probably violates some law of nature. Thus
the gentlemen in charge of the national exchequer and of
the Bank of England, who on a casual examination appear
to be placing the most blind and implicit confidence on the
future continuance of the existing order of things, are in
reality secure in a fundamental if previously unrecognised
law of nature. Eighteen months ago, after my visit to
the gold deposits of Western Australia and New Zealand,
and by the information which all concerned in the industry
so readily placed at my disposal, I became convinced that
in all probability gold, like radium, is at once the product
of some other parent element, and is itself changing to
produce “‘ offspring’? elements, so that its quantity, and
hence its value, was fixed simply as the ratio of these two
rates of change.

My experiments with gold have been both by the direct
and indirect methods. The former have been dogged by
misfortune and have so far been without result, while in
the indirect experiments on ancient gold the results until
now have been conflicting. Certainly some nuggets did not
contain helium in appreciable quantities, while in others I
did find a minute quantity of helium. This, however, was
before the elaborate precautions afterwards employed had
been adopted, and as I can now repeat the experiments
with certainty as soon as occasion permits I am keeping
a quite open mind. On the other hand, I have established
to my own satisfaction that helium is an invariable con-
stituent of native platinum in all the samples I have tried.
The above reasoning, from rarity, after extended search,
applies to platinum to a degree only less complete than in
the case of gold.

The experiments with the other elements have not yet
been proceeding long enough to have furnished results, but
I have made a great many experiments with uranium and
thorium in the attempt to detect directly the production of
helium from these elements. These elements have been,
in fact, the standards, for their rate of change is accurately
known, and, assuming with Rutherford that the a particle
is an atom of helium, may be expected to yield helium at
a known rate. The methods of search have been perfected
in the case of these two elements, and I am glad to be
able to say that it is now only a question of time and
patience before the rate at which helium is being produced
from these two elements is accurately measured. On the
other hand, if helium is not being produced, the experi-
ments will indicate a maximum possible limit of the rate
of production (set by the smallest quantity of helium
detectable) far below the rate to be expected from theory.
This method, which is, of course, applicable to any other
element, would detect any other gas of the argon-helium
family if produced. So far, however, I have only had one
completely successful experiment with each element. In
the case of uranium the result was positive, and indicated
a rate of production of the same order as that required
by theory. In the case of thorium, the experiment was of
the nature of a blank test, and it proved that the rate of
production is certainly not greater than ten times that
required by theory.

Mr. Murray’s letter induces me to put on record these
imperfect results, and I do this the more readily as they
may perhaps serve to emphasise and support his suggestion
that experiments along the lines and on the scale he
suggests should be carried out. But what laboratory in
England could deal with ten tons of lead over a term of ten
years?

After a year’s work, I confess I am less hopeful than I
was of the ability of the individual worker to carry out
direct experiments in this subject of atomic disintegration.
I wonder if the individual with his humble kilogram and
his single lifetime is not starting on an almost forlorn
hope, and is unduly and unnecessarily handicapped. Due
consideration should be given to the supreme consequences
that must follow from successful discoveries in this field.
Not only is there to be considered the effect such results
must exert on the whole trend of philosophic thought, but
certain definite economic problems would be solved. For
example, the proof of the disintegration of gold would
reduce the doctrine of bimetallism and the theory of

152

INVAD OTE

[ DECEMBER 14, 1905

currency to a branch of physical science, while in the
mining industry the results would possess a fundamental
significance. For the first time in the history of
mineralogical chemistry it is possible, thanks to the re-
searches of Boltwood, Strutt, and McCoy, to predict with
considerable certainty the percentage of one element
(radium) present if the percentage of another (uranium) is
known; and one asks to what this discovery may not
grow.

It seems to me that the individual and his single lifetime
is too small a stake for the prize in view. Such a work
should be national, and carried on from century to century
if necessary; and what nation has such a right or such
a duty as the one in which the subject of atomic disintegra-
tion originated? JI confess to a feeling of impatience, to
the sense of the inadequacy of the single lifetime, in my
experiments on such small quantities of gold as I can
purchase, when, disintegrating at the same rate, if dis-
integrating at all, tons of gold are lying useless in the
national bank, their secret—possibly one that it much
concerns the race to know—guarded from knowledge by
every cunning invention that the art of man may devise.
I confess to a sense of indignation that I should have to
purchase for my experiments coins and other objects of
known antiquity when within the walls of the National
Museum lie—mere dead relics as they at present are—one
of the finest collections in existence, capable of affording
evidence perhaps of a longer history than any dreamed of
by the antiquarian, and guarded by those who cannot
interpret the cypher, and who, officially at least, are
unaware of its existence. I confess to a feeling of mis-
giving in starting experiments where, on the scale possible
to the individual, the chances are all against their yielding
a positive result in a lifetime. Surely considerations of
this character, the availability of the national resources
and antiquities for the purpose of scientific investigations
under due safeguards, and the provision for and care of
experiments of long period with great quantities demanded
by this new subject, are worthy of the attention of the
nation, and of the British Science Guild as its newly
formed adviser. FREDERICK SOppy.

The University, Glasgow, December 9.

Tue suggestion which Mr. Murray has put forward
(p. 125) in explanation of the constancy of association of
lead and silver has occurred to me also, and is indicated
in an article which will probably appear shortly in the
“Jahrbuch der Radioactivitat und Elektronik *’; some
calculations are contained therein which may be of
sufficient interest to justify reproduction here.

Some recent experiments’ have afforded evidence that
the activity of the ordinary metals is caused by the emission
of @ particles. On the assumption that these a particles
have an ionising power similar to that of those from radio-
active elements, it appears that lead should emit less than
one such particle per second. In order to find the maxi-
mum rate of change that we can attribute to this metal, we
will assume that the emission of one such particle involves
the breaking up of one atom of lead and the formation of
one atom of silver; thus one atom breaks up per second.
Now a gram of lead contains about 4X10?! atoms, and
therefore to transform one ten-millionth part of the lead
would require 4x10'* seconds or more than ten million
years. Since it would be impossible to detect a smaller
proportion than this by chemical tests, I fear that the
experiment which Mr. Murray suggests is impracticable.
The earth would probably have ceased to be a habitable
globe by the time that the lead was ripe for examination;
perhaps we may trust posterity to settle the matter with
greater expedition !

But the slowness of the change in lead presents serious
difficulties to the theory that the silver in galena is a
disintegration product. Even so small a proportion as one
in ten thousand (33 ounces to the ton) would mean that
the silver had been accumulating for a thousand million
years—a period longer than that usually assigned as the
age of the earth. But until we know more of the processes
by which deposits of ore were formed, it is impossible to

1 The accounts of these should be included in an early number of the
Philosophical Magazine.

NO. 1885, VOL. 73]

say whether the lead could have retained its silver through
all the vicissitudes of its career. I believe that the silver
cannot be separated from galena by any physical means;
it may be so intimately associated that geological pro-
cesses cannot affect it; but against this we have to set the
fact that cerussite often contains much less silver than
the galena from which it is obviously derived. But here
chemical separation may have taken place involving the
passage of the metals into solution.

There are problems connected with the ‘“‘ traces of
impurity ’’ constantly associated with certain minerals
which await solution by some laborious chemist; it would
be interesting to see whether there is any tendency to
proportionality like that which holds between uranium and
radium. But the absence of such a relation might be
explained on the grounds that radio-active equilibrium had
not yet been attained.

There is one other point to which attention may be
directed. Rutherford has shown that the loss of heat from
the earth by conduction would be compensated by the
energy evolved by radium distributed throughout the mass
of the earth in the ratio of 1 to 2x10; it appears that
this amount of energy might be supplied by the disintegra-
tion of the actual constituents of the earth even if no
radium were present. It is becoming clear that the older
estimates of the age of the earth, based on physical data,
are wholly erroneous; but if the radio-activity of all
elements can be established rigidly, and the time constants
of their decay measured with sufficient accuracy, it may
be possible to use the evidence to which Mr. Murray has
directed attention to gain some information as to the
period that has elapsed since the solidification of the earth’s
crust. Norman R. CAMPBELL.

Trinity College, Cambridge, December to.

In Nature, December 7, p. 125, Mr. Donald Murray
suggests that the constant association of different elements
arises from the slow transmutation of one into the other.
The idea is certainly a reasonable one, and I presume has
long been in the minds of all who have followed recent
work. The writer discussed this question last year (Chem.
News, 1904, Ixxxix., 47, 58, 118), and arrived at Mr.
Murray’s opinion.

Now interest in the matter is reviving, perhaps I may be
allowed to direct attention to this discussion.

Kiel, December 1o. GEOFFREY MartIN.

Action of Wood on a Photographic Plate.

I HAVE recently seen some photographic plates used at
the last eclipse which have on them, not only pictures of
the sun, but also pictures of the wood forming the dark-
slides in which they had been placed.

At a former eclipse I understand a similar disaster
occurred. It may, therefore, be well for me again to
state that wood in contact with, or in near proximity to, a
photographic plate, even in the dark, can impress upon
the plate a clear picture of itself.‘ This action is much
stimulated by high temperature and brilliant sunshine. It
can, however, be stopped in several ways; probably the
simplest one would be to make the slides of copper in
place of wood. Wittiam J. RUSSELL.

Davy-Faraday Laboratory.

Magnetic Storms and Aurore,

Tue interesting paper by Dr. Chas. Chree in your issue
of November 30 (p. 101) is inaccurate in one particular.
He states that the storm of November 12 was not accom-
panied by aurore. My friend Mr. John McHarg, of
Lisburn, writes me that ‘‘it was fairly prominent, to be
seen easily above the moonlight, the usual type, a steady
glow brighter than the Milky Way, extending half round
the horizon and fading off upwards at an altitude of 20°,
or 30° in the west.”’

From that station aurorze were also observed on
November 14, 15, 16, 17, 20, 21, 22, 23, 26, 27, and 30, and
it is reported also that a bright crimson arch was seen

ce

| on the early morning of December 1.

F. C. DENNETT.
6 Eleanor Road, Hackney, N.E.

1 Phil. Trans., vol. exevii. p. 281 ; Proc. Roy. Soc., vol. \xxiv. p. 131.

DECEMBER 14, 1905 |

NATURE

bye)

NOTES ON STONEHENGE.
IX.—FOLKLORE AND TRADITIONS.

O far in these notes I have dealt chiefly with
stones, as I hold, associated with, or themselves
composing, sanctuaries. We have become acquainted
with circles, menhirs, dolmens, altars, viz sacre,
various structures built up of stones. Barrows and
earthen banks generally came afterwards.

The view which I have been led to bring forward
so far is that these structures had in one way or
another to do with the worship of the sun and stars;
that they had for the most part an astronomical use
in connection with religious ceremonials.

The next question which concerns us in an attempt
to get at the bottom of the matter is to see whether
there are any concomitant phenomena, and, if there
be any, to classify them and study the combined
results.

Tradition and folklore, which give dim references
to the ancient uses of the stones, show in most un-
mistakable fashion that the stones were not alone;
associated with them almost universally were many
practices such as the lighting of single or double fires
in the neighbourhood of the stones, passing through
them and dancing round them; there were also other
practices involving sacred trees and sacred wells or
streams.

Folklore and tradition not only thus may help us,
but I think they will be helped by such a general
survey, brief though it must be. So far as my reading
has gone each special tradition has been considered
by itself; there has been no general inquiry having
for its object the study of the possible origin and
connection of many of the ancient practices and ideas
which have so dimly come down to us in many cases
and which we can only completely reconstruct by
piecing together the information from various sources.

I now propose to refer to all these matters with the
view of seeing whether there be any relation between
practices apparently disconnected in so many cases
if we follow the literature in which they are
chronicled. We must not blame the literature since
the facts which remain to be recorded now here, now
there, are but a small fraction of those that have been
forgotten. Fortunately, the facts forgotten in one
locality have been remembered in another, so that
it is possible the picture can be restored more com-
pletely than one might have thought at first.

It will be noted at once that from the point of view
with which we are at present concerned, one of the
chief relations we must look for is that of time, seeing
that my chief affirmation with regard to the stone
monuments is that they were used for ceremonial pur-
poses at certain seasons, those seasons being based
first upon the agricultural, and later upon the astro-
nomical divisions of the year.

But in a matter of this kind it will not do to depend
upon isolated cases; the general trend of all the facts
available along several lines of inquiry must be found
and studied, first separately and then inter se, if any
final conclusion is to be reached.

This is what I now propose to do in a very sum-
mary manner. It is not my task to arrange the facts
of folklore and tradition, but simply to cull from the
available sources precise statements which bear upon
the questions before us. These statements, I think,
may be accepted as trustworthy, and all the more so as
many of the various recorders have had no idea either
of the existence of a May year at all or of the con-
nection between the different classes of the phenomena
which ought to exist if my theory of their common

1 Continued from vol. Ixxii. p. 272.

NO. 1885, VOL. 73]

origin in connection with ancient worship and the
| monuments is anywhere near the truth.

This question of time relations is surrounded by
difficulties.

I give in Fig. 23 the Gregorian dates of the begin-
ning of the quarters of the May year, if nothing but
the sun’s declination of 16° 20’ N. or S., four times
in its yearly path, be considered. These were :—

May Greek Roman
Year Calendar Calendar

End of Winter... 500 = 3
Beginning of Spring... } Feb. a SEY) BSF
5) Summer May 6 May 6 May 9

End of Summer pocr-|L

Beginning of Autumn ... J Be AIS etog.78
Winter Nov. 8 Nov. 10 Nov. 9

”

In the table I also give, for comparison, the dates in
the Greelk and Roman calendars (p. 20).

There is no question that on or about the above
days festivals were anciently celetrated in these
islands, possibly not all at all holy places, but some at
one and some at another; this, perhaps, may help
to explain the variation in the local traditions and
even some of the groupings of orientations.

The earliest information on this point comes from
Ireland.

Cormac, Archbishop of Cashel in the tenth century,
states, according to Vallancey, that ‘‘in his time four

Summer solstice.
June 21.

Setting. Rising.

August 8, May 6. May 6, August

March 21.

Sept. 23.
Sept. 28.

March 21,

Noy. 8, Feb. 4. Feb. 4, Nov.

Dec. 23.
Winter solstice.

Fic. 23.—The farmers’ and astronomical years.

great fires were lighted up on the four great festivals
of the Druids, viz., in February, May, August, and
November.’’?

I am not aware of any such general statement as
early as this in relation to the four festivals of the
May year in any part of Britain, but in spite of its
absence the fact is undoubted that festivals were held,
and many various forms of celebration used, during
those months.

From the introduction of Christianity attempts of
different kinds were made to destroy this ancient time
system and to abolish the so-called ‘*‘ pagan ’’ worships
and practices connected with it. Efforts were made
to change the date and so obliterate gradually the old
traditions; another way, and this turned out to be
the more efficacious, was to change the venue of the
festival, so to speak, in favour of some Christian
celebration or saint’s day. The old festivals tool no

1 Hazlitt, ‘‘ Dictionary of Faiths and Folklore,” under Gulz cf August.

154

account of week-days, so it was ruled that the fes-
tivals were to take place on the first day of the week;
later on some of them were ruled to begin on the first
day of the month.

When Easter became a movable feast, the efforts
of the priests were greatly facilitated, and indeed it
would seem as if this result of such a change was not
absent from the minds of those who favoured it.

The change of style was, as I have before stated, a
fruitful source of confusion, and this was still further
complicated by another difficulty. Piers? tells us
that consequent upon the change ‘‘the Roman
Catholics light their fires by the new style, as the
correction originated from a pope; and for that very
same reason the Protestants adhere to the old.’

I will refer to each of the festivals and their
changes of date,

February 4.

Before the movable Easter the February festival
had been transformed into Ash Wednesday (February
4). The eve of the festival was Shrove Tuesday, and
it is quite possible that the ashes used by the priests
on Wednesday were connected with the bonfires of the
previous night.

It would seem that initially the festival, with its
accompanying bonfire, was transferred to the first
Sunday in Lent, February 8.

1 quote the following from Hazlitt ? :—

‘“Durandus, in his ‘ Rationale,’ tells us, Lent was
counted to begin on that which is now the first Sunday
in Lent, and to end on Easter Eve; which time, saith
he, containing forty-two days, if you take out of them
the six Sundays (on which it was counted not lawful
at any time of the year to fast), then there will remain
only thirty-six days: and, therefore, that the number
of days which Christ fasted might be perfected, Pope
Gregory added to Lent four days of the week before-
going, viz. that which we now call Ash Wednesday,
and the three days following it. So that we see the
first observation of Lent began from a superstitious,
unwarrantable, and indeed profane, conceit of imi-
tating Our Saviour’s miraculous abstinence. Lent is
so called from the time of the year wherein it is
observed: Lent in the Saxon language signifying
Spring.”’

Whether this be the origin of the lenten fast or not
it is certain that the connection thus established be-
tween an old pagan feast and a new Christian one is
very ingenious: 24 days in February plus 22 days in
March (March 22 being originally the fixed date for
Easter) gives us 46 days (6x7)+4, and from the
point of view of priestcraft the result was eminently
satisfactory, for thousands of people still light fires
on Shrove Tuesday or on the first Sunday of Lent,
whether those days occur in February or March. They
are under the impression that they are doing homage
to a church festival, and the pagan origin is entirely
forgotten not only by them but even by those who
chronicle the practices as ‘‘ Lent customs.’’?

Finally, after the introduction of the movable
Easter, the priests at Rome, instead of using the
““pagan ”’ ashes produced on the eve of the first Sun-
day in Lent or Ash Wednesday in each year, utilised
those derived from the burning of the palms used on
Palm Sunday of the year before.

Further steps were taken to conceal from future
generations the origin of the ‘‘ pagan’? custom due
on February 4. February 3 was dedicated to St.
“ Blaze.’ How well this answered is shown by the
following quotation, from Percy.t ‘‘ The anniversary

1 ‘Survey cf the South of Ireland,” p. 232.

2 Under Ash Wednesday.

3 Frazer, ‘‘Golden Bough,” ii., 247 et seg.

4 “ Notes to Northumberland Household Book,” 1770, p. 33

NO. 1885, VOL. 73]

3

WA TO Lets.

[DECEMBER 14, 1905

of St. Blazeus is the 3rd February, when it is still
the custom in many parts of England to light up fires
on the hills on St. Blayse night: a custom antiently
taken up perhaps for no better reason than the
jingling resemblance of his name to the word Blaze.”

This even did not suffice. A great candle church fes-
tival was established on February 2. This was called
““Candlemas,’’ and Candlemas is still the common
name of the beginning of the Scotch legal year. In
the Cathedral of Durham when Cosens was bishop he
““busied himself from two of the clocke in the after-
noone till foure, in climbing long ladders to stick up
wax candles in the said Cathedral Church; the number
of all the candles burnt that evening was 220, besides
16 torches; 60 of those burning tapers and torches
standing upon and near the high altar.’’

There is evidence that the pagan fires at other times
of the year were also gradually replaced by candles
in the churches.

May 6.

The May festival has been treated by the Church in
the same way as the February one. With Easter
fixed on March 22, 46 days after Easter brought us
to a Thursday (May 7), hence Holy Thursday? and
Ascension Day. With Easter movable there of course
was more confusion. Whit Sunday, the Feast of
Pentecost, was only nine days after Holy Thursday,
and it occurred, in some years, on the same day of
the month as Ascension Day in others. In Scotland
the festival now is ascribed to Whit Sunday.

It is possibly in consequence of this that the festival
before even the change of style was held on the 1st
of the month.

In Cornwall, where the celebrations still survive,
the day chosen is May 8.

August 8.

For the migrations of the dates of the ‘“‘ pagan ”’
festival in the beginning of August from the rst to
the 12th, migrations complicated by the old and new
style, I refer to Prof. Rhys’ Hibbert lectures, p. 418.
in which work a full account of the former practices
in Ireland and Wales is given.

The old festival in Ireland was associated with Lug,
a form of sun-god. The most celebrated one was held
at Tailltin. This feast—Lugnassad—was changed
into the Church celebration Lammas—from A. S.
hlafmaesse—that is loaf-mass, or bread-mass, so named
as a mass or feast of thanksgiving for the first fruits
of the corn harvest. The old customs in Wales and the
Isle of Man included the ascent of hills in the early
morning, but so far I have come across no record of
fires in connection with this date.

November 8.

The fact that November 11 is quarter day in Scot-
land, that mayors are elected on or about that date,
shows, I think, clearly that we are here dealing with
the old ‘‘ pagan ”’ date.

The fact that the Church anticipated it by the feast
of All Souls’ on November 1 reminds us of what
happened in the case of the February celebration, later
I give a reference to the change of date; and
perhaps this change was also determined by the
natural gravitation to the first of the month as in the

| case of May, and because it marked at one time the

beginning of the Celtic year.

1 Quoted by Hazlitt. :

2 Much confusion has arisen with regard to the Holy Thursday in Rega-
tion week because there is another Holy or Maundy Thursday in Easter
week. Archzologists have also been often misled by the practice of many
writers of describing the May festivalsas midsummer festivals. The first of
May, of course, marked the éeg/nning of summer.

DECEMBER 14, 1905]

ISCAST MOPS:

GS)

But what seems quite certain is that the feast
which should have been held on November 8 on
astronomical grounds was first converted by the
Church into the feast of St. Martin on November 11.
The ‘‘ Encyclopedia Britannica’ tells us

“The feast of St. Martin (Martinmas) took the
place of an old pagan festival, and inherited some of
its usages (such as the Martinsmannchen, Martins-
feuer, Martinshorn, and the like, in various parts of
Germany.”’ ‘

St. Martin lived about A.D. 300. As the number
of saints increased, it became impossible to dedicate
a feast-day to each. Hence it was found expedient
to have an annual aggregate commemoration of such
as had not special days for themselves. So a church
festival ‘‘ All Hallows,’’ or ‘‘ Hallowmass,’’ was
instituted about a.p. 610 in memory of the martyrs,
and it was to take place on May 1. For some reason
or another this was changed in a.p. 834. May was
given up, and the date fixed on November 1. This
was a commemoration of all the saints, so we get
the new name “ All Saints’ Day.”’

There can be little doubt that the intention of the
Church was to anticipate and therefore gradually to
obliterate the pagan festival still held at Martinmas,
and it has been successful in many places, in
Ireland, for instance; at Samhain,! November 1
““the proper time for prophecy and the unveiling of
mysteries ; it was then that fire was lighted
at a place called after Mog Ruith’s daughter
Tlachtga. From Tlachtga all the hearths in Ireland
are said to have been annually supplied, just as the
Lemnians had once a year to put their fires out and
light them anew from that brought in the sacred
ship from Delos. The habit of celebrating Nos
Galan-galaf in Wales by lighting bonfires on the
hills is possibly not yet quite extinct.’’

Here, then, we find the pagan fires transferred
from the 8th to the 1st of November in Ireland, but
in the Isle of Man this is not so. I will anticipate
another reference to Rhys by stating that Martinmas
had progressed from the rth to the 24th before the
change of style had brought it back, ‘‘ old Martin-
mas,’? November 24, being one of the best recognised
“old English holidays,’’ ‘fold Candlemas’”’ being
another, at the other end of the May year, which
had slipped from February 2 to February 15 before it
was put back again.

With regard to the Isle of Man Rhys writes *
that the feast is there called Hollantide, and is kept
oa November 12, a reckoning which he states ‘‘ is
according to the old style.” The question is, are we
not dealing here with the Martinmas festiva] not
antedated to November 1? He adds, ‘“‘ that is the
day when the tenure of land terminates, and when
serving men go to their places. In other words
it is the beginning of a new year.’’ This is exactly
what happens in Scotland, and the day is still called
Martinmas.

There is a custom in mid-England which strikingly
reminds us of the importance of Martinmas in rela-
tion to old tenures, if even the custom does not carry
us still farther back. This is the curious and_ in-
teresting ceremony of collecting the wroth silver, due
and payable to his Grace the Duke of Buccleuch and
Queensbury, on ‘‘ Martinmas Eve.’’ The payment is
made on an ancient mound on the summit of Knight-
low Hill, about five miles out of Coventry, and in the
parish of Ryton-on-Dunsmore. One feature about this
singular ceremonial is that it must be observed before
sun-rising. The money is now paid as a sort of high-

1 Rhys, ‘‘ Hibbert Lectures,” p. 514.
2

2 “Celtic Folklore,” p. 3t5.
NO. 1885, VOL. 73]

way rate for the privilege of using certain roads in the
Hundred of Knightlow, and, according to the ancient
charter, the penalty is a fine of twenty shillings for
every penny not forthcoming, or the forfeiture of a
white bull with red nose and ears. There are no de-
faulters nowadays, and if there were it would certainly
be difficult, if not impossible, to find a beast answer-
ing the above description, as this breed of cattle has
become extinct. When the short ceremony is over,
those taking part adjourn to a wayside inn, and there
with glasses charged with hot rum and milk they
toast the Duke’s health.
Norman Lockyer.

AN AUSTRALIAN STORY BOOK.’

HOULD any reader of Nature desire to give a
Christmas present to a boy or girl he might do
much worse than buy Mrs. Jeanie Gunn’s little book,
but before parting with it he should himself look
through it. The author has a great sense of humour,
and seizes on salient features of native life and de-
scribes them in a few words; these gifts, combined
with a real sympathy with the blackfellow, have
enabled her to write a little book that is full of human
interest. This is not an ethnographical treatise, and
no matters are gone into in detail, yet the reader
will learn somewhat of the life of Australian
aborigines and of their relations with the white man,
and if he should not acquire any deep knowledge he
will have nothing to unlearn, and that is something
to be thankful for.

A few examples culled at random will give a good
idea of this most excellent little book.

“The blacks’ sign language is very perfect. They
have a sign for every bird, beast, fish, person, place
and action. They have long talks without uttering
a word. There are many times when a blackfellow
must not speak, unless by signs. For instance, if
he is mourning for a near relative, or has just
come from a very special corrobboree. Often he
must keep silent for weeks, and occasionally for
months, and it is because of this and many other
reasons that the sign language is so perfect. Every-
one can speak it, and everyone does so when hiding
in the bush from enemies, and then there is no fear
of voices being heard.”

‘“Tt is very wonderful, but then the blacks are
wonderful. To have any idea of how wonderful they
are, you must live among them, going in and out
of their camps, and having every one of them for a
friend. Just living in a house that happens to be in
a blackfellow’s country is not living among blacks,
although some people think it is.’

““T had plenty of Eau de Cologne, and used it
freely. One day when Bett-Bett smelt it, as I was
sprinkling it over my dress, she screwed up her little
black nose, and after half-a-dozen very audible sniffs,

said—‘ My word, Missus! That one goodfellow
stink all right! ”’
‘“ Anyone can ‘sing magic,’ even lubras, but of

course the wise old magic men do it best. It never
fails with them, particularly if they ‘sing’ and point
one of the special Death-bones or Sacred stones of the
tribe. Generally a blackfellow goes away quite by
himself when he is ‘singing magic,’ but very
occasionally a few men join together, as they did in
the case of Goggle Eye. ... Of course the man
who has been ‘sung’ must be told somehow, or he
will not get a fright and die. There are many ways

A True Tale of Life in the Never-never

1 ‘* The Little Black Princess :
ie C (London: The De

Land,” By Jeanie Gunn. Pp. vii+r1o7; illustrated.
La More Press, 1905.) Price ss. net.

156

NA TORE

[DECEMBER 14, 1905

of telling him, without letting him know who has
“sung ’ him; but the man who leaves the bone about
must, of course, be very careful to destroy his own
tracks. Have you ever heard of faith-healing ?
Well, dying from bone-pointing is faith-dying!
Goggle Eye, after he had found the bones lying
about, knew exactly what was going to happen to
him—and of course it did.”’

“You cannot change a blackfellow into a white
man, if you try; you only make a bad, cunning, sly

Fic. 1.—Tree-burial, south of the Roper River.

old blackfellow. I don’t mean you can’t make a
blackfellow into a better blackfellow. I know
can be done, if he is kept a blackfellow, true to his
blackfellow instincts.’’ AGG Ee

NOTES.

Tue Nobel prizes in science have this year been awarded
Lenard, of
investigations on kathode
Adolf von Bayer, of
for the development in organic

as follows :—The prize for physics to Prof. P.
the University
rays; the prize for chemistry to Prof.
the University of Munich,
chemistry and chemical
on organic

of Kiel, for his

industry resulting from his works

colouring matters and hydro-aromatic com-

Robert Koch, for his
The

pounds; the medical prize to Dr.

discoveries in connection with tuberculosis. prizes,

consisting of a sum of about 7700l., an illuminated

diploma, and a gold medal with an appropriate inscrip-

tion, were presented by King Oscar on December 10 at

the annual commemoration of the founder

of the

ceremony in
institution.

Tue following Times of
December 7 :—Sir
tion of the
at Kew is announced,
1885, and for ten
he was
David Prain,
Aberdeen and

note appeared in the
William Thiselton-Dyer,
post of director of the Royal Botanic Gardens
has held that appointment
1875-1885—hbefore his

His

distinguished

whose resigna-

since

years promotion

assistant director. successor, Lieut.-Colonel

had a university career at

before he entered the Indian

NO. 1885, VOL. 73]

Edinburgh

Medical Service in 1884. Three years after his arrival in
India he was nominated curator of Calcutta Herbarium;
in 1895 he became professor of botany at the Medical
g Calcutta, and superintendent of the Royal Botanic
Garden there, and in 1898 he was appointed director of the

Botanical Survey of India. He is forty-eight years of age.

Tue German

memorial of

Anatomical Society has decided to erect a
its honorary the late Prof. Albert
The memorial will be erected in Wirzburg,
which the
teacher and
investigator was in-
associated.

president,
von Kolliker.
with

famous

timately

Pror. E. RIECKE,
professor of experi-
mental physics and
applied electricity in
the University of

Géttingen, and also
director of the
Physical Institute,
celebrated his six-

tieth birthday on
December 1; whilst
Prof. R. Fittig,

emeritus professor of
chemistry of the
University of Strass-
burg, celebrated his
seventieth birthday
on December 6.

committee
carry

THE
appointed to
the proposal of a
memorial to the late

From ‘‘ The Little Black Princess.” Prof. Virchow into
execution has now,

we learn from the British Medical Journal, a sum of

that | 40001. at its disposal. Of this amount, r18o0ol. has been

by the city of Berlin.
tool., and
Draw-

contributed by subscribers and 2200l.
Three prizes, of the value respectively of 150l.,
5ol., are offered for the best design of a memorial.
ings must be sent in before April, 1906.

THERE is a movement on foot in German chemical and
technical circles to erect a statue in Freiburg, Saxony, to
the memory of the late Prof. Dr. Clemens Winkler, who
was professor in the Royal Mining Academy at Freiburg,
and died in Dresden last year. The proposed memorial is
to take the form of a large block of granite decorated with
a medallion picture of the deceased investigator and a short

account of his life’s work.

Tue French Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres
elected Dr. Arthur Evans, keeper of the Ashmolean
Museum, and Mr. Barclay, head keeper of the department
of coins and medals in the British Museum, corresponding
members of the academy.

has

Tue thirteenth meeting of the International Congress of
Prehistoric Anthropology and Archeology will be held at
Monaco, under the patronage of Prince Albert the First, on
April 16-21, Particulars as to the congress may be
obtained from the general secretary, Dr. Verneau, 61 Rue
de Buffon, Paris.

1906.

At a meeting of the British committee for the Marseilles
International Exhibition of Oceanography and Sea

DECEMBER 14, 1905 |

NATURE

157

Fisheries held last Friday, a central committee was
nominated, consisting of Sir John Murray, K.C.B., the
honorary president, Captain D. Wilson-Barker, Mr: W. E.
Archer, Dr. H. O. Forbes, Mr. E. W. L. Holt, Dr. H. R.
Mill, Dr. P. C. Mitchell, Prof. D’Arcy W. Thompson,
C.B., Mr. J. W. Towse, and Dr. G. H. Fowler as honorary

secretary.

A CONFERENCE On smoke abatement and an exhibition of
smoke-preventive appliances, arranged by the Royal Sani-
tary Institute and .the Coal-Smoke Abatement Society,
were opened at the large hall of the Horticultural Society
on Tuesday. At the conference parts of an address by
Sir Oliver Lodge, who was prevented by illness from being
present, were read by Sir William Richmond; and at the
conclusion of the reading a paper entitled *‘ Is London Fog
Inevitable? ’’ was contributed by Dr. W. N. Shaw.

Tue dinner of the Institute of Chemistry was held on
Monday at the Hotel Metropole, the president, Mr. David
Howard, being in the chair. Responding to the toast of
the institute, the president said that they had a very high
ideal when they founded the institute; they wished to
raise the standard of the chemist to something like the
same level as that of the other learned professions. The
position of the professional chemist was higher in England
than it was anywhere else, and why? Because there was
that independence of thought, that individual excellence and
individual devotion to duty which was required in a true
professional spirit.

Tuer seventeenth annual dinner of the Institution of
Electrical Engineers took place on December 8 at the
Hotel Cecil. A distinguished gathering assembled. Short
speeches, in proposing and responding to the various toasts,
were delivered by Mr. Babington Smith, the president
(Mr. John Gavey), Sir Alexander Kennedy, F.R.S., Mr.
E. Cunliffe Owen, Mr. Alexander Siemens, Mr. John G.
Maydon, Mr. W. M. Mordey, Sir Alexander Binnie, and
Dr. Budde, president of the Verband Deutscher Elektro-
techniker of Berlin. Dr. Budde remarked that, speaking
on behalf of his fellow electricians in Germany, he grate-
fully acknowledged the thought and the spirit expressed in
the invitation to himself to be their representative as guest
ct the instituticn. Contact, he said, between the scientific
and technical men of all countries cannot be too close.
There are matters enough tending to separate nations, and
therefore it cannot be too strongly pressed that research
and intellectual labour form a tie which will always draw
together the best spirits of the world, and must tend to
promote international solidarity.

On Saturday, December g, a very interesting ceremony
took place at the Royal Forest Hotel, Chingford, when a
presentation was made to Mr. Wm. Cole, the founder of
the Essex Field Club, in honour of the completion of his
twenty-five years of service as hon. secretary, editor of the
publications, and curator of the two museums founded by
the club. At the instigation of the president, Mr. Miller
Christy, a ‘‘ recognition fund’? was started a few months
ago with Prof. Meldola as chairman, Mr. David Howard
as treasurer, Mr. Christy as secretary, and a committee.
The invitations issued on behalf of the movement were
most cordially responded to, and the fund asked for was
exceeded long before the subscription list was closed. At
the dinner at Chingford Prof. Meldola presided and made
the presentation on behalf of the subscribers, Mr. Cole and
his brothers and sisters, all of whom had cooperated with
him in carrying out the work of the club during the whole
period of its existence, being present as the guests’ of the

NO. 1885, VOL. 73]

evening. The presentation tooix the form of an illuminated
address and a purse. Among those who were-present to
support the chairman, and who bore testimony to the value
of the work of the club and of the services of the hon.
secretary and his family, were Mr. Victor Buxton, the High
Sheriff of Essex, Mr. Christy and Mr. David Howard,
the president and treasurer of the club, Mr. T. V. Holmes
and Prof. Boulger, past-presidents, Mr. Gellatly, represent-
ing the verderers of Epping Forest, Messrs. W. Whitaker
and Horace B. Woodward, hon. members of the club, Mr.
W. M. Webb, representing the Selborne Society, and others.
A very large number of appreciatory letters had also been
sent, and were read from the chair, among the writers
being the Countess of Warwick, Lord Rayleigh, Sir John

Evans, Mr. E. N. Buxton, Profs. Ray lLankkester,
Marshall’ Ward, E. B. Poulton, and J. B. Farmer,
Dr. Horace ‘Brown; Mr. F. W: Rudler, Dr. J.-'C.
Thresh, the chairman of the Essex County Council,

the chairman of the Epping Forest committee, and all

the past-presidents of the club other than those who
were present. After. the reading and presentation of
the address by the chairman, and the handing of the

purse by the Mr. Cole. returned thanks on
behalf of himself and family. In the course of his re-
marks he laid emphasis on the services which the chair-
man of the evening had specially rendered to the club as
their first and eighth president, and who had ever taken
the keenest interest in their work. He produced a copy of
the original inaugural address delivered by Prof. Meldola
in 1880, and pointed out that the general policy of the
club had been sketched out therein, and that it, with sub-
sequent addresses, had been to them as models laying down
the lines on which the work of their own and of all kindred
societies ought to be conducted. In concluding, Mr. Cole
also directed attention to several branches of work which
he hoped to see the club take up in the future, among these
being the establishment of a marine biological station, and
the preservation, in connection with the photographic
survey, of Essex folklore and dialects by means of phono-
graphic records.

treasurer,

At a meeting of the Institution of Civil Engineers on
December 5, the Hon. Charles A. Parsons, C.B., F.R.S.,
and Mr. G. G. Stoney, in a paper read before the institu-
tion, traced the evolution of the steam-turbine from the
time of Hero of Alexandria, following the chief steps in
development that have led to the types in present use.
After describing and discussing the chief characteristics of
the three types of steam-turbine, which practically cover
the whole field of useful turbine inventions, viz. the Parsons
turbine, introduced in 1884, the De Laval turbine in 1888,
and the Curtis turbine in 1902, the development of the
Parsons turbine was dealt with. A good vacuum is re-
quired for the economical working of steam-turbines, and

certain special conditions and arrangements must _ be
observed in order to obtain a vacuum of 273 inches to

28 inches. An apparatus called a vacuum-augmenter has
been designed by the authors, and consists of a steam jet
placed in a contracted pipe between the condenser and the
air-pump. With this apparatus, a total net reduction of
steam-consumption of about 8 per cent. at full load has
been obtained. Experience gained from cross-Channel
steamers and yachts shows that the propellers of turbine
vessels do not race in a heavy seaway, that the vessels
maintain their smooth-water speed to a remarkable extent
in heavy seaway, and that they start, stop, and manceuvre
promptly.
issue of Scientific
Prof. G. H. Carpenter

(Irish
the

In a recent Investigations

Fisheries), 1904, describes

NATURE

[ DECEMBER 14, 1905

Pycnogonida, or sea-spiders, of the Irish naming

two new representatives of the group, each of which is
figured.

seas,

““ VOLITION IN MICRO-ORGANISMS ’’ is
the title of a paper by Mr. R.
San José, Costa Ri apparently as the first part of a
serial entitled Publicaciones Nuevas por Contribucion de
While that the activity of such
organisms is automatic, and due in the first instance to
external stimulants, the author considers that such
matomism ’

of
B. Mesén, published at

the translation

1

Amigos. admitting
*“ auto-
constitutes the basis of the human will, and
that there is a complete gradation from the former to the
very highest developments of the latter.

PERHAPS the most generally interesting article in the
November number of the American Naturalist is one in
which Mr. F. B. Loomis attributes the phenomenon in

animals

“

commonly known as “ over specialisation ’’

As examples of structures coming under
the designation of over specialisation, the author cites the
tusks of the sabre-toothed tigers, the
sutures of ammonites,

to
momentum.’’

radiolarian shell, the
sponge-spicules, and the horns of
wild sheep, wapiti, and elk. A variation started in one
particular line tends, in the author’s opinion, to develop
in that one direction; if the feature be harmful the de-
velopment dies, otherwise it may continue ad infinitum.
This theory of momentum, it is

added, has not been
credited with the importance to which it is entitled.
Whether we are very much more forward for this sup-

posed explanation of a very obvious feature in development
may perhaps be open to doubt.

From the entomological division of the U Department
of Agriculture we have received a copy of a catalogue of

exhibits of economic entomology at the recent St. Louis
Exhibition, forming Bulletin No. 47. The whole exhibit

was intended to bring into prominence the general scope
of the work of the entomological division. Intimately con-
nected with this is a memoir on the Mexican cotton-boll
weevil, by Messrs. Hunter and Hinds, forming Bulletin
No. 45 of the entomological division of the U.S. A

gri-
cultural Department.

This weevil (Anthonomus grandis)
has the evil distinction of having developed during the last
twenty years from an insignificant into a notorious insect.
In 1885 it was ascertained for the first time that this weevil
attacked cotton in and between that and
1902 it crossed the Rio Grande into T xas, where it has
since with inflicted
; After spreading for the
first few years very quickly, it was checked for a time

Mexico, date

spread

extraordinary and

rapidity,
enormous losses on cotton-growers.

by unfavourable seasons, but meeting with suitable con-
ditions in 1898 part of the
State. It was hoped that in ten years’ time Texas would
double its output of more than ten million bales of cotton,
but this is now regarded as impossible.

it soon colonised the greater

In the course of an article on western explorations for
fossil vertebrates, published in the October number of the
Popular Science Monthly, Prof. H. F. Osborn states that
“it is an extremely slow and difficult matter to prepare a
fossil, however carefully collected, for exhibition. It takes
two years or more to work out the collections of a single

season ; the result is that most of our museums are collect-

ing materials more rapidly than they can be worked.

With larger endowments or with special gifts these
treasures could be more rapidly brought to light.”’ It will
not fail to be noticed that public exhibition of these

wondrous fossils, when properly mounted, is regarded by

American museum officials as a matter of prime import-

NO. 1885, VOL. 73]

ance. Those who pay for these institutions do not like

the treasures hidden away for the sole benefit of the
student.
A CHARACTERISTIC of modern American museums _ is

formed by the restored models of extinct animals, of which
there are scarcely any in the corresponding institutions of
this country. A considerable number of such models were
used by Prof. Osborn to illustrate his discourse on progress
in mammalian paleontology during the last decade in
America, delivered before the International Zoological Con-
gress at Berne last year. The report of this lecture, published
in the Comptes rendus of the congress, contains photo-
graphs of these models, one of the most spirited of which
is herewith reproduced. In this instance, the restoration
has been a comparatively easy task, as the animal belongs
to an existing genus, but the workers under the author’s
direction have not hesitated to attempt to reproduce the
external form of the Tertiary titanotheres and uintatheres,
and even of the giant reptiles of the Jurassic and Cre-
It may be hoped that we shall ere long see some
The
author points out that there are three fossil elephants in

taceous.
of these excellent restorations in our own museums.

America, viz. the mammoth (Elephas primigenius) in the
far north, E. columbi (akin to E.

antiquus) chiefly in the

Fic. r.—Model of an Extinct Elephant (A/ephas imperator).

central States, and E. imperator (allied to E. meridionalis)

in the south. Taken as a whole, Prof. Osborn’s record of
progress is little short of marvellous, and ought to make
European palzontologists jealous, if jealousy could be

supposed to exist in matters scientific.

Tue report by Dr. Ashburton Thompson on the fourth
outbreak of plague at in 1904 adduces further
evidence on the part played by rats in the communication
of During the three last plague epidemics
in
to

Sydney

plague to man.
this city, an epizootic among the rats was always found
precede the epidemic in man.

Tue Bulletin of the Johns Hopkins Hospital for
November (xvi., No. 176) contains the first of the Herter
lectures on the contributions of pharmacology to physi-
ology by Prof. Hans Meyer, the second part of the paper
by Mr. Martin on the cause of the heart beat, and articles
of considerable anatomical and medical interest.

THE October
Museum, Be

number of Naturen, published .at the

n, contains an article by Prof. L.

Kny on
the sensitivity of plants, and a historical summary of the
researches on the nature of alcoholic fermentation written
by Mr. P. R. Sollied.

DecEMBER 14, 1905]

NATURE

159

Tue American gooseberry mildew, Sphaerotheca mors-
uvae, which was reported from Ireland in 1900, and from
the succeeding year, has also appeared in
Sweden. Dr. J. Eriksson, writing in Bulletin No. 87 of
the experimental station of the Royal Agricultural
College, traces the disease that developed in Karlshamm, in
the south of Sweden, to bushes that had been imported
from Denmark.

Tue monthly journal Tropical Life deals chiefly with
tropical agriculture and commerce. Reference is made in
the November number to two American machines recently
brought out, the one a sugar-cane harvester, the other an
auto-cottonpicker. The latter machine is provided with
two long mechanical arms moving lightly in a universal
joint; along each arm runs an endless belt studded with
hooks. The arms are tilted to come in contact with the
bolls, when the hooks pull away the whole mass, and the
cotton passes along the belt to a receptacle. The possi-
bility of utilising banana stems and trash for the manu-
facture of paper is discussed in view of the large amount
of material that is produced in the cultivation of the fruit.

Russia in

Tue cultivation of tomatoes under glass, with special
reference to the value of pruning, is discussed in Bulletin
No. 105 issued from the Hatch Experimental Station
of the Massachusetts Agricultural College. The writer,
Mr. G. E. Stone, advocates planting in beds rather than
in pots, although the root restriction in pots favours early
maturity. Pruning is said to promote early ripening and
to produce increased size of fruit. There is some differ-
ence of opinion whether it is better to prune to one or
three stems, but there is a general consensus in favour of
cutting out the leader.

Tue report of the chief of the United States Weather
Bureau for the fiscal year 1903-4 (pp. xxxix+381) con-
tains, in addition to tables of observations and summaries
at some 1650 stations, an interesting account of the very
useful operations of that organisation. Weather forecasts
for thirty-six and forty-eight hours in advance are issued
for each State, besides special warnings of gales, cold
waves, floods, &c.. To mention one case only of the
utility of the storm warnings—a hurricane which advanced
from the West Indies destroyed property to the value of
100,000 dollars during its progress over Florida, but, owing
to timely notice, comparatively little damage was done to
vessels, as they remained in port in consequence of the
warnings. Prof. W. L. Moore reiterates the hope that
the time will come when it will be possible to forecast the
weather for coming seasons, but that time has not yet
arrived, and the officials of the Weather Bureau have been
instructed to warn the public against imposition by long-
range forecasters. A course of lectures on meteorology has
been delivered by Prof. Abbe to students frequenting the
Bureau, and we understand that this useful practice is now
being carried out at our own Meteorological Office. The
lectures present the results of work done by some of the
ablest meteorologists in various parts of the world, and
undoubtedly tend to excite greater interest in the science
generally.

In the Transactions of the American Mathematical
Society for October Mr. F. R. Sharpe discusses the stability
of motion of viscous liquids. It was found by Reynolds in
1895 that for a liquid of density p and viscosity ~ moving
between two planes at distance 2b apart, the motion was
unstable when 2bpU/u>517, while for a cylindrical pipe
of vadius a the critical velocity was given by 2ba/u=1034.
Mr. Sharpe now obtains for the first case the constant 167
instead of 517, and for the second 470 instead of 1034.

NO. 1885, VOL. 73

In the Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, vol.
xIvii., Prof. E. W. Scripture gives a first report of his
studies on the construction of a vowel organ. The first
experiments were made with reeds, but it was soon found
necessary to replace these by rubber membranes held in
various frames, and representing more closely the action
of the human glottis. It is now possible to imitate all the
vowels and their variations, and the remaining problem is
to replace the rubber glottis by something that changes its
form of vibration for different vowels and does not alter
with time. When this can be done it will be possible to
construct either a complete organ or a vowel register such
as could be effectively used in church music. A register
of one octave would require 124 vowel pipes.

In a note contributed to the Journal of the Royal Micro-
scopical Society (first read before the New York Micro-
scopical Society in April last) Mr. Daniel D. Jackson
advances the view that the movements of diatoms are
caused by the evolution of gas. This idea was first sug-
gested to the author by noticing the behaviour of a lithia
tablet in a glass of water: The bubbles of carbonic acid
gas given off set up the exact motions in the tablet that
have been so often described for the movements of diatoms
—‘ a sudden advance in a straight line, a little hesitation,
then other rectilinear movements, and, after a short pause,
a return upon nearly the same path by similar movements.”
Mr. Jackson next made small models of diatoms of
aluminium, 2 mm. thick, having longitudinal grooves re-
sembling those of the diatoms. When placed in caustic
soda these models not only reproduced the actual move-
ments of the diatoms, but also gave rise to currents in the
matter closely resembling those described by Prof. H. L-
Smith as the result of observations made by placing indigo
in the water.

We have received the of the
Ceramic Society, including the papers and discussions for
the season 1904-5. It is satisfactory to note that the
president, in the course of his address, considered that the
scorn for technical instruction affected by pottery manu-
facturers in the past appeared to be dying out. Allusion
was also made to the steps taken by the Joint Committee
of Manufacturers of Staffordshire to foster research in
pottery by offering prizes for original work bearing on
certain subjects. The society appears to be in a prosperous
condition, and its efforts are becoming more and more
appreciated both at home and abroad. Amongst the various
papers we notice an interesting contribution by the pottery
instructor, Dr. J. W. Mellor, on crystallisation in pottery.

Transactions English

In No. 7 of the Bulletin of the Royal Academy of
Belgium Prof. W. Spring describes experiments extending
his well known work on the colour of natural waters.
He comes to the conclusion that the calcium compounds
present in natural waters have no colour peculiar to them-
selves, and hence are not responsible for the green tint of
many waters containing them. This is probably due to the
diffraction produced by minute solid particles, the presence
of which can be demonstrated by an intensely luminous
ray of light. Calcium salts really tend to conserve the
pure blue colour of water by causing the elimination of
ferric salts and humic materials. When a highly calcareous
water is of a greenish hue it generally indicates that there
is an equilibrium between the influx of brownish water
containing humic material and ferric salts, and the purify-
ing action of the calcium salts. In No. 8 of the same
Bulletin Prof. Louis Henry discusses in a theoretical paper
the properties of water and their relation to the formula
H,O. The physical properties point to a polymerisation of

160

NATURE

[DECEMBER 14, 1905

the molecule, whilst a consideration of the chemical proper-
ties leads to the conclusion that the two atoms of hydrogen
are functionally different, and that in reality water has a
disymmetric formula.

A VERY interesting paper by M. T. Godlewski on
certain radio-active properties of uranium is contained in
No. 5 of the Bulletin International of the Cracow Academy
of Sciences. A re-investigation has been made of the
anomalous phenomena encountered by Meyer and
Schweidler in studying the activity of uranium X. These
authors had concluded that the decay curve of uranium X
is not complementary to the recovery curve of uranium,
but M. Godlewski considers that this only holds when the
uranium nitrate containing the UrX is separated from
its solution by crystallisation; when it is separated by
evaporation to dryness at a temperature sufficiently high
to remove the water of crystallisation, an abnormally high
rate of decay is not observed. In fractionally crystallising
uranium nitrate, uranium X, which is easily soluble in
water, accumulates in the mother liquors; several crystal-
lisations will completely deprive uranium nitrate of UrX.
The author explains the increase of activity observed in
the crystallisation of uranium nitrate as being due to an
accumulation of UrX in the upper surfaces of the crystals;
this appears to be confirmed by the observation that the
activity of a crystal when turned over was found to be
only one-third of the activity measured from the upper
side. Experiments are brought forward to show that the
first rapid decay of activity after crystallisation, which
causes an uneven distribution of UrX throughout the plate,
is due to the diffusion of UrX from the upper layers of
the crystal, where it is more concentrated, to the lower,
where the concentration is smaller. The view is held that
the uranium X is dissolved in the crystals and the total
mass of uranium in the form of a solid solution.

A sECOND and revised edition of the section of the report
issued by the Engineering Standards Committee dealing
with standard locomotives for Indian Railways has been
published by Messrs. Crosby Lockwood and Son at tos. 6d.
net.

Messrs. John J. Griffin and
Sons, Ltd., a copy of their ‘‘H”’ list dealing with
apparatus for use in the teaching of hydrostatics and
pneumatics. The excellence of the illustrations and the
lucidity of the brief descriptions make the catalogue a
very serviceable one.

WE have received from

A circular from the bio-chemical department of the
University of Liverpool announces that the first number
of a new periodical—the Bio-Chemical Journal—will be
issued in January. Contributions are invited, dealing with
all portions of the subject of bio-chemistry in its widest
sense. The journal will be issued monthly, in so far as
material is available.

Tue University of Chicago Press has published a second
edition of Dr. C. J. Chamberlain’s ‘‘ Methods in Plant
Histology.”’ The first edition of the book was reviewed
in our issue for November 28, 1oor (vol. Ixv. p. 75). The
new issue contains both alterations and additions ; and some
of the improvements suggested in the review referred to
have been made.

In noticing the illustrated catalogues of makers of
scientific apparatus in this country from time to time, we
have directed attention to the excellence of the illustrations
accompanying the descriptions of the different instruments.
A revised price-list of microscopes and accessories which

NO. 1885, VOL. 73]

has been received from the Bausch and Lomb Optical Co.,
Rochester, N.Y., is another instance of a carefully arranged
and admirably illustrated catalogue. The catalogue pro-
vides information concerning microscopes made by this
firm suitable for general laboratory work, advanced work,
bacteriology, photomicrography, and a physician’s needs.
The necessary accessories are detailed fully, and clear de-
scriptions make their special characteristics easily under-
stood. The sole representatives of the company in this
country and the colonies are Messrs. A. E. Staley and Co.,
19 Thavies Inn, Holborn Circus, E.C.

OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN.

ANOTHER NEW Comet, 1905c.—A telegram from the Kiel
Centralstelle announces the discovery of a new comet,

by Prof. Giacobini, of the Nice Observatory, on
December 6-080.
At 16h. 53-7m. (Nice M.T.) the comet’s position was

R.A.=14h. 21m. 39-4s., dec.=+20° 59’ 29",

and subsequent observations showed that its daily move-
ment in R.A. amounted to +1° 08’ (=+ 4m. 32s.) and
in dec. to —o° 26/.

From the above it is seen that, when discovered, the
comet was about 1om. east and 1° 15’ north of Arcturus,
and that it is apparently travelling slowly towards the con-
stellation Serpens.

A second telegram from Kiel announces that the comet
was observed at the Lick Observatory on December 8.
The position at 17h. 16-5m. (Lick M.T.) was determined
as R.A.=14h. 32m. 58s., dec.=+19° 55’ 36".

Circular No. 82 from Kiel states that the following
elements and ephemeris have been computed by Mr.
Morgan (Glasgow, Mo.) from observations made on

December 6, 7, and 8, and communicated to the Central-
stelle by Prof. E. C. Pickering :—

Elements.
T = 1906 January 16°20 (G.M.T.).

700 =213 56 |
8 = 93 21 + 1905'0
%— 44 23
g = 0'0928
Ephemeris 12h, G.M.T.
1905 a 8 Bright-
Ne be GB rae) ness
Ech 14 ee 25 og 0
Hey oo, daly eeN S) +14 22
22) eRe) 50) 48 +11 13 4°22

The computed brightness for December 10 was 1-66, the
brightness at time of discovery being taken as 1-0.

Comet 1905b.—A number of observations of comet 1905)
(Schaer’s) are recorded in No. 4057 of the Astronomische
Nachrichten.

Using the Bruce telescope, and exposing for fifty-five
minutes, Prof. Wolf photographed the comet on
November 21, and obtained an image which showed the
object to be unsymmetrical. A fine, faint tail was seen
to issue from the coma in a position angle of 92°, reckon-
ing from the direction of the comet’s path. This tail was
curved, with the concave side preceding, and at a distance
of 22’ from the nucleus it was broken, the second part
having a slightly different direction to the first.

On November 20 Prof. Wolf was able to see the comet
with the naked eye, and estimated its magnitude to be
about 5-5. On November 21 he found it to be about
6-3m., and on November 24 observed that it had decreased
to 7-0.

The ephemeris calculated by Herr M. Ebell gives the

position of this comet on December 15 as
a=23h. 32m. 16s., 3=—10° 30’-5,

and its brightness as about 0-04 of that at the time of
discovery.

DECEMBER 14, 1905 |

NATURE

161

OrpitaL ELEMENTS oF Two Merteors.—From a number
of observations of a meteor which was seen on August 3
Dr. P. Moschick, of Heidelberg, has calculated the radiant
point, the earth point, the velocity, and the height of the
meteor, and also the elements of its orbit. For the
apparent radiant he obtained a=317° 56’, 6=—11° 54’,
and for the mean velocity 47-93+8-37 km. per second, the
probable value for the absolute velocity being 52-74 km.
per sec. The elements show the orbit to be hyperbolic,
and the meteor’s motion in the orbit to be direct.

A second meteor was seen by numerous German observers
on September 28, and Dr. Moschick has treated the observ-
ational results similarly. For the position of the radiant
point he obtained a=354° 54’, 5=+22° 4o’, and therefore
concluded that the object observed was a Pegasid. The
relative and absolute velocities were respectively 21-51 and
36-4 km. per second, and the calculated elements show that
the meteor moved, with a direct motion, in an elliptical
orbit (Astronomische Nachrichten, No. 4057).

MaGNetic DiIsTURBANCE DURING THE RECENT AURORAL
Disptay.—In a paper communicated to the Paris Academy
of Sciences, M. Th. Moureaux states that a strong mag-
netic disturbance took place about 9 o’clock on November
15, coinciding, in point of time, with the exceptionally fine
auroral display which was so generally observed. From
8h. 59m. to 9h. gm. (Paris M.T.) the declination, which
was already below the normal, diminished by 34’, and
then quickly recovered, increasing 42’ between gh. 9m.
and gh. 24m. The horizontal and vertical components
were simultaneously affected in the opposite direction.
Similar disturbances took place on November 12. Numerous
small groups of sun-spots were on the solar disc during
this period, and the first large group seen in October, now
much scattered and diminished, was due to cross the
central meridian on the evening of November 13, during
its second rotation (Comptes rendus, No. 21).

Tue ZopiacaL Licut To THE NORTH OF THE SuN.—Whilst
in Switzerland recently, Prof. Newcomb ascended the
Brienzer Rothorn in order to observe, if possible, the
extension of the zodiacal light in the north and south
direction. He found that the light was bright enough to
be seen at a distance of 35° from the sun in the direction
of the solar axis, and he assumes that it extends equally
on both sides. Prof. Newcomb therefore suggests that
the zodiacal light shall in future be described ‘‘as a
luminosity surrounding the Sun on all sides, of which the
boundary is nowhere less than 35° from the Sun, and which
is greatly elongated in the direction of the ecliptic ’’ (Astro-
physical Journal, No. 3, vol. xxii.).

CANADIAN ELECTRIC POWER STATIONS AT
January 2

NIAGARA.
ON of this year, in the power house of the

Canadian Niagara Power Company, on the Canadian
side at Niagara, the largest units used in the development
of water-power were started. This great power house is
situated in Victoria Park, and all the work of development
is done under consent from the Government of the Province
of Ontario and the commissioners of the park.

Fourteen years ago ground was broken on the New York
side at Niagara for a power development by means of a
wheel-pit and tunnel. The 105,000 horse-power thus de-
veloped has been a great inspiration to the growth of the
American city, and Canadians looked forward to the time
when they should profit by a similar development. Now
their hopes are being realised, for three strong companies
are actively at work on the Canadian side developing
power from the water that speeds toward the Horseshoe
or Canadian Fall. It was in 1892 that the Canadian
Niagara Power Company secured its first rights to develop
power in Canada, and since then it has paid the park
commissioners more than 225,000 dollars in the retention
of its privileges, while its first horse-power was developed
or the date above mentioned.

The Canadian Niagara Power Company is allied to the
Niagara Falls Power Company of the New York side of
the river, but in its Canadian development it has given
men of science and electrical engineers the most wonderful

NO. 1885, VOL. 73]

installation to study yet known in the field of any water
power development. In the big power houses on the New
York side the unit of development is 5000 horse-power, but
on the Canadian side the unit is 10,000 horse-power
was in 1890, at a meeting of the International Niz
Commission, held in London, that a unit of 5000 horse-
power was adopted for the development on the American
side at Niagara.

Ten years have elapsed since Rudolph Baumann, a Swiss
engineer, turned the wheel that started the first 5000 unit
on April 4, 1895, and since that day the installation has
been doubled in size and output capacity, and is in every
way a success. Now comes Canadian Niagara with its
units of 10,000 horse-power, the largest in the world. Mr.
William H. Beatty, of Toronto, Ontario, who is president
of the Canadian Niagara Power Company, turned the small
wheel that controls the flow of water from the penstocks
to the turbines, and as he admitted the flood of water the
monster generator began to revolve, and within a few
minutes was making 250 revolutions a minute, the speed
at which it is to be steadily operated. Unit No. 2 was
also started, making 20,000 horse-power available in the

Fic. t.—Site of the Power House of the Ontario Power Co., showing its
nearness to the Horseshoe Fall,

station, and by May 1 three additional units of the same
size were ready to run, giving off a total of 50,000 horse-
power from the five machines. In all, eleven units will
be installed in this station, so that its final output
will be 110,000 horse-power, or 5000 horse-power more than
is available from the twenty-one machines in the two power
houses of the Niagara Falls Power Company on the
American side of the river.

In the wheel-pit and tunnel method of developing power
at Niagara, a great slot, several hundred feet long, is
excavated in the earth to a depth of about 180 feet and
21 feet wide. From the bottom of the wheel-pit a tail
race or tunnel is driven through solid rock a distance of
2200 feet to the lower river or gorge. This tunnel is built
in the form of a horseshoe, and is about 20 feet wide by
25 feet high. It is lined from end to end with vitrified
brick and concrete, while the wheel-pit is also carefully
lined. From the upper river a canal of short length diverts
water from the main stream to a forebay at one side of
the big power house. Near the bottom of the wheel-pit
the turbines are installed, and these are connected to the
generators in the power station over the wheel-pit by
vertical shafts or tubes. From the forebay to the turbines
penstocks ro feet in diameter run to the turbines, and as

162 NATURE

{DECEMBER 14, 1905

the gates are raised the water pours from these penstocks
into the wheels that give motion and life to the big
generators. As the water passes through, or is discharged
from, the turbines, it falls into the tunnel, and then flows

through this tail race to the lower river and gorge. It is
diverted from the main stream but a very few minutes,

but in that time it serves to aid man in gaining control
of thousands of electrical horse-power.

It is agreed between the power companies and the com-
missioners of Victoria Park that all power generated in
the park limits must be transmitted outside the park
boundaries for application and and so the electric
current from the station referred. to will pass to a trans-
former station not far distant, where, for transmission
purposes, it will have its voltage raised to 40,000 or 60,000
volts, in order that it may successfully and economically
be sent to Toronto and other distant places to meet the
demand for electric power from Niagara. Toronto has long
been anxious to be connected by a transmission line with
the power development at the falls, and now a line for
transmission purposes has been about completed, so that
electric current from the generators in the station of the
Canadian Niagara Power Company may be used in the

use,

Fic. 2.—Power House of Canadian Niagara Power Co., being erected over
the wheel-pit.

operation of the trolley cars and lighting systems of the
Canadian city nearly 90 miles away from Niagara.

The Electrical Development Company of Ontario, Ltd.,
is also constructing a wheel-pit and tunnel power develop-
ment in Victoria Park. The works of this company will
be a short distance above the site of the development of
the Canadian Niagara Power Company, but, for all this,
the tunnel it is building will be slightly shorter than the
tunnel of the company last named, because it will run right
under the river-bed, over which the upper rapids toss, to
a point behind the falling sheet of water of the Horseshoe
Fall, where it will empty into the lower river. From the
bottom of this wheel-pit there will be two short lateral
tunnels that will carry the water from the pit to the main
tunnel at a point 165 feet from the bottom of the slot.
This company projects a development of about 125,000
horse-power, and the machinery it will instal will command
general attention.

The Ontario Power Company is another concern that
has secured a franchise for the development of power in
Victoria Park. Its method of development will be quite
different from that of the other two companies referred to.
Its power house, a concrete and iron structure, has been

NO. 1885, VOL. 73

built at the water’s edge, in the gorge, a short distance
below the Hors “all, and water will be carried to it
by penstocks concealed from view in tunnels that have been
driven through the rocky bank from a spillway or open
relief on top of the bank. From this spillway great steel
flumes will extend to the forebays, which are situated far
up the river. There will be three of these steel flumes, each
18 feet in diameter and more than 6000 feet long. Each
will divert 3900 cubic feet of water every second, which is
an amount estimated to be sufficient to develop 60,000
electrical horse-power in the station at the water’s edge.
Thus from the three steel flumes and the water supply
thus afforded, no less than 180,000 horse-power is to be
developed. This power will pass from the generators to
a transformer station located on the bluff in the rear of
Victoria Park more than 250 feet above the power house,
and more than 550 feet back from it.

Orrin. E.

Dun.ap.

INVESTIGATION OF THE UPPER AIR.
‘THE subjoined announcement has been received from
the director of the Meteorological Office.

In response to representations from various quarters, the
Meteorological Committee has assigned from the Parlia-
mentary grant under its control a sum for promoting the
investigation of the upper air by kites and other means.

The immediate objects in view are:—(1) To establish
an experimental station where kite ascents and other ex-
perimental investigations can be carried out, especially on
the days selected for international cooperation. (2) To
develop and extend the instrumental equipment, so that
facilities may be afforded for the cooperation of other
observers upon sea or land. (3) To provide for the publi-
cation of the observations in combination with those of
other countries, by a contribution to the cost of the inter-
national publication undertaken by the president of the
International Commission for Scientific Aérostation, Prof.
H. Hergesell, of Strassburg.

Mr. W. H. Dines, F.R.S., has undertaken the direction
of the operations for the Meteorological Office. His experi-
ments for the office are carried on at his house at Oxshott.

An endeavour will be made, with fair prospect of success,
to enlist the cooperation of marine observers in corre-
spondence with the office. Captain A. Simpson, of the
S.S. Moravian, has already expressed his willingness to
make a trial of this method of extending our knowledge of
marine meteorology as soon as the necessary gear and
instruments can be supplied.

It is hoped that through the assistance of others who

are interested in such investigations, and have at their
disposal the means of carrying them out, an effective

scheme for the investigation of the upper air may be set
on foot. Lieut.-Colonel J. E. Capper, C.B., R.E., of the
Aldershot Balloon Companies, has already facilities for
such purposes, and will take part; Mr. G. C. Simpson,
lecturer in meteorology in the University of Manchester,
is making arrangements for occasional observations on
the Derbyshire hills; Mr. C. J. P. Cave, who has already
made some interesting kite ascents in Barbados, has pro-
vided himself with the necessary equipment for experiments
at Ditcham Park; and Mr. S. H. R. Salmon has arranged
a station on the Downs near Brighton, and carries out
ascents on the international days.

There is, accordingly, a prospect of an effective investi-
gation being commenced.

BOTANY AT THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION.

“THE president, Mr. Harold Wager, F.R.S., dealt in his

address, which was delivered at Johannesburg, with
some problems of cell structure and physiology. The text
of this address has already appeared (September 21) in
NATURE.

As was to be expected, there were fewer papers than
usual this year in Section K, and of these relatively few
were of a purely technical nature, the majority being either
general accounts of recent work or else papers which
possessed some special local interest.

General Papers.—Prof. R. W. Phillips opened the pro-

DECEMBER 14, 1905 |

NATURE 163

ceedings at Cape Town by delivering a semi-popular lecture
on recent advances in our knowledge of seaweeds. Dealing
first with the attached shore vegetation, the lecturer pointed
out that, with the exception of a very few phanerogams,
this consists entirely of blue-green, green, red, and brown
alge. In the red alge the most important recent work
is that of Oltmanns, who has shown, in opposition to the
view maintained by Schmitz, that no real nuclear fusion
takes place in the auxiliary cells. In the brown alge
Williams’s work on the Dictyotaceze has considerably
modified the views previously held regarding them. Not
only has he discovered motile antherozoids in this group,
but his work on their cytology points to the existence of
a definite alternation of generations. Farmer and Williams
had shown that in the Fucacez the reduction of chromo-
somes takes place at the origin of the oogonium. In
Dictyota, however, as originally shown by Mottier, and
since confirmed by Williams, the reduction division occurs
in the mother-cells of the tetraspores. There would thus
appear to be in this plant two generations, precisely similar
in their external morphology, but fundamentally distinct in
respect of the number of chromosomes in the dividing
nucleus. Our knowledge of the floating oceanic vegetation
has been greatly extended by the members of the German
plankton expedition, and other workers. The lecturer
dealt with the distribution of this floating vegetation in
the surface waters of the globe, and described some of the
adaptations which prevent rapid sinking of the minute
forms composing it.

Mr. R. P. Gregory discussed some of the problems of
heredity. He first gave a general account of Mendel’s
principles of heredity, referring to some of the more recent
work on Mendelian lines. He then dealt particularly with
some new experiments conducted by Mr. Bateson and him-
self, on the inheritance of heterostyly in Primula. Although
certain irregularities were observed, on the whole
characters of long and short style were inherited in the
usual Mendelian ratio, the short style being dominant, the
long recessive. Further experiments, conducted in the hope
of throwing light on the fact, observed by Darwin, of the
relative infertility in ‘‘ illegitimate’? as compared with
“legitimate ’’ crosses in Primula, were inconclusive.

Prof. F. E. Weiss contributed a paper on the value of
botanical photographs. He pointed out that the mapping
of the plant-associations of any given district, and the
detailed study of the ecological factors concerned, can be
most usefully supplemented by good photographs showing
the general aspect and distribution of the vegetation. It
is important to have, not only general photographs of
various plant-associations, but also photographs of the
different members of such associations. Plant photography
can also be usefully employed in morphological, patho-
logical, and other studies. The truth of the author’s
remarks was forcibly illustrated by a series of beautiful
lantern slides. Two committees are now at work collect-
ing botanical photographs and rendering them available
for teaching and other purposes. One, recently established
for the survey of British vegetation, is concerning itself
with British ecological photographs; the other, the British
Association committee for the registration of photographs
of botanical interest, has adopted a wider scheme, and is
anxious to receive help from scientific photographers in all
parts of the world.

An interesting discussion took
methods in the teaching of botany. The president (Mr.

Harold Wager, F.R.S.), who opened the discussion, was

of opinion that the methods usually employed, both in
universities and schools, neither develop. real interest in the
subject nor afford an adequate training in scientific method.
He emphasised the importance of basing all courses of
botanical teaching on practical work, both observational
and experimental, such work to be carried out by the
students themselves. Lectures should be rather of the
nature of discussions upon the facts learned during prac-
tical work than merely informational. A good deal of
faulty educational method is due to the domination of
examinations. It is almost impossible for satisfactory
work to be done if teachers are compelled to follow set
syllabuses, which are generally so extensive as to leave
little room for originality on the part of the teacher.

Several speakers agreed with the general conclusions of

NO. 1885, VOL. 73]

place on educational

the |

the president, but Mr. A. C. Seward, F.R.S., and Prof.
Douglas Campbell were inclined to lay more stress on
the importance of lectures, particularly where advanced
students are concerned.

Miss Lilian Clarke contributed to the discussion a most
interesting account of her methods of teaching botany in
the James Allen School for Girls at Dulwich. She gives
no set lectures, but the girls make observations and con-
duct experiments, not only in the school garden, where
each girl has charge of a plot, but also in the laboratory.
The latter has been designed so as to admit as much light
as possible; it can also be kept at a constant temperature,
so that practical work on living plants can be carried on
at all seasons of the year.

South African Botany.—Mr. A. C. Seward, F.R.S., in
discussing the fossil floras of South Africa, gave a general
account of the plants characteristic of the Lower Karroo,
Stormberg, and Uitenhage series. He laid stress on the
need for further field work, as more material, particularly
petrified specimens for microscopical examination, is badly
needed to render our knowledge of these floras more
complete.

Prof. A. Engler and Dr. R. Marleth’ presented important
papers on the floras of tropical Africa and South Africa
respectively.

Prof. Engler dealt with his subject largely from the
ecological point of view. Discussing first the meteor-
ological conditions of tropical Africa, he pointed out that
in every tropical country, where the altitude of the land
surface varies from sea-level to high mountains, practically
the same plant-formations can be ‘distinguished, though, of
course, their systematic composition may be very different
in different cases. The author then enumerated the various
halophilous, hygrophilous, xerophilous and other form-
ations, with their subdivisions, finally discussing the
affinities of the flora as a whole. The dominant element
of the flora is one peculiar to tropical Africa, the plants
composing which are more nearly related to those of India
and Madagascar than they are to those of tropical America.
But besides this native element, we find in tropical Africa
other elements. Thus in the hygrophilous formations of
East Africa, Indian and Madagascan elements abound,
while in those of West Africa a distinct tropical American
element is found. A South African element is present, par-
ticularly in the shrub-formations of Angola and East
Africa; a Mediterranean element in the north-east,
especially in Somaliland; and lastly, in the high moun-
tains, many species belonging to a boreal element are
found. From the entire absence on these mountains of
many groups characteristic of northern regions, Prof.
Engler concludes that such northern forms as are here

found have entered by immigration, and are not the
remnants of a once widely spread Old World flora.
The botanical regions proposed by Dr. Marloth in his

paper on the phyto-geographical subdivisions of South
Africa are somewhat similar to those suggested by Bolus,

Engler, and others, though differing in detail. The two
main divisions, very unequal in size, are A, the Cape
province, characterised by many endemic plants of more

or less south temperate affinities, and B,
province. The latter is again
ecological conditions and floral
grass-steppe regions, including
Kalahari, and the Caffrarian countries;
districts of Cape Colony, including the Karroo, the Karroid
plateau and Little Namaqualand; (3) the western littoral ;
(4) the forests of the south coast; (5) the south-eastern
coast belt.

J. Burtt-Davy contributed
and life zones of the Transvaal.
according to altitude and climate,
he terms the High, Middle, and Low Veld respectively.
Each is characterised, not only by its native vegetation,
but also by the crops it is capable of producing.

Mr. F. B. Parkinson gave an interesting account of
irrigation farming as carried on at the Orange River farm
at Baviaankrantz. To raise the water, chain and bucket
pumps are employed, working in shafts sunk at a sufficient
distance from the river to be above flood-level. The shafts
are supplied with water from the river by means of 10-inch
syphons. By judicious watering, winter cereal crops, and

the palzeo-tropical
subdivided, according to
constituents, into (1) the
the Bush-veld, High-veld,
(2) the central

a paper on the climate
He divides the Transvaal,
into three zones, which

164

NAGORE

| DECEMBER 14, 1905

summer crops of potatoes, peas, &c., can be profitably
grown.

Mr. T. R. Sim discussed the distribution of South African
ferns, and pointed out that the recent opening up of the
Orange River Colony, the Transvaal, and Rhodesia has
resulted in the filling up of many gaps in our knowledge
of this subject. -

Dr. Schonland gave a survey of our knowledge of South
African succulent plants, chiefly from the historical and
systematic points of view.

A paper was also contributed by Mr. J. Medley Wood
on the indigenous plants of Natal.

Technical Papers.—Among these may be mentioned an
interesting note by Dr. Horace T. Brown, F.R.S., on the
dissipation of absorbed solar radiation by xerophilous
plants. He pointed out that in ordinary foliage leaves the
amount of heat necessary to vaporise the water of trans-
piration is so considerable that such a leaf may be sub-
jected to intense solar radiation without acquiring a
temperature of more than a very few degrees above that
of the surrounding air. In xerophilous plants, however,
transpiration is at a minimum, and therefore some other
method of guarding against the risk of dangerously high
temperatures is necessary. According to the author, this
is to be found in the loss of heat due to thermal emission.
Experiments have been conducted by him (in collaboration
with Dr. W. E. Wilson) which show that a powerful cool-
ing effect is produced by the high thermal emissivity of a
leaf surface, even when transpiration is completely in
abeyance.

Prof. H. H. W. Pearson communicated an interesting
account of his investigations into the development and
germination of the spores of Welwitschia. The results
obtained show that some of the current views of the re-
lationship of this extraordinary plant to the other genera
of the Gnetaceze must be considerably modified.

Prof. Douglas Campbell described the prothallium and
reproductive organs of Gleichenia pectinata, and directed
attention to the similarity that exists between them and
those of Osmunda.

Prof. M. C. Potter presented two papers. In the first
an account was given of some experiments which showed
that amorphous carbon can be slowly decomposed by the
agency of a soil bacterium, with the evolution of carbon
dioxide.

The second dealt with the healing of parenchymatous
tissues in plants. According to the author, the first step
in this process (prior to the formation of cork) is the
closing of the intercellular spaces by the formation of a
““wound-gum’’ similar to that described by Temme in
wounded xylem vessels. Thus the increased rate of gaseous
interchange caused by the wound is very soon checked.

Mr. I. B. P. Evans, in a paper on infection phenomena
in the Uredinezw, said that it is quite possible to identify
different species of Puccinia by the shape of their infection
vesicles.

Dr. G. Potts contributed a paper on the action of
calcium compounds on Plasmodiophora Brassicae (*‘ finger
and toe’’). Experiments show that an acid soil encourages
the growth of the parasite, while alkaline substances
inhibit it.

A most interesting feature of the Cape Town meeting
was afforded by a fine collection of native plants, brought
together with considerable trouble by Dr. Marloth. These
included a number of the more striking succulents from
the Karroo region, and also a great many plants from the
south-west district of Cape Colony. The latter were, for
the most part, in flower, the heaths and the Iridacez in
particular presenting a beautiful blaze of colour. Dr.
Marloth also exhibited a number of ecological photographs
taken in various parts of Cape Colony.

But, apart from the meetings themselves, the over-sea
botanists found considerable opportunities of observing the
vegetation of the various districts passed through during
the tour. It is true that much of the travelling was
hurried, but even when passing rapidly through a new
country a botanist is able to gather valuable impressions
of the general facies, &c., of the vegetation.

At the Cape, though the season was still early spring, a
considerable number of plants were in flower. Table
Mountain and the slopes of the Lion’s Head were explored

No. 1885, VoL. 73]

so far as time permitted, and many plants characteristic
of the Cape Peninsula flora were observed. Some of the
most striking of these were plants belonging to the families
Ericacezw, Proteaceze, and Restiacez.

Several members of Section K visited the Karroo, and
spent some days in examining the many curious xero-
philous desert plants to be found there.

In the Transvaal and elsewhere little or no rain had
fallen for some five months before the visit of the associ-
ation, and in consequence the country presented a very
parched and brown appearance, except where irrigation
had resulted in vivid patches of green crops, or groves of
Eucalyptus trees had been planted. The latter, as well as
other Australian plants, have been extensively imported,
and promise to become of considerable economic importance
in South Africa.

A very striking feature of the bush vegetation in various
parts of the Transvaal was the extraordinary prevalence
of parasitic Loranthaceazz, many of the acacia and other
trees being loaded with the parasites.

At Pretoria the Government experimental grounds were

visited, the visitors being received by Mr. Smith, the
Director of Agriculture, and Mr. Burtt-Davy. Extensive

experiments are being at present carried on here with a
view to the introduction of new grasses to improve the
pasturage of the Transvaal. Other useful introduced: plants
include several species of Atriplex (the Australian ‘* salt-
bush’’). As these plants are markedly xerophilous, and
at the same time good fodder plants, they will probably
prove very useful in a climate such as that of the Transvaal.

The agricultural department in Pretoria had also
arranged an exhibition illustrative of the vegetable products
of the Transvaal.

Mr. Burtt-Davy arranged a- special botanical excursion
to the Magaliesberg, where the ‘‘ Wonderboom,’’ an
exceedingly fine specimen of Ficus cordata, was visited.

Other areas of botanical interest passed through included
the High Veld, the Bush Veld, the teak forest of Rhodesia,
and the luxuriant so-called rain-forest immediately sur-
rounding the Victoria Falls.

PRIZE SUBJECTS OF THE INDUSTRIAL
SOCIETY OF MULHOUSE.

“THE Industrial Society of Mulhouse has issued its pro-
gramme of the prizes to be awarded by the society
during the year 1906; excluding the subjects which are of
a purely local or technical character, the following are the
principal prizes open to competition to all nations.

In the section of chemistry medals of honour are offered
for a memoir on the theory and manufacture of alizarin-
red by the rapid process, for a synthesis of the colouring
matter of cochineal, for a research on cochineal carmine,
for an investigation of the colouring matter of cotton, of
the transformation of cotton into oxycellulose, or of the
composition of aniline blacks; also for a research on the
chemical changes of wool under the action of hypochlorites
or chlorine, for a synthesis of a natural dye, for a theory
of the manner of formation in nature of any organic sub-
stance, or for a chemical study of the fat of Turkey-red.
Several medals will also be awarded for special chemical
studies of mordants and their action, for the production by
artificial means of certain dyes, and for practical methods
of fixing certain dyes to the fibre. A method of manu-
facturing carbon tetrachloride at a price such as_ will
enable it to compete with carbon bisulphide and benzene
is also required. A sum of 500 francs to 1000 francs will
be allotted to the best compilation of the densities of
inorganic and organic substances in the solid state and in
cold saturated solution. Medals will be given for the pro-
duction of substances capable of taking the place of certain
named chemicals which have an industrial use, and for
the solution of a number of specified problems in the bleach-
ing, dyeing, and printing of textiles.

In the section of mechanical arts a prize of 500 francs
with a silver medal is offered for a new method ‘of con-
struction of buildings suitable for cotton spinning, wool
combing, or calico printing. The following subjects will
receive medals :—a new type of steam boiler; an indicator
of the total work done in a steam engine; new forms of

DECEMBER 14, 1905 |

INA RO PRE

165

gas generators for gas engines; new types of gas
engines; a new method of heating boilers ; new methods of
spinning, weaving, and dyeing textile fabrics; a simple
cut-out for electrical installations.

The following subjects in natural history and agriculture
will be awarded medals :—a geological or mineralogical
description of part of Alsace; a detailed catalogue of plants
in the neighbourhood of Mulhouse, Thann, Altkirch, and
Guebwiller; a treatise on the fauna of Alsace; a treatise
on the plants and insects inimical to agriculture in Alsace
and the methods of destroying them.

In commerce and statistics the prize subjects are :—a
study of methods of insurance against risks of transport ;
a treatise on insurance against fire, with especial reference
to the factories of Alsace; a memoir on the variation in
the price of coal in Alsace during the last thirty years; a
study of the effect of taxation on industrial development.

UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL
INTELLIGENCE.

CaMBRIDGE.—The Vice-Chancellor has announced to the
Senate the munificent gift of 1750l., made by Dr. Ludwig
Mond towards the fund for increasing the stipends of
the Stokes and Cayley university lecturers in mathematics.

The detailed proposals put for the diploma in forestry
were to be discussed on Thursday last. Apparently they
satisfied the members of the university, for there was no
criticism made on them.

The degree of Master of Arts, honoris causa, is to be
conferred upon Mr. R. I. Lynch, curator of the botanic
garden. Mr. Lynch is well known as a writer on horti-
cultural subjects.

On the nomination of the board of geographical studies,
Dr. Guillemard and Sir G. D. T. Goldie, K.C.M.G.,
F.R.S., and on the nomination of the council of the
Royal Geographical Society, Sir Clements R. Markham,
K.C.B., F.R.S., and Dr. J. Scott Keltie, have been
appointed members of the board of geographical studies for
the year beginning January 1, 1906.

Mr. J. B. Peace has been appointed chairman of the
examiners for the mechanical sciences tripos, 1906.

The general board of studies has approved Mr. H. J. H.
Fenton, of Christ’s College, for the degree of Doctor in
Science.

The following notice of the next award of the Walsing-
ham medal has been issued :—The medal is to be awarded
for a monograph or essay giving evidence of original re-
search on any botanical, geological, or zoological subject.
The competition is open to graduates of the university who
at the time fixed for sending in the essays are under the
standing of Master of Arts. The essays for the ensuing
year are to be sent to the chairman of the special board
for biology and geology (Prof. Langley, The Museums) not
later than October 10, 1906.

The special board for biology and geology give notice
that the Gedge prize will be offered for competition in the
Michaelmas term, 1906. The prize will be awarded for the
best original observations in physiology, but a candidate
who has received a certificate of research from the
university will not be entitled to submit an essay which
is substantially the same as the dissertation for which
such certificate of research was granted. Candidates need
not necessarily be graduates of the university. Essays are
to be sent to the professor of physiology not later than
October 1, 1906.

Dr. A. J. Ewart, special lecturer in vegetable physi-
ology, Birmingham University, has been appointed pro-
fessor of botany in the University of Melbourne in
succession to the late Baron von Miiller.

Tue will of the late Mr. John Edward Taylor, part
proprietor and a former editor of the Manchester Guardian,
on which probate was granted in London on December 9,
among numerous bequests, leaves, on the decease of the
widow, 20,0001. to the Victoria University of Manchester.

Av a meeting of the council of the University of
Birmingham held on December 6, the Chancellor
announced that the family of the late Mr. Harding had

No. 1885, VoL. 73]

Birmingham
The offer

University for the
has been gratefully

offered 10,0001. to the
erection of a library.
accepted by the council.

On Tuesday, December 5, Sir W. Martin Conway dis-
tributed the prizes and certificates gained by the students
at the Sir John Cass Technical Institute during the past
session. Sir Owen Roberts, chairman of the governing
body, presided. Mr. George Baker stated that the scope
of the work of the institute and the number of students
continued to progress steadily, and that a large proportion
were studying subjects bearing directly upon the industries
in which they were engaged. Sir Martin Conway, in the
course of his address, pointed out that people in this
country suffer from a confusion of ideas in respect to
education, and that they do not believe sufficiently in the
necessity of giving the highest possible education to the
directing brains of industries, nor do they understand
sufficiently the length of time and the experience that are
required for skilful hands to receive their full equipment.
He remarked that the real struggle with Germany in
manufactures is due to the enormous number of highly
educated men turned out at the German universities; it is
not a question of technical education, but of scientific
education. The German is not a whit more scientific or
better than the Briton, but faith in science which exists
in Germany is lacking in England, and this gives the
Teutonic tortoise the advantage over the British hare.

Tue following bequests and gifts for higher education
in the United States are announced in Science. By the
will of the late Mr. Stephen Salisbury, the Worcester
Polytechnic Institute receives a bequest of 40,0001. This
money comes without restrictions of any kind on the part
of the testator. In addition to this bequest, Mr. Salis-
bury, at the time of his resignation a few weeks ago from
the presidency of the board of trustees, made an additional
gift to the institute of 20,o00l., to be paid immediately.
Formal announcement of the 50,0001. legacy to the Sheffield
Scientific School from the estate of the late Mr. M. D.
Viets has been made by Prof. Russell H. Chittenden,
director of the school. The bequest will be used for the
physical, mathematical, and general scientific needs of the
school. The late Mr. Frank Harvey Cilley, the engineer,
has bequeathed the residue of his estate, which will prob-
ably amount to 14,000l., to the Massachusetts Institute of
Technoiogy. Mr. T. P. Shonts, chairman of the Isthmian
Canal Commission, has given to Monmouth College 2o000l.
as part of the 60001. needed to obtain an additional 6oool.
which Mr. Andrew Carnegie had promised to give the
college for a library. The late Mr. Stephen Salisbury, of
Worcester, Mass., has bequeathed 40,000l. to the Worcester
Polytechnic Institute, 50,0001. to the American Antiquarian
Society, and r1oool. and a site for a building for the
Worcester Natural History Society.

Pror. W. J. Asuvey, dean of the faculty of commerce in
the University of Birmingham, distributed on December 6
the prizes gained by candidates at the examinations of the
London Chamber of Commerce. During the course of a
subsequent address, Prof. Ashley remarked that the science
of commerce has yet to be made, but, in his opinion, a
true science of commerce is capable of being created. At
present, however, it does not exist. Its formulation should
have been the task of the political economists ; but hitherto
English economists have been too content to pursue the
results, the conclusions to be reached by a process of
reasoning starting with certain assumptions. It is
necessary that the problems which actually present them-
selves to a business man in the course of his operations
should be realised and studied, and that the various ways
in which they have been approached and faced ought to
be brought together, grouped, criticised, and analysed.
The function of the economist is not to arrive at general
abstract conclusions and then look round in the world of
business for examples or illustrations of the conclusions
arrived at. He should condescend to a more concrete and
a more patient survey of the actual facts of real life.
Prof. Ashley considers it to be vitally important that the
highest type of education shall be brought into close touch
with the realities of economic life. If that is properly done
it will not degrade education, but vivify it.

166

Tue current number of the Monthly Review contains an
article on public school education by Mr. A. C. Benson, in
which some valuable testimony as to the inadequacy as a
training for life of a purely classical education is given.
The question as to what are the intellectual accomplish-
ments of a boy of average intelligence who has been
through a public school and a university is answered in the
following words:—‘ He knows a very little Latin and
Greek, and he endeavours to put them out of his mind as
fast as he can; he knows a little science; perhaps a little
history, mostly ancient. He cannot generally calculate
correctly in arithmetic; he knows no modern languages
to speak of ; he cannot express himself in simple English,
and his handwriting is often useless for commercial pur-
poses.’’ And later, we read, ‘‘ he has learnt to think the
processes of the mind dreary and unprofitable, to despise
knowledge, to think intellectual things priggish and tire-
some.’’ Mr. Benson summarises his contentions in the
following words :—‘‘ believing intensely, as I do, in the
possibilities of intellectual education, I have tried to judge
the classical system as fairly as I can by results, and I
see that those results are in many cases so unsatisfactory
and so negative that experiments are urgently needed.
Simplification seems to me to be the one essential thing.”
if a writer who was formerly a master at our greatest
public school finds it necessary to write in this plain
manner, it is evidently high time that scientific methods
were applied to obtain an answer to the question, what
constitutes a suitable public school education, and how can
it be secured?

A LARGE audience assembled at the Borough Polytechnic
Institute on Monday evening, December 4, on the occasion
of the thirteenth annual meeting and distribution of prizes
and certificates. The chairman, Mr. Leonard Spicer, said
the work of the institute was going forward with great
strides, and he feared that, even allowing for the additions
to the building which had recently been made, the
governcrs would again be faced with the problem of know-
ing how to house the students. Although the word “ poly-
technic ’’ is still associated in many minds with recreation
and amusements, the chief work of institutes of this kind
lies in an educational and technical direction, 15,0001. a
year being the least sum upon which the work at the
Borcugh can be carried on at present. Mr. C. T. Millis,
the principal, read the annual report, which disclosed a
very satisfactory state of progress of the institute. An
experiment is being made in the direction of coordination
with London County Council evening schools, and several
new classes have been started. A satisfactory feature of
the work of the institute is the readiness with which in-
tending students ask for and follow advice given as to
their courses of study, and the increasing number of
students who attend for two, three, and four years. After
the certificates, which numbered considerably more than
five hundred, and the numerous prizes were distributed by
Lady Lockyer, Sir Norman Lockyer, K.C.B., delivered
an address. In a few remarks, Prof. Perry claimed for
the polytechnic institutions of London that they were doing
a work that was unprecedented, and which our colonies
are now endeavouring to imitate. He had recently returned
from South Africa, where he found the people following
the lead which London was now giving in the matter of
technical education. Votes of thanks were proposed and
seconded by Sir Philip Magnus and Mr. W. F. Sheppard.

SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES.

Lonpon.

Royal Society, November 16.—‘‘ The Electrical Con-
ductivity of Dilute Solutions of Sulphuric Acid.’’ By
W. C. D. Whetham, F.R.S.

The equivalent conductivity of neutral salts when dis-
solved in water approaches a limiting value as the dilution
is increased ; with solutions of acids and alkalies, however,
the equivalent conductivity reaches a maximum, and then
falls rapidly as the dilution is pushed farther.

It has been supposed that this diminution of equivalent
conductivity at extreme dilutions is due to interaction
between the solute and the impurities which remain even
in re-distilled water.

Kohlrausch has given evidence to show that the chief

NO. 1885, VOL. 73]

NAT ORE

| DECEMBER 14, 1905

impurity in water carefully re-distilled is carbonic acid,
and Goodwin and Haskell conclude that the diminution
of equivalent conductivity of dilute acids is due to the
presence of carbon dioxide.

In order to examine the real effect of carbonic acid and
other impurities on the conductivity of an acid solution, the
writer and his wife have carried out an investigation in
which the amount of impurity was varied, and the result
observed. The conductivity of dilute solutions of sulphuric
acid and its variation with concentration was determined
in four solvents :—(1) good quality re-distilled water; (2)
the same water to which a trace of carbon dioxide had
been added; (3) the same water with a trace of potassium
chloride ; (4) the same water which had been freed as far
as possible from carbonic acid and other volatile impurities
by repeated boiling under diminished pressure.

In each case the conductivity of the solvent was sub-
tracted from that of the solution. The results may be
summarised as follows :—

Within the limits of experimental error, the equivalent
conductivity of a dilute acid is not affected by boiling the
water under diminished pressure, though the conductivity
of the solvent is thereby much diminished. The equivalent
conductivity of the acid is also unaffected by the addition
of a small quantity of potassium chloride to the water,
though the conductivity of the solvent is thereby much
increased. But, by the addition of a little carbonic acid,
the equivalent conductivity of the sulphuric acid is
diminished appreciably. It is natural to conclude that,
while the presence of carbonic acid would produce a
diminution of equivalent conductivity of the same character
as that observed it does not explain the total effect.

““The Accurate Measurement of Ionic Velocities.’’ By
Dr. R. B. Denison and Dr. B. D. Steele. Communicated
by Sir William Ramsay, K.C.B., F.R.S.

The authors have succeeded in devising an apparatus
with which it is possible to compare and measure the
velocities of the ions of a given salt without using gelatin
or other membrane during the actual experiment. This
enables the method of direct measurement of ionic velocities
to be extended to dilute solutions, and the results obtained
are free from any error due to electric endosmose.

The transport number and the average absolute velocity
of the ions of a number of salts have been measured at
dilutions down to one-fiftieth normal, and at two tempera-
tures, 18° C. and 25° C. It is easy to measure by this
method the transport number of the ions of some salts
which present great difficulty by the analytical method of
Hittorf, e.g. KCIO,, KClO,, KBrO,. The following are
some of the numbers obtained for the anion transport
number :—KClIn/10, 0-508; NaCln/10, 0-618; KCln/50,
0-507; CaCl, n/s50, 0-587. The corresponding numbers

determined by the analytical method are 0-508, 0-617,
0-507, 9:59-
The values obtained by the authors for the average

velocity of the ions in cm./sec. agree in a remarkable
manner with those calculated by Kohlrausch from con-
ductivity data, and form a striking confirmation of the
ionic theory of solutions. The values of the ionic velocity
of the potassium ion in KCl, KBr, and KI are, for
example, found to be:—at n/10, 0-000563, 0-000562,
0.000564 cm./sec.; at 1/50, 0-000606, 0-000598, 0000599
cm./sec. at 18°C,

It is claimed that the method is at least as accurate
as that of Hittorf, and an experiment can be performed
in about one-tenth of the time. It also gives a means of
comparing the degree of dissociation of salts containing
a common ion.

Mineralogical Society, November 14 —Prof H. A. M ers,
F.R.S., president, in the chair.—The determination of the
angle between the optic axes of a crystal in parallel
polarised light: Dr. J. W. Evans. The crystal plate is
rotated on the optic normal as axis, and the positions are
determined in which the relative retardation is nil. This
may be observed by using a gypsum plate or the double
quartz wedge devised by the author. In the latter case
the positions in question are marked by the coincidence
of the bands in the two halves of the wedge. This gives
a very exact reading if strictly parallel light be employed.
—Mineralogical notes (diopside and albite): Prof. W. J-
Lewis. A large tabular crystal of white diopside, a brown

DECEMBER 14, 1905 |

NATURE

167

diopside of unusual habit, and a Carlsbad twin of albite
were described.—Note on the crystallisation of drops,
especially of potash-alum: J. Chevalier. The president
described observations made by Mr. Chevalier on the
crystallisation of drops of solution of potash-alum. These
generally yield in succession (a) birefringent spherulites ;
(b) octahedra; and (c) a fine rectangular network. (a) is
probably a less hydrated alum, and it becomes isotropic
on exposure to moist air by conversion into (0). (c) is
ordinary alum which is in a state of strain, owing to its
rapid crystallisation, and becomes white and opaque after
a time owing to the development of cracks. Drops observed
upon a slide under the microscope behave differently accord-
ing as they are in the metastable or labile condition. A
metastable drop inoculated with (a), (b), or (c) deposits
octahedra. A labile drop inoculated with (a) deposits
spherulites, but inoculated with (b) or (c) deposits the rect-
angular network. When a metastable drop containing
either octahedra or spherulites, or both, passes into the
labile condition (by cooling or by evaporation), they may
continue to grow unchanged. If, however, a fragment or
germ of octahedral alum be introduced into a labile drop
the network (c) is immediately produced. An alum crystal
growing in a labile solution is surrounded by a zone of
metastable liquid which prevents it from starting the net-
work (c) characteristic of a labile drop. Experimeyts were
made upon the action of various mineral substances in
inducing crystallisation in metastable and labile drops.
Among these the holosymmetric cubic crystals, and
especially galena, exercise a remarkable effect in producing
the network (c) in labile drops.—Note on the formation
of gypsum crystals in a disused well at chemical works :
C. J. Woodward. Groups of gypsum crystals were ex-
hibited which were found thirty years ago studding the
walls of an old well at Messrs. Chance’s chemical works
at Oldbury.—Notes on minerals recently found in the
Binnenthal: R. H. Solly. The minerals described were
(1) Ilmenite, in brilliant crystals, displaying marked hemi-
hedrism and showing five new forms. It is associated
with quartz, adularia, magnetite and mica, on mica schist.
(2) Seligmannite ; an exceptionally large and well developed
crystal in dolomite. Unlike any previously described, it is
untwinned; altogether forty-five forms were observed, of
which twenty-one are new. (3) Marrite; two more crystals
of this rare mineral were found, one tabular and the
other sharply pointed in habit. (4) Proustite; a minute
crystal deposited on a crystal of rathite. (5) Trech-
mannite; a crystal of this rare mineral displaying asym-
metric hemihedrism, deposited on a crystal of binnite.
(6) Hyalophane; in crystals of an unusual green colour.

Entomological Society, November 15.—Mr. F. Merrifield,
president, in the chair.—Exhtbitions.—A flower-frequenting
beetle from the Transvaal, illustrating a remarkable device
for the cross-fertilisation of flowers, one of the front feet
being tightly clasped by the curiously formed pollinia of
an Asclepias: Mr. Arrow.—A remarkable specimen of
Agrotis tritici, taken this year at Oxshott, bearing a close
resemblance to A. agathina, with which it was flying over
heather: W. J. Kaye. The specimen was a good example
of syneryptic resemblance brought about by the common
habit of resting on heather.—A specimen of Forficula
auricularia taken by Mr. R. A. R. Priske at Deal in
September, 1905, having the left cercus normal, while the
right was that of var. forcipata: W. J. Lucas.—Forms of
South African Pierine butterflies taken during the dry
season of the present year, together with specimens of the
same species for comparison taken in the same localities :
Dr. F. A. Dixey. He said that his exhibit illustrated the
fact, now widely recognised, that these forms varied in
general correspondence with the meteorological conditions
prevailing at the different seasons.—A long series of Hemero-
phila abruptaria bred by the exhibitor illustrating the pro-
portion of light and melanic forms derived from a light
male and a light female: E. Harris.—A G specimen of
Tortrix pronubana, Hiib., taken by Mr. Harold Cooper
ai Eastbourne, either at the end of September or the
beginning of October last: S. Image. The insect is new
to the British list.—Paper.—Hymenoptera-Aculeata, col-
lected in Algeria, part iii, Diploptera, by E. Saunders,
F.R.S.: Commander J. J. Walker.

NO. 1885, VOL 73]

Lintuean Society, November 16.—Mr. C. B. Clarke,
F.R.S., vice-president, in the chair.—Exhtbitions.—Speci-
mens of British water Ranunculi, showing the modifications
in the form of the leaves: H. and J. Groves. The authors
pointed out that the species might be roughly grouped
under three headings :—(1) those in which only broadly
lobed aérial leaves were produced; (2) those in which sub-
mersed multifid leaves with capillary segments were also pro-
duced ; and (3) those with multifid leaves only.—Photograph
showing, of the natural size, the otoliths from thirty-five
species of fishes, a collection made by the late Dr. David
Robertson: Rev. T. R. R. Stebbing.—Leaf and seed of
Macrozamia spiralis from Queensland, where the plant is
stated to cause symptoms of paralysis of the hind-quarters
of cattle eating the leaves: E. M. Holmes. The chemical
nature of the constituents of the plant appears to be un-
known.—Papers.—Contributions to the embryology of the

Amentiferae, part ii., Carpinus Betulus: Dr. Margaret
Benson, Miss E. Sanday, and Miss E. Berridge.

Material was collected early in July, 1902, and 1904, and
more than 600 series of sections were obtained through
ovules containing the earlier stages in the development of
the embryo-sacs, .until the first segmentation of the de-
finitive nucleus had occurred. Former observations (sce
part i. in Trans. Linn. Soc., ser. ii., bot. iii. (1894), pp.
409-424) were confirmed, and the following new facts
obtained. The polar nuclei meet at the neck of the caecum,
descend together, and generally fuse near its base. The
pollen-tube enters the sac in their vicinity, and emits one
gamete into the czcum, usually by means of a short spur.
The gamete then makes its way to the definitive nucleus.
The other gamete is carried up by the tube to the egg, with
which it fuses. The egg then becomes clothed with a wall,
and segmentation commences.—The membranous labyrinth
of five sharks: Prof. C. Stewart, F.R.S.

Paris.

Academy of Sciences, December 4.—M. Troost in the
chair.—Contribution to the study of the distribution of the
tsetse fly in French West Africa: A. Laveran. Since
writing the earlier notes on the same subject, the author
has accumulated additional material, details of which are
now given.—On the deformation of quadrics: C.
Guichard.—On Bode’s law and the inclinations of the
planetary equators to the ecliptic: E. Belot.—On the
intrinsic brightness of the solar corona during the
eclipse of August 30, 1905: Charles Fabry. The instru-
ment used was a modified Mascart photometer. The
intrinsic brightness found was, at a distance of 5’ from
the edge of the sun, and in the direction of the equator,
about 720 candles per square metre, or about 0-28 the
intrinsic brightness of the lunar surface.—The inertia of
the electrons: Marcel Brillouim.—On certain experiments
relating to the ionisation of the atmosphere, executed in
Algeria on the occasion of the total eclipse of August 30,
1905: Charles Nordmann, A continuous record of the
positive ions present in the air was obtained, the instru-
ment destined to measure the amount of negative ions
being broken in transit. The curve given by the ionograph
showed a marked minimum during the eclipse, thus agree-
ing with the views of Lenard, Elster and Geitel, who
regard the solar radiation as one of the direct or indirect
factors in atmospheric ionisation——On the equilibrium
diagram of the iron-carbon alloys: Georges Charpy. The
influence of the rate of cooling on the composition of the
casting has been neglected by the earlier workers on this
subject. Details are given of a study of an alloy contain-
ing 2-90 per cent. of carbon, for which the Bakhuis-
Roozeboom diagram is drawn.—The action of silicon on pure
aluminium; its action on impure aluminium; silico-
aluminides: Em. Vigouroux. Silicon does not form a
definite compound with pure aluminium, but in presence
of a third metal silicides of aluminium and this metal are
formed, well defined crystallised substances, _ silico-
aluminides.—On a-decahydronaphthol and the octahydride
of naphthaline: Henri Leroux. a-Naphthol, treated with
hydrogen by the method of Sabatier and Senderens, gives
the decahydride, the details of the preparation and proper-
ties of which are given in the present note. ‘Treated with
a dehydrating agent it loses a molecule of water and gives
an octahydride of naphthalene.—On victorium and the

168

NA TORE

[DECEMBER 14, 1905

ultra-violet phosphorescence of gadolinium: G. Urbain.
The phosphorescence spectrum is given by one element when
small quantities of a second element, called the excitor, are
present. Either of these, in the pure state, gives no phos-
phorescent spectrum. ‘These considerations have been applied
to the examination of gadolinium, and the author regards
the spectrum attributed to a new element, victorium, by
Sir W. Crookes as due to a complex containing gado-
lintum.—On the existence of caoutchouc in a genus of
Menispermacee : Jacques Maheu.—On prulaurasine, a
crystallised cyanhydric glucoside extracted from the leaves
of the cherry laurel: H. Hérissey. The method of obtain-
ing this glucoside in a pure crystallised state from the
leaves is given. Its formula appears to be C,,H,,NO,,
and under the action of emulsin it is hydrolysed to hydro-
cyanic acid, glucose, and benzoic aldehyde It is an
isomer of the amygdonitrile-glucoside of Fischer and the
sambunigrin of Bourquelot and Danjou.—On the _ retro-
cerebral organ of certain rotifers: P.. Marais de Beau-
champ.—On phototropism of the laryze of the lobster :
G. Bohn.—On the geological structure of the eastern
Pyrenees: Pierre Termier.—On the orientation which an
elongated body will take when turning in a current of
fluid: E. Noél.—On the Devonian fossils of the eastern
Ahenet collected by M. Noél Villatte: Emile Haug. The
collection of fossils made in the course of the Laperrine
expedition is sufficient to prove the presence of the three
principal subdivisions of the Devonian system, but the
stratigraphical relations between the different terms cannot
be exactly made out.—The influence of the summer rains

on the yield of springs in the plains: M. Houllier.—The
magnetic effects of lightning on volcanic rocks: Gaetano

Platania and Giovanni Platania.

DIARY OF SOCIETIES.
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14.

Roya Society, at 4.30.—An Investigation into the Structure of the
Lumbo-sacral-coccygeal Cord of the Macaque Monkey (A/acacus sinicus):
Miss M. P. Fitzgerald.—On the Distribution of Chlorides in Nerve
Cells and Fibres: Prof. A. B. Macallum and Miss M. L. Menten.—
The Mammalian Cerebral Cortex, with Special Reference to its Com-
parative Histology. I. Order Insectivora: Dr. G. A. Watson.—Observ-
ations on the Development of Ornithorhynchus: Prof. J. T. Wilson
and Dr. J. P. Hill.—Further Work on the Development of the
Hepatomonas of Kala-Azar and Cachexial Fever from Leishman-Donovan
Bodies: Dr. LL. Rogers.—The Action of Anzsthetics on Living Tissues.
Part I. The Action on Isolated Nerve: Dr. N. H. Alcock.—Report onfthe
Psychology and Sociology of the Todas and other Indian Tribes:
Dr. W. H. R. Rivers.—On the Sexuality and Development of the Ascocarp
of Humaria Granulata, Quel.: V. H. Blackman and Miss H. C. 1.
Fraser.—On the Microsporangia of the Pteridospermez with Remarks on
their Relationship to Existing Groups: R. Kidston, F.R.S.—The
Araucariez, Recent and Extinct: A. C. Seward, F.R.S., and Miss S. O.
Ford.—On the Spectrum of the Spontaneous Luminous Radiation of
Radium. Part IV. Extension of the Glow: Sir William Huggins,
K.C.B., O.M., F.R.S., and Lady Huggins.

MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY, at 5.30.—On Well-ordered Aggregates: Prof.
A. C. Dixon.—Tables of Coefficients for Lagrange’s Interpolation
Formula: Col. R. L. Hippisley.—On the Representation of certain
Asymptotic Series as Convergent Continued Fractions: Prof. L. J.
Rogers.—On a New Cubic Connected with the Triangle: H. L.
‘Trachtenberg.—Some Difficulties in the Theory of Transfinite Numbers
and Order Types : Hon. B. A. W. Russell.—The Imaginary in Geometry:
J. L. S. Hatton.

InsrituTION oF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Adjourned Discussion :
The Charing Cross Company's City of London Works: W. H. Patchell.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15.

INSTITUTION OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Adjourned Discussion:
The Seventh Report to the Alloys Research Committee : On the Proper-
ties of a Series of Iron-Nickel-Manganese-Carbon Alloys: Dr. H. C. H.
Carpenter, and Messrs. R. A. Hadfield and Percy Longmuir.— Pager:
Behaviour of Materials of Construction under Pure Shear: E. G. Izod.

Puysica Society (at Royal College of Science, South Kensington), at 7.—
Exhibition of Electrical, Optical and other Physical Apparatus.

INSTITUTION OF CiviL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Tests of Street Illumination in
Westminster: E. E. Mann.

AERONAUTICAL Society, at 8.—The Acoustical Experiments carried out
in Balloons by the late Rev. J. M. Bacon : Miss Gertrude Bacon.—The
Aéromobile : F. Webb.—A New Continuous Impulse Petrol Motor for
Dynamic Flying Machines : W. Cochrane.

MONDAY, DecemBer 18.

Royart GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY, at 8.39.—Anthropogeograpkical Investi-
gations in British New Guinea: Dr. C. G. Seligmann and Dr, W. Mersh
Strong.

Society oF Arts, at 8.—The Measurement of High Frequency Currents
and Electric Waves: Prof. J A. Fleming, F.R.S.

INSTITUTE OF ACTUARIES, at 5.—Canadian Vital Statistics; with Particu-
lar Reference to the Province of Ontario: M. D. Grant.

TUESDAY, DECEMBERIQ.

INsTITUTION OF CiviL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Economy in Factories: H. A.
Mavor.

ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE, at 8.15.—The Origin of Eolithic Flints
by Natural Causes: S. H. Warren.

NO. 1885, VOL. 73]

Roya SraristTicat Society, at 5.—The Decline of Human Fertility in
the United Kingdom and other Countries as shown by Corrected Birth-
Rates: Dr. Arthur Newsholme and Dr. T. H. C. Stevenson.—Changes
in the Marriage- and Birth-Rates in England and Wales during the Past
PE ceneuny, with an Inquiry as to their Probable Causes: G. Udny

ule.
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 20.

GroLocicaLt Society, at 8.—(1) The Clunian Series of the Ludlow
District.—Miss G. L. Elles and Miss I. L. Slater; (2) The Carboniferous
Rocks of Rush (County Dublin): Dr. C. A. Matley, with an Account of
the Faunal Succession and Correlation by Dr. A. Vaughan.

Rovat METEOROLOGICAL SociETY, at 7.30.—Kite Observations from a
‘Trawler in the North Sea: G. C. Simpson.—Investigation of the Upper
Air in the West Indies by Means of Kites: C. J. P. Cave and W. H.
Dines, F.R.S.—Temperature Observations during the Partial Solar
Eclipse, August 30, 1905: W. H. Dines, F.R.S.—Comparison between
Glaisher's Factors and Ferrel’s Psychrometric Formula: J. R. Sutton.—
A Rapid Method of finding the Elastic Force of Aqueous Vapour, &c.,
from Dry and Wet Bulb Thermometer Readings: Dr. J. Ball.

Society oF Arts, at 8.—The Aérograph Method of Distributing Colour :
Charles L. Burdick.

RoyaL Microscopicar Society, at 8.—A ‘‘Fern” Fructification from
the Lower Coal-measures of Shore, Lancashire: D. M. S, Watson.—
Exhibition of Balsam mounted Slides by the Jate Andrew Pritchard.

Socto.ocicaL Society, at 8.—The Russian Revolution and its Con-
sequences: Dr. G. de Wesselitsky.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 21.

LINNEAN Society, at 8.—Report on the Vienna Botanical Congress :
Dr. A. B. Rendle.—Cyrtandraceae malayanae novae: Dr. Franz
Kranzlin.—On Charace from the Cape, collected by Major A. H.
Wolley-Dod: H. and J. Groves.—Note on the Distribution of Shortia,
Torr and Gray: B. Daydon Jackson.

CHEMICAL SOCIETY, at 8.30.—The Relation of Position Isomerism to
Optical Activity. Part V. The Rotation of the Menthyl Esters of the
Isomeric Dibromobenzoic Acids: J. B. Cohen and I. H. Zortman.—Azo-
derivatives from a-Naphtho-methylcoumarin: J. T. Hewitt and H. V.
Mitchell.—The Supposed Identity of Dibydrolaurolene and of Dihydro-
7solaurolene with 1:1 - Dimethylhexahydrobenzene : A. W. Crossley and
N. Renouf.—The Slow Combustion of Carbon Disulphide : N. Smith.

CONTENTS. PAGE

A Great/Naturalists By J. A. I.) <paeen a) -o)- pee
A Higher Text-Book of Electricity and Magnetism 146
Bunsen’s Collected Works. By Prof. Arthur

Smithells} (HORIS5 3)". 4. |. <<) 0 euiseee meses) <2 eee
Our Book Shelf :—

Stephens and Christophers : ‘‘ The Practical Study of
Malaria and other Blood Parasites.” —Prof. R. T.
Hewlett By, lve 2h ae Berl 6 148

Kearton and Kearton: ‘‘ Pictures from Nature ” 148

Tiabert : ‘* Meteorologie und Klimatologie” . Sa @: Ke)

Henderson : ‘A Popular Introduction to Astronomy.”

See Le eh) on re foc coe ORs 1)

Diels and Pritzel: “‘ Fragmenta Phytographize
Australiz occidentalis” . Phen. hr oycse eA)

Sandys: ‘* Sporting Sketches.",—R. L. . . . . . . 149

Dowling: ‘Ships and Shipping.”—Commander
H.C! Lockyer, RN: . 27 S022: > - = eSo

Letters to the Editor: —

The late Sir John Burdon-Sanderson.—Sir Lauder
BruntonjieeRsS:) 4: ': : swans | epee)

Nomenclature of Kinship; its Extension.—Dr.
Francis Galton, F,R.S. = hapetes (25,9 9 sch eee SO

Atomic Disintegration and the Distribution of the
Elements.—Frederick Soddy; Norman R.
Campbell; Geoffrey: Martin{.)) 2°21. os sucmeeLg

Action of Wood on a Photographic Plate.—Dr.
Williamijoiussell, FYRISSi ites: 7) snes

Magnetic Storms and Aurore.—F. C, Dennett . . 152

Notes on Stonehenge JX.—Folklore and Traditions.

(Zdlustrated.) By Sir Norman Lockyer, K,C.B.,F.R.S. 153
An Australian Story Book. (///ustrated.) By A. C. H. 155
Notes: \(Zi/ustratedsiney 1 \ eee sie eth em
Our Astronomical Column :—

Another New/Gomet,.3905¢ .. 2.9.05. . «.siaeieeOO

Gomet@roosaemrern it oa/e2 eee saeLOO

Orbital Elements of Two Meteors. . ...... . I6I

Magnetic Disturbance during the Recent Auroral
Display tee ewes je: c0<.pn eRNORReae Con a ce ee 161

The Zodiacal Light to the North of the Sun . . . 161

Canadian Electric Power Stations at Niagara.
(Ldlustrated.) By Orrin. E. Dunlap... ... .+% 161
Investigation of the Upper Air .:.....:: « 162
Botany at the British Association ...... . 162
Prize Subjects of the Industrial Societyof Mulhouse 164
University and Educational Intelligence . . 165
Societies and;Academies’. . . .-.). 13... ~ 166
DiaryiofiSocietiesy. \. weasis-14-) . cacao ee 168

NATURE

169

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 21,

1905.

THE JAR AND THE GENIE.
The Theory of Experimental Electricity. By W. C. D.

Whetham. Pp. xi+334. (Cambridge: The Uni-
versity Press, 1905.) Price 8s. net.
Electric Railways: Theoretically and _ Practically

Treated. By S. W. Ashe and J. D. Keiley. Pp.
285. (New York: D. Van Nostrand Co.; London :
Archibald Constable and Co., Ltd., 1905.) Price
tos, 6d. net.

Modern Electric Practice. Vol. vi. Edited by M.
Maclean. Pp. vi+ 318. (London: The Gresham
Publishing Co., 1905.) Price gs. net.

‘HERE is a tale in the ‘“‘ Arabian Nights”’ of a

fisherman who, after a day’s ill luck, cast his

‘net for the fourth and last time with a prayer to Allah
that he might have a good haul. He drew to shore
a copper jar of curious construction and mysteriously
sealed, which on being opened was found to have
confined a genie possessed of remarkable powers. As
the genie proposed to reward his liberator by taking
his life, the fisherman induced him to return into the
jar, in which he again confined him. About two cen-
turies ago the body of fishermen who called themselves
then natural philosophers drew to shore from the sea
of natural phenomena a similarly remarkable jar cap-
able also of confining a very powerful genie. The dis-
covery of the Leyden jar, we are told, ‘‘ caused the
greatest excitement in Europe and America,’’ two
continents which three years ago exchanged congratu-
latory messages across 2000 miles of ocean by means
of Leyden-jar sparks. This, the most recent sensa-
tional demonstration of the powers of the genie, is
by no means the most important; he has truly pro-
duced as great a revolution in the doings of mankind
as any of his imaginary predecessors.

Ever since the genie has been released the fishermen
have been divided into two camps; those who were
most interested in studying the jar with the view of
discovering the wonderful properties by which it could
confine so powerful an agent, and those who have
preferred to take such things for granted and have
devoted themselves to putting these powers to the
service of mankind. As time has advanced the work
of each camp has become more and more differen-
tiated, the ‘‘ theorists’? pressing always deeper and
deeper into the region of first causes, but ever and
again bringing to the surface some fresh discovery
on which the ‘‘ practical men’ are quick to seize and
which they soon adapt to useful purposes. Thus
each continues to supplement the work of the other
until it is hard to tell to which is owed the greater
debt of gratitude—to those but for whom the powers
of the genie would have remained concealed, or to
those but for whom they would have remained dis-
covered but unused.

Mr. Whetham’s book is an admirable exposition of
all that the theorists have discovered so far. ‘To
some extent,’’ he writes in the preface, ‘‘even a
scientific text-book must be a piece of literature and a

NO. 1886, VOL. 73]

work of art.’’ ‘* Experimental Electricity ’’ can cer-
tainly claim to be both. The present writer does not
profess to be very old, but the development of elec-
trical theory has been so rapid since he first studied
its elements that the text-books from which he learnt
are more out of date than is Euclid as a text-book of
modern geometry. An elementary text-book should
give a comprehensive survey of the whole of its sub-
ject in such a way as to stimulate the curiosity and
imagination of the student and this the book before
us does. It is written in a clear and simple style, and
the mathematics necessary are such as any student
beginning his university career should have at hand.
A very prominent and valuable feature of the bool: is
the frequent reference to and quotation from the works
of the founders of modern electrical theory, notably
Faraday and Maxwell. The story which it tells of the
development of this theory from the first suggestions
of Faraday to the most recent conceptions of J. J.
Thomson, Larmor, and others is one of extraordinary
fascination and interest, and we cannot conceive any
earnest student laying down the book without a desire
to help to the best of his ability in solving the riddle
with which it closes.

Books such as Mr. Whetham’s should be read not
only by the student who wishes to enrol himself in the
scientific camp, but also by those who intend to
become engineers. The engineer can never be the
worse for a sound knowledge of what the men of
science are doing. Incidentally he may be prevented
from making some of the mistakes which Messrs.
Ashe and Keiley make in the first chapter of their
otherwise excellent book on electric railways. For
example, these writers in the course of a few lines
speak of the watt, first as power, then as work, and
finally as energy. But after a few pages of this
““miscallin’ technicalities ’’ they proceed to the more
serious business of their book, and here there is little
to which objection can be raised. The book is a good
example of some of the feats that the genie has
accomplished. It is a good example, too, of the
extreme specialisation so characteristic now of. all
branches of electrical engineering. The title is some-
what broad, as the subject-matter is practically con-
fined to rolling stock and rolling-stock equipment.
The illustrations are plentiful and very clear.

If those who would learn what the jar is made of
should study Mr. Whetham’s book, those who would
know in a general way the genie’s powers should read
‘““Modern Electric Practice,’ of which the present
volume is the sixth and last. We have already re-
viewed the previous volumes and have pointed out
what we consider to be somewhat serious defects in
the plan and general arrangement of the work. Still,
as a general summary of all the modern applications
of electricity these volumes are not to be despised,
especially when their very numerous illustrations are
remembered. We would like to suggest that in
future editions these are published without the text.
The present volume contains very good articles on
telegraphy and telephony; the article on electromedical
appliances is disappointing in the extreme. There is
in addition a good index to the whole six volumes.

I

NATURE

[DecEMBER 21, 1905

The three books the titles of which head this review
are typical of the three classes of men who have made
the electrical industry. Mr. Whetham’s of the seekers
after truth who are always asking for more light and
have discovered all the fundamental principles on
which the industry is based, Messrs. Ashe and Keiley’s
of the pioneers who have developed the practical possi-
bilities of these principles, and ‘‘ Modern Electric
Practice’? of the great majority who are content to
follow where others lead but whose united efforts have
placed at the disposal of all mankind the forces latent
in the philosopher’s jar. MauricE SOLOMON.

HYGIENE AT SCHOOL.

Text-book of Hygiene based on Physiology for the
use of School Teachers. By A. Watt Smyth. Pp.
xvit+256. (London: Simpkin, Marshall and Co.,
Ltd.) Price 6s.

M RS. WATT SMYTH rightly says in her pre-

face that

‘* Physiology is the science of the action of the body
in health, hygiene the practical application of this
science; it is obviously impossible to understand the
laws of hygiene without a knowledge of the funda-
mental principles of physiology.”

She has set herself the task of providing a text-
book of hygiene founded upon physiology, for the
use of teachers, in order that they may comprehend
the hygienic needs of the pupils committed to their
charge. Hitherto the books written with this object
(and there are several) have either been good as text-
becks of elementary physiology and bad text-
books of elementary hygiene, or vice versd; and Mrs.

as

Watt Smyth is to be congratulated upon having | ; :
i a i ~ | senses and the muscular system (the latter including

brought these two subjects, which are so intimately
associated with each other, into a fairly satisfactory
relationship, and upon having dealt with each in a
very commendable manner. It must be said, how-
ever, that the physiological matter of the book is the
better, and that in many instances the hygienic matter
cculd have been presented in greater fulness of detail
with advantage. The space given to physiology far
exceeds that devoted to hygiene, and while the de-
mands of the former subject upon space are neces-
sarily somewhat greater, there can be no two opinions
that the physiology in many respects is too elaborate
for the purpose to which this book is dedicated. Some
non-essential matter is included; for instance, a de-
scription is given of the ethmoid bone, the number
of bones it articulates with, and the time when ossifi-
cation is complete; the number of separate centres of
cssification is also given of other cranial bones; the
minute structure of the salivary glands is entered into
with unnecessary fulness, for the teacher is informed
that

“the secreting cells of the salivary glands are
of two main types, according as the secretion of the
gland is mainly serous or albuminous (Parotid),
mainly mucous (sub-lingual) or both (sub-maxillary).
In a gland that has not been recently secreting, the
mucous secreting cells, which are round or oval, are
distended with a clear substance, mucigen, from
which mucus formed when the gland becomes

NO. 1886, VOL. 73]

is

active. .The cells of the glands which yield an albu-
minous secretion are cubical and almost fill up the
acini. Their protoplasm is full of dark granules be-
fore secretion occurs; when it begins, the granules
diminish in number and finally almost completely
disappear.”’

These instances are referred to as illustrations of a
certain lack of appreciation, which is evident here
and there, of what is essential and what is not; for it
is impossible to see what practical application can be
claimed of the knowledge of the above facts. The
illustrations and diagrams, moreover, are anatomical
and histological. There is no single illustration of
any form of sanitary apparatus or appliance, and these
matters are referred to in the text often in such a
cursory manner that the reader would find it impos-
sible to form a satisfactory conception of their true
nature.

Mrs. Watt Smyth deals with each subject on an
excellent plan. First she gives a brief account of the
physiology of the subject discussed (with special
reference to any notable feature of these physiological
processes in childhood), and then she proceeds to deal
with the hygienic principles and practices which rest
upon these foundations. Her scheme is well illustrated
in the chapter on respiration and air; the nose,
larynx, trachea, and lungs are first described, then
the mechanism of respiration is explained, next the
constitution of the air prior and subsequent to respira-
tion is set out, and then there follows the consider-
ation of the problems of ventilation and heating, and
the evil consequences which result when these pro-
visions are insufficient or faulty.

The other chapters of the book fairly cover the
necessary ground, and the chapters upon the special

a syllabus of physical exercises based on the Swedish
system) are very complete.

In conclusion, reference should be made to the
great care which has been exercised in the preparation
of this work. The facts set out are entirely accurate
and the opinions expressed are sound, without excep-
tion. The author acknowledges her indebtedness for
information and counsel from such authorities as Dr.
Dawson Williams, Dr. James Kerr, and Miss Turner.

REGENERATION IN ROOTS.

Studien tiber die Regeneration. By Prof. B. Nemec.
Pp. 387; with 180 figures in the text. (Berlin:
Gebr. Borntraeger, 1905.) Price 9.50 marks.

N this somewhat bulky volume the author describes

and discusses at some length the result of his
numerous experiments on the regenerative processes
that occur in wounded roots.

It is well known that if the tip be removed from a
growing root a new apex is commonly differentiated,
growth in length commencing once more when the
new tip has become completely formed. The objects
of Dr. Némec’s investigation have been to endeavour
to throw some light on the nature of the process of
regeneration itself, the causes that initiate and deter-
mine its occurrence, and the meaning of the physio-
logical events that are associated with it. The

DECEMBER 21, 1905 |

NATURE

171

methods adopted were extremely simple. The tips of
growing roots, chiefly of seedlings, were injured in
various ways by making incisions into the region
about the apex, and the reactions that ensued were
carefully followed and compared.

It was found, in confirmation and extension of the
less complete observations of Prantl and of Simon,
that the roots of ferns never truly regenerate them-
selves as do those of flowering plants. Possibly the
difference is to be attributed to the more definite con-
centration of formative protoplasm in the apical cell
of the former, as contrasted with its greater extension
as layers in the roots of the latter. At any rate, no
regeneration occurs in the roots of ferns, although
some attempts at healing the actual wound may be
made.

The case is different with the roots of phanerogams,
although in them also the conditions of regeneration
are more limited than might have been anticipated.
In the first place, no union of the halves of longitu-
dinally cut roots took place; the damaged apex was
either replaced by a new one on either side of the slit
or else the regeneration was confined to one half.

An annular incision made just behind the tip of the
root into the cortex and extending as the endodermis
fails to give the stimulus requisite to produce a fresh
apex. Healing of the wound is more or less in
evidence, but the original apex continues to function,
and to supply cells for the further growth and elon-
gation of the root. But if the knife has passed
through the next layer, the pericycle, regenerative
phenomena at once set in. A new apex, with all the
complicated layers, is formed just behind (i.e.
proximally to) the wound, and it is especially interest-
ing to discover that the statolith starch now disappears
from the original tip, to be transferred to, or at any
rate to reappear in, the new one.

Lateral incisions are ineffective to bring about the
differentiation of a new apex unless the slit has
severed at least half the circumference of the pericycle.
If this be done regeneration takes place, with the
concomitant appearance of statolith starch in the new
organ. All the experiments made on the roots go
to emphasise the great importance of the pericycle
in connection with regenerative processes, although
it is not from this layer itself that the new tip is
differentiated, but from the indifferent plerome cells
within it. The damage done to the pericycle appears
to act as an interruption of the coordinative relations
between the various parts of the embryonic region as
a whole. When this coordination is thus interrupted
the capacity of giving rise to entire organs that is resi-
dent in the embryonic protoplasm asserts itself, and
the new formation thus appears. We know as a
matter of fact that the pericycle retains the embryonic
condition until relatively late, since from it arise the
normally produced lateral roots. Of course, the pro-
cesses underlying the regenerative processes are by no
means cleared up by the experiments indicated above,
but at any rate certain definite facts have been ascer-
tained, and further lines of profitable investigation
readily suggest themselves.

Comparatively few anomalous cellular effects were

NO. 1886, VOL. 73]

observed. In the exceptional case of one fern root,
however, the nuclei of the healing (not regenerative)
cells exhibited irregularities both in their modes of
division and in the number of their chromosomes
which were commonly excessive. Multinucleate cells
were also observed in the plerome of a wounded root
of Ricinus, but they apparently took no part in the
actual regenerative processes.

The book as a whole forms an important contribu-
tion to the literature of regeneration, its chief merit
perhaps lying in the numerous problems it suggests
for future investigation. It contains a bibliography
that should be useful, but it would have been materi-
ally improved by the addition of a good index.

OUR BOOK SHELF.

Heredity. By C. W. Saleeby, M.D. Pp. 118.
(London and Edinburgh: T. C. and E. C. Jack,
n.d.) Price 1s. net.

THE appearance of a little shilling book on
heredity is almost startling, when we consider the
difficulty of the subject and the relative youth of its
exact study. That a book like this should be possible
indicates that considerable progress has been made
in recent years. Was it not Leibnitz who said, ‘‘ The
more a science advances, the more it becomes con-

centrated in little books’’? But it indicates also a
noteworthy skill on the author’s part. Without
attempting to slur over difficult themes, e.g

Mendelism, as if they were easy, he has given us
a clear and interesting exposition, which will be
widely appreciated. It is a wonderful multum in
parvo, dealing lucidly, for instance, with the contrast
between hereditary resemblance and variation, be~
tween the germ-plasm and the body, between ger-
minal variations and somatic modifications, between
inherited nature and the results of nurture, between
inborn and congenital characters, and so on. Even
to have made these distinctions clear, so that they
may be understanded of the people, is an achieve-
ment. As was natural in a book of this kind, the
author takes up an eclectic position, and quotes freely
from various writers—from one about ten times. He
is inclined to allow that there is a limited trans-
mission of ‘‘ acquirements ’’ or modifications, but the
only instance we have found is an inept one—that
bacteria may transmit an exaltation of their virulence.
He agrees with Dr. Archdall Reid on many points,
e.g. that amphimixis never produces more than re-
gressive variations, but does not think that this
author satisfactorily accounts for the origin of spon-
taneous variations. He has the same complaint to,
make of Weismann, but in regard to a view which
that progressive biologist no longer holds, as, indeed,
the author seems to know (p. 54). We may also note:
that even in ‘‘ The Germ-Plasm ’’ Weismann did not
teach that ‘‘ parthenogenetic species cannot vary ’’;
in fact, he made experiments showing reversion in
parthenogenetic generations of Cypris. There is a
useful chapter on ‘‘ physical degeneration,’’ but we
do not understand the author when he says that those
who believe in progressive degeneration ‘‘ have it
incumbent upon them to demonstrate either the falsity-
or the suspension of the law of natural selection.’’
Surely the many ‘‘ degenerate’’ animals that we
know have not become what they are without the
help of selection. Another point that we do not
understand is how the fact that ‘‘ one-half of the
nuclear chromatin of each gamete is thrown aside:
prior to the fusion of the two nuclei,’’ ‘‘ obviously

172

NATURE

[DECEMBER 21, 1905

corresponds exactly with Galton’s assertion that the | was familiar with these 624 pages of closely printed

two parents between them contribute one-half of the
total heritage of the offspring.’’ There is surely a
screw loose here. Dr. Saleeby’s vivacious style will
fascinate some readers and help them over difficult
themes, but we wish that he had been sometimes less
conversational, as when he speaks of the Bathmic
theory of organic evolution as ‘‘ an amusing piece of

nonsense.”’ Jt -Auven:

The Practical Photographer. Library Series. Nos.
24, 25, and 26. 24 and 25, Pictorial Printing,
parts i. and ii. Pp. xx+64 and xx+64. 26,
Artificial Light and Night Photography. Pp.
xx+64. Edited by Rev. F.C. Lambert. (London:

Hodder and Stoughton, 1905.) Price rs. net.
We have before us three more additions to this very
practical and useful series of photographic handbooks,
with which most of our photographic readers are
now well acquainted. The first two are devoted to
pictorial printing, in which are brought together

many methods by which the negatives may be
altered, the print controlled during printing, or

generally or locally modified according to desire.

For the most part No. 24 treats chiefly of the
employment of one negative only, while No. 25
is devoted chiefly to combination printing and en-
larging, cloud negatives, and cloud printing. Both
numbers are preceded by interesting and well
illustrated résumés of the pictorial work of Bessie
Stanford and Percy Lewis, which to the beginner
should serve as admirable types of high order work.

The third number belongs to quite another branch
of photography, namely, that in which the incident
light on the object is for the most part artificial,
such as flashlight, candle light, gas light, acetylene,
&c. Here we have a collection of notes by numerous
workers, all of whom have secured some interesting
pictures by one or other of these methods. As before,
the reader is not left to gather his ideas from the text
alone, but is introduced to some interesting pictures
with notes describing under what conditions they
were taken. This number also contains an account
by the editor of the pictorial worl of J. C. Warburg,
with a reproduction of many of his most typical
photographs.

These three numbers thus form a welcome addi-
tion to those previously published, and will certainly
be appreciated by those workers to whom they
specially appeal. ;
Introduction to the Study of Organic Chemistry.

John Wade, D.Sc. (Lond.). New

edition. Pp. xx+646. (London: Swan Sonnen-

schein and Co., Ltd., 1905.) Price Ss. 6d. net.

Tne fact that the present volume has reached its
second edition points to the public appreciation of
Dr. Wade’s book. This is not surprising.

The arrangement of the subjects bears evidence of
the author’s thought, and the immense number of
facts compiled speaks eloquently of his industry.

There are several novel features to which the author
directs .attention in the preface, and which possess
certain merits. There is no doubt that charts or
surveys, which serve to show, in a condensed form,
the relation of a variety of compounds, are an aid to
the memory, and the author has introduced them
freely.

The principle of making a thorough study of a
single common substance like ethyl alcohol and then
dealing with its more important derivatives before
thrusting the student into the tangle of homologous
series has very much to recommend it.

Perhaps the title of the book is a little misleading.
One would be inclined to suppose that a student who

NO. 1886, VOL. 73]

By
and enlarged

matter might be regarded as a well informed organic
chemist; but he has only an introductory knowledge.
We must express our respect for those who have
passed beyond this ‘‘ introduction,’’ whilst others who
may be examined in the information required by Dr.
Wade’s introductory standard demand our sympathy.
The illustrations exhibit rather too plainly the defects
of photography applied to glass apparatus, though
they possess a realistic character which may appeal
to the student. We are glad to notice the author’s
respect for the traditional spelling of the word radical.

Ja BirGe

The Romance of Insect Life. Interesting Descriptions
of the Strange and Curious in the Insect World.
By Edmund Selous. With twenty-one illustrations
by Lancelot Speed and Carton Moore Park. Pp.
352. (London: Seeley and Co., Ltd., 1906.)

Tue letterpress consists of a series of extracts,
derived from a variety of sources, relating to ants,
termites, locusts, butterflies, water-insects, fireflies,
scorpions, &c., connected together by general observ-
ations on all kinds of subjects. Occasionally the
compiler’s remarks on the senses of insects or on
mimicry are worthy of notice, but they are frequently
in bad taste and often inaccurate, which is not sur-
prising, as we are constantly told that he is only
quoting his data second-hand, and has not seen the
origina! records.

This is a pretty book, but otherwise we regret
that we have little to say in its praise. The author
suggests that the genus of grasshoppers called
““Scudderia ’’ were so named because they ‘* scud,”’
though Scudder’s name is actually referred to on
the opposite page. As an illustration of style and in-
accuracy we may quote the following :—‘‘ From 1778
to 1780 a dreadful curse of locusts, alluded to by
Southey in his ‘Curse of Kehama,’—or perhaps form-
ing the subject of that poem—I really don’t know—
fell upon the Empire of Morocco.’’ There are two
lines relating to locusts in the ‘* Kehama,’’ and it
is ‘*Thalaba”’ in which they are noticed at greater
length.

There are really only sixteen page illustrations, some
oi them being double—i.e. divided in the middle, and
thus making up the twenty-one of the title-page.

Most of our scientific men must be very far behind
other people, for Mr. Selous tells us, ‘‘ Everybody
knows nowadays how all the different species of
animals and plants, living and extinct, have come
into existence,’’ &c., &c.

Errors in Latin names abound, the worst being
Orthoptera for Ornithoptera wherever it occurs. It
is a pity that a book intended to popularise natural
history should not have been more carefully written
and edited. It almost looks as if the compiler thought
anything would be good enough for his prospective
readers.

The Art and Practice of Laundry Work for Students
and Teachers. By Margaret Cuthbert Rankin.
Pp. 191. (London: Blackie and Son, Ltd., 1905.)
Price 2s. 6d.

THERE is little that is scientific in this book; it gives
the impression, indeed, that even the teachers of
laundry work are guided by empirical rules. It should
be possible to inculcate the broad scientific principles
upon which the art and practice are based while
teaching girls how to do their laundry-work success-
fully. The washing of clothes, and the other pro-
cesses through which they pass in the laundry, would
then not be matters of rule of thumb, but intelligent
applications of scientific principles to particular
purposes.

DECEMBER 21, 1905]

NATURE

Vas

LETTERS TO DHE EDITOR.

[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions
expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake
to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected
manuscripts intended for this or any other part of NATURE.
No notice is taken of anonymous communications. ]

Radio-activity of Ordinary Matter in connection with
the Eartn’s Internal Heat.

Mr. CampBeci’s letter in your last issue (p. 152) re-
minds me of a point to which I have intended for some
time to direct attention. Prof. Rutherford (‘‘ Radio-
activity,’? second edition, p. 494) has calculated that the
radio-activity required to compensate for the earth’s internal
heat is much exceeded by the (apparent) activity of ordinary
materials, as determined by me (Phil, Mag., June, 1903).

Thus the smallest activity 1 observed was about 10~-*
times that of uranium nitrate, or 7x 10~-** times that of
radium: whereas the amount of activity, per unit mass
of the earth, required to compensate for the loss of internal
heat is only 4-6x10-™, or less than one-thousandth part
of the activity computed to be actually there.

We cannot well assume a much smaller apparent radio-
activity for the unknown material of the earth’s interior,
for all materials hitherto examined have given effects of the
same order of magnitude, the radio-active elements, of
course, excepted.

The simplest way out of the difficulty is to suppose that
the apparent radio-activity of ordinary materials is not a
volume effect of the same nature as that of radium, but
that it is merely a superficial effect of quite a different
kind, and only occurring at an exposed surface. It is
difficult to understand why Prof. Rutherford did not draw
some such conclusion. I do not know if he doubted the
correctness of my results. It is easy, however, to con-
firm them from other sources. Thus C. T. R. Wilson (Proc.
Roy. Soc., vol. Ixviii. p. 158) found the current through
the air in a vessel of 163 c.c. capacity equal to 2-0x10-°
electrostatic units per second; this is equivalent to
7 X10-*" electromagnetic units. Madame Curie (‘‘ Thesis,’’
p- 14) found the current through a flat vessel of about the
same size, the bottom being covered with uranium nitrate,
equal to 7xX10—-" (electromagnetic). If this vessel had
been wholly lined with uranium, the current would have
been more than doubled, say 2x10-1*. Thus the ratio of
activities may be put at 3X10*, as against 10* in my own
experiments. Considering the various activity of ordinary
materials, and the rough nature of the comparison in
both cases, this measure of agreement is fully confirmatory.

As the question of the earth’s internal heat has been
raised above, I may mention that I am engaged on an
extensive investigation of the amount of radium contained
in various rocks. The majority of those rocks which I
have as yet tried (chiefly sedimentary) contain a good deal
more radium than the percentage which would keep up
the heat supply. Much more, however, must be done
before any confident statement can be made as to the
average amount of radium in the earth’s crust.

Experiments are also in progress with native iron, both
terrestrial and meteoric, with the idea that this may be
representative of the composition of the earth’s interior.

Sunnyside, Cambridge. R. J. Srrurr.

Magnetic Storms and Aurora,

In his letter in your issue of December 14 (p. 152) Mr.
F. C. Dennett assigns a positiveness and a generality that
were not intended to the statement in my previous letter
that on November 12 ‘‘ no special auroral display seems to
have been noted in this country.’? In vears of sun-spot
maximum, in the belt of greatest auroral frequency, nights
wholly free from aurora are probably the exception. In
the Shetlands, or even in the north of Ireland, aurora is
a much more common phenomenon than in the south of
England.

On November 15 I learn from several sources that the
aurora was particularly brilliant, and the apparent move-
ments especially lively during the time 8.53 to 9.25 p-m.,
when the large declination movement occurred. Various
Arctic explorers have stated that it is only when the
aurora displays this variable character that there is any

NO. 1886, VOL. 73]

clear connection between it and magnetic disturbances in
those regions where both phenomena have their maxima.
The aurora on November 12 is said by the Lisburn observer
to have been of *‘ the usual type’’ exhibiting ‘‘ a steady
glow.’’ It would be interesting to know whether this
aurora was observed at Lisburn or elsewhere during the
time of the large declination movement (6.30 to 7.10 p.m.
G.M.T.), and, if so, whether it then showed none of the
brilliant and variable phenomena seen during the time
of the large declination movement three days later.

For aurora to be observed on thirteen days in less than
three weeks must, I think, be rather an unusual event for
any place in England or Ireland; the Lisburn observer
must keep a sharp look-out. CHARLES CHREE.

December 16.

The Total Solar Eclipse of August 30.

In visiting Spain at the end of August of this year I
was actuated by the desire once again, after an interval
of twenty-three years, to witness the marvellous and unique
phenomenon of a total solar eclipse. It is a sight which
cannot be imagined—it must be seen. Happening at a
time of maximum sun-spot frequency, it was reasonable to
expect a considerable display of protuberances, and I
wished to form my own idea of their size by checking
their persistence or non-persistence through the phase of
mid-totality on a day which otherwise may be taken to
have been chosen at random. For this purpose a station
on, or very close to, the line of central eclipse was essential.
Torreblanca was chosen because it was the station of the
Barcelona and Valencia railway which was nearest to the
line of central eclipse, lying, in fact, about a mile to the
south-west of it.

I observed the eclipse from the railway station, the
position of which is lat. 40° 12’ N. and long. 0° 12’ E.
(Greenwich). The railway and official time in Spain is
that of Greenwich. By the clock at the railway station,
mid-totality occurred between th. 18m. and th. 19m. p.m.
Before the beginning of the eclipse I entered in my note-
book half the expected duration of totality, 1m. 5os. ;
when I had observed the second contact, I wrote the time
underneath, and, by addition, ascertained the time of
mid-totality by my watch. The display of protuberances
which appeared just before the moment of second contact,
and on the part of the sun’s limb which was about to be
eclipsed, was, according to all witnesses, exceptionally
brilliant. When the time of mid-totality came round I
looked for these protuberances. They were absent. Not
a trace of them or of any others was visible to the naked
eye, and I searched the whole edge of the moon’s dise with
the greatest attention. Their absence was confirmed by
Stephan (Comptes rendus, October 9), observing with the
best instrumental aid at Guelma.

The sun’s true altitude at Torreblanca on August 30, at
th. 18-5m., may be taken as 54°-5. For this altitude the
augmentation of the moon’s semi-diameter is 14”-3. Adding
this to the geocentric semi-diameter, 16/ 21”.4, as taken
from the Nautical Almanac, 16’ 35"-7 is obtained for the
apparent semi-diameter of the moon as seen from Torre-
blanca at mid-totality. Deducting from this the semi-
diameter of the sun, namely 15’ 50’.7, we obtain 45” as
a sufficient approximation to the width of the annular
band by which the disc of the moon overlapped that of
the sun. Therefore, to an observer stationed on the
central line in this neighbourhood, no protuberance could
be visible at mid-totality which had a height less than
45”, and, neglecting the small displacement of Torreblanca
from the central line, the protuberances of second contact,
magnificent though they were, could not have exceeded this
height.

Eight seconds before second contact I detected the
streamers of the outer corona on the western limb of the
moon. At this moment there was no trace of the inner
corona, which presents to the spectator during the whole
of totality the appearance of a bright, luminous ring
surrounding the moon.

If we assume that the argument from parallax is applic-
able to the inner corona, as it is to the protuberances, we
have to conclude that, eight seconds before second contact,
the light-giving portion of it did not extend further than

174

between 93” and g4” from the western limb of the sun.
To an observer on the central line, at mid-totality, it is
eclipsed to a distance of 45” from the sun’s limb, and this
would leave only between 48” and 49” as the width of the
outer portion, which furnished the unexpected amount of
light which persisted through totality. It is clear that if
the inner portion, having a width of 45", had been un-
covered, the daylight during totality would have been still
more remarkable.

In this respect there was a great contrast between the
eclipse of this year and that of May 17, 1882, which I
witnessed at Sohag, on the Nile, where a large camp of
astronomers of many nations was established. In it, one
of the most striking features was the rapid darkening
during the last moments before second contact. I have
always compared it to what is witnessed when a lecture-
room is darkened during the day by quickly closing the
shutters of the windows in succession. In 1882 the darken-
ing took place rapidly and completely; and immediately
quite a number of stars came out, besides the great comet
which revealed itself, all unsuspected, close to the sun’s
limb, and formed the feature of that eclipse which was
most noticed and is best remembered by the spectators.
In 1905 the darkening effect was much less striking; but
the illustration of the lecture-room holds if we imagine that
the shutter of the last window is out of order, and has
to remain open during the demonstration.

The contrast between the two eclipses is accentuated
when we remember that the apparent semi-diameter of the
moon, as seen from Torreblanea, was 45” greater than
that of the sun, while on the Nile this excess was only
15"-4. Therefore a width of 45" of the brightest part of
the corona was eclipsed in 1905, as against only 15”-4 in
1882. If, therefore, the uneclipsed coronas had possessed
equal efficiency as furnishers of daylight, the darkness
during totality ought to have been much greater in 1905
than it was in 1882; but the opposite was the case.
Therefore, whatever may be the process by which the inner
corona or luminous ring is produced, it was much more
active on August 30, 1905, than it was on May 17, 1882.

December 9. J. Y. Bucuanan.

The Engineer’s Unit of Force.

In his letter of November 16, your reviewer refers to the
apparent inability of academic writers to understand the
engineer’s position in this matter.’? May I, as an
‘* academic writer,’’ state that I have no difficulty whatever
in understanding the engineer’s position in regard to the
gravitational unit of force. It is his treatment of mass
that I do not understand. I am not quite sure whether
it is worth while trying to understand it, as it always
seems, somehow or other, not to be altogether satisfactory,
and I have great doubts at present as to whether it is
necessary.

I have always supposed that the great advantage of a
gravitation unit of force was that it enables problems in
motion under force to be treated without introducing the
notion of mass at all, by means of the relation

force on body _ acceleration produced by force
weight of body acceleration of gravity

Moreover, when we come to deal with mass, if we take
a pound as the unit of mass and a pound weight as the
unit of force, the numerical measures of the mass and
weight of any body will be identical. This is surely simple,
intelligible, and convenient.

But instead of this I find that engineers put W/g=M
and call M the mass of the body, and that they have
adopted a unit of mass, called a slugg, based on this
relation, which to my ‘‘ academic mind ’’ appears both
meaningless and useless. If ‘* people do not, and never
will, think in poundals,’’ still less will they think in
sluggs, and a terminology involving this unit can scarcely
be described as ‘‘ not divorced from common thought and
speech.’’ I cannot think any reasonable engineer would
expect to see tea and sugar sold by the slugg, and one
thing I do not understand is whether, if this custom were
adopted, I should get the same quantity of tea or sugar
at London as at Johannesburg, or whether the grocer
would be expected to make allowance for the variations

in g.

ce

NO. 1886. VOL. 73]

INA TOLLE:

(DECEMBER 21, 1905

If, on the other hand, the grocer retained the time-
honoured custom of weighing out the sugar by the pound,
it would appear that the engineer’s estimate of the mass
of the sugar depended, not only on the sugar itself, but
also on his choice of units of length and time. In these
circumstances it seems reasonable to ask whether the
engineer still accepts or discards the conventional, but
somewhat meaningless, definition of our text-books,
““ Quantity of matter is called mass.”

Is not the writing of W/g equal to M a mere attempt
to copy blindly the academic method of treatment, and to
adapt it to a system of units to which it is ill-suited?
Writing on a similar issue elsewhere, I pointed out on
one occasion that I prefer to solve the problem of the three
cats killing three mice by some method equivalent to the
“rule of three,’? and not to adopt an artificial unit of
cats in order to write the equation mice=cats X minutes.

G. H. Bryan.

Ir will be seen that Prof. Bryan, instead of defining
force as the rate of change of momentum, or using the
corresponding dynamical equation F=Ma, works problems
in motion by means of a proportion, his equation being
equivalent to F=W/ga; he thus avoids both the poundal
and the slugg. This differs from the two absolute systems
previously discussed in that W/g is not here a measure of
mass, On account of the variable nature of the gravita-
tional unit of force, as his weight and mass are numerically
the same, while g varies with locality. A concrete example
well illustrates this system. Suppose a body weighing
32-182 pounds at London to leave the earth under the
action of an upward resultant force of one pound, and to
travel through space with an acceleration of one foot per
second per second. The value of g would continually de-
crease, but the weight (i.e. the gravitational force between
the earth and the body) would in this system always be
called 32-182 pounds, so that at the instant when g was
reduced, say, 50 per cent., the acceleration force, though
unchanged in amount, would be called two pounds, in order
that Prof. Bryan’s proportion should still be true. In
fact, the pound force at this juncture would have only
half its original absolute value, and would go on diminish-
ing indefinitely; and this system is described as ‘‘ simple,
intelligible, and convenient.’’ The beginner, introduced to
dynamics in this fashion, as simply rule of three, with
the conception of inertia designedly veiled, endeavouring
to think in a variable unit, and with only one name for
both force and mass, cannot be considered to have made
a very auspicious start, and he may well be forgiven if he
is never able to free himself from the tangle. The gravita-
tional system, at any rate, must be ruled out of court.

In the everyday work of the engineer, mere inertia has
seldom to be spoken or thought about, and I must still
maintain that the engineer’s system, with its new inertia
unit, is ‘‘ not divorced from common thought and speech.”
As a matter of fact, it is much easier to think of inertia in
a distinct unit like the slugg than one the name for which
is also used for force.

Prof. Bryan is evidently sincere when he says that he
does not understand the engineer’s treatment of mass.
The operation of weighing is not a dynamical one. Inertia
does not enter into the matter at all. It is a statical
problem in the equilibrium of forces. If the inertia unit
were here dragged in as suggested, Prof. Bryan fails to
see that the specification in sluggs would be at least as
definite as a specification in pounds; and it might be even
more definite, for if the grocer in Johannesburg had studied
dynamics in the variable gravitational unit, the weigher of
the sugar might plausibly argue that, as ‘‘ the numerical
measures of mass and weight,’’ in pounds, are ‘‘ identical,”’
he was quite justified in using an imported spring balance.

The present confusion is no doubt partly due to the
substitution of the word mass for the good old word inertia.
If mass means quantity of matter as determined by weigh-
ing, then inertia is probably, but not necessarily, propor-
tional to mass. Readers who are interested in the subject
may be referred to a correspondence which took place in
NaTuRE about nine years ago (vol. lv.), and especially to
letters by Prof. (now Sir) Oliver J. Lodge, Prof. John
Perry, and Prof. G. F. Fitzgerald.

Tue REVIEWER.

DECEMBER 21, 1905 |

NATURE

D5

““Mathematics”’ applied to Chemistry.

In his notice of my book ‘‘ Researches on the Affinities
of the Elements’ in Nature, November 16, the reviewer
impugns the legality of applying mathematical formula to
my surfaces. I trust I may be allowed to answer briefly
my critic’s objections. His difficulty as to the non-
continuous nature is imaginary, and arises from a mis-
taking of the object to be achieved—which is simply to
obtain either a surface or a mathematical expression from
which can be deduced the affinities any one element
exhibits for any other. This can be done from the
formulz, and they do, therefore, characterise the chemical
properties of an element which depend upon these affinities.
Although there exist an infinite number of points on the
surface which are occupied by no element, yet there exist
only a finite number of points the x and y coordinates of
which are whole numbers, and to every integer value given
to x and y in my formule there corresponds a definite
element; so that, so long as we keep within the domain
of integer numbers (as we are forced to do by the nature
of the construction) continuity is attained.

The complexity of the formule is more apparent than
real, because the only values which x and y can have are
integer numbers, and the constant and many terms dis-
appear in practice. GEOFFREY MarTIN.

Kiel, December 6.

[tT is true that the plan proposed by Mr. Martin is
occasionally used on the convention that only the values
of the equations to the curve which occur at the integer
points are to be used; but the reviewer still maintains that
the principle is a false one. A curve is intended to exhibit
continuous change, according to some law, and he is
unaware that any result of value has ever been obtained
by the use of the plan, except, perhaps, that of appealing
to the visual sense. THE REVIEWER.

Heat a Mode of Motion in the Seventeenth Century.

Tue following statement occurs in the ‘‘ Medulla
Medicine,” by J. A. Van der Linden, Med. Prof.,
Franekere, 1642, p. 182 :—

‘“* Calor est minutissimarum materiz partium motus in se
reverberatus.”’

Van der Linden was a famous teacher, but the theory
may not have originated with him. Are there other
co-temporary anticipations of ‘‘ Heat a mode of motion ’’?

W. R. Gowers.

THE PULSE OF THE ATMOSPHERIC
CIRCULATION.

Som fifteen years ago an American eclipse ex-
pedition which included Prof. Cleveland Abbe
visited St. Helena, and, on leaving represented to
the Governor, Mr. R. L. Antrobus, now of the
Colonial Office, the importance of establishing a
meteorological observatory there. The representa-
tion was sent to the Colonial Office, and, the colonial
finances being then in a depressed condition, the
Colonial Office applied to the Meteorological Council
for assistance.

It is needless to spend many words over the meteor-
ological importance of such an enterprise. St. Helena
emerges from the sea in the heart of the trade wind
of the southern Atlantic. In no part of the globe,
perhaps, is the trade wind current so persistent. The
trade winds have long been recognised as primary
factors of the atmospheric circulation. Speculation on
their origin, which still forms the staple of the
physical geography of the schools, carries us back
to the writings of Halley and Hadley. The south-
easterly current over St. Helena is the flow along the
main artery of the never-failing atmospheric circula-
tion, and at St. Helena if anywhere we may put our
finger on the pulse of that endless and complex pro-

NO. 1886, VOL. 73]

cess of transformation of solar energy of which the
weather of our islands and elsewhere is an expres-
sion.

The council, itself not wealthy, had a Robinson ane-
mograph, then lately returned from duty in Heligo-
land. This was lent to the colony, and with it was
found a small annual sum by way of payment for
its curator, Mr. Hands, of St. Matthew’s Vicarage,
who undertook as well the duties of observer for a
normal station of the second order, with instruments
furnished by the council.

The anemometer continued its run with some un-
avoidable interruptions, and the observations were
taken until the middle of 1904. There are besides
observations of rainfall at other stations in the island.

By 1904 that part of the spiral of the direction
pencil which had to record south-easterly winds be-
came so worn by constant use that a hollow was
formed there and the record had become an unsatis-
factory one. With the assistance of the engineer
officers stationed at St. Helena the matter was inquired

‘into, and, as a result, the instrument was ordered

home for repairs. At the same time an attempt was
made in the observatory branch of the Meteorological
Office to put together the results of the long run and
to collate them with the other observations. I will
not anticipate the publication of the results which, I
hope, will follow in due course, but to one interesting
side of them, too speculative for an official report and
too suggestive to be altogether ignored, I would like
to direct attention, because it shows a possibility (per-
haps more) that with more searching we may find a
working connection between the pulsations of the trade
wind in the southern hemisphere and the general type
of weather in so distant a part of the globe as our
own islands.

While the trade winds may be regarded as the most
obvious representative of the dynamical effect of solar
energy, rainfall must be allowed to be also very closely
connected with the process of distribution of that
energy. The convection of heat by evaporation from
warm water surfaces and condensation in cooler
regions represents a process tending towards equalisa-
tion of thermal distribution on a gigantic scale.
The main directions of transference are from
south to north on the one hand, and generally east-
ward from sea to land on the other. The white snow
coverings of the polar regions and the persistent rivers
of great continents are permanent records of nature’s
endeavour to distribute more nearly equally over the
globe the supply of solar heat. From a general point
of view rainfall or snowfall in the temperate and
arctic zones may be regarded as an index, perhaps a
spasmodic one, of the general circulation from the
tropical regions towards the poles, and to that ex-
tent as the counterpart or correlative of the kinetic
energy of the trade winds which represent the flow
towards the equatorial region. The transformation of
energy in rainfall is on a vastly greater scale than
that displayed by the trade winds. Supposing that
the trade wind at St. Helena is a mile high, the
energy represented by the year’s flow in a slice of the
current a mile in width would be about equal to that
represented by a year’s rainfall on a single square
mile in the neighbourhood of London. Of these two
indices of the general process of distribution of solar
energy, the one is the steadiest, the other the most
fluctuating of all meteorological phenomena, and any
indication of an underlying relation between them,
which is, in a way, a necessity of the general process
of circulation, would be of great meteorological in-
terest and might be of immense economic importance.

So far as I have carried it, the study is perhaps

176

NA TORE

[| DECEMBER 21, 1905

merely tantalising, but I should like to present the
case as it occurred. When the figures for the aver- |
age wind velocity were being put together, I inquired |
about the variation from year to year. The monthly
values had not been combined, and a glance showed |
the last year (1903) to be one of exceptionally high
velocity. For the complete year, since calculated, it is
twenty-one miles per hour; the average for the twelve |
years is eighteen miles per hour. I noted 1903 as the
vear of heavy rainfall in this country, and asked |
about 1893, the year of drought, especially in the spring

months. I found the wind velocities at St. Helena |
were for the first half |
Jan. Feb. Mar. Ap. May June |
1 14 — 15 114 — _ in 1893, |
as against
Jan. Feb. Mar. Ap. May June
20 20 Ole 2O nan UO eLOvninplgo2:

The first two are the lowest velocities of those months
on record; the others are low, but not the lowest. |
The blanks mean that the instrument was not work- |
ing properly. This suggested some sort of connec- |
tion, a stronger trade wind being associated with a |

|

without hope that the evidence for organic connection
would develop with further investigation. When
plotting the curves of wind velocity for individual
years, I noted that 1898 was an exceptional year, be-
cause it had two maxima of wind velocity, one in
March and one in October, instead of the usual single
one in September. Some information that I had for
Southampton seemed to indicate a similar state of
things for rain in England (south) in that year. I
had the monthly rainfall figures for England (south)
computed for each year, and looked at once to those
for 1898. Here are the figures for the two variables
compared for that year.

St. Helena wind velocity—
Miles per hour

| Jan. Feb. Mar. Ap. May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec.

19) 19%) (22 2Ce LO) 356° 16
South of England rainfall —

Inches

15 22 24 20 20

ene Feb. Mar. Ap. Mier ieee ieee Aug. Sept. Oct. Nise Det
O71 1°58 I°12 1°39 3°59 1°46 0°49 1°37 0°99 3°48 3°67 2°86
There is unmistakably the second maximum of

heavier rainfall in this country. I obtained the | rainfall. It is in May, generally the driest month,
two months after the unusual

WAda Ene ae SESS second maximum of wind velocity

eS | | at St. Helena. The ordinary

pr eee allie de Wind Nelocity and English Rainfall -— autumnal maximum of rainfall is

Pp

east: cra Hpeul: Aus Sep Oct N

delayed a month until November,
just as the wind maximum is de-
layed a month until October.

Hi eee “a
brant | | a ea : alk ah As a test case this seemed to be
i almost conclusive and the connec-
ie Hi) tion to be put beyond doubt, but in
eal meteorological matters there are
many disappointments. Some gob-
—2}t + lin seems to be in possession of this
| Inches castle in the air; we see a glimpse
ere lle i. | at 4 IL 3 of light; knock at the door; the
goblin opens it almost wide enough
Pes ok
ss oe NI oe Ue ee slo to let us in, and then he slams it
a Wind Velocity SE Trade in our faces with a laugh. One
Sst elena. 1892-1905, 2 can almost hear the. mischievous
ea af Puck crowing to the
HF —216 “Captain of our fairy band,
Helena is here at hand,
Za ae And those things do best please me
sate aan sinerahals aan That befall preposterously.”’
eg | | a 5 .
rt | NOSE ALO is 2hq There is even a faint echo of the
\ i | wicked exclamation
‘
y
he : " —+ fins 1 oe 2:2— ‘Lord, what fools these mortals be!”
\ y
i Nig b i When one turns from the average
eal Ninos ] 4 7 “© of years to the individual years,
al ise | after the curious test case of 1898
= - = 4B one must confess that while the
Fic. t. seasonal variation is maintained

monthly values and plotted the several years’ vari-
ation. There was unmistakable evidence of a large
seasonal variation with a maximum in September and
a minimum in May. I plotted the average seasonal
variation of the St. Helena wind for the twelve years,
and against it the seasonal rainfall in the south of
England for thirty-five years, which I] happened to
have at hand. The curves are reproduced in the
figure (Fig. 1). The similarity is surprising. Of
course, the seasonal rainfall is not the same in all
localities, even in the British Isles. Somewhat similar
curves are, however, to be found for Stykkisholm, in
Iceland, and for Hakodate, in Japan, so that the case
was not quite an isolated one. I was, therefore, not

NO. 1886, VOL. 73]

fairly well in the trade wind, year by
year, one cannot recognise it in the rainfall. There
appears, perhaps it is hardly necessary to say so,
to be no regular seasonal variation in a single year
of English rainfall. Any month may be the wettest

mcenth or perhaps the driest, and so a_ fitful
parallelism is rudely interrupted by a wet July or
some unaccountable abnormality. The phenomen-

ally wet year, 1903, is truly the year of greatest
trade wind velocity, but the order of wind velocity
is not regularly the order of rainfall values; one
wonders whether the recorder has always been work-
ing as one would wish; and when the monthly
rainfall average is taken for the twelve correspond-
ing years instead of the thirty-five years, the curious

DECEMBER 21, 1905 |

MAT OTE:

177

subsidiary maximum in April so neatly reproduced in
the St. Helena wind has disappeared, owing princi-
pally, be it said, to an abnormally dry April in 1893.

Yet the evidence in favour of a connection can
hardly be pure coincidence. The little rain maximum
in April is not mere illusion. The fact that a seasonal
variation of rainfall does show itself in the average
of a few years has a meaning, and that its phase
are closely similar to those of the arterial pulsations
of the general atmospheric circulation accords too
much with what may be called common sense to
be altogether devoid of significance.

Sooner or later we shall catch the nimble imp that
jeers at us to-day, and, if I mistake not, when he is
caught we shall make him tell us something of the
real secrets of these atmospheric rel tionships.

There are two considerations that may be
mentioned. A disproportionately large fall of rain is

sometimes regarded as an accident of little or no |

influence upon general meteorological conditions, but
in view of the enormous quantities of energy involved
that view can hardly be seriously maintained. It is
true that on some days we get
thunderstorms with heavy rain dis-
tributed in a most irregular manner,
and for these at present no satis-
factory explanation can be given,
but it should be looked for seriously.
Secondly, the rainy movements of
the atmosphere in this part of the
world are, as already mentioned, a
south to north movement and a
west to east movement. Perhaps
we may in time be able to disen-
tangle the effects of the various
causes and find the _ regular
sequence at present overlaid by the
influence of secondary disturbing
causes.

I have ventured to put forward
these suggestions, which I frankly
confess are deplorably bizarre, be-
cause my readers may have at their
disposal methods, that I am
ignorant of, by which a crucial test

may be applied to the question
whether there is any definite and,
shall I say, useful connection

between the pulsations of the south-
east trade wind and the rainfall of
Europe. Ww.

north-western
N. SHaw.

TWO BOOKS ON ANIMAL BIOGRAPHY.
fe the second of these two works the author ex-

presses the opinion that the first question which
will be asked by the reader is whether the various
anecdotes are strictly true. The question that
presents itself to our mind is whether such books
will be read at all, and if so by whom? The pro-
fessional naturalist, we dare venture to say, will
have nothing to do with them; they are not apparently
intended for children, and for our own part we con-
fess that to read them for either pleasure or instruc-

tion is about the last thing we should think of doing.
They are what may be called ‘ animal novels,’’ and

thereby differ to a considerable extent from the old-
fashioned ‘‘ animal biographies,’’ under which head-

1 ‘ Beasties Courageous ; Studies of Animal Life and Character.” By
Bousfield and Co., Ltd.,

D. English. Pp. viii+x12r ; illustrated. (London:
1905.) Price 5s. net.

‘Northern Trails ; some Studies of Animal Life in the Far North.” By |
(Boston, U.S.A., and London :

W. J. Long. Pp. xxv+390 ; illustrated.

Ginn and Co.). Price 7s. 6d.
NO. 1886, VOL. 73

Fic. 1.—The Wood-mouse.

| that
| name is spelt

| (*‘pequam ’’), the salmon, &c.

ing we have, however,
In each instance the author
or less well-known

include them.
takes a number of more
animals, and recounts their
ordinary everyday life, so far as it can be interpreted,
Mr. English giving this for the most part in what
are supposed to be the creature’s own words, while
the American author mingles verbal with descriptive
narrative. Both works are, no doubt, excellent in
their own particular way; and, for the sake of authors
and publishers alike, we trust that a sufficient number
of readers exist to whom this style of writing appeals
with infinitely greater force than it does to ourselves.
To such we may commend each of the two
for, in the respective subjects, we find little
between them.

ventured to

works,
to choose

Mr. English, very appropriately, confines himself
to British animals (including mammals, birds, fishes,

insects, &c.); and although we cannot congratulate
him on the title he has selected for his volume, we

are pleased to be able to record our high appreciation
of his skill as a photographer, and of the excellent
manner in which his pictures have been reproduced.

From English’s *‘ Beasties Courageous.’

| The photograph of the wood-mouse herewith pre-
sented to our readers is absolutely exquisite, and
cannot be surpassed. Moreover, it is by no means a
solitary example of excellence, every picture in the

book being of high quality, although some are, of
course, better than others. As a picture-book of
various types of British animal life the book would
be hard indeed to beat.

Mr. Long, on the other hand, tales for his subject

| some of the more striking animals of the Arctic
districts of North America, which he calls for the
most part by their native Indian names, after the

manner of ‘* Hiawatha.”

The first six chapters are, for
to the white wolf, under the title of
strong one’’; but it is a little remarkable to note
in the glossary at the end of the volume this
‘“ wayeesis.’’ Other chapters follow on
goose (‘“‘waptouk”’), the fisher-marten
All bear the impress
of truth, and relate the experie neces of one who has
seen the animals in their native wilds. The most strik-
ing incident is perhaps the one depicted on the cover
of the book, where the author had the good fortune

instance, devoted
‘ wayeeses, the

wild

the

178

NATURE

[ DECEMBER 21, 1905

to see a wolf spring at night upon a jutting crag,
where, silhouetted by the full moon behind, it gave
vent to its ‘‘ terrible howl.’’ The illustrations in this
volume are by that well-known artist Mr. C. Cope-
land, whose facile and truthful style stands in no
need of any commendation of ours. These illustra-
tions render Mr. Long’s volume an attractive book
tor the drawing-room table at this season of the year.

SECONDARY SCHOOLS AND ENDOWMENTS.
An INTERESTING TRANSFER SCHEME.

A SOMEWHAT novel proposal has been formulated

for the transfer of an endowed school, with
its property and funds, to an ‘‘ education authority ”’
other than a Local Education Authority under the
Education Acts of 1902-3. This proposal relates to
the Subordinate School at Rugby.

It appears that, for some time, there has been a
movement in the locality with a view to the establish-
ment of a technical school so as to organise system-
atically the scattered forces already at work. The
Warwickshire County Council offered a grant of
1oool. towards the erection of such a school, while
the governing body of Rugby School offered sool.
and a site on the grounds of the Subordinate School
for the same purpose. These offers, however, failed
to secure adequate local agreement—hence the above-
mentioned transfer proposal.

According to the notice in the London Gazette,
the governing body of Rugby School will apply to
Parliament for an enabling Act ‘‘ for the establish-
ment, constitution and incorporation of an ‘ educa-
tion authority,’’’? to whom that governing body may
transfer the Subordinate School with its property and
funds, and to whom they may make annual or
other payments or contributions. This ‘‘ education
authority ’’ would contain representatives of the
governing body of Rugby School and of other local
bodies (e.g. the County Council of Warwickshire, the
Urban District Council of Rugby); any doubts or
questions which might arise between the various
bodies represented would be determined by the Board
of Education. The “ education authority ”’ is to con-
duct the school ‘‘as a school for higher or secondary
education . . . shall afford a good commercial educa-
tion for students . . . and shall maintain the teaching
of English, Latin, at least one modern foreign
language and Greek, unless and until the governing
body” (i.e. the governing body of Rugby School)
“shall consent to the discontinuance of Greek.”
Other conditions relate to (1) the maintenance, by
the governing body of the Rugby School, for the
benefit of the students of the Subordinate School, of
the existing system of major foundationerships at
Rugby School; (2) the continuance of the engagements
of the existing staff of the Subordinate School; (3)
the borrowing, upon the security of the trust property,
by the ‘education authority’? of such sums for
additions, improvements, &c., as may be needed—
these powers to be subject to the conditions imposed
by the Board of Education; (4) the maintenance at
the Subordinate School, by the ‘‘ education authority,”
of the existing system of foundationerships and
scholarships tenable at that school.

A good deal of misgiving has been manifested
locally in regard to the foregoing proposal, but it
seems to us to be a step in the right direction. We
confess that, as to nomenclature, the words “ educa-
tion authority ’’ do not commend themselves to us
as_a suitable description of the new body to whom
it is proposed to make the transfer. But the objects
which may be secured under the proposal now fore-

NO. 1886, VoL. 73]

shadowed are great indeed. To have obtained a
gift which, if capitalised, would amount to between
50,0001. and 70,000l., and to be enabled to utilise
such resources to promote the educational and indus-
trial progress of the town and neighbourhood of
Rugby, are matters for sincere congratulation. The
representative character of the new ‘ education
authority ’’ will ensure the quickening of an
intelligent interest in, and zeal for, that technical
and higher education which the townsfolk of Rugby
are seeking—including the actual provision of a
technical school.

It is rather difficult to appraise rightly the action
of those who have been disposed to reject an arrange-
ment which, as we hope, is now about to be con-
summated. Possibly, upon reflection, they will
become conscious, as has been the case with other
erstwhile opponents, of the opportunities that are
within their grasp. For this transfer provides not
only that ladder which educationists are so anxious
to erect for all those who can climb it, and who may
thus be equipped for their several callings, but it
will provide also an excellent object-lesson in regard
to educational endowments and their administration
for the public welfare. With potential issues like
these, it is to be hoped that the inhabitants of Rugby
and the neighbourhood will brace themselves for an
effort in educational administration which shall
inspire other localities to grapple earnestly with more
exacting conditions.

NOTES.

Ligzut.-CoLoneL Pratn, I.M.S., F.R.S., took up the
duties of director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, on
December 16. Sir W. Thiselton-Dyer will continue to take
charge of Government advisory work until March 31 next.

At an Investiture held by the King on Monday, Prof.
G. H. Darwin was invested with the insignia of a Knight
Commander of the Order of the Bath (K.C.B.), and Sir
Felix Semon with those of a Knight Commander of the
Royal Victorian Order. His Majesty subsequently decorated
the commander, officers, and several other members of the
National Antarctic Expedition with the medal in com-
memoration of the expedition.

A seRIES of meetings for the informal discussion of
important contributions to meteorological literature, par-
ticularly those by colonial or foreign meteorologists, has
been arranged at the Meteorological Office by the director,
Dr. W. N. Shaw, F.R.S. Two meetings have already
been held, and seven others will be held from January to
April of next year. The subjects suggested for discussion
are of interest to students and investigators of
meteorological problems, and the director invites exchange
of views upon them.

great

THe next meeting of the French Association for the
Advancement of Science will be held at Lyons from
August 2 to August 7, 1906, under the presidency of Prof.
Lippmann.

We regret to see the announcement that Mr. Lewis
Wright, author of well known books on ‘‘ Light’? and
“The Induction Coil in Practical Work,’’ and of several
works on the scientific breeding of poultry, was accidentally
killed by a passing train at Saltford railway station, near
Bristol, on Saturday, December 16.

A LARGE and influential committee of leading represent-
atives of science in many parts of the world has been
formed with the object of placing a monument to the

DECEMBER 21, 1905]

NATURE

179

memory of the late Prof. Ernst Abbe at Jena between
the Volkshaus erected by him and the optical works to the
development of which he devoted his life. Zeiss instru-
ments are in themselves monuments to Abbe’s work
wherever they are used, but there are probably many men
of science who will welcome the opportunity of contributing
to the establishment of some permanent representation of
his personality in the place which he made famous. Sub-
scriptions in support of the scheme should be sent to Dr.
Gustav Fischer, Jena.

AmonG the letters from the honorary members of the
Essex Field Club read at the meeting at Chingford on
December 9 and referred to in our last issue (p. 157) was
a very appreciative one from the veteran naturalist Dr.
Alfred Russel Wallace, who had been attached to the club
from the period of its foundation, and who had lectured
at its meetings and taken part in many of the excursions
and discussions. It is of interest to note that Dr. Wallace
gave a preliminary account of his work on insular faunas
and floras, being the substance of his book ‘‘ Island Life,’”’
at a meeting of the club on January 4, 1881. In his
recently published life he refers also to the fact that before
his departure for America in 1886 he gave the club a
lecture on the subject of variation, one of the chapters of
his subsequent work on ‘‘ Darwinism.”

Pror. Metpo.ra, F.R.S., presided over a “ science
dinner ’’ given by the Maccabzeans on December 16. After
the loyal toasts, the chairman said the Maccabzeans are a
society composed primarily, though not entirely, of Jewish
professional men, bound together by ties of race and re-
ligion. This race has contributed much to the advancement
of philosophy and of science. It is the race which gave
Maimonides and Spinosa to philosophy, the Herschels to
astronomy, Ferdinand Cohn to botany, the Meyers and
many others, including Briihl, to chemistry, and Lippmann
and. Herz to physics. Prof. Meldola concluded by
giving the toast of ‘‘ Science,’’ coupled in the first
place with the names of the representatives of scientific
institutions represented in the room, and afterwards with
individual representatives. Sir W. Huggins, t.R.S., and
Sir A. Geikie, F.R.S., responded for the Royal Society,
the Duke of Northumberland for the Royal Institution,
Major P. A. MacMahon, F.R.S., for the British Associ-
ation, Mr. J. J. H. Teall, F.R.S, for the Geological Survey,
Sir J. Evans, F.R.S., for anthropology, Sir Henry Roscoe,
F.R.S., and Sir William Ramsay, K.C.B., F.R.S., for
chemistry, Prof Poulton, F.R.S., for biology, Prof.
Starling, F.R.S., for physiology, and Prof. Ayrton, F.R.S.,
for applied science.

SEVERAL subjects of scientific interest were discussed at
the conference on smoke abatement and the exhibition of
smoke-prevention apparatus held on December 13-15 in
the hall of the Horticultural Society, Westminster. The
inaugural address was to have been delivered by Sir Oliver
Lodge, F.R.S., but he was prevented by indisposition from
attending. Some manuscript notes by Sir Oliver Lodge
were read to the meeting by Sir William Richmond.
These notes dealt with fog as a destructive agent, and the
proposal that smoke and fog should be precipitated by
electrification of the air. The right way to deal with a
town fog, according to the author, was not to produce it.
The connection between fog and the imperfect combustion
of solid fuel was then illustrated, and the need for
improved methods of burning fuel insisted upon. At the
same meeting the question, ‘‘ Is London fog inevitable? ”’
was discussed by Dr. W. N. Shaw, F.R.S. On the second

NO. 1886, VOL. 73]

day numerous papers were read, and of these may be
mentioned stoking and smoke abatement, by Commander
W. F. Caborne; the abatement of smoke in factories, by
Dr. Rideal; the artificial production of persistent fog, by
the Hon. Rollo Russell; destructive effects of smoke in
relation to plant life, by Miss Agar and Mr. A. Rigg. At
the third meeting of the conference Sir John Ure Primrose
made a plea for a systematic analysis of the air of towns.
He said that samples of the rainfall collected in Glasgow
now show no traces of free acid, whereas only a few years
ago similar samples were found to be strongly acid. This
improvement in the city’s atmosphere is due chiefly to
the check the Alkali Acts have imposed upon the emission
of acid gases by chemical and metallurgical works. The
exhibition of smoke-abatement appliances included grates,
stoves, cooking plant, heating flues, chimney construction,
and smoke-consuming and smoke-preventing apparatus.

In the note on the contents of the Zeitschrift fiir wissen-
schaftliche Zoologie, vol. 1xxx., part ii., published in our
issue of December 7, Mr. S. Hlava’s paper is stated to
have been on the Radiata, instead of the Rotifera.

““TuHe Formation of Local Illustrative Collections in
Museums ”’ is the title of an article by Mr. J. Maclauchlan,
of Dundee, in the October issue of the Museums Journal,
which may be commended to the best attention of the
governing bodies of provincial institutions of this nature,
who, in many cases, are too apt to convert them into mere
“* curiosity-shops,’’ or who attempt to usurp the functions
of large museums by the display of a more or less ill-
arranged general natural history collection. The rating of
museums and public libraries is another question discussed
in the same issue.

THE most interesting announcement in part iii. of the
first volume of the Journal of the Federated Malay States
Museums is, perhaps, the identification of a tooth of the
Indian Pleistocene Elephas namadicus from Perak. Dr.
C. W. Andrews being responsible for the determination,
there can be no reasonable doubt as to its correctness; and
this being so, the matter is of considerable interest as
tending to link up the extinct proboscidean fauna of India
and Burma with that of Borneo, Java, and Japan. In the
same issue Mr. Bonhote describes a new rat, Mr. Ogilvie-
Grant a new whistling-thrush, and Mr. H. C. Robinson
a new tree-partridge, all from the Malay Peninsula or
adjacent islands.

Tue greater portion of the November issue of the
Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science is devoted to
three instalments of a long paper on the formation of
spicules, the author, Mr. W. Woodland, dealing in this
instance with calcareous sponges, Alcyonium, and the sea-
urchin larva. The relation of triradiate spicules to the
dermal cells to which they owe their origin is beautifully
illustrated in the plates, and it is shown that, as in the case
of the simpler types, the triradiate form is directly related
to the conformation of the secreting agency. As to the
use of these triradiate spicules, it is pointed out that the
hollow cylinders of which sycon-sponges consist are liable
to be swayed by the movements of the water, and that
were these oscillations to become excessive the organism
would be injured. Moreover, as the oscillations are both
vertical and horizontal, support in each of these directions
is essential. ‘‘ Both of these elements are supplied by the
numerous triradiate spicules contained within the sponge-
wall, for it invariably follows from their conformation that
if one ray be vertically disposed, then the two companion
rays will lie in lines only deviating from the horizontal

180

NABRORE

| DECEMBER 21, 1905

by an inclination of 30°, and hence the three rays practically
constitute two axes, respectively lying in the required
vertical and horizontal directions.’’ It will be remembered
that in a recent note we referred to the views of an author
who regarded these triradiate spicules as an instance of
over-specialisation.

TueE Journal of Economic Biology is the title of a new
serial, edited by Mr. W. E. Collinge, and published by
Dulau and Co. For some time, and more
especially since the foundation of the Association of
Economic Biologists, it has been evident that workers in
the subject to which the new serial is devoted frequently
experience difficulty in finding suitable means of making
their labours known to the public, especially when illus-
trations to their papers are required, and it is to meet
this want that the venture, to which we wish cordial
success, has been made. In the opening article Prof.
A. H. R. Buller discusses the destruction of wood-paving
in roadways by a kind of dry-rot produced by the fungus
known as Lentinus lepideus. In the second article the
editor describes some very remarkable varieties of the
currant-moth produced by change of food and temperature,
while in the third and last communication Mr. F. V.
Theobald describes new gnats from various parts of the
world.

io
=
a
a
a
ow

Wit the October issue the publication of Climate came
to an end, an amalgamation having been effected with the
Journal of Tropical Medicine, which in future will devote
four of its issues annually to the special subjects hitherto
dealt with in Climate.

THE Journal of the Royal Sanitary Institute for
December (xxvi., No. 11) contains the second part of a
paper on the administration of the Food and Drugs Acts
by Mr. Wellesley Harris which should be very useful to
students of public health, the mortality statistics of boot

and shoe workers in Northampton by Dr. Beatty, a
note on the recent literature of plague by Colonel
Notter, and an article on school hygiene by Dr.
Elkington.

In an interesting article on the revival of phrenology in
the Fortnightly Review for December, Mr. Stephen Paget
reviews the subject and refers to Dr. Bernard Hollander’s
book on the mental functions of the brain. Gall it was,
celebrated for his anatomical studies of the brain, who
originated what is known as phrenology, a study very
different from the present conception of localisation of
function in the brain, as Mr. Paget points out. From
the wreck of Gall’s work Dr. Hdéllander has saved many
well recorded cases of localised injury or disease of the
brain With exaggeration or diminution of this or that one
function—cases such as led to the discovery of the speech
centres. But when Dr. HOllander asserts that his book
may have an important bearing on the development of
mental science, on the treatment of lunacy, &c., Mr. Paget

considers that he is claiming much more than can be
admitted.

On the subject of the conditions essential to the best
production of Para rubber, Mr. H. Wright has compiled
some useful data in vol. iii., No. 6, of the Circulars of
the Royal Botanic Gardens, Ceylon. It would appear that
richness of soil is not so important as altitude and tempera-
ture, since by the annual shedding of its leaves the tree
returns a large amount of material to the soil. With
regard to temperature, the trees thrive best in Brazil in a

NO. 1886, vol.. 73

mean temperature about 25° C., while, as to altitude, the
limit of successful cultivation in Ceylon is placed at 2000
feet above sea-level.

Tue superintendent of the botanical department, Trinidad,
in the Bulletin (October) refers to a new variety of coffee,
Coffea robusta, received from the Congo River, West
Africa, that has been successfully propagated at the experi-
ment station. A stock of nearly two thousand plants
offered for distribution was quickly disposed of to planters.
In the same journal Mr. W. R. Buttenshaw, writing on
the subject of selection by means of vegetative propagation,
instances a few of the improvements that have been effected
by continuous selection of cuttings and by bud selection.
A distinction is drawn between the sudden emergence of a
sport and gradual development by careful selection.

With the object of ascertaining whether a commercial
fibre can be prepared from banana leaf-sheaths, it is
announced in the Agricultural News (October 21) that
prizes for the best samples of fibre will be offered at the
agricultural show to be held in the course of this month
in Barbados; the fibre will be extracted from the dwarf
banana, as this is the species cultivated there. In the last
number of the journal, which, owing to an alteration in
the sailings of the Royal Mail steamers, is dated
November 11, a note appears on the cigarette and biscuit
beetles. The former, Lasioderma serricorne, does not con-
fine itself to tobacco, but feeds also on leather and drugs,
and the biscuit beetle, Sitodrepa panicea, shows similar
tastes.

TuHE report for the year 1904 of the director of the
botanic gardens in Sydney, New South Wales, has been

received. Amongst the list of interesting plants that
have flowered during the year are Diplachne Peacockit,
an indigenous grass recently discovered, Paspalum
cochinchinense, another grass that, judging from the
vigorous growth made in a dry season, may prove» as
valuable for fodder as Paspalum dilatatum, Eucommia

ulmoides, the Chinese rubber-tree, and a number of
Opuntias that are being cultivated with the object of
obtaining a spineless plant. Of the trees planted in the
Centennial Park, the most interesting are the Aleppo pines,
Pinus halepensis, that are being grown as a wind-break.

In the Engineer of December 15 drawings are given of
a dredger that has been used by the Dundee Harbour
Trustees for more than a century. It is built of oak, and
is 68 feet long with a beam of 21 feet, and draws in work-
ing order 7 feet 6 inches. The engine is believed to have

been built by James Watt.

In the December number of the Popular Science Monthly
there is a useful article by Prof. R. D. George, of the
University of Colorado, giving an able summary of the
existing knowledge of mining and the use of metals by the
ancient Egyptians. In the issue Dr. Charles R.
Eastman, of Harvard University, inquires into the rightful-
ness of regarding Anaximander, the pupil of Thales in the
sixth century B.c., as the first who foreshadowed modern
ideas of evolution. All estimates present Anaximander as
a keen and deeply contemplative student of nature who
arrived at a dim adumbration of great truths.

same

Ix the current issue of the Bulletin de la Société
d’Encouragement Messrs. G. Arth and P. Lejeune give
some interesting particulars of a prehistoric mass of metal
found near Nancy at a depth of 43 metres below the
surface. The mass weighs about 300 kilograms, and is

accompanied by fragments of charcoal and slag. It appears

DECEMBER 21, 1905 |

NATURE

ISI

to have been the base of an ancient hearth in which the
metal had been subjected to repeated and prolonged heat-

ings. The metal contains, in addition to iron, 1-212 per
cent. of combined carbon, 0-038 per cent. of graphite,
1-670 per cent. of silicon, 0-026 per cent. of sulphur,
0-013 per cent. of phosphorus, and 0-180 per cent. of
manganese. It is thus a steel containing a higher per-

centage of silicon than is now usual. The microscopic
examination shows that it belongs to Guillet’s first group
of silicon steels, pearlite steels consisting of a solid solution
of Fe.S in iron. In the same issue Mr. A. Porlier gives
details of the composition of a cast-iron cannon ball found
in making the underground railway through the old moat
of the Bastille. The cannon ball was absolutely compact,
but oxidised throughout, its specific gravity being 4-854
instead of 7-6 as is usual for cast-iron. Under the micro-
scope the cementite appeared in brilliant lines, showing
that it had completely preserved its metallic state. The
oxidised portions, appearing as black masses, were derived
the pearlite, admixture cementite
constitutes ordinary yielded :—
water, 2-9 per cent.; carbon, 5-9 per cent.; silicon, 0-25
per cent. ; manganese, 0-75 per cent. ; iron, 72-0 per cent. 5
and oxygen, 17-45 per cent. The complete oxidation of the
cannon ball, without any exterior deformation or fissura-
tion, shows the intense action of diffusion during a century,
and enables us to understand how the changes of rocks
by metamorphism have been able, thanks to the interven-
tion of infinitely longer periods, to give rise to new rocks
of a homogeneous structure.

which in with

white pig-iron.

from
Analysis

In No. 50 of the Bulletin du Musée océanographique de
Monaco Prof. H. Hergesell gives an interesting account of
the method employed by the Prince of Monaco in the
North Atlantic last April for ascertaining the conditions
of the upper air by means of unmanned balloons sent up
from his yacht. Two closed india-rubber balloons were
employed ; at a certain altitude the upper balloon bursts, or
is set free by a simple electrical arrangement, when the
lower one, which carries the recording instruments, falls,
but has a float attached to it, at about 50 metres below
it, and when this reaches the surface of the ocean the
balloon is carried along by the wind at a height of 50
metres, and then the yacht has to chase it at full speed.
Out of five cases specified by Dr. Hergesell, only one
of the balloons eluded the pursuers. Of course, such
a procedure can only be undertaken by a vessel having no
other object in view, and it is necessary that the air should
be clear, and that the velocity of the wind should not |
exceed the speed of the ship. Such experiments are
exciting, but expensive; but some useful results at high
altitudes were obtained.

A REMARKABLE dam is
Falls, where the commissioners of Victoria Park, on the
Canadian side of the river, have erected a column of
concrete 50 feet high and 7 feet 4 inches square. This
column of concrete was built on a that stands
20 feet above the ground-level, and after the material is
thoroughly dry the column is to be tipped over into the
river to form a dam. The necessity for this work arose
from the fact that the City of Niagara Falls, Ontario, and
the Niagara Falls Park and River Railway, made com-
plaint to the park commissioners that the works of con-
struction for power development had lowered the water
in the joint intake. The approximate weight of the con-
crete column is 200 tons. Every 8 feet of its height a
wooden wedge is inserted in the side, and passes nearly |

No. 1886, vou. 73]

under construction az Niagara

trestle

to the centre, each wedge being about 12 inches thick on

the outside, tapering to about 6 inches near the centre.
The object of these wedges is to break the column into

six pieces when it is tipped over. However, these sections

will not be allowed to be caught by the current, for

running up through the centre of the column there is a
very heavy chain, the weight of which is about 800 Ib.
The purpose of this chain is to hold the sections together
when the column is broken in falling. When it is
trate, the top of the column will be 20 inches above the
the the

pros-

ground-level, and is expected to raise water in

The intake is only about 600 feet
the Fall, the

intake considerably.

up from the brink of Horseshoe but dam

Fic. 1.—A column of concrete built to be tipped over to form a dam
at Niagara Falls.

will not affect the flow of the waterfall at that point.
When dry, the column will be tipped by operating jacks
under the base of the trestle, and when it tumbles it is
expected to fall a little up-stream.

WE have received from Messrs. R. and J. Beck, Ltd., a

copy of their new illustrated price-list of telescopes. The
list contains particulars of numerous astronomical and
naval telescopes, object glasses, spectroscopes, transit

instruments, small observatories, diffraction gratings, &c.,
and will be found to be very useful and suggestive to any
amateur astronomer who wishes to add a good instrument
to his equipment; some of the portable mountings, both

equatorial and altazimuth, appear to be very compact and

useful. A copy of a photograph of the iron spectrum, taken
with a ‘‘ Thorp ’* transmission grating, shows the suitability

of these replicas for high-class work, and Messrs. Beck
undertake to mount the grating copies either on parallel
plate glass or on prisms of any desired angle. All kinds
of surveyors’ instruments are also quoted in this list.

182

IN AT Cee

[ DECEMBER 21, 1905

Tue results of an interesting research on the selective
reflection, by various crystals, in the infra-red spectrum
are published by Mr. J. T. Porter, of Johns Hopkins
University, in the November number of the Astrophysical
Journal. It has previously been shown by Prof. E. F.
Nichols that in the neighbourhood of 8-5 u the reflection
from quartz is twenty or thirty times greater than in
other parts of the spectrum, so that after three reflections
from such a surface the spectrum practically contains only
radiations of that wave-length. The wave-lengths of the
““Reststrahlen,’’ or the rays remaining after reflection,
have already been determined for seven other substances
by previous workers, and Mr. Porter examined fourteen
additional crystalline compounds and found that at least
seven of them exhibited unmistakable maxima in various
parts of the spectrum. The radiometer and the method
employed are fully described and illustrated in his paper,
which also shows the energy curves of the spectra of the
reflected radiations. The list given for nine of the sub-
stances tested that the wave-lengths of their
“ Reststrahlen ’’ vary from 2.30 for copper sulphate to
10-31 4 for potassium dichromate.

shows

Messrs. WHITTAKER AND Co. have published a_ third
edition of Mr. Joseph Poole’s ‘‘ Practical Telephone Hand-
book.’’ The new edition has been entirely re-written and
greatly enlarged. i

We have received from the superintendent of Govern-
ment printing in India two volumes of the agricultural
statistics of India for the years 1899-1900 to 1903-1904.
The statistics have been compiled in the office of the
Director-General of Commercial Intelligence. The first
volume is concerned with British India, and the second
with the native States. The volumes will prove of value
to statisticians interested in Indian agriculture.

“Wuo’s Wuo” and the ‘“‘ Who’s Who Year-book ”’
for 1906 have now been issued by Messrs. A. and C. Black.
“Who’s Who” is a familiar work of reference every-
where; its price remains the same, 7s. 6d. net, but the
volume has been enlarged by the addition of eighty-two
pages. Interesting additions are made this year to many
of the biographies by a record of the number of a person’s
sons and daughters. Motor and telephone numbers and
telegraphic addresses have been added where requisite.
The biographical notices of Fellows of the Royal Society
and other men of science contained in the volume are of
particular interest to us. This indispensable reference book
is admirably supplemented by the year-book with its con-
veniently arranged tables, among which are to be found
lists of the learned societies and university professors.

S

OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN.

Discovery or a Tuirp New Comet, 1905d.—A telegram
from the Kiel Centralstelle announces the discovery of yet
another new comet. Apparently the proximity of this
object was discovered from the appearance of its image on
a photographic plate exposed on November 29, and ex-
amined subsequently. The discovery was made by Mr.
Slipher at the Flagstaff (Lowell) Observatory, and the
position of the comet on November 209d. oh. 27m. (Flag-
staff M.T.) was found to be

R.A.=22h. 44m., dec.=11° 18! S.
This is situated in the constellation Aquarius,
half-way between A and + Aquarii.
[he daily movement in R.A. is given as —1° B34 mOr
6m. 12s., and in declination as +25’. From this it will

be seen that the comet was at that time travelling in the
direction of the constellation Aquila.

NO. 1886, voL. 73]

about

Comets 1905b AND 1905c.—An observation of comet 1905),
made by Prof. E. Millosevich on December 13, gave correc-
tions of —2s. and —2!.3 to the ephemeris published in
No. 4057 of.the Astronomische Nachrichten. The observed
magnitude was 11-5.

The following set of elements for the orbit of comet
1905c have been computed by the discoverer, M. Giacobini,
and, together with an ephemeris, from which an extract
is given below, is published in the Comptes rendus for
December 11 :-—

T=1906 January 31-620 (Paris).

0 =171 23°7
8 = 89 42°0 | 1905'0

Z= 42 44°3
log g = 1'72728
Ephemeris 12h, (M.T. Paris). :
1905 a é log a Bright-
he, mss; < F ness
Dec. 22 L5eAesieue..) 1 L227! o'1251 2°04
>» 26 16 349 ... + 9 44°0 C1153 2°45

Tue Recent AuRORA AND MaGnetic DiIsTURBANCES.—
From an account published in the current number of the
Observatory, we learn that on November 15, the date of
the recent great display of the aurora, the greatest dis-
turbance of the Greenwich magnets which has been re-

corded during the present year took place. All three
elements were affected, a deflection of about qo’ being
recorded by the declination-needle at 9 p.m. Of the two

considerable streams of sun-spots which appeared near to
the place of the great October spot (October 14-27), the one
was a little ahead of the central meridian and the other
not quite up to it at the time of the disturbance.

PHOTOGRAPHS OF JUPITER’S SIXTH AND SEVENTH
SaTELLITES.—At the meeting of the Royal Astronomical
Society held on November 10, the Astronomer Royal ex-
hibited and explained some photographs of the sixth and
seventh satellites of Jupiter, obtained with the 30-inch
reflector of the Thompson equatorial at Greenwich.

The results of the provisional measures of the photo-
graphs, and their comparison with the angles and distances
given by Dr. Ross’s ephemeris, the dates, and the ex-
posures are given in No. 1, vol. Ixvi., of the Monthly
Notices. The exposures for the seventh satellite varied
from 17 minutes to 177 minutes.

Tue Intrinsic Licgut OF THE Corona.—Employing a
modified ‘‘ Mascart ’’ photometer, M. Chas. Fabry deter-
mined the relative brightness of the intrinsic light of the
corona during the recent total eclipse of the sun. As a
result, he found that at a distance of 5’ from the edge
of the sun, and in the neighbourhood of the solar equator,
the light of the corona has an intrinsic value of about 720
candle-power. Comparing this with the mean _ intrinsic
value of the light of the full moon (viz. 2600 candles), he
obtains the ratio 0-28:1, a value which confirms Prof.
Turner’s ratio of 0-25. To illustrate the great difficulty
which attends the photographing of the corona in full sun-
light, M. Fabry compares the value he thus obtained with
the accepted value for the brightness of the sky near to
the sun, and arrives at the conclusion that even the most
brilliant parts of the corona are probably some 2000 times
less bright than the sky on which they are projected
(Comptes rendus, No. 23).

SuGcrstepD NAME FOR NEPTUNE’S SATELLITE.—Writing to
the Observatory, M. Fouche suggests that Neptune’s
satellite should be named after the most renowned of
Neptune's sons, i.e. Triton. He states that this name has
already been used for designating the satellite by several
well known astronomers.

Tue ‘‘ Companion TO THE OBSERVATORY,’’ 1906.—As in
former years, the well known ‘* Companion to the Observ-
atory,’’ published by Messrs. Taylor and Francis at 1s. 6d.,
contains all the data that an ordinary astronomer is likely
to require in the briefest and handiest form. Messrs.
Denning, Maw, and Loewy have again provided the data
referring to ‘‘ Meteor Radiants,’’ ‘‘ Double Stars,’’ and
*“* Variable-star Ephemerides ’’ respectively, and Dr. F. E.
Ross’s ephemeris for Jupiter’s sixth satellite is given
amongst the other tables which deal with the satellites of
the major planets.

’

DECEMBER 21, 1905]

NATPOLRL 183

3

HYDROLOGY IN THE UNITED STATES.

WE have referred on previous occasions to the very

complete way in which hydrological research is
carried out in the United States, and to the value of the
reports that are made from time to time by the officers
having charge of the works.‘ We have been favoured with
twenty-five further reports recently issued. The greater
part of these refer to the water resources, and to the
surveys being carried out by the departments in the different
States. These are principally of local interest, although
they contain a great deal of information useful to
those engaged in water supply. Some of these reports,
however, relate to matters that are of more general
interest.”

Paper 119 contains an index to the hydrographic pro-
gress reports, 1888-1903, and paper 120 a review and
index to papers relating to underground waters published
by the United States Geological Survey, 1879-1904.

Report No. 110, on the hydrology of the eastern United
States, contains twenty-three short papers by nineteen
geologists and physicists connected with the eastern section
of this division of
hydrology. iiphye
most interesting of
these papers is that
which relates to the
methods used in
measuring the velo-
city, direction, and
quality of under-
ground water.

The Discharge of
Sewage into Porous
Strata.—In one of
the papers, by
S. W. Callie, is
recorded the experi-
ments made to
ascertain what
would be the effect
of discharging town
sewage into pervious
strata on the water
supply of the neigh-

bourhood drawn
from wells.
The town of

Quitman derives its
water supply from a
well in the lime-
stone at a depth of
123 feet from the
surface. A section
of the soil shows
2 feet of surface
sand, 60 feet of
: clay, 15 feet of
sand, and 43 feet
of water-bearing
limestone.

The authorities of the town were seriously considering
the question of disposing of the town’s sewage by means
of deep wells into the porous strata. The writer of the
paper was engaged to report as to what effect this would
have on the water supply. For this purpose he adopted
the chlorine process. Seven wells in the locality were
selected for making the experiment, the water in which
was found to stand at a lower level than that in which
the chlorine was to be introduced. Samples were taken
from these wells, and the normal amount of chlorine
determined. Two tons of salt were then put into the
test well in the form of solution during a period of five
days. Special precautions were taken in the method of
introducing the salt to ensure complete saturation of the
water. The normal chlorine at the well from which the

Fic. 1.—Electrode and p-rforated brass
buckets used in charging wells.

1 “Water Supply and Irrigation in the United States” (NaturF,
January 7, 1904); ‘t Relation of Rainfall to Run Off” (July 28, 1904) ;
“Floods in the Mississippi Valley " (November 3, 1904); ‘* Hydrology in
the United States ’’ (December 22, 1904).

* ** Water Supply and Irrigation Banca Nos. 99 to 132. (Washington:
Government Printing Office, 1904-5.)

No. 1886, \ OL. 73]

water supply for the town was drawn was 5-44 parts in
a million. Four hours after the introduction of the salt
in the test well the chlorine began to increase, reaching
a maximum of 6-80 parts in twelve hours, and continued
to show an excess during the five days, after which it

A Cc

til

Fic. 2.—Diagram illustrating electrical method of determining the velocity
of flow of ground water. The ground water is supposed to be moving
in the direction of the arrow. The up-stream well is charged with an
electrolyte. The gradual motion of the ground water toward the lower
well and its final arrival at that well are registered by the ammeter a.
B is the battery, and c a commutator clock which is used if a is a
recording ammeter.

gradually subsided to its normal quantity. At two of the
other wells a similar excess of chlorine was found, but
at the other wells no change in the character of the water
took place.

The general conclusion arrived at was that if sewage
were discharged into the water-bearing strata it would
contaminate all the wells in the locality
that had a depth of 120 feet or more, and
that if the proposed scheme of the munici-
pality had been carried out it would prob-
ably have resulted in a serious epidemic.

Measurement of Underground Currents.
—A paper by Charles S. Slichter gives a
description of the underflow meter used in
measuring the velocity and direction of
underground water.

For the purpose of measuring the under-
ground flow in any locality test wells are
sunk consisting of 13-inch or 2-inch tubes.
These pipes are in lengths of 6 feet or
7 feet, with long threads and heavy
wrought nipples. The well points are
4-feet brass jacket points of wire gauze.
The tubes are driven with a ram weigh-
ing from 150 lb. to 250 lb., the movement
of the tube being aided by a water jet.
Four wells were driven from 4 feet to
6 feet apart in a triangular form, one at
the apex and the other three at the base
of the triangle. The deeper the wells the
greater the distance apart at which they
were placed.

The up-stream well is charged with a
strong electrolyte such as sal ammoniac,
which passes down stream with the under-
ground water to the lower wells (Fig. 1).
Each of the down-stream wells contains
within the well point an electrode consist-
ing of a nickel brass rod $-inch thick
by 4 feet long, insulated from the casing by wooden spools.
This electrode communicates with the surface by means of
rubber-covered copper wire, and connects with a recording
ammeter. As the electrolyte reaches one of the down-
stream wells its appearance is at once recorded by the

Fic. 3,—Perforator
for slitting well

pipes.

184

NATURE

[DECEMBER 21, 1905

meter, the time occupied in passing from the upper to the
lower well being thus found, and giving the rate of flow
of the water.

Further details of observations of underground
carried out by this method are given in paper No.
Homer Hamlin, with numerous
apparatus used.

Stove-pipe Weills.—In the same report is a paper by
Charles S$. Slichter on the method of sinking stove-
pipe wells. These consist of a riveted sheet steel starter
from 15 feet to 25 feet long, made of two or three thick-
nesses of sheet steel with a forged steel shoe at the lower
end. The rest of the casing consists of two thicknesses
of sheet steel made into riveted lengths of 2 feet, one set
of sections being made just so much smaller than the
other as to permit them to telescope together. Each outside
section overlaps the inside section 1 foot. This casing
is sunk, length by length, by hydraulic jacks, which press
on the upper sections by means of a suitable head. After
the well has been sunk to the required depth, a cutting
knife is lowered into the well and vertical slits are cut
in the casing opposite such water-bearing strata as may
have been met with; a well 500 fect deep may have 400
feet of screen if circumstances justify it. The perforator
is handled with 3-inch pipe. By raising slowly on the
line with hydraulic jacks, cuts are made from three-eighths
to three-fourths of an inch wide, and from 6 to 12 inches
long.

The well casings vary in diameter from 17 inches to
14 inches, and are sunk to depths from 500 feet to 1400 feet,
the yield of water varying from 300,000 to 3,000,000 gallons
in twenty-four hours. The cost of a 12-inch soo feet
well is about rqol. for labour and 1ool. for materials, the
drillers being paid 11. and the labourers ros. a day. The
soil where these wells are in use consists of mountain
débris, clay, gravel, sand, and boulder.

Pollution of Streams by Waste from Factories.—Paper
No. 103 contains a review of the laws in operation in the
different States of America for the prevention of pollution
of inland waters. The broad legal principles under which
anti-pollution statutes become operative are explained, and
important Court decisions are quoted to show the authority
upon which certain deductions in the report are founded. —

In paper No. 133 the special stream pollution arising
from the refuse water from the ‘‘ straw board”? factories
is dealt with. In Indiana, Ohio, and Illinois there are
several large factories engaged in making pasteboard
from rye, wheat, and oat straw. For this process 40,000
gallons of water are reqrired to wash 1 ton of straw, and
3200 Ib. of straw and 560 lb. of lime are required to
make 2000 Ib. of board. In an ordinary factory 2,000,000
gallons of water are used daily, which carries with it
19 tons of straw waste and 10 tons of lime. This waste
generally runs into a neighbouring stream, and is the
cause of a serious amount of pollution. The report of
the Government Commissioner for Fisheries states that
the pollution of the streams in Indiana by the refuse from
the strawboard mills, oil mills, and pulp mills is greater
than from any other source. The refuse from these covers
the spawning beds and prevents the eggs from hatching,
while it penetrates the gills of the living fish and either
kills or drives them away from the streams.

The remedy is by chemical precipitation of the waste
products, but it is contended that the small profit on the
manufacture of strawboard does not permit of the appli-
cation of the process required.

Another source of water pollution dealt with in this
report arises from the overflow from the oil wells in
Indiana. Around the city of Marion there are no less
than seventy-five oil wells in a few square miles of terri-
tory. Upwards of 300 surface and rock wells in this
area are suffering contamination from this source. The
strata in this district consists of sand and gravel for
about 50 feet, then clay for about 80 feet, and below this
limestone. The water supply of the town and neighbour-
hood is derived from water in the limestone, and there is
a constant flow of underground water. Oil occurs near
the top of the formation. Beneath the oil is salt water.
In order to form a reservoir for the oil the limestone is
entered some distance, and the most successful wells are
those which are drilled deep enough to allow a large

N». 1886, VOL. 73]

/

flow as
112, by
illustrations of the

amount of oil to collect, so as to be above the upper level
of the brine. These oil wells are generally 1000 feet deep,
the oil rising to within 600 feet or 7oo feet of the surface.
When the well is bored it is ‘*‘ shot ’’ with nitroglycerin,
which breaks up the limestone and forms fissures and
small cavities which act as reservoirs into which the oil
flows. The surface effect of the shooting is the violent
ejection of salt water and oil, often to the extent of
thousands of gallons. The oil and salt water then sink
into the soil where it is porous, and finally reach the
surface zone of underground flow, where they partake of
the general movement of the water toward the main line
of underground drainage, and cause its pollution. The
brine and oil pumped from these oil wells is discharged
into a settling tank. The oil, owing to its lighter specific
gravity, settles at the top and is drawn off, the brine
being discharged into any neighbouring creek or stream,
or is allowed to sink slowly into the ground, in either case
becoming a serious source of pollution to the water supply
of the neighbourhood.

Paper No. 121 relates to the pollution of Lake
Champlain, by M. O. Leighton. The report was made in
consequence of complaints made to the Government that
the water of the lake has been rendered unfit for domestic
consumption ; that the usefulness of the lake for watering
cattle has been destroyed; and that the refuse poured into
it is destructive to fish life. The cause of pollution is due
to the waste discharged into it from the pulp mills situated
on its banks. The analysis of the water and other details
are interesting to those who have to deal with the making
of pulp and similar industries.

Paper No. 122 is entitled ‘‘ Relation of the Law to
Underground Waters,’’ by D. W. Johnson, and contains
an outline of the main features of the laws respecting
underground waters with the object of giving to the owner
of such waters some idea of his rights and obligations
concerning them. Such legal decisions as serve to show
the relation of the law to the problems which are essentially
geological in character are referred to. Underground
waters are defined and classified. Although this paper
refers to United States practice, there is a great deal of
information that would be of service to water engineers in
this country. We shall refer more fully to this paper in
a future number.

THE PERCY SLADEN EXPEDITION
FMS.) (SiBAAR Ke - TO
OCEAN.

HAVE just received the following interesting com-
munication from Mr. Stanley Gardiner. It was written
from Port Victoria, Seychelles, under date October 28, and
is the fourth report of his expedition which he has sent

IN
THE INDIAN

home. Mr. Gardiner is expected home early in the New
Year. For his earlier reports, see Nature, August 10,

October 5, and November 9.
Cambridge, December 1.

A. SEDGWICK.

During the ten days that the Sealark left us at Coetivy
while she was coaling in the Seychelles, we as thoroughly
as possible collected the animals and plants of both the
land and reef. The island was higher than any we had
up to that time visited, having wind-blown sand ridges
and hills up to 80 feet above sea-level, arising on a flat
coral reef. Although situated only about 130 miles to the
south of the Seychelles Islands, the land fauna and flora
are almost the same as on the islands of the Chagos Archi-
pelago, being scarcely richer in either. The plants, of
course, in the main necessarily govern the fauna, and it
would appear to us that they are in their turn governed
rather by the nature of the soil—coral and coral sand—
than by their proximity to continental land. On the other
hand, the reefs of Coetivy showed in every group of
marine animals a more varied fauna than those of the
Chagos, while very nearly all the species of the latter
seemed to be present. The reef on the eastern, or sea-
ward, face of the island was of a rather different character
from any we had as yet seen (or from any I have seen in
the Pacific), being covered with a grass-like weed, locally
termed ‘‘ varech.’’? There was also on the same part a,

DECEMBER: 21,- 1905,

INAT ORL

-

185

considerable variety of other algze, but the edge and outer
slope were, as elsewhere, covered by corals and nullipores.
The reef, however, to the west, where there is a flat
extending out for some miles with about 16 fathoms of
water, closely resembled similarly situated reefs in the
Chagos, but the greater variety of its organisms was
equally marked, though individual species were much less
common.

Leaving Coetivy on September 25, we proceeded to a
point about midway between Madagascar and Farquhar
Atoll, both to ascertain the depth and the compass vari-
ation. The latter was almost the same as at Mauritius,
situated 9 degrees to the south, while the depth, 1856
fathoms, precludes the idea of any close connection between
the two localities. Farquhar, which

Alphonse and Francois are sandbanks on the rims of
two reefs, scarcely 2 miles apart. Both reefs are of atoll
formation, the lagoon of Alphonse (not shown in any
chart) being 3 to 8 fathoms deep and of considerable
size.

The Amirante Islands are likewise sandbanks, no parts
of any being more than ro feet above the high-tide level.
The hills represented in the separate enlarged plans of
D’Arros, St. Joseph, and Desroches do not exist, and
probably owe their presence thereon to the imagination
of the draughtsman.* Desroches is really an atoll by
itself, lying 10 miles to the east, and being separated by
a channel 874 fathoms deep. The rest of the islands and
reefs lie on a bank about 50 miles long by 20 miles

we then visited, was (as, indeed, were
all the reefs we subsequently saw) re-
markable for its almost completely
covered ‘‘ varech’’ reefs, both rim and
lagoon. Its land attains a height of
more than 7o feet, and is clearly of
the same formation as that of Coetivy ;
it shows no trace of elevation, and it

2713

has not been formed, as has_ been
stated, by submarine deposits. The
section of the reef also showed the

outer slope to be quite similar to that
of other atolls.

From Farquhar we proceeded to
sound between the chain of islands that
extends lketween Madagascar and the
Seychelles, and which would appear to
indicate a line of former connection.
Between Farquhar and _ Providence,
32 miles, we found 890 fathoms, and
between the latter and Alphonse-
Frangois, 155 miles, 2170 fathoms.
while there were already soundings of
952 fathoms between Alphonse and the
Amirante Group, 46 miles, and of 1150
fathoms between the latter and the
Seychelles, 32 miles. As the depth on
either side is only about 2300 fathoms,
any connecting ridge is comparatively
low and of doubtful importance.

Providence was particularly interest-
ing, being simply .a great reef, 28
miles long by 7 miles broad to the
1oo-fathom lines. Off it we took
twelve dredgings, obtaining a _ rich
fauna down to about 100 fathoms,
below which the bottom was _ exceed-
ingly barren of life. From one dredg-
ing at 744 fathoms, 3 miles to the

ro) : GC Amber Ni
west of the reef, we obtained about \
5 cwt. of stones,

the largest about i
2 feet in diameter.

We have here no |% sit \
‘ nay - 4
means of properly ascertaining their oO oy

nature, but similar rock has not, so %
far as we are aware, been hitherto
described off any coral reef. It is
almost entirely insoluble in acids, and

S. Pierre?

~
1750

%
°
i)

2482

290 - - s
hoe >
a \
28
Bae pit *
>, ” rayesoee. Denne ‘
4) ee Oey
pe wu \
’ \ SEYCHELLES
/ a0a\. = 7 a0 .
ie ae © : Wes
ad) ‘ N60

’
1 Dros oes Jou?”

‘ 1760
AMIRANTE Bertaus = Desrockes
BANK
' o
i oe @Marie Louse
'
‘ ans! —
ph Sim i I
1 Alp Sie
4 = S.Franwes 7 ~ Coctivy »)
\ og 2077
2925 \ a ~
\ ty ‘
Se s
if \
*, Providence ‘
i 2050
<2 Farquhar At
85 Agalega
\
\
; 2300

is largely formed of different crystals,
organic deposits practically not enter-
ing into its composition. Some masses
looked like solidified ash or clay, while others appeared
rather like voleanic bombs. All were more or less coated
with manganese, but we do not know its thickness, prefer-
ring to keep the specimens intact for proper examination on
our return to England. However, it is clear that the
existence of this rock in such a position will have to be
carefully considered in connection both with the formation
of Providence Reef and with the existence of any former
land connection between the Seychelles plateau and
Madagascar.

Pierre Island, 17 miles to the west of Providence Reef,
and with a depth of 1088 fathoms between, is peculiar in
having no fringing reef. It is simply an elevated coral
island, reaching to a height at present of about 30 feet,
surrounded by overhanging cliffs, so that landing is ex-
tremely difficult. Its rock is entirely coral.

No. 1886, voL. 73]

Fic. t.—Chart of the Indian Ocean between Madagascar and the Seychelles.

broad, with an average depth of about 30 fathoms. Eleven
separate reefs reach the surface, of which St. Joseph alone
has a lagoon, being really a small atoll with about
4 fathoms of water in the centre. With the exception of
Eagle, D’Arros, and Bertant, all the reefs lie on the edge
of the bank, but its edge is in most places covered by at
least 8 to 10 fathoms of water. Its slope is steeper than
is customary off coral reefs, no possible dredging ground
existing between 60 and 500 fathoms.

All the islands of the Amirante Group, with the exception
of Marie-Louise and Eagle, are now planted for cocoanut
oil, but the indigenous vegetation still remains in places.
The land plants and animals are almost the same as at
Coetivy and in the Chagos, the additions due to the

1 If we had had any idea of this earlier, we should have probably visited
Cosmoledo and perhaps Aldabra.

186

NATIORE,

| DECEMBER 21, 1905

proximity of Africa and the Seychelles being relatively few.
The marine fauna and flora was markedly richer than even
at Coetivy.

Of other work, we have taken about sixty dredgings off
the islands we visited down to more than 800 fathoms, and
tow-nettings at various depths to more than rooo fathoms.
We have consequently rich collections, but obviously no
estimate of them can be at present formed. We have also
serial temperatures in a series of positions, and water

samples have been taken throughout down to various
depths. Magnetic observations have also been secured at
intervals along the line between Madagascar and_ the
Sey

As we are now leaving H.M.S. Sealark, I would like
to express our great indebtedness to Commander Boyle
T. Somerville and every officer and man on board for
their great kindness and most cheerfully rendered assist-
ance to Mr. Forster Cooper and myself. Nothing has
seemed too great or intricate or small for them to under-
take, from a complicated survey to the repair of delicate
instruments or dredges. The weather throughout the
voyage—the season chosen was governed by considerations
relating to hurricanes—has been, generally speaking, most
unsuitable and unpleasant, but work has nevertheless gone
on almost continuously. All regular survey work, sections
across the islands, soundings, magnetic, tidal and tempera-
ture observations, &c., have been done by Commander
Somerville and his _ officers. Mr. Beer, the artificer
engineer in charge, and his staff have been indefatigable
in eking out the coal, on which our movements necessarily
depended to a large degree, and in effecting the not in-
considerable repairs connected with such a long cruise
away from regular ports. The artificers (carpenter, black-
smith, and armourer) have never failed over the varied and
unusual work which they have at times been called upon
to undertake, and, finally, every individual hand has been
splendid in giving of his very best to assist the expedition
to success. J. Stantey GARDINER.

FORESTRY IN BELGIUM.

HE Royal English Arboricultural Society paid a visit
to the Belgian forests on August 12-22. The
Belgians, like ourselves and all other European countries,
except Scandinavia, Russia, Austria, and some of the
smaller States near the Black Sea, have insufficient wood-
lands to supply the timber that is necessary for their re-
quirements. In 1840, Belgium imported 187,920l. worth
of timber, but in 1893 the imports were valued at
4,677,880l., together with about 1,200,000l. of wood-pulp
and other articles manufactured out of wood, such as
matches, gun-stocks, masts, furniture, bark, &c. The
annual exports of wood from Belgium are now valued
at 600,000/. only, so that there is an annual deficit of
timber production in the country amounting to more than
5,000, 0001.

The Belgian Government is dealing with this deficit in
the most statesmanlike manner, by using all available
means for increasing the production of timber, by improving
the management of the existing woodlands, and by planting
their waste-lands. ;

The areas of woodlands in Belgium, according to the
agricultural statistics of 1895, are as follows :—

Nature of proprietor Area in acres

State 62,600
Communes 5 the 6c ok 395,455
Public establishments aah So 7,380
Private owners see aS 2a 828,300

Total

The area of forests in Belgium is therefore
sixth of the total area of the country.

The small area of the Belgian State forests is chiefly
due to the fact that, between 1815 and 1830, when the
country was united to Holland, the Government sold all the

NO. 1886, volt. 73]

about one-

State forests, and the present area of State forests has
been bought back from private owners through the wise
policy of the first king, Leopold I.; this has been continued
recently by the present Government, which purchases suit-
able private woodlands whenever they are for sale.

In 1850 there were the following areas of waste-land
in Belgium; I have not been able to obtain more recent
figures :—

Acres
State 17,140
Communal we. 145,267
Private + 423,322
Total 585,729

Since 1897 the State has been acquiring waste-lands and
re-planting them, 212,960l. having been so invested up to
date, and land to the extent of 15,317 acres having been
acquired and planted.

The State has no power of compelling communes to plant
their waste-lands, but important subsidies are granted by
the State to encourage them to do so. The Forest Depart-
ment also organises annual sylvicultural conferences with
the object of inducing communes and private owners to
utilise their waste lands. This has been so successfully
managed, that in the province of Luxemburg, where there
were in 1847 126,000 acres of waste-land, by the end of
1887 only 42,000 acres of waste remained in the province,
the balance having been converted into 49,000 acres of
arable land and pastures and 35,000 acres of woods.

In the space of this short article it is impossible to do
more than give a mere sketch of the interesting wood-
lands recently visited by the Royal English Arboricultural
Society in Belgium. It would interest British municipali-
ties, such as those of Liverpool and Leeds, that are engaged
in planting the catchment areas of their waterworks, to
see the immense tract of woods that cover the catchment
area of the Gileppe, a stream rising in the Ardennes
and feeding a large reservoir, constructed between 1869
and 1898, to supply water for the population that carries
on the extensive woollen industry in Verviers and the other
hamlets lower down. The planting with spruce of the
Hautes Faynes, or peat district of the Hertogenwald, at
altitudes between 1600 and 2160 feet, which is being
carried on at the rate of 1000 acres annually, is a vast
and highly original work, the rapidity and excellence of
which merit careful study.

Plantations of Austrian pine on the very dry and hot
Devonian limestone rocks, near Rochefort, supply valuable
wood as pit-timber, and afford shelter and increased
moisture to the neighbouring farms. The domain of
Mirwart, belonging to an Antwerp family named von der
Becke, and managed by Dr. Schlich, where millions of
spruce and other trees have been planted to replace
32,0001. worth of inferior timber that was cut out between
1892-1902, was also visited. Here, forty acres of Scots
pine, now thirty years old, has already yielded in thinnings,
since 1891, 111. per acre net, while in another eight years,
when the whole will be felled as pit-timber, it will yield
64l. per acre, or a total return, including thinnings, of
751. per acre.

The domain of Chenoy, belonging to Mr. Boél, con-
tains magnificent beech, oak, and ash standards over
coppice. The underwood is sold as pit-timber. Oak
trees containing 100 to 140 cubic feet (solid measure)
are not uncommon, and some of the ash standards are
quite as large. These trees sell standing at 2s. and
2s. 6d. per cubic foot. Abeles (Populus alba) up to 8o feet
in height are not uncommon, and sell at 9d. per cubic
foot. It is a curious feature of these woods that when-
ever the aspect is south or west, the poor Tertiary sandy
soil (Bruxillien), from which the fertile superficial loam
has been washed, will yield only pines or birch, while
immediately the aspect changes to north or east, and the
loam remains in situ over the sand, splendid broad-leaved
woods are produced. In the valleys, Silurian rock crops
out from below the sand, all the usual intermediate strata
being absent. There we saw a considerable area of Scots
pine wood, about forty years old, the trees of which are
being pulled up by their roots by a machine, “La

DECEMBER 21, 1905]

NAT ORE

187

déracineuse Lobo.’’ This operation costs 4d. per tree up-
rooted; but the poles are thus a foot longer than those
that are simply felled, and the roots are used for fuel,
while the land can be at once planted, without waiting
three years from fear of the pine-weevil (Hylobius abietis),
which otherwise breeds in the stumps, and then destroys
the young crop planted to replace the felled trees.

The last forest visited by the society was the Forét de
Soignes, one of the most magnificent beech forests in
Europe. The oldest crops consist of columnar beeches
130 years old, 130 to 140 feet high, averaging 4}; feet in
girth at chest height, and containing per acre 7000 cubic
feet (quarter-girth measure). This forest of 10,210 acres
yields a net annual revenue of 18,o00l. for timber alone;
the game, chiefly roebuck, rabbits, and pheasants, is fully
worth 4s. an acre, but is retained for the King.

The geographical arboretum at Tervueren merits special
attention. Here, 75 acres of good undulating loamy land,
with a crop of small oak and other saplings, which serve
as a shelter-wood, are being planted with exotic trees.
The whole area is subdivided into the Old and New
Worlds, and each of these into smaller sections, represent-

ing countries running from north to south. Thus the
““New World ”’ is first subdivided into the Pacific and
Atlantic regions, and the former inte Alaska, Rocky

Mountains, Pacific coast region, and Chile. The Atlantic
region into Canada and the Alleghany Mountains. The

Old World comprises Northern, Central, and Eastern
Europe, Siberia, Caucasus, the Himalayas, Japan, and
N. China.

In each of these regions the characteristic trees, broad-
leaved and conifers, are planted in their natural mixture.
It is also intended to plant among them the shrubs and
herbaceous plants that naturally grow with the trees, and
this has already been done for Japan. Mr. Bommer, the
curator of the Botanic Museum at Brussels, is in charge
of this arboretum. He has an extensive forest nursery
where he rears the necessary plants. This bold and scien-
tific design is due to the initiative of the King of the
Belgians, who has presented the State with the splendid
domain of Trevueren, the management of which he still
controls.

The Director-General of Forests, Mr. Dubois, has
certainly organised the administration of the Belgian
forests in a remarkably progressive way, and the system
he has adopted in Belgium is probably more suited than
those of France and Germany for the future development
of forestry in Britain. W. R. FISHER.

THE CAPE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.*

“THE presentation of the ninth annual report of the

Geological Commission of the Cape of Good Hope
will be welcomed by all interested in the prosperity of one
of our oldest colonies in Africa. We have been so long
accustomed to see similar surveys started and _ then
abandoned before sufficient information had been obtained
to yield permanent results that we were afraid that the
publication of this report might possibly have been post-
poned. The past record of surveys of Cape Colony has,
indeed, been a dismal one, so hampered have they been in
their prosecution, so undervalued have been the results.
Fortunately, necessity knows no law, and there are few
portions of Africa which do not possess a more or less
fully equipped geological survey.

A considerable amount of new and useful knowledge was
obtained in Cape Colony during 1904, though the results
are not so complete as they doubtless would have been
if lack of funds had not prevented the continuation of the
survey in important areas, but where the cost of hired
transport was found to exceed the limit of the grant voted
for the survey.

In the introduction by the director the main results
obtained during the past year are recorded, but all too
briefly. How little is known of the different rock groups
even in these southern and best known regions of Cape

1 Ninth Annual Report of the Geological Commission of the Cape of
Good Hope. Pp. 181. 1904. (Cape Town, 1905.)

NO. 1886, VOL. 73]

Colony is shown by the discovery of a new set of rocks,
termed Nieuwervst series, which are found to be newer
than the Ibiquas and Malmesbury series, but older than
the Table Mountain Sandstone. ‘The succession in southern
Cape Colony, the type region for South Africa, is thus
being brought into closer approximation with that of
northern Cape Colony and the Transvaal, with a result
that cannot fail to be beneficial to both. Further, a closer
parallelism is found to exist between the geological history
of South Africa and the southern continents than zoologists
and geologists dared to hope, but on which each alike
confidently felt would be the case.

In the detailed account Mr. Rogers describes the geology
of the north-western part of Van Rhyns Dorp. Among
the Malmesbury beds*a characteristic feature consists of
the abundance of crystalline limestones intercalated
between slates and phyllites. The account of the intrusive
granites and the metamorphic rocks with the associated
sillimanite-cordierite schists contains much of interest.
The Ibiquas series and the unconformably overlying
Nieuwervst series deserve close attention, owing to the
light they will probably throw on the Transvaal succession.

In the district of Long Kloof Mr. Schwarz finds the
geology to be highly complicated by folding. A somewhat
fanciful explanation is offered to account for the elevation
of the mountains in this area being no greater than in
the less folded regions composed of the same rocks.

In the description of the geology of Aliwal North,
Herschel, Barkly East, and part of Wodehouse, Mr.
du Toit enters into much detail concerning the stratigraphy
and composition of the Upper Karroo beds and the volcanic
phenomena associated with them. A great addition to our
knowledge of the sedimentary and volcanic beds of the
Stormberg series will here be found. By means of the
special reptilian contents in the upper portion of sand-
stones, red and purple shales, mudstones and clays, it
has been found possible to subdivide the great thickness
of the Beaufort series. For this superior group the term
Burgersdorp beds is proposed. Besides their abundant
reptilian contents, they are further interesting from the
occurrence of Lepidodendron in association with Glosso-
pteris and Thinnfeldia.

In the succeeding Stormberg period chief interest is
centred in the careful description of the volcanic outbursts,
more especially of that of the volcanic necks. Of these,
thirteen are recorded from Wodehouse, twenty from Barkly
East, and twenty-two from Herschel, those in Aliwal North
being left for further investigation. The description in-
cludes most reasonable hypotheses for the formation of
the different types of rock infilling the necks. The
immense flows of lava and numerous dolerite intrusions
receive due attention, the intrusion of the dolerites being
placed somewhere between the Middle Jurassic and Lower
Cretaceous.

Questions of economic importance will be found to have
been thoughtfully considered. It is disappointing to find
that so far the coal seams met with in Aliwal North and
Herschel are thin and of less value than in the south.

The introduction throughout the report of black and
white geological maps of the areas surveyed with a
sufficient number of place-names enables the reader to
follow the various descriptions with ease. The absence
of headlines, and the want of a copious table of contents,
constitutes a drawback to the general reader, particularly
where the report deals with petrological descriptions.

Those persons who consider that the work of a national
survey should be primarily devoted to the economic aspect
of the inquiry will doubtless be disappointed at the
apparent poverty of the commercial results obtained by
the Survey since the date of its commencement in 18096.
The explanation is obvious. A national survey cannot be
formed for a particular section of the community interested
in the discovery of gold, coal, or diamond fields. It is,
however, expected of such a survey, and that of the Cape
fully realises the expectation, that the maps and memoirs
it publishes should represent the most trustworthy and
technical information it is possible to obtain as to the
geological structure of the country it professes to examine,
and on which the practical man who follows must and does
base his conclusions. W. Gipson.

188

NATURE

[ DECEMBER 21, 1905

UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL
INTELLIGENCE.

CampripGE.—The list of the scholarships awarded at the
twelve larger colleges was issued last Saturday. Excluding
exhibitions, sizarships, and subsizarships, the amounts of
which are uncertain and the number in many cases un-
determined, the amount given away in the twelve colleges
amounts to 54301. The seven colleges, Pembroke, Caius,
King’s, Jesus, Christ’s, St. John’s, and Emmanuel, gave
away sixty scholarships of a total value of 338o0l.; whilst
the Trinity group, consisting of Trinity, Clare, Trinity
Hall, Peterhouse, and Sidney, gave away 2500l. for thirty-
seven scholarships.

The total amount in the former group given for classics
is 1560l., for mathematics 1oool., and for natural sciences

620l., the number of scholarships being :—in classics
twenty-six, in mathematics seventeen, and in science
twelve. The proportion of science to the other subjects is

better in the group of five colleges, for their science
scholarships numbered ten of a value of 560l., as opposed
to sixteen scholarships in classics the total value of which
amounted to 8S8o0l. We have left out of account the com-
paratively small sum of 340l. which was given for history,
Hebrew, and modern languages.

Dr. H. A. Witson, senior lecturer in physics at King’s
College, London, has been appointed professor of physics
at the college in succession to Prof. W. G. Adams, whe
resigned last July.

REUTER’S correspondent at Tokio reports that the
resignation of the Japanese Minister of Education has been
accepted, and the differences between the university and
the Government have thus apparently been settled. Count
Katsura, the Premier, has taken the portfolio of education,
while retaining the Premiership. ‘The resignations tendered
by the professors have not been accepted.

In a paper read at the American Mining Congress at
El Paso, Texas, on November 14, Mr. V. C. Alderson,
president of the Colorado School of Mines, urged mining
schools to go beyond mere instruction and to enter the
field of research. ‘There was not at present, to his know-
ledge, a mining school in the United States which had a
department of research in good working order. There
should, he considered, be such a department at a State
mining school to work in conjunction with the State
Bureau of Mines.

Mr. E. Rosinson, of Boncath, opened a discussion on
the question of the establishment of a school of forestry
for Wales at the annual meeting of the agricultural society
of the university college at Aberystwyth. He said that, if
the seven Welsh counties affiliated to the college would
vote on an average 300l. each and give an annual subsidy
of tool, each for eight years, the proposed school of
forestry after that period could easily be made self-support-
ing. The Government, he urged, must come forward to
second the efforts of the county councils by advancing
money to landowners at a reasonable rate of interest. Mr.
J. Herbert Lewis, M.P., said that the question of afforest-
ation is rapidly becoming one of national concern. A
departmental committee has made it clear that a shortage
in the world’s supply of timber may be looked for in the
near future, and that millions of acres of waste land in
the United Kingdom are suitable for afforesting. Our large
municipalities could do much, following the example of the
Liverpool Corporation at Vyrnwy, by afforesting the catch-
ment areas of their waterworks.

ScaRCELY a week passes without the announcement of
substantial gifts to one or other of the universities of the
United States. In addition to those mentioned in NatTuRE
of last week, Science announces the following donations :—
Mrs. Phoebe Hearst has presented to the California State
University her archeological and anthropological collection
from all parts of the world. It has cost more than 80,000l.,
and with it she presents to the university 12,0001. for the
maintenance of a department of anthropology. Hope
College, Holland, Mich., recently received 20,0001. from
Mr. Ralph Vorhees, of Clinton, N.J. A new chemistry
hall has been erected for the university of North Carolina

NO. 1886, vol. 73|

by a legislative appropriation of 10,0001. Mrs. Clara C.
Jacobus has given soool. to found a fellowship at Princeton
University, to be conferred on the graduate student who
has reached the highest excellence in his work during the
previous year. An anonymous donor has given 2000l. to
establish a fellowship in chemistry. Mr. Henry B. Loomis
has given 2000l. to the scientific school of Yale University
to establish a fellowship in chemistry.

Tue council of the Association of Technical Institutions
has issued a report of an inquiry as to the cooperation of
employers and technical institutions. A form of inquiry
was sent to each of the sixty-five institutions affiliated to

the association, to technical institutions and university
colleges not thus affiliated, and to some of the large

employers of labour whose educational work with their
employees was not likely to be connected with the various
technical institutions already approached. The answers
received to the questions asked on the form of inquiry are
analysed under several headings, among which may be
mentioned the trades to which the scheme of cooperation
applies, the number of students affected by the scheme,
the payment of class fees, the provision of books, and
leave of absence to attend classes. The report, in its
summary of the results of the inquiry, states that if re-
garded from the point of view of how few of the army of
masters appear to interest themselves at all in the technical
education of their workers, the record cannot be other
than disappointing, especially in view of the different
attitude of employers on the Continent and in the United
States. On the other hand, if looked at in comparison
with the attitude of employers ten years ago, the result is
most hopeful. It is interesting in this connection to note
that in distributing prizes to the students of the Gateshead
higher evening classes, Sir Isambard Owen suggested that
it would pay employers to enable their apprentices to work
shorter hours by day on condition that they availed them-
selves of the opportunities for evening instruction. Con-
tinuing, he said the great desire of the Plumbers’ Company
is now to adopt measures for advancing the apprenticeship
system, in view of the indisposition of employers, who are
keenly competing with each other to obtain plumbing work
at a profit, to burden themselves with apprentices, thus
ignoring the importance of training the coming generation
of plumbers. This pressure of commercial interests over
the craftsman spirit constitutes a serious menace to
efficiency, not only in the plumbing trade, but in other
skilled industries.

SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES.

Lonpon.

Royal Society, November 16.—‘‘ The Physical and Chemical
Properties of Iron Carbonyl.’’ By Sir James Dewar and
H. O. Jones.

The paper contains an account of a study of the proper-
ties of iron pentacarbonyl, which has been carried out on
the same lines as the previously published investigation on
nickel carbonyl. Attention has been directed more par-
ticularly to the differences between the iron and _ nickel
carbonyls, such as the difference in formula Fe(CO), and
Ni(CO),, colour (the iron compound is yellow and the
nickel compound is colourless, whereas the salts of the
latter metal usually show a much more marked colour
than those of the former), and stability, and to the action
of light on iron carbonyl.

Pure iron carbonyl is a yellow liquid, which boils at
102°-5 C. and freezes at —20° C. to a yellow solid, which
becomes colourless at —180° C. Analysis, vapour density
determinations, and molecular weight determinations by
the ecryoscopic method in benzene show that its formula
is Fe(CO)..

The specific gravity of the compound is 1-4937 at 0° C,
and 1.3825 at 60° C.; its critical temperature is 288° C. .

The formula v=1-974—0-5307 (log 288—1t) expresses the
relation between the volume of the liquid v and the
temperature 1° C.

The relation between the vapour pressure p in milli-
metres of mercury and the absolute temperature Tis
expressed by the Rankine formula log p=7-349—1681/T.

DECEMBER 21, 1905]

NATURE

189

The critical pressure is calculated to be 29-6 atmospheres,
and the critical density 0-49.

abs. critical temperature

Thesivalues = this is
critical pressure

is 18-9;
proportional to the volume of the molecule, and is equal
to 5-1 times the corresponding number for carbon monoxide
(3-7). The molecular volume of iron carbonyl at its boil-
ing point is 150, so that, taking 7-0 as the volume of the
iron atom, 28-6 is the volume of each carbon monoxide
group. The molecular volume of carbon monoxide at its
boiling point is 35, therefore a greater contraction would
occur in the formation of iron carbonyl from liquid carbon
monoxide and iron than in the formation of nickel carbonyl
under similar conditions.

Vapour density determinations by V. Meyer’s method in
carbon monoxide, nitrogen, and hydrogen at different
temperatures show the effect of increase of temperature
and the rapid diffusion of hydrogen in increasing, and of
carbon monoxide in diminishing, the dissociation.

The chemical reactions of iron carbonyl are very similar
to those of nickel carbonyl, but its stability is greater.
Chlorine, bromine, iodine, their compounds with one
another and their hydrides react with iron carbonyl
giving ferrous salts and carbon monoxide; the reaction
with bromine takes place more slowly than that between
iodine and nickel carbonyl. Neither sulphur nor nitric
oxide reacts with iron carbonyl, whereas both react readily
with nickel carbonyl. Sulphuric acid, on the other hand,
decomposes iron carbonyl more readily than it does nickel
carbonyl.

Benzene in presence of aluminium chloride reacts with
iron carbonyl, with cold to give benzaldehyde, and at
100° C. to give anthracene, exactly as with nickel carbonyl.

Iron pentacarbonyl alone or in solution in ordinary
organic solvents is decomposed by sunlight according to
the following equation, 2Fe(CO),=Fe,(CO),+CO. The
second compound of iron and carbon monoxide is de-
posited as an orange, crystalline solid from most solvents,
but is retained in solution by pyridine. The reaction takes
place rapidly under pressures of carbon monoxide up to
150 atmospheres, and yet is very slowly reversed in the
dark under small pressures of carbon monoxide. This
decomposition takes place slowly at the temperature of
liquid air, but if the iron pentacarbonyl or its solutions
be heated to any temperature above 60° C., then no solid
is deposited and no decomposition occurs. Solutions of
iron carbonyl in nickel carbonyl at the ordinary tempera-
ture undergo no decomposition and no solid is formed
unless the solution contains more than 30 per cent. of
the iron carbonyl, when some solid is formed. These
solutions are of a much lighter colour than solutions of
equal concentration in other solvents, and it is suggested
that the two carbonyls may unite to form a compound
which is unaffected by light.

The solid iron carbonyl forms lustrous hexagonal plates
having a specific gravity of 2-085; its molecular volume is
therefore 174.

The solid iron carbonyl when heated alone decomposes
at 100° C. into carbon monoxide, liquid iron carbonyl,
which is coloured green, and iron; when heated with
carbon monoxide under pressure it is completely converted
into liquid iron pentacarbony]l.

If the solid iron carbonyl be heated with a solvent such
as ether or toluene, a solution of an intense green colour
is produced; this green solution on exposure to light de-
posits the yellow, crystalline, solid carbonyl again. The
change from solid to green solution and back again can
be repeated indefinitely by the action of heat and light
alternately.

Zoological Society, November 28.—Dr. Henry Woodward,
F.R.S., vice-president, in the chair.—Exhibitions.—Photo-
graphs of a horse bearing incipient horns: J. T.
Cunningham. The horns were about #3-inch in length,
the left being slightly larger than the right, and there
could be no doubt that they were outgrowths of the frontal
bone. The growths were covered with normal skin and
hair.—Photographs, taken in the Horniman
at Forest Hill, of a sea-anemone (Anemonia sulcata) in
the process of division: F. Stade.—A living albino speci-

NO. 1886, VOL. 73

Museum |

men of the field-vole (Microtus agrestis) captured last July
in Wales: D. English.—A living lizard, Lacerta murals,
from Brozzi, province Florence, received from Dr. A.
Banchi: G. A. Boulenger, F.R.S. The lizard belonged
to the typical form of the wall-lizard, but was remarkable
for its black coloration above and below. Melanistic forms
of the wall-lizard were well known on small islands in the
Mediterranean, but, so far as Mr. Boulenger was aware,
no black specimen had ever been recorded from the main-
land. The scales across the body numbered fifty-eight, and
the lamellar scales under the fourth toe twenty-five in the
specimen exhibited, these two numbers being sufficient to
distinguish the Brozzi lizard from the melanotic insulars
previously described.—A living specimen of the violet-
cheeked humming-bird (Petasophora iolota) brought from
Venezuela and presented to the society’s menagerie :
Captain A. Pam. A general account of the habits of
these birds, as observed by Captain Pam, in a wild and
captive state, and notes on their management and feeding
while in confinement.—A named set of the birds collected
in Japan by Mr. M. P. Anderson in connection with the
Duke of Bedford’s exploration in eastern Asia: W. R.
Ogilvie-Grant. No new species were obtained, but several
of the specimens were of special interest as illustrating
stages of plumage not represented in the British Museum.
—Papers.—A transition in the general type of colouring
from the wholly black Colobus gueresa in one direction,
through several intermediate forms, towards the black and
white C. caudatus, and in another direction towards
C. vellerosus: R. Lydekker.—A mounted specimen of the
white-maned serow (Nemorhaedus argyrochaetes, Heude),
of Szechuen, the first example of the species ever received
in England, and perhaps in Europe: R. Lydekker.
Mammals collected in Japan by Mr. M. P. Anderson for
the Duke of Bedford, and presented by the latter to the
National Museum: O. Thomas. The collection was one
of the most valuable for scientific purposes which had ever
been received from any one region. More than 600 specimens
had been obtained, belonging to 50 species and subspecies,
of which several were described as new.—A revision of the
fishes of the family Galaxiide:C.T.Regan. Two genera
were recognised, Galaxias and Neochanna, the latter consist-
ing of a single species only. Twenty-eight species of Galaxias
were described, including G. attenuwatus, Jenyns, found on
the coasts and in the rivers of Australia, New Zealand and
Chili, Patagonia, and the Falkland Islands, and two
peculiar to the Cape of Good Hope, five to New Zealand
and the neighbouring islands, five to Chili, Patagonia, and
the Falkland Islands, and fifteen to Australia and
Tasmania. Five species were described as new to science.
—The mammalian fauna of China. First paper: J. L.
Bonhote. The present part dealt with the Murinz, con-
taining the genera Mus and Micromys, giving descriptions
and synonymy, as well as emphasising the distinctive
characters by which the various species might be. easily
distinguished.—_Some additions to the knowledge of the
anatomy, principally of the vascular system, of Hatteria,
Crocodilus, and certain Lacertilia: F. E. Beddard.—
Descriptions of 111 new species of phytophagous Coleoptera
of the family Halticide : M. Jacoby.

Chemical Society, December 7.—Prof. R. Meldola,
F.R.S., president, in the chair.—The constitution of
nitrites, part i., two varieties of silver nitrite: P. C. Ray
and A. C. Ganguli. The a variety of silver nitrite is
prepared by double decomposition between solutions of
silver nitrate and sodium nitrite. The § variety is obtained
by dissolving the a variety in boiling water, and from the
hot saturated solution the nitrite is allowed to crystallise.
The two forms show differences in crystalline structure
and mode of decomposition by heat.—The products of
heating silver nitrite: E. Divers. The author, while
accepting Ray and Ganguli’s experimental data, dissents
from the view that these are two forms of silver nitrite.—
A contribution to the chemistry of benzoic sulphinide :
F. D. Chattaway. When chlorine is passed into a solu-
tion of the sodium salt of saccharin, o-benzoic N-chloro-
sulphinide or chloroiminosaccharin is precipitated. An
account of the properties of this substance is, given.—The
action of heat on a-hydroxycarboxylic acids, part ii.,
a-hydroxymargaric acid, a-hydroxypalmitic acid, a-hydroxy-

NATURE

[ DECEMBER 21, 1905

190
pentadecylic acid, and a-hydroxymyristic acid: H. R.
Le Sueur. The aldehydes obtained by the pyrogenetic
decomposition of these acids are white solids, readily

soluble in the ordinary organic solvents ; they form oximes,
semicarbazones, hydroxycyanides, and are oxidised to the
corresponding acids.—Studies on optically active carb-
imides, part ii., the reactions between i-menthylearbimide
and alcohols: R. H. Pickard, W. O. Littlebury, and
A. Neville. /-Menthylcarbimide reacts readily with
alcohols, and fourteen of the latter have been shown to
yield I-menthylearbamates. These reactions have been
studied polarimetrically, and the velocity constants of re-
action so obtained compared.—The liberation of tyrosine
during tryptic proteolysis. A preliminary communication :
A. J. Brown and E. T. Millar. The authors have applied
Millar’s method of estimating tyrosine by means of
bromination to the study of the tryptic hydrolysis of
proteids, and find that tyrosine is one of the first products
of such action. The quantitative study of proteolysis in
this way may throw some light on the existence or non-
existence of a tyrosine nucleus in different albuminoses.
—Ethyl piperonylacetate: W. H. Perkin, jun., and R.
Robinson. A description of the preparation of this ester
from piperonylic acid.—The action of ultra-violet light on
moist and dried mixtures of carbon monoxide and oxygen :
S. Chadwick, J. E. Ramsbottom, and D. L. Chapman.
It was found that under the action of the rays emitted
from a quartz mercury lamp a dry mixture of these gases
was largely, but somewhat irregularly, converted into
carbon dioxide and ozone. With moist gases the rate of
conversion was slower and more uniform, and more
carbon dioxide was formed and less ozone.—Benzoyl
derivatives of salicylamide: A. W. Titherley.—The
constitution and colour of diazo- and azo-compounds :
A. Hantzsch. A criticism of Armstrong and _ Robert-
son’s. paper, ‘‘ The Significance of Optical Proper-
ties as Connoting Structure’? (Journ. Chem. Soc.,
1905, 1272-1297).—Note on the incandescent mantle as a
catalyst and its application to gas analysis: J. E. Mason
and J. Witson. The authors describe a modification of
Lewes’s method (Chem. News, 1905, xci., 61) for showing
the incandescence of the mantle in an unburnt mixture of
alcohol vapour and air. Although less effective, the mantle
may be used as a substitute for platinised asbestos in the
ordinary lecture experiments for preparing formaldehyde
from methyl alcohol vapour and air, and sulphur trioxide
from sulphur dioxide and oxygen, and various applications
of mantle fragments to the analysis of mixtures of hydro-
carbon gases by combustion are given.—The influence of
certain amphoteric electrolytes on amylolytic action: J. S.
Ford and J. M. Guthrie. The results of an investigation
of the influence of various amino acids on amylolytic action
are given.—The estimation of picric acid additive com-
pounds: F. S. Sinnatt. The method of Knecht and
Hibbert (Ber., 1903, Xxxvi., 1549) for the estimation of
picric acid by means of titanous chloride has been found
to be applicable to picrates and to picric acid additive com-
pounds.—Silver dioxide and silver peroxynitrate: E. R.
Watson. The author has analysed the anodic product
formed during the electrolysis of solutions of silver nitrate,
and tinds that its composition was correctly represented
by Sdle’s empirical formula Ag,O,,N. This compound on
boiling with water decomposes, forming silver dioxide, a
greyish-black powder which may be heated to 100° without
decomposition.—The constitution of o-hydroxyazo-com-
pounds. Preparation of benzeneazodimethylcoumarin : J. T.
Hewitt and H. V. Mitechell.—Caro’s permonosulphuric
acid: T. S. Price. The author has obtained a mixture
containing the potassium salts of sulphuric, permono-
sulphuric, and perdisulphuric acids. The results obtained
by the analysis of this mixture point to the formula
H.SO. for Caro’s acid.

Royal Astronomical Society, December 8.—Mr. W. H.
Maw, president, in the chair.—Account of the results of his
recent investigations relating to sun-spot periods: Prof. A.
Schuster. Besides the recognised 11- or 114-year period,
the author found various subsidiary periods which recur
with great regularity, but which sometimes disappear. A
period of about 4% years could be traced back to 1749, and
other periods of about 84 and 13 years were also indicated.

NO. 1886, VOL: 73]

Possible explanations of the peculiarities of these periods
were suggested.—On the astronomical observations re-
corded in the Nihongi, the ancient chronicle of Japan:
E. B. Knobel. The astronomical observations contained
in this work comprise eclipses of sun and moon, occult-
ations, conjunctions, comets, meteors, &c., and range from
A.D. 620 to A.D. 696. There is great difficulty in fixing
the dates of the observations owing to the complicated
system of chronology, borrowed from China. The year is
a lunar one of twelve months of twenty-nine or thirty
days, and an intercalary month every thirty-third month,
or seven intercalary months in the lunar cycle of nineteen
years. The rules for intercalary months are very com-
plicated, and there is therefore much difficulty in reducing
the dates to European chronology. Most of the recorded
eclipses agree with Oppolzer’s tables when the dates are
properly reduced.—On the present state of lunar nomen-
clature: S. A. Saunder. The paper showed the anomalies
and irregularities in the present system, resulting in difficul-
culties of identification in the case of many of the smaller
features on the moon which had been selected as points for
exact measurement. It was suggested that a committee
should be formed to revise the present system of lunar
nomenclature.—Photographs of comet d 1905 taken with
the 30-inch reflector of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich,
shown by Prof. F. W. Dyson.—Comparison of the results
from the Falmouth declination and horizontal force
magnetographs on quiet days in years of sun-spot maxi-
mum and minimum: Dr. C. Chree, F.R.S.—The presi-
dent announced that the Rev. C. D. P. Davies was giving
a demonstration of his system of testing parabolic mirrors.
—Other papers were taken as read.

Mathematical Society. December 14.—Prof. A. R. Forsyth.
president, in the chair.—Some difficulties in the theory of
transfinite numbers and order types: the Hon. B. A. W.
Russell. The paper deals with the difficulty as to
“inconsistent aggregates ’’ and with the question concern-
ing the axiom that every aggregate can be well ordered.
It is shown that the difficulties belong rather to logic than
to mathematics, and various methods are explained by
which steps may be taken towards resolving them.—On
well-ordered aggregates: Prof. A. C. Dixon.—The Hessian
configuration and its connection with the group of 360
plane collineations: Prof. W. Burnside. The configura-
tion is that of 9 points in a plane which lie 3 by 3 on 12
straight lines. The first part of the paper is occupied with
the establishment of the configuration, and of the nature
of the group for which it is invariant, from a geometrical
point of view. In the second part it is shown how to
construct a configuration of 45 points which lie 5 by 5
on 36 lines, 4 by 4 on 45 lines, and 3 by 3 on 120 lines.
From the 45 points 10 Hessian configurations can be
formed, and any two of these have one point in common.
The configuration is invariant for a group of 360 colline-
ations, which is simply isomorphic with the alternating
group on six symbols.—On the representation of certain
asymptotic series as convergent continued fractions: Prof.
L. J. Rogers. The paper is concerned with asymptotic

x
series which represent integrals of the type | f(te—t/xdt,
0

where f(t) is a polynomial or is representable by a power
series.—The theory of integral equations: H. Bateman.
The theory is that of the construction of a function ¢
which shall satisfy an equation of one of the forms

b
ay feey= f ele, Ng nat,

2) fl)=9(x)—a | fale, Ng (Hat,

a

where f and « denote known functions and A is a constant.
It is shown how to reduce the solution of a linear differ-
ential equation to an integral equation of the second type,
and that, if is discontinuous in a certain way, a solution
of the equation of the first type exists and can be deter-
mined.—The imaginary in geometry: J. L. S. Hatton.—
On a new cubic connected with the triangle: H. L.
Trachtenberg.

DECEMBER 21, 1905 |

NAL ORE

191

Anthropological Institute, November 21.—/ vhzditions. —
Collection of photographs from Arizona: J. S. Chase.
These included typical types of the natives, and also illus-
trated the Mogui snake dance and other ceremonies.—
Collection of objects from Siam, including weapons, pottery,
and musical instruments: M. Bidder.—Paper.—Boome-
rangs: N. W. Thomas. The author explained the differ-
ence between the return and non-return boomerang, and
showed the reasons for the peculiarity of the former kind.
Diagrams of the different flights were exhibited, as well
as a large collection of Australian boomerangs and African
throwing knives.

CAMBRIDGE.

Philosophical Society, November 13.—Prof. Liveing
in the chair.—Polarisation phenomena at Guelma in the
eclipse 1905 August 30: H. F. Newall, F.R.S. The visual
observations combined with the photographic records
proved that the plane of polarisation of the light diffused
by the earth’s atmosphere during the eclipse was very nearly
horizontal. Photographic records, obtained with a Savart
polariscopic camera for the purpose of quantitative measure-
ments of the relative amounts of polarised and unpolarised
light in the corona, showed that the polarised portion of
the atmospheric light was equal in intensity to the radially
polarised portion of the coronal light at a distance of about
13 diameters from the sun’s limb. Thus the phenomena
of a radially polarised corona seen through a plane polarised
atmosphere are somewhat complicated. The results
obtained by. photographing the corona through a large
Nicol prism, which was set to transmit successively the
vertical component and two components which were in-
clined on each side at 45° to the vertical and consequently
perpendicular to one another, not only show the strong
radial character of the polarisation of the corona, but also
seem to suggest that there is a selective action, and that
the prominent streamers of the corona are markedly
polarised. A photograph taken with a new form of
polarising spectrograph shows a very marked difference in
the intensities of the tangential and radial components ;
but a curious feature in it is that the Fraunhofer lines
are not detected in either spectrum, though the conditions
are such as must be regarded as very favourable for their
detection.—Suggestions for a theory of the Milky Way and
the clouds of Magellan: A. R. Hinks.—The effect of the
lunar deflection of the vertical on latitude observations :
B. Cookson. The attraction of the moon would cause the
plumb-line to be deflected through an angle of o”-02 at a
maximum, if the earth were a rigid body. It is pointed out
that observations made for-the -purpose of determining the
constant of aberration and variation of latitude by Kiistner’s
‘method are suitably arranged for showing this deflection.
A series of observations made at Philadelphia is discussed,
but fails to show the direct lunar effect, though it shows
an oscillation with a period of half a lunar day, which
may be due to the attraction of the ocean tides.

November 27.—Prof. Marshall Wara, president, in
the chair.—Some experiments on Canal-strahlen: Prof.
Thomson. Experiments were described showing that

when the stream of positive ions which form the Canal-
strahlen fall on a solid, slowly moving kathode rays
start from the part of the solid struck by the positive
ions; again, metals struck by the Canal-strahlen dis-
integrate, and the metal is deposited on the walls of the
discharge tube; ionisation was shown to accompany the
passage of the Canal-strahlen. It is suggested that the
reason the a particles of radium lose, as shown by Ruther-
ford, their power of ionisation when their energy falls to a
value which, though less than the initial energy possessed
by the a particles, is enormously greater than the positive
ions in the Canal-strahlen, may be that the a particles
lose their charge when their velocity falls below a certain
value by combining with a negative corpuscle; the value of
this velocity is calculated, and it was shown to be between
10° and 10° cm.-sec. The spectra produced by Canal-
strahlen were discussed, and it was shown that though
these rays give rise to the sodium lines when they fall
upon sodium salts, they do not do so when they fall upon
the pure metal.—Experiments on the retention of an
electric charge by gases: W. A. D. Rudge.—The effect

NO. 1886, VOL. 73]

of hydrogen on the discharge of electricity from hot
platinum: O. W. Richardson. An account of experi-
ments on the ionisation produced by a platinum tube in
air when hydrogen was allowed to diffuse from inside the
tube. The negative ionisation was unaffected, whereas the
positive was increased by an amount proportional to the
quantity of hydrogen diffusing through. The experiments
indicate that the increase in the negative leak produced
by an atmosphere of hydrogen is due to a change produced
by the latter in the surface of the metal, possibly by the
formation of an electrical double layer. The experiments
on the positive ionisation tend to show that the hydrogen
dissolved in the metal is in the form of positive ions.—On
colour-inheritance in rats: L. Doncaster. Among the
varieties of domestic rats there are, in addition to albinos,
two types of colour, black and brown (grey). The colour
in either case is distributed in one of three very constant
patterns; rats may be (a) self-coloured, with or without
a small white mark on the chest; (b) coloured above and
white below ; (c) piebald, with coloured ‘‘ hood ’’ and back-
stripe, elsewhere white. In inheritance, brown is dominant
over black, and both over albino. Albinos may bear the
black or brown determinant, as in mice, rabbits, &c.
When a self-coloured rat is crossed with a piebald, the
young have the intermediate pattern (b); this is a hetero-
zygous form, and when two of this type are bred together
they throw selfs, piebalds, and heterozygous young like
themselves. Albinos can also bear pattern-determinants, so
that an albino bearing ‘‘ self ’’ bred with a piebald throws
heterozygous young of type (b). Self-coloured rats may be
entirely coloured or may have a white mark on the chest,
but since either form can throw the other, it appears that
this is a fluctuating character, and that the pure “ self ”’
and white-marked form are not allelomorphic with one
another.—A preliminary communication on the life-history
of Pleistophora peviplanetae (Lutz and Splendore): W. S.
Perrin.—On the osmotic pressure of alcoholic solutions :
P. S. Barlow.—Two wheels connected by an axle rolling
on a rough horizontal plane: G. M. K. Leggett.—A series
of optically active nitrogen compounds containing the allyl
group: Miss M. B. Thomas and H. O. Jones. The
investigation of the relation between the constitution and
rotatory power of substituted ammonium ions is being con-
tinued. A series of five compounds containing the phenyl,
methyl, and allyl groups, together with the ethyl, propyl,
isopropyl, isobutyl, and isoamyl groups respectively, has
been examined.

Paris.

Academy of Sciences, December 11.—M. Troost in the
chair.—On the distillation of gold, the alloys of gold with
copper and tin, and on a new method of preparation of
the purple of Cassius: Henri Moissan. Gold can be
easily distilled in the electric furnace, its boiling point
being higher than that of copper, but lower than that of
lime. By condensation on a cold tube, the vapour is
condensed partly in the form of moss gold, partly as
microscopical crystals. The general properties of the con-
densed gold agree with those of finely divided gold. In
the alloys of gold and copper, or gold and tin, the copper
and tin distil before the gold. By distilling an alloy of
tin and gold, a purple of Cassius is obtained in the dry
way.—Nepheline syenites from the Los Islands (French
Guinea): A. Lacroix. The various types of syenite in
these islands are discussed in detail, and complete analyses
are given for three typical specimens.—The habits of bees
and the colours of flowers: Gaston Bonnier. According
to the author, the contradictory experiments of various
observers on the relations between bees and colour are due
to a lack of knowledge of the habits of bees. There is a
division of labour among the honey-fetching bees, the
duty of those first issuing from the hive being to seek out
honey, and not to fetch it. After a certain hour all the
bees are engaged in fetching and carrying, and none in
hunting for fresh sources of honey, and hence in selective
experiments of this sort quite different results can be
obtained according to the hour of the day fixed for the
experiment. The author’s own experiments lead to the
conclusion that the bees are not influenced by colour in
their search for honey.—Spectroscopic observations made
during the eclipse of the sun of August 30, 1905: P.

192

NAT OLE

[ DECEMBER 21, 1905

the
coronium,
iron.—On
Observations

prominences showed lines
hydrogen, cerium,
the new Giacobini
and elements of a

Salet. The spectrum of
characteristic of helium,
titanium, calcium, and

comet: M. Giacobini.

comet discovered at Nice on December 6.—On the con-
vergence of the regular continued fractions of the
function F(h,1,h’,u): HH. Padé.—On the problem of
the motion of a homogeneous fluid ellipsoid all parts
of which attract each other according to the law
of Newton: W. Stekloff.—The theory of a solitary
wave which is propagated along a_ horizontal elastic
tube: A. Boulanger.—The evaluation of the magnify-
ing power of microscopic objectives : L. Malassez.

—On the co-existence of paramagnetism and diamagnetism
in the same crystal: Georges Meslin. Experiments are
described proving the existence of both para- and dia-

magnetism in the same crystal of pyrrhotine, and the
continuous variation of the magnetic susceptibility with
the direction.—The action of a magnetic field on the
Goldstein rays (Canal-strahlen): Henri Pellat. Some
curious and somewhat paradoxical experiments on the
Goldstein rays are described. In magnetic fields of low
intensity the rays behave exactly like positively charged

particles. As the intensity approaches 1000 Gauss, the
whole tube appears uniformly luminous, and if the mag-
netic field is still further increased, the luminosity con-
tracts, but the deviation is in the opposite sense to that
which is produced in magnetic fields of lower intensity.
The author is at present unable to offer any explanation
of the phenomenon.—A new arrangement for obtaining
a monochromatic image of. a source of light: Albert
Nodon.—On the solution of platinum in sulphuric acid :
Marcel Delépine. The action of sulphuric acid contain-
ing potassium sulphate upon platinum foil has been studied.
The action increases with the amount of potassium sulphate

present, probably on account of the higher boiling point
of the mixture thus obtained. Ammonium sulphate re-
duces the solvent effect—On two iodomercurates of

lithium: A. Duboin.—On a new compound of fluorine
and bromine: Paul Lebeau. Fluorine unites directly
with bromine giving a compound BrF,. This trifluoride,
in which the bromine may be considered as trivalent, is a
colourless liquid solidifying on cooling, and melting at
4° C. The chemical activity of this substance is very
great, resembling that of fluorine.—Researches on the
formation of metallic lustre on the surface of pottery: L.
Franchet.—On the bromoborates of calcium: L.
Ouvrard.—On the limiting states of some dissolved
chromic salts: Albert Colson.—The action of phosphorus
pentachloride on B-naphthol: E. Berger. Phosphorus
pentachloride acting on f-naphthol at temperatures below
130° C. gives a good yield of the ether, C,,H,—O—C,,H, ;
at temperatures above 135° C. B-chlornaphthalene is
formed. The yields are not high, but on account of the
low prices of the materials it forms a good preparative
method.—On some derivatives of anthracene octahydride
and on the perhydride of anthracene : Marcel Godchot.—

The synthesis of dihydrocamphoric acid: G. Blane.—On
acetylcyclohexanone: Georges Leser.—Anatomical and
physiological modifications produced in certain tropical

plants by a change of the place of growth: D. Bois and
I. Gallaud. The necessity of taking into account the
anatomical changes produced by a change in the environ-
ment of a plant is pointed out, and the errors in classifi-
cation which may arise. The study of the factors pro-
ducing these changes is also important in the acclimatisa-
tion of plants of commercial value.—Studies on the
influence of light on the development ot green plants,
carbon dioxide being absent and amides added to the soil :
Ales Lefevre.—The granular eruptive rocks collected in

Grahamsland by the Antarctic expedition of Dr. Charcot :
Ernest Gourdon.—Exploration in eastern Africa: Maurice
de Rothschild.—On crystallised hematin: MM. Piettre

and Vila.
split up

Crystallised oxyhamoglobin, from the horse, was
into an albumenoid, globin, and_ crystallised
hematin, the pigmented material of the blood, analyses of
the latter being given and compared with earlier analyses
of amorphous hzmatin of other observers.—The moderating
action of catalase on the oxidations produced by extracts
from animal tissues: F. Battelli and Mlle. L. Stern.—
On some mineral compounds which behave like the liquefy-

NG. 1850" VOU 73)]

ing diastase of malt: J. Wolff.—The diastatic hydrolysis
of xylane: Gaston Seilliere. In some molluscs and insect
larve there exists a diastase capable of hydrolysing xylane
to xylose, and for which the name of xylanase is pro-
posed. It is probable that this substance plays an
important part in the nutrition of these animals.—The

geology of the eastern Pyrenees: Léon Bertrand.—On
Fontaine-I'Evéque and the caverns of the plain of
Canjuers: E. A. Martel and M. Le Couppey de la

Forest.

DIARY OF SOCIETIES.
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 21.

LINNEAN SOCIETY, at 8.—Report on the Vienna Botanical Congress :
Dr. A. B. Rendle.—Cyrxtandraceae malayanae novae: Dr. Franz
Kranzlin.—On Characze from the Cape, collected by Major A. H.
Wolley-Dod: H. and J. Groves.—Note on the Distribution of Shortia,
Torr and Gray: B, Daydon Jackson.

CHEMICAL SocteETy, at 8.30.—The Relation of Position Isomerism to
Optical Activity. Part V. The Rotation of the Menthyl Esters of the
Isomeric Dibromobenzoic Acids: J. B. Cohen and I. H. Zortman.—Azo-
derivatives from a-Naphtho-methylconmarin: J. T. Hewitt and H. V.
Mitchell.—The Supposed Identity of Dihydrolaurolene and of Dihydro-
7solaurolene with 1:1 - Dimethylhexahydrobenzene: A. W. Crossley and

N. Renouf.—The Slow Combustion of Carbon Disulphide : N. Smith.
CONTENTS. PAGE
The Jarandthe Genie. By Maurice Solomon. . . 169
HygienelatiSchool! . 9... + (gumess) t+ <p eee
RegenerationanyRoots: . "5 cycle tii ae) seen!
Our Book Shelf :—
Saleeby::| ‘‘ Heredity.”—J. AcT; "2. . . 2% 171
““The Practical Photographer”. . . 172
Wade: ‘‘Introduction to the Study of Organic
Chemistry."—J. B.C. .. 172
Selous: ‘* The Romance of Insect Life. " Interesting
Descriptions of the Strange and Curious in the
Insect World” . . 172
Rankin: “The Art and Practice ‘of Laundry Work
for Students and Teachers” .. . So 172
Letters to the Editor : —
Radio-activity of Ordinary Matter in Connection with
the Earth’s Internal Heat.—Hon. R. J. Strutt,
FORESh et) « 173
Magnetic Storms and Aurora.—Dr, Charles Chree,
EoRaS eee 173
The Total Solar Eclipse of “August “30. 25 Y.
Buchanan; F{R.S ... 2% 173
The Engineer s Unit of Force. —Prof. Gr H. Bryan,
F.R.S. ; The Reviewer : 174
s Mathematics ” Applied to Chemistry. Geoffrey
Martin; The Reviewer .. . rm ty
Heat a Mode of Motion in the Seventeenth Century.
Sir W. R. Gowers, F.R.S. : 175
The Pulse of the Atmospheric Greaiaton (With
Diagram.) By Dr. W.N. Shaw, FE RSS:.. “Seo 175
Two Books on Animal Biography. (J//ustrated.) . 177
Secondary Schools and Endowments . Mira sityts)
Notes) (Qastrated:)) >. «= ho anie eer) re
Our Astronomical Column :—
Discovery of a Third New Comet, 1905d. . . . 182
Comets 19052 and 1905¢ 182
The Recent Aurora and Magnetic Disturbances . ? 182
Photographs of Jupiter's Sixth and Seventh Satellites 182
The Intrinsic Light of the Corona. . ....... 182
Suggested Name for Neptune’s Satellite 182
The ‘‘ Companion to the Observatory,” 1906 . 182
Hydrology in the United States. (///ustrated.) . 183
The Percy Sladen Expeditionin H.M.S. ‘‘ Sealark”
to the Indian Ocean. (///ustrated.) By Ve Se
Gardiner 184
Forestry in Belen “By Prof. w. R. Fisher . 186
The Cape Geological Survey. By W. Gibson . 187
University and Educational Intelligence . ... . 188
Societies and Academies 188
Diary of Societies . 192

NATURE

193

DECEMBER 28,

THURSDAY,

1905.

THE CHEMISTRY OF PLANTS.

Zweiter Band. By Prof.
(Jena: Gustav

Biochemie der Pflanzen.
Dr. Bre €zapek. Pp. xii-- 1026.
Fischer, 1905.) Price 25 marks.

HE first volume of this work was reviewed some
months back (NaturE, June 22, 1905, vol. Ixxii.

p. 169), when its general scope and nature were

given, and certain remarks were made with respect

to its style and structure which are equally applicable
in the case of the second volume; hence no recapitu-
lation of these is here necessary.

The material of the present volume is roughly
double that of the first, and its magnitude is gauged
by the number of the pages given above.

As the first volume dealt with the distribution,
metabolism, and metastasis of aliphatic substances,
so the second deals with proteinic compounds and
the biochemistry of nitrogen, with derivatives of
closed rings, and with the inorganic constituents of
plants; further, the resorption of oxygen, and
phenomena of irritability regarded in their biochemical
aspect, also receive detailed attention.

The contents of the volume are divided into thirty-
eight chapters, which are followed by addenda and
corrections, an index of the subject-matter, another
of the names of plants, and finally a list of misprints
and errata.

The book opens with a chapter on the general
chemistry of proteins. The succeeding chapters are
grouped, more or less, into sections under the follow-
ing headings :—the proteinic metabolism of the Fungi
and Schizomycetes, that of seeds and of other organs
and groups of plants, the ultimate nitrogenous and
anitrogenous products of metabolism, the resorption
of oxygen, pigments, ubiquitous cyclic and acyclic com-
pounds, the metabolism of inorganic substances, and
lastly the stimulatory action of various bodies.

The opening chapter gives a suitably condensed
and, as regards the main outlines, comprehensive
account of the chemical and physical properties ot
proteins and the products of their decomposition. In
the succeeding two sections the nature of the proteins
occurring in different plants and different organs is
discussed, and an account is given of the modes in
which these compounds are synthesised and rendered
available for metabolic processes when external to
the plants. The absorption of soluble nitrogenous
compounds is also considered in these sections, which
are, in fact, concerned with the general metabolism of
nitrogenous substances throughout the vegetal king-
dom.

In the next section the ultimate nitrogenous pro-
ducts of metabolism are discussed in detail under
the following headings :—oils, purine-bases, nitril-
elucosides, bases derived from pyridine and chinoline,
and derivatives of indol.

The section devoted to resorption of oxygen deals

biochemically with ordinary respiration and _ the
‘acquisition of chemically-bound oxygen.
Following the sections devoted to pigments,

NO. 1687, VOL- 73]

substances of universal occurrence, and the ultimate
anitrogenous products of metabolism, is an exhaustive
treatment of the metabolism of inorganic constituents
in various divisions and organs of plants, and of the
modes of their occurrence.

The text concludes with an interesting and well-
written account of the stimulatory action of various
substances in relation to different vital processes such
as fermentation, respiration, photosynthesis, proto-
plasmic streaming, nuclear division, growth, repro-
duction, &c.

An idea of the degree of comprehensiveness and
detail of the worls is afforded by the titles of some of
the minor chapters, namely, the proteinic metabolism
of pollen-grains, that of fruits, of mosses, of alge;
the inorganic metabolism of subterranean reserve-
organs, the inorganic constituents of buds, those of
wood, of bark, of alge, of pollen-grains, of fruits.

The main outline of this volume may be said to
have been given in the preceding paragraphs.

What appears most striking here, as in the first
part, is the colossal amount of material collected;
the labour involved must have been enormous. A
result of this is the resemblance of the text of many
pages to some highly-condensed abstract, as it is in
such places practically a long succession of facts—or
reputed facts.

Lilke the first volume the second is singularly free
from misprints and errors of nomenclature. But one
scarcely expects to read in a precise botanical work—
as on p. 818—of the ‘‘ stem ”’ and ‘‘ leaf ’’ of Lamin-
aria, a plant that has neither stem nor leaf. More-
over, in no case has Prof. Czapek attached to the
name of a plant that of its author; this omission is
certainly a common one in botanical works, but in
spite of this most deplorable, since in many cases in
which this index fails the nature of the plant is
doubtful.

Many useful tables of figures occur throughout the

work, and orientation with respect to groups of
chemically-allied substances is much facilitated
through the interpolation of mumerous graphic

formule in the text.

The literature dealing with the subjects treated
seems to have been searched with considerable
thoroughness, and that which is most essential
referred to in relatively suitable proportion. Possibly
those who have made the various branches touched
upon their special study might detect important
omissions, but so far as lay in the power of one man
Prof. Czapek seems to have been very successful in
citing all that is most important. The reviewer
misses reference to Schjerning’s important paper on
proteohydrolysis that appeared about three years back
in the publication of the Carlsberg laboratories, and
he sees no mention in this volume of the work by
F. F. Blackman on gaseous exchanges, or of that
by Cornevin on the degree of immunity of plants to
vegetal poisons of autochthonous and alien origin.

Prof. Czapek is not of the opinion that the accelera-
tion of oxidative processes by various metallic salts
in association with colloids is likely to result in modi-
fication of existing notions of oxydases. The matter

K

194

NATURE

[DECEMBER 28, 1905

is one, however, that requires extended quantitative
and qualitative treatment. The supposition that an
action is entirely due to a colloid, because the action
ceases On separation of the colloid from the system,
is an error commonly made by physiologists, due to
the omission of taking into account phenomena of
adsorption, and the complete alteration of conditions
produced by the change.

There can be no doubt as to the value of this work
in its completed form; it traverses practically the
whole of physiology in its chemical aspect, so far as
it is now possible to do so, and illustrates in an
excellent manner the results that have been produced
through application of chemical methods to physio-
logical problems; it is the first extended treatise of
the biochemistry of plants, and as such fills a void
that was distinctly appreciable, and moreover fills it
in a manner that places all vegetal physiologists

under great obligation to its author.
F. Escompe.

EXPERIMENTS WITH EXPLOSIVES.

New Methods of Testing Explosives. By C. E.
Bichel. Translated and edited by Axel Larsen.
‘Pp. 62. (London: Chas. Griffin and Co., Ltd.)

Price 6s. net.
N collecting together and translating the papers
on the researches carried out in the laboratory
of the Carbonite Explosives Company, Hamburg, the
translator has given to English readers a valuable and
interesting little volume. The title is perhaps a trifle
misleading, but the whole-scope of the work may be
seen from the following quotation :—‘‘ (1) Why does
a smaller quantity of one explosive than another cause
ignition of fire-damp? (2) What are the incidental
phenomena and the influences tending to promote
such result? (3) In what manner do they co-operate
in producing it? ”

Appreciating the fact that it is desirable to work
with quantities as nearly as possible approaching those
employed in actual practice, special apparatus has
been constructed, so that for the particular explosives
dealt with we now have details obtained from ex-
periment on a much larger scale than any hitherto
adopted. In some cases charges of gunpowder as
great aS 1500 grams were exploded, and for the
higher explosives often 300 grams. Even for the
calorimetric determinations the bomb had a capacity
of 30 litres, which was capable of taking a charge
of too grams. There must always, however, be
some risk with heavy charges of recording undue
pressures, a point to which Noble has directed atten-
tion.

The actual pressures, gas volumes and composi-
tion of the products were determined from charges
fired in Bichel’s apparatus, the pressure being
recorded by a piston indicator working on a drum.
The record is really in excess of the true pressure, but
it is stated that the indicated pressure is rarely more
than two or three per cent. from the actual. The
apparatus permits of variations of surface area for a
definite charge, and so the cooling effect of the
chamber may be eliminated. It appears that with

NO. 1887, VOL. 73

this allowance the pressure at a given density of
loading is proportional to that with higher densities.
This, however, may not be strictly true with very
high densities.

The actual temperature at the moment of explosion
was calculated from the heat developed, the composi-
tion of the products and their specific heat, in the
usual manner, but all such calculations are uncertain
owing to doubt as to the specific heats of gases at
these high temperatures, and the impossibility of
taking into account dissociation. The possibility of
fitting a thermo-junction into the Bichel apparatus
might be worthy of consideration, for although the
results cannot approach actual values, yet the relative
temperatures recorded would probably serve as a
useful check on those calculated. Macnab has already
employed the thermo-junction for this purpose.

In connection with the safety of explosives for
mining, undoubtedly the length of the flame, its
duration and temperature are of the greatest import-

ance. The two former were recorded photographi-
cally, a quartz lens being used. Some _ excellent

plates of the flames are reproduced. A factor deduced
from the ratio of the flame duration to the detonation
time, termed the ‘‘ after-flame ratio,’’ is shown to
have the greatest influence on the ignition of fire-
damp, and a most instructive diagram shows the
temperature developed, the length of flame, and the
‘“ after-flame ratio ’’ for the explosives examined.

In considering the efficiency of an explosive the
author makes a distinction between the dynamic
action, due to the projectile-like action of the products
on the surrounding surfaces, and the static energy,
deduced in the usual manner from the volume
occupied by the products at the calculated temperature
of explosion. It certainly seems that a more rational
classification is thus possible than when the two are
considered together, and the results are claimed to
be fairly in accordance with those obtained in actual
practice.

The general bearing of the work on the question
of safety is clearly dealt with, and four very complete
tables give a mass of information relating to the
explosives examined,

Sufficient has been said of the contents of the book
to convince those interested in the subject of its great
value. It deals almost exclusively with mining
explosives, but it would certainly be of very great
interest if the investigations could be extended to
military explosives, for the author has such valuable
apparatus at his disposal that experiments on this
large scale could not fail to give much valuable
J. 'SitSsaBs

information.

CAUSALITY AND THE HUMAN WILL.
The New Science of Causation. By H. Croft Hiller.
Pp. xiii+386. (London: The Walter Scott Pub-
lishing Company, Ltd., 1905.) Price tos. net.
F intrepidity were the prime essential of a philo-
sopher, this work would be epoch-making, and
its author would be a thinker of the first rank. He
claims to have formulated a case—to his mind, abso-

DECEMBER 28, 1905]

NADPORE,

1@)5

the intellectual found-
So impregnable, in fact,

lutely impregnable—against
ations of empirical science.
to the author’s mind
the preface, with inimitable naiveté, his many dis-
couragements in the preparation of the work—the
fact, for instance, that of eight Fellows of the Royal
Society with whom he has communicated
declined to read and criticise advance proof-sheets.
Sir Oliver Lodge has even gently indicated that Mr.
Hiller’s previous works have not impressed him; the
letter is printed in full as a kind of imprimatur.
Briefly stated, Mr. Hiller’s main position is that
causality resides solely in the human will, and not
at all in matter, atoms, ions, ether, electricity, or
any of the other entities with which modern science
deals. What reality ordinary objects possess is not
quite clear, but apparently the action which we
ordinarily suppose them to effect really belongs to the
human being using them.
facilitating cutting,’’ i.e.

cutting could quite well be

nature being weak finds it useful for ordinary pur-
poses to rely on the God-determined illusion of knives
and scissors. Food becomes unnecessary, or can
readily be replaced by poisons. In fact, there is no
poison or disease at all but thinking, or rather
willing, makes it so, i.e. if the individual will, acting
on its own initiative, has not endowed an object with
such and such attributes, then the consensus of other
human wills, acting through hypnotic suggestion, so
endows it. In this way, we presume, Mr. Hiller
would account for the occasional death of infants by
accidental poisoning. Doctors not only cure diseases,
but also create and propagate them.

Considerations of space forbid a statement of Mr.
Hiller’s doctrine of perception, with its singularly
elegant terminology—top storey of mind, mnemonic
storey, and the like. But a word of criticism must
be added, even if it is foolhardy to rush in where
eight Fellows of the Royal Society have declined to
tread. So far as we can understand our author, he
seems in too great a hurry to explain abnormal ex-
periences. He revels in things that make our flesh
creep, people whose staple diet is strychnine, ‘‘ Katie
King” apparitions, ghosts that have pulses and
heart-beats. Now of course we should all like to
build up absolutely exhaustive systems, but at present
well-sifted evidence of the extraordinary is so difficult
to procure, and the abnormal is so often exploited by
charlatanism for private ends, that science, which is
long and patient, will rather wait a little and con-
centrate itself upon the normal. Again, there is
obviously a difference in the glory of fetishes; there
is one fetish which facilitates cutting, and another
which facilitates Marconigrams. Will Mr. Hiller
seriously maintain that a consensus of even all exist-
ing human wills could interchange these at its
pleasure? Why had we to wait until the twentieth
century for radio-activity? Could a sufficiently strong
will in the nineteenth have produced the same effects
by means of shoe-blacking ?

We gather from the preface that this attempt to
prove the rest of the world insane is merely a pro-

NO. 1887, VOL. 73]

that he can afford to detail in |

all have |

Thus “a knife is a fetish |

visional instalment of a greater work, to be entitled
““Sie Transit Scientia’?! So important an effort to
overthrow the walls of the empirical Jericho must be
carefully timed; we can only suggest as the most
fitting date of publication the of
Kalends.

eve the Greek

IONS AND ORGANISMS.

Studies in General Physiology. By Jacques Loeb.
2 vols. Pp. xxix+782. (London: T. Fisher Unwin,
1905.) Price 31s. 6d. net.

HE two volumes of papers collected under this
title form one of the most interesting and
suggestive works that have been published on the
subject. The bold idea, that by means of alterations
in the composition of the solutions that bathe the
tissues it is possible profoundly to affect not only
metabolism and growth, but also such processes as
fertilisation, has led to a series of experiments here

| recorded that are well worthy of careful study.
done by the unequipped human will, but human |

The material with which Prof. Loeb and his pupils
have worked has been in the main organisms of such
a size that the whole animal could be acted on by
changes in the salts dissolved in the water in which
the animal lived. Most of the experiments were made
with either the embryos or eggs of marine animals
belonging to the groups of Annelida, Echinoderms
and their allies; some were on fish embryos, some on
hydroids, and the earlier experiments, which seem to
have furnished the author with the leading idea for
these researches, frog’s muscle. This idea, shortly
summarised, is that the changes in the composition

of the solutions are effective on account of the pro-

perties of the various ions added or subtracted, and
that by varying these one can control the various
biological processes. The control is supposed to be
direct, and ions are even termed ‘“ toxic’? or “ anti-
toxic ’’ according to their suggested action on any
process—for example, Sodium ions are “toxic,”
because they prevent the development of fundulus ova,
Calcium ions are “‘ antitoxic ’ because they neutralise
this action.

The experiments which have perhaps attracted most
attention are those on artificial fertilisation. Addition
of HCl to the water in which the eggs of starfish
(\sterias) were suspended caused them to develop
parthenogenetically ; similarly Ca was efficacious for
the eggs of Amphitrite, KCI for Chaetopterus, and
either

KCl, NaCl, or even evaporation of sea
water for the eggs of Arbacia, an Echinoderm. As

to the accuracy of the observed phenomena, most of
Prof. Loeb’s readers will accept the evidence here
adduced; whether the results bear the importance
attached to them is a more open question. The
author himself points out that these eggs are natur-
ally on the brink of parthenogenetic development; in
fact, if left to themselves they usually begin to
segment spontaneously, and the effect of the addition
of the various ions is only to hasten a naturally
occurring process. It perhaps asks too much, but
one regrets that the experimental difficulties so far
seem to have prevented any of the parthenogenetic
animals from attaining adult life.

196

NATURE

[ DECEMBER 28, 1905

For the rest, one notices that Prof. Loeb derives his
inspiration from internal sources, and that quotations
from other authors and from the Archiv f. allge-
meinen Physiologie occupy but a small place. What,
however, is more natural, if an author has sufficient
new and interesting material to draw upon, than to
confine himself to his own observations? Enough has
been said to convey our impression that the two
volumes now under review well repay careful con-
sideration, and that the facts recorded therein mark
an important advance in our knowledge of general
physiology.

OUR BOOK SHELF.

Civil Engineering: A Text-book for a Short Course.
By Lieut.-Col. G. J. Fiebeger, U.S. Army. Pp.
xiti+573. (New York: Wiley and Sons; London :
Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) Price 21s. net.

Tuts text-book on civil engineering is especially

intended for the use of cadets of the U.S. Military

Academy, whose duties later are often those of a

civil engineer. A short course on this. subject is

therefore provided, and this work is evidently based
on the author’s lectures at West Point. It is natural
t> expect that in these circumstances the treat-

ment of the theory of structures will be that of the |
engineer rather than of the pure mathematician, and |
It |

that it will be of the simplest possible character.
is therefore disappointing to find that this section is
treated in an almost purely academic way involving
much chasing of x, with little or no appeal to
physical ideas. This is well illustrated by chapters
iv. and v., mainly on the deflections of beams under
various conditions of loading and fixing, a section

three numbered equations, with little or no indication
of their physical meaning. A semi-graphical treat-
ment would have been far preferable for military
cadets studying this subject with a view to practical
applications, and this remark applies to other parts of
the book; thus we should imagine that a student, after
reading chapter iii., on the flexure and bending of
beams, would have considerable difficulty in calcu-
lating the moment of resistance of a section such as
a bridge rail, a perfectly easy problem by a semi-
graphical method and one likely to require solution by
an officer who ‘‘in an isolated station finds himself

called upon to act as an engineer and constructor of |

buildings, roads, and _ bridges,’’ with a
miscellaneous collection of materials.

In the purely descriptive part of the book the
author is much happier, and a great deal of valuable
information is contained in this section. Through-
out the book the author is somewhat free with his
terms; thus his use of the word molecule leads him
to the statement that “the unit shearing stresses on
the vertical and horizontal faces of the elementary
molecule are equal,’’ while other terms, such as
“curve of mean fiber’? and ‘‘ spontaneous axis,’’
might be amended with advantage. Ids (Gig (Ce

Thunder and Lightning. By Camille Flammarion.
Translated by Walter Mostyn. Pp. 281. (London:
Chatto and Windus, 1905.) Price 6s. net. :

Tuts book contains no translator’s preface, so one

is apt to believe that it is a translation of M. Flam-

marion’s ‘‘ Les Phénoménes de la Foudre.” A

ccmparison of the two volumes shows that the titles

possibly

of the chapters in each are identical, with the excep- |

tion of two chapters of the French work which are
merged into one in the translation. A _ closer

No. 1887, vou. 73]

|

examination leads one to conclude that the English
edition is a very abridged form of the French, and
the illustrations, which number fifty-four in the latter
volume, only total nine in the translation. It is
clear, therefore, that the two volumes are very
different from each other, although one is supposed
to be a ‘‘ translation ’’ of the other, since nothing is
said to the contrary.

Apart from the above mentioned differences the
English translation is well done, and will be found
very interesting reading. The greater portion of the
book is devoted to the effects of lightning flashes,
and a large number of examples are described. Thus
we have the effects on mankind, animals, trees,
plants, metals, objects, and houses. Many instances
are narrated of the vagaries of fireballs, and two
chapters are devoted to atmospheric electricity and
storm-clouds, and the flash and the sound.

Photography for the Press. By the editor of The
Photogram. Second edition. Revised and_ very
largely rewritten. (London: Dawbarn and Ward,
Ltd., 1905.) Price 1s. net. Cloth, 2s. net.

Tuis very complete and practical book contains hints

to the photographer who wishes to make use of his

pictures for press purposes. The editors acknowledge
that this is a new departure in photographic literature,
but the fact that the present edition is the second
indicates that a want has been supplied. So large
is the number of illustrated journals, books, &c., at
the present time, and they are still on the increase
and likely to become much more numerous, that time
and possibly disappointments will be saved to the
photographer if he becomes acquainted with many
of the hints included in the present issue. In addi-
tion to some general remarks about the relation of

_the editor and publisher to the photographer, prac-

Ng pes AP Lg OU Ae ge ae tical field and workshop methods are also discussed.
yy Dee eS: §. Y- | Interesting and valuable information on the copy-

right union, copyright law, permits to photograph,
&c., are next taken up, and lastly there are lists
ot agents for press photograms, publishers of picture
post-cards, and the principal illustrated periodicals
with all up-to-date information, such as class of print
preferred, size of page, date and time to which
originals are usually received for current issue, &c.

From the above it will be gathered that the book
is intended to serve a very practical purpose, and the
editors have produced a book that will be serviceable
to many photographers.

How to Know the Starry Heavens. By Edward
Irving. Pp. xvi+313. (London: T. Fisher Unwin,
1905.) Price Ss. 6d. net.

Tuts volume is, avowedly, not so much a text-book

for astronomical students as ‘‘ an invitation to read

text-books on the subject,’’ but while it contains a

large amount of real information, we fear that the

matrix is so bullky that the reader to whom the book
is intended to appeal willfind great difficulty in dis-
covering and assimilating the real facts. After dis-
cussing the apparent motions of the heavenly bodies
and the rival theories concerning them, the reader
is conveyed towards a Centauri in ‘‘ The Chariot
of Imagination ’’ in order to gain some idea of the
cosmological insignificance of the earth and to view
more closely the sun and his system. Then the author
attempts to instil a concrete idea of the dimensions of
the visible universe. To this end he gives about
twenty different illustrations, each one under a promi-

nent subtitle such as ‘‘ A Pile of Blood Discs ’’ or ‘‘ A

Spider’s Web,’”’ the whole occupying about fourteen

pages. Succeeding chapters deal with other astro-

nomical subjects in a popular manner and with more
or less convincing illustrations.

DECEMBER 28, 1905 |

NGA TCE,

VO7

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions
expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake
to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected
manuscripts intended for thts or any other part of NATURE.
No notice is taken of anonymous communications. |

Magnetic Storms and Aurore.

Tur observations of your correspondents Mr. Rowland
A. Earp and Mr. R. Langton Cole, published in NaTuRE
of November 23 (pp. 79-80), remind me that an aurora was
also visible here (Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia) on
November 15 about 6 p.m., Halifax time.

Although only faintly visible on account of the twilight
and the condition of the sky, the aurora was evidently of
considerable intensity, throwing up streamers to the zenith.

I looked out again at 7 p.m., but could detect no signs
of auroral activity then. Occasional watch was kept upon
the northern sky during the rest of the night in hopes of
a recurrence, but nothing further was seen.

ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL.

Beinn Bhreagh, near Baddeck, Nova Scotia,

December 9.

Wir reference to a letter from Dr. Chree in NATURE
of November 30 (p. 101) upon the magnetic storm of
November 15, it may perhaps be of interest to mention
that, according to a notice in the newspaper Finmarken,
the aurora of that day in Vard6 (lat. 70° 22’) was by
far the most splendid seen there for many years. It is
described as bright red all over, and, when most vivid,
forming a belt over the whole sky from south-west to
north-east. At last, about 11 p.m., the light gathered in
the southern sky, making the impression of a huge fire
some forty kilometres away.

Here in Christiania the sky was overcast, except a low
horizontal stripe in the north-west, where the vivid
greenish light was moving to and fro about 7 p.m.

H. GEDMUYDEN.

University Observatory, Christiania, December 16.

The Origin of Variations in Animals and Plants.

Havinc found much ambiguity in discussions of this
subject, I have tried to formulate briefly the probable facts,
as they appear to me.

(1) In the beginning, the germ-plasm was not separated
from the somato-plasm, and hence it is assumed that
“acquired characters ’’ were inherited, and, we must sup-
pose, still are by the protozoa. It seems probable, how-
ever, that the obvious effects of the environment were not
permanent, but were recovered from in a few generations
of cells or individuals, much as they are frequently re-
covered from in the metazoa during the life of a single
individual. When they were too severe, they probably
resulted in the death of the affected individuals or strains.
In other words, there has been no regular “‘ inheritance
of acquired characters’’ among the protozoa any more
than among the metazoa.

On the other hand, it seems reasonable to suppose that
there were other more subtle effects, which in various slight
ways changed the molecular arrangements or composition
of the plasm, and effects so produced would be permanent
until further changes of a similar nature took place.

The extraordinary permanence of type of protozoan and
protophytan species, both in time and space, compels us
to discard the idea that they are easily modified by external
or any other conditions; while their marvellous diversity
shows that they are capable of extraordinary modification.
What causes the molecular changes (presumably nobody
denies that they take place) is not apparent to us, partly
because the phenomena must be very difficult (or
impossible?) to demonstrate, and partly, perhaps, because
they have been overlooked, all attention having been given
to the obvious but less significant changes. Recent physical
science has made us familiar with all sorts of subtle in-
fluences, and we do not know how any of them might
affect the complex molecule of a living creature. Sub-
stances which hitherto behaved in a perfectly well

NO. 1887, VOL. 73]

known manner have given us surprises when we placed
them in the presence of something new. So it may well
be with the living molecule, and what we call °° great
changes in environment ’’ may be nothing at all to it, com-
pared with subtle influences which entirely escape our
observation.

(2) In the first place, the molecular changes may have
been good, bad, or indifferent (as tested by the prosperity
of the creatures); but very soon selection would get in
its work, and those types of plasm which responded in
certain ways to the more usual influences would be per-
petuated. Hence it would presently be found that
variations were no longer indefinite, but were in certain
prevalent directions—as they assuredly are.

(3) The fact that protoplasm shows such very definite
tendencies low down in the scale of life (so that the
hydrozoa, for example, seem wonderfully prophetic of sub-
sequent evolution) might be used as an argument that life
did not originate upon this earth, but came here with a
long history already behind it.

(4) In the metazoa the matter is immensely complicated,
because we have in each individual not one, but a large
number of more or less independent variables. Neverthe-
less, I cannot doubt that the germinal elements are, as I
have supposed in the protozoa, caused to vary (and nobody
disputes the variation) by external influences; yet, from
the selection and evolution of ages, their reactions have
become so definite that we cannot see in them anything
but ‘‘ the nature of the beast.”

(5) Since those germs would be selected (through their
somata) which reacted in such a way as to produce the
most favourable variations, it becomes easy to see why
certain kinds of variation may be carried beyond the point
of maximum utility. They are like habits, which may be
formed in response to certain needs, but which afterwards
become tyrannical, because the individual has acquired the
property of responding to particular stimuli, and cannot
stop when the stimuli become more numerous, or the effects
accumulate unpleasantly.

(6) The fact that certain genera (e.g. Rubus, Aster,
Agriolimax) are extremely prolific in species in some
regions, and very little so in others, seems to show that
some external influences have been at work in the former
case and not in the latter. We may also direct attention
to the effects of changed conditions in producing variability
(e.g. in Helix nemoralis), and to the evolution of similar
types in different regions.

(7) It may well be that the appearance of characters in
the soma does not always or often follow in the generation
after the germ is affected (cf. Nature, February 16, p. 366).

T. D. A. CocKkERELL.

Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A., December 1.

An Acoustical Method for the Demonstration of the
Magnetism of Liquids.

One end of a glass tube, about 5 mm. internal diameter
and 1 mm. thick, is heated in a blowpipe flame until the
molten end contracts to a round nozzle, leaving a small
aperture of less than half a millimetre at the middle.
The other end of this tube is connected by a caoutchouc
tubing to an air-bag of considerable capacity, which is
pressed by a constant weight. The nozzle is wet with
a drop of liquid. By opening the cock of the air-bag, the
air escapes through the nozzle and produces a clear musical
sound, the pitch of which depends upon the dimensions of
the nozzle as well as the quantity and the nature of the
liquid; it varies also with the pressure of the air inside
and the inclination of the tube to the vertical.

If the nozzle, wet with a magnetic liquid, be brought
close to the conical pole-piece of a strong Faraday’s electro-
magnet and the field excited, the pitch of the sound changes
more or less according as the magnetic susceptibility of
the liquid and the gradient of the field is greater or less.
With concentrated solution of ferric chloride or manganese
chloride, a change amounting to an interval of a third is
easily obtained.

The details have been published in the Proceedings of
the Tokio Physico-mathematical Society, vol. ii., No. 26.

T. TERADA.

Science College, Imperial University, Tokio, November 5.

198

NATURE

| DECEMBER 28, 1905

THE PANAMA CANAL.

N the issue of August 24 a review was given of
General Abbot’s book on ‘‘ Problems of the
Panama Canal,’’ published this year; and in this
book the construction of a canal with loclss across the

Photograph by IV. P.

Fic. 1.— ‘Lhe Culebra Cut, Panama Canal, looking North.

Isthmus of Panama, in preference to a_ sea-level
canal, was strongly insisted upon. The October
number, however, of the National Geographic
Magazine, published in Washington, contains an

article on ‘‘ The Panama Canal,’’
by Rear-Admiral Colby M. Chester,
U.S.N., in which the advantages
of a sea-level canal are quite as
urgently advocated. Accordingly,
the only points which have hitherto
been definitely settled by the United
States Government assuming the re-
sponsibility for the construction of
the canal, are the final selection of
the Panama route for the inter-
oceanic canal and the consequent
abandonment of the rival Nicar-
agua scheme, and the certainty of
adequate funds being available for
the completion of the Panama
Canal, the want of capital having
proved the most serious obstacle to

the progress of the works when
under the control of a_ private
French company.

There are undoubtedly several

difficulties connected with this en-
terprise which have still to be over-
come, such as scarcity of labour and
unsanitary conditions in a_ pro-
verbially unhealthy tropical climate ;
the vast amount of excavation that
has to be accomplished in cutting Fic.
through the high central ridge con-

stituting the divide between the Atlantic and Pacific
watersheds (Fig. 1), composed in the higher portions
of treacherous strata exposed to an exceptionally heavy
rainfall; and the control of the great torrential floods

NO. 1887, VOL. 73]

of the river Chagres cutting in several places across
the line adopted for the canal, which follows the
valley of the river along the Atlantic slope. These
impediments, however, in course of time, by the help
of ample funds, the progress of sanitary science, the

| great improvements effected in excavating and dredg-

ing plant (Fig. 2), and the increased
experience gained in the construc-
tion of reservoir dams, should not
prove insurmountable. In_ reality,
the question which at the present
time demands a definite and early
decision is whether the canal is to
be constructed with a summit-level
a considerable height above sea-
level, to be reached by means of
locks on each slope, or is to be ex-
cavated down to a sufficient depth
to form a sea-level canal with only
a regulating lock, 4} miles from
the Pacific coast to Panama, to
prevent the tidal rise in the Pacific
Ocean of 213 feet at springs creat-
ing injurious currents into and out
of the canal.

When the Panama Canal scheme
was started at Paris in 1879, M. de
Lesseps insisted that it should be
constructed at sea-level, like the
Suez Canal; and the works were
commenced in 1881 on that basis,
relying upon the eventual success of
the earlier worl, without adequate

Ysdel reliminary investigations, and
without due consideration of the
differences in the conditions of

the two sites. In 1887 the unexpectedly large
cost and slow progress of the works led the

canal company to diminish considerably the amount of
excavation by the introduction of locks, thereby effect-

Photograph by W. P. Tisdel.

2.—A Steam Shovel at work in the Culebra Cut, Panama Canal.

ing a large reduction in the ultimate expenditure, and

in the time required for the completion of the canal,

'as can be readily appreciated by a reference to the

longitudinal section of the canal with locks (Fig. 3).

DECEMBER 28, 105 |

NATURE

Ne

This is the principle upon which worl on the canal
since that time has been conducted, with modifica-
tions from time to time in the proposed summit-level ;
it was followed, after the failure of the old company in
1888, by the new company constituted in 1894, so
far as their limited funds permitted; it was approved
by the various French Commissions which reported
on the canal; and it was adopted by the International
Isthmian Canal Commission of 1899-1901, which sub-
mitted to Congress the design shown by the accom-
panying longitudinal section and plan. This design
consists of a summit-level 214 miles long, with its
water-level 82 to 90 feet above mean sea-level, reached
from the sea-level portion of the canal on the Atlantic
side, 16 4-5 miles long, by two adjoining locks at
Bohio, and from the sea-level section on the Pacific
side, about 8} miles long, by a lock at Miraflores
arresting the tide and raising the water-level of the

construction of the Panama Canal,’’ in which a sea-
level canal is recommended, thereby abandoning the
proposals of all the engineers who had _ previously
studied the question since 1888, and reverting to the
original scheme of M. de Lesseps. This project con-
sists of a canal with a bottom-width of 150 feet,

a minimum depth of water of 35 feet, and
twin tidal locks at Miraflores having an _ avail-
able length of tooo feet and a width of 100

feet; and it is estimated that this canal could be
completed in ten or twelve years at a cost of
230,500,000 dollars, the Chagres River being con-
trolled by a dam at Gamboa, forming a lake from
which the surplus waters would be discharged by a
tunnel through the dividing ridge into another river-

Dhided portion shows
Work cone.

Scheme with Locks.

Fic. 3.—Panama Canal.

Commission of 1299-1901.

basin. The committee further urges that if a canal
with locks should nevertheless be preferred, its
summit-level should in no circumstances have its
25 30 3s 40 Aas AGNES

Plan, Scale 1/60e,000. Longitudinal Section, Horizontal Scale 1/600,0c0,

Vertical Scale 1/6,000.

canal 30 feet above mean sea-level in a reach only
1; miles long, and two adjoining locks at the end of
this reach connecting it with the summit-level (Fig. 3).
For thirteen miles of the summit-level on the Atlantic
side of the deep Culebra cutting, the canal would pass
through a lake formed in the Chagres valley by a
dam near Bohio, as shown on the plan, which would
materially accelerate navigation along this part. In
an article on ‘* Progress of the Panama Canal,’’ fol-
lowing the one by Admiral Chester, to which the plan
and section here reproduced are appended, it is
stated that this design with locks is the only one ‘‘ on
which the Canal Commission has as yet any authority
to spend money.”’

The canal problem entered upon a new phase this
year by the presentation last February of a report to
the United States Isthmian Canal Commission by its
Engineering Committee, which Admiral Chester
terms ‘‘the first definite engineering plans for the

NO. 1887, VOL. 73 |

| water-level more than 60 feet above mean sea-level,

and estimates that such a canal would cost 178,013,406
dollars, and a canal with only a 30-feet summit-level
194,213,406 dollars. The committee considered that a
sea-level canal, which is free from the restriction im-
posed by locks on the volume of traffic and size of
ships passing through them, and could easily be en-
larged and deepened to accommodate an increased
traffic and larger vessels, would be well worth the
additional cost, and that in view of the great pro-

| gress achieved in the rate of excavation, the period

required for its construction would be moderate; and
the opinion was expressed that though a canal with
locks could be made which might subsequently be
transformed into a sea-level canal, such a modifica-
tion could only be effected at great inconvenience to
navigation, and at an excessive cost. A scheme pro-
posed by Mr. Bunau-Varilla with this latter object in
view is described in the article on ‘‘ Progress of

the Panama Canal,’’ in which four locks on eek
slope would lead to a summit-level 130 feet above sea-
level; and so by greatly reducing the excavation re-
quired in the Culebra cutting, the designer considers
that the canal could be completed in four and a half
years; and it is proposed that a very wide earthen
dam should be formed at Bohio with materials
dredged in excavating the canal, and conveyed through
pipes to the site, thereby creating Lake Bohio, as
shown on the plan. Another lake w would be formed by
a dam at Gamboa, outside the line of the canal; and
this canal with locks is to be transformed into a sea-
level canal, when required, entirely by dredging with-
out impeding navigation, the dredgers being worked
electrically by means of the water-power from the
lake, the basin of which is to serve as a depositing
ground for the dredged materials.

Admiral Chester, as an old naval officer, is naturally
in favour of a sea-level canal, and supports his view
by numerous extracts from the report of the Engineer-
ing Committee; whereas General Abbot, with his wide
hydraulic experience, and the International Isthmian
Canal Commission of 1899-1901 have advocated the
construction of a canal with locks. In face of this
conflict of opinion, it is natural that the United States
Government referred the technical question last sum-
mer to an International Engineering Advisory Board,
which recently visited the site; but, ‘according to some
newspaper correspondents, the members of this com-
mission returned to Washington with discouraging
and discordant views, so that their approaching report
to the President will be aw aited with much interest.

Undoubtedly, the conditions affecting the choice
between a canal with locks and a sea- level canal have
been modified by the United States Government hav-
ing undertaken the construction of the canal, for the
capital cost, which is a most important question for a
private company, is of much less consequence to a
Government, provided very material advantages,
either as to facilities of navigation or a diminution in
the expenses of maintenance, can be secured by a
jarger initial outlay; and, within certain limits, a
prolongation of the period of construction is also of
less vital importance. Too much stress, however,
appears to have been laid in the report of the
Engineering Committee of this year on the restriction
offered by locks to navigation and increase in the size
of ships, and too little account taken of the cost of
enlarging a canal through an exceptionally deep cut-
ting ; and also probably. much too sanguine a view
is entertained of the period required for the large
additional quantity of excavation necessitated by a
sea-level canal, especially considering the uncertain-
ties as to the supply of labour.

The only restrictions to navigation caused by a
canal with locks are the time occupied in passing
through them, and the possibility of vessels being
built larger than they could accommodate; but the
loss of time can be considerably reduced by suitable
arrangements for filling and emptying the locks,
their capacity for traffic can be readily increased by
duplicating them when required, and their dimen-
sions would naturally be made at the outset, like the
tidal locks at Miraflores, adequate for any probable
increase in the size of the vessels. Moreover, in the
design shown on the plan, a great portion, if not the
whole, of the time expended in locking would be re-
couped by the increased speed attained by vessels in
traversing the thirteen miles of lake navigation. The
advantage of facility of enlargement claimed for a
sea- level canal really more rightly belongs to a canal
with locks, provided the locks are constructed with
due foresight of future requirements; for whereas the
portions of the canal from the Atlantic to Bohio, and

NO. 1887, VOL. 73]

NAT OTeE

[DecEMBER 28, 1905

from the Pacific to Miraflores, with a total length of
25; miles, are the same in both schemes, owing to
the excavation already accomplished, as shown by
shading on the longitudinal section, about 11 miles of
the lake portion in the canal with locks are consider-
ably lower than required for giving 35 feet draught
of water; whilst the remaining ro miles of the
summit-level of the canal with locks could be enlarged
and deepened by 82 feet less depth of excavation
throughout than would be necessary for the sea-level
canal (Fig. 3).

The only serious objection that has been raised
against the design shown in the illustrations is that
the proposed dam near Bohio would
carried down 42 feet lower to reach a foundation of
rock than was anticipated; but it seems almost in-
credible that the commissions appointed during the
period that the New Panama Company had control of
the works, the special mission of which it was to deter-
mine the feasibility and best means of completing the
canal, should have neglected such an important in-
vestigation as the foundations for the Bohio dam.
The statements that the Engineering Committee, in
its report of this year, had presented the first definite
plan for the construction of the canal, and that the
American engineers had discovered a better site for a
dam at Gamboa, which formed part of the original
scheme, seem to indicate a bias against previous
schemes, and a desire to appear to strike out a novel
line. So far as information is at present available,
and assuming that the Bohio dam can be executed as
designed, it appears that a canal with locks would
cost much less, be much sooner completed, and
would be much more easily and cheaply enlarged than
a sea-level canal, and that the greater facilities for
navigation which might possibly be afforded by the
larger scheme would, owing to the lake navigation
offered by the other, be so insignificant as not to
justify the additional cost, delays, and uncertainties
the construction of a sea-level canal would entail.

Since the above article was written, the Advisory
Board of Engineers has by a majority of three re-
commended the construction of a sea-level canal,
three American and five foreigners voting in favour
of it, and five Americans against, giving the prefer-
ence to a canal with locks; but the report of the
Board has not yet been published.

THE BIOMETRICS OF BRAIN-WEIGHTS.

“We are not endeavouring to discredit anthropology, but to furnish such
branches of it as anthropometry and craniology with new tools—a little
sharp-edged to the uninitiated who handle them incautiously—but which
will raise anthropometry and craniology in the future into the category of
the more exact sciences” (Karl Pearson, Biometrika, vol. iii., p. 153,
1904).

“There is a mathematical science of statistics which must be learnt, and
papers dealing numerically with anthropometric and cran‘ometric data
which do not now apply this theory are simply outside the field of science '
(Biometrika, vol. iil.; p- 397; 1904).

T is not a raid, but a victorious invasion, that Prof.
Karl Pearson and his school have made into the
realms of anthropology, with the result that all that
part of it which deals with men in the mass becomes
an annex of the mathematician. The invasion
occurred at a most opportune time; great collections
of data which had been accumulated by the anthro-
pologist threatened to bury him, for he had neither
the method nor the appliances for welding them into
a composite whole. Especially was this the case with
the endless measurements of brain-weights obtained
most laboriously by the anatomist and pathologist;
they urgently required an application of the ‘‘ mathe-
matical science of statistics.’’ Hence the series of
articles which occupy the greater part of a number of

have to be~

DECEMBER 28, 1905]

NATURE

201

Biometrika! published a few months ago are par-
ticularly welcome; they lay a foundation for an exact
knowledge of this subject.

For a hundred years and more anatomists have
sought to establish a formula by which the mental
ability of any individual could be predicted from an
examination of the head or brain. The problem was
found to be beset with difficulties and extremely com-
plex. How was mental ability to be standardised and
measured? Is the ability shown by any individual a
fair and full manifestation of his endowment, or may
it be presumed that much is latent and potential?
Are all the nerve structures within the cranial cavity
equally concerned in the manifestation of a simple
mental process, or is the orgar? of the mind confined
to a part or parts of the brain? At an early date it
was discovered that the size of the mammalian brain
depended to a considerable extent on the size of the
body; age and sex, too, were found to influence its
weight. The weight of the brain was found to vary
widely from individual to individual without any
evident relationship to mental ability, so that most
scientific men came to share the opinion of the un-
scientific, that neither the shape nor the size of the
head, the volume or weight of the brain, could provide
any but the most uncertain indication of mental
status. Those who sought a key in the arrange-
ment and complexity of the convolutions have not
been more successful. Yet the belief that there is a
close relationship between the relative size of the brain
and degree of intelligence cannot be abandoned, for
it is founded on a study of comparative anatomy.
Amongst primates, for instance, it is found that those
members which most nearly approach man in size and
complexity of brain also most closely resemble him
in their mental processes. It is probable, as suggested
by Prof. Ray Lankester (NATURE, p. 624, April 26,
1g00), that the increase in brain-weight is correlated
with the substitution of voluntary or conscious for
reflex, instinctive or automatic mental processes, or,
in other words, the increase of brain-weight which is
seen in the highest primates is the substratum of that
mental quality which he has named “‘ educability ”’;
there is also the widespread belief that eminent men
have relatively large heads. An examination of the
heads of sixty distinguished men led Dr. Beddoe to
the conclusion that ‘‘ Intellectual distinction is
generally the concomitant of largeness of brain,
though there are numerous exceptions ’’ (Journ. of
the Anthropological Institute, p. 277, 1904). The
method by which Dr. Beddoe sought to establish a
correlationship between intelligence and skull capacity
is regarded by Lewenz and Pearson as ‘“‘ quite
fallacious. To begin with he selects a formula—
by guesswork—which is theoretically incorrect ”’
(Biometrika, p. 392, vol. iii., 1904). “To sum up,
anthropologists have not been able to establish, by
the methods commonly in use, that there is any direct
connection between the size of brain and_ special
manifestations of human intelligence.

Turning now to the biometricians, their conclusions
have the advantage of being founded on extensive
collections of data, and reached by methods which are
mathematically sound. In the number of Biometrika
cited at the commencement of this article, Dr. Ray-
mond Pearl gives the results of a biometrical analysis
of 2100 adult male and 1034 adult female brain-
weights, belonging to five races, Swedish, Bavarian,
Hessian, Bohemian, and English. Although the

1 Biometrika, vol. iv., parts i., ii., June, 1905, (t) ‘‘ Variation and Corre-
Jation in_ Brain-weight,” by Dr. Raymond Pearl (with twenty-three
diagrams in the text); (2) ‘‘ A Study of the Relations of the Brain to the
Size of the Head,” by Dr. Reginald J. Gladstone (with plates ii., iii., and
five figures in the text); (3) ‘‘On the Biometric Constants of English

Brain-weights,”” by Mr. J. PBlakeman, assisted by Miss Alice Lee and
Prof. Karl Pearson, F.R.S. (with six figures in the text).

NO. 1887, VOL. 73]

matter was only a side-issue in his investigation, he
sums up his conclusion as to the correlationship
between brain-weight and intelligence thus :—‘* There
is no evidence that brain-weight is sensibly correlated
with intellectual ability. The limits of this correlation
have been shown to be not closer than o and +0'6.””
Here are the conclusions of other biometricians :—
“There is no marked correlation between skull
capacity and intellectual power” (Dr. Alice Lee).
‘©We find the correlation sensible but so small that
it is impossible to base any prediction from the size
of the head as to general intelligence ’’ (Lee, Lewenz,
and Pearson, quoted from Biometrika, p. 392, vol. iii.,
1904). There are certain circumstances, too, which
must be taken into account. From about the age of
twenty onwards the weight of the brain gradually
decreases, a diminution which is not, as a rule,
accompanied by a decrease of intelligence. Nor does
the mean brain-weight of a race correspond to the
mean intelligence of that race. Of the five races in-
vestigated by biometricians, the English have the
smallest mean brain-weight. The mean of the adult
Englishman is 27 grams less than the Bavarian mean,
57 grams less than the Hessian mean, 65 grams less
than the Swedish mean, and 120 grams less than the
Bohemian mean. ‘‘ The order of racial average
brain-weight is very far from the order of average
racial intelligence. Nor is the order bettered if we
allow in any manner for stature’ (Blakeman). On
the data at present available, one must come to the
conclusion, apparently anomalous, that a big brain, so
far as the manifestation of intelligence is concerned,
has very little if any advantage over a small brain.
The explanation of that anomaly lies with the experi-
mental physiologist and psychologist. Meanwhile _ it
is well to remember that under the title of brain-
weight is grouped a complex of organs which are
diverse in structure and in function.

If there is so little correspondence between _brain-
weight and brain-function the apparent preponderance
of the man’s over the woman’s brain in weight and
size loses much of its significance. It is now possible,
thanks to the labours of the biometricians, to speak
with a degree of accuracy and assurance as to the
extent of that preponderance. The sexual difference
in mean brain-weight is least among the English;
the preponderance of the male in England is 100
grams (Pearson, from combined data) or 103 grams
(Blakeman, from Gladstone’s data); in Hesse 132
grams, in Bavaria 142 grams, in Bohemia 144 grams,
in Sweden 147 grams, and in France 181 grams. In
round numbers, the male preponderance is from 8 per
cent. to 13 per cent. Amongst gorillas the male
preponderance is 17 per cent., amongst orangs 13 per
cent., amongst chimpanzees 6 per cent., and amongst
gibbons 8 per cent., so that the human sexual differ-
entiation is approximately an average amount for a
higher primate. How far is the male preponderance
due to greater body size? The conclusions reached
by biometricians are the following :—‘* Differences
in stature and age account for less than one-third of
the observed sex-difference in brain-weight ’’? (Ray-
mond Pearl). ‘‘On the whole, as far as present
evidence goes, we can safely conclude that there is
no sensible relative difference in the brain-weights
of man and woman, the absolute differences observed
are quite compatible with the differences which result
from the relative sizes of the two sexes. . . . While
our results thus apparently contradict those of Pearl
on p. 51 of this Journal (Biometrika, vol. iv., 1905)
the contradiction is only on the surface, for we have
been able to use a far more complete system of
physical measurements ”’ (Blakeman, Lee, and Pear-
son). Yet if the writer has rightly grasped the

202

methods used, the difference between the results is
due to the fact that in his calculations Pearl took
into consideration merely age and stature, while the
second group of workers added a third, namely, the
diametrical product—a quantity which roughly repre-
sents the size of the head. To the writer, who is a
professed anatomist but not an expert mathematician,
it seems that one must infer from these results that
nearly two-thirds of the preponderance of the male
brain is correlated with the greater size of the male
head, while less than one-third is correlated with the
greater size of the male body, using stature as a
criterion of size. Clearly, if the writer’s interpret-
ation is correct, the cause of the relatively greater
weight of the male brain is still to seek, for it will
be readily granted that a greater brain must be corre-
lated with a greater size of skull. The writer is
prepared to believe that the relatively greater weight
of the male brain is not only correlated with, but
actually dependent on, the physically greater develop-
ment of the male body, for amongst the various
genera of anthropoids the sexual difference in brain-
weight corresponds very closely to the sexual differ-
entiation in body size.

To what extent, then, is the weight or size of the
brain influenced by the bulk of the body as measured
by stature or weight? Broca was of opinion that
each addition of 10 cm. to the stature was accom-
panied by an addition of 5 grams to the weight of
the brain; Marshall estimated the amount at 2.4
grams.' ‘‘In the Swedish males, an increase of
to cm. in stature connotes an increase in brain-weight
of 28.59 grams’’ (Raymond Pearl); the correspond-
ing amount in English males is estimated by Blake-
man at 38.69 grams. Dr. Pearl states that the
addition of 16.5 kilos. to the body-weight has the same
connotation as the addition of to cm. to stature. In
biometrical terms, the regression is linear. Such is
the conclusion which must be drawn from the human
data at present available; but one may legitimately
infer from the limited data provided by comparative
anatomists * that it will ultimately be found that equal
additions to the bulk of the body are attended, not by
equal increments to the brain-weight, but that each
successive addition to the body-weight is attended by
a_ relatively smaller increase in the brain-weight.
Manouvrier found that in passing from small to
medium-sized dogs the addition of each kilogram to
the body-weight was attended by the addition of 2.5
grams to the brain-weight; the increment in passing
from medium-sized to large dogs 1.7 grams, and from
large to very large dogs 0.7 gram. Marshall con-
cluded from Boyd’s data that a somewhat similar
relationship exists between the body- and brain-weight
in man. Gladstone has arranged measurements
made on the heads of 363 Englishmen, belonging to
all classes, in four groups, according to stature, and
has given the mean diametrical product for each
group. The diametrical product, as Mr. Blakeman
demonstrates, gives only an approximate indication
of the weight of the brain; but, allowing for that, it
is still remarkable that the addition to the diametrical
product steadily decreases as one passes from the lower
to the higher stature groups. There is also direct
evidence in favour of this opinion. Levi has demon-
strated that the only cells in the body which show a
marked correlation in size with the bull of the animal
are the ganglion nerve cells; but the relationship is
such that we must infer that every further increment
to the body-weight is attended by a diminished addi-

1 See Keith, ‘‘The Growth of Brain in Man and Monkeys” (Jom
Anat. and Physio., vol. xxix., p. 288. 1895).

° Eugen Dubois, ‘‘ Ueber die Abhingigkeit des Hirngewichtes von der

Korpergrisse bei den Saugethieren" (Archiv f. Anthrop , Bd
see also Keith, oc. cit.)

NO. 1887, VOL. 731

+ ¥Xv., 1890 }

NADRORE

| DECEMBER 28, 1905

tion to the size of the nerve cells. If the cerebral
nerve mass is regarded as the governing system of
the body, then one would not expect that each addition
to the body-weight would be attended by the same
increment to the brain-weight any more than every
subsequent million added to the population of a
country requires an equal addition to its administrative
service.

That there is a diminution in brain-weight in old
age has been accepted as a truth for many years, but
until now the rate of the diminution, the periods of
life at which it occurs, and its exact amount have
been undetermined. Pearl found that ‘‘ after the age
15-20 there is a steady though very gradual diminu-
tion in the weight of the brain with advancing age.

In the Swedish males, an increase of ten years
in age connotes a decrease of 19.39 grams in the
brain-weight.”? In English males, from the data
provided by Gladstone, Blakeman found that the brain
lost 21-97 grams each decade. Not only does the
brain decrease in weight, but the head shrinks in all
its diameters—at least in our English ‘“ general
hospital population.’’ The head shrinks more in
height than in length or breadth; the writer has
observed that the skull of the cat and the gibbon
shrinks in its vertical diameter as the animal becomes
aged.

The brain reaches its maximum weight at a re-
markably early period. Boyd, Vierordt, Marchand,
Ziehen, and Gladstone found that the heaviest brain-
weights occur between the ages of fifteen and twenty,
but their conclusions rest on a narrow and uncertain
basis; there is a remarkable dearth of observation on
the weight of the human brain between the fifteenth
and twenty-fifth years. During that period the body
is increasing in size; Powys found that the maximum
stature occurred early in the twenty-eighth year
(Biometrika, vol. i.); since there is a correlationship
between brain- and body-weight, there ought, there-
fore, to be an increase in the size of the brain so
long as the body continues to grow. Clearly Blake-
man and his collaborators, when they exclude all
subjects under the age of twenty-four, are inclined
to believe that the brain reaches its prime at a later
period than the material at their disposal showed.
They conclude that, so far as the weight of the body
organs is concerned, there is apparently not a
period, but only an instant of prime. Not more sur-
prising is the result that the brain shrinkage is
gradual; one would have expected a more rapid de-
crease after the ages at which Huxley proposed man
should be pole-axed and Osler suggested the appli-
cation of chloroform.

Much of the labour of the Pearsonian school was
undertaken with the view of obtaining a method by
which the size or weight of brain could be calculated
with a sufficient degree of accuracy in the living sub-
ject. With that end in view, they have worked out
on the data provided by Gladstone the correlationship
of brain-weight with eight physical characters of the
body, and found that the circumference of the head
and the diametrical product (obtained by multiplying
the length, breadth, and height diameters of the head)
were those which were most closely correlated with
brain-weight. Their prediction formula (multiple
regression equations) are founded on the diametrical
product and circumference, with deductions or addi-
tions for stature and age. These formule are applied
to the head of Jeremy Bentham, to a skull reputed
to be Dante’s, and to ‘‘one of ourselves, P.”? The
reputed Dante is found to have a probable brain-
weight which is 80 to 90 grams below the mean of
the English ‘ general hospital population ’’ (1328
erams); Bentham, a brain which was only a few

Ee

DECEMBER 28, 1905 |

NATURE

203

grams above the English mean; while ‘‘ P’s brain-
weight is essentially mediocre.’’ By the use of these
formule the brain-weight can be predicted in the
living with a probable error of 50 grams. ‘* Nothing
better can probably be achieved by introducing further
external characters, or by considering regression as
curved instead of plane.”

Looking widely at the labours of the biometricians
on human brain-weights, they appear to the writer,
who views them as an anatomist rather than a mathe-
matician, to have accomplished three things :—They
have fixed accurately the mean brain-weights for five
subraces of Europeans, and shown that mean brain-
weight is a racial character; they have estimated by
a definite standard the degree to which the brain
varies in size and weight according to the individual,
the sex, and the race; they have worked out the
extent to which various features of the head
body are correlated with the weight of brain, and
expressed them in definite and permanent terms.
They have laid a sound foundation for future
statistical work on this subject, and yet, even at the
risk of appearing ungracious, it is the writer’s opinion
that the full explanation of the relationship which
exists between intelligence, brain-weight, and other
characters is more likely to be discovered by those
who investigate the individual than by those who
study the mass.

THE HEAD-HUNTERS OF BORNEO.)

JITHOUT making any pretence to being scien-
tific, this plain and unvarnished, but emin-

ently readable, narrative of a lady’s experiences
among the natives of some of the more remote

Fic. r.—Head-hunters at Kaningau. From ‘‘ Everyday Life among the
Head-hunters,”’

districts of the interior of Borneo contains a large
amount of interesting information with regard to the
customs and mode of life of both Dyaks and the less

Li ss Everyday Life among the Head-hunters ; and other Experiences from
East to West.” By Dorothy Cator. Pp. xiv+2r12; illustrated. (London:
Longmans, Green and Co., 1905.) Price ss. net.

NO. 1887, VOL. 73]

and |

well known Muruts. Mrs. Cator, it appears, accom-
panied her husband on his official trips into the interior
of that wonderful island, and during these underwent
experiences and faced difficulties such as few ladies

Fic. 2.—Head-hunting Chief and his wife with the bamboo water-cans they
always use. From ‘‘ Everyday Life among the Head-hunters.”

would care to repeat, and which afford incontestable
testimony as to her pluck and resolution. Among
these experiences it will suffice to refer to the account
of her sleeping with her husband in a large shed in
company with a long row of savage head-hunters who
had never before beheld a white woman, or, for that
matter, a white man.

It is, indeed, the portion dealing with the Muruts,
or head-hunters, of the interior that forms by far the
most interesting section of Mrs. Cator’s volume, and

the one which will appeal most strongly to ethno-
logists. The Muruts, according to the author, are a

dark race compared to other races of the interior,
and have certain customs peculiar to themselves, the
preparation of a specially deadly form of the celebrated
upas poison being one of their attributes. Although
the Dyaks, except where under strict European con-
trol, are enthusiastic head-hunters, they preserve only
the scalp and hair of their victims, scalp after scalp
being added to their krisses with great pride. The
Muruts, on the other hand, carry off and preserve the
whole head as a proof of their prowess, their houses
being frequently decorated with these ghastly trophies,
which the author saw on more than one occasion
suspended above her sleeping-place. ‘* But there is
nothing revolting in their head-hunting,’’ writes Mrs.
Cator; ‘‘they fight fairly. It is their chance of
winning renown Prd showing what they are made of.
The only low part of it is that a woman’s head, owing
to her longer hair, is prized even eer than that
of a man; ‘but the whole thing is a thrilling game to
them, full of excitement and danger. There is
nothing unfair in their warfare; both sides are doing
the same, and man after man wins his spurs in feats
of pluck and daring.”’

Despite the truculent character of their head-hunting

204

NATURE

[DeceMBER 28, 1905

forays, the Muruts, when not thus engaged, struck
the author as being exceedingly gentle and extra-
ordinarily peaceful in their home life, so much so,
indeed, that during the whole of her sojourn among
them not a single ‘‘ family jar’’ was witnessed.
Although, like most Malays (in the wider sense of
that term), the Muruts are somewhat indolent in their
nature, yet they collect considerable quantities of
camphor, and grow such agricultural and garden
produce as is required for all their wants, inclusive
of material for clothes, while they are accomplished
hunters and fishermen.

We have directed special attention to the account
of the Muruts, as being the most interesting in the
volume; but all the chapters, including those relating
to the west coast of Africa, are well worthy of perusal,
and the book may be heartily commended to all our
readers. Re:

REPORT OF THE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.
WE are glad to welcome the annual report of the
director of the Geological Survey upon the
work carried on by his staff and himself during the
year 1904. It gives not only an account of the areas
surveyed and the maps issued, but affords an insight
into the new methods of research rendered possible
and necessary by the advance of scientific knowledge.
It is clear that, although maps showing the distribu-
tion of the rocks over the whole of the British Isles
have been published, the survey is by no means com-
plete, nor do we see that it can ever be considered as
complete until all the resources of scientific investi-
gation can be pronounced to be at an end. With
regard to the maps themselves, much of the earlier
work was put upon maps published as far back as
1819. Chemistry and physics, the appliances at the
disposal of the petrologist, and the knowledge acquired
by the palzontologist are all advancing with rapid
strides, and we see on reading such a work as the
annual report of the director of the Geological Survey
how they are all brought to bear upon the economically
important questions of identification of strata and
utilisation of the resources buried in the earth.

One cannot often walk over the ground and detect
at once what is of value in it, but a knowledge of the
association of minerals may tell one that a certain
vein may lead to a metalliferous lode. Hard earned
experience and a well trained eye recognise a band
of rock containing certain varieties of plants or
animals. It may be itself of no use commercially,
but yet be of the greatest value economically if it has
been ascertained that it occurs in constant relation
to some other stratum which is of value. Thus we find
on p. 5 of the summary that ‘‘ the search for coal
beneath the Triassic rocks of the Midlands which
has been going on for many years and is likely to
continue, has brought into great prominence the
importance of an accurate knowledge of the sub-
divisions of the upper unproductive measures ’?; and
again, p. 11, ‘‘A seam of coking coal has been worked
to the south-east of Alton. The depth and other
details have not yet been ascertained, but fossils,
similar to those got by Mr. Wedd in the brickpits at
Bullbridge, Ambergate, have been obtained from the
tip heap, and it is hoped that their distinctive
character may enable this seam to be traced over a
considerable area.”’

When we bear in mind that the discovery of one
good seam of coal would probably repay the country
the cost of maintaining the survey for many years,

1 “Summary of Progress of the Geological Survey of the United

Kingdom and Museum of Practical Geology for 1904."’ (London: Printed
for H.M. Stationery Office by Wyman and Sons.) Price rs.

No. 1887, VOL. 73]

let us hope that it will be one of the last institutions
affected by any policy of retrenchment.

The first object in founding the survey, and the
school and museum then wisely connected with it,
was the promotion of scientific research with a direct
aim at economic and practical results, and every
page of the report before us tells how admirably
this object is being carried out. The surveyors note
the occurrence and character of the various building
materials met with—the stone, brick, and cement pro-
duced in various localities; they record where road
metal may be procured and discuss the sources of
water supply, a subject which, having regard to its
importance, might well have a strong staff told off
for its investigation.

We find in the text or in an appendix useful analyses
of various rocks and minerals, descriptions of methods
of dressing ores, and a discussion of the conditions
which affect the search for coal-bearing strata which
are covered over by immense deposits of later date
and irregular occurrence.

It is clear that no one can tell beforehand what
will be directly productive of economic results in such
investigations as lie before the geologist, and the
country demands the encouragement of scientific re-
search and the pursuit of knowledge even where no
one could foresee any practical results. We find that
the survey does take cognisance of the physical geo-
graphy of each district examined, its ancient lines of
drainage, its raised beaches, and also investigates
many difficult questions of chemical, thermal, and
mechanical metamorphism, and the petrology and
palzontology of rocks not obviously productive of any-
thing of commercial value. The treatment of all these
questions is arranged first of all geographically, so
that anyone may turn to the description of his own
district, and then stratigraphically, and the names of
those who are responsible for the different statements
are given in the margin. When we realise that this
is the report of one year’s work, we may look forward
to the development of the summary into valuable
treatises of great practical and scientific value.

NOTES.
At a meeting of the Rontgen Society on Thursday next,
January 4, Prof. F. Soddy will deliver the presidential
address upon ‘‘ The Present Position of Radio-activity.”’

Tue death is announced of Mr. F. W. Burbidge, curator
of the botanical gardens of Trinity College, Dublin. From
a short obituary notice in Wednesday’s Times we learn
that Mr. Burbidge was born in Leicestershire in 1847,
and, after studying horticulture at Chiswick and at Kew,
afterwards combined a good deal of experience as a prac-
tical gardener with some adventurous journeys to Borneo
and the East Indies as a collector of birds and orchids.
He was appointed in 1879 to be the curator of the gardens
at Lansdowne Road, Dublin, which belong to the Board
of Trinity College, and are attached to the scientific side
of the college. He filled his office with distinguished
success, and made important contributions to the
literature of his subject, on which he was a recognised
authority. He was a member of the Royal Dublin Society
and of the Royal Horticultural Society, and in 1889 the
University of Dublin conferred upon him the degree of
Master of Arts, honoris causa. In addition to many
articles in periodicals, Mr. Burbidge was the author of
several books upon horticultural subjects.

many

AT a recent meeting of the Wellington Philosophical
Society, as reported in the Wellington Evening News of
November 4, an important discussion took place with re-

eee
ee

DECEMBER 28, 1905]

NATURE

205

gard to the alleged sheep-killing habit of the New Zealand
kea parrot. As is well known, this bird is commonly re-
ported to cause the death of sheep—or to leave them in
such a condition that death soon ensues—by pecking a hole
in the side, and the alleged habit is accepted as a
fact in ornithological and other natural history works.
According, however, to investigations undertaken indepen-
dently by a number of New Zealand gentlemen, the story
is without a shadow of foundation. The observers included
naturalists and estate agents, as well as others whose
judgment must be regarded as equally trustworthy. The
kea is a bird of unbounded curiosity, and it is suggested
that the myth is probably due to this habit, some observer
who had seen a kea inspecting the carcase of a defunct
sheep or lamb having very likely jumped to the conclusion
that the bird was the active cause of the animal’s death.
It is concluded that although the legend cannot be said to
be completely disproved, yet there is not a scrap of evidence
in its favour. Owing to its bad repute, the kea is in
imminent danger of extermination.

Tue ornithology of Oxfordshire, by Mr. Aplin, and notes
on fishes taken at Yarmouth, by Mr. A. H. Patterson,
are the subjects of the two articles in the December issue
of the Zoologist. Mention of several birds new to the
British list or of very rare occurrence in our islands is
made in the notes column, the two new forms being the
yellow-breasted bunting, from Norfolk, and the dusky
thrush, from Nottinghamshire. A correspondent publishes
a photograph of the skeleton of the fore-feet of a poly-
dactyle cat, displaying duplication of the thumb onone
side, and triplication on the other. Almost exactly similar
conditions obtain in the feet of two such abnormal cats
exhibited in the Natural History Museum.

Tue December number of the Naturalist contains new
regulations for the local protection of birds promulgated
by the county councils of the North, East, and West
Ridings of Yorkshire in response to a petition presented
by the Naturalists’ Union of the county. Among the more
noticeable items are the extension of the close time for a
previously scheduled list of species, the period now being
from the last day of February to September 1; the total
prohibition of the killing of a number of species mentioned
in a second list for a period of five years; and total protec-
tion for a similar period of the eggs of a third list of
species. Wild-bird shooting is entirely prohibited on
Sundays, while two proclaimed areas are to be protected
for a further five years. It is added that, in response to
an appeal from the Union, the Bridlington Harbour Com-
missioners have prohibited the practice of firing at the
birds on Bempton and Speeton Cliffs from passing pleasure-
steamers.

Museum News (Brooklyn, New York), No. 5, opens with
a dissertation on the proper mode of visiting museums,
that is, in order to derive some benefit therefrom. Type
descriptions of two exhibits are appended, one dealing
with the eggs of the brant-goose and the other with the
manati. The latter, we should say, is an excellent ex-
ample of what a museum descriptive label ought not to be,
for while manatis, dugongs, and rhytinas are all referred
to, there is not a word to indicate how they are to be
respectively distinguished. A novel practical exhibition—
desirable or otherwise—has been added to the Children’s
Museum in Bedford. In a vessel of water are placed a few
coins with an invitation to take one; but the coins remain,
for in the water are a couple of charged wires, from which
a severe electric shock is received.

NO. 1887, VOL. 73]

Four papers on Cretaceous reptiles are included in the
December number of the Amrerican Journal of Science.
The two first of these are devoted to a couple of new
representatives of horned dinosaurs (Ceratopsia) from the
Laramie beds of Wyoming, discovered by the late Mr.
J. B. Hatcher, for one of which the finder proposed the
name Triceratops brevicornis, while to the second, which
lacks the single nasal horn, Mr. R. S. Lull gives the new
generic and specific title Diceratops hatcheri. A figure of
a restored model of the head of the latter shows a creature
strangely like a rhinoceros, save for the rudimentary con-
dition of the nasal horn and the presence of a pair of
horns above the eyes. We have now evidence of the exist-
ence of either one, two, or three functional horns in the
Ceratopsia—features correlated by Mr. Lull with differences
in the mode of attack of these giant reptiles. The one-
horned form is supposed to have attacked in what the
author describes as rhinoceros-fashion, i.e. with an upward
thrust. Mr. Lull, however, appears to be unaware
that neither of the Asiatic one-horned rhinoceroses uses its
horn for fighting, but relies solely on its tusks! A
mounted skeleton of a third species, Triceratops prorsus,
in the U.S. National Museum, forms the subject of an
illustrated paper by Mr. C. Schuchert. The fourth of the
aforesaid series of reptilian papers is the first of a series
by Mr. G. R. Wieland on Upper Cretaceous turtles, the
forms dealt with in this instance being the small but thick-
shelled Adocidze (Adocus and Agomphus). The thickness
of the shell may have been correlated with sublittoral
habits as a protection against predatory dinosaurs.

Tue four latest issues of the Proceedings of the U.S.
National Museum comprise the description by Miss
Richardson of a new species of the crustacean genus
Livoneca from Panama (No. 1430); an account of the
breeding habits and the segmentation of the eggs of the
Florida pipe-fish (Sitphostoma floridae), by Mr. E. W.
Gudger (No. 1431); notes on exotic earwigs, with de-
scriptions of new species, by Mr. J. A. G. Rehn (No. 1432) ;
and a list of fishes collected at Shanghai and Hong Kong
in 1882-3, by Messrs. Jordan and Scale (No. 1433), con-
taining descriptions of half a dozen species regarded as
new to science. In the above-mentioned paper on the
Florida pipe-fish, Mr. Gudger gives a detailed summary
of the history of our knowledge of the breeding habits of
pipe-fishes and their kindred, and then discusses those of
the species under consideration. In all these fishes the
ripe eggs are transferred from the oviducts of the female
to a special brooding-pouch on the under-side of the
abdomen of the male. In the case of the Florida species,
when the eggs are ready for transference the male and
female fishes swim round and round one another for a
time, and then intertwine their bodies in the form of a
double letter S, with the heads of each turned outwards.
In this position the eggs are transferred from the ovary
of the female to the pouch of the male, where the two
are in contact, about a dozen eggs being received in the
pouch, where they are presumably fertilised. The male
then performs a series of evolutions for the purpose of
“shaking down ’’ the eggs into the end of the pouch, on
the completion of which the process of transference is
resumed. The eggs, which soon become fixed to the
pouch, are hatched in ten days. Full details, with illus-
trations, are given of the segmentation.

Tue first appendix to the Kew Bulletin for 1906 has put
in an early appearance ; it contains a list of seeds of hardy
herbaceous plants, and of trees and shrubs available for
exchange with botanic gardens or regular correspondents
of Kew.

206

NATURE

{[ DECEMBER 28, 1905

It has been recognised that in the case of the winter-
greens, species of Pyrola, ‘the seedlings possess some un-
discovered peculiarity. In 1882 Kamienski described for
the allied genus Monotropa the formation of a thread-like
body out of which the flowering shoot arose. Ten years
later Prof. J. Velenovsky announced that from the seed
of Monesis, or Pyrola uniflora, there develops a primary
body, a procaulom, from which the leafy shoot develops
endogenously. Recently he has published an account of
the seedlings of Pyrola secunda in the Bulletin inter-
national de l’Académie des Sciences de Bohéme, October,
in which he confirms his previous conjectures.

Farmers in New Zealand well instructed by the
Department of Agriculture as to the wisdom of extermin-
ating weeds, so that a discussion of the weed habit in
plants by Dr. L. Cockayne, published in the Canterbury
Agricultural and Pastoral Association’s Journal, October,
has its special interest. On lands the
are mostly aliens, but a number of indigenous weeds are
spreading over pasture lands in different parts; they in-
clude manuka scrub, Leptospermum, cotton wood, Cassinia
leptophylla, plantains, and species of Acacna that are dis-
tributed by means of their hooked burrs. The indigenous
grass Danthonia semiannularis is a rare instance of an
aggressive plant that possesses economic value.

are

cultivated

As a point of some importance in connection with the
stage at which grasses should be cut for fodder, Mr. H. H.
Cousins gives in the Jamaica Bulletin (October) the results
of chemical analyses made at different times. In the case
of hay grass, Sporobolus indicus, cut after two weeks’
growth, the albuminoids amounted to ro per cent. of the dry
weight, whereas after four weeks they barely reached 6 per
cent.; a marked difference was also found in the hay of
guinea grass, Panicum maximum, cut before flowering or
during the fruiting stage. In the same number, in the
course of a report on cocoa cultivation, Mr. Cradwick
questions whether “‘ fiddler ’’ larvae can attack undamaged
and healthy trees; on this matter there appears to be a
difference of opinion.

In St. Lucia, according to the annual report for the
year 1904-5 of the botanic and experiment stations, cacao
planters are beginning to learn from the successful results
shown on the experimental plots that a greatly improved
yield can be obtained by systematic manuring and intense
cultivation. Among products of secondary importance, the
dwarf or Chinese banana, Musa Cavendishii, is receiving
a trial, and the cultivation of vanilla is recommended.
Mr. Hudson, the agricultural instructor, writing on the
subject of supports for vanilla plants, selects the Liberian
and a wild coffee plant, or the annatto, Bixa orellana, as
the most suitable.

Tue annual report for the year 1904-5 of the Board of
Agriculture in Jamaica contains an account of numerous
experimental plantations at Hope Experiment Station for
testing varieties of bananas, plantains, cassava, tannias,
citrus fruits, pineapples, and sweet potatoes. Of these
crops cassava is of special importance, as it could
be cultivated profitably on much land that is now lying
waste, if central factories were erected for the purpose
of manufacturing starch. In addition to the experimental
plots, where sixty varieties of cane are on trial, the sugar
industry is likely to benefit greatly by the central labor-
atory which is to be constructed. This will contain a
room fitted up for analytical work, a fermentation labor-
atory, and an experimental distillery.

NO. 1867,.VOL. 73)

weeds |

Ir is becoming more and more evident that, even in
minor earthquakes, the focus may be much more complex
than the simple fissure or cavity accepted by earlier
seismologists. Dr. C. Davison has familiarised us with
twin foci in the small earthquakes of the British Isles, and
now we have an account, by Dr. S. Arcidiacono, of
Catania, in the Bolletino della Societa Sismologica Italiana,
of the Sicilian earthquake of June 14, 1904, which, though
nowhere more than a feeble shock, showed no less than
four separate centres of maximum intensity.

A PAMPHLET issued by Pre. Raffaello Stiatteri, from the
geodynamic observatory of Quarto Castello, near Florence,
deals with the determination of the distance of the epicentre

| of an earthquake from the duration of the preliminary

tremors. He finds from his own observations that, for
epicentres not more than 2000 km. distant, the distance
in kilometres is 5-63 times the duration of the tremors, ex-
pressed in seconds. Prof. Omori, working in Japan,
deduced a similar formula, but his factor was 6-54 for the
same limit of distance. This is attributed, with what
seems sound reason, to a difference between the constitu-
tion of the earth’s crust under central Europe and that
under the sea east of Japan; but the possibility is indicated
that the difference may be partly attributable to Prof.
Omori’s instruments being less adapted for picking up
the earliest tremors than those built and used by the Abbé
Stiatteri since 1902.

Ar Detroit, Michigan, large deposits of salt underlie
the limestone and sandstone at a depth of 1500 feet. Bore-
holes have been put down through which brine has been
pumped; but up to a year ago all attempts to sink shafts
to mine the salt have proved failures owing to the sulphur
and gases encountered. On February 20 a new shaft was
begun, and has been successfully carried to the salt.
Illustrations given in the Engineering and Mining Journal
show that a crib was employed made of 12 by 12-inch
timbers bolted together and made absolutely water-tight.
This was forced from the top downwards to the salt, Port-
land cement being used between the crib and the rock.
Two powerful ventilating fans were used for driving out the
gases; but even then men could only remain in the shaft
for a very short time without losing consciousness.

Tue last issue of the Transactions of the Nova Scotian
Institute of Sctence (vol. xi., part i.), although somewhat
belated in publication, records a year’s useful scientific
work. The most important paper contributed is that by
Prof. J. E. Woodman on the geology of the Moose River
gold district in Halifax county. It formed part of an
investigation into the pre-Carboniferous history of the gold-
bearing series. The gold occurs in sedimentary deposits
and in veins. In the former it is held chiefly in slates,
almost all being in the form of sulphides. In the quartz
veins, however, a large proportion is free within the zone
of oxidation, and a small amount below it. Detailed de-
scriptions of the veins are given, and the paper is accom-
panied by eighteen admirable maps and _ illustrations.
Other papers deal with sections and analyses of Nova
Scotian coals, by Dr. E. Gilpin; contributions to the study
of hydroxylamine and its salts, by Mr. W. H. Ross; and
details of about forty fungi determined by Mr. R. R.
Gates from the vicinity of Middleton, in Annapolis county.

Tue Engineering Standards Committee has issued, in the
form of a pamphlet of sixty pages, a report on progress
of work from January, 1901, to July, 1905. Originally
formed with the object of standardising steel sections, its
scope has since been greatly enlarged. The subjects dealt

DeEcEMBER 28, 1905 |

NATURE

207

with up to the present time include :—rolled sections ; rail- | tube without the use of a pump. The method requires

way and tramway rails; locomotives for Indian railways ;
pipe flanges; screw threads; pipe threads; limit-gauges ;
railway rolling-stock material; tire profiles; steel castings
and forgings for marine work; Portland cement ; cast-iron
pipes; generators, motors, and transformers ; prime-movers
for electrical purposes; physical standards; telegraph and
telephone material; electric cables; electric tramway
materials; electric automobiles; and electric plant acces-
sories. The report recounts the results of the labours of
the committee, and includes a list of the members serving
on the thirty-five sectional committees, as well as a list
of the publications issued. It is impossible to exaggerate
the value of the work done, and the thanks of all engineers
are due to the five technical societies who supplied the
funds to inaugurate a work of such national importance.

We learn from the November number of Das Wetter
that the highest kite ascent on record was made at the
aéronautical observatory at Lindenberg (Prussia) on
November 25, an altitude of 21,100 feet being attained.
In this ascent six kites were attached to each other, with
a wire line of nearly sixteen thousand yards in length.
The minimum temperature recorded was —13° F.; at
starting the reading was 41°. The wind velocity at the
surface of the earth was eighteen miles an hour, and at
the maximum altitude it reached fifty-six miles an hour.
Up to the time of this ascent the highest record by a kite
was nearly 1100 feet lower, and was obtained by M.
Teisserenc de Bort, from a Danish gun-boat, in the Baltic.

Tue Journal of the Meteorological Society of Japan for
October contains an article (in French) on the rainfall of
Chemulpo. The Japanese observatory was only established
in April, 1904; the observations on which the present paper
is based were made by the Corean customs officers during
eleven years, 1893-1903. The mean annual rainfall is
38 inches, of which 7-7 inches fell in July; 53 per cent.
of the total amount fell in three summer months. The
average number of rain-days is 89. The heaviest rainfall
during one hour was 085 inch, in August, 1901. The
average duration of rainfall is about six hours, the longest
falls being in springtime.

We have received from Dr. Hergesell, president of the
International Aéronautical Committee, a summary of the
ascents made during the four months May to August, in
various countries, by kites and balloons. Only the heights
reached are quoted—not the meteorological results, which
will be published later on. The unmanned balloons
obtained several records at heights exceeding 15,000 metres
in each of the months :—in May, 18,490 metres, at Munich ;
in June, 20,620 metres, at Munich; in July, 20,000 metres,
at Munich; on August 3, 25,800 metres, at Strassburg ;
on August 2, 15,230 metres, in the Atlantic, on the Prince
of Monaco’s yacht. In connection with the solar eclipse,
ascents were made on the three days August 29-31. On
the day of the eclipse, an altitude of 23,010 metres was
reached at Munich. During the month of August several
kite ascents were made in the North Sea by Mr. G. C.
Simpson, under the auspices of the Royal Meteorological
Society, and some valuable results were obtained, both as
to temperature and humidity.

Lorp Brytuswoop and Mr. H. S. Allen contribute to
fhe Philosophical Magazine for October an_ interesting
investigation of Dewar’s method of producing high vacua
by means of charcoal. It is shown that it is only necessary
to increase the size of the charcoal receptacle in order to
produce a high degree of exhaustion in a large discharge

NO 1887, VoL. 73]

only moderate quantities of liquid air, and is particularly
useful when it is desirable to avoid the presence of mercury
vapour in the vacuum tube, as in the Geissler tubes used
for spectroscopic analysis. A special investigation showed
that the rate of absorption of the charcoal at any instant
is proportional to the difference between the total amount
of air absorbed and the amount which has been absorbed
at the instant in question, that is, the rate is in a constant
ratio to the quantity of air that will still be taken up by

the charcoal. The constant is but little affected by alter-
ations of the pressure under which absorption occurs.

Tue residual electromotive force of the carbon are is the
subject of a paper by Mr. G. G. Becknell in the Physical
Review (vol. xxi., No. 3). The circuit used was so
arranged that the dynamo and galvanometer could be

alternately joined in series with the are gap, and it was
found that the so-called residual current could be observed
for more than ten seconds after the interruption of the
arc. From the experiments it is concluded that the current
can be attributed neither to a thermoelectric effect in the

arc nor to one external to it. A description is given of
the means by which the residual electromotive force and

current are measured as functions of the time, and from
the curves shown it is seen that the fall of the current is
much more precipitate than that of the E.M.F., showing
that the resistance of the arc increases very rapidly. An
explanation is suggested by considering that a stream of
corpuscles is freely emitted by both incandescent terminals,
but more abundantly from the positive, and that these
diffuse across the are gap until the carbons have so far
cooled down that the rate of production of the negative
ions by the positive carbon no longer exceeds the rate of
their production by the negative carbon.

Messrs. F. VIEWEG AND SON have just issued a second
revised and enlarged edition of Prof. F. Hofmeister’s
““Leitfaden fiir den praktisch-chemischen Unterricht der
Mediziner,’’ originally published in 18qq.

Mr. J. A. Bartu, Leipzig, has sent us a part of the
second edition of the ‘‘ Handbuch der Physik ”’ edited by
Prof. A. Winkelmann. This part is the first half of the
fifth volume of the handbook, and in it Prof. F. Auerbach
deals with electricity and magnetism. We await the re-
mainder of the work before a review can be undertaken
usefully.

Messrs. A. GALLENKAMP AND Co., Ltp., of Sun Street,
Finsbury, E.C., are issuing a series of descriptive circulars
giving full particulars of special arrangements of physical
apparatus which they now make up for fundamental work
in experimental science. The forms of apparatus have
been carefully selected so that accurate results may be
obtained by experiments with them.

New editions of parts of two valuable works on physics
have lately been published by Messrs. F. Vieweg and Son,
Brunswick. One is the first part of the first volume of
the tenth enlarged and revised edition of Miiller-Pouillet’s
‘* Lehrbuch der Physik und Meteorologic,’’ edited by Prof.
L. Pfaundler in cooperation with several other eminent
German physicists and meteorologists. This part, by Prof.
Pfaundler, contains the general introduction on the proper-
ties of matter, while the remainder is devoted to mechanics.
The work will be completed in four volumes. The second
part of the first volume of the seventh edition of Dr. J.
Frick’s ‘‘ Physicalische Technik ’’ has also been received.
This work will be completed in two volumes, and notices
of it and of the above mentioned treatise are best deferred
until all the parts have come to hand.

208

OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN.

Comet 1905c.—The results of numerous observations of
comet 1905c (Giacobini) are published in No. 4058 of the
Astronomische Nachrichten. Observing at Bamberg on
December 10, Prof. Hartwig recorded the magnitude of
this object as 10-0 and its diameter as 2’.

The following is taken from an ephemeris published by
Herr E. Strémgren in No. 4060 of the Astronomische
Nachrichten :—

1905-06 a (true) § (true) log y log A Brightness
h. m. s. ey)
Dec. 28 ... 16 31 10... + 5 $42 ... 9°8601 ... 0'0312 5°16
B30). 16 40 019). - 1131450
Jan. I ...17 2 3... + I 28°6....9°7908 ... O10192... 7°51
Shee UG HP PH as = O Gar7/
5 Bo BG Bln = 2 2A we OFOA® 5 OF) a0 MUA

Writing in the Daily Graphic, Mr. Denning states that
the comet is rapidly becoming brighter, and should become
visible to the naked eye early next month. On January 6
the comet will be about fourteen times as bright as when
discovered.

Ecuipse Spectra.—At the meeting of the Paris Academy
of Sciences held on December 11, M. Salet submitted
further, and more detailed, results of the discussion of the
spectrograms obtained by him during the recent eclipse of
the sun.

Two spectroscopes were employed, the one arranged for
photographing the visual part of the spectrum, the other,
made up of quartz and Iceland-spar optical parts, for
photographing the ultra-violet end.

The slits of the spectroscopes were adjusted so that they
bisected the solar images produced by two heliostats and
collimators. On the one side of the sun the slit cut
through an important group of prominences, and the result-
ing spectrum shows a number of lines, including those due
to H, Ca, coronium, and He, and a line at A 4025 to
which no origin has as yet been assigned. On the other
limb of the sun the spectrum shows only the lines due to
coronium and the H and K (calcium) lines.

Of all the lines found, M. Salet believes that only the
coronium line is truly coronal; this extends to about 4/
above the sun’s limb, but does not descend to it, whilst
the lines of other elements are strongest next to the limb,
and are much shorter than the coronal line.

Twenty-two lines have been measured in the ultra-violet
spectrum obtained—which extends to A 308, and is very
rich in bright lines—and of these eight are coincident with
strong titanium lines in the ordinary solar spectrum
(Comptes rendus, No. 24).

IONISATION OF THE ATMOSPHERE DURING ToTAL SOLAR
Ecuipse.—The results of the researches on the ionisation
of the atmosphere during the eclipse of August 30, which
were obtained by M. Charles Nordmann at Philippeville,
are published in No. 23 (December 4) of the Comptes
rendus.

Until about forty-five minutes after the first contact, the
curve registered by the ionograph was of the regularly
increasing type, such as was obtained on every day when
the sky was clear. But at that time an unusual pro-
gressive recession took place, culminating in a sharply
marked minimum forty minutes after totality, and this was
followed by a gradual increase in the ionisation until, at
about twenty minutes after the last contact, the curve
assumed its normal height.

It thus appears from this research that the solar radi-
ation is one of the factors on which the ionisation of the
atmosphere depends, a result which accords with the hypo-
theses formulated by Lenard, Elster and Geitel.

The amount of the “‘ lag’ of the ionisation curve behind
the related eclipse phenomena is also in accordance with
theory.

MEASURES or DousLe Stars.—The Greenwich results of
micrometer measures of double stars during the year 1904
are published in No. 1, vol. Ixvi., of the Monthly Notices.
The observers were Messrs. Lewis, Furner, and Bowyer,
and the observations were made with the 28-inch refractor
‘28 feet focal length),

NO. 1887, VOL. 73]

NA LORE

a power of 670 being generally

[DECEMBER 28, 1905

employed. About 430 stars were measured, some of them
on several nights, and the table given shows the coordin-
ates (1900), the position angle, the distance, the magnitude,
and the epoch of the observation of each pair.

GRAPHICAL METHOD FOR FINDING THE TIME OF Moon-
RISE.—In No. 10, vol. xiii. of Popular Astronomy, Fr-
W. F. Rigge, S.J., of Creighton University (Nebraska),
gives and explains a set of curves which may be used for
finding the times of moonrise and moonset, on any future
date, employing a graphical method which he believes has
not been previously published. Three curves are necessary,
one to determine the time of the moon’s meridian passage,
the second to give its hour-angle, and the third to obtaim
the correction to the rising and setting, due to the moon’s
motion in right ascension.

The correct result is easily obtained to within an accuracy
of one minute, and the author states that he is able to
compute the times of both rising and setting, for a whole
month, in less than an hour.

NEW BUILDINGS OF THE GLASGOW AND
WEST OF SCOTLAND TECHNICAL COLLEGE.

“THE first section of the new buildings of the Glasgow
and West of Scotland Technical College was formally
opened on Thursday, December 21, by the Right Hon.
John Sinclair, M.P., Secretary for Scotland. The opening
ceremony took place in the examination hall, and was
attended by a large and representative assembly. The
chairman of the governors, Mr. Wm. Robertson Copland,
presided, and in introducing Mr. Sinclair gave several
details that are of general interest. The part of the build-
ing now completed and occupied represented about 70 per
cent. of the whole scheme, and even in its uncompleted
state was the largest of the kind in Great Britain. The
floor area of the completed part extended to more than
187,000 square feet, or about four and one-third acres; the
corridors in the building measured more than a mile in
length; and there were 828 windows which required one
acre and one-third of glass to fill them. The cost of
the completed part was 211,743!., and was fully met by
subscriptions already paid or by sums about to fall in.
Although all the principal classes were now accommodated
in the new buildings, there were still several industrial
classes—for decoration, furniture design, printing, litho-
graphing, and the like—that would have to be conducted
in rooms outside the college. It was also pointed out that
since the demand for new buildings became clamant about
ten years ago, the increase in the number of day and
evening students combined had been about 50 per cent. ;
last session, 1904-5, the day students numbered 530 and
the evening students 4490.

The Secretary for Scotland said it was a very high
privilege to be associated in any degree with so important
a work. Nobody who knew anything of Glasgow or the
west of Scotland and looked round that assembly, both on
the platform and before him, could fail to recognise that
an occasion which brought together the leading men in
so many different spheres of activity was an occasion of
special importance. That fact had been emphasised by
the figures which the chairman had given them in con-
nection with the technical college, and it must be a special
Sratification to the governors of the college that public
appreciation of their work was so evident in the attend-
ance of leading men that afternoon. As he understood
it, this great institution was specially fortunate in carry-
ing on an ancient tradition—a tradition dating from Prof.
Anderson, a man who seemed to have been curiously
modern in some of his ideas; and it must be a source of
strength to that institution that it had so venerable a
tradition to support and so wide a field of modern activity.
No one would dispute henceforth, if they had been inclined
to dispute it hitherto, that Glasgow and the west of Scot-
land generally, in the erection of that great building, in
the size and selection of the staff, and in the growing
attendance of the students, had shown a lively recognition
of the value of such work as was done in that institution.
As the chairman had pointed out, the plans of himself and
the board of governors had not been fully attained; he

DECEMBER 28, 1905 |

INET ORE

209

Was sure it was the hope of all present that support would
soon be forthcoming to enable the plans to be completed.
There was another kind of support equally essential for
the progress of the institution—the appreciation of its
benefits by those who enjoyed them. They had a guarantee

for that in the manner in which the management controlled |

and guided the affairs of the college; for the governors

were assisted by committees having a practical knowledge |

of the different trades affected, committees consisting of
employers and employed, of masters and men. He was
sure all those who had the privilege of knowing anything,
however little, of this institution would have confidence
that in the future as in the past it would meet with that
public recognition which it so truly deserved. In closing,
he declared the new buildings open.

The memorial stone of the new buildings of the Glasgow

Photo.
Fic. 1.—Completed Part of the New Buildings of the Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College.

and West of Scotland Technical College was laid on May
14, 1903, by His Majesty King Edward, and in Nature,
vol. Ixviii., pp. 63, 64, a notice was given of the ceremony
and also a sketch of the history of the college and an
outline of the proposed scheme of new buildings. These
will ultimately consist of five large wings, two parallel to
George Street and three at right angles to them and
parallel to Montrose Street; of these all except the prin-
cipal portion of the front wing to George Street have been
completed. The frontage to George Street will be 346 feet
long, more than 1oo feet in height, and will contain five
floors and a semi-basement; the frontage to Montrose
Street, 300 feet 'ong, is shown in the annexed photo-
graph. The plan of confining each department to one
floor has been followed in nearly every case, and the
internal arrangements generally are believed to be well

NO. 1887, VOL. 73]

| cirrus

adapted to efficient working. The figures given in
vol. Ixviii., p. 64, for the space allotted to each principal
department represent very closely the dimensions in the
completed part, and the equipment already provided has
cost about 24,o00l.; but additions to the buildings and
equipment are urgently required, because, large though
the premises are, they are inadequate for the accommoda-
tion of all the students of the college, and additional
premises have still to be rented. GAL Gs

RECENT STUDIES OF PERIODS IN
METEOROLOGY.

1B Symons’s Meteorological Magazine for November

(No. 478, vol. xl.) Mr. A. P. Jenkin contributes an
interesting note on periodicity of rainfall. Dealing with
the Greenwich data commencing in
1843, he finds that there is a three-
year period of rainfall, which, how-
ever, at times suffers reversal. Thus
for a series of years we shall have
two wet years followed by a dry one,
and for a subsequent series two dry
years followed by one wet one. Mr.
Jenkin finds that this result can be
obtained by transforming an actual
period of 3-2 years into a period of
3-0 years, reversals taking place at the
end of eight periods, and he compares
the values thus obtained with the
Greenwich rainfall figures. The result
is interesting. As regards the origin
of this three-year period, he says the
‘“ apparent period of three years with
reversals is a real period of between
three and four years, which is just
what Sir Norman and Dr. Lockyer
have observed in meteorological pheno-
mena in India and other widely
separated parts of the earth... .”
Mr. Jenkin has apparently not seen
the article which appeared in these
columns in June last (vol. xxii.
p- 180), in which the relation between
British pressure and rainfall changes
and the Thames flow was discussed.
The short-period British pressure
variations (and consequently rainfall,
since the latter is inverse to the
pressure) were there shown to be
intimately associated with the two
main world-pressure types of those
authors, as the following extract will
show :—‘ During some years the
British area is enveloped in the
pressure system that extends over the
large area in which India is about the
centre, while for another series of
years it is dominated by the antipodal
pressure system of which South
America is the middle portion.”

“Tt is possible that it is this
alternate reversion from one type to
the other that prevents the 3-8-vear
change of the Indian and Cordoba
curves from occurring in the British
curves, and substitutes for it an apparent shorter period of
about three years, which is very noticeable for some series
of years in the British curves.”

It will thus be seen that Mr. Jenkin has practically
arrived independently at a similar conclusion. In the
same note Mr. Jenkin deals with the Cape Town rainfall,
which, as he says, shows the same result, though the
number of periods in a series is six, and the time of
reversal does not coincide with that of Greenwich.

In a series of important articles on the forms of cirrus-
clouds, the last of which appeared in the Meteorologische
Zeitschrift for October (vol. xxii., No. 10), Prof. Oslhoff,
of Cologne, sums up his observations, extending over
twenty years, as follows :—The ordinary origin of different
forms are air currents of various kinds, which
either cause existing cloud material to rend itself, or

Annan.

210

NA RORE

[ DECEMBER 28, 1905

carry water vapour which is condensed by penetrating
colder air strata, and are immediately converted into ice-
needles. These forms are also found under the more
moderate clouds of the lower strata of the atmosphere, but
in coarser form. Cirrus clouds gradually change their
form in a period which coincides with that of the sun-
spots, and consequently are caused by solar radiation. No
kind of cirrus-cloud can be used with certainty as a
weather sign. The influence of the sun at the time of
sun-spot maximum is unmistakable in the case of clouds
of moderate elevation.

In the Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of
New South Wales for 1902 (vol. xxxvi. p. 42) Mr. H. I.
Jensen contributed a paper on the possible relation between
sun-spot minima and volcanic eruptions. This paper con-
tained the results of an examination of the statistics, from
1780, relating to seismic disturbances and volcanic erup-
tions, and the conclusion at which the author arrived was
that the frequency of both these phenomena varied inversely
with the sun-spot curve, or, in other words, the fewer the
sun-spots the greater the number of earthquakes and
voleanic eruptions. In the volume of the same journal for
the year 1904 (vol. xxxviii. p. 40) the author pursues the
inquiry further, and, as he says, ‘‘I have succeeded in
collecting numerous facts which throw further light on
the question and strengthen my former conclusions.’’
Later on in the paper the author refers to the letter pub-
lished in the Times (May 19, 1902) by Sir Norman
Lockyer, who stated that earthquakes and eruptions were
most frequent at sun-spot minima and maxima. In this
connection the author writes:—‘‘ My view was, and is,
that these phenomena are at a maximum when sun-spots
are at a minimum, although from my later researches it
seems that at sun-spot maxima there sometimes is a violent
and spasmodic outburst of volcanic violence.’’

Part ii. of this second communication deals with the
connection between sun-spot and meteorological pheno-
mena. The author here collects and summarises the con-

clusions of many workers, and adds a list of recent papers
dealing with sun-spots, prominences, corona, earth-
magnetism, auroree, and meteorological data discussed in
relation to solar changes. The communication concludes
with a table of seismic and volcanic disturbances which
occurred between April 1, 1902, and December 31,
1903.

In March last Dr. W. N. Shaw read a valuable paper
before the Royal Statistical Society entitled ‘‘ Seasons in

the British Isles from 1878,’’ which appeared in vol.
Ixviii., part ii., of the journal of that society. We have
now received a reprint of that paper, and as it con-

tains no less than 97 pages, including a discussion which
occupies 6 pages, the reader may conclude that the sub-
ject has received very minute consideration. As director
of the Meteorological Office, Dr: Shaw has at his com-
mand the most complete and homogeneous series of meteor-
ological observations of these islands that exists, and in
the present compilation he has so arranged the data that
they are in a form at once suitable to anyone who may
wish to study the relations of various phenomena with
British weather. Like most other regions of the world,
the British Isles are subject to wet years, dry years, cold
years, and warm years, so that successive seasons differ
very considerably from one another. Some of the meteor-
ological statistics are therefore arranged to show at a
glance the various characteristics of any year or season
of the year. The contents of the reprint before us are not,
however, restricted to the statistics of the meteorological
data alone. We find that statistics relating to fog days in
London,

gales on the east coast, sea casualties, storm
warnings, first flowering of forest trees, shrubs, herbs,
beginning of corn harvest, yield of crops, deaths from

various diseases, &c., are carefully correlated with the
meteorological data according to each of the four seasons
of the year. In the course of this compilation it was
found that the relation between the autumn rainfall and
the yield of wheat was very close. In fact, dealing with
data from the year 1885, the yield was found to be above
the average when the previous autumn rainfall was below
the average, and vice versd (1889 and 1903 excepted).
Space does not permit us to deal with this important
contribution at greater length, so we must refer those of

No. 1887, VOL. 73]

our readers who are particularly interested in such statistics
to the reprint itself.

In a pamphlet entitled ‘‘ Ueber die wahrscheinlichkeit
yon periodischen und unperiodischen Schwankungen in
dem atlantischen Strome und ihren Beziehungen zu
meteorologischen und biologischen Phaenomenen,’’ written
by Otto Petterson, we have an interesting and valuable
discussion on the correlation of hydrographic, biological,
and meteorological data. This pamphlet is an extract
from ‘‘ Gesamtbericht, 1902-4,’’ vol. iii., of the report
and procés-verbaux of the international committee on the
exploration of the sea (August, 1905), with the addition
of an interesting introduction in which is briefly and
clearly summed up the general hydrographic condition of
those particular parts of the ocean referred to in the
paper. In dealing with the annual variations it is first
pointed out that there exists a temperature change of deep
water (250 metres) at Motowskijfjord which reaches a
maximum value in about November ; this change is brought
about by the Atlantic water. Reference is next made to
the annual variations of the depths of the sea near the
coasts of Holland and Sweden, and here the maximum is
again in late autumn, namely, from October to December.
It is shown that we are here in presence of a new pheno-
menon, namely, an annual pulsation of the sea, of which
the whole ocean, from the tropics to the polar seas, takes
part.

Our attention is then directed to the changes which
take place from year to year, and it is shown how similar
are the variations of the temperature of the sea on the
Norwegian coast and the air temperature in the centre of
Sweden. It is pointed out that the annual variation some-
times suffers perturbations, and is at times retarded or
accelerated by a month or two; this is accompanied by
important climatic and biological changes. The general
impression gained is that the maxima and minima of water
and air temperatures in the winter months are repeated
in alternate years which indicate a two-year period in
the hydrographic perturbations. The author then connects
up these regular and irregular changes with the fisheries,
and concludes that there exists a close connection between
hydrographic, meteorological, and biological phenomena
which should in future be taken into account. ‘

ANTARCTIC EARTHQUAKES.

HE Discovery carried with her to the Antarctic regions
one instrument which kept her, to a slight extent, in
touch with the outer world. During the long intervals
between the visits of the relief ship there was no word
of sport or of the strife of party politics which fill so large
a space in the daily papers, but from time to time the
Milne seismograph told that somewhere there had been
a great earthquake, and in some cases could even say
approximately where it had taken place. Now, the records
are serving another purpose, and the first instalment of
their discussion has appeared as a ‘‘ Preliminary Note on
Observations made with a Horizontal Pendulum in the
Antarctic Regions,’’ read before the Royal Society by Prof.
J. Milne, F.R.S.

In all, some 3000 feet of films, obtained by Mr. Louis
Bernacchi, were brought back by the Discovery, and, as
might be expected, their examination is still incomplete,
in spite of the assistance which Prof. Milne acknowledges ;
yet one result stands out from the wealth of hints and
suggestions which crowds the paper, in the discovery of a
new submarine earthquake region lying to the south-west
of New Zealand, from which came 73 out of the 136
distinct earthquakes recorded. This, however, does not
end the matter, for it is found that not a few of these
earthquakes were also recorded by the Milne pendulums
in England, that is, near the antipodes of the origin, but
not by similar instruments at a less distance. The
explanation offered may best be illustrated by a simple
experiment, which anyone can perform; take a circular
tub containing water, dip your hand into the middle and
raise it sharply, thus setting up a group of waves which
travel outwards from the centre, becoming less and less
conspicuous as the circles widen, until they may cease to be
visible; presently, however, the reflected waves, con-

DECEMBER 28, 1905 |

INCA TOT:

250

verging on the centre, will become visible, and, as the

circles narrow, the waves get higher and more conspicuous
until the centre is reached again. So the earthquake
waves may become too small to be registered as they
spread out from the origin, but again affect a seismo-
graph as they converge towards its antipodes. Doubtless
it is not only the earthquakes of the newly discovered
region in which this takes place, but the present distribu-
tion of teleseismographs is not such as will allow of its
being established in the case of other earthquake regions.

Apart from these results, which seem well established,
there are many suggestions contained in the paper, two
at least being important ones. The first of these concerns
a peculiarity in the distribution of the stations at which
earthquakes are recorded; for instance, those originating
in the region to the south-west of New Zealand will be
recorded along a band, of about 20° in width, starting in
a north-westerly direction, but not at stations lying,
nearer the origin, on one side or other of this band. So,
too, earthquakes originating off the west coast of South
America have been recorded in western Europe and, near
their antipodes, in Siberia, but not at stations which we
should expect them to affect were they propagated with
equal intensity in an opposite direction.

The other suggestion, which may prove of great import-
ance, concerns the diurnal east and west movement of the
horizontal pendulum. This only affects pendula which
point north and south and swing east and west; it is only
noticeable on days when the sun shines, and has been
attributed to the action of the sun’s rays in heating or
drying up the ground on either side of the recording
station. These explanations have not proved satisfactory,
and it is now suggested that the movement may be due
to some other indirect effect of the sun, probably of an
electrical nature. The Milne pendulum, with its silk fibre
suspension and agate cup bearing, is practically insulated,
and Prof. Milne finds that one of his pendula, after being
electrically connected to earth, and therefore preserved at
the same potential as the outer case and walls of the
observatory, does not show the extensive movements it did
prior to being earthed. This line of research is being
carried forward with the cooperation of Dr. C. G. Knott,
ef Edinburgh, and we look forward to seeing some interest-
ing results in due course.

We have indicated the most interesting of the results
which have come from the seismographic records of the
Antarctic Expedition; want of space forbids us to detail
the many other suggestions and possibilities set forth by
Prof. Milne, but what has been noticed is enough to show
the good use that has been made of the record which,
taken by itself, -has little value, and only becomes
important when correlated with those of the thirty-eight
other stations where the Milne type of instrument is now
installed.

TECHNICAL EDUCATION FOR FISHERMEN.
A BOUT six years ago the Lancashire Sea Fisheries
Committee instituted practical classes for the in-
struction of local fishermen in the natural history of the
common marine edible animals. ‘‘ Technical education ”’
in the strict sense of the word was not the object aimed
at. For some time previously the committee had experi-
enced considerable difficulty in enforcing the restrictions
on methods of fishing contained in their by-laws on
account of the determined opposition of the fishermen, and
the object of the classes was rather to remove this opposi-
tion by showing the rationale of the by-laws, and to
create a common ground on which both officers and fisher-
men could meet. The committee had no funds which they
could apply to this work, and the classes were only made
possible by the cooperation of the Technical Instruction
Committee of the Lancashire County Council, which made
an annual grant of 25o0l. to be spent for this purpose.
Practically all this money is expended in providing
“‘ fisheries exhibitions ’’ of the value of 5]. each. One or
more of these is allotted to each fishing centre in the
administrative county of Lancaster, and the men selected
to attend are chosen in various ways. In some cases they
are selected by the fishermen’s associations, and in other

NO. 1887, VoL. 73]

cases they are chosen by the officers of the committee.
The grant of 5/. is intended to recompense the fisherman
exhibitioner for the loss of his labour during the time he
attends the class, and to provide for his expenses during
this period.

The first two experimental classes were held at the
(then) University College of Liverpool, but subsequently
the work was transferred to the Lancashire Fishery
Station at Piel, in the Barrow Channel, where tanks and
other apparatus for the study of living organisms are
provided by the fisheries committee, and where living
material can easily be landed by the committee’s vessels.
The men are brought to Piel and taken away again by the
patrol steamer, and lodge in the neighbourhood of the
station. Each class consists of fifteen men, the maximum
number which can be taught at one time with advantage.
Twenty two-hour lessons are given during each course.

The course of instruction was drawn up by Prof. Herd-
man and Mr. Johnstone, and great care was taken to
arrange a logical sequence of lessons. The structure of a
typical fish is the first lesson, and this is followed by an
account of the life-history of a typical mollusc such as the
mussel. A short demonstration of the main chemical and
physical processes involved in the respiration of marine
animals is then given, and the manner of feeding of two
such divergent types as the fish and mussel is then con-
sidered, a discussion which naturally leads up to three or
more lessons on the nature and occurrence of plankton
and on the economic importance of the latter. The
remaining lessons deal with the life-histories of other
economic marine animals, the cockle and oyster among
Mollusca, and the shrimp and crab among the Crustacea.
The life-histories of various fishes, such as the flat-fish
and skate, are also considered, and the development of the
flounder is studied from the process of fertilisation up to
the time when the embryo issues from the egg. Although
lantern and other demonstrations are given, the instruc-
tion is in the main practical in character, each man being

| provided with a good microscope and a set of dissecting

tools.

On the whole the results of the classes have been very
satisfactory; the main object, that of bringing about a
better understanding between the fishermen and the com-
mittee, has been attained, and though there is still con-
siderable opposition on the part of the fishermen towards
the by-laws, yet the relations are much less embittered
than was formerly the case. Another result of considerable
importance has been attained in that the shell-fish trans-
plantation operations carried on at Morecambe (an account
of which was given recently in Nature, August 31, p. 430)
have been traced directly to the stimulus afforded by the
classes. This work was originated by the Morecambe
fishermen themselves, and it was in this district that the
fishery classes were most appreciated and supported.

J. J.

LIFE-HISTORY OF THE EMPEROR PENGUIN.’
“THE emperor is the largest of all the penguins, and is

limited strictly to the ice-covered regions of the
Antarctic. The interest of its life-history lies chiefly in
the fact that its breeding ground was first discovered
during the recent expedition made by the Discovery into
the Antarctic. Its young and its eggs were brought home
for the first time when the Discovery returned to England
in September, 1904.

In reviewing the life of this bird, the difficulties of
investigating its breeding habits were explained as the
result of certain peculiarities; for example, that of laying
the eggs in the middle of the winter darkness; each hen
laying a single large egg, which it incubates as it stands
in an upright position on sea-ice, keeping the eggs from
contact with the actual ice by holding it on the dorsum of
the foot, and allowing a heavily feathered fold of skin to
fall over it from the abdomen, thus completely obscuring
it from view, and keeping it closely appressed to the
abdomen, warm enough to hatch out, probably in some
seven weeks. In the coldest month of the whole year,

1 Abstract of a paper delivered before the Royal Institution by Edward
A. Wilson.

P22

ING ATE CU SEs

[ DECEMBER 28, 1905

viz. August, the chicken is hatched out, and becomes the
unwilling recipient of so much attention from its parents,
and from such other adults as have no young of their own
to attend to, that upwards of 77 per cent. die, and may be
picked up frozen on the sea-ice, within the first month or
two of their existence. This high death-rate is in a large
measure the result of the quarrels of adult birds for
possession of a chicken, all having an overpowering desire
to brood over something. In many cases the desire leads
to brooding over dead chicks until they are actually rotten.

Much was said of the trials that must be endured by
the naturalist who wishes to see this bird in its breeding
haunts. He must be ready to encounter the lowest
temperatures hitherto recorded, under canvas, sleeping
three in a bag for what warmth can be procured at 40°,
50°, and 60° below zero Fahrenheit, and for a fortnight
or three weeks at a stretch. Much, also, was said of the
various sledge expeditions undertaken, after its first dis-
covery by Engineer-Lieutenant Skelton, R.N., for the
purpose of fully investigating the emperor penguin rookery
at Cape Crozier; of the discovery of the first egg on the
sea-ice by Lance-Corporal Blissett, R.M.L.I., and of the
exceptional circumstances which, in the following year,
enabled the lecturer to bring back to the ship a series of
some fourteen eggs and several dozen of the young.

Examples were shown at the close of the lecture, which
was further illustrated by a series of lantern slides, made
from photographs taken mainly by Mr. Skelton and from
drawings by the lecturer of the various stages in growth of
the emperor penguin, from infancy to old age.

UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL
INTELLIGENCE.

In view of the approaching contest for the representation
of the University of London in Parliament, Sir Michael
Foster, K.C.B., and Sir Philip Magnus have placed their
opinions before members of Convocation of the University.

Sir WitiiAmM Anson has accepted the position of presi-
dent of the Association of Technical Institutions for next
year in succession to Sir Philip Magnus. The annual
meeting of the association will be held at the Fishmongers’
Hall on January 26 and 27.

Tue annual conversazione of the Royal College of Science
and Royal School of Mines was held on December 20.
All the departments of the college and school were open,
and many interesting exhibits were shown in chemistry,
physics, mechanics, metallurgy, mining, geology, botany,
and zoology, including applied science. The metallurgy
section comprised a working exhibition of Japanese smelt-
ing methods shown for the first time in Europe. Japanese
casting was made during the evening. The programme
also included a lecture by Prof. S. H. Cox on ‘‘ Incidents
of a Mining Career.”’

Tue late Mr. John Feeney, by his will dated June 22,
1903, bequeathed sums amounting to 89,0001. towards
various institutions and objects connected with Birming-
ham and district. These include 20,0001. to the University
of Birmingham. This bequest is for the purpose of
maintaining a professor, with suitable equipment, lecturing
on some one or more scientific subjects directly connected
with some one or more of the trades and industries carried
on in or near Birmingham. All the bequests are given
free of legacy duty, but payment cannot be claimed until
the expiration of five years.

Tue Board of Education has published the reports, for
the year ending March 31, 1905, of fourteen colleges which
participated during the year in the annual grant, amounting
to 54,000l., made by Parliament for ‘‘ university colleges
in Great Britain,’’ and from the three colleges in Wales
which receive a grant of goool. each. The reports have
been compiled, so far as*has been found conveniently
possible, under the same headings as those adopted in
previous years. The distinguishing characteristic of the
reports is the elaborate balance sheet with which each is
provided showing exactly the revenue available in the case
of each college and what precisely is done with it.

No. 1887, VOL. 723]

A Biue Book (Cd. 2782) has been published
statistics of public education in England and Wales for
the years 1903-5. The volume of 442 pages is divided
into three sections, dealing respectively with elementary
schools, State-aided secondary schools, and technical
institutions, schools of art and day art classes, evening
schools, and similar forms of education. A technical
institution within the meaning of the regulations of the
Board of Education is an institution giving an organised
course of instruction in day classes, including advanced
instruction, and provided with a staff and equipment
adequate for the purpose. Provision must be made for
at least a two years’ systematic course in science, or in
science and art, either alone or in conjunction with subjects
of general, commercial, manual, or technological instruc-
tion; and subject to certain temporary provisions, no
student may be admitted to the course unless he has passed
through, at least, a three years’ course of instruction in a
school recognised under the regulations of the Board for
secondary schools, or unless he is more than sixteen years
of age and is qualified from his general education to profit
by a course of advanced instruction. These institutions, in
fact, afford instruction adapted for the preparation of
young men for employment in connection with the trades,
manufactures, and commerce of the country. They also
provide higher courses of specialised instruction in science
in relation to particular industries, likely to be required
by students who have already had a good training in pure
science. The number of these institutions receiving grants
was nineteen in 1903-4. The number of students who
attended at all during the year was 2143, and a grant
of 56831. was paid on 1056 of these who attended a full
course of instruction. In the same year there were 5579
recognised evening schools with 696,882 students in attend-
ance, on whose work a grant of 304,962!. was paid.

giving the

At the annual headmasters’ conference held at the
College of Preceptors, London, on December 21, the subject
of the inspection of schools was dealt with very fully, and
numerous resolutions were adopted. Dr. Gow, of West-
minster, moved a resolution, subsequently carried nem. con.,
that the conference desires to emphasise the principle that
inspection should take into due consideration the aims and
circumstances of the school inspected, and regard intel-
lectual methods and results as of greater weight than
material equipment and appliances. Dr. Gow is reported
by the Press to have said ‘‘ there is a general opinion on
the part of the public, which is shared by many teachers
of science, that great expenditure is necessary for effective
scientific teaching, and that schools are invited to compete
with one another in mere expenditure. This competition
is bad for the schools, for the teachers, and for the boys.”
It may be contended, he continued, that the better the
teacher the more apparatus he wants, but Dr. Gow
admitted that his own experience is the contrary of this.
““No contention can be more absurd,’’ he concluded by say-
ing, ‘‘than that science teaching differs from any other
because the science teacher does not teach by authority ;
it is, as a fact, conducted quite as much on authority as
classical teaching, or divinity, or any other subject. The
experiments are merely illustrations.’’ The headmaster of
Westminster has apparently been unfortunate in his ex-
perience of science teaching. Every man of science agrees
with him that for the effective teaching of the broad
principles of science the simplest apparatus, if of the right
kind, is sufficient. This competition among schools to
provide the most luxurious laboratories and lavishly stocked
lecture-rooms, if it exists, is at least a very modern growth,
and should, as Dr. Gow maintains, be discouraged. But
at the same time a sensibly designed science workshop
with simple fittings and an adequate supply of ordinary
apparatus is an absolute necessity for every efficient school.
It is difficult to understand what Dr. Gow means when
he maintains that science teaching is as much based on
authority as the teaching of classics or divinity. There
is a confusion of thought here. Reasonable science teach-
ing, with which Dr. Gow seems unfamiliar, insists that
the pupil shall believe only because experimental results
leave no other alternative, and not because a teacher or
a text-book makes a statement. If in any school experi-
ments are used only as illustrations the methods of science

DECEMBER 28, 1905]

NATURE 213

are not followed, and the work is not what men of science
desire to encourage. It is satisfactory to know that at
least in a large number of our secondary schools the science
periods are made the means of inculcating habits of careful
observation, persistent verification, and truthful reasoning.

SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES.

LONDON.

Royal Society, November 23.—‘‘On the Effects of Alka-
lies and Acids, and of Alkaline and Acid Salts, upon
Growth and Cell Division in the Fertilised Eggs of Echinus
esculentus.—A Study in Relationship to the Causation of
Malignant Disease.’’ By Prof. B. Moore, Dr. Herbert E.
Roaf, and E. Whitley. Communicated by Prof. W. A.
Herdman, F.R.S.

The attention of the authors was attracted to the study
of the effects of small variations in reaction upon the
growth of cells from the biochemical point of view, as a
result of the observation that in malignant disease no
hydrochloric acid is in general secreted by the gastric
glands, no matter where the malignant growth is situated,
which pointed to an increased alkalinity of the plasma.

In the course of investigations upon the rate of growth
of the cell, when microscopic examination was made of
the cells in the fresh condition, the authors were struck
by the marked irregularities in size and shape of the
developing cells in alkaline media, illustrated by cells in
fresh solution developing in sea-water, to which di-sodium
phosphate has been added, and also by marked tendencies
to nuclear proliferation.

This led secondarily to a cytological investigation of the
cells when fixed and stained to show nuclear division, as
a result of which the authors have found the irregular
forms of mitosis described in the paper. These atypical
divisions, which have been produced by variations in the
medium similar to those which occur in the blood in cases
of malignant disease, closely resemble the pathological
divisions seen in the growths of malignant disease.

The results of the experiments and their relationship to
the processes in malignant growths may be summarised
as follows :—

(1) In nearly all cases of malignant disease the secretion
of hydrochloric acid by the gastric glands is stopped or
greatly reduced, and this effect is not due to local con-
ditions in the stomach, since it occurs wherever the growth
is situated, but is due to a change in the distribution of
salts in the plasma whereby the alkalinity is increased or
the concentration in hydrogen ions diminished.

(2) Addition of small amounts of alkalies or alkaline
salts, such as di-sodium phosphate, to the medium in
which cells are growing and dividing causes at first an
increase in rate of growth and division, but as the amount
is increased there appears a marked tendency to irregu-
larity in size and shape of the resulting cells. Nuclear
division becomes in advance of cytoplasmic division, so that
the cells become multi-nucleated. As the alkali is further
increased, both cell division and nuclear division are
stopped.

(3) Accompanying the increased stimulus to nuclear
division given by the dilute alkali, there are seen many
of the atypical forms of mitosis described in malignant
growths. The variations from the normal illustrated in
the drawings are :—(1) multiple nuclei in the same cell in
active division; (2) multipolar mitosis, occurring both in
the single cell stage, and later in the development of the
organism; (3) asymmetrical mitosis, leading to unequal
distribution of chromosomes to the two daughter cells;
(4) reduction in length of the chromosomes as the strength
of alkali is increased until the chromosomes appear as
rounded dots, and accompanying the reduction in length
there is also a reduction in number to about one-half the
normal; (5) in certain cases the chromatin becomes
arranged in circles, each of which shows a number of
thickenings. The circles are arranged in groups in the
cell, and appear to represent a stage in the anaphase, the
groups being placed at about the usual distance apart of
the centrosomes, and traces of the achromatic fibres being
occasionally visible.

NO. 1887. vol. 73]

“On certain Physical and Chemical Properties of Solu-
tions of Chloroform and other Anzesthetics.—A Contribution
to the Chemistry of Anzesthesia. (Second Communica-
tion.)’’ By Prof. B. Moore and Dr. Herbert E. Roaf.
Communicated by Prof. C. S. Sherrington, F.R.S.

The experiments recorded in the present communication
support the conclusion drawn in a previous paper by the
authors that anesthetics form unstable compounds or
aggregates with the proteids of the tissue cells, and that
anzesthesia is due to a paralysis of the chemical activities
of the protoplasm as a result of the formation of such
aggregations.

The comparative experiments with ethereal extracts
demonstrate that the action is upon the cell proteids and
not upon the lipdids.

The compounds or aggregations so formed are unstable,
and remained formed only so long as the pressure of the
anasthetic in the blood is maintained.

The results of the experiments may be summarised as
follows :—

(1) The solubility of all anaesthetics experimented with
is higher in serum than in water.

(2) At a certain concentration, definite for each
anesthetic, there occur opalescence and commencing pre-
cipitation of proteid.

(3) At equal concentration of chloroform in water or
saline on the one hand, and serum, hemoglobin, or the
tissues (brain, heart, muscle, and liver) on the other, the
vapour-pressure is always higher in the former than in the
latter.

(4) The curve connecting vapour-pressure and concentra-
tion is, in the case of water and saline, a straight line ;
while in the case of serum, hemoglobin, and the tissue
proteids it is a curve showing association, especially at
the higher concentrations. ‘

(5) Comparative determinations of vapour-pressure and
concentration, in serum and brain tissue and in ethereal
extracts of these equal in concentration of lipdid, show
that the proteid of the tissue combines with the anzesthetic.

(6) Determinations of the effects of addition of chloro-
form upon the lowering of freezing point confirm the
results obtained by the vapour-pressure and solubility deter-
minations.

(7) Determinations of the changes in electrical con-
ductivity caused by addition of chloroform indicate that
accompanying the combination of the anzesthetic with the
proteid there takes place a splitting off of electrolytes.

(8) When the lipdids, extracted from serum or tissues
by ether, are made up into an emulsion with normal
saline, many of the lipdids take the form of bi-concave
discs.

(9) The lip6id emulsions are very permanent, but
separate on the addition of anaesthetics or neutral salts, in
similar fashion to colloidal solutions.

“A Note on the Effect of Acid, Alkali, and
certain Indicators in Arresting or otherwise Influencing
the Development of the Eggs of Pleuronectes platessa and
Echinus esculentus.”’ By E. Whitley. Communicated
by Prof. W. A. Herdman, F.R.S.

(1) The amount of variation from the normal concen-
tration of hydrogen and hydroxyl ions in sea-water which
the eggs of Pleuronectes will tolerate is very small.

(2) A disturbance of the equilibrium towards the acid
side is much more fatal than the opposite.

(3) A progressive development of resistance to an un-
favourable action of the environment takes place in pro-
portion to the age of the eggs.

(4) Phenolphthalein is deadly to the eggs of Echinus
esculentus, but harmless to those of Pleuronectes, while
dimethyl quickly kills the latter, and appears, if anything,
to have a favourable influence upon the development of
the former.

Anthropological Institute, December 5.—Prof. W.
Gowland, president, in the chair—A Dyak witch doctor’s
medicine chest: R. Shelford. The chest is cylindrical in
shape and about a foot high, and contains various charms,
including water-worn pebbles, a crystal, used for a’ kind
of crystal gazing, and a few simples which have actual
curative properties.—Ruins in Rhodesia: D. Randall

214

NA ROCRE

[DECEMBER 28, 1905

Maciver. Mr. Maclver visited sites at Inyanga, Niekerk,
N’Natali, Umtali, Dhlo-Dhlo, Kami, and Zimbabwe, views
of all of which were shown. At Inyanga there are count-
less ‘* pit dwellings,’’ consisting of a pit and passage and
hut platforms. ‘he elucidation of the mystery of their
use is assisted by a study of the Niekerk ruins, which are
the most remarkable in the country. The area of these
ruins is not less than fifty square miles, and within this
area it is almost impossible to walk more than ten yards
without coming upon a wall. The general principle appears
to be that each -hill constitutes a separate unit complete
with its own buildings and divided at the bottom from its
neighbour by a boundary wall, which is the first of a series
of concentric lines. These lines cannot have been for pur-
poses of irrigation, but must have been entrenchments.
They always cease at the crown of the hill, which is
covered by a series of buildings, and it is this fact which
shows the bearing of these walls in the problem of the pit
awellings. The buildings in the hill are of two types, one
divided by successive stages from the pit dwelling and the
other the pit dwelling itself. The forts at Niekerk are
also generally of similar or derived form to those at
Inyanga. Similarly, the more advanced type of buildings
found at Umtali or elsewhere are all derivatives of the
pit dwelling, and Great Zimbabwe itself falis into line, and
was simply a royal kraal. In the whole country there
seems to be a regular progression with regard to these
buildings, the northern region being the most fortified, and
the defensive scheme becoming less rigorous towards the
south. As to the buildings of these forts and dwellings,
all the implements found are of the type used by the
natives of the present day, and as at Niekerk there is
no evidence of modern squatting it seems fair to presume
that similar implements found elsewhere are also not the
results of squatting, but were left by the original builders.
As to the date, Mr. Maclver cut sections in the ruins he
visited, and at Dhlo-Dhlo he made a most significant and
conclusive discovery. A trench was cut below the intact
cement floor of a hut, and amongst other objects Mr.
MaclIver discovered fragments of Nankin china. Con-
sequently, no stone was laid at Dhlo-Dhlo before the time
when Nankin china was manufactured and imported from
the East; experts fix this date as the sixteenth century a.p.
This find conclusively fixes the date, for Dhlo-Dhlo and
all the other remains exhibit similar characteristics of
building, and it may be taken as proved that the ruins
of Rhodesia are medizval or post-medizval, that they
cannot be possibly placed earlier than the eleventh century
(probably the very oldest building was not erected before
the fourteenth century), and that they were built by a
native African race not differing to any great degree from
the modern natives.

Entomological Society, December 6.—Mr. F. Merrifield,
president, in the chair.—Exhibitions.—A series of varieties of
the Mediterranean Carabus morbillosus, showing all inter-
gradations from the ordinary morbillosus, and presenting
a striking case of geographical variability: Dr. K. Jordan.

Specimens of Ptinus pusillus, Stwem., recently dis-
covered in a corn factor’s shop at Edrsonton: H. St. J.
Donisthorpe.—A hermaphrodite of the Proctotrupide,
a sand-wasp without wings captured by Mr. Poole,
and the G Apion semivittatum, Gyll., taken many
years ago by Mr. Walton near the Tivoli Gardens,
Margate, together with a 2 specimen of the same species
discovered while sweeping long grass near the Chequers
Inn, Deal, on September 26, 1904: A. J. Chitty.—A

and 2 example of the Dipteron Helophilus transfugus,
L., taken from thistle-heads in the fen marshes at Edmon-
ton last July, and a specimen of Stenopteryx hirundinis,
a parasite on swallows and martins found on Box Hill,
Surrey, in August: F. B. Jennings.—Specimens of
Odontopera bidentata ab. nigra, the melanic form of which
is rapidly increasing in the Wakefield district of south
Yorkshire: G. T. Porritt.—Specimens of South African
Pierine butterflies taken in the dry season this year, further
illustrating the diverse forms, and with them, for com-
parison, specimens taken during the rains: Dr. F. A.
Dixey.—A ¢ and 2 specimen of Ornithoptera chimaera,
Rothschild, and some remarkable species of Delias collected
recently by Mr. A. S. Meek in the mountain region of

NO. 1887, VOL. 73]

British New Guinea: O. E. Janmson.—Specimen of a
Buprestid beetle, Cyria imperialis, Don., having, in addi-
tion to the normal fore-leg on the left side, two supple-
mentary fore-legs originating from separate coxa: Com-
mander J. J. Walker, on behalf of Mr. A. M. Lea,—
do and @ examples of Tetropium crawshayt, Sharp, bred
by the Rev. G. A. Crawshay from eggs deposited in July
last in the bark of larches at Leighton Buzzard: G. C.
Champion.—Unique specimen of Depressaria emeritella,
Stn., from an unknown locality, on which the species was
added to the British list many years ago, and a specimen
of Cerostoma asperella, L., discovered by Mrs. Hutchinson
near Leominster on September 21, 1881, and only taken,
as regards Britain, in Dorset (formerly), and Herefordshire
very rarely: E. R. Bankes.—Series of Tryphaena comes
bred through three generations, and brought together to
test the relative proportions of melanic to non-melanie
forms and the possible range of variations to be obtained
from a single pair of parents: A. Bacot. The exhibitor
announced that all the results of the second and third gener-
ations seemed to be capable of ‘‘ Mendelian ’’ explanation.
—(1) Larvee of Collyris emarginatus, Dej., from Borneo,
observed with mouth-parts qualified to excavate burrows in
wood. (2) Larva and pupz of Mormolyce, together with a
specimen of a fungus of Polyporus split open to show the
lenticular chamber excavated by the larva, to which access
was obtained by so small an orifice that it was surprising

that the emerged beetle could squeeze through: R.
Shelford.—Papers.—Some observations by Mr. A. H.
Hamm, of the Hope department, Oxford University

Museum, tending to confirm the opinion that Pieris rapae
chooses for prolonged rest a surface on which it will be
concealed: E. B. Poultom.—On the emergence of
Myrmeleon formicarius : W. J. Lucas.—Descriptions of new
species of African Halticinze and Galerucine : M. Jacoby.
—On the ichneumonidous group Tryphonides schizodontt,
Holmgr., with descriptions of new species: C. Morley.

Linnean Society, December 7. —Prof. W. A. Herdman,
F.R.S., president, in the chair.—On the etiology of
leprosy: Dr. J. Hutchinson, F.R.S. The author adduced
much evidence from all parts of the world in support of
the fish hypothesis of the cause of leprosy, more especially
from South Africa, China, and Norway. In places where
the disease is scattered and infrequent there might, he
admitted, be some difficulty in tracing the association of
cause and effect; but if regard be taken of those only in
which excessive prevalence occurs, all hesitancy would dis-
appear. He challenged anyone, not yet convinced, to name
any place in the whole world in which the leprosy pre-
valence exceeded 50 per 10,000 which was not either a
fishing-station or notorious for the consumption of bad
fish. As instances of places where this enormous preva-
lence has been recorded, the following were mentioned :—
Minicoy (Maldives), Kalagoan (Bengal coast), Fiji, and the
Sandwich Islands. By way of affording a standard of
comparison, it was added that the prevalence in Ceylon
was only 2 per 10,000, and in India as a whole less
than 6.

Faraday Society, December 12.—Mr. James Swinburne,
vice-president, in the chair.—The physics of ore flotation :
J. Swinburne and Dr. G. Rudorf. The flotation of ores
to separate them from gangue is carried out by treating
them with dilute acid, or acid sodium sulphate, at a
temperature short of boiling water. Little bells of CO,
attach themselves to the ore particles, but not to the
gangue, and the ore particles are floated to the surface,
where they are skimmed off. The questions are why the
sulphides are selected, and why the temperature matters.
The authors hold that it is a question of two opposing
forces—adhesion between the solids and the liquid which
varies with different solids and liquids, and surface tension
of the liquid.—The concentration of metalliferous sulphides
by flotation: Prof. A. K. Huntington. The paper also
embodies the author’s contribution to the discussion on
the previous paper. Experiments are described which prove
that the gas causing flotation is CO, derived from native
carbonates of iron and manganese present in the ore, and
not from calcite or from carbonates produced on the surface
of the sulphides by weathering. Carbonates which are
decomposed by dilute sulphuric acid in the cold do not

DECEMBER 28, 1905 ]

NAT ORE

205

give rise to the formation of a scum. Experiments are
also described showing that the gas escaping during flota-
tion carries an electrical charge, leaving an opposite charge
on the solution. The assumption of Messrs. Swinburne
and Rudorf of the presence of an air-film on the surface
of the sulphide particles is criticised, and it is shown that
the particles are floated perfectly after precautions have
been taken to remove any adherent film of gas by ex-
haustion with acid, washing with alcohol, treatment with
air-free distilled water, and exhaustion with the pump.—
The ions of pure water: Prof. J. Walker. In the dis-
cussion on Dr. Lowry’s paper on an application to electro-
lytes of the hydrate theory of solution, Mr. Bousfield
directed attention to an apparent discrepancy between the
temperature coefficient of the mobility of hydrogen and
hydroxide ions on the one hand, and the temperature
coefficient of the conductivity of water on the other. The
author points out that when the data obtained by Kohl-
rausch for pure water are employed, and when allowance
is made for the temperature coefficient of ionisation, the
discrepancy vanishes.

Geological Society, December 12.—Dr. J. E. Marr,
F.R.S., president, in the chair.—The physical history of
the great Pleistocene lake of Portugal: Prof. E. Hull.
There is evidence that the general level of the lake-bed was
once nearly that of the outer sea, and that the sea-waters
gained occasional access to the lake during the earlier
stage of its formation. The lake was eventually drained
by the channel cut by the Tagus at the harbour of Lisbon,
upon the elevation of the land to about its present level.
—The geological structure of the Sgurr*of Eigg: Dr. A.
Harker. The conclusions arrived. at bring the rock of
the Sgurr of Eigg into relation with the other British
Tertiary pitchstones, which are all intrusive.

MANCHESTER.

Literary and Philosophical Society, November 28.—
Sir W. H. Bailey, president, in the chair.—Experiments on
the variation of the electrical resistance af osmium with
the temperature: H. Morris-Airey. The range over which
the experiments were conducted extended from the tempera-
ture of liquid air up to dull:red heat. The results show
that the behaviour of osmium, like that of the ordinary
metals, can be represented by a parabolic expression.

DuBLin.

Royal Dublin Society, November 21.—Prof. W. F. Barrett,
F.R.S., in the chair.—Energy of secondary radiation :
Prof. J. A. McClelland. This paper is a continuation of
previous papers in which the author studied the secondary
radiation of 8 particles that is emitfed by substances when
acted upon by the 6 rays of radium. “The relative intensity
_ of the secondary radiation from alarge-number of elements
for the same incident radiation has been previously
measured, the results showing that the secondary radiation
is always greater the greater the atomic weight. In the
present paper the total energy of the secondary radiation
from a lead plate is compared with the’ energy of the
primary radiation that produces it, the plate being thick
enough to prevent the transmission, of any radiation; the
ratio is found to be o-62 for lead, and corresponding
numbers are given for other elements, the numbers, of
course, diminishing with decreasing atomic weight, the
number for carbon being 0-19. From the known value of
this ratio we can calculate theoretically what per-
centage of the energy absorbed by any element of the plate
is set free again as secondary radiation; the percentage is
as high as 94 for lead and 95 for uranium, with smaller
values for lower atomic weights, the percentage for carbon
being 53. The importance of this large transformation
of the energy of the primary radiation into secondary
radiation is shown by some examples. The relation
between the coefficient of absorption of the B rays and
the value it would have if there. were no secondary radi-
ation is calculated; for lead one coefficient is about four
times the other. Again, when we determine the coefficient
of absorption of a radiation by measuring the intensity

NO. 1887, VOL. 73]

after passing through successive layers of a substance, we
should, on account of secondary effects, get values of the
coefficient diminishing with increased thickness traversed,
even if the radiation were perfectly homogeneous. For
this reason the B rays from radium are not so _hetero-
geneous as they appear to be from observations on absorp-
tion. The paper shows how to determine the true
coefficient from such observations.—An improved form of
entoptoscope for the detection and delineation of cataract,
&c.: W. F. Barrett, F.R.S. The author exhibited this
instrument, and fully described it with the aid of diagrams
and lantern slides.

Royal Irish Academy, November 30.—Prof. R. Atkinson,
president, in the chair.—Second report on Irish cave ex-
plorations: Dr. R. F. Seharff, chairman of the com-
mittee. Dr. Scharff gave a general survey of the investi-
gation, and mentioned that the report embodied the results
of the work carried on in the caves of co. Clare during
the years 1903-4 under the direction of Mr. R. J. Ussher.
The latter subsequently showed a series of lantern slides
giving a narrative of the events. Prof. Cole described
the geological features. The caves originated by the solvent
action of water on the Carboniferous limestone, and may
possibly be pre-Glacial. Mr. Westropp read the portion
of the report dealing with the tools and ornaments found,
which included chert scrapers, various bone implements,
bronze pins, and a beautifully worked bronze buckle, as
well as an ancient gold bracelet. Prof. A. F. Dixon dealt
with the human remains, while Mr. Newton described the
very numerous bird bones, which included those of the
crane, now only an extremely rare irregular visitor to the
British Isles. The mammalian and other vertebrate and
invertebrate animal remains had been determined by Dr.
Scharff, who exhibited specimens of the bones and teeth
of Irish elk, reindeer, Arctic lemming, Arctic fox, bear,
wolf, and Caffer cat, and those of domestic animals, &c.,
making remarks on their horizontal, vertical, &c., distribu-
tion in the caves.—On the former occurrence of the African
wild cat (Felis ocreata, Gmel.) in Ireland: Dr. R. F.
Scharff. Remains of the wild cat are abundant in the
upper stratum of the Clare caves. Careful measurements
show that this cat was not the wild cat of Europe (Felis
catus), but the African cat (Ff. ocreata=F. maniculata),
and that the English cave remains of cat are also mostly
referable to the latter species.

EDINBURGH.
Royal Society, November 20.—Lord McLaren, vice-
president, in the chair.—Some further results obtained

with the spectroheliometer: Dr. J. Halm. This was a
sequel to a previous communication already published in
which the main object was to find how Carrington’s law
of solar rotation varied with the sun-spot cycle. The
relative shift of certain solar spectrum lines taken from
opposite limbs of the sun was determined by comparing
their positions with the positions of neighbouring telluric
lines. If, however, instead of the difference of the positions
of a chosen solar line the mean be taken, the true position
of the solar line referred to the neighbouring telluric line
is obtained as it would be were the sun not subject to
rotation. Now, according to Doppler’s principle, the re-
lative position of the solar and telluric lines so determined
should be affected by (1) the annual motion of the earth
as it recedes from and approaches to the sun; (2) the
diurnal motion of the earth on its axis; and (3) the swing
of the earth about the centre of gravity of the earth and
moon during one complete lunation. The amounts of the
displacements of the lines in the solar spectrum due to
these three motions may be calculated. The monthly
motion is too small to be detected with certainty, being of
the same order as the errors of observation. The instru-
ment was capable of detecting the others. By calculating
the diurnal effect and subtracting it from the observed
positions, Dr. Halm obtained a distinct annual periodicity
in the measured positions of the chosen line, and the
observed variation agreed within the errors of observation
with the calculated effect. Similarly, subtraction of the
calculated annual effect left the diurnal effect clearly marked

216

NATURE

| DECEMBER 28, 1905

agreeing also remarkably well with the calculated
value. In the observations, however, which had extended
over the last four years, there existed undoubted evidence
of a shift which could not be explained in terms of any
known motions. It would be interesting to see how this
shift continued as the sun-spot cycle passed through its
approaching maximum. The only suggestion which the
author had to offer in explanation was the possible effect
of a changing pressure in the sun in the neighbourhood
of the material giving the line.—Observations on the
normal temperature of the monkey and its diurnal vari-
ation, and on the effect of changes in the daily routine
on this variation: Drs. Sutherland Simpson and J. J.
Galbraith. The diurnal temperature variation in the
monkey had considerable range, being about twice that
of man in normal health. The temperature reached its
maximum during the day and its minimum at night.
When by artificial illumination and darkening of the
room) day and night were interchanged, and when at the
same time the meals were altered appropriately, the
temperature variation was found to change also, the
maximum always coming during the time of activity.
Starvation for three days quite did aw ay with the rhythmic
character of the variation.—Notes on the effect of electric
oscillations (co-directional and transverse) on the magnetic
properties of iron: J. Russell. The oscillations were
obtained from an induction coil, and their general effect
was greatly to increase the induction in moderate fields,
and also to increase the hysteresis during a complete cycle.
When the cycles were compared between the same limits
of. induction, the effect of the electric oscillations was to
diminish the hysteresis.—Some electrical measurements on
metals: Dr. C. E. Fawsitt. The aim of the experiments
was to measure the electromotive position of two specimens
of the same metal, one of which had been rapidly cooled
and hardened and the other slowly cooled and annealed.
The metals used were silver, gold, and platinum, and in
all cases the hardened amorphous form was found to be
electropositive to the annealed crystalline form when placed
in dilute acid, the potential difference being about 0-013
yolt.

and

New Soutu Wates.

Linnean Society, September 27.—Mr., T. Steel, president,
in the chair.—Notes from the Botanic Gardens, Sydney,
No. 11: J. H. Maiden and E. Betche. In addition to
several new species and varieties described, the following
species are recorded as new for New South Wales :—

Capparis sarmentosa, A. Cunn., from the Macpherson
Range; Casearia esculenta, Roxb., from the same locality
(the discovery of this species adds another order,
Samydacez, to the flora of New South Wales); Pultenaea
mollis, Lindl., from Gilgandra; Erythroxylon australe,
F.v.M., from the Macpherson Range; Strychnos psilo-
sperma, F.v.M., from the same locality; Marsilea angusti-
folia, R.Br., from Gilg ative flora

of New South Wales, part iv., the occurrence of Casuarina
stricta, Ait., on the Narrabeen shales: R. H. Cambage.
Casuarina stricta is one of the sheoaks found chiefly in

the southern part of Australia, including Tasmania, and
it is also common in the interior of New South Wales.
The author recently found it growing on the Narrabeen

shale formation at Newport. The shales dip southerly from
Narrabeen, and pass under Port Jackson at a depth of
nearly 1000 feet, but outcrop again at Otford and Stanwell
Park, where C. stricta also reappears. The theory is
advanced that in late or post-Tertiary time this species
flourished on what is now regarded by geologists as the
submerged continental shelf, but formerly was a continu-
ation of the present land-surface, extending, perhaps,
twenty miles easterly to the 1o0-fathom line. As the
Narrabeen shales in the vicinity of Port Jackson also rise
to the eastward, they would probably have formed the
surface in places beyond the present shore-line, and it is
suggested that C. stricta worked its way up from the
south, partly along this old land-surface, but, owing to
the subsidence, has all been destroyed with the exception
of these isolated remnants at Newport, Otford, and Jervis
Bay.—Census Muscorum Australiensium: a classified cata-
logue of the frondose mosses of Australia and Tasmania,

NO: 18907, VOL. 73

collated from available publications and herbaria records :
part ii.: Rev. W. W. Watts and T. Whitelegge. This
second part of the census completes the mosses known as

acrocarps. About 370 species are listed.

October 25.—Mr. T. Steel, president, in the chair.
—The geology of the New Hebrides: D. Mawson.
The following is a summary of the author’s con-
clusions:—The chain of islands forming the New
Hebrides group owes its existence primarily to the de-

velopment during Miocene times of a fold-ridge apparently
continuous with that passing around the north of New
Guinea through Sumatra and on to the better known
region of the Himalayas and southern Europe. In the
New Hebrides the folding period was preceded by local
shallow marime conditions and subdued volcanic activity.
The folding foree would appear to have been exerted from
the direction of Fiji against the foreland of New Caledonian
crystalline schists and gneisses; a single ridge probably
resulted defining the western line of islands where ex-
tensive outcrops of Miocene strata are exposed—in Santo,
Malekula, and possibly Efate.

CONTENTS. PAGE
The Chemistry of Plants. By F. Escombe 193
Experiments with Explosives. ByJ. S.S.B.. 194
Causality and the Human Will 194
Ionsand Organisms . . a 195
Our Book Shelf :—
Fiebeger : ‘‘ Civil Engineering: A Text-book for a
Short Course,”—E. G.C. . Sees tee 196
Flammarion: ‘‘ Thunder and Lightning” . . .. . 196
**Photographystor ithe Press” 3) a yu) ee
Irving : ‘‘ How to Know the Starry Heavens” 196
Letters to the Editor :—
Magnetic Storms and Aurore.—Dr. Alexander
Graham Bell; Prof. H. Gedmuyden .... 107
The Origin of Variations in Animals and Plants.—
Prof, ‘Te DA. ‘Cockerell’ 5 ja - - - senor
An Acoustical Method for the Demonstration of the
Magnetism of Liquids.—T. Terada A ite)
The Panama Canal, (Zilustrated.) ........ . 198
The Biometrics of Brain-Weights_ . 5 . 200
The Head-Hunters of Borneo. (///ustrated.) By R. Es 203
Report of the Geological Survey ........ . 204
Notes: «:. 2 Seuss. a Cc. ee
Our Astronomical Column :—
Comet 190k. ss es, ZO
Eclipse Spectra . 3 oe ADAM: 1) ees
Ionisation of the Atnosphere During Total Solar
Eclipse Sates 208
Measures of Double Stars ... . ° . 208
Graphical Method for finding the Time ef Moonnes - 208
New Buildings of the Glasgow and West of Scot-
laud Technical College. (///ustrated.) By G. A. G. 208
Recent Studies of Periods in Meteorology 209
Antarctic Earthquakes ig 3 SAG 210
Technical Education for Fishermen. By J. J. . 211
Life-History of the Emperor Penguin. By Edward
A. Wilson) <2 cict Bicen aie 16. fo ey ey, c=) oe
University and Educational Intelligence ..... 212
Societies and Academies ..- 2. G@.- . . = 213

IVA LUGE

217

THURSDAY, JANUARY 4, 1906.

BRITISH PROGRESS IN ENGINEERING.

National Engineering and Trade Lectures. Edited
by Ben H. Morgan. Vol. i., British Progress in
Municipal Engineering. By W. H. Maxwell.
Pp. 182. Price 6s. net. Vol. ii., British Progress
in Pumps and Pumping Engines. By P. R. Bjor-
ling. Pp. xiit+g2. Price 6s. net. Vol. iii., British
Progress in Gas Works’ Plant and Machinery. By
C. -E: Brackenbury, A-M.I.C-E. Pp. xii+105.
Price 6s. net (London: Archibald Constable and
Co.,, Ltd erg05-)

HESE lectures, as they are termed, are stated to
be ‘fa project to stimulate and expand British

trade in colonial and foreign markets,’’ and their
“primary object is to show colonial and foreign buyers
what progress Great Britain has made up to the pre-
sent time in the manufacture of all classes of
machinery and goods. Each lecture will emphasise
novel points of design and utility, and up-to-date
methods of manufacture; and these points will be
graphically illustrated by reproductions of photographs
and drawings.’’ They are, accordingly, evidently de-
signed to have an advertising and business character,
instead of the educational and instructive objects
which are generally associated with lectures. Engineer-
ing is assigned the first place in the British indus-
tries to be dealt with; and the three volumes enu-
merated above are the first ones published of the
engineering series, eleven more of which are stated
to be in preparation by experts in the different
branches,

The first of these books, relating to municipal
engineering, is definitely divided into three lectures,
the first commencing with an introductory review of
the progress of sanitary science and the work of
large British municipalities, and then proceeding to
deal with road engineering and maintenance; the
second lecture treats of sewerage and main drainage,
and sewage and refuse disposal; and the third .is de-
voted to water supply.

Each lecture contains more printed matter than
could possibly be read within the usual allotted period
of one hour, not allowing for any references to illus-
trations; whilst, on the other hand, the space given to
these lectures is far too limited to enable these very
important subjects, with their wide range, to be dealt
with except in a very cursory manner. The aim,
however, it must be remembered, of these so-called
lectures is not to explain the principles and describe
the practice of various branches of engineering, but
to indicate to persons in the colonies and abroad, by
the aid of illustrations and brief descriptions in some
cases, what are considered the best materials and the
newest and most useful types of machines for carry-
ing out works in these different branches, and the
names of the manufacturers in Great Britain who
supply them. For this purpose, in addition to the
names of manufacturers and companies, appended in
many cases to references to municipal worlss, plant,
and materials, in the text, and to the illustrations, a

NO. 1888, vol. 73]

list is supplied at the end of each lecture of the
various makers of the plant, machinery, tools, and
materials used in the municipal which it
describes, occupying altogether forty-eight pages. A
short appendix, also, at the end of the book, gives a
very useful list of the literature bearing on municipal
engineering, to assist persons desiring fuller inform-
ation on the subjects referred to.

These lectures are well illustrated by 196 very clear
figures and views, consisting of photographic repro-
ductions and drawings, mostly in full-page plates,
with a few folding ones; and a fairly full synopsis of
each lecture, together with a list of the illustrations
at the commencement of the book, is considered to
serve the purpose of an index. Valuable particulars
about certain important municipal works will be found
here and there in the book; but, whereas the two
succeeding volumes, on pumps and gas works, are
fairly well suited for the business objects of these
lectures, owing to their appertaining so closely to
mechanical engineering, the scientific, biological, and
civil engineering aspects of municipal works have had
to be, to a large extent, sacrificed to the main purpose
of these publications.

In the second volume of this series, a brief introduc-
tion indicates the importance of pumping and
hydraulic machinery, and the main points that should
be considered in the selection of pumps under different
conditions; and the author then proceeds to describe,
with the aid of illustrations, the principal types of
pumps and pumping engines made by the chief
British firms, pointing out the special features to be
borne in mind in buying them, and the particular sort
of work for which each form of pump is best adapted.
Eight distinct classes of pumps are described in
separate sections, namely, pumps worked by hand,
pumps driven by water-power and wind-power, gas
and oil engine, hot-air, and compressed air-pumps,
electrically-driven pumps, and steam-pressure pumps;
and the different forms of pumps in each class are
given with the names of their makers, together with
allusions to their merits in special cases, and any de-
ficiencies in respect to certain conditions of work.
Electricity is being rapidly extended as a motive
power for pumps, especially for underground working
in collieries and mines, and where the power has to be
transmitted to a considerable distance; and the con-
struction of directly-driven centrifugal pumps, pumps
driven by single, double, and treble gearing, and by
belt, the ‘‘ Riedler *? pump, and the sinking pump, is
briefly explained. The descriptions of steam pumps
occupy half the bool, dealt with successively under the
four types of direct-acting, rotative, pulsating, and
rope- and belt-driven pumps. The book is illustrated
by ninety-seven views and drawings of pumps,
and at the end, after a short list of books on
pumps and pumping-engines published in Great
Britain, a directory of British manufacturers of these
machines is given occupyiny twenty-one pages. As
in the first volume, the table of contents and an un-
paged list of plates are the only index provided in
this and the succeeding volume; and the illustrated
reference to the English De Laval centrifugal pumps

LL

works

218

NATORE

[JANUARY 4, 1906

must have been added as an afterthought, as these
pumps do not appear in the table of contents or in
the list of plates. This volume should prove valuable
in guiding persons requiring pumping machinery,
both in the choice of the pump best suited to their
requirements, and as to the firms from whom they
can be purchased.

The third volume deals with the machinery em-
ployed in the various processes involved in the manu-
facture of coal-gas, such as the handling of coal,
retorts, stoking, the removal of coke, condensers, ex-
hausters, washer-scrubbers, purifiers, gasholders, and
various gas appliances, with the names of the prin-
cipal makers; but some of the subjects are referred to
in a very cursory manner, two pages only being given,
for instance, to water-gas plant, and also to the very
important economic question of bye-products. The
descriptions are illustrated by one hundred and thirteen
views of plant and machinery; and following the
principle adopted in the earlier volumes, a classified
list of British gas-engineering literature is added at
the end of the book, and also of British manufacturers
of gasworks’ plant and machinery, occupying re-
spectively eleven and twenty-eight pages, amounting
to two-fifths of the text of the book. The author holds
very optimistic views as to the future of the gas in-
dustry, which he considers are borne out by the re-
markable success of the recent Gas Exhibition at
Earl’s Court, and which, in spite of frequent gloomy
prophecies of the injurious influence on it of the de-
velopment of electric lighting, has more than doubled
itself in the last twenty years.

Everything has been done on the publishers’ part to

render these volumes attractive, by very well repro- |
duced illustrations, unusually large and wide-spaced |

print, good paper, neat binding, and a moderate price;
and they may reasonably be expected to be very
useful, from a commercial point of view, in making

the scope and efficiency of British manufactures and |

machinery more fully known in the colonies and
foreign countries, and thereby extending the range of
British trade and engineering.

A STANDARD ATLAS OF
WALES.

The Survey Atlas of England and Wales. A Series
of 84 Plates of Maps and Plans, with Descriptive
Text, illustrating the Topography, Physiography,
Geology, Climate, and the Political and Commercial
Features of the Country. Designed by and pre-
pared under the direction of J. G. Bartholomew.
(The Edinburgh Geographical Institute, 1903.)
Price 2} guineas.

ENGLAND AND

HIS sumptuous volume, which began to be issued
parts in is a credit to all concerned
with publication. Mr. Bartholomew and_ the
Royal Geographical Society are to be congratulated
on adding a work of great beauty as well as of
scientific merit to the resources of all who have to
study England and Wales. These are a majority of
the thoughtful members of the community, for ‘t know
thy country’? is a maxim next in importance in the

NO. 1888, VOL. 73]

in 1903,

its

modern world to ‘know thyself.’ A work which
concentrates in one volume the materials for a close
study of its surface anatomy and human settlements
and routes, as well a general survey of its re-
sources and activities, is a precious possession, which
will increase in value as years pass, for it is the most
condensed, yet clear and precise, summary of certain
aspects of the material condition of England and
Wales at the beginning of the twentieth century which
the future historian will find within reasonable com-
pass. What would present historians not give for
similar records of the England of past centuries ?

The present work may be divided into four parts :—
(1) general geographical maps; (2) detailed topo-
graphical maps; (3) town plans; and (4) text and
tables.

(1) The general maps are more complete than in
any other atlas, although most of them have been
published previously in another form. The first plate,
the oro-bathymetrical map, is a new one, and contains
names for the outstanding features of the land which
may be regarded as at least semi-official. They were
selected by Dr. Mill and Messrs. Chisholm and
Mackinder at the request of the Royal Geographical
Society. It is convenient to have such a set of names,
and undoubtedly the greater number, even of those
which are new or have had an extended significance
given to them, will be generally accepted. There are,
however, one or two exceptions. The term gap,
which has been familiarised to us in recent years,
more particularly in American writings, can hardly
be applied to the broad lowland between Wales and
the Pennines, though it may be used for the valleys
of the Tyne and Aire, which afford narrow but easy
routes across the Pennines. Norfolk Edge and East
Anglian Ridge are other terms which seem to imply
more pronounced topographical features than they
represent. The Vale of Pickering seems unduly ex-
tended into that of York. We fail to discover any
very clear rule to what features should and
should not be named. We find the Vale of York,
but not the Vale of Trent or Severn; the Vale of
Taunton, but not of Pewsey. While it is a pity that
something more systematic and complete has not been
attempted, some of the names are distinctly happy
and will remain.

The geological map is unfortunately on a smaller
scale than that in the companion ‘‘ Atlas of Scotland,”
and hardly shows sufficient detail unless for the
country south of London, which is shown on an inset.
A smaller scale map illustrates the distribution of
old, young, and coal-bearing rocks and iron centres.
It is clear, but coal and iron are shown in greater
detail on a map of mineral products which comes
later. Maps of vegetation, lands in pasture or in
crops, afford material for a long chapter in geography
and economics. The next two sheets show maps of
monthly and annual rainfall and temperature, driest
and wettest months, the annual range of temperature,
and the annual temperature not reduced for altitude.
The subsequent two sheets depict the railways in
black, the spheres of influence of the various com-
panies being shown by different tints. We welcome

as

as

JANUARY 4, 1906]

MATURE

21g

an attempt to illustrate the areas tributary to each
company, which, if properly done, would be
valuable guide to business men. The present
map is hardly successful in showing more than the
obvious, and in the crowded area of south Lancashire
and the West Riding of Yorkshire, even when shown
on a larger scale in an inset, the method adopted does
not do justice to some of the lines. No attempt has
been made to distinguish areas which are served by
more than one railway; nor does the compiler seem
to have taken configuration into account in preparing
the map. No doubt the details can be worked out on
the half-inch maps which come later, but what might
have been a very effective and useful map is some-
what spoilt. It resembles a rough railway company
diagram rather than the other maps of the atlas.

The density of population maps by Mr. Bosse, in
which the uninhabited area is first marked off, are
clear, and reveal a multitude of points not indicated
on maps which show the density of population by
counties. They form a very effective contrast to two
maps showing densities of agricultural, of industrial
and commercial population by counties, which, how-
ever, summarise the more obvious contrasts of density
and of distribution. Administrative divisions, political
and ecclesiastical, a commercial and a mineral map
end the first section of the atlas.

(2) It is scarcely necessary to direct attention to the
of Bartholomew’s half-inch contoured map,
which everyone uses who cycles or motors. It is
beautifully printed on sixty-seven sections. The con-
tour lines, as on the Ordnance maps, are shown for
every 100 feet up to 1ooo feet, and for every 250 feet
above that. The areas between each consecutive 100
feet up to goo feet are tinted in shades of lighter and
lighter green, between each 200 feet to 1000 feet, and
then between each 250 feet, in deepening shades of
brown, a purplish tint being used for the bands
between 2750 feet and 3000 feet. This is a reasonable
compromise, but for students of orographical features
a single colour in different shades would give a clearer
picture. The great defect of our Ordnance maps is
the absence of a closer contour interval, and for the
inadequacy of the existing data in exhibiting the
characteristics of the relief Mr. Bartholomew cannot
be held responsible.

These maps are wonderfully accurate; in some
places they are more up to date than the survey
sheets. Only here and there have we detected minor
errors. The arrangement of the sections in the
atlas is confusing. The numbers zigzag in such a
way that it is not possible, without turning to the
sheet inside or to the key map, to discover whether
they run eastwards or westwards. This difficulty
might have been avoided by printing a key map
beneath the number outside each sheet and shading
the area of the section drawn inside.

(3) The town plans call for little comment, except
that they should have been on a uniform scale.

(4) The text consists of clear descriptions of the
physical features in relation to political and com-
‘mercial development by Dr. Mill, with one or two
slips, and of the geological features by Sir Archibald

No. 1888, VOL. 73]

railway
a most

merits

Geikie; temperature and rainfall tables for more than
a hundred stations (the latter, unfortunately, only for
a ten years’ mean); agricultural, population, ecclesi-
astical, demographic, political, commercial, industrial,
and railway statistics; a list of railways; the
etymology of English and Welsh place-names ; and an
invaluable bibliography of the maps of the country
from the earliest times, specially compiled by Mr.

Bartholomew.
It will be seen that the atlas deserves its com-
prehensive title. The time and art required to

produce it have been great, and Mr. Bartholomew very
properly makes due acknowledgments to his skilled
assistants. The execution is admirable, and the work
is not merely one of great scientific importance, but
also a specimen of cartography worthy of the reputa-
tion of the house of Bartholomew.

LEATHER FOR BOOKBINDING.

Report of the Committee on Leather for Bookbinding.
Edited for the Society of Arts and the Worshipful
Company of Leathersellers by the Right Hon.
Viscount Cobham and Sir Henry Trueman Wood.
Pp. 120. (London: George Bell and Sons, 1905.)
Price tos. 6d.

N recent years there has been considerable dissatis-
faction with the quality of leather used for book-
binding ; although many old books have their bindings
still in good condition, others more recently bound
have become dilapidated. In 1899 the School of Arts
and Crafts formed a committee for the investigation
of the subject, which appealed later to the council of
the Society of Arts requesting it to undertake a
thorough examination of the whole question, and in
February, tgo0, the society agreed to appoint a com-
mittee for the purpose. The first meeting was held
in May, 1900, and two subcommittees were elected
from the members; the first, consisting of Mr. Cyril
Davenport, of the British Museum Library; Dr. J.
Gordon Parker, director of the London Leather In-
dustries’ Research Laboratories; Mr. A. Seymour-
Jones, leather manufacturer; Mr. W. J. Leighton,
bookbinder; and Mr. Douglas Cockerell, bookbinder,
was to visit various libraries to ascertain the com-
parative duration of various leathers used at different
periods and preserved under different conditions. The
second subcommittee consisted of Dr. J. Gordon
Parker, Prof. Henry R. Procter, professor of leather
industries at Leeds University, and Mr. A. Seymour-
Jones; its duty was to ascertain the cause of any
deterioration noticed and to suggest methods for its
prevention. Mr. M. C. Lamb, director of the leather
dyeing and finishing department of Herold’s Insti-
tute, was afterwards added to this committee.

The committee reported in June, 1g01, and the report
was printed in the Journal of the Society of July 5.
It was considered desirable to reprint the report in a
more permanent form, and with the financial assist-
ance of the Leathersellers’ Company the present
volume has been produced, which contains more
detailed accounts of tne work of the subcommittees

IAGO RE

[JANUARY 4, 1906

than were contained in the appendices to the original
report.

It was found that all the bindings examined showed
evidence of decay, but the books bound during the last
So or 100 years were in a worse condition than many
of those of an earlier date; some recent binding had
deteriorated in as short a need as five years. The
deterioration became more general in books bound
after 1830; some leather seemed to be good until 1860,
after which date nearly all leather appeared to get
worse.

Besides ihe quality of the leather, the conditions
under which books are kept have a great influence on

the durability of the bindings. When ventilation is
good and artificial light is not used the books are in

a better condition. The products of the combustion
of gas do much mischief,
shelves of a library, where the temperature is often
considerably raised by the heat from the flames.
to relate, tobacco smoke said to be deleterious.
Daylight, and especially direct sunlight, has a
effect on some leathers and also on the colours of the
dyes.

The report discusses fully the durability of the dif-
ferent kinds of leathers which have been used for
bookbinding and also the construction of bindings; a
specification for binding heavy or valuable books and
alsc one for ordinary library binding are given.

The second subcommittee investigated the cause of
decay by many experiments. Three different kinds of
skins were tanned with eleven different agents, the
tanning process being modified in portions of the
specimens. Small strips of the leathers were fastened
on boards with one half of each strip exposed and then
submitted to various actions—direct sunlight, light
from a fish-tail gas-burner, light from an incandescent
gas-burner and from an incandescent electric lamp, the
fumes and heat of burning gas, currents of moist and
dry air alternately in a closed vessel kept at a tempera-
ture of 60° to 70° F., carbonic acid gas, and sunlight,
but protected from air by glass; the results of many
of these experiments are shown by excellent coloured
plates.

Experiments were made with purchased leathers,
most of which were found to contain free sulphuric
acid; this acid been used of recent years
brightening the colour bark-tanned calf, from
which it removes the iron and tan stains, and much
appearance of the material, It was
found that in every case the presence of sulphuric acid

is

has
of

improves the

hastened the destruction of the leather by all the
agents tried. The sulphuric acid cannot be entirely
removed from the leather by washing with water; a’

piece of leather containing 1 per cent. of sulphuric
acid was washed for five days and nights in running
water, and was afterwards found to contain one-fifth
of the original quantity of acid. It was found, how-
that if sulphuric acid
washed with potassium or sodium lactate or acetate
the effects of the sulphuric acid are neutralised.
Sulphuric acid is also introduced into leather by
the pickling which is used for preserving skins that

No. 1888, VoL. 73]

ever, leather containing is

especially on the upper |

bad |

for |

aa
|

| :
| their

are imported from New Zealand and Australia, the
process consisting of acting on the skins with a solu-
tion of salt and sulphuric acid. Mr. Seymour-Jones
has shown that formic acid may be used in the place
of sulphuric acid, and is quite as efficacious. Sul-
phuric acid is employed in the dye bath for the pur-
pose of liberating certain colours; it has been found
that in this case also formic acid may be substituted.

Mr. Seymour-Jones has made a number of deter-
minations of the mechanical strength of skins in
original condition, and also after tanning and
other processes; it was found that the breaking stress

/of the leather is always below that of the original

Sad |

skin.

Valuable sections on the preparation of leather suit-
able for bookbinding, on bookbinding, and on the pre-
servation of books appear in the report. Appendix i.
consists of hints to owners and keepers of libraries by
the chairman, Lord Cobham. Appendix ii. is on the
fading of colour from sumach-tanned leather dyed
with coal-tar colours, by Mr. M. C. Lamb, and is
illustrated by coloured plates.

The book is excellently printed and illustrated, and
inside the cover are specimens of six varieties
of leather in their undyed and dyed conditions. The
report should be read by all interested in books and
libraries. H. M.

OUR BOOK

A Treatise on Ore
Le Neve Foster.
by Bennett H. Brough.
Charles Griffin and Co.,

Tuts book, when it first appeared in 1894, was the
first systematic treatise on mining published in
England, and was quite up to date; but later editions
were not sufficiently revised, and the hand of death
put an end to the gifted author’s intentions of re-
writing the work. The preparation of a new edition
could not have been entrusted to more competent
hands than those of his old colleague Mr. Bennett
H. Brough. The general arrangement of the book
is the same as in former editions, except that
chapter xiv., ‘‘ Principles of Employment of Mining
Labour,’’ has become chapter xvii.

The revision of the whole work has been very
thorough; recent discoveries of important occurrences

SHELF.

and Stone Mining. By Sir C.
Sixth edition, revised and enlarged
Pp. xxx+799. (London :
Ltd., 1905.) Price 34s.

' of minerals and new methods of mining and treating

ores have been brought up to date, while other
methods, machinery and appliances, which have been
superseded during the last few years, are omitted
from this edition.

Additions to the worl: are interspersed throughout,
so that it is difficult to make selections. More
prominence is given to the important iron-ore deposits
of Sweden and Norway, also to those of Spain. The
various kinds of steam turbines, which may, under
certain conditions, be used to advantage as motors
for pumps, are briefly described. A considerable
addition has been made to the list of important per-
cussive rock drills now on the market. The Water
Leyner rock drill with its water-flushing apparatus,
which tends to prevent miners’ phthisis, is introduced
to the reader, and the recent important investigations
of Dr. Haldane and Mr. Thomas into the mortality
of Cornish miners receive the attention they deserve.

JANUARY 4, 1906]

WIA T OTL

221

We find no mention in chapter vii.—‘* Haulage ’’—
of Koppel’s hydroleum steam locomotive, which is in
use at some mines in Great Britain and elsewhere
for underground haulage, and deserves to be better
known. A 10-horse-power locomotive costs 255/., and
burns on an average 14 gallons an hour of crude
petroleum, which can be bought for 3d. a gallon.
Acetylene hand lamps (p. 544) are also used at some
of the mines in Great Britain, while one mine at
least has had its pass-byes illuminated for years by
30-candle-power acetylene burners supplied from a
small generating plant.

We would warn the mining student not to make a
pilgrimage to the Frongoch Mine, mentioned more
than once, as, unfortunately, the whole of the fine
electrical and dressing plant has passed under the
auctioneer’s hammer and been dismantled.

The amount of accurate and up-to-date information
contained in this volume is enormous. No mining
student at home can afford to neglect it, and it is a
library in itself to mining engineers who go abroad.

The Useful Plants of the Island of Guam.
Safford. Pp. 416. (Washington :
Printing Office, 1905.)

By W. E.

Government

Durie the last few years there has been a remark-
able advance in the application of scientific knowledge
to the cultivation of economic products, and as a result
there has arisen a demand for authoritative books pro-
viding accurate and recent information. The Depart-
ment of Agriculture in the United States of America
has taken the lead with its useful series of bulletins
of an eminently practical nature. In addition there is
need of handbooks, similar to this volume by Mr.
Safford, which give a comprehensive account of the
products of a country or colony. Dr. Watt’s dic-
tionary of the economic products of India is a monu-
mental compilation dealing with an area that embraces
tropical, subtropical, and mountainous regions, and
describes not only indigenous products, but another
fifty per cent. of introduced plants; in its present
form, size and cost preclude its general use, although
it is a valuable work of reference.

The island of Guam, about too miles in circum- |

ference, is the largest of the Ladrone or Marianne
Islands, and passed into the possession of the Ameri-
cans after the late war, while the rest of the islands
were sold by Spain to Germany. The author had
many opportunities of studying the islanders and
different parts of the island, and made excellent use of
this advantage, so that his information is the result
of personal observation and inquiry. The introduc-
tion, forming nearly half the book, contains a general
account of the history, physical conditions, vegetation,
fauna, and ethnology, while in the second part is
given an alphabetical list of plants with vernacular
names and descriptions. Mr. Safford formed a very
favourable opinion of the islanders. Agriculture is
universally pursued, and even the artificers leave their
trade from time to time to attend to the rancho.
Maize is the principal food crop, rice is grown, but not
in sufficient quantity to supply the demand, and taro
and yams are cultivated as well as tobacco. Coffee is
grown round most of the habitations, requiring little
attention, and plantains and bread-fruit thrive luxuri-
ously. Although copra provides the only article of
export, the number of economic plants that are indi-
genous or have been introduced is exceedingly large,
so that the list of plants and the information provided
would be useful in many tropical countries. Of fibre-
yielding plants twenty-three are recorded, including
pine-apple, ramie, kapok, cocoa-nut, plantain, Manila

NO. 1888, VoL. 73]

hemp, Sida and a Pandanus, but the most valued plant
is Hibiscus tiliaceus, from which the natives make all
their cordage and cables. The island will produce
plenty of citrus and other fruits, and severa] farin-
aceous and oil-yielding plants were observed. The
book is lavishly supplied with excellent illustrations
and the information is readily obtainable; in fact, the
volume supplies a good model for future compilations
of a similar nature, the main defect being a somewhat
unusual nomenclature, which does not, however, cause
any difficulty in the determination of the plants
referred to.

The British Journal Photographic Almanac and
Photographer's Daily Companion for 1906. Edited
by George E. Brown. (London: Henry Green-
wood \and: (€o;, 1905.) Price) rs. inet; is. 6d-
cloth.

| THE present issue of this year-boolk appears under the

direction of a new editor, Mr. G. E. Brown, but
the contents in no way suffer from this change. As
has always been the case, and still is, this work is
a compendium of everything pertaining to photo-
graphy, and the photographer would be at a loss if
he had not the volume near at hand for ready refer-
ence. Under the new guidance, the material brought
together is all. that could be desired, and in order
that any particular portion of it can be looked up at
once there is a full ‘‘contents’’ and an elaborate
index.

Other features of this annual consist in a capital
popular account of photographic copyright as it exists
to-day, a most interesting and varied “ epitome of
progress,’’ being a survey, logically classified, of the
year’s labour in both technical and scientific photo-
graphy, and articles contributed by leading writers.
The directory of photographic societies, formule for
the principal photographic processes, and other facts
have all been secured and brought up to date, render-
ing the volume indispensable to the busy photo-
grapher.

By Arthur H. Patterson.
Methuen and Co., 1905.)

Nature in Eastern Norfolk.
Pp. vii+352. (London:
Price 6s.

Tus boolk contains some very pleasant reading, for
Mr. Patterson is a born naturalist, and writes with
freshness and enthusiasm. Not the least interesting
chapter is the autobiographical one, in which the
author tells the story of his early passion for natural
history, his painful struggles to gratify it, and his
later misadventures, with much relish and humour.
We gather that he has at last settled down to a
homely life in his beloved native town, and hope that
he may long continue in it. The second chapter,
general observations on the fauna, is also very good
reading, and here the human species is well re-
presented by short but vigorous sketches of old punt-
gunners and bird-catchers. The rest of the book is
occupied with lists of birds, mammals, fishes, &c. ;
these naturally do not offer much that is new in a
district that has been so thoroughly worked as east
Norfolk, but they are often enlivened by anecdotes
or personal reminiscences. The discovery of the black
rat (Mus rattus) as a common species in Yarmouth
is extremely interesting, and still more so is the
oceurrence of a few specimens of M. alexandrinus, its
southern variety. Other contributions of Mr. Patter-
son to the natural history of the district are to be
found in these pages; most of them are already known
to members of the Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists’
Society.

NA DO RLE

222 [JANUARY 4. 1906
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. or even with the knuckles, it rings as though it were bronze.
7 In fact, my man in the photograph refused to believe that
{The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions it was anything but painted bronze until I myself assured

expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake
to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected
manuscripts intended for this or any other part of NATURE.
No notice is taken of anonymous communications. |

The British Association and our Colonies.

Pror. Mitne’s letter in Nature of November 23 (p. 77
will be read with pleasure by all scientific people in the
colonies. The benefits to be derived from a colonial meet-
ing such as he suggests are many and various, and I have
no doubt will receive full consideration should the idea be
given effect to.

Here in Africa, one piece of work which the British
Association is the natural body to take up is that of the
magnetic survey of the whole continent. The great lack
of trustworthy data for immense tracts of this continent
has been often commented on. When we remember how
much of the continent in British hands, and how the
British Association since its inception has steadily helped
and encouraged the study of earth magnetism, the fitness
of bringing such a proposal before the association
apparent. At such a conference the possibility of a simul-
taneous magnetic survey of Australia would naturally be
considered. Could these two surveys be carried out—even
if very incompletely—they, with the surveys at present in

is

1S

progress and with the proposed ocean surveys of the
Carnegie Institution, would form an invaluable contribu-
tion to our present knowledge of earth magnetism.

Africa has many other problems—educational, explor-
ational, meteorological—the solution of which would be
helped were they taken up at such a conference.

J. C. Beattie.

South African College, Cape Town, December 12, 1905.
Monotremes and Birds.

In Semon’s Zoologische Forschungsreisen, Lieferung xxii.
(1904), Disselhorst treats of ‘* Die maennlichen Geschiechts-
organe der monotremen und einiger Marsupialen.’’? On
p 123 are two text figures, both copied from Sir Everard
Home, Phil. Trans., 1802, plate xii. One represents the
male genital apparatus of Echidna hystrix, the other,
Fig. 18 of the German work, the stretched male organ
of the same animal. Now this Fig. Bp is, in Home’s
paper, correctly named ‘‘ penis of the Drake.’’ Needless
to say, this Drake’s organ does not in the least agree with
that of Echidna, as which it is described in the German
work, and our author is sorely puzzled about some of the
details, cf. p. 131. This may well be the case. Errors
and blunders have been made ere now, but the serio-
comic point is that this Drake figure has, in the process

of reproduction, assumed mammalian characters. In the
original figure the base is surrounded by well-drawn

feathers, and such are mentioned in the explanation of
the plate. The thing is also correctly copied by Owen in
his article Aves in Todd’s ‘‘ Cyclopzdia,’’ further in the
““Anatomy of Vertebrates,’’ vol. ii., Fig. 119, and Owen
directs attention to an important error committed by
Home in his interpretation of the urethra. But in the
recent figure, wrongly attributed to Echidna, the feathers
have lost their character as such, and have turned into he uiry
structures! Who has done this? The author or the artist,
or have both combined to correct the faulty original? It
is such a strikingly pretty figure that it is almost sure to
be propa gated, perhaps to be used as a proof of the affinity
of the oviparous mammals. But a drake is a drake, for
all that. H. Gapow.
University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge, December 20.

Sounding Stones at Ch’ ufu, Shantung.
Last July I happened to pass through Ch’iifu, the birth-
and burial-place of Confucius. In ‘“ seeing the ‘sights ” of

the town I found three very fine examples of ‘‘ sounding
stones,’’ or ‘‘ stone gongs’ as they are sometimes called.
These particular examples do not seem to be very well
known except by Chinese; none of my foreign acquaint-
ances who have been in Ch’iifu had noticed them. Photo.
No. 1 shows the tomb of the grandson of Confucius. The
cover of the incense dish (on which my servant is resting

his hand) is made from stone, but when struck with a stick,

No. 1888, voL. 723]

him to the contrary. Photo. No. 2 shows two pillars
(marked with crosses) of the balustrade in front of the

principal hall of
the great Con-

fucian temple at
Ch’ifu. = Struck
at any point
with a piece of
wood, they give
a distinct
musical note.
Inside the
temple is a large
tablet, about
5X 3x3 feet, of
the same stone.
In this case the
note produced
varies according
to the point at
which the stone
struck. © The
stone from
which these
bodies made
is a greyish
oolitic limestone.
I was informed
that it came
from a quarry at
Kwan Ko Shan,
about seventeen
miles south-east
Ch’tifu. Most
the stone
from this place
has no musical
quality, but from time to time veins of
when found it is usually abundant. ‘‘ Stone gongs’’ of
this kind are found in all parts of the country, and some
are in the possession of foreigners. So far as I can find
out, they all come from this one locality. They have been

is

all

is

of
of Fic. r.— Grave of the grandson of Confucius.

Cemetery of the K'ung family, Ch'tifu, Shantung.

it are found, and

known for many centuries, and it is recorded that the
district from which they come paid its share of a certain
special Imperial tax in ‘‘ sounding stones.’’ I should be
pleased if any reader could give the cause of this very
remarkable property, and if it is not understood I would
gladly give what help I can towards elucidating it.
During this journey I was pressed for time, and as my

route lay directly east from Ch’tifu I was not able to visit

Fic. 2.—Detail of Confucian Temple, Ch'iifu, Shantung.

Should there be any object in doing so, how-
ever, I will take the first opportunity of returning and
making any observations that I may be asked to make.
Such an opportunity may occur at any time, and, in fact,
could be easily made to occur, as the journey would only

the quarry.

JANUARY 4, 1906]

MAT URE:

223

take four days each way. I am afraid, however, that it

might prove very difficult to secure any sample of this

stone for transportation to Europe. ALFRED TINGLE.
Chinanfu, Shantung, China, November 9, 1905.

Aurore of November 15 and December 12.

SINcE my communication of December 9
December 28), I have learned that the aurora borealis
of Nevember 15 was observed here by several persons
between 8.30 p.m. and 9.30 p.m., Halifax time. The
appearances were similar to those noted in England
(Nature, November 23, pp. 79-80), and the rosy-red
streamers seem to have attracted special attention.

I am also informed that an aurora was observed here
last night (December 12) at 9.30 p.m. with whitish
streamers, but lacking the display of colour observed
November 15.

It is somewhat noteworthy that the interval November 15
to December 12 covers a period of twenty-seven days—the
time required for one complete rotation of the sun.

ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL.

Beinn Bhreagh, near Baddeck, Nova Scotia,

December 13, 1905.

(NATURE,

The Principles of Heredity.

I HAVE every reason to be satisfied with the kind and
indulgent review (December 7, p. 121) by ‘‘ A. D. D.”’ of
my book “‘ The Principles of Heredity,’’ but there is one
sentence of it on which I should like to comment, more
particularly as it contains nothing of blame or praise.
““A. D. D.” writes, ‘‘ this book ... is an embodiment
of the recognition by medical men that they depend
ultimately for a precise knowledge of nature on the pro-
fessional biologist—who may or may not, at the same
time, be a medical man.”’

But really I do not think that. On the contrary, I

believe it is easily capable of demonstration that the in- |

formagion already in the hands of all medical men is incom-
parably superior, both in precision and volume, to anything
ever possessed, or likely to be possessed, by biologists. It
has not been utilised, that is all. The blame does not rest
wholly with the medical man. His strictly professional
curriculum is burdened by a monstrous but necessary load
of facts. His one chance of coming in contact with sub-
jects of general interest and of acquiring habits of sustained
and accurate thought lies in the purely scientific part of
his curriculum. Here his teachers are biologists who, in-
stead of inculcating wide principles of heredity and evolu-
tion, add to the load on his memory by supplying irrelevant
scraps of information about jelly-fish, earthworms, cock-
chafers, and the like—irrelevant, for, in the form they are
presented, they do not link up with the studies and interests
of his future career, and therefore are forgotten as soon
as may be. “‘A. D. D.” complains that I do not
sufficiently appreciate classical teaching. It may console
him to know that my appreciation of a certain class of
scientific teaching is just as—well, hearty.

The biologist has surpassed the medical man in the study
of great problems only because his attention has been
directed to the subject, and because, on the whole, his
habits of thought—not information—have been more
precise. Had the medical man received the training of the
biologist, or the biologist possessed the information common
to medical men, the progress of science would have
been much more rapid, and few or none of the great
biological controversies of the past would have arisen, or
at least have endured the interminable time they did; for
example, the disputes as to whether natural selection is
the cause or the sole cause of evolution, as to whether
acquired characters are transmissible, as to whether varia-
tions are due to the direct action of the environment, as
to whether evolution proceeds on lines of ‘‘ fluctuating ”’

variations or of discontinuous ‘‘ mutations,’’ as to the
function of sex, and so forth.

Of necessity we—that is, all men—know the human
type better than we can possibly know any other. Pro-

vided we know what to look for, extreme familiarity
enables us to observe the smallest variations. No shepherd
knows his flock, no biologist knows animal or plant as

NO. 1888. VoL. 73]

the medical man knows his fellow man. The species has
diverged into a large number of natural varieties, dwelling
under immensely diverse conditions and differing vastly in
every peculiarity of body and mind. All these varieties,
apparently, are inter-fertile, and almost all of them, in
bulk or in isolated cases, have crossed with almost every
other variety. Hybrids are being reared every day, and
many races are compound hybrids—e.g. the Caucasian-
Negro-Indian inhabitants of parts of South America.
Above all, the species is being stringently selected and is
undergoing rapid evolution under the action of disease, an
agency which furnishes the most perfect series of experi-
ments in heredity and evolution imaginable. Every race
is resistant to every disease strictly in proportion to its
past experience of it. Some diseases are short and sharp,
others are of long duration. Some are local, others fill
the whole system with micro-organisms or bathe the germ-
cells with toxins. Many diseases are new to many races ;
others they have afflicted for thousands of years. If ever
acquirements are transmitted, however “faintly and fit-
fully,’’ it should be in the case of disease. If ever varia-
tions, no matter how small, are caused by the direct action
of the environment, a race long afflicted should show the
trace. If Mendelian phenomena play an important part
in nature, we should note them in crossed varieties of men.
If evolution proceeds on lines, not of fluctuating variations,
but of stable mutations ‘‘ which only selection can
eliminate,’’ then races (e.g. British) which have become
highly resistant to this or that disease (e.g. consumption)
should not constantly produce individuals who are as
susceptible as members of a race which has undergone no
such evolution (e.g. Red Indian).

Unless heredity in man differs from heredity in other
species, it is very evident that medical men have no need
to go to biologists for precise information, but that there
is every need that biologists should go to medical men.
A yast fund of minutely accurate data, much of which is
statistical, is available. To grope in the obscurity that
necessarily surrounds the past and the present of wild
species or amid the confusion of the unrecorded crosses
of domesticated varieties while this fund is untouched may
be magnificent, but it is not science.

Southsea, December 11, 1905. G. ArcupaLtt Rep.

Dr. Reip takes exception to a passage in my review of
his book; in it I state my belief that his book is the
embodiment of a certain opinion, but Dr. Reid writes to
say that he does not hold this view at all. It is not
necessary, nor would it be profitable if it were, to discuss
who is right in this matter—he or I—for obviously I am
guilty of misrepresenting Dr. Reid’s opinion.

But that the medical man is capable of acquiring a
precise knowledge of nature independently of the inform-
ation already gained and the methods employed by the
biologist does not seem to me to be by any means certain.
Dr. Reid thinks it is, and brings forward as evidence the
fact that doctors possess better data for the solution of
problems of evolution than ever have been, or can be,
possessed by the biologist. Now, even supposing this to
be true—which I do not for a moment—it does not seem to
me to prove Dr. Reid’s point. Either he thinks that the
possession of data is tantamount to a precise knowledge of
nature, or he does not; if he does, he proves his point by
introducing into his syllogism a premiss which I believe to
be untrue; if he does not—and I do not believe that he
does—he does not prove his point.

But he this as it may, the point that interests me is
that the belief that there is no great step between the
collection of data and the derivation from them of a precise
knowledge of nature is a widespread and, I believe, a
profoundly erroneous one; for it seems to me that the
possession of data is a small advance towards such a
precise knowledge, and that that which hinders the acquisi-
tion of natural knowledge is not the slowness with which
facts are accumulated, but the paucity of investigators
capable of dealing with them properly; and this dearth
is due to the infection of the majority of biologists by a
disease —a sort of sleeping sickness—which consists in a
disinclination to picture to the mind’s eye the things re-
presented by the words they use.

Let us proceed to examine Dr. Reid’s main thesis—that

22

the medical man has better material for the study of evolu-
tion than any biologist has had or can have, for the reason,
says Dr. Reid, that the animal about which we know
infinitely more than we do about any other is man him-
self. And further than this, he maintains that a knowledge
of the relation of man to disease has already furnished
us with solutions to such problems as that of the inherit-

ance of use and disuse, and others which he names. Now
if the reader is familiar with Prof. Ray lLankester’s
Romanes Lecture, he will immediately see that great

caution must be exercised.

Prof. Lankester in this lecture showed that, though man
was a part of nature, he had separated himself from
nature, and had set up for himself a regnum hominis,
where, to use Huxley’s terms, the cosmic process was re-
placed by the horticultural. Man had—if we may use a
picturesque expression which has no meaning—disobeyed
nature’s laws, and had become in Prof. Lankester’s words
““nature’s rebel.’

Moreover, it was in the very matter of disease, on which
Dr. Reid bases so much, that man had become more
different from the rest of nature than in any other respect.

Disease has no existence in nature apart from man; the
parasite either kills his host or an equilibrium is estab-
lished between the two and both continue to live together ;
whereas in man a state of affairs has been evolved which
is entirely peculiar to him, namely, disease.

Now I maintain that these considerations should prevent
us from being too willing, or even from being willing at
all, to argue ‘from the data that medical men possess con-
cerning the human species, and particularly from the data
concerning man’s relation to disease, to the rest of nature.

I am sometimes asked, ‘‘ Is the knowledge of heredity
which you acquire from your experiments with mice likely
to be applicable to man?’’ In my opinion the question
which the pure biologist should seriously consider before
he accepts the truth of Dr. Reid’s contention is, ““Is the
knowledge of heredity acquired by observation on man
likely to be applicable to mice? Is that knowledge likely
to help him towards a closer acquaintance with the funda-

mental nature of living things? ’’ My answer is, that it
may do to a certain degree, but not so surely as will the
kind of knowledge acquired by the pure biologist—a

knowledge of nature outside the regnum hominis.

Biologists are still very anthropomorphic, and medical
men still more so. To the pure biologist man is not a
more interesting animal than any other; and, in fact, it
might be urged with some justice that as ‘‘ nature’s rebel ”’
he is less so. I am well aware that this view will find no
favour with Dr. Reid. On the other hand, Dr. Reid’s
estimate of the value of the breeding-pen, as an instrument
for acquiring a knowledge of heredity, is likely to find as
little favour with the experimental breeder. Yet who can
say that the one has more of truth in his opinion than the
other ?

Naturally each one thinks that the point of view from
which, and the material with which, he works at a problem
is the best, but I am willing to concede to Dr. Reid the
point that, considered as material for dealing with
heredity, men are nearly as good as mice, if he will allow
that mice are nearly as good as men. AS DED.

A Suggested Change in Nomenclature.

In the Geological Magazine for October, 1904, I gave
the name Barypoda to a new order of Ungulates, including
under it Arsinoitherium and its allies. It has just been
pointed out to me by Mr. W. K. Gregory, of the American
Museum of Natural History, that this name was previously
used by Haeckel (‘‘ Generelle Morphologie,”’ ii., p. clvii.)
for certain groups of extinct marsupials. It is therefore
advisable to suggest another name for the new division of
the Ungulates, and I propose that Embrithopoda_ be
employed.

In the case of a generic name, it is comparatively easy
to determine with reasonable certainty whether it has been
previously used or not, but with the names of higher sub-
divisions this is very difficult, especially when, as in the
jpresent case, the term has never passed into current use.

Cuas. W. ANDREWS.

British Museum (Natural History), London, S.W.,

December 29, 1905.

NO. 1888, voL. 73]

IN ACR Te

[JANUARY 4, 1906

NOTES ON STONEHENGE.
X.—SacrepD Fires.

HE magnificent collection of facts bearing on this
subject which has been brought together by Mr.
Frazer in ‘‘ The Golden Bough” renders it unneces-
sary for me to deal with the details of this part of my
subject at any great length.

We have these records of fires :—

(1) In February, May, August and November of
the original May year.

(2) In June and December on the longest and
shortest days of the astronomical year (the solstices),
concerning which there could not be, and has not
been, any such change of date as has occurred in
relation to the May year festivals.

(3) A fire at Easter. in all probability added not long
before or at the introduction of Christianity. I find
no traces of a fire festival at the corresponding equinox
in September.

We learn from Cormac that the fires were generally
double and that cattle were driven between them.

Concerning this question of fire, both Mr. Frazer
and the Rev. S. Baring-Gould* suggest that we are
justified in considering the Christian treatment of the
sacred fire as a survival of pagan times. Mr. Baring-
Gould writes as follows :—‘‘ When Christianity became
dominant, it was necessary to dissociate the ideas of
the people from the central fire as mixed up with the
old gods; at the same time the
central fire was an absolute
need. Accordingly the Church
was converted into the sacred
depository of the perpetual
fire.”

He further points out that
there still remain in some of
our churches (in Cornwall,
York, and Dorset) the con-
trivances—now called cresset-
stones—used. They are blocks
of stone with cups hollowed

out. Some are placed in
lamp-niches furnished with
flues. On these he remarks
(p. 122) :—

‘Now although these lamps Fic. 24. Sa ee stone Tea
and cressets had their re- Gould's.“ Suanpemnsne:
ligious signification, yet this vivals.””
religious signification was an
afterthought. The origin of them lay in_ the

necessity of there being in every place a central light,
from which light could at any time be borrowed; and
the reason why this central light was put in the church
was to dissociate it from the heathen ideas attached
formerly to it. As it was, the good people of the
Middle Ages were not quite satisfied with the central
church fire, and they had recourse in times of emer-
gency to others—and as the Church deemed them—
unholy fires. When a plague and murrain appeared
among cattle, then they lighted need-fires from two
pieces of dry wood, and drove the cattle between the
flames, believing that this new flame was wholesome
to the purging away of the disease. For kindling the
need-fires the employment of flint and steel was for-
bidden. The fire was only efficacious when extracted
in prehistoric fashion, out of wood. The lighting of
these need-fires was forbidden by the Church in the
eighth century. What shows that this need-fire was
distinctly heathen is that in the Church new fire was
obtained at Easter annually by striking flint and steel
together. It was supposed that the old fire in a

1 Continued from p. 155.
= “*Strange Survivals,”’ p. 120 e¢ seg.

JANUARY 4, 1906]

INI OTSSS

225

twelvemonth had got exhausted, or perhaps that all
light expired with Christ, and that new fire must be
obtained. Accordingly the priest solemnly struck new
fire out of flint and steel. But fire from flint and
steel was a novelty; and the people, Pagan at heart,
had no confidence in it, and in time of adversity went
back to the need-fire kindled in the time-honoured way
from wood by friction, before this new-fangled way of
drawing it out of stone and iron was invented.’”? ~

The same authority informs us that before
Christianity was introduced into Ireland by St. Patricl:
there was a

Ze AMIN MU cee a fe

F Gd UND ANA AICARALS burned ever, and

= “Amr aus, Copa ste)

i i | ij itt account suffered
ah ida lel 1 | a to go out.” 4

eal < i i Mr. Frazer,
t= os mas mrt, quoting Cerbied,
wy §=6eshows that in the

ni Ay ancient religion

wees, of Armenia the

‘nn new fire was

=. kindled at the

—~. February festival
@-~ of the May year,
in honour of the
fire god Mihr.
“A bonfire was
made in a public
at? place and lamps
yt: kindled at it were
wa’ kept burning
throughout the
year in each of
the fire-god’s
temples.’? ‘This
festival now takes
place at Candle-
mas, February 2.

We must assume, then, that the pagan fires were
produced by the friction of dry wood, and possibly in
connection with an ever-burning fire. In either case
the priests officiating at the various circles must have
had a place handy where the wood was kept dry or
the fire kept burning, and on this ground alone we
may again inquire whether such structures as Maes-
howe at the Stenness circle, the Fougou at that
of the Merry Maidens, and*indeed chambered bar-
rows and cairns generally, were not used for these
purposes amongst others; whether indeed they were
not primarily built for the living and not for the
dead, and whether this will explain the finding of
traces of fires and of hollowed stones in them, as well
as some points in their structure. Mr. MacRitchie *
has brought together several of these points, among
them fireplaces and flues for carrying away smoke.

At both solstices it would appear that a special fire-
rite was practised. This consisted of tying straw on
a wheel and rolling it when lighted down a hill.
There is much evidence for the wheel at the summer
but less at the winter solstice; still, we learn from the
old Runiec fasti that a wheel was used to denote the
festival of Christmas. With regard to the summer
solstice I quote the following from Hazlitt (under
john, 7St):—

‘“Durandus, speaking of the rites of the Feast of
St. John Baptist, informs us of this curious circum-
stance, that in some places they roll a wheel about
to signify that the sun, then occupying the highest
_place in the Zodiac, is beginning to descend. ‘ Rotam

1 ** Golden Bough,” iii. 248.
2 “The Testimony of Tradition.”’

no. 1888, VoL. 73]

DNS Y
A !

Fic. 25.—The Carro, Florence. From Baring-
Gould’s ‘* Strange Survivals.’’

quoque hoc die in quibusdam locis volvunt, ad sig»
nificandum quod Sol altissimum tune locum in Ceelo
occupet, et descendere incipiat in Zodiaco.’ Harl.
MSS. 2345 (on vellum), Art. roo, is an Account of the
rites of St. John Baptist’s Eve, in which the wheel
is also mentioned. In the amplified account of these
ceremonies given by Naogeorgus, we read that this
wheel was taken up to the top of a mountain and
rolled down thence; and that, as it had previously
been covered with straw twisted about it and set on
fire, it appeared at a distance as if the sun had been
falling from the sky. And he further observes, that
the people imagine that all their ill-luck rolls away
from them together with this wheel. At Norwich, says
a writer in Current Notes for March, 1854, the rites
of St. John the Baptist were anciently observed,
“when it was the custom to turn or roll a wheel
about, in signification of the sun’s annual course, or
the sun, then occupying the highest place in the
Zodiac, was about descending.’ ”’

At Magdalen College, Oxford, the May and June
years are clearly differentiated. There is a vocal ser-
vice at sunrise on May morning, followed by boys
blowing horns. At the summer solstice there is a
sermon preached during the day in the quadrangle.

One of the most picturesque survivals of this
ancient custom takes place at Florence each year at
Easter. This is fully described by Baring-Gould.
The moment the sacred fire is produced at the high
altar a dove (in plaster) carries it along a rope about
200 yards long to a car in the square outside the west
door of the cathedral and sets fire to a fuse, thus
causing the explosion of fireworks.

The car with its explosives is the survival of the
ancient bonfire.

It would appear that the lighting of these fires on
a large scale lingered longest in Ireland and Brittany.

A correspondent of the Gentleman’s Magazine
(February, 1795) thus describes the Irish Beltane fires
in 1782, “the most singular sight in Ireland ” :—

“Exactly at midnight, the fires began to appear,
and taking the advantage of going up to the leads
of the house, which had a widely extended view, I
saw on a radius of thirty miles, all around, the fires
burning on every eminence which the country
afforded. I had a farther satisfaction in learning,
from undoubted authority, that the people danced
round the fires, and at the close went through these
fires, and made their sons and daughters, together
with their cattle, pass through the fire; and the whole
was conducted with religious solemnity.”

It will have been observed with reference to these
fire festivals that although there were undoubtedly
four, in May, August, November, and February, those
in May and November were more important than the
others. This no doubt arose from the fact that at
different times the May and November celebrations
were New Year festivals. With regard to the New
Year in November in Celtic and later times, Rhys
writes as follows (‘‘ Hibbert Lectures,’’ p. 514) :-—

“ The Celts were in the habit formerly of counting
winters, and of giving precedence in their reckoning
to night and winter over day and summer (p. 360); I
should argue that the last day of the year in the Irish
story of Diarmait’s death meant the eve of November
or All-halloween, the night before the Irish Samhain,
and known in Welsh as Nos Galan-gaeaf, or the
Night of the Winter Calends. But there is no
occasion to rest on this alone, as we have the evidence
of Cormac’s Glossary that the month before the
beginning of winter was the last month; so that the
first day of the first month of winter was also the
first day of the year.”’

That the November bonfire

was recognised as

226

NEAL TRO EE:

[JANUARY 4, 1906

heralding the dominion of the gods and spirits of
darkness; that the old ideas surrounding Horus and
Set in Egypt were not forgotten; is evidenced by the
fact that when the fire was extinct the whole company
round it would suddenly take to their heels, shouting
at the top of their voices :—

Yr hweh du gwta

The cropped black sow
A gipio ’r ola’!

Seize the hindmost !

A piecing together of the folklore and traditions of
different districts suggests that sacrifices were made
in connection with the fire festivals, in fact that the
fire at one of the critical times of the May year was a
sacrificial one.

I will quote two cases given by Gomme! for May
Day and All Souls’ Day respectively :-—

“At the village of Holne, situated on one of the
spurs of Dartmoor, is a field of about two acres, the
property of the parish, and called the Ploy Field.
In the centre of this field stands a granite pillar
(Menhir) six or seven feet high. On May-morning,
before daybreak, the young men of the village used
to assemble there, and then proceed to the moor, where
they selected a ram lamb, and after running it down,
brought it in triumph to the Ploy Field, fastened it
to the pillar, cut its throat and then roasted it whole,
skin, wool, &c. At midday a struggle took place, at
the risk of cut hands, for a slice, it being supposed
to confer luck for the ensuing year on the fortunate
devourer. As an act of gallantry the young men
sometimes fought their way through the crowd to
get a slice for the chosen amongst the young women,
all of whom, in their best dresses, attended the Ram

Feast, as it was called. Dancing, wrestling, and
other games, assisted by copious libations of cider
during the afternoon, prolonged the festivity till
midnight.’

In the parish of King’s Teignton, Devonshire, ‘a
lamb is drawn about the parish on Whitsun Mond: Ly
in a cart covered with garlands of lilac, laburnum,
and other flowers, when persons are requested to give
something towards the animal and attendant ex-
penses ; on Tuesday it is then killed and roasted whole
in the middle of the village. The lamb is then sold
in slices to the poor at a cheap rate.”

The popular legend concerning the origin of this
custom introduces. two important elements a refer-
ence to “‘ heathen days’ and the title of ‘ sacrifice ”
ascribed to the killing of the lamb (p. 31).

*“ At St. Peter’s, Athlone, every family of a village
on St. Martin's ‘Day kills an animal of some kind
or other; those who are rich kill a cow or sheep,
others a goose or turkey, while those who are poor

kill a hen or cock; with the blood of the animal they
sprinkle the threshold and also the four corners of
the house, and ‘ this performance is done to exclude
every kind of evil spirit from the dwelling where the
sacrifice is made till the return of the same day the
following year’ ’’ (p. 163).

Other traditions indicate that human sacrifices were
in question and that lots were drawn, or some other
method of the choice of a victim was adopted. I
quote from Hazlitt (i., 44) the following report of
the Minister of Callender in 1794 :—

““The people of this district have two
which are fast wearing out, not only
over the Highlands, and therefore
notice of, while they remain.

customs,
y here, but all
ought to be taken
Upon the first day of

May, which is called Beltan, or Bal-tein-day, all the
boys in a township or hamlet meet in the moors.
They cut a table in the green sod, of a round figure,

by casting a trench in the ground of such a circum-
ference as to hold the whole company. They kindle

1 “ Ethnology in Folklore,” pp. 32 and 163.
Q
No. 1888, vor. 73]

a fire, and dress a repast of eggs and milk in the
consistence of a custard. They ‘knead a cake of oat-
meal, which is toasted at the embers against a stone.
After the custard is eaten up, they divide the cake
into so many portions, as similar as possible to one
another in size and shape, as there are persons in
the company. They daub one of these portions all
over with charcoal, until it be perfectly black. They
put all the bits of the cake into a bonnet. Every-
one, blindfold, draws out a portion. He who holds
the bonnet is entitled to the last bit. Whoever draws
the black bit is the devoted person, who is to be
sacrificed to Baal, whose favour they mean to implore,
in rendering the year productive of the sustenance of

man and beast. There is little doubt of these in-
human sacrifices having been once offered in this
country as well as in the East, although they now

pass from the act of sacrificing, and only compel the
devoted person to leap three times through the flames;
with which the ceremonies of the festival are closed.”’

I may conclude this article by referring to similar
practices in Brittany, where Baring-Gould has so
successfully studied them.!

The present remnants of the old cult in the different
parishes are now called ‘‘ Pardons ’’; they are still
numerous. I give those for the May and August
festivals (p. 83) :—

May.

Bodilis, Penhars, Spezet (at the
Well of S. Gouzenou), Land-
evennec, Plougonnec.

Sunday after Ascension Day Trégoat, St. Divy.

Ascension Day

Whit Sunday Kernilis. Plouider ; | Edern ;
Coray ; Spezet (Chapel of
Cran).

», Monday (Quimperlé (Pardon des Oiseaux) ;
Pont VAbbé (Pardon des
Enfants); Ergué-Armel, La
Forét, Landudal, Ploneis,
Landeleau, Carantec.

Gouezec (Les Fontaines).
AuGustT.

Pleyben (horse races) ; Pléban-
nalec ; Pouldreuzic ; Plougo-
melin; Huelgoét ; S. Nicodéme
in Plumeliat (M.), Cattle
blessed ; second day horse fair,

and girls sell their tresses to
hair merchants.

pardons,’’ the solstitial celebra-
tions are not so numerous as those connected with
the May ye The bonfire is built up by the head
of a family 4 in which the right is hereditary. The fire
has to be lighted only by a pure virgin, and the sick
and feeble are carried to the spot, as the bonfire flames
are held to be gifted with miraculous healing powers.
When the flames are abated, stones are placed for the
souls of the dead to sit there through the remainder
of the night and enjoy the heat. ‘‘ Every member of
the community carries away a handful of ashes as a
sovereign cure for sundry maladies. The whole pro.
ceeding is instinct with paganism ”’ (p. 75).

With regard to the accompanying sacrifices, we
read :—‘‘ In ancient times sacrifices were made of
cocks and oxen at certain shrines—now they are still
presented, but it is to the chapels of saints. S. Herbot
receives cows’ tails, and these may be seen heaped
upon his altar in Logeffret. At Coadret as many as
seven hundred are offered on the day of the ‘ pardon.’
At S. Nicolas-des-Eaux, it is S. Nicodemus who in
his chapel receives gifts of whole oxen, and much the
same takes place at Carnac.’’

», Thursday

First Sunday in August

cc

Judging by the

Norman LOCKYER.
J “A Book of Brittany.”

JaNuARY 4, 1906]

NATORE

nN
nN
NI

SCIENTIFIC EXPLORATION IN CENTRAL
ASTA.3

T is with a lingering feeling of regret that we
recognise howe different, of necessity, are the
explorations of the present day from. those of fifty
years ago. No longer is it possible, except in rare
instances, for a traveller to return with tales of new
discoveries of lakes, sources of rivers, mighty peaks,
and of the strange peoples that dwell there. Much
work still remains, but it is of a more scientific
nature, and therefore will probably
provide matter which when pub-

lished may be less entertaining
and less widely read. When a

traveller makes a speciality of one
particular branch of science, as
Dr. Gottfried Merzbacher does in
his volume on ‘‘ The Central Tian-
Shan Mountains,’’ to the almost
entire exclusion of all others, it
follows that he can only appeal to
a limited number of readers; to
those, in fact, who are interested
in the study of geology and
glaciers. We would, however,
make this reservation, that the
photographs which adorn this
book are exceptionally beautiful re-
presentations of snow scenery, and
will more than satisfy the ordinary
reader as well as the man _ of
science, and that the map is of
great general value.

For two seasons, 1902-3, did Dr.
Merzbacher and his companions
labour in the central Tian-Shan
Mountains which lie north-east of

IXashgar. Russian explorers have
visited this district many times,

but the main backbone of the
range has never been closely ex-
plored, and Dr. Merzbacher was
able to discover and correct many
errors in existing maps. We
would here point out the growing
necessity for the closer interchange
of information between the various
scientific societies of different coun-
tries. Dr. Merzbacher met a
Russian expedition which to his
delight was not intending to work
over quite the same tract of coun-
try, while Dr. Friedrichsen and
Signor Giulio Brocherel have
already published the results of
their explorations of the same
range, which were being under-
taken almost simultaneously with
those of Dr. Merzbacher and _ his
companions. Healthy rivalry is to

zoological, and climato-
which have been almost entirely
volume, will be included in the
We cannot help feeling that a
preliminary volume, such as this is intended to be,
should have included some reference to these other
subjects, while some of the geological and glacial notes
might have been left to the more detailed report.

The care with which Dr. Merzbacher explored is
leaving little or nothing

We trust that the botanical,
logical observations,
omitted from this

more detailed report.

worthy of the highest praise,

be encouraged, but such over. "> jqazslghotosptic View of Rar tone et eas” Boom the Cena
lapping of work as this is re- Tian-Shan Mountains, 1902-19
grettable.

In this volume, which is of the nature of a pre- | for any future travellers in this region to accomplish.
liminary report, Dr. Merzbacher has embodied | Hc made his winter quarters at Kashgar, ae was
observations on the present and past glacier condi- | not content to wait for more clement ‘weather, and
tions of the Tian-Shan Mountains, and on pecu- made many useful excursions during the winter
liarities in the physical features of its valley forma- months, which hz appened to be unusually mild. It

tions, subjects to which, throughout the expedition,
his attention was specially directed. A more detailed
report, however, is to follow when his rich collec-
tions have been scientifically examined and arranged.

1 “The Central Tian-Shan Mountains, 1902-1903.” By Dr. Gottfried
Merzbacher. Pp.ix+285. (London: John Murray.) Price 12s. net.

NO. 1888, VOL. 73]

to attempt here a description,
however short, of his journeyings, and indeed, with-
out a map, it would be nigh impossible to follow any
such description. Each glacier, each valley, each
ridge is in turn visited, surveyed, and described.
The position of the great peak of MKhan-Tengri

would be out of place

NU
tN
(o/c)

NATORE

[ JANUARY 4, 1906

(23,622 feet) was correctly fixed, and the discovery
was made that this, the culminating eminence of the
whole Tian-Shan, does not stand in the main water-
shed, and is not a nucleus of converging ranges,
but is situated on a secondary spur which projects
from the main range far to the south-west. The
true ‘‘nucleus’’ is the so-called ‘‘ Marble Wall,”’
which in lieu of a better name Dr. Merzbacher has
christened after the president of the Imperial Russian
Geographical Society Mount Nicholas Mikhailovich !
The Inylchek glacier was found to have a total length
of from forty-three to forty-six miles, in place of six
to eight miles as previously supposed, and another

equally large glacier was discovered but not visited.
In the matter of climbing Khan-Tengri, which has
been sometimes wrongly “assumed to have been the

main object of this expedition, Dr. Merzbacher points
out the difficulties, which will probably have the result
of exciting someone to make the attempt.

An accident which resulted in the unfortunate
destruction of many photographic plates gave the
energetic traveller an excuse for revisiting some of

| present

of bipedal forms with which we are now familiar from
the reconstructed skeleton of the iguanodon and its
allies, and also from the ponderous quadrupedal,
long-necked, small-headed Diplodocus, Brontosaurus,
and Cetiosaurus types of gigantic herbivorous reptilés.
Compared with these latter, Triceratops was a quad-
rupedal reptile of quite moderate size, the skeleton,
according to the late Prof. Marsh, being not more
than 25 “feet in length and to feet in height. The
reconstruction by Mr. Gilmore still further
reduces its length by the omission of six of the pre-
sacral vertebrae (introduced by Prof. Marsh), so that,
as now restored, its total length is only 19 feet
8 inches.

The striking feature, which remains unchanged,
the skull, which is fully 6 feet long, and is conse-
quently just one-third of the entire length of the
skeleton as now set up.

Two powerful horn-cores of the bovine type, 23 feet
in length, rise from the frontal bones of the skull, at
the base of which are the round bony orbits. The
snout is narrow and pointed, and carries a_ third

the ground already traversed, and
enabling him, owing to the finer =-——__ 2

weather, to tale still better photo-
graphs. Dr. Merzbacher’s visit to
the alpine lakes, such a rare pheno-
menon in the central Tian-Shan,
and his notes thereon are of great
interest, but as winter was closing
in work became more difficult, and
the expedition finally reached Tash-
kent vid Kulja.

Regarding this volume as a pre-
liminary report Dr. Merzbacher
deprecates drawing conclusions
from the facts noted until his rich
materials have been examined by
competent experts. | He however
mentions one point on which his
scientific conviction is settled once
and for all, namely, that for the
Tian-Shan also an Ice age has to
be accepted.

Photography was used on this
expedition to an unprecedented
extent, many beautiful views being
due to ihe telephotographic pro-
cess, which was used with excel-
lent results. In addition to
botanical and zoological collections
climatic observations were taken
twice daily, while the map was compiled with great
care, and is also well drawn and beautifully repro-
duced.
been used to denote permanent villages and the
pasturages, which are only visited at certain seasons
by the Kirghiz herdsmen.

This volume, which is published under the authority
of the Royal Geographical Society, is a worthy record
of scientific work carried out under great difficulties.
The author is to be warmly congratulated.

A LARGE-HEADED DINOSAUR.

{Pee mounted skeleton of Triceratops prorsus, of

which a note by Mr. Charles W. Gilmore, pre-
parator to the department of geology in the United
States National Museum, W ashington, has recently
been published ! with two plates, is interesting as dis-
playing another Dinosaur of a distinct and very remark-
able type,

1 Proc. United States National Museum, Washington, vol. xxix., pp.
433-435, with plates i. and ii., 190s.

No. 1888, VOL. 73]

It is a pity that the same symbol should have |

differing entirely from the numerous series |

Fic. 1.—Skeleton of Triceratops prorsus in the U.S. National Museum. Three-quarters front view.

smaller horn upon the nasal bone. Behind the pair
of frontal horns is an immense frill of bone spreading
back over the occipital region and covering the first

six cervical vertebra; it was 2 feet 6 inches long and
3 feet broad, resembling an immense Elizabethan
ruff, ornamented with about twenty-four pointed

bosses of bone along its border. The rostrum and
predentary bones were armed with pointed horny
beaks, the teeth being confined to the maxillary and
dentary bones, forming a single series in each jaw.
They are remarkable as hi aving two distinct fangs,
placed transversely in the jaw, “with distinct sockets,
and are displaced vertically; the successional teeth
cut their way between the ae margin and the
adjacent root of the old tooth, or between the two
roots. Prof. Marsh had published a restoration of
this dinosaur in r8gr (see Geol. Mag., plate vii.), the
chief difference between which and the present skele-
ton set up by Mr. Gilmore being the reduction in the
number of the presacral vertebra, already referred
to, and the placing of the limbs, especially the fore-
limbs (the humerus and the radius and ulna), in a

January 4, 1906]

NATURE

229

more flexed and diverging position to enable the head
of the animal in browsing to approach nearer to the
ground. The bony cores on the skull were sheathed
in horn as well as the bealks, and there is evidence
of a dermal armature of bosses and spines which
once covered the dorsal and lateral region of the
creature’s body. Mr. Charles R. Knight has given
a spirited restoration of this animal in the Century
Magazine (1897, p. 18). A life-size papier-maché re-
production of Triceratops has been made in America
by Mr. Lucas, and it is to be hoped a copy may
shortly be secured for the Natural History Museum
in Cromwell Road. H. W.

NOTES.
Tue King has conferred the honour of Knighthood upon
Prof. A. Pedler, C.I.E., F.R.S., Director of Public In-
struction, Bengal, and Vice-Chancellor of the Calcutta

University.

We are requested to announce that the endowment fund
now being raised for the family of the late Prof. G. B.
Howes, F.R.S., will be closed shortly, and all intending
contributors are asked to send their contributions without
delay to the treasurer, Mr. Frank Crisp, at 17 Throg-
morton Avenue, London, E.C.

At a meeting of the Academy of Natural Sciences of
Philadelphia on December 5, 1905, Dr. Dixon announced
that Mr. D. M. Barringer and Mr. B. C. Tilghman,
members of the academy, had notified him of their dis-
covery that the crater of Coon Mountain, or Coon Butte,
in northern Arizona, twelve miles south-east of Canon
Diablo station on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fé
Railway, is an impact crater, and not a crater produced
by a steam explosion, as has been supposed since the ex-
amination made of it by members of the United States
Geological Survey. It appears from their work that the
large crater and elevation known as Coon Mountain is the
result of a collision with the earth of a very large meteorite
or possibly a small asteroid, fragments of which are well
known to the scientific world by the name of the Canon
Diablo siderites. The investigations show (1) that the
formation of the crater and the deposition of the meteoritic
material were simultaneous ; (2) that meteoritic material has
been found 500 feet below the surface of the centre of the
crater; (3) that sandstone supposed to be in place exists
less than 1000 feet below the surface of the centre of the
crater. The authors have presented to the academy for
publication two comprehensive papers in which they set
forth in full their reasons for the above statements.

A copy of the programme of the excursions arranged in
connection with the International Geological Congress, to
be held in Mexico during next September, has just reached

us. Excursions will take place before, during, and after
the congress. Before the business meetings actually begin,
four excursions are provided for visitors. The first

excursion, which will last four days and be confined to 250
persons, is to be to the east from Mexico through Jalapa
to Vera Cruz, returning to Mexico through Esperanza. The
second excursion to the south is to extend to eight days,
and is limited to 4o persons. Arriving at Esperanza, in-
cluded in the first trip, the party will proceed to Tehuacan
and thence to Oaxaca. Puebla will be taken on the return
journey. The third excursion, confined to 30 members,
will include visits to the voleanoes of Toluca, San Andrés,
-and Jorullo, and will last fourteen days, nine of which
will pe on horseback. The last of these trips is to the

NO. 1888, VOL. 73]

geyser district of Ixtlan and to the volcano, Colima.
During the progress of the congress short journeys will
be made to Pachuca, to Cuernavaca, and other places near
Mexico. At the close of the conferences excursion to
the north, of twenty days, will take place. Salamanca,
Guanajuato, Zacatecas, Mapimi, Conejos, Ciudad, Parras,
Another excursion after
The
following subjects will be discussed at the congress :—
(1) Climatic conditions during the geological epochs, when

an

and other localities will be visited.
the meeting will be to the isthmus of Tehuantepec.

Messrs. G. Boehm, T. C. Chamberlin, W. B. Clark,
W. H. Dall, W. M. Davis, A. Heilprin, V. Uhlig, and

S. W. Williston will take part. (2) The relations between
tectonics and eruptive masses: Messrs. A. Bergeat,
A. Dannenberg, G. K. Gilbert, J. P. Iddings, A. Karpinski,
A. Lacroix, and E. Naumann will speak. (3) The genesis
of metalliferous veins: Messrs. B. von Inkey, F. Klock-
mann, W. Lindgren, W. B. Phillips, J. E. Spurr, and
W. H. Weed will participate. (4) The classification and
nomenclature of rocks: Messrs. Wh. Cross, J. P. Iddings,
A. Karpinski, A. Lacroix, A. Osann, W. B. Phillips, H. 5.
Washington, and F. Zirkel will take part in the discussion.
Communications may be addressed to the general secretary,
M. Ezequiel Ordéfiez, 5a del Ciprés, No. 2728, Mexico, D. F.

Tue stone implements of the Zambesi valley
Victoria Falls, noted by Mr. Lamplugh in his report on
the district (see NaTurE, p. 112), and more fully described
by Colonel Feilden in a letter recently printed in NarTure
(p. 77), possess much interest in view of their possibl,
high antiquity. At a meeting of the Geological Society of
South Africa on October 30, 1905, Mr. J. P. Johnson, of
Johannesburg, in giving an account of a further collection
of these implements which he had made during a recent
visit to the falls, stated that some of the specimens appear
to show the transitional stage between the Eolithic and
In the same paper the occurrence of
“pygmy ’’ type near Bulawayo

near

Palzolithic cultures.
implements of the
recorded.

is

InN the second part of the Bergen’s Museums Aarbog
for 1905, Mr. P. Bjerkan describes the ascidians collected
by the Norwegian fishery-steamcr Michael Sars from 1900
to 1904, while Mr. H. Brock does the same for the hydroid
polyps obtained during the last two years. Three ascidians
regarded as new are named by the former author, one of
these representing a new genus; but all the hydroids appear
to be identified with previously known forms. The
organisation of Cephalodiscus has been recently fully in-
vestigated by Dr. H. Schepotieff, who records the results
of his studies in a third article; while Mr. O. Bidenkap
supplies a list of Arctic bryozoans.

To the October issue of the Proceedings of the Phila-

delphia Academy of Sciences Dr. J. W. Haishberger
contributes two interesting papers on the flora of the
Bermudas. In the first of these the general character of

the flora, which is evidently of comparatively recent intro-
duction, discussed, and the different zones described.
The second paper, on the other hand, is devoted to an
explanation of the origin of the curious “* hour-glass-con-
formation ’’ of the stem of the Bermuda palmetto (Sabal
blackburniana), long ago described in a letter from Mr.
O. A. Reade to Sir Joseph Hooker. The explanation,
according to the author, is simplicity itself, the constric-
tions being caused by unfavourable seasons of excessive
drought.

is

IN a recent issue (vol. xxi., art. 14) of the Bulletin
of the American Museum, Prof. H. F. Osborn describes
two new generic types of carnivorous dinosaurs from the

230

NATURE

[ JANUARY 4, 1906

Laramie Cretaceous, namely, Tyrannosaurus vex and
Dynamosaurus imperiosus. The former appears to have
been unprovided with armour, and is estimated to have
measured 39 feet in length; it walked on the hind-limbs
only, with the top of the skull raised about 19 feet from
the ground. On the other hand, Dynamosaurus was an
armoured type with about a dozen lower teeth, and a
number of curious prominences on the inner margin of the
jaw. In this comparatively small number of teeth it seems
to differ from Leidy’s Dinodon, in which some of the
teeth were serrated. A third type, Albertosaurus
phagus, is based on a skull from Albert province, Canada.
It is apparently more specialised than Dinodon in the
reduction of the truncated anterior teeth, and more
primitive than Dynamosaurus in the possession of a larger
number of teeth, which are of a less specialised type.

Sarco-

We have received four numbers (inclusive of one devoted
to the record of last year’s meetings) of the fourteenth
volume of the Transactions of the Academy of St. Louis.
In the bulkiest of these, comprising no less than 248 pages,
Mr. T. L. Casey revises the American representatives of
that section of the staphylinid or short-elytraed beetles
known as the Poederini, the memoir being, of course,
interesting only to specialists. In a second paper Mr. S.
Weller describes, under the name of Paraphorhynchus, a
new genus of rhynchonella-like brachiopods
Kinderhook formation of the Mississippi. In a third paper
the fresh-water molluscan fauna of McGregor, Towa, forms
the subject.

from the

Mr. F. C. Baker communicates some interest-
ing information with regard to the pearl-fishery of that
district. The unios are fished up by means of a dredge
armed with four-pronged ‘‘ crowfoot ’’ hooks, and it is
believed that malformed specimens are more likely to con-
tain pearls than those with normal These
“crippled” mussels, or ‘‘clams,’’ are believed by the
writer to owe their injuries to the action of the dredge
itself.

shells.

Tue last published number of Biometrika contains an
important paper by Mr. A. O. Powys on fertility, duration
of life and reproductive selection in man, with their
mutual relations. Several of his results, which are derived
from the statistical data of New South Wales, are of high
interest. He finds that women with families of five or six
children have a better expectation of life after forty-five
than mothers of either a larger or smaller number of
offspring. The married have a similar advantage over the
Another conclusion drawn by Mr. Powys from his
figures is that ‘‘up to the present there is but little
Malthusian restraint upon the population in New South
Wales—what little there may be apparently being con-
fined to the professional, domestic and commercial classes.’
He confirms Prof. Karl

single.

Pearson’s view that society is at

present being recruited from below—mainly from the
artisan class. A useful craniological contribution to the

study of inter-racial correlation in man is furnished by
E. Tschepourkowsky, of Moscow, and Mr. E. H. Te
Schuster publishes the first instalment of a catalogue of
the fine collection of skulls in the Oxford Museum, on the
basis of a manuscript catalogue prepared some years ago
by Dr. Hatchett Jackson. Dr. Brownlee puts the facts
of the immunity against small-pox conferred by vaccin-
ation and re-vaccination on’ a firm statistical basis, and
Mr. John Blakeman supplies probable error tests of the
significance or otherwise of the difference between correla-
tion ratio and coefficient, and consequently of the existence
or non-existence in a given population of true linear re-
gression. Mr. Latter with the

NO. 1388, VOL. 73 |

deals measurements of

1572 specimens of cuckoos’ eggs. These, he considers,
tend to confirm Prof. Newton’s suggestion that there are
certain subraces of cuckoos which ‘‘ in the main confine
their attentions, generation after generation, each to its
own particular variety of foster-parent.’’ In the *‘ Miscel-
lanea,’’ Mr. W. Palin Elderton proposes new methods for
the calculation and adjustment of moments.

Mr. J. H. Harr, the superintendent of the Royal
Botanic Gardens, Trinidad, records the discovery of a
water-plant, probably a species of Nitella, in the Pitch
Lake La Brea, which produces peculiar pear-shaped organs
on the stems. These are hollow, and have large openings
into the interior, fringed with simple or branched hairs,
and within some of them mosquito larvae were observed,
apparently caught and killed by the plant.
therefore,

The suggestion,
is made that the plant might be useful for
mosquito destruction.

Tue use of copper sulphate in the purification of water
supplies has from time to time been referred to in these
columns. Dr. Howard Jones, the medical officer of health
for Newport, Mon., reports the successful employment of
the method at Newport. Copper sulphate, to the extent of
1 lb. per million gallons, proved efficient in removing an
objectionable fishy odour and rendering the water of the
reservoirs bright and clear (Water, December 15, 1905).

At a meeting of the Royal Statistical Society on
December 19, 1905, Drs. Newsholme and Stevenson read
an important paper on the decline of human fertility in
the United Kingdom and other countries as shown by
corrected birth-rates. They pointed out that corrected
birth-rates measure the tendency of communities to increase
by natural means, i.e. by the excess of births over deaths,
or, in other words, their fertility, just as corrected death-
rates measure the tendency to decrease. The ordinary
“crude ’’ birth-rate is deceptive, since it fails to make
allowance for the fact that some populations include a
much larger proportion than others of wives at reproductive
ages, and for the further fact that the potential fertility
of women steadily decreases during the reproductive period
until its end is reached. The necessity for correction was
illustrated by numerous examples. Thus the crude birth-
rate of Ireland in 1903, 23-1, is little higher than that of
France in 1902, which was 21-7; but the French birth-rate
is practically unaltered by correction, whereas that of
Ireland is increased to no less than 36-1. This remarkable
result is due to the fact that, although both countries have
approximately the same proportion of women aged fifteen
to forty-five in their populations, 52-5 per cent. of these in
France are married as against 32-5 per cent. in Ireland.
Of the countries studied, Ireland alone shows an increase
of fertility (3 per cent.) during the last twenty-two years.
The conclusion arrived at is that the decline in the birth-
rate is associated with a general raising of the standard
of comfort, and is an expression of the determination of
the people to secure this greater comfort; and the authors
anticipate as a result a deterioration of the moral, if not
also of the physical, nature of mankind.

Ciel et Terre for November 15, 1905, contains a useful
summary of an elaborate discussion by M. A. Angot on
the temperature of France and adjoining countries. The
original paper appeared in a recent number of Annales de
Géographie; it deals chiefly with the temperature of
France, to which the following remarks entirely refer. As
regards the annual means, the isotherms in the north of
the country show a decided inclination from north-west
to south-east; this is due to the fact that, generally Speak-

JANUARY 4, 1906]

NATURE

231

ing, the land is colder than the sea above lat. 45°, and
warmer to the south of that latitude. The lowest mean
value is found between Lille and Dunkirk, being about
49° F.; the maximum is on the coast of Nice, and is
slightly above 59°. Except on part of the coast of Brittany,
the whole of France lies in the zone of moderate climates,
in which the annual amplitude is between 50° and 68°.
The lowest minima are found in the east; in the winter
of 1879-80, temperatures of —22° were recorded. Contrary
to current opinion, the highest minima are not on the
coast of Nice, where occasionally the cold is very severe,
but on the south-west of Brittany and at Ushant, where
frost is extremely rare. In the latter regions the absolute
maxima are not so high as in other parts. At Ushant a
reading of 86° has not been recorded. The highest maxima
are found near the Mediterranean, between Carcassonne
and Avignon. At Montpellier, a temperature of 109° was
recorded on July 19, 1904; this is the highest reading
known in France. The details of the discussion are being
published in the Annales of the French Central Meteor-
ological Office.

Ix the Engineering Magazine for December, 1905, Mr.
E. Guarini gives some striking illustrations of the electric
railway at Gruyéres. The description is typical of much
of the work now being done in the construction of electric
railways in Switzerland, where the abundant water-power
is especially favourable to the development of such enter-
prises. Z

Ix the Engineering and Mining Journal Mr. F. L.
Hoffman gives details of the fatal accidents in coal mining
in the United States in 1904. The fatal accident rate was
3-38 per thousand workmen employed, as against an average
of 3:03 per thousand for the decade 1895-1904. The
relative mortality due to fatal accidents continues to be
unreasonably high, and the problem of the prevention of
such accidents remains the most serious and perplexing in
coal-mining operations.

THE paper 1ecently read by Mr. E. M. Speakman on the
determination of the principal dimensions of the steam
turbine before the Institution of Engineers and Ship-
builders in Scotland, gave rise to a discussion of great
interest in which important information was given regard-
ing the application of the steam turbine to marine work.
It was pointed out that the trials of the Cunard steamship
Carmania, the largest turbine steamer yet built, had
fulfilled in every way the highest expectations of all con-
nected with the ship.

At the last meeting of the Institution of Mechanical
Engineers a paper on the behaviour of materials of con-
struction under pure shear was read by Mr. E. G. Izod.
The results obtained seem to point to the fact that there
is no common law connecting the ultimate shearing stress
with the ultimate tensile stress. With crystalline materials,
such as cast iron or those with very little or no elongation,
the former exceeds the latter by as much as 20 per cent.
or 25 per cent., while from fibrous material or, more
properly speaking, those with a fairly high measure of
ductility, the ultimate shear stress may be anything from
oO per cent. to 50 per cent. less than the ultimate tensile

stress.

THE second part of the report of the Ontario Bureau of
Mines for r905 is devoted to an important monograph on
the cobalt-nickel arsenides and silver deposits of Temisk-
aming by Mr. W. G. Miller. Tt covers sixty-six pages, and
is illustrated by twenty-eight reproductions of photographs

No. 1888, VOL. 73]

and two geological maps. The deposits were discovered
in October, 1903, during the construction of the Temisk-
aming and Northern Ontario Railway. They occupy
narrow, practically vertical fissures cutting through a series
of unusually slightly inclined metamorphosed fragmental
rocks of Lower Huronian age. A few veins have also
been found in the adjacent diabase. The chief ores
native silver, smaltite, niccolite, and chloanthite,

which are associated argentite, pyrargyrite,

erythrite, and other comparatively rare minerals.
the veins are wide, the maximum being about 18 inches.
that have been traced 1oo feet or more average
The production during the quarter ended
June 30 537 tons, the average metallic contents
being :—silver, 4-158 per cent.; cobalt, 6-89 per cent. ;
nickel, 3:09 per cent.; and arsenic, 30-91 per cent. An
interesting mineral occurrence is a white clay-like material
in the weathered parts of the veins. The white colour of
this mineral is due to the intermixture of the green nickel
with the pink cobalt bloom, the
of nickel

are
with
dyscrasite,
None of

Some
1 inch in width.
was

arsenate, annabergite,
mineral showing on analysis 29-30 per cent.
oxide, 6-43 per cent. of cobalt oxide, and 38-31 per cent.
of arsenic pentoxide. Hitherto New Caledonia has had
practically a monopoly of the world’s production of cobalt.
Worked primarily for silver with their high values in that
metal, the Ontario deposits, with nickel and arsenic as
by-products, should prove a strong competitor, even if they
should not control absolutely the cobalt market.

Messrs. F. VigewrEG anp Son, Brunswick, have just
published the ninth edition of Prof. A. Bernthsen’s
““Kurzes Lehrbuch der organischen Chemie.’’ The work
appeared originally in 1887; and in the preparation of the
present edition Dr. E. Mohr is associated with the author.

STUDENTS and others interested in microscopy will be
glad to have their attention directed to new lists of micro-
scopic slides and of second-hand instruments and accessories
just issued by Messrs. Clarke and Page, Leadenhall Street,
E.C. Special mention should be made of the marine and
botanical slides, which are fine examples of cutting, stain-
ing, and mounting. A series of objectives corrected for
photomicrography is also of noteworthy interest.

A List of meteorological instruments for observatories
and climatological stations has been received from Messrs.
Pastorelli and Rapkin, Ltd., Hatton Garden, E.C. Instru-
ments of various forms for the accurate determination of
pressure, temperature, rainfall, and other meteorological
elements are described and illustrated in the list, which
may be consulted with advantage by anyone desiring to
equip a station with serviceable apparatus, or to supplement
instruments already in use.

Messrs. Eason anD Son, Ltp., of Dublin, have sent us
four of their time-saving indexed diaries for 1906. The
“Every Hour’ diary provides a convenient record of
appointments, special business and events, for any hour
of any day during the year. The ‘‘ Cabinet Scribbling ”’
diary is furnished with a double index for rapid reference,
the first arranged ‘as a record for such items as addresses
and current literature, the second being to the first of each
menth.

A copy of “‘ Hazell’s Annual ’’ for 1906 has been received.
This twenty-first issue maintains the high reputation of its
predecessors. To keep in touch with the important foreign

events of the year, numerous foreign biographies have been

added, and the text of many treaties included. Some
sixteen pages are devoted to scientific matters, most of
them being given to scientific progress during 1905.

NATUR

[JANUARY 4, 1906

Prominence is also given to higher educational matters, and

the man of science will find much in this section to interest

him.

Messrs. CHARLES GRIFFIN AND Co., Lrp., have pub-
lished the twenty-second annual issue, that for 1905, of
the ‘‘ Official Year-book of the Scientific and Learned
Societies of Great Britain and Ireland.’’ This useful work
of reference is already well known as a trustworthy guide
to the scientific societies and their work. Though the
volume is very comprehensive, we miss a reference to the

Geographical Association and to the Public Schools Science

Masters’ Association. The editor might consider the
advisability of including associations dealing with educa-
tional science

A NEw vernier rule and scale designed by Mr. S. Irwin
Crookes has been received from the maker—Mr. W. H.

Harling The rule is divided

, 47 Finsbury Pavement, E.C
§) 47 j
on one face into inches and eighths of an inch and centi-

and

metres millimetres; the other face has on the edges
divisions and numbers representing degrees from o to 150,
and a barometer scale reading from 20 to 32. A metal
vernier slides in a slot cut through the middle of the
length of the rule, and it is divided in four different ways
to read fractions of the four scales on the rule. The
device should be valuable in making students familiar with
the use of the vernier on many precise scientific instru-
ments.

Tne second annual issue of the ‘‘ Science Year Book ”’
(5s. net), edited by Major B. F. S. Baden-Powell, has been
published by Messrs. King, Sell and Olding, Ltd. Several

new features have been introduced, and every care appears

to have been taken to make the volume serviceable to men
of science and others interested in natural knowledge. The
year book includes a diary containing at the head of every

daily page the astronomical and meteorological particulars
of the day likely to be of

recording results of observations

interest, and blank spaces for

Other characteristics are

tables of useful data, an astronomical ephemeris, maps of

the constellations, charts of planetary positions during 1906,

and various statistics and notes referring to matters not

usually included in ordinary calendars and almanacs.
There are also short summaries of progress in science
during Jast year, an eclectic bibliographical directory, and
a list of scientific books published last year. The year

book is thus a convenient and helpful companion for the

study, laboratory, or observatory

OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN.
ASTRONOMICAL OCCURRENCES IN JANUARY: —
Jan. 4. 4h. 12m. to 5h. 10m. Moon occults & Ceti (mag.
4°3)
fo UE Mercury at greatest elongation, 23° o’ W.
Sh. Venus in conjunction with Uranus, Venus o° 6’ N,
. 14h. 45m. to rsh. 16m. Moon occults f Tauri (mag
4°3).
», 6. 14h. 52m. to rsh. gom. Moon occults y Tauri (mag.
3°9).
» 14. Ith. mm. to rth. 58m. Moon occults o Leonis
(mag. 41).
» 15. Venus. Illuminated portion of dise =o0'993. Of
Mars =0'923.
yy 1§. Ith. 2m. Minimum of Algol (8 Persei).
», 18. 7h. 51m. Minimum of Algol (8 Persei).
», 26. 8h. Saturn in conjunction with Moon. Saturn o® 31’ S.
», 28. 6h. 17m. to 8h, 14m. Transit of Jupiter’s Sat. IIT.

NO. 1888, VOL. 73

|
A Fourtn New Comet (1905e).—A telegram from the
Kiel Centralstelle announces the discovery of another new

comet by the Flagstaff observers. This object was dis-
covered, presumably, from the examination of a photo-

graph, by Mr. Lowell, who gives its pesition on November
29, 1905, at gh. 27m. (Flagstaff M.T.),

as follows:

2m. A

R.A.=22h. 32 , dec.=—8° 42

The apparent motion of the comet was either in a north-
east or a south-west direction, and the photograph showed
that the body was accompanied by two tails.

The above position is in the constellation Aquarius, about
half-way between ¢ Aquarii and 1 Ceti.

New ELEMENTS AND EPHEMERIS FOR COMET 1905¢c.—A
new set of elements and a daily ephemeris for comet 1905¢
(Giacobini) given by Herr E. Stromgren in No. 4062
of the Astronomische Nachrichten.

These elements, and an extract from the ephemeris, are
given below.

are

T=1906 Jan. 22°666 (47.7. Berlin).

oa) = 108 21°67 |
8 = 91 55°27 ;1905"0
2 = 43 37-08)

log g = 9°34978

Ephemeris (12h. M.T. Berlin).

1906 a (true) 6 (true) y log A Brightness
Hees:

Jan. 5)... 07/2354) — 1 35°7 --- 977700 O14 25. meRO

9 7 + 17 39 28... — 3 53'S «-- 9°7313 --- 070425 ... 9°53

» 9 --- 1755 gu. — 6) 15°09... O1688h. O;044T) -- alta a

» DL... 18 12550)... — 84275 ... 9:6398)--410'0273) 4eeo

) 5p ts} 18 29 33 ... —11 12°38 ... 9°5856 ... 0°0520 ... 17°83

The above positions are plotted on the accompanying
chart, which shows approximately the apparent positions of
the comet among the stars on the dates indicated.

JANES 9395
ASCUTUM.

Fic. 1.—Path of Com +t 19252, Ja nuary 5-13, 19

SERPENS

Cur ExpecteED RETURN OF Comet 1892 V.—In Circular
No. 84 from the Kiel Centralstelle, M. J. Coniel gives
several provisional search-ephemerides, showing positions

up to January 6-5, for comet 1892 V.

This comet was discovered by Holmes on November 6,
1892, and was observed during its apparition in 1899, when
it passed through its perihelion on April 28. Its period
is given by Ziviers as 6-874 years.

MicrRoMETER MEASURES OF DousLe Stars.—The results
f a series of micrometer measures of eighty-three double
stars, taken from the Struve, Burnham, and Hussey cata-

of

logues, are published in No. 4054 of the Astronomische
Nachrichten by Herr H. E. Lau. The observations were
made during March, 1905, with the Urania-Sternwarte

(Copenhagen) refractor, of 246 mm. aperture and 4-1 metres,
focal length, fitted with a Cooke position micrometer.

For each double, the time of observation, the position-
angle, the distance, the magnitudes of the components and
the power used are given, whilst short comparisons with
other measures and notes regarding the probable character
and motion are generally added.

January 4, 1906]

NATURE

28)

FrencH ASTRONOMICAL ‘‘ ANNUaIRES.’’—We have received
two French ‘‘ Annuaires’’ which are of particular interest
to astronomical workers, the one being the ‘* Annuaire
du Bureau des Longitudes’’ (price 1.50 francs), the other
the ‘‘ Annuaire astronomique et météorologique ’’ (price
1.50 francs), which is published by M. Flammarion.

The former volume contains 352 pages devoted to
astronomical matters, in addition to which there are
three appendices (188 pages) dealing with eclipse observ-
ations. In the first of these M. Bigourdan gives a large
number of summarised instructions concerning the observ-
ations which may be made during eclipses, pointing out
the most suitable observations to be undertaken with the
instruments readily available. In the second the same
writer gives an extremely interesting summary of the
observations made in all parts of the shadow-track during
the recent eclipse, whilst the third appendix is devoted
to a short account, by Prof. Janssen, of his own observ-
ations made in Spain on August 30.

M. Flammarion’s ‘‘ Annuaire’’ will be found to be
especially suitable for amateur observers, some interesting
phenomenon being given for every day in the year. It
contains practically all the data to which -the amateur has
any need to refer, and the résumé of the more important
astronomica! advances during the past year should prove
both interesting and useful.

PRIZES AWARDED AND PROPOSED BY THE
PARIS ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.

A? the annual meeting of the academy of December 15,
1905, the president delivered his annual address, and
announced the list of prizes awarded in 1905 as follows :—
The Francceur prize is awarded to M. Stouff, for the
whole of his mathematical works.

A Montyon prize to M. Mesnager, for his theoretical and
experimental work on the theory of elasticity and the
resistance of materials. The Poncelet prize to M. Lalle-
mand, for his work on the figure of the earth and for his
improvements in geodesic instruments.

The extraordinary prize of 6000 francs has been divided,
Colonel Gossot and M. Liouville receiving 4ooo francs, for
their work on ballistics; M. Carré 1000 francs, for improve-
ments in the navigation of submarines; and M. Merlu 1000
franes, for improvements in the furnaces of marine boilers.
The Plumey prize is divided between M,. Maurice (2500
franes), for a device for the recuperation of heat in boilers,
and M. de Maupeou d’Ableiges (1000 francs), for his in-
vestigations of the theory of impact.

The Pierre Guzman prize is not awarded, but M. Perrotin
receives 2000 francs from this foundation for the whole of
his astronomical work. The Lalande prize is awarded to
Prof. W. H. Pickering, for his astronomical work, and
especially for his brilliant researches on the satellites of
Saturn; the Valz prize to M. Giacobini, for his work on
comets; and the G. de Pontecoulant prize to Prof. J. C.
KKapteyn, for the whole of his astronomical researches. Of
the two memoirs on the theory of comets presented for the
Damoiseau prize, that of M. Fayet is adjudged the better,
M. Fabry, the author of the second memoir, receiving a
prize from the funds of the Guzman prize.

The Gay prize is given to Dr. Cureau, for his accurate
geodesic measurements in Africa. The Tchihatchef prize
to the late M. Massenet, for geodesic work in Cochin
ae

Jumau receives the Hébert prize for his book on
Seas accumulators; M. Georges Urbain the Hughes
prize, for his researches on the rare earths; M. Henri
Abraham the Gaston Planté prize, for his researches and
books ; and M. Gouy the La Caze prize, for the whole of
his original work.

The Jecker prize is awarded to MM. Sabatier and
Senderens, for their researches on the catalytic action of
metals ; Montyon prizes (unhealthy trades) to M. Donard,
for his method of treating slaughter-house refuse, and to
M. Carles, for his method of utilising wine residues; the
La Caze prize to M. Albert Colson, for the whole of his
researches; the Bordin prize to M. Paul Lebeau, for his
researches’ on silicides. The Cahours prize is divided
between M. Binet du Jassoneix and M. Kling.

NO. 1888, voL. 73]

M. G. Friedel receives the Delesse prize for his work in
mineralogy; M. Gustave Dollfus the Fontannes prize, for
his researches on Tertiary fossils; and M. Marcellin Boule
the Alhumbert prize, for his work on the determination of
the period of the latest volcanic eruptions in central France.

The grand prize of the physical sciences is awarded to
M. Dangeard, for his researches on the development of the
egg in the Ascomycetes and _ Basidiomycetes; the
Desmaziéres prize to M. Ferdinand Renauld, for his
memoir on the flora of Madagascar; the Thore prize to
M. de Itsvanffi, for his memoirs on the fungi attacking
the European vine, the Montagne prize being divided
between M. Lutz (1000 franes) and M. Gallaud (500 francs).

In anatomy and zoology, M. C. Gravier receives the
Savigny prize.

A Montyon prize is divided between M. L. C. Maillard
(the indoxylic colouring matters of human urine), M. Albert
Malherbe (researches on sarcoma), and M. Albert Le Play
(experimental researches on intestinal poisons). Mentions
are accorded to MM. H. Guilleminot, J. Beolt, and Edmond
Loison. The Barbier prize is divided between M. J.
Dechery and G. Rosenthal, M. Scrini receiving a mention.
The interest on the funds of the Bréant prize is divided
between M. Vincent, M. Martel, and Dr. Remlinger.
The Godard prize is accorded to Dr. A. Hogge; the Baron
Larrey prize to M. H. Nimier, with very honourable men-
tion to M. Marix; the Bellion prize to Dr. Pressat (malaria
and mosquitoes) and MM. Alquier and Drouineau (glycogen
and rational nutrition with sugar); the Mége prize to M.
Beni-Barde, for his book on hydrotherapeutics; the Serres

prize to M. F. Henneguy. The Dusgate prize is not
awarded, but M. Onimus receives a very honourable
mention.

In physiology the Montyon prize is shared by M. J.
Lefévre and M. J. Laurent. The Philipeaux prize is
awarded to M. Victor Henri for his quantitative researches
on diastases, M. L. Butte being accorded a mention for
his researches on the glycogenic functions of the liver.
The Lallemand prize is divided between M. and Mme.
Lapicque and M. Jules Voisin, M. Crouzon receiving a very
honourable mention. The question set for the Pourat prize
was the origin of muscular glycogen. The only paper
received on this subject was by M. Maignon, to whom the
prize is awarded.

A Montyon prize for statistics is awarded to M. Edmond
Gain, with a very honourable mention to M. Jules Fleury.

The Binoux prize is awarded to M. Paul Tannery.

M. Adolph Lieben receives the Lavoisier medal;
Senderens, Donard, Lebeau, Jumau, Urbain, Abraham,
Gouy, Canovetti, and Leduc the Berthelot medal. The
Trémont prize is awarded to M. Ch. Frémont, for his re-
searches in the domain of mechanics; the Gegner prize to
M. J. H. Fabre; the Lannelongue prize to Mme. Beclard
and Mme. Cusco; the Wilde prize to M. Canovetti and
M. Leduc (in equal parts); the Saintour prize to M.
Edouard Piette and M. Marchis; the Petit D’Ormoy prize
to M. Emile Borel (mathematical sciences) and M. Julien
Costantin (natural sciences); the prize founded by Mme.
la Marquise de Laplace to M. Fortier; and the Félix Rivot
prize to MM. Fortier, Rodhain, Frontard, and Lefranc.

The subjects proposed by the academy for prizes for
1907 are as follows :—

The Francceur prize (1000 francs), for work or discoveries
useful to the progress of the science of pure or applied
mathematics; the Bordin prize (3000 francs), for the solu-
tion of a problem in the theory of algebraic surfaces; the

MM.

Vaillant prize (4000 frances), for the integration of the
equation
4 0 4
uu u er
at ee a z= (x; ¥)
Ox Ox*0y? Ov
under specified conditions; and the Poncelet prize (2000

frances), under conditions similar to those of the Francceur
prize.

A Montyon prize (zoo francs), for the invention or
improvement of instruments useful to the progress of agri-
culture, the mechanical arts or sciences.

The extraordinary prize of 6000 frances, for an invention
or discovery tending to increase the efficacy of the French
naval forces; the Plumey prize (4000 francs), for improve-
ments in the steam engine or any invention contributing
to the progress of steam navigation.

234

INN LIMOS oh

[JANUARY 4, 1906

[he Lalande prize (540 francs),
franes), and the G. de Pontécoulant prize (700 francs), for
the most interesting observation, memoir, or work in
astronomy published during the year.

The Gay prize (1500 franes), for a study of the natural
conditions in the Polar regions; the Tchihatchef prize

the Walz prize (460

S;
(3000 francs), for exploration in the lesser known portions
of Asia.

The Hébert prize (1000 franes), for a treatise or discovery
in the practical use of electricity; the Hughes prize (2500
francs), for a discovery contributing to the progress of
physics; the Gaston Planté prize (3000 frances), for a
French author of a discovery, invention, or important work
in electricity ; the La Caze prize (10,000 francs), for works
or memoirs contributing to the progress of physics; the
KXastner-Boursault prize (2000 francs), for the best work
on the applications of electricity in the arts, industry, or
commerce.

The Jecker prize (10,000 frances), for works useful to the
progress of organic chemistry; the Cahours prize (3000
francs), for the encouragement of young chemists; the
Montyon prize (2500 francs and 1500 franes), for the dis-
covery of a process rendering a trade or manufacture less
unhealthy.

The grand prize of the physical sciences (3000 francs),
for a study of underground water from the hygienic point
of view; the Delesse prize (1400 francs), for work in
geological or mineralogical science.

The Desmaziéres prize (1600 francs), for the best work
during the year on cryptogams; the Montagne prize (1500
francs), to the French author of the best work on the
anatomy, physiology, development, or description of the
lower cryptogams; the Thore prize (200 francs), for the

best work on the cellular cryptogams of Europe; the
de Coincy prize (900 frances); the de la Fons-Mélicocq prize
(g00 frances), for the best botanical work on the north of

France.

The Savigny prize (1300 francs), for the assistance of
young travelling zoologists specially occupied with the study
of the Egyptian and Syrian invertebrates.

A Montyon prize (2500 francs, mentions 1500 francs),
for discoveries useful in the art of healing; the Barbier
prize (2000 frances), to the author of a valuable discovery
in surgical, medical, pharmaceutical, or botanical science ;
the Bréant prize (100,000 frances), for the discovery of a
radical cure for Asiatic cholera or for pointing out the
causes of cholera in such a manner that could lead to its
total suppression. Failing these, the interest will be
awarded annually for the proof of the existence in the air
of substances playing a part in the production or propaga-
tion of epidemic disease. The Godard prize (1000 francs),
for the best memoir on the anatomy, physiology, or path-
ology of the genito-urinary organs; the Baron Larrey prize
(750 frances), for a memoir on military medicine,
or hygiene; the Bellion prize (1400 franes), for discove
profitable to the health of man; the Mége prize (10,000
francs); the Chaussier prize (10,000 francs), for a memoir
on legal or practical medicine.

A Montyon prize (750 frances) and the Philipeaux prize
(goo franes), for work in experimental physiology ; the Lalle-
mand prize (1800 frances), for work on the nervous system ;

;
the Pourat prize (1000 francs), for a memoir on the utilisa-
tion of pentanes in animal organisms; the La Caze prize
(10,000 francs), for a work on physiology.

The Montyon prize (500 francs), for a memoir on French
statistics.

The Arago, and Berthelot medals. The
Trémont prize (1100 francs); Gegner prize (3800 francs) ;
the Lannelongue prize (2000 francs); Wilde prize (4000
francs), for memoirs in the subjects of astronomy, physics,
chemistry, geology, or experimental mechanics; the Sain-
tour prize (3000 frances); the Petit d’Ormoy prize (two of
10,000 frances), one for pure and applied mathematics, the
other for one of the natural sciences; the Leconte prize
(50,000 francs); the Pierson-Perrin prize (5000 francs); the
prize founded by Mme. la Marquise de Laplace; the Félix
Rivot prize (2500 franes).

December 31, 1906, will be the last day for sending in
memoirs for the above prizes. The prizes bearing the
names of Tchihatchef, La Caze, Delesse, Wilde, and
Leconte aré awarded without preference of nationality.

No. 1888, VOL. 73]

Lavoisier,

VOLCANIC ROCKS FROM NEW ZEALAND?

“T HE district dealt with in this memoir is part of the

principal gold-field of New Zealand. The igneous rocks
here, which are the source of the gold, are of Tertiary
age, though an older series, of Palwozoic age, occurs in
the same district. There had been no previous petro-
graphical study of the rocks, of a kind at once com-
prehensive and detailed, when a specially made collection
of 500 specimens was placed in the hands of Prof. Sollas
for description, and the report now before us consequently
contains much valuable material. Mr. McKay tells us that
the principal object of invoking the aid of this well known
petrologist was to place the nomenclature of the rocks on
a more satisfactory footing. Whatever the object, we are
glad to welcome the result, and we also accept gratefully
the lavish illustration which attests the liberality of the
New Zealand Government. There are upward of 100

plates, reproduced by ‘* process ’’’ from photographs, most

Fic. 1.—Hyalopilitic Hypersthene-Andesite ; thin slice photographed in
polarised light, magnification about 20 diameters.

of them representing thin slices of rocks photographed from
the microscope. A figure measuring 7 inches by 5 inches
affords a much better conception of the micro-structure of
a rock than can be gained from the illustrations in most
petrographical memoirs.

The introductory section by Mr. McKay gives a historical
account of the district, with bibliographical references,
and also sets forth the bearings of Prof. Sollas’s results
upon the general geology of the district. The Tertiary
volcanic are all andesites, dacites, and rhyolites.
We may note here a striking contrast with the southern
part of New Zealand, where, in the neighbourhood of
Dunedin, is found a great variety of phonolites, tinguaites,
trachytes, and other types rich in alkalies. The sequence
in the Cape Colville district is also of interest. The

1“ The Rocks of Cape Colville Peninsula, Auckland, New Zealand.”
By Prof. Sollas, F.R.S. With an Introduction and Descriptive Notes by
Alexander McKay, Government Geologist, N.Z. Vol. i. Pp. viii+2S89 3
with many plates. (Wellington, 1g05.)

rocks

January 4, 1906]

NA TORE 2:39

Eocene volcanic rocks were mostly andesitic flows and
breccias; the Miocene wholly andesitic or dacitic, stratified
tuffs with coal; the Pliocene a succession of rhyolitic flows
and breccias.

The description by one geologist of specimens collected
by another at the Antipodes is a division of labour which
has drawbacks as well as advantages. Prof. Sollas, how-
ever, has faced the difficulty successfully, and the large
amount of labour which he has expended on this study
has produced results which have a value by no means con-
fined to New Zealand geology. Arising from the detailed
examination of the rocks, there are a number of more
general questions of petrographical interest on which the
author is able to throw light. One point is the recog-
nition in the ground-mass of the so-called ‘* pilotaxitic ’
andesites of an interstitial mosaic of quartz, which plays
the same part as the glassy base in the “ hyalopilitic ”’
type. Another point is the discovery of a certain isotropic
hydrated decomposition-product, which partly or wholly
replaces the felspar crystals in some of the rhyolites. This
was taken by Rutley for glass, and regarded as evidence
of the re-fusion of the rock. Our author finds no evidence
of devitrification in the glassy rhyolites of this district, but
there may be considerable chemical alteration. The
Palaeozoic dyke-rocks are also described and discussed.
They range from quartz-diorite, through ‘* dacite-por-
phyrite,’’ to dacite, the second being given as a new name
to a type of intermediate characters which agrees generally
with propylite as defined by Zirkel. We may remark
that the term ‘‘ dacite-porphyry’’ has been used by
American petrologists for a rock not essentially different
(see, e.g., Iddings in Bull. 150 U.S. Geol. Sur. [1898],
P- 233)-

The report under notice is marked ‘‘ vol. i.,’’ and we
may expect that the geological and petrological study of
the Cape Colville district will yield further results of
interest. One question which remains to be elucidated is
that of the mode of occurrence and origin of the gold.
Comparison with the well known Comstock district of
Nevada suggests that careful chemical assays of the rocks,
both fresh and decomposed, would give significant inform-
ation on this point. AS Ei.

INSECTS AS CARRIERS OF DISEASE.
“Infinite torment of flies." —Tenzyson.

HE last few years are marked in the annals of medicine

by a great increase in our knowledge of certain

parasitic diseases, and, above all, in our knowledge of the

agency by which the parasites causing the diseases are
conveyed.

Chief among these agencies, in carrying the disease-
causing organisms from infected to uninfected animals, are
the insects, and, amongst the insects, above all the flies.
Flies, e.g. the common house-fly (Musca domestica), can
carry about with them the bacillus of anthrax. Flies, ants,
and other even more objectionable insects, are not only
capable of disseminating the plague-bacillus from man to
man, and possibly from rat to man, but they themselves
fall victims to the disease, and perish in great numbers.
They are active agents in the spread of cholera, and the
history of the late war in this country definitely shows that
flies play a large part in carrying the bacilli of enteric
fever from sources of infection to the food of man, thus
spreading the disease.

The diseases already mentioned are caused by bacteria.
But flies also play a part in the conveyance of a large
number of organisms which are not bacteria, but which,
nevertheless, cause disease.

In considering the part played by flies in disseminating
diseases not caused by bacteria, we can neglect all but a
very few families, those flies which suck blood having alone
any interest in this connection.

From the point of view of the physician, by far the most
important of these families is the Culicidz, with more than
“300 described species and 5 subfamilies, of which two, the
Culicina and the Anophelina, interest us in relation to
disease. The gnats or mosquitoes are amongst the most

1 From an Address delivered before the British Association at Pretoria,
by A. E. Shipley, F.R.S.

NO. 1888, VOL. 73]

graceful and most beautiful insects that we know; but
they have been judged by their works and undoubtedly are
unpopular, and we shall see that this unpopularity is well
deserved. Gnats belong both to the genus Culex and to
the genus Anopheles. The genus Culex, from which the
order takes its name, includes not only our commonest
gnat, often seen in swarms on summer evenings, but some
hundred and thirty other species. Members of this genus
convey from man to man the Filaria nocturna, one of the
causes of the widely-spread disease filariasis. In patients
suffering from this disease, minute embryonic round-worms
swarm in the blood-vessels of the skin during the hours of
darkness. Between six and seven in the evening they begin
to appear in the superficial blood-vessels, and they increase
in number until midnight, when they may occur in such
numbers that five or six hundred may be counted in a
single drop of blood. After midnight, the swarms begin to
lessen, and, by breakfast time, about eight or nine in the
morning, except for a few strayed revellers, they have
disappeared from the superficial circulations, and are hidden
away in the larger blood-vessels and in the lungs.

In spite of their incredible number, some authorities
place it at thirty to forty millions in one man, these minute
larval organisms, shaped something like a needle pointed
at each end, seem to cause little harm. It might be
thought that they would traverse the walls of the blood-
vessels, and cause trouble in the surrounding tissues; but
this is prevented by a curious device. It is well known
that, like insects, round-worms from time to time cast
their skins, and the young larve in the blood cast theirs,
but do not escape from the inside of this winding-sheet ;
and thus, though they actively wriggle and coil and uncoil
their bodies, their progress is as small, and their struggles
as little effective, as are those of a man in a strait-
waistcoat.

One reason of the normal appearance of the creatures
in the blood at night is undoubtedly connected with the
habits of its second host, the gnat or mosquito. Two
species are accused of carrying the Filaria from man to
man—Culex fatigans and Anopheles nigerrimus. Sucked
up with th» blood, the round-worms pass into the stomach
of the insect. Here they appear to become violently
excited, and rush from one end to the other of their
enveloping sheath, until they succeed in breaking through
it. When free, they pierce the walls of the stomach of the
mosquito, and come to rest in the great thoracic muscles.
Here the Filarias rest for some two or three weeks, grow-
ing considerably and developing a mouth and an alimentary
canal, thence, when they are sufficiently developed, they
make their way to the proboscis of the mosquito. Here
they lie in couples. Exactly how they effect their exit
from the mosquito and their entrance into man has not
yet been accurately observed; but presumably it is during
the process of biting. Once inside man, they work their
way to the lymphatics, and very soon the female begins
to pour into the lymph a stream of young embryos, which
reach the blood-vessels through the thoracic duct. It is,
however, the adults which are the source of all the trouble.
They are of considerable size, three or four inches in
length; and their presence, by blocking the channels of
the lymphatics, gives rise to a wide range of disease, of
which elephantiasis is the most pronounced form.

We now pass to the second of the diseases carried by
gnats, that of Malaria.

The parasite which causes malaria is a much more lowly
organised animal than the Filaria. It is named Hama-
moeba, and it too is conveyed by an insect, and, so far as
we know, by one genus of mosquito only, the Anopheles.
Hence from the point of view of malaria it is important
to know whether a district is infected with Culex or
Anopheles. The former is rather humpbacked and keeps
its body parallel with the surface it is biting, and its larva
hangs at an angle below the surface of the water by
means of a respiratory tube. Anopheles, on the other
hand, carries its body at a sharp angle with the surface
upon which it rests, and its larva lies flat below the surface-
film and parallel with it. The malarial parasite lives in
the blood-cells of man, but at a certain period it breaks
up into spores which escape into the fluid of the blood, and
it is at this moment that the sufferer feels the access of
fever. Their presence and growth within the blood-cells

236

result in the destruction of the latter, a very serious thing
to the patient if the organisms be at all numerous. If the
spores be sucked up by an Anopheles, they undergo a
complex change, and ultimately reproduce an incredible
number of minute spores or sporozoites, each capable of
infecting man again if it can but win entrance into his
body.

In normal circumstances, for each Filaria larva which
enters a mosquito one Filaria issues forth, longer, it is
true, and more highly developed, but not much changed.
The malaria-parasite undergoes, in its passage through the
body of the Anopheles, many and varied phases of its life-
history. As the Frenchman said of the pork, which goes
into one end of the machine in the Chicago meat-factories
as live pig, and comes out at the other in the form of
sausages, ‘il est diablement changé en route.”’

Whoever has watched under a lens the process of
“biting,’’ as carried on by a mosquito, must have observed
the fleshy proboscis (labium) terminating in a couple of
lobes. The labium is grooved like a gutter, and in the
groove lie five piercing stylets, and a second groove. or
labrum. It is along this labrum that the blood is sucked.
Between the paired lobes of the labium, and guided by
them (as a billiard cue may be guided by two fingers), a
bundle of five extremely fine stylets sinks slowly through
the epidermis, cutting into the skin as easily as a paper-
Iknife into a soft cheese. Four of these stylets are toothed,
but the single median one is shaped like a two-edged sword.
Along its centre, where it is thickest, runs an extremely
minute groove, only visible under a high power of the
microscope. Down this groove flows the saliva, charged
with the spores or germs of the malaria-causing parasite.
Through this minute groove has flowed the fluid which, it
is no exaggeration to say, has changed the face of con-
tinents and profoundly affected the fate of nations.

It is an interesting fact that, amongst the Culicide, it is
the female alone that bites, and she is undoubtedly greedy.
If undisturbed, she simply gorges herself until every joint
of her chitinous armour is stretched to the cracking point.
At times even, like Baron Munchausen’s horse after his
adventure with the Portcullis, what she takes in at one
end runs out at the other. But she never ceases sucking.
The great majority of individuals, however, can never
taste blood, and subsist mainly on vegetable juices.

Anopheles is often conveyed great distances by the wind,
or in railway trains or ships; but of itself it does not fly
far, about five or six hundred yards—some authorities place
it much lower—is its limit. Both Anopheles and Culex lay
their eggs, as is well known, in standing water, and here
three out of the four stages in their life-history—the egg,
the larva, and the pupa—are passed through. The larva
and the pupa hang on to the surface-film of the water by
means of certain suspensory hairs, and by their breathing
apparatus. Anything which prevents the breathing tubes
reaching the air ensures the death of the larva and pupa.
Hence the use of paraffin on the pools or breeding places.
It, or any other oily fluid, spreads as a thin layer over
the surface of the pools and puddles, and clogs the re-
spiratory pores, and the larvae or pupe soon die of
suffocation.

Thus a considerable degree of success has attended the
efforts of the sanitary authorities, largely at the instiga-
tion of Major Ross, all over the world, to diminish the
mosquito-plague. It is, of course, equally important to
try and destroy the parasite in man by means of quinine.
This is, however, a matter of very great difficulty. In
Africa and in the East nearly all native children are in-
fected with malaria, though they suffer little, and gradually
acquire a high degree of immunity. Still, they are always
a source of infection; and Europeans living in malarious
districts should always place their dwellings to the wind-
ward of the native settlements.

Another elegant little gnat, Stegomyia fasciata, closely
allied to Culex, with which, until recently, it was placed,
is the cause of the spread of that most fatal of epidemic
diseases, the yellow fever. Like the Culex, but unlike the
Anopheles, Stegomyia has a humpbacked outline, and its
larva has a long respiratory tube at an angle to its body,
from which it hangs suspended from the surface-film of
its watery home. It is a very widely distributed creature ;
it girdles the earth between the tropics, and is said to live

NO. 1888, VOL. 73]

NATORE

[JANUARY 4, 1906

well on shipboard. It breeds in almost any standing fresh
water, provided it be not brackish. The female is said to
be most active during the warmer hours of the day, from
noon until three or so, and in some of the West Indies it
is known as the ‘‘ day-mosquito.”’

The organism which causes yellow fever has yet to be
found. It seems that it is not a bacterium, and that it
lives in the blood of man. It evidently passes through a
definite series of changes in the mosquito, for freshly in-
fected mosquitoes do not at once convey the disease. After
biting an infected person it takes twelve days for the un-
known organism to develop in the Stegomyia, before it is
ready for a change of host. The mosquitoes are then
capable of inoculating man with the disease for nearly
two months. The period during which a man may infect
the mosquito, should it bite him, is far shorter, and extends
only over the first three days of the illness.

Very careful search has hitherto failed to reveal the
presence of the parasite of yellow fever. By its works
alone can it be judged. It seems that, like the germ of
vinderpest and of foot-and-mouth disease, it is ultra-
microscopic; and our highest lenses fail to resolve it.

King Solomon sent to Tarshish for gold and silver, ivory,
and apes and peacocks, and, at the present day, people
mostly go to Africa for gold, diamonds, ivory, and game.
These are the baits that draw them in. Of the great
obstacles, however, which have for generations succeeded
in keeping that great continent, except at the fringes,
comparatively free from immigrants, three, and these by
no means the least important, are insignificant members
of the order Diptera. We have considered the case of
Culex and Anopheles; the third fly we have now to do
with is the tsetse fly (Glossina), which communicates fatal
diseases to man and to cattle and domesticated animals
of all kinds.

The members of the genus Glossina are unattractive
insects, a little larger than our common house-fly, with a
sober brownish or brownish-grey coloration. When at rest
the two wings are completely superimposed, like the blades
of a shut pair of scissors; and this feature readily serves
to distinguish the genus from that of all other blood-
sucking flies, and is of great use in discriminating between
the tsetse and the somewhat nearly allied Stomoxys and
Hzematopota.

The tsetse flies rapidly and directly to the object it
seeks, and must have a keen sense of smell, or sight, or
both, making straight for its prey, and being most per-
sistent in its attacks. The buzzing which it produces when
flying is peculiar, and easily recognised again when once
heard. After feeding, the fly emits a higher note, a fact
recalling the observation of Dr. Nuttall and the present
writer on the note of Anopheles, in which animal we
observed thar ‘‘ the larger the meal the higher the note.”’
The tsetse does not settle lightly and imperceptibly on the
sufferer as the Culicidae do, nor does it alight slowly and
circumspectly after the manner of the horse-flies, but it
comes down with a bump, square on its legs. Like the
mosquito, the tsetse is greedy, and sucks voraciously. The
abdomen becomes almost spherical, and of a crimson red,
and in the course of a few seconds the fly has exchanged
the meagre proportions of a Don Quixote for the ampler
circumference of a Sancho Panza. Unlike so many of the
blood-sucking Diptera, in which the habit is confined to the
females, both sexes of Glossina attack warm-blooded
creatures.

The fly always seems to choose a very inaccessible por-
tion of the body to operate on, between the shoulders in
man, or on the back and belly in cattle and horses, even
inside the nostrils in the latter, or on the forehead in
dogs. According to Lieut.-Colonel D. Bruce, R.A.M.C.,
to whom we owe so much of our knowledge of this fly and
its evil work, the female does not lay eggs, but is vivi-
parous, and produces a large active yellow larva, which
immediately crawls away to some secluded crevice, and
straightway turns into a hard, black pupa, from which the
imago emerges in some six weeks. Thus two stages, the
egs and the larva, both peculiarly liable to destruction, are
practically skipped in the tsetse, at amy rate in some
species.

The genera of the Culicidae which we have considered
are found practically all over the world, but the genus

JANuARY 4, 1906]

IAT UD, 227

Glossina is fortunately confined to Africa. From the
admirable map of the geographical distribution of the fly
compiled by Mr. Austen, we gather that its northern limit
corresponds with a line drawn from the Gambia, through
Lake Chad to Somaliland, somewhere about the thirteenth
parallel of north latitude. Its southern limit is about on
a level with the northern limit of Zululand. The tsetse, of
course, is not found everywhere within this area; and,
though it has probably escaped observation in many dis-
tricts, it seems clear that it is very sporadically distributed.

Even where the tsetse is found, it is not uniformly dis-
tributed, but occurs in certain localities only. These form
the much dreaded “‘ fly-belts.”” The normal prey of the
fly is undoubtedly the big game of Africa. But they are
not the only factor in its distribution. The nature of the
land also plays a part. There are the usual discrepancies
in the accounts of travellers, especially of African travellers,
as to the exact localities the Glossina affects; but most
writers agree that the tsetse is not found in the open veldt.
It must have cover. Warm, moist, steamy hollows, con-
taining water and clothed with forest growth, are the
haunts chosen.

The tsetse fly belongs to the family Muscidz, the true
flies, a very large family, which also includes our house-
fly, blue-bottle fly, &c. These flies, unlike Anopheles and
Culex, are day-flies, and begin to disappear at or about
sunset, a fact noted centuries ago by Dante :—

““ Nel tempo che colui, che il mondo schiara,
La faccia sua a noi tien meno ascosa,
Come la mosca cede alla zanzara.”’ 1

The practical disappearance as the temperature drops
has enabled the South African traveller to traverse the fly-
belts with impunity during the cooler hours of the night.
At nightfall the tsetse seems to retire to rest amongst the
shrubs and undergrowth; but, if the weather be warm, it
may sit up late; and some experienced travellers refrain
from entering a fly-belt, especially on a summer’s night,
until the temperature has considerably fallen.

The sickness and death of the cattle bitten by the tsetse
were formerly attributed to some specific poison secreted
by the fly, and injected during the process of biting. It
is now, largely owing to the researches of Colonel Bruce,
known to be due to the inoculation of the beasts with a
minute parasitic organism conveyed from host to host by
the fly. The disease is known as ‘‘ nagana,’’ and the
organism that causes it is a species of Trypanosoma, a
flagellate protozoon or unicellular organism, which moves
by means of the lashing of a minute, whip-like process.
Since Bruce’s researches, a number of Trypanosomas have
been found causing disease in various parts of the world;
thus T. evansti causes the surra disease of cattle, horses,
and camels in India; T. equinum produces the ‘‘ mal de
caderas’’ of the horse ranches of South America; and
T. equiperdum is responsible for the North African disease
called by the French the dourine; T. theileri causes the
gall-sickness, and there are others. The particular species
of Trypanosoma which causes nagana is Trypanosoma
brucet, and it does not attack man; goats and donkeys
seem also immune; but, with these exceptions, all
domesticated animals suffer, and in a great percentage of
cases the disease terminates in death. Just as the native
children in Africa form the source of the supply of the
malarial parasite without appearing to suffer much, so do
the big game of the country abound in Trypanosoma with-
out appearing to be any the worse. They are in Lankester’s
phrase “‘ tolerant ’’ of the parasite, and a harmony between
them and the parasite has been established, so that both
live together without hurting one another. It is from the
big game that the disease has spread. In their bodies the
harmful effect of the parasite has, through countless gener-
ations, become attenuated; but it leaps into full activity
again as soon as the Trypanosoma wins its way into the
body of any introduced cattle, horse, or domesticated
animal.

The report of Colonel Bruce, which has just been issued,
shows that the sleeping sickness which devastates Central
Africa, from the west coast to the east, is also conveyed
by a species of tsetse fly. Writing more than a hundred
years ago of Sierra Leone, Winterbottom mentions the

1 Inf. xxvi. 26-28.

NO. 1888, VOL. 73]

disease. ‘* The Africans,’’ he says, ‘‘ are very subject to
a species of lethargy which they are very much afraid of,
as it proves fatal in every instance.’’ Early last century
it was recorded in Brazil and the West Indies; and
Lankester has suggested that the deaths which our slave-
owning ancestors used to attribute to a severe form of
home-sickness, or even to a broken heart, were in reality
caused by sleeping sickness. In one year the deaths in
the region of Busoga reached a total of 20,000; and it is
calculated that although the disease was only noticed in
Uganda for the first time in 1901, by the middle of 1904
100,000 people had been killed by it. The disease
is caused by the presence of a second species of Trypano-
soma in the blood and in the cerebro-spinal fluid. The
existence of this parasite has now been proved in all the
cases recently investigated. Apparently the Trypanosoma
can live in the blood without doing much harm, and only
when it reaches the cerebro-spinal canal does it set up
the sleeping-sickness. It is also found in great numbers
in the lymphatic glands, especially those of the neck, which
in patients infected by the parasite are usually swollen and
tender. From the similarity of the parasite to that causing
the cattle disease of South Africa, the idea at once arose
that the Trypanosoma was conveyed from man to man by a
biting insect. Along the lake shores a species of tsetse
(G. palpalis) abounds; and it was noticed that if the fly,
having fed off a sleeping-sickness patient, bit a monkey,
the monkey became infected. Further, flies which were
captured in a sleeping-sickness district were also capable
of conveying the disease to healthy monkeys. The proof
that sleeping sickness is due to a Trypanosoma known as
T. gambiense present in the cerebro-spinal fluid of the
patient, due to the brilliant research of Colonel Bruce and
his colleagues, Captain Grieg and Dr. Nabarro, and that
it is conveyed from man to man by Glossina palpalis, seems
now complete.

Finally, we come to a last class of diseases which is of
the utmost interest to the agriculturist and settler, and
yet at present is but little understood. These diseases are
caused by various species of a protozoon named Piro-
plasma, and the diseases may collectively be spoken of as
piroplasmosis. When they are present in cattle they are
spoken of in various parts of the world as Texas fever,
tick-fever, blackwater, and redwater. Heartwater in sheep
is a form of piroplasmosis. Horses also suffer, and the
malignant jaundice or bilious fever which makes it
impossible to keep dogs in certain parts of this country is
also caused by a Piroplasma. Finally, under the name of
Rocky Mountain fever, spotted- or tick-fever, the disease
attacks man throughout the west half of the United States.

The organisms which cause the disease live for the most
part in the red blood corpuscles, but they are sometimes
to be found in the plasma or liquid of the blood. Un-
fortunately we know comparatively little about the life-
history of the Piroplasma or of the various stages it passes
through, but we do know how it is transmitted from
animal to animal and from man to man.

We have seen that the carrier or ‘‘ go-between’’ in the
case of the malaria is the mosquito, and in the case of
the sleeping sickness is the tsetse fly. Piroplasma, how-
ever, is not conveyed from host to host by any insect, but
by mites or ticks, members of the large group of Acarines,

”

which include beside the mites the spiders, scorpions,
harvestmen, and many others.
The ticks differ from the insect bearers of disease,

inasmuch as the tick that attacks an ox or a dog does not
itself convey the disease, but it lays eggs—for I regret to
say here, as with the Anopheles, it is the female only that
bites—and from these eggs arises the generation which is
infective, and which is capable of spreading the disease.
The tick which conveys the Piroplasma from dog to dog is
called Haemophysalis leachi. The brilliant researches of
Mr. Lounsbury have shown that even the young are not
immediately capable of giving rise to the disease. The
female tick gorges herself with blood, drops to the ground,
and begins laying eggs. From these eggs small six-legged
larvae emerge. These larve, if they get a chance, attach
themselves to a dog, gorge themselves, and after a couple
of days fall off. If their mother was infected they never-
theless do not convey the parasite. After lying for a time
upon the ground the larval tick casts its skin and becomes

238

NA GO TEE

[JANUARY 4, 1906

a nymph, a stage roughly corresponding with chrysalis of
a butterfly. This nymph, if it has luck, again attaches
itself to the dog and has a meal, but it also fails to infect
the dog. After a varying time it also drops to the ground,

undergoes a metamorphosis, and gives rise to the eight-
legged adult tick. Here at last we reach the infective

stage ; the adult tick is alone capable of giving the disease
to the animal upon which she feeds, and then only when
she is descended from a tick which has bitten an infested
host. Think what a life-history this parasite has! Living
in the blood-corpuscles of a dog, sucked up by an adult
tick, passed through her body until it reaches an egg, laid
with that egg, being present while the egg segments and
slowly develops into the larva; living quiescent during the
larval stage and the nymph stage, surviving the meta-
morphosis, and only leaping into activity eT the adult
reached. This most remarkable story probably
indicates that the Piroplasma undergoes a series of changes
comparable to those of the malaria organism when it is
inside the mosquito; what these stages are we do not at
present know, but Dr. Nuttall and Mr. Smedley at Cam-
bridge, and many cther observers elsewhere, are at work
on the problem, and soon we shall have more light.

With regard to bovine piroplasmosis, Koch and others

stage is

have distinguished redwater fever, which is conveyed by
Rhipicephalus annulatus, and in Europe probably by
Ixodes veduvius from the Rhodesian fever which is con-

veyed by Rhipice phalus appendiculatus, and I regret to say
by a species dedicated to myself, Rhipicephalus shipleyi.'

The heartwater disease of sheep, and goats is similarly
conveyed by <lmblyomma hebracum, the Bont tick, and
many farmers accuse Ixodes pilosus of causing the well
known paralysis from which sheep suffer in the early
autumn; and there are many others, diseases such as the
chicken disease of Brazil, which is so fatal to poultry yards,
and which is conveyed by the rgas persicus.

I will not weary you with more diseases. I think I have
said enough to show that within the last few years a flood
of light has been thrown upon diseases, not only of man
and his domestic animals, but upon such insignificant
creatures as the mosquito and the tick. I have tried to
show how these diseases interact, and how both hosts are
absolutely essential to the disease. We can now to a great
extent control these troubles; the old idea that there is
something unhealthy in the climate of the tropics is giving
way to the idea that the unhealthiness is due to definite
organisms conveyed into man by definite biting insects.
We have at last, I think, an explanation of why Beelzebub
was called the Lord of Flies.

UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL
INTELLIGENCE.

Oxrorp.—Prof. Osler has been nominated by the Vice-
Chancellor and Proctors as a delegate of the University
Press.

A decree has been approved by Convocation providing
that the stipend of the Sibthorpian professor of rural
economy shall be 600l. a year, independently of the income
from the Sibthorpian estate, in the years 1906 and 1907.
This is necessary if an election is to be made before 1908,
as the full endowment will not be provided by St. John’s
College until that year. St. John’s is to nominate a
member of the board of electors to the chair.

The following elections have been made to scholarships
and exhibitions in natural science :—Balliol College, to a
Brakenbury scholarship, J. S. Huxley (Eton College), to
2 scholarship, C. Whitley (Bromsgrove School); Lincoln

College, to a scholarship, P. Pickford (Exeter School), to

an exhibition, E. Hancock (Exeter School); Magdalen
College, to a demyship, D. L. Hammick (Whitgift

Grammar School, Croydon), to an exhibition, J. F.
Venables (Magdalen; College School, Oxford); Christ
Church, to a scholarship, J. T. Lattey (Dulwich College),
to an exhibition, W. A. Akers (Aldenham School) ; Trinity
College, to a Millard scholarship, H. G. J. Moseley (Eton
College).

A course of lectures upon modern research in the
psychology of memory, accompanied by the exhibition of
1 This happily turns out to be a synonym.

No. 1888, VoL. 73]

apparatus, will be given by Dr. C. 5. Myers in the physio-
logical theatre of Ring’s ‘College, London, on January 12
and the following seven Fridays at 6 p.m. The course is
free to internal students of the university and to all
teachers. The general course in experimental psychology,
accompanied by laboratory work, will be held on Saturdays,
beginning on January 13. Particulars may be obtained
from the. secretary of the college.

Tne London University Gazette announces that a course
of nine or ten lectures on the origin of Gymnosperms will
be given during the Lent term by Prof. F. W. Oliver,
F.R.S., at University College on Mondays, commencing
on January 22. There is no fee for the lectures. Further
details and cards of admission may be obtained on appli-
cation to the academic registrar at the university. Two
courses of lectures have been arranged for the Lent term
in the physiological laboratory of the university, viz. eight
lectures on tissue-respiration by Mr. J. Barcroft on Tues-
days, beginning on January 16, and eight lectures on
respiration by Dr. M. S. Pembrey on Fridays, beginning
on January 19.

SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES.

LONDON.

Royal Society, November 23, 1905.—‘‘ Some Observations
on Welwitschia mirabilis, Hooker, f. By Prof. H. H. W.
Pearson. Communicated by A. C. Seward, F.R.S.

Evidence is adduced in support of the view that
Welwitschia is partially, if not entirely, insect-pollinated,
and that the processes of fertilisation and maturation of the
seed seem to be effected much more rapidly than in other
Gymnosperms.

The author supports Strasburger’s view that the male
flowers are reduced forms of an originally hermaphrodite
structure. The nature of the prothallial tubes is discussed,
and the conclusion is that the true interpretation of the
extraordinary behaviour of the fertile end of the
Welwitschia prothallus will be founded upon a comparison

with the corresponding portion of the embryo-sac of
Gnetum gnemon.

December 14, 1905.—'* The Araucariez, Recent and
Extinet.’" By A. C. Seward, F.R.S., and Sibille O.
Ford.

The werk was undertaken primarily with a view to

ascertain whether the genera Agathis and Araucaria exhibit
any of those features which are often associated with
survivals from the past; the aim was to obtain an answer
to the question: Do the existing Araucariez afford evidence

cf primitive characters or do. they throw light on the
phylegeny of the araucarian phylum ?
A comparison is made between the Araucarieae and

Lycopodiales; arguments are advanced in favour of the
view that this group of Gymnosperms, unlike the Cycadales,
was probably derived from lycopodiaceous ancestors.
Attention is directed to the various characters in which the
Araucariez differ from other members of the Coniferales,
and the advisability is suggested of giving more definite
expression to their somewhat isolated position by sub-
stituting the designation Araucariales for Araucariez.

The authors contend that the general consent which has
deservedly been given to the view that the Cycadales and
Filicales are intimately connected by descent may have the
effect of inducing an attitude too prone to overestimate the
value of the arguments advanced in support of an extensio>
of the idea of a filicinean ancestry to other sections of the
Gyminosperms.

‘“On the Microsporangia of the Pteridosperms.’’ By
R. Kidston, F.R.S.

The conclusion arrived at is that the Cycadofilices, which
long antedated the advent of true ferns, cannot have been
derived from them, but are themselves the oldest type of
fern-like plant at present known. In regard to the true
ferns, it seems probable that they may have been derived
from the Botryopteridez.

““The Mammalian Cerebral Cortex,
ence to its Comparative Histology. I.,
By Dr. G. A. Watson. Communicated by
Mott, F.R.S.

with Special Refer-
Order Insectivora.”’
Dre ahenv.

January 4, 1906]

NATURE

230

This paper is one of a series in which it is hoped to deal
with the cerebral cortex of the various orders of mammals
so far as material is available, the primary object of the
research being to endeavour to shed some further light
upon the significance of the mammalian neopallial lamin-
ation. In this natural order the brains of the mole (Talpa
europea), shrew (Sorex vulgaris), and hedgehog (Erinaceus
europeus) have been exhaustively studied.

The neopallium of these animals has been mapped out
into various areas, which on the dorso-lateral and mesial
aspects appear to present (1) “‘ motor,”’ (2) general sensory,
and (3) undifferentiated or unspecialised characteristics, the
two former being in every way the best developed neopallial
regions. On the postero-mesial aspect a field has been
delimited which possesses sensory features; a portion of
this is unspecialised, and the remainder is believed to repre-
sent the cortical distribution of the optic and fifth sensory
nerves respectively. Certain differences in the extent and
state of development of these various areas occur in the
several animals, and these agree with certain differences in
their habits.

The total depth of the cortex in the best developed regions
differs in the three animals, yet the relative depth of the
separate layers is about the same in all. Micrometric
measurements of the cortex of the mole have been made
by Dr. Bolton, and these have been compared with the
latter’s measurements of the cortical layers in the develop-
ing human foetus and the normal human adult. Dividing
the cortex into the portions above and below the granular
layer, it is found that the increase in depth of the human
cortex as compared with that, say, of the mole is very
largely due to increase in the “‘ supra-granular”’ (i.e. the
true pyramidal) layer.

The conclusions as to the functional significance of the
neopallial primary cell layers in the Insectivora and in
mammals belonging to other natural orders so far ex-
amined form a complement to those advanced by Bolton.
The ‘‘infra-granulay’’ layer (iv. and v.), omitting the
constituent cells which possess motor or analogous func-
tions, is concerned especially with the associations necessary
for the performance of the instinctive activities, the
‘“supra-granular ’’ (ii.) with the higher associations (‘‘ in-
telligence’’), the capacity for which is shown by the
educability of the animal. In practical animal behaviour
the two sets of processes are probably more or less con-
stantly interwoven, the higher activities (supra-granular
layer) coming to the aid of the lower so far as the capability
of the animal allows. In the case of lower mammals, e.g.
Insectivora, the limits of this capability are comparatively
soon reached, and correspondingly these mammals possess
a relatively poor ‘‘ supra-granular ’’ layer.

Anthropological Institute, December 19, 1905.—Prof. W.
Gowland, president, in the chair.—The origin of Eolithic
flints from natural causes: S. H. Warren. Mr. Warren
classified eoliths as follows:—(1) Flints with battered
surfaces formed by prolonged concussions; (2) flints with
flakea surfaces formed by sharp percussions ; (3) flints with
chipped edges formed by (a) indiscriminate battering,
(b) perpendicular pressure. The possible causes of the pro-
duction of eoliths were considered by Mr. Warren to be :-—
(a) human agency; (b) wave action; (c) water abrasion by
streams, rivers, floods; (d) soil abrasion by the pressure
and movement of soil creep and foundering; (e) the drag
of ice; and (f) wear and tear on the surface of the ground.
The eoliths of the first class, as defined above, may
obviously be due to water abrasion. Those of the second
class bear evidences of percussion-flaking, acting along the
lines of least resistance, but show no control-working upon
a definite design. It is concluded that these forms,
together with those having indiscriminately battered edges,
are likewise due to water abrasion. It is noteworthy that
these classes are characteristic of river gravels of various
ages, and may be reproduced by artificial rolling. The
flints with definitely pressure-chipped edges include the
typical “‘ plateau implements ’’ of Sir J. Prestwich. The
chief forms are a general chipped edge, and the notch,
either single or in various combinations, such as the double
notch with intervening point. It is found by experiment
that these are the forms produced by the fortuitous pressure
of one flint against another. The angle of chipping and

NO. 1888, VoL. 73]

the type of the fractures are also identical in the case of
the experimental productions and the plateau flints. These
pressure-chipped eoliths are characteristic of hill-drifts
which have suffered from the movement of soil-creep and
foundering, and it is concluded that this is the cause of
the chipped edges. This process is named “ soil abrasion ”
in contradistinction to water abrasion. Collateral evidence
of these differential soil movements under pressure is
furnished by the frequent association with the eoliths of
the hill-drifts of flints with surfaces striated in all direc-
tions. Subsidiary causes of the pressure-chipped eoliths, or
those which have operated in certain special cases, are the
drag of ice and wear and tear on the surface of the
ground, including the impact of the hoofs of animals.

EDINBURGH.

Royal Society, December 4, 1905.—Lord Kelvin, presi-
dent, in the chair.—The development of the skull and
visceral arches in Lepidosiren: W. E. Agar. The material
for this investigation had been collected by Prof. Graham
Kerr in the Chaco, and by the late Mr. J. S. Budgett in
the Gambia. The chief points established were as
follows :—The development of the notochord underwent a
curious modification, the front end disintegrating at an
early stage and being replaced by a forward growth of the
remaining part of the chorda. The quadrate was from
the first continuous with the trabecula, and there was no
hyomandibular. A vestigial palato-pterygoid bar was pre-
sent. The general development of the skull resembled the
process in the Urodeles, especially as regards the occipital
region and nasal capsules. There were two pairs of upper
labial cartilages. In the change from the larval to the
adult form there was no absorption of cartilage, but the
chondrocranium showed a steady increase in completeness.
—Perturbations in longitude of Neptune by the hypo-
thetical planet: Prof. George Forbes, F.R.S. About
twenty-five years ago the author had deduced evidence from
the distribution of the aphelia of cometary orbits that there
existed a planet of considerable mass beyond the orbit of
Neptune, and the existence of such a planet was now
generally accepted by astronomers. In the present paper,
by means of calculations based upon certain assumptions
as to position and mass of the hypothetical planet, Prof.
Forbes discussed the growing discrepancies between the
observed longitudes of Neptune and those assigned by the
theories both of Leverrier and Newcomb. The present
configuration of the two planets was not the best to bring
out clearly the nature of the perturbation, but he thought
that in ten years sufficient material would be in hand to
enable us to make a serious effort to fix the position of
the ultra-Neptunian planet.—Exhibition of two lantern
slides of zoological interest: Prof. D. J. Cunningham,
F.R.S. The one showed a group of monkeys in the Dublin
Zoological Gardens sitting in newly fallen snow without
the least discomfort; from the beginning of their captivity
they had lived in the open air. The other showed a young
marmoset clinging in its peculiar fashion to the back of a
white rabbit which had acted as foster-mother from the
start of the marmoset’s individual life.

December 18, 1905.—Dr. R. H. Traquair, F.R,S., vice-
president, in the chair.—Library aids to mathematical
research: Dr. Thomas Muir, F.R.S. After a critical dis-
cussion of the various bibliographical aids to the mathe-

matical student, the author proceeded to point out the
shortcomings in the equipment of the most important
scientific libraries in Edinburgh and Glasgow. Out of

sixty-seven important mathematical serials, only thirty-four
were to be found in Edinburgh and Glasgow; and of the
thirty-one to be found in Edinburgh, twenty-one were
duplicated in the university and Royal Society libraries.
Dr. Muir hoped that by some system of cooperation
between the Edinburgh libraries, or even between Edin-
burgh and Glasgow, every mathematical serial published
in Europe and America would be made available to mathe-
matical workers. At present historical research was
absolutely debarred.—-Preliminary note regarding an ex-
perimental investigation into the effects of varying diets
upon growth and nutrition: Dr. Chalmers Watson. The
experiments consisted in feeding colonies of rats upon
various diets, namely, (1) skim milk and bread; (2) rice;

240

MA TORE.

[JANUARY 4, 1906

(3) porridge; (4) horse flesh; (5) ox flesh. Interesting
details were given and illustrated by diagrams and tables.
The rats were found to thrive best on the skim milk and
bread. Rice, because of its lack of proteid qualities,
stunted the growth. Porridge was inferior to the skim
milk and bread, while horse flesh and ox flesh were
positively deleterious, being fatal to young rats. More-
over, the mortality among the young was greatly increased
when the adult parents. were fed on flesh. Experiments
were also tried on the effects of change of diet. For
example, after the young rats had been reduced almost to
starvation point by a flesh diet, they were put on milk and
bread, and immediately began to recover, and rapidly
reached the maximum growth. In this set of experiments
it was found that sweet milk and bread were inferior as a
recuperative diet to skim milk and bread. Prof. Schafer,
in whose laboratory the experiments had been carried out,
referred to the importance of the research in relation to
physical deterioration. Although it would be absurd to
apply the results directly to the question of human diets
and nutrition, there was no doubt that the physical
deterioration so much spoken about was due, not only to
underfeeding, but to wrong feeding. So far as the public
was concerned, the moral was that we must feed our
children correctly.

New Soutu WALEs.

Royal Society, October 4, 1905.—Mr. H. A. Lenehan,
president, in the chair.—Note on some simple models for
use in the teaching of elementary crystallography: Dr.
W. u. Woolnough. The models illustrated the connec-
tion between the number of faces in a crystal ‘‘ form ”’
and the elements of symmetry of the group to which the
crystal belongs. Planes of symmetry are represented in
the models by mirrors suitably arranged, and crystal faces
by triangles of cardboard. The mirrors are so fixed that
the multiple reflection of the card reproduces the shape of
the most general form possible in the crystal group.

November 1, 1905.—Mr. H. A. Lenehan, president, in
the chair.—Provisional determination of astronomical re-
fraction, from observations made with the meridian circle
instrument of the Sydney Observatory: C. J. Merfield.
This paper gives the results of an investigation into astro-
nomical refraction, deduced from some five hundred and
fifty observations of forty fundamental stars taken with
the meridian circle of the Sydney Observatory during the
month of July, 1905. The conclusions arrived at by the
author are as follows :—That if observations of zenith dis-
tance of celestial objects are taken between limits of time
separated by some hours, then greater accuracy in the re-
ductions, to obtain correct positions, can be obtained by
taking fully into consideration the fluctuations of the height
of the barometer, and especially the variation of the
temperature, indicated by the readings of the thermometer,
when computing the refractions for a series of observations
extending over a period of several hours’ duration. Adopt-
ing a state of the atmosphere for a mean of the times of
observation does not seem sufficient. Further, the refrac-
tion table (Bessel) in use at the Sydney Observatory would
represent the observed refractions much better if a correc-
tion be applied for the difference in the force of gravity
at Greenwich and Sydney. This correction is represented
by a very simple equation which is a function of the lati-
tudes of the two places. The author also considers that the
refractions computed from the Pulkowa tables, after apply-
ing the gravity correction, would represent the observed
values better the in those of Bessel.

DIARY OF SOCIETIES.

THURSDAY, January 4.

RONTGEN Society, at 8.15.—Presidential address :
of Radio-activity: Prof. F. Soddy.

Civir anp MEcHANICAL ENGINEERS’ Society, at
Position of the Sewage Question: J. F. Reade

The Present Position

8.—The Present

FRIDAY, JANUARY 5.

GEOLOGISTS’ ASSOCIATION, at 8.—On the Geology of the Ccwntry around
the Sogne Fjord and the Hardanger Fjord, Norway: H. W. Monckton.

1888, VOL. 73

MONDAY, Janvary 8.
Society or CuHemicaL INDuUsTRY, at 8.—Cinchona Barks and their
Cultivation: D. Howard.—A New Method for the Quantitative Estima-
tion of Acetone: S. J. M. Auld.

TUESDAY, JANuaARY 9.
InsTiITUTION OF CiviL ENGINEERS, at 8.—The Elimination of Storm-
water from Sewerage Systems : D. E. Lloyd-Davies.—On the Elimina-

tion of Rete Solids and Colloidal Matters from Sewage : Lieut.-
Colonel A. S. Jones and Dr. W. O. Travis.

WEDNESDAY, January to.

GEOLOGICAL Society, at 8.—The Clay-with-Flints: its Origin and
Distribution: A. J. Jukes-Browne.—On Footprints from the Permian of
Mansfield (Nottinghamshire) : G. Hickling.

THURSDAY, January 11.

InsTiruTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8—The Charing Cross
Company's City of Lordon Works: W. H. Patchell (Conclusion of
Discussion).

Lonvon MaTHRMATICAL Socig71y, at 5.30.—On the Difiraction of Sound
by Large Cylinders: J. W. Nicholson.—On the Monogeneity of an
Algebraic Function: Dr. H. F. Baker.

FRIDAY, January 12.
Rovat. ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, at 5.

InstiruTION oF Civit ENGINEERS, at 8.—Lecture on the Theory of
Machines: Prof. J. D. Cormack.

MALACOLOGICAL Society, at 8.—Note of the Dates of Publication of
¢€. Lok. von Sandberger’s ‘‘ Die Land- und Siisswasser-conchylien der
Vorwelt,” 1870-75: B. B. Woodward.—New Species of Siphonaria,
Terebra, and Maugilia, and a Remarkable Form of Cyfraea crnenta, from
South Africa: G. B. Sowerby.—Remarks on some Forms «f Chloritis
with Description of a New Species: G. K. Gude.—Notes on the
An2tomy of S. African Aplysiida with Descriptions of two New Species:
R. H. Burne.—Notes on Voluta kenyoniana, V. papillosa. var. costata,
V. roadknighti, Juv., Cypraea tigris, var. lineata, and Conus water-
housae, var. mauritiana > Mrs. Kenyon. —D-scription of a New Species
of Crepidula from Victoria ; Mrs. Kenyon.

CONTENTS. PAGE
British Progress in Engineering . . 217
A Standard Atlas of England and Wales 218
Leather for Bookbinding. By H. M. 219

Our Book Shelf ;—

Foster and Brough: ‘‘ A Treatise on Ore and Stone

Oye EMEC GUD a ops 5, BAD)
Safford: ‘*The Useful Plants of the Island of
Guam” . 221
“The British Journal Photographic “Almanac and
Photographer’s Daily Companion for 1906 ” 221
Patterson: ‘‘ Nature in Eastern Norfolk” . 221
Letters to the Editor: —
The British Association and our Colonies,—Prof.
JC Beatties aes: 222
Monotremes and Birds.—Dr. H. Gadow, F.R.S. . 222
Sounding Stones at Ch’iifu, Shangunes —(tlustr ated.)
—Alfred Tingle 222
Aurore of November 15 and December 12. —Dr.
Alexander Graham Bell. . 223
The Principles of Heredity.—Dr. G. Archdall Reid ;
AD. Dis 223
A Suggested Change in Nomenclature.— “Dr. Chas.
W. Andrews ee ee) 224
Notes on Stonehenge. Re. "Sacred Fires. (Zllustrated. )

By Sir Norman Lockyer, K.C.B., F.R.S. . . 224
Scientific Exploration in Central Asia. (Ulustrated. ) 227
A t.arge-Headed Dinosaur. eg 122) By H. W. 228
Notes aes Gy a, ad ct eee
Our Astronomical Column ;—

Astronomical Oceurrences in January 232

A Fourth New Comet (1905¢) , irae e473
New Elements and Ephemeris for Comet 1905¢.

(Lélustrated. ) ME techn

The Expected Return of Comet 1892 Vv 232

Micrometer Measures of Double Stars 232

French Astronomical ‘* Annuaires”” . 233
Prizes Awarded and Proposed by the Paris Academy

ot Sciences 4 233
Volcanic Rocks from New ‘Zealand, " (Iilustrated:)

By A. H. . 234
Insects as Carriers of ‘Disease. By A. E. Shipley,

Mase els : 235
University and Educational Intelligence 238
Societies and Academies 238
Diary of Societies . 240

NATORE

241

THURSDAY, JANUARY 11, 1906.

THE EQUATIONS OF THE WAVE THEORY.

The Analytical Theory of Light. By J. Waller.
Pp. xv+416. (Cambridge: The University Press,
1904.) Price 15s. net.

R. WALKER has written a valuable book, but
one difficult to review. As he says in his first
sentence -—

‘““The Science of Physical Optics may be regarded
as comprising two fields of enquiry; the one includes
the study of the physical properties of a stream of
light, the other comprehends the investigation of the
Mechanism by means of which the stream is pro-
pagated. These two divisions may be called re-
spectively the kinematics and the dynamics of the
subject.””

It is with the first of these that Mr. Walker is
concerned; a few experimental facts suffice to show
that a stream of light may be represented by a
periodically varying vector, transverse to the beam,

and on this result, with an appeal where necessary to |

experimental facts, the treatment of the subject is
based.

The appeal to experiment is made as rarely as
possible, and as a result we have a book dealing with
a physical subject which is almost entirely pure
mathematics. Such a book has its value, and in this
the value is a high one, for the author has discharged
the task he set himself in an admirable manner; but
owing to his severe restraint the book lacks interest
and its difficulty is increased. It is not a text-book
of physical optics, but of the analytical theory of light;
the light vector satisfies certain differential equations,
and the consequences of this are traced out with
a rare degree of completeness. It is a boolx to which
students who desire to know how far the mathe-
matical side of the wave theory has been carried,
what are its limitations, and in what directions
advances are possible will usefully turn. This know-
ledge is necessary for the physicist who is more
interested in the dynamical theory, for, as Mr.
Walker points out, it forms the touchstone on which
optical theories are tried, and no one theory of the
ether can at present be said to hold the field. No
doubt the introduction of even the salient points of
the various theories might have had the effect which
the author fears of veiling his main purpose; still,
the restraint which he has laid on himself has its
disadvantages.

Starting with the ordinary geometrical propositions
of the wave theory, we come in the second chapter
to a discussion of Michelson’s experiments and the
recent work on the nature of white light; the proper-
ties of the polarisation vector are deduced from the
non-interference of two beams polarised in planes at
right angles. In connecting together the intensity of
a beam of light and the amplitude of the polarisation
vector, a difficulty is at once met with unless we
know the relation between the energy of the stream
and the amplitude. For this purpose we require to
determine the nature of the vector, and this it is

NO. 1889, VOL. 73]

impossible to do without advancing a theory of the
mechanism of the transmission, a course which is
closed to us. However, the assumption that the
square of the polarisation vector measures the in-
tensity is shown to lead to consistent results, and this
assumption is made.

The analytical theory really begins in chapter v.
with the differential equations of the polarisation
vector; the previous discussion has enabled us to
express this in the form of a function of vt—r, where
uv is the velocity of propagation, and from these the
differential equations are deduced in the usual form,
and the important result that when the wave velocity
is independent of the period any singularity of phase
or amplitude travels with the speed of the wave is
shown to follow by a method of proof due to
Poincaré; Lord Rayleigh’s generalisation in the case
when the velocity is a function of the period follows.

Reference had been made in an earlier chapter to
Huyghens’s principle and its connection with the
rectilinear propagation of light; the full proof
of the principle depending on the relation at any
point within a surface S between a function ¢, satis-
fying d°¢/d#?=w*y?¢ and a certain surface in-
tegral taken over the surface of S is then discussed,
leading us to Stokes’s well known law of the secon-
dary disturbance due to a wave of light, and also to
an expression for the disturbance in the neighbour-
hood of a screen producing diffraction. Fraunhofer’s
diffraction phenomena are first discussed here; the
more complicated cases known as Fresnel’s, in
which the screen is not at the focus of the light
forming the diffraction pattern, follow. The treat-
ment is based on that of Lommel, and deals fully
with a rectangular aperture or obstacle, a straight
edge, Fresnel’s biprism, and a circular aperture and
disc. The treatment of the biprism follows Struve
and Weber’s worl.

In chapter ix. an account of some quite recent work
by Sommerfeld, Poincaré, and Macdonald dealing
with the application of spherical harmonics to diffrac-
tion phenomena is given, and after this a short
account of Newton’s rings and of the laws of re-
flection and refraction leads to double refraction. For
uniaxial crystals the theory is based on Huyghens’s
assumption, first satisfactorily verified by Stokes, that
the wave surface consists of a sphere and a spheroid
which touch at the extremities of the axis of the
latter, while for biaxial crystals all the laws are de-
duced from Fresnel’s polarisation ellipsoid, a surface
which has the property that the velocities of pro-
pagation of any wave are equal to the reciprocals of
the axes of the section of the ellipsoid by a plane
parallel to the wave. Hence the form of the wave
surface and the laws of double refraction follow in
the usual way.

Chapter xii. contains a number of results on the
wave surface which are not easily found elsewhere;
in dealing with reflection at a crystal surface, the
equations of the polarisation vector in a crystal are first
formed, and then the surface conditions are deduced.
Free use is made of MacCullagh’s ingenious device
of uniradial directions. The discussion of the inter-

M

242

NA TERE

| JANUARY 11, 1906

ference of polarised light follows a normal path, but
the part relating to biaxial crystals is unusually full.
The later chapters deal with absorbing media, dis-
persion, structurally active media, and magnetically
active media; each of these phenomena is shown to
follow from suitable modifications in the expression
for the light vector; the interesting question of the
constitution of the ether which could give rise to
such modifications is, of course, in the author’s
scheme passed by. But while this is necessarily the
case, the analysis given is very full and complete, and
Mr. Walker has added to the literature of the subject
a book of real value. The book has been printed at
the Cambridge Press and published by the Syndics,
and their share of the work is admirable.

LIQUID CRYSTALS.
Kristallinische Flussigkeiten und _ flussige
By Rudolf Schenck. Pp. viii+ 158.

Wilhelm Engelmann, 1905.)
Clee, announcement of the discovery of liquids that
were doubly refracting and dichroic by Prof.
Lehmann some fifteen years ago was received with
considerable mistrust, for the possession by a liquid
of these properties which had hitherto been associated

Kristalle,
(Leipzig :

solely with the solid crystalline state seemed at first |

sight almost inconceivable, and quite inconsistent
with the generally accepted ideas as to the molecular
tactics of liquids and crystals. The very name of
liquid crystal seemed to be self-contradictory. Leh-
mann’s however, were soon confirmed by
other physicists, one of the most active amongst
whom was Dr. Schenck, the writer of the present
work on the subject.

Several explanations of Lehmann’s observations
were offered, based on the assumption that he had
worked with liquids containing impurities. Quincke
supposed them to consist of solid crystalline particles
surrounded by a film of liquid, and Tammann en-
deavoured to explain their properties by assuming
them to be an emulsion of two liquid phases. On the
other hand, Lehmann pointed out that it was not
justifiable to consider these cases as if they were
isolated instances of irregular properties, since the
behaviour of these liquids apparently so anomalous
may be reconciled with that of other crystalline
media if we consider the part played by the rigidity
of crystals in maintaining their crystalline form. His
investigations have shown that the rigidity of dif-
ferent varies within wide limits. The
majority of those we know best offer considerable re-
sistance to deformation, while some, like yellow phos-
phorus, are quite soft, and others, such as the oleates,
have so little rigidity that the force of surface tension
is sufficient to deform the crystal from its true geo-
metrical shape; in the limiting case, that of p-azoxy-
anisol and the other liquids investigated by Lehmann,
the rigidity has become so small compared with the
force due to surface tension that the crystal when
placed in a liquid of equal density assumes a spherical
form.

Lehmann’s entirely

No. 1889, VoL. 73]

results,

crystals

work was microscopic, but

macroscopic investigations were undertaken by other
investigators. A study of the physical properties of
the birefringent liquids, particularly of their viscosity
and dielectric constants, and an unsuccessful attempt
to resolve them by cataphoresis, showed that each of
them was without doubt a single substance, and thus
the hypotheses put forward by Quincke, Tammann,
and other authors were disproved.

Prof. Lehmann’s monograph on these bodies, which
was reviewed in Narure recently (vol. Ixx., p. 622,
1904), consists mainly of an account of the results
of his microscopic investigations and of the theory
he has formulated to explain these. A very important
part of the work was thus left undescribed, and Dr.
Schenck’s book covers the ground omitted by Leh-
mann, and, in addition, gives a short summary of
the latter’s experiments.

The preparation of the various substances that have
been found to yield anisotropic liquids is described in
detail, also the determination of their physical con-
stants. The investigation of the surface energy of
the liquids indicates that there is no sudden change
in their molecular weight at the temperature at which
the anisotropic liquid passes into the isotropic con-
dition. The viscosity curves, however, show a large
break at this temperature, the isotropic liquids being
in some cases the more viscous. The density curves
show a similar discontinuity. The two liquids have
different specific heats, and there is a small but
definite heat of transformation of to the
other.

Dr. Schenck has given a very complete account of
our knowledge of these anomalous liquids, which
have great interest both for the chemist and physicist,
and his book will be of great service to those who
wish for information about them. It is clearly
written and arranged, and contains a number of
diagrams and plates. Of theories as to their nature
he wisely fights very shy, and it seems that consider-
ably more work is needed before we shall be able to
form any clear idea as to their molecular structure.

Hi. Baie

one form

PLANT-BREEDING IN AMERICA.

New Creations in Plant Life: an Authoritative Account
of the Life and Work of Luther Burbank. By W. S.
Harwood. Pp. xiv+368; 50 illustrations. (New
York: The Macmillan Company; London: Mac-
millan and Co., Ltd.) Price 7s. 6d. net.

aes is something to be said in favour of this

work; at the same time we imagine no one will
have more cause to regret its appearance than Mr.

Burbank himself. The reasons for this expression of

opinion are easily supplied. It is decidedly desirable

that the outside public should be made aware of the
enormous practical importance of what is called plant-
breeding, and that they should be familiarised with
the means and methods adopted by experts for the
multiplication and improvement of flowers, fruits,
and other vegetable products. A slightly increased
percentage of sugar in the sugar-cane or the beet, an
in the staple of

apparently trifling improvement

JANUARY II, 1905|

NATURE

243

cotton, the development of a potato relatively immune
to fungous diseases, an increased production of fruit
or the introduction of hardier varieties, of some that
are earlier, of others that are later, to say nothing
of the improvement of flowers in form, colour, and
perfume, are all points of great importance and of
very great interest from a biological point of view.

In this field of work Mr. Burbank has long been
known as an energetic labourer, and it is quite pos-
sible that in actual amount his work bulks larger than
that of any of his predecessors or his contemporaries.
Moreover, as we learn from the book before
and from other sources, the experimenter is a man
of high purpose, modest, and amiable. It is for these
personal reasons we imagine that he will have cause
to regret the appearance of this volume. We have
no desire to belittle Mr. Burbank or to undervalue the
importance of what he has accomplished. We believe
that he would be the first to acknowledge that there
existed strong men previous to the appearance of
Agamemnon. But this is a fact that his eulogist does
not sufficiently estimate. In perusing the glowing
paragraphs of this volume the casual reader might
imagine that there were no plant-breeders before
Burbank, or that their labours were comparatively
insignificant, and yet in our own country alone we
seem to have heard of Thomas Andrew Knight, of
Dean Herbert, of Trevor Clarke. of Thomas Rivers,
of John Laing, of Dominy, of Seden, of Laxton, and
of a large number of others whose productions at
least vie in importance with those of the American
experimenter, whilst a visit to the great establish-
ments of Vilmorin, near Paris, Benary, and others at
Erfurt and Quedlinburg, as well as to the trial-
grounds of our Veitchs, Suttons, Carters, and many
others, would show that the great American hybridist
is by no means without a rival in his line of work.

It would hardly be fair to criticise those products
of Mr. Burbank’s skill and perseverance that have
reached us, because it may well be that they are not
yet adapted to our climate. At any rate, to name only
a few instances, the Burbank plum, the Burbank lily,
the Shasta daisy, all so enthusiastically spoken of in
the pages of this book and elsewhere, have not, in
this country, justified the encomiums passed upon
them by the American Press.

When we read of Mr. Burbank’s methods of worl
we do not find anything different from the practices
of our “‘raisers,’? who are too modest to speak of
their efforts as ‘‘ creations.’’

Among the ‘‘ creations ’’ mentioned in this volume
is the ‘‘ thornless edible cactus.’? Surely we have
heard of and seen a spineless Opuntia before atten-
tion was called to it in this volume, where it is stated
that “nothing more marvellous has ever been done
in plant-life ’’!

Again, “the rare effects developed in the trans-
formation of the columbine’ do not differ (so far as
we can tell from the illustration facing p. 359) from
the stellate columbine known in our gardens for cen-
turies and figured on p. 273 of Parkinson’s Paradisus
(1629).

A man who has experimented on such a colossal

NO 1889, VoL. 73]

us,

scale for so long a time might be expected to have
gathered valuable information such points as
heredity, adaptation, inheritance of acquired char-
acters, as well as formed opinions on Mendelism and
mutation. We gather from the boolx before us that
Mr. Burbankx’s attention has, almost of necessity, been
directed to these subjects, and we earnestly hope that
now that the Carnegie Institution has granted him
a subvention of ten thousand dollars a year for ten
years he will find time to record and coordinate his
experiments for the benefit of future workers and the
increase of biological knowledge.

on

Incidentally, we glean that Mr. Burbank is not
inclined to accept the views of Weismann or of

Mendel, but that he looks favourably on the mutation
theory of De Vries. Surely no practitioner has had
better opportunities of judging of these matters than
has Mr. Burbank, and if he will give us his own
experiences in his own words, rather than in those
of some too partial biographer, the world will be
the gainer, and the value of Mr. Burbank’s worl:

more accurately gauged than it can be from the
| perusal of the present volume.

CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY.

| Chemische Technologie. By Dr. Fr. Heusler. Pp.
| xvVi+350. (Leipzig: B. G. Teubner, 1905.) Price

8 marks.
“HE author states in the preface that the work is
intended for the use of merchants. This at
once opens up the question whether a book of this
kind, ostensibly written for non-chemists, can fulfil
| its object. The author is under the impression that
a merchant has acquired, in the course of his secon-
dary education, sufficient knowledge to read and in-
terpret chemical equations, and he adopts in his work
chemical symbols throughout, in the belief that it
would be almost an insult to the German merchant
to think him ineapable of understanding chemical

equations.

The reviewer cannot agree with this opinion in its
broad generality. His own experience would lead him
to confirm in this respect the truth of the trite old
saying, ‘*‘ A little knowledge is a dangerous know-
ledge.’’ When the commercial director of a chemical
works asks his chemist, in times of stress, to use a
| sulphuric acid of 50° Bé instead of 66° Bé on the
score that the former is so much cheaper for the same
amount of sulphuric acid, or when the chief clerlx
struts through the works meddling with the chemistry
of the business, then the chemist would certainly
prefer the English system of subdividing the work.
Of course, there are merchants who are fully able to
understand purely chemical questions, but such mer-
chants would certainly have recourse to the extensive
manuals on their own specialities rather than study
the present worl, in which the information on every
subject must necessarily be very meagre.

From this point of view the book is not within the
horizon of the average chemical merchant. The
tendency to explain the subject so far as possible by
equations necessarily leads to a twisted and some-
| times wrong representation, as these may be read to

244

NATURE

[JANUARY 11, 1906

mean complete chemical changes, whilst often enough
‘they only express part of the chemical change that is
going on. Statistical data, the most useful inform-
ation to a merchant, are very imperfectly given.
Whilst, e.g., the statistics of ammonium sulphate
refer to the years 1902 and 1903, other more important
branches of chemical technology hark back as far as
the ’eighties of last century.

If the question be asked whether this bool would
prove useful to a chemist, a much more favourable
opinion can be pronounced. The work will be found
very helpful, as a kind of ‘ Repetitorium,’” to a
chemist who is reading up for examination. Re-
garded in this light, the book may be said to have been
written concisely and to contain an enormous amount
of information, put together in a clear and transparent
form. Naturally, the attempt of one single author
to press the wide range of chemical technology into
one small volume carries with it the germ of defect.
For in the present state of chemical technology it is
clearly impossible for any single person to write on
every branch with the necessary authority or even
necessary knowledge.
such an

The inevitable consequence of
ambitious endeavour is that books of this
kind bear too patently the stamp of writing-desk
work. Only in the case of the electrolytical processes
dealing with alkali chlorides the author has called in
the assistance of an expert. He would have done
well to have extended this invitation to other
specialists. We therefore find throughout the book
many statements which could have been put right by
an expert, and we also notice some important
omissions. Moreover, some of the weakest chapters,
such as those on “‘ leather industry ’’ and ‘‘ fats and
oils,’’ would have been brought into line with the
aforementioned chapter on electrolysis. The least
satisfactory part of the book are the illustrations.
Some of them have done service for half a century,
and might have been given their well-earned rest.
Others are more in the nature of pictures which
convey no information. Others, again, such as the
illustration of a native indigo plant, can only provoke
a smile. _ Weaes

OUR BOOK SHELF.

Future Forest Trees. By A. H. Unwin Pp. 108.
(London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1905.) Price 7s. 6d.
net,

WirHIN recent years our forestry literature has been
rapidly and steadily on the increase, which may be
taken as a sign that more attention is now being
given to matters sylvicultural than formerly. The
above work is one of the most recent additions, and
its thoroughly sound, practical, and scientific character
should secure it a wide circulation, not only in this
country, but also in America, to which it equally
refers.

The title chosen by the author, ‘‘ Future Forest
Trees,’’ refers to those exotic, deciduous, and coni-
ferous species of East, West, and North American
trees which might with advantage be introduced into
our forests. The work embodies the author’s own
personal experience, as well as the results gained by

more than 100 years of extended experiments which |

have been carried out in Germany.

No. 1889, VOL. 73]

The selection of exotic species as future forest trees
is not by any means so easy a task as one might at
first sight suppose. To justify its introduction and
cultivation the new species must have some distinct
advantageous characteristics which are not possessed
by our indigenous trees, such as greater rapidity in
growth, greater resistance to adverse climatic condi-
tions (for example, wind, heat, cold, rain, and snow),
greater adaptability to the poorer classes of soil, and
such like. ;

It is to Prof. H. Mayr, of Munich, to whom this
book is dedicated, that we are indebted for so much
valuable information on this very important question,
especially as regards the geographical distribution of
forest trees.

The first part of the book deals with the imports of
American timber to the German market. Importing
timber to Germany, the home of forestry, sounds a
little like carting coals to Newcastle; nevertheless,
there are at least two sufficient reasons, firstly, be-
cause some of these timbers are at present not culti-
vated in that couniry, and, secondly, it is a well-
known fact that the world’s supply of timber is not
inexhaustible, and is, in fact, rapidly on the decrease.
Hence, while Germany can obtain timber at a reason-
able price from abroad, she is conserving her own
forest reserves with the full knowledge that at no
very remote date the price of timber will have risen
to a figure which will amply justify this policy of
conservation. Part ii. gives the general results of
planting experiments with American trees in
Germany, Austria, Great Britain, and Switzerland;
and part iii. deals with the sylvicultural characteristics
and treatment of the various American species of
trees.

We heartily commend this book to all those who
are interested in or connected with forestry, as it
forms an excellent guide to the cultivation of species
which are likely in the course of time fully to justify
their introduction.

By Dro (Gammel.

Elements of Quantitative Analysis.
Macmillan and

Bailey. Pp. x+246. (London:
Co., Ltd., 1905.) Price 45. 6d.
Arter the consideration of some preliminary matters,
the author, within the compass of less than two
hundred small pages, treats of almost every branch
of quantitative chemical analysis, including minerals
of many sorts, water, fuel, the products of alkali
factories, manures, organic substances, soap, oils
and fats, and gases. It follows that the space devoted
to each section is very small, and in many cases it
would be more correct to say that the methods are
indicated rather than described. This economy of
words and space sometimes leads to instructions that
might cause accidents, as in the description of
Kjeldahl’s method of estimating nitrogen, where the
student is instructed to boil the substance with fuming
sulphuric acid, &c., then to ‘‘ allow to cool and add
a tolerable excess, about 50 grams will suffice, of
caustic soda. . . . Distill off the ammonia,’’? &c. In
other cases the desire to be brief leaves the student
without instructions, as in the analysis of water, in
which he is told to determine the free and albumenoid
ammonia, and referred for the method to a simple
description of the estimation of ammonia by Nessler’s
solution. On the other hand, it is a pleasure to notice
that some methods are given that are not generally
known, such as the colorimetric estimation of

titanium by means of hydrogen peroxide.

The educational value of the work suggested (to
which the author refers in his preface) would have
been enhanced if the chemistry of the operations and
the specific aims of the advisable manipulative pre-

JANUARY I1, 1906]

NATURE 245

cautions had been given more fully in a few pre-
liminary cases, so that the student might have been
helped to understand thoroughly his early exercises.
As he gets more advanced he ought to refer to
standard works and original treatises. Then this
present volume will furnish an excellent series of
suggestions as to work that may be done in many
directions in order to gain experience and increase his
knowledge. Crt

By W. M. Baker. Second
x+318. (London: George

Elementary Dynamics.
edition, revised. Pp.
Bell and Sons, 1905.) Price 4s. 6d.

Tuis text-book follows ordinary lines. The author
does well to direct the attention of the beginner at
the outset to the fact that weight and mass are by
no means the same thing. Newton’s laws are given
almost unchanged in words, the second being altered
to “rate of change of momentum is proportional to
the impressed force, &c.*? The word rate is, in strict-
ness, ambiguous, since it does not necessarily imply
time-rate; and the explanation (p. 33) that ‘‘ rate of
change of momentum’’ means the change of
momentum in the unit of time is not quite accurate,
since the unit of time may be an hour or a week.
The poundal figures a great deal; but, happily, as a
rule, the values of forces are given in gravitation
measure in the answers. The antiquated and in-
accurate terms power and weight are used in the
discussion of machines, although power has been very
properly defined as time-rate of doing work. The
old method of defining the instantaneous value of a
variable angular velocity as ‘‘ the number of unit
angles which would be described in the unit of time,
if during that unit the angular velocity remained the
same as at the instant under consideration’ is
adhered to; but this definition defines nothing. The
author is commendably clear in his warning to the
student that ‘‘ centrifugal force’ is not a force acting
on a revolving body. In the discussion of projectiles,
the eye is not pleased by the sight of ‘‘ usin at—igt® ”
for wisin a—Zet?; and it is just possible that a beginner
may (by the inscrutable ingenuity for error which
students sometimes exhibit) misunderstand the ex-
pression altogether.

The book contains a very large collection of
examples, and has, as a slight departure from the
plan of ordinary text-books, a short chapter at the
end showing how initial tensions are calculated when
cords are cut or broken.

A Historical Geography of the British Colonies. By
C. P. Lucas, C€.B. Vol. ii. The West Indies.
Second edition, revised by C. Atchley. Pp. 348;
diagram and maps. (Oxford: The Clarendon
Press.) Price 7s. 6d.

Tuts valuable work has been published at an oppor-
tune moment, for the decisions of the Imperial
Government in such matters as the withdrawal of
the white troops and the non-renewal of the mail
contract have led to a widespread idea that our West
Indian possessions are about reaching the most
momentous stage in their long history, namely, their
transfer to the United States—an extreme step which
is hardly likely to be taken in our time. The volume
deals not only with the West Indian islands proper,
from Jamaica round to Trinidad, but also with the
Bermudas, the Bahamas, the mainland colonies of
Guiana and Honduras, and even the far distant
possessions in the Cape Horn region—the Falkland
Islands and South Georgia. The total area aggre-
gates 127,345 square miles, Guiana alone being
“100,000, and Honduras 7562 square miles. The re-
mainder is cut up into a multitude of small islands,
ranging down to the Bermudas group, of 19 square

No. 1889, VOL. 73]

miles. Yet each island, however small, has its own
separate history. Originally the Spaniards had Papal
authority for taking possession of the New World,
but they were not a colonising people, and as ‘“‘ con-
querors and crusaders they looked for a large area
of territory; consequently, while they discovered the
whole ring of islands, they settled on the larger ones
only, and on those only which lay nearer to the
continent. With the smaller islands they had little
dealings beyond carrying off their inhabitants for
slaves.’’ There was thus no effective occupation of
the large majority of the islands, and English,
French, and Dutch buccaneers appearing on the
scene, in the course of time they divided the islands
between them, the lion’s share eventually, as the
result of treaties or wars, falling to the English.
The earliest of the British possessions was Barbados
(1605), the latest, by conquest, St. Lucia and Tobago
(1803). Obviously, within the compass of a single
volume, only a general historical account of each
colony could be given, and Mr. Lucas has accom-
plished his task most successfully. But in addition
to the purely historical portion he supplies much in-
formation relating to the geography, the geology, and
the climate of the islands—as varied as their history.
The economic conditions are also fully set forth, the
particular industries of the several islands, their ex-
ports and imports, and so on, while the form of
government of each colony is described. There is a
very complete index, and at the end of each chapter
there is a list of books and publications which will
afford the reader fuller details, many other authorities
being referred to in footnotes.

tuber mathematische
By Dr. Otto Biermann.
Vieweg und Sohn,

Vorlesungen
methoden.
(Brunswick :
8 marks.

Ndaherungs-
Pp. ix+226.
1g905-)| Price

Tue aim of the author of this book is to give a con-
nected and fairly comprehensive account of the most
important mathematical methods of approximate
calculations. Strictly speaking, all scientific calcula-
tions are approximate; but by suitable processes the
approximation may be carried to a degree of accuracy
sufficient to satisfy the most exacting requirements.
How best to effect the approximation in any given
case must ever be a most important problem. The
necessity for it begins with ordinary arithmetical
operations, to which, accordingly, Dr. Biermann de-
votes a large part of the first chapter. A good deal
of detail might have been spared here if only to make
room for a complete account of Horner’s method of
solving numerical equations and extracting roots. The
algebraical theory only of Horner’s method is given
in a later chapter, but not the expeditious arithmetical
process. To give an idea of the scope of the book, we
find systematic discussions of the calculations of
logarithms, graphical solution of equations, methods
of interpolation and differences, determination of
Fourier coefficients, methods of quadrature and cuba-
ture, and a chapter containing, among other things, a
description of the sliding scale and Amsler’s plani-
meter. There are some interesting novelties in the
sections on graphical solution of equations which
might well find a place in our English text-books of
algebra, such, for example, as Mehmke’s method.
The book does not cover all the ground indicated by
the term Ndherungsmethoden, but it certainly covers
more ground than any other book. Indeed, it fills
what has been until now a distinct blank in mathe-
matical literature; and the author is to be congratu-
lated on the production of a work which cannot fail
to be of service to the student of mathematical
methods.

NALRORE.

(JANUARY 11, 1906

MABIPIBIBIFS, GO) INEUE, IBIDIGL OUR.

{The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions
expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake
to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected
manuscripts intended for this or any other part of NATURE.

No notice is taken of anonymous communications. |

Insectivorous Water-plant from Trinidad.

SpEcIMENS of the carnivorous water-plant from the
Trinidad Pitch Lake, referred to in the note on p. 230,
have been received at Kew from Mr. Hart. It is not,

however, as supposed, “‘ a species of Nitella,’* which is an
aquatic cryptogam, but a flowering plant, and a species of
Utricularia.
The habits of these plants are fully discussed in Mr.
Darwin’s *‘ Insectivorous Plants.”
W. T. TuisELtTon-Dyer.
Kew, January 5.

The Maximum Number of Double Points on a Surface.

It is obvious that a surface, like a curve, must have
a maximum number of double points; and it is also obvious
that all of them may be conic nodes, but only a limited

number of them can be binodes; but so far as I have
been able to discover, no formula has been obtained for
determining the maximum number. In Hudson’s book on

‘“ummer’s Surface,’’ a proof is given that a quartic
surface can have as many as sixteen conic nodes, but no
general theorem is alluded to. J shall therefore state a
formula by means of which the maximum number can be
calculated.

Let a surface of degree n and class m have C isolated
conic nodes. Let 7 and 1 be the number of double and
stationary tangents possessed by any plane section of a
tangent cone the vertex of which is an arbitrary point.
Then it is not difficult to show that

m=n(n—1)*—2C (

1=4n(n—1)(n—2)—6C (

27={2C — 72(11 — 1)? + 5}? — Are(22 — 1) (372 — 14) + 25} (

Now 1 and 7 must be zero or positive integers; also

m must be a positive integer which does not fall below

a certain limit, and these conditions will in general be

satisfied by taking

2C—n(n—1)?+5=+k,

where k is the least odd integer the square of which is

not less than n(n—1)(3n—14)+25. The sign of k must

be determined from the above mentioned conditions, and
should the least value of k fail to satisfy them a greater

one must be taken. A. B. Bass

January 2.

oT.

Sounding Stones.

Many hard and compact varieties of rock are sonorous
when struck. Flint nodules often possess this property.
The purity of the tone appears dependent upon the length,
calibre, and homogeneity of the nodule, the best results
being obtained from the long and slender forms. At Stud-
land Bay I have collected many of these ‘‘ musical ”’ flints,
and obtained one from a chalk pit near Faversham which
can be used as a gong when suspended. This particular
specimen is nearly 2 feet in length (it was once longer),
and is scarcely as thick as a rolling-pin ! i

Many years ago I saw a ‘‘ rock harmonicon”’ in the
museum at Keswick. It was formed of strips of rock
(known as ‘‘clinkstones’’) arranged on the principle of
the dulcimer, upon which various tunes could be played.

The phonolite of the Wolf Rock, nine miles south of the
Land’s End, possesses sonorous properties, and Sir
Wyville Thomson has described St. Michael’s Mount, an
island near Fernando Noronha, as being entirely formed
of phonolite which “ literally rings like a bell’ on being
struck.

In quarrying the rock from the Whit Bed, at Portland,

NO. 1889, VOL. 73]

the workmen profess to be able to judge of the quality
of the limestone by the clearness of the metallic ring
emitted from the blocks on being struck.

January 5. Cecit Carus-WILson.

Heat a Mode of Motion.

VuROuGHOUT Swedenborg’s ‘* Principia,’ published 1n
733, both heat and light are constantly regarded as
ethereal undulations. The definitions of heat as a rotary
movement of minute ether particles will be found in
part iii., chapter v., No. 21; chapter vii., ‘No: {ro};
chapter viii., Nos. 8, 9, 10, 16.

The following is from the ‘ Principia,’’ part iii.,

chapter vil. :—

‘“ Whatever the ether presents to our organs by means
of colours, the air presents to us by means of modulations
and sounds. Thus Nature is always the same, always
similar to herself, both in light, and in sound, in the eye
and in the ear; the only difference is that in one she is
quicker and more subtle, in the other slower and crasser.”’

Although this is not an example- from the seventeenth
century, it anticipates the theories of Rumford and Young
as to light and heat by some sixty years.

Crartes E. BENHAM.

Colchester, December 23, 1905.

The Naming of Colours.

Peruars some of your readers would be interested in,
and could suggest some explanation of, the following rather
fanciful colour term. <A light purple, almost a mauve, is

called by the Chinese 3? (siit,) 7 (Ts’eng), {i (shilk,)
““Snow green colour.’’ I have asked many educated

Chinese for some explanation of the name, but the best I
can get is the Chinese are very ‘‘ fanciful’’ in the use
of colour terms. I may say that the term I have trans-
lated ‘‘ green’? is sometimes applied by the Chinese to the

colour of the sky. ALFRED H. CROOK.
Queen’s College, Hong Kong, December 2, 1905.
Aurora of November 15.
Tr aurora of November 15, 1905, was seen at
Szezawnica, in Galicia (Karpathian Mountains), by the
meteorological observer Mr. Wojakowski at oh. p.m.

M.E.T.

The day of November 15 and the subsequent night were
in Galicia cloudy and rainy. Probably the sky was clear
for a while at Szczawnica. The altitude of Szczawnica is
484 metres; longitude, 20° 30’ E. of Greenwich; latitude,
49° 26’ N. M. P. Rupzkxt.

K.K. Sternwarte, Krakau, January 1.

Ascent of Sap in Trees.

With reference to an article on the above subject which
appeared in your issue of October 26, 1905, the following
extract from a paper—which your contributor has doubt-
less not seen, published nearly ten years ago—will prob-
ably interest some of your readers.

FRANK Harris.

Maryland, Saundersfoot, December 25, 1905.

Exrracr rrom Indian Engineering, FEBRUARY 8, 1896.

Ascent of Sap in Trees.

Among the various theories which have been advanced
to explain the circulation of sap in plants, those dependent
on purely mechanical principles are, as has been pointed
out, entirely untenable. That hypothesis which relies
solely on the osmotic action of the root hairs, though
adequate in itself to account for the rise of water to almost
any extent, is not compatible with the so-called ‘‘ negative ””
pressure observed to exist in the vessels of living timber.
The last mentioned among the explanations to which
allusion has been made—that which invokes the aid of
what may be loosely described as the vital principle—
though unobjectionable in itself, unnecessarily complicates

JANUARY II, 1906]

NATURE

247

the question; and while some of the difficulties which
present themselves upon detailed examination may be over-
come, others are less easily surmounted. In the trunk
of a tree it is only the cambium itself which can properly
be regarded as consisting of living cells—if we use the
expression in its usual sense. Besides protoplasm the
cambium cell contains a nucleus, and splitting up to form
the growing wood is evidently and unquestionably a living
cell. The sap cannot, however, be considered as entirely
rising through the cambium alone ; while the medullary
rays and wood-parenchyma, although they both contain
protoplasm or such like organic substances, are in no
other respects like living tissue. They may be regarded
simply as store houses containing nutritive matter, or as
actively engaged in the plant’s circulation, or as acting
in both capacities; but scarcely can they be described as
centres of vitality.

The theory which most readily commends itself to our
ideas of probability is that which regards osmosis as the
primary and all potent cause of the sap’s ascent in plants ;
not taking place in the root alone, as was supposed by
those who advocated the earlier theory, but active through-
out the whole height of every tree. Concerning osmosis
itself it is well to remember that the phenomenon con-
tains nothing transcendental or beyond the reach of ordinary
molecular physics for its complete explanation. We know
that the particles of a liquid, though far from possessing
that mobility which in a gas is due to the great extent
of free path enjoyed by its molecules, are constantly in a
state of translational motion with regard to each other.
The phenomenon of diffusion in inorganic solutions
obviously suggests the conclusion that this capacity de-
pends largely upon the relative simplicity which charac-
terises the molecule’s construction. Especially is this idea
forced upon us when considering the relative diffusibility
of various solutions. Here we find the rate of diffusion
bearing a definite relation to the solution density; the
square of the time of equal diffusion being in the case of
such solutions equal to their solution density. It would
appear, apart from all questions of chemical combination,
that each molecule—or perhaps group of molecules—of the
solvent becomes attached to a certain number of molecules
of the dissolved substance; this complex group holding
together so far as diffusion and osmosis are concerned.
Under such circumstances it is only to be expected that
the rate of diffusion, which means the passage through
intermolecular fluid spaces, or of osmosis, which consists
in the passage through interstitial spaces in a porous
solid, should vary quite as much as is observed to be the
case.

It is true the relatively small differences in the rate of
passage through porous bodies observable when inorganic
solutions are compared with each other, seem to depend
principally upon chemical action between the solutions and
the substance; but in the much more marked difference
observed when we compare the dialysis of crystalloid and
colloid bodies, this does not depend on any such action.

Now in a plant we have a system in which the process
of nutrition is going on at both ends, the roots and the
leaves of a tree; it is, however, the organic colloid sub-
stances which are manufactured in the leaves, while in
most part inorganic or crystalloid compounds are absorbed
by the roots. Both forms of nutriment are required at
every point of the tree. The colloids have to descend, the
crystalloids and water have to be raised. Constant
evaporation from the leaves by maintaining “‘ negative ”’
pressure in the vessels greatly facilitates the rise of water
from below; but the motive power is osmotic action taking
place between any or every pair of cells in the chain.
The ‘‘ air bubbles’’ which form a chapelet de Jamin in
the vessels and prevent. the fall of any water previously
raised by osmosis, at times when demand falls or moist
air saturating the leaves supplies all water necessary from
above,’ very possibly convert the fluid column itself into
the equivalent of a porous body suitable for the action of
osmosis to make itself felt between each pair of drops as
_they hang suspended in the vessels. The film of liquid
surrounding each bubble is as a narrow space in a porous
body through which the simpler and smaller groups of
atoms can more readily pass than can that cumbrous
collection which constitutes the physical molecule of any

no. 1889, VOL. 73]

colloid solution. This action adapts itself exactly to the
plant’s requirements. Should any sap fall short at any
point of water or crystalloid solution, osmotic action

immediately supplies what is required from below; while
the enormous pressures which dialysis can bring into play
leave gravity une quantité negligeable. The details
characterising this action as observable in conifers, as
distinguished from dicotyledonous trees, will doubtless vary.
The former suggest to most unbotanical minds the idea
of an earlier and less highly developed type. The
tracheides of a conifer act simultaneously as conducting
vessels and as hollow cells in the structural framework
of the trunk considered as a beam; while these purposes
are more or less differentiated in the case of dicotyledonous
plants. In this latter case the wood-parenchyma cells
surrounding the ‘“‘ vessels ’’—filled as they are with colloid
matter—appear to supplement the action of the medullary
rays, not here in such close connection’ with conducting
tracheides as they are in the case of conifers. The
presence of all this colloid matter, scattered throughout
the conducting mass and closely connected with the
tracheides or with the fitted vessels, probably act as a
reservoir and enlarge the sphere of the osmotic action, thus
avoiding violent changes and preventing any very noticeable
difference in sap density occurring throughout the tree’s
height. A gradient, however, marking difference in pro-
portion between colloids and crystalloids must necessarily
exist whenever water is rising, and this would naturally
be expected to follow the introduction of these different
forms of nutritive matter at opposite ends of a chain.

ELEMENTARY GEOLOGY.’

F a new elementary text-book of geology is really
in request, no better author could be found than
the president of the Geological Society of London for
1905. We venture to prefer this work to his some-
what similar ‘‘ Agricultural Geology,’’ and hope that
candidates for a diploma in agriculture will now make
use of both. The author, while engaged upon his
task, appears to be absolutely devoid of the emotion
which ‘ nature-study’’ provokes in other men in
various measure, and his introduction, if a little cold,
should lead to accurate observation and understand-
ing. The photographic illustrations are refreshingly
large, and include successfully the forms of familiar
fossils and even of flint implements. Four pins fixed
in a dull white wall would, however, have served as a
more satisfactory support for a helpless belemnite than
the operating table and other apparatus displayed in
Fig. 29. The striking relic of a Triassic land-surface,
photographed by Prof. H. E. Armstrong (Fig. 27),
is here reproduced, as an example of the admirable
landscapes in this volume.

Our only question about the book is as to the
class for whom it is intended. In the frequent
absence of systematic scientific training in English
schools—things are fortunately different now in
Ireland—scholars may come up to our universities
completely ignorant of chemistry and_ physics.
They may also be ignorant of the animal and
vegetable forms around them, and they are certain
to believe that coral is a substance laboriously
manufactured by an insect. We tale it that, on con-
tact with Dr. Marr and the well-known Woodwardian
collections, such scholars may become attracted
towards geology. Hence, in the present work, this
complex subject, relying for its evidence on almost
every other science, is treated as one to be laid before
babes, who have never handled a blowpipe, or stroked
the back of a cat to see that it possessed a spinal
column. From these pages the reader may ‘‘ proceed
to the perusal of more advanced treatises.’? But what

1 ** An Introduction to Geology.” By J. E. Marr, ScD, FIRS:
Pp. viii+230. (Cambridge: University Press, 1905.) Price 3s. net.

248

NATURE

| JANUARY II, 1906

his course of study in between? Before the
advanced treatise, or, at any Hap such a one as Dr.
Marr would approve, can be really entered on and
appreciated, the student must surely have some prac-
tical acquaintance with carbon dioxide and silica as
chemical substances, with ‘‘ boneless animals ’’ and
‘“those possessing bones,’’ and with other matters
that are here mentioned as if they were absolutely
new to his intelligence. On pp. 224 and 225 the
beginner is sent out into the open country as his
‘“true museum.’’ This is
true beginner in geology, but not for those beginners |
in science whom Dr. Marr, from his experience of
English public schools, finds himself compelled to
contemplate.

Among the excellent points in the present treatise
we notice the early introduction of conceptions of
crust-movement, which render descriptions of other
phenomena far more easy of comprehension; the
reference to what is often known as ‘‘ plucking”? in

is to be

”

excellent advice for the |

TIDAL RESEARCHES.'

@ P= of the crowning features of the enunciation
by Newton of the law of universal gravitation
consisted in the fact that herein the phenomena of
the tides and their relationship with the moon could
for the first time be coordinated with other well-
known phenomena of the solar system. Though the
principal phenomena of rise and fall and ebb and
flood of the sea must have been recognised by coast
dwellers and navigators from the earliest times, the
theory of the tides as it exists to-day may fairly be
| said to have originated with Newton, and its purpose
| has largely been to examine to what extent these
| phenomena are attributable solely to a gravitational

cause or how far it may be necessary to invoke some
other exciting or controlling influence.
| It was early recognised that a theory which failed
| to take due account of the inertia of the water, of the
| earth’s rotation, and of the curvature of its surface
could but in-
adequately repre-

Fic. 1.—Wind-worn surface of older rocks (on right), revealed by removal ot New Red Sandstone, Charnwood Forest.

Landscape of Triassic times. (From Marr’s ‘
the action of glaciers (p. 57
of plains of denudation (peneplains) on p. 99.
the very few slips, we may note that Kimeridge (p.

179) is in Dorset, not in Wiltshire; that the insoluble
ae of felspar (p. 79) does not by itself form china-

); and the concise account

clay; and that the phrase ‘‘ evaporation of water by
the sun”? (p. 67) is scarcely a happy one. The fan-
structure on p. 93 is, we think, not that usually

thought of in connection with the term.
On p. 65 we must invoke subsidence of the crust to
enable the sea to perform all the work there claimed

for it; and we should like more sympathy on p. 89
with the view that the earth is continually losing
moisture from its interior. Lastly, the author (p. 181)

should not, even by an accident of phraseology, en-
courage a belief in the existence of ‘ fossil thunder-
bolts.’? But these small asperities only ee an edge

GRENVILLE A

NO. 1889, VOL. 73]

to our appreciation.

Se Core

“Introduction to Geology.’')

Among |

sent the phe-
nomena actually
existent in nature,
and the reduction
of the tidal pro-
blem ta a mathe-
matical form in
which all these
features were duly
taken into account
was first accom-
plished by Lap-
lace; since his
time the equations
furnished by him
have formed the
basis of almost all
attempts to fur-
ther the study of
the tides from its
purely theoretical
aspect. The
theory of tides in
narrow canals de-
veloped in extenso
by Airy, though
not directly based
on Laplace’s
equations, con-
sists largely in
the discussion of
a special type of
solvable cases of
mathematical ‘problem pro-
pounded by Laplace. In the memoirs under re-
view the author emphasises the hopelessness
of such attempts to realise their main purpose of
providing a theory sufficiently exact and yet suffi-
ciently general in character to allow of direct com-
parison “with observations, as is the practice in the
study of other gravitational phenomena such as the
planetary motions, and proposes a new method of
attacking the problem. An essential difference between
this method and that of Laplace consists in the fact
that in the former the influence of the earth’s rota-

| the more general

tion is regarded as of secondary importance. Such
solutions of Laplace’s equations as have been
obtained, which allow of an exact estimate of the

| 1 «A Manual of Tides.” Partiv. A, Outlines of Tidal Theory. Part iv. B,
Cotidal Lines of the World. By Rollin A. Harris. Appendices to Reports
of U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey.

JANuARY 11, I906|

NATURE

249

influence of the rotation in the restricted problems
dealt with, by no means appear to justify this
course.

lf, however, a complete tidal theory which should
adequately account for all the phenomena of observ-
ation has hitherto been found wanting, at least con-
siderable advance in the coordination of observed
phenomena has been obtained by the introduction
of the harmonic analysis for the discussion of tidal
observations, while tidal records suitable for such
analysis have accumulated. These, so far as they
are accessible at all, are scattered through various

scientific publications, and the author has rendered | : a n
| disturbing forces which give rise to

a valuable service to all interested in tidal phenomena
in collecting them in tabular form in a single memoir.
The tables given on pp. 664-677, part iv. A, and pp.
342-351, part iv. B, contain the results of the
harmonic analysis of tidal observations taken at more
than four hundred stations distributed throughout the
world, and probably contain almost all information
of a precise character in relation to the tides at
present available. These tables give the amplitudes
and phases of the principal types of oscillation as
derived from observation alone, and only
theory in so far as it enables us to assign the periods
in advance by means of exact astronomical data. It
is to be regretted that in no case is any indication
given of the degree of precision with which. the
analysed results reproduce the actual observations
from which they are derived, or of the extent to
which they confirm the theory on which they
depend.

A considerable portion of the memoirs is further
devoted to an attempt to coordinate the results
derived from different stations so as to form a com-
prehensive picture of the general progress of the tide-
wave over the surface of the ocean, and the results
are exhibited in a series of charts indicating the
position of the wave crest at each successive cotidal
hour.

The construction of these charts is, unfortunately,
but vaguely indicated. As already stated, no ready
means is provided of estimating the value of the
material used for the purpose, or of the methods used
for its combination.

In so far as these charts are based on the results
of observation alone we are prepared to believe that
they give a fairly accurate representation of the
actual tides in the regions where observations are
sufficiently numerous to supply the necessary informa-
tion, but, as is well indicated in the cotidal chart due
to Berghaus and reproduced by the author, there
will remain very considerable tracts of the ocean
surface about which no observational information is
available, and which are left blank on the charts
prepared by Berghaus. In fact, as tidal observation
is almost of necessity confined to the neighbourhood
of the coast lines, the only method of filling in such
blanks is to have recourse to theory, and the correct-
ness or otherwise of the charts prepared by the
author must therefore depend to a very considerable
extent on the correctness of the theory which he has
put forward, which forms the principal subject of
Part iv. A.

This theory has already been the subject of adverse
criticism in Narure (September 4, 1902, p. 444), and
we cannot but regret that we have to adhere to the
objections to it previously raised.

Without reverting to these objections it is rather
our purpose here to examine the particular applica-
- tions of it now dealt with in part iv. B, which con-
stitute the chief purpose for which it was designed.

NO. 1889. VOL. 73]

involve |

| character, is passing through

The object of the author, as he himself expresses it,
is ‘‘ to obtain through theoretical considerations . . .
a first approximation to the times of the principal
ocean tides,’’ i.e. the phases of the oscillations in
relation to those of the disturbing forces which
produce them. The times in question are deduced
from a theorem based on the analogue of the com-
pound pendulum which asserts that in maintained
simple harmonic motion under the action of friction
“the virtual work of the external periodic forces is
zero at the instant of elongation.’’ If we rightly
understand the significance of this theorem, it would
appear to imply that, at the instant of elongation, the
the type of
motion under consideration form an equilibrium
system., We conclude either that they are in equi-
librium throughout the motion or that they are in equi-
librium at this instant in virtue of the fact that their
resultant, which is ex hypothesi of a simple harmonic
its zero phase. The
former hypothesis may be dismissed as giving rise
to no permanent oscillation; the latter indicates a
phase difference of a quarter of a period between the
phase of the oscillation and that of the resultant
disturbing force.

The application of the theorem in question to the
tidal problem is somewhat obscure, but the illustration
of the simple pendulum presented by the author
enables us at once to recognise an essential condition
under which it is applicable. The phase difference
in this case is correctly expressed by equation (297),
which indicates in general a phase difference of zero
or half a period when friction is slight. When, how-
ever, friction is sufficiently great the phase difference
may amount approximately to a quarter of a period,
and the same will be true even with small friction
when there is an exact coincidence between the period
of the disturbing force and the “‘ natural’ period of
vibration of the pendulum.

Thus the fundamental theorem on which the deter-
mination of the phase depends only holds good if
we regard friction as sufficiently large to control the
phase, and unless the relative influence of friction in
comparison with other causes which influence the
phase is in some way known, the phase will remain
quite indeterminate. Of course it may be contended
that in the case of the tides the conditions necessary
to render friction the controlling factor exist, but
this contention is nowhere put forward explicitly by
the author, and we are of opinion that it could not
he substantiated. We are further of opinion that
the effects of friction on phase will be everywhere
comparatively insignificant, so that we should expect
to find the phases of the oscillations, so far as they
cai be resolved into separate simple harmonic types,
approximately in agreement with (or differing by
half a period from) those of the disturbing causes
instead of, as the author’s theory requires, differing
from them by a quarter of a period. We conclude
that the author’s theory ceases to be available even

to lead to a “first approximation’ in the deter-
mination of the phases.
We can thus only regard the charts produced.

except in so far as they are controlled by direct
observations, as a speculation on the part of the author
unsupported by scientific evidence, and regret that an
otherwise painstaking and far-reaching research on
our existing knowledge of the tides has been marred
by the intervention of an unsatisfactory theory which
we feel bound to regard as not merely inadequate,
but for the purposes to which it is applied actually
misleading.
S. Sy, JBL

NATO TR

[JANUARY II, 1906

AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION AND
COLONIAL DEVELOPMENT.

a paper on ‘‘ The Teaching of Agriculture

read by Mr. F. B. Smith, director of agricul-
ture in the Transvaal, before the British Association,
there occurs a statement which is of special interest
to educationists and to the public of this country.
The paper was read with the object of directing atten-
tion to the keen desire for agricultural education
that now exists in South Africa, and to the improve-
ments in the condition of the colonies which might
be looked for if a satisfactory system of education
and research were established. But though colonial
Governments are willing, and the enlightened
members of the agricultural community are anxious
to get on, progress is slow, and chiefly because suit-
able teachers for agricultural colleges and other
officers for colonial departments of agriculture are
hard to find. The words used by Mr. Smith are :—
“The difficulty of obtaining men qualified to fill
such positions is great, and frequently one of two
things happens: either an wnsuitable man from the
Homeland (the italics are ours) is appointed, with the
result that a department is seriously hampered or
discredited, or a selection has to be made from abroad.
I am not speaking without experience, for I could
give many examples in support of my argument that

”

a great deal of harm has been caused to agricultural |

administration and education in the colonies by the
sending out of inexperienced and unsuitable men
from Great Britain.’’ Again, after stating that the
demand will continue, and is likely to increase, Mr.
Smith asks, ‘“‘ Cannot some steps be taken to improve
matters, and to supply the want? ”’

Unfortunately it is not only in South Africa that
the Mother Country’s insufficiency is being felt, for
within the past few years there has been quite an
extraordinary awakening to the value of agricultural
education in the British possessions, and the Home-
land has not been able to afford the guidance and
assistance which her colonies expect. That there is
an awakening we have ample evidence; thus a recent
number of the West India Bulletin informs us that
the president of the West Indian Agricultural Con-
ference of 1905 remarked :—‘‘ Agricultural education
is at the root of the successful development of these
colonies,’’ and another speaker referred with surprise
to the rapid rise in importance of this subject. Again,
from the Indian Financial Statement for r905 we learn
that the Government of India, which in 1902-3 spent
about 60,000]. on improving agriculture, has now
sanctioned an expenditure of 250,o00l. for the pro-
vision of agricultural institutions, experimental farms,
&c. But although this forward policy has the approval

of all sections of the Indian public, it must wait, for |

in India, as in South Africa, the problem is to find
men competent to give effect to the policy.

The director of agriculture for the Transvaal is
perhaps too severe on the “ unsuitable man from the
Homeland.’ The good work accomplished by this
same “‘unsuitable man” in the past ten years has
been one of the chief causes of the rise in popularity
of agricultural education. But it must be admitted
not only that men are hard to find, but that when
found they seldom have the training which is desir-
able. The fact is that Britain still looks upon agri-
cultural education purely from the national standpoint,
and gives no thought to her colonies. Through the

Board of Agriculture, agricultural institutions in
England and Wales receive about 10,000. per

annum; but these grants are made to provide for
the education of the English farmer, and without
reference to our foreign possessions.

NO. 1889, VOL. 73]

A few weeks ago a deputation waited upon the
Board of Agriculture to ask that increased grants
might be given for teaching and research in connec-
tion with English agriculture, and it was admitted
by the Board that further aid in this direction was
desirable. If the present grants are insufficient for
the special needs of this country, it is clear that they
are quite inadequate for the requirements of Greater
Britain. It may be argued that India and the colonies
should provide for themselves; but we hope that Mr.
Smith’s question may not receive this answer.
Greater Britain makes the reasonable request, ‘ If
you send us men, send us trained men,’’ and if we
neglect this request our colonies must find men else-
where. They cannot mark time indefinitely, nor can
they risk their prosperity by engaging the services of
incompetent men.

England is herself content with her small outlay on
agricultural education and research, but we must not
conclude that what is good enough for the Mother
Country is good enough for her colonies. English
agriculture is highly developed, is conservative in its
methods, and there is no agricultural party to be
reckoned with by the English statesman. We do not
ask for, and we do not get, the assistance claimed by
the farmers of countries like Denmark and the United
States. In India and the colonies it is different;
agriculture is undeveloped, applied science may do
much for the farmer, and the prosperity and content-
ment of the agriculturist are of great political import-
ance. Though, therefore, the English agriculturist
does not complain of the meagre endowments of
agricultural science, we must not assume that those
responsible for the development of Greater Britain
will remain satisfied with what this country is now
doing. The colonies have hitherto taken our men,
because men trained in British schools and universi-
ties have been their traditional leaders; but it is clear
that if we wish them to continue to do so we must
make greater efforts to meet the new demand.

Nothing could possibly be more damaging to the
reputation, not only of English teachers of agricul-
ture, but of England, than such an experience as the
director of agriculture for the Transvaal recorded
before the British Association. If our men are in-

| competent, if they are unfit to lead, the sooner, not

only our teachers, but our statesmen, take the matter
up the better. The colonies must know, and without
delay, that the universities and colleges of this
country can supply trained agriculturists. We are
indebted to the director of agriculture for his plain
if unpalatable warning. There appears to be a danger
that while the means of securing a preference for our
merchandise are being discussed, we may lose the pre-
ference now accorded to our men.

MAGNETIC WORK IN INDIA.

HIS relates to the temperature coefficients of
horizontal force magnetographs of the Watson
pattern belonging to the Indian Survey. The magnet
system consists of magnetised iron wires, fixed
parallel to one another, in a framework which is
attached to a quartz fibre. The upper end of the
fibre is attached to a torsion head, by turning which
the magnet system is brought nearly perpendicular
to the magnetic meridian. With increase of H
(horizontal force) the magnet turns until the
increased torsion balances the increased magnetic
couple, and the position of the magnet is recorded

1 Survey of India. Professional Papers, ra05._ Serial No, 8. Experi-
ments made to determine the Temperature Coefficients of Watson's
Magnetographs. By Captain H. A. Denholm Fraser, R.E. Pp. 45;
with 6 plates and 5 sheets of curves. (Calcutta: Office of the Super-
intendent of Government Printing, India, 1905.)

JANUARY II, 1906]

MAT ORE

251

photographically by means of a beam of light reflected
from a mirror attached to the magnet. With rise of
temperature the magnetic moment diminishes
slightly, whilst the rigidity of the quartz increases,
both causes tending to diminish the angle of torsion
and so simulating a fall in H. Measurements made
on one of the magnetographs prior to its despatch
from England showed a temperature coefficient of
approximately 6y for 1° C. (1y=1x10—5 C.G.S.);
but the values obtained in India with different magnet
systems and suspensions are mostly about 12.57 for
12 C. There is, however (see footnote p. 13), no
necessary contradiction between these results. The
untwisting caused by a given rise of temperature
varies as the total angle of torsion, and this varies
as the local value of H. But H in India is nearly
twice as large as in England. Thus the movement
of the magnet due to the change of rigidity in the
fibre caused by a rise of 1° is nearly twice as big in
India as in England. The memoir discusses the
temperature experiments made in India, and the diffi-
culties arising from imperfect temperature control,
defects in quartz fibres or in the method of fixing
them, and from other causes. The observational data
are recorded, and exhibited in the curves, with a detail
which is unusual in a printed volume. The values
found for the temperature coefficients in India are
five times larger than those applicable in England
to some magnetographs of older types with metal
suspensions. Even in magnetic chambers under
refined temperature control, a small temperature co-
efficient has advantages which can be fully appre-
ciated only by those experienced in the reduction of
magnetic data. Thus the results of the present
memoir, though of limited general interest, deserve
the attention of instrument makers.

NOTES.

We regret to see the announcement that Prof. C. J.
Joly, F.R.S., Royal Astronomer of Ireland, died on

January 4 after a long illness. He was only forty-one

vears of age.

A Birt which provides for the adoption of the weights
and measures of the metric system in all departments of
the Government of the United States on July 1, 1908, has
been introduced into Congress.

A CENTRAL NEWS message from New York states that by
the will of the late Mr. Yerkes the Yerkes Observatory,
Chicago, is given the sum of 20,o000l.

ARRANGEMENTS are being made for the celebration of the
twenty-first anniversary of the foundation of the Royal
Geographical Society of Australia, Queensland. It is pro-
posed at the end of the current session, in the last
week of June, to carry out some appropriate form of com-
memorative ceremonial to mark the close of the first
twenty-one years of activity of the society.

Own Tuesday next, January 16, Prof. E. H. Parker will
deliver the first of a course of three lectures at the Royal
Institution on impressions of travel in China and the Far
East. The Friday evening discourse on January 19 will
be delivered by Prof. J. J. Thomson, the subject being
some applications of the theory of electric discharge to
spectroscopy. On February 2 the discourse will be de-
livered by Prof. S. P. Thompson on the electric production
of nitrates from the atmosphere.

As the signature ““H. Weir’’ occurs so frequently to
the illustrations of ‘*‘ Wood’s Natural History,’’ which was

ence to the death of Mr. Harrison Weir, the well known
animal artist, claims a place in our columns. Mr. Weir,
who was born at Lewes in 1824, died at his residence at
Appledore, ent, on January 3, at the close of a long
period of retirement. Although his portraits of wild
animals can scarcely be compared with those of Wolf, they
are in most cases—except when drawn from menagerie
specimens in poor condition—true to nature and display
considerable spirit. Mr. Weir’s special forte was, how-
ever, the portraiture of domesticated poultry, and his work
‘*Our Poultry’? has a permanent value as an authentic
record of the characteristics of the different breeds at the
time it was written. As a judge of poultry and pigeons the
deceased artist had a high reputation.

Tue first expedition sent out to West Africa by the Liver-
pool Institute of Commercial Research in the Tropics left
England on January 6. The members, who are conducted
by Lord Mountmorres, director of the institute, are :—Mr.
Kenneth Fisher, chemist; Mr. L. Farmer, botanist; Dr.
Slater Jackson, entomologist; and Mr. Coates, com-
mercial adviser. The expedition is proceeding to Dakar,
Bathurst, Konakri, and, if possible, to the Cameroons.
Being only an experimental expedition, the stay on the
west coast will not be of very long duration; in fact, Lord
Mountmorres is to return in time to visit the exhibition
of rubber at Ceylon in April. But should the results prove
satisfactory there is every probability that the institute
will dispatch a second expedition to spend a long period
in Africa. One of the chief objects of the expedition will
be an inquiry into the cultivation of rubber—how to
improve the quality of West African rubber in order to
bring it up to the same standard as the similar rubber
from other colonies, and how to protect and increase the
present supply. An effort will also be made to discover
new sources of oils, and to find means of increasing the
supply by making use of present waste. As regards the
study of the prospects of West Africa becoming a fibre-
producing country, this branch of the work will include
investigation regarding the establishment of hemp, cotton,
jute, and ramie growing, and also of new fibres.

We have received a copy of the report of the Albany
Museum for 1904, in which substantial progress is re-
corded on all sides. It is satisfactory to learn that the
proposed cooperation between the museum and the Rhodes
University College promises to be of advantage to both
institutions. Dr. Schonland, the director of the museum,
has already been appointed professor of botany in the
college.

Mucu interest attaches to a paper by Mr. Pilgrim in
part iii. of the Records of the Geological Survey of India
for 1905, in which the author describes an elephant slcull
from the alluvium of the Godaveri valley. This skull
belongs to Elephas namadicus, of Falconer and Cautley,
but the author brings forward evidence which in his
opinion proves the identity of that form with the European
E. antiquus.

Our knowledge of the land and fresh-water molluscs of
Formosa and Japan has been greatly extended by the
work of Japanese collectors, the results of which are de-
scribed by Messrs. Pilsbry and Hirase in the October,
1905, issue of the Proceedings of the Philadelphia
Academy of Sciences. The collections from Formosa
were made in Taiwan, and chiefly consist of land-shells ;
but although no labour or expense were spared, the number
of specimens procured was not so large as anticipated.

the popular zoological work of a generation ago, a refer- | Nevertheless, out of a total of seventy-one species, twenty-

NO. 1889, VOL. 73]

252

NA LORE.

[JANUARY II, 1906

together with thirteen new -subspecies, are described
as new. The Japanese collection was chiefly made in
the Kyushu and Ryuku chains of islands, and is most
satisfactory, as we have now a fair knowledge of the
snails of all the larger and of many of the smaller islands.

seven,

Tue muscles of the jaws and pharynx in dog-fishes and
skates form the subject of an illustrated article by Mr.
G. E. Marion ‘in the December, 1905, number of the
American Naturalist. Considering the marked difference
in the shape of the two species, the similarity in their
muscular system is noteworthy; but, as might have been
expected, the skate possesses a few muscles not found in
the dog-fish. The deep muscles of the trunk of the former
are described for the first time. In another paper Dr.
E. N. Transeau discusses the forest-centres of eastern
North America, and arrives at the conclusion that there
are four such developmental areas, namely, the great
conifer forest of the north-east, the deciduous forest of
the Ohio basin, the south-eastern coniferous tract, and the
insular tropical forest of southern Florida, the centre of
which is in the West Indies. ‘The forest-centres correspond
with centres of high temperature and humidity.

Some practical results may perhaps follow a paper con-
tributed by Mr. E. Iwanoff to Biologisches Centralblatt of
December 15, 1905, on the cause of sterility in zebra-pony
hybrids. Sterility appears to attach to the male and not
to the female hybrids, although the latter really produce
this sterility. For it appears, according to the author’s
researches, that the spermatozoa are destroyed by leuco-
cytes while within the body-cavity of the female. The
female-blood is, in fact, found to contain a substance
known as spermatoxin, which acts fatally on the sperm-
atozoa. A similar substance also exists in the blood of
female hybrid trout, but as impregnation of the ova takes
place outside the body-cavity, no ill results follow to the
spermatozoa. It is suggested that in the case of female
zebra-hybrids the effects of the spermatoxin should be
neutralised by the injection of an anti-spermatoxin serum.

In the Biologisches Centralblatt (December 15, 1905)
Prof. Gorjanovié-Kramberger discusses the relationships
of the race of men whose remains have recently been dis-
covered at Krapina, south of the Styrian frontier. From
the examination of these remains it appears that the
Krapina race is identical with the one from Neanderthal,
Spy, La Naulette, Schipka, &c., for which the name Homo
primigenius has been proposed. From this primitive type
there seems to be a complete transition in cranial
characters, through the upper diluvial H. sapiens fossilis,
to modern man, who occasionally exhibits some of the
peculiarities of the ancestral form, such as the absence
of the chin prominence and the presence of wrinkles in
the enamel of the molars. The pre-diluvial race of Galley
(? Gallows) Hill, England, presents a difficulty, since,
although this is the oldest, it is at the same time the most
modern type. This is explained by the theory of the
existence at this early date of two distinct types of man-
kind, namely, Homo sapiens fossilis at Galley (?) Hill,
which had attained a relatively high development, and
H. primigenius at Krapina, Neanderthal, &c., the advance
of which may have been prevented by unfavourable con-
ditions of existence.

Tue contents of No. 195 of the Quarterly Journal of
Microscopical Science relate to the anatomy, histology,
development, &c., of various groups of invertebrates, and
are all of a highly technical nature. Prof. Haswell con-
tributes the first part of a series of papers on the turbel-

NO. 1889, VOL. 73]

larian worms, dealing in this instance with Heterochzrus ;
while Prof. Carpenter discusses the segmentation and
phylogeny of arthropods, and Mr. Hill records his obsery-
ations on the maturation of the ovum of Alcyonium. Mr-
F. C. Sinclair, in the fourth article, alludes to certain
points in the anatomy of the myriopods of the family
Platydesmide ; and in the fifth and last Prof. Minchin
describes a new sporozoon infesting the mucous membrane
of the human nasal septum. At the end of his paper
Prof. Carpenter observes that ‘‘ the more probable con-
clusion seems to be not that arthropods and polychete
annelids stand to each other in the relation of descendants
to ancestors, but that the two groups represent specialised
collateral branches from a common stock. My own view
is that their common ancestors were microscopic animals,
unsegmented, or with comparatively few segments between
a broad head-lobe and a narrow tail-somite. The occur-
rence of the nauplius larva in some members of all the
great crustacean groups justifies the phylogenetic import-
ance attached to that form by Miller.”

Tue position and relations of the abdominal and thoracic
viscera of an adult male negro are described and very
fully illustrated in a monograph entitled ‘‘ Topography of
the Thorax and Abdomen,’’ by Prof. Potter, just published
by the University of Missouri (University of Missouri
Studies, Science Series, vol. i., No. 1). The monograph
represents a contribution to ‘‘ descriptive anatomy ’’—the
raw material out of which, when enough has been accumu-
lated, we may hope to build a “‘ scientific anatomy.’’ For
several reasons this contribution, though small, is valuable,
first, because of the accuracy of the workmanship;
secondly, because it deals with a well developed adult
man, accidentally suffocated; and thirdly, because it deals
with the Negro race, the anatomy of which at the present
moment is of the greatest interest. This interest centres
round, not what may be called the normal anatomy of
that race, but its variations and abnormalities, and to
obtain a knowledge of these, records of hundreds of sub-
jects are required. In the subject described by Prof.
Potter the caecum occupies an abnormally high position,
a position recalling that seen in the young European child
and in the Anthropoid; this, apparently, is a characteristic
of the Negro race, for in four subjects recently dis-
sected by the writer of this note a similar condition was
observed. Prof. Potter built up the reconstructions and
projections shown in the plates of his monograph from a
series of twenty-five sections, into which the trunk was
divided after being hardened by the injection of a 50 per
cent. solution of formaldehyde—a solution employed first
by Prof. Jackson. Prof. Potter is to be congratulated on
the manner in which he has carried out a laborious task.

Some figures quoted by the Governor of the Bahamas in
his report on the Blue-book of the Bahamas, according to
a writer in the Journal of the Society of Arts, give an
idea of the extent of the sponge fishery business carried
There are schooners and sloops with
industry.
and 5517

on in those waters.
an aggregate tonnage: of 5952 engaged in this
Attached: to the vessels are 2517 open boats,
men and boys are employed on them. There are also
291 open boats engaged, manned by the owners living on
the coasts of several of the out-islands to the number of
445. Disquieting reports as to the exhaustion of the
sponge beds and the increasing quantities of small sponges
brought to market, which should have been left in the
beds to grow to a proper marketable size, recently led to
the enactment of a law under which a sponge fisheries
board is established with certain powers for the regulation

JANUARY I1, 1906]

INGA TOPE:

2:03

of the fisheries, and provided with a small annual grant
for expenses. Recently the Bight of Abaco ex-
amined, and the result fully confirms the suspicions
previously entertained. It is reported that the beds are
thickly sown with small sponges which are constantly
being gathered by the itinerant fishermen who are con-
tinually working over these fields pulling all the sponge
they can find without regard to size or quality, in con-
sequence of which there are very few large sponges to be
found anywhere. The spongers living in the settlements
all round the coast are in sympathy with the movement
for protecting the industry against the wasteful methods
complained of, and will welcome any reasonable laws for
the protection of the young sponge.

Was

Yue manurial experiments with cotton in the Leeward
Islands detailed by Dr. F. Watts in the West Indian
Bulletin, vol. vi., No. 3, may be expected to furnish useful
information after a trial of some years, when a succession
of crops will have emphasised the necessary requirements,
and of climate can be eliminated by
averaging results. Dr. Watts recommends the return of
the seed to the land, preferably after crushing to express
the oil, or as the manure from animals fed on the seed.
From the notes by Sir Daniel Morris on grape fruits and
shaddocks it is gathered that the larger fruits, referred
to Citrus decumana, are generally known as pumelows or
shaddocks; the smaller fruits assigned to the variety or
species paradisi may be distinguished as forbidden fruit
when round, or as grape fruit having a pyriform shape.

irregularities

IN Science, June 23, 1905, Prof. B. M. Duggar reviews
the present-day problems of plant physiology. On the sub-
ject of turgor regulation, allusion is made to the investi-
gations of Mayerburg, which tend to show that increased
turgor in fungi is caused by the production of osmotic sub-
stances within the cell. The writer refers to Moore’s work
on the organisms found in leguminous tubercles showing
that they can assimilate free nitrogen apart from the legu-
minous plant, to Laurent’s experiments on the effects of
feeding dicecious plants with different fertilisers, with the
results that nitrogen or calcium appeared to increase the
number of staminate flowers, and potassium or phosphorus
the number of pistillate flowers, and to Blakeslee’s identifi-
cation of homothallic and heterothallic forms of the
Mucorine.

Tue avenues and fruit gardens of Quetta afford a
striking testimony to the beneficent results of the British
occupation. Writing in the Indian Forester (October,
1905), Mr. E. P. Stebbing traces their origin to the fore-
sight of the early administrators, notably General Sir
Stanley Edwardes, Sir Hugh Barnes, and Colonel Gaisford.
Cuttings of chinar, Platanus orientalis, poplars, and
willows were brought from Kandahar in 1882. The
avenues consist of a mixture of two or more species from
the white and black poplars, the reamer, Populus sp., and
Euphrates poplars, the Kandahar, Salix alba, Kabul,
Salix aemophylla, and weeping willows, the plane, and a
species of American ash. In the gardens some fine old
mulberries point to the existence of these trees previous
to the occupation by the British; a few specimens of
Populus Euphratica are found, and walnuts have been
planted with satisfactory results.

WE have received a copy of a paper by Dr. Hans Reusch,
of Christiania, on the geographical relations of Norway
and Sweden. Dr. Reusch deals with the origin and geo-
graphical nature of the present frontier between the two

NO. 1889, VOL. 73]

countries, and with the density and distributicn of popula-
tion. The paper reprinted from the Geographische
Zeitschrift.

is

Pror. Dr. A. Oppet contributes to the Deutsche geo-
graphische Blatter a long paper on the forest regions of
the middle and upper Mississippi, the prairie lands of
Canada, and the New Ontario. The paper is a continu-
ation of Prof. Oppel’s previous studies in North America,
and is an account of a lengthened journey undertaken
during 1904; it contains an immense amount of valuable
and interesting information.

Tue Mitteilungen of the Vienna Geographical Society
contain an interesting preliminary report on observations
of the altitude of the forest-line in the Austrian Alps, by
Prof. R. Marek. The most important general result
is that the forest-line sinks continuously from west to
east, the rate of fall increasing towards the east, and a
difference of 556 metres being recorded within the area
investigated—extending through about five degrees of
longitude. The average height of the forest-line is about
750 metres below that of the snow-line.

Tue third number of the Abhandlungen of the Vienna
Geographical Society is devoted to a suggestive paper by
Dr. Fritz von Kerner. The author discusses the annual
march of temperature in the north temperate zone by con-
sidering the ratio between the difference between mean
monthly values for April and October and the difference
between the mean of the hottest and coldest months of the
year. Plotting the values of this ratio on a chart, he gets
lines to which the name ‘‘ Thermoisodromes’’ is given.
The distributions revealed in this way, and by further
developments of the method, give results of considerable
interest in tracing the relations of the ‘* oceanic’’ and
“ continental ”’ the climate of the regions
covered.

elements in

IN a neat art-green canvas cover, Messrs. Burroughs,
Wellcome and Co. have issued their well known photo-
graphic exposure record and diary for i906, and the
moderate price of is. renders it within reach of every
photographer. The important features of this pocket-book
have been maintained, and the information brought up
to date; the light tables, as was the case last year, are
printed on perforated leaves, so that each month may be
torn out, disclosing the table for the current month opposite
the mechanical calculator fixed to the inside of the back
cover. The excellent get-up, finish, useful contents, and
general handiness of this exposure record and diary have
made it a necessary part of a photographic outfit, and this
year the photographer who possesses a copy can compete
for prizes offered for pictures produced with “* tabloid ”
photographic chemicals.

Witn the December (1905) issue the Journal of the
Franklin Institute of Philadelphia concludes its 160th
volume, and the varied contents show that the high
standard that has characterised this journal for eighty
years is well maintained. The more important papers in
this number are of metallurgical interest. Prof. A. E.
Outerbridge gives an able summiary of recent scientific
progress in metallurgy. Mr. E. Sttitz gives a detailed
account of the progress made within the past eighteen
months in the introduction in the United States of the
alumino-thermic process as applied in engineering practice.
The progress has been rapid, and the process has proved
quite as successful in America as elsewhere for welding
and for the repair of castings. Lastly, Mr. Laurance

254

INGE OL I2,

[JANUARY II, 1906

Addicks discusses the subject of the electrolytic refining of
copper, especially from the point of view of the multiple
system. The main differences between this system and the
series system are in power cost, compactness, and cost
oi preparing anodes. ‘The fact that large refineries on both
systems are being satisfactorily worked bears witness to
the close balancing of the advantages and disadvantages
in each case, although much more material is refined by
the multiple than by the series process.

Durinc the night of January 5-6 the central and
southern parts of England experienced a very severe gale ;
the 6h. p.m. observations received at the Meteorological
Office on January 5 gave but little indication of the
approach of such a severe disturbance, but were sufficient
to justify the hoisting of storm signals on all our west
coasts. The weather chart for 8h. a.m. on Saturday,
January 6, showed that the centre of the storm, which had
travelled rapidly, lay Lincolnshire, and that
strong gales were prevailing in the English Channel and
the southern eastern counties. In the London
district the gusts were very heavy, but it did not experience
the full fury which was met with on the coast, although

Veny over

over and

some injury was caused by falling slates and chimneys, and
some trees were uprooted.
ported from the English Channel, and much damage was
done to shipping in the Bristol Channel and elsewhere.
On Tuesday afternoon (January 9) London and other parts

Several wrecks have been re-

were visited by sharp thunderstorms, accompanied by heavy
rain and hail.

A sixtH edition of the ‘‘ Hints to Meteorological
Observers,’’ prepared under the direction of the council
of the Royal Meteorological Society by Mr. W. Marriott,
has just been published. The work has been revised and
enlarged, and although only consisting of sixty-seven pages,

)

including text, tables, and many illustratiox, contains all
that is necessary for ordinary normal climatological
stations; its conciseness renders it, in our opinion, all the
more valuable, and at the present time—the excellent in-
structions prepared by Mr. Scott for the Meteorological
Office being out of print—it is the most useful book of
‘instructions now available for English observers. Among
the additions may be mentioned references to the Richard
recording instruments (a want to which we recently re-
ferred), fuller instructions in connection with phenological
observations, and tables for the conversion of anemometrical
values from English to French measures, and vice versd.
The work would be a desirable acquisition for all meteor-
ological observers, especially those not conversant with the
more comprehensive instructions lately published in the
French and German languages.

Tue Meteorological Committee has issued a useful little
pamphlet (12 octavo pages, with charts) on the relation
between pressure, temperature, and air circulation over
the South Atlantic Ocean. The introductory remarks state
that the preparation of monthly wind and other charts
occupied the marine department of the Meteorological
Office from 1898 to 1904, and were based on no less than
946,000 observations. The charts were published by the
hydrographic department of the Admiralty, and at the
request of the Meteorological Council Captain Hepworth,
the marine superintendent, undertook the preparation of
notes which, with a number of small diagrams, are deduc-
tions from an examination of the elaborate charts above
referred to. They show the variations, the position and
intensity of the areas of high pressure, and their relation
to the equatorial doldrums, the distribution of gales,

No. 1889, VOL. 73]

fog, &c. The gales appear to reach the South Atlantic
in two ways :—(1) they cross South America between 25° S.
and Cape Horn, or (2) they avoid the land, and round
Cape Horn to the eastward, following the general drift
of air and sea surface. Fog is rarely met with north of
the thirtieth parallel, except near the land on either side
of the ocean. More southward fog may be expected, and
is increasingly frequent the higher the latitude reached.
This is attributed to the increase of gale frequency with
latitude, the cyclonic systems causing rapid fluctuations in
air temperature.

Tue value for the latent heat of water is the subject
of a note by Prof. A. Leduc in the current number of the
Comptes (January 2). He points out that, in
spite of the fundamental importance of this constant, there
difference of 1 per cent. between the 79-25 of
Laprostaye and Deasins, confirmed by Regnault, and the
He discusses the possible effect on these
figures of the recent work on the variation of the specific
heat of water, and shows that even after this is taken into
account the difference is still of the same order. Substi-
tuting, however, 0-9176 for the density of ice at 0° C. for
the o-91674 found by Bunsen, the 80-03 of the latter
investigator becomes 79-15. The larger number for the
density of ice is that found by M. Leduc from his own
researches, who thus arrives at 79-2 calories at 15° C. as
the most probable value for the latent heat of water.

vendus
is a

80-03 of Bunsen.

Tue third part of ‘‘ The Primary Arithmetic,’’ edited
by Dr. Wm. Briggs, has been published by Mr. W. B.
Clive at 6d.

A COMPREHENSIVE catalogue of microscopes and acces-
sories has just been issued by Messrs. W. Watson and
Sons, High Holborn, W.C. Several of the instruments
described and illustrated embody valuable modifications in
constructional detail; and the requirements of all classes

| of workers are met by the two series of objectives—holo-

scopic and parachromatic—computed by Mr. A. E.
Conrady, under whose supervision the whole of Messrs.

Watson’s optical work is now produced.

Two more subject-lists of works in the library of the
Patent Office have been published. The first comprises
books on heat and heat-engines (excluding marine engineer-
ing), and the second deals with works on aérial navigation
and meteorology. Each list consists of two parts, a general
alphabet of subject-headings, with entries in chronological
order of the works arranged under these headings, and a
key, or a summary of these headings shown in class order.
These lists may be obtained at the Patent Office, Chancery
Lane, W.C., at 6d. each.

Tne Bulletin of the Johns Hopkins Hospital for
December, 1905 (xvi., No. 177), contains the second of the
Herter lectures by Prof. Hans Meyer on the contributions
of pharmacology to physiology, several medical and surgical
papers and reports of societies, and some interesting ex-
tracts from medical reports by Dr. Wiesenthal, a physician
who lived in Baltimore in the latter part of the eighteenth
century. The Bulletin is an admirable publication, and
should be in the hands of all medical practitioners.

Tue Science Press of New York has published an account
of a research of Prof. E. L. Thorndike on the measure-
ment of twins as the first number of a series of mono-
graphs to be known as ‘Archives of Philosophy,
Psychology, and Scientific Methods,’’ which are to be
edited by Profs. J. McKeen Cattell and F. J. E. Wood-
bridge. This monograph presents the results of precise

JANUARY II, 1906]

INCA IA CW Sass 255

measurements of fifty pairs of twins from nine to fifteen
years old in six mental traits, and their bearing upon the
comparative importance of heredity and environment as
causes of human differences in intellectual achievement.
FivE new volumes—Nos. 146 to
Ostwald’s ‘‘ Klassiker der exakten Wissenschaften ”’
been received from the publisher—Mr.
Leipzig. No. 146 is a paper by Lagrange (1768), trans-
lated from the French and edited by Herr E. Netto, the
title being “ Uber die Lésung der unbestimmten Probleme
zweiten Grades.’’ J. B. Listing’s ‘‘ Beitrag zur physio-
logischen Optik,’’ edited by Prof. O. Schwarz, forms
No. 147 of the series; and a lecture delivered at Vienna
by E. Hering in 1870, “ Uber das Gedichtnis als eine
allgemeine Funktion der organisierten Materie,’’ consti-
tutes No. 148. Under the title “‘ Tastsinn und Gemeinge-
fuhl,”’ an article contributed by Dr. E. H. Weber in 1846
to R. Wagner’s ‘* Handworterbuch der Physiologie ’’ is re-
printed with notes by Herr E. Hering. Of particular
interest is the reprint (No. 150), edited by Herr A. von
Oettingen, of Fraunhofer’s paper entitled ‘‘ Bestimmung des
Brechungs- und Farbenzerstreuungs-Vermoégens verschied-
Glasarten, in bezug auf die Vervollkommnung

150 inclusive—of

have

ener

achromatischer Fernrohre.’’ This volume contains a plate |

showing Fraunhofer lines in the solar spectrum, and a
picture of the statue of Fraunhofer at Munich.

OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN.

Comet r905¢ (GiacoBINI).—Observing at Sunderland on
December 22, 1905, Mr. Backhouse estimated that the
magnitude of comet 1905c was approximately 8-3, at
1Sh. gom. G.M.T., the observation being made in faint
twilight; its diameter he found to be 53’.

As this comet now rises but about an hour before sun-
vise, and the apparent distance from the sun is decreasing,
it will be scarcely possible for further observations to be
made before February, when the comet should again be-
come visible, possibly to the naked eye, in the evening sky.

EPHEMERIS FOR Hotmes’s Comet (1892 III., 1899 II.).—
The following search-ephemeris for Holmes’s comet is pub-
lished by Herr H. J. Zwiers in No. 4063 of the Astrono-
mische Nachrichten :-—

oh. G.M.T.
1906 a (app.) 6 (app.)
fe fee, Ge ALT, “
Tanuenyaliine.:: -.\: 20eSes0re .. —18) 50,53
MOS. ss, 2M OEdibw 5.2 = 18 ),30>19
SEL P ss esc STOUT. 5.2. f= TO) wOL2s
MME ws soo CST TE ees tae. = 17 30013
on Clee . se 2020s en. > — TO) 2855
“rn 25Meee. ---ZeGA ne een — 1G e20u20
EZOM ss. -.- 2INq2e2 dhs. — 14 22240

In referring to the ephemeris for comet 1892 V. in these
columns last week, that object was designated, by mistake,
Holmes’s comet. Both bodies were discovered at about
the same time, and their periods are very similar, but
comet 1892 V. is the faint one discovered by Prof. Barnard,
hy photography, on October 12, 1892, and was not seen
on its return in 1899. A report that it has been detected
at the La Plata Observatory is as yet not confirmed.

On the other hand, Holmes’s comet was bright enough
in 1892 to be obseryed with the naked eye, and, owing to
its eccentric fluctuations in brightness, was described by
Prof. Barnard as certainly the most remarkable comet he
had ever seen, taking everything into consideration.
During an interval of fourteen minutes its diameter, as
observed with the 36-inch refractor, increased from 43/-4
to 47"-9, and the comet became perceptibly brighter whilst
under observation, This comet was first seen on its re-
turn in 1899 by Prof. Perrine on June ro of that year.
According to the above ephemeris, the comet should set
about ninety minutes after sunset on January 11, but
ora its low declination will make it a difficult object
to find.

NO. 1889, VOL. 73]

W. Engelmann, |

PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE SOLAR GRANULATIONS.—Using the
astrographic telescope of the Pulkowa Observatory, Prof.
Hansky has obtained some exceedingly interesting photo-
graphs of the solar granulations and spots on a large scale.
The solar image at the focus of the instrument has a
diameter of 3 cm., and by the use of an achromatic double
concave lens was enlarged up to 54 cm. (about 21 inches).

The negatives thus obtained were photographically
intensified by repeated copying, and details of the granu-
lations became visible. Portions of the strengthened
images were then enlarged to such a scale that the solar
diameter would be equal to 6 metres (i.e. nearly 20 feet).

Copies of the sections thus enlarged are reproduced in
the bulletin issued by Prof. Hansky, and on comparing
two which were taken with an interval of twenty-five
seconds it is seen that the granulations have undergone
but little change, although relative movement and changes
in brightness are discernible. Photographs taken with an
interval of one minute show great changes, and after three
minutes only one or two of the granules are recognisable.

The dimensions of the granules vary considerably; the
smallest measured had a diameter of about 670 km., the
largest about 2000 km.

Prof. Hansky intends to prosecute this research further,
and hopes thereby to solve several questions regarding the
periodic appearance of granules, the effects of their move-
ments on spots and faculew, &c.

Tue Orsit or ~ Ursas Majorts.—On many grounds
the determination of the correct orbit of the double star
& Ursz Majoris is of great interest and importance, and
for this reason M.~N. E. Norlund, of Copenhagen, has
made a very careful re-investigation of the available data
and measurements. About eighteen orbits have been com-
puted previously.

The results of this investigation are given in No. 4064

| of the Astronomische Nachrichten, and the places com-

puted from the elements obtained are compared with those

| obtained by many different observers.

For the period M. Norlund obtains 59-8096+0-06 years,
for the time of periastron 1815-957, for the distance
a=2".5128, and for the eccentricity of the orbit e=o-4108.

THE INTERNATIONAL FISHERY
INVESTIGATIONS.
“THE first of the reports referred to below is the first re-
port of the British North Sea Investigations Committee
on the International Fisheries Investigations. From time to
time during the last three years in which the investigations
have been in progress, the International Council has issued
the ‘* Bulletin des Resultats,’’ in which are contained the
results of the hydrographical and plankton investigations
carried out on the periodic cruises; and also the series of
“Publications de Circonstance,’’ containing the results of
incidental investigations carried out by the various
naturalists on the staffs of the different committees. Quite
recently, too, the council has issued the third volume of
““Rapports et Procés-Verbaux,’’ containing a résumé of
the results obtained up to the present time. The present
volume is, however, the first report which deals exclusively
with the results obtained by the British vessels. It is a
report to the Fishery Board for Scotland on part of the
investigations made by the Scottish staff.

The first three papers in the report, written by Messrs.
Helland-Hansen and Robertson, deal with the hydrography
of the Fzerde-Shetland channel and the adjacent sez
regions—the area investigated by the Scottish vess
H.M.S. Jackal and the Goldseeker. The principal Scottish
line of hydrographical stations extends from the Shetlands
to the Fzerde Islands, and it is along this line that the
changes taking place in the constitution of the sea-water
can most easily be observed. It has long been known that
the water in this region may be derived from. various

“Report on Fishery and Hydrographical Investigations in the North
Sea and Adjacent Waters, 1902-3.’ Edited by D’Arcy W. Thompson.
Pp. vii+618. [Cd. 2612.) (London: H.M. Stationery Office, 1905.) Price
8s. od. net.

“Report on Fishery and Hydrographical Investigations in the North
Sea and Adjacent Waters, 1902-3.’ Report No. 2 (Southern Area).
Edited by Dr. E. J. Allen. Pp. ix+377. [Cd. 2670.] (London: H.M.
Stationery Office, 1905.) Price 8s. od. net.

256 NATURE [JANUARY 11, 1906
sources. We have to deal first of all with the ** Gulf | and expressed as the cwts. of fish caught per roo hours”
Stream,’’ or, as it is now termed, the ** Norwegian branch | fishing on each area, and curves are constructed
of the European stream,’’ which, originating in the | which are superposed, and so show in a _ very in-

Atlantic Ocean, flows north and east through the Scotland-
Shetland and the Ferée-Shetland channels, sometimes
reaching as far north as the Murman coast. A second
component is water of Arctic origin which enters the
Shetland-Ferée channel as an offshoot from the east
Icelandic polar stream. Further, the hydrography of these
regions is complicated by the occasional presence of water
from the Norwegian Sea, from the coasts of Britain, or
from the North Sea itself. These various components are
traced by observations of their salinity, temperature, and
plankton contents. The Norwegian branch of the Euro-
pean stream is shown to exhibit a well marked periodicity.
In 1903 the inflow of Atlantic water through the Shet-
land-Faerde channel decreased from May on, and practically
ceased in November, resuming in February of 1904. The
southerly polar stream attained its greatest volume in
spring; it is apparently able to make its way southwards
at all seasons of the year, either as an undercurrent or at
the surface. When it is strong it may obstruct the
Norwegian stream in the Farée-Iceland channel, and cause
the latter to pass to a greater extent between Scotland
and Shetland. These are the principal results attained so
far, and they do not add much to our knowledge of the
hydrography of these regions; but it must be remembered
that they are founded on the results of one year’s complete
investigations only, and are best to be appreciated at the
end of the five years’ investigations and when they are

considered along with the results attained by the other

investigations now in progress.

A most important part of the original scheme of investi-
gations was the discussion of the statistics obtained by
the participating States. These matters "
attention in the present volume, and Prof. Thompson dis-
cusses in a very attractive manner an interesting series
of statistics furnished by the Granton Steam Fishing
Company, and a similar series of statistics given by the
steam trawlers owned by Messrs. Johnston, of Montrose.
In each case the average catch per vessel has been calcu-
lated, and tables and curves are given showing, in an
interesting fashion, the seasonal fluctuations of the fishes
under review, which are haddock, whiting, cod, plaice,
turbot, and lemon sole. In the case of each fish there are
generally two maxima of abundance, one of which is
always well marked and the other not so well shown. In
the case of the haddock there is, however, a very close
correspondence between the catch of this fish and the
surface temperature of the sea, a correspondence which
Prof. Thompson points out is most probably due to the
fact that the great summer fishery for herring takes place
at the time when the surface waters of the sea have their
greatest temperature, and when the haddock is shoaling to
feed on the herring spawn. It is notable that in neither
of these cases is there any certain indication of a pro-
gressive decrease or increase in the volume of the catches
of any of the fishes in question.

Perhaps the most valuable paper in the volume js that
contributed by Dr. Fulton in which he elaborates the
method of studying the distribution and seasonal fluctu-
ations of fishes first suggested by him in the reports of
the Fishery Board for Scotland some years ago. This
consists in obtaining accurate records of the catches made
by a large number of trawlers, and also information of
the places where these catches were made. This plan of
obtaining commercial fishery statistics (apart, of course,
from_the ordinary official figures) was first practised by
the Fishery Board, and a considerable number of Aberdeen
steam trawlers now regularly provide these figures. The
first results of these investigations were published in the
annual reports of the Fishery Board, but they are now
utilised in connection with the other investigations of the
international organisation. The figures are collected by
the statistical staff of the Fishery Board at the market in
Aberdeen, and are expressed as the quantities of fish caught
per vessel per 100 hours’ fishing. The North Sea is
divided into a number of squares, each of which is bounded
by one degree of latitude and two degrees of longitude.
All the catches of fish made on each of these squares
during each month of the year are then brought together

NO. 1889, VOL. 73]

receive proper |

structive manner the variation in the abundance of each
kind of fish from month to month during the year. It
is thus shown that there are two maxima of abundance
for each fish during the year, one of which corresponds
with the spawning time of the species. It is further shown
that there is a ‘‘ complementary or compensating fluctu-
ation ’’ among different species on the same ground, one
species becoming abundant as another becomes scarce, so
that the sum total of the species on the same ground
remains nearly constant during the year.

Other reports in the same volume are those by Dr. T-
Scott on the crustacea collected during the seasonal
cruises of the Goldseeker, and similar papers by Mr. Clark
on the other plankton collections. Prof. Thompson also
contributes a translation of a paper by Sandstrom and
Helland-Hansen on the mathematical investigation of
ocean currents. It is regrettable that the fishery experi-
ments of the Goldseeker have not been described and
summarised in this volume, but these will no doubt be the
subject of a future report. One must not omit to mention
the beautifully engraved charts of the North Sea which
illustrate the paper on the trawling statistics of Aberdeen.

The second of the reports under notice deals with the
part of the international investigations which was entrusted
to the Marine Biological Association, and gives an account
of the researches carried out in the southern part of the
North Sea and in the English Channel. In some respects
this report is complementary to that issued by the Scottish
Fishery Board; in the latter special attention is directed
to the results of the hydrographical work and to statistical
studies, while fishery investigations are not reported upon.
In the English Blue-book, on the other hand, the bulk of
the space is devoted to an account of the fishery investi-
gations. The hydrographical researches, which are re-
ported only by Mr. D. Matthews, were carried out in
a somewhat limited area, but are of very great interest.
It is shown that the water in the English Channel is
derived from two main sources :—(r) high salinity water
(35-6 parts per thousand and upwards), which enters the
Channel as a current flowing in a northerly direction from
the Bay of Biscay; and (2) low salinity water, entering
the Channel as a southerly current from the Irish Sea
and the Bristol Channel. The limits of these contributing
currents are well shown on the hydrographical charts,
where the lighter water is seen to be present mainly to
the west of a line running roughly south from the Scilly
Isles; while the denser water forms a tongue of variable
magnitude, according to the season, entering the Channel
in a north-easterly direction near Ushant. Within the
Channel itself the hydrographical conditions are very
complex; a general drift of surface water from west to
east has been observed, but the distribution of the high
and low salinity waters in the Channel is far from simple.
Generally speaking, the main source of the water entering
the Channel during the summer and early autumn is the
Irish Sea, while during the rest of the year the denser
water of the Bay predominates. The observations have
been made for a year only, so that the very important
question whether or not these changes in the origin of
the contributing , waters are periodic remains still to be
investigated.

Perhaps the most interesting part of the report is that
by Mr. Garstang dealing with the results of experiments
on the marking and liberation of living plaice and other
fishes. These experiments have now been carried out by
most of the national research staffs, and are yielding
results which are very instructive from the point of view
of the growth and migrations of the plaice especially. The
mark used is a brass label bearing a number, and fastened
to the body of the fish by means of a silver wire passing
through the body and attached to the other side by a
bone button. This mark can be attached to the fish
without permanent injury to the latter, and apparently
without any retardation of growth or other disturbance
of the normal habits of the fish. The results are recorded
in Mr. Garstang’s report, and are illustrated by means of
synoptical charts which show the principal migrations made
by the fishes which have been recovered. Up to the end

JANUARY I1, 1906]

IAT ORL

On

of 1903, 1463 plaice were marked in this way, and of these
287, or 19 per cent., have been returned to the association.
The general facts regarding migrations brought out by
these experiments are these :—the smaller fishes do not
appear to migrate to any considerable extent, and the
larger the fish is the more extensive are its migrations. In
some cases the distance travelled has been very
able; thus one plaice is shown to have travelled a distance

of 175 miles in about six weeks, and another travelled
a distance of 210 sea-miles in eight months. The general
trend of the migrations has been in a southerly direction
during the winter and in a northerly one during the
summer. As a rule, the smaller fishes travel from the
shaliow water ‘‘ nurseries’’ to the deeper waters during

the earlier period of their life.
A most attractive part of these migration experiments is
the question of the transplantation, on a commercial scale,

of fishes from overcrowded grounds to those grounds
where the conditions for favourable growth are present,
but where there is not already an abundant population
of the kind of fish in question. An interesting account of
such an experiment is n by Mr. Garstang. Although
the conditions of nutrition on the well known Dogger
Bank are apparently very favourable for plaice, yet, on
account of its comparatively isolated situation, this area
contains a populk ition of plaice which is probably far below

that which it is able to support. Accordingly, more than
1000 small plaice were transplanted from certain in-shore
grounds to the Dogger Bank, and in the course of a year
more than 40 per cent. of these fishes were re- captured
from the Bank itself and the slopes around it. It is shown
that the growth-rate of these fishes was far in excess of
that of those living on the ordinary in-shore fishing grounds,
and the question of the practicability of the wholesale
transplantation of small plaice from the shallow-water fish-
‘rounds as the Dogger Bank is care-

ing grounds to such
fully discussed. It is very questionable, however, whether
transplantation operations on such a_ scale could be

arranged at all so as to be successful.
The remainder of the report deals with the records of
the fishing experiments and with various other matters.

Dr. Wallace presents a report on the growth-rate of the
plaice based on’ the examination of the annual growth-
rings in the otoliths. Mr. Todd contributes a lengthy

account of his examination of the contents of the stomachs

of a very great number of fishes caught in the course of
the trawling operations, and draws some interesting con-
clusions on the food of the various species dealt with.

Lastly, Mr. Gough reports on the occurrence and distribu-
tion of the plankton of the English Channel during 1903.
The records of the trawling “experiments contain a large
mass of observations which are capable of much further
analysis than has been attempted in the present report.
$4,000 measurements of individual fishes have been made
in the North Sea and in in-shore waters, and when these
are considered along with the records of the hauls made
by the Scottish Fishery Board’s exploring steamer abundant
material should be forthcoming for a discussion of the
distribution of fishes in the North Sea according to their
age and size. Altogether the North Sea Fisheries Investi-
gation Committee is to be congratulated on the publication
of these reports. JOHNSTONE.

INSE CRMPESTS (OF “ite (COLTON PLANT +

HESE two reports may be taken as object-lessons of

the way in which such economic investigations should

be carried out by the agricultural departments of pro-
Sressive countries.

The wide area over which cotton cultivation is spreading
makes the investigation of its enemies in those regions
where it has long been cultivated of great value. Such
researches guide us in investigating new enemies, and they
prepare us to guard against the introduction of pests with
foreign seed.

The authors of the report on the bollworm have pro-

1 “‘The Cotton Bollworm.” By A. L.
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Entomology, BwdZ. 50.

155+plates xxv-+figs. 27. (1905.)

“The Mexican Cotton Boll Weevil.”
Hinds. /dem, Bull. 51.

NO. 1889, VOL.

Quaintance and C. T. Brues.
Pp.

By W. D. Hunter and W. E.
Pp. 181+plates xxiii+figs. 8. (1905.)

neil

consider- |

duced a work of great value to all cotton planters. The
pest is recorded from North and South America, the West
Indies, Europe, many parts of India, China, and Japan,
the East Indies, Australia and New Zealand, and even in
the Gilbert and Navigator Islands. Of particular interest
is the record from the Sudan and British East Africa, but
it is not recorded as attacking cotton there. Besides
infesting cotton, it is equally destructive to corn, and the
authors tabulate seventy other food plants, distributed

over twenty-one natural orders.

There are excellent plates showing ova,
tassels and ears of sweet-corn
it
by

larve damaging
as well as cotton.
is clearly pointed out
the third and fourth

the buds,
The injuries are explained, and
how the cotton becomes infested

Fic. 1.—Work of Bollworm in Cotton Bolls. 1, Bollworm eating into a
half-grown cotton boll ; 2, bollworm boring into a full-sized cotton boll ;
3, full-grown bollworm and its work in large cotton boll; 4, cotton
boll only partially destroyed by bollworm, two ‘‘ locks” open, the others
destroyed (original).

generations of larva, the previous ones feeding upon the

corn.

The summary given of the life-history shows that the
moth may lay from 500 to 3000 eggs, especially upon the
‘silks’? of corn and the ‘‘ squares’’ of cotton. Duri
warm weather they hatch in two or three days. In spring
the young larvz eat the buds, later the silks and tassels
of the corn; in August and September they attack the
cotton. They bore directly into the ‘‘ squares’’ and
“bolls,’’ and destroy the latter. Maturity is reached in
two weeks; they then enter the soil to pupate Detailed
descriptions are given of all the stages, the effects of
climate, and variations in colour. Nothing definite is

shown to account for the great variation seen in the larve.

enemies is mentioned a Chrysopa
larvee. Wasps appeat
Numerous parasites are also described ;
pretiosa, a small hymenopteron,

others the larvie; but from what we

\mongst
which

predaceous

feeds upon eggs and young

to do most good.
one, Trichogramma
attacks the

ess

Fic. 2.—Various Results of Larval Work.
weevils in confinement; 25, full-grown larva in square ready to bloom ;

26, full-grown larva in square of usual size ;
in square entirely destroyed
all reduced (original).

larva full grown, ovary untouched —

gather from the report man cannot expect much help from

these ‘* natural checls.’’ Remedial and preventive cultural
measures are thus fully explained.

[The Mexican cotton boll weevil is luckily confined to
the United States, Mexico, Cuba, and Guatemala. The
authors have been unable to verify the reports that it has
been found in Africa or Brazil. If a cotton weevil occurs

in the former country it is probably another species, as we
see is the case in the Philippine Islands.

The Mexican weevil has the unique record of develop-

ing in less than twenty years from an obscure species into
a great pest. The authors ably describe its life-history
and destructive habits in Texas and elsewhere. In the

summary of the life-history it is stated that the egg is

deposited by the female in a cavity formed by eating into
a square or boll [he egg hatches in a few days, and
the footless grub begins to feed, making a larger chamber

for itself as it The pupa also occurs in the boll.
It is important to note that no other food than cotton has

Srows.

been found.

Some interesting experiments are recorded which tend
to show that the weevils are not able to locate their food
by smell.

Another series of experiments showed that the weevils

NO. 1889, VOL. 73

IN ATOORE,

24, Leaf fed on extensively by

27, larva full-grown, ovary

[JANUARY II, 1906

prefer Egyptian cotton (Mit Afifi) to the American upland
cotton.

Their capacity for reproduction seems appalling, judging
from the table given showing the annual progeny of one
pair of hibernating weevils, which amounts to 12,755,100 !

The beetles hibernate in many places, as in infected
bolls and stalks, and it is shown that the early destruction
of the stalks in the fall is the most effective way to reduce
the pest.

Dissemination takes place in cotton in bales and that

sent for ‘‘ ginning.’’ Shipments of seeds are said to be
almost certain to carry weevils if coming from infested
areas. The report also shows another important point,

namely, that the pilosity of the plant affects the progress
of the weevil. Parasites do not seem to be of much use.
Doubt is cast by the authors upon the benefit of Pedi-
culoides ventricosus. Mention is also made of the possible
use of the Mexican ants (Ectotomma tuberculata), &c.
Of great importance to those who import seed is the result
showing that bisulphide of carbon is the best substance
to clean the seed. Frep. V. THEOBALD.

THE GREAT GNOMON OF FLORENCE
CATHEDRAL.
ALTHOUGH numerous Christian
= oriented or adorned with reference to some astro-
nomical phenomenon, there are few of such direct interest
to the astronomer as the magnificent cathedral of Florence,
which contains a gigantic contrivance for determining the
advent of the summer solstice. We refer to the famous
gnomon, placed in the dome of that cathedral by Paolo
Toscanelli about the middle of the fifteenth century, and

churches are either

illustrated by Mr. W. A.

December number of Knowledge and Scientific News.

described and Parr in

Lalande in 1765 referred to this instrument as “ la
méridienne que l’on voit dans la Cathédrale de Florence
est le plus grand monument d’Astronomie qu’il y ait au

JANUARY 11, 1906]

WALT ORE

2519)

monde,’’ but at that time the astronomical significance of
the Egyptian temples, or even of our own less pretentious
Stonehenge, had not been demonstrated.

Sir Norman Lockyer has shown in ‘‘ The Dawn of
Astronomy ”’ that the enormous edifice at Karnak, the
temple of Amen-Ra, was oriented for a similar purpose,
so that at the setting of the sun on the day of the solstice,
aud at that time only, the solar beam flashed along the
darkened axis of the temple, some 500 yards long, and
illuminated the “‘ holy of holies’’ wherein the priest was
ready to fulfil the rites of ‘‘ the Manifestation of Ra.’’ He
has also shown that Stonehenge was erected for a similar
purpose about the year 1680 B.c., but in this case the
limb of the actual (rising) sun was observed, the avenue
simply forming the sight-line to the point on the horizon
where the sun-god would make his first appearance on the
day of the solstice.

But although since Lalande made the statement quoted
above it has been shown that the gnomon at Florence is
not the largest monument to astronomy the world has
ever seen, it is still one of the most interesting. As may
be gathered from the accompanying illustration, the sun-
light, passing through the southern window of the lantern,
falls on te the gnomon, which is built into the marble sill
of the window, and thence, through a circular orifice, on
to a ‘‘solstitial ’’ marble slab let into the cathedral floor
some 300 feet below, where its correct position at the
solstice is marked, or was intended to be marked.

This immense meridian instrument was probably de-
signed by Toscanelli in order to provide exact observations
for the correction of the Alphonsine tables which were
then in use, but which represented very inadequately the
solar motion, more especially as regards the true length
of the tropical year. Whether he also intended to observe
the variation of the obliquity of the ecliptic is a much
discussed question, but it does not seem improbable. In
either case his gnomon, probably built only in 1468 a.p.,
could not answer this purpose anything like so surely as
do the Amen-Ra and Stonehenge structures, built many
centuries earlier. Apart from this reason, the facts that
the gnomon itself has been removed from its - original
position, and that the solstitial circle on the cathedral
floor has been found to be erroneously placed, have
destroyed for ever the instrument’s utility in this direction.
It has been used, however, in order to detect any possible
movement in the fabric of the cathedral, but, to the credit
of Brunelleschi, who built the structure, no such movement
has ever been demonstrated.

In the light of the recent articles in Nature (p. 153)
concerning the fires, &c., by which the ancient British
festivals were celebrated, it is interesting to note that Mr.
Parr considers that the great display of fireworks, which
to the modern Florentine forms the chief attraction of the
Midsummer Day festival, is simply the analogue of the
“St. John’s Fires ’’ kindled in former times to celebrate
the advent of the summer solstice. On that day huge
crowds of Florentines flock to the cathedral in order to
celebrate the festival of their patron saint, St. Giovanni,
and at night the great dome itself is illuminated.

Wee Rs:

THE TRAINING OF THE BODY AND MIND.
FoR years the London County Council has arranged a

conference of teachers during January, and this time
it was held on January 4-6 at the Medical Examination
Hall on the Victoria Embankment. In the old days, when
the County Council was only interested in technical in-
struction, the meetings were devoted to the interests of
science teachers more particularly, but now that general
education has been added to the responsibilities of the body
that governs London, matters appertaining to all kinds of
teaching are considered at the conferences.

The first day’s work was, however, devoted to a subject
that affects all education, namely, that training of the body
which is correlated with the proper development of the
mind. Mr. A. J. Shepheard (vice-chairman of the educa-
tion committee of the London County Ceuncil), who opened

the conference, urged the importance of a complete educa- |
tion, and Colonel Malcolm Fox (inspector of physical |

NO. 1889, voL. 73]

training to the Board of Education) read the first paper,
which dealt more particularly with physical training in
elementary schools. He began with a brief sketch of the
history of gymnastics and physical culture in general,
though going no further back than the days of ancient
Greece, which, in its beautifully symmetrical statues, has
left us undoubted evidence that it had little to learn in the
science of training the body.

Colonel Fox went on to say that the Greeks practised
little of what we understand as Syimnastics, and attained
their object by such exercises as riding, dancing, leaping,
or running, and he pointed out that the trend of gymnastic
Opinion is again turning strongly in the same direction.
As the power of Greece declined, her universal physical
culture ceased to be national, and passed to the individual
whose business it was to afford entertainment by exhibit-
ing his prowess in the arena. When the remnants of
greatness passed to Rome, no physical training became
general, as the many contented themselves with the excite-
ment afforded by the efforts of the trained few. It is true
that the “‘ sporting nobles ’’ of the famous Tenth Legion
used from time to time to descend into the arena, com-
peting with some favourite team in the chariot races, or
matching their skill with sword and shield against the net
and trident. This action was, however, exceptional, and the
period bears the picture of a vast concourse hanging with
fevered excitement on every stroke of sword or cast of
net—spectators at a game that they themselves had little
ability or desire to play. Yo find a modern parallel to
such a scene we have unfortunately not far to seek.

After touching on the absence of any definite system. of
gymnastics also in the middle ages, and the recommend-
ation of exercises as a cure for certain complaints as early
as the sixteenth century, the reader of the paper traced
the use of systems in France, in Germany, where
gymnastics were first used in an educational sense, in
Switzerland, where Pestalozzi adopted them, and. in
Sweden, where between 1776 and 1839 Ling was the
pioneer in classifying gymnastics into groups and arranging
them scientifically in accordance with the needs of the
human body.

Colonel Fox described how, after an interregnum, revivals
of physical training took place, and stated that under the
tests of modern physiological knowledge the Swedish
system of Ling stands out preeminently above all others.
He further dwelt on the mild and gradual work in its
early stages, on its effects upon the body and success in
other countries, as well as its educational results. These
admit of no immediately apparent proof, but they do
exist, as a few weeks’ trial of them will most assuredly
show. Psychology, Coloned Fox said, with our limited
knowledge, allows of deductions only from experience, and
the latter is unanimous that the educational results claimed
by Ling are gained, and that the qualities of courage,
obedience, decision, alertness, concentration of thought, and
self-confidence are not confined to the hour or two. of the
gymnastic lesson, but become part and parcel of the child’s
nature.

After speaking of methods, duration of lessons, the
dearth of male teachers, and matters of interest to elemen-
tary and other teachers, Colonel Fox concluded by quoting
figures from the report of a Royal Commission on Physical
Education in Scotland. Of 600 children examined in
Aberdeen, only 326 were found to be in good health, while
of the same number in Edinburgh but 171 were found to
be sound.

The next paper was by Mr. W. Langbridge (headmaster
of Wolverley Street School, Bethnal Green), and dealt with
exercises which can with advantage be performed in class-
rooms and afford a relief to ordinary lessons during which
activities are constrained.

In the afternoon Sir Lauder Brunton took the chair, and

discussed education in connection with the threefold
character of man. At first, he said, moral training was
provided, and churches and cathedrals were built long

before the people could read or write; then mental culture
was considered, and became very general; and, lastly, it
was being recognised that the condition of the body had
considerable effect upon the morals and the mind, so that
a physical training was also considered necessary. He
gave some interesting instances to show how character

260

MALORE

[JANUARY I1, 1906

and habits had been entirely altered by accidents to the
brain, and said that while Newton was physically weak,
Young, who was his superior even in mental capacity, was
a circus rider, and could perform almost any bodily feat.

Sir Lauder Brunton spoke of the need to train the higher
inhibitory nerve centres, and of the possibility of keeping
in order involuntary movements. He said that children
could not do physical exercises unless they were properly
fed, and urged that no damage must be done by over-
exertion. Medical inspection was desirable, but teachers,
he thought, could easily learn to recognise the signs of
danger.

Dr. Kerr (medical adviser to the London County Council
Education Committee) took as his subject the position of
physical exercises in the infant department of the elemen-
tary school. He pointed out that while certain of the
nerve cells in the infant were quickly matured, and this
was especially so with those dealing with behaviour that
has been hereditary for long periods, other nerve cells were
still capable of being acted upon for a considerable time.
In this state they were very susceptible to fatigue, and
frequent periods of rest were needed in which the waste
products from action could be removed. He advised the
use of physical exercises for infants, and maintained that
no great perfection of detail ought to be looked for.

Of a different character was Mrs. Kimmins’s paper on
the educational value of organised play, for it was a
graphic account of the way in which most of the benefits
claimed as coming from physical training could be gained
out of school, and in the particular case described, away
from it.

All the speakers upon physical exercises agreed that these
were only complementary to games; and in the last paper
of the day Miss Kingston (organising instructor of physical
exercises of the London County Council) discussed the
interrelation of drill and organised play.

It should be pointed out that all concerned were most
anxious that the word drill should not be used, as it called
up in the mind military drill, something quite different from
the exercises and unfitted for children. There was also
considerable unanimity as regards the need for the pupils
to do the work for its own sake and as a pleasure, and not
as a task. Sir Lauder Brunton was most emphatic on
this point, as was also Dr. Kerr. The Rev. Stuart
Headlam, a member of the old School Board, in the dis-
cussion objected to things being made too pleasant, but it
had been pointed out that even games pall if they are too
much organised, and their interest and freshness thus lost.

There is no doubt but that as true nature-study should
properly put the child so far as possible into the same
mental relation with its surroundings that primitive man
enjoyed, so physical exercises adopted in a pleasurable way
should counteract the baneful effects of civilisation, as
Dr. Kerr pointed out on Thursday, and, one may add, give
our young people the bodily advantages of their remote
ancestors.

As on previous occasions, Mr. C. A. Buckmaster and Dr.
Kinimins (chief inspectors, respectively, to the Board of
Education and the London County Council, education
committee) organised the conference in a remarkably
successful manner. WitrreD Mark Weep.

COLOUR VISION IN THE PERIPHERAL

RETINA.*
HE results of a research into the nature of colour
vision in the peripheral portions of the retina, carried
on by Mr. Baird during the years 1903 and 1904 in the
psychological laboratory of Cornell University, have lately
been published in a pamphlet. The work so carefully done
by Hess and the numerous papers by him on this subject
have received fairly general acceptance, and in the present
work Mr. Baird confirms most of Hess’s conclusions.
The reason he gives for the publication of a pamphlet
which contains little new work of any great value is that
Hellpach, in his research on the nature of colour sensation
in the peripheral retina, had arrived at conclusions which
1 “The Colour Sensitivity of the Peripheral Retina.” By John Wallace

Baird. Pp. 80. (Published by the Carnegie Institution of Washington,
1995-)

NO. 1889, VOL. 73]

controverted many of the statements of earlier observers,
and it was deemed advisable to repeat Hellpach’s work
in order to see whether there might not be some fallacy
in the method. Mr. Baird’s work practically in every
respect confirms that of Hess, and we think there is little
doubt that his explanation of the confusing results obtained
by Hellpach is correct, that Hellpach did not allow
sufficient time to elapse between successive stimulations,
and consequently the colour sensation due to the immediate
stimulation was partly modified by a latent after image of
the preceding stimulus.

In standardising his colours, Mr. Baird arrived at prac-
tically the same results as Hess. The red used transmitted
no part of the visible spectrum, and Hess, in order to get
a stable red, had to mix it with a certain amount of blue.
The yellow, green, and blue used corresponded fairly
exactly with Hess’s stable colours.

It is when we come to the problem of equating the white
values of the different colours that the greatest difficulty
is met with. We must confess to a strong suspicion of
the value of Mr. Baird’s method. He is engaged on a
research on the nature of colour vision in the peripheral
retina, and in the determination of his standards he utilises
the very portion of the retina which he is subsequently
going to investigate. We quite allow that there is no
satisfactory method of equating white values at present
known, but we certainly think that Mr. Baird has chosen
the least satisfactory of all. Probably the best method
of photometry available at present depends on the flicker
phenomenon, and for Mr. Baird’s purpose we feel sure it
would have been much more suitable and much more
scientific than the method he did adopt.

In other respects the work has evidently been carefully
done, and though, as we have said, it adds little that is
new to our stock of knowledge, it is of value in that it
confirms much of the work of previous observers.

UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL
INTELLIGENCE.

Dr. R. A. Lenretpt, professor of physics at the East
London College, has been appointed to the chair of physics
in the Transvaal Technical Institute, Johannesburg.

Tue Corporation of Glasgow has resolved to make a
grant of 10,0001. to the building fund of the Glasgow and
West of Scotland Technical College, from the common
good of the city.

Ir is satisfactory to find a committee of the Classical
Association reporting that ‘‘in view of the legitimate
claims of other subjects the amount of time devoted to
the classics on the classical side of boys’ public schools
is as great as can reasonably be expected.’’ From the
report which was presented at a meeting of the association
on Saturday last, it appears that in the highest form on
the classical side in the larger public schools a consider-
able amount of specialisation is allowed to many boys.
In the other forms the time devoted to Greek and Latin
together generally amounts to about one-half of the whole
number of school hours. In the smaller public schools
there is less specialisation in the highest form. The pro-
portion of time given in school to classics increases from
somewhat less than one-third in the lowest form in which
both Greek and Latin are studied to slightly less than two-
thirds in the highest form. The committee suggested that
time and effort might be saved and better results obtained
by certain changes in the method of teaching Greek; and
in the discussion upon the resolutions put forward with
this end in view, we are glad to see that Canon Lyttelton,
headmaster of Eton, pointed out that the time gained by
the adoption of the plan proposed ‘‘ might well be given
to instruction in some of the elements of scientific know-
ledge rather than to history and archeology. Let them
hold out a helping hand to their scientific colleagues and
meet them half-way. There had been too little conciliation
between the two sections of teachers. Then we might
| hope to correlate these great subjects, which were too
} important to abandon, but which we had not yet enabled
| to live in amity together.”’

JANUARY 11, 1906]

NEA TROT

261

Tue organisers of the North of England Education Con-
ference, held this year at Newcastle-upon-Tyne on January
5 and 6, had to struggle with the fact that almost all
persons and bodies who were desirous of conferring together
had their hande full with the difficulties of primary educa-
tion and its immediate continuations. The conference was
well attended by between two and three hundred members
drawn chiefly from the education committees of the county
councils, the permanent officials of such committees, and
schoolmasters and mistresses, and their interest was almost
entirely directed to the problems called into existence by
the duties now thrown upon the education committees.
Not a word was said as to higher education, very little
as to secondary education in any form, and, it may be
added, scarcely a word as to the religious difficulty. The
tone of the conference was distinctly optimistic, and it was
the general opinion that if the councils were less en-
cumbered by intervention of the Board of Education, and
deputed more of their own work to persons in each locality,
the difficulties that have declared themselves would work
themselves out. It was encouraging to see so much deter-
mination to cope with the questions, in spite of the heavy
tax of time thrown upon the education committees, and
it is very clear from the local patriotism exhibited that the
councils will not ultimately rest content with perfecting a
primary system. It is, however, a question of pounds,
shillings, and pence, and so long as the councils are left
without other resources than the rates it is clear that
improvements must wait a long time.

Tue December, 1905, issue of the Bulletin of the Massa-
chusetts Institute of Technology comprises, as usual, a list
of the staff and students of the institute, with a statement
of the requirements for admission, a full description of
the courses of instruction, and an account of the Lowell
School for Industrial Foremen. It is interesting to note
that the institute offers summer instruction during the
months of June and July, supplementing the work of the
regular school year. Summer courses are undertaken
primarily for the benefit, first, of those who wish to dis-
tribute their work over a larger portion of the year, or
to gain more time for advanced work; and, secondly, of
those who, through illness or other causes, have deficiencies
to make up. Moreover, to bring students into closer re-
lations with the practical side of their professions, pro-
fessional summer schools are held in the departments of
civil engineering, mining engineering and metallurgy,
architecture, chemistry, and geology. The students,
accompanied by instructors, give their time to field-work,
or visit and report on mines and industrial establishments.
The Lowell School for Industrial Foremen is a free even-
ing school which includes, at present, mechanical and
electrical courses extending over two years. These courses
are intended to bring the systematic study of applied science
within the reach of young men who are following’ in-
dustrial pursuits and desire to fit themselves for higher
positions, but are unable to attend courses during the day.
This number of the Bulletin, with its 408 pages, provides
abundant evidence of the excellent work being accomplished
by this widely known institute.

Tue annual meeting of the Geographical Association
was held on January 5, when the report for 1905 was
adopted. The report shows that the total membership of
the association is 503, including teachers of every grade,
school inspectors, and others interested in geographical
education. An important advance was made during the
year by the formation of local branches. This is a valuable
expansion of the work of the association, enabling
members to meet at more frequent intervals, to discuss
the advantages presented by their own district for teach-
ing geography, permitting combination in excursions and
cooperation in the accumulation of lantern-slides and other
materials necessary for good teaching. The geographical
exhibits collected by the association in 1904 were on
view during the year at Liverpool, Huddersfield, Bedford,
and Oxford. Part of the exhibits were lent to Felsted
School for a local exhibition. The exhibition is now being
broken up, and exhibits lent to the association returned.
Dr. G. R. Parkin, secretary of the Rhodes Scholarship
Trust, who was in the chair, dealt in his address with

NO. 1889, VoL. 73]

| striation.

the general question of geography. In war, he said,
geography is of the greatest importance. If our com-
manders at the battle of Colenso had possessed an elemen-
tary knowledge of the geography of the country thousands
of precious lives might have been saved. In a nation like
ours, which may any day find it necessary to send an
expedition to a frontier place in India or to some corner
of Africa, the intimate study of geography is an essential
condition of national safety and honour. In commerce,
too, geography is everything. Only last year the great
cotton districts of Lancashire began to realise that the
supplies of cotton were not sufficient for the demand, and
Sir Alfred Jones organised a company to discover what
places under the British flag are suitable for raising cotton.
This is largely a geographical work which a great com-
mercial country like ours should be carrying on as a
Government measure. As the great workshop of the
world, which almost requires the world from which to
draw raw material and food, no nation ought to know so
much about geography as ourselves, and yet up to the last
eight or ten years hardly a subject has been shown so
little consideration.

SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES.

LONDON.

Zoological Society, December 12, 1905.—Mr. Howard
Saunders, vice-president, in the chair.—Exhibitions.—
Twelve enlarged photographs of whales talken at the fin-
whaling factories in east Finmarken in 1883-89: A. H.
Cocks. The species represented were Megaptera longi-
mana, Balaenoptera sibbaldii, B. musculus, and B. borealis.
—The tail-vertebraee of a dormouse of the genus Eliomys,
which showed the phenomenon, hitherto unrecorded among
Mammalia, of the regeneration of a bony structure in case
of accident: Oldfield Thomas. The caudal vertebra, in
this case the twelfth, which had been originally broken
across, had grown out into a slender styliform appendix
15 mm. in length and rather less than rt mm. in diameter,
the normal vertebrae of this part of the tail measuring
about 6X2 mm. On further search two other specimens
exhibiting the same structure had been found, and it
appeared, therefore, that dormice, like lizards, were able
partly to regenerate their tails, when these important
balancing-organs got accidentally broken.—Microscopic
sections of the skeletal tube found in the restored tail of one
of the dormice (Graphiurus) exhibited by Mr. Thomas: Dr.
W. G. Ridewood. The wall was made up of close-set
lamellae, producing in a transverse section a fine concentric
Lacunz with numerous branching canaliculi
were disposed regularly in relation with the concentric
striations, and the general effect was that presented by
a transverse section of the humerus or femur of a frog.
Internally to the bony layers, and contiguous with the
central jelly, was a moderately thick layer, which was
clear, homogeneous, and highly refractive. Dr. Ridewood
also exhibited, by way of contrast, slides of the skeleton
of the restored tail of an iguana lizard, the skeletal tube
in this case being composed of calcified fibro-cartilage and
not of bone.—Papers.—Observations and experiments on
the habits and reactions of crabs bearing sea-anemones in
their claws: Prof. J. E. Duerden.—Notes on a large
collection of snakes made by Mr. Alan Owston in Japan
and the Loo Choo Islands: Captain F. Watt.—A collection
of South Australian spiders of the family Lycosidz con-
tained in the museum at Adelaide: H. R. Hogg. Thirteen
species were remarked upon, ten of which were described
as new.—A collection of mammals obtained by Colonel
A. C. Bailward during a shooting trip through Persia and
Armenia during the past summer, and presented to the
National Museum: Oldfield Thomas. Thirty-one species
were enumerated, and special attention was directed to the
discovery of Calomyscus, a primitive murine, the only
ally of which, amongst recent forms, was the North
American Peromyscus.—The colour-variation of the beetle
Gonioctena variabilis: L. Doncaster. The material on
which the paper was based was collected almost entirely
at Granada, and the author found that, although the insect
was extraordinarily variable, when a large collection was
examined the beetles could be classified into two chief

262

NATOTEE:

[ JANUARY I1, 1906

groups with but few intermediate forms.—Iwo new species
of worms, one a Pontodrilus from the shores of the Red
Sea, and the other an Enchytreeid of the genus Henlea
from India, which was destructive to the eggs of the locust :
F. E. Beddard.—Two species of decapod Crustacea, a
crab and a prawn, collected by Dr. R. Hanitsch, of Singa-
pore, from a small artificial fresh-water pool on Christmas
Island: Dr. J. G. de Man. ‘The interest of their occur-
rence lies in the fact that previous to the construction of
the reservoir, a few years ago, there seems to have been
no possible habitat for these animals on the island, and
they must have been introduced since that time, perhaps
by migration from the The crab was referred to
Ptychognathus pusillus, a species described by Heller from
the Nicobar Islands forty years ago, and not since found.
The prawn was made the type of a new variety of
Palaemon lar, both the variety and the typical form having
a wide distribution in countries bordering the Indian
Ocean.—Results of experiments made in connection with

sea.

the heredity of webbed feet in pigeons: R. Staples-
Browne.—New and rare British Oribatide: C. War-
burton and N. D. I. Pearce. Eleven species were re-

marked upon, of which seven were described as new to
science, and two were recorded for the first time as being
British. The nymph of Sevrarvius microcephalus was
described for the first time, and it was pointed out that
Gustavia sol of Kramer was a nymph of an unknown
species of Serrarius.

Royal Meteorological Society, December 20, 1905.—
Mr. R. Bentley, president, in the chair.—Attempt to fly kites
for meteorological purposes from the mission ship attached
to a deep-sea fishing fleet in the North Sea: G. C.
Simpson. These observations, which were made in July
and August last, were carried out on behalf of the joint
kite committee of the Royal Meteorological Society and of
the British Association. By the kindness of the Royal
National Mission to Deep-sea Fishermen, the kites were
flown from the deck of the mission ship Queen Alexandra
attached to the Red Flect. Owing to the vessel
being almost continuously employed in trawling, the oppor-
tunities for flying kites were very limited ; nevertheless, Mr.
ble to secure eight ascents during the time

Cross

Simpsen was %

he was on board the vessel, and he now gave the results
obtained. The greatest height reached was 5800 feet.—

Method of flying kites in Barbados in April and May last
yearn) Cs Jee bavCaven Miro Woe) Dines? who had ex-
amined the records, said that the humidity traces show
generally a yalue of about 60 per cent. at the surface,
rising to 8o-go per cent. at heights from 1000 feet to
2000 feet, and then falling off again in some cases to 50 per
cent. or less as the height increases. These values are
lower than might have been expected over a tropical ocean.
The inerease is of the ordinary kind, but the maximum
value occurs at a far lower elevation than is the case in
Europe. It is probable that the relative humidity forms an
extremely accurate index to the vertical circulation, a low
humidity indicating a descending current of air, and so
it may be inferred that there is some settling down of the
atmesphere over the region of the smaller west Indian
islanas in April and May.—VTemperature observations during
the partial solar eclipse, August 30, 1905: W. H. Dines.
—Comparison between Glaisher’s factors and Ferrel’s
psychrometric formula: J. R. Sutton.—A rapid method
of finding the elastic force of aqueous vapour, &c., from
dry and wet bulb thermometer readings: J. Ball.

Chemical Society, December 21, 1905.—Prof. R. Meldola,
F.R.S., president, in the chair.—Azo-derivatives from
methyl-a-naphthocoumarin: J. 7. Hewitt and H. V.
Mitchell. Several of these derivatives are described; the
most interesting is p-nitrobenseneazomethylnaphtho-
coumarin, which intense blue coloration in
alkaline solution.—The preparation and reactions of benzoyl
nitrate: F. E. Franeis. Benzoyl nitrate is formed by the
interaction of benzoyl chloride with silver nitrate at low
temperatures. It is a light yellow oil which, if carefully
warmed, decomposes into benzoic anhydride and oxides of
nitrogen, but if heated quickly explodes.—The supposed
identity of dihydrolaurolene and of dihydroisolaurolene
with 1: 1-dimethylhexahydrobenzene : A. W. Cresstey and

No. 1889, VOL. 73]

gives an

_ son

N. Renouf. Zelinsky and Lepeschkin supposed that these
three substances were identical, but this is not the case.—
The diazo-derivatives of 1:5- and 1: 8-benzenesulphonyl-
napbthalenediamines: G. T. Morgan and F. M. G.
Micklethwait.—Further experiments on a new method of
determining molecular weights: P. Blackman.—Studies
in fermentation. The chemical dynamics of alcoholic
fermentation by yeast: A. Slater. The results indicate
that the reaction, measured by observing the change in
pressure due to evolution of carbon dioxide, is the slow
decomposition of a compound produced by the interaction
of the enzyme and the sugar.—Some new platinocyanides :
L. A. Levy and H. A. Sisson. Hydrazine and hydroxyl-
amine platinocyanides are described.—An_ intramolecular
change leading to the formation of naphthalene derivatives :
E. F. J. Atkinson and J. F. Thorpe. Ethyl sodiocyano-
acetate condenses with benzyl cyanide to form ethyl
a-cyano-B-imino-y-phenyl-n-butyrate. This, when treated
with an equal weight of sulphuric acid, forms an intense
green solution, which yields ethyl 1 : 3-diaminonaphthalene-
2-carboxylate.—The relation of position isomerism to
optical activity, V., The rotation of the menthyl esters
of the isomeric dibromobenzoic acids: J. B. Cohen
and I. H. Zertman. An account of certain physical con-
stants, including the molecular rotations of the six isomeric
menthyl dibromobenzoates.—Some derivatives of naphthoyl-
benzoic acid and of naphthacenequinone: J. QO. Orchard-
and C. Weizmann.—Ethyl §-naphthoylacetate: C.
and E. B. Fatkner.—Contributions to the
J 2-Aminothiazoles and 2-imino-
2: 3-dihydrothiazoles. 2-Iminotetrathiazoles and 2-amino-
4: 5-dihydrothiazoles: G. Young and S. I. Crookes.
The action of water on diazo-salts: J. C. Cain and G. M.
Norman. An extension of a method of investigation,
already described, to diazo-salts from 2 : 4-dibromoaniline
and dibromo-p-toluidine (cp. Proc. Chem. Soc., 1905, XXi.,
206).—Note on the atomic weight of nitrogen: A. Scott.
A reply to Richards (Proc. Amer. Phil. Soc., 1904, xliii.,
116) showing inter alia that the recent work of Richards
and Wells on the atomic weights of chlorine and bromine
has cleared up the discrepancy between the numbers
obtained by the author for the atomic weight of nitrogen
(cp. Journ. Chem. Soc., 1901, Ixxix., 154).—The solubility
of zinc hydroxide in alkalis: J. Moir. When zinc
hydroxide dissolves in excess of caustic alkali, the pheno-
menon is essentially the production of an equilibrium
between the alkali and the zincic acid, and no definite
chemical compounds such as ZnO,8KOH are formed.—
The slow combustion of carbon disulphide: N. Smith.
The reddish-brown deposit formed when carbon disulphide
and oxygen are passed through a heated tube consists
chiefly of an acidic compound C,,H,O,S,. The silver and
ammonium salts have been prepared.

Weizmann
chemistry of the amidines.

Paris.

Academy of Sciences, December 26, 1905.—M. Troost in
the chair.—Researches on the insoluble potassium com-
pounds contained in humic materials: M. Berthelot.
Powdered wood charcoal, after careful extraction with
dilute hydrochloric acid and water, was treated with dilute
solutions of potassium acetate and calcium acetate, the
constituents of the charcoal ash being determined before
and after the treatment. The results are compared with
those obtained previously in which the charcoal was
washed with water only, and conclusions drawn as to the
nature of the potassium salts existing in wood charcoal.
—On a standard of light: J. Vietle. A description of
some attempts to establish a standard of light by utilising
the constant temperature obtained by boiling silver and
copper.—On a new petrographic type of certain leucote-
phrites from Somma: A. Lacroix.—New observations on
the formation and the quantitative variations of the hydro-
cyanic principle of the black elder: L. Guignard. The

| amount of the glucoside falls off very slightly with the

increase of age of the leaf. At the end of the vegetative
period it does not pass into the stem, but remains in the
leaf when it falls off, and hence cannot be regarded as a

reserve substance.—The influence of some factors on ex-
perimental parthenogenesis: Yves Delage. Numerous

chemical reagents can bring about experimental partheno-
genesis, and the conditions may also be varied, but the

Z

JANUARY II, 1906]

NATURE

2163

fundamental action or condition still remains to be deter- | strata of Corsica: M. Deprat.

mined. The variable results obtained with the same re-
agent under, apparently, the same experimental conditions
are pointed out, showing the necessity of averaging a large
number of experiments before drawing conclusions. The
reagent which has given the best results is made up of
sea-water, 3 c.c., solution of NaCl of 23 molecules per

litre, 45 c.c., distilled water, 72 c.c., sulphite of soda,
5 drops.—On the identity of surra and mbori: A.
Laveran. It has already been shown that morphologically

the trypanosomes of surra and mbori were nearly identical,
and also that animals which had been rendered immune
to surra were practically immune to mbori. In the present
paper it is shown that an animal which has acquired
immunity for mbori is also immune for surra, and hence
the conclusion is drawn that the trypanosomes in these
two diseases belong to the same species. The trypanosome
of mbori is a less virulent variety of Trypan. evanst.
—Observations on the sun made at the Observatory of
Lyons with the 16 cm. Brunner equatorial during the first
quarter of 1905: J. Guillaume. The results are sum-
marised in three tables showing the number of spots, the
distribution of the spots in latitude, and the distribution
of the facule in latitude.—On isothermal surfaces and a
class of envelopes of spheres: A. Demoulin.—On some
generalisations of Picard’s theorem: C. Carathéodory.
—On the non-stationary movement of a fluid ellipsoid of
revolution which does not change in figure during the
movement: W. Stekloff.—On a transformation of certain
linear partial differential equations of the second order :
J. Clairin.—Reclamation of priority regarding an
apparatus of M. Nodon for examining the solar protuber-
ances at any time: Antoine Sauve.—On the propagation
of light in a system in translation and on the aberration
of the stars: G. Sagnac.—On the mechanism of the pro-
duction and the nature of kathodic pulverisations: Ch.
Maurain. The kathodic pulverisations appear to consist
of moderately large particles, torn from the kathode by the
shock of the a rays, and charged electrically, but with
an e/m much smaller than for the projectiles constituting
the kathode rays.—On the mobilities of the ions of saline
vapours: G, Moreau.—On the respective spectra of the
different phases of the electric spark: G. A. Hemsalech.
Using the arrangement of apparatus described in an earlier
note, the author finds that the electric discharge gives a
line spectrum in non-ionised air and a band spectrum in
ionised air. It is shown that a single oscillation is cap-
able of producing and rendering luminous the metallic
vapour.—The sulphates of samarium: Camille Matignon.
The methods of obtaining the acid and basic sulphate from
the neutral sulphate are given, together with the properties
of these salts——The action of acetylene on iodine pent-
oxide: Georges F. Jaubert. Acetylene is quantitatively
oxidised to carbon dioxide by iodine pentoxide at 80° C.
In the estimation of carbon monoxide in the air by the
iodine pentoxide method, it is therefore necessary to ensure
the absence of acetylene by appropriate reagents.—The
action of glucose on selenious acid: MM. Qéchsner
de Coninck and Chauvenet. In the reduction of
selenious acid by glucose, a red amorphous colloidal variety
of selenium is produced, insoluble in carbon _bisulphide.
At roo° C, it is partially converted into black selenium.—
The action of ammonia gas on the tribromide and triiodide
of phosphorus: C. Hugot. A yellow amide of phosphorus
is formed by this reaction at low temperatures; at higher
temperatures it is decomposed, phosphorus imide being
formed.—On the methods employed by the Arabs to get
metallic lustre on enamels: L. Franchet.—On a new
mode of preparation of barium: M. Guntz. The purest
metal obtained in previous work contained 98-5 per cent.
of barium. If this is converted into the hydride, and the
latter heated in vacuo at 1200° C., the sublimed metal is
crystallised and of 99-5 per cent. purity.—On some new
derivatives of pentabasic phosphoric acid, P(OH).: P.
Lemoult.—Syntheses of derivatives of 1: 4:7 symmetrical
heptanetriol: J. L. Hamonet.—Products of the hydrogen-
ation of carvacrol: Léon Brunel. An account of the
results obtained by the application of the Sabatier and
Senderens method to carvacrol.—Some liquefying and
hydrolysing actions of starch: P. Petit.—On the presence
of trachytes and hypersthene andesites in the Carboniferous

NO. 1889, VOL. 73|

On Raphia Ruffia, a wax-
producing palm: Henri Jumeltle.—On an important vari-
ation of the tuber of Solanum Maglia: I ouard Heckel.
Experimental work tending to confirm the view of
de Candolle that this is the wild species from which the
cultivated potato is derived.—On the use of manganese as
a manure: Gabriel Bertrand. An account of some ex-
periments, made on the agricultural scale, showing the
beneficial effect of the addition of manganese sulphate as
a manure.—The assimilation of carbon dioxide by the
chrysalids of Lepidoptera: Mlle. Maria von Linden.—
On the parallelism between phototropism and artificial
parthenogenesis : Georges Bohn.—On the independence of
metamorphosis and the nervous system in batrachians :
P. Wintrebert.—On the inoculation of cancer : M. Mayet.
The soluble products obtained from a cancerous tumour in
man, free from solid matter by filtration through porcelain,
and injected into a dog, gave rise to a cancerous growth.
The pathological nature of the Holmgren canals of
nerve cells: R. Legendre. The author’s views are in
direct opposition to those of Holmgren concerning the func-
tion of the cavities in nerve cells, and he regards them
as pathological in nature.—On the discovery of Amphibia
in the Coal-measures of Commentry: Armand Thevenin.
—Magnetic observations at the Observatory of Ebre on
the occasion of the eclipse of the sun of August 30, 1905 :
P. Cirera.

January 2.—M. H. Poincaré in the chair.—On the
estimation of carbon monoxide in air by iodic anhydride :
Armand Gautier. With reference to the note by M. G.
Jaubert in the last number of the Comptes rendus, the

author points out that he published this fact in 1898,
and has also shown how to correct for the error
introduced into the determination by the presence of

acetylene. Acetylene does not occur in the air of towns.
—New observations on the Pycnogonides collected in the
Antarctic regions in the course of the expedition directed
by M. Jean Charcot: E. L. Bouvier.—On the deformation
of quadrics: C. Guichard.—On the mutations of some
fossil plants of the Coal-measures: M. Grand’Eury. A
résumé of the results obtained by the author during
the last ten years.—Observations of Giacobini’s comet
(1g05c) made at the Observatory of Toulouse with the
35 cm. Brunner-Henry equatorial: F. Rossard. Observ-
ations made on December 18 and 22, 1905, showing
the positions of the comparison stars and apparent posi-
tions of the comet.—Provisional elements of Giacobini’s
comet (1905, December 6): E. Maubant.—Observation of
Giacobini’s comet (1905c) made with the 16 cm. Brunner
equatorial at the Observatory of Lyons: J. Guillaume.
Observations made on December 12, 1905. The comet
appeared as a diffuse luminosity of 30” to 4o” diameter.
—Photographic study of the annular nebula in Cygnus,
N.G.C. 6894: Gabriel Tikhoff. The details shown by the
photograph are in general agreement with those published
by Keeler, from the Lick Observatory.—Theorem on entire
functions: M. Auric.—A contribution to the study of
photographic screens: J. Renaux. Remarks on the use
of colouring matters for photographic screens.—Researches
on the terrestrial field, carried out during the total eclipse
of August 30, 1905: Charles Nordmann.—On the deter-
mination of the rare gases in natural gaseous mixtures :
Charles Moureu. A diagram of the scheme of apparatus
used by the author is given, together with exact details
of working. Oxygen and nitrogen are removed by hot
lime and magnesium mixture, hydrogen and hydro-
carbons by heated copper oxide, moisture and carbon
dioxide by phosphoric anhydride and soda lime respec-
tively. The last traces of nitrogen are removed by metallic
calcium.—On the heat of fusion of ice: A. Leduc (see
p- 254)-—On the synthesis of the amido-acids derived from
the albumens: L. Hugounengq and A. Morel.—The struc-
ture of plants developed in the light, without carbon
dioxide, and in presence of organic materials: M.
Molliard. The essential characters of plants cultivated
under the above conditions are a structure resembling that
of the subterranean organs and the formation of tissue
with plurinucleated cells——Symbiosis of orchids and
several endophytic fungi: Noel Bernard.—On the cope-
pods collected by the Charcot expedition and communicated
by M. E. L. Bouvier: M. Quidor.—On a new micro-

264

sporidium,
On the

Pleistophora macrospora: Casimir Cépede.—
intimate structure of the protoplasm in the
Protozoa: Emmanuel Fauré-Fremiet.—A _ respiratory
apparatus for the exploration of places filled with
irrespirable gases: M. Guglielminetti. The apparatus
consists of three parts, the bottle of compressed oxygen,
the regenerator and cooler, and the respiratory mask.
Illustrations are given showing a diagrammatic arrange-
ment of the whole apparatus, and its position in actual
use. Its weight is 13 kilograms.—Observations made on
Mt. Blane on the effect of altitude on the blood: H.
Guillemard and R. Moog.

DIARY OF SOCIETIES.

THURSDAY, JANuary 11.

InsriruTION OF ELecTRicAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—The Charing Cross
Company's City of London Works: W. H, Patchell (Conclusion of
Discussion).

Lonvon MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY, at 5.30.—On the Diffraction of Sound
by Large Cylinders: J. W. Nicholson.—On the Monogeneity of an
Algebraic Function ; Dr. H. F. Baker.—On the Expression of the so-called
Biquaternions and Triquaternions with the aid of Quaternary Matrices:
J. Brill.

FRIDAY, January 12.

Rovat ASTRONOMICAL Society, at 5.—The Annular Nebula in Lyra:
E. E. Barnard.—(1) Star Reductions: (2) ‘Lhe Work of a Colonial
Observatory: W. E. Cooke.—(r) Elements and Light Curve of RV
Lyre ; (2) Elements and Light Curve of VW Cygni: A. Stanley
Williams —The Value of the Constant of Refraction: L. de Ball.—
Observations of Comet 4 1905 from Photographs taken with the 30-inch
Reflector of the Thompson Equatorial : Royal Observatory, Greenwich.—
On a New Method ot Determining the Absolute Dimensions of an Algol
Variable: A. W. Roberts.—Keport on Observations of Jupiter, 1904-5,
made at Trincomali, Ceylon: Major P. B. Molesworth.—Mean Areas
and Heliographic Latitudes of Sun-spotsin the year 1904, deduced from
Photographs taken at Greenwich, at Dehra Din, at Kodaikanal
Observatory (India), and in Mauritius: Royal Observatory, Greenwich.

InstTiTuTION oF Civit. ENGINEERS, at 8.—Lecture on the Theory of
Machines: Prof. J. D. Cormack.

MALACOLOGICAL SociETy, at 8.—Note of the Dates of Publication of
C. L. F. von Sandberger’s ‘‘ Die Land- und Siisswasser-conchylien der
Vorwelt,’” 1870-75: b. B. Woodward.—New Species of Siphonaria,
Terebra, and Maugilia, and a Remarkable Form of Cyf7aea cruenta, from
South Africa: G. B. Sowerby.—Remarks on some Forms uf Chloritis
with Description of a New Species: G. K. Gude.—Notes on the
Anatomy of S. African Aplysiidz with Descriptions of two New Species :
R. H. Burne.—Notes on Voluta kenyontana, V. papitlosa, var. costata,
V. roadknighti, Juv., Cypraea tigris, var. lineata, and Conus water-
housae, var. mauritiana + Mrs. Kenyon. —Description of a New Species
of Crepidula from Victoria: Mrs. Kenyon.

MONDAY, January 15.

RoyvaL_ GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY, at 8.39.—British East African Plateau
Land and its Economic Conditions : Major A. St. Hill Gibbons.

Victoria INSTITUTE, at 4.30.—Evolutionary Law in the Creation Story of
Genesis : Rev. A. Irving

TUESDAY, January 16.
Roya. [NSTITUTION, at 5.—Impressions of Travel in China and the Far

Kast: Prof. E. H. Parker.
INSTITUTION OF CIvIL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Comntinued Discussion: The
Elimination of Storm-water from Sewerage Systems: D. E, Lloyd-

Davies.—On the Elimination of Suspended Solids and Colloidal Matters
from Sewage: Lieut.-Colonel A. S. Jones and Dr. W. O. Travis.
ZooLoGicat Society, at 8.30.—On Bones of the Lynx from Cales Dale,
Derbyskire: W. Storrs Fox.—On Mammals from South Johore and
Singapore collected by Mr. C. B. Kloss: J. Lewis Bonhote.—Contribu-
tions to the Anatomy of the Ophidia: F. &. Beddard, F.R.S.—On the
Minute Structure of the Teeth of Creodonts, with Especial Reference to
their Suggested Resemblance to Marsupials : Charles S. ‘omes, F.R.S.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 17.

Society oF Arts, at 8.—The Scientific Aspects of Voice Development:
Dr. W. A. Aikin.

Enromocoeic at Society, at 8.—Annual Meeting.

Rovat MIcroscopicaLt SocIETY, at 8.—President’s Annual
The Life and Work of Bernard Renault.

Rovat METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY, at 7.45.—Meteorology in Daily Life :

Richard Bentley.
THURSDAY, January 18.

Royvav Society, at 4.30.—Probable Papers: The Factors which Deter-
mine the Production of Intraocular Fluid: E. E. Henderson and Prof.
E. H. Starling, F.R.S.—A Critical Account of some Anomalous Condi-
tions of the Cerebrum in the Human Foetus : Dr. W. L. H. Duckworth.—
A Case of Regeneration in Pulychate Worms: Arnold I, Watson.—On
the Infection, Histology, and Development of the Uredo Stage in
certain Uredinew: I. #. P. Evans.—On the Synapsis in Amphibia:
J. E.S. Moore and Miss Embleton.—On the Constancy of Form among
the Synaptic Gemini (Heterotype Chromosomes) in certain Animals:
J..E.S. Moore and G. Arnold.—The Growth of the Oocyte in Antedon :
a Morphological Study in the Cell Metabolism: Gilbert C. Chubb.

CHEMICAL SociETY, at 8.30.—The Refractive Indices of Crystallising
Solutions with Especial Reference to the Passage from the Meta-stable
to the Labile Condition: H. A. Miers and F. Isaac.—l'he Determination

NO. 1889, vol. 73]

Address ;

NATURE

[JANUARY II, 1906

of Available Plant Food in Soils by the Use of Weak Acid Solvents.
Part II.: A. D. Hall and A. Amos.—The Action of Ammonia and
Amines on Diazobenzene Picrate: O. Silberrad and G. Rotter.—The
Preparation of #-Bistriazobenzene: O. Silberrad and B. J. Smart.—
Gradual Decomposition of Ethyl Diazoacetate: O. Silberrad and C. S.
Roy.—Studies on Nitrogen Iodide. Part III. The Action of Methyl
and Benzyl Iodides: O. Silberradcand B. J. Smart.—Silicon Researches.
Part X. Silicon Thiocyanate : J. E. Reynolds.—The Relations between
Absorption Spectra and Chemical Constitution. Part I. The Chemical
Reactivity of the Carbonyl Group: A. W. Stewart and E. C. C. Baly.—
Halogen Derivatives of Substituted Oxamides: F. D. Chattaway and
W. H. Lewis.—The Effect of Constitution on the Rotatory Power of
Optically Active Nitrogen Compounds. Part I.: Miss M. B, Thomas
and H. O. Jones.—Menthyl Benzene Sulphonate and Menthyl-B-
Naphthalene Sulphonate: T. S. Patterson and J. Frew.—An Apparatus
for the Continuous Extraction of Liquids with Ether: R. S. Bowman.—
Action of Bromine on Benzeneazo-o-Nitrophenol: J. T. Hewitt and
N. Walker.—Some Reactions and New Compounds of Fluorine. Part I. :
E. B. R. Prideaux.—The Relation between Absorption Spectra and
Chemical Reactivity. Part 1]. The Quinonesand a-Diketones: E. C. C.
Baly and A. W. Stewart.—The Relation between Absorption Spectra and
Chemical Reactivity. Part III. The Nitroanilines and the Nitrophenols :
E. C. C. Baly, W. H. Edwards, and A, W. Stewart.—Contributions to
the Chemistry of the Rare Earths. Part L. : M. Esposito.—A Synthesis
of Aldehydes by Grignard's Reaction; G. W. Monier Williams.—The
Condensation of Dimethyldihydroresorcin and of Chloroketodimethyl-
tetrahydrobenzene with Primary Amines. Part 1. Monamines, Ammonia,
Aniline, and Z-Toluidine: P. Haas.

Sociery oF ARTS, at 4.30.—The City of Calcutta: C. E. Buckland.—At
8.0.—High Speed Electric Machinery, with Special Reference to Steam-
Turbine Machines: Prof. S. P. ‘| hompson, F.R.S.

LINNEAN SOCIETY, at 8.—The Life-history of Wargarttifera Panasesae +
A. W. Allen. On some Endophytic Alge: A. D. Cotton.—Jacobson’s
Organ of Sphenodon: Dr. R. Broom.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 19.
Rovav InstrruTion, at 9.—Some Applications of the Theory of Electric
Discharge to Spectroscopy : Prof J. J. Thomson, F.R.S.
INSTITUTION OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Behaviour of Materials
of Construction under Pure Shear: E. G. Izod (Resumed Discussion):

Worm Contact: R. A. Bruce.
CONTENTS. PAGE
The Equations of the Wave Theory ..:... 241
Liquid (Crystals) “By H. B. Ho ae. . oan
Plant-Breeding in America . . vigaieye esl co Rese mRmneey el
Chemical Technology. By J. Tee 243
Our Book Shelf :—
Unwin: ‘‘ Future Forest Trees” . . 244
Bailey : ‘‘ Elements of Quantitative Analysis’ ues J. 244
Baker : ‘* Elementary Dynamics ” a 245
Lucas: ‘fA Historical Geography of the British

Colonies” 245
Biermann : Vorlesungen jiber mathematische Naher-

ungsmethodeni. . . 3 4). Uemish | cee

Letters to the Editor: —
Insectivorous Water-plant from Trinidad. —Sir W. T.
Thiselton-Dyer, K.C.M.G., F.R.S. . . . 246
The Maximum Number of Double Points ona Surface.

—A. B. Basset, F.R.S. .. se ee)
Sounding Stones. —Cecil Carus- Wilson . . B60 LO
Heat a Mode of Motion.—Charles E, Benham . . 246
The Naming of Colours.—Alfred H. Crook . . . . 246
Aurora of November 15.—Prof. M. P. Rudzki 246
Ascent of Sap in Trees.—Frank Harris. . 246

Elementary Geology. (tse By Prof. Gren-
ville A. J. Cole acs, s : 2A 7.
Tidal Researches. By S. Sree 248
Agricultural Education and Colonial Development . 250
Magnetic Workin India... . a0. | » sacmemeesO
NOteSi ee wie ot Uuels o) «oie ee HC
Our Astronomical Column :—
Comet 1905¢ (Giacobini) : . 255
Ephemeris for Holmes’s Comet (1892 Il., 5 1899 IL. ). 255
Photographs of the Solar Granulations . 255
The Orbit of & Ursae Majoris re. 2G
The International Fishery Investigations. "By Af
Johnstone . 5 ee 55
Insect Pests of the Cotton Plant. ' (UMlustrated.) By
Fred. V. Theobald Bea Pee <. 2cy/
The Great Gnomon of Florence ‘Cathedral, (Lilas-
trated.) By W. E.R. . . 258
The Training of the Body and Mind. By Wilfred
Mark Webb . . q a, eS.
Colour Vision in the Peripheral Retina . Boot: ee)
University and Educational Intelligence .... . 260
Societies andsAcademies’ ~ <) -) /--iisu.)-)-) «meee Od
Diarylof Societies “3.5 =, st chien) 6) re

INA TRC ARTE

265

THURSDAY, JANUARY 18, 1906.

THE HIGHER TELEOLOGY.

The Interpretation of Nature. By C. Lloyd Morgan,
LL.D, F-R.S. Pp. 164. (Bristol: J. W. Arrow-
smith; London: Macmillan and Co. Ltd., 1905.)
Price 2s. net.

ROF. LLOYD MORGAN stands as a daysman
between the naturalistic and the teleological in-

terpretations of Nature, and the result of his arbitra-
tion is that both are valid, though neither by itself is
satisfying. Naturalism aims at an analysis of occur-
rences in terms of the simplest possible formula—
mechanical by preference—at a genetic description of
the stages by which any particular configuration—the
solar system, the scenery of Scotland, the simplest
organism, Man and his mind—has come about. “ It
finds its principle of unification in the universality and
inter-connection of world-events ; it works inwards
from external nature to the life and mind of man
which it interprets as expressions of natural law.’’ It
is a stern way of looking at things, knowing nothing
of beginnings or ends, never asking ‘“‘ why?” and
never really answering even the question ‘“‘ how? ”’
It flourishes William of Occam’s razor, searching as
he who shaved Shagpat for the periodically sprouting
‘identical,’? “‘ principle’ or “entity” to lop it off.
It speaks not willingly of ‘‘ causes,’’ but deals with
“ antecedent conditions.” ‘‘It regards the state of
the whole universe at any given moment as a con-
figuration of very great complexity, involving acceler-
ations of many different orders co-existing in natural
relationship, and it believes that the cause or con-
dition of this configuration is that of the preceding
moment, while the configuration of the succeeding
moment is its effect. This involves a splendid act of
faith, for it assuredly outruns what can, in the present
state of knowledge, be definitely proved.”’

While many thinkers have sought to stay the pro-
gress of the triumphant chariot of Naturalism by
exhibiting notices ‘‘ No road this way,”’ the chariot-
drivers have paid no heed, but have gone nonchalantly
on through the policies of Life and Mind, of Morals
and Society, only pausing, as courtesy demanded, to
say that they were giving no explanations, merely
genetic descriptions. What is particularly inter-
esting in Prof. Lloyd Morgan’s attitude is that he
wishes them God-speed, and is entirely disinclined
to call a halt at any particular difficulty in the way of
naturalistic formulation. It is true, he says, that the
antecedent conditions of the genesis of protoplasm, for
instance, are unknown, but they may not remain un-
known, and ‘‘ those who would concentrate the
mystery of existence on the pin-point of the genesis
of protoplasm do violence alike to philosophy and to
religion.’? Or again, in’ reference to the naturalistic
doctrine of the ego, that what we call mind is, from
the restricted point of view of scientific psychology,
the name we apply to a sequence of mental configura-
tions, the author writes :—‘‘ But—it can’t be proved.
Never mind that. Some day it may be proved. And

NO. 1890, VOL. 73]

in any case to believe more than can be reduced to
actual demonstration is not only a characteristic of
human nature, but often one of the prime conditions
of progress.” It is evident, then, that this arbiter fully
appreciates the naturalistic universe of discourse, and
has no timidity in wishing that its ideal of formula-
tion may be realised. For in proportion to the
realisation of the naturalistic aim, which is to formu-
late our routine of experience in terms of the simplest
possible ideal constructions, in proportion to its dis-
closure of determinate evolution all along the line, in
proportion to its elimination of “* purpose,” “ causal
agency,’’ and ‘‘end”’ from its universe of discourse,
it will become clear that this mode of interpretation,
however necessary and valuable for scientific work-
manship, is too partial and abstract to satisfy those
who feel that the purpose of their life is the most
intimate and fundamental reality of which they have
any knowledge. In other words, it is the aim of
Lloyd Morgan’s eirenicon ‘‘ to show that a belief in
purpose as the causal reality of which nature is the
expression is not inconsistent with a full and whole-
hearted acceptance of the explanations of naturalism
within their appropriate sphere.”’

This little book deals with big questions, and many
who have pondered over them will be grateful to the
author for the lucidity of his argument, which is an
expression of his own clear vision, and is also perhaps
partly due to the fact that the book took shape as
the Lowell lectures for 1904. Many will be grateful,
we believe, for more than the pleasure of reading a
vivid and stimulating course of lectures, namely, for
a liberation from the obsession of a mechanistic
outlook. The author expounds the naturalistic scheme
with great sympathy, while disclosing its implications
and limitations, but he maintains convincingly that
‘“a complete and satisfactory interpretation of nature
is, so far as it is attainable by man, partly scientific
and partly metaphysical.’? We look, as it were, for
a greatest common measure as well as a lowest
common denominator of the fractions of reality which
make up our experience. We cannot remain satisfied
with a description of the observed moves among the
pieces on the chequered chess-board of experience; we
cannot but ask ‘‘ how there comes to be a game to
be played, and when this is settled how, or by what
unseen agency, castles and knights and pawns are
moved, each with a distinctive path, across the
board.’’ But this is beyond science; it is the other
side of the shield; and the problem is :—By what ideal
construction, valid in reason and valid in life, can we
supplement the partiality of the naturalistic outlook ?
In a way of his own the poet feels that the whole
universe ‘trembles with song’; the artist in his
outlook, certainly not the least sane, has as little use
for mechanistic categories as the mechanist has for
wood-nymphs; the religious mood sees the iron chains
of determinate evolution transmuted into golden
chains which bind all things about the feet of God.
But what more universal outlook is there for plain
men dwelling in tents?

The answer given in this eirenicon is simple in
expression but far-reaching in its outcome. It is that

N

266

NATURE

[JANUARY 18, 1906

“purpose is that of which all determinate sequence is | relation between Bodenkraft and the development of

the phenomenal expression.’’ ‘‘ Naturalism proclaims
that I am just a little bit of nature, differentiated from
the rest, a minute cluster of phenomena in relation
with the total remainder of phenomena, a tiny, if
somewhat complex configuration under the influence
of the major configuration of the universe.”’ But “I
cannot do away with the conviction that there is
something within me which unifies and relates and
orders the configurations, something which is the
source of my conception of causal agency. It is what
I understand by purpose.” . . . ‘‘ But why should I
suppose that the causal agency which, as purpose,
underlies my own private and peculiar configuration,
is of a different order of being from that of which
nature at large is a manifestation. Just in so far as
I am one with nature, and therefore in physical re-
lationship with other manifestations in terms of matter
and energy, is the purpose of my being one with the
purpose which underlies the manifestations of nature,
and am I in spiritual relationship with a wider and
richer purpose which is thus manifested.”

We agree so heartily with this higher teleology that
we have no criticism to offer. We doubt, however,
whether it is necessary to deal so generously with the
naturalistic interpretation in its mechanistic expression
as the author has seen fit to do. It may be well
methodologically to deal with it as an ideal, but we
cannot help feeling that its realisation is very far from
being within the sphere of practical politics. Our
other difficulty is that we cannot think of the concept
purpose except as related to personality, except as an
attribute or aspect of a larger reality still, which
thinkers of all ages have spoken of as ‘‘ Spirit.”’

{Aen

TWO BOOKS ON THE SOIL.

Bodenkunde. By E. Ramann. Second edition.
Pp. xii+431. (Berlin: Springer, 1905.)

Soils and Fertilisers. By Prof. H. Snyder. Second
edition. Pp. x+294. (Easton, Pa. : The Chemical
Publishing Co., 1905.) Price 1.50 dollars.

De RAMANN’S treatise on soils, which has
grown out of an earlier book on forest soils
published in 1895, is of very different type and design
from such books on the same subject as have appeared
in English. In the first place, a considerable portion
of the book is occupied with a somewhat generalised
and academic consideration of the soil, its origin, its
relation to climate and vegetation, its types, &c.,
in all of which the point of view of the geographer,
the geologist, or the botanist is more to the fore
than that of the farmer. Soils and their constituents
and properties are classified and described as though
they were a set of museum specimens, with little or
no reference to their behaviour in the field. Indeed,
the author has rather a passion for classification, and
the worl contains too many generalisations and de-
finitions of the following kind, which are accorded
the dignity of large type.

““ Bodenkraft is the sum of all the chemical and
physical properties of the soil. KFruchbarkeit is the

NO. 1890, VOL. 73]|

plants. Ertragsvermégen is the relation between
Fruchbarkeit and climatic factors in their action upon
plant colonies or single kinds of plants.’’

Such definitions sound well in lecture, and serve
to fill the industrious listener’s notebook, but they
do not help him much in the study of the real thing.

Similarly, in those sections of the book dealing with
the examination of soils, we get directions for the
carrying out of this or that determination—chemical
analysis, water capacity, specific heat, &c.—but of
the interpretation of the results we hear nothing at
all. We are not, in fact, instructed how to add up
that sum which is to indicate the fertility of the soil.
But in its own special line Dr. Ramann’s book cannot
fail to be useful to our workers at the scientific study
of soils. It is particularly good in dealing with the
part of the subject most neglected in Britain, the
physical properties of soils, and the portion in which
Dr. Ramann is perhaps specially interested—the study
of forest soils—contains an excellent summary of work
that is almost unknown here. Such matters as the
growth of forest soils, the effect of the leafy covering
on the chemical composition, the temperature and the
water content of soils, are dealt with at length; as
again in later chapters are the questions of zones
and types of soil and their delimitation upon soil
maps. As a book of reference to modern German
research on the soil (French and English investigations
are practically ignored) Dr. Ramann’s treatise will
be of considerable service to the specialist; for the
agricultural student or the farmer it will not serve.

Prof. Snyder’s little book has been constructed out
of a series of notes supplied to the students of his
classes at the University of Minnesota, expanded
somewhat and made more complete by the addition
of descriptions of laboratory experiments upon soils
and fertilisers. Essentially, however, the book still
consists of notes which will serve to remind the
student of the matter dealt with in the lectures; they
lack both the filling in and the elucidation that comes
from the lecturer himself. Too many things are
mentioned and left without any adequate explanation,
as though the author were afraid to pass them by
wholly without notice, yet knew at once that he could
not afford the time or space necessary to develop
them properly. The result is a boolk which fulfils its
original purpose of lecture notes, but when taken by
itself is dull and difficult to read, and, as we would
contend, a mistake educationally. A text-book should
not be a miniature encyclopedia, and though the
teacher is well advised in making occasional ex-
cursions into higher work beyond the average reach
of his students, it should be done by working out
principles, and not by scrappy enumerations of more
advanced investigations.

But instead of criticising a book for what it is
not, it is fairer to try and appreciate what it does
accomplish. Prof. Snyder is a well known member
of the band of American experiment station workers
who have done so much to advance the application
of science to the everyday practical side of farming,
and have succeeded in making the United States

January 18, 1906]

INA Te ORE

267

farmer regard the investigator as his necessary helper
in the conduct of his business.

In matters connected with the physics of the soil
and its bearing upon the operations of cultivation the
American workers have accumulated much novel in-
formation, and to this some of the chapters of Prof.
Snyder’s book form a good introduction. The re-
quirements of the crop are treated from a sound
general standpoint which never forgets that water
and air, soil texture, and cultivation are perhaps the
prime factors in plant production. In this country
students are a little too apt to fancy that farming
begins and ends with the application of artificial
manures; we can recommend this book to them for
the truer point of view, even though the conditions
which regulate our use of manures are not quite the
same as in America.

ee

RECENT ASPECTS OF ELEMENTARY
GEOMETRY.

The First Book of Geometry. By Grace Chisholm
Young, Ph.D., and W. H. Young, M.A., Sc.D.
Pp. xvit222. (London: J. M. Dent and Co.,
1905.) Price 1s. 6d. net.

F late years a very remarkable change has been
made in the theory of elementary geometry, the
general effect of which has been to make it more
abstract, and to reduce a great deal of it to the
application of logic without any appeal to intuition.

It has been realised that geometry must be based on

the assumption of certain undefinable entities, of

elementary relations between them, and a complete
system of independent axioms. For the purposes of
ordinary Euclidean geometry, it is probably the
simplest way to assume the straight line as the one
undefinable entity, and intersection as the elementary
relation from which the notions of point and plane
may be derived. What system of axioms we adopt
will partly depend upon the nature of the geometry
we study; for instance, the axioms which are
necessary and sufficient for the purposes of projective
geometry require supplementing when we discuss the

theory of measurement. .

It is the theory of measurement which presents the
greatest difficulty at the present time. If we assume
all the results of projective geometry, we may proceed
as follows:—Taking any three points O, I, X on a
line, we may associate them with the numbers (or
indices) 0, 1, «© (where o is the vague infinity of
ordinary arithmetical algebra). We can then give a
purely projective rule for finding a point on the line
to be associated with any given rational number p/q;
we thus get on the line a set of points corresponding
to the whole field of rational numbers, and, more-
over, the arrangement of the points corresponds to the
arrangement of the numbers according to their
magnitude; that is, if m>n>p, the point N lies on
that segment MP which does not contain X. If we
like, we can define the distance AB as being measured
by b—a, where a, b are the indices of A, B. This
satisfies the relation AB+BC=AC, but equal seg-
ments as thus defined are not intuitionally equal,

NO. 1890, VOL. 73%,

except when X is ‘‘the’’ point at infinity on the
line; and even then we cannot prove, but must assume
the intuitional equality. Moreover, there are points
on the line which do not have rational indices, unless,
in spite of common sense, we assume that the points
on the line form a discrete aggregate. Now in
arithmetic we have a perfect continuous aggregate,
where each irrational element separates all the rational
ones into two complementary parts, respectively
greater or less than itself. If we assume that all the
points in the line which have not rational indices
behave in a similar way, we have a complete corre-
spondence between the succession of points on a line
and the elements of the arithmetical continuum. So
far as appears at present, this is a pure assumption ;
but if it is not made, anything like the ordinary
theory of measurement seems to be impossible, for
two distinct points ought to have a measurable dis-
tance, and the measure must be a number; if the two
distinct points cannot be associated with two distinct
numbers, how is their distance to be defined as a
measurable quantity? Other difficulties arise in con-
nection with transfinite numbers and their represent-
ation by point aggregates; but these are compara-
tively unimportant, it it is remembered that the
assumption of the correspondence of points on a line
with the arithmetical continuum involves a similar
correspondence between the arithmetical continuum
and the points on any finite segment.

It is very interesting to see how this recent theory
has reacted on the question of teaching elementary
geometry. Instead of tending to make it more
abstract and more logical, it has done exactly the
reverse; and the reason for this is not difficult to find.
The notions of geometry, so far as it is distinct from
logic, are derived from concepts, and these, again,
from experience. There must be an intuitional basis
for geometry; and although, from a logical point of
view, it is desirable, for any species of
geometry, to reduce its necessary assumptions to a
minimum, progress in geometrical invention is to be
expected from those who cultivate their powers of
observation as well as their logical faculties. One
result of recent research has been to explode, once
for all, the pretence that the ‘‘ Elements ”’ of Euclid
present geometry in its most logical form; on the
other hand, to try to teach beginners the subject in
what would now be considered the most rigorous
way would be certain to end in failure.

The book which has been written by Dr. and Mrs.
Young illustrates very well what has just been said.
Its main object is to awaken the pupil’s mind to the
ideas by which we classify the properties of space;
this is done by directions in paper-folding, in dis-
section of areas, in the construction of solid models,
and the like. At the same time, various theorems are
stated and proved, so that the beginner may learn
the difference between experimental and deductive
geometry. As in the case of other text-books with a
similar aim, the teacher will have to be careful to see
that his pupil distinguishes proofs from verifications ;
e.g., on p. 173 we have a proof that the angles of
a triangle make up two right angles, while on p. 121
we have a verification in a special case.

given

268

NALORE

[January 18, 1906

There is no doubt that the kind of first course
laid out in this book is the right one from a psycho-
logical point of view. A quite young pupil, actually
carrying out its directions with the help of a sympa-
thetic teacher, will obtain clear conceptions of
geometrical facts in a way that is really interesting
and fruittul. The apparatus required is of the
simplest possible kind—paper, pins, a pencil, and a
pair of scissors are all that are absolutely necessary,
though a compass and a scale might be provided
with advantage, except at the beginning of the
course. The attention given to solid figures is a
feature which deserves commendation; and above all
there does not seem to be anything said that is likely
to lead to misapprehensions, which have to be pain-
fully corrected afterwards.

There are a few points of detail which might be
attended to in another edition. The letters in the
diagrams are too small; the figure on p. 151 does
not correspond to the text; on p. 35, ‘‘ This gives us
another axiom’’ is quite illogical; and there are
some technical terms which might have been spared.
It must be remembered, too, that this is not a book
for a beginner to learn in the old-fashioned way; it
is intended to make him experiment and think, and
the guidance of the teacher is essential. Assuming
this, the book ought to be very useful, and lead to
good results, even in the case of pupils who have little
faculty for demonstrative geometry.

LEGIBILITY AND VISUAL ACUITY.

Physiologie de la Lecture et de l’Ecriture. By Emile
Javal. Pp. xv+296. (Paris: Félix Alcan, 1905.)
Price 6 francs.

HE title of this book, which is written by a dis-
tinguished ophthalmologist, is somewhat mis-
leading. One would naturally expect such a work
to deal with the neuro-muscular mechanism, central
and peripheral, of reading and writing. In reality, it
treats almost exclusively of the legibility of printed
and written matter, and the physiological processes
are investigated only in so far as they throw light
upon this aspect of the subject, and give indications
for increased facility and rapidity in reading.

In the first part of the book a brief historical account
of epigraphy, writing, typography, stenography,
musical notation, and writing in relief for the blind
is given. Typography is illustrated by examples from
Garamond (1540), adopted by Plantin, of Antwerp,
and the two Elzeviers, of Leyden and Amsterdam _re-
spectively, from very elegant designs by Jaugeon
(1704), and from the Imprimerie Impériale (Didot,
1811) and the Imprimerie Nationale (Marcellin
Legrand, 1847). Theoretical considerations of visual
acuity, treated in the second part, show that the
visibility of a letter increases indefinitely with the
illumination, whereas its legibility depends upon the
neuro-epithelial mosaic of the retina, and is therefore
independent of illumination above a certain minimum.
Investigation of the mechanism of reading a line of
print has shown that the eyes move in a series of

NO. 1890, VOL. 73]

jerks, in each of which a group of about ten letters
is appreciated, the grouping being independent of the
distance of the book from the eyes so long as this
is consistent with legibility. Bar reading gives some
indication of the relative part played by the two eyes
when binocular vision is present. The difference of
accommodation in different parts of a line when the
book is held close to the eyes, as in myopia, is very
appreciable, and must be taken into account in treat-
ment; thus in a myope of 15 dioptres a line of 10
centimetres involves a difference of accommodation of
about 7 dioptres. The characteristic features of letters
are for the most part in the upper portion, so that
attention is specially directed here; consequently it is

easy to read with the lower halves of the letters
covered, whilst the reverse occasions considerable
difficulty. These considerations indicate some im-

provements in typography. They have been carried
out in some designs prepared for the author by M. Ch.
Dreyfuss. It will be admitted that the result is
successful as regards legibility and rapidity of read-
ing, though at no small cost to the artistic sense.
M. Javal points out that nearly all the improvements
are to be seen in the well known enamelled-iron
advertisement of Willing; indeed, English printing as
a whole compares favourably in his estimation with
that of other countries.

The terrible misfortune of blindness overtook the
author a few years ago, so that it is not surprising
that he has given much attention to Braille type.
Even those born blind rarely attain to a rate of 100
words a minute in reading, or 10 in writing. It is
surprising to find that the tactile acuity of the blind
is actually less than that of normal people; the read-
ing finger tires rapidly, and though the acuity of
other fingers is greater, they are comparatively useless
for reading. The author gives valuable suggestions
for improving and simplifying Braille type, as well
as general instructions as to the hygiene of vision
and of writing. J. Herpert Parsons.

OUR BOOK SHELF.
Exercises in Quantitative Chemistry. By Harmon
Northrop Morse. Pp. xx+356. (Boston and

London: Ginn and Co., 1905.) Price 8s, 6d.

THE time when the sole desideratum in the training
of the chemical student was the acquirement of
greater or less proficiency in the processes of analytical
chemistry has, happily, gone by. Courses of experi-
mental work arranged with the view of familiarising
him with the most important general reactions, the
preparation of typical organic compounds, and the
methods peculiar to physical chemistry are now recog-
nised as the essentials of chemical training. The
work under review has been written from this stand-
point, and makes no attempt to present a course of
work for the training of expert analysts.

Although much diversity of opinion must necessarily
attach to the problem of the choice of an ideal course
of exercises, the unbiased critic can have but little
fault to find with the author’s selection. At first
sight the heterogeneous character of the sixty-four
exercises creates an impression of a lack of systematic
arrangement, but this is more apparent than real.
The first eight chapters deal with the balance, the

January 18, 1906]

NATURE

269

barometer and thermometer, the calibration of
apparatus for the measurement of liquids and gases,
the preparation of standard solutions, the determin-

ation of specific gravity and molecular weights, and

with the purification of substances. Analytical
exercises involving gravimetric and _ volumetric
measurements and the manipulation of gases are

contained in the succeeding twelve chapters, the selec-
tion being such that the student acquires familiarity
with a large number of different kinds of operations.
Chapters dealing with the electrolytic determination
of metals, the analysis of butter, and electrical heating
appliances for laboratory use complete the work.
Much care has evidently been devoted to the text.
The remarks on p. 167 in reference to Victor Meyer’s
vapour-density method are, however, quite unintelli-
gible, and in the methods of butter analysis described
no mention is made of the standardised apparatus and
method of working which has been adopted in this
country for the determination of the volatile acids.
These, however, are blemishes of small import, and

‘the book represents an addition to laboratory litera-

ture to which attention may be directed with con-
fidence. Isis Wil, 1DX,

Handbook of Physiology for Students and Prac-
titioners of Medicine. By Dr. Austin Flint. Pp.
xxvi+877 and xvi plates. (London: Macmillan
and Co., Ltd., 1905.) Price 21s. net.

Tnere are reasons for congratulating the author of
this book upon its appearance, and not the least of
them is the cheery optimism everywhere displayed.
The growth that has taken place in the subject in
the course of the last half-century is no more remark-
able than the courage with which this writer, at the
end of that time, turns round to attempt its descrip-
tion. To old friends of his handbook this gallant
effort must afford great pleasure. It is doubtful,
however, whether, outside this circle, much influence
can be anticipated for this volume, since it has many
competitors appealing more directly to the market of
the present time.

“Tt is the outcome of a desire to connect pure
physiology with the physiology specially useful to
physicians.”’? Let it be said that there is but one
physiology. The physiology, which is of use to
medicine, is not an applied science with a wealth of
knowledge accumulated in its special interest; it is
the essence of the pure science of physiology. There
are also anatomy and histology. It is useless to
claim credit from an attempt to provide a judicious
blend of these separated subjects, since they are now
more conveniently, and usually, studied separately.
In this case, also, the standard of the extraneous
matter is such as in no way to raise the standard of
the general contents of the book.

As to the treatment of the more legitimately in-
cluded contents, much can be said briefly.

The additions which have been made to knowledge
in the last twenty years have made their bow to the
author of this book, and have had the honour of an in-
troduction. The names on their visiting cards have
been forgotten ; their inventions have been expressed at
such hurried interviews as frequently to have escaped
comprehension. The fact that they have called in
such numbers has, however, made an impression, of
which this new edition forms the record. The addi-
tions of recent years are, however, of such importance
that nothing short of a complete—even if concise—
consideration of their nature will suffice. The kindly
sketched shadows, which here vaguely occupy the
space that ascertained facts should definitely fill,
render it impossible to recommend this book for
general reading. J. S. Macponatp.

NO 1&90, VOL. 73]

Penrose’s Pictorial Annual. Vol. xi. The Process
Year Book for 1905-6. Edited by William Gamble.
Pp. xvi+168. (London: A. W. Penrose and Co.,
Ltd., 1905.)

Last year, in bringing to the notice of our readers
this annual illustrated review of the graphic arts, we
suggested that the standard of the volume in every
respect was so high that it would be exceedingly diffi-
cult to eclipse it in the future. We were, however,
wrong in our surmise, for the present volume sur-
passes those that have preceded it and illustrates the
high state of efficiency of processes in use at the pre-
sent time.

In the production of such a volume the task of the
editor was no light one, but with his large acquaint-
ance with all process methods he has given us an excel-
lent survey of the latest achievements in process work.
As in previous issues, we have a number of most in-
teresting articles on various methods of procedure and
allied subjects, and mingled with them is a host of
first-class illustrations indicating the type and quality
of worl that can be accomplished by the various pro-
cesses now available. To mention a few of the host of
illustrations, attention may be directed to the frontis-
piece, a specimen of power-press printed copper etch-
ing by Bruckmann, of Munich, examples of work
with the metzograph screen, the new four-colour pro-
cess of Mr. C. G. Zander, and the spray-relief process
of the aérograph which illuminates the front of the
cover of the volume. The reader must, however, refer,
to the book itself if he wishes to revel in high-class
illustrations, for no object would be gained in referring
any more here to the numerous pictures.

In concluding, one cannot but congratulate all those
concerned in the production of this really beautiful
volume. The book should not only be in the hands of
all process workers, but in the possession of photo-
graphers and others interested in book illustration.

Philips’ Large Planisphere. Designed by H. Gewecke.
(London: G. Philip and Son, Ltd.) Price 6s.

Most students of the aspects of the heavens are
familiar with the small circular planisphere having
a revolving disc which can be adjusted to show the
stars visible at any time of the year. The new plani-
sphere now available is constructed upon the same
plan as the earlier one, but its diameter is about twenty
inches, and some changes have been made with the
view of adding to its usefulness. The horizon can be
talken off so that the whole of the chart can be seen
if desired. A graduated strip is arranged across the
chart, and by means of it the position of an object
can be found when the right ascension and declina-
tion are known. The scale of right ascension on the
outer edge of the circular chart is in degrees, but it
would have been more conveniently expressed in hours
and minutes in the usual way

The chart shows all the stars visible to the naked
eye from the north celestial pole to 33° south of the
celestial equator. The distortion is very great in
some parts, and it is difficult to identify a few of the
groups on this account and because the spots repre-
senting bright stars are so large. Fourth magnitude
stars are represented by rings. and the effect is very
unsatisfactory. A chart of this kind should aim at
conveying a more or less faithful impression of the
appearance of the stellar sky, but these white rings on
a blue ground spoil the picture and ought not to have
been introduced. Though the chart is said to have
been ‘‘ designed both for beginners and advanced
students of astronomy,’’ we are afraid that beginners
would find it very confusing, and that working
observers of the heavens would derive little real
assistance from it.

NA TORLE

[January 18, 1906

270

Lehrbuch der Meteorologie. Second edition. By Prof.
Julius Hann. Pp. 642. (Leipzig: Herm. Tauch-
nitz, 1905.) Price 24 marks.

In the year igor the author of this volume published
the first edition, and on its appearance it was uni-
versally announced as the “ classic ’”? of meteorological
literature. The work itself was a veritable mine of
information, and the host of reference to original
sources made it an absolute necessity for anyone deal-
ing with this science to have it in his possession.

We have now before us a second edition. In this
the author has made considerable alteration. In the
first place, the size of the volume, as regards amount
of matter it contains, has been very apr reduced, a
host of original references have been dispensed with,
and the subject i is dealt with in a more brief form. So
rapid has been the progress of meteorological science,
and so many have been the changes in adeae on numer-
ous fundamental issues, that in many places this
matter has had to be completely overhauled. Thus, to
take one instance, namely, the investigation of the
upper air by means of kites, balloons, and ballons-
sondes, new light has been andere on the movements
of atmospheric currents, and innumerable data col-
lected. relating to temperature, pressure, and other
elements in the higher strata.

The above is one of many cases where reconstruc-
tion has been rigorously carried out. Further, the in-
sertion of all this, the latest, material has necessitated
a great number of new references, so that the pre-
sent volume with regard to these may be considered
as a supplement to the first.

Several new and useful tables have been inserted in
an appendix, one of these being a table of mean
monthly and annual temperatures of 143 places in
different parts of the world.

In the text are eighty-nine figures, nine autotype
plates, and fourteen charts. The get-up of the book
is of the same high standard of order as that of the
first edition, the paper and printing being all that
could be desired.

The volume should be in the hands of everyone who
is in any way interested in meteorology, and is another
very valuable addition to our meteorological literature
by the master of the subject.

The Uses of British Plants. By Rev. Prof. G.
Henslow. Pp. vit+184. (London: Lovell Reeve
and Co., Ltd., 1905.) Price 4s. 6d. net.

Asour forty years ago a book was published on the
‘Useful Plants of Great Britain,” written by C. P.
Johnson and illustrated by J. E. Sowerby. Judging
from the few copies one meets with, there has
not been in the past much demand for information
of this nature, but there is some indication of in-
creased interest being taken in economic botany.
The arrangement adopted by Prof. Henslow, in which
he follows the nomenclature and order laid down in
Bentham’s ‘‘ British Flora,’? accompanied, too, by the
same set of illustrations, makes this practically a
companion volume. Owing to the cost of production
or the discovery of better substitutes, several plants
once grown in the British Isles for their products
have gone out of cultivation; the dyes produced by
Rhamnus, Genista, and Rubia have been superseded
by aniline dyes, and very few woad mills remain; one
of those still existing was described in Nature,
November 12, 1896; nettle-cloth is not likely to be
revived unless the term is applied to the material
produced from rhea or the Nilgherry nettle, two
exotic Urticaceae. Such productions, and the cultiva-
tion of certain plants formerly reputed to be effica-
cious, are mainly interesting on account of their

NO. 1890, VOL. 73]

historical association, and with these the author deals
sufficiently fully; also he has given a good deal of
space to the derivations of the Latin names. On the
other hand, he might have enlarged with advantage
in the case of those plants which are still cultivated
or which are closely allied to plants of economic value.
The book is restricted to flowering plants.

LELTERS TO THEEDITOR:

[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions
expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake
to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected
manuscripts intended for this or any other part of NATURE.
No notice is taken of anonymous communications.]

Cheirality of Form of Crystals of Epsom Salt.

In studying the optical behaviour of the optically active
biaxial crystals of zinc sulphate (ZnSO,7H,O) and Epsom
salt (MgSO,7H,O), I found that the rotation (which, the
crystal being trimetric, is the same for each optic axis)
was to the left in all the thirteen crystals that I prepared. —
I then turned my attention to the crystalline form, which
affords a more rapid means of determination of the
cheirality, and is, moreover, applicable to small crystals.
In the case of Epsom salt, twenty-two crystals were ex-
amined; sixteen of them were found to be positive, six
doubtful, while not one was found to be negative. The
crystal accepted as positive is that of which a diagram is

given in Watt’s ‘* Dictionary of Chemistry ’’ (vol. ii.,
p- 150, diag. 282, 1883). In examining the form, the

smallest of the faces +P/2 and —P/2 was looked for,
and then considered as belonging to the set of small faces,
even if, as occasionally happened, others of the same set
were large. The cheirality of form of zinc sulphate
crystals is not marked enough to permit of any certainty
of identification. The reason for this constant selection
by the substance of a particular one of the two possible
forms is perhaps that the crystallisation may have been
occasioned by particles of organic dust that are themselves
cheiral. H. C. PockiinGTon.

Deposits on Telephone Wires.

Ar East London, in the Cape Colony, one of the in-
habitants recently complained that two telephone wires
passing over his roof, an iron one, were seriously injuring
it, and asked that they might be removed at once, and
the building re-roofed at the cost of the Government. In
support of his statements he referred to some lines of a
whitish colour on the roof immediately under the wires.
Many theories were advanced, one being that the moist
sea air laden with salt had condensed on the wires, and
that when the moisture had evaporated the salt had been
shaken loose by the vibration and fallen on the roof, form-
ing in time the lines referred to. The officials on the spot
stated that they could taste the salt; but on some of the de-
posit being removed from the roof the iron was found to
be quite intact. On the powder being analysed not a
trace of salt or of any chloride, soluble or insoluble, could
be found, and the result of the analysis showed the deposit
to be nothing but silica, with very faint traces of iron and
lime. The sand, a fine powder, must have been blown on
to the wires when they were damp, and on evaporation of
the moisture taking place have fallen on the roof owing
to the vibration of the wires.

A SUBSCRIBER.

Sounding Stones.

Apropos of Mr. Tingle’s letter of last week, it may be
of interest to note that “fairly good specimens of ‘‘ sounding
stones’? occur at Corick, on the borders of the barony
of Erris, co. Mayo. The bridge at this village is known
as the ‘‘ musical bridge,’’ from the fact that stones which
form the coping of the parapet give out a musical note
when struck with a piece of stone or metal.

T. Ditton.

Ballina, co. Mayo, January 8.

January 18, 1906]

NATURE

27

MORE ABOUT JAPAN.

ape interest that has been awakened in Japan

through her wonderful exploits in the war
against Russia makes a book on her systems of
fighting—both ancient and modern—particularly
welcome when military experts are still marvelling at
the perfection of her organisation in war time, bring-
ing as it has done the success which follows as the
natural result of attention to the smallest details.

In ‘The Fighting Man of Japan’’* we have a
very interesting little book by Mr. F. J. Norman, who
is eminently fitted to discourse on the ‘‘ Exercises and
Training of the Samurai,”’ having passed many years
in Japan as instructor to some of the military and
civilian colleges. As the author claims the indulgence
of his readers in his preface, it is perhaps hardly fair
to notice the grammatical errors that occur here and
there, and after all they do not alter the interest of
the book; but it would have been advisable to omit
the blatant advertisements of a cer-
tain jujitsu school both at the be-
ginning and end of the book, for the
especial benefit of which the author
confesses to have written his work.

The book is divided into four
chapters, each of which deals with
a separate subject. The first gives
a rapid sketch of Japanese military
history dating from 1543, which is
as far back as our European know-
ledge of it extends, and incidentally
giving a description of the spirit
which animated the ‘‘ Samurai’’ of
old—and a very different one, it
would appear from Mr. Norman’s
account, from that which guided our
knights and crusaders; but East is
East and West is West, and how-
ever much the Orientals assimilate
our ideas of civilisation and educa-
tion, the spirit will remain un-
altered; their ideals and ours will for
ever be as far distant as the poles.
One example of this is enough :—
“The bushi (or warrior) .. . held
to the maxim that ‘ all is fair in love
and war,’ and scrupled not to resort
to devices of the most dishonourable
kind in order to gain a desired
object ’?; and in the case of a hand-
to-hand fight, were his opponent to
fall or lose his sword this was re-
garded as the best possible occasion
for hacking at him while he was
down and unable to defend himself.

Mr. Norman considers the Dutch to have been the
first to attempt to train a Japanese naval force,
although he allows that the Portuguese and Spanish
friars of the sixteenth century must be credited as the
first instructors of the ‘‘ Far Easterners’? in the art
of shipbuilding and the science of navigation. It isa
remarkable fact not generally known that in the
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries many modes of self-
defence were practised by the Dutch that were almost
identical with those used by the Japanese in the art
of jujitsu. The question is, Did the Dutch take their
ideas to Japan, or were they taught by the Japanese ?
A very interesting book illustrating many modes of
self-defence that are the same as those used to-day
by the Japanese was written early in the sixteenth
century by one Nicolas Petter.

1 “The Fighting Man of Japan.” By F. J. Norman. (The Training

and Exercises of the Samurai.) Pp. xii+79. (Londen: Archibald Constable
and Co., Ltd., 1905.) Price 2s. 6.

NO. 1890, VOL. 73]

Fic. 1.—Corps 4 Corps A la Japonaise.

Speaking of the Portuguese and Spanish friars, the
name of St. Francis Xavier stands out above all others
on account of his wide personal influence among the
Japanese, and this clever Jesuit made more converts
to the Roman faith than have ever been made since
by the missionaries of any other creed. That he loved
the Japanese is proved by his writing to France early
in the sixteenth century :—‘‘ These people (meaning
the Japanese) are the delight of my soul.’’ Unfor-
tunately, his good influence was entirely destroyed by
the arrival of European traders who exploited the un-
suspecting Orientals in such an unprincipled way that
they rose en masse and massacred almost every one of
the foreigners, and after this regarded them with such
distrust and detestation that it was many years before
they could regain any foothold in the country.

An interesting chapter is that on the education of
the naval and military officers, showing what a very
fine sieve has to be passed through before the aspir-

From “‘ The Fighting Man of Japan.”

ants are thought capable and worthy of defending
their country either as sailors or soldiers. The system
of the fine sieve is of course applied to the officers
only in each service; the rank and file receive a sound
practical training, but ‘‘ little or no attention is paid
by the officers to the teaching of parade and show
movements to their men. . . . Women not occupying
the position in Japanese Society they do in the West,
little or no pains are taken by the military authorities
of the Mikado to cater for their amusement, and the
result is one never sees any ‘ Agricultural Hall tom-
foolery ’ in Japan.’’

The chapter on ‘‘ Kenjutsu’’ deals with the affec-
tion the Japanese have always felt for the sword, and
the great cleverness they exhibit when using it in a
hand-to-hand fight. This cleverness would appear to
be the result of much practice in ‘‘ kenjutsu,’’ for
which a “ shinai,’’ or practice sword, is used, made
from four strips of bamboo bound together at the

272

NATURE

[JANuaRY 18, 1906

handle with a strong leather covering. One illustra- |

tion here reproduced represents a corps a corps a la

Japonaise, and, judging from the photograph, it is |

allowable to combine a trip with a hit, as one fencer
is trying to knock his opponent over with a hit at
the neck,
him with a sort of jujitsu trip.

The last chapter describes the sumo or wrestling
of the Japanese—to many a most repulsive spectacle
on account of the enormously fat bodies of the par-
ticular class of men who follow this profession; but
a fight between two expert sumdtori is for the
Japanese an event of almost national importance, and
they flock in thousands to the huge amphitheatre in
the centre of which the tussle takes place. The second
illustration shows two combatants in a crouching
position waiting for a chance to spring at each other.

The last few pages of the book are devoted to
jujitsu, but as nothing new is said on this subject
and the photographs are very poor there is no need
to enter into detailed description.

Fic. 2.—Tachi-ai, or watching for an opening. From ‘The Fighting Man of Japan.”

very pleasant hour may be spent over the perusal of

this interesting little bools. E. W.
PE® ARDUA AD ASTRA should be the motto for

a cultivator of the lunar theory. There is no
austerer road to prove oneself a man of mettle.
Incredibile studium atque indefessus labor was Euler’s
summary upon it, and improvement of method since
Euler’s time has diminished neither studium nor
labor. The work now brought to completion has
occupied Prof. Brown (and a computer) since 1895,
almost to the exclusion of other researches, and for
some years before that he was busied with developing
its methods. Moreover, the present stage is only a
level whence he can take breath to proceed.

It is a fact to remember in mathematical astronomy
that problems mathematically identical are often
astronomically opposite as the poles. The theory of
the moon from a geometer’s point of view is simply
the theory of one of the planets. It is the special
values of the constants alone which distinguishes the

T ** Theory of the Motion of the Moon.’ By Iirnest W. Brown, F.R.S.
In the Memoirs of the Royal Astronomical Society, vols. liii., liv., lvii.

NO. 1890, VOL. 73]

THE MOTION OF THE MOON.

at the same time taking his leg from under |

For the rest, a |

case. The astronomer seeks a correct ephemeris, but a
mathematical instinct seeks to solve the question as
a case of the problem of three bodies, and Delaunay’s
two enormous volumes will show what labours may
be undertaken to obtain full literal development of
the moon’s coordinates which shall be approximate
enough to meet the needs of the observer. Unfor-
tunately the expressions when obtained are in many
cases so imperfectly convergent that they give neither
a solution of the three-bodies-problem nor do they
surpass the observations in precision, as calculation
should. It seems that unless some wholly new
device is found we must be content to separate the
problem into two parts, leaving literal developments
for special mathematical researches throwing light
upon the problem of three bodies, such as G. W.
Hill’s investigations of periodic moons of different
mean motions, and making the developments essen-
tially numerical when they are designed to form the
basis for tables, although by so doing the former
part loses all observational interest and the latter

nearly all that is mathematical. Prof.
Brown’s_ theory is neither wholly
numerical like that of Hansen nor

wholly literal like that of Delaunay.
The mean motion alone is treated as
numerical, the other constants as eccen-
tricities and inclination appearing in
literal form. This was a plan Adams
always urged, and from time to time he
made considerable studies to give effect
to it. When there otherwise remain four
parameters according to powers of which
each coefficient must converge, it is
clearly an immense gain to omit a fifth
when that fifth is answerable for all the
worst cases of slow convergence; and
while the mean motion may be con-
sidered known, it is hardly the case with
the other constants, the lunar eccen-
tricity, for example, and the ratio of the
mean distances of the sun and moon
being uncertain within the limits over
which debate ranges, so that it is
essential that the calculator should not
be tied to a single set of elements at the
outset.

Besides this idea Prof. Brown’s re-
search rests upon two clear and
solid supports. First is the use of rectangular
moving axes of reference, which he points out—
and otherwise it seems to have passed from
memory—was developed by Euler. But perhaps
as much as anything his success is due to the
brilliant transformation of the equations of motion
given by G. W. Hill. It detracts not the least from
Prof. Brown’s achievement that his main ideas
and methods are derived from earlier masters. The
tools were ready to hand for one who had the learn-
ing and judgment to use them. Anyone who has
faced a similar task knows that there remain
abundant calls for resource and invention, as well as
for comprehensive patience, in fitting given plans
together and working them out abreast in every
remote ramification of a subject, without fidgeting
about “ originality.’

The work is not yet at a stage to put to proof by
calculation of: an ephemeris, which indeed would
need the calculation of lunar places for a great many
years backwards and forwards to prove that it is
superior to Hansen, cr to Hansen plus Newcomb.
But even now it is almost certain that it will be so.
First its methods are more intelligible and above

January 18, 1906]

NATURE

273

board than those of Hansen, and so there is a better
chance of correcting the errors, which no mortal can
altogether escape. Next the constants are not stereo-
typed, and if it is necessary to change them the effect
can be made visible; and for a searching piece of
evidence, Prof. Brown has shown already that his
calculations remove the last shred of disagreement
between the calculated and observed motions of the
moon’s apse. Finally, in a recent analysis of the
Greenwich observations back to 1750, Mr. P. H.
Cowell has given a most striking verification of all
Prof. Brown’s coefficients.

When Prof. Brown constructs his tables there is
an error Hansen fell into which he may be trusted
to avoid. In order to improve the agreement with
observation, Hansen introduced a certain empirical
element. An empirical correction is better than
nothing, but it cannot be too clearly recognised that
until it is furnished with a theoretical basis it is
no more than a mathematical memoria technica.
Certainly its place is not in a set of tables, the sole
function of which is to expose correctly and fully
the consequences of a clear theory and definite
elements, with the view of testing the one and amend-
ing the others. 1k NS SE

THE CONTROL OF THE GAS SUPPLY OF
THE METROPOLIS.

pe notification of the metropolitan gas referees

just issued differs in several respects from that
for the preceding year, a change necessitated by the
provisions of the London Gas Act, 1905. For some
years past the London gas companies have been ask-
ing for the revision of their Acts, with reference more
especially to the system of testing to which their gas
is subjected. In the early days of gas supply, when
there was free competition and the consumer had the
choice of more than one company, no testing was re-
garded as necessary, but when, owing to the amalga-
mation and consolidation of the gas companies, the
supply became a monopoly, a system of testing the
purity and illuminating power of the gas was insti-
tuted. The whole of the arrangements for testing
London gas, with the exception of one or two points
specially laid down in some of the Acts, are left to
the discretion of the gas referees, originally appointed
under the City of London Gas Act, 1868. It was
alleged by the companies that the requirements of the
referees were too stringent and out of touch with the
modern developments of gas manufacture. In
January, 1904, a departmental committee of the
Board of Trade was appointed to inquire and report
as to the whole system of gas-testing in the metropolis.
At the inquiry the committee heard evidence from the
gas referees, and from representatives of the London
County Council, the Corporation of London, and each
of the three gas companies concerned. It is note-
worthy that no actual consumer was heard, although
on one of the most important points dealt with by
the committee, the question of sulphur impurity, the
committee in its report says, ‘‘ It does not appear that
any complaints are made by the inhabitants of other
districts on the ground that the gas thus unpurified
causes injury to health or is more destructive to
articles such as leather, &c., than it is supposed to be
in London.”’

The report of the committee was almost wholly
favourable to the companies. The mode of testing
for sulphuretted hydrogen is to be relaxed, a test last-
ing three minutes being substituted for one spread over
15 hours, and all sulphur compounds other than sul-
phuretted hydrogen may be, and henceforth will be,
left in the gas. The evidence of the companies as to

NO. 1890, VOL. 73]

the amount of sulphur impurity under the new condi-
tions was to the effect that an average of 35 grains
per 100 c.ft. or under might be expected, with the possi-
bility of an occasional rise to 40, the maximum under
the Acts just repealed being 17 grains in summer and
22 grains in winter. The figures for the amount of
sulphur present in the gas supplied by the South
Metropolitan Company during December last throw
a instructive light on the value of this evidence, the
weekly average increasing from 40-8 to 44-6 grains
per too c.ft. with a single maximum of 61-3. On one
occasion the Commercial Gas Company surpassed
even this figure with a maximum of 70-2. It is clear,
therefore, that the gas now to be supplied to London
may contain about double the amount of sulphur
contemplated by the departmental committee, and
this is of interest in view of the fact that a Bill is now
before Parliament promulgated by various provincial
gas companies asking to be placed in the same posi-
tion as the London companies as regards the removal
of sulphur restrictions.

In one point the report of the departmental com-
mittee was favourable to the consumer. It recom-
mended that the standard burner for testing the illu-
minating power of all qualities of gas should be the
burner at present in use, the Sugg’s London Argand
No. 1, the gas to be burnt at the rate of five feet per
hour. The gas referees in their present notification
disregard this recommendation, and prescribe a
burner devised by the engineer to the South Metro-
politan Gas Company. The practical effect of this will
be to increase the nominal illuminating power of the
gas supplied by those companies having a 14-candle
standard. It will be seen, therefore, that the new con-
ditions are wholly favourable to the companies.

There remains one new point in the gas referees’
notification, the prescription of a method of determin-
ing the calorific power of gas) bhie calorimeter,
which has been devised by Mr. C. V. Boys, appears
to be a distinct advance over its predecessors of the
same type, and when it is installed in the testing sta-
tions systematic measurements of the calorific power
ef London gas will, for the first time, be on record,
and will be available for the next battle on the gas
question, calorific power v. illuminating power.

PROF. C. J. JOLY, F.R.S.

HE lamentable death of Prof. C. J. Joly at the
early age of forty-one closes a career which was
likely to influence favourably the mathematical side
of astronomy. But his tenancy of the post of Royal
Astronomer of Ireland and Andrews Professor in the
University of Dublin was, alas! too short for him to
make his individuality felt in the science with which
he was connected by his occupancy of the chair, that
has of late been held by Sir Robert Ball and Dr.
Arthur Rambaut. The traditions of the office, and it
may be the interrupted work of these astronomers,
would naturally compel him for a time to follow cer-
tain definite lines which the previous occupants of the
chair had approved. But his work in the department
of pure and applied mathematics was of a high order
and affords abundant evidence of originality and
capacity.

From the time that Prof. Joly entered Trinity Col-
lege, Dublin, his academic career was marked by his
devotion to natural science, and mathematical scholar-
ships and studentships were the natural preliminaries
that led to a later fellowship. In this position he dis-
tinguished himself as a successful teacher of advanced
science, but in 1897, when Dr. Arthur Rambaut was
appointed to the office of Radcliffe observer, Dr. Joly

274

NA LORE,

[January 18, 1906

succeeded to the chair of astronomy, and his lectures
and teaching were necessarily more limited.

Prof Joly will be best remembered by his loyalty to
the memory of Sir William Hamilton, of whose
** Manual of Quaternions ’’ he prepared a new edition.
He endeavoured to promote the study of this branch
of mathematics in various ways, by his original
writings, in which he sought to bring projective
geometry within this special method of treatment,
and by the support he gave to the International
Association for Promoting the Study of Quaternions
and Allied Systems of Mathematics. We are also
indebted to him for the third edition of Preston’s
“Theory of Light,’? while many papers in the
Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy testify to
his industry and power.

Prof. Joly was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society
in 1904; he acted as secretary to the Royal Irish
Academy from 1902, and was a member of many
learned societies. He was a delightful companion,
with a memory well stored with anecdotes of Hamil-
ton, of Airy, of Robinson, and many another worthy;
as a teacher he had the power of interesting his
class and awakening their energies, and all too soon
he is removed from a circle which he loved, and a

society that his abilities adorned. W. E- Py
NOTES.
Sirk Mowunrstuart E. Grant-Durr, G.C.S.1., F.R.S.,

who died in London on Thursday, January 11, at seventy-
six years of age, will long be remembered by his ‘‘ Notes
from a Diary ’’—a series of fourteen volumes full of chatty
reminiscences extending from January, 1851, to January,
1901. Many distinguished men of science, both at home
and abroad, were met by the author during this period of
fifty years, and in each of the volumes of his diary are
preserved interesting anecdotes and pithy remarks made by
his acquaintances in the scientific world. Sir Mountstuart
was fond of natural history, and particularly of botany,
to which he devoted much attention. The 117th volume
of the Botanical Magazine was dedicated to him by Sir
‘Joseph Hooker ‘‘ as a slight acknowledgment of the valu-
able services which you rendered to botany and horticulture
when Under-Secretary of State, first for India and then
for the Colonies, and lately when Governor of the Madras
Presidency.’’ He was president of the Royal Geographical
Society from 1889 to 1893, and a member of the Senate
of the University of London in 18or. By his spirit of
investigation and sympathetic interest in scientific work—
attributes not possessed by many statesmen—Sir Mount-
stuart secured the kindly feelings of all who are concerned
with the study of nature.

WE regret to see the announcement that Dr. H. Fees
Sprengel, F.R.S., the inventor of the mercury air-pump
which bears his
years of age.

name, died on Sunday, at seventy-two

A MEMoRIAL to the late Dr. George Salmon, F.R.S.,
Provost of Trinity College, Dublin, unveiled on
Friday, January 5, in the national cathedral of St.
Patrick’s, with which Dr. Salmon was officially associated
during the best years of his life. An account of the cere-
mony appeared in the Kensington Express of January 5,
from that the memorial consists of two
windows in St. Peter’s Chapel, the work of Mr. G. E.
Kempe, depicting scenes in the career of St. Peter, anda
medallion of Dr. Salmon, by Mr. A. Bruce-Joy, with a
Latin inscription of which the following is a translation :—

NO. 1890, VOL.

*

was

learn

which we

52

i)

“That the name of George Salmon may abide in the
memory of mankind this monument has been erected by his
faithful friends and grateful pupils. Fellow of Trinity
College, Dublin—afterwards Regius Professor of Divinity,
and finally Provost, he was for thirty-three years Chancellor
of this Cathedral Church. A mathematician both adroit
and powerful; he probed with keen insight the beginnings
of Christian history, and specially the origin of the New
Testament Books; as teacher and councillor he was un-
wearied in the service of the Irish Church. Shrewd,
courteous, serious, kindly. He was born in 1819, and died
in 1904. The fear of the Lord is the distinction of wisdom,
and before honour is humility.’’

A cirt of 1oool. has been received by the Royal Botanic
Society from a fellow of the society, Dr. Robert Barnes.

THe widow and children of the late Dr. von Siegle, of
Stuttgart, have presented 50,000 marks in memory of the
deceased to the chemical institute of the University of
Tubingen.

Pror. Emir Fiscner has been elected president of the
German Chemical Society for this year. Prof. S. Gabriel,
Berlin, and Prof. W. Stadel, Darmstadt, have been
appointed vice-presidents in succession to Profs. O. N.
Witt and H. Caro, who are retiring, whilst Drs. F. Mylius
and .\. Bannon have undertaken the duties of the secretary-
ship in succession to Drs. C. Schotten and W. Will. The
post of librarian to the society, which hitherto has been
held by Prof. Gabriel, has yet to be filled by the president.
The society’s funds are estimated at 762,635 marks, whilst
the A. W. von Hofmann fund has nearly reached 45,000
marks.

At Christiania on December 29, 1905, there gathered
together under the presidency of Mr. John Sebelien a
number of men interested in questions of agriculture and
scientific subjects to celebrate the acquisition of a national
independence in the past year. A fund was opened for
the purpose of fostering research in the subject of Nor-
wegian agriculture, to which fund all Norwegians, both
at home and abroad, are invited to subscribe. When the
sum of 15,000 kr. (833/.) has been subscribed, it is pro-
posed to invite prize essays on particular questions, and to
reward Norwegian scientific work in certain branches of
learning; and later still it is intended financially to aid
research work in agricultural science directly.

A Reuter message from Naples states that on January 10
three streams of lava were pouring down Vesuvius on the
side upon which is situated Cook’s funicular railway.
The railway was seriously damaged, and the lava had
reached the lower station. At the same date Etna was
also active, a large amount of volcanic ash being ejected
from the principal crater.

Tne Geological Society of London will this year make
the following awards of medals and funds :—Wollaston
medal to Dr. Henry Woodward, F.R.S.; Murchison medal
to Mr. C. T. Clough; Lyell medal to Prof. F. D. Adams,
of Montreal; Prestwich medal to Mr. W. Whitaker,
F.R.S.; Wollaston fund to Dr. F. L. Kitchin; Murchison
fund to Mr. H. Lapworth; Lyell fund to Mr. W. G.
Fearnsides and Mr. R. H. Solly; Barlow-Jameson fund to
Mr. H. C. Beasley.

DurinGc this month and next an exhibition of studies
and effects obtained by current methods of colour photo-
graphy will be open at the office of the British Journal of
Photography, 24 Wellington Street, Strand, W.C. The

January 18, 1906]

NATORE

275

aim of the exhibition is to show results produced without
the intervention of half-tone blocks, or the aid of printing
machines. Flower and fruit studies, portraits, and land-
scapes are represented by three-colour prints produced by
various processes, and among the subjects of transparencies
are stained glass windows, diffraction grating spectrum,
micro-organisms and crystals, butterflies, and a Lippmann
spectrum.

We learn from the British Medical Journal that an
international exhibition will be held under the patronage
of the King of Italy at Milan on the occasion of the open-
ing of the Simplon Tunnel. It will include a section of
hygiene embracing general hygiene, public health, sanitary
services, rural and industrial hygiene. The exhibition will
be open from April to November. The third International
Congress of Medical Electrology and Radiology will be
held at Milan on September 5-9. Information as to
membership may be obtained from Dr. Herschell, 36 Harley
Street, London, W.

Tut Weekly Weather Report of the Meteorological Office
for the current year, which commenced with the issue of
the report for the week ending Saturday, January 6, on
Thursday last, has some novel features. The verbal de-
scription of the week’s weather is placed in a more
prominent position on the front page, and a table of the
accumulated temperature, rainfall, and sunshine in the
various districts for the aggregate of weeks from the com-
mencement of the current season, winter, is given, in
addition to the usual tables for the week and the aggregates
from the commencement of the calendar year. In the table
of detailed statistics for stations the groups of names in-
cluded in the meteorological districts are subdivided to
facilitate the compilation of values for the divisions of
the country adopted for agricultural purposes by the Board
of Agriculture. There is no change in the part of the
report devoted to the daily summary of weather over
Europe, but at the end, in place of the tables of addenda
and errata, there appears an entirely new table of observ-
ations in the upper air. The first issue includes the
observations by Mr. W. H. Dines at Oxshott on the 3rd,
4th, and sth of the month, the days of international
cooperation, and those of a kite ascent by Mr. C. J. P.
Cave at Ditcham Park on the first day of the year. The
last disclosed a remarkable temperature inversion, obviously
in the region of junction between an eastern and western
supply of south-easterly wind over the British Islands as
shown on the maps. The juxtaposition of these observ-
ations and the maps showing the distribution of pressure
over Europe make the inclusion of the week’s results for
the upper air in the report a very interesting feature, and
it is to be hoped that in succeeding weeks the new
development may be as fortunate as in its first number.

Tue Times of January 6 contained an interesting account
of despatches which have been received from the American
travellers Mr. R. L. Barrett and Mr. Ellsworth Huntington,
who are conducting an expedition in the Tarim basin.
The explorers have fully studied some of the river systems
between Khotan and Keriya, and made additions to our
knowledge of the Tarim basin which bring out the striking
resemblance of the basin to an inland sea. The examin-
ation of the ruins of abandoned villages appears to have
thrown a good deal of fresh light on the gradual desiccation
of Central Asia within historic times.

In the issue of Nature for August 13, 1903 (vol. Ixviii.
Pp 347), an illustrated account was given of the tetrahedral
cell kites designed by Dr. A. Graham Bell. We learn

NO. 1890, VOL. 73]

from a Canadian contemporary, the Halifax Herald, that
Dr. Bell thinks he is a step nearer the attainment of his
ambition to perfect a flying machine based on the tetra-
hedral kite principle. A new kite, constructed of 1300
tetrahedral cells, having a total area of 752 square feet
of silk, making a supporting surface of 440 square feet,
carried to a height of 30 feet, in a recent trial, not only
its own weight of 6r Ib., but also a load comprising flying
lines, dangling ropes, and a rope ladder, making 62 Ib.
more, together with a man weighing 168 lb., a total
altogether of 291 Ib.

In the Engineering and Mining Journal of New York
of December 23, 1905, there is a reproduction of the
selected design for the United Engineering Building, the
building presented by Mr. Andrew Carnegie to the
American Institute of Electrical Engineers, the American
Society of Mechanical Engineers, the American Institute
of Mining Engineers, and the Engineers’ Club. The site
has a frontage of 125 feet and a depth of 100 feet. The
contract for construction was signed in July, 1905, and
the contract limit is fifteen months to the date of expected
completion. The building will serve the convenience of
the four societies mentioned, and is also to furnish accom-
modation for other societies that have engineering or some
other department of science as their principal object.

Tue disaster at Charing Cross Station at 3.30 p.m. on
December 5, 1905, caused by the sudden snapping of the
tie-bar in the truss next to the wind-screen at the southern
end of the station has caused much perturbation in
engineering circles, and is dealt with at considerable length
in the engineering journals. An excellent illustrated de-
scription of the roof is given in the January issue of the
Engineering Review, and photographs of the fracture of
the tie-bar are given in the Engineer and in Engineering
of January 12. The tie-bar was nominally 43 inches in
diameter, and it was found that at the point of fracture
there was an imperfect weld, the iron having been united
properly over only about one-third of the section, so that
the stress at that point was three times as great as it was
designed to be. In fact, it was more than this, for the
sound metal, being at one side of the line of tension, was
subject to a bending force, and the state of affairs was
somewhat similar to a notched bar under bending stress.
The verdict given at the coroner’s inquest on January 8
was to the effect that the accident was due to the breaking
of the tie-rod through an unforeseen flaw, and that no
blame was attached to any of the railway company’s
officials.

We have received a copy of part v. of the ‘‘ Marine Fauna
of Ireland,”’ published by the fisheries branch of the Irish
Department of Agriculture, in which Mr. W. M. Tatter-
sall discusses the isopod crustaceans. Some difficulty has
been experienced in getting a good series of these creatures
owing to the fact that the majority are not pelagic, and
are, therefore, not taken in tow-nets. Nevertheless, the
author describes no less than ten species as new, half of
which are made the types of new genera, while one is
regarded as representing a new family.

AmonG the numerous and varied contents of the Proceed-
ings of the Indiana Academy for 1904, attention may be
directed to a remarkably fine series of photographs of the
nests and eggs—in some instances also the young—of a
number of the birds of the district in their natural surround-
Two of these are of special interest as showing the
heron, first with eggs and then

In many cases great difficulty

ings.
nest of the little green
with the downy young.

276

ING AIMCO G sol

[January 18, 1906

must have been experienced in getting the camera into
position, and in some instances the whole side of a tree-
stem has been cut away in order to show the eggs.
Indian ceremonies form the subject of several articles at
the close of the volume.

In the course of an account of the Hastings Museum,
Worcester, published in the December (1905) issue of the
Museums Journal, the curator, Mr. W. H. Edwards, takes
occasion to emphasise the extreme importance of the de-
velopment of local collections. ‘‘ If there are among my
hearers,’’ he observes, ‘‘ any who are in the happy position
of having charge of a newly started museum may I strongly
urge them to make their local, or county collections, in
all branches, as complete as possible, as no opportunity
should be lost in acquiring specimens which have any
bearing on the past history of a district.’ These views
accord with those that have on more than one occasion
been advanced in our columns. In a second article in the
same issue it is somewhat amusing to find an author
urging that a proposed new institution should be, as re-
gards fhe exhibited series, ‘‘ unlike ordinary museums,
where, as far as possible, every species, and even varieties,
are represented.’’ In how many museums, ‘“‘ ordinary ”’
or otherwise, is such a series displayed, and where is there
one which would hold it?

Tue whole of parts iii. and iv. of vol. xxxiv. of Gegen-
baur’s Morphol. Jahrbuch are occupied by a long essay
on the tympanic region of the
Dr. P. N. van Kampen, of Amsterdam. The article
is an expansion of an address delivered by the author
in Amsterdam in 1904. Within the space ofa
brief paragraph it is quite impossible to do justice to
its contents, and it must in the main suffice to direct
the attention of those interested in the subject to the
mine of information it contains. It is interesting, how-
ever, to note that the author regards the primitive con-
dition of the mammalian tympanum as consisting of a
small and often incomplete ring, with, at most, an imper-
fect ventral wall to the tympanic cavity, and that a close
approximation to this condition is presented by Ornitho-
rhynchus. The tympano-hyal is the characteristic mam-
malian element in this region, but the ento-tympanic is
_also regarded as peculiar to the group, and unrepresented
among the lower classes. As regards the tympanum itself,
the author considers it to be a special development from
one of the elements—probably the supra-angular—of the
reptilian compound lower jaw. The features presented by

the region are held to be of considerable value in classifi-
cation.

Tue Carnegie Institution of Washington has published
a volume of 193 pages, by Profs. W. O. Atwater and
F. G. Benedict, giving a description of a respiration calori-
meter with appliances for the direct determination of
oxygen. The apparatus has been in process of develop-
ment for twelve years, and has been designed with a view
to a proper understanding of the metabolism or transform-
ations of matter and energy in the body, by obtaining a
knowledge of both total income and total outgo. After
describing the calorimeter and the methods adopted for the
calculation of results, the experiments with man are con-
sidered. Since the completion of the new apparatus,
twenty-two experiments with five different subjects, cover-
ing a total of sixty days, have been conducted. These
experiments lasted from one to thirteen days, during
which time the subject remained enclosed in the calori-
meter chamber. In general, each was pre-

NO. 1890, VOL. 73]

experiment

mammalian skull, by ;

ceded by a preliminary period outside the chamber,
during which the subject was given the special diet to be
tested, and his habits of life were so modified as to
conform with those to be followed in the chamber. The
following determinations of intake and output of material
were made in the experiments :—The intake consists of
food, drink, and oxygen from respired air. The amounts
are determined by weighing. The output of material
consists of products of respiration and perspiration, urine,
and faeces. In the measurement of intake and output of
energy the intake is derived from the potential energy,
i.e. heats of combustion of the food. The output consists
of sensible heat given off from the body, the latent heat of
the water vapourised, and the potential energy, i.e. heat
of combustion of the unoxidised portions of the dry matter
of urine and feces. In certain cases, e.g. work experi-
ments, a portion of the output is in the heat equivalent of
external muscular work.

In the Bulletin du Jardin impérial botanique of St.
Petersburg, vol. v., part iv., Mr. N. Busch describes a new
Aconite, section Napellus, and a new Delphinium. Both
plants were grown in the garden from seed collected in
Tibet by Mr. W. T. Ladygin. A list of the known species
of Iris from Turkestan is contributed by Mr. and Mrs. B.
Fedtchenko, including several new species all belonging
to the section Juno.

Dr. B. M. Duccar, formerly a member of the scientific
staff of the United States Department of Agriculture, has
for some years been experimenting on better methods of
propagation of mushrooms than the present chance method
depending upon natural virgin spawn. His latest results
are published in Bulletin No. 85 of the Bureau of Plant
Industry. No more certain method for germinating the
spores has been devised than that discovered by Dr.
Margaret Ferguson of adding a portion of mycelium to
the culture; but the latest experiments proceed on a new
line of producing virgin spawn from pure cultures. A por-
tion of the inner tissue of a young selected mushroom is
transferred to a sterilised compost in tubes, and the
mycelium produced in this way under pure culture con-
ditions is sown on bricks of manure.

Two recent numbers of the Transactions of the Academy
of Science of St. Louis deal with botanical subjects. In
vol. xiv., No. 7, Mr. B. F. Bush presents a summary of
the species of Tradescantia from Texas, in which he adopts
the view that certain forms referred to Tradescantia
virginiana, notably Tradescantia reflexa, should rank as
independent species. In vol. xv., No. 1, Dr. L. Wittmack
writes on our present knowledge of ancient plants. He
mentions that some of the wheat found in Egyptian
sarcophagi and in Asia Minor shows the characters of the
wild grain, and that the barley is of the variety
hexastrichum, having six rows in the ear. From Peruvian
sepulchres two kinds of bean have been identified as the
Lima bean, Phaseolus lunatus, and the French or haricot
bean, Phaseolus vulgaris. The author pronounces in favour
of American origin for the latter. 2

Ir will be known to readers of Nature that one of the
principal objects before the botanical congress held in
Vienna last June was to formulate satisfactory laws for
regulating systematic botanical nomenclature. A concise
account of the main questions under dispute, and of the
alternative suggestions put forward, is given by Dr. H.
Harms in Naturwissenschaftliche Wochenschrift, December
10, 1905. There were three principal points of contention,

January 18, 1906 |

NATURE

277

these being the earliest date for reference of priority, the
extent to which priority of genus name should be observed,
and how priority of specific name is to be decided. The
year 1753, in which Linnzus first established his system
of binomial nomenclature, was accepted as the critical
date; the difficulty with regard to genera was settled by
the confirmation of a list of names that are too well
established to be superseded, while the decision in the
matter of specific names was a compromise between the
German practice of adopting the earliest name and the
Kew rule that favours the first correct binomial.

Tue growing of Egyptian and other varieties of cotton
is, says a writer in the Pioneer Mail, being carried on
steadily in Upper Sind. It is indicative of the difficulty of
forecasting the future of a transplanted variety that
** yannovitch,’’ the finest of the Egyptian varieties, but
regarded as the most delicate of those experimented with,
has suffered the smallest amount of deterioration in staple
from the quality of the Egyptian grown product, and that
Mitaffifi, which is considered the most robust, has shown
the greatest amount of deterioration. The general results
must, however, be considered as satisfactory in yield as
compared even with the Egyptian crop, and by the figures
the best Egyptian variety should prove 250 per cent. more
profitable to the cultivator than the indigenous Sindhi
variety.

AccORDING to a writer in the Journal of the Society of
Arts, the rubber industry continues to expand rapidly. The
imports of rubber last year were exceptionally large, and
throughout 1905 the price was better than in the preceding
year. It may be expected that before very long the supply
will be ample for all demands. Not only are there immense
tracts of rubber which remain untouched in Liberia and
elsewhere, but the cultivation of the rubber tree is being
rapidly extended. Java, for example, is planting ex-
tensively, and within the next six or eight years the exports
from that island are likely to be very large. In Ceylon,
too, and the Malay Peninsula, considerable tracts of country
are being planted with rubber. The way in which the
tree adapts itself to the various climatic conditions obtain-
ing in different countries is almost unique in tropical
cultivation.

Or the life of a born naturalist no better example could
be given than the account of the late Prof. Federico
Delpino contributed by his pupil Borzi to the Atti dei
Lincet, xiv. (2), 9. Born at Chiavari (Liguria) on
December 27, 1833, Delpino’s delicate state of health re-
sulted in his spending much of his early life in a garden,
where he soon became absorbed in observing ants, wasps,
and flowers. In 1850 he commenced, by his own choice, a
course of mathematics at the University of Genoa, but his
love of botany prevailed, and he determined to make that
subject his life work. After a sea voyage to the east, which
gave him an opportunity of making a collection of the flora
of the Dardanelles, he was employed in office work under the
Minister of Finance at Turin, and later (1865) at Florence,
where he soon resigned his post to take a subordinate
assistant’s position in the botanical museum. Four years
later he was appointed professor at the school of forestry
at Vallombrosa, and in 1875 he became associate professor
of botany at Genoa. Later he held appointments at
Bologna and Naples. He died on May 14 of last year.
Delpino, who was entirely self-taught, became one of the
pioneers in the study of vegetable biology.
ardent opponent of Darwinism, although a study of
Darwin’s work on orchids led to his first paper on fertilisa-
tion of the Asclepiadacee, published in 1865. Other

NO. 1890, VOL. 73]|

He was an;

important contributions dealt with the relations between
plants and insects, particularly ants, and several of his
results were confirmed by the observations of Belt in
Nicaragua. In botanical geography he published writings
on the distribution of the Ranunculacez, and on the rela-
tions between Arctic and Antarctic flora. Several of his
writings have been mentioned in the ‘* Notes ’’ columns ot
NaTURE up to quite recently. Another account of his life
is given in the Rendiconto of the Naples Academy for May
and June, 1905, and differs in one or two points of
biographical detail from the preceding one.

WE have received a copy of the twelfth annual report
of meteorology in Mysore, for the year 1904, compiled by
Mr. J. Cook, director of the service. It includes the results
obtained at the observatories of Bangalore, Mysore,
Hassan, and Chitaldrug, with diagrams showing the range
of the principal elements; also mean values for the twelve
years 1893-1904. The data for this important Indian area
are very carefully worked up, and the volume contains a
large amount of valuable statistics.

Tue tides of the North Sea have within recent years
been the subject of investigation by Mr. J. P. van der Stok,
and the results have been published in three papers by

the Netherlands Meteorological Institute, ‘‘ Etudes des
Phénoménes de Marée sur les Cétes Neerlandaises ’”
(Utrecht: Kemink & Zoon, 1905). The first of these

papers consists of an analysis of the variation in the level
of the sea. The second deals with the results of observ-
ations, made on board the Netherlands lightships, of
the tidal currents; and the third contains a table of
these currents, the corresponding velocity and _ direc-
tion of the wind at five different stations, and the date
of the new and full moon for every month up to 1952.
Mr. Stok more particularly directed his investigation
to the horizontal movement of the water and the rotatory
currents in the North Sea. There are two subjects in
connection with the tides of the North Sea that more
particularly require consideration—the effect of the tidal
wave of great length moving along the coast inclined to
the direction of its propagation; and why the wave that
comes from the north-east of Shetland is propagated prin-
cipally along the coast of Scotland. This, he suggests, is
due to the rotation of the earth. Mr. Stok considers that
the tides of the North Sea are well worth the attention
of physico-mathematicians interested in hydrodynamics, as
they afford a model for the study of the mechanics of the
tides.

IN a paper on fluorescence (Journal de Physique,
December, 1905), M. G. Camichel deduces from experiments
and theoretical reasoning connected with them that the
coefficient of fluorescence of a fluorescent substance remains
constant during the period of fluorescence, at any rate
under the conditions of the experiments.

In the Journal de Physique for December, 1905, MM.
Bouasse and Berthier discuss the elongation of wires by
flexion, in particular in connection with the property that
a wire which is incapable of being elongated more than
0-1 per cent by simple traction can be lengthened by as
much as 10 per cent. or 20 per cent. by bending. Observ-
ations of the changes of microscopic structure, as well as
of the torsional rigidity of the wire at various stages of
the processes, seem to indicate that this discrepancy is
attributable to want of homogeneity in the wire, the effects
of which disappear when the deformation is made to take
place point by point along the wire.

In the Bulletin des Séances of the French Physical
Society, M. E. Haudié gives a brief illustrated account of

278

NAL TROTTED

[JANUARY 18, 1906

eee

an astro-

The tele-

the method of determining the magnification of
nomical or Galilean telescope by photography.
scope is placed in front of a camera pointed at a distant
object (a church spire), and measurements of the telephoto-
graph thus obtained, as compared with the picture obtained
with the camera alone, give the magnification.

Or the many important topics discussed in the Economic
Journal for December, 1905, we find a note of eight pages
on political economy in Germany, by Prof. G. Cohn, of
Gottingen. In it we learn that thirty or forty years ago
there were two schools of political economy, namely, on
the one hand, the Free Traders, whose science was con-

fined to a few very elementary principles and who
appealed to the people, and, on the other hand, the
economic teaching of the universities. At the present

time the universities, strengthened by the high degree of
freedom which their professors enjoy, play an important
and ever-increasing part in determining public opinion on
economic questions throughout the Empire. Indeed, the
author concludes :—‘ We do not claim too much for our
German Political Economy and our German Universities
when we say that the spirit which rules them is as wide
and many sided as it is active and far seeing.”

From the point of view of the disintegration hypothesis
of the nature of radio-activity, a brief note by P. G.
Costanzo in the Bolletino Mensuale of the Italian Meteor-
ological Society (vol. xxiv., p. 25) is of interest; it is stated
that several lavas and solid deposits from Vesuvius and the
solfatara of Pozzuoli which, on examination, were found
not to exhibit any sign of radio-activity were equally
destitute of any trace of helium.

For his inaugural address, delivered on November 22
of last year, Prof. R. Threlfall, as chairman of the
Birmingham section of the Institution of Electrical
Engineers, chose the subject ‘‘ Some Problems of Electro-
and Electrothermal Chemistry.’’ The principal question
dealt with was the conversion of carbon into the ** non-
conducting ’’ variety, and Ludwig’s recent attempts to pro-
duce diamonds on the large scale were discussed, principally
by considering theoretically the probable conditions govern-
ing the inter-conversion of the various forms of carbon.
Other subjects touched upon included the fixation of
atmospheric nitrogen, the ionic theory, and the use of
osmium and tantalum in incandescent lamps.

Tue final number (No. 7) of the second volume of the
Central, the magazine of the Old Students’ Association of
the Central Technical College, well maintains the high
level of its predecessors. It contains a photogravure of
Prof. Ayrton, president of the association, whilst a special
feature is the large number of photographs illustrating the
articles contained in it. Of these articles we may mention
an interesting account by Mr. A. A. Barnes of the work
recently carried out in excluding the Nile from two of its
three channels at Ashmant for purposes of land reclam-
ation; a summary by Prof. Armstrong of the various re-
searches made on camphor at the college during the past
twenty years, indicating the widely ramified growth of
the problem; and a description of several types of electro-
magnetic ore crushers by Mr. C. J. Guttmann. Two
photographs of a new camphor-model illustrate Prof.
Armstrong’s article.

A BRIEF note by F. Giolitti in the Gazzetta (vol. xxxv.
p. 18r) contains some interesting particulars with regard
to the coagulation of colloidal solutions of ferric hydroxide,
the observations forming an extension of the earlier ones
of Péan de St. Gilles. Whereas a trace of any polybasic

NO. 1890, VOL. 73]

acid, for example sulphuric acid, added to the colloidal
solution obtained by boiling ferric acetate with water
instantly precipitates a flocculent ‘‘ hydrogel’? which is
insoluble in water, a considerable quantity of a monobasic
acid such as nitric acid has to be added to the colloidal
solution before a precipitate is produced. The product in
this case is a reddish powder which re-dissolves in pure
water, and is hence a ‘‘ solid hydrosol.’’ The quantity of
monobasic acid necessary for complete precipitation of the
solid hydrosol appears to be fairly definite for a definite
set of conditions. The character of the colloidal solutions
of a substance, however, seems to depend very largely on
the way in which they are prepared. Thus a solution of
ferric hydroxide prepared by dialysis according to Graham’s
method gives on coagulation very different results from
those obtained with the solution prepared from ferric
acetate. Moreover, other colloidal solutions, such as those
prepared from ammonium uranate, plumbic acid, and silicic
acid, have certain features which characterise their coagula-
tion. It necessary, indeed, in considering the
general question of colloidal solution, to recognise that
several distinct types of coagulation exist.

seems

Tue adhesion of electrical contacts in delicate seismo-
scopes continues to the minds of Italian
seismologists. No other form of seismoscope can be made
so sensitive as one which records electrically, but the force
tending to separate the contacts is so small that the circuit
sometimes remains closed. In the concluding number of
vol. x. of the Bolletino della Societa Sismologica Italiana
Dr. Agamennone reviews all the devices which have been
proposed to overcome the adhesion, and concludes that the
only efficient one is that suggested by Dr. T. Alippi, of
attaching a vibrator to the seismoscope, which shall act
like the decoherer in wireless telegraphy, but adds that his
experience in the observatory at Rocca di Papa shows the
necessity of carefully adjusting the energy of this vibrator.
If too energetic it may produce the very evil it is designed
to cure.

exercise

Tue annual report of the Iowa Geological Survey has
just been published at Des Moines under the able editor-
ship of Dr. F. A. Wilder, the State geologist. It deals
with the year 1904, and forms a handsome quarto volume
of 560 pages with 1o folding coloured geological maps of
counties, 7 plates, and 51 illustrations in the text. In
addition to the State mineral statistics for 1904, and re-
ports on the geology of Benton, Emmet, Palo Alto, Poca-
hontas, Jasper, Clinton, and Fayette counties, the volume
contains an important report on the Portland cement in-
dustry and Iowa’s natural resources with reference to that
material by Mr. E. C. Eckel and Mr. H. F. Bain. The
report shows plainly that the limestones and clays of Iowa
are well suited for the careful study of the cement manu-
factures. Despite the large amount of material available
and the convenient fuel and transportation facilities, no
Portland cement plants have yet been established in Iowa,
although a number are in operation in adjacent States.

WE have received from the Home Office an advance
proof, subject to correction, of the statement of fatal
accidents and deaths in and about the mines and quarries
of the United Kingdom during 1905. The total separate
fatal accidents were 955 in collieries, 41 in metalliferous
mines, and 94 in quarries.

Mr. WittiamM HEINEMANN has in hand, under the title
of ‘‘ A Handbook of Metabolism,’’ an English translation
of the second German edition of von Noorden’s “ Lehr-
buch des Stoffwechsels,’’ edited by Dr. Walker Hall, of
Manchester.

January 18, 1906]

NATURE

279

Wiru the title the Australian Journal of Science, a new
periodical edited by Prof. Liversidge, F.R.S., is to appear
during the present month. At first the journal will be
issued monthly, but afterwards, if it meets with sufficient
support, at more frequent intervals. Literary correspon-
dence, and publications for review, should be addressed to
the Editor, Australian Journal of Science, The University,
Sydney.

Tue thirty-third annual dinner of old students of the
Royal School of Mines will be held on Friday, February 16,
at the Hotel Cecil. The chair will be taken by Prof. S.
Herbert Cox; and the opportunity afforded by the dinner
will be taken to make a presentation to Prof. J. W. Judd
on his retirement from the chair of geology. Subscriptions
for this testimonial should be forwarded before the end of
January to Mr. D. A. Louis, 77 Shirland Gardens, W., to
whom applications for tickets for the dinner should also
be sent.

Tue publication by Mr. George A. Morton, of Edin-
burgh, at 3s. 6d., of an attractive edition of Hugh Miller’s
““ My Schools and Schoolmasters ’’ should serve to re-direct
attention to the work of a geologist whose writings were
in the middle of last century the means of attracting many
persons to the study of natural phenomena. A biographical
introduction to the volume by Mr. W. M. MacKenzie
provides an interesting study of Hugh Miller’s career as
stonemason, bank clerk, editor, geologist, and author, and
reminds the reader that this work of his was published in
1854. The stonemason who by his own unaided efforts
could attain to such an acquaintance with the rocks of his
native land as to become the author of ‘‘ The Old Red
Sandstone *’ should prove an encouragement to all students
of science who are working in the face of great difficulties.
This new re-issue deserves a wide popularity.

A BOOKLET by Mr. J. El. David entitled ‘‘ Le Tunnel du
Simplon ’’ has been published by Messrs. Payot and Co.,
of Lausanne. Parts of the account have already appeared
as articles in the Gazette de Lausanne. In view of an
article which appeared in Nature of November 9, 1905,
p- 30, describing survey work of the Simplon Tunnel, it is
unnecessary to do more than refer to the contents of the
brochure. Before publication the text was submitted to

the chief engineers in charge of the work, so that the book

may be read with confidence as containing a correct
account of the order of events. The biographical notices
and portraits of the engineers in charge of the gigantic
undertaking, and other numerous illustrations, add greatly

to the value of this essay.

OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN.

Comet 1905c (GIACOBINI).—A new set of elements and
an ephemeris for comet 1905¢ appear in No. 88 of the
Lick Observatory Bulletins; they have been computed by
Mr. R. T. Crawford, of the Berkeley astronomical depart-
ment, and the elements are as follows :—

T=1906 Jan. 22°41845 G.M.T.

199 1 28°8
92 2 00°5 + 1906°0
z= 43 38 367
log g = 0°217605

ice)

8

Hit il

The ephemeris shows that after perihelion (January 22)
the comet’s brightness will decrease rapidly, falling from
58-6 on that date to 22.7 on January 30. The positions
(true) are given for alternate days during January, but only
the three given below have been computed for dates sub-
sequent to January 28 :—

NO. 1890, VOL. 73]

Ephemeris oh. G.M.T.

1906 a (true) § (true) Brightness
hm s AU, a
Jan. 30°5 21 53 28 — 25 44 25 22°7
Mar. 1°5 Ly4SeUiasec. 10) 2 44 Tas
April 2°5 3.29 3 Se 7/4(Q) 50) 073

Numerous observations of this comet are recorded in
No. 4065 of the Astronomische Nachrichten. Dr. Jost,
observing at Strassburg on December 30, 1905, found that
the magnitude was about 5-0, and that the comet had a
sharp definite nucleus and a tail about {° in length. On
January 1 the magnitude was 4-0-5-0, the diameter of
the nucleus 4”, and the length of the tail about 13°.

A daily ephemeris, extending from January 13 to
January 31, is given by Herr E. Stromgren in the same
journal.

NEBULOSITY AROUND Nova Aguita%.—Prof. Frost re-
ports that a careful examination of the photographs of
Nova Aquilae No. 2, taken with the Bruce telescope at
Arequipa on October 16 and 21, 1905, shows the Nova to
be surrounded with a faint nebulosity nearly circular in
form and extending to about o/-4 on each side of the star.
The exposure in each case was 120 minutes, and the
nebulosity was independently confirmed by Mr. Manson.

As no such nebulosity appeared on the engraving given
in vol. xxii. (p. 269) of the Astrophysical Journal, re-
presenting the Nova on September 21, 1905, Prot.) H.C.
Pickering suggests that it radiated from the Nova early
in October, as was the case in Nova Persei No. 2. He
points out, however, that, if it can be shown that the
spectrum is peculiar, the apparent nebulosity on the Bruce
photographs may be explained as being due to chromatic
aberration which does not exist in the reflector, and would
therefore not affect the earlier photograph (Astronomische
Nachrichten, No. 4065).

Tur -Ficurr or THE Sun.—Continuing his research on
the variable figure of the sun, Dr. C. L. Poor has reduced
the values of the solar diameter obtained by Schur and
Ambronn, with the 6-inch Repsold heliometer of the
Gottingen Observatory, during the thirteen years 1890 to
1902.
an detailed description of the methods of reduction is
given in No. 5, vol. xxii., if the Astrophysical Journal, and
the results tend to confirm those obtained in Dr. Poor’s
previous research, viz. that the ratio between the polar and
equatorial radii of the sun varies periodically, the period
being nearly the same as that of sun-spots. The ampli-
tude of the variation is about o0’.2, the greatest difference
between the extreme values of the quantity (polar—
equatorial diameter) being 0”-5.

Stettar MAGNITUDE oF THE SuN.—The results of an
interesting research made by Prof. Ceraski at Moscow on
the relative magnitudes of the sun and Polaris, Procyon,
and Sirius, are given in No. 4065 of the Astronomische
Nachrichten. During the day Prof. Ceraski photo-
metrically compared the light received from Venus with
that obtained from a reflected image of the sun, and then
at night compared Venus with the stars named.

As a result he found that the sun sends us 290550 x 10°
times more light than Polaris, 77630 x 10° times more light
than Procyon, and 17045 10° more than Sirius. Taking
the magnitudes of these stars as 2-15, 0:56, and —1-09
respectively, this gives —26-51, —26-66, and —26-67 as the
stellar magnitude of the sun, and the weighted mean value
becomes —26-59. As Prof. Ceraski objects to the obyious
paradox in assigning a negative value to the sun’s magni-
tude, he omits the minus sign and gives his result as
“26-59 super magnitude.”

Varrapitity OF Irts.—The results of a number of photo-
metric measurements of the apparent brightness of Iris,
carried out by Dr. H. Clemens during February and
March, 1904, are given in No. 4063 of the Astronomische
Nachrichten.

The lowest magnitude was recorded at toh. 15m.
(M.E.T.) on March 28, and was 10:34; the highest maxi-
mum observed (8-80) took place on February 9 at Sh. 46m.
From the consideration of his results, Dr. Clemens con-
cludes that Iris has a real variation of magnitude amount-
ing to 0-25m.-0-30m., and having a period of approximately
four hours.

280

NATURE

[JANUARY 18, 1906

SOME QUESTIONS FOR ARCHZOLOGIS7TS.

THE study of a few of our British stone monuments from

an astronomical point of view has led me to the con-
clusion that if such an inquiry be continued information will
ultimately be obtained touching the order of succession of
the various swarms of immigrants who set out the various
systems of alignments. Approximate dates of the changes
of temple worship representing different cults, and, there-
fore, possibly different tribes, have already been obtained,
for I have evidence that the risings of stars, as well as of
the sun, were observed in some of the circles. I also
believe that much folklore and many myths may find their
explanation.

I begin with the fact that some circles used in the
worship of the May year were in operation 2000 B.c., and
there was a change of cult about 1600 B.c., or shortly
afterwards, in southern Britain, so definite that the changes
in the chief orientation lines in the stone circles can be
traced.

To the worship of the sun in May, August, November,
and February was added a solstitial worship in June and
December.

The easiest explanation is the advent of a new swarm
of immigrants about that date.

The associated phenomena are that the May—November
Balder and Beltaine people made much of the rowan and
maythorn. The June-December people brought the worship
of the mistletoe.

The flowering of the rowan and thorntree in May, and
their berries in early November, made them the most ap-
propriate and striking floral accompaniments of the May and
November worships, and the same ideas would point to a
similar use of the mistletoe in June and December.

Another associated phenomenon is that chambered
barrows seem sometimes to have been used by the sol-
stitial people instead of, or in addition to, stones to mark
sight-lines.

If there were such swarms, and the June—-December suc-
ceeded and largely replaced the May—November one, this
could hardly have been put in a cryptic and poetic state-
ment more happily than it appears in folklore: Balder was
killed by mistletoe.

In the May—November circles and alignments we deal with
unhewn stones. In the June-December alignments the
stones in Brittany are tooled.

In this we have a strong argument in favour of the same
order of succession.

The Worship Conditions and a Working Hypothesis.

In a colony of the astronomer-priests who built and used
the ancient temples we had of necessity :—

(1) Observatories, i.e: circles, alignments, coves or holed
stones, for viewing the alignments or sight-lines.

A study of the sight-lines shows us that the stones—
collimation marks—were of set purposes, placed some
distance away from the circles, so far that they would be
required to be illuminated in some way for the dawn
observations. When there was no wind, one or more
hollows in a stone, whether a menhir or a quoit, might
have held oil or grease to feed a wick. But in a wind
some shelter would be necessary, and the light might have
been used in a cromlech or allée couverte. Stones have
been found with such cups, and débris of fires have been
found in cromlechs.

(2) Dwellings, which would be cromlechs or many-
chambered beeen s, according to the number of astronomer-
priests at the station, and possibly some arrangement for
protecting a sacred fire.

(3) A water supply for drinking and bathing, which might
be a spring, river or lake, according to the locality.

Assuming this, I ask whether we may not consider the
following working hypothesis, the accuracy of which can
be easily tested by those conversant with these subjects,
which I am not; nor have I time to look over the vast
and scattered literature where the facts are recorded.

Everything relating to these three different classes of things
was regarded as very holy, because they were closely asso-

ciated with the astronomer: -priests, on whom the early |
|

NO. 1890, VOL. 73]

peoples depended for guidance in all things, not only of
economic, but of religious, medical and superstitious value.

Hence the circles, mounds and alignments, as sacred
places, were subsequently used for burials, as Westminster
Abbey has been; but burials were not the object of their
erection by the first swarms.’ I believe they were after-
wards used for burials by later swarms, who imitated them,
and built round barrows without living chambers for the
dead.

The perforated stones were regarded as sacred, so that
marriages took place at them, and passing through them
was supposed to cure disease. Whether men and women,
or children only, passed through the hole depended upon
its size. But a hole large enough for a head to be in-
serted was good for head complaints. I may state that
I have traced holed stones on May-November alignments.
In too many cases the temples connected with them have
been so ruthlessly destroyed that their use cannot so easily
be established.

The cups for the light would also become sacred objects ;
have not many of them since been used for holy water?

The wells, rivers, and lakes used by the priests were, as
holy places, invested with curative properties, and offerings
of garments (skins ?), and pins to fasten them on, were made
at them to the priests, as well as bread and wine and cheese.

The fact that the tree on which the garment was hung
was either a rowan or a thorn shows that these offerings
commenced as early as the May—November worship.

These wells are in many cases alongside cromlechs,
circles or unhewn stones. In others they are near churches
which have been built upon the sites of the more ancient
temples.

At the coming of the June-December people all the old
practices and superstitions were retained, only the time of
year at which they took place was changed. As the
change of cult was slow, in any one locality the celebrations
would be continued at both times of the year.

The June—December people did what they could to fayour
their own cult by changing the old holidays, with the
result that for long both sets of holidays were retained.

Since I have shown that the solstitial worship came last,
as a rule traces of this would be most obvious in places
where it eventually prevailed over the cult of the May
year. In such places the absence of traces of the May -
festival would afford no valid argument against its former
prevalence. In other places, like Scotland, where the
solstitial cult was apparently introduced late and was
never prevalent, we should expect strong traces of the May
worship, and, as a matter of fact, it is very evident in
the follx-lore and customs of Scotland.

The Conditions of Migration.

May we suppose that any of the races reached Britain
by sea?

Some facts with regard to ancient travel are the follow-
ing. Our start-point may be that Gudea, a Babylonian
king who reigned about 2500 B.c., brought stones from
Melukhkha and Makan, that is, Egypt and Sinai (Budge,
‘“ History of Egypt,’’ ii., 130). Now these stones were
taken coastwise from Sinai to Eridu, at the head of
the Persian Gulf, a distance of 4000 miles, and it is also
said that then, or even before then, there was ,a coast-
wise traffic to Malabar, where teak was got to be used in
house-building. The distance from Eridu coastwise to
Malabar, say the present Cannanore, is 2400 miles.

The distance, coastwise, from Alexandria to Sandwich,
where we learn that Phoenicians and others shipped the tin
extracted from the mines in Cornwall, is only 5300 miles,
so that a voyage of this length was quite within the powers
of the compassless navigators of 2500 B.c.

The old idea that the ancient merchants could make
a course from Ushant to, say, Falmouth or Penzance need
no longer be entertained; the crossing from Africa to
Gibraltar and from Cape Grisnez to Sandwich were both
to visible land, i.e. coastwise. The cliffs on the opposite
land are easily seen on a clear day.

Hence it would have been easier before the days of
astronomical knowledge and compasses to have reached

1 ‘*Les Celtes et les Gaulois dans les Vallées du PG et du Danube,”
p- 82.

January 18, 1906]

IMATE,

281

England, and therefore Ireland and the Orkneys, than to
get to some of the islands in the Mediterranean itself ; and
the prevalence of solstitial customs in Sardinia and Corsica,
with apparently no trace of the May year, tends to support
this view, which is also strengthened by the fact that the
solstitial customs in Morocco are very similar to those we
read of in Britain.‘ The May year is unnoticed, and there
is a second feast at Easter (March 16).

The May Year.

I traced the May year in Egypt at Thebes, the temple
being that of Min, and the possible date 3200 B.c. Mr.
Penrose showed that the Hecatompedon and the Archaic
temple of Minerva at Athens were May temples, the
dates of the foundations being 1495 B.c. and 2020 B.C.
respectively; but the cult must have been there before
the foundations; and the cult may well have come from
Thebes, and I fancy it must have been all over the known
world at the time. The warning stars at Athens were
the Pleiades for temples facing the east, and Antares for
temples using the western horizon.

But the equinoctial pyramid- and Babylonian-cult in vogue
in Egypt in the early dynasties (4000 B.c.), with the warn-
ing stars Aldebaran (March) and Vega (September), was
also represented in Greece at a much later period.

In Egypt generally, the solstitial worship followed that
of the May and equinoctial years. The religion of
Thothmes III. and the Rameses was in greatest vogue
2200-1500 B.C.

We find little trace of it in Greece proper, though Mr.
Penrose has traced it in Calabria and Pompeii, and in
some of the islands.

Because in the first glimpse of the May year we have
dates from 3200 B.c. at Thebes, it does not follow that it
did not reach Athens before 2000 B.C., because Mr. Penrose
found a temple of that date. It is clear, also, that with
the possibilities of coastwise traffic as we have found it, it
might have easily reached Ireland by then; 2000 B.c.,
therefore, is a probable date for the May worship to have
reached Britain, arguing on general principles; we now
know as a matter of fact that it really reached Britain
earlier.

May we assume, then, a traffic transferring
astronomer priests from Egypt to Britain at that date?

But why not Greece to Britain? Because by that time,
as we learn from Mr. Penrose, the equinoctial worship
from Babylonia had reached Greece as well as the May
year from Egypt, and traffic from Greece would have
brought both, but the equinoctial cult did not reach us
then; there is no trace of Easter worship in the earliest
stone circles.

The solstitial cult was born in Egypt; it is a child of
the Nile-rise. I have shown in my ‘‘ Dawn of Astronomy ”’
that the long series of temples connected with the solstice
may have commenced about 3000 B.c.; but for long it
was a secondary cult; it was parochial until the twelfth
dynasty, say 2300 B.c., Egypt’s solstitial ‘‘ golden age”’
may be given as 1700 B.c., and her influence abroad was
very great, so that much travel, ‘‘ coastwise ’’ and other,
may be anticipated. It is for some centuries after the first
date that the introduction of the solstitial worship into
Britain may be anticipated. It, for instance, is quite prob-
able that the pioneers of sun worship should have reached
Stonehenge in 2000 B.c., but the solstitial worship can only
be proved after 1680 B.c.

A paper by Prof. J. Morris Jones on ‘‘ Pre-Aryan Syntax
in Insular Celtic’? appears in the ‘‘ Welsh People,’’ by
Rhys and Brynmor-Jones (Fisher Unwin), pp. 617-641.
Prof. Jones was led to make the comparisons contained in
it by the theory that the long-headed early inhabitants of
Britain had migrated into Britain from North Africa. He
finds that the syntax of Welsh and Irish differs from that of
other Aryan languages in many important respects, e.g.
the verb is put first in every simple sentence. Prof. Rhys
had suggested that these differences represented the per-
sistence in Welsh and Irish of the syntax of a pre-Aryan
dialect, and as the anthropologists hold that the pre-Aryan
population of these islands came from North Africa, it
seemed to Prof. Jones that that was the obvious place to

1 Westermarck in ‘‘ Folk-lore.’”

NO. 1890, VOL. 73]

even

Vol. xxi., p. 27.

look for the origin of these syntactical peculiarities. He
finds the similarities between Old Egyptian and neo-Celtic
syntax to be astonishing; he shows that practically all the
peculiarities of Welsh and Irish syntax are found in the
Hamitic languages.

This conclusion practically implies that the bulk of the
population of these islands, before the arrival of the Celts,
spoke dialects allied to those of North Africa. The
syntactical peculiarities must have represented the habits of
thought of the people, which survived in the Celtic
vocabulary imposed upon them.

These conclusions were not known to me when I began
to see the necessity of separating the cult of the June from
that of the May years, and the identity of the conclusions
drawn from astronomical and linguistic data is to me very
striking, and also suggests further special inquiries.

The temple conditions in Greece investigated by Mr.
Penrose, and on which the above generalisation is based,
may be tabulated as follows :—

Dec. Day Year
z= axle Ree ae —

a i" | eeertll | B.C.
Archaic temple of Minerva) Pleiades | + 7 50 April 20/2020
Hiero of Epidaurus, Ascle- |

pieion oo ced" eos PB) + 915) ,, 28/1275
Hecatompedon... . a a + 958 ,, 26/1150
Older Erechtheum ... ... Antares | |

| (setting) |—14 31] ,, 29|1070
‘Temple of Bacchus... ...| Pleiades |+1035) ,, 2911030
Corinth ve | Antares |
| (setting) -—160 May 6 770
(Negina: (aera peo ree. An =1645! 5, 7| 630
; Solstitial Year.
June
Athens. Dionysus (Upper | |
AUeV pai) see ope Sash Make Antares |
(setting) |—I11 2 \June 20|1700
Pompeii (Isis) ... ... |8 Geminorum|—16 44 ,, 19) 750
December.
Metapontum ...... ... {8 Geminorum |
(setting) |+29 38|/Dec. 21, 610
Locri ... AS |+29 40) ,, 21] 610
Equinoctial Year.
March,
Nike Apteros ... «.. [Spica (setting)|+ 6 1o|Mar. 17/1130
Juno Lacinia(near Croton)| « Arietis |+ 7 27| ,, 28|1000
Paestum (Neptune)... ... |Spica(setting)|/+ 35] 5, 22] 535
Gergenti(Hercules) .. ... ne + 230] ,, 30] 470
September.
Rhamnus (Themis) ... Spica + 60 |Sept. 17|1092
Tegea (Minerva) ... ... 30 + 551) ,, 18}1075
Syracuse (? Minerva) Be a + 430! ,, 20} 815
Athens (dedication un-

IknOWD))jewes Paste nee eu eek 3s “by ALT, 23/0750
Rhamnus (Nemesis)... -.. aA +45 roe AN i)
Bassee (Apollo)... ... .. 5p I+ 3.57| o 22] 728
Ephesus(Diana) ... ... 53 Nees) SVAN 225) |) 7285)
Syracuse (Diana) A fc |-- 222) ,, 26) 450
Ephesus (Diana) (re-orien- | }

WEKn (ore) Wecba" Gare ake “coo 5 — |Oct. 6) 355

Special Orientations.
Thebes... ... ... «+-| y Draconis |+54 28|Sept. 20/1160

The City of the Dragon | |

(Cadmus, p. 830) Wel
Eleusis (Ceres) ... Sirius rising |

at midnight |—-180]| ,, 13 1400
| |

Britain—Canaan.

Since we have traces of temple worship in Britain 1000
years before the building of Solomon’s temple, it may be

NATURE

[JANUARY 18, 1906

282
useful to see what common practices can be gathered from
Semitic and British traditions. We have common to
both :—

(1) Worship in high places.

(2) Setting up of stones.

(3) Sacrifices with blood poured on the altar.

(4) Fire worship of Baal or Bel.

(5) Human beings passing through the fire.

The question arises, then, were not the circle builders
Semites antedating the Aryans?

The Dolmen Builders.

Another matter of great interest is connected with the
erection of dolmens
for Semitic worship. The most philosophical study of this
question I have seen’ certainly suggests that much light
may be expected from this source.

NorMAn LOCKYER.

THE SKELETON OF BRONTOSAURUS AND
SKULL OF MOROSAURUS.

~HE exploration of the American Jurassic by Cope and
Marsh for remains of the Sauropoda practically
began on an extended scale in 1877. It has been continued
by these pioneers and their successors with some interrup-
tions to the present time.

During this period a number of more or less com-
plete skeletons have been found. The first was that
of Camarasaurus supremus, a sauropod closely related

to the Morosaurus of Marsh, found in the Jurassic of
Colorado in 1877, and partially described by Cope.
was restored life-size by Ryder on large sheets of linen
and exhibited, but never published. The skeleton is
now being prepared for mounting in the American

the great ornaments of the Yale University Museum, in
which it is preserved. In 1897 the American Museum
party found the entire hind portion of the skeleton of a
Diplodocus also in the rich region of the Como Bluffs.
Two years later another skeleton of a Diplodocus, the best
yet discovered, was secured by the Carnegie Museum ex-
pedition, and forms the chief basis of the great cast recently
presented to the British Museum. In igor the Field
Columbian Museum, of Chicago, secured another fine
sauropod skeleton, the basis of the restoration by Dr. E. S.
Riggs. It is termed Apatosaurus, a name which Dr. Riggs

| thinks preoccupies Brontosaurus.

in imitation of the caves first used | skeleton of the Brontosaurus or Apatosaurus represented

It |

In 1897 the American Museum expedition discovered the

in the accompanying photograph. It enjoys the distinction
of being the first of the Sauropoda to be mounted from the
original materials.

The field and museum work on this skeleton occupied
the American Museum staff more or less continuously from
1897 to the spring of 1905. In 1898 and 1899 the excava-
tion was carried on, and a little more than two-thirds of
the entire skeleton was recovered. In the following year
a few more vertebraee were found. The special features
are the very large size of the animal, the absence of crush-
ing of the bones, and the completeness of the ribs. The
original parts are supplemented by bones and casts or
models from other individuals. The chief parts entirely
missing are the skull, which was restored partly from
an imperfect skull of Brontosaurus, partly from that
of the Morosaurus described below, the three anterior
cervical vertebra, the forearms of both sides from the
shoulder down, which were restored from the Yale Uni-
versity specimen, the upper portions of the sacrum, the
hind-limb of one side, and the terminal portion of the
tail. The hind-limb and the tail were completed from

Fic. 1.—Skeleton of the Brontosaurus excelsus in the American Museum of Natural History, New York.

Museum of Natural History. The most complete skeleton
known of Brontosaurus is the type of B. excelsus, Marsh,
which was found in the Como Bluffs of Wyoming in 1879,
anu made the basis of Marsh’s restoration of 1883, the
first published. This beautiful specimen was unfortunately
taken out before the method of removal from the matrix
was as effective as it is now. It is, however, capable of
being mounted, and will undoubtedly some day be one of

1 “The Builders and the Antiquity of our Cornish Dolmens,” by Rey. D.
Gath Whitley (Journal R.1. Cornwall, No. 1.).

NO. 1890, VOL. 73]

other individuals in the American Museum of Natural
History.

The mounting represents the prolonged worl of very
difficult restoration and the solution of a number of quite
new mechanical problems for the support of the immense
weight of the fossil skeleton without making the iron
and steel work too obtrusive. For this the head pre-
parator, Mr. Adam Hermann, deserves chief credit. A
number of new anatomical problems arose, especially as

to the position and angulation of the fore-limbs. In this

January 18, 1906]

NA LORE,

283

connection the writer’s assistants, Messrs. Matthew
Granger, made a complete restoration of the muscles of

the shoulder girdle and of the neck on the basis of dissec- |

tions of the alligator and lizard. As a _ result, two
important modifications of previous restorations have been
made, first, the scapula is considerably more depressed

below the level of the back than in previous restorations, |

thus allowing space for the cartilages between the ribs and
coracoid, second, the elbows are considerably everted.
In all previous restorations the manus is represented as

and |

aquatic theory suggested by Owen in his original study of
| Cetiosaurus on account of the shape of the caudal vertebra,
and partly supported by Cope on the ground of the extreme
lightness of the dorsal vertebrae; this has been more
| recently supported by Matthew and Gidley on the ground
| that the limbs were incapable of progression upon land, and
were very much more strongly flexed than in any of the
restorations of the animal which have been published.
The amphibious theory has been partly developed by Cope
and the present writer, namely, that the animals spent a

Fic. 2.—Skull of the AZovosaurus grantis, 1/7 Natural Size.

provided with a nearly complete series of terminal claws

like those of the pes, which lacks the terminal claw only on |
Comparison of ten specimens of Sauropoda in |

two digits.
various museums has convinced the writer that, according
to present evidence, in Diplodocus and Brontosaurus
is but one claw in the manus, and that a small one, on
the pollex. The arching and elevation of the backbone
also come in for considerable modification. Although, as
previously supposed by the writer on other grounds, the
sacrum was the centre of power and of motion in this
great animal, as a result of the depression of the scapula
the posterior portion of the neck and middle portion of
the back were elevated, and the highest vertebra of the
back is not necessarily the spine of the sacrum. Another
characteristic of all Sauropoda is the elongation of the neck
and the extreme abbreviation of the back, which now in
several forms is found to be composed of from ten to eleven
vertebrae only. Brontosaurus seems to differ from Diplo-
docus in the relative abbreviation of length as a whole

correlated with the greater massiveness of the skeleton, but

especially in the abbreviation of the tail.

Cervicals eee Sacrals Caudals
Brontosaurus ... 13 est. 10 5-6 49 test.
Diplodocus ... 15 II 4-5 35-40

In three specimens of Diplodocus evidence has been found
of the consolidation of certain vertebrae of the tail (caudals,

17-18 and 19-21) at the point where they reach the ground. |

From this it has been inferred that the tail was used

partly as a bracing or supporting organ when the anterior |

half of the body was elevated. There is no evidence of
such consolidation in Brontosaurus, and the tail was re-
latively much shorter. Another difference is that in the
tail of Diplodocus the vertebral spines are very lofty, and
the . transverse processes laterally compressed, indicating
that this organ was partly used for propulsion in the
water. These characters are much less strongly developed
in the massive limbed Brontosaurus.

In this connection we may mention two partly antagon-
istic theories of the habits of this animal. First,

NO. 1890, VOL. 73]

there |

the |

considerable part of their life in the water, but were also
capable of progression, and even of feeding, upon land;
that during the reproductive and hatching period they
| spent a considerable time on land guarding their nests.
A similar theory was advocated by Hatcher in his memoir
on Diplodocus.

The size of the Brontosaurus has been very generally
overestimated. The chief measurements of the present
skeleton as mounted are :—

Feet Inches
66 «68
64 4

Length over all from head to tip of tail ...
Length of vertebral column ...

Length of neck... ot es is oe
Length of tail ... ak it ead wen (Siena!

Length of longest rib... a a (Chew)
Length of hind-limb, including foot 101 <7
Length of fore-limb, including foot... i © 8 26)
Depth of body from lower end of pubis

to top of posterior dorsal spine ... eos ese Hi
Length of head as restored ... ies Boo | erate St
Estimated weight of animal when alive ... 38 tons

As above noted, the long-limbed Diplodocus attained a
| greater length; the specimen recently presented to the
| British Museum is 84 feet long. The little known Baro-
| saurus, related to Diplodocus, was of still larger size, and
| the Brachiosaurus of Riggs had a much greater length of
| limb, but we have no means of ascertaining its length
| over all.
| It is interesting to compare these measurements with
those of a fully grown ‘‘ sulphur bottom’ whale, care-
fully measured by Mr. F. A. Lucas, and reproduced at the
St. Louis Exposition. This animal, a male, measured
74 feet 8 inches from the notch of the flukes to the tip
| of the nose. The approximate weight of the bones was
| 17,920 pounds. The entire animal was estimated at not
| much less than 63 tons.
| Our estimate of the weight of Brontosaurus is based on
| a model by Mr. Charles R. Knight on a one-sixteenth scale,
| founded upon the actual measurements of the present

skeleton. As carefully estimated by Mr. W. K. Gregory

NATURE

[JANUARY 18, 1906

and Prof. William Hallock, of the physical department of
Columbia University, the Brontosaurus displaced 34} tons
of water. If the animal was slightly heavier than the
water which it displaced, say 10 per cent., it would weigh
3 Prof. Hallock thinks that an estimate of from
35 tons to 4o tons would be very near the truth, even
allowing for errors of restoration.

tons.

Skull of Morasaurus.
Before the British Association at the Cambridge

the remarkable

meeting
deposit of dinosaur remains known as the

Fic. 3.—Model of the Brontosaurus, by Charles R. Knight. Sx
Model, 308 mm. high, 1/16 Natural Size.

““ Bone Cabin Quarry ”’ was described. The quarry, which
lies about nine miles north of the Bluffs, west of
the Rockies in south-central Wyoming, is believed to
represent a delta or mud and sand bar formation, in which
were accumulated more or less complete remains of all the
dinosaurs of the period.
One of the most rare

Como

and welcome products of this

quarry in the continuous workings which began in 1897
and were recently completed have been

the series of skulls, because the skull is
the rarest and most fragmentary part of
any of the Jurassic They in-
clude one complete and two incomplete
skulls of Diplodocus, two complete skulls
of the carnivorous Allosaurus, one of
Ornitholestes, the supposed bird-catching
dinosaur, one of Laosaurus, a primitive
iguanodont, one complete skull and por-
tions of two other skulls of Morosaurus.
This last is herewith described and illus-
trated for the first time. It was found
at the end of a series of cervical vertebrae
by Dr. W. D. Matthew in an extremely
crushed condition, and its restoration re-
quired great skill and care.

Hitherto our knowledge of the skull of
the Sauropoda has been limited to the
complete skull of Diplodocus and
to the posterior portion of the cranium
of one specimen of Morosaurus, both de-
scribed by Marsh. These new materials,
therefore, greatly expand our knowledge.

The most important point brought out
is that all three skulls exhibit a well
define tubular opening on top of the
skull at the junction of the parietals and paroccipitals.
This foramen is smoothly lined with bone, and leads directly
down into the cerebral cavity. It is thus probable that it
odged a large pineal eye, an organ the existence of which
was left problematical by Marsh, as shown in the following
passage :-

‘““ There is no true pineal foramen, but in the skull here
igured (Plate ii.) there is the small unossified tract men-
tioned above. In one specimen of Morosaurus a similar
opening has been observed, but in other Sauropoda the
parietal even if thin, are complete.’’ In Marsh’s
drawing the parietal opening is indicated rather as a
than as a foramen. While this opening is

NO. 1890, VOL. 73

dinosaurs.

single

bones,

fontanelle

e of Photo., 1/109.

Fic. 4.—Model of the Diplodocus, by Charles R. Knight. Sx

observed in the form of a bony tube in three skulls, it is
course possible that it was not invariably present in the
Sauropoda, and that in some forms the foramen was
partially or completely roofed over.

Tt will be recalled that the skull of Diplodocus has a
long snout or antorbital extension supporting a series of
ender, pencil-like teeth. The skull of Morosaurus differs
widely from this type, first in the highly convex forehead
r antorbital region, which is undoubtedly correlated with
the presence of the great spoon-shaped cropping teeth,
which were comparatively powerful and presented con-
siderable resistance. Above, there are
four premaxillary and eight maxillary
teeth, decreasing in size as they extend
toward the back of the jaw. From
twelve to thirteen teeth are preserved in
the mandible. The deep, massive pro-
portions of the premaxillaries, max-
illaries, and mandibular rami are als
mechanically correlated with the inser-
tion and powerful functions of these
large teeth. It is evident, however, that
as in Diplodocus the animal had no
power of masticating its food, and that
these anterior teeth served simply for
prehensile purposes.

The anterior narial or respiratory
openings are very large, facing forward
rather than more directly upward, as
in Diplodocus, while the openings in
front of the orbits are correspondingly
reduced. As restored in this specimen,
the orbits are of enormous size, but
considerable restoration was necessary in
the bone surrounding this region, so that the con-
tours of the orbits cannot be certainly ascertained. In
the superior aspect of the skull it is evident that the
frontal and nasal bones were much longer than in Diplo-
docus. It is noteworthy that the occiput or back part
of the skull has practically the same composition as in the
carnivorous Dinosaurs, namely, the parietals hardly enter
at all into the top of the cranial roof except to bound the

n

Scale of

Scale of

le of Photo., 1/r05.
ze.

Model, 826 mm. long, 1/16 Natural $

parietal or pineal foramen at the sides; this foramen,
which is absent in the carnivorous dinosaurs, is bounded
posteriorly by the supraoccipitals. The squamosals form
the infralateral portions of the occiput. These resemblances
tend, so far as they are of value, to sustain Prof. Seeley’s
view that the Sauropoda and Theropoda, or carnivorous
dinosaurs, are more nearly related to each other (Saur-
ischia, Seeley) than either are to the Predentata (Ornith-
ischia, Seeley); in fact, it is possible to derive the sauropod

type from a primitive quadrupedal theropod type, but not
to derive either from an iguanodont type.
HENRY FAIRFIELD OSBORN.

American Museum of Natural History, October 5, 1905-

January 18, 1906]

NA TRORE

285

THE PRESENT POSITION OF RADIO-
ACTIVITY.*

“T HERE are three fundamental conceptions, the atom,

the electron, and the ether. The seventy odd different
kinds of atoms known, although fundamentally distinct,
form a class to themselves in the complexity of matter,
so that any discovery fundamentally affecting one must
embrace all. The electron expresses for electricity the same
idea as the atom does for any one kind of elementary
matter, and may be termed the atom of negative electricity.
Only one kind of electricity, and only one kind of electron,
is known, and this possesses the same essential properties
in all its various manifestations. The ether renders possible
action at a distance,’’ and all actions transmitted through
the ether are of essentially the same character and travel
at one speed, namely, the speed of light.

The electron, although by origin an electrical conception,
is in reality a material conception no less than the atom.
At rest an electron is a simple charge—an electrostatic
phenomenon. In motion it constitutes a current of elec-
tricity—an electromagnetic phenomenon. When an electron
moves from rest to speed and back to rest again, the ether
through which it moves at first has no magnetic qualities ;
then it acquires an amount of magnetic energy proportional
to the speed of the electron, and then it again loses the
same amount. Thus the electron cannot move without
the expenditure of energy, and cannot be stopped until it
has again given up the same amount. According to
Newton’s laws of motion, therefore, the electron is
essentially a material particle. It possesses inertia, or
“‘ apparent mass,’’ but it is not yet known whether it obeys
the law of gravity, and possesses gravitational mass.

Since action at a distance travels through the ether at
the speed of light, the magnetic field at a point some
distance away from the line of motion of an electron cannot
instantaneously accommodate itself to a change of motion
of the electron, but the disturbance of the magnetic field
travels outward from the electron with the speed of light.
If the change of motion of the electron is periodic, as in
the case of an electron revolving in an orbit within an
atom, the disturbance constitutes ordinary light. In the
Crookes’s tube there is an irregular shower of free-flying
independent electrons (kathode rays) upon the anti-
kathode. The sudden irregular disturbances in the mag-
netic field travelling outward from the anti-kathode at the
speed of light constitute the X-rays. The Hertz waves, on
the other hand, result when electrons are caused to oscil-
late along paths of metrical rather than molecular
dimensions, and their wave-length is measured in metres
rather than in molecular diameters.

The apparatus employed largely to generate what are
known to medical men as ‘‘ high-frequency currents ”’
admirably illustrate the inertia of electrons. Such a current
will jump an air gap rather than traverse a spiral rod of
copper, and will light a high-resistance incandescent lamp
“short-circuited ’’ by loop of bar copper. Lightning
possesses the same characteristics, as Sir Oliver Lodge
was the first to demonstrate.

The question arises whether there are two kinds of
inertia, essentially similar, the one ‘‘ material ’’ and the
other electromagnetic. If a sufficient number of electrons
could be concentrated within a space of atomic dimensions,
the total inertia of the aggregate could be made equal to
that of an atom. Unfortunately, we know of no means
whereby the mutual repulsions of the electrons could be

overcome without introducing the hypothetical positive
electron or its equivalent.
The present year is the decennary of M. Henri

Becquerel’s discovery of the natural radio-activity of matter.
Radio-activity has been interpreted as the effect of a
process of spontaneous disintegration occurring within the
atoms of the radio-element, and already atomic disintegra-
tion is recognised as the probable cause of innumerable
hitherto isolated phenomena in every branch of knowledge.
It is the most fundamental and potent factor of evolution
known. The ultimate cause of atomic disintegration, like
that of most other common properties of matter, even
gravitation, remains quite unknown. The view that radio-

1 Abridged from the presidential address delivered to the Rintgen Society
on January 4 by Mr. Frederick Soddy. :

NO. 1890, VOL. 73]

activity is the outward and visible sign of deep-seated
material change followed from the elucidation of the
nature of the emanations, and of the phenomenon of
excited or induced activity. It was shown that the eman-
ations and the allied bodies were new forms of matter
continuously being produced from the radio-elements, and
that they were the products of the changing atoms.
Rutherford’s discovery that the a radiation consisted of
radiant particles, and the gradual accumulation of evidence,
amounting to-day to practical proof, that the « particles
are radiant atoms of the element helium, enabled the whole
process to be simply elucidated. A single radiant atom is
within the means of detection, for example, by the spin-
thariscope, whereas a million million atoms is not sufficient
to be detected by the most delicate and refined spectro-
scopic test. The radio-atom suffers successive disintegra-
tion, and at each disintegration a single radiant particle
is in general expelled. The radium atom successively
expels five a particles, so that a residue of atomic weight
about 205 should be left if these particles are helium
atoms. ‘There is strong indirect evidence for believing that
the residue atom is that of lead. In the natural minerals,
where the radio-elements occur, are to be found the
ultimate products of ages of past accumulation. In the
uranium minerals, helium, radium, polonium, and lead
have been recognised as the constant companions of the
uranium. Direct experiments have established in each
case, except lead, the production of these elements during
the disintegration. Polonium is the last changing member
of the disintegration series, is a higher homologue of
tellurium (Marckwald), and is identified with the radium F
of Rutherford. The production of lead from polonium has
not yet been directly observed, but Boltwood has shown it
to be a constant constituent of the uranium minerals.

There is a comprehensiveness and subtlety in the oper-
ations of the laws of nature which the most vivid imagin-
ation cannot anticipate. The fact that the proportion of
radium in any uranium mineral must be constant, being
the ratio between the rate of disintegration of radium and
that of uranium (or one to a million), cannot fail to have
most important bearings. If to-morrow radium could be
imported in quantity from outer space, after a few thousand
years the quantity in the earth would be no more and no
less than at present. By that time the quantity exhibited
to-night will have had its day and ceased to be, but if the
rest of the mineral from which it was extracted could again
be examined a new amount no less than that originally
present would be found to have grown in the interval.

How far are we justified in extending these ideas to
explain analogous phenomena in the case of the inactive
elements? We know that radio-activity is a mere accom-
paniment by no means essential to the process of atomic
disintegration. The evidence available shows clearly that
atomic disintegration might be universal and yet beyond
the power of direct detection. A discovery fundamentally
affecting any one element must embrace the whole class.
The internal energy of the atom is merely revealed in
radio-activity, in the same way as the internal energy of
gun-cotton is revealed only when it explodes. The energy
of the disintegration of an element is roughly a million
times greater than that of any other change we are
acquainted with. The attempt of the alchemist to build
up a heavy element like gold from silver was futile, bes
cause, even if it could be done, it could not pay. The
energy of some hundreds of tons of coal would have to be
put into an ounce of silver to convert it into gold; but
if gold could be formed from the degradation of a heavier
element like lead, the gold would be a mere by-product,
and the store of energy liberated simultaneously, however
reckoned, would be of far greater value than the gold
produced. At present we are totally ignorant of any means
of altering or affecting in any way the rate of atomic
disintegration proceeding spontaneously, or, in other
words, we cannot effect artificial transmutation.

The experimental sciences do not hold out much hope
of giving an immediate answer to the question whether
atomic disintegration is general, and whether the scarcity
or abundance of an element in the earth is a measure of
its stability. We are forced back on such indirect evidence
as lies ready to our hand. It is possible to obtain such
evidence in the field of economics for the element gold,

to
[o/e)

6 | \WATURE

[January 18, 1906

because gold has been established by long experience to
be an excellent if not ideal metal for coinage.
Analysing what this means, we find that an extremely
complex condition must be satisfied. We are not a stereo-
typed or stagnant civilisation, and the demand for coinage
metal experiences great fluctuations. With the scientific
awakening of last century, an enormously increased de-
mand arose in consequence of the rapid extension of com-
merce. In spite of this it is of the utmost importance
that the value of other commodities expressed in terms of
that of the coinage-metal must remain fairly constant
from year to year, otherwise debtors and creditors might
awake to find themselves ruined by some great variation
in the value-ratio. Experience shows that this complex
condition is, as a matter of fact, nearly fulfilled for the
element gold. The first requirement that gold possesses
enabling it to fulfil the condition is that it is a technically
worthless metal. It possesses usefulness only on account
of its value. Platinum, on the other hand, is unsuited
for coinage because it possesses value on account of its
usefulness. In the latter case the demand increases with
fall of price, while in the former it decreases.

The second requirement that has to be satisfied if the
value-ratio is to remain constant is that the output of
gold should, on the average, bear some fixed ratio to the
amount of human endeavour expended in the search.
The scarcity must be relative, and some definite number
of tons of the auriferous material must on the average
be extracted to produce an ounce of the metal. That is
to say, the scarcity must be mainly of concentration, as in
the case of radium in the uranium minerals. If a tech-
nically worthless metal is a member of a disintegration
series, so that its concentration in its ores is on the
average fixed, it would obey the complex condition required
for a coinage metal. So that the argument may be in-
verted, and indirect evidence obtained that gold is, like
radium, a member of a disintegration series. The gold
currency cost the world seventy million pounds worth of
unproductive labour last year. A sum, which expressed in
pounds runs into ten figures, representing the world’s
accumulated stock of bullion, has been spent in the past.
To-day it exchanges at its face-value; to-morrow, with
the introduction of a less expensive and more scientific
system of book-keeping, it will become a mass of tech-
nically worthless metal.

This extension of the idea of atomic disintegration shows
how powerfully the recent theories are bound in time to
affect the life and thought of the community. Those who
have grasped their significance know well that nothing
appears the same or can again appear quite the same as
before. It is not necessary that we should ever approach
nearer than at present to the control and application of
the new processes and reservoirs of energy. The mere
possibility of being able to do so in the future cannot fail
to leave its mark. By these discoveries the relation of
mankind to nature has undergone a certain change, and
man has caught a glimpse of some latent possibilities within
his legitimate destiny which cannot be effaced. Energy is
the life of the physical universe. You cannot multiply the
existing store by a million and leave things as they were.
Man, ‘‘nature’s rebel,’’ as Prof. Ray Lankester has
depicted him, left isolated among the forces of nature to
work out his own salvation, has had placed before his
eyes a new material destiny. So far as physical possi-
bility is concerned, he may one day attain to the power
as well as the wish expressed in the quatrain of Omar :—

“© O love! could you and I with fate conspire

To grasp this sorry scheme of things entire,

Would not we shatter it to bi's—and then
Re-mould it nearer to the heart's desire!”

MEDICAL INSPECTION AND FEEDING OF
CHILDREN IN SCHOOLS.*

V E welcome this extension of the inquiry begun in the
physical deterioration report, however limited be

the terms of reference, viz. (1) to report on what is being
done, and with what result, in respect to medical inspec-
tion; (2) to inquire into the methods employed, the sums
1 Report of Interdepartmental Committee on Medical Inspection and

Feeding of Children attending Public Elementary Schools. (Cd. 2779.)
Price 1s. 3. ,

No. 1890, VOL. 73]

expended, and the relief given by various voluntary agencies
for the provision of meals, and to report whether relief of
this kind could be better organised without any charge upon
the public funds.

(1) Upon the first subject, the results are shown to be
most beneficial, the percentage of sufferers being by no
means small; thus in defects of vision found in 7 per cent.
to 20 per cent. of children examined, headache and
apparent dulness often disappear. Twenty per cent. seems
a common experience of the incidence of vermin, uncleanli-
ness, and ringworm; here beneficial results have been
generally of a marked character, cases being diminished
by one-half in nine months in Gloucestershire.

The medical officer of health at Salford demonstrates to
the teachers the symptoms to expect in infectious diseases,
and the teachers are becoming so skilful in detecting
symptoms, and at once excluding all suspected cases, that
outbreaks of infectious disease demanding medical inspec-
tion are much less frequent. So will necessity for closing
the schools diminish.

Diphtheria, it is stated, is now in several areas under
such complete control that it can be stopped in a few
days. We read in this and similar evidence an urgent call
for the extension of medical inspection, and regret that
the committee should water their conclusions with a
comment that the ‘‘results’’ are to be given as state-
ments of opinion rather than as ascertained facts. The
contrary is the case, the facts are ascertained, and if the
dozen witnesses coincide, surely we have progressed beyond
opinion.

(2) In the second inquiry, in which the committee is to
report whether relief can be better organised without any
charge upon the public funds, much valuable sociological
information has been collected. In many schools 2 per
cent. to 5 per cent. of children require this aid, and a meal
may cost from a penny to twopence. Seventeen recom-
mendations outline business-like cooperation for charitable
relief.

The committee has stated that in the ordinary run of
cases which will come up to be dealt with, a woman’s
opinion upon the need of a household will be more valuable
than a man’s, and the opinion of two lady witnesses is
given that the existing attendance officer is not sufficiently
trained, and therefore of no use for the purpose. One
would imagine a recommendation would follow that a lady
official should be secured for this primary duty of selection
of recipients. This omission does not seem explicable on
financial grounds, for it might as readily be a charge upon
voluntary subscription as upon the public funds. One feels
that without such aid the frequent abuse of free meals, as
reported in the evidence, is likely to recur.

In this inquiry, all who seek to avoid pauperising parents
on the one hand, or the underfeeding of school children on
the other, will find much useful information.

UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL
INTELLIGENCE.

Oxrorp.—By the will of the late Sir J. S. Burdon-
Sanderson, the laboratory of the pathological department
of the University is bequeathed the sum of 2o000l., payable
within six months of his death, as an endowment to provide
for pathological research there, the fund to be vested in
the professors for the time being of human anatomy,
physiology, and pathology, who are to have absolute dis-
cretion as to the application of the fund.

CampripGe.—Last Sunday completed the fiftieth year
during which Dr. Atkinson has presided as Master over
the fortunes of Clare College, and the University will on
February 1 present him with an address of congratulation
similar to that presented to the late Lord Braybrooke two
years ago.

Mr. H. O. Jones, of Clare College, has been approved
as deputy for the Jacksonian professor of experimental
philosophy during the current Lent term.

The following awards to scholarships in mathematics
have been made at Queens’ College :—N. R. Krishnamma,
Merchant Taylors’, 45/.; C. F. Waterfall, Manchester
Grammar School, 45l.; A. H. Pinder, Malvern College,

January 18, 1906]

INATNG FEE

287

4ol.; H. C. Bathurst, Dulwich College, 4ol.; E. T.
Lancaster, Exeter School, 3ol.; G. D. Roechling, Win-
chester College, 30l.

Tue death is announced, at the age of forty-nine, of
Dr. W. R. Harper, president of Chicago University.

Tue council of the University of Sheffield has appointed
Dr. Louis Cobbett professor of pathology, and Mr. L. T.
O’Shea professor of applied chemistry in the University.

Sir Micwart Foster, K.C.B., F.R.S., will preside at
the meeting of the Public Schools Science Masters’ Associ-
ation at Westminster School on Saturday, January 20, in
place of the president, Sir Oliver Lodge, F.R.S., who is
prevented trom being present.

WE learn from Science that at the recent special session
of the State legislature the University of Wisconsin was
again authorised to draw its income from the general fund
of the State treasury, as according to the new method of
appropriating funds for the university by setting aside two-
sevenths of a mill on all taxes, the university income fund
does not become available until February each year,
whereas the university budget has always been estimated
on the basis of the fiscal year, which extends from July 1
to June 30 of each year.

On Saturday, January 13, the first annual dinner was
held of the past chemical students of the Technical College,
Finsbury. Prof. R. Meldola, F.R.S., took the chair, and
there were present, in addition to the lecturers and
demonstrators of the chemical department, seventy past
students of the college. Prof. Meldola referred with pride
to the number of past students, who had won distinction
in the chemical world, and were gathered around him.
Finsbury was one of the earliest technical colleges, and
had a record of a quarter of a century’s usefulness to the
technical industries of the country. Dr. Moody, who pro-
posed ‘‘ The College,’’ said that this year was a very
appropriate one for the first annual dinner, as their head,
Prof. Meldola, now held the highest distinction the
Chemical Society had to offer, the office of president.

A piscussion has been opened in L’Enseignement
mathématique on the reforms to be accomplished in the
teaching of mathematics, and numerous mathematicians
have been asked to state their opinions on the conditions
that should be satisfied by a complete course of mathe-
matics, theoretical and practical, in institutions of higher
grade. The questions are as follows :—What improvements
should be effected in the teaching of pure mathematics?
What part should be played by higher educational institu-
tions in preparing teachers for secondary schools? And
how should mathematical teaching be organised in order
that it may respond better than hitherto to the require-
ments of other branches of pure and applied science? Of
those who have already taken part in this referendum, we
note the names of Prof. Gino Loria (Genoa), Prof. Emile
Borel (Paris), Prof. Jules Andrade (Besancon), Prof. D. E.
Smith (Columbia University), Prof. F. Mariotte (Paris).

SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES.
LONDON.

Royal Microscopical Society, December 20, 1905.—Dr.
Dukinfield H. Scott, F.R.S., president, in the chair.
An exhibit consisting of about twenty photographs of
diatoms taken by the Zeiss apparatus, designed by Dr.
August Kohler, of Jena, for photomicrography with ultra-
violet light: Mr. Rheinberg. The objective and other
lenses used in taking the photographs were made wholly
of fused quartz, which rendered possible the utilisation of
ultra-violet light having a wave-length of 275 pu
(+275 millionths of a millimetre). The photographs were
taken with a 1-7 mm. monochromatic objective of
1:25 N.A., using light from the cadmium spark. The
resolving power was therefore as great as would be that
of an objective used with ordinary light if it were possible
to give it an N.A. of 2-5. There were photographs of
Surirella gemma and Amphipleura pellucida; one of the
latter taken with oblique illumination showed the diatom
clearly resolved into dots. There were also comparison
photographs. of the same diatoms, taken with a 2 mm.

NO 1890, VOL. 73]

apochromatic objective of 1-4 N.A. using light from the
magnesium spark (A=383 muse) giving about the same
amplification, viz. about 1800 diameters. The difference in
the appearance of the images was very apparent.—A fern
fructification from the lower Coal-measures of Shore,
Lancashire: D. M. S. Watson.

Linnean Society, December 21, 1905.—Mr. C. B. Clarke,
F.R.S., vice-president, in the chair.—(1) An aposporous
seedling of Polypodium vulgare, with a frond bearing a
well defined prothallus at the tip. (2) A new case of
apospory in Cystopteris montana: C. T. Druery.—The
International Botanical Congress at Vienna in June last :
Dr. A. B. Rendle. A report was given on the work of
the congress, and in particular on the proposals of the
conference on botanical nomenclature (see Nature, vol.
Ixxii., p. 272, 1905).—Cyrtandree Malayz insularis nove :
Dr. F. Kranzlin.—On Characez from the Cape of Good
Hope collected by Major A. H. Wolley-Dod, R.A.:
H. and J. Groves.

Mathematical Society, January
president, in the chair—On the monogeneity of an
algebraic function: Dr. H. F. Baker.—On the diffraction
of sound by large cylinders: J. W. Nicholson.—On the
expression of the so-called biquaternions and triquaternions
by quaternary matrices: J. Brill—Dr. E. W. Hobson
made an informal communication On the representation
of functions of real variables.

11.—Prof. Forsyth,

Paris.
#:Academy of Sciences, January §.—M. Poincaré in
the chair.—On a method allowing of the determination
of the constant of an absolute electrodynamometer with
the aid of an induction phenomenon: G. Lippmann. In
the determination of the constant of an absolute electro-
dynamometer, the conditions imposed by the calculation
if accuracy of measurement is aimed at are the opposite
of the conditions for sensitiveness. In the method pro-
posed in the present paper, the experimental measurement
is reduced to finding the equilibrium position of a galvano-
meter, and measuring either an angle or a length.—On
comets, and the curvature of their solar trajectory: Emile
Belot.—On plane transformations: M. Hadamard.—On
the non-stationary motion of a fluid ellipsoid of revolution
which does not change its figure during the motion: W.
Stekloff.—On the stability of aéroplanes and the rational
construction of supporting planes: Edmond Seux.—On the
variation of the emission spectra of some electric lamps
with temperature: P. Vaillant. The lamps studied were
the Cooper-Hewitt mercury lamp, the tantalum filament,
the Nernst, and the ordinary carbon filament lamps.
Figures are given showing the variations in the composition
and intensity of the light with the number of watts con-
sumed by each lamp.—On a new type of compound in the
group of rare metals: C. Matignon and E. Cazes. At
a high temperature samarium chloride, SmCl,, is slowly
reduced in a current of hydrogen to a lower chloride, the
analyses agreeing with the formula SmCl,. This lower
chloride was obtained by other methods, the complete
absence of moisture being the one condition essential. The
chlorides of praseodymium and neodymium do not undergo
a similar reduction by hydrogen.—The electrolytic prepar-
ation of spongy tin: D. Tommasi. The electrolytic solu-
tion is made up of stannous chloride (10), hydrochloric
acid (1), and water (50), and the tin is deposited on a
rotating kathode.—On cuprous-silicide: Em. Vigouroux.
The author has repeated and confirmed his earlier experi-
ments on this subject, and shows that in pure silicides of
copper the amount of combined silicon is about ro per cent. ;
the crystallised cuprous silicide, Cu,Si, has been isolated
and its principal properties determined.—The reduction of
the chlorides of silver and copper by calcium: L. Hack-
spill. The reduction of silver chloride by calcium gives
rise to a series of alloys of calcium and silver varying
according to the proportion of calcium used. The reduction
of cuprous chloride gave similarly a copper-calcium alloy.
—Asymmetrical derivatives of 1: 6-hexanediol; the diethyl
ether and di-iodide of 1: 7-heptanediol: R. Dionneau.—
On the conditions of hydrogenation of some halogen deri-
vatives of fatty hydrocarbons by the metal ammoniums.
The preparation of ethylenic and acetylenic hydrocarbons :
IX. Chablay. Sodium, dissolved in liquid ammonia, acts

288

NAT OLE

J ANUARY 18, 1906

upon ethylene chloride quantitatively according to the
equation C,H,Cl,+2NH,.Na=2NaCl+C,H,+2NH,. The
homologues of ethylene bromide give unsaturated hydro-
carbons similarly, but there are secondary reactions. With
compounds of the type R.CHCI,, the alkali-ammonium
reacts differently, giving the paraffin R.CH,—QOn the
retrogradation and composition of natural starch other than
potato starch: Eug. Roux.—The action of invertin in a
heterogeneous medium : Victor Henri.—On solid solutions :
Fréd. “Wallerant.—On the secretory canals in the wood
of Dipterocarpus: P. Guérin.—On the respiration of the
flower: M. Maige.—The composition of the fluids which
circulate in the plant; variations of nitrogen in the leaves :
G. André.—On hordenine, a new alkaloid extracted from
the germs of barley: E. téger. The alkaloid forms
anhydrous crystals of the composition C,,H,,NO. It is a
strong tertiary base, forming easily crystallisable salts.—
Hordenine, its degree of toxicity and symptoms of poison-
ing: L. Camus. This alkaloid is not highly toxic; death,
when it is produced by a large dose, is ‘determined by an
arrest of respiration.—On the echinoderms collected by the
French Antarctic Expedition under Dr. Charcot: R.
Koehler.—On the value of the magnetic elements at the
observatory at the Val-Joyeux on January 1: Th.
Moureaux.—Deep marine currents in the North Atlantic :
A. Chevallier.

DIARY OF SOCIETIES.

THURSDAY, January 18.

Roya Society, at 4.30.—The Factors which Determine the Production
of Intraocular Fluid: E, E. Henderson and Prof. E. H. Starling, F.R. S.
—A Critical Account of some Anomalous Conditions of the Cerebrum in
the Human Feetus: Dr. W. L. H. Duckworth.—A Case of Regeneration
in Polychate Worms: A. T. Watson. —On the Infection, Histology,
and Development of the Uredo Stage in certain Uredinex: I. B. P.
Evans.—On the Synapsis in Amphibia : J. E.S. Moore and Miss A. L.
Embleton.—On the Constancy of Form among the Synaptic Gemini
{Heterotype Chromosomes) in certain Animals: J. E.S. Moore and G.
Arnold.—The Growth of the Oocyte in Antedon : a Morphological Study
in the Cell Metabolism: G. C. Chubb.—Observations on the Life
History of Leucocytes: C. E. Walker.—A Study of the Mechanism of
Carbon Assimilation in Green Plants: F. L. Usher and J. H. Priestley.—
Note on the Progeny of Chestnut Thoroughbred Horses: W. F. R.
Weldon, F.R.S.

CHEemicar Society, at 8.30.—The Refractive Indices of Crystallising
Solutions with Especial Reference to the Passage from the Meta-stable
to the Labile Condition: H. A. Miers and F. Isaac.—The Determination
of Available Plant Food in Soils by the Use of Weak Acid Solvents.
Part II.: A. D. Hall and A. Amos.—The Action of Ammonia and
Amines on Diazobenzene Picrate: ©. Silberrad and G. Rotter.—The
Preparation of -Bistriazobenzene: O. Silberrad and B. J. Smart.—
Gradual Decomposition of Ethyl Diazoacetate: O. Silberrad and C. S.
Roy.—Studies on Nitrogen Iodide. Part IIT. The Action of Methyl
and Benzyl Iodides: O. Silberrad-and B. J. Smart.—Silicon Researches.
Part X. Silicon Thiocyanate: J. E, Reynolds.—The Relations between
Absorption Spectra and Chemical Constitution. Part I. The Chemical
Reactivity of the Carbonyl Group: A. W. Stewart and E. C. C. Baly.—
Halogen Derivatives of Substituted Oxamides: F. D. Chattaway and
W. H. Lewis.—The Effect of Constitution on the Rotatory Power of
Optically Active Nitrogen Compounds. Part I.: Miss M. B. Thomas
and H. O. Jones.—Menthyl Benzene Sulphonate and Menthyl-f-
Naphthalene Sulphonate: T. S. Patterson and J. Frew.—An Apparatus
for the Continuous Extraction of Liquids with Ether: R. S. Bowman.—
Action of Bromine on Benzeneazo-o-Nitrophenol: J. T. Hewitt and
N. Walker.—Some Reactions and New Compounds of Fluorine. Part I.
E. B. R. Prideaux.—The Relation between Absorption Spectra and
Chemical Reactivity. Part 11. The Quinonesand a-Diketones: E. C. C.
Baly and A. W. Stewart.—The Relation between Absorption Spectra and
Chemical Reactivity. Part III. The Nitroanilines and the Nitrophenols :
E, C. C. Baly, W. H. Edwards, and A. W. Stewart.—Contributions to
the Chemistry of the Rare Earths. Part [.: M. Esposito.—A Synthesis
of Aldehydes by Grignard’s Reaction; G. W. Monier Williams.—The
Condensation of Dimethyldihydroresorcin and of Chloroketodimethyl-
tetrahydrobenzene with Primary Amines. Part 1. Monamines, Ammonia,
Aniline, and 4-Toluidine: P. Haas.

Society oF ARTs, at 4.30.—The City of Calcutta: C. E. Buckland.—At
8.0.—High Speed Electric } Machinery, with Special Reference to Steam-
Turbine Machines: Prof. S. P. ‘Thompson, F.R.S.

LINNEAN Society, at 8.—The Life-history of / are ‘garitifera Panasesae :
A. W. Allen. On some Endophytic Alge: A. D. Cotton.—Jacobson’s
Organ of Sphenodon: Dr. R. Broom.

FRIDAY, January 19.

Roya INnsTITUTION, at 9.—Some Applications of the Theory of Electric
Discharge to Spectroscopy : Prof J. J. Thomson, F.R.S.

INSTITUTION OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS, at 8. — Behaviour of Materials
of Construction under Pure Shear: E. G. Izod (Resumed Discussion):
Worm Contact: R. A. Bruce.

MONDAY, Janvary 22,
Soc1oLo@IcaL Society, at 8. —Sociology as an Academic Subject :

R. M. Wenley.
TUESDAY, JANUARY 23.
Roya [NsTITUTION, at 5. —Impressions of Travel in China and the Far
East: Prof. E. H. Parker.

NO. 1890, VOL. 73

Prof.

INSTITUTION OF CiviL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Resumed Discussion: The
Elimination of Storm-water from Sewerage Systems: D. E. Lloyd-
Davies.—On the Elimination of Suspended Solids and Colloidal Matters
from Sewage : Lieut.-Colonel A. S. Jones and Dr. W. O. Travis.

MINERALOGICAL SociETy, at 8.—Studies in Crystallisation : Prof. M ers
and Mr. Chevalier.—The Chemical Composition of Geikielite: Mr. Jones
and Mr. Crook.

ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE, at 8.30.—Annual General Meeting. Pre-
sident’s Address: Copper and its Alloys in Antiquity.
WEDNESDAY, JANuaRyY 24.

Society oF Arts, at 8.—The Planting of Waste Lands for Profit: Dr. J.

Nisbet.

GEOLOGICAL Society, at 8.—The Buttermere and Ennerdale Granophyre :
Robert Heron Rastall.—On the Igneous and Associated Sedimentary
Rocks of Llangynog (Caermarthenskire) : T. Crosbie Cantrill and Herbert
Henry Thomas.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 25.

Rovat Society, at 4.30.—Probable Papers : Experiments on the Chemical
Behaviour of Argon and Helium: Dr. W. T. Cooke.—The Vapour
Pressure in Equilibrium with Substances holding Varying Amounts of
Moisture. Parts I. and II.: Prof. F. T. Trouton, F.R.S., and Miss B.
Poole.—Note on Heusler’s Magnetic Alloy of Manganese, Aluminium
and Copper: Prof. A. Gray, F.R.S.—On the Overstraining of Iron by
Tension and Compression : J. Muir.—On the Effect of High
Temperature on Radium Emanation: W. Makower.—Observations and
Photographs of Black and Grey Soap Films: H. Stansfield.—Artificial
Double Kefraction due to olotropic Distribution, with Application to
Colloidal Solution and Magnetic Fields : T. H. Havelock.—An Electrical
Measuring Machine for Engineering Gauges and other Bodies: Dr.
P. E. Shaw.—The Relation between the Osmotic Pressure and the
Vapour Pressure of a Solution: W. Spens.—The Elliptic Integral in
Electromagnetic Theory : Prof. A. G. Greenhill, F.R.S.—On the Simple
Group of Order 25920: Prof. W. Burnside, F.R. Ss.

Society or Arts, at 8.—High Speed Electric Machinery, with Special
Reference to Steam Turbine Machines: Prof. S. P. Thompson, F.R.S
InsTiTuTION oF ELEcTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—'lechnical Considera-
tions in Electric Railway Engineering: F. W. Carter.

FRIDAY, January 26.

Puysicac SociEtTy, at 5-

InsvTiruTIon oF Civit. ENGINEERS, at 8.—Prince of Wales Pier, Falmouth :
‘T. R. Grigson.—Ferro-Concrete Pier at Purfleet: H. O. H. Etheridge.

CONTENTS. PAGE

The Higher Teleolory. By J. As Taree). earemecas

Two Books onthe Soil. . . ; oe e200)
Recent Aspects of Elementary Geometry. By

Ga BoM. = Pre. 87)
Legibility and ‘Visual Acuity. “By. ip "Herbert

Parsons .. 2 6 a Gee 2S

Our Book Shelf :—

Morse: ‘‘ Exercises in (Quantitative Chemistry.”—

H. M. Ds. : 268
Flint : “Handbook of Physiology for Students and

Practitioners of Medicine.’— Prof. J. S.

Macdonald . an aris MMM, 21259)
“* Penrose’s Pictorial Annual” ues: ROD
Gewecke: ‘‘ Philips’ Large Planisphere ”, 3 oc! cl el)
Hann: ‘‘Lehrbuch der Meteorologie”. . . . .. . 270
Henslow: ‘‘ The Uses of British Plants” . . . 270

Letters to the Editor :—
Cheirality of Form of Crystals of Epsom Salt.—

Dr ries Pocklington 7 ae ~ 2 270)
Deposits on Telephone Wires.—A Subscriber. . . 270
Sounding Stones.—T. Dillon . . . Bac, 272)

More About Japan. (J//ustrated.) By E. w. a 271
The Motion ofthe Moon. ByR.A.S. .. 3 RZ
The Control of the Gas Supply of the Metropolis ye 3}
Prof. C. J. Joly, F.R.S. By WE 273
Notes) 4 .7¢ ; 9 ee ie 71:4
Our Astronomical Column:— . ihe o> oe)
Comet 1905¢ (Giacobini). . . SOAS MONON Oc 6 2/72)
Nebulosity around Nova Aguile ee RCE no. 27/0)
The Figuretofthe’Sun'. . . 2 aeaea =e =. eno)
Stellar Magnitude of the Sin. eee ae Bey ie)
Variability “of Iris . 279
Some Questions for Archeologists. By Sir Norman
Lockyer, K.C.B., F.R.S. : 280
The Skeleton of Brontosaurus and Skull of Moro-
saurus. (J//ustrated.) By Prof, Henry Fairfield
Osbarni ye 5 . 282
The Present Position of Radio- activity. By
Frederick Soddy ound 285
Medical Inspection and ‘Feeding of Children’ in
Schools .. 2 0 ZO
University and Educational ‘Intelligence = 2 sthaeeaee
Societiesjand?Academies' . . 5 2 (00) 5 < Seeman
Diary of Societies! 5.) aii es cae) ei oe Ee

NAT ORE

28g

THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 1906.

HLLIUM IN RELATION TO.:.RADIO-ACTIVE
PROCESSES.
Radio-activity. By Prof. E. Rutherford, F.R.S.
Second edition. Pp. xiv+580. (Cambridge: The
University Press, 1905.) Price 12s. 6d. net.

PROF- RUTHERFORD’S book has

no rival as

an authoritative exposition of what is known of |

the properties of radio-active bodies. A very large
share of that knowledge is due to the author himself.
His amazing activity in this field has excited universal
admiration.
years without some important contribution from him,
or from the pupils whom he has inspired, on this
branch of science; and, what is more wonderful still,
there has been in all this vast mass of work scarcely
a single conclusion which has since been shown to be
ill-founded. The general scope of the present work
has been noticed in these columns in a review of the
first edition. Before passing to the discussion of

special points, it is only necessary to say that the |

second edition fully maintains the reputation of its
predecessor for completeness and suggestiveness of
treatment.

It is natural to turn eagerly to the paragraph in
which Prof. Rutherford discusses what may be called
the burning question in radio-activity—Does the «a
particle consist of an atom of helium? Prof. Ruther-
ford is evidently still inclined to the view that this
is the case. He is influenced chiefly by the undoubted
fact that helium is a product of the changes occurring
in radium, by the approximate agreement in the
electrochemical equivalent of the a particles with the
value which is considered appropriate to helium
atoms, and by the slowness with which the final
products of radium are formed. This slowness seems
to exclude the possibility that helium, which appears
so soon, can be anything but a bye-product.

It is difficult to regard the argument from the
electrochemical equivalent as having great weight, for
the assumptions which must be made before available
measurements can be brought to bear are many and
bold.

In the first place, how do we know the electro-
chemical equivalent of a helium atom? In a case
like hydrogen or oxygen we are on safe ground, for
experiments on the electrolysis of its compounds enable
us to compare the quantity of electricity conveyed with
the amount of the element liberated. But no such ex-
periment can be made with helium, for it forms no
compounds. It is evident, therefore, that the desired
information can only be got by some indirect argu-
ment. Unfortunately, the most obvious kind of induc-
tion does not lead us to a very satisfactory conclusion.
It is found that if we call the charge which a mono-
valent atom can carry e, then a divalent atom will
carry a charge 2e, a trivalent atom a charge 3e, and
so on. What, then, are we to expect of an atom like

is.9 NO. 1891, VOL. 73]

Scarcely a month has passed for several |

helium, which, so far as can be judged from its
chemical behaviour and from position in the
periodic classification, has zero valency? Obviously
that it should not be able to carry a charge at all in
the same sense that the other atoms can do so.

Helium, like other gases, can be ionised by the
Roéntgen rays, so there is reason to think, from this
point of view, that its atom can in some sense be
charged.

It has been customary to assume that the appro-
priate charge to assign to it is that of a monovalent
atom. This may be the best view to take provision-
ally... But further light is much needed.

Again, we have no very direct measurement of the
charge carried by an @ particle. Prof. Rutherford
assumes for that case also the charge characteristic
of a monovalent atom, and he has been able to cal-
culate on this assumption the volume of radium
emanation and the heating effect of radium. The
results in both cases are in satisfactory agreement with
experimental data, and Prof. Rutherford is to be con-
gratulated on his remarkable success in showing that
such agreement can be obtained. But he would not,
in all probability, press the exactness of this agree-
ment as sufficient evidence that the charge of an a
particle is exactly that assumed, and not either half
or double, for he has had to use many data which
cannot but be considered subject to very serious un-
certainty. Indeed, the agreement obtained is so good
that even if all the premises are correct it must be
considered as to some extent fortuitous.

Perhaps the most original chapters in Prof, Ruther-
ford’s book are those in which he has so admirably
disentangled the complicated series of changes which
are involved in the disintegration of radium and its
emanation. The idea at one time entertained that
radio-activity was determined by high atomic weight
must now be abandoned. For it has been made quite
clear by these investigations that changes character-
ised by low radio-activity and slow atomic disintegra-
tion are followed by others of far greater rapidity.
Radium, in losing atomic weight, turns into the
emanation, which, weight for weight, is far more
active than its parent.

In the appendix some interesting properties of the
a rays are described. This branch of the subject is,
however, at present in a very chaotic state, and we
shall not discuss it here. One remark may be
criticised—nearly the last in the book. Prof. Ruther-
ford thinks that ordinary matter may be emitting as
many or more a particles than uranium, if only the
velocity of these is less than that minimum velocity
which has been found necessary to produce the
characteristic phenomena. This is scarcely con-
sistent with the facts if the « particle is a helium
atom. For why, in such a case, is helium only
found in appreciable quantity in radio-active minerals ?

In conclusion, we must once more congratulate
Prof. Rutherford on the admirable manner in which
he has brought his book up to date, and express a
hope that the present edition may have many suc-
cessors. Rey SURUGE:

O

its

290

AN ESSAY TOWARD THE
PHILOSOPHIA.”’

The Metaphysics of Nature. By Carveth Read. Pp.
viii+ 354. (London: A. and C. Black, 1905.) Price
47s. 6d. net.

RITICAL philosophy or metaphysics Mr. Read
divides into two branches, the metaphysics of
nature and science and the metaphysics of ideals.

In this work he deals only with the former branch,

and only with the most general principles of science.

He makes it a rule ‘‘ not to attempt to solve a priori

any problem that can only be effectually treated by

inductive methods.’’ He discusses in the introduc-
tion the meaning of terms like belief and knowledge,
reality and truth. Then in Book: i., entitled ‘‘ Canonic,”’
he considers various tests of truth, different forms
of scepticism, and the great problem of the
relativity of knowledge. Book ii.—* Cosmology ’’—

deals with the doctrine of substance. Book iii.—

‘* Psychology ’’—deals on the same lines with the sub-

ject of experience; while the last book—‘ The Cate-

gories ’-—discusses relation, the physical categories,
and the categories of subjective activity.

The author’s beliefs on two of the most general of
metaphysical problems may be most concisely stated in
his own words. Thus on p. 240 he writes :—

“ PRIMA

““T am recommending as the most coherent and
natural way of thinking, on the whole, this hypo-
thesis that the world is essentially a conscious thing;
that in consciousness we have immediate knowledge
of Reality, but not of the whole of Being; that the
rest of Being is made known to us by phenomena;
that it is everywhere conscious, but in various degrees,
and that the higher degrees are known to us by the
phenomena of organisation.’”

Again, in dealing with the teleological problem on
P- 348 :—

“ Frankly, I wish it were possible to prove or make
credible the teleology of Nature, because we might
then follow Aristotle in identifying the End of Nature
with the End of Humanity; but I cannot help feeling
that the weight of argument is against the doctrine
of Final Causation. Like transcendent Being, it re-
mains a merely indicative, orectic category.”

The influences to which Mr. Read most readily
responds are Hume, Spinoza, to some extent Spencer,
and, of course, modern science. The defences of
Hume often bring out points too apt to pass un-
noticed. Thus Hume’s ‘‘ custom ’”’ is described as
““intuitive reason in the making.’? Mr. Read, who
has a lurking affection for the sceptical—e.g. he
thinks that the scepticism of the new academy was
superior, even as philosophy, ‘‘ to the fanatical dog-
matism of the Stoics and to the gaseous hypotheses
of the Epicureans’’—points out the elements of
Hume’s philosophy which were clearly sceptical, but
lavs over against them the facts that scepticism was
partly a disguise with Hume, and that even Hume
puts forward pragmatism as the natural remedy for

scepticism.
Hume’s great follower or controverter, Kant,
receives interesting treatment. Mr. Read refuses to

join in the ‘‘ hysterical outcry ’’ against the thing-in-
itself; but he finds abundant cause for complaint in

NO. 1891, VOL. 73 |

NATURE

[JANUARY 25, 1906

Kant’s mythological method of arguing from the
unity of consciousness to a substance, a “ thing ’’
that ‘‘ forms an idea.’’ Kant’s famous statement is
quoted :—‘‘ If there is no Urwesen distinct from the
world, if the world is without a beginning and there-
fore without a Creator, if the will is not free, then
moral ideals and principles lose all their validity ”’;
and Mr. Read adds, ‘tIt is impossible to find in
literature a more desperate sentence than this, or a
more false.”’

One welcomes the clear distinctions drawn in the
introduction, chapter ii., between empirical, physical,
transcendent, and noumenal reality; the defence, too,
of much-abused eclecticism on the ground that after
all the great systems in philosophy are themselves
patchworks. And unless one is wedded to the theory
that philosophy must be dull if it is to be sound, one
rejoices in the good sayings—often as sensible as they
are pungent—with which the book abounds, such as—
‘“ Future generations may have reason to thank those
who left them something to do, more than those who:
anticipated everything,’’ or the description of Hegel’s
rationalism as only an unintelligent empiricism. But
no short notice like this can do justice to the close-
ness of the argument, the soundness and compre-
hensiveness of a book which must be ranked among
the most important of recent years.

There are one or two animalcules in the ointment.
Locke’s great work is referred to as ‘‘ Essays of
Human Understanding ’’; and in tallkking of Hume’s.
‘Treatise’? the author gives references to the parts
only, forgetting that there are in it books divided into
parts. Words like verbile, questionnaire, glissaded,
do not find favour with all readers. An index might
well have been provided, but its absence finds much
compensation in an excellent table of contents.

”

MATHEMATICS FOR THE LABORATORY.
Higher Mathematics for Students of Chemistry and
Physics, with Special Reference to Practical Work.
By Dr. J. W. Mellor. Second edition, enlarged.
Pp. xxi+631. (London: Longmans, Green and

Cor, 1905) eesice 15S. net.

HIS is the second edition of a book which front
the first was recognised as filling a place of its
own in our mathematical literature. It is essentially a
book for the student of chemistry, for whom a smatter-
ing of mathematics used to be supposed to be sufficient.
The result was that our college curricula made no
provision for training chemists in the mysteries of
the calculus, at least no compulsory provision, When
at length the eager student came in touch with
modern work, say, on the velocities of reactions, or
on thermodynamic developments in general, he
encountered mathematical methods and even nota-
tions quite unfamiliar to him. What was he to do?
Go and quaff the heavenly nectar provided by
Williamson or Lamb? But this, we learn from Dr-
Mellor’s preface, brought perplexity rather than clear-
ness of vision. What the student of chemistry
wanted was a working knowledge of the methods of
the differential and integral calculus, with a minimums

JANUARY 25, 1906]

NATURE

291

of theory and demonstration. The student of physics

is somewhat differently circumstanced. From time
immemorial physical research and mathematical
methods have been more or less closely associated,
and every student of physics knew that a certain
knowledge of higher mathematics was demanded of
him. Yet complaints have been heard even from him
that the mathematical courses in our colleges lacked
a certain flavour of the real, and were not particu-
larly suited to his needs. It has often been said that
there is no royal road to mathematical knowledge.
To quote Dr. Mellor himself, a certain amount of
drudgery is necessary in some stages. But some
roads are easier than others; and in this book
chemical and physical problems are introduced, fixe
rest houses along a weary way, to cheer the flagging
traveller. Here he finds familiar food for his mind.
To change the metaphor, the student is given a new
weapon, and at the same time is taught how to use
it on material already his.

To what extent the reader, otherwise ignorant of
the principles of the differential calculus, will be able
to appreciate the first chapter, experience alone can
tell. The introduction of sections on proportionality
and logarithms in the middle of the discussion of
differentiation does not strike one favourably. The
author’s reference to this in the preface may, how-
ever, be accepted as sufficient excuse.

The new edition is fundamentally the same wor
as the old, but about a fifth more bullky. The increase
in size is due partly to a more sparing use of small
type, but chiefly to the introduction of new matter.
There is also a good deal of re-arrangement of in-
dividual sections, such, for example, as the carrying
forward of the paragraphs on the Gamma and
elliptic functions from chapter iv. (the integral
calculus) to chapter vii. (how to solve differential
equations). From a physical point of view this is
undoubtedly the better arrangement; and there is
a further improvement which deserves notice, namely,
the leading up to each of these functions by the dis-
cussion of a comparatively simple dynamical problem.
The most obvious addition is the new chapter on the
calculus of variations, in which brachistochrones and
isoperimetrical problems are touched upon. Probably
the main service rendered by this chapter will be to
enlarge the outlook of the student. The class of
readers for whom the book is ostensibly written will
hardly ever be called upon to apply the calculus of
variations, and if they should be they would find the
discussion too meagre for them to male effectual use
of it; but it is a real service to open a man’s mind
to the things which lie beyond the immediate purpose
of his life. The still too common utilitarian idea that
the practical man should be taught just as much
mathematics as we know to be necessary for his
immediate needs is an idea which cannot be too strenu-
ously contested. The truth is, we never know what
will be needed before the year is out. The chemist
of the last generation would as soon have thought
of studying the properties of Theta functions as of
familiarising himself with the modes of solution of
the simpler. differential equations, or even with the

NO 1891, VOL. 73]

meaning of a differential coefficient; but that attitude
of mind is impossible now. The theoretical chemist
of the rising generation must know his mathematics,
and we are convinced that many will bless Dr. Mellor
for providing them with an eminently readable and
thoroughly practical treatise.

Throughout the book there are many historic notes
which are always interesting in their way. It will
not, then, be thought amiss to direct attention to the
section on pp. 59 and 60, and to ask why writers
are so slow to do Newton justice in regard to his
so-called law of cooling. It is now six years since
Prof. Crichton Mitchell, in a paper on the convection
of heat by air currents (Trans. R.S.E., vol. xl.
p- 39), pointed out, what seems to have escaped
the notice of every commentator except Fourier,
that Newton deliberately placed his cooling body
““non in aere tranquillo, sed in vento uniformiter
spirante.’’ Dulong and Petit, therefore, and all their
copiers, including Dr. Mellor himself, are not giving
““a typical example of the way in which the logical
deductions of an hypothesis are tested’’ when they
try to apply Newton’s law to a body cooling in
tranquil air. Crichton Mitchell showed that when
Newton’s conditions were realised Newton’s law held
with wonderful accuracy over a considerable range

of temperature differences. CRG
PLANT DISEASES.
Minnesota Plant Diseases. By Dr. E. M. Freeman.

Pp. xiii+432. (St. Paul, Minnesota: The Pioneer
Press.)
HIS publication is issued for ‘the people of

Minnesota’ by authority of the university of
that State. It may have special reference to a par-
ticular State, but it is quite evident, from a perusal
of its pages, that the bool will be of service wherever
plants are cultivated. The author takes a broad view
of his subject, and rightly considers the prevention
of disease as a more important matter, from the
point of view of the cultivator, than the application
of remedies. ‘‘ Agriculture,’? says he, ‘really re-
solves itself into one great problem, the prevention
of plant-disease.’”’ Keep the ‘‘ patient’? in good
health by careful attention to his physiological re-
quirements, by cleanliness and by strict compliance
with the teachings of hygiene. Much more good
will ensue from these measures than from the use
of imsecticides or anti-fungus sprays. A knowledge
of the life-history of the plant, as well as a corre-
sponding familiarity with the mode of life of the
hostile insect or fungus, is, indeed, essential, but
unless combined with the faculty of turning that
knowledge to account, the information is, practically
speaking, of no value.

The first question that is asked when a diseased
specimen is submitted is, ‘‘ What is the matter with
this plant?’’ The next, and in the view of the
questioner the most important, is, ‘‘ What am I to
do to get rid of the disease?’’ Not one in a hundred
cucumber-growers, cultivators of the vine or other
crops, asks a question as to the methods of preven-_

NATURE

[JANUARY 25, 1906

292
tion; the ninety and nine ask for a ‘‘cure.’’ Yet
whilst prevention is often within reach, cure, in

the proper sense of the word, is frequently impossible.
The diagnosis of the disease must be left to the
skilled expert, the means of prevention should be
known to all intelligent cultivators, the remedy may
be prescribed by the plant-doctor, whilst the ‘‘ cure,”’
which often means the bonfire, may be entrusted to
the labourer.

Another point which cannot be overlooked in con-
sidering the prevention of epidemic diseases is the
necessity for concerted action. If one cultivator is
alive to the exigencies of the case his labour is often
vain if his neighbour be slovenly and apathetic.

The boolx before us is divided into two parts, the
first dealing with the fungi which are injurious to
plants generally, the second with the specific diseases
of Minnesota vegetation. The account of the nature,
mode of growth, and habits of fungi is written clearly
and in a style readily comprehensible by the reader
of average intelligence. It forms, indeed, an excel-
lent introduction to the study of fungi.

A separate chapter is given to the history of the
bacteria which presents in a concise form many de-
tails of the utmost importance to cultivators. After
these generalities attention is directed to the fungous
diseases most prevalent in Minnesota. To these we
need not here specially refer, nor to the sections on
fungicides and spraying apparatus. We can only
add that the book is well illustrated and provided
with a copious index. We commend it to the notice
of all who are interested in plant-diseases, and
especially to foresters and cultivators of field or garden
plants.

OUR BOOK SHELF.
Mesure et Développement de Il Audition.

Marage. Pp. 119. (Paris, 1905.)

Tuts small volume by Dr. Marage is of scientific
value inasmuch as it contains an account of a method
by which acuteness of hearing can be measured, and
by which any degree of deafness can also be stated
with accuracy. Aurists for many years have made use
of the ticking of a watch, the sound of a tuning-fork,
or a percussion sound as a source of sound, and they
state the degree of deafness by a measurement of the
distance at which the patient can hear the sound as
compared with the efficiency of a normal ear. The
best of all acoumeters, no doubt, is the human voice,
as it gives sounds to which the ear is adapted; but
no two human voices are alike, in consequence of
the variations in quality caused by the vocal resonating
cavities.

Dr. Marage, however, has invented a siren which
is furnished with resonating masks (casts of the
vocal cavities as adapted for the vowels OU, O, A,
E, and I). This apparatus utters these vocal tones
with singular purity. The form of the mask, and
especially that of the oral opening in each case, sup-
presses most, if not all, of the overtones for each vowel,
and the laryngeal vowel tone (produced by the siren)
is alone sounded. Further, he has shown that the in-
tensity of the sound of this instrument, as measured
by a special water-manometer, is proportional to the
pressure of the air which traverses the apparatus.
The siren can be adjusted for any vowel, and the
apparatus is always at the same distance from the
ear. The measurement of the auditive acuity is given

NO. 1891, VOL. 73]

By Dr.

in the number of millimetres of water shown in the
manometer when the sound of the particular vowel is
heard. Thus any vowel sound is heard with a
pressure of 1 mm. by a normal ear; if the pressure
must be raised to 4o mm. before the sound is heard
the auditive acuity is 1/40, if at 60 mm. 1/60, if at
200 mm. 1/200, and so on.

Dr. Marage also shows an ingenious method of
recording on a chart the degree of acuity for each
vowel, always in mm. of water, and if the points
for the various vowels are joined a curve is pro-
duced. The form of this curve varies with different
pathological conditions of the middle and internal
ear, so that after the patient’s ear has been tested
for the vowel tones by the siren, and the curves have
been plotted out, the form of the curve is of value
in diagnosis. Lastly, Marage uses the siren to
massage the drum-head and chain of bones by giving
to the ear for a certain time, say a daily massage of
ten minutes, using the vowel tones of the instrument,
and he asserts, and shows by charts, that in a large
percentage of cases of many forms of ear trouble, and
in some cases even of deaf mutism, there is benefit
derived from the massage treatment. These results
cannot be criticised in a scientific journal, as they
pertain more to the region of the practical aurist, but
there can be no doubt of the value of the method of
Marage as a method of accurately determining acute-
ness of hearing. Joun G. McKenprick.

American Insects. By Vernon L. Kellogg. Pp.
vi+ 674; 812 illustrations and 13 plates. (New York :
Holt and Co.; Westminster: A. Constable and Co.,
Ltd., 1905.) Price 21s. net.

Tuis work is intended as an introduction to Nerth

American entomology. It consists of a systematic

review of the various orders of insects met with in

America north of Mexico, and of introductory and sup-

plementary chapters dealing with special subjects.

The three introductory chapters on structure, physi-

ology, development and classification are well done, a

great deal of information being condensed in these

50 or 60 pages.

The supplementary chapters are, however, the best
part of the book. ‘They are (1) insects and flowers;
(2) colour and pattern and their uses; (3) insects and
disease. These subjects are treated in an intelligent
manner, with an absence of dogmatism that is very
commendable.

In some parts of the work the author is a little more
rash. Thus he concludes his account of the slave-
making ant, Polyergus, with the dictum ‘ specializa-
tion is leading Polyergus to its end! ’’ Whether this
is the case must be left to the future to decide. It
would have been simpler to say that Polyergus has
mandibles unsuited for industrial purposes, and cor-
relatively possesses slave-making habits that do not
appear to be very successful.

Of the systematic part of the work we cannot speak
so highly; this is chiefly due, it is only fair to say,
to inadequate space. There are, as the author says,
10,000 kinds of beetles in North America, as against
tooo kinds of birds. It is small wonder that the
attempt to condense an account of 10,000 species and
their habits and life-histories into 54 pages does not
leave a satisfactory impression. The extensive orders
Coleoptera and Diptera have suffered most from their
abbreviation. The Coleopterous portion, moreover,
has not been adequately revised, the larva of a
Longicorn beetle being figured as a type of the larve
of the Buprestidae.

Notwithstanding these drawbacks, the work is
probably the best that exists for anyone desiring an
introductory work on North American insects com-
pressed into a single volume. 1D Sy

JANUARY 25, 1906]

NATURE

2195

First Steps in
Gregory. Pp. vit+136.
1905.) Price 2s. 6d.

In this little book the author has aimed at ‘“‘ pro-

viding a grounding in the fundamental principles of

quantitative analysis. It includes the use of the
fundamental volumetric solutions and several gravi-
metric estimations.’’ Of the existence of a consider-
able class of students whose requirements would be
satisfied by the scope of the work there can be little
doubt, and a small laboratory manual dealing with a
few typical gravimetric and volumetric processes
cannot be regarded as superfluous. The author’s
choice of material leaves little to be desired, but ex-
ception may be taken to matters of detail. The
percentage strength of a solution is defined as the
number of grams of substance in one hundred cubic
centimetres, a definition which is scarcely acceptable
to the majority of chemists. The first alternative
method described on p. 64 for the preparation of a
normal sodium hydroxide solution may perhaps give
results accurate to 1 per cent., but is scarcely con-
sistent with the employment of a multiplying factor
containing five significant figures. Such inconsistency
in the use of significant figures is not infrequent, and
detracts considerably from the value of the book. On

p. 67 it is stated that ‘‘ the specific gravity of strong

hydrochloric acid is 1-16 and the liquid contains 31-79

per cent. by weight of hydrogen chloride ’’—the

temperature is apparently of no consequence what-
ever. A brief consideration of the theoretical side of
the methods and operations involved would have made
the book considerably more useful as an introduction

Quantitative Analysis. By J. C.
(London: Edward Arnold,

“c

to quantitative analysis. HS MED:
Man: an Introduction to Anthropology. By Dr.
W. E. Rotzell. Second edition. Pp. 186. (Phila-

delphia: J. J. McVey, 1905.)
Tue author of this book is a lecturer on botany and
zoology in Philadelphia, but the systematic details
he adopts are those of ‘‘ Prof. Alexander Macalister,

of the University of Dublin, and of the late Prof. H. |

Alleyne Nicholson, of the University of Toronto,’’ so
no one can accuse him of being up to date in his own
subject. ‘* Anthropology,’’ he informs us, ‘‘ seems to
be, unfortunately, one of those subjects about which
the vast majority of persons know very little,’’ and
with a zeal which far exceeds his knowledge he
attempts to remedy this defect; but it is evident his
information is second-hand, imperfectly comprehended,
and ill-digested.

The following quotations will serve to substantiate
this criticism :—‘t The North Mediterranean branch
(of the White or European Race) comprises the
Basques, the Aryans, and the Caucasic peoples.”
““The Indic group (of the Aryans) inhabit an ex-
tensive region of Southern Asia. At present there are
many different tribes and castes inhabiting the great
Indian peninsula, the forms of speech spoken by them
presenting numerous diversities ’?; except for a word
or two about Sanskrit and Buddhism, this is all that
is given on the ethnology of India. In his final
chapter, on the development of culture, Dr. Rotzell
puts forward the view that the blazing of trees was
the beginning of writing.

By W. G. Borchardt.
(London: Rivingtons, 1905.)

Elementary Algebra.
Vii + 492 + Ixiii.
4s. 6d.

THE arrangement of the subject adopted in this work

differs from that adopted in many other works, sim-

plicity and ease for the beginner being the chief
object. The fundamental operations (addition, sub-
traction, multiplication) are illustrated graphically on
squared paper, and the solution of simple equations

NO. (891, VOL. 73]

Roe
Price

is given immediately afterwards, such subjects as
fractions, highest common factor, and lowest common
multiple being postponed; in fact, fractions are left
until the beginner has acquired a considerable skill
in the solution of equations. Great use is made of
graphic illustration, and by means of it many difficul-
ties are removed from the path of the beginner.

The plan of the book leaves nothing to be desired
on the score of simplicity; it is about the most simple
work that we have seen. The advanced part of the
book may be said to begin with chapter xxxii., which
treats of the theory of indeterminate equations. The
general theory of quadratics follows, as well as the
discussion of progressions, binomial and multinomial
theorems, &c. Every branch is illustrated by a large
collection of examples, with answers.

Illustriertes Handbuch der Laubholzkunde.
By C. K. Schneider. Pp. 449-502.
G. Fischer, 1905.) Price 4 marks.

A portion of the Rosacez is treated in this part,
beginning with Spiraea, passing from the Spiraacez
to the Rosacez and then to Prunus. Why the author
distinguishes Spiraeaceze and Drupacez as orders is
not obvious, but this causes no inconvenience to any-
one using the book for practical purposes; and in this
connection it should be stated that the analytical
tables for running down the genera are made as
concise as possible, and that cross references are
inserted in the margin to facilitate the comparison
of subdivisions.

The part includes three large genera, Spirza,
Rubus, and Rosa; while examining the Spirzeas in
the Boissier herbarium, Mr. Schneider came across
several specimens, chiefly Asiatic, that he regards
and has named as new species. In the case of Rubus,
a selection has been made of European types and a
number of foreign species that may be found suitable
for introduction into Europe. Undoubtedly the most
interesting portion is that devoted to the roses; the
treatment follows very closely the arrangement given
by Keller in Ascherson and Graebner’s synopsis, but
Keller’s subsections are classed as sections, a system
that is of practical convenience, although it tends to
magnify the importance of the subsections. Amongst
the changes noted, Schneider follows Keller in super-
seding Rosa indica, L., by Rosa chinensis, Jacq., and
Rosa damascena, Mill, perhaps on account of its
antiquity, is numbered as a species.

Part iv.
(Jena:

Esquisse d’une Théorie biologique du Sommeil. By
Dr. Ed. Claparéde. Extrait des Archives de
Psychologie, T. iv. Pp. 114. (Genéve: H.

Kundig, 1905.) Price 3.50 francs.

In this essay, the contents of which have appeared in
certain journals, the author first examines the various
theories which have been propounded to explain the
occurrence of sleep, and having found these wanting
proceeds to formulate a theory of his own.

The various theories of sleep are first classified and
discussed, and the difficulties in accepting them stated.
All the common theories regard sleep as a cessation
of function in the organism, a negative or passive
state or phase. The author, however, regards sleep
as an active state, a defensive mechanism of the
nature of a reflex action, an instinct which has for
its object the precipitation of the organism into a
condition of inertia whereby exhaustion is prevented.
We therefore sleep, not because we are exhausted or
asphyxiated or auto-intoxicated, but in order to ward
off such effects, and many interesting facts are quoted
in support of this hypothesis. The essay deals in a
concise and interesting manner with the whole sub-
ject of sleep, and is well worthy of perusal.

294

INCAT OTE ES,

[JANUARY 25, 1906

JEDI DIRS TO) “WIE08; 1B) ONIN OE

{The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions
expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake
to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected
manuscripts intended for this or any other part of NaTURE.
No notice is taken of anonymous communications.]

The Percy Sladen Expedition in H.M.S. ‘ Sea'ark”
to the Indian Ocean. The Seychelles Archipelago.!

Arter leaving the Sealark and dispatching our collec-

tions home, Mr. Forster Cooper and I spent seven weeks
in exploring the Seychelles Archipelago as thoroughly as
possible, dividing our time between Praslin and Mahé as
centres. We camped for eighteen days on the former
island, and then separated, Mr. Cooper being responsible
for Silhouette Island, the fauna of which appeared to be
almost unknown, while I visited various parts of Mahé
and examined its reefs and neighbouring islets. Un-
fortunately the weather had been exceedingly dry, and
continued to be so during the first half of our stay, while
it was correspondingly wet during the second half. As
a result, land collecting was at all times extremely
laborious, and insects were throughout found to be scarce,

5 27,

4 32
ennis I.5g -
26 ae

26.

32 31

Aride~ git
eet
a5 ip cr

13

24.

26 :
7
2
Silholette @

22

29
Frigate S

7

-0. Platte I.

Fic. 1.—Seychelles Bank showing the 100-fathom line.

both in species and number. Other groups of land animals
we believe to have been fairly thoroughly collected.

The Seychelles Archipelago comprises a number of islands
arising on a submarine bank, which extends in a more or
less east and west direction, about 190 miles long by
100 miles broad (Fig. 1). It was fairly regular in contour
save to the south-east, where a horn stretches out for some
distance along the line towards Mauritius. Separated
from this same projection by deeper water are three
similar but smaller banks, of which that of Coetivy alone
has land, and in correspondence there is to the south-west
the Amirante Bank with its little group of islands.

The Seychelles Bank itself has an average depth of
30 fathoms, and our soundings off it to the north-west,
east, and south show that it has a contour similar to
those of typical coral reefs and banks. An outer rim
indicated along the whole of its north-western half by a
series of shallower soundings, but to the south-east the
depth does not markedly shoal (Fig. 1). It has two typical
surface-reefs with coral islets to the north, Bird and
Dennis, but elsewhere the rim is generally covered by at
least 7 fathoms of water. Between these two islands, and

to the west of Bird, the character of the bottom is some- |

1 For earlier reports see NATURE, April 13, August 10, October 5s,
November 9, and December 21, 1905.

NO. 1891, VOL. 73]

is |

44 25...

what similar to what we found at the edges of the sub-
merged Saya de Malha and Nazareth Banks, and indicates
the upgrowth of a rim. The fauna was more varied, but
the bottom was less covered by nullipores and corals, and
a few green alga were abundant. All sedentary
organisms were covered with dirt and unhealthy between
Bird and Dennis Islands, where there would appear. to be
a natural outfall for the tidal and other currents. In this
position there is certainly no upgrowth of the rim, while
elsewhere it must be exceedingly slow. The bottom within
the rim is sand, muddy sand, or mud, the latter held
together by the roots of alga. Strong currents sweep
across it, and even during our visit, between the two
trades in dead calm weather, the sea-water was always
cloudy, so that, except in favoured spots, corals could
scarcely grow up into reefs.

The islands of the Seychelles naturally divide themselves
into two groups to the west and east, with Mahé and
Praslin as centres (Fig. 2). The former comprises Mahé,
Silhouette, and North, with a series of small islets around
the first, outlying buttresses and peaks of the same, with
only a few fathoms of water between. Praslin also is
similarly surrounded by a series of tiny islets and rocks,
but in addition there are eleven other islands in its group
(of which we visited five), separated
by considerable channels. Mahé and
Silhouette attain heights respectively
of 2993 feet and 2467 feet, but Praslin
and the eastern islands do not exceed
1270 feet. All islands were found to
be formed of similar, coarse granites
(or granulitic quartzes), with narrow,
vertically extending dykes of finer
grained black rock, apparently a
variety of granite, along which the
mountain streams have invariably cut
their courses. In addition, many of
the islands have against their coasts,
.in bays and suitable situations, flats
of sand, largely coraliferous. Some
of these have doubtless been formed
by a washing up of sand from the
sea, and some are partially at least
of delta formation, but in places there
is evidence of a recent elevation of
more than 30 feet. On the island of
Silhouette, Mr. Cooper in five situ-
ations found masses of coral rock,
cemented on to the granite, at various
heights between 15 feet and 30 feet
above the low-tide level, and around
the coasts of Mahé and its smaller
islets there is evidence of a similar
upheaval. Besides this, there are in-
dications (particularly in Mahé) of an
ancient elevation of upwards of 200
feet. Definite rocks belonging to it
do not, so far as I could find, still exist. Marine action
prior to its occurrence perhaps accounts for the almost
continuous line of precipices, which at various distances
from the present coast extends along the eastern or wind-
ward side of Mahé. The

question, however, requires
further investigation. In any case, the deep canons of
many of the mountain brooks, and the very extensive

weathering of the granites, indicate the not inconsiderable
antiquity of the land as such.

Barrier reefs nowhere exist
Seychelles Group, and fringing reefs only in certain some-
what protected situations (Fig. 3). Mahé Island extends
more or less north and south, with two conspicuous points
to the west. A fairly continuous reef lies along its east
side, but there is no reef off its north and south points, and
reefs only occur in the bays of its western side. Silhouette
is a round island with practically no reef, while Praslin
has reefs in its bays alone. La Digne, Curieuse, and the
smaller islands have merely patches of reef. On examin-
ing into the causes of this we found a luxuriance of coral
growth even off the points of the islands, but practically
a complete absence of nullipores. Indeed, these calcareous
algae are essential in the Indian Ocean for the consolidation
of corals into true reefs. Where fringing flats actually do
occur, they would appear generally to consist of a basis

around the islands of the

JANUARY 25, 1906]

INET TTL

295

of granitic rock with quite a sparse covering of calcareous
matter, or to be a filling in with the remains of some of
the reef organisms between masses or islets of granite

and the land.

e )
S Silhouette

(2467)

Conception yw
40 (432)

Cousins
3°

PRASLIN I.
(1261)
19

e Mamelle

The reef in the large bay to the north of

|
|
|
|

another

completely

planted, and it seems possible that

even these may be destroyed within a few years for the

cultivation of various rubbers.

Such jungles as now remain

consist mainly of palms (Roscheria, Stevensonia, Nephro-

LN
Féticité
(747)

O La Digne
fr {1071)3+

70

26

Frigate

Ay (400)

Fig. 2.—Islands of the Seychelles Group with heights in feet and soundings in fathoms.

Praslin, extending along the coast for 13 miles between
two points, is a good instance of this, one islet and three
series of granite masses lying at almost equal intervals

imbedded in its seaward edge.

the reefs are in most situ-
ations mere outfalls for the
tide, and show no connec-
tion with the fresh-water
streams off the land. Finally,
it is interesting to note that
the actual surfaces of the
flats are covered with a far
greater variety of large sea-
weeds than we found in any
of the purely coral groups
we visited in the Sealark.
The land animals neces-
sarily to a large extent de-
pend on the plants, and I
considered it inadvisable to
attempt their complete col-
lection in the limited time
at our disposal save in the
indigenous jungle. Small
mangrove swamps occur on
the sea-shore, but behind
these the land has_ been
almost completely cleared
for the cultivation of cotton,
coffee, cassava, cocoa, and
vanilla to a height of 1500
feet. Below this there are
only a few isolated endemic
trees, and above there are
in patches in the jungles
large numbers of oranges,

limes, citrons, and cinnamons, with an undergrowth of
the Mauritius raspberry, all introduced plants.
there are, except in Silhouette, only a few summits and
precipitous slopes. which have not been at one time or

NO. 1891, VOL. 73]

The boat passages through

islands we visited, and are scarcely more numerous.

sperma, Verschaffeltia), various screw
pines (Pandanus), Draczna, and the

bois rouge (Wormia), with bare
ground beneath covered by _ their

strong leaves, clumps only of Curcu-

ligo. Open spots, however, have a
dense undergrowth of ferns, Lyco-
podia, Selaginellz, Psilota, and
mosses, which also cover the lower

parts of the trees. In effect, it is a

typical, tropical, moist forest under-
growth, noticeable mainly for the
comparative absence of climbing

plants and herbaceous dicotyledons,
and for the fact that nearly all the

larger trees are peculiar Seychelles
species, and often genera. Most of

the giant trees (Maba, Stadtmannia,
Afzelia, Campnosperma, &c.), have been
singled out and cut, but bare stems ol
capucin (Northea seychellarum) stand
up everywhere above the foliage. The
destruction of the latter, which prob-
ably will shortly be complete, we dis-
covered to be due to a green beetle,
which deposits its eggs singly in the
new leaf-buds, the resulting maggot
consuming al! their softer parts.

The most interesting feature in the
botany was the sharp distinction of
the cotyledonous plants into three
classes, the calciphilous, the silici-
philous, and the indifferents, the latter
forming a smaller percentage of the
whole than either of the other two.
The calciphilous species are practically
the same as we found on all the coral
This

group of plants was, I consider, ocean-carried, the Sey-
chelles being in respect to it as oceanic as any island of

the Chagos Archipelago.

Moreover, of the other trees

2) ate

~

Indeed,

many seemed

to possess
brought by currents, &c., to the islands.

Fic. 3.—Fringing Reef with boat passage to the south-east of Mahé Island, looking south

which could have been
The finest in-

seeds,

dividual species of tree was the coco-de-mer, or double

coconut

(Lodoicea

seychellarum), which is peculiar to

296

NATOR LE:

| JANUARY 25, 1906

Praslin. Its palms are either male or female, and our | you, Sir,

examination of more than 300 of its nuts showed that they
are of two distinct, structurally different forms in approxi-
mately equal proportions, both kinds growing on the same
female tree. The case is, so far as I know, unique.

Of the land animals we did not attempt to collect the
birds, as they were already sufficiently known. Moreover,
most of the peculiar Seychelles species would seem to have
been nearly, if not entirely, destroyed by paid collectors.
The Government of the Seychelles has, however, promised
an ordinance to hinder further destruction. The intro-
duced birds do not belong to the jungle, where, indeed,
land birds are seldom seen. Mammals are represented by
rats, mice, and bats, and the tenrec runs wild everywhere.
Of reptiles we obtained about eleven species of lizards
and three snakes. The crocodile would once seem to have
been a regular inhabitant, but the last was killed about
seventy years ago. Three of the apparently four species
of frogs occur at any elevation, but the fourth is peculiar
to the high jungles. Ceecilians are numerous, the one
genus being an earth burrower, and the other lying under
damp leaves in the jungles. Mollusca were represented
among the indigenous vegetation by twenty-five to thirty
species, including two slugs, and we obtained a fair variety
of insects and arachnids. Isopods were numerous every-
where, but centipedes and millipedes were scarce on the

high lands, and seemed to consist of species peculiar to
them. We carefully searched for Peripatus, but do not
think it exists in the archipelago. Land worms were
scarce; one species was peculiar in living within the

bases of the screw pine leaves, even 40 feet to 50 feet above
the ground. We obtained no land leeches or Turbellarians,
but found two species of Nemerteans at about 2000 feet.

The fresh-waters consist of certain pools near the sea
and a large number of tiny mountain streams, which be-
come roaring torrents in the wet season, but never dry up.
In a pool at La Digne we obtained one tortoise with hinged
plastron, and in the streams there were four species of
fish. The Crustacea comprise at least two species of prawn
and a crab, all living up to more than 2000 feet. The
Mollusca number only three, and for the rest there were
the usual genera of fresh-water insects, Xc.

The number of species of land and fresh-water animals
would on the whole appear to be singularly few, and
individuals were, with a few exceptions, by no means
abundant. Their small variety may be due to the com-
paratively few plants which grow in the islands, but one
is inclined to question the former connection of the group
with any larger land mass. In any case, our work has
made certain that the archipelago has been sufficiently
collected for a thorough examination into this question
from a biological point of view. It is our opinion, how-
ever, that such a research should include both animals and
plants considered together. In any case, the Seychelles is
the continuation of a broken line extending north from
Madagascar, and its rock would seem to be similar to that
which forms the great central plateau of that island.

Since I returned to England I have received a letter
from Commander Boyle Somerville giving the soundings
obtained by H.M.S. Sealark on her return to Ceylon
from the Seychelles. He has confirmed by additional
soundings the complete separation of the 2000-fathom lines
of the Chagos, Maldive, and Seychelles groups. I have
also heard from Mr. D. Matthews that he has obtained
about 1000 samples of sea-water from the Indian Ocean
during the last nine months, and analysed about 7oo. Mr.
Bainbrigge Fletcher, H.M.S. Sealark, reports that a con-
siderable number of the Chagos Lepidoptera appear to be
new species or varieties.

J. Svantey Garprner.

Zoological Laboratory, Cambridge, January 15.

What Causes the Destructive Effects of Lightning ?

I ENCLOSE a cutting from the Hampstead and Highgate
Express (January 20) containing an epitome of a lecture
which I lately gave at the local scientific society on a case
of death by lightning which occurred on the Heath in the
month of July last.

I discussed, amongst other matters, the question as to
how the more destructive effects of lightning were pro-
duced, and now my object in writing to Nature is to ask

NO. 1891, VOL. 73]

or any of your readers, if you can inform me
whether this question has been solved in any probable
manner. In the case of the death of an animal from
lightning I think we may safely rest_on the word elec-
tricity as sufficient, for it is not difficult to understand
how this form of energy when let loose in the organism of
an animal should not only disturb the equilibrium of the
machinery, but actually stop it. But the word electricity
does not seem sufficient to account for the more destructive
effects produced by lightning, which closely resemble those
which arise from other well known allied forces. Heat
certainly is produced, as we see by the burning of the flesh
and by its effects on metals, but as regards the destruction
of trees, buildings, and other imperfect conducting sub-
stances, the forces seem to be of an explosive character, as
are mentioned in the accompanying extract from my
lecture.

““The subject which was of most interest to the lecturer
was the nature of the destructive agency of the lightning
flash, and the present fatal case he thought threw a con-
siderable light upon it. Of course, there was no difficulty
in understanding how an electric shock can kill an animal
suddenly by bringing the machinery to a stop, when it is
considered how fearfully and wonderfully we are made, and
that vital processes are at worl in every part, when a
violent electric shock comes and arrests all these at once.
But it is not so easy to perceive how all the more marked
and mechanically destructive processes occur, such as the
splitting of the timbers in the hut or tearing off the
clothes. The destructive effect seemed to be exactly of the
kind which follows explosions of gunpowder and kindred
substances. This could only occur through a gas being
suddenly formed; but whether this would be the produc-
tion of the vaporisation of a liquid or the formation of
some new conditions of the atmosphere by the electricity
itself cannot at present be determined. The first object
struck by the lightning was the finial, and this was split
into numbers of pieces in the direction of the grain of the
wood, and the same effect was seen on all the upright
posts down which the lightning ran; but, midway across
the middle of the hut was a transverse beam, through
which the flash passed. At this spot about a foot of the
wood was torn off, but in a transverse or horizontal direc-
tion in the course of the grain. If a chisel had been
driven into the cross beam it would have broken the wood
exactly in the same manner; or, indeed, any other force
acting on the middle of the splintered wood as an explosive.
The coat, and more especially the shirt, showed the ex-
plosive force which had produced the rents still better.
Although the rents ran down the arm, they had no appear-
ance as if done by an instrument, but rather by a violent
pull exerted from side to side, for not only was there one
large rent, but similar partial ones running parallel to it.
These could only have been done by forcibly stretching
from within; in fact, the only way suggested would be an
explosion of gas taking place in the shirt sleeve, and so
forcibly thrusting it out, causing the fibres of the fabric
to give way. The split boot, which was nearly off the
foot of the child, could not be imitated except by placing
a charge of dynamite within it.’’

Not professing to have much knowledge of what has
been written on the modes and causes of the great de-
struction caused by lightning, I am writing to obtain more
information on the subject. SAMUEL WILKs.

January 20.

The Probable Volcanic Origin of Nebulous Matter.

IN papers published some fifteen years ago (see, among
others, Nos. 2 and 4 of Contributions from the Lick
Observatory) I considered certain phenomena produced by
streams of finely divided matter ejected from the sun, each
stream necessarily taking on the form of a helix, and
stated that the nebulosities surrounding certain stars were
probably caused by the presence of streams similar to those
which produce the solar corona. ; ’ F

In an effort to explain the fact that in certain spiral
nebulas two diametrically opposite streams are, as a rule,
most conspicuous, Prof. Chamberlin aavanced the theory
(see Astrophysical Journal for 1901, p.. 17) that the dis-
ruption of one body through tidal action and centrifugal

JANUARY 25, 1906]

NATURE

297

force caused by the near passage of another body moving
with great velocity would account for the observed pheno-
mena. I am of the opinion that no forces except those
originally resident in the central body itself are essential
for the creation of such structures.

As a supplement to my note in Nature for January 14,
1904, I now wish to offer a very simple theoretical explan-
ation of the manner in which the ejective force becomes
so very powerful.

As a result of the decrease in temperature from the centre
to the surface of an incandescent mass exposed to the cold
of space, the surface-crust finally formed will be punctured
at various points by the imprisoned gases, thus also allow-
ing the more refractory matter from the interior to over-
flow the region immediately surrounding each vent; the
increased weight of the locally thickened crust causes the
lower opening (of the channel formed) to be depressed
below the general level; as the height of the surface-cone
increases the simultaneously formed inverted cone is forced
deeper and deeper into the regions of greater temperature
and pressure, where matter exists in the form of com-
pressed gases. The more easily volatilised materials of the
depressed mass will be dissipated, leaving only the more
refractory elements to form the inverted cone.

So long as there is a free flow of gaseous matter, the
higher the volcanic cone the greater will be the ejective
force, and, owing to internal reactions, diametrically
opposite vents will be most powerful. We therefore reach,
as it seems to me, the theoretical conclusion that in the
act of cooling, an -originally incandescent body has the
power to create conditions which will enable it to remove
a part of its mass, in a finely divided state, to distances
which may be far beyond the sphere of its own sensible
attraction. J. M. ScuarBer.e.

Ann Arbor, January 8.

On an Alleged New Monkey from the Cameroons.
In Nature for October 26, 1905, Dr. H. O. Forbes
described, as representing a new species, a monkey
(Guenon) from the Cameroons, which he named Cerco-
pithecus crossi in compliment to Mr. Cross, of Liverpool,
to whom it belonged. The description tallied so closely
with that of C. prewssi, based by Matschie in 1808 upon
specimens also from the Cameroons, that I strongly
suspected the two species would prove to be identical.
That this is the case I have now no hesitation in affirming
after examining the type of C. crossi, which Mr. Cross
has sent to the Zoological Gardens in London.
R. I. Pocock.

Zoological Society’s Gardens, January 17.

Sounding Stones.

Ir may be of interest to add to the list of musical
stones provided by your correspondents another limestone,
viz. the very hard, crystallised, coral rock of the coasts
of British East Africa. Among the bizarre forms assumed
by these rocks under the erosion of the sea, isolated
pillars with projecting arm at the top, like a gallows or
an inverted capital ‘‘L,’’ are common in places. This
horizontal arm in many cases gives a clear musical note
when struck with a stone or hammer, being thus a ready
suspended natural gong. Cyrit CRossanp. |

Broughton in Furness, January 18.

Chinese Names of Colours.

In Nature of January 11 (p. 246) Mr. A. H. Crook
refers to some colour terms used by Chinese. Ts‘eng
(Cantonese) or ch‘ing (Pekingese) is a vague Chinese term
applied to black, grey, ‘‘ neutral tint,’? ocean green, sky
colour, blue, &c., but nearly always with a gloss or sheen
upon it. The fresh turnip-like pears of China are called
in Canton siit, li, or ‘*‘ snow-pears’’ (the small circle
following the ft indicating the ‘‘tone’’ of the word).
Williams’s Dictionary of 1878 gives hsiieh-ch‘ing
(Pekingese) or siit,-ts‘eng (Cantonese) as “a purple
colour,” and the allusion is evidently to that bluish glassy
tinge that frozen snow takes, as seen in glaciers, icebergs,
and so on; in short, all ‘‘ vitreous ’’ or glassy hues, from
beer-bottles to mother-of-pearl, are ts‘eng. ;

E. H. PARKER.

NO. 1891, VOL. 73]

THE WORK OF THE NATIONAL ANTARCTIC
EXPEDITION.*
APTAIN SCOTT is warmly to be congratulated
on the two interesting volumes in which he
describes the work of the National Antarctic Expedi-
tion and gives his conclusions as to its results.
The book, naturally dedicated to Sir Clements Mark-
ham, is a most valuable contribution to the know-
ledge of what will probably always be one of the
most interesting parts of the Antarctic continent.
It is written in a charmingly easy and fluent
style; the narrative is modest and frank; and the
story is always pleasant reading, from its evidence
of the uniform good temper which prevailed through-
out the expedition, of Captain Scott’s capacity for
handling his men, of his sympathetic appreciation of
their high endeavour, and of his keen interest in all
branches of the work. The book is illustrated by a
series of fine photographs, many of which were taken
by Lieut. Skelton, and its value is greatly increased
by the beautiful sketches of Dr. Wilson.

The story of the expedition is full of incident and
adventure in most of which Captain Scott had a
large share, as he exposed himself to its greatest
risks. The two main achievements of the expedition
are Captain Scott’s fine sledge journeys with Dr.
Wilson and Lieut. Shackleton to the farthest south,
and with Evans and Lashly to the farthest west that
was reached in Victoria Land. Both these under-
takings were daring and arduous in the extreme.
The sledge journey to the south reached the latitude
of 82° 16! 33” from 77° 51/, and this spirited per-
formance would probably have been even more
successful but for the death of the dogs. The journey
westward on to the plateau of Victoria Land Captain
Scott describes as even more severe than that to the
south, and regarding it he says:—‘‘I cannot but
believe we came near the limit of possible perform-
ance.”’

The scientific results of the expedition cannot yet
be fully stated, as the collections and observations
have not been worked out; and we shall have to
wait in most cases for the reports of the experts to
whom the material has been entrusted. Captain
Scott’s book contains accounts of the chief work in
geography, in vertebrate zoology, and in geology.
The Antarctic mammals and birds are described in an
interesting chapter by Dr. Wilson, in which the most
important contribution is the account of the life-
history of the emperor penguin, which was studied
on its breeding-grounds by himself and Lieut.
Skelton. The volumes contain no technical inform-
ation about the invertebrates, &c., and it is disappoint-
ing to learn that we cannot expect any additions to
the deep-sea fauna of the Southern Ocean. The
wealth of new material collected by the Challenger
in its one deep haul in the Antarctic, led to
hopes that valuable results would be achieved
by the powerful deep-sea equipment of the Dis-
covery; but apparently it was very little used,
owing to the short time spent at sea, and_ possibly
on account of the limited coal supply. One
dredging is referred to at the depth of 610 fathoms,
another at 100 fathoms, and a third, also in shallow
water, off the great ice-barrier. The invertebrate
fauna, of which Mr. Hodgson has already described
elsewhere some of the more interesting discoveries,
seems to have been chiefly collected under the ice in
McMurdo Sound by means of his very ingenious
devices.

The principal geological results are stated in a

1 ‘‘ The Voyage of the Discovery.” By Captain R. F. Scott, C.V.O. Vol.i.
Pp. xx+556. Vol. ii. Pp. xii+508; with two maps and 272 illustrations.
(London: Smith, Elder and Co., 1905.) Price 42s. net.

298

valuable appendix by Mr. Ferrar, which is to be

followed, in the volumes on the scientific work of |

the expedition, by a more detailed account of the
rocks, and we may hope also by more precise inform-
ation about the ice.
admirable pains devoted to the observations in physics
and meteorology, the results of which are being
worked out.

The geographical work—‘‘ surveyed
direction of the R.G.S.,’’ the chart informs us—
is stated and discussed at length. The
geographical results were achieved by the sledg-
ing parties. The results thoroughly justify those
who advocated the selection of McMurdo Sound, or
Bay as it was then called, as the winter quarters,
owing to its high latitude, its exceptionally interest-
ing geographical position, and its easy accessibility

under the

Fic. 1.— Highest Ice-wall (220 feet) on the Ice-Barrier, showing the regular stratification.

in the summer. There is one quaint mistake in the
book in reference to the main hut erected there, which
is described (p. 215) as of a design used by ‘ out-
lying settlers in that country ’’ (Australia); whereas
the design was based on Peary’s Greenland hut, and

Captain Scott describes the |

chief |

NATURE

the modifications, suggested by Australian experience, |

were devices used there to render the walls of the
frozen meat warehouses impermeable to heat and
cold.

The headquarters were established near Mount
Erebus, which is still in quiet activity, and (disregard-
ing the feelings of those who like scientific precision
in geographical terms) the volcano is described
throughout the bool: as giving forth smoke, fire, and
Hame.

The widest popular interest is perhaps felt in the

NO. 1891, VOL. 73]

[JANUARY 25, 1906

”

‘““ great icy barrier,’’ owing to the mystery suggested
by its name, and perhaps, in part, to what, according
to Captain Scott, was Ross’s exaggeration of its
height and uniformity. Ross’s conclusion that this
ice-sheet is afloat along its seaward face has been
fully confirmed; and the important discovery has been
added, by observations on a food depét, that the ice
is moving in one place at a rate estimated at 608
yards in 13} months. Captain Scott regards this ice-
sheet, a smaller sheet in Lady Newnes Bay, ana a
mass ashore at Cape Crozier, as relics of a vast sheet
of glacier ice, which once filled the whole of the Ross
Sea, and floated when the reduction in its thickness
rendered it buoyant.

The geographical problem of most importance is
the form and area of the Antarctic continent. It is
gratifying to those who believe in the value of geo-

EEE net |

From ‘‘ The Voyage of the Discovery.”

graphical homologies, to find how fully the sugges-
tions based on them have been justified by the work
of the Antarctic expeditions. The important discovery
of Coats Land by the Scotch expedition has revealed
the southern shore of the Weddell Sea even further
north than the position assigned to it in Sir John
Murray’s sketch-map. The German expedition has
re-established faith in the continuity of the land, in
an area where the soundings of the Challenger had
thrown doubt on it, and where it was possible that
there might be a deep southern indentation opposite
the basin of the Indian Ocean.

The only serious alteration suggested in the outline
of Murray’s Antarctica is that the Pacific coast
between Graham’s Land and Victoria Land may
possibly be further south than was expected. The

JANUARY 25, 1906]

NATURE

299

projection eastward of Ross Island and the peaks
called by Ross the Parry Mountains, which were
all regarded as part of the mainland, suggested that
behind Ross’s ice-sheet the mountains of Victoria
Land trend to the east. Captain Scott tells us that the
Parry Mountains do not exist; but a group of islands,
White Island, Black Island, and Minna Bluff, occur
in almost the same relation to Mounts Erebus and
Terror as Ross marked his Parry Mountains.
Behind this archipelago there is a great bight, the
land first trending somewhat westward, and bending

to the east after about 812 S. Thence, so far as |
Captain Scott could see, the land has an average |

trend to S.S.E. from Mount Wharton to the most

distant southern peak observed beyond Mount Long- |

staff. Captain Scott concludes that the mountains
continue in the same direction to Graham’s Land.

slope southward to the Pole and across it northward
to the Atlantic.’’ This view is fully supported by
Captain Scott’s opinion that, according to his view
of the course of the main mountain chain, ‘‘ the
geographical pole would be situated 200 miles more
from it, and on the high ice-plateau which must
continue behind ”’ (vol. ii. p. 427).

The lands, problematical and proved, to the
south of the Pacific probably belong to one of those
island festoons, which are still so characteristic, and
apparently once occurred along all the Pacific coasts.
The only objection to placing the main coastline of
the South Pacific south-west of Ross’s ice-sheet, in-
stead of along a line north-eastward through King
Edward Land, is the ice-barrier, on Captain Scott’s
theory of its formation. If it be land ice, and be
flowing rapidly northward, a mile in three years, it

Fic. 2.—A camp on the “‘ Ross's Ice-Sheet,’’ showing the snowy texture of the surface.

There is nothing a priori improbable in the con-
nection of Victoria Land and Graham’s Land along
this line; for coasts of the Pacific type are character-
istically straight for long distances, and have broad
open curves rather than sudden bends.

This does not affect the essential part of my sugges-
tion, made in Narure, April 25, 1901, ‘‘ that we may
expect the greatest elevations on the Antarctic Lands
will lie along the Graham’s Land-Victoria Land line,
and will be near the sea. To the south of the main
mountain range there may be an undulating ice-
covered region descending slowly across the Pole to
the shore of the Weddell Sea.
would then be not from the Pole radially in all direc-
tions; the ice-shed would run along the Pacific Shore
with a short steep northern face and a long gradual

NO. 1891, VOL. 73]

The main ice drainage |

From ‘‘ The Voyage of the Discevery.”

must be fed from snow-fields among mountains to
the south, and is probably confined between high
lands to east and west.

It is here that we feel most the need of more
precise information regarding the ice of Ross’s ice-
sheet, as Ferrar proposes it should be re-named. That
this ice is land ice flowing out to sea has been the
generally accepted explanation of the facts described
by Ross. The difficulty presented by Ross’s ice-
sheet, if it be advancing northward along its whole
face at anything like the rate of the ice movement
round Minna Bluff, is that its surface appears to be
practically level, so far as it was followed by Royds
to the south-east and by Scott to the south. Hence its
rapid movement cannot be due to flow down a slope
as in the case of ordinary glacier ice. The best

300

NATURE

[January 25, 1906

photograph of the ice (vol. i., p. 192) shows that it is
very regularly stratified, and there is no visible inter-
glacial material; the ice appears very different from
that typical of glaciers. A photograph of a_ block
of the barrier ice, of which the structure had been
brought out by throwing over it a bucket or two of
hot water, would have been very useful. The
characters of glacier ice are so distinctive that any
precise information as to the structure of the barrier
ice would have left no doubt as to its nature. The
photograph (Fig. 1) which gives most information
about the ice suggests that, at least the part above
sea-level (see also Fig. 2) has been formed by the
accumulation of layers of snow upon the surface,
more quickly than the ice was dissolved by the
sea beneath. If this view of the origin of the ice
sheet be correct, both its horizontal position and the
gentle undulations of its surface are intelligible; and
it forms no obstacle to belief in the connection of
Graham’s Land and Victoria Land along the shortest
and most direct line. In this case Ross’s ice-sheet
will agree in character with the floebergs of Sir
George Nares’s Palzocrystic Sea, except that they
were supposed to have grown by the additions of
layers of ice from the sea below, instead of by the
fall of snow from above. In this connection, some
information as to the rate of solution and growth of
the ice in sea-water at various temperatures would
have been useful. Captain Scott tells us that such
observations were suggested in the ‘‘ Antarctic
Manual.’’ I have been unable to find there the
passage referred to. The suggestion is, however, dis-
missed (vol. i., p. 305) as ridiculous. More than once
during the course of the expedition the observations
desired were accidentally noticed, but the conditions
are not stated with sufficient precision to be of service.

The structure of Victoria Land, both geographically
and geologically, is much as was expected from the
considerations which led to the conclusion, first
suggested by Ritter, that the eastern coast of Victoria
Land represents the continuation of the volcanic line
of New Zealand, and that a plateau occurs behind it.
The discovery of the plateau structure seems to have
occasioned surprise, though the hope was expressed
in Nature, April 25, 1901, p. 612, that one party
would ‘‘cross the volcanic mountain chain to the
plateau that probably lies beyond it.’’ The geological
structure, as described in Mr. Ferrar’s interesting
chapter, consists of low-lying archean coast hills,
beyond which occur sheets of horizontal sediments and
broad sheets of plateau basalts. - Huge volcanic cones
occur off the main coast line, like the worn down
voleanic hills of Dunedin and Bank’s Peninsula in
New Zealand, and apparently there are great volcanic
cones on the plateau near its edge. It would be
difficult to find land with a structure more typical of
the Pacific coast type.

In contrast to the extensive discoveries achieved by
the sledging parties from the winter quarters are the
limited results obtained at sea, which make the title
of the book, ‘* The Voyage of the Discovery,’’ some-
what of a misnomer. In the book 176 pages are de-
voted to describing the whole voyage of the Discovery
from London to London, and 698 pages to describing
the sledging and other work on shore. It was hoped
that the Discovery would have thrown some light on
the two chief problems offered by the outline of
Antarctica, in the area reserved for the British sphere
of operations. After the discovery of Coats Land by
the Scottish expedition, the longest unknown stretch
of the Antarctic coast is that south of the Pacific.
It was believed from the work of Ross and Cook that
land exists connecting Graham’s Land to that on the
eastern edge of the barrier. The Discovery has con-

NO} TOO LP VOL,. 732i)

firmed the existence of land close by the point where
Ross described his ‘‘ strong appearance of land ’’; but
the necessity for the whole expedition returning to
winter on McMurdo Sound prevented the discovery of
its nature. Captain Scott seems disposed to regard
this land as probably volcanic, and Mr. Ferrar as
probably continental.

It was also hoped that the expedition would deter-
mine the character of the land to the west of Cape
Adare; for a section along that coast, which cuts
across the grain of the continent, would no doubt
give more information as to its structure, than could
be obtained along the coast of Victoria Land or by
a traverse of the ice-clad interior. But here again
the expedition had to return from the threshold of
the unknown regions. This was Captain Scott’s
misfortune, and was in no way his fault. It was the
result of the plan of the expedition being to keep
the Discovery at the winter quarters. The limited

work done by the Discovery at sea, and_ its
inability to accomplish the much desired deep-
sea trawling, is possibly due to the heavy de-

mands on the available coal supply made by her
engines; for the 500 horse-power which they gave
required a large consumption of fuel, and_ this
rendered impossible any prolonged period of ful
steaming away from a coaling station. Whether the
Discovery was a complete success as a ship appears
doubtful. Captain Scott praises many features in its
design, and of its magnificent strength there can be
no question. But in spite (vol. ii. p. 327) of what
Captain Scott calls the ‘‘ depth of sentiment ’’ he
naturally feels for the ship, ‘‘ which for long proved
such a comfortable home,’’ he says that when they
tested her sailing qualities they ‘‘ found to our
chagrin that they were exceedingly poor’’; she had
a fine capacity for rolling, sometimes going over 90°,
and he describes (vol. ii. p. 375) her ‘* lurching from
side to side in the most uncomfortable fashion while
our consort [the Terra Nova] followed in our wake
with scarcely a movement.’’? Her leakiness is de-
scribed as a continual source of trouble, and the only
expression of irritation in the book is at ‘* another
very stupid arrangement ’’ in the ship (vol. i. p. 3309).
But for the somewhat meagre results achieved by the
Discovery Captain Scott is not responsible; if the
ship could have been kept at work at sea, while
Captain Scott was doing his sledge journeys on land,
a wider and richer harvest of results would doubtless
have been obtained. J. W. Grecory.

kKECENT ETHNOLOGICAL PUBLICATIONS
FROM THE FIELD COLUMBIAN MUSEUM:

@: peculiar interest is Dr. Dorsey’s account of the
ceremonial organisation of the Cheyenne, which
dates back, according to tradition, to two or three
thousand years ago, being founded by Motzeyeuff, a
prophet who came as a messenger from the Great
Medicine with four great medicine arrows, which were
sent to the Cheyenne as an emblem for their future,
as they possessed magic, and the Great Medicine
decreed they should produce effects beyond natural
powers. These arrows are still preserved, but two
of them are in the hands of the Pawnee. The
prophet organised five societies—the Red Shield,
Hoof-rattle, Coyote, Dog-men, and Inverted Bow-
string. The first two of these are concerned with
1 Voth, H. R.: ‘‘Oraibi Natal Customs and Ceremonies.” Field Colum-
bian Museum, Chicago 1005. Anthropological Series, vol. vi., No. 2.
‘“Hopi Proper Names,” 77d. vol. vi., No. 2. ‘*The Traditions of the
Hopi,” z4id. vol. viii.

Dorsey, G. A.: ‘'The Cheyenne: I. Ceremonial Organisation,” zd7d.,

vol. ix., No. 1. ‘!The Cheyenne: II. The Sun-Dance,’’ 7é7d., vol. ix.
No.

JANUARY 25, 1906]

NATURE

9 J

301

the capture respectively of the bison (buffalo), ellx, and
deer. The Coyote society derives its name from the
fact that its members imitate the coyote in their power
of endurance, cunning, and activity; they
their fellow-tribesmen in running long distances, play-
ing games, &c. The Dog-men were raiders. It

would therefore seem evident that, judging from the
Straits,

analogies in Australia and Torres these are

Fic 1.—Self-inflicted torture by a Cheyenne, for performance of the sun-
dance. The thongs are attached to the centre-pole. Froma painting
by a native artist.

in reality ancient totemic clans which were re-organised
by the prophet and still retain their magical func-
tions. The Inverted or Bow-string Warrior society
is but little known throughout the tribe; it was
founded by the prophet subsequently to the others;

outstrip |

detail in a separate memoir, and is copiously illus-
trated with ro5 figures, nearly all of which are from
photographs, and some fifty plates, many of which
are in colours. In 1903 Dr. Dorsey published an
elaborate monograph on the Arapaho sun-dance (cf.
Narure, June 28, 1904), and now we have from his
pen a companion account of the same dance as. per-
formed by another tribe of Plains Indians. The name
given by the Cheyenne to the sun-dance is the
New-Life-Lodge; according to the interpretation of
the priest, the name means not only the lodge of
new life, or lodge of new birth, but it is the new life
itself. The performance of the ceremony is supposed
to re-create, to re-form, to re-animate the earth, vege-
tation, and animal life ; thus it is the ceremony of
the re-birth. As one of the priests put it, “ Formerly
this dance represented only the creation of the earth.
The Cheyenne grew careless and combined other
things with the ceremony. At the time of the Love-
tipi ‘(or Sacred Lodge), though everything is ,barren
(referring to the bare space made within the tipi), the
earth is beginning to grow. Now it has grown. Thus
they make the earth, buffalo wallow, grease, wool,
and sinew to make growth. By the time of the end
of the lodge things have grown, people have become
happy; the world has reached its full growth, and
people rejoice. When they use the bone whistle they
are happy like the eagle, which is typical of all birds
and of happiness.”’

It would take too long to describe the ceremonies,
which are evidently very ancient and sacred. Thanks
to the labours of Dr. Dorsey and other American
colleagues, the religious symbolism of the Plains
Indians is beginning to be understood, and researches
such as these will afford valuable data to the students
of comparative religion. The rite of sacrifice by
means of self- inflicted torture was common to many

there was no chief, each warrior being independent of | of the Plains tribes, but, so far as is known, it was

the rest, though all dressed alike
and were always prepared for war.
The close observance of the regu-
lations of this society by its
members gives them a character
distinct from that of the other
societies, and they are regarded as
pure. They rejoice in the beauty
of nature as the work of the Great
Medicine, who created the rivers,
hills, mountains, heavenly bodies,
and the clouds. They are the
philosophers among the people.
Since the advent of the white man

a sixth warrior society, the Owl-
man’s Bow-string or Wolf
Warriors, has been founded; it

alone, of all the warrior societies,
dances with guns, and they shoot
blank cartridges. This paper is
illustrated by a number of plates,
most of which are facsimiles of
coloured drawings by Cheyenne
artists; they illustrate the cere-
monial costumes and parapher-
nalia of the members of the socie-
ties, as well as sun-dance myths;

Fic 2.—Incident during self-inflicted torture of a Cheyenne in 1903

the drawings are so much in advance of those usually |

drawn by ‘backward peoples as to suggest that the
artists learnt from Europeans.
advantage if Dr. Dorsey had said a little more about
the conditions under which they were executed; the
idea of illustrating a memoir by native talent is a
good one.

The Cheyenne sun-dance is described in considerable
NO. 1891, VOL. 73]

It would have been an |

| (Fig.

>a ee
Patten alr Be Dae

Two fragments of old buffalo
(bison) skulls were dragged around the inside of the camp circle by thongs attached to the
Indian's back.

practised by no tribe to a greater extent than by the
Cheyenne. The torture depended upon a vow taken
voluntarily ; the form most intimately connected with
the sun-dance was by attachment in one way or
another to the centre-pole; a drawing by a Cheyenne
1) illustrates this, and in addition the suspen-
sion of buffalo (bison) skulls to the skin. <A
second form of torture was practised about the camp-

302

NAT OTE:

[JANUARY 25, 1906

circle rather than within the sun-dance lodge. Of
this form the commonest method was for the dancer
to drag one or more dried buffalo skulls attached to
skewers inserted in his back, just as the skewers were
inserted in the breast in the previous form of torture
(Fig. 2).

Mr. H. R. Voth continues his valuable investiga-
tions on the Hopi Indians with a particularly interest-
ing account of the customs and ceremonies connected
with birth in Oraibi, the largest of the seven Hopi
villages, and a suggestive paper on Hopi proper
“names. When a child is twenty days old it receives
its first names from the grandmother, or other close
relative on its mother’s side, and from other women,
all of whom must belong to the clan of the mother
and child. The ‘‘ child-name’”’ is retained until the
child is initiated into some order or society, when a
new name is given, and at every subsequent initiation
a fresh name is given. All Hopi proper names have
some reference to the clan totem of the name giver,
never, unless coincidentally, to the clan totem of the
bearer of the name. The same investigator publishes
110 traditions of the Hopi, which were collected in the
vernacular and without an interpreter.

Ny XO Vile

NOTES.

Str Wituiam Tuisetton-Dyer, K.C.M.G., F.R.S., has
been elected a member of the American Philosophical
Society.

Baron DE GuERNE has been elected president for 1906
of the Paris Geographical Society, M. E. H. Martel chief
vice-president, and Baron Hulot general secretary.

Tue editors of the Geological Magazine have issued
invitations to a reception to be held on the evening of
February 8, to commemorate the publication of the five

hundredth number of that periodical.

Pror. Kart von Frirscu,
Caroline Academy, and professor of geology and palaonto-
logy in the University of Halle, died on January 9 in
his sixty-seventh year. Of his written works, the most
widely known is his ‘‘ Allgemeine Geologie.”’

president of the Leopold-

From Basel we learn that Swiss engineers have sketched
out a plan for connecting Switzerland with the North Sea
and the Mediterranean by means of an immense canal
system at an estimated cost of 324,000,000 francs. On the
one side Rotterdam is to be reached from Lake Constance
by means of the Rhine, and on the other side Lake Como
is to be brought into connection with the Mediterranean
by means of the River Po.

THE sum of nearly 20001. has been given by Judge
Holek (Denmark) for the purpose of effecting Porsild’s
plan of a biological station in Greenland, and the Danish
Government has agreed to be responsible for a large part
of the annual upkeep of the station, which is estimated
to run to 11,000 kroner (rril.). The eminent
travellers in polar regions in general, and in Greenland in
particular, have testified to the value of such a station.

most

On Thursday next, February 1, Mr. Benjamin Kidd will
begin a course of two lectures at the Royal Institution on
“The Significance of the Future in the Theory of Evolu-
tion,’” and on Saturday, February 3, Mr. J. W.
will deliver the first of two lectures on ‘‘ Advances in
Microscopy.’’ The Friday evening discourse on February 2
will be delivered by Prof. S. P.

NO. 1891, VOL. 73]

Gordon

Thompson on ‘‘ The

Electric Production of Nitrates from the Atmosphere,’’ and
on February 9 by Mr. H. F. Newall on ‘* Eclipse Problems
and Observations.’

A NOTE special to Monday's Pall Mall Gazette announces
that *‘ a new system of wireless electrical communication
that seems admirably suited for connection over distances
of a few miles, and that possesses the advantage of cheap-
ness, reliability, and secrecy in a degree that probably
exceeds all the other systems, has just emerged from some
very successful trials in Germany.’’ The experiments de-
scribed were made near Berlin by Mr. E. Ruhmer, but
the ‘‘ special’? news referring to them adds nothing to the
account of his system given in NaTuRE two years ago
(February 18, 1904, vol. Ixix., p. 373) in an article on
‘* Photo-telephony.’”

Mr. Extnar MIKKELSEN, the young Danish explorer who,
in conjunction with Mr. Leffingwell, an American, is
organising an expedition to the Beaufort Sea, has just left
this country for the United States. It is proposed that
Mr. Leffingwell and other members of the expedition shall
travel down the Mackenzie River in the early summer of
this year, while Mr. Mikkelsen, should he be able to obtain
a suitable vessel, will leave San Francisco in April, and
after spending some time on the Siberian coast purchasing
necessary equipment, meet the rest of the party at the
mouth of the Mackenzie some time in the latter part of
August. Thence the expedition will make its way to Cape
Kellet, in Banks Land, and begin the exploration of its
special region. The work to be undertaken depends to
some considerable extent on the arrangements which it may
be possible to make with regard to the fitting out of a ship.

AT a meeting at the Royal United Service Institution on
January 18, Major Goodwin, D.S.O., delivered a lecture on
‘“ Military Hygiene on Active Service.’’ After briefly de-
scribing the origin and causation of those diseases which
affect armies in the field, and discussing and comparing
the statistics of the Boer and Russo-Japanese wars, the
lecturer suggested that there are two principal measures,
which, if organised and perfected, will entirely remedy, in
his opinion, the great evil which has existed in the past.
The first measure is sanitary organisation—a corps should
be formed of officers and men specially trained in all the
methods of sanitation—the second is the necessity for the
further education of regimental officers and men in sanitary
principles.

Tue annual general meeting of the Entomological Society
of London was held on January 17. Mr. F. Merrifield, the
president, read an address on the general operation of
temperature on the growing organism of lepidopterous
insects, based on a series of experiments, especially with
reference to the remarkable limitations imposed by climatic
and artificial conditions. The report of the society showed
that for the first time in its history the number of ordinary
fellows had reached five hundred. The officers and council
were elected for the session 1906-7 as follows :—President,
Mr. F. Merrifield; hon. treasurer, Mr. A. H. Jones; hon.
secretaries, Mr. H. Rowland-Brown and Commander J. J.
Walker, R.N.; librarian, Mr. G. C. Champion; other
members of the council, Mr. G. J. Arrow, Mr. A. J.
Chitty, Mr. J. E. Collin, Dr. F. A. Dixey, Mr. H. Goss,
Mr. W. J. Kaye, Mr. H. J. Lucas, Prof. E. B. Poulton,
F.R.S., Mr. L. B. Prout, Mr. E. Saunders, F.R.S., Mr.
R. S. Standen, and Mr. C. O. Waterhouse.

Dr. H. J. P. Sprencer, F.R.S., the inventor of the
mercury air-pump, whose death we announced last week,
was for three years an assistant in the chemical laboratory

——

JANUARY 25, 1906]

NATURE

303

-of Oxford University ; afterwards he worked in the labor-
_atories of Guy’s and St. Bartholomew's Hospitals, London.
He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1878.
His air-pump, which he described to the Chemical Society
in 1865, led to results which had an important influence
on the development of both science and industry in the
latter part of last century. It provided a convenient
method of obtaining vacua of very high tenuity, and con-
tributed greatly to the perfection of the incandescent
electric lamp. Dr. Sprengel devoted much time to the
study of detonation and explosives, and in 1871 took out
patents for a class of explosive substances which were non-
explosive during their manufacture, storage, and transport.
He was the first to direct attention to the value of picric
acid as an explosive when fired by a detonator. In
addition to papers on his vacuum pump and kindred sub-
jects, Dr. Sprengel published the following contributions
to science among others :—Atomised water as a substitute |
for steam in a chemical process, 1873; improvements in
explosive compounds, 1871; on a new class of explosives,
1873 ; the Hell-Gate explosion near New York and so-called
** Rackarock,’’ 1886; the discovery
of picric acid as a powerful explosive

Gallery, which took place in February of last year, when

the inaugural address was delivered by the late Prof.
Herkomer. About the same time Mr. F. G. Pearcey
entered the museum as assistant curator, and since his

appointment a thorough re-arrangement of the zoological
exhibits has been undertaken, while large additions have
been made by gifts and purchase.

BoranicaL surveys undertaken with the object of study-
ing the distribution of plants over a limited area have been
prepared by several workers in Scotland and England.
Mr. G. H. Pethyridge and Mr. R. L. Praeger publish in
the Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy (vol. xxv.)
a survey of the vegetation of the district lying south of
Dublin. The authors distinguish four zones, littoral,
agrarian, hill pasture, and moorland. It was observed
that the three associations of Ulex Europaeus, Ulex Galli,
and Calluna maintain a definite succession in altitude, Ulex
Europaeus occurring at the upper limit of the agrarian
zone, and Calluna forming the most important feature of
the moorland. The in which Pteris the

association is

and of cumulative detonation with
its bearing on wet gun-cotton, 1902.

Tue fiftv-fifth meeting of the
American Association for the
Advancement of Science was held

at New Orleans, and began on
December 29 last. The membership
-of the association has now reached
4500. It has been decided to hold
two meetings during 1906, one in
the summer at Ithaca, N.Y., the
-other in the winter at New York
City. At the recent meeting, the
address of the retiring president,
Prof. W. G. Farlow, dealt with the
popular conception of a scientific
man at the present day. The presi-
dents of the different sections de-
livered their addresses on various
-days throughout the meeting. Prof.
Ziwet, at the first meeting of the
section of mathematics and physics,
took for his subject the relation of mechanics to physics.
Prof. Kinnicutt, in the section of chemistry, considered the |
sanitary value of a water analysis. Prof. Merriam, in the |
section of zoology, discussed the question, Is mutation a |
factor in the evolution of the higher vertebrates? The |
subject of the partition of energy was taken up by the |
‘president of the physics section, Prof. Magie; and the |
generic concept in the classification of the flowering plants ©
was dealt with by Prof. Robinson in the section of botany.

Prof. Knapp, in the section of social and economic science,

-considered the subject of transportation and combination.

In the section of mechanical science and engineering, Prof.

Jacobus addressed the meeting on commercial investigations

and tests in connection with college work. The experience

at New Orleans makes it doubtful whether the experiment

of scattering the addresses of the presidents of sections

through a week is a wise departure.

Photo.

We have received copies of the reports of the Bristol
Museum and Reference Library for 1904, and of the Bristol
Museum and Art Gallery for 1905. The change in the
‘title of the institution is due to the opening of the Arv

NO. 1891, VOL. 73]

R. Welch.

Fic. 1.—Piperstown Hill, showing, in ascending order, farm land, U¢ex Gadliz association,

and Calluna association.

| dominant member occupies positions in each of the three

former associations, holding its own where it is favoured
by well-drained soil and a sheltered situation. The paper

| is accompanied by six illustrations, of which the one re-

produced shows the characteristic rounded hummocks of
Ulex Gallii in the foreground; in the background the farm-
land is seen below with Ulex Europaeus just visible in the
middle distance and Calluna clothing the summit of the
hill.

Tue educational advantages of the Central Museum at
Brooklyn, New York, form the subject of the first article

| in the January issue of Museum News, in which attention

is specially directed to the exhibits of typical groups of
mammals, birds, and reptiles. It would seem, however,
that the museum authorities themselves stand in need of
education, otherwise they would scarcely have stated ‘‘ that
the present revolution in Russia bids fair to complete the
extermination of the European bison by killing off the
Lithuanian herd.’’ They appear to be quite unaware of
the existence of this animal in a truly wild state in the
Caucasus.

304

NATURE ©

[JANUARY 25, 1906

In addition to several papers relating to the human sub-
ject, the January issue (vol. xl., part ii.) of the Journal of
Anatomy and Physiology contains contributions on the
anatomy and development of the lower mammals. Among
these is one by Dr. T. H. Bryce on the development of
the thymus gland in the lung-fish, Lepidosiren paradoxa,
in the course of which the author arrives at the important
conclusion that, at least up to an advanced larval con-
dition, this organ has absolutely nothing to do with the
development of leucocytes. Apparently the leucocytes take
origin in a tract along the hind kidney, and, at any rate,
there is evidence of their existence before the thymus cells
have lost their epithelial characters. In another paper
Prof. Symington discusses the bearing of the structure of
foetal whale-flippers on the development of additional digits
and joints in the hand and foot of vertebrates generally.
In cetaceans the suppression of nails or claws has led to
the development of a cartilaginous rod at the end of each
digit which is apparently a reversion to the primitive
mammalian condition. ‘‘ Such a condition would obviously
facilitate the development of additional cartilaginous
elements to adapt the limb to its newly acquired function
as a balancing and steering organ.’’ Hence the occurrence
of “‘hyperphalangism’’ is easily accounted for, while
indications of incipient ‘‘ hyperdactylism’”’ are afforded by
rudiments in some cases of the development of a sixth
digit.

In the annual report of the Botanical Department,
Trinidad, for the year 1904-5, the superintendent, Mr.
J. H. Hart, directs attention to the advantages of budded
over seedling oranges in. maintaining the qualities of any
selected strain. Trinidad oranges have been successfully
transported to England from time to time, and last year
a consignment of mangos was sent over that carried well,
and was said to compare favourably with the best Indian
fruit. Among shade trees for cacao, Gliricidia maculata,
the ‘‘ Madura’ of Central America, has been in consider-
able demand, and Honduras mahogany has also been

planted. The cotton experiment plots suffered severely from
the ‘ boll rot.”

Mr. D. McAtrine records in Annales Mycologici (vol.

iii., No. 4, 1905) the discovery of a peculiar set of rusts |

on species of Acacia in Australia that he places in a new
genus, Uromycladium. The characteristic of the genus is
a branched carpophore producing at the ends of each
branchlet one to three separate teleutospores, or in place
of one of the teleutospores a colourless vesicle or cyst.
Mr. McAlpine regards the genus as a link between
Uromyces, which has a single teleutospore, and Ravenelia,
a peculiar genus in which the stalk is compound and a
number of spores are joined together at the top, with
vesicles below. Of the seven species enumerated, uredo-
spores and spermogonia are known for some, but no
wcidia have as yet been found.

Tue Times of January 12 contains a comprehensive
summary of the rainfall of 1905, by Dr. H. R. Mill. The
work is valuable from a double point of view—from the
vast amount of material relating to the rainfall of the
British Islands that Dr. Mill has at his disposal, and from
the almost incredible shortness of time in which he has
been able to compile his statement, in advance of the usual
annual rainfall volume, which takes at least six months
to produce. The author points out that during an average
year no spot with a fall of less than 20 inches appears on
the rainfall map of Great Britain; last year there were

about 75c0 square miles, while the area with rainfall

NO. 1891, VOL. 73]

exceeding 40 inches measured some 29,000 square miles, or
less than a quarter of the country. In an average year
more than a third of the area of the country has a greater
fall than 4o inches. A table based on a thirty years”
average which accompanies the paper shows that none of
the fifty-one stations quoted for England and Wales reached
the normal amount, that only one did so in Ireland, and
about half the stations in Scotland. From these figures
Dr. Mill estimates that the general rainfall for England
and Wales was only 83 per cent. of the average; for
Ireland, 89 per cent.; for Scotland, 96 per cent. In other
words, for every inhabitant of the British Isles there was
last year 224,000 gallons less rain than in an average year.
Further, that the year 1905 has justified the three years”
cycle of one wet year followed by two dry years; the
probability of 1906 proving a wet year has not been con-
tradicted by the weather of the first half of January.

Mr. VAN DER GRINTEN, whose projection of the whole
globe in a circular map, published last vear, attracted con-
siderable attention, deals with another case—that of the
‘ apple-slice ’? shape—in Petermann’s Mitteilungen (p. 237,
1905).

Dr. GERHARD ScHortrT contributes a paper on the relief
of the bed of the Southern Ocean, and the distribution
of bottom temperatures, to Petermann’s Mitteilungen
(No. 11, 1905). The soundings and temperature obsery-
ations of recent expeditions are made use of, and the author
has compiled an admirable bathymetrical chart showing
the state of our knowledge of the region in 1905.

THe Zeitschrift der Gesellschaft fiir Erdkunde (No. 9,
1905) contains a paper on the geographical conditions
determining the distribution of moorlands, by Dr. F.
Solger. The chief factors taken into consideration are
rainfall, surface topography, and elevation, and the rela-
tions of these three factors in different types of moorlands
are discussed.

Tue publishers of 1’Elletricista have
little book, by Dr. G.

issued a_ useful
Agamennone, under the title of
“La Registrazione dei Terremoti.’’ The words ‘‘ in
Italia ’’’ should have been added to the title, as the book
is confessedly devoted to Italian work, and hardly refers
to that which has been done elsewhere, especially in Japan,
where the ideas embodied in the Italian instruments were,
with few exceptions, anticipated in the publications of the
Seismological Society of Japan. The omission is justified
by the plea of the author that any attempt at adequate
recognition of the work done in other countries would have
swollen the book to an undesirable size; as it is, we have
a well got up and clearly written account of the seismo-
scopes and seismographs used in Italy, which are singularly
efficient if somewhat more cumbrous than the English or
Japanese patterns.

Tue Rendiconto of the Bologna Academy (vols. v.-vi.),
covering the period 1900-2, has just been sent out. It
contains a series of illustrated papers by Dr. Francesco
Crevatin on the terminations of nervous systems; also
papers by Prof. Augusto Righi on the magnetic field of
a moving charge and on the acoustic properties of con-
densers, by the late Prof. Emilio Villari on the heating
effects of electric discharges and on RoOntgenised air, by
Prof. Ferdinando Paolo Ruffini on the three cusped hypo-
cycloid, and others.

We have received the annual report of the Circolo
Matematico di Palermo, which shows an increase in its
membership roll from 27 in March, 1884, and 195 in

JANUARY 25, 1906]

UNPAL TCE

395

March, 1904, to 255 in March, 1905. Of these 36 are
resident, 138 non-resident, and 81 foreign members. The
society owes its present position as a mathematical society
of international rank largely to the personal exertions of
Prof. Guecia, and further evidence of this activity is shown
by the offer of a ‘‘ Guccia medal ”’ and prize of 3000 francs,
to be awarded at the mathematical congress at Rome in
1908, for the best essay marking an advance in the theory
of algebraic twisted curves.

Mr. Henry Frowpe has published an edition of Words-
worth’s ‘‘ Guide to the Lakes,’’ with an introduction,
appendices, and notes by Mr. Ernest de Sélincourt.
Though Wordsworth is, throughout the book, rather the
lover than the student of nature, yet the volume contains
much that will appeal in a special manner to men of
science—for example, the remarks on stone circles—and
everything the volume contains will serve to increase the
enthusiasm with which scientific students approach natural
phenomena.

THE 1906 issue of their ‘‘ Nature Calendar ’’ has been

published by Messrs. George Philip and Son, Ltd. It is
a little difficult to understand the plan on which the notes
for the months have been arranged, and on what prin-
ciple the entries for successive days have been selected.
Under the date January 25, for instance, are to be found
the following statements :—‘‘ Jackdaws begin to come to
churches ’’; ‘‘ First appearance of Yellow Wagtail’’; and
““ Honeysuckle leafing.’’ A young, uninitiated nature
student, who observed a jackdaw going to church, or came
across a yellow wagtail, or found honeysuckle in leaf
before January 25, might have his faith in naturalists’
calendars seriously shaken.

A SECOND edition of Prof. Douglas H. Campbell’s work
on ‘‘ The Structure and Development of Mosses and
Ferns ’’ has been published by Messrs. Macmillan and Co.,
Ltd. The first edition was published in 1895, and was re-
viewed at length in our issue for January 2, 1896 (vol. liii.
p. 194). Portions of the work have been re-cast entirely,
this being especially the case with the eusporangiate ferns.
The whole book has been carefully revised and new matter
has been introduced, including two special chapters on the
geological history of the Archegoniates and the significance
of the alternation of generations. Some of the new
material is published now for the first time, but much of
it is based upon papers written by Prof. Campbell during
the last ten years.

OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN.

Prriopicat Comets Dur To Return this YEAR.—Writing
to the Observatory (No. 366), Mr. W. T. Lynn directs
attention to the fact that two known periodical comets are
due to return during the present year—Holmes’s comet in
the spring, Finlay’s in the summer. The former has
already been noted in these columns. Finlay’s comet was
discovered at the Cape on September 26, 1886, and per-
formed its perihelion passage on November 22 of the same
year; its period is about 6-6 years, and on its return in
18q2 it was first seen by the discoverer himself, and passed
perihelion on June 16. On its return in 1899 the comet
was unfavourably situated for observation, and so escaped
detection.

A note published in No. 1, vol. xiv., of Popular Astro-
nomy mentions six other periodical comets as being due
this year, viz. Barnard’s (1884 II.), E. Swift’s (1894 IV.),
Denning’s (1881 V.), Swift’s (1889 VI.), and the two lost
comets, Biela’s and Brorsen’s. Of these, the first and
second will be unfavourably placed for observation; the
third has not been seen since 1881, but will be more

NOUS, VOL. 731s

favourably placed this year; the fourth was very faint
in 1889, and any small change in the period may have
rendered it wholly invisible.

Tue ANNULAR NeBuLa 1N CyoGnus (N.G.C. 6894).—An
interesting photographic study of the very faint annular
nebula N.G.C. 6894 has recently been made at the Meudon
Observatory by M. G. Tikhoff. Using the 39-inch reflector,
the observer obtained four photographs, of which he has
measured the two best, taken on September 27 and
October 27 with exposures 2h. 20m. and 3h. respectively.

These photographs showed the nebula to have the form
of an elliptical ring with a condensation in the centre, the
space between the nucleus and the outer ring being fairly
bright. The extremities of the major axis of the ellipse
are sharp, but several faint appendices are clustered around
the ends of the minor axis. Measurements of the plate
obtained on September 27 showed the length of the
major axis to be 44”.8, that of the minor axis 37”.3, but if
the appendices be included the length of the latter becomes
50”-8. The nebula really consists of two rings, a broad
outer one and a narrow inner ring, but the duplication is
interrupted on the north-west by the star discovered
by Lord Rosse in 1855. The outer ring has several con-
densations in it, of which the two brightest are nearly
opposite to Lord Rosse’s star.

M. Tikhoff recalls the fact that all observers of this
nebula have commented on its similarity to the ring
nebula in Lyra, and advances the opinion that it is prob-
ably in a later stage of development, for whereas the Ring
Nebula has only one condensation, this Cygnian nebula has
many.

RicHt AScCENSIONS OF THE ERos Comparison StTars.—In
Nos. 4059-4060 of the Astronomische Nachrichten, Dr.
Fritz Cohn, of Kénigsberg, gives a catalogue containing
the definitive positions of the Eros comparison stars con-
tained in the two lists iussed by the international com-
mittee. The positions are given for 1900-0, and two
supplementary tables give the proper motions necessary for
reducing the places of the few stars known to be in motion
to the equator of rgor-o.

OsservaTions or Nova Perser (No. 2) AND Nova
GeminoruM.—The results of a series of magnitude observ-
ations of Nove Persei and Geminorum are given in
No. 4066 of the Astronomische Nachrichten by Dr. K.
Graff, of the Hamburg Observatory. The Nova Persei
observations extend from March 11, 1902, to August 24,
1905, and show one or two apparent oscillations of the
brightness. On the latter date the magnitude of this star
was recorded as 10-73.

The record for Nova Geminorum contains the results of

six observations made between September 16, 1903, and
November 10, 1904, and shows an apparent increase in
the brightness between January 20, 1904, and the final

observation; the latter was, however, somewhat uncertain,
and gave a magnitude of <12.0.

On November 28, 1905, Prof. Max Wolf found that the
magnitude of Nova Persei on the Pickering scale was
11-65, but compared photographically with the stars given
by Father Hagen the magnitude came out as 10-6.

Douste Star Oreirs.—Prof. Doberck publishes four
possible orbits for + Ophiuchi and two for y Centauri in
No. 4063 of the Astronomische Nachrichten. Of these, he
finds, on comparison, that the following agree most closely
with observational results :—

7 Ophiuchi | y Centauri
2=76 12 | O=3 21
A=17 45 A=285 2
y=66 4 | y=81 47
€=0°5338 | e=0'2958
P=223 82y. | P=211'93y.
T=1814'79 T=1851 63
a=1"-307 @=1""92

The value of the hypothetical parallax for + Ophiuchi
is o’.035, and for y Centauri o’.054. In the elements of
the latter, the epoch and the longitude of periastron are
somewhat uncertain, and for this star the motion is
retrograde.

306

NAL ORE

| JANUARY 25, 19c6

ECONOMIC GEOLOGY IN
STATES.

HE energy shown by all branches of the United States |
Geological Survey increases year by year, and it is

impossible to overestimate the importance of the results |
achieved during the twenty-five years of its existence. The
prompt return made for the pecuniary support accorded to
the survey is best shown by the numerous publications,
appearing each year, which are devoted to the development
of the mineral resources and to the advancement of

|
THE UNITED |

Fic. 1.—Weathered Surface of Galena Limestone near Rockdale, Iowa.

important engineering projects. The miner is thus taught |
the practical value of geological work, and mining develop-
ment is placed upon a scientific basis. A large number of
bulletins have recently been published which, though de-
scribing researches of an essentially scientific nature, deal
with the economic resources of specified districts. Half
a dozen of these bulletins, well illustrating the educational
value of the survey’s work to those engaged in the mining
industry, have been selected for brief notice. Of these the |
most important is No. 260, ‘‘ Contributions to Economic |
Geology, 1904,’’ in which Mr. S. F.
Emmons and Mr. C. W. Hayes, the

(dykes of pegmatite carrying cassiterite) of North and
South Carolina are probably of considerable economic
importance; and Mr. F. L. Hess gives a concise state-
ment of what is known with regard to tin deposits through-
out the rest of the world. In the Birmingham district,
Alabama, an important result of the work of the survey
has been the extension of the red hematite ore beyond
its supposed southern limit.

The fuel resources of the United States received
more attention last year than at any previous time during
the existence of the survey. About 3000 square miles of

ceal-bearing territory have been
mapped, and work in the oil and
wail gas fields has been continued. The

American cement industry formed the
subject. of an extensive investigation
by Mr. E. C. Eckel, and much valu-
able information is given regarding
the slate, granite, and clay industries.
Descriptions are also given of a
molybdenite deposit in eastern Maine,
and of the vanadium and uranium ore
deposits in south-eastern Utah.
Bulletin No. 255, on the fluorspar
deposits of southern Illinois, by Mr-
H. Foster Bain, embodies the results
obtained in a detailed study of the
fluorspar deposits in Pope and Hardin
counties, the area covered being at
present one of the most important
producers of fluorspar in the United

States. The deposits were discovered
in 1830. but were not mined until
1870. The mineral occurs in veins

along faulting fissures, and is associ-
ated with calcite, galena, and zinc-

blende. In 1903 the district produced
11,413 tons of fluorspar, valued at
11,544l. The best grade of fluorspar,

with less than 1 per cent. of silica,
is used in the enamelling, chemical,
and glass trades. The second grade is used in open-hearth
steel making to give fluidity to the slag. About 20,000 tons
are used annually in this work. The lowest grade is used
in foundry work.

The zinc and lead deposits of north-western Illinois are
dealt with in Bulletin No. 246 by Mr. H. Foster Bain-
The region contains large reserves of zinc ore of good
quality. The main ore-bearing rock is a thick massive
dolomite, known as the galena limestone. Owing to the
predominance of solution over disintegration, it presents om

geologists in charge of the sections
dealing with ores and non-metallic
minerals respectively, bring before the
public with all possible speed the
economic results arrived at by the
survey. The bulletin covers 620 pages,
and contains sixty-three contributions
from thirty-seven members of the
survey who have been’ engaged
throughout the year in economic
work. The production of gold and
silver in the United States in 1904 is
discussed by Mr. W. Lindgren, who
has made a novel classification of the
ores into (1) placer or detrital de-
posits, and (2) ores from rock in situ,
further subdivided into quartzose ores,
copper ores, and lead ores. The per-
centage of the total production derived from the four classes

thus established is as follows :—
5 Placers Quartzose Copper Lead |
Gold 15-2 743 5:0 5-4 |
Silver OI ... 22:2 34-7 42-9

A similar calculation of the copper production of the
United States, made by Mr. W. H. Weed, shows that of
the copper produced 27 per cent. occurs in native ores,
6 per cent. in oxide ores, and 67 per cent. in sulphide
ores. Mr. L. C. Gratton reports that the tin deposits

NO. 1891, VOL. 73]

Fic. 2.—Vanport Limestone Quarries at Newcastle, Pennsylvania.

weathered surfaces a very characteristic carious surface
(Fig. 1).

Bulletin No. 249, on limestones of south-westerm
Pennsylvania, by Mr. F. G. Clapp, is of great economic
interest in view of the recent extension of the portland
cement industry. It points out promising localities for the
erection of cement plants in the coal areas of Pennsylvania.
As a rule, these Carboniferous limestones are not suited
for building stone, but many of them, when burned, form
lime of excellent quality for agricultural, building, and
fluxing purposes. The Vanport limestone, the most per-

—"

JANUARY 25, 1906]

NATORE 207

sistent, thickest, purest, and most massive limestone in
the series, is extensively quarried for furnace flux at
Newcastle (Fig. 2).

In Bulletin No. 238 Messrs. G. I. Adams, E. Haworth,
and W. R. Crane give detailed information concerning the
geology of the
Iola Quadrangle,
Kansas, a
rapidly develop-
ing petroleum
and natural gas
field. At the end
of 1903 there
were 1596 pro-
ducing wells in
IKXansas, and of
these 549 were
at Chanute (Fig.
3) and 339 at
Humboldt in the
area under con-
sideration.
Natural gas is
abundant in the
vicinity, and is
largely used in
zinc smelting.
Indeed, more
than half the
zinc made in the
United States is
smelted by
Kansas gas, and
more than _ half
of this is pro-
duced at works
within the Iola
quadrangle.

Bulletin No.
264, by Messrs.
Ms eles einer,
E. F. Lines, and
A. ©. Veatch,
gives a record of deep-well drilling for 1904, and is the
first of a proposed series of annual publications. The re-
port embodies the records of a large number of wells, for
many of which sets of samples are preserved.

Fic. 3.—Golden ()il Company’s Well No. 2, near
Chanute, Kansas.

THE APPLICATION OF SCIENTIFIC
METHODS TO THE STUDY OF HISTORY.*

HE remarkable change which during the last fifty years
has passed over most subjects of study owing to the
growing dominance of the scientific spirit has not left
history unaffected. The leading historians of the present
day are essentially men of science. They are diligent in
their pursuit of truth and skilled in the special methods
of research which their subject demands. They are
strikingly impartial in their judgments, constantly on their
guard against the prepossessions so liable in matters of
past politics to bias opinion. They are ever on the alert
to discover unifying principles, general laws, large uni-
formities, without which no body of historic facts, however
accurately ascertained and however impassionately selected,
can justify the claim of history to be regarded as’a science,
or can make history worthy of the serious attention of
intelligent men.
All the writers enumerated at the foot of this column
deal in some shape or form with this transference of
history from the domain of literature to the domain of

1 (1) “Erhebung der Geschichte zum Rang einer Wissenschaft.” By

J. G. Drovsen. (1862.)
(2) ‘The Science of History.” By J. A. Froude. (1864.)
(3) “‘ Grundriss der Historik "" By J. G. Droysen. (1867 )

(4) ‘The Science of History.” By Principal John Caird. (1886 )

(5) ‘Introduction aux Etudes Historiques.” By Langlois and Seignobos.
3897.) :

(6) An Inaugural Lecture. By Prof. J. B. Bury. (19°3.)

(7) ‘“A Plea for the Historical Teaching of History.’’ By Prof. C. H
Firth. (1994 )

(8) *‘ The Methodical Study of Man.”

NO. 1891, \OL. 73]

By Dr. Percy Gardner. (1904.)

!

science. None states the fact of the transference more
clearly than does Prof. Bury, who says (p. 16) :—‘‘ I may
remind you that history is not a branch of literature. The
facts of history, like the facts of geology or astronomy,
can supply material for literary art . . . but to clothe the
story of a human society in a literary dress is no more
the part of a historian as a historian, than it is the part
of an astronomer as an astronomer to present in an artistic
shape the story of the stars’’; and again (pp. 7 and 42)
he emphatically asserts that ‘‘ History is a science, no less
and no more.’’ But though this statement is perhaps more
explicit than any other in the works before us, yet the
idea which it expresses is common to all.

It is not enough, however, to assert that a subject, long
regarded as a branch of literature, is really a science. It
is necessary to define its scope, to expound its method, and
to show its relation to other sciences. This our authors
do in varying degrees of fulness, and it would be a profit-
able, and I think not uninteresting, task to take them one
by one and to analyse their views. But in an article like
the present it is not possible to undertake this detailed
examination, and I must content myself with giving a
summary statement of the way in which scientific method
has been applied to history, and of some of the results
which have been attained.

It is a curious and remarkable fact that the earliest of
the above-named exponents of the science of history,
Droysen and Froude, were called upon to cast their first
clear utterances upon the subject into the form of a severe
castigation of a too zealous champion of their own view,
H. T. Buckle. Buckle had become possessed of the great
idea commonly associated with the name of Comte, viz.
that “all phenomena without exception are governed by
invariable laws with which no volitions natural or super-
natural interfere,’’ and in his ‘‘ History of Civilisation ”’
(1858-61) he had endeavoured with wonderful ingenuity
and vast learning, not so much to elevate history to the
rank of a science as to reduce it to the level of a physical
science, with laws of the same rigidity and of the same
universal applicability as the laws of motion or the laws
of chemical affinity. This was going further than either
the most advanced historians or the least exclusive philo-
sophers would allow, and a keen controversy ensued, out
of which at length emerged into general recognition the
important fact that history differs from the natural sciences
in at least two respects, first, that, with regard to its
method, it is a science, not of observation or of experiment,
but of criticism; secondly, that with respect to its general-
isations, since they deal with a realm, not of matter, but
of mind, in which motive and not force is supreme—a
realm of consciousness and freedom—they can never have
that fixity and universality which are connoted by the term
Soller

On the other hand, historical phenomena are not per-
manent, but evanescent. Events happen once, and then
fade beyond recall into the past. Observations made at
the moment of their happening can never be repeated, and
historians are dependent for all their knowledge of bygone
events upon such records as may chance to have been made
and to have been preserved. These records are the only
present and concrete facts with which historians come into
contact. These are the basal material of their science.
But they are valuable and important, not at all for their
own sake, but only for what they reveal. They reveal
past facts, yet even these not directly, but past facts as seen
through the refracting medium of the human mind. And
when the historian has eliminated, so far as he can, the
personal factors for his records and has extracted such
pure and unadulterated fact as remains, even then he has
not come to the end of his research. lar beyond and
beneath all events there lie the thoughts, the acts of will,
the emotions of which they were the realisations and
manifestations—ultimate facts of the human spirit wholly
beyond the observation even of those in whose midst the
events transpired. It is these for which in the last resort
he seeks. Thus, as has been remarked, history is a
science, not of observation, still less of experiment: it is
a science of criticism.

On the other hand, with regard to generalisation and
law, the fundamental truth to be recognised is that history
never repeats itself. The phenomena of history are not

308

INA TOTES

[ JANUARY 25, I9Q6

stationary like those of the experimental sciences which
can be called up at will at any moment; they are in
constant movement. Moreover, their movements are not
cyclical, like the movements of the planets; they are pro-
gressive in an infinite series. Every event which occurs
adds something to the environment of every subsequent
event and is a factor in its causation; so that the mere fact
that a thing has happened once presents an insuperable
barrier to its ever happening again. We of the present
day, for instance, are divided by an impenetrable wall of
new ideas, new discoveries, new conditions from our pre-
decessors of but the last generation. Not even the most

deliberate and carefully planned attempts to revert to
earlier orders of things—social, religious, political—can
possibly result in anything but hopeless failure. History

can never be made to repeat itself.
That being the case, it is obvious that whatever may
be the general principles which historians may deduce

from their study of historic phenomena, they will be
very different from the rigid and invariable laws of
natural science which enable the expert not only to
explain the past, but also to predict the future. History,

in fact, has closer analogies with the mental and moral
sciences than with the natural sciences. It is to the
human race almost exactly what memory is to the in-
dividual man. No individual man ever finds himself twice
in precisely the same situation, nor can anyone discover
unvarying sequences of cause and effect in the relations
between himself and his fellows; yet, notwithstanding this,
every man in his mature life is very largely guided and
governed by his experiences as recorded by his memory
and by the principles of conduct which his judgment has
deduced from them. As with the individual so with the
race; but subject to this important difference, that the
race lacks that personality, that continuity of self-conscious-
ness, which marks the individual. It has no natural
memory, and in order that it may not lose the vast
accumulated wealth of the experiences of the past a
memory has to be created for it. That race-memory is
history. Through history mankind attains to self-con-
sciousness. As Droysen puts it :—'‘ Die Geschichte ist das
yva@0: oavtdvy der Menschheit, ihr Gewissen.’’ By means
of this self-knowledge humanity is able to become to a
degree otherwise wholly impossible the master of its
fate; it is able to control its destiny, and to move de-
liberately forward on the pathway of progress.

Now if history is to perform adequately its high func-
tion, and to serve the purpose of a universal memory to
man, it is plain that it must no longer be left in the
hands of the literary artist to be built up of anecdotes, be
they told never so brilliantly, or in the hands of the
party-politician to be constructed of half truths, be they
never so honestly held to be the whole truth. History
must be elaborated by the strictest methods of science,
even though it is concerned with facts which are beyond
the reach of observation and with principles which are
not reducible to the satisfying simplicity of law. To state
the matter in the briefest outline, which is all that is
possible here, scientific method must be applied to history,
first, in the discovery of facts; secondly, in the selective
classification of facts; and thirdly, in the drawing of
inferences from facts.

(1) The Discovery of Facts.

In history, the discovery of fact resolves itself mainly
into the criticism of documents. So important are docu-
ments in historical research that MM. Langlois and
Seignobos go so far as to say, in the opening paragraph
of their book, ‘‘ L’histoire se fait avec des documents,”
and ‘*t Pas de documents, pas d’histoire.’’ There are, how-
ever, other sources of information, for example, oral tradi-
tion in the case of contemporary or recent events;
archzological, architectural, and monumental remains in
the case of more remote eras. Nevertheless, it is correct
to say that documents are the primary source of historical
knowledge. Concerning documents, the first thing which
has to be determined by criticism is their origin—that is
to say, their authorship, the date and place of their com-
position, and their genuineness. Many things have to be
taken into account in the determination of these important
matters, e.g. handwriting and writing materials, vocabulary,

NO: TSO1, VOL. °73\]

internal evidence of knowledge displayed and opinions ex-
pressed. When, so far as is possible, the origin of a
document has been fixed and its genuineness proved, the
problem of the accuracy of its statements has to be entered
into. Such questions have to be asked as :—Had the writer
opportunities of knowing what he wrote about? Had he
sufficient ability to avail himself of his opportunities?
Had he any prejudices to distort his judgment? Had he
any reason to conceal or pervert the truth? Does his
testimony agree with that of other witnesses? Is what he
says inherently credible ?

(2) Selection and Classification of Facts.

The fact that a fact is a fact does not make it important.
The historian has to select the facts which are significant
from vast masses of the insignificant. What shall be his
principle of choice? Shall he select anecdotes which may
amuse his readers, or incidents which support the views
of some party or sect to which he belongs? The day
when he could adopt either of these principles of selection
is gone. But even now historians do not by any means
agree as to the exact kind of facts that it is the function
of history to record. Nor is it necessary that they should
agree; no two people store their memory with precisely
the same kind of recollections. Seeley and Freeman
limited themselves to facts of past politics; Green and
Macaulay recorded facts of past social conditions ; Droysen
and Déllinger, following Schopenhauer and Hegel re-
spectively, looked below the surface of events, the one for
the acts of will, the other for the movements of ideas of
which events were the manifestation. Any one of these
principles, or any similar principle, is sufficient to give
a scientific unity to historical research.

(3) The Drawing of Inferences from Facts.

Although, as already seen, historical inferences can never
have the characteristics of physical laws, and although the
completest philosophy of history could never enable the
historian to predict revolutions with that unerring certainty
with which the astronomer predicts eclipses, yet historical
inferences may be thoroughly scientific, and the philosophy
of history of the greatest practical value. Given the
permanent and unchanging facts of human nature, and
known the peculiar circumstances of any particular event,
that event can be explained; and though it is true that
these circumstances can never by any possibility recur
again, yet others will certainly occur sufficiently similar
to make the explanations discovered in the one case valuable
guides to conduct in the others. Social and_ political
progress and the development of civilisation depend very
largely on the adequate learning by the human race of the

-lessons of experience remembered by means of history.

If in our days kings are benevolent, churches are
tolerant, armies are obedient, and policemen are civil; if
colonies are well governed; if taxation is equitable ; if
Ministers of State are honest—all this is due no little to
the recorded and thus remembered fates of tyrants, per-
secutors, rebels, and the rest. Similarly if the admitted
imperfections of the present are to be removed, and if
progress is to continue, history, rich with its lessons of
the past, must remain the light and guide of the future.
But it must be not the history of superstition and pre-
judice and romance, not the boon companion of astrology
and alchemy, but the history of exact knowledge and calm
judgment, the recognised members of the hierarchy of the
sciences. F. J. C. HEaRNsSHAW.

PUBLIC SCHOOLS SCIENCE MASTERS”
CONFERENCE.

HE annual meeting and conference of the
Schools Science Masters’ Association was held on
Saturday, January 20, at Westminster School. Owing to
ill-health, which had forced him to go abroad, the presi-
dent, Sir Oliver Lodge, was unable to be present, and the
Rev. E. C. Sherwood (Westminster), chairman of com-
mittee, presided at the business meeting, his place being
afterwards taken by the retiring president, Sir Michael
Foster, K.C.B. The honorary secretary, Mr. W. A. Shen-
stone (Clifton), relinquished his post, and the Rev. E. &.
Sherwood (Westminster) and Mr. Hugh de Havilland

Public

JANUARY 25, 1906]

NEA TORE 309

(Eton) were elected to serve in a joint capacity.
Talbot (Harrow) was re-appointed treasurer, and the Rev.

the Hon. Canon Lyttelton, headmaster of Eton, was
unanimously elected president for the year 1907.
Sir’ Michael Foster, in opening the conference, excused

himself from giving an address on the ground that for some
time his mind had been filled with very inferior things
(Sir Michael referred to the contest for the represent-
ation of London University in Parliament). The first paper
was read by the Rev. W. Madeley (Woodbridge); its aim
was to invite discussions upon the possibility of intro-
ducing a comprehensive syllabus of scientific teaching
within the time limits of a classical curriculum. Mr.
Madeley characterised the fact that there was no com-
pulsory science’ on the classical sides of public schools as
a deplorable anachronism. He pointed out, too, that philo-
sophy was introduced into the classical honours papers at
Oxford, and that classical scholars were expected now to
know what was meant by the “ struggle for existence,’’
“** survival of the fittest,’’ ‘‘ the Glacial epoch,’’ and ‘‘ the
laws of motion,’’ as shown by questions set in examin-
ation papers. He suggested that two hours alone per week
could be spared in which classical boys could do science,
and outlined a general course of what he termed natural
philosophy, which he thought would broaden the outlook
of the boys and do more for their general education than
a training in some special branch of-science.. Among the
items in his syllabus were gravitation, the solar system,
the conservation of energy, the indestructibility of matter,
the laws of chemical change and combination, Darwinism
and evolution.

Sir Michael Foster, in the discussion which followed, said
that he sympathised with the wish of Mr. Madeley, who
had given them a problem to solve and mentioned the
time in which it had to be done. He went on to say that
the whole use of science was dependent upon the habit of
mind that was acquired, and this, which meant openness,
alertness, and power of observing many things, could not
be gained by surveying the whole world of science, but by
attendance to details. When these had been mastered
broader views and generalisations could more easily be
grasped.

Mr. W. D. Eggar (Eton) advocated that the two hours
should be devoted to laboratory study, and that a very
small bit of science should be thoroughly taken up. No
lectures should be given, as the boys could read up notions
for themselves. Mr. D. Berridge (Malvern) thought that
if classical masters prepared a number of foreign phrases
for the science boys to learn, so that those met with in
the newspapers could be understood, they would be as
well equipped from the literary point of view as Mr.
Madeley’s boys would be in science by the course which
he had outlined. Mr. Berridge agreed that the division of
the lower school into classical and modern sides militated
against the taking of science on the former of these. He
suggested that headmasters should try the experiment of
making, say, the five subjects of the old London matricu-
lation compulsory for all boys until they were sixteen years
of age and ready to specialise. Mr. W. A. Shenstone
(Clifton) asked why boys might not have the special and
the general training as well, and advocated, in addition
to the two hours’ work at a particular branch in the
laboratory, the attendance of the boys once a fortnight
at general lectures, such as those lay addresses given at
Clifton on Sunday evenings. Many speakers emphasised
the ignorance of the classical boy and man. Mr. Cumming
(Rugby) said that the only instrument that they understood
when they left school was the pen.

Mr. J. Talbot (Harrow) read the second paper, on the
present state of the Army examinations, and began by
alluding to the changes which have recently taken place,
not only in the standard and arrangement of subjects, but
‘also in their very nature. As he considered that the
changes were permanent, he went on to trace the reason
for them. For this we must go to South Africa, for the
recent war has altered the whole principles underlying the
tactics and training of the Army. As Colonel Henderson
has pointed out, the discipline used to be entirely
mechanical, killing all individuality, and forbidding either
officer or man to move without direct order; now. as he
says, soldiers must be like a pack of well trained hounds,

NO. 1891, VOL. 73]

Mr. J.

not running in regular order, but without stragglers, each
using his instincts and intelligence, and following up the
general aim with relentless perseverance.

Under the old conditions, Mr. Talbot said, brains were
not essential in an officer, and any type of entrance ex-
amination would do, and did. Now, however, if each
officer is to employ the trained initiative which is essential
in the new order of things and produce it in his men, it
is obvious that his own training as a boy becomes all
important. While Woolwich and Sandhurst supply the
purely technical training, the science masters have to supply
the mind they train, and this must be well developed,
inured to hard work, and, above all things, supple.

We are now in a position, continued Mr. Talbot, to
understand the division of the examination into two parts.
The qualifying examination, or its equivalent, the leaving
certificate, is intended to ensure that the boy has a sound
general education, the competitive, that he has brains, and
unless the standard of the examination is fairly high it is
difficult to aiscriminate between brains and cram.

One of the chief qualifications of the officer is the power
of initiative; he is always meeting fresh problems, the
solution of which, right or wrong, must be found quickly,
and on its correctness the lives of his men and possibly of
a whole army may depend. No method of teaching which
Mr. Talbot had found makes more demand on a boy’s
power of drawing conclusions and acting on them than
the practical work in the laboratories. “For this reason
science should be compulsory in the qualifying examin-
ation, though not in the competitive one as it at present
stands. Certain things militate against the adoption by
candidates of science=the want of “laboratory accommoda-
tion, the fact that the alternative subject, Latin, can be
taught to all the boys at once, and that there are two
examinations. In larger schools Mr. Talbot fancied that
science is doing well in the struggle for existence. In
conclusion, science masters were told that they could no
longer grumble at a reactionary War Office; they must
see to it that it is not able to talk of antiquated teachers.
It would be a bad thing for the schools if there ever arose
a military Osborne to supersede the science masters.

Sir Michael Foster bore out what Mr. Talbot had to
say about the two halves of the examination. The com-
mittee on military education had had to face the fact that
many an officer could not spell, and had no knowledge of
accounts. The qualifying examination was to ensure that
the candidate should at least be able to write a letter, and
the competitive to prove that he had brains, and, being
able to use them in some directions, might be likely to
do the same in others. Subsequent speakers made it clear
that many boys at the public schools took science in the
qualifying examination if not in the other. The discussion
turned afterwards on the difficulties of, and objections to,
the practical examinations in science, especially when no
examiner came to conduct them. As an alternative, it was
suggested that the production of note-books kept in the
laboratory to show that the candidate had been through
a proper course of training should be accepted in lieu of
practical tests, and should determine whether the owner
should be allowed to sit at the theoretical examination.

An exhibition of scientific apparatus by various makers
and members of the association was arranged in the labor-
atories of Westminster School in connection with the meet-
ing. Two novelties were shown by Messrs. Brown and
Son; the first was a combination of the conical condenser
from their “‘ Desideratum ”’ still with a hot water oven,
the hot water from the top of the condenser being used
to feed the jacket of the oven. The other was a new
suction and blast apparatus dependent upon water pressure,
which worked almost instantaneously. Among the exhibits
of the science masters themselves was a very neat method
of rocking a flask or other vessel by placing under one
edge of the circular base of the stand supporting it an
india-rubber tube through which a current of water is
passed. The Rey. E. C. Sherwood exhibited this, and also
some exceedingly useful clamps designed by Mr. Barnes.
Though adapted for almost any work, those shown were
used by Mr. Sherwood on retort stands, and are wonder-
fully ingenious and effective. A spring prevents the clamp
from sliding rapidly down the rod when the screw is re-
leased ; the tightening of the latter not only fixes it on the

310

NATURE

[JANUARY 25, 1906

rod, but holds the arm perfectly immovable in any position,
three contacts being made. The arm will support any
weight that will not actually break it. On some clamps
a micrometer screw allows the arm to be moved while
supporting the full weight that it can carry. Those who
have struggled with the old type of retort stand clamp
which wobbles in all possible directions will welcome the
new invention should it be put upon the market.
WILFRED Mark WEns.

THE THIRD TANGANYIKA EXPEDITION.

LEFT London for Cape Town on March 24, 1904,”

proceeding thence to Chinde, and up the Zambesi and
Shiré Rivers, to Blantyre and Zomba, in British Central
Africa. In Zomba I reported myself to Sir Alfred Sharpe,
and from him received much advice and assistance before
leaving shortly for the Upper Shiré and Lake Nyasa. In
the region of this lake I stayed, roughly, three weeks—
one week on the gunboat anchored at the scuth end, one
week ascending the lake, and a week in Karonga—before
starting to cross the plateau to Tanganyika.

I collected, as far as possible in the short time, speci-
mens to illustrate the flora of the lake—dried specimens,
algze scraped from rocks, &c., and tow-nettings containing
diatoms and other of the more minute organisms. I made
no systematic attempt to collect fish, but brought a few
specimens, in addition to some leeches, crabs, a species
of prawn (of interest as none had been hitherto recorded
from the lake), and a sponge.

Karonga was left on July 5, and after an unavoidable
delay on account of illness among my men, I arrived at
Niamkolo, at the south end of Tanganyika, on July 27.
I made this spot my headquarters for more than two

months, though during the period I stayed a week at
Kituta. I purchased at once a large dug-out canoe and

g
hired a crew, so that I was able from the first to fish,
dredge, and take tow-nettings. Meanwhile, I made

I sailed on board the dau
on September 23, and for the rest of my time on the lake
cruised about, visiting as far as possible the most interest-
ing and likely places on the lake shore. I camped on land
whenever circumstances permitted, but my stays varied,
according as I found much or little of value tome. Although
I made some attempts, I found it almost impossible to
dredge satisfactorily in deep water by means of the dau,
so I was reduced to dredging from the canoe, in which
case, of course, we had not sufficient power to dredge at
any depth. On one occasion, by the kindness of the
captain, I was permitted to make an attempt from the
German gunboat, but unfortunately I lost the dredge and
a large part of the rope, by the snapping of the rope under
the strain.

I collected fish on every possible occasion, but though
we tried various methods of catching them, the majority

were obtained direct from the native fishermen. The
largest fish I saw was a Siluroid (probably Clarias),
cm. in length, and weighing 30-6 kilograms. Tow-

nettings were taken systematically at various times before
and after dark, in various places and at various seasons.
These consisted, as a rule, principally of phyto-plankton,
but there were also prawns, copepods, ostracods, and
insect larvee taken in this fashion. The quantity of
material obtained by tow-netting became markedly less
during the rainy season. The larger representatives of the
flora were also collected, but show, on the whole, little
difference from the corresponding water-weeds of Nyasa.
Serapings from the rocks and submerged stems of plants
produced various of the smaller algae, while a few fungi
were brought from the rotting wood of the canoe.

Five or six species of prawns were collected, in addition
to those already known from the lake, some among the
rocks at the water’s edge, others by dredging in a few
fathoms. Some two or three species of crabs were
obtained, and at least two species of Argulus. These latter
were perhaps most common from the mouth-cavity, gill-
bars, and surface of the body of various large Siluroids,

1 From a report by Mr. W. A. Cunnington, Christ's College, Cambridge.

NO. 1891, VOL. 73]

but they were also frequently present upon large specimens.
of Lates, and occasionally on other scaly fishes. Two
forms of true parasitic copepods were found—one on the
gills of a Siluroid, and the other attached at the junction
of the pelvic fins of a Polypterus. Of worms, a, few
Oligocheetes were collected and a considerable number of
leeches.

In addition to these were some Turbellarias and various
endo-parasites—Cestoda, Trematoda, and Nematoda—prin-
cipally from the gut of fishes. Among the Polyzoa is, at
any ra‘e, one form with horseshoe-shaped lophophore,
which has not yet been described from Tanganyika. There
is probably little of interest in the molluses collected, as
my work was confined to the comparatively shallow water-
I was struck by the irregularity in the appearance of the
Tanganyika medusa, or rather the uncertainty of finding
it at any particular time or place. It is doubtless, like
all such forms, driven to and fro by wind and currents,
but it is curious that one may be a month or more on
the lake without seeing a single specimen. I have brought
back a few in formalin, for museum purposes, and others
preserved with a view to the histology. Some quantity
of sponge was collected, encrusting in every case sub-
merged rocks or shells.

Apart from actual collecting,
physical interest were made.
both on Nyasa and Tanganyika, to observe the seiche
alterations in water-level, and at the south end of
Tanganyika the actual level of the water was marked,
with the view of affording some basis of comparison for
the use of future investigators. A good many readings
of the water temperature have been taken, which
should prove interesting, as I believe nothing has ever
been recorded from these lakes before. The temperature
in general seems very high, the lowest obtained on the
lake being only 73°-3, and the highest recorded 81°-0. At
a depth of 76 fathoms (length of the sounding-line) the
temperature appears fairly constant, for readings taken on
various occasions, and at different spots, only vary between
74°-1 and 74°-8.

The total length of time spent on and around Tanganyika
was about eight months. Dismissing the dau at Usum-
bura, at the north end of the lake, I began on March 18,
1905, the journey overland to the western shore of the
Victoria Nyanza. This took rather longer than was ex-
pected, owing to the bad weather and the famine-strickem
nature of the country, but Bukoba, a German station om
Nyanza, was reached on April 16. During a stay of tem
days waiting for the steamer, and during a short stay im
Entebbe, the British capital, I was able to do some collect-
ing in this lake also. As far as possible, representatives
of the water flora were obtained, for the sake of com-
parison with the plants collected on Nyasa and Tangan-
yika. A few tow-nettings were taken, and, in addition to
the smaller plants and animals thus obtained, there were
also collected a few molluscs, some Argulus, and certain
endo-parasites. More interesting was the finding of a
species of prawn and a sponge, as no sponge had been
recorded from the lake before.

some observations of
Attempts were made,

UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL
INTELLIGENCE,

Tue council of King’s College, London, has received a
donation of sool, from the Drapers’ Company for the
further equipment of the physics laboratory, especially for
the promotion of research.

Pror. W. W. Watts, F.R.S., assistant professor of
geology and professor of geography at the Birmingham
University, has been appointed professor of geology at the
Royal College of Science, South Kensington, vacant by the
retirement of Prof. J. W. Judd, C.B., F.R.S. In view of
the changes in organisation that may be found desirable in
the Royal College of Science and the Royal School of
Mines after the consideration of the report of the depart-
mental committee on the college, the appointment has been
made a temporary one.

Tue council of the Armstrong College of Durham Uni-
versity in Newcastle has resolved to found a chair of

JANUARY 25, 1906]

NCAT OT ers

311

electrical engineering, and has voted a sum of 260ol. toward
the equipment of electrical engineering laboratories. At
the end of the current session two fellowships of 125]. a
year will be offered for competition, on condition that the
holders should spend their time in the prosecution of
definite research or in the pursuance of a definite line of
advanced study. Mr. H. Morris-Airey, lecturer and demon-
strator in physics in the University of Manchester, has been
appointed lecturer in physics at the college in succession
to Mr. R. J. Patterson. :

Tue movement for extending higher education in the
Potteries has received (says the Lancet) a great impetus
from the offer by the Duke of Sutherland of Trentham
Hall to the Staffordshire County Council for higher educa-
tional purposes: For some time a scheme to establish a
university college for North Staffordshire has been
energetically brought forward, and promises of help have
been received from the North Staffordshire Institute of
Mining and Mechanical Engineers, from a joint committee
of china and earthenware manufacturers, and from various
other sources. The scheme commended itself so much to
the county council that it offered to contribute 12,500/. to
the building fund, and to undertake the maintenance of
the college. The hall is considered to be in every way
admirably adapted for the purposes of a university college.

Tue following gifts in aid of higher education have
been announced in Science.. The Pennsylvania College for
Women in Pittsburg has succeeded in raising 38,o00l. to
pay off a mortgage resting upon its property, and to make
a beginning in securing an endowment. After the mort-
gage has been paid, the college will possess as the nucleus
of an endowment fund the sum of 25,000]. Mr. Andrew
Carnegie has promised to contribute 10,0001]. toward the
endowment fund of Bates College when 20,000l. shall have
been raised for the same purpose by friends of the college.
The University of Pennsylvania received last month an
anonymous gift of 10,0001. Lake Forest University has
received 12,0001., and the University of Wisconsin
a bequest of 20001. by the will of the late Mrs. Fannie
Parker Lewis, for the establishment of scholarships for
needy young women students.

Sir Puitre Macnus, the new Member of Parliament for
the University of London, after the formal announcement
of the result, proposed a yote of thanks to the Vice-
Chancellor for the manner in which, as returning officer,
he had conducted the election. During the course of his
remarks, Sir Philip Magnus said that during the last two
years he has served on a departmental committee presided
over by Mr. Haldane to inquire into the working of the
Royal College of Science and Royal School of Mines, in
relation to other educational institutions. The report of
the committee is settled, and Sir Philip Magnus said he
was disclosing no secrets when he announced that, if effect
is given to the recommendations, London will before long
possess an institution, closely connected with the Uni-
versity, for the higher scientific training, and for the
annlication of science to engineering in all its branches,
which will compare favourably with any similar school in
Europe or America. ;

At the meeting of the Sociological Society on January 22,
Prof. R. M. Wenley, of the University of Michigan, read
a paper on sociology as an academic subject. Sociology,
although taught in all the great universities of the United
States, is academically in an experimental stage. Like
other new subjects, it has received much criticism as being
unsuitable for inclusion in the university curriculum. It
is said to lack disciplinary value, and it is urged, more-
over, that students come to it without the necessary basis
in previous knowledge. Prof. Wenley attaches little im-
portance to the first objection, but admits that the second
is of real weight. Answering the question, What ought
sociology to be as an academic subject? Dr. Wenley sug-
gested that at Cambridge it might well form a part of
the moral science tripos; at the Scottish universities, it
might be attached to the practical training of the theo-
logical faculty; in London the opportunities for ethno-
logical, linguistic, and economic research are in need of
its complementary aid. Wherever ethics, psychology,

NO 1891, VOL. 73]

economics, anthropology, or the various forms of ethnology
have a place, sociology is needed as a coordinate discipline.
The paper concluded by urging that sociology must be a
science conducted by scientifically trained, competent ex-
perts, and not merely a pottering-round so-called problems
of local or even national origin by well meaning
enthusiasts.

SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES.

LONDON.

Royal Society, December 14, 1905.—‘‘ On the Distribution
of Chlorides in Nerve Cells and Fibres.’’ By Prof. A. B.
Macalium and Miss M. L. Menten. Communicated by
Prof. W. D. Halliburton, F.R.S.

At the present day, when numerous observers are seek-
ing the explanation of certain nerve-phenomena on an
electrolytic basis, it is imperative that accurate know-
ledge of the electrolytes present should be first obtained.
Prof. Macallum has carried out previous work in this
direction, and has discovered methods for detecting
the inorganic salts microchemically. He has, among
other things, found that nerve cells are destitute of
potassium. This element, at any rate, is not revealed by
tests which show its presence in other tissues, though it
is possible, as Prof. J. S. Macdonald has pointed out, that
it may be present in a ‘‘ masked’ form, from which it is
liberated by injury. Another reaction at which Macallum
has worked is the well known reduction stain with silver
nitrate. The staining has been’ attributed by some
histologists to the formation and subsequent reduction in
sunlight of a silver-proteid compound. But this cannot be
the case, because proteids freed from inorganic salts do
not give the reaction. The test is shown to be entirely
due to inorganic chlorides, and thus forms a method of
great delicacy for the detection and localisation of chlorine
in the tissues.

The present paper deals with the distribution of chlorine
in the nerve-units. The chlorides present are probably
numerous, but sodium chloride is the most abundant. By
the ordinary method, nerve fibres exhibit the well known
crosses of Ranvier. One limb of the cross is due to the
presence of chlorides in the cementing substance which
forms a ring at the junction of the neurilemmal elements.
The other is due to staining of the axis cylinder itself; this
usually exhibits itself, not as a continuous dark stain, but
as a series of transverse striae known as Frommann’s lines.
It is, however, shown that the same appearance can be
produced by suitable modifications of manipulation at any
portion of an axis cylinder, and that its greater intensity
at the nodes is simply due to the fact that at these spots
the reagent can penetrate more readily; the sheath of the
fibre presents considerable impediment to the passage of the
reagent inwards and of chlorides outwards.

The next question that arises is whether Frommann’s
lines indicate a definite preexisting arrangement of the
chlorides in layers, or whether the appearance is an
accident explicable on a physical basis. It is quite con-
clusively shown that the latter.explanation is the correct
one. The appearance can be most successfully imitated in
capillary tubes filled with chromate-holding gelatin or
white of egg, and is merely the result of physical processes,
as Boehm and Liesegang were the first to point out.

Nerve cells also contain chlorides, but the intensity of
the reaction is less, and is usually limited to the peri-
pheral portions of the cell, principally because of the
difficulty the reagent has of penetration. The nucleus,
however, like other nuclei, is apparently free from
chlorides.

The distribution of electrolytes such as sodium chloride
in the colloid material of an axis cylinder would not
permit ions carrying an electrical charge to travel un-
impeded, and in consequence the change of potential trans-
mitted would progress with diminished velocity. This
diminution would bring into line as parallel phenomena
the nerve impulse and the electrical current of action. It
must, however, be freely admitted that caution should be
shown in drawing conclusions of this kind where so much
is still unknown.

NATORE

[JANUARY 25, 1906

Geological Society, January 4.—Dr. J. E. Marr, F.R.S.,
president, in the chair.—The highest Silurian rocks of the
Ludlow district: Miss G. L. Elles and Miss I. L. Sitater.
The authors give a classification of the beds, and a brief
outline description of the main subdivisions is first given,
as they appear when followed from Ludlow southward to
Overton, eastward to Caynham Camp, westward to
Downton-on-the-Rock, and northward to Bromfield, and
also near Onibury and Norton. The main tectonic features
of the district appear to be due to the superposition of
Armorican movements in rocks with a Caledonian trend,
held by some rigid mass to the north, presumably the
Longmynd massif.—The Carboniferous rocks at Rush
(County Dublin): Dr. C. A. Matley, with an account of
the faunal succession and correlation: Dr. A. Vaughan.
Rocks of the Carboniferous Limestone series are exposed
along five miles of coast near Rush, Loughshinny, and
Skerries, in County Dublin. The present paper deals only
with the beds near Rush, in the southern portion of this
tract, where about 2500 feet of the series are exposed,
without allowing for gaps in the succession. The upward
sequence is (on the whole) from south to north, and the
range is from the Upper Zaphrentis- to the Upper Dibuno-
phyllum-zone.

DIARY OF SOCIETIES.

THURSDAY, January 25-

Roya Society, at 4.30.—Experiments on the Chemical Behaviour of
Argon and Helium: Dr. W. T. Cooke.—The Vapour Pressure in
Equilibrium with Substances holding Varying Amounts of Moisture.
Parts I. and II.: Prof. F. T. Trouton, F.R.S., and Miss B. Poole.—
Note on Heusler's Magnetic Alloy of Manganese, Aluminium and
Copper: Prof. A. Gray, F.R.S.—On the Overstraining of Iron by
Tension and Compression: Dr. J. Muir.—On the Effect of High
Temperature on Radium Emanation : W. Makower.—Observations and
Photographs of Black and Grey Soap Films: H. Stansfield.—Galvanic
Cells Produced by the Action of Light. The Chemical Statics and
Dynamics of Reversible and Irreversible Systems under the Influence of
Light Second Communication: Dr. M. Wilderman.—Artificial
Double Refraction due to Molotropic Distribution, with Application to
Colloidal Solution and Magnetic Fields : T. H. Havelock.—An Electrical
Measuring Machine for Engineering Gauges and other Bodies: Dr.
P, E. Shaw.—The Relation between the Osmotic Pressure and the
Vapour Pressure of a Solution: W. Spens.—The Elliptic Integral in
Electromagnetic Theory: Prof, A. G, Greenhill, F-R.S.—On the Simple
Group of Order 25920: Prof. W. Burnside, F.R.S.—On Metallic Reflection
and the Influence of the Layer of Transition : Prof. R.C. Maclaurin.

Society oF Arts, at 8.—High Speed Electric Machinery, with Special
Reference to Steam Turbine Machines: Prof. S. P. Thompson, F.R.S.

INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—'lechnical Considera-
tions in Electric Railway Engineering: F. W. Carter.

FRIDAY, Jaxvary 26.

PuysicaL Society, at 5.—The Isothermal Distillation of Nitrogen and
Oxygen and of Argon and Oxygen’ I. K. Inglis. —On the use of Chilled
Cast lron for Permanent Magnets: A. Campbell.—Experiments on the
Propagation of Longitudinal Waves of Magnetic Flux along Iron Wires
and Rods: Prof. T. R. Lyle and J. M. Baldwin.

INSTITUTION OF CiviIL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Prince of Wales Pier, Falmouth :
T. R. Grigson.—Ferro-Concrete Pier at Purfleet: H. O. H. Etheridge.

SATURDAY, January 27.

Tue Essex Freip Crus (at Essex Museum of Natural History, Stratford),
at 6.30.—Methods of Fire-making, Ancient and Modern—A Lecture and
Demonstration: Miller Christy.

MONDAY, January 20.
Royat GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY, at 8.30.—The Geographical Functions
of Certain Water Plants in Chile: Prof. G. F. Scott Elliot.
See oF ARTS, at 8.—Modern Warships: Sir William White, K.C.B.,
INSTITUTE OF ACTUARIES, at 5.—The Variations in Masculinity under
Different Conditions: J. N. Lewis and Dr, C. J. Lewis.

TUESDAY, January 30.

Roya. [NsTITUTION, at 5.—Impressions of Travel in China and the Far
Kast: Prof. E. H. Parker.

Society oF Arts, at 8.—The Chemistry of Artists’ Coloured in Relation
o their Composition and Permanency : Prof. J. M. Thomson, F.R.S.t
Farapay Society, at §.—The Electric Furnace: its Origin, Trans-
formations and Applications. Part III. : Adolphe Minet.—Demonstration
of a New Electrolytic Tube Furnace: Dr. J. A. Harker.—Note on the
Production of Ozone by Electrolysis of Alkali Fluorides: E. B. R.

Prideaux.

INSTITUTION OF CivIL ENGINEERS, at 8.—The Railway-Gauges of India:
F. R. Upcott.

WEDNESDAY, January 31.

Royat GEOGRAPHICAL Society (Research Department), at 5.—Sugges-
tions as to an Inquiry into the Resources of the British Empire: Prof.
G. F. Scott Elliot.

THURSDAY, Fesruary t.

Rovav Society, at 4.30.—Probahle Papers: On the Filtration of Crystal-
loids and Colloids through Gelatin, with Special Reference to the
Behaviour of Hemolysins: J. A. Craw.—Chemical Action of Bacillus

NO. 1891, VOL. 73]

lactis aerogenes (Escherich) on Glucose and Mannitol. Production of
2:3-Butyleneglycol and Acetylmethylcarbinol; Dr. A. Harden and
G. ‘st Walpole.—On Voges and Proskauer’s Reaction for Certain
Bacteria: Dr. A. Harden. —The Quantitative Estimation of Small
Quantities of Nickel in Organic Substances: H. W. Armit and Dr. A.

Harden.—The Alcoholic Ferment of Yeast Juice: Dr. A. Harden and
W. J. Young.—On the Function of Silica in the Nutrition of Cereals.
Part I.: A. D. Hall and C. G. T. Morison.

CHEMICAL SOCIETY, at 8.30.— Hydroxylamine-af-disulphonates (Structural
Isomerides of Hydroxyamino-sulphates or Hydroxylamine-B8-disul-
phonates): T. Haga.—Studies in the Camphane Series. Part XXI.
Benzenediazo-w-Semicarbazino-camphor and its Derivatives: M. O.
Forster.—The Relation: between Absorption Spectra and Chemical
Constitution. Part I. The Chemical Reactivity of the Carbonyl Group:
A. W. Stewart and E. C. C. Baly.—(t) The Relation between Absorption
Spectra and Chemical Constitution. Part II. The Quinones and
a-Diketones ; (2) The Relation between Absorption Spectra and Chemical
Constitution. Part III. The Nitranilines and the Nitrophenols: E. C. C.
Baly and A. W. Stewart.—The Action of Light on Benzylidenephenyl-
hydrazine: F. D. Chattaway.—Tbe Union of Chlorine and Hydrogen :
D. L. Chapman and C. H. Burgess.—Note on the Molecular Weight of
Adrenaline: G. Barger and A. J, Ewins.—The Critical Temperature
and Value of ML/O of Some Carbon Compounds: J. Campbell Brown.

Rovav INstiTuTion, at 5.—The Significance of the Future in the Theory
of Evolution : Benjamin Kidd.

Civit anp MEcHANICAL ENGINEERS’ SOCIETY, at 8.—Destructor By=-
products: F. L. Watson.

LINNEAN Society, at 8.—The Percy Sladen Trust Expedition to the
Indian Ocean in H.M.S. Seadark: J. Stanley Gardiner.

Socrery oF ARTs, at 8.—Howard Lecture: High Speed Electric
Machinery, with Special Reference to Steam-Turbine Machines: Prof.
S. P. Thompson, F.R.S.

CONTENTS. PAGE
Helium in Relation to Radio-active Processes. By
Hon Re JaiStruttphe RS. sae no e289
An Essay toward the ‘“‘ Prima Philosophia ” Cea cn Ze}8)
Mathematics for the Saas Bue C.G.K. 290
Plant Diseases . . : . 291
Our Book Shelf :—
Marage : ‘‘ Mesure et Développement de |’Audition.”

—Prof. John G. McKendrick, F.R.S. 292
Kellogg : ‘* American Insects.’ = Sa. 292
Gregory : ‘‘ First el in ()uantitative Analysis.”

IS WU 1B) 5 edo}
Rotzell : Man: an Introduction to Anthropology W298
Borchardt: “Elementary Algebra”. 293
Schneider: ‘* Illustriertes Handbuch der Laubholz-

kunde,” Part iv. . . 293
Claparede : ‘‘ Esquisse d'une Théorie biologique du

Sommeilg gain: «cs = seen bo eae

Letters to the Editor:
The Percy Sladen Expedition in H.M.S. Sealark to

the Indian Ocean. The Seychelles Archipelago.—

(Lilustrated. )—J. Stanley Gardiner eee 294
What Causes the Destructive Effects of Lightning =

Sir Samuel Wilks, Bart., F.R.S. .. 296
The Probable Volcanic Origin of Nebulous Matter.—

Prof. J. M. Schaeberle .. . - 2096
On an Alleged New Monkey from the ‘Cameroons. -=

Roi Pococka - Somos oo Ley
Sounding Stones. —Cyril Crossland. o13 p 297
Chinese Names of Colours.—E. H. Parker .. . 297

The Work of the National Antarctic Expedition.
(Jilustrated.) By Prof. J. W. Gregory, F.R.S. . . 297
Recent Ethnological Publications from the Field
Columbian Museum. eaten By A. C. H.. 300
Notes. (/dlustvated.) . SOMOMC o0'. SO2
Our Astronomical Column ;—
Periodical Comets Due to Return this Year. . 305
The Annular Nebula in Cygnus (N.G.C. 6894) 305
Right Ascensions of the Eros Comparison Stars . 305
Observations of Nova Persei (No, 2) and Nova

Geminorum . SPR Se cc Uecno > 2 385

Double Star Orbits 305

Economic Geology in the United States. * Tlus-
trated.) . 306
The Application ‘of Scientific Methods to the Study

of History. By Prof. F. J. C. Hearnshaw 307
Public Schools Science Masters’ Conference. By

Wilfred Mark Webb . . 308
The Third Tanganyika Expedition. By w. WN

Cunnington . ive) wee 310
University and Educational Intelligence 310
Nocietiesjandyacademiesi:../)- tee) eMemremt nnn ieee 3Ir
Diary.of Societies! 40%): -)-5, Saansnen einen ne 312

NATURE

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1906.

THE PHILOSOPHIC FOUNDATIONS
SCIENCE.

Science and Hypothesis. By Prof. H. Poincaré.
Pp. xxviit+244. (London: The Walter Scott Pub-
lishing Co., 1905.) Price 3s. 6d.

Wissenschaft und Hypothese. By Prof. H. Poincaré.
Autorisierte deutsche Ausgabe. Translated by
F. and L. Lindemann. Pp. xvit+342-. (Leipzig:
Teubner, 1904.) Price 4.80 marks.

SCIENTIFIC man, while actively engaged in

work of research, must have faith in the solidity

of the foundations on which he builds his reasoning
in order to preserve the persistent patience which is
necessary if his work is to be successful. Were he
to doubt that there are laws which cannot be broken,
were he to examine critically every brick in his founda-
tion in order to discover some secret flaw which might
endanger the safety of his edifice, he would become
a philosopher, but as a man of science he would go
to swell the ranks of the unemployed. Nevertheless,
we must assign a proper place in the history of
scientific thought to the spirit of scepticism which
throws doubt on the premises, has no faith in the
reasoning, and only grudgingly concedes the con-
clusions. If I have qualified the statement contained
in the opening sentence and confined its application
to the time a man is actively engaged in scientific
work, it is because there are periods in every man’s
life when it is good for him to dig down to the bottom
of his beliefs. Nor will the critical examination of
axioms and definitions be without profit; for it will
tend to loosen the ties of preconceived notions which
keep men of science, like other mortals, in bondage.

The special difficulty of inquiring into the laws
which form the basis of our scientific beliefs consists
in the fact that it is apt to lead us round in a circle.
When we have tried to formulate a law of nature, we
often discover that we have only defined a scientific
term. A superficial mind, satisfied with this dis-
covery, would proclaim that all science resolves itself
into definitions and conventions, but a closer examin-
ation exposes the shallowness of such a conclusion.
If among a number of possible definitions we Moose
a particular one, there must be a deeper meaning in
the propriety of the choice. Even though a law may
be of our own making, to use Prof, Poincaré’s de-
scriptive language, ‘‘our decrees are those of an
absolute but wise ruler who consults his Council of
State.’ The inquiry into a law of nature resolves
itself, therefore, into an inquiry why that particular
law is more convenient than others that can be
imagined, but this conclusion only brings us back
to our starting point, the question as to the truth of
a law and its convenience being identical.

Prof. Poincaré’s volume will come as a revelation
to many who have thought but little about these
matters, and as a relief to others who have attempted
without success to arrive unaided at a conclusion
satisfactory to themselves. But the book requires

NO. 1892, VOL. 73]

OF

close and careful study, and a superficial gleaning
of its contents would probably lead to mental disaster.
For, even following Prof. Poincaré’s guidance, we feel
ourselves all the time walking along a precipice, at
the bottom of which is written, ‘* You shall
know anything of the real construction of the material
universe.’’ The author seems to enjoy talking us very
near the edge of that pit, and when he whispers into
““what you cannot worth
we feel as if he intended to throw us over.

never

our ears, know is not
knowing,’’
But he has a sense of humour which saves him and
us, and there is always a solution which we should
perhaps have .rejected at first sight, but which we
are glad to accept after a contemplation of the less

cheerful alternatives which have been brought into

our view. There is certainly no one with the same
intimate knowledge of mathematical and physical
science who could have written with the same

authority and produced a volume in which so much
charm and originality are condensed. The wealth of
his store of illustration is boundless, and the stringency
of his logic leaves us without answer. Even in cases
when our instincts rebel, we are carried away by the
fascination of the language, which in each subdivision
of the subject takes us with dramatic power to its
artistic dénouement.

Could and should such a book be translated? The
fascination of the original can certainly never be
reached, but translation is allowable where the main
argument can be reproduced without loss of clearness,
though the delicacies of meaning to which the French
language peculiarly adapts itself will undoubtedly be
lost.

The English translation errs, perhaps, on the side
of following too literally every sentence, and some-
times even every word in the sentences, of the French
original. The meaning of the text is carefully though
often awkwardly preserved. While the reader is not
carried away by the incisive character of expression
which belongs to the original, he will in most cases
be able to re-construct the idea. The
German translation is more successful. We must
ascribe this in the first place to the fact that one of
the translators has himself made important contri-
butions to certain parts of the subject, and, feeling
himself secure in apprehending the meaning, has
been able to reproduce the sense without putting any
strain on the language. The result is that, while no
one could read a few pages of the English edition
without recognising the fact that it is a translation,
the German carries with it much more of the freshness
of an original book. The German translator is also
to be commended for the addition of a good index. .\
series of notes is added, which take up a considerable
fraction of the whole volume. Many of these notes will
be useful, as they supply references to writings where
the readers can study in greater detail important
points on which Prof. Poincaré only touches with a
passing allusion. But I cannot refrain from criticis
ing the introduction of controversial matter. Differ
ences of opinion between Sophus Lie and _ Prof.
Lindeman are surely out of place in the translation
of a book of this nature.

dominant

514

NATURE

[ FEBRUARY I, 1906

It is time to refer more particularly to the contents
of the book. The volume opens with a chapter on the
nature of mathematical reasoning, which is shown
to be contained in a power of generalisation dependent
on recurrent reasoning. When we have proved a
theorem for one number, and show that if true for
any number a, it is also true for a number a+1, we
may assert it to be true for all numbers. This is the
generalisation which, according to Poincaré, lies at
the bottom of all mathematical argument, and allows
us to pass from the finite to the infinite. The second
chapter brings mathematical quantities into relation-
ship with experiment, and treats, among other things,
of incommensurable quantities and the creation of
the physical and mathematical continuum. We are
made to understand how, adopting a certain defini-
tion of a line which would satisfy most of us,
the diagonal and inscribed circle of a square have
no point in common, and we are then asked to
admit the possibility of a curve which has no tangent.
But a greater surprise is in store for us in the second
portion of the book, where, in the course of an admir-
able discussion of the geometries of Lowatchewski
and Riemann, we are introduced to the possibility
of a fourth geometry, in which a right line may be
at right angles to itself. This part of the book will
probably be the one most valued by the student of
experimental science, because it deals with an aspect
of the subject which, though foreign to his customary
plane of thought, must be of the highest interest if
he desires to dip a little below the surface.

The conception of space and the relation of
geometry to experiment are discussed briefly, but
with great precision and clearness. The foundations
of geometry are shown to be experimental. ‘“‘ If
there were no solid bodies in nature, there would be
no geometry.’’ Yet, though founded on experiment,
the laws of Euclidean geometry can never be upset
by experiment :

“Tf, then, to contemplate the impossible, one were
to discover negative parallaxes, or to find that all
parallaxes lie above a certain limit, one would have
the choice between two conclusions: We might reject
the Euclidean geometry or, on the other hand, we
might modify the laws of optics by admitting that
light is not accurately propagated in straight lines.
It is unnecessary to add that everybody would choose
the latter alternative as most convenient.”’

The final conclusion is
true: it is convenient.”’

More than one-third of the book having been taken
up with the discussion of the fundamental notions of
mathematics, we are fully equipped to enter into the
discussions of the laws more particularly associated
with physics. All those who care to think of these
matters at all must have given some attention to the
nature of the so-called laws of motion. They will
find much in Prof. Poincaré’s reflections that has been
familiar to them, and something, perhaps, that they
have vaguely felt, but not been able to put into
definite form. One point which is brought out clearly,
which, speaking for myself, I had not sufficiently

NO. 1892, VOL. 73]

that ‘‘ geometry is not

realised, consists in the difficulty of finding inde-
pendent measures of both force and mass unless the
third law. of motion is treated as an axiom. ‘The dis-
cussion of the third law will be found to be full of
interest. Too little importance, perhaps, is attached
to what the author calls ‘* anthropomorphic
mechanics.’? This is surprising, as anthropomorphic
ideas are used by him so freely and convincingly in
his foundation of geometrical laws. It is true enough
that no one has yet been able to find a scientific basis
of mechanics in an anthropomorphic conception of
force, but at the same time I do not believe that
anyone has ever truly reasoned about force without
such idea forming the real moving spring of his
thoughts. ‘‘ One could not maintain,’’ Prof. Poincaré
says, ‘‘ that the sun is conscious of a muscular effort
when he attracts the earth.’? That is true enough,
but we are able in our imagination to attach the idea
of muscular effort to every effect of force in the same
way as we can feel sympathetic pain for a friend
who lies on the operating table, though our reason
tells us that he himself is quite unconscious of pain.
In that case we project our own sensitive and con-
scious mind into his unsensitive body, and to some
extent feel the operator’s knife. There are probably
great differences in the way different brains work, but
I could not myself form an idea of the mechanics of
the solar system without imagining myself at its
centre and consciously pulling the planets towards me.
In the same way, if I imagine myself freely placed
in space, I at once become conscious of a pull towards
the sun. That anthropomorphism has played an
important part in the history of mechanics is admitted
by the author, but he restricts the philosophy of science
to the discussion of the symbols which can be reduced
to measurement.

Prof. Poinecaré’s discussion of the principles of the
conservation of energy will be read with interest.
That principle has been abused by energy specialists
in a manner which could not fail to call forth a whole-
some reaction. The weak point which Prof. Poincaré
specially exposes) seems, however, to me to touch
not so much the enunciation of the principle as the
difficulty of identifying potential and kinetic energies
in cases where the mechanism of the phenomena is
Seas to us. This only means that science is not
sufficiently advanced to specify completely the different
forms of energy. This most of us admit, while the
Energetiker deliberately uses the principle of energy for
the purpose of hiding his ignorance. Thermodynamics
is briefly dwelt upon, but we should have liked to
hear more of the author’s views on the dissipation of
energy. The far-reaching consequences of the gradual
decay of regular motion assign to the second law of
thermodynamics a predominant place, and put the im-
portance of the first law completely into shade. Lord
Kelvin’s principle of dissipation of energy has opened
out acommon ground lying on the borderland between
physics and metaphysics which has not been cultivated
so much as it deserves to be.

It is not possible to follow Prof. Poincaré in his
discussions of selected questions of modern theories
of physics. They will be read with interest, though

5)

FERRUARY I, 1906]

NATURE

a

many of us will not agree that ‘‘ a day will come when
the ether will be rejected as useless.”’

The reader will place the book—if possible the
original, but faute de mieux its translation—on his
shelves with the intention of frequently spending an
instructive quarter of an hour with it. Each time he
carries out his intention he will realise more the truth
of the author’s remark: ‘“‘ To doubt everything or to
believe everything are equally convenient solutions :
both absolve us from the necessity of thinking.”

ARTHUR SCHUSTER.

THE INTELLIGENCE OF ANIMALS.
Comparative Studies in the Psychology of Ants and
of Higher Animals. By E. Wassmann, S.J. Pp.
x+200. (St. Louis, Mo., and Freiburg: B. Herder;

London: Sands and Co., 1905.) Price 4s. 6d. net.
A MONG those who have most carefully and
+ successfully studied the habits and psychology
of ants, Father Wassmann occupies a place in the
front rank. He has especially devoted his attention
to the curious and complicated relations which exist
between ants and their domestic animals. Of these,
he gives a list comprising no less than 1246 species!
Father Wassmann is an accurate and careful observer,
and his writings are most interesting.

To show how conscientiously he has studied the
ants of his own district I may mention that he made
a census of the ants’ nests round his home. Many
communities have more than one nest. Of Formica
sanguinea, which he regards as the most gifted of
European ants, he records 2000 nests belonging to
410 communities! Most of them have separate
summer and winter nests, or rather nests for warm
and dry, or cold and wet seasons.

Father Wassmann is by no means one of those who
regard ants as exquisite automatons, ‘‘ devoid even of
the simplest sensitive perception and cognition.” I
quite concur with him—indeed, I expressed the same
opinion nearly fifty years ago—that ‘‘ the life of ants
is the climax of development in instinctive life
throughout the animal kingdom’’; and that ‘“‘ the
chasm between the psychic life of animals and that
of man, is, in many respects, wider between ape and
man, than between ant and man.’’

Father Wassmann is also, I believe, quite correct
in alleging that Buechner and Brehm, and even
Romanes, have accepted many statements implying
intelligence on the part of animals for which there
was no sufficient evidence, some of which, indeed, were
quite absurd; and, secondly, that they have in some
cases built upon them conclusions for which there is
no foundation, and which will not stand the test of
critical examination.

On the other hand, I am unable to follow him
when he altogether denies to ants any, even the most
exiguous, rudiments of intelligence. As in the cases
of Darwin and Forel, the conclusion forced upon me
has been that animals, and especially ants, do possess
some elements of intelligence. In that we agree with
the vast majority of those who have studied dogs,
elephants, &c.

NO: 1892, VOL. 73]

Father Wassmann defines intelligence as ‘‘ the
power of acting with deliberation and self-conscious-
ness, of inventing new means for attaining various
purposes and thus making progress in civilisation.”
But if ants are descended from an original common
stock in bygone times, no one will deny that they

“

have invented new means for attaining various
purposes and thus making progress in civilisation.”

Moreover, even now we see them adapting themselves
to the circumstances of their complex life in a manner
which it is surely an abuse of terms to call ‘ instinc-
tive.’’ He admits that the observations of all who
have studied ants conclusively demonstrate that ants
are not mere reflex machines, but beings endowed
with sensitive cognition and appetite, and with the
power of employing in the most various manner their
innate, instinctive faculties and abilities under the
influence of different sense-perceptions. Surely, then,
under his definition it is impossible to deny that they
have some intelligence.

For instance, in constructing their nests, as Father
Wassmann admits, ants do not “* cooperate with the
regularity of a machine or according to a rigid pat-
tern, but each ant with evident liberty follows her own
impulse and her own plan... .”

““As a rule the most zealous and skilful worker
is imitated most; her zeal is catching, so that she
directs the activity of the others into the same
channel.’’

Indeed, Father Wassmann’s fairness and love of
truth compel him to make several candid admissions
which seem fatal to his position. For instance, an
Algerian ant (Myrmecocystus altisquamis) has wide
open entrances to the nest. A colony, however, which
Forel brought to Switzerland, being much annoyed
by the attacks of Tetramorium caespitum, gradually
contracted the doorways. On this Father Wassmann
admits that, ‘‘as Forel says, these facts afford irre-
futable evidence of the great plasticity of ant instinct.
For, this instinct is not merely a nervous mechanism
forced to operate along uniform lines; it includes
sensitive cognition and appetite, which are not only
of an organic but also of a psychic nature.”

Again, ‘‘ within these limits, however, we find a
wonderful adaptation of means to the end, and at
times a marvellous sagacity of animal instinct, which
appears nowhere else to such advantage.”’

““This phenomenon manifests the marvellous
sagacity and quasi-intelligent plasticity of animal in-
stinct, which can hardly be styled ‘ automatism.’
Neither can it be identified with intelligence properly
so-called, for this would suppose rational knowledge
of the internal laws governing the growth of the
ant organism, a knowledge far surpassing even the
intelligence of man and entirely beyond the reflections
and experience of ants.”

Surely, however, if ants have sagacity they must
have intelligence. Nor is the attribution to them of
“sagacity ’’ an isolated case. Again on p. 157 he
says :—

“ Their sagacity is instinctive, essentially different
from intelligence and reflection. Ants are in their
every action guided directly by sensitive perceptions,
not by intellectual ideas. The enigma, therefore, is

216

NA TORE

[FEBRUARY I, 1906

satisfactorily explained by the innate adaptation of
their sensitive cognition and appetite, whereas the
hypothesis of animal intelligence is unable to offer
any solution.”’

‘“ Instinctive sagacity ’’ seems to I confess, a
contradiction in terms.

I admit that the subject is one of much difficulty,
but if an ant applied Father rigorous
criticism to man himself, I] am that our
boasted gift of reason could be absolutely proved.

No doubt animals do stupid things, but so do we.

Father Wassmann_ describes justly
the ‘* lovely scenes ”’ the care of the
young,

me,

Wassmann’s
not sure

what he calls
in an ant’s nest—
the ‘‘ motherly tenderness ’’ shown to the
delicate pupa—but denies that this is any evidence
of affection, and contrasts it with the love of a woman
or a for their children. This, he
““is a rational love, of duty (the italics are
his), therefore it is the highest and noblest love exist-
ing in Nature.’’ Far be it from me to say a word
against either reason or duty. They are amongst the
highest qualities of our nature; but surely they have
nothing to do with the love we feel for our children,
which rests on even nobler feelings.

man maintains,

conscious

While fully recognising, then, the accuracy and
interest of Father Wassmann’s observations, and after
carefully considering his arguments, I cannot but

recognise in animals some vestiges and glimmering
of intelligence, and maintain,
ago, that ‘‘ when we
thousands of industrious
chambers, forming tunnels, making roads, guarding
their home, gathering food, feeding the young, tend-
ing their domestic animals—each one fulfilling its
duties industriously, and without confusion—it is
difficult altogether to deny to them the gift of reason;
and the preceding observations tend to confirm the
opinion that their mental powers differ from those
of men, not so much in kind as in degree.”
AVEBURY.

as I did thirty years
ant-hill, tenanted by
inhabitants, excavating

see an

MAXWELL’S THEORY OF LIGHT.

The Electromagnetic Theory of Light. By Dr. C. E.
Curry. Part i. Pp. xv+4oo. (London: Mac-
millan and Co., Ltd., 1905.) Price 12s. net.

R. CURRY bases his work, which is almost

entirely analytical,
the electromagnetic field.

on Maxwell’s equations of
These equations suffice to
account for the phenomena of electromagnetism, and
the book is a discussion of the properties of electro-
magnetic waves in which the condition that the wave-
length is short is generally, but by no means always,

introduced. In these equations four vectors are con-
cerned, the electric and magnetic forces, and the

electric and magnetic displacements, or, as Dr. Curry
prefers to call them, the electric and magnetic
moments. The type of equation satisfied by each of
these vectors is the same, and it is hot necessary for

Dr. Curry’s purpose to identify the light vector de-
finitely with either. It is another vector satisfying

an equation of the same type.

No attempt is made to

give a mechanical account

NO. 1892, VOL. 73]

ap|adxrdyrdzy,

of the properties of the ether; it is a medium in which
transverse waves of electric and magnetic force are
propagated according to the laws indicated by Max-
well’s equations; in a crystal, however, of course the
direction of the electric force does not lie in the wave-
front; the same is true of the magnetic force if the
permeability be a function of the direction.
Working on these lines, Dr. Curry has put together
a large amount of information as to the analytical
properties of such waves. The earlier chapters are
entirely taken up with the discussion of the forms
defined by certain particular solutions of the equations
if ¢=f(r+vt)/r be a solution, so is
where n=A+pm+yv. Some of the
obtained are of importance in the
theory of light, but, as the author states, their interest
is chiefly theoretical; and one of his ‘‘ chief reasons
for the elaborate treatment of this particular class of
waves been to indicate another fertile field of
research offered by Maxwell’s equations.”’
we are introduced to the phenomena
of interference, treated at first in a simple manner,
but applied later to the various kinds of waves the
properties of which have already been discussed. The
more usual problems of optics first become prominent
in chapter v., which deals in the ordinary way with
Huyghens’s principle and its application to the recti-
linear propagation of light. The first difficulty occurs
in the attempt to find an expression for the secondary
disturbance transmitted from a given element of a
primary wave. Such expression may clearly involve
the angle ¢ between the normal to the wave and the
direction in which the secondary disturbance is being
estimated, but the statement that natural to
assume that the law of variation of the light vector
be according to the cosine of the obliquity of
the angle ¢ ’’ is not very convincing, and there seems
no reason for calling this law the ‘‘ natural law of
obliquity.’’ The law is, of course, a simple one, and
it allows of the analytical solution of various problems
which are hardly tractable when a more complex law
is assumed; but this is its sole merit. Stokes showed
that the true factor is (1+cos ¢), and this law is
utilised later on; but the physical reason for the
change of phase in consequence of which the secon-
dary disturbance from a wave sin k(vt—r) becomes
proportional to cos k(vt--r) is not discussed as fully -
as its importance deserves. On these points, reference

of motion, for

solutions thus

has

In chapter iv.

Boni aS

might with advantage have been made to Prof.
Schuster’s article in the Philosophical Magazine,
vol. xxxi.—it is quoted later on another point—or to

Lord Rayleigh’s article in the ‘‘ Encyclopaedia
Britannica.’’? Following this a rigorous proof of
Huyghens’s principle is given in the usual way from
the consideration of the relations existing between
certain volume and surface integrals, and the result
is applied to optical problems; but the fact that this
rigorous analysis leads to Stokes’s law of obliquity
is not definitely stated, though it follows at once from
the formula on p. 176.

Diffraction phenomena are explained by the use of
the same principles, employing the most general
formula for the secondary disturbance, and assuming

FEBRUARY I, [906]

NATURE

SLA,

that the disturbance is zero over the opaque portion
of the diffracting screen, while over the transparent
portion it has the same value as though the screen
were absent. The results are applied to the problem
of diffraction by a straight edge leading to Fresnel’s
integrals and the properties of Cornu’s spiral. These
might have been obtained more simply, though the
rigorous method has its advantages in enabling one
to see the meaning of the various simplifications intro-
duced in the process. Later on in the discussion an
interesting account of Sommerfeld’s theory is given.

The latter part of the book is taken up with the
usual theory of reflection and refraction and of double

refraction. The surface conditions are deduced from
the electromagnetic equations, and the relations

between the incident reflected and refracted vectors
follow readily. Attention is directed to the fact that
the laws thus deduced do not hold for light, and the
effect of a transition layer is considered in a satis-
factory manner.

In the last chapter we have the equations relating
to the propagation, reflection, and refraction of electro-
magnetic waves by crystals.

At present, part i. only of the whole treatise is
under consideration. This deals, as will have been
observed, with the analytical portions of the subject
for which Maxwell’s theory gives a satisfactory ex-
planation. In part ii. the author hopes to consider
the really more interesting portions where the simple
Maxwell theory needs modifications before it will fit
the facts. Readers will await with interest Dr.
Curry’s treatment of the phenomena of the rotation
of the plane of polarisation, absorption, metallic re-
flection, the Zeeman effect, and the relations generally
between magnetism and light.

INDIAN HERMIT CRABS.
Catalogue of the: Indian Decapod Crustacea in the

Collection of the Indian Museum. Pattee
Anomura. Fasciculus i., Pagurides. By A. Alcock,
M.B., LL.D., F.R.S., C.1.E.° (Calcutta: Indian

Museum, 1905.) Price 14 rupees.

HE second instalment of Dr. Alcock’s fine ‘ Cata-

logue of the Indian Decapod Crustacea ”’ is now
before us. It deals with the hermit crabs (Paguridea
or Pagurides), and forms the first fascicule of the
second part, which is devoted to the Anomura. Dr.
Alcock is thus making use of the old classification
of the Decapoda into Brachyura, Anomura, and
Macrura, a course to which modern opinion seems to
incline—and, as we think, rightly—in spite of the
many merits of Boas’s arrangement of the group
under the suborders Reptantia and Natantia. In the
hands of different authors, the limits of the Anomura
have varied considerably, and Dr. Alcock talkes the
term in the sense of Boas’s Anomura, including under
it the Paguridea, Galatheidea, and Hippidea only.
Now there can be no question that Boas was right
in excluding the sponge crabs (Dromiacea) and sand
crabs (Oxystomata) from the Anomura when he
formed his tribe Anomala, but we believe that the
group thus constituted is still an imperfect one, in

NO. 1892, VOL. 73]

| THE make-up of this volume is somewhat curious.

that it is not true to genealogy, since it omits the
Thalassinidea, which are certainly more nearly akin to
the primitive hermit crabs than they are to the
lobsters, near which they are generally placed. This
is not denied by Dr. Alcock, but he gives as his
reason for taking the old course with the Thalass-
inidea that to include them with the Anomura *
going too far, as being likely to confuse the sys-

is

tematist ’’—a poor compliment to the systematist! A
zoological classification must be one of two things—
either purely empirical, or based on genealogical facts
so far as we can ascertain them, though no one is
likely to choose the former alternative at this time
of day—but in cither case iilogical concessions to
supposed infirmities of the human intellect do not
seem to us to be admissible. However, authorities
will never agree on questions of classification, and
we do not regard the author’s decision as a serious
blemish on this otherwise wholly admirable work.
In this volume, as in that on the Indian crabs, Dr.
Alcock starts with an introduction on the group as
a whole, in which he has condensed into a few pages
a great deal of very interesting and useful informa-
tion. In the tables of distribution which follow it
appears that the littoral forms are generally Indo-
Pacific in range, but that the more primitive sub-
littoral genera have a very distinct circumtropical
distribution. The bearing of this fact on geograph-
ical problems is, of course, an important one. The
bulk of the work is taken up with systematic de-
scriptions, which are as excellent as is all Dr. Alcock’s

| work in this line, and deal with some ninety species

of twenty-eight genera. At the end of the volume is
a ‘“‘table of the genera and species of Pagurides,”’
with bibliographical references, which must have
been extremely laborious to compile, but will now be
correspondingly helpful to systematists. The illustra-
tions are excellent. JuSPAtm ip:

OUR BOOK SHELF.

Traditions of the Caddo. Collected under the auspices
of the Carnegie Institution of Washington by
George A. Dorsey, Curator of Anthropology, Field
Columbian Museum. Pp. 136. (Washington,
D.C. : Carnegie Institution, 1905.)

It
contains one hundred and one pages of texts, followed
by twenty-eight pages of abstracts of the same in
small type; there is no index, and the only notes are
almost monosyllabic, for they merely indicate by
whom the story was told—a fact of little value, inas-
much as we learn absolutely nothing of the narrator
beyond his (or her) name. This is the more regret-
table, as the Caddo, a tribe allied to the Pawnee and
Arikara and associated more especially with the
Wichita, has retained none of its ancient culture, and
we must therefore know the history of the tribe and
of the individual narrators before we can judge of the
influences that have gone to shape their stock of folk-
tales. Equally regrettable is the absence of notes on
the stories themselves; it is true that native names
are translated, but there are many points on which the
editor could throw light with advantage; for example,
in tale 35 we find a dead man cannot get into Spirit
Land because he cannot fit his arrows to his bow-
string, which has a knot in it; a living man puts in

318

NAT ORL

[ FEBRUARY I, 1906

a new bow-string; the ghost shoots arrows in the air
and goes up with them.

For those who are interested in these mdrchen, less
for the light they may throw on the problem of dif-
fusion than for the evidence they contain of the beliefs
and customs of the Caddo, the usefulness of the work
is diminished both by the absence of notes and the
lack of an index. For European readers, at any rate,
there is a further desideratum, viz. some account of
the tribe the tales of which are here collected; the
American Folklore Society has set a good example in
this respect in the volume of Skide Pawnee tales.

The seventy tales in the present volume, which is
to be followed by others on the allied tribes, are largely
concerned with the adventures of Coyote and other
animals. The first ten are either cosmogonic or deal
with origins of various kinds; we have the familiar
story of the way in which death was introduced into
the world, in this case by Coyote; the deluge legend is
probably late, as the flood is sent as a punishment; in
a parallel story the destructive animals, which lived at
the beginning of the world, are destroyed by fire,
mankind being saved by climbing up a rope made on
earth and made fast to the sky by Crow. More
familiar is the tale of the hare and the tortoise, here
told by Coyote and Turtle; in these tales the distin-
guishing characteristic of the former is his stupidity.

Meccanica Razionale. By Roberto Marcolongo.
Vol. i., Kinematics—Statics, pp. xii+270; vol. ii.,
Dynamics—Principles of Hydromechanics, pp. vi+
126. (Milan: Ulrico Hoepli, 1905.) Price 3 lire
each volume.

No better proof could be adduced of the general and

popular interest taken in higher mathematics in

countries outside Great Britain than the excellent
series of manuals emanating from the firm of Hoepli
in Milan. One great difficulty in acquiring a general
knowledge of such subjects as analytical statics,
particle and rigid dynamics, and hydrodynamics arises
from the voluminous character of the principal
treatises available as text-books. Most of the English
standard works on such subjects were originally
smallish single volumes, but they have in the course
of various editions grown in size until they have
reached to two large and bulky volumes. Anyone
who can read Italian can now, at a cost of five
shillings, obtain in Prof. Marcolongo’s two little
manuals a survey of such subjects as vector analysis,
polhodes and herpolhodes, the ordinary and spherical
catenary, planetary motion, Lagrange’s equations, the
theory of least action, cycloidal and compound pendu-
lums, attractions of ellipsoids, Lagrange’s and

Euler’s equations of hydrodynamics, and the prin-

ciples of vortex motion.

Die Vererbungslehre in der Biologie. By Dr. H. E.
Ziegler. Pp. 74; with 59 figures in the text and
2 plates. (Jena: Gustav Fischer, 1905.)

Tus little work represents a fairly successful effort
to put in simple language the complex problems of
heredity so far as they have yet been analysed. The
author discusses the evidence that cytology has been
able to furnish in connection with the theories of
variation, and he especially deals with the views of
Weismann and of De Vries as to the meaning of
variation as expressed in terms of the cell. His
attitude towards the mutation theory of De Vries is
rendered clear by the following sentence from p. 69,
“Wenn man nicht auf dem Standpunkt der ‘ intra-
cellularen Pangenesis’ steht, so kann man_ nicht
einsehen, warum zwischen kleinen und _ grossen
Abanderungen, also zwischen allmihlicher und stoss-
weiser Verdinderung, eine strenge grenze gezogen
werden soll.’? But the question here raised is not
ene dependent on theory or hypothesis; it is a question

KO. 1892, VOL. 73]

of fact, and the existence of opposite opinions merely
demands a more thorough investigation at the hands
of persons unbiased by prejudice. Perhaps, as was
formerly the case with the inheritance of the so-called
““ acquired characters,’? much of the prevalent oppo-
sition to the theory of mutation rests on a misunder-
standing of the main idea embodied in the word itself.

An Analysis of Human Motive. By F. Carrel. Pp.
vili+222. (London: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton,
Kent and Co., Ltd., 1905.) Price 5s. net.

Tuis volume discusses the six predominant motives
which influence man, viz., those of sustenance, sex,
pleasure, sympathy, self-love, and religion; examines
slightly the conflicts of motives, the relation of motives
to moral systems, and the like; and sums up the
matter in a series of conclusions which is not entirely
destitute of merit.

But the work as a whole is disappointing. The
sentences are lumbering and long, sometimes twelve
lines long; there are no indications that the author has
read very widely, nor is any remarkable insight dis-
played. Felicitous illustration would have lightened
many a page; but of illustration there is almost
nothing. The obvious has no terrors for our author,
and so the satirical rogue frequently indulges in
slanders like the following :—‘t The pleasure motive
may lead persons to pass time in witnessing theatrical
performances, and when the taste has been formed
and the habit acquired, to spend more of their re-
sources upon such amusements than their means
justify.’’ Split infinitives and the use of ‘ practise ”’
as a noun do not lead one to rank the writer as an
authority on English. One statement seems defective
in mathematical accuracy :—‘‘ In provincial towns the
proportion of men to women (among church-goers) is
twelve to a hundred. In London the proportion is
two-thirds women to one-half men.’’ It is difficult to
avoid seeing a non sequitur in the following :—‘ The
grief experienced at the death of a beloved relative
cannot be long continued without interfering with the
normal course of life and coming into conflict with its
essential motives, and therefore we see that the violent
acts of despair to which it tends, are not resorted to
as long as the mind has not completely lost its
rationality. ”’

We gather that the author thinks much of Epicurus
and of Spencer, but little of Aristotle’s ‘‘ Nicomachean
Morals,’’? which are, it would seem, of little more than
historical interest. The writer continues :—‘‘ It was
their want of precision that enabled them to be adopted
by the schoolmen of the middle ages, as a basis for
their ethical dialectics.’ That Aristotle and_ this
author have very different views of what constitutes
precision is true and obvious, but not a circumstance
on which this author is to be congratulated.

Deutscher Kamera Almanach, 1906. Second year.
Jahrbuch der Amateur-Photographie. By Fritz
Loescher. Pp. viii+280. (Berlin: Gustav Schmidt,
1905.) Price 3-50 marks.

Tus is the second issue of this annual, and from its

appearance it seems to be very hardy. The first-named

title does not seem very befitting to the volume before
us, as the ‘f Almanack ”’ portion is more conspicuous
by its absence than presence. As a ‘‘ Year Book ”’
containing an excellent series of well written articles
on numerous photographic subjects by recognised
workers in Germany, England, France, &c.; novelties
of the year; progress; exhibitions; list of German
amateur photographers’ societies; most important re-
cent photographic literature, and other useful inform-
ation, the book will be found of interest to those who
are able to read German. The illustrations are good
and numerous, and include a frontispiece, 47 full page
pictures, and 107 others distributed throughout the text.

FEBRUARY I, 1906|

IWATE ORL 31G

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions
expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake
to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected
manuscripts intended for this or any other part of NATURE.
No notice is taken of anonymous communications.]|

Fresnel’s Theory of Double Refraction.

THERE is a point in connection with the ordinary ex-
positions of Fresnel’s theory of double refraction to which,
on account of its frequent occurrence, it is perhaps worth
while to direct attention. It is found in Aldis’s ‘‘ Tract on
Double Refractivon,’’ p. 7, in Preston’s *‘ Theory of Light,”’
third edition, p. 328, and in Basset’s ‘‘ Treatise on Physical
Optics,’’ p. 115.

Having shown that when a molecule receives a displace-
ment p, the other molecules of the system remaining fixed,
the restoring force along the line of displacement is
F=p/r*?, where ry is the parallel radius-vector of a certain
quadric, Preston, for instance, proceeds as follows :—
“* Hence, if we consider only the component F as effective,
the equation of motion of the particle will be

CE ie = = lls a A eB ee y { (it)
and the time of vibration will consequently be given by the
equation

T=277aees Eo G (11).

But the velocity of propagation is connected with the wave-
length and the periodic time, by the equation A=vT, there-
fore

V=)/ 21g es ke (a2) 2

Now if equation (10) refer to the motion of a particle
when the others remain fixed, there is no question of a wave
at all, and the deduction of a propagational speed is without
meaning; if, on the other hand, we are to regard (10) as
giving the motion of a particle in the front of a luminous
wave, then equation (11) expresses the bizarre result that
the frequency, that is the colour, of the light is dependent
upon the direction of vibration.

Fresnel’s method was quite different; having determined
the value of the restoring force on the supposition of
absolute displacements, he employed it for the case of
relative displacements, and regarding the component parallel
to the wave as alone effective, he asswmed, on the analogy
of the transversal vibrations of a stretched string, that the
propagational speed is proportional to the square root of
the effective force. Hence, taking the azis of s in the
direction of propagation, and making a suitable choice of
the unit of mass, we should have in place of (10)

"p02 = 1/7" O°p/02",
giving in place of (12) v=1/r.

One other point may be mentioned. Preston and Basset,
quoting from Verdet, state that one of the hypotheses on
which Fresnel founded his theory is that the vibrations of
polarised light are at right-angles to the plane of polar-
isation. This is not strictly correct. There is no doubt
that this assumption played its part among the ideas that
led Fresnel to formulate his theory: in the theory, how-
ever, as finally presented, it does not appear as a funda-
mental hypothesis; it follows, in fact, as a direct con-
sequence. On the other hand, the postulate that the
ether is incompressible should be included among the hypo-
theses of Fresnel; indeed, if this be not assumed, the
effective component of the force of restitution would have,
as Sir G. Stokes has pointed out (‘‘ Math. and Phys.
Papers,’’ iv., 158), a value quite different from that given
by Fresnel. James WALKER.

Oxford, January 19.

On an Alleged New Monkey from the Cameroons.

I mucH regret that in describing, in Nature for
October 26 last, the monkey on which I bestowed the name
Cercopithecus crossi, I overlooked the description of
C. preussi by Matschie. Dr. Lénnberg, of Stockholm, was
kind enough to write me early in November to say that
he had “a strong suspicion that your guenon may prove
identical with C. preussi,’’ described in Sitz. Ber. Natur-
forsch. Freunde Berlin in 1898. Only last week, however,
was I able to consult this volume, and there is no doubt
that, as Mr. Pocock has now also pointed out, Matschie’s
name has priority over C. crossi. Henry O. Forses.

The Museums, Liverpool, January 27.

NO. 1892, VOL. 73]

FORESTS AND RIVERS.

1 the recent meeting of the International Navi-
gation Congress at Milan, one of the questions
taken into consideration was “‘ the influence which the
destruction of forests and desiccation of marshes has
upon the régime and discharge of rivers,’’ and seven
papers bearing on the subject were read and dis-
cussed. Of these, three were from Austria, and the
others from Germany, France, and Russia. The
problem as to the effect of forests on the water supply
of rivers and on climate is of great social importance
on account of the agricultural and commercial in-
terests which are so closely connected with the use
of timber, and with the utilisation of running water.

It is allowed by all the authors of these papers that,
due to the improvident way in which the forests have
been dealt with, there has been a marked change in
the water supply of the neighbouring rivers; that
where forests have been cut down brooks have dis-
appeared, and many small rivers that at one time
were useful as sources of power are so no longer for
want of water; that in the larger rivers torrents have
become more impetuous, and flooding more frequent ;
while, on the other hand, navigation suffers at times
for want of water.

The greatest harm has been done in the mountain
districts, where the steep slopes allow the rain-water
to run off too rapidly, carrying away the surface soil
and transporting pebbles and boulders into the rivers,
causing shoals, and thus decreasing their capacity to
discharge the flood water.

The extent to which forests, both on the Continent
and in America, are being cut down and destroyed, and
large areas of land, which at one time were covered
with primzval forest, have become barren waste by
fire or the lumberman’s axe without any attempt at
ré-afforestation, was one of the subjects dealt with in
the presidential address of Mr. J. C. Hawkshaw at the
Institution of Civil Engineers in 1902. Mr. Hawk-
shaw pointed out that, notwithstanding the dis-
placement of wood in building structures by iron, yet
large quantities of timber are still required, not only
for building purposes, but for temporary structures,
such as coffer dams and scaffolding; pit props for
mining; sleepers required for the railways, which, in
this country, he estimated at an annual value of
18 million pounds, and those required for renewals
at three-quarters of a million pounds; while for the
railway service of the United States there are required
15 millions of acres of forest land to maintain a
supply of sleepers.

The question for consideration at the Congress was
whether the wholesale destruction of forest land for
cultivation or for timber supply is having any
material effect on the rainfall and consequent water
supply; and the effect of forest destruction on the
rivers of the country from which the trees are
removed was also considered.

The physical conditions of forest land are that,
owing to the shelter from sun and wind, the atmo-
sphere is generally colder and damper than in the
open country, and evaporation consequently less. It
is calculated that a hectare of forest land (23 acres)
gives off every day 37 cubic metres of oxygen and
37 metres of carbonic acid, leading to a great ex-
penditure of heat; and that from every hectare of
forest land sufficient heat is abstracted to melt 316
cubic metres of ice. Ligneous plants also withdraw
from the ground and discharge as vapour more than
40,000 gallons of water per hectare per day, which
causes a sensible reduction of temperature. When
clouds pass over a forest they encounter a cool, damp
atmosphere, the point of saturation comes closer, and

IVATEOIRLZ

[ FEBRUARY I, 1906

320
rain is caused. This condition of forest land has
been remarked on by aéronauts, who find that a

balloon is invariably affected, and drops when passing
over forests.

The advantages claimed for forests with regard to
water supply are that the trees act as regulators of
the rainfall; that the average quantity of rain
falling on land covered with forests is greater than
in the open ground to the extent of about one-sixth;
that it holds up the water for a time and discharges
it later on when water is most required in river basins,
the rain being held back by the leaves of the trees
and coming to the ground more gradually; the rain
that falls on the surface is also taken up by the layer
of dead leaves on the ground, which permits of a
gradual percolation to the subsoil. Observations show
that in summer the ground of the forest is damper
than that of the adjacent cleared land, and snow re-
mains for a much longer period in forest land before
melting than in cleared land.

On the other hand, it has been contended by some
of those who have made a study of sylviculture that
forests do not increase the quantity of water flowing
to the springs and rivers, but reduce it. The
numerous striking facts quoted do not bear out this
contention, which is mainly based on the fact that
the substratum water stands at a lower level on
forest land than in the adjacent cleared ground.
This fact is generally admitted to be the case
at one period of the year. As the result of many
years’ observations, it has been found that the maxi-
mum level of underground water is reached in May,
that the water accumulates in the ground from
August to January; and that the rivers are supplied
by this reserve, and were it not for this accumu-
lation many brooks and river feeders would cease to
flow in summer.

Several very striking examples are given by the
authors of the papers as to the deleterious effect of
cutting down forests, especially in hilly districts. In
the commune of La Bruguiére, the forests on the
slopes of the Black Mountain were cut down; the
consequence of this removal of the trees was that a
brook which ran at the foot, and the water from
which was used for driving some fulling mills, be-
came so dried up in summer as no longer to be of
any use, while in winter the sudden floods caused
very great damage in the valley. The forests were
re-planted, and as the trees grew up the water coming
to the brook was so regulated as to serve its former
useful purpose in driving the mills, and the torrents
in winter were moderated. Several other examples
of a similar character are given.

In Switzerland, amongst other examples is quoted
one that occurred in the canton of Berne, where,
owing to the re-planting of the mountain-side with
fir trees, the water again appeared at a spring which
had ceased to flow. After a period the trees were cut
down and the land converted into pasturage, since
when the spring has almost disappeared, only open-
ing out at occasional intervals. ;

In the Kazan district of Russia, once celebrated for
its forests of oaks and linden, which are now nearly
all cut down, there were formerly seventy water-mills
constantly at work. Less than half now can be
worked, and even they only run half time, and are
idle in summer for want of water; while in winter
the little rivers that worked these mills are converted
into impetuous torrents, breaking up the mill dams

and doing other damage. These abandoned water-
mills stand out as a striking proof of the con-

sequences of the destruction of forests.
In Sardinia, where the surface consists of plutonic
rocks covered with a thin layer of earth, all the

NO. 1892, VOL. 723|

streams have a rapid slope. The woods, which
occupied in 1870 an area of more than 23 million

acres, or about 43 per cent. of the whole surface of
the island, now are reduced to about one-sixteenth of
this area. Since the removal of the trees the floods
in the rivers rise with a rapidity and flow with a
velocity never known before, and a great number of
bridges have been destroyed by the floods. The beds
of the channels have been raised in some places above
the surface of the land, owing to the detritus brought
down in floods.

In Wisconsin, U.S.A., the settlers cut down the
forests and converted the land into tillage and pasture.
During a period of about seventy years nearly the
whole of the forest land was thus cleared, with the
result that, as the forest disappeared, the water in
the river became lower; finally thirty miles of
the channel entirely dried up, and many water-mills
that were formerly worked by the stream are now
deserted and useless, owing to the want of water
to run them.

In Sicily, owing to the cutting down of the forests
on a vast scale in the province of Messina, the bed
of the river has been raised by the stones and earth
carried down by the torrents so as to stop all drainage
from the land, and great damage has been done by
the floods. Several other examples are given to the
same effect where forests have been cleared in the
same district, and these are compared with other
streams where the forests still exist and their con-
dition remains unaltered. In the former case, land-
slides from the mountains have become very frequent.

VARIATION OF GLACIERS."

HIS interesting report of the Commission inter-
nationale des Glaciers shows that these ice-
streams still continue to diminish in those parts of
the world which it has been possible to examine.
In the Swiss Alps, of ninety glaciers observed, not
one shows an advance, which fully confirms the
general results of the last seven years, and indicates
that any slight variation is now at an end; the same is
true of the Italian Alps, though some of them give
signs of increase in their upper parts. In the French
Alps (Pelvoux district), the Glacier Noir has steadily
decreased since 1860; the Glacier Blanc, after de-
creasing from 1865 to 1886, advanced from about
1889 to 1896, but is now again retiring. It is note-
worthy that the average elevation of the supply basin
of the former is from 2500 to 2800 metres, and of
the latter from 3000 to 3300 metres. In the Savoy
Alps the shrinkage continues, some small glaciers
having disappeared. The same is true in the
Pyrenees.

In Norway both snowfall and temperature were
rather variable in 1904, but the glaciers, with a few
exceptions, have retreated; and in Greenland the
Jakobshavn Glacier has shrunk, sometimes rather
considerably. In the Caucasus (central) the glaciers
continue to retreat; less is known of the eastern
district, but the same apparently is true of it. During
the past year M. Fedtchenko visited more than 110
glaciers in the Pamir, and has stated that all appeared
to be diminishing. The same is true, with a few excep-
tions, of the north-western part of the United States,
as well as of the mountain region of western Canada.
In Africa, though the rainfall had been unusually
heavy in the Wilimanjaro district, the amount of
snow in the crater of Kibo had not, according to

1 “Les Variations périodiques des Glaciers." Dixitme Rapport, 1904"
Rédigé par H. F. Reid et E. Muret (Extrait des Archives des Sciences

physiques et naturelles, t. xx., juillet et aotit.) Pp. 34. (Geneve: Georg
et Cie, 1905 )

FERRUARY I, 1906]

NATURE 321

Dr. Uhlig, increased since 1901. Thus the report in-
dicates that the retreat of glaciers, which began about
forty-five years ago, still continues, having over-
powered the slight rally which has been occasionally
perceptible during the last decade. TGeeBs

THE REVOLUTION OF

Air: “ The Interfering Parrot.”

LAE (CORPUS GEE 2
(Geisha.)

A corpuscle once did oscillate so quickly to and fro,
He always raised disturbances wherever he did go.
He struggled hard for freedom against a powerful
foe—

An atom—who would not let him go.
The ather trembled at his agitations
In a manner so familiar that I only need to say,
In accordance with Clerk Maxwell’s six equations
It tickled people’s optics far away.

You can feel the way it’s done,

You may trace them as they run—
dy by dy less dB by dz is equal K.dX/dt.

While the curl of (X,Y,Z) is the minus d/dt of the
vector (a,b,c).

Some professional agitators only holler till they’re
hoarse,
But this plucky little corpuscle pursued another course,
And finally resorted to electromotive force,
Resorted to electromotive force.
The medium quaked in dread anticipation,
It feared that its equations might be somewhat too
abstruse,
And not admit of finite integration
In case the little corpuscle got loose.
For there was a lot of gas
Through which he had to pass,
And in case he was too rash,
There was sure to be a smash,
Resulting in a flash.
Then dy by dy less d8 by dz would equal K.dX/dt.

While the curl of (X,Y,Z) would be minus d/dt of the
vector (a,b,c).

The corpuscle radiated until he had conceived
A plan by which his freedom might be easily achieved,
Ill not go into details for I might not be believed,
Indeed I’m sure I should not be believed.
However, there was one decisive action,
The atom and the corpuscle each made a single
charge,
But the atom could not hold him in subjection
Though something like a thousand times as large.
The corpuscle won the day
And in freedom went away
And became a kathode ray.
But his life was rather gay,
And he went at such a rate,
That he ran against a plate;
When the ether saw his fate
Its pulse did palpitate,
And dy by dy less d8 by dz was equal K.dX/dt.

While the curl of (X,Y,Z) was the minus d/dt of the
vector (a,b,c).
1 Composed by Mr. A. A. Robb and sung at the annual dinner of the

research students of the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge, on December 6,
1905.

NO. 1892, VOL. 73]

NOTES.
Dr. N. L. Britton, director of the New York Botanical
Garden, has the New York
Academy of Sciences.

been elected president of

DurinG the meeting of the French Association for the
Advancement of Science, to be held at Lyons next August,
it is proposed, if the suggestion arouses sufficient interest.
to arrange an exhibition of urban hygiene.

Tue Brussels correspondent of the Daily Telegraph
states that at the last meeting of the Academy of Science
it was announced that Dr. Jacobs had conclusively proved
cancer to have a bacterial origin. This is not the first
time that have been made
which subsequent research has proved to be fallacious, and

similar positive statements

all such reports must be received with the greatest reserve.

Tue Morrison lectures of the Royal College of Surgeons,
Edinburgh, have this year been delivered by Dr. Ford
Robertson on the pathology of general paralysis of the
insane. The main theme of Dr. Robertson’s lectures is
that general paralysis is an infective or germ disease
caused by certain diphtheroid bacilli, which can be isolated
from the blood and cerebro-spinal fluid of the patient, and
the toxins of which by their action on the central nervous
system induce the paralysis and other symptoms.

Tuer Milroy lectures of the Royal College of Physicians
of London will be delivered by Dr. W. H. Hamer on
March 1, 6, and 8, the subject being ‘‘ Epidemic Disease
in England: the Evidence of Variability and of Persistency
of Type.’’ Vhe Goulstonian lectures will be delivered by
Dr. H. Batty Shaw, on the subject of ‘‘ Autointoxication,’”’
on March 13, 15, and 20; the Lumleian lectures by Dr.
Ferrier, the subject being ‘‘On Tabes Dorsalis,’’ on
March 22, 27, and 29; and the Oliver-Sharpey lectures by
Dr. E. J. Spriggs on April 3 and 5, the subject being
“Tne Bearing of Metabolism Experiments upon the Treat-
ment of some Diseases.’’ Prof. W. Osler will deliver the
Harveian oration on St. Luke’s Day, October 18, and
br. S. J. Sharkey the Bradshaw lecture in November.

Tue annual general meeting of the Iron and Steel Insti-
tute will be held on Thursday and Friday, May 10-11.
The council will shortly proceed to award Carnegie research
scholarships, and candidates must apply before February 28.
The awards will be announced at the general meeting.
In place of the ordinary autumn meeting, a joint meeting
of the American Institute of Mining Engineers and of the
Iron and Steel Institute will be held in London on
July 23-29. The Lord Mayor of London has consented
to act as chairman of the London reception committee, and
will give a conversazione at the Mansion House on the
evening of July 24. The annual dinner will be held at the
Hotel Cecil on Friday, July 27. A programme of the
visits and excursions to be made during the meeting will
be issued when the arrangements are sufficiently matured.

Tue death is announced, at the age of eighty-three, of
M. Jules Despecher, who for more than half a century
piayed a prominent part in organising and arranging sub-
marine cable services.

THE commission for the methods of examining and

methylating alcohol, appointed by the French Government,

has decided to offer the following prizes for open com-
petition, irrespective of the nationality of the competitors :—
(1) a prize of 20,000 francs for a method of methylating
alcohol, which shall be preferable to that now in vogue in
France, and which at the same time shall prevent any

322

DNATA REA

[FEBRUARY I, 1906

defrauding of the revenue; and (2) a prize of 50,000 frances
for a. system which shall permit of the use of alcohol for
illurninating purposes under the same conditions as those
fer the use of petroleum. Further details and particulars
may be obtained from the commission (though not before
April), which body will itself decide to whom the awards
shall be made.

THE programme of the sixth International Congress for
Applied Chemistry has recently been issued. The congress
will be held in Rome from April 26 to May 3. On April 25
there will be a social gathering of those taking part in the
congress, preparatory to the official opening on the follow-
ing day; on the afternoon of the same there will be the
first full committee meeting for the election of next year’s
officers. On April 27 the sittings of the various sections
will begin, and will be continued on April 28 and 30, and
on May 1 and 2. For Sunday, April 29, an excursion
into the outskirts of Rome has been arranged. On May 3,
after the final committee meeting, there will be two
excursions, the one to the Island of Elba, and the other
to Sicily. During the first, visits will be paid to the iron
mines and works of Elba, whilst for the second arrange-
ments have made for visits to the saltworks of
Erapani, the wine factories of Marsala, and the sulphur
mines of Messina; but since the two excursions are taking
place simultaneously, members of the congress may only
participate in one of the two. All members will be entitled
to reductions of from 40 per cent. to 60 per cent. on tickets
issued by the State railways, according to the distances
travelled.

been

Tue Philosophical Institute of Canterbury, Christchurch,
N.Z., has opened a fund with the object of establishing a
memorial to the late Captain F. W. Hutton, F.R.S.,
president of the New Zealand Institute. It is proposed to
devote the fund to the encouragement of original research
in natural science in New Zealand by making grants from
time to time to persons engaged in original research, and
by the award of a bronze medal, to be called the ‘‘ Hutton
medal,’’ for original contributions of special value. In
the appeal for support, the memorial committee remarks :—
““The influence and importance of research are becoming
more and more fully recognised in all parts of the world,
but New Zealand has as yet taken no steps for its
encouragement, and no financial assistance has so far been
given to private workers in any department of science.
It is hoped, therefore, that advantage will be widely taken
of the present opportunity of contributing to a fund which
will encourage research, and will at the same time per-
petuate the memory of Captain Hutton, who so unselfishly
devoted himself throughout his lifetime to the advancement
of natural science in New Zealand.’’ Though the Philo-
sophical Society has taken the matter in hand in order
to save time, and has subscribed s5ol., the board of
governors of the New Zealand Institute will probably be
asked to take over the work of collecting the funds re-
quired. Meanwhile, subscriptions may be sent to Dr.
Chilton, Canterbury College, Christchurch, N.Z., who is
acting as hon. treasurer of the fund.

From the British Journal of Photography (January 26)
we read that an international exhibition of photography is
to be held this summer at Paris at the Petit Palais, in the
Champs Elysées, and will be open from July 16 to
October 10. Judging even by the brief statement
the exhibition’ will be on a very large scale, there being
thirteen groups of exhibits, comprising altogether sixty-
three classes. A list of the groups is as follows :—History
of photography; applications of photography to science ;

NO. 1892, VOL. 73]

given,

educational; amateur and pictorial photography; photo-
graphic periodicals ; professional photography ; photographic
publications ; photographic materials; apparatus and acces-
sories; photo-mechanical processes; industries related to
photography; leather dressing; photographic illustrations ,

and the photographic trade. Such a comprehensive pro-

gramme will, we hope, bring together workers in all
sections, and include a strong British exhibit. In the

second group the exhibition is assured the support of a
large number of scientific institutions in France and other
countries, including the Collége de France, the Museum of
Natural History (Paris), the Paris National Observatory,
the physiological station at the Pare du Princes, the Marey
Institute, the Institute Pasteur, the Faculté de Médecine,
the Sorbonne, the School of Pharmacy, the School of Mines,
the Smithsonian Institution (Washington), the meteor-
clogical observatories of France, and many others. It is
stated that the last day for receiving applications for space
is fixed for February 25 next, and that an English (?British)
in formation. It may finally be stated that
no charge is made for exhibits coming under the head of
the first three groups.

committee is

AmonG the contents of Nos. 24-27 of the Sitsungsberichte
of the Royal Academy of Vienna for last year is a notice
of Hymenoptera obtained during an expedition to south
Arabia, and a summary of the zoological results of another
expedition to the Sudan and Gondolkoro. In a third paper
Mr. <A. Handlirsch the phylogeny of the
Arthropoda.

discusses

Ix the course of a paper on the natural history of the
Warburton district, published in the December (1905)
number of the Victorian Naturalist, the author mentions
that frigate-birds are used in the South Sea Islands as
letter-carriers. If captured young, they will return, like
homing pigeons, to the island of their birth, and, taking
advantage of this trait, the missionaries forward such birds
to islands with which they desire to hold communication.
When released from their new domicile they fly straight
to their old home, where they alight on the identical
perches on which they were accustomed to be fed. Later
on it is mentioned that diamond-tailed geckos (Phyllurus
platurus) are always found head-downwards on the rocks
they frequent. They assume this position, according to
the auther, in order to make hawks believe that their
heads are their tails; consequently, when seized by one of
, which invariably pounce upon what they regard
as the head, the brittle tail snaps off, and the gecko
wriggles away little or none the worse for the encounter.

these birds

We are glad to welcome the volume of the Zoological
Record for 1904, which from its bulk bears testimony to
the energy with which natural history studies are being
carried on both in this country and abroad. A few changes
have been made in the staff, but in the main the old con-
tributors have remained at their posts. Errors, as usual,
appear to be comparatively few, and in many cases
are excusable. We notice, however, that the genus
Lohmannella (spelt with a single 1) appears among the
mites, as well as (ih its proper place) among the Vermes.
In the myriopod section, which is written by a foreigner,
the editor might well have amended the style of such
names as Kaukasus, Wladiwostok, and Eastromelia, while
in the Bryozoa he might have noticed that Miss Embleton
gives ‘‘ Memoirs of the Geological Survey of India ’’ as the
title of a paper. Again, in the bird section (p. 30) we
find the same paper quoted twice over, on account of the
fact that it appeared in two different journals. In con-
gratulating the editor and his staff on their successful

FEBRUARY 1, 1906]

NATURE

323

labours, we may refer to the fact that they record the
appalling total of no less than 2095 new generic and sub-
generic names as the result of a single year’s work !

In the Scientific Reports of the Imperial Cancer Research
Fund (No. 2, 1905) a valuable series of experiments and
observations on the growth of cancer under natural and
experimental conditions is detailed by Dr. Bashford and
his co-workers. The statistical investigation of cancer has
also been pursued, and a valuable report is presented. The
provisional conclusion is arrived at that there is nothing
in the statistical investigations of the Imperial Cancer
Research Fund which points to an actual increase in the
death-rate from cancer.

IN an interesting article in the Quarterly Review
(January) Dr. George Pernet reviews the light-treatment
of disease, with which the honoured name of the late Dr.
Finsen, of Copenhagen, will always be associated. The
action of the various rays of the visible and invisible spec-
trum on the lower forms of life is first detailed, and it is
shown that the violet and ultra-violet rays are the active
ones, and it is these which are employed for the treatment
of lupus. At the same time, it must be recognised that
light-treatment has its drawbacks; it is costly, slow in
action, and does not influence all forms of the disease, par-
ticularly if at all below the surface, since the active rays
have little power of penetration. It has recently been
observed, however, that if the tissues be first treated with
some fluorescent substance, such as eosin, the penetrative
powers of the active rays are increased, and this fact may
prove to be of practical value. Lastly Dr. Pernet points
out that as lupus is a form of tuberculosis, the eradication
of the disease is intimately connected with the larger
question of the eradication of tuberculosis in general.

A ist of pyrenomycetous fungi collected in Orleans
County, New York, has been prepared by Mr. C. E.
Fairman, and is published in vol. iv. of the Proceedings
of the Rochester Academy of Science, U.S. A number of
species are recorded for the first time for the State, and
five are new to science.

Unper the title of ‘‘ Mesozoic Planes from Korea,’’ Mr.
H. Yabe contributes to vol. xx. of the Journal of the College
of Science, Tokio University, a paper on fossil botany
dealing with the collections obtained from a bed of coal
shale in the vicinity of Naktong, a village near Sengchu.
Twenty-one species, mostly ferns, but including a few
cyeads and conifers, are distinguished. From the similarity
of several of these with species recorded from the Japanese
Tetori series, the writer judges that the beds were formed
contemporaneously ; he also suggests that the plant-bed of
Naktong was deposited as a beach formation in shallow
brackish water.

IN connection with the fine avenues of trees at Quetta
referred to in Nature of January 11, p. 253, Mr. E. P.
Stebbing has been investigating the ravages of a beetle,
Eolesthes sartus, that has locally received the name of the
“borer.”’ In a pamphlet printed by the Government of
India, Mr. Stebbing sketches the salient points in the life-
history of the insect. The damage is caused principally
by the larvae, that feed first in the phloem and sap-wood of
the tree, and subsequently penetrate during the winter into
the heart-wood. The trees that have suffered most have
been the Kabul willow, the reamer poplar, and the elm;
the walnut, horse-chestnut, ash, and robinia have escaped
entirely or nearly so, and, curious to relate, the mulberry
has not been attacked.

NO. 1892, VOL. 73]

TnE members of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh
receive from time to time at their meetings interesting
announcements of the discovery of rare plants found during
summer Mire eG. publishes in
vol. xxiii., part i., of the Tyansactions and Proceedings of
the Society a list of some rare Caithness plants, that in-
cludes Arctostaphylos alpina, collected on Mt.
Hierochloe Thurso, and a strange
Hymenaea Courbaril, known as the West Indian locust,
washed up by the Gulf Stream near John-o’-Groats. Mr.
W. Young, writing on the plants of the Glenshee district,
Perthshire, reports the occurrence
Veronica alpina, and Cochlearia
flowering plants on or near Glas Maol; among the liver-
worts gathered in the district were Cephaloziella Jackti,
Lophozia socia, and Harpanthus Flotowianus. The yolume
contains the latest of many papers by Mr. W. West and
Prof. G. W. West on alga, in which they describe the
fresh-water algae collected in the Orkneys and Shetlands ;
their list enumerates more than four hundred species

excursions. Nicolson

Morven,

borealis from alien,

of Gentiana nivalis,

Groenlandica among

el
large number being desmids and diatoms—of which several
are new species or varieties.

with
remark-

Hooker
several

united by
the baobab,
*“ silk-cotton ”’

Tue order Bombacacez,
Malvaceze, includes, besides
able trees, of which the

trees are a

Fic. 1.—The Giant Ceiba Tree of Nassau—one of the famous trees of
the World.

prominent feature in the tropics. Two genera pass by this
Bombax and Ceiba, or, as it is known this
At Nassau, in the Bahamas, there
is assigned to

name, in
country, Eriodendron.

is a historic giant silk-cotton tree that

| Eriodendron anfractuesum in an enumeration of the plants

of the Bahamas. The illustration here reproduced is taken
from Forest and Stream, January 13, and shows the re-
markable formation of plank-like outgrowths, produced
from the base of the trunk and the uppermost roots, that
have received the name of plank-buttresses. The plank-

| buttress is a peculiarity of trees growing in a tropical

climate with abundant rainfall.

Mr. Auporn contributes an interesting paper on the

| hydrography of Lake Tchad to La Géographie (vol. xii.,

No. 5). Recent observations of the volume of tributary
streams and the area of the lake are analysed and applied
to the examination of the question of the gradual desic-
cation of the region.

Mr. MaArouarpDsEeN contributes a valuable
plete summary of the history of geographical exploration
in the Lake Tchad region down to the year 1905 to the
new number of the Mitteilungen aus den deutschen

and com-

324

NATURE

*

[FEBRUARY I, 1906

Schutzgebieten (vol. xviii., part iv.). With this number is
issued a new map of the region, and also a map of Togo-
land on a scale of 1 : 200,000.

Pror. H. Fiscner and Prof. F. Guillotel write in the
Zeitschrift of the Berlin Gesellschaft fiir Erdkunde (No.
10, 1905) and in La Géographie (vol. xii., No. 4) on the
position of geography, and the teaching of geography, in
the United States. In both papers there is much to interest
and stimulate teachers of the subject in this country. We
note with pleasure the well deserved tribute which both
writers pay to the work of Prof. W. M. Davis.

WE _ have

Mazama,

received the annual number for 1905 of
the publication of the well known American
mountaineering club. Mr. Henry Gannett contributes a
paper on Lake Chelan and its glacier, and Mr. H. F.
Reid describes the glaciers of Mount Hood and Mount
Adams. The rest of the number is chiefly devoted to
accounts of the work of the club during the year. Some
of the photographs illustrating the ‘* Rainier outing ’’ are
of great excellence.

Tue director of the new Japanese Meteorological Service
of Corea, Mr. Y. Wada, has lost no time in searching
for and publishing the results of observations existing in
that country. The Journal of the Meteorological Society
of Japan for November last contains summaries of rainfall
observations for the years 1896-1904 discovered at Seoul,
and compiled in the Chinese language by a Mr. Li. The
mean annual rainfall is about 35-4 inches, of which nearly
25 inches fall in the three summer months; July has an
average fall of 11-3 inches, and December only 2-8 inches.
The greatest daily falls occur in June and July, and exceed
5 inches on rare occasions. Rain falls, on an average, on
94 days in the year, and snow on 19 days.

Mr.*J. R. Sutton has communicated to the Transactions
of the South African Philosophical Society (vol. xvi.,
part ii.) a useful paper entitled ‘‘ Some Results of Observ-
ations made with a Black Bulb Thermometer in vacuo.”
Mr. Sutton states that the object of the investigation was
chiefly to ascertain some of the effects of various meteor-
ological influences upon the indications of the instrument,
not to discuss its suitability’ for the purposes of physical
research. glad to see, however, that he does not
that has been sometimes expressed by
high authorities of the untrustworthiness of the black bulb
thermometer. We think it has been recently shown that
good instruments, after use for some years, give fairly
accurate comparative results, and, this being the case,
their indications afford useful observations which cannot
otherwise be obtained at ordinary meteorological stations.
The author's observations show _ inter alia that at
Kimberley the differences between the maxima in sun and
shade increase with fair uniformity from winter to summer,
the temperature in the sun increasing faster than that in
the shade. A monthly comparison of various elements for
four years shows that there is not any very obvious re-
lation between the solar temperature and either the state
of the sky or the hygrometric condition of the air, except,
roughly, that the amount of cloud is least and the tempera-
ture of the dew-point lowest in winter, when the black
bulb temperatures are lowest and the difference of maxima
least. The elements arranged in a sequence of cloud per-
centages show that the temperature in the sun is at its
highest when the sky is half clouded. Mr. Sutton thinks
this seems to indicate that when the sky is more than half
covered the clouds are as likely to shut off the solar heat

NON 392, VOL. 7.2)

We are
share the opinion

as to impede radiation from the thermometer. We are
unable in this brief notice to refer to various other points
of interest in the paper.

THE paper on worm contact read by Mr. Robert A.
Bruce before the Institution of Mechanical Engineers on
January 19 throws much light on the actions involved
with worm gearing. Many writers have contributed to
the theory of the subject, but hitherto experimental in-
vestigation has been singularly incomplete. Some of the
most interesting aspects of the question are dealt with by
the author, but further research work is necessary before
a complete account of the action of worm-gearing can be
drawn up. The author’s paper will prove a valuable guide
to students of applied mechanics, and forms a welcome
addition to the proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical
Engineers.

Tue presidential address of Prof. J. F. Kemp to the
New York Academy of Sciences is printed in full in Science
of January 5. It deals in a popular manner with the
genesis of mineral veins. Ores, he shows, gather along
subterranean waterways. They may fill clean-cut fissures ;
they may impregnate porous rocks on either side; or they
may replace entirely soluble rocks. As to the source of
the water that accomplishes these results there has been
much discussion, the crucial point relating to the relative
importance of the two kinds of ground-waters, those from
the molten igneous rocks and those derived from the rains.
The author inclines to regard the latter, if not as the sole»
vehicle of introduction, as the preponderating one.

In the current issue of the Engineering Magazine
(January) there is an interesting account of the first
attempt of the United States Government to develop a
source of fuel supply in the Philippines, where the
economic conditions are favourable, inasmuch as nothing
in the shape of a competing private coal-mining industry
is established there. Owing to the high calorific power of
the coal available, and to the fact that there is an ideal
harbour adapted for a coaling station, the small island of
was selected as the site for the Government coal
mines. The coal is of Eocene age, and the greatest normal
thickness of any seam on the island is 8 feet. The coal
yields 4o per cent. of volatile constituents and 4 per cent.
to 7 per cent. of ash, whilst the fixed carbon in several
cases exceeds 50 per cent. The author of the paper, Mr.
O. H. Reinholt, was in charge of the development, and
the numerous illustrations he gives are reproduced from
photographs taken by himself.

Batan

Mr. ConsuL STEVENS, in his report on agriculture in
the Trans-Caucasus for the year 1905, refers, writes a con-
tributor to the Journal of the Society of Arts, to the
ravages of locusts. The fields situated along the stretch of
land north and south of the river Kura are often visited
by this insect at a season of the year when, in view of
the forward state of the crops, their presence proves most
disastrous to the population. Yhe Government has for
some years been paying much attention to the destruction
of locusts, and with this object in view has endeavoured
to encourage the peasants to destroy locusts’ eggs, or the
larve. Accordingly the peasants dig holes or trenches, and
during the months of June and July the villagers go out
into the fields and drive the larvze into the trenches. This
measure has been crowned with a certain amount of success
during the present season, and the havoc done to the crops
by locusts has thereby been reduced to a minimum. No
fewer than 13,905,276 days’ corvée work was done between
the years 1898 and 1904 in destroying locusts in the Sir.

FEBRUARY I, 1906]

NATURE 325

Darya, Samarkand, Ferghana, Semirechi, and Trans-
Caspian districts. This in itself shows the immense
sacrifices the natives are called upon by the authorities to
make in connection with the destruction of locust eggs.
Between the years 1900 and 1905 the rural authorities of
those localities paid away sums to the amount of 80,oo00l.
for the destruction of locusts, and yet during this period
the crops in Central Asia were damaged to the extent of
150,000l. by this insect.

Tue publication in Nature of December 7, 1905 (p. 132),
of some verses on the passing of the atom, sung at the
chemical laboratory dinner at University College, London,
has induced Mr. F. Horton, St. John’s College, Cambridge,
to send us a copy of the post-prandial proceedings of the
Cavendish Society, containing several metrical compositions
inspired by recent work on ions and radio-activity. Songs
of this kind are sung at the Cavendish research students’
annual dinner, which is held at the end of each Michaelmas
term; and the one by Mr. A. A. Robb reprinted else-

where in this issue is a good example of versification in
science.

IN two recent papers, the one by Mr. D. Himstedt and
Mr. G. Meyer, published in the Berichte of the Freiburg
Scientific Society (1905, vol. xvi., p. 13), and reprinted in
Le Radium (vol. ii., No. 12), the other by Prof. B. Walter
and Mr. R. Pohl (Annalen der Physik, iv., 18, 406), ex-
perimental evidence is brought forward to show that the
light ordinarily emitted by radium bromide is principally
due to the impact of the Becquerel rays on the particles
of nitrogen in the immediate vicinity. The probability of
this being the case was suggested by Sir William and
Lady Huggins in 1903, although the latter were unable
then to obtain direct evidence in support of their view.

AN important paper by Prof. A. W. Witkowski on the
thermal dilatation of compressed hydrogen is published in
the Bulletin International of the Cracow Academy of
Sciences (1905, No. 6). Full details are given of the
methods employed in determining the values, already pub-
lished in a brief report to the British Association in 1904,
of the volume coefficient of dilatation of hydrogen at tem-
peratures ranging from + 100° to —190° C. under pressures
of 1-60 atmospheres. The results are used in discussing
Wroblewski’s calculation of the critical temperature and
pressure of hydrogen, a subject which is also dealt with
experimentally by Prof. Olszewski in the following number
of the Bulletin (1905, No. 7). The critical pressure was
found in a new determination to be 13-4-15 atmospheres,
the critical temperature being —240°-8 C. Prof. Olszewski
also describes in No. 7 an unsuccessful attempt to liquefy
helium by allowing it to expand suddenly, after cooling to
—259° C. by means of solid hydrogen, trom a pressure of
180 atmospheres. Not a trace of liquefaction could be
observed at the temperature obtained in this way, which
is calculated to be as low as —271°-3 C., or 1°-7 absolute.

Ar the last meeting of the physical-mathematical section
of the Berlin Academy of Science, held under the presi-
dency of Prof. Waldeyer, Prof. Landolt epitomised the
results of his extensive experiments on the question of the
possible change of weight caused by chemical action, and
stated that he had obtained confirmation of many previous
observations of a decrease in weight as a result of certain
reactions, and that he had started further experiments with
the view of discovering the cause of such changes. Prof.
van "t Hoff gave a further contribution to his series of
papers on natural salt formations, xlv., the occurrence of

NO. 1892, VOL. 73]

tincal and octahedral borax. In collaboration with Blas-
dale he had that the appearance of octahedral
borax in Italy was dependent upon a minimum tempera-
ture of about 35°-5 C. Prof. Waldeyer read a communi-
cation from Dr. A. Sachs, of Breslau,
hexagonal mercury oxychloride from Terlingua, in Texas.
This mineral, to which the formula Hg,Cl,O, is given, is
a third addition to the other two mercury oxychlorides
previously found in this district, namely,
Hg,Cl,O.,, belonging to the regular system, and the mono-
clinic terlinguaite, Hg,ClO.

observed

on kleinite, a

eglestonite,

Tue real existence of the n-rays, discovered by M.
Blondlot, has been the subject of much discussion, there
being a general consensus of opinion outside France that
the effects produced are physiological. ‘The Comptes rendus
for January 15 contain two papers of considerable interest
on this subject. The first of these, by M. Mascart, gives
details of a series of the
maximum intensity in the spectrum produced by the re-
fraction of the n-rays through an aluminium prism, by a
number of independent observers. “The phosphorescent
screen) was mounted on the carriage of a dividing engine,
(Messrs. Blondlot, Gutton,
Virtz, and Mascart) made independent measurements of the
points of maximum intensity. The most concordant figures
were those obtained by M. Blondlot, but the general agree-
ment of the results left no doubt as to the position of the
lines. M. Mascart gives the results without comment.
The second paper, by M. Gutton, is an attempt to prove
the objective existence of the m-rays. It had been noted
that if these rays are allowed to fall on the primary spark
of a Hertzian oscillator, the lustre of the secondary spark
diminishes. ‘This effect has been secured photographically,
the difference being clearly marked in the whole of the
thirty-seven experiments.
detail, and the precautions necessary for success pointed
out. These two papers certainly provide material for con-
sideration by those who maintain that the whole pheno-
menon is a physiological illusion.

measurements of points of

and each of four observers

The apparatus is described in

Pror. Henxrt Moissan has continued his experiments on
the fusion and volatilisation of the more refractory metals
in the electric furnace, and gives an account of his results
in the current number of the Comptes rendus (January 22).
In the first experiment, made with osmium, the tempera-
ture obtained by using a current of 500 amperes at 110
volts, although sufficient to distil 16 per cent. of the metal
in four minutes, not sufficient to melt the metal,
except at the edges. Osmium was entirely fused with a
current of 700 amperes at 110 volts in five minutes, but
the fused metal contained nearly 4 per cent. of graphite.
Under the same conditions of current and voltage as in
the experiment above mentioned, 150 grams of
ruthenium were completely melted in three minutes, about
ir per cent. being distilled during the fusion. The fused
Platinum
could be distilled in the same furnace with great ease,

was

second

ingot of ruthenium also contained graphite.

and, indeed, Prof. Moissan remarks :—‘ The liquid metal
distils with the same facility as water carried to 100° C.”
Palladium, iridium, and rhodium were also fused and dis-
tilled without
to fuse of all

difficulty, palladium being the easiest metal
those examined in this group.

A sumMMARY of the weather for has

from Mr. W. W.

1905 at Sevenoaks
been received Wagstaffe.

Mr. H. K. Lewis’s quarterly list of new books and new
editions added to his Medical and Scientific Library (136

Gower Street, W.C.) during the last three months of 1905

220

NATURE

[FEBRUARY I, 1906

includes more than 150 titles of books, above 30 of which
are in the chemical, and electrical depart-
ments of the library.

engineering,

Tue ‘‘ Writers’ and Artists’ Year-book ”’ for 1906 has
now been published by Messrs. A. and C. Black. It con-
tains much information likely to be of assistance to writers
on all subjects.

thoug!, it is,

The list of papers and magazines, good
is by no means complete; for though details

concerning Science Siftings are supplied, we have been
unable to find any mention of the Chemical News, the
Entomologist, the Irish Naturalist, and the Zoologist.

The price of the year-book is 1s, net.

Messrs. ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE AND Co., Ltp., have
ready for publication immediately the following books
of scientific interest :—‘‘ Motor Vehicles and Motors,’’

vol. ii., by W. Worby Beaumont; ‘‘ Tunnel Shields and
the Use of Compressed Air in Subaqueous Works,’’ by
W. C. Copperthwaite; ‘‘ Modern Turbine Practice
Water Power Plant,’’ by J. W. Thurso;
Follies of Science,’? by J. Phin;
chemistry,’’? by N. Monroe Hopkins; ‘‘ Gas, Gasolene, and
Oil Engines ’’ (new edition), by G. D. Hiscox; and ‘‘ Prac-
tical Electro-chemistry ’’ (second edition), by B. Blount.

and
“The Seven
* Experimental Electro-

THE twenty-sixth issue of the
book and Directory,’’ that for 1906, has been published
A. and C. Black. It maintains the high level
of usefulness to which attention has on previous occasions
been directed in these columns. Englishwomen anxious
to take part in the useful work of the world owe a debt
of gratitude to Miss Emily Janes, who edits the volume.
Great prominence is, as usual, given to education, and the
information given concerning the higher education of
women is exhaustive and interesting. An alphabetical list
of some distinguished women with their contributions to
science and education should serve to encourage others to
assist in the spread of knowledge.

““Englishwoman’s Year-

by Messrs.

OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN.

ASTRONOMICAL OCCURRENCES IN FEBRUARY :—
Feb. 2.

Sh. ree in conjunction with the Moon. Jupiter
39 N.
mp. so See ne to 6h. 28m. Moon occults a Tauri (mag.
Ti):
>» 4. 10h. 6m. tor2h, 6m. Transit of Jupiter’s Sat. III.
(Ganymede).
»» 5. Juno (mag. 87) in opposition to the Sun.
» 7» 7h. 7m. to 8h. 4m. Moon occults ¢ Cancri
(mag. 47).
>> 7. Qh. 33m. Minimum of Algol (8 Persei).
», 8. Total eclipse of the Moon.
17h. 57m. First contact with the shadow.
18h. 58m. Beginning of total phase.
19h. 47m. Middle of the eclipse.
20h. 36m. End of total phase.
21h. 37m. Last contact with the shadow.
19h. 30m. Moon sets at Greenwich.
Magnitude of the eclipse =1°632.
», 10. 6h. 22m. Minimum of Algol (8 Persei).
» 10. Ith. 7m. to 12h. 12m. Moon occults x Leonis
(mag. 4°7).
», 14. Venus. Illuminated portion of dise =1°000. Of
Mars =0'944.
» 16. Juno 4°S. of ¢ Hydra (mag. 3°3).
>» 22. 19h. 43m. Partial eclipse of the Sun, invisible at
Greenwich.
>» 24. Ith. Saturn in conjunction with the Sun.
», 28. 7h. om. to 8h. gm. Moon occults u Ceti (mag.
4/4).

NO. 1892, VOL. 73]

Discovery or A New Comer.—A telegram from the Kiel
Centralstelle announces the discovery of a new comet by
M. Brooks at Geneva on January 26. Its position at
(Geneva M.T.) on that date was

ReAG— Tobe

10h.

/

19m. 28s., dec.=+47° 10/,

which is near to 7 Herculis.

‘The object is said to be a bright one, and to be moving
in a north-westerly direction. Being the first comet to be
discovered during the year, it willl take the designation

1g06a. At g p.m. 7 Herculis is fairly low down, near to
the N.N.E. horizon, and does not ‘‘ south’ until about
7.30 a.m.

A second telegram from Iiel states that the comet was
observed by Dr. Palisa at Vienna on January 28. Its
position at 15h. 13-3m. (Vienna M.T.) was

R.A.=16h. 18m. 16-4s., dec.=+50° 4!’ 45”.
From this it appears that the comet is at present travelling
nearly due north towards the constellations Draco and

Ursa Minor.

Comet 1905¢ (GrAcoBINI).—As comet 1905¢ is now
emerging from the immediate neighbourhood of the sun
and is fairly bright, it should soon become visible in the
evening sky, immediately after sunset, and in the south-
west. The following is an extract from a daily ephemeris
published by Herr A. Wedemeyer in No. 4067 of the
Astronomische Nachrichten :—

Ephemeris 12h. M.T. Berlin.

1906 Re (true) 6 (true) log x log A
dire SS: a
Feb: 1 .:..'22°518) 6)... —25 9 -.. O70010l.,. 070616
3) .-: 22,401 39)... —24 17 =. 916684725, 0;:0016
Bios 23g S eee —23 9) 2. 1057090 ene O;0038!
7 es 23,210,490... —21 50...) —s
Qi .-2, 23N4On24... —20 2575; kat

OBSERVATIONS OF STANDARD VELOCITY StTars.—In accord-
ance with the international cooperative scheme for the
regular determination of the radial velocities of ten standard
stars, Mr. Slipher, using the Lowell spectrograph, observed
the following stars during the summer and autumn of 1905.
y Cephei was substituted for a Crateris—the tenth star of
the standard list—because the latter was too near the sun
during the period covered by the observations. The mean
velocity obtained by Mr. Slipher for each star is also given

below :—
Star No. of plates Velocity
a Arietis 3 ne —14°3 km.
a Persel 5 = op
B Leporis 3 = 1350) .=
8 Geminorum 3 ap) SS} pp
a Bootis ... 5 aA 7 gee
B Ophiuchi 3 =Tr-3)
y Aquilz ... 3 = 2A op
e Pegasi ... 4 + 61 ,,
y Piscium 3 TT) ae
y Cephei 3 =4I°9 4;

Mr. Slipher describes the equipment and the method of
working, and directs attention to the fact that the high
altitude of the Lowell Observatory and the prevalent trans-
parency of the sky contribute greatly to the light-power of
the equipment. Satisfactory spectrograms of a Persei were
obtained in 15 minutes, whereas with the Yerkes equip-
ment the shortest exposure on this star was 30 minutes

(Astrophysical Journal, No. 5, vol. xxii.).
A Fire NEAR THE Mount WILtson OBSERVATORY.—
From No. 1, vol. xiv., of Popular Astronomy, we learn

that a serious fire took place on Moant Lowe, near to
Mount Wilson, on December 9, 1905. Fortunately, no
damage appears to have been done to the observatory equip-
ment, but the heat was so intense that Prof. Hale, fearing
that some of the more delicate parts of the apparatus might
be injured thereby, had them removed and sunk in the
observatory reservoir until the danger was past.

FEBRUARY I, 1905]

UMA TT RE

327

MEMOIRS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF
NAPLES.*

“THE greater number of the papers published in the last

volume of the Atti of the Royal Society of Naples
deal with geological and palzontological subjects connected
with southern Italy. Dr. Maria Pasquale has prepared a
catalogue of the fossil remains of Selachians, preserved
with the University collections in Naples, and in various
other museums in Italy. The majority of the species were
already known through the writings of Prof. O. G. Costa,

Fic. 1.—Hippocampus antiquorum. From the Pleistocene

Clay of Taranto.

who had originally formed the Neapolitan collection, and
of Prof. Bassani, in whose custody the specimens now are.
With the exception of one possibly Cretaceous species, all
are Cainozoic, and no less than twenty-two species come
from the pietra leccese (Middle Miocene).

The fish fauna of the Pleistocene Clays of Taranto is
described by Prof. F. Bassani (No. 3, 59 pp-, 3 pls.), prin-
cipally from a collection of 700 specimens obtained by Dr.

Marchesetti during the excavation of a new dry dock at |

Taranto in 1886. From beds of clay varying from ro metres
to 73 metres in thickness come 9

species of algz, including the new

Grateloupia bassanii, which form r
the subject of a special memoir by |
Dr. A. de Gasparis (No. 4, 8 pp.,
1 pl.), and 29 species of fish, all o
which are found living in the
Mediterranean at the present day,
and many of which may be seen
on the stalls of the fish market in

Taranto. Certain genera, Hippo-
campus, Scopelus, Maurolicus,
Heliastes, Mullus, and ‘Trachy-

pterus, do not appear to have been
recorded in the fossil state before
these Tarantine discoveries. The
occurrence of many individuals be-
longing to near-shore-living genera,
like Solea, suggests that the
fauna was essentially a _ littoral
one, and the presence of such deep-sea types as Nyctophus
(=Scopelus) or Maurolicus is hardly to be regarded in any
other light than the occasional upheaval of the dead bodies
of abyssal forms in the Straits of Messina at the present

day. Bones of a dolphin are recorded from the same
deposits.

1 “Atti della Reale Accademia delle scienze fisiche e matematiche di
Napoli.” Vol. xii. (1905.)

NO. 1892, VOL. 73]|

Dr. M. Pasquale also contributes a short illustrated de-
scription of another fish, Palaeorhynchus deshayest,
Agassiz, from the Eocene deposits near Barberino di
Mugello, Florence (No. 8, 7 pp., 1 pl.).

Two important contributions to the paleontology of the
Gulf of Naples deal with the corals of Capri and with
the Triassic shells of Giffoni, near Salerno. Prof. de
Angelis d’Ossat has proved that the Capri limestones of
Venassino, which have hitherto been generally believed to
be of Tithonic age, in accordance with the view of Oppen-
heim (1889), are far more nearly related in their coral-
fauna to the Urgonian rocks. Out of a total of 25 species
of corals, 18 are shared with the Urgonian, only 1 with
Tithonic deposits. Several species of Amphiastraid and
Astraeid corals are described and figured as new to science,
and an Acanthoccenia is named after Dr. Cerio, the dis-
coverer of this rich deposit, who has devoted so much of his
life to the study of the natural history of Capri. The
dolomitic limestone of Giffoni has already been made
known by the work of Costa and Bassani on the fish-fauna.
In Dr. Galdieri’s memoir (No. 16, 30 pp., 1 pl., 21 figs.),
which is in the main a revision of O. G. Costa’s work of
forty years ago, an attempt has been made to determine
the exact chronological position of the Giffoni beds with
respect to others both in Italy and the Alps. More
material will be required before certain conclusions can
be drawn, but at the present state of knowledge there is
fair evidence of contemporaneity with the well known
Triassic strata at St. Cassian.

An interesting note bearing on the same general subject
of the limestones of the Bay of Naples is on the Scoglio
di Revigliano, by Prof. de Lorenzo (No. 12, 4 pp-, 2 pls.).
Revigliano Island is a tiny islet rock of Cretaceous, per-
haps of Urgonian, age, which, were the sea to be removed,
would be seen to rise by itself from a gently sloping plain
of volcanic deposits, among which pumice, like that
which buried Pompeii in the year =a, would be con-
spicuous, as well as the products of other Vesuvian and
Campanian eruptions. ‘The strata of the little rock dip in
the same direction as those of the Sorrentine peninsula,
viz. to the north-west, and they indicate by their trend
the existence of a great fault, all other trace of which is
buried beneath the alluvial and volcanic deposits of the
Sarno-Castellamare plain.

The granitoid and Filonian Rocks of Sardinia form the”
subject of a posthumous memoir of Carlo Riva (No. 9,
108 pp., 7 pls.), which has been prepared for the press by
his friend and colleague Prof. de Lorenzo. After describing
the petrographical characteristics of the chief varieties of
rock in detail, the author gives a valuable account of
seventeen localities in Sardinia where zones of contact
between the granites and schists and calcareous rocks may
be well studied, together with an appreciation of the meta-

Fic. 2.—Revigliano from the south-east.

morphic changes that have taken place at each locality.
The memoir concludes with a discussion of the theories
of the probable age of the granitoid rocks of Sardinia.

Dr. V. Bianchi has re-investigated certain parts of the
brain of Delphinus delphis (No. 14, 16 pp-, 3 pls.), and
has compiled an interesting table setting forth his estimates
of the relative numbers of neurogloeal corpuscles and of
nerve cells in various regions of the cerebral cortex.

328

INE TACT.

[| FEBRUARY I, 1906

Although the cerebral hemispheres resemble those of the
carnivorous type, yet the frontal lobes are so singularly
under-developed that the author finds therein an explan-
ation of the relative stupidity of the dolphin.

‘* Bidder’s Organ ’’ (Spengel) was discovered in 1758 by
Roésel von Rosenhof upon the testes of Bufo calamita.
Dr. Attilio Cerruti, by means of material captured in the
voleanic crater of Archiagnano, near Naples, has been able

to demonstrate a highly interesting cytological process
which occurs in the male individuals of Bufo vulgaris

during the early months of the year. Certain of the cells,
named ovules, of the organ of Bidder are so strongly
attracted by some of their neighbours that they actually
penetrate their enveloping membranes, and their cytoplasm
and nuclei flow into the invaded cells. In the majority of
cases the penetration is simple, t.e. only one ovule invades
a second, but multiple penetration has also been observed ;
and then in the case of ovules, say, a, b, c, d, ovule a
will penetrate into b, b into c, ¢ into d, &c. In all cases
of penetration, degeneration ensues. Generally speaking,
the invading ovule is the younger, and is one which has
developed on the periphery of the organ, the invaded ovules
lying nearer the centre. The author draws a suggestive
comparison between this phenomenon and that of the fusion
of Ascaris ova described by O. zur Strassen, which, if they
develop at all, give rise to monsters.

There are also four mathematical memoirs. Signor
D. de Francesco contributes a paper on the motion of
a cord and on the equilibrium of a flexible but non-

extensible surface (Nos. 5 and 6, 5 pp., 9 pp.), and Prof.
E. Cesaro investigates the intrinsic representation of a
surface (No. 7, 20 pp.) and the curve of von Koch (No. 15,
12 pp.). A lengthy contribution to the theory of ternary
biquadratic form and its resolution into factors (No. 13,
102 pp.) is by the hand of Ernesto Pascal.

Ie, fs (Cis

PHYSIOLOGICAL ECONOMY IN NUTRITION.
NE of the most remarkable points in the recent history
of physiological research is the small amount of atten-
tion bestowed upon the important question of nitrogenous
metabolism until within the last few years. The older
work of Voit and of Pfluger has for long been regarded
as authoritative, in spite of the fact that these two observers
are not at one on many essential facts. They, however,
agree that proteid food is a most essential constituent of
our diet, and that a minimum allowance per diem of
about 100 grams, corresponding to 16 to 18 grams of
nitrogen, is necessary for the well-being and equilibrium
of the average adult human individual. A dietary con-
taining this amount of proteid or albuminous material
would not be regarded by the average meat-eating English-
man to be a very liberal one, and is frequently exceeded.
So firmly rooted has this idea of a proteid minimum
intake of 100 grams become that not only is it stated as
an axiom in the majority of text-books, but it forms the
basis of dietaries prescribed by responsible Governments
for use on military service, &c. The doctrine that proteid
food is the most necessary of all foods is so thoroughly
ingrained, even upon the lay public, that in popular par-
lance the words nutritious and nitrogenous are almost
synonymous. This is a very dangerous mistake, for the
non-nitrogenous constituents of diet, the carbohydrates and
the fats, are equally necessary for the maintenance of
bodily heat and energy, and so are equally, though in a
somewhat different sense, to be regarded as nutritious.
An example of this erroneous way of regarding food is to
be seen in advertisements that meet the eye everywhere ;
preparations of milk, for instance, are sold which contain
mainly the proteid matter of that fluid, and are vaunted as
containing all the nutritious elements, the other con-
stituents being looked upon as useless. As a matter of
fact, milk is of special value on account of the admixture

of the non-proteid with proteid material. in the concen-
tration camps which were established during the later
phases of the South African War, such hardships as

occurred there were mainly due, not to lack of proteid
nutriment, for the standard of nitrogen was fully main-
tained, but to lack or scarcity of vegetables and other
sources of carbohydrate food.

NO. 1892, VOL. 73]

For some considerable time, certain experimenters in
Germany have striven to demolish the fetish of the irre-
ducible minimum of the 16 or 18 daily grams of nitrogen,
but their work has not attracted world-wide acknowledg-
ment; the experiments they recorded were either made for
too short a time or on too few people to be regarded as
epoch-making.

It has been left to America to make the question one
of immediate and urgent attention, and I propose in this
article to bring the conclusions of these American investi-
gators before the readers of Nature.

Prof. R. t1. Chittenden, of Yale University, and Dr.
Otto Folin, of Waverley, Massachusetts, are the two
principal exponents of the new doctrine, and I propose te
deal with them in that order.

The Work of Chittenden.

Chittenden has been working at the subject for some
years, and the results of his labours are given in a volume
which will amply repay perusal entitled ‘* Physiological
Economy in Nutrition’’ (New York: F. A. Stokes Co.,
1904). A more popular exposition of his ideas has been
published in a recent number of the Century Illustrated
Monthly Magazine (October, 1905, p. 859 et seq.).

The question was first brought to the notice of Prof.
Chittenden by Mr. Horace Fletcher, who states that he
cured himself of dyspeptic troubles by lessening his proteid
nutriment below what was regarded as the physiological
standard. He has started a propaganda on the subject
from the economic point of view, for proteid is the most
expensive of the articles of diet. One at once sees that
the question is not merely one for the student of science,
but is most important for the man in the street as well.
Owing, no doubt, to his lack of physiological knowledge,
Mr. Fletcher attributed the benefits he derived to a
thorough mastication of the comparatively small amount
of food he took. Mastication is, of course, of importance,
but it does not possess the superlative importance attributed
to it by Mr. Fletcher, and will not explain the results of
the experiments made by Chittenden and his fellow-
workers,

The number to which I have already alluded (16 to 18
grams of nitrogen a day) is based roughly on the usual
diet of the meat-eating nations, and it is argued that habit
and instinct alike are safe guides in determining such a
number, and the effects of such a diet in the maintenance
of health and bodily equilibrium have been abundantly
proved through centuries of experience. It forms, as
already stated, the basis of the usually accepted dietaries
of Ranke and of Voit.

In other nationalities, it is true, a different figure has
been arrived at, and the same argument of habit and
experience might equally well be used in its favour. Thus
in certain semi-civilised races ‘the proportion of flesh food
is much larger, and in other races, again—and this is the
commoner variation—the proteid intake is less. We need,
however, only consider the second alternative, for one can
hardly suppose anyone will advocate a return to more
carnivorous habits. It is alleged that in such nationalities
as the Japanese, or in groups of people like vegetarians,
and in certain rural populations, health and equilibrium
are as well maintained as in the ordinary meat-eating
inhabitants of our large cities. Those who hold that the
number 16 to 18 is the correct one have explained the
different number arrived at by the nations of the Far
East as a racial difference propagated by long centuries of
inheritance, or have tried, more or less successfully, to
show that such people come nearer to Voit’s standard than
had been supposed, or else that they are not properly
nourished.

Such explanations will not hold water when applied
to the experiments conducted by Prof. Chittenden upon
himself, his colleagues, his students, and upon a consider-
able number of athletes and soldiers. These experiments
lasted in all cases for months, and in some for more than
a year. The proteid intake was reduced to half, and in
some cases to less than half the number hitherto regarded
as normal. After a variable initial drop in body-weight, -
the deprivation was apparently followed by no untoward
results. Equilibrium was maintained; the health remained

FEBRUARY I, 1906]

INADE ORL 529

perfect or improved; the muscular power of athletes was
increased; mental acuity was undiminished; and desire
of richer food disappeared.

Chittenden argues from such results (and daily observ-
ations were diligently maintained throughout each experi-
ment) that his scanty proteid diet is the normal, and that
the average meat-eater is the man who is abnormal. ne
says:—‘ When we recollect that these eighteen grams
or more of nitrogen in the urine reach the final stage of
urea, Xc., only by passing through a series of stages each
one of which means the using up of a certain amount of
energy to say nothing of the energy made use of in diges-
tion, absorption, &c., we can easily picture to ourselves
the amount of physiological labour which the daily handling
by the body of such amounts of proteid food entails. It
needs very little imagination to see that a large amount of
energy is used up in passing on these nitrogenous waste
products from organ to organ or from tissue to tissue, on
the way to elimination, and we can fancy that liver and
kidneys must at times rebel at the excessive labour they
are called upon to perform.’’ He then goes on to point
out that many of these waste products, like uric acid, are
toxic, and the evil results that ensue from their accumula-
tion.

It is on such grounds that Chittenden advocates a revolu-
tion in our ordinary dietary, and his arguments for
temperance in proteid intake are entitled to careful atten-
tion. He is no crank or faddist, and his ccnclusions have
been arrived at by the true scientific method, that of
experiment.

There will be many who will pay no attention to them

at all. The bon vivant, for instance, will resent any inter-
ference with his habits, gout and other evils notwith-
standing; and certainly some of the meals Chittenden

describes do not appear very appetising; for instance, a
banana and a cup of coffee for breakfast; bean soup,
bread (1 oz.), bacon (+ oz.), fried potato, salad, prunes,
and another banana for supper. But no doubt variations
in the way in which the nutriment can be obtained are
possible of introduction.

The honest inquirer after truth may also have his doubts,
and it cannot be disputed that there are difficulties, and
serious ones, which will have to be answered before the
advocacy of the new idea will meet with success.

One would like to know, for instance, whether the
numerous subjects of the experiments are still keeping up
their reduced diet, or whether they have returned to the
flesh-pots after a period of enforced abstinence. If they
are still maintaining their new habits, one would like to
know how they fare in a few years’ time, if they have
the reserve force to enable them to withstand a severe
disease, great fatigue, or privation during a siege, and
whether the initial briskness they felt when they dropped
their large (probably too large) proteid intake is main-
tained, or whether, on the other hand, they present the
appearance and symptoms of underfed persons.

A cautious and conservative person would point to the
danger of a sudden change in the habits of years and
generations, even though it may ultimately be necessary.
Most physiologists will recall the analogy of metabolic
changes to commercial undertakings which they employ
when presenting balance-sheets of intake and output in the
body, and say, just as in a business enterprise, a large turn-
over implies healthy activity, so in the body a frequent
exchange of the old for the new is within certain limits an
indication of vigour, and a necessary accompaniment of
healthy action. The liver, the function of which it is to
turn nitrogenous metabolites, which may be harmful, into
urea, which is harmless and easily disposed of, is adequately
large and active in health to deal with considerable quanti-
ties of material.

Then we may point to the stunted and feeble inhabitants
among the poor and ask why they are so. Unhealthy
dwellings, excess of alcohol, insufficiency of light and pure
air will explain a good deal of their condition; but is it
not underfeeding, especially in early life, which is at the
root of the matter? They have had nolens volens to subsist
on a diet very like Chittenden’s, but their nutritive condition
is not such as to make people who can afford a mcre liberal
table inclined to follow their example.

Further, one may inquire, why is it that, with a few

NO. 1892, VOL. 73]

exceptions, the meat-eating nations have risen to the front?
and why is it that in countries like India, where the native
population is diluted with the white races, it is the former
who are more readily attacked by disease, and more easily
succumb to its effects?

A question intimately related to that of a suitable diet
for the healthy adult is that of the feeding of children.
The diet of the growing infant is relatively far richer in
proteid than that of the adult. Must we also reduce the
intake of proteid food in the child? This is a question
that Chittenden has not touched, but clinical experience
does not point, so far as I can ascertain, to an afhrmative
answer, either with regard to the feeding of infants or of
certain classes of invalids.

These questions and difficulties cannot be answered off-
hand. There is a wide field still open to investigators,
and not until such difficulties are removed will it be possible
for physiologists to state that Prof. Chittenden has con-
vincea them.

The Work of Folin.

Whether Dr. Otto Folin has seen these difficulties or
not, he certainly does not mention them, and he appears
as an advocate of the new doctrine, not only from a study
of Chittenden’s investigations, but also as a result of his
own researches. Nitrogen enters the body in the complex
compounds known as proteids; it leaves the body mainly
by the urine in the shape of certain simpler substances of
which urea is the most abundant. Folin has approached
the subject from the aspect of nitrogenous discharge, and
has published his investigations on the urine in a series of
three interesting papers in the American Journal of
Physiology (vol. xiii., 1905, pp. 45-65, 66-115, 117-138).
Although it is possible that some of his conclusions may
not stand the test of time, all of them are most suggestive,
and his theory of proteid-metabolism will stand out as one
of the most important contributions to physiological litera-
ture that has appeared within recent times.

The question, what is a normal diet? is intimately
bound up with another, and that is, what is a normal
urine? The text-book statements on the composition of
this fluid are all derived from the examination of the urine
of people accustomed to the Voit dietary; but if the diet
of the future is to contain only half as much proteid, the
urine of the future will naturally show a nitrogenous out-
put of half that which is now regarded as normal. In
people on such reduced diets, Folin shows that the decrease
in urinary nitrogen falls mainly on the urea fraction, and
in some cases the urea accounted for only 66 per cent.
of the total nitrogen eliminated. The other nitrogenous
waste products alter but little in absolute amount, but
relatively their amount rises; in particular, the creatinine
remains remarkably constant in absolute amount in spite
of the great reduction in the proteid ingested. He goes on
to point out that the laws governing the composition of
urine are the effect of more fundamental laws governing
proteid katabolism. Voit’s well known theory on_ this
question states that katabolism, i.e. the breaking down
stage, occurs only in “‘ circulating proteid’’; the small
amount of “living proteid’’’ which dies is dissolved, and
is then added to the “‘ circulating proteid,’’ where the final
breakdown into waste products takes place. Pfluger, on
the other hand, believes that all proteid taken in as food
is first assimilated and becomes a corporate part of living
cells before it undergoes the katabolic change. This view
has met with more general acceptance than Voit’s. The
opinion held by Folin is that neither of these extreme views
is correct, but that nitrogenous katabolism is of two kinds :
one is inconstant and immediate, varies with the food,
and leads to formation of urea and inorganic sulphates, but
not of creatinine and “* neutral sulphur.’’ The other is
smaller in amount, constant in quantity, and is largely
represented by creatinine, ‘‘ neutral sulphur,’’ and to a
less extent by uric acid and ethereal sulphates. This, latter
form of metabolism, representing the breakdown of actual
living substance, may be termed tissue or endogenous
metabolism, whilst the other is exogenous. Exogenous
metabolism therefore represents an immediate discharge of
the nitrogenous constituent of proteid matter, leaving the
non-nitrogenous moiety available for use in heat and
energy production, fulfilling, in other words, the same func-

Joo

NALORE

[ FEBRUARY I, 1906

tion as carbohydrate and fat. Endogenous metabolism
sets a limit to the lowest level of nitrogenous equilibrium
attainable, and the proteid necessary to balance this part
of the nitrogenous waste is indispensable for the repair of
the tissues. Whether the amount exogenously katabolised
can be entirely dispensed with is at present questionable.
I fancy most physiologists would agree that it cannot with
safety be wholly dispensed with; the body would then be
working too dangerously near the margin, and in any case
where an excess of nitrogenous waste is necessary the
call would have then to be made on the tissue proteids.

Recent researches on digestion of proteids in the alimen-
tary canal have shown that they are largely broken down
into simple substances like ammonia, leucine, tyrosine, and
other amino-acids. ‘This is regarded by Folin as a pre-
liminary means of getting rid of the excess of proteid
matter usually ingested ; these waste products, according to
this view, are taken to the liver, rapidly transformed into
urea, and so got rid of. The evidence that they are
synthesised by the cells of the body into “‘ living proteid ”’
is regarded by him as inconclusive and largely teleological.
An extensive formation of Voit’s ‘‘ circulating proteid,”’
to be followed immediately by decomposition into urea, is
quite as improbable as the corresponding formation and
decomposition of Pfliiger’s organised protoplasm. The
organism requires in its food only the small amount of
nitrogen necessary for endogenous metabolism ; the nitrogen
of the extra proteid is unnecessary, and the organism has
at hand an active mechanism for casting it out.

To attempt to summarise all the points of detail into
which Folin enters is beyond the scope of this article; all
I desire to do is to bring forward the main principle of
the new idea. There is, however, one further point of
sufficient importance to warrant specific mention, and that
is the one related to muscular work. The fact that
muscular work does not increase proteid katabolism may
be accepted as an approximate truth; it is not absolutely
true; there is a certain increase of nitrogenous waste, but
it is insignificant as compared with the enormous and
immediate increase of waste carbonaceous products like
carbon dioxide that are discharged when muscles are
thrown into action.

If current views on the nature of proteid katabolism are
correct, this fact is very difficult to explain, but it becomes
intelligible if proteid katabolism, in so far as its nitrogen
is concerned, is independent of the oxidations which give
rise to heat or to the energy which is converted into work.
‘“ Whether severe work will have an effect on the endo-
genous metabolism cannot be shown by investigating urea
excretion; determinations of creatinine and ‘ neutral
sulphur’ are necessary for a study of that question”
(Folin).

One of the benefits such papers as those of Folin confer
is that new ideas of this kind suggest fresh work to others,
and it can hardly be doubted that in the future physiological
literature will contain many papers criticising and supple-
menting the theories and facts which Folin has brought
forward. Already one of these has appeared in the current
issue of the Journal of Physiology (Noél Paton, vol. xxxiii.,
p 1, 1905). In this Dr. Noél Paton on the whole agrees
with Folin concerning the dual nature of proteid meta-
bolism. He, however, differs from him in certain points
of detail. He finds in the dog, for instance, that creatinine
excretion is not so constant a quantity as in man. He
also doubts whether it is possible to draw any hard and
fast line between endogenous and exogenous metabolism,
and that urea may be a final product of both. He ex-
plains some of Folin’s results by variations in the activity
of the liver, for it is in this organ that ammonia com-
pounds and the like are transformed into urea. A study of
various diets upon the flow of bile (which may be taken
as an index of hepatic activity) shows that proteid diet
specially stimulates the metabolic processes in the liver.
Hence on a diet which is poor in proteid the hepatic
action may be sluggish, and will therefore fail to convert
a large quantity of waste nitrogen into urea, while on a
diet rich in proteid the conversion must be much more
complete. As with the nitrogen, so with the sulphur, the
amount of which is completely oxidised must be deter-
mined by the activity of the changes in the liver.

Such, then, is a brief summary of some of the recent

NO. 1892, VOL. 73]

work in connection with these most important problems.
We can hardly doubt that the steps made are in the direc-
tion of progress of knowledge, but it is as yet too early
to prophesy where they will ultimately lead us.

W.. Dias

PHOTOGRAPHY IN NATURAL COLOURS.
exhibition of photographs in which the aim of the

N

A photographer has been to imitate the colours of the
objects represented is now open at the offices of the British
Journal of Photography, 24 Wellington Street, Strand, and
will remain open until the beginning of March. The speci-
mens are all direct photographs in the sense that they have
been produced by photographic printing, and not in printing
presses from blocks or plates. The editors of the British
Journal of Photography must be congratulated in that they
have succeeded in bringing together a more representative
collection than has ever been on view before.

The first glance that one instinctively takes round a
room immediately on entering it produces a feeling quite
different from that experienced on giving a momentary and
general look round in a small gallery of paintings. In the
latter case there is an impression of completeness in the
work that gives satisfaction, whether or not this is main-
tained when the pictures are more carefully examined ; but
here there is a sense of a want of finish, an impression of
experiment or incompleteness, as if those who made the
pictures had left off before they had got the effect they
sought to get. Perhaps others will not experience the
same feeling, but it was very marked in the case of the
writer, and, so far as the origin of it could be traced, it
appeared to be due to a general crudeness of colour, or
the predominance of one certain colour over the whole
picture, or an indecision of outline that was evidently not
intentional. Some examples suffer in one way and some
in another; a few are quite satisfying, and must be very
excellent if not perfect, but they are not in a sufficient
proportion to affect the general impression.

It will hardly require technical knowledge to convince
the visitor that the personality of the photographer has a
great deal to do with the result. The more skilful the
worker the better the photograph, that is, the more true
are the colours and the fewer the errors of manipulation
in all ways. As the skill of the worker has so much to do
with the result, it is impossible to decide as to the merits
of the various methods. Strictly speaking, it is not possible
to determine the value of any of the photographs, for in
no case is the original put by the side of it. Who would
ever dream of attempting to judge the merits of a copy
except by comparing it with the thing copied? Yet the
writer has never seen or heard of a demonstration of the
possibilities of a method of colour photography by an
exhibition of a coloured object and its photograph side by
side.

The effect of the personal element, or, in other words, the
varying skill (or perhaps the varying luck) of different
workers, is very clearly shown in the examples of the
same process by different persons, or where an optically
inferior method gives a better result. As an example of
this last we would refer to Nos. 12 and 33, both apparently
from the same group of fruit, &c., and both made of three
superimposed films. In No. 33 the films are not cemented
together, yet this picture is brighter than the other.

The only example of the immediate production of the
colour of the incident light, and in this case the colour
is not pigmentary but due to interference and visible only
at a certain angle, is a very successful spectrum by the
Lippmann process contributed by Mr. E. Senior. With two
or three exceptions, the rest of the exhibits are three-colour
prints. The fundamental principles are the same in all.
Three-colour records are made by photographing the object
through coloured media, getting the red, green, and blue
of the object separately recorded. From these three nega-
tives suitably coloured prints are made and_ brought
together. In the Joly process, two specimens of which are
lent by Mr. E. J. Wall, the three colours are arranged in
series of fine parallel lines, and it is necessary to get so far
away that these lines are indistinguishable, otherwise they
are annoying to the spectator. The starch-grain method of

FEBRUARY I, 1906]

NATURE

aH

Messrs. Lumiére gets over this difficulty of the lines by
coating a plate with a single layer of starch granules
which have been previously suitably coloured in three
batches and then well mixed. The disposition of the three
required colours is thus irregular, and the separate points
of colour are too small to be discriminated by the naked
eye. Unfortunately, no example of this method is on view ;
probably the inventors do not care to show their results
until they have perfected the process. But this is the only
notable process not represented.

In the rest of the exhibits the three coloured prints are
superimposed, the variations being in the methods of their
production and assembling. In the Sanger-Shepherd
process three separate films are prepared, stained, and
cemented together. Several exhibitors have adopted this
process, chiefly in the production of transparencies, but
there are a few prints on paper, and of these a portrait,
No. 11, is worthy of special commendation. Dr. B.
Jumeaux’s modification consists in getting the blue element
as a toned bromide print, and then superimposing the red
and yellow films. Captain Lascelles Davidson and Mr. O.
Pfenninger show specimens in which the films are super-
imposed but not cemented together, and there are other
modifications that are not described.

Instead of three stained films, the prints may be pre-
pared from pigmented tissue by the ordinary carbon
process. The Autotype Company, the Rotary Photographic
Company, Mr. W. E. Brewerton, M. Leon Vidal, the
Lumiére N.A. Company, and Dr. A. Hesekiel and Co.
exhibit prints by various modifications of this method of
working, the last named adopting the Selle process in-
troduced several years ago. Mr. W. E. Brewerton shows
how the gum bichromate process may be adapted for the
purpose, each of the three coloured elements being pro-
duced in turn on the same sheet, with no transferring.
The two “‘ winter landscapes’’ by Dr. H. Bachmann are
stated to be three-colour prints in gum bichromate, but
the colours are scarcely, if at all, perceptible. The “* pina-
type ’’ process has recently been described in these columns.
In this case three colours are absorbed in turn into a
single gelatin film from prepared gelatin films previously
soaked in the colour solutions. Messrs. Fuerst Bros. show
specimens of it, and Dr. E. F. Griin some results of un-
described modifications. d

One of the most interesting exhibits is the group
numbered from 52 to 56, examples of coloured prints
obtained by a single exposure of a piece of coated paper
under the coloured original, the colours being reproduced
in the print. The sensitive material has the necessary
three colours, each in its own film, superimposed, so that
it appears black. By exposure to white light the dyes are
all bleached, but if the light is coloured the corresponding
colour is not bleached, because the dye does not absorb
light of its own colour. This process has been worked at
for many years by several investigators, the fundamental
difficulties being to find the colours of the right tints that
shall be sufficiently sensitive, that is fugitive to light, and
can be made sufficiently stable when the print has been
produced. These examples are by Szczepanik’s method,
and show surprisingly bright and clean colours. It is a
pity that the original “lithophanes’’ are not shown as
well as the copies, as many will doubtless consider that
they are withheld because the comparison would not be to
the advantage of the prints. Whether this is so or not,
the results are wonderfully good considering the difficulty
inherent in such work.

Of the three negatives exhibited by Dr. J. H. Smith and
Co., obtained by one exposure in an ordinary camera, the
plate used having superimposed on it three sensitive films
with the necessary colour screens, there is nothing to be
said, as there is no example of the plate used or of the
print that the negatives might give. The results on
** multico ’’ tissue, which has several layers of pigmented
tissue and is used as in carbon printing, the ‘‘ mars star ”’
prints which are produced by applying colours to bleached
bromide prints, and the two portraits by Mr. Burgess can
hardly be regarded as serious attempts to reproduce mech-
anically the colours of the originals until more is known
about them. They are better described as colour effects,
and there might be some interest attaching to them if the
methods of their production were known. Cae

NO. 1892, vol. 73]

THE INTERNATIONAL METEOROLOGICAL

CONFERENCE AT INNSBRUCK.
Fourth Meeting, September 14, 1905.*
THE president, Prof. J. M. Pernter, announced that

after the discussion of a proposition made by Father
Froc the meeting would proceed to elect the International
Committee. By accepting Father Froc’s proposition, the
committee recommended the observation of the zodiacal
light whenever possible, and assigned a definite symbol
for use in reports.

On the proposition of Prof. von Bezold, the following
committee was re-elected :—Messrs. Chaves, Davis, Eliot,
Hellmann, Hepites, Hildebrandsson, Lancaster, Mascart,
Mohn, Moore, Palazzo, Paulsen, Pernter, Russell,
Rykatcheff, and Shaw.

Also, on the proposition of Prof. von Bezold, Prof.
Nakamura, of Japan, was elected in succession to the late
Dr. Billwiller.

Prof. Pernter proposed that the presidents of the com-
missions should be added to the committee, but it was
decided that six months’ notice should be given of any
propositions which would affect the constitution of the
committee.

Prof. Hildebrandsson presented the report of the com-
mission on squalls. It was arranged that the question of
the study of squalls should be left in the hands of Messrs.
Durand-Greville, Hildebrandsson, and Shaw, and _ that
meteorological institutions, including aéronautical stations,
should be asked to send to these gentlemen, upon demand,
for a certain number of days, about ten per year, the
necessary observations for the construction of accurate
charts of isobars, with the diagrams of pressure, tempera-
ture, and wind for the purposes of this special study.

Prof. Hellmann reported on behalf of the commission on
the international code and on the comparison of baro-
meters. The conference considered the publication of
the international code, of the resolutions passed by, and
of the papers presented to, the international conferences to
be a valuable and powerful means of facilitating and
developing international meteorological research, and ex-
pressed a hope that the meteorological institutions in
Berlin, Paris, and London would undertake the publication
in German, French, and English. Thanks were voted to
Father Algué, who proposed to publish them in Spanish,
and to Profs. Hellman and Hildebrandsson for their pre-
paration of the code.

After some discussion as to the best means of comparing
the barometers in different countries, it was decided to put
into operation the decision of the conference at Vienna
relating to the inspection of the stations in the control of
each country. The comparison, wherever possible, was to
be extended to extra-European countries. This work was
left to Prof. Hellmann and General Rykatcheff.

General Rykatcheff presented propositions from the
magnetic commission dealing with the necessity of bring-
ing the magnetic instruments in the various observatories
into agreement, and with the desirability of an early
exchange of diagrams after days of magnetic storms, or
Whenever the records may be specially interesting.

Fifth Meeting, September 15, 1905.

The president of the solar commission, Sir Norman
Lockyer, presented the report of the meetings of that com-
mission during the preceding days, and also the report of
the meeting at Cambridge in 1904. The committee
approved of all the resolutions contained in the report, and
re-elected the commission, with Sir Norman Lockyer again
as president.

The commission expressed the opinion that permanent
meteorological observatories should be established in the
north of Siberia and America, at least two or three in
each country. It also desired to obtain all the observations
that may have been made in a large number of islands
scattered over the globe, the names of which were given,
and insisted on the necessity of continuing these observ-
ations, asking that the attention of the Governments con-
cerned should be directed to this matter. Directors of

1 Reports of the proceedings of the first three meetings appeared in
Nature of September 21 and October 5, 1905 (vol. Ixxii., pp. 510 and 562).

oo

NATURE

[FEBRUARY I, 1906

meteorological services were asked to furnish data of the
heights and flow of rivers and lakes whenever possible.

M. Teisserenc de Bort reported from the commission on
the atlas of clouds, and gave particulars of certain alter-
ations in the plates in that atlas and in the definition of
stratus cloud.

M. Teisserenc de Bort and Dr. Rotch gave an account
of an expedition through the regions of the trade wind
and equatorial calms in the North Atlantic. M. de Bort
gave the history of the expedition and the results of the
observations obtained by means of captive balloons, and
Dr. Rotch gave those obtained by kites. Prof. Hergesell
followed with the results similarly obtained in the Mediter-
ranean on board the yacht belonging to the Prince of
Monaco.

Dr. K6ppen announced that the German hydrographical

expedition to the Bismarck Archipelago would similarly
use balloons and kites during the voyage.
Prof. Mohn reported from the commission on meteor-

ological telegraphy.

M. Polis directed attention to the fact that the Daily
Telegraph already announces the coming of storms from
the Atlantic, using observations sent by means of wireless
telegraphy from ships at sea. The conference then passed
the following resolution :—*‘ This conference is convinced
that wireless telegraphy is chosen to render in the future
great service in the forecasting of the weather in the
Atlantic, but before introducing it into the current service
of the meteorological institutions it is indispensable to take
satisfactory precautions for the control of the observations
transmitted. The conference asks the Meteorological Office
in London to prepare as quickly as possible a report on
this question, and communicate with the other meteor-
ological institutions that may be specially interested in the
matter.”’

During this meeting it was announced that M. Mascart
had been elected president, and Prof. Hildebrandsson
secretary, to the committee, and that the following com-
missions had been renewed :—Magnetic commission, presi-
dent, General Rykatcheff (St. Petersburg); aéronautical
commission, president, Prof. Hergesell (Strasburg); solar
commission, president, Sir Norman Lockyer (London) ;
commission on radiation, president, Prof. Angstrom
(Upsala). After thanking the reporters of the various com-
missions for their reports, the president declared the session
at Innsbruck to be at an end.

UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL
INTELLIGENCE.

Oxrorp.—The Vice-Chancellor has appointed Lord
Curzon of Kedleston to be Romanes lecturer for 1906.
The following elections have been made to the Uni-

versity mathematical scholarships :—to the senior scholar-
ship, A. Holden (Balliol College) ; to the junior scholarship,
A. V. Billen (University College); to the exhibition,
J. Hodgkinson (Jesus College).

u. E. Beaumont (Magdalen College School) has been
elected to a natural science scholarship at University
College.

Scholarship examinations in natural science will take
place on March 13 at Keble College, and on April 24 at
Merton College, New College, and Corpus Christi College.

CampripGr.—The board of biology and geology has re-
ported to the Senate on the disposition of its share of the
Gordon Wigan fund, which amounts to about 150l. The
following assignment has been made for 1905 and following
years :—(a) A grant of sol. a year to Dr. D. Sharp, for a
period of five years (1905-9), or such part of it during
which he holds the curatorship in zoology; (b) a grant of
sol. out of the income for 1905 to Prof. Hughes, to enable
Mr. E. A. Arber to continue his researches into the strati-
graphical and geographical distribution of fossil plants ;
(c) the balance of the fund for 1905, and a grant of sol.
for each of the years 1906 and 1907, to Mr. A. C. Seward,
to enable the botanic garden syndicate to offer greater
facilities for plant-breeding experiments. The same board
strongly recommends that the agreement between the Uni-
versity and Dr. Dohrn, director of the zoological station

NO. 1892, \OL. 73]

at Naples, be renewed for a further period of five years, by
the payment to him of tool. per annum out of the Worts

travelling bachelors’ fund, such period to date from
Michaelmas, 1906.
Mr. D. G. Hogarth will lecture on ‘‘ Geographical

Conditions affecting Population in the East Mediterranean
Lands ”’ in the Sedgwick Museum on Tuesday, February 20,
for the board of geographical studies, and Dr. Hans
Gadow is to lecture to-day before the Antiquarian Society
on ** Aztec Civilisation and its Origin.”

Tue council of the University of Liverpool at a meeting
held on January 23 passed the following resolution :—
‘““That on the recommendation of the Senate a readership
in ethnography be instituted in recognition of the scholar-
ship of H. O. Forbes, LL.D., director of the Public
Museums of Liverpool, and that Dr. Forbes be appointed
to the said readership.”’

It is announced in Science that Mr. N. W. Harris, of
Chicago, has presented soool. to North-western University,
to be used as an endowment for an annual series of lec-
tures to be delivered by some distinguished man, not a
professor of the university, upon the results of his own
investigations in scientific, literary, economical, or theo-
logical problems. From the same source we learn that by
the will of Andrew J. Dotger, of South Orange, N.J., the
Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute will, at the
death of the testator’s wife, receive the residuary estate,
said to be about 100,000l.

IN an address delivered to the Manchester section of the
Society of Chemical Industry, Dr. G. H. Bailey, as chair-
man of the section, dealt with the question of higher educa-
tion and chemical industry, pleading for more cooperation
between manufacturers and teachers. If success is to be
achieved in the chemical industries of this country, Dr.
Bailey considers that there must be a great change in the
curriculum hitherto adopted in our universities and colleges ;
moreover, ‘‘ a satisfactory curriculum can only be assured
by a more intimate association of the teaching authorities,
whoever they may be, and the leaders of industry.’’ In
considering the present state of English industry and the
methods necessary to ensure its prosperity, Dr. Bailey re-
marks :—*‘ progress in manufacture must indeed be regarded
as a safeguard to stability, far more potent than any
political or economic device for the protection of interests,
and that nation must succeed in industry, which keeps this
clearly in view and possesses the talent wherewith to meet
the ever changing demands made upon it.”

Viscount Hayasni, the Japanese Ambassador, distributed
the prizes to the successful students of the Northern Poly-
technic Institute, Holloway, on January 25. In the course
of a subsequent address, he said that scientific research
made such strides in the past century that it is no ex-
aggeration to assert that the present is the age of practical
application in every phase of modern life. Therefore there
is nothing more important in a national system of secular
education than institutions which keep abreast with the
stride of science. Viscount Hayashi explained then that
he took part in the administration of the technical college
in Tokio. That college was established some thirty years
ago with the help of many British professors and men of
science whose names are well known in Europe, and from
it thousands of students have been sent out to take part in
engineering and other works necessitating the scientific
application of the mechanical arts. Japan owes very much
to that great educational work, and Viscount Hayashi
said his people felt grateful for the assistance which Great
Britain had given in this department.

Tue London County Council School of Marine Engineer-
ing at Poplar, which was described in Nature for October
19, 1905 (vol. Ixxii. p. 623), was opened on January 24 by
Sir. William Collins, M.P. An address was delivered by
Sir William White, K.C.B., who expressed a favourable
opinion of the arrangements, equipment, and course of
study provided in the new institute. He went on to de-
scribe the remarkable results attained during the last
twenty years by a modest educational scheme which he

FEBRUARY I, 1906]

had conducted on behalf of the Shipwrights’ Company of
the City of London. Before 1888 there was no evening
class in the Port of London where young men could obtain
instruction in the science of shipbuilding. The Ship-
wrights’ Company then undertook to establish and assist
evening classes, which have been since carried out success-
fully and without a break in various parts of the East
End. In these classes hundreds of young men have re-
ceived valuable teaching, and the results have surpassed
expectation; many of the students of the evening classes
have proved themselves capable of taking the highest train-
ing in naval architecture at the Royal Naval College at
Greenwich, and elsewhere, and not a few have secured
positions of importance and responsibility in the Admiralty
service, under the Board of Trade, Lloyd’s Register of
Shipping, and in private shipbuilding establishments. This
object-lesson of what can be done with moderate expendi-
ture, under careful and personal supervision, gives every
reason for anticipating much greater benefits from the new
institute with its ample means and adequate provision.
Sir William White concluded by remarking that technical
education for the rank and file as well as for the leaders
and captains of industry is of great importance, and in
providing the new sc hool and equipping it on so generous
a scale the London County Council has shown great
wisdom as well as great liberality.

Men of science have long urged the necessity for the
introduction of scientific methods of inquiry and _ pro-

cedure into national administration, and their consistent
advocacy culminated recently in the inauguration of the
British Science Guild with the primary object of familiar-

ising statesmen and others with the scientific spirit. The
first president of the new guild, Mr. Haldane, is the
Secretary of State for War in the new Government, and

his speech on January 27 at a banquet of the Edinburgh
University Liberal Association may well fill men of science
with hope that a new era is near in which ideas and the
results of scientific research will be taken into account in
legislation and administration. Mr. Haldane insisted that
national prosperity is not wholly a matter of fiscal policy.
Answering the question, Is all well with us? he replied
in the negative, because we are lacking in the ideas which
science alone can give us, and consequently are lacking
in the organisation of our industries. Knowledge, the
expert, the spirit of science and organisation to permeate
our people, our manufacturers, and workmen alike are all
wanted. One of the ways in which the universities can
t the nation is in this direction. Mr. Haldane said
his impression is that the Army would be the better for
more help from the universities than it had been able to take
from them. ‘There are too few officers of the right sort, the
thinking sort, like the men in the Engineers and in the
Artillery, but of whom there are too few in the Cavalry
and the Line. Mr. Haldane thinks he sees the beginning
of a movement of this kind; and he hopes the university
men will play a distinguished part in the future in obtain-
ing that which is absolutely essential in making the Army
an efficient army—a supply of scientifically minded officers
and soldiers. The splendid fighting quality in the field
which has distinguished the Army in the past, the quick-
ness of eye that is born and that does not come is needed ;
but with it and behind it, whether in the hands of the
general staff or of the commander himself, there must be
a knowledge that can only come of the hard and patient
discipline of the spirit.

THE cooperation of employers in the technical training
of apprentices was a subject of discussion at the annual
meeting of the Association of Technical Institutions held
last week. A report upon this subject was issued recently
by the association, and some of the results of the inquiry
were stated in Nature of December 21, 1905 (p. 188). In
a contribution to the discussion, Prof. W. Ripper remarked
that his own observation and experience has led him to
believe that the unsympathetic attitude towards technical
education which used to be so common among foremen
and employers in this country is undergoing a change.
The apathy and indifference towards educational improve-
ment so general among apprentices and young people will
be largely removed when they are made to realise that
there is, as a rule, no promotion for them unless they are

NO. 1892, VOL. 73]

NATURE 333

able to show that they possess educational as well as
practical fitness for such promotion. This method of pro-
motion is the one exclusively adopted in the Government
dockyards, and the results of it have without doubt been
highly satisfactory. In the race for commercial supremacy
England, America, and Germany are each, probably,

equally well equipped with the most up-to-date machinery
and appliances. But these are tools merely. For the real
element of success, for the intelligence and virility behind
the tools, we depend alone upon the quality of the ine
dividual men from top to bottom of the industrial army

and especially do we depend upon the quality of the men
at the top—the leaders—whose character, ability, foresight,
judgment, power of organisation, and power of inspiration
must ultimately determine the degree of success of the
efforts of the whole. At present there is too often no con-

nection whatever between the works and the technical
school, no knowledge on the part of the employer of the

quality of the youths in the colleges, who are available
for suitable employment, and, on the other hand, no oppor-
tunity on the part of the youths to show possible employers
what qualifications they possess, and what claim they have
to recognition over the youth who has received no train-
ing. A closer relationship between employers and_ the
teachers in technical institutions is therefore demanded in
the interests both of public efficiency and of private well-
being. In the discussion which followed the reading of
Prof. Ripper’s paper, Prof. Wertheimer said there is no
doubt a steady, if not rapid, improvement taking place
year by year. Firms—and the best firms, too—are recog-
nising the desirability of getting into their employ young
people whose intelligence has already been trained.

Str WI LLiAM Anson delivered an address
the Association of Technical Institutions,
meeting of the association held last week.
of his remarks, he said that the subject which most
exercis both the local authorities and the Board of
Education is the coordination of the studies which make
up our system of education, and especially coordination in
such a manner as to give to our technical institutions their
proper place and to secure for them their utmost utility.
There is no subject more intimately connected with the
welfare of the people and the prosperity of our industries.
We have paid somewhat dearly for our neglect of science
in the past, and not merely for neglect of science, but of
any conception of education which can be regarded as
scientific or even as systematic. There is one form of
error which touches more nearly the elementary schools.
We have founded technical institutes, have multiplied
libraries and laboratories, but have not taken pains to
ensure that those to whom this instruction is offered are
capable of taking advantage of it. Time and money are
wasted in endeavouring to impart technical instruction to
students who have forgotten such elementary mathematics
as they ever knew, and who are unable to express their
knowledge in their own language in an intelligible form.
Everyone ought to know something of science, “and every-
one would be the better for learning the practical appli-
cation of some branch of science. But we want the
students in technical institutions to come to them able to
take advantage of the opportunities which they afford,
and not only this, but able to carry forward knowledge
which they acquire ; not merely to learn something and
go away with no idea or intention of following up the
instruction which they have. received. An _ educational
system may be devised in which all the parts are sym-
metrically fitted together, in which science pure, and science
applied, language, literature, and history are all given
their due place, and every arrangement made for the
student to pass through courses appropriate to him under
teachers fully qualified for their work. But even if these
educational ideals are realised, it may be doubted whether
we shall get what is wanted until there comes into exist-
ence a more widely diffused belief in education, in the
value of a trained intelligence as well as of particular
information, a belief that experience acquired with know-
ledge, and knowledge applied with intelligence, are better
than that mere experience which is described in the
common phrase ‘‘rule of thumb.’’ As Sir John Wolfe
Barry had said, ‘‘ We want to see in Great Britain the

as president of
at the annual
In the course

“cc

334

NATURE

man of science installed in his laboratory in all important
manufactories and encouraged to help in their develop-
ment.’’ Great employers have it in their power to advance
the education of the people all along the line. Technical
instruction in all its stages is a practical thing; and when
it is realised that employers appreciate the instructed and
intelligent student, then parents will begin to see that
education has a practical value. The educational gospel
should be ‘‘ Believe, believe,’’ not only or chiefly in
machinery, in a curriculum, a laboratory, a library, but
in the value of knowledge, of intelligence, of training, and
when we have made this belief widespread an important
Sas have been taken toward the education of our
people.

SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES.
LONDON.

Royal Society, December 14, 1905.—‘‘ Report on the
Psychology and Sociology of the Todas and other Indian
Tribes.”” By Dr. W. H. R. Rivers. Communicated by
the Secretaries of the Royal Society.

An abstract of observations made chiefly on the Todas
of the Nilgiri Hills. The psychological worl deals chiefly
with the senses, in only two of which is there evidence

of decided difference between Todas and Englishmen. The
former were less sensitive to pain, and showed certain

deficiencies in the colour-sense, especially in the degree of
relative sensibility to red and blue, a low degree of sensi-
bity for blue being associated with defective nomenclature
for that colour. Definite colour-blindness was found in
12 per cent. of the males, a frequency higher than has been
recorded in any other race. Quantitative observations were
made on two visual illusions, one of which, that of com-
pared horizontal and vertical lines, was distinctly more
pronounced in the Todas, while the other, the Miller-Lyer
illusion, was present in a slighter degree. This difference
is believed to depend on the difference in nature of the two
illusions. Especial attention was paid to the variability
of the individuals subjected to the tests, and it is shown
that there is some evidence of correlation between the degree

of general intellectual development and certain simple
mental activities which can be tested by experimental
methods.

The sociology of the Todas was studied by means of the
genealogical method, and was found to have many points
of resemblance with that of Malabar, and the view is
advanced that the Todas at one time inhabited that district
and are probably of the same race as the present inhabitants
of Malabar, the Nairs and Nambutiris. A detailed record
was obtained of the elaborate religious ritual of the Todas,
and evidence is given that this religion has undergone
degenerative changes. It is suggested that this is part of
the general disappearance of a higher culture which the
Todas brought with them to the Nilgiri Hills.

““On the Spectrum of the Spontaneous Luminous Radi-
ation of Radium. Part IV.—Extension of the Glow.’’ By
Sir William Huggins, K.C.B., O.M., F.R.S., and Lady
Huggins.

In our second paper? we suggest ‘‘ whether the £ rays,
which are analogous to the kathode corpuscles, may not
be mainly operative in exciting the radium glow. On
this surmise it would be reasonable to expect some little
extension of the glow outside the limit of the solid radium
itself. We are unable to detect any halo of luminosity
outside the limit of the solid radium bromide; the glow
appears to end with sudden abruptness at the boundary
surface of the radium.’’ We omitted to state that this
conclusion was arrived at by eye observations. The radium
was observed in the dark with a lens, and with a low-power
microscope.

The earlier photographs of the spectrum of the glow
were taken, for the purpose of comparison spectra, with
the height of the slit reduced by shutters so as to be within
the width of the exposed radium bromide, and, therefore,
these photographs would not show whether the bright bands
of nitrogen extend into the air beyond the radium. Sub-
sequently photographs were taken with the whole height
of the slit, and on these we find that all the bands of
nitrogen do extend to some little distance outside the

1 Roy. Soc. Proc., vol. \xxii., p. 410.(1g903).

NO. 1892, VOL. 73]

“ec

[Freruary I, 1906

radium salt. Our attention at the time being directed ‘5
other phenomena of the glow, we did not examine the
photographs to see if the nitrogen bands extended beyond
the radium.

In a paper, dated August 22, 1905, F. Himstedt and
G. Meyer! state that in their photographs of the spectrum
of RaBr,, the four nitrogen bands, 3577, 3371, about
3300, and 3159, extend beyond the radium salt, while the
other less refrangible bands are not traceable outside the
radium. In our photographs all the nitrogen bands project
beyond the radium salt, the relative distance to which the
extension can be detected in the case of each band being,
as might be expected, in proportion to the strength of the
impression of that band upon the photographic plate.

B. Walter and R. Pohl, in a paper dated September,
1905, give an account of experiments made with the help
of screens, which show that for a distance of up to about
2 cm. the air surrounding radium bromide has an action
on a photographic plate. ‘

On re-examining an early photograph, taken in 1903 for
another purpose, which is described in our second paper,*
in which the RaBr, was enclosed in a very narrow tube
of thin glass, we find that the bands of nitrogen, which
are strong within the tube, show no trace of extension on
the plate beyond the tube. The exposure of this plate
was seven days.

This experiment, which we have repeated recently with
an exposure of fourteen days, shows that the luminosity
of nitrogen in the near neighbourhood of radium bromide
is not due to the kathode-like 8 radiation, for this passes
freely through glass.

Two explanations may be suggested: first, that the
active cause is the a rays;* or secondly, that the nitrogen
moiecuies which encounter those molecules of the radium
which are undergoing active changes are broken up into
ions, which are projected outwards, and give rise to the
glow of luminous nitrogen.°

4

Royal Astronomical Society, January 12.—Mr. W. H
Maw, president, in the chair.—Photograph of comet c, 1905,
taken at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, on January 8:
Astronomer Royal. The photograph showed the comet
with a bright nucleus and a faint, straight tail extending
about 2°. It was hoped that further photographs would be
obtained after the comet had passed the sun.—The ring
nebula in Lyra: E. E. Barmard. A careful series of
measures of the positions of the stars about the nebula
appeared to show that the star in the centre of the ring
had neither proper motion nor parallax.—Mean areas and
heliographic latitudes of sun-spots in the year 1904:
Astronomer Royal.—Photographic reproduction —_ of
réseaux for star photography: H. Bourget. Specimens
of the réseaux were shown on the screen.—Report on
observations of Jupiter at Trincomali, Ceylon, 1904-5:
Major P. B. Molesworth. Special attention was directed
to the remarkable movement of the south tropical dark
area in the neighbourhood of the great red spot. The
motion of the area across the red spot bay was so rapid
that it seemed necessary to assign some cause other than
the actual transference of matter.—Measures of wide double
stars: Rev. T. E. Espin.—Action of the wood of the dark
slide upon photographic plates: Prof. H. H. Turner. The
plates were negatives of the solar eclipse taken at Aswan
by Mr. J. H. Reynolds, which were greatly injured by
strong impressions of the grain of the wood of the dark
slides in which they were placed after exposure. The same
had occurred to Dr. Copeland’s plates taken in 1898. It
was stated that the wood of Mr. Reynolds’s slides was very
old, and various suggestions were made, but the real cause
of this effect upon the plates still appeared obscure.—
Lunar nomenclature: W. Goodacre.—Measures of the
lunar crater Mésting A made at the Royal Observatory,
Greenwich: Astronomer Royal. :

1 F, Himsted and G. Meyer, Ber. d. Nat. Geselis. Freiberg vol. xvi.
. 13-17.
PES B Walter and R. Pohl, Azz. de Phys., vol. xviil., p. 406.

3+Roy. Soc. Proc., vol. \xxii., p. 412.

4 B. Walter, July, 1905, showed by means of absorption screens that the
radiation from radio-tellurium can produce the ultra-violet light of nitrogen
(Ann. d. Phys , yol. xvii., p- 367).

5 The experiments described in our last paper showed that probably the
B rays are not the operative cause of the nitrogen glow (Ray. Soc. Proc.,
vol. Ixxvi., p. 488).

FEBRUARY I, 1906]

IWAT ORE

3168)

Paris.

Academy of Sciences, January 15.—M. H. Poincaré in
the chair.—The landing of aéroplanes: Bouquet de la
Grye. A plan of arresting an aéroplane, and capable of
keeping it horizontal during its descent, is described. It
has been found to work in experiments on the small scale.
—The n-rays: M. Mascart (see p. 325).—The influence
of the reaction of the medium on the activity of amylase
and on the composition of saccharified starch: L.
Maquenne and Eug. Roux. The effect of the acidity
or alkalinity of the solution on the hydrolysis of starch
by malt has been recognised by other workers, without,
however, the effect being quantitatively determined. The
author shows that phenolphthalein is an unsuitable in-
dicator to use for these experiments, methyl orange being
better. He has found that for a rapid hydrolysis it is
first necessary to neutralise the alkali of the starch, then
to add to the malt a quantity of sulphuric acid equal to
about o-4 of that which would be required to neutralise
it completely. Not only can the rate of hydrolysis be
greatly increased by this treatment, but the proportion of
maltose formed is also raised about 10 per cent. to 15 per
cent.—Observations on the subject of the group C(OH) of
the tertiary alcohols: Louis Henry. Tertiary butyl
alcohol is converted by aqueous fuming hydrochloric acid
into the corresponding chloride with great ease; by the
substitution of the hydrogen atoms of the methyl groups
by other elements the action of the hydrochloric acid is
modified, the velocity of the reaction and amount of the
ester formed being reduced, or the action altogether pre-
vented. In the present paper the effects produced by the
introduction of chlorine, cyanogen, and oxygen are dis-
cussed.—Some integrals of partial differential equations :
E. Goursat.—A family of conjugated networks with the
same congruence: E. Merlin.—The impossibility of nega-
tive waves of shock in gases: Gy6z6 Zemplén. A reply to
the criticisms of P. Duhem on a former note on the same
subject—The conditions of establishment and application
of progressive damping for the oscillations of road vehicles :
A. Krebs. It is shown by a theoretical analysis of the
problem that the friction of ordinary carriage springs
ceases to be efficient when the sudden change of level is
more than 2 cm. A new arrangement is described which
satisfies the theoretical conditions for greater oscillations,
and which has been found to work well in practice.—
Photographic experiments on the action of the n-rays on
an oscillating spark: C. Gutton. If the n-rays are allowed
to fall on the primary spark of a Hertzian oscillator, the
secondary spark diminishes. The present paper deals with
the photographic registration of this effect.—The density
of ice: A. Leduc. About 108 grams of water were
frozen in each of the author’s experiments. Well
boiled distilled water gave a density of 0.9172, but it was
clear that this number was too small, since in the upper
part of the density flask small strings of separated air
bubbles were visible. By repeatedly melting and freezing
in a vacuum, the density was raised to 0-9176, and even
in this case there was some evidence of traces of dissolved
air. It is pointed out that the usual method of analysing
the gases dissolved by water must be inexact, since all gas
is not expelled by boiling—The distribution of electric
currents in a network: I. Révilliod.—A parhydric valve:
J. de Rohan Chabot. A description of a new form of
valve for preventing the return of water into the vacuum
of a filter pump.—Correction to a note on the saline oxide
of nickel: H. Baubigny.—The silicide of copper, and a
new mode of formation of silicon soluble in hydrofluoric
acid: Paul Lebeau. When the amount of silicon in a
copper silicon mixture is raised above 10 per cent., a
metallographic examination shows the presence of free
silicon.—A silicide of thorium: O. Hénigschmid. This
has been prepared by heating together a mixture of
aluminium, potassium fluosilicate, and the double fluoride
of thorium and potassium; the excess of aluminium is re-
moved by treatment with potash solutions. The compound
isolated, the chemical and physical properties of which are
given, has the composition ThSi,.—The diazo-derivatives
of the diamines: Léo Vignon.—The estimation of carbon
monoxide in air by iodic anhydride: Albert Lévy and
A. Pécoul. Although acetylene reacts

NO. 1892, VOL. 73]

with iodic anhy- | leaves of certain plants :

dride, it does not interfere with the estimation of minute
amounts of carbon monoxide in air, since a mixture of
1 part of acetylene in 10,000 parts of air gives no iodine.—
The estimation of small quantities of chloroform in air
and in blood or in aqueous solution: Maurice Nicloux.
A combination of the methods of Dumas (the action of
alcoholic potash on chloroform) and Mohr (chlorine titra-
tion in presence of a chromate).—The combustion of
acetylene by oxygen: Paul Mauricheau-Beaupré. An
examination of the products of combustion of the oxy-
acetylenic blow-pipe flame showed that oxides of nitrogen
and ozone were present, but no trace of carbon monoxide.
—The direct proportionality between the cryoscopic point
of a mineral water of the bicarbonate class and the com-
position of this water expressed as anhydrous mono-
carbonate: Lucien Graux. The half-bound carbonic acid
is without effect on the freezing point.—Mixed crystals of
alkaline nitrates: Fréd. Wallerant.—The alkaline rocks
in the neighbourhood of Evisa, Corsica: M. Deprat.
The yield of urine: Henri Lamy and André Mayer.—
The vitelline of the egg : L. Hugouneng.—New researches
on the oxidations produced by animal tissues in the
presence of ferrous salts: F. Battelli and Mlle. L. Stern.
Examples of the analogy between the oxidations produced
by hydrogen peroxide in presence of ferrous sulphate and
by animal extracts in presence of the same salt.—The
anomalous behaviour of the proteolysis produced by
papaine: C. Delezenne, H. Mouton, and E. Pozerski.
—The whitening of wheaten flour: E. Fleurent. The
oxides of nitrogen are more favourable than ozone, the
latter giving an objectionable smell to the flour.—Geology
of the Peloponnesus: Ph. Négris.—An ancient volcanic
chain to the N.W. of the Puys chain: Ph. Glangeaud.
Magnetic observations made at Sfax, Tunis, on the
occasion of the total eclipse of the sun of August 30, 1905 :
M. Dehalu. :

January 22.—M. H. Poincaré in the chair.—The boiling
of osmium, ruthenium, platinum, palladium, iridium, and
rhodium: Henri Moissan (see p. 325).—The origin of
the idea of solid solutions: Lecoq de Boisbaudran. A
claim for priority in the idea of solid solution.—Glycuronic
acid in the blood corpuscles: R. Lépine and M. Boutud.
The authors point out the liability of changes in the glycu-
ronic acid contents of the blood after it has left the blood-
vessel, and the precautions necessary te avoid such change.
—A theorem relating to the second differentials of the
potential of an attracting volume: A. Korn.—Elliptical
polarisation produced by mixed liquids: J. Chaudier.
Some new magneto-optical properties of colloidal solutions
of oxide of iron: A. Cotton and H. Mouton.—The
kathodic phosphorescence of europium: G. Urbain.
Certain differences in the spectra observed might be in-
terpreted as being due to two elements in europium, or
possibly to purely physical causes independent of the
elementary complexity. Further experiments will be made
to elucidate this point.—Mixtures of antimony and
tellurium, antimony and selenium, and the cryoscopic
constant of antimony: H. Pélabon.—Methoxytrichloro-
pentanol 1:5:4 and a-trichloromethyltetrahydrofurfurane :
J. L. Hamonet.—Acetylenic amides and nitriles: Ch.
Moureu and I. Lazennec. A general method for pre-
paring the amide R—C=C—CONH, and the correspond-
ing nitriles is given.—Glycidic condensation of the alde-
hydes with a-chloropropionic ester: Georges Darzens.—
The acyclic vinyl and B-chloroethyl ketones: E. E. Blaise
and M. Maire.—A crystalline modification stable in two
intervals of temperature: Fréd. Wallerant.—The influence
of the colouring matters in a mother liquid on the form
of the crystals deposited: P. Gaubert. During their
growth, crystals of phthalic acid can absorb a certain
quantity of foreign material which exercises an influence
on their form and size. The different faces are not pene-
trated by the foreign substance with the same facility.
The actual amounts of the colouring matters included were
small, 1/17oth for methylene blue and less for other sub-
stances.—The mechanism of the fall of certain terminal
buds: A. Tison.—A new genus of fungus from British
East Africa: P. Hariot and N. Pateouillard.—The vari-

| ations of phosphoric acid and nitrogen in the juices of the

G. André. In an annual plant, a

336

NATURE

[FEBRUARY I, 1906

part of the phosphoric acid leaves the leaf and goes
towards the ovule in the state of a soluble mineral phos-
phate, whilst another part is displaced from its state of
combination with nitrogenous material.—The properties of
colloids and the dynamic interpretation of cell division:
Angel Gallardo.—On Leposphilus labrei and on the family
of the Philichthyde : A. Quidor.—The action of extract
of the interstitial gland of the testicle on the development
of the skeleton and on the genital organs: P. Bouin and
P. Ancel.—Experimental researches on the proportions of
chloroform contained in the organism during chloroform
anesthesia: J. Tissot.—The action of sulphate of
hordenine on the circulation. L. Camus. With large
doses there is an increase of the blood pressure accom-
panied with modifications in the rhythm and amplitude of
the pulsations; small doses have little effect on the blood
pressure, but give rise to important changes in the number
and amplitude of the pulsations.—The reconstitution of an
ancient Oligocene lake on the north side of the massif
of Mont Doré: Ph. Glangeaud.—New observations on the
geology of the Sahara: René Chudeau.—On the form-
ation of the network of the reticulated Nummulites : Jean
Boussac.—The oceanic circulation: MM. Thoulet and
Chevallier.

DIARY OF SOCIETIES.

THURSDAY, Fesruary t.

Roya Society, at 4.30.—On the Filtration of Crystalloids and Colloids
tkrough Gelatin, with Special Reference to the Behaviour of Hemolysins:
J. A. Craw.—Chemical Action of Bacillus lactis aerogenes (Kscherich)
on Glucose and Mannitol: Production of 2: 3-Butyleneglycol and
Acetylmethylcarbinol : Dr. A. Hardenand G, S. Walpole.—On Voges and
Proskauer’s Reaction for Certain Bacteria: Dr. A. Harden.—The
Quantitative Estimation of Small Quantities of Nickel in Organic Sub-
stances: H. W. Armit and Dr. A. Harden.—The Alcoholic Ferment of
Yeast Juice: Dr. A, Harden and W. J. Young.—On the Function of
Silica in the Nutrition of Cereals. Part I.: A. D. Hall and C.G T.
Morison.—On the Origin of the Sertoli or Foot Cells of the Testis:
C. E. Walker and Miss A. L. Embleton.—Studies on Enzyme Action—
Lipase : Maurice Nicloux.—A Further Communication on the Specificity
and Action in Vitro of Gastrotoxin: Dr. C. Bolton.

CHEMICAL SociEry, at 8.30.—Hydroxylamine-af-disulphonates (Structural
Isomerides of Hydroxyamino-sul, hates or Hydroxylamine-Bf disul-
phonates): T. Haga.—Studies in the Camphane Series. Part XXI.
Benzenediazo--Semicarbazino-camphor and its Derivatives: M. O.
Forster.—The Relation between Absorption Spectra and Chemical
Constitution. Part I. The Chemical Reactivity of the Carbonyl Group:
A. W. Stewart and E. C. C. Baly.—(r) The Relation between Absorption
Spectra and Chemical Constitution. Part LI. The Quinones and
a-Diketones ; (2) The Relation between Absorption Spectra and Chemical
Constitution. Part III. The Nitranilines and the Nitrophenols: E. C. C.
Baly and A. W. Stewart.—The Action of Light on Benzylidenephenyl-
hydrazine: F. D. Chattaway.—The Union of Chlorine and Hydrogen:
D. L Chapman and C. H. Burgess.—Note on the Molecular Weight of
Adrenaline: G. Barger andj A. J. Ewins.—The Critical Temperature
and Value of ML/O of Some Carbon Compounds: J. Campbell Brown.

Royat Instirurion, at 5.—The Significance of the Future in the ‘I heory
of Evolution : Benjamin Kidd.

Civit AND MecuanicaL EnGrineers’ Society, at 8.—Destructor Bye-
products: F. L. Watson.

LINNEAN Society, at 8.—The Percy Sladen Trust Expedition to the
Indian Ocean in H.M.S. Sealark; J. Stanley Gardiner.

Sociery or Arts, at 8.—Howard Lecture: High Speed Electric
Machinery, with Special Reference to Steam-Turbine Machines : Prof.
S. P. ‘thompson, F.R.S.

FRIDAY, Fesruary 2

Roya INsTITuTION, at 9.—The Electric Production of Nitrates from the
Atmosphere: Prof. S. P. Thompson, F.R S.

Geotocists’ AssoctaTIon, at 7.30.—Annual General Meeting. Presiden-
tial aaa The Study of Fossil Fishes : Dr. A. Smith Woodward,
F.R.S.

SATURDAY, Fesruary 3.
Roya INsTiTUTION, at 3.—Advances in Microscopy: J. W. Gordon.

MONDAY, Fepruanry 5s.
Roya ({nstiTuTION, at 5.—General Monthly Meeting.
Soctary. oF Arts, at 8.—Modern Warships: Sir William White, K.C.B.,
Society or CuemicaL INpusTRy, at 8.—The Loss of Nitre in the
Chamber Process. Part JI.: J. K. H. Inglis.
Victoria INsTITUTE, at 4 30.—On Biological Changes in Geological Time :
Prof. J. Logan Lobley.

TUESDAY, Frsru ary 6.

Roya INsTirurion, at 5.—Food and Nutrition: Prof. W. Stirling.

Society oF ARTS, at 4.30.—Imperial Immigration: O. C. Beale.

ZooOLoGicaL Society, at 8.30.—On Trichorhiza, a New Hydroid Genus:
E. S. Russell.—Notes on the Histology and Physiology of the Placenta
in Ungulata; Dr. J. W. Jenkinson.—Description of a New Fly of the
Family Tabanide : Miss G. Ricardo.—A List of the Manimals obtained
by Messrs. R. B. Woosnam and R. E. Dent in Bechuanaland: H.
Schwann.

INsTITUTION OF CiviL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Adjourned Discussion: The
Railway-Gauges of India :7F. R. Upcott.

NO. 1892, VOL. 73]

WEDNESDAY, Frsruary 7.

Society oF Pupitc ANALYsTs, at 8.—President’s Annual Address,
followed by Ordinary Meeting.—Note on Dutch Cheese: C. H. Cribb.—
The Assay of Mercury Ores: G. T. Holloway.—The Purification of
Zinc and Hydrochloric-Acid : Dr. L. 1. Thorne and E. H. Jeffers.—The
Facing of Rice: C. H. Cribb and P. A. E. Richards.

GroLoaicat Society, at 8.—On the Carboniferous Limestone (Avonian) of
the Mendip Area (Somerset), with Especial Reference to the Palzonto-
logical Sequence: T. F. Sibley.—The Igneous Rocks Associated with
the Old Red Sandstone of the Mendips: Prof. S. H. Reynolds.

Sociery oF ARTS, at 8.—Progress in Electric Lighting : Leon Gaster.

THURSDAY, Fepruary 8.

ROYAL Scciety, at 4.30.—Probable Papers: On Roche's Ellipsoids and
on Allied Problems Relating to Satellites: Sir George H. Darwin,
K.C.B., F.R.S.—On Periodicities in Sun-spots: Prof. A. Schuster,
F.R.S.—Explosions of Coal-Gas and Air: Prof. B. Hopkinson.—Polarisa-
tion in Secondary Réntgen Radiation: C. G. Barkla.—Constants of
Explosion of Cordite and of Modified Cordite: Robert Robertson.

INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Technical Considerations
in Electric Railway Engineering: F. W. Carter (Conclusion of
Discussion).—Crane Motors and Controllers: C. W. Hill.

Royav InstiTuTion, at 5.—The Significance of the Future in the Theory
of Evolution: Benjamin Kidd.

FRIDAY, Fepruarylo.

Roya. InsrituTIon, at 9.—Eclipse Problems and Observations: H. F.
Newall, F.R.S.

Rovat ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, at 5.—Anniversary Meeting.

PuysIcaL Socigty, at 8..—Annual General Meeting.

Royat GEOGRAPHICAL Society, at 5 39 (Research Department).—The
Ruins of Rhodesia and the Probable Date of Outside Intrusions in East
Africa: Discussion to be opened by D. Randall Maclver.

MacacoLocicaL Society, at 8.—Annual Meeting.—On Pearl-Oyster
Culture and Pearl Fishing: T. H. Haynes.—Irish Molluscs and their
Habitats: R. J. Welch.

INsTITUTION OF CivIL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Electric Driving at the Locomo-
tive Works of the North London Railway: R. H. Mackie.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 10.
Royat INstTiTUTION, at 3.—Advances in Microscopy; J. W. Gordon.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 12.

Royat Geocrapuicat Society, at 8.30.—The Geography of the Spanish
Armada: Rey. W. Spotswood Green.

CONTENTS.

The Philosophic Foundations of Science.

PAGE
By Prof.

Arthur Schuster, F.R.S. ‘ eee Perec 2j0G
ThejIntelligence of Animals. By Lord Avebury,
F.R.S. Ba hot ater 5 : 315
Maxwell’s Theory of Light 316
Indian Hermit Crabs. by L. A. B. 317
Our Book Shelf :—
Dorsey : ‘‘ Traditions of the Caddo” 317
Marcolongo: ‘*Meccanica Razionale” ... . 318
Ziegler : ‘‘ Die Vererbungslehre in der Biologie ” 318
Carrel: ‘‘ An Analysis of Human Motive”... . 318 -
Loescher : ‘‘ Deutscher Kamera Almanach,” 1906. . 318
Letters to the Editor : —
Fresnel’s Theory of Double Refraction.—James
Walker ee cs: 5 | et Ge inne
On an Alleged New Monkey from the Cameroons.—

Dr. HenryiOj;Fotbes: 5 2) hae sees «eee
Forestsiand°Riversig-n.). . - tee 319
Variation/of/Glaciers:) By T. ‘G2 B. 2.) weeeeo
The Revolution of the Corpuscle. By A, A. Robb. 321
Notes! ((ustzareds) Were ss 4 oe) oc ee
Our Astronomical Column :—

Astronomical Occurrences in February. . . . . . . 326
Discovery ofa New Comet . © 2) 2) sees ) nena)
Comet r90sci(Giacobini)) ... ° 7.) eee) 1 ees
Observations of Standard Velocity Stars . . . . . . 326
A Fire near the Mount Wilson Observatory. . . . . 326
Memoirs of the Royal Society of Naples. (///us-
trated.) By Repelce: Gi... <,--) lus e-la ann ed
Physiological Economy in Nutrition. By W. D.H. 328
Photography in Natural Colours. By C. J. 330
The International Meteorological Conference at
Gb PSS ig oo HAMUOMNEO Fo of a Gouge SOU
University and Educational Intelligence . . . .-. 332
Societies and Academies 334
Diarysof Societies) 21.0%. <3 +e a «ees +) Lee

NATURE

337

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1906.

A NEW INTEGRAL CALCULUS.

Integral Calculus for Beginners. By Alfred Lodge,
M.A. Pp. xiii+203. (London: George Bell and
Sons, 1905.) Price 4s. 6d.

t HIS is a sequel to the author’s ‘ Differential

ih Calculus,’ and is intended for students of
physics and mechanics who require a good working
knowledge of integration and its more simple appli-
cations.”? Such is the claim put forward by Prof.
Lodge in his preface. We naturally expect a book
in which simple useful applications figure more
prominently than lengthy theoretical investigations,
and in this we are not disappointed. Moreover, a
number of interesting features strike us as being
particularly good, although a few others are capable
of improvement.

The first of the good features is the insertion of
the integration constant C in the elementary worked-
out examples on integration. Its omission frequently
leads a beginner astray. Another feature possessing
many advantages is that the chapter on rational
fractions is reduced to a minimum. The process of
integrating a rational fraction with a denominator
of high degree is not often required in actual prac-
tice. Moreover, the graph of such a fraction has
infinite branches corresponding to the real factors of
the denominator, so that unless the areas of these
infinite branches are carefully discussed, by intro-
ducing the notion of the ‘‘ principal value’’ of a
definite integral, the result only enables us to find
the areas of limited portions of the curves, for which
approximate methods of quadrature would in many
cases suffice. On the other hand, the mode of intro-
ducing the connection between integration and
summation—a point on which Prof. Lodge rightly
lays special stress ($§ 2, 43, 48)——will probably be re-
garded by most readers as not so satisfactory as it
might be. Thus, to go no further, a relation on
p- 4 is stated to be true to the first order which on
p. 62 is shown to contain an error of the first order.
This is the greater pity as the investigation of § 48
would, with the addition of a couple of lines, contain
all that is necessary for a rigorous graphical proof,
far shorter than that given in § 2; we hope this
point will receive attention in future editions.

In reading the sections dealing with Simpson’s rule
and its modifications, one is surprised at the conserv-
atism that prevails in the retention of a formula
in which odd and even ordinates have unequal weight
—a conservatism quite independent of the present
book. When it is recollected that cutting off the

first and last strips of a curvilinear area reverses the.

weights of the ordinates it will be seen easily that
the trapezoidal rule, modified by suitable corrections
for the two ends, may be made to give results quite
as accurate as those of Simpson’s rule.

NO. 1853, VOL. 73]

Under applications of the calculus, we find areas,
centres of mass, volumes and surfaces of revolu-
tion, and moments of inertia with especial reference
to plane areas and their centres of pressure. The
sections on differential equations contain what has
for some time past been regarded as a standard
elementary course on the subject, namely, the simpler
equations of the first order and linear equations with
constant coefficients. The study of the first integral
of the equation d*y/dx?=f(y) in connection with its
kinematic interpretation, and the discussion of small
oscillations in connection with the equation of
harmonic motion, are good features. Finally, the
chapter on the Gamma function has given Prof.
Lodge an opportunity of saying something he wanted
to say, and of saying it in his own way instead of
cutting or drying it down to the requirements of a
syllabus. It contains an _ interesting discussion
of the extension of the conception of a _ fac-
torial to negative and fractional arguments. It
is much to be hoped that this chapter will en-
courage other writers of text-books to launch out
into something new and original. This might to
some extent help to save English mathematical teach-
ing from sinking down to a uniform dead level of
mediocrity, reminding one of an open, barren veldt,
in which all the smaller hills have been levelled down
by the steam-roller of the examination and the
syllabus, and all high eminences have crumbled to
the ground as a result of the starvation salaries paid
to really competent mathematical teachers.

° G. H. Bryan.

[Since the above was written I have had some corre-
spondence with Prot. Lodge quite independently of
the present review. The treatment of the summation
of infinitesimals contemplated by him in the articles
criticised above may be stated more clearly somewhat
as follows :—Let y=f(x), and let x increase from a
to b by a series of increments dx. Then if dy denote
the corresponding increment of y, the sum of the
increments dy is exactly equal to f(b)—f(a). More-
over, the ‘‘ exact differential’? dy becomes equal to
the ‘differential product’’ f/(x)dx when dx is in-
finitesimal, and under this condition we may put
{(b)—f(a), equal also to the sum of the differential
products f/(x)dx. Also in all practical applications
Prof. Lodge contends that what we really want is
the sum of the exact differentials dy rather than the
sum of the corresponding differential products
f'(x)dx. This contention I believe to be correct, and
if Prof. Lodge can re-write the articles once more
—for he says that he has already repeatedly re-written
them—and make it more clear that he is not merely
giving an inaccurate reproduction of Todhunter’s
rigorous proof, but something quite different, his
treatment may be made one of the many valuable
features of his book. The method interests me
greatly, and appears to be of sufficient general
interest to justify the present explanatory note.—
Gao BB

Q

338

INA TAGRE

[FeBruary 8, 1906

STIMULUS AND MEMORY.

Die Mneme als erhaltendes Prinzip im Wechsel des
organischen Geschehens. By Richard Semon.
Pp. xiv+353. (Leipzig: Wilhelm Engelmann,
1905.) Price 6s. net.

ITTLE as it may appear from the title, this work

is really an inquiry into some of the remoter

effects of stimulation. Thus, every stimulus applied
to organic substance—whether that substance be
nervous, or not nervously differentiated—produces not
only its appropriate reaction, but also an altered con-
dition of the substance itself, so that even when the
immediate effect of the stimulation has subsided, the
second ‘‘ condition of indifference ’’ is different from
the first. The substance may now, for example,
readily react to stimuli which before were insufficient
to produce any appreciable effect, or it may respond
to a stimulus connected only by association with the
stimulus usually necessary. It pleases this author to
read and group these facts anew, and to apply to
them a terminology that will correspond with the
novelty of the grouping. Hence he calls the enduring
effect of the stimulus an engramm; the stimulus is
said to operate engraphically on the substance, or to
produce an engraphic alteration. Again, when
stimulus B, differing in quality or quantity from
stimulus A, still succeeds with the aid of the engramm
in producing a reaction appropriate to A, it is said
to operate ecphorically, or the new state of excitation
is said to be produced by the ecphory of the engramm.
Obviously ordinary memory may be brought under
this wide class of phenomena, and the author might
have used the term memory to describe these facts}
but, to avoid misunderstanding, he has chosen the
term mneme instead. Hence we read of such things
as mnemic excitation, e.g. in the case mentioned
above when stimulus B is applied.

The situation is well summed up on p. 89 :—

‘“ We recognise the presence of an engramm by the
circumstance that for the discharge of the appropriate
reaction the appearance of the original unaltered
stimulus is no longer necessary, but the appearance
either of the original stimulus altered quantitatively
or qualitatively, or of a stimulus which works
ecphorically on an associated engramm, or the expira-
tion of a definite period of time (chronogenous
ecphory), or finally the appearance of a definite phase
of development in the continuous series of successive
generations (phasogenous ecphory).”’

Herr Semon on these lines proceeds to discuss the
facts of acclimatisation and instinct, the inheritance
of acquired characteristics, and the like, and to trans-
late them into his peculiar language. Thus, when
according to Mr. Claypole (as reported by Prof. Lloyd
Morgan) young ostriches hatched in an incubator
pick up food thrown before them only after someone
has ‘‘ dabbed ”’ with his finger on the ground in their
presence, our author’s interpretation is that we have
here the ecphory of an inherited engramm, an
engramm the appropriate reaction of which is peck-
ing; the ecphoric stimulus in this case is the return
of the primary stimulus (pecking on the part of the
mother hen) altered to some extent qualitatively.

NO. 1893, VOL. 73]

The limits of space forbid a full account or
discussion of many interesting questions raised by
Herr Semon. In the second part of the book he deals
with the mutual relations of engramms, their local-
isation, the mnemic conditions of excitation, and
mnemic homophony. By mmnemic homophony is
meant ‘‘ the process by which mnemic excitation and
fresh original excitation are, so to speak, made to
coincide, and by which each disagreement between the
two produces a perceptive reaction.”” The third part
discusses the reality of mnemic processes in ‘‘ onto-
genesis.’’ In the fourth the author deals with various
objections, and claims for Mneme that it is a neces-
sary preservative principle which protects the trans-
formations continually produced by the external world.
He claims, also, that it helps us to an understanding
of the law of which Haeckel is the unwearying ex-
ponent, viz. that the individual passes through the
same stages of development as the whole species to.
which it belongs.

The author seems a competent reasoner and
observer. His work is interesting and suggestive,
and opens a fruitful field for discussion.

ECONOMY IN THERMAL POWER PLANTS.

Commercial Economy in Steam and other Thermal
Power Plants as Dependent upon Physical
Efficiency, Capital Charges, and Working Costs.
By Prof. Robert H. Smith. Pp. xxiv+291; with
numerous diagrams by H. Malcolm Hodson.
(London: Constable and Co., Ltd., 1905.) Price
24S. net.

HE aim of this work is to deduce sufficiently
accurate laws for determining the most
efficient power plant when all-round economy is
taken into account. For this purpose it is necessary
to determine a standard of economy, and this is fully
discussed in the opening chapter, where a coefficient
is defined depending upon the value of the product
directly and on the cost and time inversely. The
application of this standard to measure the efficiency
of production is applied to some examples, and the
results of the analyses are considered in detail. After
a discussion of the properties of steam, the efficiencies
of engines and boilers, and questions of a kindred
nature, the author proceeds to deal with the interest-
ing question of the cost of various forms of thermal
power plant.

The data for this chapter have been drawn from
various sources, principally from makers’ catalogues,
and are exhibited in graphical form for heat engines
by plotting capital or annual costs as _ ordinates
against final cylinder volumes or brake horse-power
as abscisse. In this way very interesting relations
are established, which can generally be approximately
represented by straight-line laws with sufficient
accuracy to form a fair estimate of cost. Thus for
Crossley gas engines up to 500 horse-power with
Dowson gas producers, the capital cost, including the
building, is given as 300+10.8T, where T is the

Fesruary 8, 1906|

NATURE

IBY

brake horse-power, while for a corresponding plant
using Diesel oil engines the formula is 300+10T.
The annual costs for a year of 2700 working hours
for these are stated as 200+3-7T and 110+2.9T
respectively.

Steam engines are treated in like manner; thus in
the case of a high-speed tandem compound engine
the price is found to be represented by

30,000 ,

240+S

where S is the final volume of the steam in cubic
inches swept out by the low-pressure piston per stroke.
Formule are developed for boilers in terms of E, the
evaporative power in pounds of water per hour, and
the pressure, p, in pounds per square inch; thus the
price of Lancashire boilers in pounds sterling is ex-
pressed by 110+(0.016+0.-0003p)E.

The information brought together in this section
has evidently involved much labour, and it should
prove extremely useful. The remaining half of the
book is devoted to questions involving a considerable
acquaintance with thermodynamics, in which the
author introduces several new terms, such as ‘‘ trans-
power” (p. 155), to signify the time rate of trans-
mission of energy, ‘‘dynothermic coefficient ’’ (p.
229), defined as the ‘‘ ratio of resilience to heat trans-
mission creating it.”’

Great stress is laid on the irreversible character of
practical heat-engine cycles, and the author’s views
may be judged by his remarks on p. 178, where he
says :—

140+0.05 S—

“The conditions of life require rapid work, so that
the sooner we give up worshipping reversibility as a
fetish worthy to be aspired after and approximated
to, the better will we succeed in engineering.”’

The dependence of maximum economy upon size,
indicator diagram, initial and back pressure, working
speed, and furnace temperature are all dealt with in
detail, and combinations of the best values for effect-
ing economy are considered by graphical methods.

The complex nature of the problems attacked make
this part of the book decidedly hard reading, and the
difficulty is much increased by the author’s notation.
The book is well illustrated by diagrams drawn by
Mr. H. M. Hodson. E. G.iC:

MATERIA MEDICA.

A Text-book of Materia Medica for Students of
Medicine. By C. R. Marshall, M.D. Pp. xi+635.
(London: J. and A. Churchill, 1905.) Price tos. 6d.
net.

[ie compilation of a satisfactory text-book of

materia medica is a somewhat difficult task,
since the author should, at least in an ideal text-book,
be equally conversant with the chemistry of drugs,
the botany of those which are of vegetable origin
and the therapeutics of all. Dr. Marshall has been
singularly successful in preserving in this book an
even balance between these various divisions into
which the subject naturally falls.

NO. 1893, VOL. 73]|

The arrangement adopted, which differs some-
what from those commonly employed in text-books or
materia medica, is to be commended. The first por-
tion deals with the inorganic substances used in
medicine, then a chapter is devoted to the synthetic
products which have of recent years assumed so im-
portant a position as remedial agents, including anti-
pyrine, phenacetin, sulphonal, &c., and finally about
300 pages are occupied with the description of drugs
of vegetable or animal origin. The method of group-
ing these drugs is roughly that of the nature of the
‘active principles ’’? they contain, so that the subject
appears as a fairly coherent whole instead of as a
set of isolated groups of facts, which is the case when
the method of treatment adopted is that of the
botanical relationships of the plants from which the
drugs are obtained. The descriptions given of the
various drugs of vegetable origin are clear, and
though concise are sufficient for purposes of recog-
nition, especially when used in conjunction with the
carefully executed illustrations, which are one of the
best features of the book.

In spite of the care which has evidently been taken,
both in the actual compilation and in the ‘“ proof ”
reading, there are a few inaccuracies and doubtful
statements still existent in the text to which reference
may be made. It is not quite accurate to say that
““no authentic case of antagonistically-acting alkaloids
occurring in the same plant is at present known ”’
(p. 6), since aconitine and aconine, which are stated
(p. 330) both to occur in the root of Aconitum
Napellus, have been shown to possess opposed physio-
logical activities. Podophyllin is not, as suggested
(p. 8), a ‘neutral principle,’’ which, when used in the
ordinary sense, means a single definite substance, but
is a mixture of resins. The reference to the ‘‘ theo-
retically possible number of terpenes ’’ (p. 11) is mis-
leading, since the number cannot be computed with
our present knowledge of these bodies. Gums are
not, as stated (p. 15), carbohydrates, and this state-
ment does not harmonise with that given later (p. 16),
that arabin, the chief constituent of gum arabic, is
a mixture of salts of organic acids. Potassium
hydroxide ‘‘ can be handled with safety ’’ (p. 111) is,
to say the least, not a wise saying to place before
students. Milk sugar (lactose) is wrongly described
(p. 233) as not fermentable.

On general grounds exception may be taken to
such a loose and carelessly worded statement as “* on
the differences in solubility of allkaloids is based the
principle of standardisation’’ (i.e. of drugs and
galenical preparations of these), and to such a sen-
tence as ‘‘hyoscine and scopolamine have a some-
what different constitution to atropine and hyos-
cyamine. ”

Such blemishes as are referred to in the preceding
paragraphs do not, of course, seriously detract from
the excellence of the book taken as a whole, and it
may be recommended to students as a safe guide to
modern materia medica, at least in so far as this
has received official recognition by the British
Medical Council. ans vAS SETS

340

IN ATS TLE

[Fresruary 8, 1906

OUR BOOK SHELF.

Die neuere Entwickelung der Kristallographie.
Dr. H. Baumhauer. Pp. viii+184;
(Brunswick: Vieweg and Son,
marks.

TuHouGu this sketch of the more recent developments
of our knowledge of crystals will be of service to
the crystallographic student, it is primarily intended
for those physicists and chemists who require to make
use of crystallographic methods in their own re-
searches; detailed explanations of technical expressions
and crystallographic ideas are therefore given.

The work is divided into six chapters. The first
treats of the definition of a crystal, the law of zones,
the law of rationality of indices, and the methods of
crystallographic projection; an account is given of
various fluid and viscous bodies which must now, ac-
cording to the researches of Lehmann, Schenck, and
others, be included in the same group with solid
crystals. The second chapter shows that crystals may
be distributed into thirty-two classes capable of refer-
ence to six systems, each class differing from the others
in the elements of its symmetry. The third chapter ex-
plains the various methods by which the class of sym-
metry to which a crystal belongs may be ascertained,
and thus treats of the determination of facial distribu-
tion by means of one-circle, two-circle, or three-circle
goniometers, and the investigation of the physical or
chemical properties, more especially optical anomalies,
circular polarisation, pyroelectric behaviour, and the
etch-figures developed on crystal faces as a result of sol-
vent or chemical action; the last mentioned is a branch
of crystal research to which Dr. Baumhauer has him-
self given much attention. The fourth chapter gives
a discussion of the regular growths met with in
crystals, and in this connection a detailed account is
given of mimetic growths such as are observed in
the case of the felspars. In the fifth chapter is a
description of the development of crystal faces; an
account is given of Goldschmidt’s ‘“‘ law of compli-
cation ’’ and of nodal points. The sixth and last
chapter deals with isomorphism, morphotropy, topical
axes, polymorphs, and the relations between the chemi-
cal formula and the crystal system of a substance.
The observations of Prof. Miers relative to the vicinal
faces of alum crystals, and the researches of Dr. Tutton
on the relation between the chemical composition and
the morphological and physical properties of a sub-
stance are specially mentioned. Prof. Baumhauer’s
long experience as a teacher has enabled him to give
an account which is at once well up to date and of a
readable character.

By
40 plates.
1905.) Price 4

La Théorie moderne des Phénomeénes physiques.
Radio-activité, Ions, Electrons. By Prof. Augusto
Righi. Pp. iv+125. (Paris: L’Eclairage Elec-

trique, 1906.)

Tuis is a translation from the Italian. The book is
a good semi-popular account of recent physical de-
velopments, and is likely to be useful to those desirous
of gaining a first acquaintance with them. Even
original investigators will here and there glean useful
hints or ideas.

Prof. Righi, we are interested to note, prefers the
use of an electroscope of almost microscopic dimen-
sions for detecting minute radio-active effects. A
systematic inquiry into the best dimensions for these
instruments is very desirable, and might be advan-
tageously made either from a mathematical or from
an experimental standpoint.

In one or two cases Prof. Righi quotes investi-
gations of which the soundness may perhaps be
doubted—for instance, the alleged occurrence of
radiations from phosphorescent zinc sulphide capable

NO. 1893, VOL. 73]

of penetrating opaque bodies, and the determination
oi the velocity of Rontgen rays made by M. Blondlot.
This last experiment depended on the action of the
Réntgen tube on a minute electric spark. This
action was afterwards attributed by M. Blondlot to
the n-rays, and the objective existence of the n-rays
is now generally discredited.

We have seen an English translation of Prof.
Righi’s book. The French translation is not, there-
fore, of special interest to English readers.

Re aaess

Modern Lightning Conductors. By Killingworth
Hedges. Pp. viiit+1rg. (London: Crosby Lock-
wood and Son, 1905.) Price 6s. 6d. net.

Tue subject of lightning protection is one of consider-
able importance to architects, and a book in which the
existing information thereon is conveniently collated
is therefore to be welcomed. Mr. Killingworth
Hedges’s long association with this very special branch
of electrical engineering enables him to write with
authority. The book may be regarded as a very
useful worl: of reference on the subject, as it contains
a summary of the recommendations of the lightning
research committee of 1905, together with numerous
extracts from the observers’ reports on buildings which
had been struck by lightning, which served as the
basis on which the committee drew up its sugges-
tions. These extracts are copiously illustrated and
the faults in the details of the protection in each case
are clearly pointed out. The book is enlivened by the
last chapter, which gives several instances of peculiar
results of lightning strokes.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions
expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake
to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected
manuscripts intended for this or any other part of NaTURE.
No notice is taken of anonymous communications.]

The Inventor of the Nicol Prism.

Can any of your readers supply me with the dates of
birth and death of William Nicol, the inventor of the
Nicol prism? There is a tablet to his memory in the
Wariston Cemetery, in Edinburgh, bearing an inscription
drawn up by the late Prof. Tait. Strange as it may seem,
though his fame is world-wide in optics, he is not even
mentioned in the ‘‘ Dictionary of National Biography,”
nor do I know of any memoir of him elsewhere.

Sitvanus P. THompson.

Technical College, Finsbury, London, E.C., February 6.

Result of War affected by Soldier’s Stature.

Tue Japanese had an unquestionable advantage in the
recent war as being smaller than the Russians; they were
smaller targets for fire-arms. I wish to point out that
it is possible to express this advantage quantitatively on
the assumption, justifiable in modern war, that bullets
are, on the average, uniformly distributed over the target
presented by a man’s body, also that a man presents a
target proportional in area to the square of his height.
The Anthropological Institute has kindly given me figures
for the purpose; the average height of 2500 Japanese,
1260 of them being soldiers, was 1585 millimetres as com-
pared with an average of 1642 millimetres for the average
of 177,948 European Russian conscripts. The average
Russian height thus exceeds that of the Japanese by about
3-47 per cent. The squares of the two average heights,
representing, as I have said, the average targets offered
by each to an enemy, differ therefore approximately by
7 per cent., so that the Russian fire was relatively in-
effective to that extent. Joun H. Twice.

The Hydro, Ben Rhydding, Yorkshire, February 1.

Fesruary 8, 1906]

NA PORE

341

Scintillations produced by the Electronic ‘‘8-Rays”

emitted by Radium.

As the B particles emitted by the radio-active elements
are analogous to the a@ particles, inasmuch that they may
be considered as parts of the disintegrated atom, and not
in any sense true rays, I have been conducting some experi-
ments with the view of ascertaining if, in any circum-
stances, their action upon fluorescent screens caused re-
cognisable scintillations. It will be obvious that if the
radium used be placed too near the screen, the effects of
the combined 8 and y rays will produce a fluorescence
sufficiently vivid to mask any scintillations due to the
individual electrons which compose the 6 stream. In order
to diffuse this action and allow the B particles to separate
to such a degree that the flashes produced shall not over-
lap, recourse may be had to three methods :—

(1) Increasing the distance between the radium and the
screen.

(2) Making the stream pass through material offering
resistance to its passage.

(3) Reducing the quantity of radium used and “‘ diluting ”’
the action by mixing it with non-active substances.

I have tried these methods separately, and in each case
have obtained results which were fairly satisfactory con-
sidering the difficulties attending this class of observation.

In these circumstances the screen, when viewed with a
lens having a focus of about half an inch, was seen to be
fluorescing with a faint glow, which was, without doubt,
of an unsteady and flickering character.

The phenomena involved are delicate and difficult to
observe, requiring the best possible conditions. It is very
important that the eyes are thoroughly rested before the
observation is made, but the fact that the glow is flicker-
ing and strongly suggestive of scintillations is, in my
opinion, beyond dispute. After trying various combinations
of the above methods, I have obtained results sufficiently
decided to justify the statement that the screen was lit
up by scintillations properly so called. A screen of zinc
sulphide, so very excellent for viewing the scintillations
produced by the a@ particles, does not give satisfactory
results for the B stream.

Willemite and barium-platino-cyanide are both fairly
good, the latter being rather the better of the two. I have
obtained the best results with an ordinary X-ray screen.
Having enclosed about 15 or 20 milligrams of radium-
barium-bromide (1 per cent.) in a small glass tube, I placed
over it a sheet of mica. Over this was placed a sheet of
cardboard, and above this again, at a distance of about
half an inch, was the screen. When the lens was focused
on the screen, a dim fluorescence, due to the y rays, was
seen as a sort of background, on which were visible faint
nebulous scintillations coming and going in a manner very
similar to the scintillations produced by the a particles on
a zinc sulphide screen. Cc. W. R.

February 2.

The Effect of Food on the Colour of Moths.

IN a very interesting paper published in the Journal of
Economic Biology (1905, No. 1), Mr. W. E. Collinge
describes and figures a remarkable series of specimens of
the magpie moth (Abraxas grossulariata, Linn.), obtained
as the result of raising the larve on lettuce, the ordinary
food being currant. The specimens all differed from the
type in the direction of great loss of markings, the most
extreme one representing the aberration known as dohrni
or deleta, The same sort of effect has been produced on
the tiger moth by G. Koch, as a result of feeding the
larvae on lettuce; and a good account of various experi-
ments of the same kind is given by Dr. Vernon on
pp. 288-9 of his work on “ Variations in Animals and
Plants ’’ (1903).

The effect produced in the cases cited may be regarded
as a sort of compulsory mutation, though we do not know
whether it could in any case be inherited in such a manner
that it would remain constant under different conditions.
If the normal maculation, which has existed for count-
less generations, can be transformed in a single one by a
new food-plant, it is not likely that the alternate type
can be any better fixed.t. The species must be regarded

1 In this connection, cf ‘‘The Principles of Heredity,” by G. Archdall
Reid, 2nd edition, Appendix A, pp. 355-356.

NO. 1893, VOL. 73]

as potentially dimorphic, indeed, polymorphic, for other
quite different aberrations occur. There arises, however,
an interesting possibility. Mr. Collinge found that the
insects were raised with difficulty on lettuce, and he
doubted whether it would be possible to raise three suc-
cessive generations exclusively on that plant. Suppose,
however, that among many which fed on lettuce (or any
unwonted food) a few were able to survive, and con-
sequently a lettuce-feeding race became firmly established.
Such a race would show the same marked differences from
the type which appeared in the first generation, and it is
not unlikely that at length it would be as difficult to get
its members to live on currant as it originally was to get
the currant-feeders to survive on lettuce. We should then
have a lettuce-feeding form, very easily distinguished from
the currant-feeding one, and nobody would hesitate to call
it a distinct species. If it absolutely refused to feed on
currant, the peculiar markings would be as fixed as in
any species known.’

These suggestions appear to have the more force from
the fact that some of the lettuce-fed examples strongly
recall Abraxas sylvata, which feeds on elm, and is
universally considered distinct. This A. sylvata and its
allies form a group of closely allied races in the Palzearctic
and Oriental regions, and it would be extremely interesting
to ascertain whether these several forms have different
food-plants, and whether by changed conditions they can
be derived from one another. Many years ago I had
occasion to tabulate these forms, using the material in the
collection of the British Museum, and in the hope that
the matter may be taken up by some eastern entomologist
I give here the brief table I made :—

A.—Markings strongly developed.
(a) Expanse about 34 mm.; Europe, Siberia, &c. .. .
sylvata, Scopoli.

(a) Markings stronger than type or darker; brown
anal blotch more ‘reduced; Japan, &c...
sylvata var. intensa, Warren.

(b) Larger; nearly always more than 40 mm. expanse.

(a) Markings strong and dark. China and Japan
. . . miranda, Butler.

(8) Markings paler. India... leopardina, Kollar.

(c) Still larger; expanse more than 50 mm.; markings
rather pale.

(a) Markings more suffused. N. China...
plumbeata, Warren.
(8) Markings less suffused. Silhet . . . illuminata,

Warren.

B.—Markings much reduced, but the brown blotches
remaining well developed.

(a) Expanse more than 40 mm.; markings rather more

developed than in pantaria. India... paucino-
tata, Warren.
(b) Expanse more than 35 mm.; Europe.. . pan-

tavia, Gn.
(c) Expanse about 30 mm.; markings still more re-
duced. Europe . . . seasonal form calaria, Gn.
Since the physiological adaptation to the new food-plant
is not really connected with the change of colour or
maculation, it may frequently take place without any
externally visible signs, or such signs may only arise
after a long period. In this way we get “ physiological
species,’? which are no doubt more numerous than is
generally supposed. T. D. A. CocKERELL.
University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A.,
January 18.

A Correction,

In the review of Prof. Fr. Czapek’s ‘‘ Biochemie der
Pflanzen ’’ (Nature, vol. Ixxiii. p. 192) I mentioned that
I missed a certain paper by Schjerning. The author’s
name should have been Weis.

I also overlooked the reference to a paper by Cornevin.

An index of authors’ names would enhance the utility of
the book. F. Escomse.

1 Pictet, quoted by G. A. Reid, reported that after several generations on
a new food-plant. certain butterflies which had at first been modified reverted
to the original type. Of course, the case I have imagined is one in which

this does not take place, but experiment is needed to test the possibilities
indicated.

342

NATO TEE

| FEBRuary 8, 1906

AND PICTORIAL RECORD OF
EARTH’S HISTORY.

A METRICAL
THE

‘7 HE author of this curious book tells us that it is |
an attempt to present a sketch of the evolution |

of the earth on the nebular hypothesis, to note also |

subsequent sea and land movements, and successive
appearances of life as revealed by the geological

strata. The geological record of past life remains |

very imperfect ; still, many additions, notably from
strata in Egypt and North America, have been made
in recent years, and studied in the light of the doctrine
of evolution its revelations have become more intel-
ligible. :

Why the author should imagine that to describe in
rhyme the history of our planet and its inhabitants,
from the earliest times to the present day, would

render the subject simpler and more attractive to the |

general reader it is hard to imagine; but still, pre-
cedents are not wanting in such works as Dr. Dar-
win’s ‘‘ Temple of Nature,’’ Pope’s ‘‘ Iliad,’? Henry’s

“Latin Grammar,’’ and a poetic history of Eng- |

land, to justify the author’s conten-
tion that it is an appropriate form
in which to present a cosmical and
palzozoological work to the public.

We fully agree with him that the
theme is deserving of a much
higher form of treatment, and that
some day a great poetic genius may
take it in hand. We cannot help
feeling, however, that prose would
have best befitted the aim of the
present work. The author has had
both an academic and geological
training, and knows, from the study
of text-books, museums, and exten-
sive travel, a great deal about the
subject on which he rhymes, and he
has had the advice and assistance
of a great number of learned scien-
tific men whose names are duly re-
corded in prose in the preface. But
the feature which renders this work
of special interest is its fine series
of illustrations, fourteen being
executed in colour-processes by
E. Bucknall, L. Speed, C. Whym-
per, and others, and seventy-seven
by tint process reproduction. These
give animation and attractiveness to
the work, and will doubtless induce
many purchasers by the beauty or the weirdness of
the subjects pourtrayed.

Commencing with the astronomical aspect of the
earth, there is a very fine plate of ‘‘ the great Nebula
of Orion ”’ (from the Yerkes Observatory, Wisconsin,
U.S.A.), and of ‘‘a Spiral Nebula in Canes
venatici,’’ from the Lick Observatory, California.

There is a charming Cambrian marine scene with
crinoids, star-fish, trilobites, and medusze, drawn by
Alice B. Woodward, and an equally attractive Silurian
(submarine) view by the same artist. No fewer than
thirty plates have been executed by J. Smit, who illus-
trated two little books by the Rev. H. N. Hutchinson
called ‘‘ Extinct Monsters ”’ and ‘‘ Creatures of Other
Days.’’? But haying become accustomed to the life-
like restorations of Mr. Chas. R. Knight, made under
the direction of Prof. H. F. Osborn, of the American

1 “Nebula to Man.” By Henry R. Knipe. With Illustrations by
Ernest Bucknall, John Charlton, Joseph Smit, Lancelot Speed. Charles
Whymper, Edward A. Wilson and Alice B. Woodward. Pp. xvi+252;
with 16 coloured page illustrations and 57 tinted page illustrations. (London :

M. Dentand Co) Price 21s. net.

NO. 1893, VOL. 73]

Fic. 1.—Polacanthus restored

Museum of Natural History, New York, we feel that
Mr. Smit’s extinct animals are tamer and somewhat
lacking in that high artistic merit which Mr. Knight’s
drawings possess. The coloured plates by E. Buck-
nall, L. Speed, and Charles Whymper are of a dif-
ferent order. E. Bucknall’s cave-men carving on
bones by firelight (p. 200), the ‘‘ Neolithic Farmstead ””
(p. 214), the landscape in the Carboniferous period
(p. 35), or his excellent conception of Sivatherium, a
huge horned Pliocene giraffe, with a dappled hide like
its long-necked modern descendant are most admir-
able. Lancelot Speed’s primitive man and woman,
although a clean shaven and washed, and intellectual
looking couple, make a very good frontispiece. His
Devonian, Triassic, and Eocene landscapes are also
excellent and original. There is much merit and
ability displayed in Chas. Whymper’s Jurassic land-
scape with pterodactyls and a gavial hunting the
duck-billed Ornithorhynchus, but we do not remember
this monotreme occurring in any Jurassic rocks. The

other novelties afforded by the book illustrations are
from the facile pencil of Alice Woodward, as the

“Nebula to Man.”

Jurassic period (p. 62), with its ammonites and crus-
taceans; the restoration of Diplodocus carnegiei
(p. 72); the Cretaceous sea-beasts (p. 83); Polacanthus,
a reptile from the Isle of Wight reconstructed by Dr.
Francis Baron Nopesa (p. 88); restorations of various
ancestral forms of elephants lately unearthed in Egypt;
Meeritherium (p. 114); Palzeomastodon (p. 114); and
Tetrabelodon (p. 125); most remarkable of all those
lately come from the land of the Sphinx is the Arsinoi-
therium (p. 120), a weird-looking herbivor, with quad-
ricorn defences on its frontal bones and a full denti-
tion of 44 teeth in its jaws—not, however, in the ances-
tral line of elephants, nor perhaps of any living
group, but sui generis. This, and the ancestral forms
of elephants, are about to be published by the Trustees
of the British Museum, as a monograph on the fossil
mammalia, &c., from the Fayam, Egypt, prepared by
Dr. C. W. Andrews.

The only other extremely novel restoration is that of
the huge marsupial, Diprotodon (p. 172), the remains
of which have been found in such profusion in the
interior of South Australia by Dr. Stirling. The pic-

Fesruary 8, 1906]

NATURE

343

ture of Pliocene horses by J. Charlton should also be
noticed as a very spirited and excellent composition

(p. 167).

hae <<

Fic. 2.—Arsinoitherium (probably from §& to 9 feet in length). From remains found in the Upper
Preserved in the British Museum (Natural History) and in the Survey

Eocene of Egypt.

Museum, Cairo. Reduced from ‘‘ Nebula to Man.”

The following is Mr. Knipe’s dedication of his
work :—
To Nature.
How fair, O Nature, are thy looks
In these thy matron days:
And with what light a heart thou seem’st
To tread thy thorny ways.
Man sees thee joying in thy life,
So full, so fresh, so free,
As if thy toil in ages past
Had nothing been to thee.
And well may he beneath thy spell,
Forget thy inner life,
The waste and suffering in thy breast,
And never ceasing strife.
Or if so be he needs must think
Of all the tumult there,
He knows at least one end it has,—
To make thee grow more fair.

It is not so much a. matter of serious importance
whether one reads patiently the carefully executed
text in verse or turns with a disdainful smile from
such lines as :—

“The whale-like Zeuglodonts that off these coasts,

In Eocene times pursued the finny hosts,

Are seen no more: but forms in tooth allied,

Though skulled more as the Dolphin, swim the tide.”’
* * ae *

Suffice it to say that the book, as a whole, is admir-
ably illustrated and must have cost the author a very
large sum to produce. The pictures alone form an
excellent guinea’s worth, and will prove a real joy to
the younger generation as well as to some of the elder,
and there is no single picture in the book which has
not been drawn expressly for the present worl.

SOME MAMMALIAN TYPES.
R. RENSHAW, whose pleasant essays on
African mammals are fresh in our memories,
has in his new volume taken a wider field, and
selected his types from the fauna of the whole world.

os More Natural History Essays.” By Graham Renshaw, M.B., F.Z.S.
Pp. 243; illustrated. (London and Manchester: Sherratt and Hughes
1905.) Price 6s. net.

NO. 1893, VOL. 73]|

They are still confined to mammalian forms, and this
being the case it would perhaps have been possible
to give these volumes a more original title than that

adopted by Waterton for his
famous essays published in the
first half of the last century. But
Mr. Renshaw’s essays are de-

cidedly original in the treatment
of the subject. They deal not
merely with the natural history
of animals, but also with the his-
tory of our knowledge of them.

Thus the history of the Addax
antelope, inhabiting the great

desert, is traced from the time of
the ancient Egyptians and of Pliny
to its modern re-discovery early in
the last century; and that of the
extinct northern sea-cow in con-
nection with the adventures of the
searchers after the North-west
Passage.

Never before, indeed, has the
history of mammalian forms been
more attractively presented to the
public. The history of the dis-
covery of some of these grand
forms of life is often a _ true
romance of natural history, which,
appealing strongly to the author,
is graphically re-told by him; and
his enthusiasm enables him to
carry the reader with him to see in his mind’s eye
the country inhabited by the beasts he describes, and
to feel some of the keen delight experienced by the
hunter-naturalist when some such beautiful trophy as
the sable antelope rewarded him for all his toil. He
excels in describing the natural scenery—the setting—
of the subjects of his essays; and writing of the
Malay tapir, of ‘‘ antediluvian appearance,”’ conjures
up a most realistic mental picture of the home of the
Paleotheres, their ancient representatives, when in
far-off days they roamed over swamps covering the
present site of Paris. .

The misconceptions which hang about the vampire
bat in the popular mind are here cleared away, and
the statement that it is difficult to stop the bleeding
set up by it suggests a search of the salivary glands
for any ferment that might hinder the coagulation

From “‘ More Natural History Essays.”

Fic. 1.—The Clouded Tiger.

of blood, and some interesting remarks thereon.
Although it was discovered by Columbus, few people
perhaps realise that a seal inhabits the warm waters

344

NATURE

[FEBRUARY 8, 1906

of the Caribbean Sea. The account of the Jamaican
seal is all the more interesting because it seems likely
to become extinct, possibly partly because it is one of
those animals which, to preconceived ideas at all
events, seem out of place. But in this connection we
are reminded that there is also a Mediterranean seal,
and that the leopard is actually as European as the
brown bear. Another extinct animal which we are
glad to have an account of is the Antarctic wolf of
the Falkland Islands, finally exterminated by the
sheep-farmers in self-defence; its possible introduction
to the Falklands is discussed, and the question
whether it was really distinct or merely a modified
form.

These extracts will serve as a fair sample of the
score of essays in the new volume. In the case of
rare or extinct forms there is an indication of the
known specimens now or formerly in collections. The
value of photographs from life of rare, and especially
of ‘‘threatened,’? species is emphasised by the
author, who illustrates his essays with eighteen photo-
graphic plates. Even in the London ‘‘ Zoo ”’ it is not
always easy to photograph an animal. The clouded
tiger was under observation for five years before a
satisfactory picture (which we are enabled to _repro-
duce) could be obtained. (On We 2G

MINERS’ WORM.*

HE dreadful disease known as ankylostomiasis,
“tunnel disease,’’ ‘‘ cachexia of miners,’’ or
““ miners’ worm,” is definitely known to be caused by
the nematode worm Ankylostoma duodenale. The
alarming spread of the disease in the mines of
Hungary, France, Germany, and Belgium, and its
recent introduction into some of the mines of this
country, have necessitated a thorough investigation
of the anatomy, development, and life-history of the
worm. Already some 750 papers treating of the
disease have been published, but only a few of these
deal with the parasite itself, and still fewer with the
details of its anatomical structure.

The splendid work before us now gives in full
detail the gross and minute structure of the adult
worm, but a second part is yet to come from the
pen of the same distinguished parasitologist in which
the development and life-history will be described.
If the second part is as full of detail and as well
illustrated as the first, the monograph will be the
most complete account of any single species of animal
that the world possesses.

The Ankylostoma was first discovered by Dubini
in 1838 in the intestine of a peasant woman who died
in the hospital at Milan, but it was not until some
years later that he associated the worm with disease
and published an account of it. Soon after Dubini’s
discovery the worm was found in Egypt by Pruner
and by Bilharz. Dr. Looss considers carefully the
suggestion that has been made that the worm Heltu
mentioned in the Ebers papyrus of ca 1550 B.c. was
Ankylostoma, and that the disease was known to the
ancient Egyptians, but he comes to the conclusion
that there is not sufficient evidence to support this
suggestion.

The discovery of Ankylostoma in Brazil by
Wucherer, and in other warm and tropical places, led
to the belief that ankylostomiasis was peculiar to such
climates, but the epidemic of ‘‘ tunnel disease ”’
among the workers in the St. Gothard Tunnel, and
the recognition by Perroncito of its identity with

1“ The Anatomy of Agchylostoma duodenale, Dub.” By A. Looss.

Records of the Egyptian Government School of Medicine. Vol. iii. (Cairo:
National Printing Department 1905.)

NO. 1893, VOL. 73]

ankylostomiasis, was the first indication of the serious
part this worm was to play in the medical history
of the present day.

Dr. Looss devotes some pages to a full discussion
of the systematic position of the species and of the
generic characters of this and the other genera of the
family Agchylostominz. I must confess to some dis-
appointment that, influenced by the writings of Stiles,
of Washington, the author has come to the con-
clusion that the genus must be written Agchylostoma.

““T freely confess,’’ he writes, ‘‘that I find the
term Agchylostoma abominable,’’ and throughout the
monograph he uses the spelling Ankylostoma in
roman letters and Agchylostoma in italics. It is
extremely inconvenient, in any case, to restore an
ancient and ‘‘ abominable’ spelling of a generic
name, and it is to be especially deplored in a mono-
graph of such value and importance as this one; but
no rules of nomenclature can justify the course
adopted of spelling a generic name in two distinct
ways on almost every page.

The text consists of 140 pages of elaborate details
of microscopic anatomy and histology, and the illus-
trations consist of ten plates of very beautiful draw-
ings by the author, lithographed by Werner and
Winter, of Frankfort.

The monograph was originally written in German,
but has been translated with very great skill into
English by Mrs. H. M. Bernard.

SypNney J. Hickson.

THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF SCIENCE:

R. HALDANE and the other members of the
departmental committee who for the last two
years have been considering the important questions
referred to them have earned the nation’s gratitude.
If the scheme they propose be carried out (and there
is reason to believe that it will be, and at once) a
great step forward will have been made towards pro-
viding that complete higher education the absence of
which has made us the laughing stock of those
countries the Ministers of which are more intelligent
than our own. As the reporters are careful to show in
their general review, many of our scientific industries
are an easy prey in international competition as it is
carried on to-day.

We give below extracts from the recommendations
made in the final report, just issued, which will
sufficiently indicate the proposals of the committee;
many paragraphs have been omitted which deal with
details.

The unification of the teaching which already exists
or is already provided for at South Kensington, and
the additional buildings, teaching and research sug-
gested, will certainly provide an institution admir-
ably designed to meet modern needs. But we are
grateful to the reporters for more than this; they tell
us with no uncertain sound that technical education
must crown, and not replace, a general education,
so the resources of the Royal College in the future
will not be frittered away in trying to teach those who
have not learned how to think and in turning out in-
complete men. <A sufficiency of professors is also
postulated, so we may hope that researches as well
as teaching will be intensified, both for professors and
students.

Messrs. Wernher, Beit and Co. are happy endowers ;
it is not often that such munificence as theirs, which
set the inquiry going, leads to such a rapid and satis-
factory result. Their 100,o00l. is now supplemented,
roughly, by the interest of a million from the
State, of another from the County Council, perhaps

Fesruary 8, 1906]

NATURE

345

almost another from the City Guilds, while the State
and the Royal Commissioners for the Exhibition of
1851 provide between them some four or five acres of
land to build on gratis!

Some paragraphs of the recommendations refer to
a question which is academic in more senses than
one—whether the new Royal College of Science shall
be under the government of the University. Our own
view is that the question should be left to settle itself.
There certainly at present must be a special governing
body to start it, and the one suggested seems all that
can be desired. There certainly also at some future
time must be a very close connection with the Uni-
versity; it is too early to define that time.

Extracts from Conclusions and Recommendations.

The conclusions at which we have arrived are :-—

(1) That the position of this country makes further pro-
vision for advanced technological education essential.

(2) That the students, by whose advanced technological
education the nation would profit, are not actually obtain-
ing it to the extent which is desirable, and that this is
due to :—

(a) The lack of facilities for instruction in certain
important subjects.

(b) The absence of such coordination among existing
institutions of technological education as would permit
the concentration of the more advanced courses in a
limited number of institutions.

(c) An ‘insufficient appreciation, especially on the part
of employers, of the value of such education.

(3) That the opportunities for research in our techno-
logical institutions are inadequate to the industrial needs
of the Empire, owing not to any want of ability on the
part of the professors, but to the fact that much of their
time is frequently absorbed in the giving of comparatively
elementary instruction in pure and applied science.

(4) That in any institution in which the highest techno-
logical education is given, the equipment should be adequate
for the purpose, and the staff should include, at the head
of the several specialised branches of the work, men of the
first rank in their profession.

From this point of view the recommendations which we
have the honour to submit in reply to our terms of refer-
ence may be summed up as follows :—

That the present combination of conditions at South
Kensington points to the desirability of so utilising the
resources there available, and of making additions to these,
as to form on that site an institution of the highest stand-
ing, an institution which, with the staff, equipment, and
students that it will command, would go far towards
remedying the above mentioned defects.

In a preliminary report we inquired whether the Board
of Education were in a position to inform us (1) that, if
it were found possible to establish a scheme such as we had
sketched in outline, they would be willing to allow the
Royal College of Science (including the Royal School of
Mines) to be brought into it under a common government
and administration; and (2) that the existing Government
contribution to the support of these institutions would be
continued under the new conditions on the scale already
made necessary by the provision of the new laboratories
of the Royal College of Science.

The Board have replied to the first of these questions
in the affirmative, and, in reply to the second, the
Government have intimated that they will be prepared
to bring the Royal College of Science and Royal School
of Mines, including the new laboratories, into a scheme
framed on lines approved by the Board of Education, in
accordance with this report, and to make a grant of
20,0001. per annum in respect of the cost of staff and of
the laboratory expenses, with provision in addition for
certain other minor expenses.

The favourable disposition of the Government has greatly
strengthened our position, and enabled us to obtain the
support and cooperation which we consider necessary to
ensure the success of the scheme described generally in
our preliminary report.

The gift of a capital sum in excess of the minimum

NO. 1893, VOL. 73]

referred to (100,000l.) in the preliminary report has been
secured.

The commissioners of the 1851 Exhibition are prepared,
if satisfied with the scope and constitution of the new
institution, to place at the disposal of its governing body
the unoccupied portion of their estate at South Kensington.

The council of the City and Guilds of London Institute
have indicated their willingness to bring the Central
Technical College into a scheme to be framed to their
satisfaction on the general lines we are able to recommend
in this report.

The London County Council, on July 27, 1903, received
a report from its General Purposes Committee upon the
proposal contained in the letter which Lord Rosebery had
a short time previously addressed to the chairman of the
Council, and resolved to place on record its opinion that,
subject to certain conditions being fulfilled (about which
we may say we do not anticipate any difficulty), the
Council would be well advised, when the time came, to con-
tribute a sum not exceeding 20,o0ol. per annum towards
the maintenance of the institution.

In our opinion a sufficient maintenance fund is assured,
at any rate, to justify a commencement, if not to carry
out the scheme we have in view as fully as we hope may
be possible hereafter.

The main object is the establishment, at South Kensing-
ton, of an institution or group of associated colleges, of
science and technology, where the highest specialised in-
struction should be given, and where the fullest equipment
for the most advanced training and research should be
provided, in various branches of science, especially in its
application to industry, for which no sufficient provision
already exists elsewhere. The number of the departments
will be limited by the resources available, and at first a
selection will have to be made among them. The scale
on which the departments are established should be capable
of gradual expansion with the increase in the number of
students, fitted by preliminary education, to take advantage
of the teaching and training contemplated.

The scheme should, in the first instance, and subject to
necessary adjustments, include the work of the Royal
College of Science, the Royal School of Mines, the Central
Technical College, and departments to be established on
the additional site at South Kensington.

Such being the scope of the new institution, it is neces-
sary that we should make recommendations with regard
to the composition and functions of its governing body.
Of the relation of the new institution to the University
of London, it is necessary to premise that we are agreed
that it is desirable that the new institution should be
established immediately, and that its organisation should
proceed without delay, and there is substantial agreement
among us that for this purpose a governing body of the
character sketched in a subsequent paragraph should be
at once appointed with power to take immediate action.
We wish, however, to put in the forefront of our recom-
mendations under this head a proviso that they should
not be regarded as in any way intended to prejudice the
future settlement of the question of the relation between
the new institution and the University. This is a question
on which divergent views are held.

We do not consider that the establishment of the new
institution should be delayed pending a decision between
these two views, or that the general lines of its organisa-
tion (except, possibly, as respects the governing body)
should be regarded as other than permanent.

Subject to the proviso we have already made, we re-
commend that a governing body should be established con-
sisting of forty members appointed as follows :—

Six by the Crown.

Four by the Board of Education.

Five each by the University of London, the London
County Council, and the council of the City and Guilds of
London Institute.

Four by the teaching staff of the new institution.

Two by the commissioners of the Exhibition of 1851.

One each by the Royal Society, the Institution of Civil
Engineers, the Instifution of Mechanical Engineers, the
Institution of Electrical Engineers, the Iron and_ Steel
Institute, the Institution of Naval Architects, the Society
of Chemical Industry, the Federated Institution of Mining
Engineers, and the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy.

346

For the purposes of the new institution the governing
body should have the entire disposal of the accommodation
provided by the Royal College of Science, including the
buildings in course of construction at South Kensington,
the Central Technical College, and all buildings which
may be erected on the additional site at South Kensington.

The site and buildings of the Royal College of Science,
including the buildings in course of construction, should
either remain the property of His Majesty’s Government
or be transferred to the governing body of the new institu-
tion, as His Majesty’s Government may determine.

The site and buildings of the Central Technical College
should, if and so long as they desire it, remain the
property of the City and Guilds of London Institute, who
should provide for their maintenance and repair.

The governing body should be incorporated, and subject
to such special provisions as may be made by their instru-
ment of incorporation they should receive and expend fees
and other funds which may be assigned to the purposes
of the new institution, they should appoint the professors
and the other members of the staff, they should determine
the departments and subjects of instruction, they should
control the arrangement of the courses of instruction, and
the award of diplomas, and they should make provision
for the protection of students now in the constituent in-
stitutions and of the existing diplomas. Further, in each
of the departments of the new institution the governing
body should appoint a board, not necessarily consisting
of members of their own body, and including members of
the teaching staff and persons with practical experience of
industrial requirements, to give expert advice with regard
to such particulars connected with that department as the
governing body may refer to them.

We recommend that it be an instruction to the govern-
ing body to enter into negotiations with the University of
London, with King’s College, and pending its actual in-
corporation, with University College, with regard to the
coordination of the engineering work of these colleges with
that of the new institution. We recommend that instruc-
tion in the higher branches of technology should, as far
as possible, be concentrated at South Kensington. In the
establishment of new departments we do not think it will
be possible at present to go much beyond the various
branches of engineering, with mining and metallurgy,
though we hope provision may be made later for other
subjects. We think the principal technical and engineering
societies should be consulted as to the departments most
requiring development and expansion, and as to the number
of students for whom it is desirable to make provision in
each department. In view of the character of the subjects
which will, it may be expected, predominate on the South
Kensington site, it must, we think, before long become a
question whether the biological department of the Royal
College of Science shall be retained there. As soon as this
question becomes ripe for settlement, the provision to be
made for that department will be a matter for negotiation.
_ We think that it may be found possible, even in the
immediate future, to make arrangements for the establish-
ment of departments dealing adequately with the greater
number of special sections of applied science named. Thus
it would seem that certain of these departments might be
accommodated in the buildings of existing London institu-
tions, while, for others, special accommodation would fall
to be provided at once in the first additions to the buildings
already available on the South Kensington site. For
example, in view of the character and standard of the work
now carried out by the Central Technical College, we think
prominence should be given in the new institution to certain
specialised developments of mechanical and_ electrical
engineering.

We have already reported that we think a fully equipped
central school of mines should be maintained, providing a
full course of instruction in mining and metallurgy,
especially in the mining and metallurgy of metals pro-
duced in India and the Colonies, but not found in work-
able quantities in the United Kingdom.

It should be borne in mind that the traditions and
prestige of the Royal School of Mines and the associate-
ship of that school are valuable assets, and we think care

should be taken to preserve those traditions and_ that
diploma.

NO. 1893, VOL. 73]

NATSRTE

[ FEBRUARY 8, 1906

In our opinion, accommodation should be provided in
this department for 100 to 120 fully qualified students,
i.e. fifty or sixty entries in each of the two vears con-
templated, so that forty to fifty students might be expected
to pass out each year after successfully completing the
course.

Vacation work under the guidance of school authorities,
in districts where practical work is conducted, is a great
and valuable feature of American and Canadian schools
of mines. We think it would be advantageous for students
of the Royal School of Mines to have one short period of
practical mine surveying and of mining work generally, in
a metalliferous mine, and another similar period of ex-
perience of the work of a coal mine.

No student should be admitted to any _ specialised
technical department who has not received, either in the
new institution itself or elsewhere, an adequate training
of a technical and scientific character such as should be
common to every branch of engineering. He should have
spent two years on a course of instruction in science, such
as he could obtain in a well organised college or technical
institution, after having reached the standard of general
education usually marked by university matriculation. An
examination test should be imposed on all candidates for
admission to the higher departments, except in the case
of students who show, by some recognised qualification,
that they have received the necessary preliminary training,
and when there are more candidates for admission to a
particular department than can be received, the best should
be selected on a competitive basis.

The preliminary training to be given in the new institu-
tion should be of the kind which has just been referred to.
It should consist of a course of two years’ instruction in
science, technology, and engineering, of such a character
as the governing body consider the most suitable prepar-
ation for the specialised courses, and it should be, in the
main, common to all students proceeding to advanced in-
struction in any department. We have already indicated
our opinion that students who have not attained a certain
standard of general education are not fitted to obtain the
fullest advantage from the specialised instruction of the
higher departments. We therefore think that evidence of
this should be required before admission to the preliminary
department.

NOTES.

Sir ALEXANDER B. W. Kennepy, F.R.S., has been elected
a member of the Athenzsum Club under the provisions of
the rule which empowers the annual election by the com-
mittee of three persons ‘‘ of distinguished eminence in
science, literature, the arts, or for public services.’’

Pror. ALBRECHT PENCK, of Vienna, has accepted the pro-
fessorship of geography in the University of Berlin, vacant
by the death of Prof. von Richthofen.

Tne Nichols medal of the American Chemical Society
for the year 1905 has been awarded to Prof. Marston Taylor
Bogert, of Columbia University, for his researches on the
quinazolines.

Science announces that Dr. C. D. Walcott has resigned
the secretaryship of the board of the Carnegie Institution
at Washington, and is succeeded by Mr. Cleveland H.
Dodge.

A MEMORIAL tablet has been unveiled on the house, in
Eisenach, in which the late director of Zeiss’s works, Prof.
Abbe, was born.

ARRANGEMENTS have been made to hold a hygiene ex-
hibition in Dresden in the year 1909 under the directorship
of Dr. Lingner.

From Tiibingen the death is announced, on January 25,
of Prof. W. Mayer, the director of the university pharma-
cological museum, and a member of the pharmaceutical
examinations commission.

Fesruary 8, 1906]

NATURE

347

WE learn from Science that, in accordance with the re-
commendations of Prof. John B. Smith, a Bill has been
introduced into the New Jersey Legislature appropriating
14,0001. a year for five years for the extermination of
mosquitoes.

A ReuTER message from Naples states that Vesuvius is
still active. The lava has reached three places on the
Vesuvian railway line, covering about 100 yards of the line
at each point. The lava threatens the line at a fourth
point, as well as the station of the funicular railway, which
is no longer working.

Tue Friday evening discourse at the Royal Institution
on February 16 will be delivered by Mr. W. C. D.
Whetham on ‘‘ The Passage of Electricity through
Liquids,” and on February 23 by Prof. J. O. Arnold on
the ‘‘ Internal Architecture of Metals.”

A GREAT mass of rock having a weight estimated at
70,000 tons at the lowest, and placed by some at half a
million tons, fell at Cheddar Cliffs on Sunday night. The
fall took place on the face of the cliff, and the disaster
is attributed t» quarrying operations.

Tue Electrician states that the forty-fourth Congrés de
Sociétés savantes will be opened at the Sorbonne on Tues-
day, April 17. The congress will continue until Friday,
April 20, and on the following day it will be concluded by
a meeting in the great amphitheatre of the Sorbonne, pre-
sided over by the Minister of Public Instruction and the
Fine Arts.

Dr. Lewis GouGH has been appointed to assist Dr.
Gunning in the management of the museum at Pretoria.
The department for which he will be responsible will be
that containing the fishes, the amphibia, and reptiles—
groups of animals which were especially under his charge
when he was an assistant in the museum at Strasburg.
Recently Dr. Gough has been working at Plymouth on the
plankton of the British Channel in connection with the
British Marine Biological Association.

A sEcTION of the Swedish Government is again anxious
to impose an export duty on outgoing Swedish iron ores.
A suggested duty of 20 Gre per ton is desired, whilst the
revenue accruing therefrom is to be applied to furthering
the cause of the Swedish iron industry.

On January 30 Mr. W. H. Cope, librarian to the Uni-
versity of Birmingham, was presented with an oak clock
and a cheque by Prof. J. H. Poynting, F.R.S., on behalf
of a number of present and past members of Mason College
and of the University, on the twenty-fifth anniversary of
Mr. Cope’s appointment as librarian.

Tue friends and pupils of the late Prof. A. Hilger, pro-
fessor of pharmacy in the University of Munich, have
decided to perpetuate his memory in the university town
of Erlangen, the seat of his activity for many years. It
is proposed to erect a handsome monument to the deceased
man of science in the palace garden in front of Hilger’s
former laboratory. Communications and contributions are
to be addressed to Dr. Spath, chief inspector of the Royal
Analytical Institute, Erlangen.

Tue twenty-fifth anniversary of the foundation of the
Berlin Agricultural High School was celebrated on
January 25; among those present were a number of
relatives of the late Albrecht von Thaers, who is regarded
as the reformer of agricultural teaching and of the science
of practical agriculture in Germany. The rector of the

NO. 1893, VOL. 73]

school, Prof. Orth, chose as the title of
“Agriculture up to the Time of Thaers.”’

his address

WE learn from the Times that Sir Robert L. Patterson,
who died at his residence near Belfast on January 29, was
the second son of the late Mr. Robert Patterson, F.R.S.
He was a member of the British Ornithologists’ Union,
and recognised as a high authority on Irish birds. For
very many years he was associated with the Belfast Natural
History and Philosophical Society, of which he was twice
president for terms of two years each, in 1881 and 1894.
He also took an active interest in the Ulster Fisheries
Biology Association, of which he was a life member and
a vice-president. He was a Fellow of the Linnean Society
of London.

WE regret to record the death, in his forty-seventh year,
of Mr. C. J. Cornish on January 30. Educated at Charter-
house and Hertford College, Oxford (of which he was a
Fellow), Mr. Cornish at the conclusion of his college career
was appointed an assistant master at St. Paul’s School,
a position he held until his death. He was the author of
a number of articles in the Spectator, as well as of several
books, bearing more or less closely on the popular side of
natural history, and his innate love of nature, coupled
with an agreeable style, made all his works a success.
Among his best known books may be mentioned “* Life at
the Zoo” (1895), ‘“‘ Nights with an Old Gunner ”’ (1897),
and ‘‘ The Naturalist on the Thames.’’ In addition to
these, he was editor of the ‘Living Animals of the
World,’’ published in parts by Messrs. Hutchinson, and
was commissioned to write the ‘“‘ Life of Sir William
Flower ’’ by the relatives of that distinguished zoologist.

In Natal, where a local committee has been formed to
cooperate with the Imperial Cancer Research Fund (says
the British Medical Journal), the question of the occur-
rence of malignant disease among such coloured races as
inhabit the colony, and also among the lower animals,
birds, fish, and reptiles, is being actively investigated. So
far as is possible, the assistance of all practitioners of
human and veterinary medicine has been secured, and
endeavour has likewise been made to enlist the sympathies
of naturalists and sportsmen. All specimens of suspected
cancerous disease are being examined at the Government
Laboratory, Pietermaritzburg, free of charge. The
honorary secretary of the committee is Dr. W. Watkins-
Pitchford.

Sir James CricHton-BRowNneE presided over the twenty-
third annual dinner of the Sanitary Inspectors’ Association
on February 3. Sir W. Broadbent gave the toast of
““ Science and Art,’’? and testified to the zeal with which
sanitary inspectors discharged their duties in the battle
against disease. The president, in proposing the toast
of the ‘‘ Sanitary Inspectors’ Association,’’ referred to the
recent suggestions of Sir F. Treves that disease is bene-
ficent, and passed on to consider the important work
carried out by sanitary inspectors. The ravages of tuber-
culosis were particularly referred to as an example of the
striking effects of sanitary reform. Sixty-seven years ago
pulmonary consumption was annually killing 68,000 persons
in England and Wales, or 3800 per million living. Since
then there has been a gradual diminution in this death-
rate, until now the number of deaths is 40,000 per annum,
or a death-rate of 1200 per million. It has been estimated
that by 1930 the disease may be almost unknown. It
is necessary to have compulsory notification, universal
disinfection of houses in which cases of consumption have
occurred, and isolation and sanatorium treatment on a
large scale.

348

NATURE

[FEBRUARY 8, 1906

TuE inaugural meeting of the Mining and Geological
Institute of India was held at Assansol on January 16. A
brief account of the origin and objects of the institute was
given by Mr. W. H. Pickering, chief inspector of mines,
to whom, with Mr. T. H. Holland, F.R.S., director of
the Geological Survey, the institute owes its inception.
The object of the new society is the promotion of the study
of all branches of mining methods and of mineral occur-
rences in India, with a view to disseminate information
obtained for facilitating the economic development of the
mineral industries of the country. Mr. Holland was elected
president, and in his presidential address, we learn from
the Pioneer Mail, he pointed out the true relations between
the science of geology and the art of mining. He dwelt
upon the advancement made in recent years in scientific
mining, particularly emphasising the need of cooperation
in publishing the results of practical and scientific investi-
gations. On the following day the meeting was closed by
a banquet, when Sir Andrew Fraser expressed the hope
that the institute would succeed in bringing the officers of
the geological department, inspectors of mines, and also
ex officio honorary members, into touch with the practical
men belonging to the mining community.

DurinG his Administratorship of Dominica and of the
Leeward Islands, Mr. Hesketh Bell has been very actively
engaged in an inquiry which has served to show that the
West India islands are not so frequently visited by
disastrous hurricanes as has been generally believed, and
that the Press reports of the occurrences are almost in-
variably greatly exaggerated. Tropical hurricanes are
annual phenomena in the south-western portion of the
Atlantic, but it is only when the centre of one passes over
or close to an island that much damage is done on land.
Mr. Bell has found that between 1800 and 1875 the British
islands in the Leeward group were visited by only seven
hurricanes. As the popular error on this subject, and the
highly coloured accounts of the disasters, militated
seriously against agricultural enterprise in the islands—
having proved powerful factors against the investment of
capital, and rendering it difficult for landowners to raise
loans, save on very onerous terms—Mr. Bell has submitted
the whole of the facts to a leading London firm of in-
surance brokers, and the result has been the completion
of a scheme of hurricane and volcanic eruption insurance
for the West Indies, the rates quoted being 3os. per cent.
on buildings, cultivations, and crops of all kinds, except
bananas (the ratio of risk in this case not being yet
ascertained), and ios. extra per cent. for risks against
volcanoes. The huts and small tenements of the very
poor are not included in the scheme. These fragile struc-
tures, naturally, are the first to go down before the storm,
but they are easily re-erected. Properly worked and sup-
ported, the scheme should result in a decided reduction in
the loss from hurricanes, and the islands generally should

benefit from the greater confidence and sense of security
of investors.

Mr. L. M. Lampe has sent us a copy of a paper on
new species of tortoises, referable to the living genus
Testudo and the extinct Baena, from the Oligocene of the
Cypress Hills, Assiniboia. The original paper is published
in the Ottawa Naturalist for January.

THE two articles forming the contents of the third part
of vol. Ixxx. of the Zeitschrift fiir wissenschaftliche
Zoologie are of a nature which appeals to the specialist,
and are too technical even to be summarised in our columns.
In the one Mr. D. Tretjakoff treats of the front half of

NO. 1893. VOL. 73]

the eye of' the frog and its development, while in the
second Messrs. Otto and Ténniges discuss the develop-
ment of the pond-snail commonly known as Paludina
vivipara.

We have received an advance copy of the report of the
Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union for 1905, in which the
appointment of Mr. W. E. Clarke, of the Edinburgh
Museum, as president for the current year is announced.
ihe union is in a flourishing condition, and carrying on
its work with the usual vigour. Ornithologists will be
pleased to learn that arrangements have been made for
the publication, in two volumes, of a work on the birds
of Yorkshire, at the price of one guinea to subscribers.

IN a pamphlet issued by the Government Press at
Calcutta, Mr. E. P. Stebbing describes certain bark-boring
beetles which are inflicting much damage on the pine-
forests of the Zhob district of Baluchistan. Chief among
these is a species of the genus Polygraphus, which is
described as new under the name of P. trenchi. Large
numbers of dead and dying pines are to be seen in the
forests, and it is considered probable that they are on
the increase.

Tue mode in which lungless (and gill-less) salamanders
breathe forms the subject of investigations undertaken by
Miss Seelye on Desmognathus fuscus, the results of these
being published in a recent issue (vol. xxxii., No. 9) of
the Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History.
From this it appears that respiration is effected by means
of the combined action of the mucous membrane of the
pharynx and cesophagus, regulated by breathing movements
of the nose and mouth, and of the skin.

A copy of the ‘* Naturalists’ Directory ’’ for 1906-7 has
been received. While its usefulness cannot be denied, this
little work stands in sore need of editing. To mention only
a few instances, we find the names of the late Lieut.-
General MacMahon, Dr. W. T. Blanford, and Mr. H. B.
Medlicott figuring in the list of geologists (Dr. Blanford
also in the zoological list), while the Duke of Bedford is
referred to merely as an ‘‘ F.L.S.,”’ instead of as president
of the Zoological Society. Expert assistance should be
engaged before another edition is issued.

Tue habits and distribution of the ‘“‘ false scorpions,”
Pseudoscorpionida, and more especially those of the species
Chelanops oblongus, are discussed. by Dr. Berger in
vol. vi. of the Ohio Naturalist, the paper being reprinted
as a Bulletin of the Ohio University. A figure and de-
scription of the curious ‘‘ moulting-nests’’ of Chelanops
are given. These, it seems, are not constructed by the
female parent for her entire brood, but are made singly
by each immature individual when the time for changing
its coat arrives.

DEVELOPMENT and embryology from the evolutionary —
standpoint form the key-note of the contents of the first
number of Biologisches Centralblatt for the current year,
Mr. F. Dahl contributing a paper on the physiological
importance of breeding-selection in its widest sense, as
exemplified by spiders of the family. Lycosidz, while Mr.
R. Kossmann emphasises the importance of favourable
variations in influencing breeds and species, and Mr.
Henriksen, in the first part of a dissertation on develop-
ment from the functional point of view, urges that every-
thing in nature tends towards a state of equilibrium
peculiar to itself. In the last named article the author
states he will “‘ endeavour to show that the theory of the
structure of germ-plasm [proposed] by Weismann is un-

Fesruary 8, 1906]

NATURE 349

necessary, and when worked out in details is quite absurd,
and that we have no right to claim that the egg is some
kind of a microcosm of the ontogeny and a short re-
capitulation of the phylogeny of the organism into which
it develops.’

In the course of a paper on phosphorescent marine
animals, published in the January number of the Zoologist,
Prof. McIntosh states that there are four distinct modes
in which the light is produced. First, there may be special
cells which secrete, in certain circumstances, phosphor-
escent mucus. Secondly, special cells may be phos-
phorescent without the emanation of any visible secretion.
Thirdly, light may be emitted without any differentiation
of tissue under nervous action. Fourthly, the phosphor-
escence may be due to light-emitting bacteria. One of
the most striking features connected with phosphorescence
is the simplicity of the mechanism by which it is pro-
duced and the entire absence of heat. ‘‘ Thus,’’ writes
the author, ‘‘ the light of a firefly, or a Pholas, has no
sensible heat, whereas a temperature approaching 2000° F.
would be necessary to make it by the usual processes,
except the Geissler tube. So impressed were Prof.
Langley and Mr. Very with this feature that they contrast
it with the enormous waste in all industrial methods of
producing light. . . . The authors, in view of this remark-
able light without heat of the animals just considered, are
of opinion that there is yet hope of obtaining an enormously
greater result than we do now in the production of light.”

BuLietins Nos. 31, 32, and 33 (May and June, 1905) of
the Bureau of Government Laboratories, Manila, have
reached us. Bulletin No. 31 contains notes on a case of
hzmatochyluria with observations on the embryo nema-
tode, Filaria nocturna, by Drs. Wherry and McDill, and
a research on the indol and cholera-red reactions by Dr.
Wherry. Bulletin No. 32 deals with amoebic dysentery
and amoebiasis, three articles being contributed by Drs.
Strong, Thomas, and Woolley and Musgrave. Bulletin
No. 33, by Dr. Herzog, records further observations on
fibrinous thrombosis in the renal vessels in bubonic plague.
The bulletins are well printed and well illustrated, and
contain contributions of importance to medical science.

Tue Bulletin of the Johns Hopkins Hospital for January
(xvii., No. 178) is an excellent number. Dr. Harvey
Cushing contributes an interesting and well illustrated
article on Dr. Garth, the ‘‘ Kit-Kat’’ poet. Garth was
the single medical member of the famous Kit-Kat Club,
and besides being distinguished in his profession and de-
livering the Gulstonian lectures and Harveian oration at
the Royal College of Physicians, London, published many
poems, the most important of which is ‘‘ The Dispensary.”
Born in 1661, he died in 1718, and is buried at Harrow.
Other articles are the relationship of the State to the
tuberculosis question, by Dr. John Foster; a method of
estimating the opsonic content of the blood, by Drs. Simon

and Lamar; tropical splenomegaly, by Drs. Musgrave,
Wherry, and Woolley; reports of societies, reviews,
notes, &c.

Tue Bulletin of the Department of Agriculture, Jamaica,
for December, 1905, contains articles on rubber cultivation
relating the progress made in Ceylon and south India, also
a caution to planters with reference to the appearance of
a cocoa disease caused by the fungus Phytophthora
omnivora,

From the review of the teak timber trade in Burma, con-
tributed by Mr. T. A. Hauxwell to the Indian Forester
(November, 1905), it is seen that in the last fifteen years

NO. 1893, VOL. 73]

imports from Burma into Europe have diminished about
50 per cent., and prices have risen from ril. to 15/. per
ton; imports to India, where the standard of requirement
is lower, show only a small decrease. The timber is ex-
tracted either by Government agency or by private lessees,
the advantages in the latter case being that all marketable
produce is extracted, and that the lessees have to share
the risks, in connection with which the cost of elephants
is a serious item.

In the British West Indies, Jamaica easily leads the
way in the cultivation of tobacco, but Trinidad also re-
ceived an award at the recent Colonial and Indian Ex-
hibition, and it is probable that good results may be
obtained in certain parts of the other islands. A useful
handbook to the cultivation and curing of tobacco has
been issued by the Imperial Department of Agriculture as
No. 38 of the pamphlet series. Mr. I. J. Harris gives
a detailed and practical account of cultivation in the open
and of curing the leaf, based on his former experience at
the Hope Gardens, Jamaica, and Mr. W. N. Cunningham,
who succeeded him, writes on tobacco-growing under
shade.

Our knowledge of the manner in which plants can
receive external stimuli has been greatly extended by recent
work, notably by the researches of Prof. Haberlandt. It
is interesting to find that Prof. Schwendener has recorded
his views on the subject in Naturwissenschafiliche Wochen-
schrift (January 2). In connection with the statolith theory
of geotropism, a neat experiment is adduced as proof that
can easily be put to the test. Ordinarily, if the root of a
seedling is placed horizontal, curvature will ensue only
after a definite lapse of time; assuming that starch grains
take some time to react, it may be possible to reduce the
interval by shaking or tapping the root. Fiat expert-
mentum. The article also discusses the focusing action
of certain epidermal cells of the leaf, and the mechanical
feelers in the shape of hairs or papillze that are possessed
by insectivorous plants, the stamens of Berberis, and of
the Cynarez.

In the Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts
and Sciences for December, 1905, Mr. A. L. Rotch gives
an account of the first observations with registration
balloons in America. Although the successful experiments
at Blue Hill led to the extensive use of kites for meteor-
ological observations in other countries, unmanned balloons
were not employed in America until 1904, when the author
was enabled to make a series of four ascents at St. Louis
in September of that year; at the maximum height,
103 miles, a temperature of —62°-5 FE. was recorded.
Another series of ten ascents was made in the latter part
of November and the first part of December, mostly after
sunset, to avoid possible effects of insolation. Two of these
balloons travelled with a mean velocity of more than a
hundred miles an hour. An extreme height of nearly 10
miles was attained, with a temperature of —72°-4 F.; and
a reading of —76°-2 was once recorded somewhat below
7 miles. In order to continue these observations during
the winter, Mr. Rotch made a further series of nine ascents
during the latter part of January, 1905. On January 25
the extraordinarily low temperature of —111° F. was
registered at the height of about 9 miles, during the pre-
¥alence of a high barometric pressure at the ground. A
complete publication of the results will be made in the
Annals of the Astronomical Observatory of Harvard
College.

252)

NATURE

[Fesruary 8, 1906

AN interesting pamphlet on the climate of St. Moritz
has been published by Dr. A. Nolda, resident physician,
with the collaboration of Mr. C. Buihrer, director of the
meteorological station at Montreux. The object of the
paper is to show the claim of St. Moritz to be: considered
as a desirable health and the meteorological
statistics in support of this view are taken from those
published by the Swiss Meteorological Institute in 1890-1
and 1900-4 inclusive; they are therefore entirely trust-
worthy. The village of St. Moritz is in the valley of the
Upper Engadine, and the meteorological station has an
elevation of 6040 feet. The characteristic features claimed
for the station are:—a dry air, clear sky, high solar
radiation, low humidity and rainfall, and almost complete
immunity from summer and winter fogs; these advantages
seem to be fully borne out by the official meteorological
reports. The mean monthly temperatures are :—January,
19°-7 F.; July, 53°-8; the mean monthly extremes are :—
January, —2°-5, 39°-7; July, 39°-9, 72°-7; the absolute
extremes :—January, —15°-1, July, 76°-8. The mean
annual humidity is 67 per cent.; on some days the atmo-
spheric moisture falls to a point unknown in the lowlands
of temperate latitudes; in 1900-4 instances are recorded
of 10 per cent. to 16 per cent. The mean annual rainfall
is 35-2 inches; rain and snow fall on an average on 128
days, and if we deduct the days when less than 0-04 inch
fell, only 104 really rainy days remain. Compared with
other places this is a very small number.

resort,

A copy of the University of Colorado Studies (vol. iii.,
No. 1), has reached us, containing brief historical, literary,
psychological, and sociological articles by members of
the university staff, a paper on extinct glaciers of Colorado
by Mr. Henderson, and contributions to the natural history
of the Rocky Mountains by Prof. T. D. A. Cockerell, in
which several new insects and plants are described.

WeE have received reprints, from the Bulletin of the
Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard (Geological
Series, vol. viii, Nos. 1 and 2), of two papers by Prof.
W. M. Davis. One, on the Wasatch, Canyon, and House
Ranges, Utah, is a continuation of a paper on the moun-
tain ranges of the Great Basin. The other deals with the
glaciation of the Sawatch Range, Colorado.

Tue Engineering and Mining Journal of New York for
January 6 contains carefully estimated statistics, compiled
by prominent authorities, of production of the more
important ores, minerals, and metals in the United States
during 1905. The productions of iron, copper, lead, zinc,
gold, and silver have all increased over 1904, and the out-
puts have been the highest recorded.

Tue introduction of reinforced cement marks a new
epoch in the history of building, and an interesting account
of some of the results achieved is given in the Journal of
the Franklin Institute of Philadelphia for January. One
of the most remarkable applications is the use of reinforced
cement for the construction of dams. This method of
building a permanent masonry dam at a comparatively low
cost has already rendered financially practicable the utilisa-
tion of many water-power sites which otherwise would
have been neglected.

In the
December 31,

Bulletin de la Société d’Encouragement of
1905, Dr. L. Guillet gives the results of
a careful study of the nickel-vanadium steels. He pre-
pared at the Imphy Steel Works nickel-steel alloys con-
taining 0-2 per cent. and o-8 per cent. of carbon, and of

each series he selected a_ pearlitic a martensitic

NO. 1893, VOL. 73]

steel,

steel, and a y-iron steel, to which he added vanadium in
proportions varying from o-2 per cent. to 7 per cent. The
effect of the addition of vanadium is to increase the elastic
limit, very considerably in the case of the pearlitic steels.
In other cases the increase is insignificant.

We have received from Mr. C. F. J! Galloway a useful
paper contributed by him to the Proceedings of the South
Wales Institute of Engineers (vol. xxiv., No. 6). It de-
scribes an application of the Brandt carriage and hydraulic
column, successfully employed with hydraulic rock drills in —
the Simplon Tunnel, at a colliery in South Wales in con-
junction with compressed-air rock drills. It proved one
of the simplest and best forms of carriage for rock drills
hitherto used. Full details of the work done and of the
cost of the whole equipment are given.

In the Transactions of the Institution of Engineers and
Shipbuilders in Scotland (vol. xlix., part iii.) there is an
interesting paper by Mr. R. M. Neilson on the evolution
and prospects of the elastic fluid turbine. Steam is not
the only possible elastic fluid for a turbine; and the much
greater ranges of temperature with the same range of
pressure obtainable by the employment of other fluids
instead of, or in conjunction with, steam deserve serious
consideration. Much time has been spent on matters re-
lating to elastic fluid turbines, and a large proportion of it
has been devoted to inventions intended to be of a re-
volutionary nature with little knowledge of what had
already been tried by others. The historical sketch of
elastic fluid turbines given by the author is consequently
most instructive. After an account of the early machines
deserving the name of turbine, he describes and illustrates
the turbines of Kempelen (1784), Gilman (1837), Vilbrow
(1843), Wilson (1848), Fernihough (1850), Wertheim (1877),
and De Laval (1882, 1889). The descriptions given of the
turbines at present constructed show that although they
differ among themselves very considerably, there is a visible
tendency of the different types to approach each other.
The preliminary experimental stage of the gas turbine has
not yet been passed, and it cannot at present be said
whether or not it ever will. An efficient gas turbine, which
is a turbine both as regards the motor and the pump, seems
to depend upon the obtaining of an efficient turbine com-
pressor, or other form of rotary pistonless compressor. In
order to determine whether the gas turbine had any reason-
able chance of success in the near future, experimental
research was needed as to the losses in pneumatic com-
pression to high pressures, the expansion of hot gases in
divergent nozzles, the transference of heat from gases to
metals at high temperatures and very high velocities, and
the oxidation of turbine blades when exposed to the action
of air, steam, and carbon dioxide at high temperatures.

in these columns attention has been
directed to the necessity of investigating mathematically
the motions of aéroplanes and aérocurves as affording the
only effective method of dealing with the problem of
stability. A remarkably complete investigation on these
lines is given in the Revue d'Artillerie for October and
November, 1905, by Captain Ferber, who has been assisted
in some of the calculations by M. Maillet. The method
of treating the problem of longitudinal stability by con-
sidering the small oscillations about a steady state had
been previously worked at (Bryan and Williams, Proc.
Roy. Soc., vol. Ixxiii.), but owing to the appointment of the
second of these authors to a research studentship, want
of time rendered further progress impossible. The problem
was then taken up by Captain Ferber, of the French

IN several notices

Ferruary 8, 1906]

NAT ORE

choy!

Artillery, who has given a masterly discussion of not only
longitudinal but lateral stability, and
at a large number of important simple and practical con-
clusions relating to both the of
the trajectories of aéroplanes the motion of which is stable.
The paper far the
advance in the study of artificial flight.

also has arrived

conditions stability and

constitutes by most important recent

Messrs. PERcIVAL MarsuaLL AND Co. have published a
popular essay entitled ‘‘ Electric Power. What it and
what it can do,’’ by Mr. Alfred W. Marshall. The price
of the pamphlet is 3d. net.

is

Mr. Nasarvanjt Jrvanjt REapyMONEY has issued a

** Nature-history

re-
Museum and De-
the first edition
issue for March 30, 1905.
been this

vised edition of his
scriptive defining Nature-history Tables,”’
of

Several

noticed in our
and additions
painstaking piece of work.

which was

changes have made in

Nos. 16, 17, and 18 of ‘‘ Materials for a Flora of the
Malayan Peninsula,’ by Sir George King, F.R.S., and
Mr. J. Sykes Gamble, F.R.S.—which Messrs. West, New-
man and Co., of Hatton Garden, are reprinting from the
Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal—have been
received. In addition to an account of the rubiaceous
genus Psychotria, the first fasciculus contains descriptions
of the Malayan members of eleven natural orders, including
48 genera and 81 species, of which two genera and 17
species are new to science. The second. of the present
parts describes five natural orders, Myrsinacee, Sapotaceze,
Ebenaceew, Styracee, and Oleacee. These five orders
comprise 24 genera and 221 species. There are no new
genera, but the number of new species reaches 103. The
last of the three instalments deals with nine natural orders
containing 53 genera and 150 species, none of which are
described for the first time. Among the orders of which
accounts are given may be mentioned Boraginez, Con-
volvulacez, Scrophulariacez, and Lenti-
bulariaceze. When all the fasciculi are available, we hope
to review the complete work.

Solanacez,

Tue Cambridge University Press is publishing,
the title of ‘*‘ Cambridge Tracts
Mathematical Physics,”’

under

and
a series of short works on various
topics in pure mathematics and theoretical physics. The
chief purpose of the undertaking is to assist in the mainten-
ance of a high standard in English mathematical teaching
by the continued

in Mathematics

infusion of new methods and more

accurate modes of treatment, and by the extension of know- |

ledge of recent mathematical research. The first of the
series, a tract on ‘‘ Volume and Surface Integrals used in
Physics,’’ by Mr. J. G. Leathem, has already been pub-
lished, and a second, on “‘ The Integration of Functions
of a Single Variable,”’ by Mr. G. H. Hardy, be
The Press has ready for
immediate publication a new and revised edition, in one
volume, of Prof. A. E. H. Love’s ‘*‘ Treatise on the Mathe-
matical Theory of Elasticity,’’ and a third edition of Prof.
Horace Lamb’s ‘‘ Hydrodynamics.”’

will

issued very shortly. also

Tue fourth year-book, that for 1905, of the Carnegie
Institution of Washington has been received. The titles
alone of the upon the work done
under grants from the institution fill eight closely printed
pages, and it is impossible here to do more than direct

publications bearing

attention to a few of the researches of outstanding import-
ance. Prof. G. E. Hale, as director of the solar observ-
atory at Mount Wilson, California, provides an excellent
illustrated account of the astrophysical work done at Mount

NO. 1893, VOL. 73]

Wilson under his supervision. Prof. Lewis Boss, director

of the Dudley Observatory, Albany, New York, describes

his investigations of stellar motion. Mr. Charles B.
Davenport, who is in charge of the station for experi-
mental evolution at Cold Spring Harbour, New York,

classifies the work in progress there, which is largely what

he describes as of the time-consuming ’’ order, and gives
a full report, with illustrations and results, of the experi-
well

represented in the year-book by Mr. A. G. Mayer’s account

ments conducted during the year. Marine biology is
of what has been accomplished in connection with the

laboratory at Tortugas, Florida. This report includes con-

tributions from the numerous experts working in the
laboratory. Several investigators were at work in the
Desert Botanical Laboratory, Tucson, Arizona, and sub-

stantial progress in numerous directions was made during
the Prof. I. C. Chamberlin, of the University of
Chicago, continues his to of the
fundamental problems of geology, and gives a full dis-
cussion of the deformations of the earth and of climatic
Mr. Willis, the U.S.
Survey, describes his geological studies in Europe, and his

year.

contributions solutions

oscillations. Bailey of Geological
attempts to determine the geographical condition of each
continent at successive geological epochs. The magnetic
survey of the North Pacific Ocean, by the
U.S. Department of Research in Terrestrial Magnetism,
and carried out by Mr. J. E. Pratt’s party in the Galilee,
is described by Dr. L. A. These
should be a source of gratification to Mr. Carnegie, and
it is to be desired that wealthy men in this country could
be led to follow an excellent example in the direction of
encouraging scientific research and providing for the publi-

undertaken

Bauer. annual reports

cation of results.

OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN.

Comet 1905c (Gr1AcoBINI).—The following is a continu-
ation of the ephemeris published in No. 4067 of the Astro-
nomische Nachrichten by Herr A. Wedemeyer :—

Ephemeris 12h. M.T. Berlin.

1906 a (true) 6 (true) log x log A
5 hea ane

Bebr cones 26930) Lome 2) 9 9°7704 ... 00694

IO ... 23 49 14 ... —19 40 ... 9 8058 ... 0.0755

WF ap OE) GS) -18 7 9 8379 ... 0°0830

TA wus LO 21 330... — 16! 33 9°8672 ... 0'0918

16 O36) 13 —14 59 98942 ... O'IO16

18 © 49 32 —13 26 9 9192 ... O'1123
The accompanying chart shows, approximately, the
apparent path of the comet among the stars from

Fic. 1.—Apparent path of Comet 1905 ¢ (Giacobini), February 7-18, 1906.

February 7 to February 18 according to the above

ephemeris. ves j
Although still fairly bright, the comet is a difficult object

392

IAMS TEs

[ FEBRUARY 8, 1906

owing to its close proximity to the sun, and should be
looked for immediately after sunset in the south-west
quadrant, near to the horizon.

Comet 1906a.—Numerous observations of the new comet
discovered by Mr. Brooks at Geneva, U.S.A., have been
made, and from the positions determined on January 28,
29, and 30, the following elements and an ephemeris, of
which a part is given below, have been calculated by
Messrs. Crawford and Champreux :—

Elements.
T=1905 Dec. 19°47 G.M.T.

2 = 86 22)

N=285 27 ; 1906'0
7=126 49 }
g=1°2826
Ephemeris 12h. G.M.T.
1906 a 6 Brightness
h. om. Ara?
Feb. 8 15 50°4 Pyke) S¥/ 1°04
» 12 15 05°9 +78 37 1°05

Brightness at time of discovery =1-0.

Thus it will be seen that the comet is now travelling due
north, and is easily circumpolar, but it is in a better
position for observations after midnight (Kiel Circular,
No. 85).

A New METHOD OF DETERMINING THE Moon’s PosiITIoNn
PHOTOGRAPHICALLY.—The chief difficulty in photographically
recording the moon’s position among the stars, for the
purpose of determining the errors in the ephemeris, arises
from the fact that if the exposures be long enough to record
the faint, surrounding stars, the moon’s image is tremen-
dously over-exposed, and the star images are lost in the
light-fog caused by the prevailing moonshine. Several
methods of overcoming this difficulty have been proposed,
and Mr. Wade, of the Helwan Observatory, Egypt, now
suggests another, which, from his preliminary experiments,
promises to be successful.

In this method the camera is mounted so that its optical
axis passes horizontally through the centre of an ordinary
coelostat, but the mirror of the latter, instead of being
worked to a true plane, is figured as a prism, the two
faces of which are inclined at an angle of 73°, and the
edge of the prism is arranged parallel to the polar axis.
Thus the photograph obtained includes two fields which
are, actually, separated by 15° in right ascension.

The ccelostat is arranged so that one face of the prism
reflects the moon’s image into the camera, whilst the other
face reflects the field of stars situated about 1 hour in
right ascension from the moon, and therefore beyond the
range of strong moonlight. Then the reflected lunar
image is intercepted whilst the reflected star images are
exposed for 2} minutes, when an instantaneous ex-
posure on the moon is made. ‘The operation is completed
by exposing the star-field for a second 23} minutes. By
this method Mr. Wade has obtained a number of successful
negatives with a 2-inch visual achromatic Dallmeyer lens
and a ccelostat of 4 inches diameter (Monthly Notices
Royal Astronomical Society, vol. Ixvi., No. 2).

A CATALOGUE OF SPECTROSCOPIC BrnaRIES.—A novel and
important catalogue, published by the Lick Observatory as
Bulletin No. 79, has just been received. It contains all
the known particulars of the orbits of the spectroscopic
binary stars discovered prior to January 1, 1905.

On that date 140 of these objects were known, 72 of
them having been discovered by the Lick observers and
41 at the Yerkes Observatory.

When one remembers that the first of these interesting
objects, ¢ Ursze Majoris, was discovered by Prof. Picker-
ing so recently as 1889, it becomes evident that this field
of research is likely to contain ample scope for further
work; therefore in order to simplify matters for future
observers Prof. Campbell and Dr. H. D. Curtis have
collected all the known results into the present catalogue.
In addition to the positions, magnitudes, spectral types,
and orbital details of the binaries, the catalogue contains
a valuable column in which the name of the discoverer

NO. 1893, VOL. 73]

and references to the bibliography of each binary, together
with brief notes, are given.

OBSERVATIONS OF THE Lyrip METEORS, APRIL, 1904.—In
No. 4067 of the Astronomische Nachrichten Dr. Jiti Kavan,
of the Prag-Smichow Astronomical Institute, gives the
results of his observations of the Lyrids on April 18, 10,
20, and 21, 1904.

Forty-five meteors were observed, twenty of them being
recorded between 12h. 5m. and 15h. 25m. (M.E.T.) on
April 19. From an analysis of the records, Dr. Kavan has
deduced two radiant points for this shower as follows :—

(1) a=278'0 ... 8= +30°5 (near B Lyre)
(2) a=247°0 ... 5= + 31°5 (near ¢ Herculis).

REPORT OF THE MEETING OF THE
SOLAR COMMISSION AT INNSBRUCK.
“THE commission was constituted by the following action
of the Southport meeting of the International Meteor-
ological Committee thus reported :—

‘““Discussion of the relation of meteorology to astro-
physics.”

‘*The members of the Committee had previously taken
part in a discussion of this subject at a meeting of Section A
of the British Association; and Mr. Shaw proposed that a
Commission should be appointed to review and discuss
meteorological observations from the point of view of their
connection with solar physics. Mr. Shaw’s motion was
adopted, and MM. Lockyer, Shaw, Pernter, and Angot
were elected to serve on this Commission with power to
add to their number and to elect their officers.’’

The following is the list of those who have been
appointed members of this commission up to the present
time :—

M. A. Angot, Bureau Central Météorologique, Paris.

Prof. H. J. Angstrém, University, Upsala.

Geheimrat oberregierungs von Bezold, Berlin.

M. Teisserenc de Bort, Observatoire de Trappes, prés
Paris.

Prof. F. H. Bigelow, Weather Bureau, Washington.

Prof. Birkeland, University of Christiania.

Rev. G. R. Cirera, S.J., Observatorio del Ebro, Tortosa,
Spain.

Dr. W. G. Davis, Oficina Meteorologica Argentina,
Cordoba, Argentine Republic.

M. H. Deslandres, Observatoire d’Astronomie physique,
Meudon, Seine et Oise.

Sir John Eliot (secretary), 79 Alleyn Park, Dulwich,
London; Bon Porto, Cavalaire, Var, France.

Mr. G. E. Hale, Solar Observatory, Mount Wilson,
California, U.S.A.

Hofrat Prof. Dr. J. Hann,
Austria.

M. M. S. Hepites, Institut Météorologique, Bucarest,
Roumania.

M. Janssen, Observatoire d’Astronomie physique, Meudon,
Seine et Oise.

Prof. W. H. Julius, Rijks Universiteit, Utrecht, Holland.

Hofrat. Prof. Dr. N. Thege v. Konkoly, k. meteor.
Reichsanstalt, Budapest.

Prof. Dr. W. Koppen, Seewarte, Hamburg.

Mr. S. P. Langley, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institu-
tion, Washington, U.S.A.

Sir Norman Lockyer (president), Solar Physics Observ-
atory, South Kensington, London.

Dr. W. J. S. Lockyer, Solar Physics Observatory, South
Kensington, London.

Captain J. H. Lyons, R.E., Survey Department, Cairo,
Egypt.

M. E. Marchand, Observatory, Pic du Midi.

Prof. H. Mohn, Meteorologische Institut, Christiania.

Hofrat. Prof. Dr. J. M. Pernter, Hohe Warte, Vienna,
Austria.

Prof. Riccd, University of Catania, Sicily, Italy.

Prof. G. B. Rizzo, University of Messina, Sicily, Italy.

Mr. A. L. Rotch, Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory,
Cambridge, Mass., U.S.A.

Sir Arthur Riicker, 19 Gledhow Gardens, London, S.W.

19 Hohe Warte, Vienna,

Ferruary 8, 1906]

NATURE

SI):

General Rykatcheff, St. Petersburg, Russia.

Prof. Dr. J. Scheiner, Konigl. Friedrich Wilhelms
Universitat, Berlin.
Dr. W. N. Shaw, Meteorological Office, 63 Victoria

Street, London.

M. A. Silvado, Direction de Meteorologia, Morro de St.
Antanis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Prof. A. Steen, Meteorological Institute, Christiania.

Mr. R. F. Stupart, Canadian Dominion Meteorological
Service, Toronto.

Prof. J. Violle, Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers, Paris.

Prof. Dr. C. H. Wind, University of Utrecht, Holland.

Prof. A. Woeikoff, St. Petersburg, Russia.

Prof. Dr. Max Wolf, Grossherz Ruprecht-Karls Uni-
versitat, Heidelberg, Germany.

Prof. A. Wélfer, Zurich Observatory, Switzerland.

At a meeting at Cambridge in August (18-23), 1904, Sir
Norman Lockyer was elected president and Sir John Eliot
secretary. ;

A provisional programme was considered, and the follow-
ing resolutions were passed or action taken :—

A letter received from Mr. Hale respecting the cooper-
ation of the Commission with the Committee on Solar
Research of the National Academy of Sciences was read,
and it was agreed to cooperate with the Committee on
questions of common interest.

Upon the initiation of the Committee a union was
formed for the study of solar phenomena, and Dr. W. J. S.
Lockyer was appointed later by correspondence to attend
the meeting of this union at Oxford in September, 1905,
as the representative of the Commission.

A scheme of solar observations was approved.

It was resolved (1) that in connection with the observ-
ations of solar radiation, observations of the transparency
of the air would be desirable, more especially (a) on the
visibility of distant and high mountains when possible ;
and (b) photometrical observations of Polaris.

The following resolutions were passed :—

(1) That, in the first instance, for the purpose of com-
parison with solar phenomena, the meteorological observ-
ations to be considered should be monthly means of
pressure, temperature (including maximum _ temperature
and minimum temperature) and rainfall.

(2) That the members of the Commission be requested to
communicate to the secretary a short report of the data
available in their respective countries, and the number of
years over which they extend.

(3) That a circular be addressed to the various meteor-
ological organisations asking them to send to the secretary,
for the purposes of the Commission, a copy of the publi-
cations of their offices embodying the data specified in the
two preceding resolutions, and that the organisations be
also requested to obtain and forward copies of similar
publications from the colonies and dependencies of their
respective countries.

(4) That the Commission considers it is desirable that the
data for the purposes of comparison should be sent to the
president of the Commission, South Kensington (Solar
Physics Observatory), for tabulation and comparison. The
Commission attaches the greatest importance to this work,
more especially as it may lead to a practical system of
long-period forecasting, and hopes that if it be necessary,
an increase of staff at that observatory may be authorised
to bring all old observations up to date.

(5) That the establishment of magnetical observatories
in about lat. 70° N. (e.g. Bosskop, in Norway) and in very
high latitudes of the southern hemisphere is of the highest
importance for the advancement of science.

Prof. Riccd informed the Commission that it is intended
to establish in Italy or Sicily a magnetic observatory with
self-recording instruments belonging to the Italian Meteor-
ological Office.

It was agreed that all communications for the Com-
mission should be received at a central address, viz. the
Solar Physics Observatory, South Kensington.

At the meeting at Innsbruck, September 11-15, 1905,
the following resolutions were adopted :—

(1) That for the sake of brevity the name of the Com-
mission be the Solar Commission of the International
Meteorological Committee.

‘ (2) That the secretary be instructed to report the pro-

NO. 1893, VOL. 73]

ceedings of the meetings of the Commission held at Cam-
bridge in August, 1904, and at Innsbruck in September,
1905, to the International Meteorological Committee, and
to ask that it will take the proper steps to bring their
suggestions before the International Association of
Academies.

(3) Que pour la pression et la temperature les chefs des
différents services météorologiques soient priés de preparer
une liste des stations qu’ils considérent comme suffisantes
pour bien representer les différents régimes météorologiques
que existent dans leur pays.

(4) Que dans le nord de Siberie et le nord de l’Amerique
soient organizés des stations permanentes météorologiques
au moins deux ou trois sur chaque continent.

La Commission exprime le desir de recevoir communi-
cation des observations des iles dont les noms suivent ; *
insiste sur l’utilité d’assurer la permanence des observ-
ations météorologiques dans ses regions, et prie son prési-
dent de faire par intermédiaire du Comité international
des Académies officiellement auprés des divers gouverne-
ments les démarches necessaires pour que des observations
météorologiques soient organizés et maintenues dans les
stations mentionées ou ces observations n’existent pas
d’une maniére reguliére et permanente.

A form was prepared and approved for the tabulation
of the pressure, rainfall and temperature data.

Pour le but que poursuit la Commission, il est
désirable que dans toutes les stations, les valeurs normales
soient déduites des mémes années (20, 25, ou plus) le
millésime de la premiére année se terminant par 1 ou 6
d’aprés les recommendations du Congrés météorologique
international de Vienne.

The normal period selected for comparison when possible
is the twenty-five year period from 1881 to 1905.

M. Angot presented a selected list of stations for
France which the Commission decided should be utilised in
the circular as an example of the requirements of the Com-
mission. In connection with this selection it was decided
that the proportion of mountain stations to plain stations in
any country should not exceed one to four.

The questions of magnetic and rainfall
taken up, and it was resolved

(1) That the Magnetic Commission should be asked to
assist the Solar Commission in the selection of magnetic
observatories, and to advise as to the amount and extent
of information which these observatories would be able to
give in order to assist in the investigation of the relations
of solar and terrestrial meteorology.

(2) That the suggestion of Mr. Langley that ten-day
means as well as monthly means be employed be referred
to the Magnetic Commission for opinion.

General Rykatcheff, president of the Magnetic Com-
mission, read a communication in reply to the request
mentioned above :—

“‘Décision de la Commission magnétique par rapport a
la demande de la Commission solaire.

‘“La Commission magnétique a pris certaines décisions
qui entrent dans les rues de la Commission solaire, celles
sont les décisions sur la publication des courbes troublées,
sur les listes des jours calmes et troublés, sur les
coefficients exprimant l’activité magnétique de chaque jour
et sur la publication d’une liste d’observatoires magnétiques.

La Commission magnétique décide que toutes ces publi-
cations seront communiquées aux membres de la Com-
mission solaire.

“©Si la Commission solaire trouverait que d’autres
données, que celles enumerées tout 4 |’heure sont désirables,
la Commission magnétique se déclare préte A collaborer
avec la Commission solaire en la priant toutefois de vouloir
bien presiser ses desirs !

“Quant A la question des moyennes par decades la
Commission estime que cette question ne peut étre resolu
que par le comité des directeurs, auquel elle sera remise.

“La Commission magnétique estime qu’il serait bien
de diriger l’attention du futur Bureau permanent mag-
nétique sur les demandes de la Commission solaire.”’

(3) Pour le moment on se contente de demander les
données relatives A la pluie aux stations que fournissent
déja celles de la temperature et de la pression; on pourra

1 The complete list will be given later in the official report of the meeting
of the Commission. ;

data were

Soe

NATURE

[ FeBruary 8, 1906

ultérieusement étendre le nombre des observations pluvio-
métriques si la necessité s’en fait sentir.

(4) Les chefs des services météorologiques et hydro-
graphiques sont priés d’ajouter aux données météor-
ologiques envoyées 4 la Commission, autant de données
sur la niveau et la debit des riviéres et des lacs qu’ils
croirent possibles et utiles.

(5) That the secretary be asked to prepare a regional
statement of rainfall for India as an example of what the
Commission desires in the way of reports of regional rain-

fall and variation of rainfall for each meteorological
organisation.

Instructions were given to Dr. J. S. Lockyer for
his action as representative of the Commission at the

Oxford meeting of the Solar Research Union.

It was resolved that while thanking the Washington
Weather Bureau for its courteous offer to publish in the
Washington Monthly Weather Review the data collected
by the Commission, the Commission is not yet in a posi-
tion to decide upon the most appropriate form of
publication.

It was decided that a circular should be sent to the
various meteorological organisations in the following
terms :—The Commission desire to direct attention to the
concluding paragraph of Prof. Violle’s report to the Inter-
national Meteorological Committee, 1903, and would be
greatly obliged if the Commission could be informed of the
arrangements for observing solar radiation adopted at
the observatories of the various meteorological organisations
and the methods employed to render the observations com-
parable with those of other observatories.

A first list of places at which actinometric observations
are made was presented.

It was resolved that ‘‘une circulaire sera envové
aux directeurs des services météorologiques pour leur
demander de designer les stations de leur pays ou les
observations actinométriques sont reguliérement faites.
Dans le liste des stations il serait utile d’éviter les grandes
villes ou les conditions atmospheriques sont generalment
défectueuses.”’

That steps should be taken to obtain observations from
the places mentioned.

La Commission Solaire prie M. le Président de
vouloir bien obtenir les courbes de la distribution de
Venergie solaire pour les observatoires qui ont déja

' Pobligéance de communiquer les autres données indiqués
dans les Comptes rendus des Seances de la Conférence de
Cambridge, a propos de la physique solaire.

ANTHROPOLOGICAL NOTES.
"ANTHROPOLOGIE usually devotes much space to
archeology, and the recent number (vol. xvi., Nos.

4-5) contains three papers on that subject. Mr. H.
Obermaier gives the first instalment of a most useful
memoir on Quaternary human remains and the sites in
Central Europe where they have occurred. Mr. A. Viré
describes a prehistoric cave of the Solutré period at Lacave
(Lot); the human bones were too fragmentary to have any
value. Mr. E. Cartailhac and Father Breuil continue their
account of the mural paintings and engravings of the
Pyrenean caves; they give several illustrations; as is
usually the case among primitive peoples, the represent-
ations of human beings fall greatly below the excellence of
animal delineations. The authors come to the conclusion
that in the cave of Marsoulas the earlier engravings with
linear contours are associated with black paintings, while
the later engravings, in which the contours are made with
short lines to indicate hair, are associated with poly-
chromatic paintings of animals. In a paper on _ the

myology of a Negro, Messrs. R. Anthony and A. Hazard
state that muscles are thick and short, thus indicating
strength rather than agility. Hunting and agriculture

among the populations of the Sudan are the subjects of a
paper by Mr. J. Decorse. Mr. L. G. Seurat describes the
marae, or stone altars, of the little frequented eastern
islands of the Tuamotu Archipelago. Mr. C. Monteil dis-
courses on the numbers and numeration among the
Mandés, a large linguistic family of people of western

NO. 1693, VOL. 73]

French

vésumé

Africa. The journal contains the usual valuable
of recent anthropological literature.

Two papers in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of
Bengal (vol. xxiii.) should not be overlooked. Mr. J. E.
Friend-Pereira has discovered totemism among the Khonds,
where the wider totemic exogamy has been hidden by the
narrower and probably newer rule of the “local, com-
munal, or family type.’? The ‘ septs,’’ as the authos
terms the totem groups, have the ordinary totem tabus
of feeding, use and marriage, and myths of origin. He
believes totemism ‘‘ serves to mark to a primitive people
who possess no written characters to record kinship and
descent as they begin to get more remote in time the dis-
tinction between separate stocks of blood. In other
words, totemism is merely a guide for the observance of
the rules of exogamy: it is not the cause that originated
or evolved these rules. He holds that the explanation of
the origin of totemism must be sought for, not in its
social, but in its religious aspect. Among the Khonds “ the
totem ranks as the spirit of the ancestor founder of the
stock, who is also the chief tutelary deity of the stock,
and the totem class is considered as a manifestation of
the chief tutelary deity.”’ Major P. R. T. Gurdon has a
valuable short paper on the Khasis, Syntengs, and allied
tribes of Assam, among whom mother-right so pre-
dominates that males can own only self-acquired property.
There are traces of totemism. Ancestors are worshipped
by the erection of remarkable memorial stones, of which
two illustrations are given; this form of worship largely
underlies the Khasi religious system. Divination by the
breaking of eggs is very common. Major Gurdon is super-
intendent of ethnography in Assam, and is apparently
preparing a monograph on the people under his charge
which, judging from these notes, should be a valuable woris.

The current number of the Journal of the Anthropological
Institute (vol. xxxv., 1905) contains papers in all branches
of anthropology. Physical anthropology is represented by a
paper by Messrs. F. G. Parsons and C. R. Box on the
relations of the cranial sutures to age, and by a critical
paper by Dr. C. S. Myers traversing the conclusion of Miss
Fawcett that in certain characters a progressive evolution
has taken place in regard to the ‘‘ prehistoric’’ and
modern Egyptians. South African archaeology has been
much to the fore of late; the notes on the Great Zimbabwe
elliptical ruin by Mr. Franklin White, and a paper on the
stone forts and pits on the Inyanga Estate, Rhodesia, were
written before Mr. Randall-Maclver’s subversive views were
published. Mr. T. W. Gann discourses on the ancient
monuments of Honduras and on the natives now living
there. In technology there is a beautifully illustrated
paper by Mr. D. Randall-MaclIver on the manufacture of
pottery in Upper Egypt. Mr. N. W. Thomas enumerates
the varieties of the canoes and rafts in Australia and their
distribution. Mr. E. B. Haddon, in a well illustrated
paper on the dog-motive in Bornean art, discusses the
origin and degeneration of certain designs. Religion is
represented by notes by Mr. R. E. Dennett on the philo-
sophy of Bavili of Luango, West Africa. Finally, a report
on the ethnology of the Stlatlumh, one of the Salish tribes
of British Columbia, by Mr. C. Hill Tout, is a good
example of a paper on regional ethnography. It will be
seen that the journal maintains its high standard, both for
the quality of its matter and the excellence of its illus-
trations.

”

A GAS CALORIMETER.

THE. paper on a new gas calorimeter which was read

before the Royal Society by Mr. ©. V. Boys, F.Ress;
on December 7, 1905, is of interest, partly on account of
the causes which led to the design, ‘and partly on account
of the features which are original.

The agitation of the gas companies in favour of re-
ducing the candle-power of gas on the ground that gas
of lower candle-power is cheaper while the diminution of
the light afforded by a luminous flame is of little con-
sequence as incandescent lighting is so largely used, while
it has succeeded in many cases in getting the statutory
lighting power reduced, has on the other hand raised the
question whether the value of the gas for heating purposes

FEBRUARY 8, 1906]

NATURE 3

Je)

and for power may not be reduced also, so that while the
flame-lighting power may be reduced without much detri-
ment, the consequent fall of heating-power may be a
serious loss to the public. In the London Gas Act, 1905,
such risk has been met by the obligation to test the calorific
value of the gas for information only, but no penalties are
incurred, even though the gas should prove to be of much
less heating value than it has been.

The gas referees have therefore had the question of a
suitable calori-
meter before
them, and in the
“Notification ”
issued
January 1
P- 273)
calorimeter _de-
signed by Mr.
Boys, who is
one of them, is
prescribed for
use in official
testings.

The

on
(see
the

calori-
meter in ques-
tion is of the
Hartley type, i.e.
a stream of
water constantly
passes through
the instrument,
and in so doing
if is raised) in
temperature by
the heat pro-
duced by the
combustion of a
stream of gas.
The observations
available enable
the observer to
ascertain the
calorific value of
the gas.

The best known instrument of this class is the
Junker calorimeter, and it is in relation to this that
the new features introduced by Mr. Boys are best de-
scribed. From the accompanying figure it will be seen
that the gas is burned at two small union jets instead of
in the usual long Bunsen flame. ‘The hot gases rising into
the bell w descend outside the chimney E through the wires
of the inner coil m. This and the outer coil nN are made
of the well known motor-car radiator tube invented by
Mr. Clarkson. The circulating water enters the outer coil
at the union 0, and leaving the inner coil enters the space
above the bell H, where it circulates between two dished
plates and then leaves at the union p. The two lower
turns of the Clarkson tube are immersed in a condensed
water bath with an overflow F, which may be turned in
any direction. This water bath serves to keep the chimney
cool enough not to burn, but not cool enough to cause
condensation to occur on the inner surface. One result
of this construction is the slow passage of the products
of combustion through the instrument and the small re-
sistance they encounter. Hence the instrument need not
be more than a foot high. The circulation of the water
through the instrument strictly in series in every part
prevents the formation of pockets or streaks of warmer
water and consequent spasmodic changes of the outlet
thermometer reading, and such small changes as might
remain are almost entirely destroyed in the temperature
equalising chamber above the bell H. The result is that,
with a rise of temperature of 23° C., the variations do not
exceed two or three hundredths of a degree, and cven this
appears to be largely due to friction in the meter in-
sufficiently corrected by the governor.

Five minutes after lighting the gas the outlet thermo-
meter is within 6 per cent. of its ultimate rise; in ten
Minutes it is within 2-2 per cent., and in fifteen minutes
it is less than 4 per cent. In this and other respects the
gas examiner who will have to use the instrument will

NO. 1893, VOL. 73]

Fic. t.

find that not only accuracy, but his convenience has been
studied.

One feature is quite peculiar. While hitherto gas-calori-
meters have been soldered up so as to be of the nature
of mystery boxes, this can be seen in its essential features,
while it can be completely taken to pieces in a few minutes
for examination of every part.

After use the coil system is lifted out of the outer vessel
by the lid and is then immersed in a dilute solution of
bicarbonate of s@da, so as to neutralise the weak sulphuric
acid condensed upon the metal and prevent it and its dis-
solved oxygen from prematurely destroying the metal-work
of the The instrument is made by Messrs. Griftin

HE ELECTRIC PRODUCTION OF NITRATES
FROM THE ATMOSPHERE.
NS

the demand of the white races for wheat as a food-

stuff increases, the acreage devoted to wheat growing
increases, but at a less rapid rate; and being limited by
climatic conditions will in a few years, perhaps less than
thirty, be entirely taken up. Then, as Sir William Crookes
pointed out in his presidential address in 1898, there will
be a wheat famine, unless the world’s yield per acre (at
present about 12-7 bushels per acre on the average) can
be raised by use of fertilisers. Of such fertilisers the chief
is nitrate of soda, exported from the nitre beds in Chili.
The demand for this has risen from 1,000,000 tons in 1892
to 1,543,120 tons in 1905, and the supply will at the present
rate be exhausted in less than fifty years. Then the only
chance of averting starvation lies, as Crookes pointed out,
through the laboratory.

In 1781, Cavendish had observed that nitrogen, which
exists in illimitable quantities in the air, can be caused to
enter into combination with oxygen, and later he showed
that nitrous fumes could be produced by passing electric
sparks through air. Although this laboratory experiment
had undoubtedly pointed the way, though the chemistry of
the arc flame had been investigated in 1880 by Dewar, and
though Crookes and Lord Rayleigh had both employed
electric discharges to cause nitrogen and oxygen to enter
into combination, no commercial process had been found
practical for the synthesis of nitrates from the air until
recently.

After referring, in passing, to the tentative processes of
Bradley and Lovejoy, of Kowalski, of Naville, and to the
cyanamide and cyanide processes, attention was directed
to the process of Birkeland and Eyde, of Christiania, for
the fixation of atmospheric nitrogen, and their synthetic
production of nitrates, by use of a special electric furnace.
In this furnace an alternating electric arc was produced at
between 3000 and 4ooo volts, but under special conditions
which resulted from the researches of Prof. Birkeland, the
arc being formed between the poles of a large electro-
magnet, which forced it to take the form of a roaring disc
of flame. Such a disc of flame was shown in the lecture
theatre by a model apparatus sent from Christiania. In
the furnaces, as used in Norway, the disc of flame was
4 feet or 5 feet in diameter, and was enclosed in a metal
envelope lined with firebrick. Through this furnace air was
blown, and emerged charged with nitric oxide fumes.
These fumes were collected, allowed time further to oxidise,
then absorbed in water-towers or in quicklime, nitric acid
and nitrate of lime being the products. The research
station near Arendal was described, also the factory at
Notodden, in the Hitterdal, where electric power to the
extent of 1500 kilowatts was already taken from the Tinn-
foss waterfall for the production of nitrate of lime. This
product in several forms, including a basic nitrate, was
known as Norwegian saltpetre. Experiment had shown
that it was equally good as a fertiliser with Chili salt-
petre, and the lime in it was of special advantage for
certain soils. The yield of product in these furnaces was
most satisfactory, and the factory at Notodden—which had
been in commercial operation since the spring of 1905—was
about to be enlarged; the neighbouring waterfall of

1 Abstract of a discourse delivered at the Royal Institution on Friday,
February 2, by Prof. Silvanus P. Thompson, F.R.S.

356

INAT OPE

[FEBRUARY 8, 1906

Svaelgfos being now in course of utilisation would furnish
23,000 horse-power. The Norwegian company had further
projects in hand for the utilisation of three other water-
falls, including the Rjukanfos, the most considerable fall
in Telemarken, which would yield more than 200,000 horse-
power. According to the statement of Prof. Otto Witt,
the yield of the Birkeland-Eyde furnaces was more than
500 kilograms of nitric acid per year for every kilowatt
of power. The conditions in Norway were exceptionally
good for the furnishing of power at exceedingly low rates.
Hence the new product could compete with Chili saltpetre
on the market, and would become every year more valuable
as the demand for nitrates increased, and the natural
supplies became exhausted.

POLAR EXPLORATION.

A FTER discussion at a meeting of explorers and geo-

graphers interested in the study of the polar regions,
a statement was submitted to the congress held at Mons
in September, 1905, setting forth the expediency of found-
ing an International Association for the Study of the Polar
Regions, with the objects of ‘‘(1) obtaining an inter-
national agreement upon different questions associated with
polar geography; (2) making a general effort to reach the
terrestrial poles; (3) organising expeditions having for their
object an extension of our knowledge of the polar regions
in every respect; and (4) forming a programme of scientific
work to be carried out in the different countries during the
existence of the International Polar Expeditions.’ The
congress unanimously passed a resolution expressing the
wish ‘‘ (1) to see the formation of this Association in 1906
by a previous meeting of a general Conference of the larger
scientific and maritime nations, who have taken part in
the principal polar expeditions up to the present time; and
(2) to see that the Belgian Government takes the initiative
in approaching the Governments of other countries.’’

We have received a copy of a letter which has been
addressed by M. Lecointe, to whom the congress entrusted
the work of making the necessary preliminary arrange-
ments, to the presidents of academies and of learned
societies all over the world. It is proposed to hold the
first conference at the beginning of May, for the consider-
ation of general questions, and to discuss in detail ‘‘ (1) the
basis of a series of polar expeditions; (2) the programme
of term of observations to be carried out in all the observ-
atories; and (3) the text of the working arrangements of
the international Association ’’’ at a second conference,
composed of State delegates and delegates from academies
and learned societies, in September. The conclusions
arrived at by the second conference will be transmitted
for examination to the Belgian Government, which
eventually will ask the support of other countries for the
new association.

In connection with the proposed International Association
for the Study of the Polar Regions, M. Lecointe invites
polar explorers to send him papers or notices dealing with
questions which will be considered at the general con-
ference in May next. A paper of the kind has been issued
in which M. Henryk Arctowski makes a number of
suggestions for work in the future. M. Arctowski ex-
presses the opinion that in future Arctic research much
use may be made of ice-breakers of the type of Makaroff’s
Yermak. With regard to Antarctic exploration, the settle-
ment of the continental question is admittedly of primary
importance, but M. Arctowski strongly urges the advisa-
bility of exploring thoroughly the circumpolar areas as a
preliminary, especially by hydrographical expeditions.

UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL
INTELLIGENCE.

Campripcr.—The recommendation of the Forestry
Syndicate with regard to the general management of the
examinations, the schedules of the proposed forestry ex-
amination, &c., passed the Senate last Thursday. The
most important of these recommendations is that the
general conduct of the examinations and the prescription
of courses of training are to be entrusted to a committee of
the Board of Agricultural Studies. Such a committee will

NO. 1893, VOL. 73]

include the professors of agriculture, botany, chemistry,
and geology, and the reader in agricultural chemistry,
together with three other members of the Board of Agri-
cultural Studies. The committee will have the power to
co-opt annually, if it thinks fit, four other persons.

The professor of experimental physics gives notice that
a course of three lectures on ‘‘ The Life-history of Surface
Air Currents ’’ will be given by Dr. W. N. Shaw, F.R.S.,
director of the Meteorological Office, in the Cavendish
Laboratory on Wednesdays, February 14 and February 21,
and Thursday, March tr.

Lonpon.—Prof. E. A. Minchin commenced at University
College on Monday a course of lectures on ‘“‘ Parasitic
Protozoa.’’ Prof. Minchin recently returned from Uganda,
where he was engaged as one of the special commissioners
of the Tropical Diseases Committee of the Royal Society
in research on the life-history of the trypanosome of sleep-
ing sickness.

Pror. Drupe has been elected rector of the Dresden
Technical High School for the ensuing year.

DurinG January, Dr. Bolam, lecturer on chemistry at
Queen Margaret College, Glasgow University, delivered
in Leith Nautical College a short course of lectures
on ‘* The Chemistry of Dangerous Cargoes”’ to large
nautical audiences. Mr. James Currie (of Messrs. James
Currie and Co.) presided, and pointed out the importance
of the course in view of the very complex cargoes merchant
ships were now carrying.

Mr. H. F. Tripper directs attention to an important
point in connection with army entrance examinations in
a letter to the Pall Mall Gazette of February 3. Mathe-
matics is a compulsory subject for every candidate com-
peting for admission to the Royal Military Academy,
Woolwich; yet Mr. Trippel says that in the recent ex-
amination one of the competitors who scored zero in mathe-
matics was placed among the successful candidates. It
appears, therefore, that though it is compulsory to take
mathematics in the competitive examination, a candidate
may do so without having any serious intention of gaining
a single mark in the subject. Now that the attention of
the authorities has been directed to the defect in the regu-
lations which permits this course to be followed, it is to
be hoped that a minimum standard of marks to be gained
in mathematics by all candidates will be prescribed, or
some other remedy found.

SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES.

LONDON.

Geological Society, January 10.—Dr. J. E. Marr, F.R.S.,
president, in the chair.—The clay-with-flints: its origin
and distribution: A, J. Jukes-Browne. Until recently
the clay-with-flints has been regarded as being, in the
main, a residue from the slow solution of the Chalk. Of
late years, the opinion has been growing that it consists
very largely of material derived from the Eocene. The
present paper is devoted to an examination of the facts,
with the view of ascertaining whether the clay-with-flints
could possibly be derived from the Chalk, or whether the
theory of its derivation from the Eocene is confirmed by
more detailed inquiry. From several lines of investiga-
tion the author concludes (1) that the clay-with-flints
cannot have been formed from mere solution of the Upper
Chalk; (2) that all its components, except the unbroken
and angular flints, could have been furnished by the Read-
ing beds; (3) that the positions occupied by it are such
that no great thickness of Chalk can have been destroyed
to form it, the tracts being seldom more than 30 feet or
40 feet below the local plane of the Eocene base, or the
presumed level of that plane.—Footprints from the Permian
of Mansfield (Nottinghamshire): G. Hickling. These
fossils were discovered in 1897 by Mr. Francis Holmes in
the Rock Valley Quarry, Mansfield, in a local, lenticular
mass of sandstone intercalated in the Magnesian Lime-
stone. The prints present some resemblance to those
named Ichnium acrodactylum, from the Upper Permian of
Thuringia.

FEBRUARY 8, 1906|

NATURE

Sih

Zoological Society, January 16.—Mr. Howard Saunders,
vice-president, in the chair.—Some bones of the lynx (Felix
lynx) found in a limestone cavern in Cales Dale, Derby-
shire: W. Storrs Fox. This was only the third record of
remains of this species having been met with in the
British Islands—Mammals recently collected in the Malay
Peninsula by Mr. C. B. Kloss, and presented to the
National Museum: J. L. Bonhote. ‘The collection con-
tained examples of seventeen species, chiefly rodents, of
which two, representing well known Bornean species, were
described as new. There was also a series of Mus jarak,
a species hitherto known from one specimen only, and
recently described by the author.—The minute structure
of the teeth of the creodonts: C. S. Tomes. The author
stated that suggestions which had been made as to a
possible relationship between the creodonts and the poly-
protodont marsupials had rendered it interesting to see
how far the structure of their teeth either supported or
tended to disprove such speculations. Marsupial teeth
possessed in the structure of their enamel a well marked
peculiarity, namely, the free penetration of the epiblastic
enamel by tubes continuous with those of the mesoblastic
dentine, and it happened that recent Carnivora, the de-
scendants, more or less direct, of the creodonts, also pre-
sented a disposition of the prisms of their enamel somewhat
unusual amongst Mammalia. Teeth of Hyznodon, Sinopa,
Oxyena, Pachyzna, Borhyzena, Didynictis, and Cynodictis
had been examined, and in none of them were marsupial
characters observed; on the contrary, in most of them
characteristic carnivorous patterns were found, so that in
Oligocene and Eocene times their enamel had already
attained to its full specialisations——Contributions to the
anatomy of the Ophidia: F. E. Beddard.—Synopsis of
the toads of the genus Nectophryne, with special remarks
on some known species and description of a new species
from German East Africa: Dr. J. Roux.

Royal Meteorological Society, January 17.— Mr. Richard
Bentley, president, in the chair.—Annual general meeting.
—Address on meteorology in daily life: R. Bentley. The
president referred to the increasing interest shown lately
throughout the country in the study of meteorology, and to
the recent advances which had been made in it—more
especially in the analysis of the composition of the atmo-
sphere—and in the investigation of the upper currents of
the air. He also laid stress on the increasing urgency of
safeguarding the water supply, and gave various illustra-
tions of the effects of weather on human life, on the land,
On navigation, on transit, &c.

Royal Microscopical Society, January 17.—Dr. D. H.
Scott, F.R.S., president, in the chair, annual meeting.—
Annual address, the subject being ‘‘ The Life and Work of
Bernard Renault ’’: President.

Chemical Society, January 18.—Prof. R. Meldola, F.R.S.,
president, in the chair.—The refractive indices of crystal-
lising solutions, with especial reference to the passage from
the metastable to the labile condition: H. A. Miers
and F. Isaac. The authors found that the refractive index
of a strong solution of sodium nitrate, measured at intervals
while the liquid cools, rises to a maximum value and then
falls, crystals appearing before the maximum is reached.
There are always two periods of crystallisation: a first,
in which a few crystals are growing gradually; a second,
in which many crystals appear spontaneously. The authors
regard these as being undoubtedly the metastable and labile
states.—The effect of constitution on the rotatory power of
optically active nitrogen compounds, part i.: M. B.
Thomas and H. O. Jones. The resolution of a set of
optically active nitrogen compounds and the examination
of the rotatory power of their salts in dilute aqueous solu-
tion have been made in order to find the rotatory power
of the ions. The values of [M]p for some of the principal
alkyl radicals are given.—The determination of available
plant food in soil by the use of weak acid solvents: A. D.
Hall and A. Amos. The authors have investigated the
effect of repeating the attack of weak acid solvents on
soils of known history derived from the Rothamsted ex-
perimental plots. In the case of soils continuously
manured with superphosphate, the phosphoric acid goes
into solution at a rate which decreases logarithmically, but

NO. 1893, VOL. 73]

soils which have received complex manures do not show
the same regular decrement in the amounts of phosphoric
acid passing into solution.—The action of ammonia and
amines on diazo-benzene picrate: O. Silberrad and
G. Rotter.—The preparation of bistriazobenzene: O.
Silberrad and B. J. Smart.—Gradual decomposition of
ethyl diazoacetate : O. Silberrad and C. S. Roy.—Studies
on nitrogen iodide, iii., the action of methyl and benzyl
iodides: O. Silberrad and B. J. Smart.—Action of
bromine on benzeneazo-o-nitrophenol: J. T. Hewitt and
N. Walker.—The condensation of dimethyldihydroresorcin
and of chloroketodimethyltetrahydrobenzene with primary
amines, part i., monamines, ammonia, aniline, and
p-toluidine : P. Haas.—Silicon researches, part x., silicon
thiocyanate: J. E. Reynolds. The author found that
silicon thiocyanate, Si(SCN),, is best prepared by pro-
longed digestion of excess of pure lead thiocyanate in a
benzene solution of silicon tetrachloride——Halogen deri-
vatives of substituted oxamides: F. D. Chattaway and
W. H. Lewis. A number of substances obtained by the
action of halogens on substituted oxamides are described.
—Menthyl benzene-sulphonate and menthyl naphthalene-B-

sulphonate: T. S. Patterson and J. Frew.—Some re-
actions and new compounds of fluorine: E. B. R.
Prideaux. The fluorine prepared by the electrolysis of

anhydrous hydrogen fluoride, contained in a copper vessel,
was found to contain oxygen produced at the anode even
after the current had passed for a considerable time.
Liquid fluorine has no solvent or chemical action on iodine
or solid bromine. Bromine fluoride, BrF,, was prepared
for the first time. Gaseous fluorides of selenium, SeF,, and
tellurium, TeF,, were prepared by direct combination. The
vapour pressure curve of SF, was compared with those of
SeF, and TeF,, and shown to be similar.—Contributions
to the chemistry of the rare earths, part i.: M. Esposito.
The various methods advocated by Watts, Brauner, Popps,
Mosander, Debray and others for the separation of cerium,
lanthanum, and “‘old didymium’’ have been examined
comparatively.—A synthesis of aldehydes by Grignard’s
reaction: G. W. Monier-Williams.—The action of ultra-
violet light on moist and dry carbon dioxide: S. Chad-
wick, J. E. Ramsbottom, and D. L. Chapman.—A
contribution to the study of stable diazo-compounds, pre-
liminary note: G. T. Morgan and W. O. Wootton.—
Triarylsulphonium bases : S. Smiles and R. Le Rossignol.
—An improved apparatus for the continuous extraction of
liquids with ether: R. S. Bowman. In this apparatus,
which comprises a simple system of tubes, a condenser,
and two ordinary flasks, the extraction is effected by pass-
ing cool liquid ether through the solution.

Physical Society, January 26.—Prof. J. H. Poynting,
F.R.S., president, in the chair.—The isothermal distilla-
tion of nitrogen and oxygen and of argon and oxygen :
I. K. tnglis. Mixtures of liquid nitrogen and oxygen are
particularly suitable for an exact study of the relations
obtaining during isothermal distillation, for the distillation
bulb being the coldest instead of the hottest part of the
apparatus, errors due to back condensation, &c., can be
eliminated. In addition, the vapour can easily be circu-
lated and passed time after time through the liquid until
equilibrium is complete. Experiments were carried out in
this way in a specially designed apparatus, and the results
showed that the ratio of nitrogen to oxygen in the vapour
was not in a constant proportion to the same ratio in the
liquid. When, however, the partial pressures of nitrogen
and oxygen were plotted against the concentrations in the
liquid a straight line was obtained in the case of nitrogen
and a curve in the case of oxygen. This indicated that
nitrogen obeyed Henry’s law of solubility, and the devi-
ation in the case of oxygen pointed to its being slightly
associated in the liquid state when mixed with nitrogen.
A few experiments were also carried out with mixtures
of argon and oxygen. At the temperature used, argon was
a volatile solid, and therefore the greatest concentration
of argon that could be obtained was that of the saturated
solution in oxygen. Argon seemed to agree with nitrogen
in obeying Henry’s law.—The use of chilled cast iron for
permanent magnets: A. Campbell. The present investi-
gation was made on rings in addition to rods of the
standard dimensions usual in testing magnet-steels. All

358

NATEORAS

[Frpruary 8, 1906

the specimens were heated to 1o00° C. and then chilled in
cold water, care being taken to support them during the
process, as cast-iron is very brittle at such a high tempera-
ture. The rods were tested for maximum remanent B and
coércivity by Madame Curie’s method, the magnetised bar
being placed in a long solenoid producing a demagnetising
field which was gradually increased until a search-coil
slipped along the bar showed that the demagnetisation
was complete. The results showed the chilled cast-iron
to be not very inferior to ordinary magnet-steel. By
ballistic tests on the two rings, their permeability curves
were obtained, and these indicated that the simple process
of chilling used was quite satisfactory even for a tolerably
massive ring of 6 sq cm. cross section. ‘The cheapness
and ease of working cast-iron should encourage instrument
makers to test its capabilities in various instruments.—
Experiments on the propagation of longitudinal waves of
magnetic flux along iron wires and radee Prof. Lyle and
Mr. Baldwin. The experiments described in the paper
were undertaken with the object of determining if there
is a definite rate of propagation of magnetism in iron.
The method adopted was to produce magnetisation at a
particular point on a bar by means of a coil through which
an alternating current was passed, and then to observe the
magnetic flux at various distances from the coil by means
of a small secondary coil, free to be moved to various
places on the bar. By the use of Prof. Lyle’s wave-tracer
the magnetic flux at Various points along the bar was thus
obtainable. The wave curve was then analysed by
Fourier’s series. Various curves given in the paper show
the value of the constants in Fourier’s series and of the
lag in the magnetisation as the coil was moved along the
bar. Contrary to what had been observed in previous
researches, the authors found that the phase lag, instead
of continuously increasing along the bar, reached a maxi-
mum value and then diminished, proving the absence of
true wave propagation.

Mineralogical Society, January 23.—Prof. H. A. Miers,
F.R.S., president, in the chair.—Studies in crystallisation ;
sodium nitrate: H. A. Miers and J. Chevalier. Micro-
scopic observations were made upon solutions of known
strength contained in open tubes or sealed tubes main-
tained at a known temperature, or in the form of drops
upon a slide, with the object of comparing the growth
of crystals in metastable and labile solutions respectively.
The limits of the labile state (in which the solution can
crystallise spontaneously) have been fixed by previous ex-
periments by H. A. Miers and Miss F. Isaac. If a crystal
of the salt be introduced into a supersaturated solution
which is not labile, the centres of growth of new crystals
are on its surface, and they grow in parallel positions
upon it; if it be introduced into a labile solution the new
centres of growth are in its neighbourhood, and the crystals
fall upon it in various positions. If it be moved about in
either, a cloud of crystals is produced; but in the meta-
stable solution this appears to be due to minute crystals
which are swept from its surface. A crystal having
appeared spontaneously can continue to grow in a labile
solution without producing others in its neighbourhood,
but if introduced it at once produces a cloud. This may be
because the growing crystal is surrounded by a zone of
metastable solution. —-Geikielite and the ferro-magnesian
Geikielite occurs

titanates: T. Crook and B. M. Jones.
in ociation with magnesian menaccanite and common

ilmenite (menaccanite) in the gem gravels of the Balan-
goda and Rakwana districts of Ceylon. A considerable
number of analyses indicate that geikielite varies in com-
position, the iron oxides ranging from 5 per cent. to 14 per
cent. No specimen has hitherto been found which contains
less than 8-1 per cent. of iron oxide. For this reason the
formula (Mg,Fe)TiO, is preferable to MgTiO, as express-
ing the true composition of geikielite. Magnesian
menaccanite containing about 28 per cent. of iron oxide
is very closely allied to geikielite in all its properties, more
so than to common ilmenite. The alteration products of
geikielite are similar to those of ilmenite, consisting of
rutile and so-called leucoxene; the latter is a mixture of
amorphous titanic acid, sphene, and limonite. It seems
advisable to classify the ferro-magnesian titanates as
ilmenites and geikielites, treating magnesian menaccanite

NO. 1893, vor. 73]

| glands,

| (which has the formula (Fe, Mg)TiO,, where Fe : Mg=r: 1)

as the middle member of the series.—G. F. Herbert Smith
exhibited, and explained the use of, a diagram for the
graphical determination of the refractive index from the
prism angle and the angle of minimum deviation. He also
explained a simple test for ascertaining the pair of faces
corresponding to any refracted image.

DvuBLin.

Royal Dublin Society, December 19, 1905.—Dr. R. F.
Scharff in the chair.—The causes of ‘‘ blowing ’”’ in tins
of condensed milk: Dr. G. H. Pethybridge. Blowing
(i.e. bulging) is caused by the accumulation of gas pro-
duced by the fermentation of the cane sugar added during
manufacture by certain wild yeasts or torula, which can
ferment saturated solutions of sugar, and appear to be
present in the original millk supplies, and are not intro-
duced during the process of manufacture.—Two new
species of Collembola for Ireland: Prof. G. H. Carpenter.
The species described belong to the genera Isotoma and
Entomobrya, the latter showing some interesting special
affinities with Orchesella

EDINBURGH.

Royal Society, January $.—Prof. Crum Brown, vice-

president, in the chair.—Bathydraco Scotiae, Poisson
abyssal nouveau recueilli par 1’Expedition Antarctique
national Ecossaise. Note préliminaire: Louis Dello.

The genus Bathydraco was instituted by Ginther in 1878
for a small fish (B. antarcticus, Giinth.) from the south
east of Heard Island, inhabiting a depth of 1260 fathoms.
The new species, named by M. Dollo, was obtained in the
Weddell Sea at a depth of 1410 fathoms.—Influence of
thymus feeding on allantoin excretion: Dr. J. Mac-
lachlan. The work was based on experiments carried
out in the laboratory of the Royal College of Physicians
of Edinburgh. Reference was made to the very unsatis-
factory nature of the evidence on the influence of uric
acid and nucleins on the production of allantoin, and it
was pointed out that the administration of thymus sub-

stance was invariably followed by a large production of
allantoin. The point investigated was whether this was

due to the conversion of the nucleins and puric bodies
contained in the thymus or to some specifie action of the

substance. Boiling the thymus before it was administered
reduced its power of producing allantoin to less than

half. Thymus also was found to exercise a much more
marked effect in causing the production of allantoin than
other glands, such as pancreas, liver, and lymphatic
which are also rich in nucleins. The conclusion
drawn was that raw thymus when administered produced
a specific action on the metabolism by which the formation
of allantoin was increased.—A theorem in hyper-complex
numbers: J. H. Maclagan Wedderburn. A short proof
was given of a theorem, first proved by Scheffers, that
an algebra which contains the quaternion algebra can, if
the moduli of the two algebras are the same, be expressed
as the product of the quaternion algebra and another
algebra. The theorem was then extended to a large and
important class of algebras.

January 22.—Lord M’Laren, vice-president, in the chair.
—A form of initiational disturbance more convenient than

that of §§ 3-31 of previous papers on waves: Lord
Kelvin. The investigations of §§ 5-31, including the
““front and rear’’ of infinitely long free processions of

waves in deep water,

equidistant initiational disturbances, the first of two
typical forms described in §§ 3, 4. In this form the

initial disturbance is everywhere elevation or everywhere
depression, and its amount at great distances from the
middle varies inversely as the square root of the distance
from a horizontal line at a small height above the water
surface in the middle of the disturbance. A type-disturb-
ance derived mathematically from that used in §§ 5-31
by double differentiation with reference to time, or by
single differentiation of the second of the forms of §§ 3, 4
with reference to space, is given in the present paper, and
illustrated by diagrams of curves placed before the society,
in which the initial disturbance has as much water above
as below the undisturbed level; and at great distances the
depression or elevation varies inversely as the 3/2 power

are all founded on superposition of

a *:

FEBRuary 8, 1906]

NATURE

3832)

of the distance. This derived solution is used in the two
following papers, for which it is found much more con-
venient than the solution used in §§ 5-31.—Illustrations
of the indefinite extension and multiplication of a group
of two-dimensional deep-sea waves, initially finite: Lord
Kelvin. The water is left at rest and free, after being
artificially displaced to a configuration of a finite number
of sinusoidal mountains and valleys—five mountains and
four valleys in the initiation of the diagrams placed before
the society. Immediately after the water is left free, the
disturbance begins analysing itself into two groups of
waves, seen travelling in contrary directions from the
middle line of the diagram. The perceptible fronts of
these two groups extend rightwards and leftwards from
the end of the initial single static group, far beyond the
““ hypothetical fronts ’’ supposed to travel at half the wave
velocity, which (according to the dynamics of Osborne
Reynolds and Rayleigh in their important and interesting
consideration of the work required to feed a uniform pro-
cession of water-waves) would be the actual fronts if the
free groups remained uniform. How far this is from being
the truth is illustrated by the diagrams. Besides the great
extension of the fronts outward from the middle, we see
that the two groups, after emergence from perceptible co-
existence in the middle, travel with their rears leaving a
widening space between them of water not perceptibly
disturbed, and with wavelets in ever augmenting number
following slower and slower in the rear of each group and
causing the extreme perceptible rear to travel at a much
smaller speed than half the ‘‘ wave velocity.” It is
obviously difficult to give any definition of an ‘‘ effective
front,’’ or of a ‘‘ centre of group,’’ or of a “‘ virtual rear,”’
according to which we could regard the group as travelling
with half the wave velocity or with any single definite
velocity.—The initiation and continued growth of a train
of two-dimensional waves due to the sudden commencement
of a stationary periodically varying forcive: Lord Kelvin.
A forcive consisting of a finite sinusoidally varying pressure
is applied, and kept through all time applied, to the
surface of the water within a finite practically limited
space on each side of the middle line of the disturbance.
In the beginning the water was everywhere at rest and its
surface horizontal. The problem to be solved is, to find the
elevation or depression of the water at any distance from
the mid-line of the working forcive, and at any time after
the forcive began to act. The solution was illustrated by
two diagrams—time curves—one showing the motion of
the water at the mid-line of the working forcive, the other
showing the motion at a distance from this line equal to
the wave-length that would be in an endless uniform pro-
cession of waves having period equal to the period of the
disturbing forcive. Calculations are in progress to give the
motion of the water at eight wave-lengths from the source.
The detailed calculations were made and the curves drawn
for Lord Kelvin by Mr. George Green.

Ervatum.—In the report of the meeting of November 20,
1905 (NaturE, December 28, 1905), the words ‘‘ quite did
away with” on p. 216, line 23, should be ‘had no
appreciable effect on.’’ :

Paris.

Academy of Sciences, January 29.—M. H. Poincaré in
the chair.—New researches on the insoluble alkaline com-
pounds contained in living plants: M. Berthelot.—The
capture of a whale (genus Kogia) near Roscoff, English
Channel: Yves Delage. The animal was captured at
Siec, about 6 kilometres from Roscoff. The species is
extremely rare, and has never been previously observed
in European waters.—Certain systems of circles and
spheres which occur in the deformation of quadrics: C.
Guichard.—The perpetual secretary announced the death
of Sir John Burdon-Sanderson, correspondant for the sec-
tion of medicine and surgery.—Differential equations of
the second order of which the general integral is uniform :
M. Gambier.—The flame spectrum of mercury: C.
de Watteville. Attempts to photograph a flame spectrum
of mercury have been hitherto unsuccessful. By the use
of solutions of the acetate and cyanide of mercury, sprayed
into a flame, the author has been successful in obtaining
the flame spectrum of mercury, consisting of the single
line 2536-72. This line was measured by Kayser and

NO. 1893, vol. 73]

Runge in the are spectrum of. mercury.—The duration of
the discharge in an X-ray tube: André Broca. With
equivalent sparking distances varying from 6 cm. to 10 cm.,
the time was practically constant, 0-0006 sec.—The diminu-
tion of the radio-activity of polonium with time: Mme.
Curie. The intensity of the radiation diminishes with the
time according to a simple exponential law, I=I,e-“.
If t is expressed in days, a=o-00495, or the intensity falls
to half its value in 140 days. A diagram is given showing
the linear relation between logI and the time, the devi-
ations between the values obtained from the above law

and from experiment not exceeding 3 per cent. The agree-
ment of the constant (0-00495) with that found by
Marckwald for radiotellurium (0-00497) shows that the

latter substance is identical with polonium.—The sulphates

of some rare metals: Camille Matignon. Thermo-
chemical measurements on the sulphates of lanthanum,
praseodymium, neodymium, and samarium.—The rapid

preparation of solutions of hydriodic acid: F. Bodroux.
A given weight of iodine is divided into two equal portions.
By the interaction of barium peroxide and the first por-
tion, barium iodide is produced; the remainder of the
iodine is dissolved in the solution of barium iodide, and
the liquid treated with sulphur dioxide until decolorised,
filtered from the barium sulphate, and redistilled.—An
alloy of thorium and aluminium: O. Hoénigschmid.
This alloy, the composition of which corresponds to the
formula ThAl,, can be obtained in the form of long
hexagonal prismatic needles possessing the colour and
metallic lustre of aluminium, by the reduction of thorium
oxide by aluminium in the electric furnace. It can also
be obtained by the interaction of aluminium and the double
fluoride of aluminium and thorium at a high temperature.
—Researches on the halogen compounds of the borates of
barium and strontium: L. Ouvrard. The borates of
barium and strontium appear to enter into combination
with chlorine and bromine less easily than the correspond-
ing salts of calcium, only one halogen compound of each
being obtainable.—a- and B-campholytic alcohols: G.
Blanc. Details of preparation and physical properties.
The pyruvic ester of each is described, and the correspond-
ing semicarbazones.—The influence of the reaction of the
medium upon the activity of the diastases: A. Fernbach.
Remarks on a recent note on the same subject by L.
Maquenne and E. Roux.—The nutrition of green plants
by amides in the absence of carbon dioxide : Jules Lefévre.
Experiments made on the dwarf nasturtium led to the
following conclusions :—Plants deprived of carbon dioxide
and amides lose a notable proportion of their initial weight,
this loss being due to respiration. Plants kept in the
light, with amides present in the soil, in spite of the
absence of carbon dioxide, developed and increased their
dry weight. Light is essential for the utilisation of the
amides by the plant.—A new parasitic fungus, Tremato-
valsa Matruchoti, causing the disease of the silver lime
tree: Nicolas Jacobesco. This fungus is the cause of a
disease which has ravaged the lime forests of Wallachia.
It appears to belong to a new family.—The classification
into genera of the family of the Bradypodide (genus
Hemibradypus) : R. Anthony.—Contribution to the general
morphology of the higher Protozoa: J. Kunstler and Ch.
Gineste.—The anatomy and histology of the Ixodide: A.
Bonnet.—The effect of the injection of extract of the
interstitial gland of the testicle on the growth: P. Ancel
and P. Bouin.—Tables of growth drawn up in 1905 from
the measurements of 4400 Parisian children between the
ages of one and fifteen years: MM. Variot and Chaumet.
The results are given both in graphical and tabular form,
comparison being made with similar measurements of
Bowditch (Massachusetts) and Rotch (Boston).—The
physiological conditions of oral teaching: Pierre Bonnier.
The effects of a want of knowledge of the principles of
voice production are throat troubles with the teachers and
increased mental effort on the part of the pupils. Measure-
ments are given showing the importance of the latter effect.
—Chloroform anzsthesia. The estimation of the chloro-
form before, during, and after anzsthesia is set up, and
the quantity in the blood at the moment of death: Maurice
Nicloux.—The Neocretacean ammonites collected by the
Swedish Antarctic Expedition: W. Kilian.—The geology
of the Peloponnesus: Ph. Négris.

360

NATURE

[FEpBRruary 8, 1906

GOTTINGEN.

Royal Society of Sciences.—The Wachrichten (physico-
mathematical section), parts iv. and v. for 1905, contains
the following memoirs communicated to the society :—

July 8.—Determination of all curves by the translation
of which minimal surfaces are generated: P. Stackel.

July 22.—Outlines of a general theory of linear integral
equations, x., Riemann’s problems in the theory of func-
tions of a complex variable: D. Hilbert.—On finite
algebras: L. E. Dickson.—On pyroelectricity in centro-
symmetric crystals; with appendix (October 28): On the
piezoelectricity of centric crystals: W. Voigt.

August 5.—On the origin of the salt deposits of north-
west ‘Germany : A. von Koenen.

November 25.—Remarks on an essay on the stellate
appearance of tne stars (Nachrichten, 1905, 238). The
effect of the background on the estimation of magnitude
(e.g. of the moon on the horizon). The “jumping ’’ of
the image in vision with the right and the left eye
alternately: W. Holtz.—Measurements of the density of
the vertical electric conduction-current in free air made
during the balloon voyage of August 30, 1905: H.
Gerdien.—The Doppler effect in ‘‘ Canal-strahlen’’’? and
the spectra of positive atomic ions: J. Stark.—Determin-
ation of all curves by ee translation of which minimal
surfaces are generated: G. Scheffers.

The official communications, part ii., for 1905,
Nachrichten contain an anniversary address by W.
on hypotheses concerning work.

of the
Voigt

DIARY OF SOCIETIES.

THURSDAY, Frsruary 8.

Rovat Society, at 4.30.—On Roche's Ellipsoids and on Allied Problems
Relating to Satellites: Sir George H. Darwin, K.C.B., F.R.S.—
Polarisation in Secondary Réntgen Radiation: Dr. C. G. Barkla.—lonic
Size in Relation to the Physical Properties of Aqueous Solutions: W. R.
Bousfield, K.C.—Explosions of Coal-Gas and Air: Prof. B. Hopkinson.—
On Periodicities in Sun-spots: Prof. A. Schuster, F.R.S.—Constants of
Explosion of Cordite and of Modified Cordite: Dr. Robert Robertson.

InsTiTuTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Technical Considerations
in Electric Railway Engineering: F. W. Carter (Conclusion of
Discussion).—Crane Motors and Controllers: C. W. Hill

Royat InstTITuTION, at 5.—The Significance of the Future in the Theory
of Evolution: Benjamin Kidd.

MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY, at 5.30.—Special General Meeting.—Par-
titions of Numbers in Space of two Dimensons: Major P. A.
MacMahon.—The Eisenstein-Sylvester extension of Fermat's Theorem :
Dr. H. F. Baker.

FRIDAY, Frepsruary 9.

Roya. INsTITUTION, at 9.—Eclipse Problems and Observations :
Newall, F.R.S.

Rovat ASTRONOMICAL SociETy, at 5.—Anniversary Meeting.

PuysicaL Society, at 8.—Annual General Meeting. Address by the
President-elect, Prof. J. Perry, F.R.S.

Royat GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY, at 5 30 (Research Department).—The
Ruins of Rhodesia and the Probable Date of Outside Intrusions in East
Africa: Discussion to be opened by D. Randall Maclver.

MatracotocicaL Society, at 8.—Annual Meeting.—On Pearl-Oyster
Culture and Pearl Fishing: T. H. Haynes.—Irish Molluscs and their
Habitats: R. J. Welch.

InsTITUTION OF CiviIL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Electric Driving at the Locomo-
tive Works of the North London Railway: R. H. Mackie.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY I0.
Roya INsTITUTION, at 3.—Advances in Microscopy; J. W. Gordon.
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 12.

Royat GEOGRAPHICAL SocigTy, at 8.30.—The Geography of the Spanish
Armada: Rev. W. Spotswood Green.

Society oF ARTS, at 8.—Modern Warships: Sir William White, K.C.B.,
F.R.S.

InstituTION oF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS. at 8.—Graduates’ Lecture:
The Niagara Power-Stations : Prof. W. C. Unwin, F.R.S.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13-

Roya InsTiTuTION, at 5.—Food and Nutrition: Prof. W. Stirling.

ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE, at 8.15.—Exhihition of Lantern-slides of
Kikuyu Ceremonies: W. Scoresby Routledge.—Exhibition of Kikuyu
Ceremonial Images: T. A. Joyce.—Exhibition of Slides of Rude Stone
Monuments and Notes on Stone Monuments in Glamorganshire: A. L.
Lewis.

INSTITUTION OF CIvIL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Adjourned Discussion: The
Railway-Gauges of India: F. R. Upcott.—Probable Papers: Country
Roads-for Modern Traffic: J. E. Blackwall.—A Plea for Better Country
Roads: G. R. Jebb.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14-

Society or Arts, at 8.—The Horseless Carriage, 1885-1905:

Johnson.

H. F.

Claude

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15.

Roya Society, at 4.30.—Prolable Papers: The Influence of Increased
Barometric Pressure on Man, No. 1: Dr. L. Hill, F.R.S., and M.
Greenwood.—On the Existence of Cell-communications between Blasto-
meres : C. Shearer.—Innervation of Antagonistic Muscles. Ninth Note:
Successive Spinal Induction: Prof. C. S. Sherrington, F.R.S.—The

NO. 1893, VOL. 73]|

Chemical Constitution of Protoplasm as shown by the Rate of Tissue
Disintegration: Dr. H. M. Vernon.—The Development of the Head-
Muscles of the Common Fowl (Gallus domesticus), together with some
Remarks on the Head-Muscles of Reptiles : Prof. F. H. Edgeworth.

CHEMICAL SoOcIETY, at 8.30.—Cuprous Formate: A. Angel.—The Solu-
bility of Triphenylmethane in Organic Liquids with which it forms
Crystalline Compouuds: H. Hartley and N.G. Thomas.—The Spon-
taneous Crystallisation of Supersaturated Solutions: H. Hartley.—The
Preparation and Properties of some New Tropeines: H. A. D. Jowett
and A. C. O. Hann.—Studies in Asymmetric Synthesis, Part IV., The
Application of Grignard’s Reaction for Asymmetric Syntheses : A.
McKenzie.

LinNEAN Society, at 8.—The Structure of /s/s Azppurzs: J. J. Simpson.
—Note on the Geographical Distribution of the Genus Shortia, Torr.
and Gray: B. Daydon Jackson.—ELx/ibition : Developmental Changes
in Zooglcea (with Lantern Slides): Dr. H. Charlton Bastian, F.R.S.

SocieTY OF ART at 4.30.—The Navigable Waterways of India: R. B.
Buckley, C.S.1.

INSTITUTION OF MINING AND METALLURGY, at 8.—Pyritic Smelting:
R. C. Alabaster and F. H. Wintle.-—The Acme Combined Concentrating
Table: L. H. L. Huddart.—Stadia in Careful Work: A. H. Webb.—The
Detailed Mapping of Stoping Areas: H. R. Sleeman.—Sinking, Develop-
ment and Underground Equipment of Deep Level Shafts on the Rand :
A. E. Pettit.—The Hydraulic Filling of a Coal Seam at Lens, Pas de
Calais, France: L. E. Hill and M. Butt.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16,

Roya InsTIruTION, at 9.—The Passage of Electricity through Liquids:
W.C. D. Whetham, F.R.S.

InsTituTION OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Large Locomotive
Boilers: G. J. Churchward.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 17.

ASSOCIATION OF TEACHERS IN TECHNICAL INSTITUTES (Regent Street
Polytechnic), at 7.30.—The Teaching of Mathematics to Engineering
Students: G. E. St. L. Carson.—The Teaching of Mathematics to
Building Trade Students : H. Bustridge.

CONTENTS. PAGE
A New Integral Calculus. By Prof. G. H. Bryan,
IPRS Ss o 5 REO Gc Osteo Clo 0. St
Stimulus and Memory : Peo CUR eo co Go
Economy in Thermal Power Plants, By E.G. Ci 338)
Materia Medicas Byidy. A. Hl. . 3) 2 eee 1 ee
Our Book Shelf :—
Baumhauer: ‘‘ Die neuere Entwickelung der Krystallo-
Pet 5 GLOOM op ohd Sooo HS
Righi: ‘‘La Théorie moderne des Phénoménes
physiques.’"—R. J. S.. . 340
Hedges: ‘‘ Modern Lightning Conductors” 340
Letters to the Editor :—
The Inventor of the Nicol Prism.—Prof. Silvanus
P. Thompson, F.R.S.. . . 340
Result of War affected by Soldier’s. Stature. —John
H. Twigg. . . 0 . +340
Scintillations produced ‘by the Electronic «eg. Rays ”
emitted by Radium.—C. W. R. . . 341
The Effect of Food on the Colour of Moths.—Prof.
MDAC ockerell) \< ) ee mes 341
A Correction.—F. Escombe . . 341
A Metrical and Pictorial Record of the Earth’s
History. (iestyated.)r. “300 ener =n ee
Some Mammalian Types. (//lustrated.) By O. V. A. 343
Miners’ Worm. By Prof. ees J. Hickson,
KaRaS eas oA alee 8 se) Seema
The Royal College Of Science, 4) age, ee 344
Notes™ i). frente = ObotbsS oc. He
Our Astronomical “Column ;—
Comet 1905¢ (Giacobini). (Z//ustrated.) . . . . . . 351
Comet 1906a . : 352
A New Method of Determining the “Moon's Position
Photographically ... . SS io a SiS
A Catalogue of Spectroscopic Binaries. . 2 hea
Observations of the Lyrid Meteors, April, 1904 . 352
Report of the Meeting of the Solar Commission at
Innsbruck . . Maeno 5 dado bo
Anthropological Notes .. . a verMepere! o) tel (elt eT
A Gas Calorimeter. (Ilustrated.) ° 354
The Electric Production of Nitrates from the
Atmosphere. re Prof. Silvanus P. Thompson,
yo sae VS) ee
Polar Exploration + 3 2 1) SEED)
University and Educational Intelligence ate, rel fo) RSE
SocietiesiandvAcademies) 2 5) = niente 356
Diary Of SOCieties maranrii-i/-) io) 1-1 -aee 360

INC AIG COS @ ad

361

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1906.

BIOLOGICAL HERESIES.
The Nature and Origin of Living Matter. By Dr.
H. Charlton Bastian, F.R.S. Pp. 344; with 245
illustrations from photomicrographs. (London :
T. Fisher Unwin, 1905.) Price 12s. 6d. net.
R. H. CHARLTON BASTIAN re-expounds his
well known biological heresies with a vigour
and industry worthy of a better cause. The first
heresy is that “ archebiosis ’’? is a present occurrence,
that is, that living organisms may here and now
arise from non-living materials. What seems to most
biologists so difficult to conceive with any con-
creteness, that their evolutionist faith is strained a
little to believe it may have occurred once long
ago, may be seen occurring any day in this veteran
experimenter’s laboratory. What Pasteur looked out
for in vain for a score of years has been revealed to
Bastian’s persistent patience. The second heresy is
that ‘‘ heterogenesis’’ is not infrequent, that is, that

a living creature may give rise to alien offspring, to

organisms quite different from itself, it may be
belonging to a different class altogether. Against

the fact of the persistence or continuity of hereditary
resemblance we are accustomed to balance the fact
of variation; but now we are asked to make room
for what is more than the most convinced believer in
mutations or transilience ever dreamed of, namely,
such facts of heterogenesis as the production of
infusorians from a rotifer’s egg. Our convictions as
to the specific plasmic architecture of different forms
of life, our difficulty in imagining how chlorophyll
corpuscles can become a swarm of sun-animalcules,
must be corrected, like other prejudices, by facing the
facts. To ignore these is the worst form of

ignorantia elenchi of which scientific students can be |

guilty. If mature’s method includes the hop, step,
and leap phenomena, which this boolx describes at
great length, what can excuse the blindness of those
who persist that evolution is like a snail’s continuous
crawl?

To see what Dr. Bastian interprets as archebiosis,
we are recommended to take an infusion of turnip
or fresh beef, to filter this through two layers of the
finest Swedish paper, to let a drop fall on a cleaned
microscope slip, to put a cover-glass on, to remove
excess of fluid with blotting-paper, to allow one or
more air-bubbles to remain in the film, to seal up
with melted paraffin wax, to fix upon a clear space
free from particles near an air-bubble, to incubate
at blood-heat for two or three hours, and to await
events. The expected happens—multitudes of living
particles appear. How can we account for their
origin? Three hypotheses present themselves, (a) that
they have arisen through the reproductive multipli-
cation of one or more germs that had escaped
observation in the film; (b) that they have developed
from a multitude of diffusely disseminated invisible
germs; or (c) that they have been produced de novo
in the fluid by a process of archebiosis. The author
argues that the third interpretation is the true one.

NO. 1894, VOL. 73]

One of the arguments is based on the uniformity
of nature :—

“To assume, as the great majority of Evolutionists
do, that Archebiosis, or the natural origin of living
matter, took place once only in the remote past and
that it has not been repeated, or if repeated in past
times, that it no longer goes on, is to look upon
this process as a kind of natural miracle, and to
postulate a break in continuity which ought only to
be possible in the face of overwhelming evidence of

its reality. This latter is, however, as I contend,
altogether absent to anything like an adequate
extent.”

This kind of argument applied to other great events
in evolution has the advantage of fostering an ex-
pectant attitude. Nature may be repeating herself
oftener than we think.

Many of us have made flask experiments with
super-heated organic fluids, which remained sterile
for years without any hint of archebiosis; but, of
course, these experiments only prove that living
organisms do not arise under these severe conditions.
We must give archebiosis a chance, and unluckily
that chance usually means either an open door to in-
fection or imperfect sterilisation. But the surer work
we make with sterilisation, the greater likelihood is
there of our destroying what Dr. Bastian calls the
germinality of the fluids. When organisms do not

| appear in the sterilised medium the sceptical experi-

menter says ‘‘ Biogenesis is confirmed,’’ whereas he

ought to say ‘‘ Unluckily, I have destroyed the
germinality of good archebiotic material.”’ When

organisms do appear in the sterilised medium the
sceptical experimenter says ‘* What an ass Loam! 2
but if he were not so slow of heart to believe, he
should say ‘‘ Archebiosis for ever.”

As to the original archebiosis in free nature, the
author makes the suggestion that nitrate of ammonia
(or nitrite?), which is formed in the atmosphere in
thunderstorms and brought down by the thunder
shower, may have played an important part in the
mixture of ingredients in which protoplasm was first
synthesised.

Dr. Bastian’s patient experiments on heterogenesis
raise, as it seems to us, some interesting questions
concerning the variability of minute organisms, the
phases in the life-history of many forms which are
very inadequately known, the occurrence of “ latent
germs’ in the interior of healthy fruits and animal
organs, and so on. But we are too bigoted to believe
that diatoms can be produced by the transformation
of the cells of an unrelated alga, that anabena or
actinophrys or amcebe can arise from chlorophyll
corpuscles, that the eggs of a fly may be transformed
into infusorians, or that several different kinds of
ciliata may arise from the eggs of one and the same
rotifer. While all this is incredible to us because it
is magical and unmeaning—incongruous with our
experience of nature’s workings—the difficulty is to
interpret what Dr. Bastian saw and photographed.
We venture the suggestion that in some of the egg-
experiments he may have been on the track of
ovivorous parasites such as are known to infest the
eggs of some aquatic insects.

R

362 NATURE [FEBRUARY I5, 1906
While we must stand aloof from Dr. Bastian’s | ing of the various partial differential coefficients which

heresies, we cannot but admire his dogged support
of what seems to us a lost cause. It is something to
stand unus contra mundum with no loss of courage
or of good humour. We also sympathise with some
of the positions which the author maintains in the
introductory part of his book, e.g. as to the innate
or intrinsic variability of living matter, and as to the
importance of discontinuous variations or mutations.
There is also much vigorous criticism of Weismann’s
last volume, ‘‘ The Evolution Theory,’’ and a defence
of Spencer’s concept of ‘ physiological units ’’ as
against Weismann’s ‘“ determinants.’? But when, in
regard to the transmission of modifications, Dr.
Bastian says that ‘‘ Weismann frankly admits the
whole point in dispute—namely, that acquired
characters can be, and are, frequently inherited,’ we
must express our surprise at what seems to us an
extraordinary misunderstanding. V5. 2Ns Ake

A STANDARD TREATISE ON PHYSICS.

Lehrbuch der Physik. By O. D. Chwolson. Vol. iii.
Translated into German by E. Berg. Pp. xi+988;
illustrated. (Brunswick: Vieweg und Sohn, 1905.)
Price 16 marks.

Traité de Physique. By O. D. Chwolson. Translated
from the Russian and German editions into French
by E. Davaux, with Notes on Theoretical Physics
by MM. E. and F. Cosserat. Vol. i., part i., pp.
xili+407; vol. ii, part i., pp. viit+202. (Paris:
A Hermann, 1906.) Price 16 francs and 6 francs
respectively.

‘HE first two volumes of this important translation

from Russian into German have already been

noticed in these columns. The present volume em-
braces the science of heat, including thermodynamics.
The treatment throughout is most admirable both for
accuracy and lucidity, and the treatise may be expected
to become generally known in this more accessible
shape. Each chapter is followed by copious references
to original sources of information; these are divided
into sections numbered according to the parts of the
text to which they relate; they constitute a valu-
able summary of the important memoirs,
especially as they include quite recent work as well
as the earlier work which formed the foundation of
the science of heat. The illustrations are excellently
done.

Besides the phenomena which are usually described
in a treatise on physics (thermometry, expansion,
thermal capacity, laws of cooling, conductivity, general
thermodynamics, and equations of state), chapters
are to be found here on thermochemical investigations
and the theory of solutions, including the phase rule.
These are not in any way skimped. An outline of
everything that is worth knowing seems to be in-
cluded. The matter is not served up in a haphazard
manner; but the relative value of different investiga-
tions is well brought out by the amounts of space
which devoted to them. The book is a happy
mixture of theory and practice. For example, while
a delightfully clear explanation is given of the mean-

No. 1894, VOL. 73]

most

are

arise in theoretical thermodynamics, there is also
given one of the very few existing correct accounts.
of the implication of the Joule-Thomson experiment.

The methods of Planck are followed in connection
with thermodynamics. The play of entropy in irre-
versible transformations is made very clear; a student,
by its perusal, could hardly fail to get nearer to a true
conception of the nature of such processes.

The results of an investigation are not merely
summed up in a formula; in most cases a table of
experimental data upon which the formula is based
is also provided. This, of course, is as it should be,
for it puts the reader at once in touch with the actual
experiment, and differentiates the volume from a mere
collection of physical tables.

Altogether, we do not hesitate to say that the three
volumes form as satisfactory a treatise on the part of
physics to which they relate as we have ever met with.
They are to be followed by a fourth volume on
electricity and magnetism.

In the translation into French both the Russian
and German editions are made use of, while additional
notes on theoretical physics are added by MM. E. and
F. Cosserat, the former of whom is a professor in the
University of Toulouse. This also will appear in
four volumes; the present instalment consists of parts
of the first two. The additional notes will be kept
quite distinct from the main text. One such note (con-
sisting of 37 pages) now appears on the dynamics of a
particle and of a rigid body. This is an attempt to
re-state the principles of mechanics in such a way as
to remove the difficulties pointed out by M. Poincaré
in the application of mechanical principles to natural
phenomena. These difficulties arise, according to
Poincaré, from a too faithful application to all pheno-
mena of the theory of the astronomical universe.
The system of mechanics expounded is in general
based on energetics, but a wider form than usual is
given to this principle. It is impossible to criticise
the theory presented until the remaining notes bearing
on it have appeared.

With regard to the French edition in general we
are very well pleased, and we look forward to its
completion, for there are many to whom it will prove
more welcome than its German equivalent. The
treatise bids fair to prove itself the leading text-boolx
of physics for general use.

CLIMBS IN WESTERN CANADA.

In the Heart of the Canadian Rockies. By James
Outram. Pp. 466; with maps and 46 illustrations.
(New York: The Macmillan Company; London:
Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1905.) Price 12s. 6d. net.

1 the ‘ Apology ’’ with which this volume is pre-

faced, the author tells how he went to the
mountains during a part of three summers to recuper-
ate from mental overstrain, and states that he has
been hampered by the same disability in preparing his
book. Nevertheless, he has succeeded in producing

a useful piece of work, which brings together an

account of all that has been accomplished in the

FEBRUARY 15, 1906 |

IVA TORE

363

Canadian Rockies by himself and by other kindred
spirits.

Though essentially and avowedly a mountain-
climber’s book, it incidentally places before the reader
much information regarding the physical geography
of an imperfectly known region that is full of interest.
The author’s sympathy in the natural beauty of this
magnificent. country is expressed simply and moder-
ately, and his descriptions therefore, though not par-
ticularly vivid, ring true. The aim and effort of his
toilsome journeyings was ever to reach the mountain-
tops—preferably the tops hitherto untrodden—and all
other considerations were subordinate to this desire.
How difficult often was the attainment, and yet how
great was his success, is faithfully chronicled in these
pages. Along the main chain of the Rockies—those
huge stratified wedges left by Nature’s Quarriers to
show how much has been excavated—from Mount
Columbia (12,500 feet) in the north to Mount Lefroy
(11,290 feet) in the south, and also on the crests of
the Ottertail Range outstanding to the west—Mr.
Outram and his Swiss guides have scored their
innocent conquests and have brought back increased
knowledge of forests, glaciers, snow-fields, and craggy
peaks.

By conveniently interweaving in his narrative full
extracts from the records of other explorers, the author
enables us to recognise the salient features of this
wilderness of mountains, and in so doing to increase
our sense of enjoyment in them. For, as the author
has noted, it is curious how, when confronted by

some wide and novel prospect, we instinctively search |

for some feature already known, upon which our new
perceptions may form themselves; and great is the
relief to our confused senses as soon as a recognisable
point is found. In mountain scenery, lack of
familiarity usually implies also lack of that knowledge
of distances and heights which is an essential ingre-
dient to the full impressiveneéss of the prospect: for it
is not the low-angled picture in the eye, but the inter-
pretation of it, that stirs emotion. The ancients did
not know their mountains well enough to appreciate
them.

For the same reason it is essential that mountains
should have names; but it seems deplorable that
almost all the peaks of the Canadian Rockies should
have had meaningless personal names attached to
them. Better the most tongue-twisting native term
or the most bizarre appellation of the backwoodsman !
Yet it must be admitted that we agree with the author
in desiring something less cumbrous than ‘‘ The West
Branch of the North Fork of the North Saskatche-
wan ’’ as the name for a stream!

The book is well illustrated by reproductions from
photographs of many-of the mountains and other
striking features in the scenery of the region. But
photographs of this kind, and still more the process-
illustrations prepared from them, yield only a feeble
image, useful perhaps as a reminiscence to anyone
who has experienced the scene, but always un-
satisfying.

By an evident oversight, no scale is attached to the
two maps interleaved in the text, though these are

NO. 1894, VOL. 73]

not on the same scale as the folder at the end of the
volume. And is it by accident or design that the
seven-line quotation of Sir Edwin Arnold’s verse
which is given at the beginning of the first chapter
of the book is repeated, with a slight variation, at the
end of the last chapter ? Gaawanu.

SCIENCE AND ART OF CARPENTRY.

A Manual of Carpentry and Joinery. By J. W. Riley.
Pp. viii+500. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.,
1905.) Price 6s. net.

qs is a handy little volume on a well-worn sub-

ject, about which there are many works extant,
but it contains a good deal of useful information for
the student in one of the noblest of the crafts. It was
Lord Avebury who compared wood to metal, and
dwelt on the higher qualities of the former material
as a field for the perpetuation of the more enduring
forms of art.

The present manual, besides dealing with the
various operations of the carpenter, starts with the
consideration of geometry, mensuration, and mech-
anics as a necessary preliminary for his education if
he would work with benefit to himself and his
employers. The qualities of various kinds of timber,
its structure and growth, method of conversion, de-
fects, and preservation are explained. Chapters on
plane and solid geometry and mensuration in relation
to carpentry follow, and these are probably the best
chapters in the book, because of their importance to
the student in their relation to the craft.

The chapter on tools is well illustrated—saws,
planes, chisels, gouges and centre bits being shown.
The inclusion of wood-working machinery is an in-
novation which will be welcomed because of the in-
creasing importance of machinery in these days.
This chapter is also well illustrated with woodcuts
of sufficiently large size to render them useful and
explanatory. In fact, although some might say that
machines are hardly a part of a student’s education,
we think the author is right in including them, and
it certainly is a novel feature in a text-book for
elementary students. Joints and fastenings in floors,
roofs and beams, dovetails of various forms used in
joinery, and keying and clamping are then described.

The various kinds of wooden floors, the method of
“trimming ’’ round fireplaces, and the joints of
different kinds between floor boards are also dealt
with. We should like to have seen a condemnation
of the usual system of constructing floors with a
hollow space between floor boards and plaster ceiling,
forming a series of continuous dustbins for the collec-
tion of filth of all kinds. Many architects frequently
omit the plaster ceiling altogether.

The usual types of wooden roofs and trusses and
the method of finding bevels for rafters at different
inclinations, the different kinds of partitions, scaffold-
ing, jib cranes, shoring of buildings, are all parts of
the craft which Mr. Riley has carefully explained
with illustrations. The chapter on the mechanics of
carpentry and the theory of the parallelogram of

364

NATORE

| FEBRUARY 15, 1906

forces, the use of a polar diagram and its application
to weighted beams are clearly set out.

Door and panelled framing, revolving vestibule
doors, hinges and locks, and the different varieties of
windows, sash or casement are explained and illus-
trated. We cannot understand why writers on the
subject are always content to show window frames
“‘in reveal’? when they appear to so much _ better
advantage only slightly set back from the face of the
wall, as in ‘‘ Queen Anne ”’ and ‘‘ Georgian ”’ archi-
tecture, and as carried out by so many of the best
architects of to-day.

There are also chapters on roof lights and con-
servatories, staircase work and handrailing, and
workshop practice, together with summaries and

questions from papers set at the City and Guilds ex-
aminations in the subject.

OUR BOOK SHELF.

Die Explosivstoffe mit besonderer Berucksichtigung
dey neuren Patente die Schiessbaumwolle (Nitro-
cellulosen). _ By Dr. Richard Escales. Pp. viiit+
308. (Leipzig: Veit and Co.) Price 10 marks.

Tuts is the second volume of a series of special works

on explosives. Although the first volume on ‘‘ Gun-

powder and Similar Mixtures ’’ was issued as recently
as 1904, it has been found necessary to prepare a new
edition, and doubtless the first edition of the volume
under consideration will soon be exhausted. The
whole series when completed should form a valuable
reference work on all subjects relating to explosives.

The book is thoroughly up to date, and reference
will hardly be in vain for any information either as
to details of manufacture or the more purely scientific
questions relating to nitrocellulose or closely allied
bodies. The testing of guncottons to determine their
stability and the influence of methods of preparation
on this have received a great deal of attention during
the last three or four years, since it is generally recog-
nised that the older stability tests are often unsatis-
factory when taken alone. The author has collected
and arranged in excellent form all possible inform-
ation on this important matter up to quite a recent
date.

Special reference is made to new patents, and this
information will be of great service to those engaged
in the manufacture of this important class of bodies.

jp Se Sp 18:

Lehrbuch der technischen Physik. By Prof. Hans
Lorenz. Zweiter Band, Technische Warmelehre.
Pp. ix+544. (Munchen: R. Oldenbourg, 1904.)

Tue first volume of this text-book, dealing with the

mechanics of solids, appeared some three years ago.

It was to have been followed by a volume on hydro-

mechanics, but this has been delayed to include later

developments, and its place has been taken by the
present volume on heat, which was originally intended
to come third in the series. The general scope of the
book is similar to that of the first volume. It is not
a ‘* technical ’? handbook as we understand it. There
are no descriptions or figures of machines, or even of
instruments for measurement. There are no details
of experimental methods, nor any mention of pre-
cautions necessary for securing accurate results. The
whole work is as purely theoretical as any Cambridge
mathematical text-book; but the theory is limited to
such parts of the subject as have practical applica-
tions, with a few numerical tables introduced here and
there for the comparison of the equations with experi-

NO. 1894, VOL. 73]

mental results. Such a book might be written by
anyone of sufficient mathematical ability without any
practical knowledge of the subject, and might be
thoroughly assimilated by the student without impart-
ine to him any power of applying the theory to a
practical case. One cannot help feeling that, in a
subject where so much depends on experiment, and
for the technical student who wishes to learn how to.
apply his knowledge, the utility of the book would be
greatly enhanced by a judicious admixture of practice
with the theory.

From the purely theoretical standpoint there are
many details which are open to criticism. Empirical
and theoretical formule are in places so interwoven
that the student would find it very difficult to dis-
entangle the theory from the consequences of some
purely empirical assumption. Though one would
certainly hesitate to recommend the book to the
technical student wishing to learn how to apply the
theory, it might provide him with a useful kind of
mental discipline, and prove a good antidote to the
more common kind of technical treatise in which ex-
perimental, results are reduced to a series of purely
empirical and often theoretically inconsistent formule.

HH. Uae

The Making of East Yorkshire: a Chapter in Local
Geography. By T. Sheppard. Pp. x+29; 4 plates.
(London: Brown and Son, 1906.) Price ts.

Tue teachers of Yorkshire are blessed by nature with

an environment of abounding interest; added to this

they have, what is equally to their advantage, a

goodly supply of able exponents of nature’s beauties,

amongst whom the author of this brochure takes a

worthy place.

Mr. Sheppard gives a clear account of the geo-
logical vicissitudes through which east Yorkshire has
passed from Liassic to recent times. He has naturally
selected the salient points, but a word or two about
the conditions which governed the deposition of some
of the argillaceous deposits would have resulted in a
better balanced story. The imaginative reader who
attempts to visualise the statement at the foot of p. 20
will be presented with an awesome and none too
truthful picture—but this is quite a small matter.

Every teacher in east Yorkshire should possess a
copy of the pamphlet; and it would be an excellent
thing if our other counties could each be supplied
with a similar sketch of their geological history.

H.
Jahrbuch der Chemic. Edited by Richard Meyer.
Pp. xiit589. (Brunswick: Vieweg und Sohn,
1905.) Price 16s.

We have previously had occasion to commend Meyer’s
‘“ Jahrbuch ”? to English readers, and the new volume
compares favourably with its predecessors.

That lucidity in some of the abstracts is sacrificed
to brevity naturally follows from the vast amount of
information which is compressed into a limited space;
after all, one valuable feature of a year-book is the
completeness of its references. It has been previously
observed that the ‘‘ Jahrbuch’? has a_ distinctly
German bias, which, perhaps, cannot be entirely re-
pressed, but scarcely excuses the omission in the pre-
sent volume of references to certain foreign memoirs
of the first importance.

An apology for its late appearance accompanies the
volume, and we are led to infer that the delay may
have been occasioned in some measure by the regret-
table loss of Dr. Bodlander from the staff of con-
tributors, whose place, it may be added, on the section

of physical chemistry is now taken by Dr. Ae
Jj. BUG:

FERRUARY 15, 1906]

NATURE 365

3

Elements of Applied Microscopy. By Charles-Edward
Amory Winslow. Pp. xii+183. (New York: John
Wiley and Sons; London: Chapman and Hall,
Ltd., 1905.) Price 6s. 6d. net.

Tuis little book is planned on novel lines, and con-
tains a good deal of information in a small compass.
As it is primarily intended for class use, practical
details are briefly dealt with, and more space is thus
available for descriptions of the various objects which
the microscopist is intended to study. The first three
chapters deal with the theory, construction, and
manipulation of the microscope, and the preparation
and mounting of objects. Next, micrometry and the
camera lucida are described, and the subsequent
chapters are devoted to the microscopy of starches, of
foods and drugs and their adulterants, the examin-
ation of textile fibres and of paper, forensic micro-
scopy, Microchemistry, and petrography and metallo-
graphy. Sufficient information is given to stimulate
the student’s powers of observation and desire for
further knowledge. The chapter on the microscopy
of paper is a particularly good one. Altogether the
book should usefully fulfil the object for which it has
been written.

Auslese aus meiner Unterrichts- und Vorlesungs-
praxis. By Dr. H. Schubert. Zweiter Band.
Pp. 218. (Leipzig: Gdschen, 1g05.) Price 4 marks.

Tuts is a very entertaining instalment of Prof.
Schubert’s lectures. The first section deals with
triangles having rational sides and areas, pyramids
with rational edges and volumes, and similar subjects.
Tables and formula are given which will be useful
to those who wish to set neat numerical exercises in
trigonometry and mensuration. Section ii. is devoted
to continued fractions, the Pellian equation, expression
of an integer (when possible) as the sum of: two
squares, and so on. Section iii. is on the elementary
calculation of logarithms, and forms a supplement to
a similar chapter in the first volume.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions
expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake
to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected
manuscripts intended for this or any other part of NaTuRE.
No notice is taken of anonymous communications. ]

Secondary Rontgen Rays and Atomic Weight.

IN papers on secondary Roéntgen radiation and polarised
Rontgen radiation I have shown that all the phenomena
of secondary radiation (as indicated by an_ electroscope
placed. several centimetres from the radiator) may, from
substances of low atomic weight, be accounted for by con-
sidering the corpuscles or electrons constituting the atoms,
to be accelerated in the direction of electric displacement
in each primary R6ntgen pulse as it passes through such
substances, and that the interaction between the corpuscles
affects only to a small extent the character of the secondary
radiation proceeding from the substance. In light atoms
there is almost complete independence of motion of the
corpuscles within the limits of disturbance produced by all
primary beams experimented upon.

It was also shown (Nature, March 9, 1905) that this
independence of motion disappears in heavier atoms in
which there may be conceived to be a more intimate re-
lation between the corpuscles, inter-corpuscular forces
being brought into play which have the effect of widening
the secondary pulses and producing accelerations in the
corpuscles in directions other than those of electric dis-
placement in the primary pulse. Until recently I have
been unable to make experiments on a sufficient number
of elements of higher atomic weight to arrive at any law
connecting the penetrating power of the secondary radi-

NO. 1894, VOL. 73]

ation with the atomic weight of the radiator.
investigation has, however, shown that beyond the region
of atomic weights in which the character of secondary
radiation is almost independent of the nature of the
radiator, the absorbability of the radiation is a periodic
function of the atomic weight, the periodicity agreeing so
far as these experiments have gone with the periodicity in
chemical properties.

A detailed account of these results will be published
shortly.

They, however, afford striking evidence of a connection
between chemical properties and distribution of corpuscles
in the atom, such as Prof. J. J. Thomson suggests in his
conception of the constitution of the atom; for the
character of the secondary radiation set up by a given
primary can only, according to the theory which has been
shown to account for all the phenomena I have hitherto
observed, be affected by the relation between the radiating
corpuscle and its neighbours.

The results also suggest a method of determining atomic
weights by interpolation, for a small variation in atomic
weight is usually accompanied by a very considerable
change in absorbability of the secondary radiation, and
though in these experiments great accuracy has not been
essential, it appears that in many regions a variation of
atomic weight by much less than 1 would be indicated.

The experiments are being continued.

- Cuaries G.

University of Liverpool, February 9.

Recent

BaRKLa.

The Falkland Island Fox.

IN a review in the current number
Renshaw’s “‘ Some Mammalian Types,’’
to the ** Antarctic wolf of the Falkland Islands extermin-
ated by the sheep farmers in self defence.’’ Might I be
permitted to add a word on this subject in correction of an
erroneous impression current among many naturalists with
regard to this animal? During a yisit to the Falkland
Islands in 1903, and again in 1904, I made careful in-
quiries with regard to the native wolf or fox. The oldest
sheep farmers in the islands, men who remembered when
the fox was still plentiful, insisted that it was quite a
mistake to credit it with attacking sheep; this never
occurred, and the reason that the farmers waged war
against the foxes was because the sheep, apparently mis-
taking them for dogs, especially at night, in their terror
ran into the bogs and swamps which abound in the islands
and were consequently lost. None of the farmers whose
experience went back to the time of these foxes had any
memory of sheep being killed or even mauled by them.
In making this correction, I must say that I have not seen
Mr. Renshaw’s book, and donsequently do not know what
reason he attributes for the extermination of the fox.

R. N. RupMosr-Brown.

Scottish National Antarctic Expedition, Edinburgh,

February 10.

of Nature of Mr.
reference is made

Chinese Names of Colours.

Ow the interesting observation on Chinese names of
colours of Mr. H. Crook, in Nature (January 11), I
would add this little information. Prof. Giles in his

great dictionary gives (No. 4845) 4? #f as ‘‘a very light
violet colour”’; Wells Williams (p. 820) as ‘‘a purple
colour.’’ Mr. de Zelinski and Clémence Royer, in an
interesting note ‘‘ Sur les noms des couleurs en japonais ’’
(“ Congrés internat. des Orientalistes, Compte rendu de

la 1ére session, Paris, 1873, vol. i., pp. 83-87), give
another example, in Japanese, of the same kind.

y % (asagi), literally ‘‘a light yellow,’ signifies, fol-
lowing Prof. de Rosny, “‘ blew de ciel’?! Mr. Hepburn,
in his Japanese dictionary, fifth edition, Tokyo, 1894,
renders the same expression by “‘a light green or pale
colour.”

Analogous oddities can also be fownd in European

“ce “cc

azur cendré,’’ or ‘‘ une rose
Giovanni Vacca.

languages, as the French
(the flower) jaune,’’ &c.
Firenze, Via Ricasoli 49, Italy.

NOTES ON SOME CORNISH CIRCLES.
The Maidens, Lat.

NE of the best preserved circles that I know of

is mear Penzance. It is called the Merry

Maidens! (Dawns-Maen), and is thus described by
Lukis ? (p. 1) :—

‘© This very perfect Circle, which is 75 feet 8 inches
in diameter, stands in a cultivated field which slopes
gently to the south.

“Tt consists of 19 granite stones placed at tolerably
regular distances from each other, but there is a gap
on the east side, where another stone was most
probably once erected.

“Many of the stones are rectangular in plan at
the ground level, vary from 3 feet 3 inches to 4 feet
in height, and are separated by a space of from 10 to
r2 feet. There is a somewhat shorter interval between
four of the stones on the south side.

“Tn the vicinity of this monument are two mono-
liths called the Pipers; another called Goon-Rith; a
holed stone (not long ago there were two others) ; and
several [5] Cairns.”’

Merry 54! ON.

NATORE

| FEBRUARY 15, 1906

including the stones before mentioned and_ several
barrows, some of which have been ploughed up.

At varying distances from the circle and in widely
different azimuths are other standing stones, ancient
crosses and holed stones, while some of the barrows
can still be traced.

The descriptions of the locality given by Borlase and
Lukis, however, do not exhaust the points of interest.
Edmonds * writes as follows :—

“A cave still perfect . is on an eminence in the
tenement of Boleit (Boleigh) in St. Buryan, and about
a furlong south-west of the village of Trewoofe
(Trove). It is called the ‘ Fowgow,’ and consists of a
trench 6 feet deep and 36 long, faced on each side
with unhewn and uncemented stones, across which, to
serve as a roof, long stone posts or slabs are laid
covered with thick turf planted with furze. The
breadth of the cave is about 5 feet. On its north-west
side, near the south-west end, a narrow passage leads
into a branch cave of considerable extent, constructed
in the same manner. At the south-west end is an
entrance by a descending path; but this, as well as
the cave itself, is so well concealed by the furze that
the whole looks like an ordinary furze break without

Photo. by Lady Lockyer.

Fic. 1.—The Merry Maidens (looking East).

Lukis thus describes ‘‘ the Pipers ’’ :—
“Two rude stone pillars of granite stand erect,

317 feet apart, and about 4oo yards to the north-east |

of the Circle of Dawns-Maen. No. 1 is 15 feet high,
4 feet 6 inches in breadth, and has an average thick-
ness of 22 inches, and is 2
perpendicular. The stone is of a laminated nature,
and a thin fragment has flaked off from the upper
part. No. 2 is 13 feet 6 inches high, and is much
split perpendicularly. At the ground level its plan in
section is nearly a square of about 3 feet.”

Goon-Rith is next described :—‘* "No 3 is naturally
of a rectangular form in plan, and is 10 feet 6 inches
in height. The land on which it stands is called
Goon-Rith, or Red Downs. The upper part of the
stone is of irregular shape.”’

Borlase, in his ‘‘ History of Cornwall ’’ (1769), only
mentions the circle, but W. C. Borlase in his
““Nznia Cornubiz ”’ (1872) gives a very rough plan
1 IT may here remark that ‘9 maidens" is very common as a name for a
circle in Cornwall. It is a short title for 19 maidens. Lukis implies that
Dawns-Maen once consisted of 20 stones. If all the circles followed suit it

would be interesting to note if the present number of 19 is always associated
with a gap on the eastern Sides. The ‘‘ pipers’

Circle.
2 Prehistoric Stone Monuments, Cornwall.

NO. 1894, VOL. 73]

feet 9 inches out of the |

are, of course, the musicians |
who keep the maidens-merry, as does the “blind fiddler” at Boscowen-un |

any way into it. The direction of the line of this
cave is about north-east and south-west, which line, if
continued towards the south-west, would pass close
to the two ancient pillars called the Pipers, and the
Druidical temple of Dawns Myin, all within half of
a mile.’

This fougou is situated on a hill on the other side
of the anor Valley, near the village of Castallack,
and the site of the Roundago shown in the 1-inch
ordnance map.

Borlase * says that many similar caves were to be
seen ‘in these parts’? in his time, and others had
been destroy ed by converting the stones to other uses.

There is evidence that the circle conditions at the
Merry Maidens were once similar to those at Stennaaes
Stanton Drew, the Hurlers, Tregaseal, and Botallack,
that is that there was more than one, the numbers
running from 2 to 7. Mr. Horton Bolitho, without
whose aid in local investigations this paper in all
probability would never have been written, in one
of his visits came across ‘' the oldest inhabitant,”
who remembered a second circle. He said, “It
was covered with furze and never shown to anti-
quarians ’’; ultimately the field in which it stood was

1 ‘*The Land's End District,” p. 46. - 2 ** Antiquities,” p. 274-

FEBRUARY 15, 1906]

WEA TOL

367

lhe ; .
ploughed up and the stones removed. It is to prevent | is that from this cause che angular height of the

a similar fate happening to the ‘‘ Merry Maidens ”
themselves that Lord Falmouth will not allow
field in which they stand to be ploughed, and all
antiquarians certainly owe him a debt of gratitude
for this and other proofs of his interest in antiquities.
Mr. Bolitho carefully marked the site thus indicated
on a copy of the 25-inch map. I shall subsequently
show that the circle which formerly existed here,
like the others named, was located on an important
sight-line.

Mr. Horton Bolitho was good enough to make a
careful examination of the barrows A and B of Bor-
lase.t In A (S. 69° W.) he found a long stone still
lying in the barrow, suggesting that the barrow
had been built round it, and that the apex of the
barrow formed a new alignment. In B there is either
another recumbent long stone or the capstone of a
dolmen. This suggests work for the local anti-
quarians,

I should state that there may be some doubt about
barrow A, for there are two not far from each other
with approximate azimuths S. 69°
W. and S. 64° W. The destruc-

the |

sky-line along the alignment cannot be measured in
many cases.

I will now proceed to refer to the chief sight-lines
seriatim. The first is that connecting the circle
which still exists with the site of the ancient one.
On this line exactly I found four points, a barrow
(L) which Borlase had missed (further from the circle
than his barrow A), the site, the present circle, and
the fougou; azimuth from centre of circle N. 64° E.
and S. 64° W. This is the May year line found
at Stonehenge, Stenness, the Hurlers and Stanton
Drew.

In connection with this there is another sight-line
which must not be passed over; from the circle the
bearing of the church of St. Burian is about N. 64°
W..; like the fougou it is situated on a hill, and near it
are ancient crosses which I suspect were menhirs
first and crosses afterwards.' However this may be,
we see in this azimuth of 64° three times repeated
that the May and August sunrises and sunsets and
the February and November sunsets were provided for.

tion of these and other barrows was z
probably the accompaniment of the # Fa
reclamation of waste lands and the 517 =
consequent interference with anti- ff : sr
quities which in Cornwall has : i i i
mostly taken place since 1800. ited
But it did not begin then, nor sal

has it been confined to barrows.

Dr. Borlase in his parochial memor-

anda under date September 209,

1752, describes a monolith 20 feet

above ground, and planted 4 feet
in it, the ‘‘Men Peru’ (stone of °

sorrow) in the parish of Constan-

tine. A farmer acknowledged that

he had cut it up, and had made
twenty gate-posts out of it.

My wife and I visited the Merry

Maidens at Easter, 1905, for the

purpose of making a reconnaissance.
Mr. Horton Bolitho and Mr. Cor-

nish were good enough to accom-

pany us.

On my return to London I began

work on the 25-inch Ordnance map,

Ht | 3

and subsequently Colonel R. C.

33 35 att

Hellard, R.E., director of the

Ordnance Survey, was kind enough
to send me the true azimuths of the
Pipers. In October, 1905, Mr.
Horton Bolitho and Captain Henderson, whose help
at the Hurlers I have already had an opportunity of

acknowledging, made a much more complete survey

of the adjacent standing stones and barrows.
In this survey they not only made use of the 25-inch

map, but of the old plan given by W. C. Borlase |

dating from about 1870. Although the outstanding
stones shown by Borlase remain, some of the barrows
indicated by him have disappeared.

In January, 1906, my wife and I paid other visits
to the monuments, and Mr. Horton Bolitho was again
good enough to accompany us. Thanks to him per-
mission had been obtained to break an opening in
the high wall-boundary which prevented any view
along the ‘‘ Pipers’ sight-line. I may here add that
unfortunately in Cornwall the field boundaries often
consist of high stone walls topped by furze, so that
the outstanding stones once visible from the circles
can now no longer be seen from them; another trouble

1“ Nenia,” p. 214.

NO. 1894, VOL. 73]

Fic. 2.—The place of the May sunrise in British latitudes.

With regard to the other sight-lines I will begin
with that of the Pipers as it is quite obviously con-
nected with the eastern circle only; the stones could

| not have been seen from the other on account of rising

ground. The barrow shown in this direction by
Borlase has now entirely disappeared, and the earth
has evidently been spread over the surrounding field; ~
its surface is therefore higher than formerly, so that
when the opening was made in the wall the top of
the nearest piper could not be seen from the centre
of the circle; an elevation of about 2 feet from the

1 In a.p. 658 acouncil assembled at Nantes decreed :—‘‘ As in remote places
and in woodlands there stand certain stones which the people often
worship, and at which vows are made, and to which oblations are
presented—we decree that they be a!] cast down and concealed in such
a place that their worshippers may not be able to find them.”

‘“Now the carrying out of their order was left to the country parsons,
and partly because they had themselves been brought up to respect these
stones, and partly because the execution of the decree would have brought
down a storm upon their heads, they contented themselves with putting a
cross on top of the stones.”—‘‘ Book of Brittany,” by Baring-Gould,
Pp. 20.

368

NATURE

| FEBRUARY 15, 1906

ground level was necessary. Walking straight from
the circle to the first piper, the second piper was
exactly in a line, though at a much lower level. This
showed that the ordnance values were not quite
accurate, which was not to be wondered at as no
direct observation had been possible. I therefore
adopted the mean of the ordnance values as the true
azimuth :—

Piper 1.—N. 37 58 36 E.
Piper 2.— 38 52 36

Mean ...

. 38 25 36

The sky-line from the centre of the circle was
defined by the site of the vanished barrow, angular
elevation 20’, and it is highly probable that the func-

ALTITUDES

J
HI Le HICH

SUNRISE MAY (sunsdecuI6°2 On) Lat 50°N.

old one, but if we suppose it to have been used like
the Barnstone at Stenness for observations over the
circle its use at once becomes obvious.

From the azimuth given, the declination of the star
was 5° 24’ N. Now this was the position of the
Pleiades B.c. 1960, when they would have warned the
rising of the May sun.

So that it is possible that the erection of the Pipers
and of Goon-Rith took place at about the same time,
and represent the first operations.

The next alignment has an azimuth of S. 69° W.;
from the circle, it would be the same within a degree
from the site of the one which has disappeared, alti-
tude of sky-line 18’; this line is to a stone cross on
rising ground, doubtless a re-dressing of an old
menhir, and on the line nearer the circle are the re-
mains of a barrow.

With these data
the star in question
was Antares, dec. S.
13° 18’, heralding the

May sunrise 1310 B.c.
There is another
stone cross defining

a line az. N. 11° qe
E. from the circle,
altitude of sky-line
about the same as

along the piper azi-
muth; an _ interven-
ing house prevents
measurement. These

SEA HORIZON

values give us N.
dec. 38° 46’, refer=
ring to Arcturus

20 40 20 20 40

40 64°
AZIMUTHS

N62 65°

Fic. 3.—Showing the influence of the height of the sky-line on the apparent place of sunrise. The double circle shows

warning the August
sunrise in 1640 B.C.

The three align-
ments already re-
ferred to, then, give
us the warning stars
for three out of the
four quarter days of
the May year, the as
tronomical conditions
of which in Cornwall
are shown in the
accompanying dia-
grams.

Norman Lockyer.

20 40 20 E

66°

65°

the tabular place of sun’s centre.

tion of the barrow when built was to provide a new |

sight-line when the star-rise place was no longer
exactly pointed out by the piper line.
With these data the star in question was Capella,

dec. 29° 58’ N., heralding the February sunrise,
2160 B.C.

I next come to the famous menhir Goon-Rith.
The conditions are as follows:—from the circle |
Az. S. 81° 35’ W. Altitude of sky-line 34!.

Concerning this alignment from the circle, it may
be stated that it cuts across many ancient
including one resembling a rock basin or laver, and
another either a holed stone or the socket of a stone
cross.
holy well attached to the circle, for there is a pool of
water in a depression which is shown in the 25-inch
map.

I regard it as quite possible that we are here in
presence of the remains of a cursus, an old via sacra,
for processions between the circle and the monolith.

I suspect also the presence in old days of a |

I have not been able to find any astronomical use |

for this stone from the circle or from the site of the
NO. 1894, VOL. 73]

stones, |

THE SERUM THERAPY OF PLAGUE:
| pie discovery of diphtheria antitoxin and the
excellent results obtained with it in practice,
which in the Metropolitan Asylums Board hospitals
| has resulted in a reduction in the case-mortality from
| about 29 to 11 per cent., raised hopes that a panacea
had at last been found for all microbic diseases. But
it must be confessed that expectations have not been
realised, and as regards other therapeutic sera none
has proved nearly so efficacious as the diphtheria
serum.

Several reasons may be given for this. The anti-
toxic sera, i.e. therapeutic sera prepared by the iniec-
tion of bacterial toxins, are much more potent than
anti-microbic sera, and possess antidotal properties
proportional to their strength. But unfortunately
most micro-organisms do not produce an extra-cellular
toxin, like the diphtheria bacillus does; the toxic
substances are more or less intimately associated with
the bacterial cells, as in staphylococcie and strepto-
coccic (septic) infections, typhoid, plague, &c. Now

FEBRUARY 15, 1906 |

NATURE

Shore)

the anti-microbic sera seem to neutralise through the
interaction of two substances, one present in the
serum, the other a constituent of the patient’s body
and limited in amount, so that when the whole of
the latter has taken part in the neutralisation, no
additional amount of the therapeutic serum produces
a further neutralisation.

Again, an anti-streptococcic serum prepared with
streptococcus A, though active against A, does not
necessarily neutralise another streptococcus B. In
diphtheria also, a local and visible lesion generally
enables a diagnosis to be made, and serum treatment
to be applied, before any great amount of tissue
damage has been done, whereas in tetanus, for which
a very potent antitoxin has also been prepared, it is
the results of tissue damage which lead to a diagnosis.
No therapeutic serum can, of course, repair tissue
damage, and if this has proceeded beyond a certain
degree the condition becomes incompatible with life.
It is noteworthy that even in diphtheria, if treatment
be delayed beyond the third day, antitoxic treatment
produces results little better than treatment without
antitoxin, tissue damage having proceeded to too
great an extent during the interval.

The fearful prevalence of plague in India during
the last few years, which has caused the death of
hundreds of thousands of the inhabitants of that great
Empire, has naturally directed attention to the serum
therapy of this disease, since no ordinary form of
treatment has any particularly beneficial effect, and
the Government of India has therefore been well
advised to devote one of its scientific memoirs? to
the subject, under the editorship of Lieut.-Col.
Bannerman, M.D., I.M.S., who has had much experi-
ence of plague. Various forms of anti-plague serum
were the subjects of trial, the Roux-Yersin, Lustig,
Haffkine, Terni, and Brazil, the details of the pre-
paration of which are given, and tables of the results
obtained. Col. Bannerman concludes from a_ study
of the circumstances and of the case-mortality of
the various series of cases treated with the dif-
ferent sera that (1) the Roux-Yersin serum did
not affect the case-mortality in the slightest degree,
(2) in three out of the four trials made with Lustig’s
serum the case-mortality of the serum cases was
higher than among those receiving ordinary treat-
ment, (3) with Hafflkine’s serum there is no certain
evidence of its efficiency, (4) with Terni’s serum there
is a difference of 0.91 per cent. only in favour of the
serum-treated cases, and (5) with Brazil’s serum,
though there is a difference of 2-85 per cent. in favour
of the serum-treated cases, it is problematical if this
can definitely be ascribed to the serum.

As regards case-mortality, therefore, these trials do
not suggest that serum therapy in plague is of much,
if of any, value, but clinically there is an amelioration
in the symptoms, and the cases when treated with
serum live for a longer period than without it. We
might add that the series of cases treated with Terni’s
and with Brazil’s serum (110 and 7o respectively) are
too small to warrant any definite conclusions. Banner-
man from these results considers that it will be
necessary to commence anew the study of the serum
therapy of plague, and with this we cordially agree.
At the same time we cannot help thinking that it
would be desirable to make a much more extended
use than has been done of the intravenous method
of administration of the serum.

R. T. HEWwL Lert.

1 Scientific Memoirs of the Government of India, No. 20, 1905. Serum
Therapy of Plague in India. Reports by Mr. W. M. Haffkine, C.1I.E., and
various Officers of the Plague Research Laboratory, Bombay. Edited with
an Introduction by Lieut.-Col. Bannerman, M.D., B.Sc., I.M.S., Director,
Plague Research Laboratory, Bombay.

No. 1894, VOL. 73]

SEA COAST PROTECTION.

ya CONFERENCE of local authorities having
districts situated on the seaboard of England
was held in London on February 6 on the subject
of the defence of the coasts against erosion by the
sea, and the national responsibility in regard to the
matter. This conference was convened by the chair-
man of the Herne Bay District Council. The matter
had been taken up by the sea-side towns on the east
coast in 1903, and a deputation was then appointed
to wait on Mr. Balfour, but nothing came of this.
The conference recently held consisted chiefly of re-
presentatives of towns on the south coast, and a
resolution was adopted ‘‘ That representatives of this
conference be appointed to approach the Prime
Minister and President of the Board of Trade, to
request the Government to introduce into Parliament
a Bill declaratory of the aforementioned principles
and defining ways and means whereby some relief
towards, or allowance in respect of, the cost and
maintenance of protective works might be contributed
by the Government.’’ The report of the meeting that
appeared in the public journals does not say what
“the aforementioned principles ’’? consist of.

The members who attended this conference con-
sisted almost entirely of representatives of sea-side
towns, where promenades and similar works have
been constructed for the purpose of enhancing the
attractions of these places.

The Engineer, in an article on_ this conference,
points out that to protect efficiently long stretches
of purely agricultural land, the sea margin of which
consists of friable and easily eroded material exposed
to the inroads of the sea, would (as shown in the
book on ‘‘The Sea Coast,’’ published by Messrs.
Longmans and Co.) involve a capital and maintenance
expenditure out of proportion to the advantages
secured, the value of the land preserved during the
life of the protective works not being equal to one-
third of the outlay required for protecting it.

In the case of sea-side resorts or other localities
where the coast-line is of considerable value, the
Engineer points out that while the preservation of
the littoral is an absolute necessity, the benefits to
be derived by protection are almost wholly local, and
the owners of agricultural land not worth the cost
of protection would have a perfectly legitimate
grievance if Imperial funds were spent for the benefit
of their wealthier neighbours. It may also be added
that all inland towns would have an equal right to
protést against contributing towards money spent on
these sea-side towns, where promenades and other
works have been constructed to attract visitors, and
thereby have enormously increased the value of the
property of those whose land is adjacent.

There was one part of the subject of coast erosion
alluded to at the meeting which might with more
reason be pressed on the attention of the Govern-
ment, that is, the prevention of the removal of sand
and shingle from the beach, which now forms a
natural protection to the shore. As the law now
stands, the Board of Trade, on being applied to, will
order a local inquiry where complaint is made of
injury done by such removal, and if as the result of
such inquiry it is shown that such removal is in-
jurious, the Board can, under its statutory powers,
issue an order forbidding any further removal. The
cost of these inquiries, however, is considerable.

In some cases the Government itself is the offender,
shingle being taken for making concrete for its coast
works. In many cases the local authorities, who are
now asking for State relief, have been the worst
offenders in this respect, by placing their sea walls so

370

NATURE

[FEBRUARY 15, 1906

as to shut in the natural shingle banks behind the
walls or using the material from them for their works.

The Government might justly be asked to obtain
such an alteration in the existing law as would make
any removal unlawful unless it could be shown that
such removal would not in any way be injurious to
adjacent property, and making it the duty of the
coastguards to report where any removal of shingle
or sand is taking place.

NOTES.

Tue present year will witness the fiftieth anniversary
of the foundation of a great branch of chemical industry
which, perhaps more than any other discovery in applied
chemistry, has reacted upon the science itself to its lasting
benefit. Half a century ago the first artificial colouring
matter obtained from a coal-tar product was discovered
and manufactured by William Henry Perkin under the
trade name of ‘‘ Mauve.’? The subsequent development of
the coal-tar colour industry has been one continuous series
of triumphs, and the colossal scale on which organic com-
pounds of great complexity are now manufactured, often
in a state approaching chemical purity, cannot but strike
the future historian of scientific industry as one of the
most marvellous achievements of applied organic chemistry
of the present age. The marvel is enhanced when it is
borne in mind that the whole of this industrial develop-
ment, which has been made possible by the intervention
of pure science at every stage, has taken place during the
last half-century. The founder of the industry, Dr. Perkin,
is happily still with us in full vigour, and a movement is
now being organised to celebrate the jubilee of the dis-
covery and to do honour to the discoverer. Preliminary
meetings have been held under the auspices of the Chemical
Society and a provisional committee formed, which com-
mittee has prepared a scheme for submission to a public
meeting for adoption at the Mansion House on February 26
at 3 p.m., when the Lord Mayor has consented to take
the chair. That the importance of the movement is being
appreciated in this country is shown by the fact that, in
addition to all the leading chemists and manufacturing
chemists, the committee already comprises the names of
Lords Halsbury, Rayleigh, Alverstone, and Avebury, the
Right Hons. R. B. Haldane, A. J. Balfour, and Joseph
Chamberlain, and representatives of the universities, Royal
Society, the City companies, &c. The appreciation, more-
over, is not limited to Perkin’s own countrymen, and
it is known that when the scheme has been formally
adopted at the Mansion House meeting on February 26
other countries, and especially Germany, the present head-
quarters of the industry, will participate in the movement.
Those who are interested in the scheme are invited to
attend the meeting. The secretary to the committee is
Prof. A. G. Green, of Leeds University, from whom par-
ticulars can be obtained.

A portrait of Dr. H. C. Sorby, F.R.S., subscribed for
privately, and presented by the subscribers to the Uni-
versity of Sheffield, in commemoration of Dr. Sorby’s
scientific work and labours as one of the founders of the
university, was unveiled on Monday, in the presence of
a large assembly of leading citizens and other admirers
of his devotion to scientific research and to the cause of
higher education in Sheffield. Alderman Franklin, as presi-
dent of the university council, opened the proceedings,
and the portrait was unveiled by the Lady Mayoress. Mr.
Simeon Snell Prof. W. M. Hicks, F.R.S., who
organised the movement for the presentation, in asking

NO. 1894, VOL. 73]

and

the University to accept the portrait, referred to Dr.
Sorby’s long association with Sheffield—he might, in fact,
be regarded as the Dalton or the Priestley of Sheffield—
and to his sixty years of active work for the advancement
of science and the extension of natural knowledge. The
state of Dr. Sorby’s bodily health prevented him from
being present at the ceremony, but he expressed his appre-
ciation of the honour in a letter to Alderman Franklin.
The portrait is a replica of one painted by Mrs. M. L.
Waller, and now hanging in the rooms of the Sheffield
Literary and Philosophical Society.

Tue gold medal of the Royal Astronomical Society has
this year been awarded to Prof. W. W. Campbell, of the
Lick Observatory, for his spectroscopic researches on the
motions of stars in the line of sight. The medal was pre-
sented at the eighty-sixth anniversary meeting of the
society on February 9, when the American Ambassador,
Mr. Whitelaw Reid, received the medal on behalf of Prof.
Campbell, who was unable to be present. Mr. Whitelaw
Reid, in accepting the medal on Prof. Campbell’s behalf,
said he would certainly value the decoration as highly as
a soldier or statesman would value one sent him by a
Sovereign. The United States is proud of every advance
in art or science made by her sons—prouder of these than
of triumphs in trade or in war—and it will be gratified
that this high recognition for service to one of the noblest
of sciences came from a land to which they are so closely
related.—It may be remarked that this is the third con-
secutive year that this medal has been awarded to an
American astronomer. In fact, Mr. Choate, the late
American Ambassador, in receiving the medal for Prof.
Lewis Boss last year, remarked that it seemed quite one
of the annual duties of the Ambassador to proceed to the
rooms of the Royal Astronomical Society to receive the
gold medal. Out of the list of the last thirteen medallists,
no less than seven hail from the United States.

AcTIVE steps are being taken at York to ensure the
success of the meeting of the British Association to be
held there next August. Last Saturday, at a large and
distinguished assembly, over which the Lord Mayor of
York presided, the arrangements in connection with the
Agre-
ception committee representative of the city and county

forthcoming visit were advanced a further stage.

was elected, and it was resolved to raise a fund of not
less than 25001. for the necessary expenses of the meeting.
In an appropriate speech, the Lord Mayor moved ‘‘ That
this meeting agrees cordially to welcome the British
Association to York this year from August 1-8, and in
doing so attaches special interest to the fact that the
Association began its existence in York seventy-five years
ago.’’ The Dean of York seconded this resolution (which
carried unanimously); and in supporting it Dr.
Tempest Anderson referred to local connections with the
association, the first officials of which included some of the
leading members of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society.
The local reception committee appointed on Saturday is an
unusually strong one: the president is the Lord Arch-
bishop of York; chairman, the Lord Mayor (Mr. R. H. V.
Wragge); vice-chairman, Dr. Tempest Anderson;
treasurer, Sir J. Sykes Rymer; and secretaries, Mr. R.
Percy Dale and Mr. C. E. Elmhirst. Pro-Chancellor
A. G. Lupton’ (University of Leeds) and Prof. W. M.
Hicks (University of Sheffield) both spoke at the meeting,
and expressed the desire of their universities to assist in
making the forthcoming meeting of the association a
success.

was

FEBRUARY 15, 1906]

NATURE 2741

Sir Witi1aM Crookes has been elected a corresponding
member of the physical section of the Paris Academy of
Sciences in succession to the late M. Bichat.

Tne second congress of the German R6ntgen Society
will be held at Berlin on April 1-2, under the presidency
‘of Prof. Eberlein.

Tue largest steel ingot ever made was cast at Man-
chester on February 1. It weighed no less than 120 tons,
and was cast on the Whitworth system of fluid com-
pression. The 120 tons of molten steel were subjected to
a pressure of 12,000 tons in order to make the ingot
homogeneous and sound throughout.

In order to lessen the smoke and soot nuisance in the
town of Helsingfors, the municipal authorities have
appointed an engineer, Mr. Ed. Cedercreutz, first to ex-
amine and test the boiler and furnace installations in the
town, and then to propose suitable means for diminishing
the above mentioned source of annoyance.

In honour of the late Prof. Edouard Grimaux, who by
reason of his numerous chemical researches, and _par-
ticularly his contributions on the atomic theory, has taken
a high place among French men of science, it is proposed
to erect some form of memorial in his native town of
Rochefort-sur-Mer. Contributions to the memorial fund
are to be addressed to the Mayor of Rochefort, M. E.
Marianelli.

Tue Society of German Portland Cement Manufacturers
will hold its twenty-ninth general meeting in Berlin on
February 16-17. On the agenda list are the following
Papers, amongst others :—Report from the society’s labor-
atory, Dr. Framm, of Karlshorst; report of the sea-water
commission, Dr. Eng. Rudolf Dyckerhoff, of Améneburg ;
report of the committee for examining the change of
volume and the time of binding of Portland cement, Dr.
Miller, of Riidersdorf; hydraulic binding appliances,
Dr. Goslich, of Ziillchow; rotating furnaces, Dr.
Michaélis, sen., of Berlin; the acidity of water and its
removal, Mr. H. Wehner, of Kissingen.

On January 28, at Stensjéholm, near Ryssby, in Sweden,
the agricultural chemist Prof. Alexander Miiller died in
his seventy-eighth year. A native-born German, Miiller
received his early education in Chemnitz and Freiburg, and
at the University of Leipzig. In 1851 he was appointed
lecturer in chemistry at the Trade School in Chemnitz;
from there, in 1856, he was appointed director of the
agricultural experimental section of the Landbruks
Academy in Stockholm, and consulting agricultural adviser
for Sweden and Norway. In this capacity Miiller dis-
played great ingenuity in conducting numerous practical
experimental investigations for the welfare of Scandinavian
agriculture. The earliest of his published researches dealt
chiefly with dairy methods, hygienic questions, and the
proper working of various soils. In later years he
occupied himself mainly with questions relating to the
cleansing of towns, and, indeed, published a number of
papers on this subject.

By the death on January 13, at the early age of forty-
six, of Prof. A. S. Popow, physical science in general, and
Russian science in particular, has lost one of the pioneer
band of physicists in the field of wireless telegraphy.
After studying at the St. Petersburg University from 1877
to 1883, Prof. Popow was appointed first an assistant, and
later professor of physics in the Mining School for Officers
at Kronstadt, whilst he also delivered lectures at the

NO. 1894, VOL 73]

Technical High School for the Russian Marine from 1890
to 1901. His zeal for work was extraordinary; although
he devoted himself strenuously to experimental work in
different branches of electrotechnics, he also found time to
superintend the electrical station at Nijni Novgorod,
whither he betook himself each summer. His work in
1895 was particularly rich in results, for in the summer
of that year he succeeded in signalling over long distances
by means of electromagnetic waves, and also invented an
apparatus for graphically indicating and recording storms,
which in 1896 was introduced into the meteorological
observatory of the St. Petersburg Forest Academy, whilst
the Parisian firm of Dacreétoit constructed a_ receiving
station for wireless telegraphy according to Popow’s plans,
which have been taken as a model for the installation
throughout the Russian Marine. In 1905 Popow was
appointed professor of physics at the electrochemical insti-
tute in St. Petersburg, and on September 28, 1905, on the
declaration of the academic freedom of Russian universities,
he was elected director of the institute. Popow’s intel-
lectual gifts, his attachment to scientific research, and
geniality of intercourse at all times, secured for him the
warmest sympathy and respect from both colleagues and
students.

In reply to the request made by Prof. S. P. Thompson
in last week’s Nature (p. 340) for the dates of birth and
death of William Nicol, the inventor of the Nicol prism,
two correspondents state that Nicol was born about 1768
and died in 1851 at Edinburgh, where he was a teacher

of physics. (See the ‘‘ Century Cyclopedia of Names ””

| published by the Times, p. 737-)

Ir is announced by Science that there is a movement
being started to present to the City of Philadelphia a
statue of Dr. Joseph Leidy. Dr. Leidy, who was born in
that city in 1823, and died there in 1891, added much to
its scientific eminence, and as president of the Academy of
Natural Sciences, professor of human and comparative
anatomy and zoology in the University of Pennsylvania,
and president of the Wagner Free Institute of Science,
accomplished much for these institutions.

Tue Cairo correspondent of the Times states that Mr.
T. Barron, the geological surveyor to the Anglo-Sudan
Administration, died on January 31 at El Koweit. While
in the Survey Department of the Public Works Ministry
in Cairo, Mr. Barron rendered excellent services in revising
the geology of the country between Cairo and Suez. In
1904 Mr. Barron’s services were lent to the Sudan Govern-
ment, and part of the work with which he was then
entrusted included the investigation of the lignite deposits
of Tchelga, in north-west Abyssinia. He eventually joined
the Sudan service.

Dr. C. G. SeticMann, Hunterian professor for 1906,
delivered the first of his three lectures on Monday in the
theatre of the Royal College of Surgeons, and took as
his subject the ‘‘ Physical Anthropology and Ethnology of
British New Guinea.’’ After directing attention to the
general features of New Guinea, Dr. Seligmann proceeded
to classify the natives of British New Guinea into four
main stocks, Papuo-Melanesian in the south-east, Motuan
around Port Moresby, Eastern Papuan in the hinterland
or mountainous region, and West Papuan in the large
western area, much of which is still unknown. The
lecturer pointed out that there were linguistic and other
resemblances between his Papuo-Melanesian stock and the
island Melanesians, particularly those of the Solomon
Islands. There is an area of brachycephaly on the west

ek
372

NATURE

[FEBRUARY 15, 1906

of the Papuan Gulf for which it is very difficult to account ;
members of this stock seem to form part of the population
south of the Fly River. The average stature rises in pro-
ceeding from the centre of the Gulf eastwards.
Australian
The

was given

is

the

There
in
to

to
Straits
the

no reason influence, even
are open the
yesterday, and the con-

one will be delivered to-morrow (Friday) at five

suspect

Torres Islands. lectures

public ; second
cluding

o’clock.

Pror. S. H. Reynotps, University College, Bristol, in-
forms us that the rock fall at Cheddar on the night of
Sunday, February 4, is not a matter of any very great
moment, though much has been made of it in the papers.
The point at which it took place is a quarry on the
northern or dip slope side of the gorge, which here follows
the strike of the rocks. The fallen rock itself
from the quarry face along the bend of a master joint,

detached

Fic. 1.—The recent rock-fall at Cheddar.

of its from tons to

500,000 tons; but an experienced quarry owner has assured

and estimates amount vary 70,000

Prof. Reynolds that 20,000 tons is about the amount of
the fall.
fall is entirely confined to the face of the quarry, and the

Though this may seem a very large amount, the

general features and beauty of the gorge are absolutely
unaffected by it.

In the annual report on British New Guinea for 1903, Sir
F. Winter described a people on the Musa River, named
Agaiambo ; according the reports
period they are web-footed dwarfs; subsequent information
went to show that they had been wiped out by a hostile
tribe.

to newspaper of the

The latest report, for 1904-5, shows that this latter
item was incorrect, for ten members of the tribe have been
measured by Captain Barton, and their photographs sent
to Sydney. Unfortunately, much of the latest information
is contradictory of the earlier report; the Agaiambo are
stated to kneel in their canoes or sit on their heels, and
to this their physical
attributed ; but Sir F. Winter says that they stand.

circumstance peculiarities are
More-
over, it is difficult to see how sitting on the heel could
produce, as alleged, a protrusion of the heel. There is no
evidence to show that the tribe is web-footed; they are not
dwarfs; the man seen by Sir F. Winter stood as high as
an ordinary native; what was peculiar about him was that
the

hips

lower extremities were

lower

badly developed, so that his
were 3 those of the ordinary
This to be borne out by the later

NO. 1894, VOL. 73]

inches than

native. feature seems

evidence. There is no reason at present to suppose that
they are of different stock from their neighbours; they are
said to speak the same language as the Barigi, with whom

they barter produce.

IN a paper on library aids to mathematical research,
published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society of
Edinburgh, Dr. Thomas Muir has touched upon a_ sub-
ject of ever-growing importance that has not yet received
the systematic attention in this country which it needs.
It deals with the requirements of the scientific investigator
classed under the two general main categories of books and
books about books. The paper is confined to the single
subject of mathematics, with reference to Scotland in par-
but, Dr. Muir “there can be no
doubt, however, that other subjects are in as bad a plight,
and that the whole question of library aid is worth serious

ticular, as remarks,

and prompt attention from all scientific men.’’? Com-
mencing with ‘* books about books,’’ or summaries of
existing literature, and excluding the ‘“* Bibliotheca

Mathematica,’’ which is different in scope, Dr. Muir finds
that the mathematician is adequately provided for as re-
gards past literature by Poggendorff’s ‘‘ Handworterbuch ””
and the Royal Society catalogues, and as regards current
literature by the ‘‘ Jahrbuch uber die Fortschritte,’’ the
Amsterdam ‘‘ Revue semestrelle,’’ and the ‘‘ International
But when it comes
state of affairs is
Confining his attention to the
sixty-seven serials, mainly mathematical, included in the
list published in the ‘‘ International Catalogue, A”’ for
1903, Dr. Muir tabulates the state of affairs in the libraries
of the University and Royal Society of Edinburgh and
the University and Philosophical Society of Glasgow. He
finds that only thirty-four of the sixty-seven periodicals
combined libraries of southern
Scotland, and many sets are incomplete, but that a con-

Catalogue of Scientific Literature.’’
to the the present
eminently unsatisfactory.

books themselves,

are to be found in the
siderable duplication exists in the libraries in question.
Austrian mathematics An annual ex-
penditure of rool. would suffice to purchase and preserve
all the serials on the list, but even without any expenditure
whole object could be attained by cooper-
the several libraries and gradual elimination
duplication. Dr. Muir that
research at present can only be pursued in
Scotland with difficulty and uncertainty, and that research
in mathematical history practically an impossibility.
What Dr. Muir says regarding Scotland applies with still
If he had extended his
study, for example, to Wales, he would have found three
separate libraries in the three university colleges each with
only some rol. or so per annum for purchase and binding
of books and periodicals.

1s

unrepresented.

whatever the
ation between
the considers

of of

mathematical

cases

1S

more force to libraries elsewhere.

THE opening article in the January number of Himmel
und Erde devoted to the discussion of the question
whether the attributes of organisms can be due to physical
In concluding this article, the author, Dr. V.
Franz, of Breslau, points out that, although a physical
origin of life is highly probable, its demonstration is a
matter of almost insuperable difficulty.

1S

causes.

In the January issue of the Museums Journal, Mr. J.
the relation of provincial museums to
national institutions. After pointing out that local
museums cannot at the present day grow with the requisite
rapidity and properly discharge their educational functions
if dependent solely upon donations, the author expresses

Minto discusses

| himself as follows :—‘ It will take years to do away with

FEBRUARY I5, 1906|

NATURE

373

the idea of museums still entertained by many members
of committees, as store-houses of curiosities, and to under-
stand that museums must form part of the educaticnal
machinery of the nation.’’

We reproduce from an article on the Florida Keys, pub-
lished in the National Geographic Magazine for February,
interesting photograph of an
number of eggs,

an exceedingly alligator’s

nest, showing a large from some of

which young alligators have been hatched. In common

Fic. 1.—An alligator’s n-st, with newly-hatched alligators, in F] rida.
From the Wational Geographic Magazine.

the
brush-

the caimans of Central and South

Mississippi alligator lays a number of eggs

with America,
amid
with débris, and

guarded during the period of incubation by the parent.

wood, which are carefully covered over

In due course the young alligators are hatched, and soon
make their way to the water, the nest, at least in the
case of some of the Brazilian caimans, being opened by
the female parent in order to facilitate the escape of her
progeny.

IN an instructive article entitled
Fruit Crops,’’ published in the Century
February, the author, Mr. W. S. Harwood, dwells on the
important services Mr. Compere has rendered to fruit-
growers in America, and thus throughout the world, by

Saving California’s
Magazine for

his efforts to discover insects which will hold in check
some of the most injurious insect fruit-pests. Mr.
Compere’s idea is that every injurious insect has an

enemy in some part of the world, if only it can be found.
He discovered, for instance, in Spain, a region where the
codling-moth lives, but where the ravages of the worm
to which its eggs give birth were slight. Investigation
showed that this was due to an ichneumon-fly, by which
the pest was kept in check. Naturally it was assumed
that what held good for Spain would also be efficient in
California, and a number of ichneumon-pupz were accord-
ingly packed and dispatched to the States. When the
flies hatched they at once set to work on the codling-
moth caterpillars, with the result that a swarm of young
ichneumons has been produced, and it is hoped that in
course of time the codling-moth pest may become a thing
of the past. Another plan is to send a small tree of the
species affected by a particular pest to the country where
the enemy lives, whence it is returned to its native home
provided with a stock of destroyers.

To the American Naturalist for January Lieut.-Colonel
C. D. Durnford contributes an article (also published
synchronously in this country in the Annals and Magazine
of Natural Iistory) on the flight of flying-fishes. In this
it is maintained that the ordinary ‘‘ aéroplane theory ”’ of
the flight of these fishes is based on an absolute mechanical

NO. 1894, VOL. 73]

impossibility, and that the real explanation is to be found
in an intensely rapid vibration of the wing-like pectoral

fins

a vibration which is revealed to the eye when the
as the fish touches the crest of a
the

Dexler and Freund furnish some interesting information

movement slows down

wave. In another article in same journal Messrs.

with regard to the mode of life of the dugong, noting also
the methods employed in the capture of

animals in Queensland. It is confirmed that dugongs do
not voluntarily leave the water, while it is suggested that

various these

they seldom enter brackish, and are incapable of living
Much the

of a slimy coating for the protection of the eye,

in fresh water. interest attaches to existence
a similar
coating also occurring in whales, although in the latter
instance it is of an oily nature, in order to prevent its

being too easily washed away by the sea-water.

Miz why Ie:
Puxley describes the unhygienic conditions which largely
milk,

In Macmillan’s Magazine for February,

obtain in the production and distribution of and
suggests the precautions which should be taken to ensure

a wholesome milk supply.

Messrs. SANDERS AND CrRowuursT, Shaftesbury Avenue,
W., have submitted for our inspection a series of excel-
lent ““ Wild Birds
at Home,”’ of sixty beautiful reproductions of photographs
taken with the ‘‘ Birdland’? camera, which has been made

lantern slides, and an album, entitled

specially for natural history photography. A comparison
life-like are faithful represent-
ations of the actual environments of the birds depicted,

of these pictures—which

untouched in any way by engravers—with the woodcuts
which comparatively few years ago were the only illus-
trations available for works on natural history will demon-

strate vividly the astonishing advances in pictorial illus-

Fic. 1.—Gannets on the wing.
“* Birdland” Camera.

From a photograph taken with the

tration made possible by instruments like the ‘‘ Birdland ”’

camera in the hands of patient observers. Photographs
of this high excellence both encourage and assist the study

of animal life.

Tue Journal of Hygiene for January (vi., No. 1) contains
Y§ D
papers by Prof. Muir and Mr. Browning on anti-immune
bodies and complementoids and on the action. of comple-
I

374

ment as agglutinin, by Mr. MacConkey on a method for
hastening the liquefaction of gelatin by the B. cloaceae,
by Dr. Boycott on the bacteriology of para-typhoid fever,
and by Dr. Haldane on a portable apparatus for gas
analysis. Dr. Sandilands writes on epidemic diarrhoea
and the bacterial content of food, suggesting that flies may
be the active agents in conveying this disease, no mention,
however, being made of Dr. Nash’s previous work in this
direction. Prof. Ronald Ross directs attention to the
occurrence of flagellated protozoan parasites in the mos-
quito (C. fatigans), which he suggests may invalidate
Schaudinn’s work on the development of the hamosporidian
Halteridium danilewskyi in this insect. Dr. Hamilton
Wright also contributes a reply to Dr. Travers’s criticism
of preventive measures against beri-beri, which appeared in
a former number of the Journal.

A setect list of works prepared at the Royal Botanic
Gardens, Kew, by members of the staff, or in collaboration
with them, has just been published as No. 1 of the Kew
Bulletin, 1905. The list is extensive, as it goes so far
back as 1859, when Grisebach’s ‘‘ Flora of the British
West Indies ’’’ began to appear, and it includes Dr. Watt’s
‘* Dictionary of Economic Products of India’’ and the
Annals of Botany. It is to be hoped that this number
is a precursor to the resuscitation of the Bulletin.

From the Department of Agriculture, Nairobi, a leaflet,
No. 10, has been issued on the insect and fungoid pests
reported during the year 1904-5. The larve of a moth,
Spodoptera exempta, destroyed the vegetation near
Nairobi; a ladybird, Epilachna similis, is mentioned as
doing great damage to maize and wheat; and several
beetles and other insects were observed. Amongst fungi,
wheat-rust proved fatal to the prospects of the wheat crop,
dwarf beans suffered from rust and anthracnose, and the
crop of chick-pea, Cicer was completely de-
stroyed by a uredo-fungus.

arietinum,

Tue historic quotation connected with Darwin’s examin-
ation of the primrose might well be repeated with refer-
ence to a posthumous paper on the oxlip by the late Prof.
Errera, edited by Miss J. Wéry for the Receuil de
UInstitut botanique, Brussels (vol. vi.). The paper fur-
nishes a good illustration of Prof. Errera’s talent for
drawing deductions from simple experiments or observ-
ations. It was found that although the number of long-
styled and short-styled plants was about equal, a bunch
of flowers collected at random nearly always contained more
of the long-styled, this being due to the slightly larger size
of the flowers; the balance is maintained by the direct
fertilisation of a larger number of short-styled flowers.

We have received the report of the Meteorological
Service of Canada for the year 1903. At the chief stations
observations are taken day and night at equal intervals
of time not exceeding four hours; at other stations they
are taken three times daily, except in the case of those
recording only rainfall and the general state of the weather.
For the purpose of weather the country is
divided into ten districts; the general success of fully or
partially verified predictions amounted to 86 per ‘cent.
The results for the numerous stations are very carefully
prepared, and include observations in Newfoundland,
Labrador, and Bermuda, together with a chronicle of the
chief characteristics of the weather in each month. Maxi-
mum shade temperatures of 99° were registered at Alberni,
British Columbia, in June, Melfort, N.W. Territories, and
St. Alban’s, Manitoba, in July; minimum, —67°, at Good
Hope, N.W. Territories, in February.

No. 1894, VOL. 73]

forecasts

NATURE

[FEBRUARY 15, 1906

Tue U.S. Monthly Weather Review for September last
contains an account of the Japanese meteorological service
in Korea and Manchuria. At the beginning of the Russo-
Japanese war, Prof. Wada, who had been connected with
the meteorological service of Japan since 1879, was
entrusted by the Japanese Government with the organ-
isation of a similar system in Korea and Manchuria, and
is now completing the work as chief of that service; up to
the present time fourteen stations have been established.
A first-class observatory has been established at Chemulpo ;
the other stations, including Mukden, Fusan, and Port
Arthur, are mostly of the second order. All the coast
stations issue daily weather predictions, which are made
known by means of flags; the central observatory issues
storm warnings when an atmospheric disturbance is ex-
pected on or near the coasts of Korea and Manchuria, and
day and night signals are immediately displayed at all
stations. :

IN view of the fact that acetylene gas is used in
Germany to a very large extent, it is proposed to form a
guild of acetylene apparatus owners for the purpose of
collecting, arranging, and distributing information on
methods of preparation and storing and on the uses of
acetylene.

Ir has long been known that the province of the
Pechora is rich in mineral treasures. Quite recently
a party of Russian and Belgian engineers examined the
basin of the Ussa, and made rich finds of naphtha and
copper ores. In fact, it is stated that the quantity of
naphtha to be obtained from surface deposits in the
Pechora district exceeds that present in the Caucasus,
and is of a better quality, whilst the tonnage of easily
workable copper ores is given as many millions. But for
the working of these treasure-fields a large sum of money
will be required, inasmuch as even the most primitive
roads and methods of easy communication are practically
unknown; also the population, and consequently the supply
of labour, is extremely small. However, it is reported
from St. Petersburg that energetic efforts are being made
to obtain the necessary capital.

In the Lancet for December 16, 1905, Dr. P. W. Latham
describes a new method of directly transforming a-benzoyl-
amino-p-hydroxycinnamic acid into tyrosine, by heating
it with potassium cyanide, which acts as a reducing agent,
and subsequently boiling the product with aqueous barium
hydroxide. A theory, based on these observations, is
advanced as to the method of formation of tyrosine in the
animal body.

In a note published in the Annalen der Physik (series 4,
vol. xviii., p. 860), Prof. B. Walter recommends the use
of a material called “‘ picein,’? manufactured by the New
York-Hamburg Indiarubber Company, as a cement for
joining together pieces of physical apparatus; it is prefer-
able to sealing-wax on account of the ease with which it
can be worked, and the fact that it does not become brittle.
As it is insoluble in water and alcohol, it can be used in
contact with solutions prepared with these solvents, for

example in absorption cells.

WE have received a reprint of a memoir by Prof. Augusto
Righi, published in the Memorie of the Royal Academy of
Sciences of Bologna (series vi., vol. ii., p. 151), in which full
details are given of the method used in ascertaining the con-
nection existing between the atomic weight of an element
and the amount of secondary radiation it emits when sub-
jected to the 8 and y rays of radium; the results have
already been noticed in Nature (vol. Ixxii. p. 350)-

FEBRUARY 15, 1906]

NATURE 375

In the Attt det Lincei (series 5, vol. xiv., ii., 207) Prof.
A. Righi describes a number of experiments which were
made with the purpose of ascertaining the influence of
the rays of radium on the resistance of certain solid and
liquid dielectrics. A marked increase in the conductivity
under the influence of the rays was observed in the case
of liquid vaseline and olive oil, but with benzene, petro-
leum ether, and carbon bisulphide a much smaller effect
was found. When solid colophony was subjected to the
action of the rays, a change of conductivity could not be
detected.

A worK upon steam turbines, by Messrs. T. Stevens and
H. M. Hobart, giving the most recent results in practice
and having a concise account of the latest types, will be
issued by Messrs. Whittaker and Co. in March.

Messrs. SwAN SONNENSCHEIN AND Co., Ltp., have now
published the ‘‘ Public Schools Year-book’’ for 1906,
being the seventeenth issue of this important annual.
Among other useful chapters which the volume contains, in
addition to full particulars of 117 public schools, those
dealing with engineering, medicine, agriculture, and horti-
culture as professions are of particular value to parents
desiring occupations for their boys.

Mr. Francis Hopcson has published the third volume
of the second series of the Proceedings of the London
Mathematical Society. The volume runs to 482 pages,
and includes papers read before the society during the
period December 8, 1904, to November 9, 1905. As the
papers read at meetings of the society are briefly described
in our ‘‘ Societies and Academies ’’ columns, there is no
necessity for a detailed statement of the contents of the
volume, though it may be added that, in addition to the
papers, the volume includes records of the proceedings at
meetings and an obituary notice of the late Mr. Robert
Tucker by Prof. M. J. M. Hill, F.R.S.

OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN.

Comet 1905c (GriAcopINI).—Herr A. Wedemever gives
a continuation of his daily ephemeris for comet 1905¢ in
No. 4074 of the Astronomische Nachrichten. The follow-
ing is an extract therefrom :—

Ephemeris 12h. M.T. Berlin.

1906 a (true) 6 (true) log » log A Bright-
eps 1S. a hipen ness

Heb, 18922049) 32 .-. —13'26)e2.19;9192)--. 071123) =... 2101
2ORIe ZS, Ue OLO4 24a |OVl23 75 ew 24 Oo
22 4S .... —1LOl27eee0) 9040)... O13 55.4203

2A LEZ .... —/1Q)e2meQ:O949) «O14 77) 2-11 o3
26Reeet 3h NO) .-.8 — 7A Kee O;O034) ... OL1G02..7-leSS

285 eer 44137 — 6 24 OFO214 ee OrT7 28) 1638

Brightness at. time of discovery =1-0.

It will be noticed that the comet has rapidly decreased
in brightness, and, as its magnitude when discovered was
only about 10-0, has become a more difficult object. On
February 18 it will set about 23 hours after sunset in the
south-west.

CoMET 1906a (BRrooKs).—Several observations of comet
1go6a are recorded in No. 4073 of the Astronomische
Nachrichten, in which also appear a set of elements and
an ephemeris calculated by Herr M. Ebell.

The magnitude of the comet on January 28-31 was
about 10-0, and Prof. Hartwig, observing with the Bam-
berg heliometer on the latter date, recorded that the comet

was round, had no tail, and had a central nucleus which
appeared to be about one magnitude fainter than a 9-3
magnitude star.

The latter part of Herr Ebell’s ephemeris is given

below :-—

NO. 1894, VOL. 73]

12n. M.T. Berlin.

1906 a (true) 6 (true) log x log A Bright-

. m Ss. a ness

Feb. 16... 12 4 44... +8435 ... O°1909 ... 9°9742 .. 0°99
Dee LOM SEAL =. todo

TS 1G) 13) 22) OATS. O'FO55) ©. 919817. ... 0194
TQ SNUG Te we Osteo

20... 7 32 10... +81 43 -.. 0°2001 99912 ... 0°88

Although near to the pole, the comet is not an easy
object, owing to its small magnitude, which is now
decreasing.

OBSERVATIONS OF Eros.—The tfesults of a number of
observations of Eros, made at the Arcetri Observatory
between July 26 and August 25, 1905, appear in No. 4073
of the Astronomische Nachrichten.

Variations in the magnitude of the
observed as follows :—July 28, mag.=11-4;
mag.=10-9; August 23, mag.=12-0.

Comets 1905b and 1905c were also observed at Arcetri,
and the results are given in the same journal.

asteroid were
August 7,

CATALOGUE OF STARS WITHIN Two DEGREES OF THE
NortH Pore.—Publication No. 2 of the Vassar College
Observatory is devoted to a catalogue of 408 stars all of
which are within 2° of the North Pole. The coordinates
and magnitudes have been determined from eight plates
taken by Prof. Donner, of the Helsingfors (Finland)
Observatory, by Dr. Caroline E. Furness. <A previous
publication (No. 1) dealt similarly with the stars situated
within 1° of the pole, and to this the present volume forms
a sequel. The positions are given for 1888-0, and in cases
where the star is common to both, references are given to
the B.D.M. and Carrington catalogues. The present work
is published by the Carnegie Institution, and forms No. 45
in the publications of that body.

Tue Frre NEAR Mounr WiLson OsseRvaTory.—Writing
to Popular Astronomy, No. 2, vol. xiv., Prof. Hale corrects
the recent report concerning the forest fire on Mount Lowe,
and states that, as the fire did not come within several
miles of the Solar Observatory, the observers there were
never in any fear that the buildings or instruments might
be injured.

Tue INCREASING PERIOD oF 8 Lyra:.—In an article pub-
lished in No. 367 of the Observatory, Dr. Alex. W. Roberts
makes an interesting suggestion concerning the diminish-
ing rate of increase in the period of B Lyre.

Having discussed a number of previous observations, he
has deduced a formula which gives the period of this
variable at any date, the epoch being 1900-0. The sug-
gested cause is that in B Lyrz we have a binary in which
the component stars are slowly receding from each other
under tidal forces, and if this is so it provides direct
evidence in support of Prof. Darwin’s theory regarding the
evolution of planetary and stellar systems.

Tue Unitep States Navat Opservatory.—Rear-Admiral
Chester’s report of the operations of the United States
Naval Observatory for the fiscal year ending June 30,
1905, shows that the staff is again to be congratulated
on the amount of work performed. Nearly 950 observ-
ations, including 218 of Saturn’s satellites, were made with
the equatorial, and 9179 observations were made with the
meridian instruments; the latter included nearly 4000
observations of Gill’s “‘ zodiacal stars’? and an equal
number of “* standard stars.”’

The A.G. Zone Catalogue of the stars between —13° 50!
and —18° 10’ is nearing completion; all the stars have
been observed, and most of the observations have been
reduced to 1900-0.

With the photoheliograph, photographs of the sun were
obtained on 166 days, and showed spots and faculz on the
solar disc on 162 days. Whilst engaged upon this work,
Mr. G. H. Peters made some valuable observations regard-
ing the focal variation due to temperature. A new triple
lens of 73 inches aperture and 65 feet focal length, giving
a solar image of about 7 inches diameter, has been pro-
cured, and was to be used for solar photography after
its employment on the 1905 eclipse expedition to Spain.

The branch observatory at Tutuila, Samoa, was, on the
date of the report, rapidly approaching completion.

376

NALTORLE:

[FEBRUARY 15, 1906

RECENT REPORTS OF GEOLOGICAL
SURVEYS.
Cleavage.
“THE subject of rock cleavage is one of perennial interest ;
only a short time ago were Dr. Becker’s views noticed

in these columns, views founded upon experiment and
analysis. Now, Dr. Leith (1) lays before us his reading of

the same problems after attacking them by the way of
micro-sections and field observations. ithe author makes
the term ‘‘rock cleavage’’ very comprehensive; he re-
cognises among cleav able rocks two broad divisions, which
he calls respectively protoclase, or original cleavage rock,
and metaclase, or ‘secondary cleavage rock. The former
class includes such structures as bedding in sediments and
flow structure in lavas; the latter class is considered under

the heads ‘‘ fracture cleavage’’ and ‘‘ flow cleavage.”’
Fracture cleavage is conditioned by the existence of in-
cipient or cemented and welded parallel fractures, and is

independent of the parallel arrangement of the mineral
constituents. Flow cleavage is conditioned solely by a
parallel arrangement of the minerals. The one is a pheno-
menon of the zone of fracture, the other of the zone of
flowage in the lithosphere. Fracture cleavage is made
to include, wholly or in part, those structures that have
been variously described as _ close-joint-cleavage, false

EY
; See
fei a

F19. 1.—Porphyritic constituents developed after rock flowage has ceased.
Chloritoid crystal. (Bulletin 239.)

cleavage, strain-slip-cleavage, slip cleavage, ausweichungs
cleavage, rift and fissility in part (the term is retained for
closely spaced parallel partings). Flow cleavage includes,

wholly or in part, the ultimate cleavage of Sorby,
“cleavage ’’ of most authors, slaty cleavage, schistosity,

and parallel structures in certain gneiss
is a molecular phenomenon, and the dominating factor in
its production is re-crystallisation. Much space is devoted
to the study of the behaviour of the more important rock-
forming minerals in relation to the direction of the cleavage
in rocks, and many thin slices have been examined to
determine how far there existed a parallelism between the

“Rock Cleavage."” By C. K. Leith.
““Cement Materials and Industry.”

D

s. Flow cleavage

1 (r) Bulletin 239, 1905,

(2) Bulletin 243, 1905, By E, C.
Eckel.

(3) Bulletin 252, 1905, ‘ * Preliminary Report on the Geology and Water
Resources of Central Oregon.” By 1. C Russell.

(4) Bulletin 235. tg04, ‘‘ A Geological Reconnaissance across the Cascade
Range.” By G. O. Smith and F. C. Calkins.

(5) Bulletin 242, 1904, “Geology of the Hudson Valley between the
Hoosic and the Kinderhook.” By T. N. Dale.

(6) Bulletin 254, 1904, ‘‘ Report of Progress i in the Geological Re-survey
of the Cripple Creek District, Colorado.’’ By Waldemar Lindgren and
F. L. Ransome.

(7) Bulletin 237, 1905, ‘‘ Petrography and Geology of the Igneous Rocks
of the Highwood Mountains, Montana.” By L. V. Pirsson.

(8) Twenty-fifth Annual Report of the U.S. Geological Survey, 1903-4.

(9) Indiana, Department of Geology and ‘Natural Resources, Twenty-
ninth Annual Report, 1904._ By W. S. Blatchley.

(ro) Canaca: Summary Report of the Geological Survey Department cf
Canada for the Calendar year 1904 (1905).

. 1854, VOL. 73]

cleavage of the rock and dimensional and vector properties
of given mineral species.

The bulletin is evidently the result of a great deal of
work, and contains a clear statement of the author’s views ;
the illustrations are excellent, and it must be read by all
interested in the subject, but it cannot be said greatly to
advance our knowledge.

The Geology of Cements.

Several reports have appeared from time to time dealing
with the raw cement materials of individual States; in
Bulletin No. 243, E. C. Eckel (2) summarises the available
information for the United States as a whole. ‘‘* The
object has been to treat the subject from the geological
rather than from the technical standpoint, although the
technology of the cement manufacture is also discussed
with sufficient fulness for the purpose of the report.”
While mainly a compilation, and bearing the impress of
composite authorship, there in this volume an air of
freshness about the facts and of uniformity about their
presentation which is doubtless due to the circumstance
that Mr. Eckel personally visited every district in which
cement is being produced, and examined nearly every plant
in Operation. Nor were the undeveloped deposits of cement
material neglected.

The bulk of the report is devoted to Portland cement
materials in the several States; the geological characters
and relationships of the limestones, clays, and natural
cement rock are clearly explained, abundant analyses are
shown, and the peculiar local condjtions of transport and
fuel, as well as the available markets, are briefly discussed.
The cement materials are derived from rocks of the most
diverse geological age, ranging from Cambrian up to recent
marls and alluvial silts. Short sections are given to the
“natural ’? cement resources and to the Puzzolan cements.
We noticed in the section on the grinding of raw materials
no reference to the influence of the degree of fineness upon
the temperature required for a suitable clinker.

is

General Geology.

The average British geologist, if his range of vision is
not quite limited by the importance of the exposure in his

own back garden, if he can momentarily turn from pebble-
picking and the unravelling of zones, may enjoy by
following Prof. Russell across central Oregon, a pleasant

and profitable, if somewhat tantalising, hour. The region
included in this preliminary report (3) comprises the country
between the Snake River on the east and the Cascade
Range on the west, and thus takes in the extreme northern
part of the Great Basin.

The predominant rocks of central Oregon are volcanic ;
an older series of rhyolites and andesites is succeeded by
a younger series of basaltic rocks, which are again
followed in the Pauline Lake district by andesitic outbursts.
The oldest of the rocks dates from early Tertiary times;
the youngest may be only a few centuries old.

The sedimentary rocks are represented by soft clays,
sands and volcanic dust of Tertiary age. The most con-
spicuous elevations in central Oregon are of volcanic
origin; many are old worn-down craters and peaks, but
young volcanoes, particularly as the Cascades are
approached, are exceedingly abundant. ‘* Their cones, so
recent in numerous instances that erosion has not yet
broken their crater rims, are so numerous that 50 or
more may frequently be counted in a single view, while
a change of a few miles in the position of the observer
brings perhaps as many more within the range of vision.”’

Many interesting features in the water supply and drain-
age of the country are described in these pages, but none
exceeds in interest the fascinating story of the Deschutes
River, about the point where it is joined by its tributary
the Crooked River. First we find that the Deschutes in
Tertiary times had eroded a great valley twenty to thirty
miles wide in parts; then most of this valley was filled to
a depth of more than zoo feet by water-borne volcanic
dust and lapilli with a little sand and clay; this was
followed by a sheet of basalt some So feet thick. Displaced
in this way from their old courses, the Deschutes and its
tributaries cut fresh channels and made canyons in the
new material 800 feet deep and about one mile wide, until

FERRUARY 15, 1906]

NATURE ae

J

once more an outburst of basaltic lava filled up the canyons
to a depth of at least 500 feet. Still in their old courses,
but displaced from their channels, the streams had again
to commence re-excavation. At the present time they have
cut through more than 500 feet of the hard basalt without
reaching its bottom. The two periods of canyon cutting

probably belong to the ** Sierran’’ epoch of Le Conte.
Hot springs, desert conditions, glaciation, and the in-

Fic. 2.—View of double-crested moraine on south-side of Hayden Glacier, looking west.

(Bulletin 2<2.)

fluence of domestic animals upon river erosion form the
subjects of notes. The illustrations are beautiful, and
helpful to the text.

The region about the northern limit of the Cascade
Range was traversed by Messrs. G. O. Smith and F. C.
Calkins (4) in a rapid reconnaissance. The older rocks
encountered are grouped together as pre-Cretaceous, com-
prising (1) old-looking schists along the
Columbia River and lower Okanogan
Valley; (2) supposed Carboniferous
sediments with volcanics in the more
northern part of the Okanogan Valley ;
(3) strata similar to the last mentioned
exposed in the base of the upper Skagit
River; (4) some old sediments and a
great volcanic mass near Hamilton;
and (5) a great assemblage of strata
ranging from Paleozoic to Jurassic
lying to the west and north of Mt.
Baker.

An extensive development of the Cre-
taceous is indicated from the Hozomeen
Range on the west to the Similkameen
Range on the east; the name
*““ Pasayten formation ’’ is proposed for
this in place of Prof. Russell’s term
Similkameen. Sandstones and_ shales
predominate; contemporaneous igneous
rocks appear to be absent. Tertiary
sediments occupy a much smaller area
than do the Cretaceous, but volcanic
rocks, presumably of this age, are of
some importance. Later formations are
represented by glacial and river gravels,

and by the andesitic lavas of Mt.
Baker.
As compared with their immense importance in the

southern Cascades, the part played by volcanic rocks in
the boundary section appears very subordinate. Plutonic
rocks are greatly developed, the prevailing type being a
“ srano-diorite.’” The volcanic rocks range from soda-
rhyolite, dacite, acid and basic andesites, to basalt. The
dyke rocks include a soda-syenite from south of Bighorn
Peak, and a diorite (?) in which apatite occurs in broad,

NO. 1894. VOL. 73]

contact with stratified beds of outer canyon.

|

irregular plates as one of the last products of crystallisation.
The authors conclude that volcanic and plutonic rocks alike
may have been derived from a homogeneous magma, low
in alkalies, with soda predominating over potash; hence
they may belong to the same province as the rocks of the
southern Cascades and the Sierra Nevada.

Dr. Dale has written a short account of the strati-
graphy of a strip of the Hudson Valley (5) between the
Hudson River on the west and the
Rensselaer Plateau and the Taconic
Range on the east. The difficulties in
the way of delimiting the age and re-
lations of the several formations are the
rarity and bad preservation of the
fossils, the repeated minor overfolding,

and the prevalence of Glacial drift.
An excellent map accompanies the
paper on the scale of 1 inch to the

mile ; fossil localities and good outcrops
are clearly indicated by a system of
coloured spots—a plan worthy of imita-
tion.

The formations represented are Lower
Cambrian, Beekmantown shale with
Dictyonema and Clonagraptus, the
Hudson shale and Hudson schist (Ordo-
vician=Trenton), and the Silurian
Rensselaer Grit=Oneida, Medina.

Three crustal movements are recog-
nised in the area :—(a) at the close of
the Lower Cambrian, Upper and Middle
Cambrian are missing; (b) the Taconic
or Green Mountain movement which
folded the Ordovician beds; (c) a post-
Devonian or Carboniferous movement
which folded the Silurian Grit of the
Rensselaer Plateau. Minor oscillations
are indicated by conglomerates which occur in the Lower
Cambrian, in the Hudson shale, and in the Rensselaer Grit.

Although only ten years had elapsed since Cross and
Penrose made a careful study of the Cripple Creek district,
the people of Colorado asked for a re-survey on account
of the great development of underground working in the
interval; this re-survevy has been undertaken by Messrs.

Fic. 3.—View in Opal Canyon, Crooked River, Crook County, showing basalt of inner canyon in

(Bulletin 252.)

Lindgren and Ransome, who have now issued a report of
progress (6) in advance of the laboratory examinations.
The oldest rocks in the district are the muscovite and
fibrolite schists ; are closely associated with fine-
grained granitic gneiss. Both gneiss and schist are cut
by a reddish granite. A second type of granite is the
coarsely porphyritic Pikes Peak type. As a result of the
recent work, the views of Cross upon the rocks erupted

378

NATURE

[ FEBRUARY 15, 1906

from the Cripple Creek volcanic centre are somewhat
modified; the various rock types recognised by him are
shown to be linked by intermediate forms; they are clearly
all divergent eruptive facies of one general magma,
characterised by containing from 9 per cent. to 15 per cent.
of potash and soda, the soda being always somewhat higher
than the potash; no true andesite is recognised. Most of
the ore has come from the central area of phonolitic
breccia.

The bulk of the telluride ore-bodies is in fissure veins,
either simple or complex, being closely spaced and linked
together, constituting what is called a ‘‘ sheeted zone.’’
The fissures radiate from a point to the north of the area;
they are uniformly narrow, therefore the amount of gangue
and ore is comparatively small. Quartz, fluorspar, and
other minerals usually line the walls of the fissures; the
rich tellurides are generally the last minerals to form. The
authors consider that the unoxidised ore deposits represent
the product of one period of general mineralisation not
appreciably modified by any secondary enrichment. The
last exhalation of the Cripple Creel volcano seems to be
a mixture of nitrogen with about 20 per cent. of carbon
dioxide and a small amount of oxygen. The gas increases
in quantity with the depth, and in some cases interferes
seriously with mining operations.

An interesting description of the petrography of the
Highwood Mountains of Montana (7) is given by Prof.
Pirsson. This region is occupied by a greatly eroded group
of volcanoes which were in activity at some time sub-
sequent to the Lower Cretaceous ; several necks (stocks) are
exposed, and now stand up as prominent peaks. High-
wood Peak, the highest point in the group, is composed
of syenite (pulaskose) and monzonite (shoshonose); in
East Peak the rock is a basic leucite syenite. The Shonkin
stock is shown to consist of Missourite, passing by inter-
mediate stages into shonkinite. The Arnoux stock is
important as the source of a new variety, Fergusite
(fergusose), a rather coarse-grained, pseudo-leucitic augite
rock, consisting of orthoclase, nepheline, and diopside ; it
appears to bear a similar relation to the leucitites that
missourite does to the leucite basalts. In describing the
petrographic characters of the necks, dykes, and extrusive
flows, the new nomenclature is used concurrently with the
old, so that the conservative reader need not be dismayed
by ‘‘ Trachyphyro-Highwoodose,’’ ‘‘ grano-shoshonose,’’ or
what not. The author concludes with some suggestive
remarks on magmatic differentiation.

The annual report of the United States Geological
Survey (8) is, as usual, a record of excellent organisation
and of abundant energy in all departments.

The twenty-ninth annual report on the geology and
natural resources of Indiana (9) contains a monograph of
some 650 pages, by Prof. Blatchley, on the clays and clay
industries of the State, the reports of the inspectors of
mines and natural gas, a paper on the utilisation of convict
labour in making road material, an account of the petro-
leum industry in Indiana in 1904, and a paper on the
insect galls of Indiana.

The section on clays is very much like similar reports
with which we are becoming daily more familiar; it is an
excellent report of its kind. It describes in detail the clay
resources of each county, with geological information and
analyses; suggestions are given as to available clays and
shales that are as yet unworked, and advice is given as to
the best way of dealing with them. The use of bricks for
road-making is strongly advocated, and the full specifi-
cations for the construction of brick pavements in the city
of Terre Haute are given; these may prove of interest to
those in this country who favour this type of road—the
brick roads in Terre Haute have given great satisfaction.
The report is illustrated with photographs and maps, and
with full statistics of the various branches of the clay
industry. f

The paper on insect galls, by Dr. Cook, is little more
than a catalogue of the galls known in the State. It is
provided with a simple introduction to the subject and a

bibliography, and with numerous outline sketches and
photographs. It should be appreciated in the State. We

are not aware that the papers mentioned above are issued
separately ; if this is not the case it seems unfortunate, for
they appeal to such divergent interests.

NO. 1894, VOL. 73]

The summary report of the Geological Survey of
Canada (10) for 1904 indicates considerable activity in all
quarters of the Dominion. A striking illustration of the
usefulness of the survey lies in the discovery of a coal
seam 10 feet thick in a bore-hole 2340 feet deep in Cumber-
land, Nova Scotia. This bore-hole was sunk through a
thick cover of unproductive rocks at the suggestion of Mr.
Hugh Fletcher, of the Geological Survey staff, after he
had worked out the ‘structural geology of the district.

In the Purcell Range, Dr. Daly records an enormous
sill of hornblende-gabbro, 2500 feet thick; this he calls
the ‘‘ Moyie sill,’’ from its occurrence at a point where
the Moyie River crosses the international boundary. This
great mass of basic rock has been thrust into the pre-
Cambrian Kitchener quartzite, with the result that its
upper portion, some 200 feet thick, has been converted
into an acid biotite-granite by assimilation of the siliceous
sediment. This has come about principally through the
agency of “* gravitational differentiation ’’ following the
shattering of the quartzite by the heated contact.

Prospecting for iron by means of the magnetometer
(Thalen-Tiberg form), an innovation in Canada, seems to
have had good results in Charlotte County, New Bruns-
wick. Dr. Barlow contributes some notes on the occur-
rence of corundum in the intrusive complex of Robillard
Mountain at Craigmont. The corundiferous rocks are of
syenitic or gabbroid type; scapolite and nepheline often
accompany or replace the prevailing felspars. Some of the
syenite contains as much as 34 per cent. of corundum.

Jj. A. H.

THE PERIODICITIES OF SUN-SPOTS.*

FLYERYBODY knows how to interpret the curve by

means of which the intensity of radiation of a body
is expressed in terms of the wave-length or frequency,
and everybody recognises the utility of such a curve. It
allows us at once to distinguish between the line spectruny
and the spectrum of bands or the continuous spectrum,
and brings out regularities which would be difficult to
recognise in the original disturbance. In practice we
employ the spectroscope to give us the data from which
the curve of intensities is constructed. But what the
spectroscope can do for a luminous disturbance, calculation
can do for any quantity which fluctuates about a mean
value. We are able, therefore, to construct in every case
a curve which in all respects is analogous to the graph
which connects the period and intensity of radiation. This.
curve I call the periodograph, and refer to the diagram —
embodying the curve as the periodogram. There is @
periodogram of rainfall or barometric change, and these
curves would, in my opinion, if constructed for different
localities, yield us most important and characteristic in-
formation about climate.

During the last three years I have been occupied im
calculating the periodogram of sun-spot variability. The
results have been communicated to the Royal Society, and’
the following is a summary of abstracts which are pub-
lished in the Proceedings of that society. The first paper
deals with a detailed examination proving that the process.
I employ furnishes an analysis which is identical with the
experimental spectrum analysis supplied by the grating.
In the second paper the method is applied to the statistics
of sun-spots.

The data used were Wolf and Wolfer’s sun-spot
numbers, which give us sufficient information from the
year 1749 to the present time. I have in addition used,
wherever possible, the measurements of areas which for
each synodic revolution of the sun have been collected!
by the Solar Physics Committee of the British Board of
Education from the year 1832 onwards, and the areas
measured from photographs at the Greenwich Observatory:
for each day of the year since January 1, 1883.

The whole of the observations were treated collectively,
but the complete interval of 150 years was also divided
into two nearly equal portions, which were separately
examined. At first sight, the results obtained by a com-

1 Abstract of two papers, entitled, (1) ‘‘ The Periodogram and its Opticak
Applications" ; (2) ‘‘ The Periodicity of Sun-spots.’’ Read before the Royal
Society on December 7, 1905. ,

FEBRUARY 15, 1906]

WADE OLAS

3719

parison of the two intervals of 75 years were exceedingly
puzzling. While the observations beginning with about
1826 showed a nearly homogeneous variation of 11-125
years, this period seemed almost entirely absent between
1749 and 1826. Its place was during that interval taken
by two important groups of periodicities, one of which
had a periodic time of about 9-25 years, while the second
had an average period of 13-75 years. The latter period
was represented more nearly by what in spectroscopy is
called a ‘‘ band,’’ extending from 13-25 to 14-25 years, but
some of this want of definiteness may be due to the de-
ficiency in observational data. For some time I was
inclined to draw the conclusion that such periodicities as
we observe are comparatively short lived, and replaced by
a number of others which in their turn die out. A more
detailed investigation, however, convinced me that the
perioaicities are, as regards the interval of time elapsing
between successive maxima, extremely regular, occurring
with what may prove to be astronomical accuracy. The
key of the solution is, I believe, to be found in the over-
lapping of a number of periods, all of which are regular
as regards time, but vary considerably as regards intensity,
so that one or other may for a certain number of years
become inactive. Their real existence is proved by the fact
that whenever they reappear after a period of inactivity,
the phase of the renewed periodic action fits in exactly
with the continuation of the old period.

A periodicity of about 4-78 years runs through the whole
of the observations. Its amplitude being about one-sixth
of that of the eleven-year period is too great to be
accounted for by accident. It appears separately in the
series of Wolf’s numbers, ranging from 1749-1826 and
from 1826-1900. It also appears in the series depending
on the measurement of areas. The phases of the period
as determined from these series are in good agreement, and
even while I was inclined to question the permanency of
the eleven-year period i never felt any doubt that during
the whole length of 150 years this period has been acting.
Its time, determined as accurately as possible from the
combined records, was 4:81 years, but I believe that if
greater weight were given to the more recent and more
complete observations the number would be slightly re-
duced. As regards the main period, which has certainly
given its character to the sun-spot statistics during the
Sreater part of the last century, I find the time as deter-
mined from the observations since 1826 alone to be 11-125
years. This agrees well with Wolfer’s estimate of 11-124,
and Newcomb’s investigation, which led to 11-13 as the
most probable number.

If to the most accurate series of measurements of sun-
spot areas which begin in 1832 we apply a process the
result of which is the elimination of the chief period, and
draw a curve representing what is left, we find decided
maxima during the years 1836, 1845, 1853, 1862, and
1870, the intervals being alternately 9 and 8 years, or
8-5 years on the average. The periodogram based on
Wolf’s numbers for the complete interval 1749-1900 shows
a decided maximum of intensity for a periodicity of 8.25
years. Adopting this period provisionally, and disregard-
ing all observations since 1826, we may use Wolf’s series
previous to that date for the determination of the phase
of the period in question, and thus forecast the maxima
for the subsequent interval. We thus obtain 1836-3,
1844-7, 1852-9, 1861-2, 1869-4, ir almost exact agreement
with the above. The slight disagreement of phase would
be corrected by assuming the time to have been 8-32 years.

A periodicity of about 13-5 years shows as a maximum
of intensity in the periodogram for the complete interval.
In connection with it the following facts seem remarkable.
There are in Wolf's records three cases of successive
maxima having an interval of between 13 and 14 years.
They are :—1626-0-1639-5, “1816-4-1829:9, 1870-6-1883-9.
Also the interval between 1639-5 and 1816-4 is thirteen
times 13-61, and the interval between 1829-9 and 1870-6 is
three times 13-57. Thus the maxima all fit in with a
period of about 13-6 years, which with varying intensity
seems to have run through the whole record of observ-
ations.

Not wishing to lay too great a stress on what may
prove to be merely a numerical coincidence, I return to the
three periods which have been determined with some

NO. 1894, VOL. 73]

accuracy. It was only after the periodic times had been
independently determined that the following remarkable
relationship between the numbers was discovered. Taking
frequencies into consideration, we are led to form the
reciprocals of the periodic times, and thus find

Adding up we find
1/ 4-76 =0-21008.

Hence the sum of the frequencies of two of the periods
agrees within the possible errors with the frequency of the
third period. But it is also found that the two first
numbers are very nearly in the ratio of three to four, so
that we may also express the three periodic times as sub-
periods of 33-375 years. Thus

§ X 33-375 = 11-125
1X33 375= $344
7 X33°375= 4-768.

How far this connection is accurate or approximate it is
impossible to say at present, but the fact that the three
periods which have been traced with a considerable degree
of certainty should also bear a remarkably simple relation-
ship to each other is worthy of note.

If we accept a period twice as long as that given above,
we might account for other periodicities of which at
present the times are only approximately determined; thus
4X66-75 would lead us to 13-34, in fair agreement with
the period of 13-57 years which has been mentioned above.
But the difference is greater than it should be, and at the
present I do not wish to put forward the longer.

ARTHUR SCHUSTER.

NATURAL HISTORY AND ARCHASOLOGY OF
THE WATERLILIES.+
N

R. CONARD has embodied the result of several years’
before

work on the waterlilies in the sumptuous volume

us. The monograph opens with an_ historical

account of the plants as they were known to the ancients,

and then deals with the group from a modern botanical
point of view.

An interesting part of the memoir deals with the
morphology and development of the plants, and the reader
will find much that is worth reading therein. It must be
confessed, however, that, taken as a whole, this portion
occupies a somewhat large number of pages in proportion
to the amount of valuable information it contains. Lhe
structure of the root is given at some length, but one
would have liked to see a comparative treatment given
that embraced not only the roots of different species, but
also those of an individual plant at various stages of the
life-history. Possibly such an investigation might throw
light on the nature or origin of the ‘‘ Liorrhizic ”
character of the roots in the waterlilies. Mr. Conard
gives a good account of the formation of the intercellular
spaces and the diaphragms so characteristic of the order,
and he mentions an interesting occurrence of stomata on
the under surface of the aérial leaves that rise above the
level of the water in Nymphaea odorata var. minor.

The occurrence of stipules is a point of some note, and
it may be remarked that their absence from the early
leaves of the seedlings detracts from their phylogenetic
significance in the group.

A short sketch of the development of the flower is in-
cluded in the monograph, and we think it might have
been considerably extended with no small advantage. The
flowers, as is well known, occupy a remarkable position
in waterlilies, where they apparently replace a leaf. The
author was led to adopt a suggestion made by Caspary
as to the morphology of the flower which explains the
anomaly and at the same time appears to fit the facts of
development. The anterior sepal, which appears first, and
often well below the others, is regarded as morphologically
representing the bract, whilst the two lateral sepals are

1 ‘‘The Waterlilies. A Monograph of the Genus Nymphza.” By

Henry S. Conard. Pp. xiii+279. (Published by the Carnegie Institution
of Washington, 1005.)

380

MC SIIN ISAS E,

[FEBRUARY 15, 1906

in like manner formed at the expense of the two prophylls.
A similar explanation, it may be remarked, has been
advanced, also on good grounds, to explain the otherwise
anomalous character of the flower and inflorescence in
Adoxa moschatellina,

The chief part of the work is devoted to the taxonomy
of the group and to the description and delineation of the
different species. Distribution and hybridisation are briefly
considered, and a short chapter on the culture of the
waterlilies is added; the work closes with an excellent
bibliography.

The illustrations are numerous, and many of them are
finely executed in colour, whilst the paper and printing
leave nothing to be desired even by the most fastidious
bibliophile. The book certainly deserves a place on the
shelves of those who are interested in a group more
beautiful than most, and perhaps inferior to none, of the
plants that are cultivated for the beauty alike of their
form and of their colour.

UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL
INTELLIGENCE.

CampripGeE.—The general beard has nominated the
following as electors to professorships :—Prof. W. A.
Tilden to the professorship of chemistry, Sir W. D. Niven
to the Plumian professorship of astronomy, Sir A. Geikie

to the professorship of geology, Prof. J. J. Thomson to
the Jacksonian professorship of natural philosophy, Sir
W. H. Broadbent to the Downing professorship of medi-
cine, Dr. L. Fletcher to the professorship of mineralogy,
Prof. Larmor to the professorship of experimental physics,
Sir W. H. White to the professorship of mechanism and
applied mechanics, Prof. Schafer to the professorship of
physiology, and Dr. J. F. Payne to the professorship of
pathology.

Mr. A. R. Brown, of Trinity College, has been elected
to the Anthony Wilkin studentship in ethnology and
archeology. This is the first election which has been
made to this recently founded studentship.

Tue Goldsmiths’ Company has voted a further sum of
1558/., in addition to its previor's endowment of the Gold-

smiths’ College at New Cross, to defray the expenses of
putting the buildings in complete working order.

Unprer the auspices the
Education of Women, founded a few years ago by
P. N. Arian, a technical high school for women
opened in St. Petersburg on January 28. The new
school has two faculties, one for engineering and
ing subjects, and the adhere for electrochemistry, and pro-
vides a four-year course in each, which courses it is
intended shall be of the same educational standard as those
in the same subjects in the present technical high schools.

We _ have
* Souvenir ’

Technical
Mrs.
was
high
build-

of the Society for

received a copy of a_ well illustrated
* of the opening last year of the new engineer-

ing and metallurgical laboratories of the University of
Sheffield. In view of the illustrated article published in

Nature for July 20, 1905, describing the new buildings
at Sheffield, it is unnecessary to do more than direct
attention to the excellence and great extent of the provision

made in this new university for teaching the higher
branches of applied science. It is possible from the
numerous well executed pictures in the souvenir to

form a good idea of the laboratories and their equipment
without a visit to Sheffield.

Science
education

announces further munificent gifts to higher
in the United States. Mr. John D. Rockefeller
has given 290,000l1. to the University of Chicago. Of this
sum, 200,000l. is for the permanent endowment, 70,o0o0ol.
to cover the current expenditures or deficit of the various
departments of the University to July 1, 1907, and the
remaining 20,0001. is to provide a fund, the interest of
which is to go to the widow of the late President Harper
during her lifetime. By the will of the late Mr. Marshall
pierce Chicago receives 1,600,000l. for the endowment and
maintenance of the Field Columbian Museum. The _ be-
quest is on condition that within six years from the death

NO. 1894, VOL. 73]

of Mr. Field there shall be provided a satisfactory site
for the permanent home of the museum. By the will of
the late Mr. W. C. Putnam, the Davenport (Iowa)
Academy of Sciences becomes prospectively one of the
most richly endowed institutions of its kind in the world.
Mr. Putnam left an estate of 140,000]. with provisions
for limited incomes to relatives, the remainder of the
revenues to be paid to the academy, and the entire estate to
go to that institution at the death of the surviving brothers
and sisters.

Unper the leadership of Dr. Chiari, a member of the
Austrian Government, a petition was recently laid before
the Austrian Minister of Education in which the teaching
of chemistry in the technical high schools was given the
most prominent place. The petition affirmed that the
present conditions of the chemical laboratories in the high
schools had repeatedly been the subject of severe criticism
in technical circles; that neither the space provided,
the existing equipment nor the teaching staff was at all
adequate to the requirements of modern chemistry. The
backwardness of Austrian
but most seriously

affect the chemical industries; indeed,

in no other branch of commerce was a direct and intimate —

connection with the high schools
The schools had been neglected,
found that instruction in general
the
which were particularly suited to Austria had not received

so absolutely essential.
and consequently it was
technical chemistry and

that amount of attention which they needed. A scheme
involving the erection of a new chemical institute in

Vienna was laid before the Government last year. The
petitioners desired a speedy settlement of the existing mis-
understandings on this subject, they considered the
building of such a chemical institute the first condition to
an increased interest in Austrian chemical industries.

the address delivered by Sir Alexander R.
recent distribution of prizes to students of
Venturers’ Technical College, Bristol, has
The address dealt in broad outline with
education and with what it in a certain sense implies, the
acquisition of knowledge. Answering the question, How
do we obtain knowledge? Sir Alexander Binnie said it can
only be obtained through those senses with which human
beings are endowed. First, knowledge includes sensations
directly conveyed, that is, personal knowledge. Then
there is knowledge of the world conveyed in books, that
is, the teaching of authority ; and there is a third, an all
important division of knowledge, derived partly through
observation, and partly through the mysterious property
called mind. Observation and reasoning lead, especially
in the line of science, to certainties greater, often more
sure and more truthful, than those received through the
senses. Later in the address Sir Alexander Binnie urged
that in all these matters of education it is necessary to be
careful; arrogance and self-conceit are quite out of place.
There are limitations to all, but in the study of nature, and
the great truths that nature reveals, the human mind is
enlarged and its conceptions are elevated. In all the
knowledge acquired during the years that human beings
are permitted to indulge in that wonderful spectacle which
nature presents, a preparation is being undergone, and it
is to be hoped an advancement from a lower to a higher
grade of mind.

as

A cory of
Binnie at the
the Merchant
been received.

SOCIETIES AND
LONDON.

Royal Society, December 7, 1905.—‘‘ The Determination
of the Osmotic Pressures of Solutions by the Measure-

ACADEMIES.

ment of their Vapour Pressures.’’ By the Earl of
Berkeley and E. G. J. Hartley. Communicated by
W. C. D. Whetham, F.R.S

The authors find that Ostwald and Walker’s ‘‘ bubbling ’”
method of determining the lowering of the vapour pressure
of solutions is unsatisfactory. They therefore use a form
of apparatus such that dry air is allowed to pass over
the solution, while the latter is continuously stirred, and
then over the solvent. By placing two vessels containing

chemical laboratories could not—

intensive study of those branches of technical chemistry

FEBRUARY 15, 1906]

NATURE 381

the solution in series, the constancy of weight of the second
vessel indicates that the air has been saturated up to the
vapour pressure of the solution. The total quantity of
vapour given off by the solution and solvent is absorbed
by sulphuric acid, and the gain in weight of the latter
should equal the loss sustained by the two former. With
solutions in water, it is pointed out that, on account of
the condensation of solvent in the tube leading to the
sulphuric acid, this never quite obtains. The loss of weight
of the solution in conjunction with that of the solvent
give, however, the data for calculating the osmotic pressure.
It is shown that Arrhenius’s formula, when applied to
concentrated solutions, does not connect the true osmotic
pressure with the lowering of vapour pressure ; and a more
correct relation is deduced from a consideration of the
hydrostatic pressures about a column of solution which is
closed at the lower end by a semi-permeable membrane,
and is partially immersed in the solvent. It is found that
the osmotic pressures of cane-sugar solutions when calcu-
lated by way of vapour pressures and when observed
directly agree to within 5 per cent. of one another over
a range of 20 to rro atmospheres.

January 25.—‘‘ Artificial Double Refraction, due to
fEolotropic Distribution, with Application to Colloidal
Solutions and Magnetic Fields.”’ By Dr. T. H. Havelock.
Communicated by Prof. J. Larmor, Sec.R.S.

The sections of the paper are summarised as follows :—

(1) The formal investigation of artificial double refraction
in colloidal solutions as due to a deformation of the medium
consisting of a change in the packing of the colloidal
particles.

(2) The possibility that such deformation may be produced
by mechanical stress as arising from the possession of a
certain amount of rigidity by such solutions.

(3) The analogy between the effects so produced and the
double refraction due to a magnetic field.

Linnean Society, January 18.—Prof. W. A. Herdman,
F.R.S., president, in the chair.—Coloured transparencies
from flowers in natural colours: T. E. Waltham.—The
life-history of Margaritifera Panasesae: A. W. Allen. The
paper was interesting as the result of close observation in
the field, though practically all had been observed by
other observers in various parts of the world, and of various
nationalities—Some endophytic alge: A. D. Cotton.
The observations referred chiefly to Endoderma viride,
Lagerh., which occurs abundantly in the tissues of Nito-
phyllum Hilliae, Grev., a deep-water alga, only obtainable
by dredging. The author also gave the result of his study
of Streblonema intestinum, Holmes and Batters, based upon
Reinsch’s preparations in the Kew herbarium.—The
organ of Jacobson in Sphenodon: Dr. A. Broom.

February 1.—Prof. W. A. Herdman, F.R.S., president,
in the chair.—The Percy Sladen Trust Expedition in
H.M.S. Sealark to the Indian Ocean: J. Stanley
Gardiner. Accounts of the work and results of the ex-
pedition were given by Mr. Gardiner in Nature of April 13,
August 10, October 5, November 9, December 21, 1905,
and January 25 of the present year.

Anthropological Institute, January 23.—Prof. W. Gow-

land, president, in the chair.—Annual meeting.—
Annual address: copper and its alloys in antiquity:
President. Smelting had its origin in the camp fire, from

which the first primitive furnace, a hole in the ground,
used even now in parts of Japan, naturally evolved. The
lumps of copper discovered in ‘‘ founders’ hoards ’’ had
clearly been smelted in this way. The hole was first filled
with charcoal, over which was placed the ore, then another
layer of charcoal, then more ore, and so on; the draught
was obtained by the wind or by primitive bellows. The
smelted copper was not run off, but, at the moment of
solidification, was pulled out of the fire and broken into
pieces on a large stone. This system is still practised in
Korea, while the implements used by primitive man have
their counterpart at the present day in the tools used by
the native smelters in some parts of Africa. Turning to
the question of bronze, Prof. Gowland stated that in his
opinion this was made directly from a copper ore containing
tin, long before the two metals were mixed. In Hungary
a copper ore containing antimony takes the place of a

NO. 1894, VOL. 73]

copper-tin ore, and the implements found there frequently
contain antimony in considerable amounts. He defined
bronze as an alloy of copper and tin containing not less
than 2 per cent. of tin; lead, arsenic, zinc, &c., being
present in very small quantities. The president was of
opinion that there was no evidence of a true Copper age
in Europe, excluding only Cyprus, which was, of course,
exceptional. Copper implements were only used by primi-
tive man as adjuncts to stone implements, which were
more efficient as weapons, and when found are only copies
of stone implements, or when made in the Bronze age
take the form of the implements of that period. In its
simple form a copper celt could only be made in an open
mould, and therefore only fiat celts could be made of
copper. The opinion often maintained, that the intention
of the makers of bronze weapons was to make an imple-
ment in the proportion of 9:1, was shown by analysis to
be incorrect, as also was the theory that the art of temper-
ing bronze was lost, as it could now be hardened by
hammering as well as, if not better than, it was done in
the Bronze age. The lecturer also clearly proved that
metallic tin was not necessary to the manufacture of
bronze, and bronze celts made by him by melting metallic
copper with tin ore, and from metal obtained by smelting
a mixed ore of copper and tin in a primitive furnace in
the metallurgical workshop of the Royal School of Mines,
were exhibited. He also showed conclusively that the
opinion held by many of the existence of a universal Copper
age in Europe, intermediate between the Bronze and Stone
periods of culture, was not warranted by the facts of the
case.

Geological Society, January 24.—Dr. J. E. Marr,
F.R.S., president, in the chair.—The igneous and
associated sedimentary rocks of Llangynog (Caermarthen-
shire): T. C. Cantril! and H. H. Thomas. The sedi-
mentary rocks associated with the igneous masses com-
prise Lower Old Red Sandstone, Didymograptus-bifidus
beds, and Tetragraptus beds of the Ordovician. They
occur in two anticlines, overfolded, and complicated by
thrusts. The igneous rocks occur in three well defined
areas, which belong to the same petrographical province.
Both interbedded and intrusive rocks are represented; the
latter include diabases and a large porphyry mass. The
extrusive rocks occur in the following order :—(1) augite-
andesites; (2) rhyolites; and (3) augite-andesites. The
extrusive rocks are interbedded with fluxion-breccias and
with tuffs; they are associated with the lower members
of the Tetragraptus beds, and are consequently of Lower
Arenig age; while the intrusive rocks have been injected
into the extrusive rocks, and have also affected the Tetra-
graptus beds.—The Buttermere and Ennerdale granophyre :
R. H. Rastall. From the facts put forward it is con-
cluded that the intrusion is an example of an acid-magma,
which has crystallised under the set of conditions that
gives rise to a perfect development of granophyric struc-
ture. The masses appear to be of the ‘‘ cedar-tree ’’ lacco-
lite type intrusive about the junction of the Skiddaw
Slates and the Borrowdale rocks. Besides the normal
acidic rock, there are some marginal patches of more
basic character, showing obvious genetic relationship.
These basic forerunners afford evidence of differentiation
of the magma before intrusion—an example of Prof.
Brogger’s deep-magmatic differentiation. Considered as a
whole, the character of the magma shows closer affinity
to the tonalite group than to the true granites. The more
basic types include dolerites, quartz-dolerites, and a rock
type intermediate between quartz-dolerites and granophyres.
There is also a development of peculiar rock types as the
result of the re-mixing of previously differentiated partial
magmas of an acid and a basic character respectively.

Challenger Society, January 31.—Dr. R. N. Wolfenden
in the chair.—Four deep-water Caridz from the west coast
of Ireland: S. W. Kemp. <Acanthephyra purpurea, a
species showing so great variation that it is now possible
to rank six other ‘‘ species ’’ as its synonyms; A. debilis,
a very rare species with about 100 luminous organs;
4£geon brendani, and Leontocaris lar, spp. nn.—Report
on the Chetognatha of the Siboga expedition in the Dutch
East Indies: Dr. Fowler. Of sixteen species, only one
appeared to be new. Among those taken only in deep

382

hauls were Sagitta macrocephala and S. setesios, known
only from deep water in the Atlantic, and Krohnia hamata.
The species captured at the surface supported the alleged
uniformity of the Indo-Pacific epiplankton. A systematic
revision of all species hitherto described left twenty-four
as valid. A revision of all captures of Chatognatha
hitherto recorded appeared to show one (hexaptera) as
cosmopolitan and pantothermal, others as eurythermal, and
having a wide but not a universal range, others as con-
fined to a limited area and stenothermal. As_ regards
depth, four have been only recorded from the meso-
plankton; two at the surface in polar waters seek the
mesoplankton in warm seas; others are confined to the

epiplankton. According to temperature, species appear to
fall into five classes :—cold water species with a maxi-
mum of about 12° C., temperate species, warm water

species with a minimum of about 16° C., species with a
wide range of temperature, and a single pantothermal
species. The writer also presented a note on Antarctic
and sub-Antarctic Chaetognatha taken on the Discovery
and Challenger expeditions; these established Krohnia
hamata as truly bipolar, from 81° 30’ N. to 77° 49’ S.,
and completed the cosmopolitan record of hexaptera; they
also enabled the N. limit of hamata at the surface, and
the S. limit of serratodentata, to be determined approxi-
mately.

Chemical Society, February 1.—Prof. R. Meldola, F.R.S.,
president, in the chair.—Hydroxylamine-aB-disulphonates :
T. Haga. These salts, obtained by hydrolysis of Fremy’s
m-sulphazilates, are decomposed by sodium amalgam, and
are proved by the nature of this change to be hydroxyl-
amine-aB-disulphonates. This is believed to be the first
indisputable case of the occurrence of fundamental struc-
tural isomerism among inorganic compounds.—Studies in
the camphane series, part Xxxi., benzenediazo--semi-
carbazinocamphor and its derivatives: M. O. Forster.
Compounds of this class have been obtained from diazotised
aniline, p-toluidine, &c.; they are characterised by the
readiness with which dilute alkalis resolve them into
camphoryl- y-carbamide and the corresponding phenylazo-

imide.—The relations between absorption spectra and
chemical constitution, part i., the chemical reactivity of
the carbonyl group: A. W. Stewart and E. C. C. Baly.

It is pointed out that in certain cases the phenomena of
tautomerism furnish an explanation of the exceptional re-
activity of the carbonyl group. From spectroscopic evidence
it appears that in the a-diketones a vibration is going on,
which, to a certain extent, resembles that which was found
in the case of ethylacetoacetate and its derivatives. The
nature of this vibration cannot be easily expressed in the
ordinary structural formulze without the possibility of mis-
conception, but it may be indicated somewhat as follows :—
The vibration is brought about by some change in the
relations between the carbon and oxygen atoms, and in
some respects resembles the transition from the ketonic to
the enolic form and back again. Using this analogy, it
may be postulated that the two extreme phases of the
vibration can be represented by the formule

—C.O —C:0
Il | |
—C.O —C:0
I. Il.

ce

It is proposed to call the general phenomenon “‘ isorro-
pesis,’’ and to call ** isorropic ’’ those radicals the activity
of which is thus produced.—The relation between absorp-

tion spectra and chemical constitution, part ii., the
quinones and a-diketones: E. C. C. Baly and A. W.
Stewart. In this paper it is shown that isorropesis in

a-diketones results in the absorption of light in the visible
blue region, so that the substances are intensely yellow.
This is evidenced by camphorquinone and diacetyl. These
observations strongly support Armstrong’s theory that the

colour of certain benzene derivatives is due to the

NATURE

[FeBRUARY 15, 1906

quinonoid linking, for they show that the colour is caused, |

not directly by this linking, but by the isorropesis between
the unsaturated atoms where this linking exists.—The re-
lation between absorption spectra and chemical constitu-
tion, part iii., the nitranilines and the nitrophenols :

E. C. C. Baly, W. H. Edwards, and A. \W. Stewart.
NO. 1804, VOL. 73)

In this paper are described the absorption spectra of com-
pounds having the quinonoid linking and containing a
nitrogen atom in place of one or both of the quinone
oxygen atoms. In the discussion, Prof. Armstrong said
that Mr. Baly had put aside entirely the view which had
long been held that ketonic interactions were conditioned
by the combination of various substances with the carbonyl
group, and had adopted an entirely intra-molecular view
of change, whether chemical or physical. He still adhered
to the opinion that three absorbing centres were required
to produce visible colour, i.e. that iodoform, not methylene
iodide, might be taken as typical of coloured substances.
The colour of compounds such as diacetyl might be
accounted for on the assumption that polymeric molecules
were present, formed by the association, through the
residual affinity of the oxygen atoms, of the ketonic
groups, e.g.
CH;.C—C.CHy
O O
(OO)
CH,.C C.CH3.

This explanation might perhaps also apply to metanitro-
phenol and metanitraniline. He remarked subsequently
that the blue colour of water might be accounted for
from this point of view, but not by Mr. Baly’s hypothesis.
—The action of light on benzaldehydephenylhydrazone :
F. D. Chattaway.—The union of chlorine and hydrogen :
C. H. Burgess and D. L. Chapman.—Note on the
molecular weight of epinephrine: G. Barger and A.
Ewins.—The critical temperature and value of ML/@ of
some carbon compounds: J. C. Brown. The value of
ML/® rises very slightly with the increase of CH, in the
aliphatic alcohols, acids, and esters, but is very constant
for the aromatic hydrocarbons.—Slow oxidations in the
presence of moisture: N. Smith.—Fischer’s salt. and its
decomposition by heat: P. C. Ray.—Action of quinones on
o-diamines, o0-nitroaniline, m-nitroaniline, and 2-nitro-p-
toluidine. A preliminary note.—Some oxidation products
of the hydroxybenzoic acids, ii.: A. G. Perkin. When
gallic acid dissolved in 76 per cent. sulphuric acid is
oxidised by means of potassium persulphate, a colouring
matter very similar to ellagic acid is produced. This sub-
stance, to which the name flavellagic acid is assigned, is
probably hexahydroxydiphenylmethylolid.—Contributions to
the chemistry of oxygen compounds, part i., the compounds
of tertiary phosphine oxides with acids and salts: R. H.
Pickard and J. Kenyon.—The rapid electro-analysis of
metals, preliminary note: H. J. S. Sand.

Mathematical Society. Febrnary §.—Sir W. D Niven,
vice-president, in the chair.—The Ejisenstein-Sylvester
extension of Fermat’s theorem: Dr. H. F. Baker.
Sylvester gave in 1861 an expression for the residue, to
modulus p, where p is an odd prime, of the integer
(yp-1—1)/p. The result admits of .simple proof and of
extension to the case where the modulus is not prime, and
the expression obtained for the residue is shown to be one
of a definite number of possible representations.—A chapter
of the present state in the historical development of the
elliptic functions: Prof. H. Hanmeock. The paper deals
chiefly with the contributions of Cayley and Eisenstein to
that method of developing the theory of elliptic functions
which is usually associated with the name of Weierstrass.
—The reduction of the ternary quintic and septimic to their
canonical forms: Prof. A. C. Dixom and Dr. T. Stuart.
The method employed in the reduction is Sylvester’s ex-
tended dialytic method of elimination.—The scattering of
sound by spheroids and discs: J. W. Nicholson. The
diffraction of plane sound waves by a very small spheroid
has been discussed by Lord Rayleigh. The paper is
occupied with the development of formulz suitable for
expressing the scattered waves in the case where the axis
of the spheroid is parallel to the direction of the incident
disturbance, and the dimensions of the spheroid are

| sufficiently small compared with the wave-length for an

approximation proceeding by powers of the ratio of the
equatorial radius to the wave-length to be valid.—A pre-
liminary communication on partitions of numbers in space
of two dimensions was miade by Major P. A. MacMahon.

FEBRUARY 15, 1906]

DUBLIN.

Royal Dublin Society, January 16.—Dr. W. E. Adeney
in the chair.~Secondary radiation from compounds: Prof.
J. A. McClelland and F. E. Hackett. The secondary
radiation of B particles emitted by substances when they
are acted upon by the B rays of radium has been pre-
viously measured by one of the authors for a large number
of elementary substances. In the present paper a number
of chemical compounds have been tested experimentally,
and the secondary radiations from the compounds have
also been calculated on the assumption that the secondary
radiation is an additive atomic property. The close agree-
ment between the calculated and the experimental value
shows that the assumption is fully justified. This result
is then used to determine the secondary radiation from a
number of elements not available in sufficient quantity in
the pure state to enable them to be studied directly. The
relations previously established between the secondary
radiation and the atomic weight are found to hold for all
the additional elements thus investigated.—Electromagnetic
mass: Prof. A. W. Conway. ‘The electromagnetic inertia
of an invariable system of electric charges is considered.
A quadric is obtained such that if the force has the direc-
tion of the radius vector, the ‘‘ mass’’ in that direction
is as the inverse square of the length, and the direction
of the acceleration is the perpendicular on the tangent
plane. The mean mass of any such system is 4/3 C—*, the
work necessary to assemble it from a state of infinite
diffusion.—Note on the sublimation of sulphur at ordinary
temperatures: R. J. Moss. Twenty-five years ago some
fragments of ordinary stick sulphur were enclosed in a
glass tube, which was then exhausted by a Sprengel pump
and sealed. After the lapse of twenty years indications of
the formation of a crystalline sublimate became apparent ;
during the past five years the crystals have increased in
number and in size to a marked extent; some of them are
now o-2 mm. in length, and the sublimate is deposited on
one side of the tube throughout its whole length. The
crystals are apparently rhombic, and are much more
complex than those deposited from sulphur solutions.

EDINBURGH.

Royal Society, February 5.—Prof. Crum Brown, vice-
president, in the chair.—The relation between normal
“take-up ’’ (or contraction) and degree of twist in twisted
threads: T. Oliver. The paper was chiefiy devoted to
the properties of two-ply twisted yarns. The effect of
twisting together two already twisted single threads was
studied theoretically, and special attention was directed
to the lengthening in the early stages of the second twist-
ing due to the opening out of the single threads as the
second twist was applied in the opposite direction to that
of the first twists. Formulz were deduced connecting the
change of length with the amount of twist, and these were
then compared with the results of experiment. The com-
parison was satisfactory, the discrepancies being such as
might naturally be expected when due consideration was
given to the necessarily imperfect nature of the assump-
tions on which the theoretical calculations were made.
For example, the beginning of the contraction in the
second twisting, when experimentally tested, occurred at
a later stage than was indicated by the theoretical formula,
a discrepancy which could be explained by the extremely
probable supposition that the yarn had acquired a “‘ set ”’
in one direction during the first twisting.—Some experi-
mental results in connection with the hydrodynamical
theory of seiches: P. White and W. Watson. These
experiments were undertaken at the suggestion of Prof.
Chrystal, and the results obtained gave striking confirm-
ation of several of his theoretical conclusions. The seiches
were generated in a rectangular trough 5 feet long and
4-5 inches wide. Various bottom contours were obtained
by means of blocks of wood cut to the desired form, such
as parabola, concave or convex, semi-parabola, symmetrical
rectilinear slope, and the quartic form which Prof. Chrystal
had found to lead to a simple solution. The seiches were
started by the to-and-fro motion of a strip of wire gauze
placed at the position of a node of the required seiche, and
kept in proper periodic motion by means of an attached
heavy pendulum the length of which could be adjusted.

NO. 1894, VOL. 73]

NATURE

383

r
' By this method seiches of nodalites as high as the fourth,
fifth, and even seventh, had in certain cases been obtained.
The periods of these were easily determined, but the posi-
tions of the nodes and ventral segments could not be
determined with the same accuracy. Within the errors
of observation, the agreement with theory was generally
very close. It was found that with the convex parabolic
bottom the seiches were not so persistent as in the case
of the concave bottom, but that the trinodal was more
persistent than the uninodal. With the quartic contour of
bottom the seiches were remarkably persistent up to that
of the fourth nodality.

Paris.

Academy of Sciences, February 5.—M. H. Poincaré in
the chair.—On the existence of insoluble potassium com-
pounds in the trunk and bark of the oak: M. Berthelot.
—On the rotatory powers of hexahydrobenzylidene and
cenanthylidenecamphors and their corresponding saturated
derivatives, compared with the rotatory powers of benzyl-
idene and benzylcamphors: A. Haller and F. March.
These compounds were chosen for comparison since they
contain the same number of carbon atoms, the substituting
groups, benzylidene, hexahydrobenzylidene, and cenanthyl-
idene, containing gradually increasing numbers of hydrogen
atoms. Details are given of the methods of preparation
of the various compounds, and of their physical properties.
The conclusion is drawn that in benzylidenecamphor and
its analogues, as in the benzylcamphors, it is the un-
saturated character of the benzene ring which exerts its
action on the elevation of the rotatory power of the
asymmetric molecule to which it is attached.—Contribution
to the chemical study of sea-water: Th. Schleesing. A
discussion of the results of chemical analyses of samples
of sea-water taken at various points in the Mediterranean.
The water of the Mediterranean differs from that of the
Atlantic only by its degree of salinity, the mineral con-
stituents of the two oceans being nearly identical.—Quasi-
waves of shock, and the distribution of temperature in
these quasi-waves: P. Duhem.—The provisional elements
of the comet 1906a: E. Maubant. The calculations are
based on observations made on January 29, 30, and 31.—
Observations made on the sun at the Observatory of Lyons
with the 16 cm. Brunner equatorial during the third
quarter of 1905: J. Guillaume. The results of observ-
ations on forty-four days are summarised in three tables
giving details of the spots, their distribution in latitude,
and the distribution of the faculze in latitude.—A problem
in the calculus of variations: Erik Holmgren.—The
general solution of the problem of equilibrium in the theory
of elasticity, in the case where the displacements of the
points of the surface are given: A. Korn.—Some results
of the triangulation of the Pelvoux-Ecrins massif: Paul
Helbronner. The present paper deals with the rectifi-
cation of the heights of some of the important peaks.—
The condensation of the acetylenic nitriles with alcohols.
A general method of synthesis of -substituted B-oxyalkyl
acrylic nitriles: Ch. Moureu and I. Lazennec. The
nitrile R—C=C—CN is treated with alcoholic potash; the
product is poured on to ice, extracted with ether, and
submitted to distillation in a vacuum. The compound
R—C(OC,H,)=CH—CN is thus obtained. In the case of
the aromatic compounds, this substance is easily hydro-
lysed by heating with dilute sulphuric acid, furnishing
the ketone ,R—CO—CH,—CN ; with fatty compounds the
hydrolysis is more difficult, and generally results in further
changes.—Attempts at reduction in the diphenylamine
series: H. Duval. A study of the effects of stannous
chloride and zine dust in alkaline solutions on azo-diamino-
diphenylmethane.—Cyclohexylacetone: P. Freundier. The
only method, out of several tried, which has given the
desired ketone is the condensation of the iodide of hexa-
hydro-benzyl-magnesium with acetaldehyde. The secondary
alcohol thus obtained is oxidised to the ketone with chromic
acid mixture. The yields are not good.—The absorption
of alkaline carbonates by the mineral constituents of the
soil: J. Dumont.—Observations on the preceding note:
L. Maquenne.—The passage through the spinal ganglions
of bundles arising from the motor roots and leading to the
dorsal nerves in the Batrachians: P. Wintrebert.—The
action of hordenine sulphate on soluble ferments and on
micro-organisms: L, Camus. The sulphate of hordenine

384

NALORE,

[ FEBRUARY 15, 1906

retards the action of pepsin, trypsin, and rennet, but is
without action on invertine, maltase, and lipasidin. It
exerts an antiseptic action on bacilliimThe proportions of
chloroform contained in arterial blood during anasthesia
and the effects produced: J. Tissot. There appears to be
no direct proportion between the amounts of chloroform
present in arterial blood and the anaesthetic effects pro-
duced.—Contribution to the study of the pathological
anatomy of epithelial cancers of the prostate: MM. Motz

and Majewski.—Trepanning and ventricular puncture in
brain disease: O. Laurent.—The existence of limestone

breccias in the mountains to the south-east of Mt. Blanc :
M. Kiliam and P. Lory.—Results of magnetic observations
made at the Observatory of Athens during the years 1g00-
1903: D. Eginitis—Note on an earthquake shock at
Ebro: P. Cirera. The instruments at the Observatory
of Ebro registered a shock between 3.47 p.m. and 6 p.m.
on January 31. The magnetograph showed corresponding
disturbances.

New SoutuH WaALEs.

Linnean Society, November 29, 1905.—Mr. T. Steel,
president, ybridisati in
the genus Eucalyptus: J. H. Maiden. This paper briefly

recapitulates recent work on the subject, directs attention
to the fact that the credit of the discovery of natural
hybridisation in this genus belongs to George Caley, whose
observations were made in New South Wales before 1810,
and indicates the guides which point to a natural hybrid.
—Miscellaneous notes (chiefly taxonomic) on Eucalyptus,
part ii.: J. H. Maiden. Reasons are given for the con-
tention that the blue or flooded gum of coastal New South
Wales (E. saligna, Sm.) cannot in reality be separated
from the Bangalay (FE. botryoides, Sm.), and the name
var. botryoides is proposed for the latter.—On an un-
described species of Cryptocarya from eastern Australia:
R. T. Baker.—Studies on Australian Mollusca, part ix. :
C. Hedley. The marine molluscan fauna of New South
Wales is enlarged by the addition of new species of
Eulimella, Diala, Actzeon, Mitromorpha, Rissoa, Bornia,
and Cyamiomactra.—Descriptions of three new Australian
species of the genus Ce menue (Neuroptera :
Odonata): R. J. Tillyavd.—(1) A pleomorphic slime-
bacterium; (2) the probable identity of the opsonins with
the normal agglutinins: R. Greig Smith.

DIARY OF SOCIETIES.

THURSDAY, FEsBRuARY 15.

Roya Socigry, at 4.30.—The Influence of Increased Barometric Pressure
on Man, No. 1: Dr. L. Hill, F.R.S., and M. Greenwood.—On the
Existence of Cell-communications between Blastomeres : C. Shearer.—
Innervation of Antagonistic Muscles. Ninth Note: Successive Spinal
Induction: Prof. C. 5. Sherrington, F.R.S.—The Chemical Constitution
of Protoplasm as shown by the Rate of Tissue Disintegration: Dr. H. M.
Vernon.—1The Development of the Head-Muscles of the Common Fowl
(Gallus domesticus), together with some Remarks on the Head-Muscles
of Reptiles: Prof. F. H. Edgeworth.—Observations on the Labyrinth of
Certain Animals : Dr. A. A. Gray.

CHEMICAL SociETY, at 8.30.—Cuprous Formate: A. Angel.—The Solu-
bility of Triphenylmethane in Organic Liquids with which it forms
Crystalline Compouuds: H. Hartley and N.G. Thomas.—The Spon-
taneous Crystallisation of Supersaturated Solutions: H. Hartley.—The
Preparation and Properties of some New Tropeines: H. A. D Jowett
and A. C. O. Hann.—Studies in Asymmetric Synthesis, Part IV., The
Application of Grignard’s Reaction for Asymmetric Syntheses: A.
McKenzie.

LINNEAN Society, at 8.—The Structure of /s’s Azppuris: J. J. Simpson.
—Note on the Geographical Distribution of the Genus Shortia, Torr.
and Gray: B. Daydon Jackson.—Exhibition : \evelopmental Changes
in Zooglcea (with Lantern Slides): Dr. H. Charlton Bastian, F.R.S.

SociETY oF ARTS, at 4.30.—The Navigable Waterways of India: R B
Buckley, C.S. 1.

InsTiITUTION OF MINING AND METALLURGY, at 8.—Pyritic Smelting:
R. C. Alabaster and F. H. Wintle.—The Acme Combined Concentrating
Table: L. H. L. Huddart. —Stadia in Careful Work: A. H. Webb.—The
Detailed Mapping of Stoping Areas: H. R. Sleeman.—Sinking, Develop
ment and Underground Equipment of Deep Level Shafts on the Rand:
A. EK. Pettit.—The Hydraulic Filling of a Coal Seam at Lens, Pas de
Calais, France: L. E. Hill and M. Butt.

FRIDAY, FEeBRuarRy 16.

—The Passage of Electricity through Liquids:

Roya InstiruTion, at
W.C. D. Whetham, F. 2.5.

InsTITUTION OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Large Locomotive
Boilers: G. J. Churchward.

Geo LoaicaL Sociery, at 3.—Annual General Meeting.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 17.

AssocraTIon or Teachers 1N TECHNICAL INSTITUTES (Regent Street
Polytechnic), at 7.30.—The Teaching of Mathematics to Engineering
Students: G. E. St. L. Carson.—The Teaching of Mathematics to
Building Trade Students; H. Bustridge.

NO. 1894, VOL. 73]

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 19.

Soc oF ArTS, at 8.—Modern Warships: Sir William White, K.C.B.,

Victoria INSTITUTE, at 4.30.—The Bible Pedigree of the Nations of the
World: M. L. Rouse.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 20.

Roya InstTitTuTion, at 5.—Food and Nutrition: Prof. W. Stirling.

INSTITUTION OF CiviL ENGINEERS, at 8.—A Plea for Better Country
Roads: G. R. Jebb.—Country Roads for Modern Traffic: J. KE.
Blackwall.

Roya SraTisTICAL Society, at 5.—Wages in the Engineering and
Spipbuilaige Trades in the Nineteenth Century: A. L. Bowley andG. H.

ood

ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY, at 8.30.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21.

Soctety or Arts, at 8.—Fisheries of the North Sea; Walter Garstang.

GEOLOGICAL SocierTy, at 8.—The Constitution of the Interior of the Karth,
as revealed by Earthquakes: R. D. Oldham.—The Tarannon Series of
Tarannon: Miss Ethel M. R. Wood.

Royvat Microscopicat Society, at 8.—On an Improved Method ot
taking Stereophotomicrographs and of Mounting the Prints : H. Taverner.
—Exhibition of Slides of Oribatidz, presented by N. D. F. Pearce.

RovaL METEOROLOGICAL SociETY, at 7.30.—Report on the Phenological
Observations for r905: E. Mawley.—Discussion of the General Features
of the Pressure and Wind Conditions over the Trades-Monsoon Area:
W. L. Dallas.—The Dispersal or Prevention of Fogs: Dr. W. B
Newton.

SocioLoGicaL Society (School of Economics and Political Science,
University of London, Clare Market, W.C.), at 8.—A Practicable Eugenic
Suggestion: W. McDougall.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22.

Roya Society, at 4.30.—Prolable Papers: On the Coefficient of
Viscous Traction and its Relation to that of Viscosity: Prof. F. T,
Trouton, F.R.S.—An Account of the Pendulum Observations made at
Kew and Greenwich Observatories in 1903: Major G. P. Lenox-Conyng-
ham.—And other Papers.

InsTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS,
Controllers: C. W. Hill.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 23-

Roya InstTiTuTION, at 9.—The Internal Architecture of Metals:
John O. Arnold.

PuysicaL Society, at 5.

INSTITUTION OF Crivit. ENGINEERS, at 8.—The Graphical Determination of
the Deflection of Beams: C. H. Sumner.

at §.—Crane Motors and

Prof.

CONTENTS. PAGE
Biologicaliieresies;) By, J. Ay de. aeons ne 361
A Standard Treatise on Physics . . «| ges
Climbs in Western Canada, By G. Ww. L. - 362
Science and ArtiofCarpentry © 9): Sy)... eeeeen

Our Book Shelf :—
Escales : ‘f Die Explosivstoffe mit besonderer Beruck-
sichtigung der neuren Patente die Schiessbaumwolle

(Nitrocellulosen).”—J. S.S.B. . . 364
Lorenz: ‘Lehrbuch’ der technischen Physik. me
EC ee . 364
Sheppard : “The Making of East Yorkshire: a
Chapter in Local Geography. ee ASL - 364
ss Tabrbued der Chemie.’’—J. B. : . 364
Winslow: ‘* Elements of Applied Microscopy ” » 305)
Schubert : “ Auslese aus meiner Unterrichts- und
Vorlesungspraxisy’ . 4: . « -).qeiees) 0 ome
Letters to the Editor :—
Secondary Rontgen Rays and Atomic Weight.—Dr.
Charles G. Barkla. . . 365
The Falkland Island Fox.—R. N Rudmose-Brown 365
Chinese Names of Colours.—Dr. Giovanni Vacca. 365
Notes on Some Cornish Circles. (/llustvated.) Sir
Norman Lockyer, K.C:B., F.RISi 2 2... 7 eeu
The Serum Therapy of Plague: Prof, (Roe
Elewlett seme ron pm + 7 RO
Sea Coast Protection. . . i eee Pie cies)
Notes. (J///ustrated.) . . afer ts pete i/o)
Our Astronomical Column :—
Comet 1905¢ (Giacobini) . ee 375
Comet 1906a@ (Brooks). ...... 375
Observations of Eros. c 375
Catalogue of Stars within Two Degrees of the North
Pole 505 375
The Fire near Mount Wilson Observatory 375
‘The Increasing Period of 8 Lyre . . 375
The United States Naval Observatory... ... . 375
Recent Reports of Geological Surveys. (///ustrated.)
Billo Iel 2 bc cues + fe ron
The Periodicities of Sun- “spots. By Prof. Arthur
Schuster) Hokes. 378
Natural History and Archzology of the Water-
Lilies) eae - > sien
University and Educational Intelligence ey ae {oe
Societies'and Academies .... 5a)... +) -semeeog
Diary of;Siocietiess.uc)) - 5) |. eae ee 384

FEBRUARY 22, 1906]

NATURE 387

regarded by many people as something quite chic and
up to date!

In conclusion, Mr. Cunynghame may claim to have
presented us with a very clear and well expounded
introduction to the important subject of which his
book: treats. (Goss 18}

TWO EGG-BOOKS.
(1) Ootheca Wolleyana; an Illustrated Catalogue of
the Collection of Birds’ Eggs formed by the late
John Wolley. Edited by Alfred Newton. Part iii.,
Columbe to Alcaz. (London: R. H. Porter, 1905.)

Price 2l. 2s.

(2) Eggs of the Native Birds of Britain and List of
British Birds, Past and Present. By W. J. Gordon.
Pp. 64; 398 illustrations. (London: Simpkin,
Marshall and Co., Ltd., 1905.) Price 3s. 6d.

N the first of these two books Prof. Newton makes

good progress with the catalogue of the un-

rivalled collection of eggs to which it is devoted,
dealing in this instance with the pigeons, game-birds,
rails, cranes, bustards, waders, gulls, and auks.
Needless to say, it is written in the same style as its
two predecessors, consisting almost entirely of Mr.
Wolley’s original notes, with such comments as the
editor considered it advisable to intercalate here and
there. To review the fasciculus is impossible within
the limits of our space, and we can only refer to a
few points of special interest. One of these relates to
the eggs of the knot, of which a presumed specimen,
laid in confinement, was given to the author by
Lord Lilford; the correctness of this identification has
been recently confirmed by the discovery of ‘‘ wild”
specimens. Equally interesting is the record of the
first known egg of the stint, obtained by Middendorf
in Siberia in 1843. The culminating interest of this
fasciculus is, however, concentrated on the superb
series of eggs of the great auk possessed by Mr.
Wolley, which included no less than seven actual
specimens, together with several casts. The first of
the originals the author bought in 1846 for
twenty-eight shillings; it may, perhaps, be now worth
ten times as many pounds! Coloured figures (two of
each) of the seven auks’ eggs and of one of the casts
form the illustrations to this fasciculus; and in the
execution of these plates Mr. H. Grénvold has sur-
passed himself, having succeeded not only in showing
the colouring and markings to perfection, but also in
imitating to a nicety the very grain and texture of
the shell. The eight specimens show very clearly the
range of variation to which the colour and markings
ot the eggs of the species were subject.

Mr. Gordon’s little book, which is, of course, a
work of quite a different class from the last, is a well-
intended attempt to place before the public, at a very
low price, a satisfactory means of identifying the
eggs of those birds which nest in the British Isles,
or did so until within a comparatively recent period.
That the author has taken great pains in grouping
and photographing these eggs is perfectly evident, and
if the colouring of the figures is in some instances not
quite so true to nature as might be desired, this can

NO. 1895, VOL. 73]

scarcely be considered his fault, while, if the low price
at which the book is published be taken into consider-
ation, it would be almost unfair to lay the blame on
the lithographer. We cannot have perfection com-
bined with cheapness in matters of this sort, and,
considering its price, the book is a very creditable
production,

In including extinct species of British birds in the
list at the end of his work, Mr. Gordon has, we think,
been ill-advised, as the majority of these are very
imperfectly known, and they are not likely to interest
the class of readers to whom this volume will appeal.
Still, the inclusion is evidence of broad views on the
part of the author. Both Prof. Newton and Mr.
Gordon, we are glad to find, remain staunch con-
servatives in the matter of nomenclature, both as
regards the use of generic terms in a wider and more
comprehensive sense than is now, unfortunately, the
fashion, and above all in eschewing the detestable
“Pica pica’’ system. In both these respects, we
venture to think, Mr. Gordon’s work (the other does
not, of course, appeal to the same class) will be far
more acceptable to the general public than would
have been the case had the author been induced to
yield to the prevalent (and we trust fleeting) fashion

: Re:

OUR BOOK SHELF.
Engineering Chemistry: a Manual of Quantitative
Chemical Analysis for the Use of Students,
Chemists, and Engineers. By Thomas B. Still

man. Third edition. Pp. xxii+s5g7. (Easton,
Pa.: The Chemical Publishing Co.) Price 4.50
dollars.

At the present day chemical knowledge is so im-
portant a factor in the successful conduct of nearly
all technical work that such books as Stillman’s
“Engineering Chemistry’? appeal to a very large
audience, and so well has the professor of analytical
chemistry in the Stevens Institute done his work
that the third edition will be as warmly welcomed as
its predecessors. In it much of the work has been
revised, the most modern standard methods intro-
duced, and a considerable amount of new matter
added, those portions on lubricating oils and the
technology of the blast furnace being especially
noticeable.

In so excellent a work criticism always seems un-
gracious, but there are a few points the author would
do well to correct in the next edition. For instance,
on p. 169 the author gives as a typical analysis of
London coal gas

siydrogen ace cet Hon ons sae | 27270
Methane ... oe eet bad she ++ 50-00
Carbon monoxide 6-80
Ethylene ... 13-00
Nitrogen ... 0-40
Oxygen b60 0-00
Carbon dioxide... 0-10
Aqueous vapour... 2-00

100-00

and calculates that it would have a heating value of
870-15 B.T.U.’s gross.

Such an analysis is so absurdly wrong that it can
only have been inserted by error, the main con-
stituents more nearly approximating to hydrogen
50 per cent., methane 36 per cent., and ethylene 4 per
cent.

€

ie;

4
o

38 NA LORE

[FEBRUARY 22, 1906

Moreover, the author on p. 183 says that London
coal gas has an illuminating value of 16 to 17
candles, and a calorific value of about 668 B.T.U.’s,
which is much more nearly true for the gas supplied
by the Gas Light and Coke Co. The error is of
importance, as an engineer working at the problem
of the gas-engine and consulting records of efficiency
made with London gas might be seriously misled.

In dealing with water gas, no mention is made
of the more modern processes such as the ‘‘ Dellwik,”’
now so largely used for the production of blue gas
for welding, as well as for diluting coal gas.

It is admitted in the preface that the article on
practical photometry has not been brought up to date,
and this is a pity, as more than seven pages are
devoted to the Bunsen photometer and the manipula-
tion of candles, now practically extinct in all but
name as a standard of light, whilst a couple of pages
on pentane standards would have been of real value.

In spite of a few blemishes, the whole work is so
good that no engineering chemist can afford to be
without it.

Die Photographie im Hochgebirg. By Emil Terschak.
Second edition. Pp. xxiii+62. (Berlin: Gustav
Schmidt, 1905.) Price 2.50 marks.

Everyone who is of a roving disposition, and takes
his camera to Switzerland or the Tyrol, or any other
region where mountain climbing is pursued, should,
if he wishes to gain by the experience of others, read
this book. It is written by a photographer to photo-
graphers, and is not only very interesting to read, but
contains a great amount of very useful photographic
information of a particular kind.

The successful photography of mountain scenery,
of ice, snow, and clouds at high altitudes requires
not only forethought, but much experience. As it is
necessary to carry all the apparatus that is required,
the equipment must be well attended to, and since
also one does not necessarily wish to climb high
altitudes to take again a particular view that has not
turned out photographically successful, one must be
sure of securing a good negative at every exposure.

The first edition of this book appeared in 1900, but
the author has since gained much more useful know-
ledge, which he has embodied in the present edition.
The book is clearly printed in Roman characters on
good paper, and the illustrations are numerous and
well reproduced.

The Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society of London.
Centenary 1805-1905. Written at the request of
the President and Council by Dr. Norman Moore
and Stephen Paget. Pp. 337- (The Aberdeen
University Press, Ltd., 1905.)

TuHoucn not the oldest of the medical societies of
London, the Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society
holds a position second to none, and the present
volume of chronicles will not only be welcomed by
its Fellows as giving a history of their society, but
forms a useful record of the art and science of
medicine during the nineteenth century, with com-
ments by the compilers. A noteworthy feature of the
volume is the list which is given for each year of the
principal papers read before the society, both pub-
lished and unpublished, extracts being given from the
more important ones. Thus, for the vear 1833, we
find Hilton’s unpublished account of Trichina spiralis
in human muscle, which ante-dated Paget’s discovery
of this parasite. Short bibliographies of all the presi-
dents and a full index complete this interesting
volume, which contains several illustrations of the
various premises occupied by the society and a photo-
gravure frontispiece of William Saunders, the first
president. R. T. HEWLETT.

No. 1895, VOL. 73]

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions
expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake
to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected
manuscripts intended for this or any other part of NATURE.
No notice is taken of anonymous communications.]

Tidal Researches,

In Nature for January 11 (p. 248) appear some criticisms
upon my paper entitled ‘‘ Cotidal Lines for the World.”

The critic says :—‘‘ The construction of these charts is,
unfortunately, but vaguely indicated.’’ In reply to this
it may be said that the charts embody all data known
to me at the time of their construction, and to such data
references as copious as space seemed to permit are given.
What is meant by cotidal lines is given in § 17. Notions
relating to the local modifications or peculiarities of
cotidal lines have been given in considerable detail by
means of lemmas and examples. In the construction of
these lines, large detailed charts showing soundings
wherever known were employed, and these depths were
carefully considered in each step of the process. The
ranges of tide written along the shore-lines simply re.
present data, and in no way depend upon any theory or
hypothesis. The same is essentially true of the cotidal
lines where observations or data are sufficient. Wherever
harmonic constants are available, the length of the series
analysed is of secondary importance in the construction of
cotidal lines, the results from two months being about as
satisfactory as those from twenty years.

If we are not permitted to extend cotidal lines outward
from the shore, we might about as well draw them upon
the land as upon the water, for in either case they would
only serve to point out the shore values. The reviewer
thinks well of Berghaus’s chart, and so do I. However, it
is difficult to believe that a philosophical critic could long
rest content with cotidal lines extending but a short dis-
tance off shore, and forming no connected or consistent
system. Of course, the attempt, on my part, at covering
all seas does not imply that all charts are equally good.
In some instances the data were very meagre, and atten-
tion was directed to this fact more than once in the paper.

It seems strange that any serious misunderstanding could
exist in reference to the method employed in inferring the
times when the water particles are at elongation in par-

ticular directions. Does anybody doubt the conclusions
reached in § 56, part iv. A? If these conclusions are
wrong, let us hear the correct ones. If §§ 60-65,

part iv. A, are not clear as they stand, it seems as if
§ 24, part iv. B (to say nothing of a reply to former
criticism, Nature, April 23, 1903), ought to remove all
obscurity.

Perhaps the following remarks may be of some service
in this connection :—

Unless the free period of a body of water, or of some
portion of this body, approximately agrees with the period
of the tidal forces, the tide in the body proper must be
small, and generally smaller than the theoretical equil-
ibrium tide for the body in question. But in many parts
of the oceans the tide is several times greater than that
which could be raised by the forces, even if we could
suppose sufficient depths and __ sufficiently complete
boundaries for enabling equilibrium tides to occur. Hence
regions the dimensions of which approach critical values
must exist in the oceans and account for the principal
tides. If the aérial vibrations accompanying a musical
tone act upon a series of resonators suited to various
pitches, the one or more constructed for the given tone
will respond to it, while all others will be practically
silent; that is, the dominant impressed motions belong to
resonators having critical dimensions, and not to the
resonators in general.

That stationary oscillations of unexpectedly large ampli-
tude exist in the oceans there is abundant evidence. In
fact, a glance at the charts under criticism will show
regions of large ranges over each of which the time of
tide varies but little. As a nodal line is approached the
range diminishes, and the time of tide changes rapidly in
a comparatively short distance. Moreover, the dimensions
of the oceans are such that areas having nearly critical

FEBRUARY 22, 1906]

NATURE

389

lengths can be readily discovered; these respond well to
the forces, and their tides must be the ruling semi-
diurnal tides of the oceans. The charts prove the existence
of large stationary oscillations. To doubt this fact would
be scarcely more reasonable than to doubt the existence of
the tide itself. The large ranges of tide imply critical
lengths, and critical lengths imply that the phase is con-
trolled by the resistance to the movement.

In a second approximation it may be possible to take
into account the actual departures from critical lengths, to
make some numerical estimates of the resistance, and to
fix more accurately the modes of oscillation having regard
to the deflecting force of the earth’s rotation. In my paper
the latter effect has been considered only in reference to
arms or bodies of water tidally dependent upon larger
bodies.

As soon as my critics develop their tidal theories
sufficiently far for making definite suggestions, I shall be
pleased and bound to give such developments careful con-
sideration. In the meantime, I believe that nothing is
gained by criticism which does not constantly revert to
such facts as have been brought out through observations
upon the tides. These constitute the final test of all
theories. R. A. Harris.

Washington, D.C., January 26.

Ir is Mr. Harris’s theory with which we were, and
continue to be, at variance. We were unable to gather
the part played by this theory in the construction of his
series of cotidal charts, and hence our statement that this
construction was but ‘‘ vaguely indicated’’; but we are
glad to be assured that the theory has only been employed
in regions where observational data were entirely wanting,
and has not been allowed to vitiate, as we feared, results
obtained direct from observation.

In reference to the phase theorem which we selected for
special comment, Mr. Harris now states that “the
large ranges of tide imply critical lengths, and critical
lengths imply that the phase is controlled by resistance.”’
The latter part of this theorem we are not prepared to
admit unless it be further contended that the critical con-
ditions implied are mathematically exact, especially in
consideration of the comparatively small frictional in-
fluences which can be brought to bear on the motions of
the sea. Any departure from the ideal critical state, and
we contend that such departures must inevitably occur in
a complex system like that of the ocean, will render the
determination of phase dependent on such departures as
well as on frictional influences, and we differ from Mr.
Harris in regarding the former rather than the latter as
the more powerful controlling influence in regard to phase.
Whence can the large resistances to motion, implied in
Mr. Harris’s theory, arise? Sb sb Jal

Atomic Disintegration.

AccoRDING to the investigations on radium, especially by
Prof. Rutherford, there can be no longer any doubt that
the formation of helium from radium is due to spontaneous
disintegration of the radium atom, and it is the same
with the other radio-active elements. Most competent
investigators have not hesitated to apply the same point
of view also to all the other elements.

The enormous amount of energy set free in the form-
ation of helium—about 10° great calories for a gram-atom
of helium—must render hopeless any attempts to reverse
this process. Considering the conformity of the other
gases of the helium type—neon, argon, krypton, and
xenon—it seems probable that they owe their existence to
a similar disintegration of atoms. It is not surprising,
therefore, that all attempts have failed to obtain a chemical
compound of those gases, and I do not think such attempts
likely to succeed in future. That, as yet, those gases,
excepting helium itself, have not been recognised as _pro-
ducts of atomic disintegration may be due to their difficult
test.

Now it seems to me there is nothing contrary to the
view that disintegration of atoms is an irreversible process,
strictly analogous to dissipation of heat.

Considered in this way, there exists a parallelism not
only as regards the first law of: thermodynamics—conserv-

NO. 1895, VOL. 73]

ation of energy—with the principle of conservation of
matter, but also regarding the second law—dissipation of
energy, on the one hand, and atomic disintegration on the
other. And as it has been stated by Clausius that the
world’s entropy tends towards a maximum, we may say
that likewise the quantity of free helium and the similar
** Edelgase ’’ tends towards a maximum.

This parallelism in material and energetical law appears
to me well worthy of notice. W. MEIGEN.

Freiburg i/Br.

Phosphorescence of Pyro-soda Developer.

SomE time ago (January, 1904) you were good enough
to publish a note on the ‘‘ Phosphorescence of Photographic
Plates,’’ and the following additional particulars of this
phenomenon may be of interest. The developer used is
the ordinary pyro-metol-soda solution.

If a bromide plate is exposed in the camera, developed,
washed for a few moments only, and then placed in
aluminium sulphate solution in the dark, the picture be-
comes luminous and shows forth as a negative, the high
lights being dark, whilst the shadows are bright, the
darkest ones phosphorescing most strongly. If, however,
the plate (after having been exposed and developed) is
washed thoroughly for half an hour by means of a jet of
water under pressure, no phosphorescence is observed on
treating it with Al,3SO, solution, from which it appears
that a trace of the developing solution is necessary to cause
phosphorescence in the plate.

If a few spots of unused developing solution are placed
in the bottom of a porcelain dish and Al,3SO, solution is
added (in the dark), the mixture will phosphoresce. But
if the developer has been used for developing exposed
plates, then its power of phosphorescence is weakened, and
if the same portion of solution is used repeatedly for
developing, and tested periodically for phosphorescence
between the developments, it will be found that its phos-
phorescing power is diminished after each development, and
that it finally vanishes altogether. This explains the pro-
duction of the phosphorescing negative. The most strongly
lighted part of the film is that which will destroy the
phosphorescing power of the developer it has absorbed, and
the unlighted portion or shadow is that in which the
absorbed developer will be least changed, and therefore
most strongly phosphorescent.

The addition of various substances to the aluminium salt
modifies its phosphorescing power, and some prevent it
altogether, even when added in very small quantities.
Among those substances which strongly counteract the
phosphorescence may be mentioned the salts of thorium,
uranium, copper, lead, bismuth, iron, tin, cobalt, nickel,
chromium, zinc, cadmium, mercury, platinum, and silver
in the order named, while the salts of potassium, sodium,
ammonium, lithium, calcium, barium, strontium, mag-
nesium, and manganese seem to have little influence one
way or the other.

The only substance found which has the effect of much
increasing the brilliancy of the phosphorescence is gold. A
solution of AuCl, alone, in fact, gives a more brilliant
phosphorescence than Al,3SO,. The gold is reduced to
the black metallic form, and while this reduction is pro-
ceeding light is emitted. Other reducing agents, however,
do not appear to emit any light during the process of re-
duction of AuCl,. The influence of the other metals on
the phosphorescing power of the gold solution seems to be
practically the same as for aluminium.

Other aluminium salts, such as the nitrate, phosphate
(dissolved in HCl), chloride, &c., phosphoresce with pyro-
metol developer, but none so brilliantly as the sulphate.

T. A. VAUGHTON.

Ley Hill House, Sutton Coldfield, February 13.

Emission of Light by Kanal-strahlen Normal to their
Direction.

In a former publication (Physik. Zeitschrift, vi., 892,
1905) I have proved that the stream of positive ions which
form the Kanal-strahlen show the Doppler effect. In these
rays we have, therefore, a positive charge, and at the same
time velocity, and also, as a result of the vibrations of the
negative electrons, emission of light. Therefore me TS

390

INCA TACT

[ FEBRUARY 22, 1906

exerting a pressure on the ions against the translation
resulting from radiation; besides this force an electro-
magnetic force—of second order of the ratio of velocity of
translation to velocity of light—may arise from the moved
charges of the ions and act on the vibrating electrons.
The experimental research of the light of Kanal-strahlen
emitted normally to their direction has given the following
results. The observations have been made on hydrogen ;
the velocity of the Kanal-strahlen was 0*9.10® and 1°2.105

em. sec.—’. The spectrograms were taken with a prism-
spectrograph and with a concave grating of 1 metre
radius.

The total radiation of the line spectrum (Ha, HB, . . .)
is partially polarised, and the electrical vibrations parallel
to the direction of translation have a greater intensity than
the vibrations at right-angles to the direction of trans-
lation. The difference of intensities is very small.

The lines of hvdrogen (when observed normal to the
Kanal-strahlen) are displaced towards the red, when com-
pared with the lines emitted by the slow ions in the
negative glow. The displacement seems to be proportional
to the wave-length, and also proportional to the square
‘of velocity. The displacement of the centre of HB is
approximately o.-8 Angstrém unit for a velocity of 12.108
em. sec.—1,

Besides this displacement there is observed a broadening
of the lines; it seems also to be proportional to the square
of velocity, and to increase somewhat with decrease of
wave-length. The observations as to the splitting up into
components of the broadened line, and also as to the
polarisation of its edges, are not concordant enough in the
different spectrograms, and are therefore not ready for
publication. J. STARK.

Gottingen, January 6.

Inversion-point of the Joule-Kelvin Effect.

In discussing the Joule-Kelvin effect for a fluid like
hydrogen, which shows an inversion point above which
heating takes place on free expansion, it is usually assumed
that this point is unique. Thus, for example, Olszewski
has fixed it experimentally at —80°.5 C. An examination
of the consequences of any of the usually assumed equa-
tions of state (such as Van der Waals’s or Dieterici’s)
easily reveals the fact that it must in reality be a function
of the pressures to which the gas is subjected. But this
is not all. If these consequences are examined for the
inversion point corresponding to an_ infinitesimal change
in pressure, it is seen that all the equations of state (which
at the same time indicate a critical point) demand that
there shall be two inversion points (if any) for any given
pressure, and that, moreover, for sufficiently high pressures
no inversion point will exist. Different equations of state,
while unanimous in the above respects, indicate very
-differént temperatures at which inversion should occur. I
desire to point out, therefore, that a complete determin-
ation of the inversion points corresponding to various
pressures affords an exceedingly sensitive means of dis-
criminating between characteristic equations and of
indicating the direction in which these require modification.

This matter is discussed in detail in a paper shortly to
be published. ALFRED W. Porter.

University College, W.C., February 10.

A Definition of Temperature.
A nopy containing heat is in a condition from which it
tends to release itself (by radiating or conducting away
heat), and this tendency only ceases when the body has

passed into a heatless condition. The temperature of a
body is the measure of its tendency at any instant to
recover this heatless state (cf. Maxwell, ‘‘ Theory of
Heat,” roth ed., p. 32). This suggests a mechanical

analogy; a body containing heat is analogous to an elastic
medium in a state of strain, from which it tends to release
itself in virtue of its restitutional forces; the magnitude
of the restitutional force when a body is in a given strained
condition measures its tendency to release itself from that
strain, and so is analogous to the temperature of a body
when in a given thermal condition. }

NO. 1895, VOL, 72]]

The quantity of worl |

stored up in producing this strained condition, and which
can be given out again when the body returns to its un-
strained condition, is analogous to the quantity of heat the
body contains when at a given temperature; it is quite
easy to show that we can completely represent the thermal
condition of a body by means of a model consisting merely
of an elastic rod subjected to a tension. A temperature,
therefore, is analogous to a tension or pressure. We are
now in a position to give a real physical meaning to the
““ temperature ’’ of a body, and so enable it to be measured
in absolute units like a mass or a length. Let us take
a molecular body devoid of all heat motion and plunge it
into a medium the temperature of which is T. Then the
medium will exert an intermittent pressure or force on
the molecules, thus setting them into motion and generating
heat motion in the body. It can easily be shown that this
force cannot be infinite, or a cold body placed in a hot
medium would instantly acquire the temperature of the
medium, whereas it always takes a definite time to do so.

The maximum force which the medium exerts on a
molecule at rest when placed therein is the numerical
value of its temperature. Hence we arrive at the follow-
ing definition of temperature :—

A molecule at rest when placed in a medium possessing
temperature is subjected to an intermittent pressure; the
greatest value of this pressure is the correct measure of
the temperature of the medium in the neighbourhood of the
molecule. Another method of stating the same thing is to
say that the greatest force required to hold a molecule at
rest when placed in a medium is the measure of the
temperature of the medium. Still another statement is to
say that the temperature of a medium is the magnitude
of the force tending to drive heat motion into an absolutely
cold body placed therein. A temperature, therefore,
should be measured as a pressure in dynes per sq. cm.
All the ordinary laws of thermodynamics, the flowing of
heat from bodies of higher to bodies of lower temperature,
Waterston’s hypothesis, &c., follow quite simply as a con-
sequence of this definition, as the reader can doubtless
work out for himself. GEOFFREY MartTIN.

Kiel, February to.

Chinese Names of Colours.

IN reply to the letter of Mr. Alfred H. Crook contained
in your issue of January 11, I would say that it is possible
that the explanation of the Chinese colour-name is to be
found in the violet coloured halo which is very commonly
noticed by Alpine climbers surrounding moving objects.
Dr. Ellis attributes it, I believe, to fatigue of the eye (see
discussion in Nature, May, 1897).

RecinaLtp A. FESSENDEN.

In your issue of January 11, Mr. Alfred H. Crook, of
Hong Kong, asks why the Chinese should call a bright
purple (almost a mauve) ‘“‘ snow green,’’ and he adds that
the term “‘ green’’ is sometimes applied to the colour of
the sky, which I take to mean blue. The following is a
possible explanation :-—

One of the commonest places in nature to find purplish
hues is in shadows, and shadows on the snow, when the
sky is clear, are decidedly purple. If purple is to be
classified among the colours, it will go with the blues,
hence “ snow green ’’ as meaning ‘‘ snow blue ’’ would
not be such a misnomer as might at first sight appear.

Pittsburg, Pa., February 7. ALFRED SANG.

Sounding Stones.

Mr. ALFRED TINGLE (January 4, p. 222) and Mr. Carus-
Wilson (January 11, p. 246) may be interested to know
that at the caves of Ellora, near Aurangabad, one of the
pillars in the rock-cut temples has the same property of
sounding under a blow.

The pillar is a massive one close to, or part of, the
doorway leading to an inner shrine, and if struck with the

| clenched fist emits a deep note.

So far as I recollect, this property was confined to a
portion of the pillar. W. G. Barnett.
Poona, January 29.

FEBRUARY 22, 1906]

NATURE

39x

THE NILE QUEST.

Te story of the search for the sources of the

Nile is the longest and most interesting in the
annals of geographical exploration. It dates from
the earliest days of geography; it has ever presented
new problems; and the quarrel over the boundary
between the Congo Free State and British East

Africa, in the Upper Nile basin, is the latest example |

of political muddles due to geographical ignorance.
The sources of the Nile roused speculation in the
earliest days of Egyptian geography, owing to the
mysterious rising of the Nile at the driest and hottest
time of the year. The view that the river rises owing
to the melting of equatorial snows was for long
accepted; but it is now known to be the
effect of the rainy season on_ the
Abyssinian Mountains, as the contribu-
tion from the equatorial snowfields is
insignificant, and even the great reser-
voir, the Victoria Nyanza, gives only
a minor addition to the Egyptian
floods. The story of the Nile is of
especial interest to British students of
geography, as the larger share to the
solution of its problems has been con-
tributed by British explorers, and prac-
tically the whole of the Nile basin, with
the exception of Abyssinia, is now ‘under
British administration.

The story of the exploration of the
Nile is here well and interestingly told.
Sir Harry Johnston is known for his
literary skill, and for the artistic sense
which leads him to denounce (p. 161)
“the unspeakable barbarism of the
British Administration ”’ in cutting down
the fine trees that once grew beside the
Ripon Falls; and his distinguished
success in the administration of Uganda
has given him an especial personal
interest in the sources of the Nile, and
full access to the latest information.
His volume is worthy of a place among
the excellent geographical handbooks in
Dr. Scott Keltie’s ‘‘ Stories of Explor-
ation.” Sir Harry Johnston begins his
narrative in the times when, as he tells

us (p. 18), 2500 years ago, Phoenicians
or Sabaeans worked the goldfields of
Rhodesia, and with the story of

Diogenes, told to Marinus of Tyre in
the first century, and preserved to us by
the record of Ptolemy in the second
century. He continues the history to
recent surveys made under the British
and Anglo-Egyptian administrations.
The story is so long and so full that in
318 pages the author is able to give only
brief sketches of the various expeditions.
But he gives an exceptionally complete list of
them, and his short, critical sketches are a most
useful introduction to the original literature. The most
valuable part of the book is its account of the minor
expeditions, and especially of those carried on from
Khartoum from 1840 to 1860. The author writes with
wide sympathy for the explorers of all races and all
nations, and he gives foreign workers their full share
of praise, including Mademoiselle Tinné, ‘the
gracious demi-goddess ”’ of the Egyptian Soudan, and

1 ‘The Nile Quest, a Record of the Explcration of the Nile and its
Basin.” By Sir Harry Johnston, G.C.M.G., K.C.B., in “The Story
of Exploration,” edited by Dr, J. Pp.
Alstcn Rivers, Ltd.)

NO. 1895, VOL. 73]

Scott Keltie. 365 (London:

|

Fic. 1.—A Hima of Mpororo, near Karagwe.

Georg Schweinfurth, ‘“‘ one of the greatest of African
explorers.’’ He ee d’Abbadie against the unjust
attacks of Beke, and reminds us that Paez and
Lobo were predecessors of Bruce. He describes the
journey of Marchand (p. 245) as ‘‘ one of the most
splendid feats in African exploration.’? The author
perhaps somewhat underrates the early contributions
of the Portuguese; but he reprints a copy of Dapper’s
map of 1686; so he enables the reader to judge for
himself as to the extent of the facts then known
about tropical Africa, and as to the nature of the
mistakes made by European cartographers in their
interpretation of the verbal reports of the untrained
Portuguese travellers. D’Anville’s map, which is much
praised by the author, is less accurate in regard to the

From ‘‘ The Nile Quest.

Upper Nile and the Victoria Nyanza than Dapper’s,.
though issued nearly a century later, and nearly a
century and a half later than some of the authorities
whom Dapper copied. The Portuguese mistake
of giving several outlets from Tanganyika, which
Sir Harry Johnston says shows that the Portuguese
were ‘“‘ignorant of the simplest principles of hydro-
graphy,’’ was a similar mistake to that made by his
own hero, Speke, in giving too many outlets from
the Victoria Nyanza. The author quotes with praise
Scott-Elliot’s ‘“‘ very neat and truthful little map of
the eastern and southern flanks of Ruwenzori, a map:
which until quite recently has been somewhat over-
looked by those who have compiled charts of this.

392

NATURE

[FEBRUARY 22, 1906

region’ (p. 269). The ethnographical and zoological
references in the book show high expert knowledge,
but it may be noticed, perhaps with surprise, that on
pp. 297 and 208 he accepts the theory of the marine
origin of the fauna of Lake Tanganyika.

The illustrations in the book are numerous and
excellent, and it is illustrated by two fine maps by

Fic. 2.—In the Libyan Desert.

Bartholomew, showing the orographic features, and
the characteristics of the surface and vegetation in
north-eastern Africa. We We (5

THE FORM OF THE ATOMS IN RELATION
TO THEIR SPECTRA.

INCE Balmer’s important discovery in 1885 that

it is possible to calculate the wave-lengths of the
first nine lines of the hydrogen spectrum by means
of a simple formula, the existence of series of lines,
obeying simple mathematical laws, has been estab-
lished in the case of the spectra of several other
elements, notably by the researches of Rydberg and
of Kayser and Runge. Among the various attempts
that have been made to account for these series of
lines, and, in general, for the different spectra, the
most promising seems to be that of Prof. F. von
Lindemann, of Munich, who in some recent papers !

1 “Zur Theorie der Spectrallinien,” Sztevugsber. Math. phys. Classen
der Kel. Bayer. Akad., 1901, Xxxi., 4413 1903, Xxxili., 27; a lecture,
printed in the Svddeutsche Monatshefte for September, 1905, of which a
translation is published in the Wonzs¢ for January of this year, contains a
popular summary of the earlier work and an outline of results not yet
published in detail.

NO. 1895, VOL. 73]

| has more fully developed an idea that he was first led
_ to enunciate in 1888, after the publication of Lord
Kelvin’s Baltimore lectures on molecular dynamics.
Prof. von Lindemann’s method consists, not in
deriving an empirical relationship between the wave-
lengths or frequencies of the spectral lines, but in
investigating mathematically the possible waves which

From “ The Nile Quest.’

a hypothetical atom can send out into the luminiferous
ether.

His assumptions are the simplest possible. His
atom consists of a certain amount of elastic isotropic
matter of definite shape. The mathematical theory
of the different kinds of vibrations of which such a
body is capable is well understood, but the actual
working out for any special case is difficult because
it depends on functions which have to be discovered
for each shape, and are, generally speaking, new to
mathematicians. The wave-lengths of each kind of
vibration sent out into the ether appear always as
roots of a transcendental equation involving those
functions. Such an equation has an infinite number
of roots, each when real corresponding to a definite
line. One equation thus corresponds with a “‘ series ”’
of lines. The theory gives for one body a number
of such equations, and therefore a number of such
‘‘ series’? of lines, which together form the whole
spectrum. This agrees with observed facts.

Prof. von Lindemann investigates, in the first paper
| quoted, the case of a spherical atom, filled throughout
| with matter of a definite density and elasticity. In
this case, which is comparatively a simple one, the

FERRUARY 22, 1906]

NALTORE

393

calculation can be carried fairly far, but it is found
that the spectral lines so deduced obey a law of dis-
tribution simpler than any that has yet been found
by experiment to characterise any substance. Although
atoms are usually assumed for physical calculations
to be spherical, such a shape apparently is not really
possessed by the atom of any substance; but by using
the result established in this case, a simple relation-
ship is shown to be necessary between the wave-lengths
of the spectral lines of two similar elements and their
atomic weights. If these two elements are conceived
as being built up of the same material, having the
same form, density, and elasticity, and only their
size different, the wave-lengths of corresponding
spectral lines of the two elements are shown to be
proportional to the cube roots of their atomic weights;
given the lines of one of the elements, those of the
second element can be calculated from the equation

Nome //\'"
eS ne

where A and are the corresponding wave-lengths,
W and W! the atomic weights of the two elements.
The elements of the following groups are found to
obey this rule with a greater or less degree of
approximation :—

(1) Zine, cadmium, and mercury.

(2) Magnesium, calcium, barium, and strontium.

(3) Silver, copper, and gold.

As an illustration, the following series of lines of
magnesium and calcium may be given. The
arrangement and wave-lengths are those adopted by
Kayser and Runge.

Magnesium. Mg=24"4 Calcium. Ca= 40'o.
Sub or- | Subor
dinate) #2 | Observed Calculated Observed Difference | dinate
Series. Series
I 4 | 3838°46 45261 | 4527°1 | —1-00 | — | —
7 ; 365362) -1°772 — |) —
: 5) 3097°06 | 3651'9 ipo 6 R42 a5) I
I 6 | 2852°22 | 3363°1 | 3361°92| -0°82 | 6 I
I 7 | 2736-14 | 3226°2 | 3225°74| +0°46 | 7 I
I & | 2673°15 | 3152°0 | 3152°08| -o'08 | 8 I
I 9 | 263313) 3104°8 | 3101 87} +2°93 | 9 I
I IO | 2605°40 3072°1 — — —- —
iI 3 | 5183°84| 610271 6102°991 -o80 > — —
IL | 4 | 3336°83 | 3934°5 | 3933°83| +067 | —| —
II 5 | 2942°21 | 3477°2 | 3474798 +2732 5 II
II |+6 | 2781-35 | 3279°8 | 3274°88| +4°92 | 6 | 11
II UI. | 2698'44 3181°8 | 3181°40, +0'40 | 7 | II
II 8 | 3123°9 | 3117°'74, +616 | 8 II

| 7649°30,

From the similarity of their spectra, the elements
in each of the foregoing groups appear to be similarly
constructed, and the probability of this is strengthened
by the analogy of their chemical properties. On the
other hand, chemical analogy does not necessarily
imply similarity of form in the elements, as is shown
in the case of the alkali metals (lithium, sodium,
potassium, rubidium, caesium); these elements, in
spite of their close chemical similarity, do not exhibit
the simple relationship connecting wave-length and
atomic weight found in the groups already named.
Either these elements may be considered as built up
of different kinds of matter, or if of the same material
as possessing different shapes.

Assuming that matter is uniform, the shape of the
atom may be yaried, and instead of the simple sphere
the case of an elongated ellipsoid of rotation, formed
by revolving an ellipse round its major axis, may be
considered. The mathematical theory shows that the
spectral lines of such a luminous ellipsoid depend on

NO. 1855, VOL. 73]

| three numbers, and that therefore these lines will be

|

capable of arrangement in groups according to three
principles. These numbers are obtained as the roots
of certain transcendental equations, and are to be
calculated from the lengths of the axes of the ellipsoid,
its density and elasticity, a calculation, however, which
on account of its difficulty is hardly practicable. The
first of the three numbers determines a group of
corresponding lines, a so-called series; the different
possible values of the number determine a _ certain
sequence of such series. The second number deter-
mines in each series a subordinate group of lines, and
the third number a single definite line in each sub-
group. The manner in which this third number
enters into the calculation shows, moreover, that the
frequencies of the single lines in the subgroups will
exhibit among themselves constant differences, differ-
ences, that is, depending solely on the nature of the
given ellipsoid. A type of distribution of the spectral
lines is thus afforded by the theory which corresponds
with the well known law of distribution established
by Rydberg and by Kayser and Runge in the case
of the alkali metals. The atoms of these metals
(Li, Na, K, Cs, Rb) may therefore be considered as
elongated ellipsoids of rotation, the axial lengths
being fully defined in the case of each element, and
different in the different elements.

A flattened ellipsoid of rotation, the so-called
spheroid, is by calculation found also to give rise to
groups, series, and subgroups, but the law of constant
differences is not so generally applicable. The roots
of the transcendental equations are, in this case,
partly imaginary, so that several groups consist of
a single strong line, others of a limited number of
lines. Such a grouping is actually found in the case
of the metals gold, silver, and copper. Hydrogen is
also of this type, its atom probably consisting of a
thin, round plate, which is to be considered as the
limiting case of a flattened ellipsoid.

In the more general type of ellipsoid, that with
three unequal axes, the wave-lengths of the spectral
lines also depend on three numbers, defined by certain
equations, but in this case the lines cannot be
arranged in series and groups, but range over the
whole spectrum. Only when the form of the ellipsoid
approximates to that of an ellipsoid of rotation will
a few series arise. Such a distribution appears to
obtain in the spectra of the alkaline earths (barium,
strontium, calcium, and magnesium), that is, with
elements lying intermediate in chemical behaviour
between the alkalies and ordinary metals; the form
here approaches that of the elongated ellipsoid of
rotation. With zinc, cadmium, and mercury, the
form approximates to the flattened type of the rotation
ellipsoid.

Perhaps the most striking consequence of the theory
is that which follows from an alteration in the shape
of one of the simple ellipsoids of rotation. Such a
solid can be imagined as being gradually strained
in such a way that it passes into the more general
ellipsoid with unequal axes. During such deform-
ation the spectral lines will gradually and continu-
ously change, and the mathematical theory predicates
that out of each single line eight others can arise.
It appears, indeed, that the Zeemann effect, or the
resolution of a single line into two or more other
lines under the influence of a magnetic field, is ex-
plicable on this hypothesis. It may be observed that
the normal triplet which should result according to
Zeemann’s simple theory does not, as a matter of fact,
occur by any means frequently, the arrangement of
the resolved lines having been shown by recent work
to be of a more complex character than was originally
supposed. Such a complexity finds a simple explan-
ation in Prof. von Lindemann’s theory of strain.

394

NATURE

[ FEBRUARY 22, 1906

Two other types of solids in addition to those
already mentioned are susceptible of mathematical
treatment, namely, the solids derived by the rotation
of a circle round an axis not passing through its centre.
When the axis does not cut the circle a ring with a
circular section is produced, such as an ordinary
finger ring, which is open at the middle, When the
axis cuts the circle, a solid, which Lindemann calls
a “ Wulst’’ or roll, and resembles in form an
orange or an apple—is generated. A particle having
the first of these shapes, when rendered luminous,
would, according to the mathematical theory, give
rise to lines having wave-lengths dependent on four
numbers, to each of which a series of values can be
given. The kind of spectrum which results can best
be explained by imagining the spectrum due to a
luminous particle of the elongated ellipsoidal type to
be displaced several times in succession, the relative
position of the lines being slightly modified in each
shift. Such a spectrum has already been found to
characterise oxygen and helium; the oxygen spec-
trum, indeed, according to Runge and Paschen,
appears as if derived from that of an alkali metal
by a series of successive displacements. An atom of
the second type, with a shape similar to that of an
apple, when rendered luminous, would, according to
the calculations, give rise to a spectrum such as
would be produced by successive displacements of the
lines due to a flattened ellipsoid. The spectra of
sulphur and selenium seem, indeed, to be of this
type, being derived from a spectrum like that of
oxygen by substituting single strong lines for certain
groups of lines. The atom of oxygen thus appears to
have the form of an open ring, the atom of sulphur
or selenium that of a ‘* Wulst.”’

Certain interesting consequences concerning the
chemical properties of the elements follow from a
consideration of their shape, and have been developed
by Prof. Lindemann. That the ring-shaped oxygen
atom, for example, is a dyad with regard to hydrogen
at once follows from the plate-like shape of the
hydrogen atoms, two of these being necessary to close
the two apertures of the ring. A distinction, more-
over, such as is actually found to exist, is introduced
at the outset between valency with regard to hydrogen
and valency with regard to oxygen. Apart from
speculations of this kind, Prof. von Lindemann’s
work has great significance at the present moment,
in that it demonstrates the possibility to derive those
physical constants which most clearly define and
characterise the individual elements from the concep-
tion of a single kind of matter merely by introducing
the idea of shape. It is, of course, possible that the
atoms do not possess strictly, but only approximately,
the simple shapes which can be treated mathe-
matically. If this were so, slight changes would be
introduced into the transcendental equations, and the
deduced values, for example those in the table given,
can be considered only as a first approximation; but
the approximation is sufficiently close to justify the
belief that the general type of the transcendental
equations is correct. We AQ DE

THE TIME OF FRANCE,
NOTE from the Paris correspondent of a daily

A

journal stating that the proposal to adopt
Greenwich time in France is again being brought

forward, a desirable reform which would bring our
nearest neighbour into harmony in this respect with
almost the whole of Europe, may be considered a suffi-
cient reason for giving some facts on the subject under
discussion.

Without going back to the earliest proposals for

NO. 1895, VOLe 73)

establishing a time-system which should be common to
the whole world, an early stage in the movement was
the calling of a conference by the Government of the
United States to be held at Washington in October,
1884. At this meeting, which was attended by re-
presentatives of twenty-five nations, but who, it
must be remembered, had no power to bind
their Governments to any plan of action, it was
resolved that ‘‘the Conference proposes to the
Governments here represented, the adoption of the
meridian passing through the centre of the
transit instrument at the Observatory of Greenwich
as the initial meridian for longitude.’’ This resolu-
tion was voted for by representatives of twenty-two
countries, one representative took the opposite view,
and two countries, of whom France was one, abstained
from voting.

Following on this, a resolution was passed at the
meeting adopting the principle of a universal day
which should begin at mean midnight of the initial
meridian, a scheme containing the germ of the present
hourly zone system. But a more practical step had
already been talken by the managers of the American
railways, who, in November, 1883, had adopted the
now well-known system in which the American con-
tinent is divided into five zones, the time used in each
of which is respectively 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 hours slow
on Greenwich. It says much for the breadth of view
of the American railway managers, who thus rose
above all consideration of national feeling and selected
a zero which was likely to suit the convenience of the
greatest number, and set an example which must have
done much to forward the scheme.

Since 1884 there has been no open international in-
tercourse on the subject, but gradually the zone time
system has made its way. In 1892 Belgium and Hol-
land began to use Greenwich time; in 1893 mid-Euro-
pean time, one hour fast on Greenwich, was made the
legal standard time in Germany and Italy; in the next
year the same time was adopted in Switzerland and
Denmark, and in 1895 in Norway. Mid-European
time had already been in use in Sweden many years,
and on the Austrian, Hungarian, Servian, and Mace-
donian railways since 1891, but, strangely enough,
Vienna, the home of Dr. Schram, who was one of the
leaders of the movement for the unification of time,
has not adopted any legal standard time. The meri-
dian of Pulkowa happens to be 2 hours 1 minute
east of Greenwich, and since the time of this meridian
is used for telegraph work and on the railways of
Russia, it may be considered that this country uses
east European time, two hours fast on Greenwich,
which is also used for some purposes in Turkey. Since
Greenwich time was made the legal time of Spain
in rgoo, it will be seen that almost the whole of Europe
has fallen in line. France has not held aloof for want
of consideration of its merits. In 1896 the proposition
that the Greenwich meridian should be adopted in
France was brought by M. Deville before the Chamber
of Deputies, and being voted on was accepted by that
body, but the matter went no further, the reason for
which may be inferred from the proceedings at the
meeting of the Astronomical Society of France held on
December 2, 1896. At that meeting several of the
leading scientific men of France were present, and
among them M. Bouquet de la Grye, who, after ex-
pressing his astonishment that scientific men had not
been consulted before such a proposition was made,
proceeded to raise objections. It was true, said he,
that the meridian of Greenwich had been chosen as
initial because of the greatness of England’s sea-
power; but, he asked, how long would this continue?
England’s supremacy in this respect might pass away
just as had that of other nations, and what then?

FEBRUARY 22, 1906]

NATURE

395

Also he urged that Greenwich was too far north as a! had been shaken. The internal constitution of our

situation for an observatory to fix the standard meri-
dian, and again, that the position of Greenwich with re-
spect to the observatories of the Continent was not then
accurately known. Another speaker, whose opinions
are worthy of respect, remarked that France was not
alone among the countries in not joining the move-
ment, for Spain used its own time, and also—it is to
be feared that here he made a strong point—Ireland,
even, still used Dublin time. It was affirmed that the
motives which influenced the French authorities in
this matter were purely of a scientific nature, but it
may be noted that since that meeting the proposi-
tion has been brought forward in other words, namely,
that the legal standard time of France shall be 9
minutes 21 seconds slow on the time of the
meridian of Paris, which is not unlike the former
proposal, except verbally, and it might be thought that
the alteration was made so as not to hurt some sus-
ceptibilities. However, the change has not yet been
made. Some of the objections above quoted have
vanished, for England’s naval power has as yet suffered
no reverse, Spain has adopted Greenwich time, and
the difference of longitude between Greenwich and
Paris has been again determined, with a result which
may be accepted as final. Ireland still continues to
use Dublin time, it is true, but even this ought not to
outweigh any advantages that might accrue from the
change. lets Wee ele

THE COLOMBIAN EARTHQUAKE.
@. January 31, we learn from vague messages, an

earthquake of unusual severity occurred in the
north-west part of South America. The report stated
that towns and villages had been destroyed, and
islands had sunk. The disappearance of the latter
was, however, so gradual that the inhabitants had
been able to escape in boats. Later information told
us about the interruption of cables, and reported that
in consequence of huge sea waves a long line of
coast between Buenaventura and Tumaco and the
western coast of the Republic of Colombia had been
devastated for many leagues. A ‘great catastrophe
had evidently occurred, but until sixteen days later
the East knew but little as to what had actually taken
place. The seismographs in Britain and in other
countries have, however, told a story. Later we
shall have another story from our Consuls and our
newspapers.

In the Isle of Wight the record of some great
earth adjustment commenced, as reckoned in our
time, at 3h. 47m. p.m. Its maximum occurred some
thirty-five minutes later. From these facts the dis-
tance at which the mass displacement had originated
was known, and by a simple computation, based upon
this distance, the time at the origin would be in
Colombian. time approximately toh. 9m. a.m. Better
that the disturbance occurred in the morning, when
heavings of the ground could be felt and high waves

suggesting refuge on higher ground could be seen, |

than it should have occurred when the inhabitants of
towns and villages on a seaboard were at rest. Two
hours later the effects of the initial impulses had
reached their antipodes, and in the interval between
these times every inhabitant of the world had been
moved for at least three or four hours on a true
ground swell. All the instruments in the world de-
signed to record teleseismic motion had written
records, the bubble in every spirit level had been
fitfully oscillating to and fro, many magnetic needles
had been caused to swing, balances had oscillated,
pendulums had been accelerated or retarded—the
whole world, not only on its surface, but in its depths

NO. 1895, VOL. 73]

planet had been disturbed, that which is hypogenic
may have produced its effect upon that which was
epigenic, there was a flicker in the life-history of the
earth.

At this moment it is not for us to enter into the
whys and wherefores of the Colombian disaster. It
suddenly came upon the scene in the last day of
January, but it is not yet ended, Shocks continued
for the next five days, and although we are without
information, they will doubtless continue for many
days to come. Among other things beyond these
immediate effects on life and property, we learn that
voleanic stress was relieved at Cumbal. Further, we
learn that on February 16 severe shocks were ex-
perienced in the Antilles. At 1.40 p.m. on that date
walls were cracked in St. Vincent; similar reports
come from Fort de France, and cables have been
broken.

History repeats itself, and this is particularly illus-
trated in the seismic and volcanic history of the Central
American and West Indian subterranean activities.
A convulsion in the one is followed by a reaction in
the other. The last illustration, which is only one
of a long series, occurred in 1902, when terrific re-
adjustments of strata in Guatemala were quickly
followed by the holocaust of St. Pierre. The
Colombian disaster of January 31, to which we par-
ticularly refer, is the last of a series with which
seismologists are familiar. We do not know for
certain, but its origin was probably suboceanic off
the mouth of the Esmeralda River. We can at least
say that on the line we have indicated there is a
rapidly descending suboceanic gully, and that cables
crossing this line have frequently been interrupted.
To this we may add that here we have a district
where submerged land slopes are unusually steep, and
where those who lay deep-sea cables tell us that
soundings have from time to time been greatly
changed. Out of fifteen cable interruptions which
have talken place in the district under consideration,
nine of them occurred at the time when seismo-
graphs or instruments which would record teleseismic
effects were set in motion in Europe. Interruptions
to cables come in many ways, but from time to time
we know that they have come about by sudden
changes in the form of ocean floors, and off the
mouth of the Esmeralda River we know that this
has often happened.

NOTES.

Tue appointment of officers for the seventy-sixth meet-
ing of the British Association, which is to be held at
York, has now been completed. The meeting will open
on Wednesday, August 1—when the president, Dr. E. Ray
Lankester, F.R.S., will deliver the presidential address—
and be concluded on August 8. The following are the
names of the presidents of the various sections :—A (mathe-
matical and physical science), Principal E. H. Griffiths,
F.R.S.; B (chemistry), Prof. Wyndham Dunstan, F.R.S.;
C (geology), Mr. G. W. Lamplugh, F.R.S. ; D (zoology),
Mr. J. J. Lister, F.R.S.; E (geography), Sir G. Taubman-
Goldie, K.C.M.G., F.R.S.; F (economic science and
statistics), Sir George S. Gibb; G (engineering), Prof.
J. A. Ewing, F.R.S.; H (anthropology), Mr. E. Sidney
Hartland; I (physiology), Prof. Francis Gotch, F-.R.S.;
K (botany), Prof. F. W. Oliver, F.R.S.; L (educational
science), Prof. M. E. Sadler. Subscriptions to the
amount of more than 7ool. have been promised to the
fund started for the purpose of founding a medal to
commemorate the visit of the association to South

396

Africa last year. The council of the association has re-
solved to add to the fund the balance of the special funds
raised to meet the expenses of the South Africa meeting,
so that the total sum to be disposed of is between 1500l.
and 16001. It is proposed that the medal, struck in bronze,
together with the balance of the income on the fund after
paying for the medal, shall be awarded ‘* for achievement
and promise in scientific research in South Africa,’’ and
that, so far as circumstances shall allow, the award shall
be made annually.

Prors. F. Kontrauscu anp A. A. MicHEeLson have been
elected honorary Fellows of the Physical Society of London.

An International Exposition, in which discoveries and
inventions relating to medicine and hygiene will have a
prominent place, is to be held at Antwerp in April and
May of the present year, under the patronage of H.R.H.
the Countess of Flanders. should be
addressed to the secretary’s Rue d’Arenberg,

Antwerp.

Communications
office, 26

Tue anniversary meeting of the Geological Society was
held on February 16. Sir Archibald Sec.R.S.,
was elected president. The medals and funds awarded, as
announced already (p. 274), were presented. The president
delivered his anniversary address, which dealt with the
influence of the geological structure of English lakeland
upon its present features—a study in physiography.

Geikie,

Ir is stated in the Globe of February 17 that the first
wireless telegraph station at Machrihanish, Argyllshire, is
now completed, and communication has been commenced
with other stations in Great Britain. The tower, which is
400 feet high, has been built to the order of the National
Electric Signalling Company, of Pittsburg, by the Brown
Horsting Company, New York. The diameter of the
column is about 5 feet, and consists of pipe-shaped tubes,
inside of which are the ladders for ascending.

Tue Milan Chemical Society has appointed a committee
to undertake the compilation of a catalogue of the Italian
chemical industries.

At the invitation of the committee appointed to consider
the foundation of a Chemische Reichsanstalt, a meeting
was to be held yesterday in the Aula of the University
of Berlin to hear an account of the steps which have
already been taken by the committee, and the reasons put
forward for such a chemical institution.

By a decree of the German Chancellor, an advisory com-
mittee of specialists is to be appointed to the Imperial
Biological Institute for Agriculture and Forestry. The
following appointments, amongst others, have now been
made to this committee, and hold good until the end of
1910 :—Prof. J. Behrens, Baden; Prof. Buchner, Berlin;
Prof. Delbriick, Berlin; Prof. Gartner, Jena; Prof.
Gerlach, Bromberg; Dr. Hiltner, Munich; Prof. Hollrung,
Halle; Prof. Kellner, Leipzig; Prof. Kirchner, Wirtem-
berg; Prof. Ludwig Klein, Karlsruhe; Prof. A. Koch,
Gottingen; Prof. Kiihn, Halle; Prof. Moller, Eberswalde ;
Prof. P. Wagner, Darmstadt; Prof. Wortmann, Geisen-
heim. The director of the Imperial Institute for Agri-
culture and Forestry has been elected president of the
advisory committee.

Own Thursday next, March 1, Mr. Francis Darwin will
deliver the first of three lectures at the Royal Institution
on the ‘* Physiology of Plants,’’ and on March 3 Prof.
J. J. Thomson will commence a course of six lectures on
“The Corpuscular Theory of Matter.”

NO. 1895, VOL. 73]

The Friday even-

NATROLE

; degree of Associate of the Royal School of Mines.

[FEBRUARY 22, 1906

ing discourse on March 2 will be delivered by Dr. R.
Caton, the subject being ‘‘ Hippocrates and the Newly
Discovered Health Temple at Cos,’’ and on March 9 by
Dr. R. Hutchison, on ‘t Some Dietetic Problems.”

Tue thirty-third annual dinner of old students of the
Royal School of Mines was held on February 16. After
the loyal toasts, the chairman, Prof. S. H. Cox, was asked
to present to Prof. J. W. Judd a service of plate with an
address and an album containing the signatures of 400
of his pupils and friends in all parts of the world as a
mark of their esteem on his retirement from the office of
dean of the school. In the address warm appreciation is
expressed of Prof. Judd’s services to geological science
during his tenure of the chair of geology from 1877 to
1905, and the interest he invariably showed in the work
and welfare of his students. Prof. Judd, in reply, alluded
to the recently published report of the Government com-
mittee, which, he said, has outlined measures that will
form a basis for the re-organisation of the school as a
great and flourishing institution worthy of the Empire.
The wants of a technical institution are not, he continued,
identical with those of a university, either of the ancient
or modern type, and it will be a calamity if the distinctive
features of their school are lost by its being drawn into
the vortex of a university. In proposing the toast of ** The
School,’’ the chairman also alluded to the report of the
departmental committee, and those associated with
the school are desirous of preserving its identity and the
They
one and all dread being absorbed by a huge scientific
institution, of which they will become only a subsidiary
branch.

said

At a meeting held at the Mansion House last June it
was decided to commemorate the achievements of the late
Sir Henry Bessemer by a memorial, which should have
for its object some educational work so far-reaching in
its beneficent influence as are the results of Bessemer’s
invention. The memorial committee deferred the active
prosecution of the scheme until the publication of the
report of the departmental committee on the work of the
Royal College of Science, and, now that this report has
been issued, it is possible to proceed actively with the
memorial scheme. The committee is confident that no
memorial could be more appropriate than one which has
for its object the scientific advancement of the metallurgical
and mining industries, and that none would be more likely
to have met with Bessemer’s warm approval. It has been
arranged that the objects of the memorial fund shall be :—
(1) The establishment of open international memorial
scholarships for post-graduate practical work tenable (except
such as it is intended to allocate to the Royal School of
Mines, the Sheffield and Birmingham Universities, the Arm-
strong College, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, or other approved
British institutions) in any part of the British Empire, in
the United States of America, and in Europe. It is intended
that these scholarships shall be of such value, and shall
be awarded under such conditions, that they will be re-
garded by students of any nation as a prize worth striving
for, and as an incentive to the highest scientific attain-

ment. (2) The equipment of mining and metallurgical
memorial laboratories in the Royal School of Mines at
South Kensington as the centre of the memorial. The

land and the cost of the new buildings and maintenance
for the school will be provided from Government and other
sources. (3) The erection of a statue of Bessemer in the
new Royal School of Mines at South Kensington. Sub-
scriptions amounting to about S8oool. have already been

FEBRUARY 22, 1906]

NATURE 397

received towards the large sum which will be required.
Communications should be addressed to the Hon. Secretary,
Bessemer Memorial Fund, Salisbury House, E.C., and all
cheques should be made payable to the ‘* Bessemer
Memorial Fund,’’ and crossed ‘‘ Bank of England.”

We have received from the Philosophical Institute of
‘Canterbury, New Zealand, copies of four papers by the
late Captain Hutton published in the Transactions of the
New Zealand Institute for 1904. Their respective titles
are :—‘‘ The Formation of the Canterbury Plains,’ ‘‘ The
Occurrence of Grauculus melanops in New Zealand,”’
“Revision of New Zealand Tertiary Brachiopoda,’’ and
““ Three New Tertiary Shells.”

No. 8 of vol. ii. of the zoological section of the Publi-
cations of the University of California is devoted to the
first paper of a memoir of the ‘* Dinoflagellata’’ of the
San Diego district, by Mr. C. A. Cofoid. It appears that
investigations carried on during the last few years at the
San Diego station have brought to light amid the “ plank-
ton’ of the Pacific a number of species of flagellate
animalcules which cannot be referred to any known genus,
and for which the new name Heterodinium is proposed.

RECENT issues of the Proceedings of the Academy of
Natural Sciences of Philadelphia contain papers on the
following subjects, viz. :—a_ collec-
tion of birds from British East
Africa, by Mr. W. Stone; Hawaiian

species of the molluscan genera
Endodonta and Opeas, by Messrs.
Pilsbry and WVanatta; Pacific
Cerithiida, by the same authors;
and notes on, and descriptions of,
Costa Rican Orthopoda, by Prof.
Rehn. In the last of these the

author describes a very remarkable
species of stick-insect of the family
Phasmida, which is referred to the
genus Olcyphides, Griffini, with the
name of O. wiridtpes. This species,
of which the figure is reproduced, is
allied to Westwood’s O. venilia, of
Bogota, but differs in the shorter
mesothorax and metathorax, and
the much greater elongation of the
abdomen and limbs, as well as in
details of coloration and _ other
points.

Fic.
7Zidipes, from Costa
Kica (4 natural size).

1.—Oleyphides

In the November (1905) issue of the Nature-study Review
Miss A. M. Fielde gives an interesting illustrated account
of the communal life-history of ants, primarily intended
for the information and guide of those who keep these
insects under observation in the cases invented by the
author. There are, however, many observations of special
interest. Among these is the statement that ants of
‘different species—which always display deadly hostility to
‘one another—can be trained to live together in friendship.
Mr. C. W. Wild discusses the study of deciduous trees in
winter; while Mr. M. A. Bigelow ridicules the theory that
certain groups of plants develop tubers or bulbs in order
to escape destruction by animals.

We have received from the author, Prof. F. Eulenburg,
of the University of Leipzig, a copy of an article on society
and nature (‘‘ Gesellschaft und Natur ’’), reprinted from
the Archiv fiir Sozialwissenschaft und Socialpolitik for
rg05. The subject is treated, after some introductory con-

NO. 1895, VOL. 73]

siderations, from the following points of view :—(r) the
determination of the objects of science, especially social
science; (2) the importance and necessity of social laws;
(3) the threefold relation of society to nature; (4) special
problems ; and (5) the relations of social science to biology
and practical politics.

Tue felted beech coccus, Cryptococcus fagi, is the subject
of a leaflet, No. 140, issued by the Board of Agriculture
and Fisheries. The scale insects are provided with a long
sucking tube by which they draw off the sap; they are
stationary, and cover themselves with a white waxy secre-
tion. The larve also drain the juices of the tree.
Although the insects are conspicuous objects on the bark,
and are principally found on the main trunk and larger
branches, their waxy coverings shelter them effectively,
and treatment with such insecticides as paraffin emulsion,
Gillander’s mixture, alkali wash must be
thorough to prove efficacious.

cr caustic

Ix the Indian Forester (March, 1905) Mr. R. S. Pearson
stated that he had obtained satisfactory results in the
Panch Mahals, Bombay, in rearing young teak plants by
subjecting the seed to a preliminary treatment in pits, in
which layers of seed an inch deep were arranged alter-
nately with layers of soil, and the pit was flooded with
water every other day until germination commenced. This
and other experiments with seed of Anogeissus latifolia,
described in the November issue, appear to depend upon
the maintenance of a regular and sufficient, but not
excessive, supply of water. Another fairly successtul
method consists in subjecting the seed to a slight fire that
produces artificially the effects of a light forest fire in a
dry teak zone.

Amone the contributions to the Journal of the Royal
Horticultural Society (December, 1905), Dr. M. Cooke
writes an article on the fungoid pests of forest trees;
Mr. G. S. Boulger, dealing with the preservation of wild
plants, adduces a number of specific instances of damage
done by ruthless collection; and Mr. W. G. Freeman dis-
cusses a few of the important features of the West Indian
fruit industry. The method of producing new potatoes out
of season from old tubers, as described by Mr. J. J. Powell,
is a valuable hint to private gardeners, the essential points
being retardation and a variety that keeps well. Fruit
growers will be interested in the publication of the report
of the committee appointed to inquire into the fruit in-
dustry, and in the notes by Mr. T. E. Sedgwick on methods
of fruit preserving.

Tue use of wood-pulp for paper-making was dealt with
in a paper read by Mr. M. C. Phillips before the Society
of Arts, and published in the Journal of the society last
May. A machine for grinding wood into pulp was patented
by Keller) in 1844, but the modern method of making
mechanical pulp has developed out of the machine con-
structed by Henry Voelter in 1858 that not only dis-
integrated but also assorted the fibre. The mechanical
process is largely practised in Norway, Sweden, and
Canada, and provides the bulk of journalistic paper.
Better paper is produced by chemical processes in which

the wood is treated with various chemicals that remove
the ligneous and mineral constituents, leaving wood-
cellulose. Tilghman (1857), Ekman, and Mitscherlich

were the pioneers in this branch of the industry. The
paper has been reprinted by the Government of India in
connection with the experiment of producing wood-pulp in
that country.

398

NATORTL,

[FEBRUARY 22, 1906

A Butxietin on ‘ The Mineral Constituents of the Soil
Solution,’’ by Messrs. F. K. Cameron and J. M. Bell, has
been received from the U.S. Department of Agriculture
(Division of Soils, Bulletin 30, 1905, pp. 70). This latest
publication of the division over which Mr. Whitney presides
deals with the problem that has been the subject of so
much of the recent work on soils done by the United
States Department of Agriculture—the composition of the
solution formed by the water in the soil. It is generally
recognised now that plants feed on this solution and are
incapable of attacking the solid constituents of the soil,
so that the composition and mode of origin of this solu-
tion must furnish the interpretation of many of the difficul-
ties regarding the relationship of crops to soils. The
Bulletin is more of a general discussion and a bibliography
than a record of new investigations; it sets out a brief
account of most of the work that has been done on such
matters as the solubility of the minerals composing the
soil, the hydrolysis and similar changes then taking place,
adsorption and absorption by finely powdered materials,
flocculation, surface reactions, and such other phenomena
in the borderland of chemistry and physics as must play
a leading part in the reactions going on in the soil. The
main thesis of the Bulletin is that the soil materials hydro-
lyse and form a solution in equilibrium with the portion
which remains solid; this position of equilibrium will be
continually restored or maintained whenever it is tempor-
arily disturbed, as by the addition of manures or the with-
drawal of substances by growing plants. We fail to
perceive, however, that all the parade of authorities lend
any support to the extraordinary doctrine which the
American official soil chemists seem to have adopted as an
article of faith—that all soils, whatever their origin or
treatment, yield the same soil solution, and therefore
possess the same nutritive power. Putting aside this ‘ con-
clusion,”” which is brought in at the end, though nothing
particular seems to have led up to it, all workers in this
field will be glad to possess the Bulletin as a guide to the
scattered literature on a difficult subject.

WE have

received from Mr. G. Henriksen, of
Christiania, a

translation of his pamphlet, written in
Norwegian, on the iron-ore deposits of Sydvaranger, in
Finmarken, Norway. Iron ore occurs in large quantities
in gabbro. It consists exclusively of magnetite. The
deposits are considered by the author to have been formed
by the action of pressure on eruptive rocks.

Ir is reported in the Engineering and Mining Journal
(vol. Ixxxi., No. 4) that great development has taken place
in gem production in Brazil. Exploration in Minas Geraes
has led to discoveries of tourmaline which have furnished

red, blue, and green gems, and of beryls which have
furnished magnificent blue and green stones. A large

quantity of Brazilian amethyst has been obtained from the
great geode, the bulk of which was shown at the Diissel-
dorf Exhibition in 1902.

Up to the present time the manufacture of chilled
rolls has remained purely empirical; and a paper by Mr.
E. de Loisy in the Bulletin de la Société d’ Encouragement
(vol. cyii., No. 10), describing his researches made to
ascertain the scientific rules that should guide the iron-
founder, is therefore well worthy of careful attention.
For chilled rolls for rolling steel sheets or wire rods the
composition sought should be as follows :—carbon, 2-9
to 3; silicon, 0-7 to 0-9; manganese, 0-5 to 1-0; and
phosphorus, 0-35 to o-45. The addition of steel scrap
to pig-iron is recommended, but the proportion should not

NO. 1895, VOL. 73]

be much above 15 per cent. The author gives a large
number of analyses of chilled rolls that have lasted well
in the rolling-mill.

An interesting note on prospecting in the Transbaikalian
goldfields has been communicated by Mr. R. Farina to the
Institution of Mining and Metallurgy (Bulletin No. 17).
The district has long been famous for its gold placers.
Platinum and cinnabar are also met with. The gold veins
vary greatly in character. Those rich in gold are very
porous, friable, and highly oxidised. The other veins are
of the hard white quartz type. The best time for pro-
specting is March and April, when the snows have almost

gone. The rocks of the country are chiefly quartz
porphyry, granites, andesites, diorites, and gneiss. In a

note, in the same Bulletin, on tin in Tringganu, on the
east coast of the Malay Peninsula, Mr. C. G. Warnford
Lock records the occurrence, in the alluvial tin fields, of
monazite and xenotime in pot-holes in the granite beds
of the streams.

Tue Journal of the Society of Chemical Industry (vol.
xxv., No. 2) contains an interesting paper by Mr. A. H.
Hiorns on the effect of certain elements on the structure
of cast iron. He gives a summary of previous researches
on the subject, and describes some experiments made by
himself with pure cast iron to which various proportions
of silicon, manganese, phosphorus, and sulphur were added.
He gives illustrations showing the appearance of polished
and etched surfaces examined under the microscope. In the
discussion, Mr. W. Rosenhain referred to the process of
heat tinting in connection with the detection of the presence
of phosphorus, and pointed out two very serious difficulties
that had to be overcome before satisfactory results could
be obtained. These were the difficulty of obtaining the
surfaces in a perfectly clean state, and the fact that the
actual surface very often did not represent the real struc-
ture of the metal, because the very act of polishing tended
to spread the softer constituents over the harder, and in
all cases produced a definite layer of altered material.

We have received from Mr. G. T. Beilby a reprint, in
pamphlet form, of his presidential address to the Glasgow
University Engineering Society, delivered on January 11.
In it he discusses, with a thorough mastery of his sub-
ject and with conspicuous literary skill, some of the wider
aspects of modern power production for industrial pur-
poses, more particularly with reference to the fuel re-
sources of the country. He shows that the annual coal
consumption of the United Kingdom is 167 million tons,
the various channels of consumption being as follows, in
millions of tons:—railways, 13; coasting steamers, 2;
factories, 53; mines, 18; iron and steel industries, 28;
other metals and minerals, 1; brick-works, potteries, glass-
and chemical works, 5; gas works, 15; .and
domestic, 32. Taking the consumption of coal for power
at mines and factories as 52 million tons, a
saving of some 42 million tons could be realised with time
and enterprise. There are in Great Britain steam engines
and boilers with a yearly output of at least 5 million
horse-power. The coal consumed by these is not less than
5 lb. per indicated horse-power hour, or on the whole
4o million tons. By the use of gas engines and steam
turbines the coal consumption might be reduced to 13 Ib.
per indicated horse-power hour, or on the whole to 12
million tons. The saving in coal, therefore, is equal to
28 million tons, valued at 9,800,o00l. The cost of making
the change need not exceed 50,000,000l., or, if the power
is to be delivered as electricity, 60,000,000l. The saving im

works,

purposes

FEBRUARY 22, 1906]

NATURE 399

the coal bill is equivalent to a return of 16-3 per cent. on
the higher capital expenditure. In these estimates no
credit has been taken for the reduction in working costs
which would result from the installation of more efficient
plant. In many cases this would amount to as much as
the saving on coal.

AccorDING to the Teknisk Tidskrift, the development of
the Swedish chemical industries last year was but slight,
but the following points may be noticed :—the manufacture
of beet sugar has been pushed further north by the
opening of a sugar factory at Linkoping; the preparation
of ‘‘ peat spirit ’’ has been a subject of wide and searching
discussion ; the increased uses of acetylene and of acetylene-
acetone solutions, and the process of welding with acetyl-
ene, have much favoured the carbide industry; the manu-
facture of paper from wood has improved both quanti-
tatively and qualitatively; great strides are said to have
been made in electrochemical industries; much attention
has been given to improving methods of producing pig-
iron—a number of Gréndal, American, and newer native
type combustion furnaces have been built or arranged for ;
in the manufacture of steel we are told that several innova-
tions and changes have been witnessed, though no official
statistics are yet available for comparisons with previous
years—but it is to be noted that the Bessemer process is
gradually yielding to the Martin,method; an experimental
electrical steel furnace has been arranged at Nykroppa;
many works have introduced Bildt’s method of heating
boilers with generator gas; suction gas plants, combustion
and petrol motors, and steam turbines have risen in
popularity.

In connection with the shortage of rainfall for 1905 in
the British Isles, it is interesting to note the state of
affairs at the antipodes. With regard to the rainfall of
South Australia, Sir Charles Todd states that throughout
the whole of the Northern Territory, the interior of the
continent, the pastoral country to the northwards, and as
far south over the more settled districts as Petersburg, the
total rainfall of the year failed to reach the average. The
summer season (November, 1904, to March, 1905) was, on
the whole, dry all through the settled districts and most
of the pastoral country, many stations in the southern areas
having only about half the annual supply. The total for
the agricultural season (April to October) was, however,
generally in excess of the normal fall for this period, from
Wilmington and Petersburg southwards, but north of these
stations it was rather below the average.

Tue construction of magic squares is a recreation which
has diverted even such minds as those of Euler and
Fermat; with kindred problems it still maintains its popu-
larity. Frost extended the notion to three dimensions, and
wrote a paper on ‘‘ nasik cubes’’ (Quart. Journ., 1878);
in “‘ The Theory of Path Nasiks ’? (Rugby : Lawrence) Mr.
‘C. Planck has quite recently developed Frost’s theory, and
given several examples. His method involves the solution
of sets of simultaneous linear congruences, and he considers
the problem in n dimensions.

In No. 5, vol. xxii., of the Astrophysical Journal, Mr.
R. E. Loving, of the Johns Hopkins University, publishes
results of an interesting research concerning the
nature and action of the metallic high vacua.
Having previously proved that the spectrum was character-
istic of the anode only, he employed various metals as
anodes in conjunction with the same platinum kathode,
and on photographing the more refrangible end of the

NO. 1895, VOL. 73]

the
arc in

spectrum found that it was not similar to either the
ordinary are or spark spectra, but was much more like the
latter than the former. The relative intensities of the
lines obtained did not agree with the spark intensities or
with those observed for the same lines in the chromosphere.
Mr. Loving gives a tabular statement in which the re-
lative intensities of magnesium, calcium, chromium, man-
ganese, titanium, and iron lines in the ordinary arc and
spark, the chromosphere and the arc in vacuum are
compared. Other important points regarding the mech-
anical action of the discharge, the action of a magnetic
field, and the luminosity of the anode are dealt with in
Mr. Loving’s paper. Brief reference might be made here
to one peculiar result. The violent kathode discharge was
found to have a marked deteriorating action on the glass
of the tube. After being used for several days the glass
was found to crack much more readily when put into a
flame, and the fragments were so friable that they could
easily be broken between the fingers.

Mr. Joun Gorpinc and Dr. Fei_mann direct atten-
tion to a peculiar mealy flavour which occasionally develops
in milk (Journ. Soc. of Chem. Industry, December 30,
1905). Experiments showed that copper is acted upon by
milk, especially in the presence of air, and that small
quantities go into solution in the milk (from 1 part to
more than roo parts per million). Fresh milk when thus
contaminated is very liable to the development of a peculiar
mealy flavour in sixteen to eighteen hours. This flavour
seems to be due in part to the development of micro-
organisms in the presence of copper, which both checks
the development of the lactic organisms and plays a more
direct part in the actual development of the flavour.

Coronet FirtH anp Dr. Macrapyen contribute to the
Journal of the Royal Sanitary Institute (xxvii., No. 1) a
record of experiments made on behalf of the Disinfectant
Standardisation Committee from which they consider that
the ‘‘ drop’? method of Messrs. Rideal and Walker is the
most practical and accurate method yet devised for the
testing and comparison of disinfectants, and make some
valuable suggestions for carrying it out. Profs. Kenwood
and Hewlett also contribute a paper on the standardisation
of disinfectants, in which they show the variations which
may obtain in practice and the modifying effect of organic
matter on germicidal power, and ‘urge that a large margin
of safety should be allowed for all disinfectants.

Tur Journal of the Réntgen Society (December, 1905)
contains an interesting paper by Mr. Butler Burke on the
action of radium and other bodies on gelatin, and the pro-
duction of the so-called ‘‘ radiobes,’? which have some
likeness to micro-organisms. At first these look like mere
air-bubbles, but in course of time they expand or grow,
appear to contain a nuclear structure, but in the course
of a fortnight or so begin to break up, and later on
disappear. They are also soluble in warm water and
varnish at a temperature of 35° C. Mr. Burke expresses
the opinion that they are on the border-line between crystal-
line and organic bodies, that they cannot properly be called
living, but correspond possibly to some simple form of life
that existed in a far distant age.

Unper the title of ‘‘ La Fin de la Matiére,’’ Prof. H.
Poincaré gives in the Athenaeum for February 17 a brief
vésumé of recent views of the ultimate nature of matter.
The essential purpose of Prof. Poincaré’s article is to
define how far the idea of mass or inertia has been com-
promised by the results of Abraham and Kaufmann, by
the speculations of Lorentz, and by the doctrine of

400

the
the

Prof.

assumptions on which recent views

electrons. Poincaré is careful to emphasise

are based, but if
assumptions are correct the final result consists in stripping
from matter the attribute of mass by which it is usually
Mass of

in Prof. Poincaré’s own striking words,

defined. appears purely as the result electrical

action, or, “dans

ce systéme il n’y a pas de vraie matiére, il n’y a plus que

des trous dans 1]’éther.”’

SomE time ago Prof. Nernst described a simple furm of
of measuring
an accuracy of
of the Berichte
gives an interesting application of
of the

used was a

few
the
Wartenberg
to the

Vapour.

torsion balance capable weights of a

milligram. In
Hit vis
instrument
determination of
The of the
apparatus due to Victor Meyer, the vessel being made of
the oxides of
heated
weight of
to

milligrams with 0-001

Mr.
this

current number

molecular weight silver

method modification well known

iridium, coated internally with a mixture of

yttrium and zirconium. This iridium vessel was
the
from

the
147,

in an electric furnace to about 2000° C

experiment

eac h
The

weight of the silver were between

silver used in varying 0-905

0-322 milligram. values obtained for molecular
107 and indicating

that silver is monatomic.

Messrs. DawBaRN AND Warp, Ltp., have published in
their ‘‘ Home Worker’s’’ series a little book by Mr.
Joseph E. Dangerfield on ‘‘ Brass and Iron Foundin;

The price is 1s. 6d. net.

Tue ‘‘ Swincam ”’ camera stand enables a camera to be
fixed on the tripod in almost any position, so that photo-
graphs can be taken in situations which present insur-
mountable difficulties with ordinary stands. A revised

pamphlet showing some of the possibilities and performances
of this speciality
maker, Mr. W. Butler, Southport.

Messrs. WHITTAKER second
edition of Mr. S. R. the
ONS Rays.”’ The book of
July 28, 1898 (vol. lvili. p. 292); and it is only necessary
to that
and

Co.
Bottone’s

AND have published a

““ Radiography and

Was reviewed in our issue

say here recent improvements in Ré6ntgen-ray

with the
therapeutic effects of the rays, are dealt with in the new
edition.

apparatus, interesting matter connected

OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN.

CoMET 1906a.—The following is taken from a continu-
ation of the daily ephemeris for comet 1g06a (Brooks), pub-
lished by Herr M. Ebell in No. 4075 of the Astronomische
Nachrichten :

Ephemeris 12h. M.T. Berlin.
1906 a (true) 6 (true) log » log A Bright-
h. m. s ness
Beb! 22) =-:1164'5°35 --.. 78) 30 0°2047 0 82
24yeON2T 20) v2.) 1175) 12 0'2094 0°76
2607. ON ya Zo +71 59 0°2140 0°69
28 ... 5 58 38 +68 55 0°2187 0'64
Mars 2) 3. 5 52:47 +66 I 0°2234 ... 0'0589 oss
4 5 48 50 +63 19 O 2282 ... 0'0748 0°53
It will be seen from the above that the comet is now

travelling rapidly down the constellation Camelus towards
Perseus, and is becoming much fainter.

A set of elements of the orbit of
has been computed by M. E. Maubant, and
No. 6 (1906) of the Comptes rendus.

parabolic this object

appears in

CoMET 1905c.—Photographs of Giacobini’s comet (1905c¢)
in January showed that the

3-0, and that this obiect had a tail

3]

obtained at Greenwich early
magnitude was about
in length.

NO. 1895, VOL. 7

about 2°

in tripod stands has been issued by the

NATURE

[FEBRUARY 22,

A note in the February number of the Bulletin de la
Société astronomique de France quotes M. Giacobini, who,
in a letter to a correspondent, stated that the comet was
visible to the naked eye during the whole week preceding
January 9, and that it then had a tail about 1° in length,
the position angle of which was 45°. The nucleus was
estimated as being of the second or third magnitude. The
nearest approaches of this object to the earth took place
on January 6 and February 2, the respective distances
being 1-102 and 1-150 astronomical units. Its distance from
the sun at perihelion was o0-2154 unit.

Tue APPARENT ENLARGEMENT OF THE MOON AT THE
Horizon.—In the Archives de Psychologie (vol. v., No. 18,
October, 1905) M. Ed. Claparéde publishes an interesting
paper on the causes which produce the impression that the
sun, moon, and other celestial bodies are larger when near
to the horizon than when seen at the zenith.

After discussing a number of theories propounded by
previous writers on this subiect, from Aristotle onwards,
he examines several and recounts the
results of various experiments he has made whilst consider-
ing the matter.

Finally, he arrives at the conclusion that when we see
the moon, or sun, at the horizon, we are surprised into
believing it to belong to things terrestrial—to come into
the class of objects which are by far of the greatest interest
to us. As such we notice it with much greater attention,

possible causes,

and for this reason overestimate its size. When at the
zenith the moon is of little interest in comparison with the
terrestrial objects which belong to our daily life, and we
therefore think of it relatively unimportant; conse-
quently we underestimate its size. This correlation of
importance and size is always common, and, as an illus-
tration of it, M. Claparéde quotes the fact that boys are
always astonished when they learn for the first time that
Napoleon was below the average height.

M. Claparéde used the illustration we reproduce, in his
experiments with individuals. Covering one of the moons
shown, he asked his subjects to draw the other one the
same size, and then asked them to draw the second whilst
the first was covered. Of twenty couples of drawings thus
obtained, from thirteen subiects of all ages, the moon at
the horizon was shown the greater on fourteen, as
equal on five, and as less on one. ‘The greatest difference
was shown on two drawings by the same boy, where the
moon was g mm. (horizon) and 4-5 mm. (raised) re-
spectively, the actual diameter on the copy being 4-5 mm.

M. Claparéde’s paper may be obtained, as a separate

as

as

brochure, from MM. Kiindig et Fils, Geneva, price
1 franc.
MaGNeETIC OBSERVATIONS DURING THE TotTaL ECLIPSE OF

THE SuN.—We have received from Father P. Cirera, of

the l’Ebre Observatory, an extract from the Comptes rendus
giving an account of the magnetic records obtained at

FEBRUARY 22, 1906]

WA TORE

401

that observatory during the total solar eclipse of August 30,
1905, and the days immediately preceding and following it.

Extraordinary deviations from the normal diurnal curves
were registered in all three elements, and these are plainly
shown on the photographic copy of the records which
accompanies Father Cirera’s communication.

OBSERVATIONS OF JuUPITER.—Major Molesworth’s report
of his observations of Jupiter, made at Trincomali, Ceylon,
during 1904-5, appears in No. 3, vol. Ixvi., of the Monthly
Notices R.A.S., and records the times of rotation of, and
the changes in, most of the Jovian features.

One especially remarkable observation that the
following and preceding ends of the large mass of dark
matter, known the Great S. Tropical Dark Area,
appeared, on comparing the observations, to have crossed
the whole Red Spot bay simultaneously. As it seems
impossible that there could be any such instantaneous trans-
ference of material, Major Molesworth explains the pheno-
menon by the suggestion that the movement of the dark
area into the belt following the bay caused the extrusion
of an equal amount of dark material from the belt pre-
ceding the bay.

was

as

GRANULATIONS ON THE SOLAR SURFACE.!
AN interesting research which promises fair to lead us

to an increased knowledge concerning the nature of
the sun’s photosphere has recently been instituted by Prof.
Hansky at the Pulkowa Observatory. On examining the
splendid collection of photographs of the solar surface
obtained by Prof. Janssen at Meudon, Prof. Hansky was
not able to satisfy himself that the whole of the réseau
seen on the negative was actually of solar origin; it seemed
probable that some parts of it were produced by waves
in our atmosphere, and on no two consecutive negatives,

nor even on two taken simultaneously, could the same
granules be recognised. For this reason he attacked the

problem at Pulkowa, bringing into operation the astro-
graphic telescope in order to obtain photographs on a large
scale.

The solar image at the: focus of this instrument has a
diameter of 3 cm., which by the use of a concave lens
was increased to about 54 cm. (i.e. 21-3 inches). With
this apparatus numerous photographs were obtained during
May and June, 1905, and showed many of the finer details
of the granulations which cover the solar surface; but
even on this scale it was impossible to recognise the same
features on successive photographs. A further improve-
ment was then made, so that the intervals between the
exposures might be appreciably shortened—in no case had
it been less than five minutes—and with the new arrange-
ment adapted to the astrograph it became possible to take
eight consecutive photographs with intervals of fifteen to
thirty seconds’ duration. These showed the changes taking
place in the sizes and relative positions of the granules
very plainly, and from them the author has chosen six for
reproauction in his circular. Fig. 1 is a copy of one of
these reproductions, and shows the general nature of the
photographs which Prof. Hansky is obtaining, and from
which he hopes to derive valuable results. The scale
such that the solar diameter would measure about 0-6 m.,
or 23-5 inches. The large black portions represent parts
of sun-spots which came within the region photographed.

Although on this scale obvious changes in the size and

is

arrangement of the granules took place in twenty-five
seconds, it was impossible to measure their magnitude, so
Prof.. Hansky intensified the photographs by successive

copying, and finally obtained positives showing portions of
the disc on such a scale that the length of the solar
diameter would be about 6 m. (19-7 feet), that is to say,
1 mm.=o0".32, or 233 km. on the solar surface.

An examination of these positives showed that the
primary desideratum had been attained; the same granules
were recognisable on successive photographs, and the scale
was large enough to enable measurements of the granules
themselves and of their movements to be made. The dis-
placements were measured with the stereo-comparator,

1 “* Photographies de la Granulation solaire faites i Poulkowa.” Ry A.

Hansky.

NO. 1895, VOL. 73]

a ibourit small spot, movement

by the negative, and

and were referred to neig
towards the spot being indicated
away from the spot by the positive The diameter
of the actual sun was taken 1,400,000 km., and on
June 21 this gave 1"=740 km. The mean variation of any
two settings on the same object was and the
probable error for the relative displacement +0"”-10.

The displacements of the granules during the twenty-five
seconds which elapsed between two successive photographs
taken on June were very diverse. In that interval five

Ng, ” a) 48,

sign.
as

+0".712.

25

"dds

of the granules had moved —o

N

Fic. 1.—June25, 1905, sh. 6m. 20s.

and —o".So respectively, which in the mean gave —o".70, or
—518 km., i.e. about —21 km. per second. Ancther group

oO

gave —38 km. per second, whilst for a third the com-
paratively low velocity of —1q km. per second was
recorded.

Comparisons of other photographs showed that some

granules were moving away from the spot with various

velocities, and, as shown by the following figures, it
appeared that the periodic movement of the granules
materially affected the size of the spot. The diameter of
the spot is given for different times on June 2

Fic. 2.—June 25, 1905, 4h. 17m. 15s.

4h. 17m. 15s., 2”-64; 4h.
Sos emsis 15S:
sh. 6m. 20s., 38.

On consecutive photographs taken with an interval of
with

one minute the same granulation was recognised
difficulty, whilst with a three-minute interval the whole
véseau was practically re-arranged beyond recognition,

although in one or two cases it was possible to trace a
granule after this interval, and in two cases it was re-
marked that gemination had taken place.

The dimensions of the granules varied greatly between

402

INA TORE,

[FEBRUARY 22, 1906

670 km. and 2000 km., the mean diameter being 1"-9, or |
about rg400 km. Figs. 2 and 3 illustrate the type of photo-
graph on which the measures were made. ‘These were
taken with an interval of twenty-five seconds, and even
a cursory glance will show that during that time the
arrangement and forms of the granules have altered con-
siderably; on this scale the diameter of the sun would
be about 3 metres.

It seems probable that these researches will lead to most
important conclusions concerning the nature and the perio-
dicity of the changes in the granules themselves, their
influence on the solar spots and facule, and, in general, to
the resolution of many outstanding problems concerning
the nature and action of the photosphere, which are at
present unsolved. Prof. Hansky intends, therefore, to
pursue this line of research, but, as he points out, it will
only be during the comparatively rare moments of atmo-
spheric calm, and with such a powerful equipment as he
now possesses, that fruitful results are likely to be obtained.
In any case, he is to be warmly congratulated upon those
he has already published. W. E. ROLsTON.

PRACTICAL SCIENCE FOR SCHOOLS}

ROF. PERRY said that in the early days of the society,
when he had the honour of acting as a secretary, and
when Guthrie and Foster, Kelvin and Fitzgerald were
presidents, no presidential addresses were delivered, and
he questioned whether we were not overdoing the business
of requiring general addresses, which must almost always
have as their theme the progress of science. Seldom did

we find in such addresses new accounts of important
original work, and he felt the inappropriateness of such
an address in speaking before a society the Proceedings of
which were more intense with original work of the best
kind than any other society known to him with the ex-
ception of the Royal Society. He thought that every young
reader of a paper before a scientific society made the mis-
take of assuming that his audience knew a great deal of
the subject so familiar to himself, and hence his paper
was not understood. Writers of books on physics assume
their readers to be all truly logical students; they use
words properly in a technical sense, and forget that many
of their readers may use them in the newspaper writer’s
sense. For example, take the expression ‘‘ adiabatic ex-
pansion.’’ There are people who insist on finding that
Rankine, Maxwell, and all others of our most exact writers
are not only inconsistent with one another in the use of
the expression, but that each is inconsistent with himself.
If a portion of fluid expands slowly without gain or loss
of heat, we know the way in which its p, v, and ¢ alter as
it changes state; this was originally called ‘* adiabatic
expansion,’’ and the term has become a technical term
for that kind of alteration of p, v, and t, however it may

occur. Steam or air may be throttled through a non-
conducting reducing valve, but the expansion is not
adiabatic, although there is no gain or loss of heat. Steam

or air passing along a pipe with friction, if it can only
be made to lose heat through the metal of the pipe at
exactly the proper rate at every place, is expanding
adiabatically. When it is assumed that steam or air flows
without friction from a vessel through an orifice, it is
said that the expansion is adiabatic although it is rapid.
Referring to the teaching of physics to students entering
upon the engineering profession, the president remarked
that such teaching was nearly always slipshod. Many men
enter a science college at the age of eighteen or more,
knowing nothing of physical science. In the case of a
great percentage of such men, it is impossible that they
should acquire the scientific habit of thought. It is be-
cause so much of this kind of material is dealt with that
much of our teaching is slipshod. Every pupil entering
a science college ought to have been experimenting and
working graphically and numerically on physical science
problems from a very early age, and then our science
classes would deal with them in a scientific way. The
causes of the unfitness of the average student are two: one
that his instincts and habits of thought were not trained

1 Abstract of the presidential address delivered before the Physical
Society on February g, by Prof. J. Perry, F.R.S.

NO. 1895, VOL. 73]

from early youth; the other that his teachers in science
colleges have absurd and uninteresting courses of study
for him. In physics we are dealing with ideas which are
not familiar to young students, ideas which can only be-
come familiar in the laboratory. For example, such a
simple mathematical idea as that of a decimal cannot be
given in elementary schools in less than five or six years,
whereas one week of weighing and measuring would give
young children familiarity and clear ideas about decimals.
Numerous examples could be given to prove that the prin-
ciples of physics cannot be understood unless there has
been early experimental training, and this is the reason
why the professors of science in colleges of university
rank and the professors in technical colleges obtain such
poor reward for their labour. Referring to the many

hundreds who every year take science degrees at the
universities, and the thousands who pass the London
University matriculation examination, Prof. Perry re-

marked that if that was the standard of excellence of
those present, his address could serve no useful purpose.
Nothing ought to be compulsory in schools except the study
of English and of natural science. The object of a
matriculation examination to test whether a_ student
entering a college will be able to benefit by the course
of study there. The only language which ought to be
compulsory in the science department of a university is
English. A professor of science ought to be allowed to
teach his students in the way that seems best to him, and
he should examine his students himself. Hedge him round
with rules and regulations framed by boards of studies ;
tie him down to a syllabus, and the work he will do
might be much better, certainly much more cheaply, done
by a grinder at low wages. There is no one general
elementary course in physics which all students ought to
take; neither by their previous training nor from the uses
which they will make of the principles of physics are they
fit to be taught together. What is wanted is more classes,
more rooms, and more teachers.

1S

THE NEW ORLEANS MEETING OF THE
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION.

HE New Orleans meeting of the American Association
for the Advancement of Science, as stated in our
issue for January 25 (p. 303), began on December 29,
1905, and continued for five days. At a meeting of the
general committee it was decided to hold a special summer
meeting at Ithaca, New York, to close on or before July 3,
1906, and an ordinary winter meeting in New York City to
begin on December 27, 1906. The presidential and vice-
presidential addresses will be omitted at the summer meet-
ing and given at the winter meeting. The officers elected
at the New Orleans meeting will, therefore, hold office
until the close of the New York meeting. Chicago was.
recommended as the place of the winter meeting of 1907.

The following officers were elected for the Ithaca and
New York meetings :—President: Dr. W. H. Welch, Balti-
more, Md. Presidents of sections: A, Dr. Edward Kasner,
New York City; B, Prof. W. C. Sabine, Cambridge,
Mass.; C, Mr. Clifford Richardson, New York City;
D, Mr. W. R. Warner, Cleveland, O.; E, Prof. A. €:
Lane, Lansing, Mich.; F, Prof. E. G. Conklin, Phila-
delphia, Pa.; G, Dr. D. T. MacDougall, Washingte
D.C.; H, Prof. Hugo Miinsterberg, Cambridge, Mass. :
I, Mr. Chas. A. Conant, New York City; K, Dr. Simo>
Flexner, New York City. General secretary: Mr. John F.
Hayford, Washington, D.C. Secretary of council: Presi-
dent F. W. McNair, Houghton, Mich.

The following resolutions were adopted by the associ-
ation :—(1) That the association instructs its president and
secretary to communicate to the president of the Senate
and to the speaker of the House of Representatives of
the United States its strong conviction that Niagara Falls
should be preserved as a natural wonder, and further
expressing the earnest hope that the congress now in
session will take prompt and energetic action looking
toward an international consideration of the impending
danger to Niagara Falls. (2) An Appalachian Forest
Reserve.—That the association again respectfully calls
attention to the rapid rate at which the forests of the

FEBRUARY 22, £906]

NATURE

403

Appalachian Mountain region are being destroyed, and to
the fact that, as a result of such destruction, the streams
tributary to the Mississippi, as well as those flowing into
fhe South Atlantic, are becoming continuously more
irregular in their flow, and hence of less value for navi-
gation and power purposes. (3) That the association re-
spectfully petitions the Congress of the United States to
make such provision as may be necessary for the protec-
tion of these mountain forests.

The following -grants were made at this meeting of the
association :—4ol. to Messrs. Parsons, Kinnicutt, and
Venable to assist in the publication of Prof. Parsons’s
‘* pibliography of Beryllium,’ and 2o0l. to “* The Concilium
Bibliographicum Zoologicum.”’

The committee on electrochemistry reported as follows :—
A study has been made of the behaviour of platinum and
iridium in chlorine water and in dilute hydrochloric acid.
Smooth platinum foil brought about no evolution of gas
even after standing 168 hours in chlorine water. In pre-
cisely similar circumstances an iridium foil caused an
evolution of 44-4 [? c.c.] of gas, 55 per cent. of which was
oxygen. The oxygen results from the reaction

Cl,+H,O=2HCl+0,

while the chlorine came from the solution, the original
vapour pressure having been about half an atmosphere.
This series of experiments showed that iridium was a
more powerful catalytic agent than platinum. A number
of electrolytic experiments were made with hydrochloric
acid of different concentrations. In all cases more oxygen
was evolved from the iridium anode than from the platinum
anode. The question as to the final equilibrium is still in
doubt.

The Popular Conception of the Scientific Man at the
Present Day.}

The traditional scientific man has disappeared almost as
completely as the traditional Yankee of the stage. The
change came gradually, but the proof that it had come
was brought before us suddenly. In 1902 there was called
in New York a meeting of those who were designated
by the picturesque expression captains of industry. To
that meeting representatives of science were invited, not
as lions to be stared at, but to sit with the leaders of the
industrial and commercial world as representatives of
science, and not only of applied science, but of pure science.
As the captains of industry ‘were supposed to be men of
force in organising and to have a keen insight into men
and things, we had a right to feel that science was
honoured, perhaps not more than ever before, but for a
reason for which it had not been honoured before in the
United States. The fact that since that date the reputation
of some of the captains of industry has suffered an eclipse
does not alter the fact that to be considered a captain of
industry was, in the eyes of the public, enviable. The
conception of a scientific man as a captain of industry
means simply the acknowledgment that science has a prac-
tical relation to the world, and that fortunately the public
have advanced far enough to see, although perhaps some-
what dimly, that pure science sooner or later develops into
applied science. The leaders of science are to be placed
in the class of organisers, managers of a sort of scientific
trust. This is science up to date, and the public are
right when they regard science as an organisation. But
they are only partly right. There is a good deal more
than that in science, and, although good managers and
directors are necessary, it is true that the power of organ-
ising and the power of investigating are two different
things, and often exist in inverse ratio to each other, and
it is the latter which is at the basis of science. An
organiser is of no use until there is something to organise,
and the materials on which the organiser in science must
work are not made by machinery, but by the brains of
individual workers, and it is important that they should be
placed under the most favourable conditions for work. If
hitherto there has been perhaps too little organisation,
there is a danger that in the future there may be too
much. In a mill many men are doing the same kind of
work, but in science one man should not duplicate the work
of another. The object of organisation in the one case is

1 From the address of Prof. W. G. Farlow, president of the Association.

NO. 1895, VOL. 73]

to secure uniformity of product, in the other to encourage
diversity of work.

The ways in which the public may aid scientific men
are directly by endowments for paying salaries and in-
directly by providing properly equipped laboratories and
other necessary equipment, and especially for paying for
the services of assistants. Both forms of help are neces-
sary, for a man capable of managing and getting the
greatest amount of good work out of a well equipped
establishment deserves more than a meagre salary. On
the other hand, those with what appears to be a respect-
able salary may have to spend a good part of it to make
good the deficiencies in their equipment. In deciding
whether a man is well paid or not, it is necessary to ask
not only what salary he receives, but what are the means
of work provided for him. It is not my intention here
to direct attention to the special ways in which scientific
establishments would be benefited by gifts from the public
nor to discuss the question what is a proper salary for a
scientific man. ‘The latter depends upon to6 many com-
plicated conditions, and cannot be separated from the more
general question of what those in equally important posi-
tions in other walks of life are paid. The question of
proper equipment, including the question of assistants,
has already been brought before the public on a good many
occasions and in a good many ways, and a good deal has
been given in recent years, although by no means enough.

If, as it appears, the public have reached a better con-
ception of the position of the scientific man and of his
pecuniary needs, it may be added that he has the right to
hope that he can appeal to the public not only for
pecuniary, but for moral support, for, in many cases, the
public are the final arbiters where differences arise, and
unfavourable conditions often disappear quickly as soon
as it is felt that one side or the other is backed by public
opinion. It may, therefore, be well to state somewhat
explicitly some of the conditions which are unfavourable to
the progress of science in the United States or which tend
to retard it. Here it is not so much a question of money
as of a just appreciation of the true position of scientific
men in their relation to those for whom their work is
undertaken. That work, using a rough classification, may
be considered as that done in technical and commercial
concerns, that done for the Government, and that done in
universities, including under that general term all colleges,
scientific schools, and similar institutions which have a
permanent endowment of some kind.

The Relation of Mechanics to Physics.

We find the physicists of the beginning of the nine-
teenth century still very strongly attached to the idea that
all natural phenomena not only may, but must, be ex-
plained on the basis of Newton’s laws~ by central forces
acting instantaneously at a distance. Newton’s mechanics
had done such admirable service in astronomy that it had
come to be regarded as the only possible means of de-
scribing and discussing the actions of nature. The gradual
abandonment of this position and the change to the modern
view, according to which all actions in nature are trans-
mitted through a continuous medium and require time for
their transmission, was accomplished only after a long
struggle that occupied the greater part of the nineteenth
century.

It is well known how the ideas of Faraday, of Maxwell,
of Hertz, gradually gained ascendency over the older views
and led to the abandonment of the idea of central forces
acting instantaneously at a distance, in almost all branches
of physics except in the theory of gravitation. It is also
known that Maxwell, by a brilliant analysis, succeeded in
establishing the connection between his electromagnetic
theory and the analytical mechanics of Lagrange. Thus, at
the end of the nineteenth century we find a general
attitude toward physical phenomena essentially different
from that prevailing at the end of the eighteenth century.

With the rise of the electron theory in the course of the
last twenty-five years a new element has been introduced

1 From the address of Prof. Alexander Ziwet, president of Section A,
| Mathematics and Astronomy.
; 2 See, however, Laplace, ‘‘Mécanique Ceéleste,” livre i., chap. vi.
(‘‘CEuvres,” vol. i., 1878, pp. 74-79), a passage to which E_ and F,
Cosserat have recently directed attention.

404

into this development, an element which seems destined
to affect very radically, not only our interpretation of
physical phenomena, but also our general views about the
principles of theoretical mechanics.

There seem to be two things underlying all the pheno-
mena in the physical world—the ether and matter. To
attain the unification of physical science, shall we consider
the ether as a particular kind of matter? Or shall matter
be interpreted electromagnetically? The older mechanics
dealt exclusively with matter; and when it first became
necessary to introduce the ether, this new medium was
often endowed with properties very much like those of

matter. The hydrodynamic analogy by which the apparent
mass of the moving charge was interpreted illustrates
this tendency. The physics of the ether has, however,

reached so full a development that the properties of the
ether are now known far more definitely than those of
matter. These properties are contained implicitly in the
fundamental equations of Maxwell and Hertz which in
their essential features are adopted in the electron theory
of Lorentz.

It is now pretty generally recognised that Newton's
““laws of motion,’’ including his definition of ‘‘ force,’’
are not unalterable laws of thought, but merely arbitrary
postulates assumed for the purpose of interpreting natural
phenomena in the most simple and adequate manner.
Unfortunately, nature is not very simple. ‘* As the eye
of the night-owl is to the light of the sun, so is our mind
to the most common phenomena of nature,’’ says Aristotle.
And if since Newton’s time we have made some progress
in the knowledge of physics, it is but reasonable to con-
clude that the postulates which appeared most simple and
adequate two hundred vears ago cannot be regarded as
such at the present time.

This does not mean, of course, that the mechanics of
Newton has lost its value. The case is somewhat parallel
to that of the postulates of geometry. Just as the abandon-
ment of one or the other of the postulates of Euclidean
geometry leads to a more generai geometry which contains
the old geometry as a particular, or limiting, case, so the
abandonment or generalisation of some of the postulates
of the older mechanics must lead to a more general
mechanics. The creation of such a generalised mechanics
is a task for the immediate future. It is perhaps too early
to say at present what form this new non-Newtonian
mechanics will ultimately assume. Generalisation is always
possible in a variety of ways. In the present case, the
object should be to arrive at a mechanics, on the one hand
sufficiently general for the electron theory, on the other
such as to include the Newtonian mechanics as a special
case.

After the searching criticism to which Poincaré, especially
in his St. Louis address,t in 1904, has subjected the
foundations of mechanics and mathematical physics, almost
the only one of the fundamental principles that appears to
remain intact is the principle of least action. It seems,
therefore, natural to take this principle as the starting
point for a common foundation of mathematical physics
and of a generalised mechanics, but with a broader defini-
tion of ‘‘ action,’’ or what amounts to the same, with a
generalised conception of ‘‘ mass’’ so as to make the
latter a function of the velocity.

The Partition of Energy.*

The general theorem which I wish to discuss may be
stated by saying that the kinetic energy of the body is
so distributed among the degrees of freedom, by which
the state of the body as a dynamical system is described,
that an equal share is, on the average, allotted to each
degree of freedom of each type of molecule.

The questions which have always been raised about
this important theorem of the kinetic theory at once come
to our minds. First, is the theorem true, or rather, does
it state what would be true for an ideal system of particles
moving freely within a containing vessel? second, is the
proof of the theorem impeccable? third, is there any ex-
perimental evidence that it applies to real bodies?

1 “Bulletin des sciences mathématiques”’ (2), 23, pp. 302-324; English
translation in the Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society, vol.
xill., February, 1906.

* From the address of Prof. W. F. Magie, president of Section B, Physics.

NO T3805, VOL. 7.31]

INA TRO Fer

[FEBRUARY 22, 1906

I would remark about the first question that the theorem
is so distinguished by its simplicity, and by its aspect as a
sort of unifying principle in nature, that few men can set
it fairly before their minds without at least desiring to.
believe it true. Most of those who have recognised that
Maxwell’s original demonstration was not flawless are still
convinced of the truth of his conclusion, or at least believe
his conclusion to be so probable as to make it worth
while to try for a more accurate demonstration. Their
state of mind is like that of Clausius and of Lord Kelvin,
when they perceived that Carnot’s theorem respecting the
efficiency of a reversible engine could not be proved in the
way in which Carnot tried to prove it.

With respect to the second question, it was very soon
pointed out that Maxwell had made in his proof an
assumption that could not be justified by immediate in-
spection, and which was itself in need of demonstration
or of avoidance. The later demonstrations of Maxwell and
Boltzmann have been likewise subjected to criticism, and
can be shown to involve assumptions that will not be
granted on inspection. The difficulties that arise in these
proofs come from the necessity of applying in them the
calculus of probabilities, and centre around the question
of the legitimacy of the application of that calculus. It
is commonly agreed that Maxwell and Boltzmann have
assumed a condition of the system of moving particles, as
a requisite for the application of the calculus of prob-
abilities, which is contradicted by many systems of which
we have certain knowledge, and cannot without proof be
admitted as likely to obtain in other systems, about which
less is known. In the method employed by Jeans the
application of the calculus of probabilities is made in a
different manner, and does not necessitate the introduction
of the hypothesis of Maxwell and Boltzmann. It seems to
me that, in this last form of the theory, the difficulties
which have environed the subject have at last been
mastered.

In respect to the third question, that concerning the
experimental evidence for the truth of the theorem, it is
well known that, in general, Boyle’s law follows as a
consequence of the general principles of the kinetic theory,
that Gay-Lussac’s law is an immediate consequence of a
relation plausibly assumed between temperature and the
kinetic energy of the molecule, that the motion of the radio-
meter and the Jaws of transpiration and many other
properties of gases can be deduced from the general theory,
and, in particular, that Avogadro’s law follows from the
simplest form of che theorem of equipartition. But further
proof of this theorem in its general form is still needed.
Such proof as we have will be discussed in this address.

Considering the bearing of the relations that have been
adduced upon the general question of the equipartition of
energy, it seems to me that their general consistency with
that principle, especially the way in which the heat
capacities of the organic compounds can be portioned out
among the atoms by means of simple assumptions about
their degrees of freedom, does afford some confirmation of
the principle. Mere chance can hardly account for so
large a number of successful coincidences.

The Sanitary Value of a Watery Analysis.»

Though much valuable information can be obtained front
the careful study of the nitrogen content of a water, the
water analyst does not depend alone upon these factors
in forming an opinion as to the source of the organic
matter, and turns to other chemical as well as to bacteriat
data to substantiate or modify the opinion thus formed.
From the chemical point of view the most important of
these data is the combined chlorine that a water contains.
This is due to the fact that though chloride of sodiunt
occurs in rain-water, especially near the sea, and in small
amounts is found in all soils, it is a characteristic con-
stituent of sewage, the animal body expelling the same
amount of salt as it absorbs.

A careful study of the amount of combined chlorine in
normal waters, made by Prof. Thomas M. Drown, showed
that in Massachusetts, where salt-bearing strata do not
occur, the amount of chlorine in a surface water depended
on its distance from the sea, and that for Massachusetts

1 From the address of Prof. Leonhard P. Kinnicutt, president of Sectior
C, Chemistry.

FEBRUARY 22, 1906]

it was possible to establish normal chlorine, or, as they
are commonly called, iso-chlor lines.

The work begun by Prof. Drown has been carried on
by other investigators, and to-day the iso-chlor lines for
all the New England States and New Yori and New Jersey
have been determined. The result of this work is that
the amount of chlorine occurring in the surface waters of
the above named States gives most valuable information.
Chlorine above the normal of the region shows pollution.
It does not indicate whether the pollution is direct or
indirect, but does show that sewage, from which the
organic matter and the germs of disease may or may not
have been removed by filtration through soil, has had
access to the water. Chlorine above the normal is, there-
fore, always a suspicious sign which must be investigated.
I know that it is claimed that in many of the western
States, owing to geological conditions, very little inform-
ation can be obtained from the determination of chlorine.
I believe, however, more careful and thorough work is
necessary to prove that such is the case, and that further
investigation may show that though it is impossible to
construct iso chlor lines running through the State, the
normal chlorine of different localities in a State can often
be determined.

Another factor that is often used in the attempt to decide
whether or not a water contains an excessive amount of
organic matter is the oxygen consumed. The oxygen con-
sumed is not, however, a measure of the organic matter
in a water, but only a measure of the amount of mineral
reducing salts plus a certain amount of the organic matter,
the amount depending on the method of determination used.
It gives, in my opinion, very little information as to the
character of the organic matter, and is only valuable when
different surface waters are to be compared with each
other, or when used in filtration experiments.

The same may be said as regards colour, turbidity, and
the amount of mineral matter that a surface water con-
tains, that, though of essential importance in deciding on
the value of a normal water as a potable water, they give
fittle information as to pollution.

In the early days of bacteriology it was claimed that the
final criterion as to pollution of a water would be furnished
by aid of that science, and though this hope has not been
fulfilled, the information that can be gained by a bacterial
analysis is often of the highest importance. It not only
aids in the interpretation of the chemical data, but may
of itself show, almost without question, that a given water
is polluted, for though attempts to isolate special patho-
genic germs have generally failed, even in waters known
to contain these forms, characteristic sewage forms, like
the colon bacillus, can be isolated if they occur in any
number in a water. Occurrence of numerous characteristic
sewage bacteria can point only to one thing, pollution, and
if such forms are found there is no question that the water
receives sewage drainage. Bacteriology, however, cannot
determine, except very roughly, the amount of pollution
or the present condition of the polluting matter, nor does
it give but very little, if any, information as to past pollu-
tion. If the pollution is recent and of any considerable
amount, a careful bacterial examination will show the
fact, and probably better and more convincingly than any
chemical analysis. If the pollution is more remote, more
information can, as a rule, be drawn from chemical than
from bacterial data. If the polluting matter has filtered
through the soil before entering the water, bacterial work
will not indicate the fact.

As a general statement, it may be said that a bacterial
analysis, while: giving information as regards recent and
continuous pollution, gives no information as to the past
history of a water, and in this respect differs from a
sanitary chemical analysis.

To form a judgment as to the wholesomeness of a
water, the data of a sanitary water analysis, the source
of the water, whether surface, ground, or artesian, must
be known; a survey, even of a surface water, though
it may show whether or not the water is polluted, does
not give information regarding the amount or condition of
the polluting matter; with ground and artesian waters
it often gives very little information, and an_ opinion
regarding the character of such waters must, as a rule,
depend on the sanitary analysis.

NO. 1895, VOL. 73|

WATURE

405

The Generic Concept in the Classification of the
Flowering Plants.+

The difficulties of classifying plants in a really natural
and logical way are somewhat increased by the involuntary
and well-nigh necessary admission of a certain historic
element into our systems. There is another source of
this artificiality, besides the temptation to allow poor genera
to stand, on the ground of long usage. The relation of a
genus to its name is a matter which exerts no small in-
fluence in this regard. The attempt to determine which
ot several names is to be retained for a given genus con-
stantly forces us to consider the historic basis on which
the genus rests, and to attach its name to some species
or group of species to which it was first applied, to deter-
mine, in other words, what was the type of the genus, and
to maintain the genus in such a way that it may always
be true to its type. While sympathising to a considerable
extent with those botanists who desire to place our nomen-
clature upon a more secure basis by attaching the names
to recognised types, I feel that the methods employed will
have to be very cautiously applied, or they will tend
greatly to increase the artificial element in our system.
The historic type is not a natural thing; it is merely that
particular form of plant life which was, often quite by
accident, first discovered and, therefore, first received the
name which it bears. Later discoveries often show that
this first species of a genus is by no means of a typical,
or, as one may say, central character. It is often quite
peripheral, perhaps even an aberrant or outlying member
of the group to which it belongs. However important the
historic type may be in nomenclature, it is obvious that
it is of no particular significance in classification, and any
employment of the type method in the determination of
proper names must not on any account be permitted to
exercise any influence in classification. The word type
itself is decidedly unfortunate as thus applied to what is
often very far from being typical. In this as in some
other phases of taxonomy it is of the greatest importance
to keep it clearly in mind that nomenclature, although very
necessary to classification, is a thing wholly apart from
the classification itself. It is, furthermore, quite evident
that nomenclature should be subservient to classification,
and that the clearness and accuracy of classification should
never be sacrificed in order to give beauty or symmetry
to any system of nomenclature.

The limitation of genera has always in the past rested
on individual judgment, and it must continue to do so in
the future. Although the genera of the flowering plants
have now been scientifically studied for about two cen-
turies, there is at present in America, at least, a degree
of diversity in their interpretation which is rather dis-
couraging. It is disheartening because it is impossible to
see in it any real progress toward a well rounded and
satisfying system, which will win the confidence of the
professional botanist, give uniform training to the student,

and command the respect of our colleagues in other
branches of science. From this, I think that it is per-

fectly clear that botanical systematists have certain im-
perative duties in regard to this subject. These duties are,
in the first place, great caution in making changes, and,
in the second place, a feeling of obligation, when these
changes seem necessary, to state the reasons for them so
clearly and forcibly that they will appeal to all thoughtful
and discriminating workers in the same field. The burden
of proof should always rest upon the writer suggesting
the change.

What we need in botanical classification is a series of
constants, a number of graded categories which can be
generally endorsed and properly respected. Standards as
definite as those of the physicist are, of course, quite
unattainable in dealing with the variable and often inter-
grading groups of organic creation. But where absolute
accuracy and uniformity are impossible, we should the
more diligently seek to preserve such standards as exist.
As has been pointed out, there are but few families of
flowering plants which have not been comprehensively
treated by monographers who, so far as their particular
group was concerned, have been in a position to see pretty

1 From the address o: Prof. B. L. Robinson, president of Section G,
Botany.

406

NATURE

[ FEBRUARY 22, 1906

clearly where it was best to draw generic lines. While it
must be admitted that there are many minor differences
in the generic concepts exhibited in the scholarly and
monumental works to which I here refer, yet they establish
a good usage, which on the whole has a_ considerable
measure of uniformity, and goes far to establish the rank
of such categories as genus, species, and variety.

Let me urge that, while we remit no effort to secure
further light on this subject, there should be a general
agreement to treat the accepted and traditional interpret-
ation of large and important genera as sacred and bind-
ing until we can furnish definite and convincing evidence
that change is needful, and that for the welfare and
dignity of our science all should unite in opposing changes
of the artificial sort, which consist merely in the shifting
of ranks and modification of standards.

Investigations and Commercial Tests in Connection with
the Work of an Engineering College.'

In any school it is necessary, in securing the best
efficiency in instruction, that the professors shall be able
to speak with authority on the subjects which they teach.
In technical schools those who teach the practical engineer-
ing subjects cannot speak with authority unless they have
had practical experience. Investigations and commercial
tests may serve to give them this practical experience, and
the question naturally arises, Is it a good policy for pro-
fessors to conduct such work in connection with their
regular college duties?

Let us consider the various ways in which a_ professor
in an engineering school may acquire the practical experi-
ence which is necessary in his work.

First, he may be called to a professorship from the
practical field.

Second, after teaching for a time and finding how neces-
sary a practical experience is in his work, he may turn to
the practical field, and then return to teaching.

Third, he may undertake practical work in connection
with his college duties, and gain his experience in this
way.

Each method possesses its own advantages and dis-
advantages. Starting with the first, it must be admitted
that many of our best instructors have entered the teach-
ing line after they have had experience in the practical
field. Such a man has an advantage in being able to
make use of this experience immediately, when he starts
at his teaching work. There is a disadvantage, how-
ever, in the fact that should he have secured a mature
experience in the practical field, he will necessarily be no
longer a young man, and it may be hard for him to teach
and properly to adapt himself to the theoretical part of
his course.

The advantages of the second system of securing a
practical experience, where the professor leaves the teach-
ing field, takes up outside work, and then returns to
teaching, are that during his practical career he will be
very much alive to the points he should look into, and,
furthermore, if he returns to teaching he will possess the
advantage of having experience both as a teacher and as
a practical engineer.

We will now take up the third method, where a
fessor obtains his practical experience by conducting
side work in connection with his college duties.
outside work undertaken by a professor should be
of a scientific or strictly engineering type.

The advantage to a college in having its professors do
research and outside work is that what reflects to the
credit of the professor will reflect to the credit of the
college. Furthermore, the college will be looked to as a
source from which an unbiased opinion can be obtained,
and in maintaining this standard it will be fulfilling a high
and useful mission. The results of the investigations may
be made the subjects of scientific papers to be read before
the various societies, and any reputation that a professor
gains in this way will benefit his college.

The day is past when there can be a strict line drawn
between the work of the consulting engineer and that of
the professor who teaches in the same field. The ideal

1 From the address of Prof. D. S. Jacobus, president of Section D,
Mechanical Science and Engineering.

NO. 1895, VOL. 73]

pro-
out-
The
that

professor in a given line should be able to take up the
work of the consulting engineer in that line, and the ideal
consulting engineer should possess enough technical know-
ledge to fit him for being a professor. There should be
no jealousy, but rather a bond of friendship in that the
fundamentals which each should master are the same.

UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL
INTELLIGENCE.

Oxrorp.—The results of a census undertaken each year
by the Magazine show that there are 2722 undergraduates
actually in residence this term, as compared with 2621 in
Hilary term, 1905. The increase is probably due to the
Rhodes scholars and to the fact that a larger proportion
of undergraduates now complete three years of residence
than was the case a few years back. The three largest
colleges are Christ Church, New College, and Balliol, with
211, 210, and 181 members in residence.

A long vacation course in geography will be held in
Oxford between August 7 and 25, provided that sufficient
names are sent to the Reader in Geography, Old Ashmo-
lean Building, Oxford, by June 1. The course will include
lectures and demonstrations in the School of Geography,
and surveying and map-drawing in the field.

At a meeting of the Junior Scientific Club, held on
Wednesday, February 14, at the museum, papers were
read by Prof. Miers on ‘‘ Spontaneous Crystallisation,”’
and by Mr. C. G. E. Farmer on *‘ The Use of Finely
Divided Metals in Organic Chemistry.”

CaMmbBrRIDGE.—The regulations for the diploma in mining
engineering were passed by the Senate last Thursday.
Among the chief of these regulations is that the candidate
may take such parts of the natural sciences tripos and of
the special examination in mechanism and applied sciences
as bear upon the subject of mining engineering, or a
candidate may take honours in the mechanical sciences
tripos. Details of the examination and the schedules in
the art of mining and in metallurgy will be found in the
Cambridge University Reporter for December 5, 1905.

The Smith’s prizes for 1904 have been adjudged as
follows, the names being in alphabetical order :—C. F.
Russell, Pembroke, for his essay on ‘‘ The Geometrical

Interpretation of Apolar Binary Forms”; F. J. M.
Stratton, Gonville and Caius College, for his essay on
‘“A Problem in Tidal Evolution Suggested by the Motion
of Saturn’s Ninth Satellite.”’

Mr. J. W. Nicholson, of Trinity College, has been
elected to the Isaac Newton studentship in astronomy and
physical optics, of the value of 2501. for one year, for study
and research in astronomy.

Mr. R. H. Rastall, late scholar of Christ’s College,
Harkness scholar in 1903, has been elected to a junior
fellowship at Christ’s College. Mr. Rastall has worked
chiefly in the Geological Museum at Cambridge, and has
written on the Blea Wyke beds of Yorkshire and on
‘““The Buttermere and Ennerdale Granophyre’’ of Lake-
land.

Dr. C. H. Lees, lecturer in physics and assistant director
of the physical laboratories of the University of Man-
chester, has been appointed professor of physics at the
East London College.

Tue King’s Speech, read by His Majesty at the opening
of Parliament on Monday, promised that, at the earliest
possible moment, a Bill would be introduced ‘‘ for amend-
ing the existing law with regard to education in England
and Wales.”’

Tue Lancashire County Education Committee has re-
commended the council to make a grant of tool. a year
to the fund for the establishment of a department in
economic botany in the University of Liverpool. The cost
of the proposed department has in consequence now been
completely guaranteed.

Tuer Senate of the University of St. Andrews has resolved
to confer the following honorary degrees, among others, at
the graduation ceremonial on April 3:—LL.D., Dr.
A. C. L. G. Gunther, F.R.S., in appreciation of his life-
long and distinguished labours in zoology, Prof. J. C.
Wilson, Oxford, and Prof. A. H. Young, Manchester.

FEBRUARY 22, 1906]

INNATE OLE

407

AN open competitive examination for not fewer than
twelve situations as assistant examiner in the Patent Office
will be held by the Civil Service Commissioners in April
next. The examination will commence on April 23, and
forms of application for admission to it are now ready for
issue, and may be obtained on request addressed by letter
to the secretary, Civil Service Commission, Burlington
Gardens, London, W.

At the annual conference of the Labour Representation
Committee held on February 16 considerable discussion
took place on the following resolution :—‘‘ That this con-
ference condemns the educational policy of the Govern-
ment as laid down in the Act of 1902, and demands the
formulation of an educational programme based upon the
principle of equal opportunities for all, such programme
to aim at securing—(1) that immediate provision be made
for giving at least one free meal per day to all school
children; (2) that all grades of education shall be free
and State maintained; (3) that all education shall be
free, and that secondary and technological education be
placed within the reach of every child by the granting of
bursaries or maintenance scholarships to all children whose
usefulness would be enhanced by such extended education ;
further, that adequate provision be made for children to
continue at school until the age of sixteen years, or until
such age as the university course begins; (4) that provision
be made to continue the education of capable students
through the university courses; (5) that the standard of
capacity shall be judged by work previously accomplished,
and not by competitive examination; (6) that the education
in all State-supported schools shall be secular; (7) that all
State-supported schools shall be under the control of and
their affairs administered by the directly elected represent-
atives of the people; (8) that each educational district
shall be required to train the number of pupil teachers
demanded by local needs, and for this purpose to establish
training colleges, preferably in connection with universities
or university colleges; (9) that the cost of the above-
mentioned reforms shall be borne by the National Ex-
chequer out of revenue obtained through broadening the
basis of taxation, and by the restoration and democratic
administration of valuable misappropriated educational
charities and endowments.’’ ‘‘ This conference, therefore,
instructs the committee (or such body as may be appointed
for the purpose) to draft a Bill embodying the principle
of the said resolution, with a view to the Labour group
introducing it early into Parliament.’’ A division having
been taken, the result was declared as _ follows :—
817,000 votes for the resolution and 76,000 for its rejec-
tion. The resolution was therefore carried. In view of
the growing importance of the labour interest, it is satis-
factory and gratifying to find a large and representative
body of labour delegates appreciating the fact that the
future welfare of the country is closely bound up with the
provision of a rational system of national education.

Tue publication on February 19 of a correspondence
between Mr. A. H. D. Acland, formerly Minister of
Education, and Mr. Birrell, President of the Board of
Education, is gratifying evidence that at last something
is to be done in the direction of providing adequate
Exchequer grants for English secondary education. Mr.
Birrell, in reply to a series of suggestions made by Mr.
Acland, announces that provision is to be made in the
Estimates for this year for a considerable increase of the
Exchequer grants (1) in aid of secondary schools; (2) to
alleviate the burden now placed upon local authorities in
respect of the education of teachers; and (3) to assist
further the building of training colleges for teachers by
the local authorities. _How much higher education in
this country has suffered from the inadequate education
of boys in our secondary schools, which, through want
of funds, are too often under- and inefficiently staffed and
equipped, has been pointed out in these columns with
patient persistence. It is earnestly to be hoped that the
findings of the Royal Commission on Secondary Education
of ten years ago will now be considered seriously, and a
statesmanlike attempt made to secure for the pupils
in whose hands our future success as a manufacturing
nation lies, a rational and complete secondary education
which will enable them to take proper advantage of

NO. 1895, VOL. 73]

higher technical instruction. The promise that local
education authorities are to be helped—in a degree com-
mensurate with modern needs—in the pressing work of
supplying more training college accommodation is heartily
to be welcomed. The proportion of fully trained teachers
in our elementary schools is at present scandalously low ;
and this is due primarily to the fact that until quite
recently the only training colleges were those built—with
the aid of special State grants like that of 1835—by the
National and the British and Foreign School Societies, and
supported largely by Government grants on each teacher
in training. Though in recent years the work of day
training departments in connection with university colleges
has improved the facilities for the training of teachers,
much yet remains to be accomplished if English elementary
education is to take advantage of modern educational
enlightenment. Local education authorities, with their
knowledge of local needs, will be in a position, when helped
by the promised Treasury grants, to start the much needed
provision of more colleges where teachers may become
acquainted with the principles upon which successful teach-
ing must be based. In carrying out this important work,
the need of training for secondary school teachers must
not be forgotten. Most masters in secondary schools
begin their work knowing only what to teach, and nothing
of how to teach.

SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES-
LONDON.

Royal Society, January 25.—‘‘On the Effect of High
Temperatures on Radium Emanation.’” By W. Makower.
Communicated by Prof. Arthur Schuster, F.R.S.

(1) The activity of radium emanation in radio-active
equilibrium with its products A, B, and C, is changed by
heating above 1000° C.

(2) The effect increases with the temperature’ up to
1200° C., and possibly beyond this temperature.

(3) The effect increases with the time of heating for
about the first hour, but subsequent heating is without
effect.

Paris.

Academy of Sciences, February 12.—M. H. Poincaré in
the chair.—Some properties of the a rays emitted by
radium and by bodies rendered active by radium: Henri
Becquerel. Some experiments of Prof. Rutherford
recently published have led the author to repeat some of
his earlier work on the deviation of the radium rays. In
the present paper full details are given of the strength
of the magnetic field, and the dimensions and arrangement
of the apparatus. As a result, M. Becquerel definitely
rejects the interpretation deduced by him from his earlier
experiments and the hypothesis of an increase in the radius
of curvature along the trajectory, and accepts the explan-
ation of Prof. Rutherford, all the measurements confirming
the existence of a reduced velocity for the a rays when
traversing a leaf of aluminium. There is no difference
in the behaviour of a rays arising from radium salts or
from bodies rendered active by the emanation.—The
internal pressure of fluids and the equation of Clausius:
E. H. Amagat.—Some lemmas relating to quasi-waves of
shock: P. Duhem.—Observation of the eclipse of the
moon of February 9, 1906, made at the Observatory
of Paris: P. Satet. Note on the time of contact, with
especial reference to the difference observed between the
photographic and visual observations in different eclipses.
—Observations of the Brooks comet (1906a) made at the
Observatory of Algiers with the 31-8 cm. equatorial: MM.
Rambaud and Sy. Observations on the apparent posi-
tions of the comet and the positions of the comparison
stars were made on January 31 and February 2. On
January 31 the comet had the appearance of a round
nebulosity with an eccentric nucleus, with a lustre compar-
able with: that of a star of the eleventh magnitude.—Observ-
ations of the sun made at the Observatory of Lyons with
the 16 cm. Brunner equatorial during the third quarter
of 1905: J. Guillaume. Fifty-six days were available for
observations during the quarter, the results of which are.
summarised in three tables showing the number of spots,
their distribution in latitude, and the distribution of the
faculae in latitude.—Integral functions: Ed. Maillet.—A

408

NA TORT!

[ FEBRUARY 22, 1906

hyperelliptic Hessian: Louis Remy.—The extinction of a
solitary wave propagated along a horizontal elastic tube:
A. Boulanger.—\ comparison of the time of discharge

in an X-ray tube and of a spark in series with the tube
producing the rays: Bernard Brunhes. Remarks on a
recent paper by M. André Broca, and directing attention

to a paper published by the author in 1900 on the same
subject.—The recombination of the ions in saline vapours :
G. Moreau. The ions of salt vapours, both by their
mobilities and by the values of the coefficient a, for
temperatures between 170° C. and o° C., are intermediate
between the ions of ordinary gases and the large ions due

to the oxidation of phosphorus. Their mass diminishes as
the temperature rises, and in a flame, for the negative
ion, they become comparable with kathodic particles, and,

for the positive ion, with the atom of hydrogen.—Remarks
on the combinations of the rare metals of the cerium group
and on their sulphates: Camille Matignon. A reply to
a claim for priority made by M. Otto Brill.—Calcium
iodomercurates: A, Duboin. These salts are prepared
by alternately adding calcium iodide and mercuric iodide
to water, finishing “with a slight excess of the calcium
salt. The Soiitiony had a density of 2:89 at 16° C., and
three crystalline compounds were isolated from the solution.
—The existence of sulphides of phosphorus: H. Giran.

Various mixtures of phosphorus and sulphur were heated
in sealed tubes to 200° C., and the melting points taken
after solidification. _ The results are given graphically.

The four maximum points correspond exactly to the pro-
portions of sulphur indicated by the sulphides P,S,, P.S,,
P,S,, and PS,.—The preparation and _ properties of
strontium: MM. Guntz and Reederer. Strontium
amalgam is heated in a current of hydrogen until the
whole of the mercury is expelled, strontium hydride re-
maining. This hydride, heated in a vacuum at 1000° C.,
is dissociated, the vapours of strontium being condensed
on a cool tube. The metal thus produced contained
99:43 per cent. of strontium, and was utilised in re-
determining some thermochemical data.—The action of
some esters of some dibasic acids on the halogen-
magnesium’ derivatives of the primary aromatic amines :
F. Bodroux.—The constitution of the sulphates of
chromium: Albert Colson.—The existence of bicarbonates
in mineral waters, and on the supposed anomalies of their
osmotic pressure: L. C. Maillard and Lucien Graux.
For one specimen of mineral water it is shown that the
cryoscopic results are not opposed to the idea of the exist-
ence of bicarbonates in mineral water.—A new mode of
extraction of oil of anise: Ph. Eberhardt. The oil can
be extracted from the leaves as well as the fruit.—The
anti-coagulating power of the blood serum of the lower
animals: J. Sellier. Serum extracted from some fishes
and invertebrates has the power of preventing the coagu-
lation of millk by rennet.—The annelids of the Red Sea:
Ch. Gravier.—The salivary glands of the snail (Helix
pomata): M. Pacaut and P. Vigier.—The mechanism
of the pathological modality special to each organ in the
course of a general disease: A. Charrin.

DIARY OF SOCIETIES.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22.

Rovat Society, at 4.30.—On the Coefficient of Viscous Traction and
its Relation to that of Viscosity: Prof. F. T. Trouton, F.R.S.—
Contributions to our Knowledge of the Poison Plants of Western
Australia. Part I. Cygnine: E. A Mann and Dr. W. H. Ince.

INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8 —Crane Motors and
Controllers: C. W. Hill.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 23.

Roya InsrituTIoN, at 9.—The Internal Architecture of Metals: Prof.
John O. Arnold.
Puvsicat Society, at 5.—A Note on Talbot's Bands: J. Walker.—

Secondary Rén'gen Radiation: C. G. Barkla.—Records of the Differ-
ence of Potential between Railway Lines, and a Suggested Method for

ethe Observation of Earth-Currents and Magnetic Variations: C. W. S.
Crawley and F. B. O. Hawes.

INstTITUTION OF CiviL ENGINEERS, at 8.—The Graphical Determination of
the Deflection of Beams: C. H. Sumner.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 24.

Tue Essex Fiecp Crus (at Essex Museum of Natural History, Stratford
at 6.30.—The Mosses of Essex: a Contribution to the Flora of the
County: F. J. Chittenden. —Mysterious Subsidence at Mucking, Essex.
Miscellaneous Denehole Notes, 1906 : T. V. Holmes.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 26.
Soclnry oF Arts, at 8.—Modern Warships : Sir William White, K C B.

NO. 1895, VOL 73]

Royat GEOGRAPHICAL SociETyY, at 8.30 —Travels on the Boundaries of
Bolivia and Peru; Baron Erland Nordenskjéld.

INSTITUTE OF ACTUARIES, at 5.—On a Form of Spurious Selection
which niay arise when Mortality Tables are Amalgamated: W. Palin
Elderton.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 27.

Roya INSTITUTION, at 5.—Food and Nutiition: Prof. W. Stirling.

ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE, at 8.15.—Anthropological Notes from
Lake Tanganyika: W. A. Cunnington.

InsTITUTION OF CivIL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Adjourned Discussion: A Plea
for Better Country Roads: G. R. Jebb.—Country Roads for Modern
Traffic: J. Kk. Blackwall.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 28.
Society or Arts, at 8.—London Traffic: Captain G. S. C. Swinton

THURSDAY, March 1.

Roya Society, at 4.30.—Prolable Papers: Experimental Inquiry into
the Factors which Determine the Growth and Activity of the Mammary
Glands: Miss J. E. Lane-Claypon and Prof. E. H. Starling, F.R.S.—
The Specificity of the Opsonic Substances in the Blood Serum: Dr. W.
Bulloch and G. YT. Western.—The Internal Anatomy of Stomoxys:
Lieut. F. ‘lulloch.

CHEMICAL SOCIETY, at 8.30.—Studies of Dynamic Pe
Stereoisomeric Halogen Derivatives of Camphor : M. Lowry.

Rovav INnsTiruTION, at 5.—The Physiology of "Pina F. Darwin,
F.R.S.

LINNEAN Society, at 8.—On a New Type of Stem from the Coal-
measures: Dr. D. H. Scott, F.R.S.—-Notes on Some Species of Nereis
in the District of the Thames Estuary: Dr. H. C. Sorby, F.R.S.

Civit AND MECHANICAL ENGINEERS’ Society, at 8.—Coast
Protected by Chain Cable Groynes: R. G. Allanson- Winn.

FRIDAY, Marcu 2. .
Royat INsTITUTION, at 9.—Hippocrates and the Newly Discovered
Health Temple at Cos: Dr. R. Caton.

SATURDAY, Marcu 3.

Part IV.

Lines

Royat INsTiITUTION, at 3.—The Corpuscular ‘Theory of Matter: Prof.
J. J. Thomson, F.R.S.
CONTENTS. PAGE
The Action of Sulphur-Dioxide on Plants. By F.
Escombe Suir fo oe go SIS
Some Side Aspects of Mathematics, By G.H.B.. 386
Two Egg-Bookss (BysR: Ll. . . = cena eG

Our Book Shelf :—
Stillman: ‘‘ Engineering Chemistry: a Manual o.
Quantitative Chemical Analysis for the Use of
Students, Chemists, and Engineers”. - a BOR

Terschak : ‘‘ Die Photographie im Hochgebirg ” Gy ra is iete:
Moore and Paget: ‘‘ The Royal Medical and Chirur-
gical Society of London. Centenary 1805-1905.”

Prof. R. T. Hewlett . eres. S) ois 388
Letters to the Editor :—
Tidal Researches.—R. A. Harris; S. S. H. 388
Atomic Disintegration.—Prof. W. Meigen . . 389
Phosphorescence of Pyro-soda Developer.—T. A.
Vaughton .. 389
Emission of Light by Kanal-strahlen_ Normal to their
Direction.—Dr. J, Stark 389
Inversion-point fof the; Joule-Kelvin Effect. —_Prof.
Alfred\W. Porters) _* - 2 390
A Definition of Temperature. — Geoffrey Martin . 390
Chinese Names of Colours.—Prof. Reginald A.
essenden;/Alired! Sang) oa. | aaa ee OG
Sounding Stones. W. G. Barnett. * s 58300
The Nile Quest. (///ustrated.) By J. W. Gui: 391
The Form of the Atoms in Relation to their
Spectra. By W. A.D. .. ; Bmiokhe 392
The Time of France. By H. P.H. 5 394
The Colombian Earthquake ...... 395
INotesty i (7//ust7aleas) mame) 2) ee 395
Our Astronomical Column ;—
Comet 19062 . 400
Comet 1905¢ . re a aP Hy” Picea 409
The Apparent Enlargement of the Moon at the
Horizon. (//dustrated. ) , 400
Magnetic Observations a the Total Eclipse of the
Sine 1 oe cy sess See ogee CRAOCE
Observations of Jupiter se Reiss 5 Sekar 401
Granulations on the Solar Surface. (Zllustrated.) By
W.E. Rolston . é Meares carci. CO"
Practical Science for Schools. By Prof. J. Perry,
F.R.S. , 402
The New Orleans Meeting of the American ‘Associa.
tion) ee Siegacmecnmecs 25!
University and Educational Intelligence “id fetes, 1s mee
Societies and Academies 407
Diary of Societies ;. 408

NATURE

409

THURSDAY, MARCH 1, 1906.

MATHEMATICAL ASTRONOMY.

The Collected Mathematical Works of George William
Hill. Vol. i. Pp. xviiit+363. (Washington: The
Carnegie Institution, 1905.)

T is a rare mind that can handle the cumbrous

developments of practical astronomy and leave
uppermost with a reader the impression of variety,
ease, and polish; and curiosity will be felt as to the
circumstances which have developed Hill’s remark-
able powers. From an interesting introduction to
the present volume by M. Poincaré we learn that
he spent three years at Rutgers College, New Jersey,
under a certain Dr. Strong. Dr. Strong “ était un
homme de tradition, un laudator temporis acti; pour
lui Euler était le Dieu des Mathématiques, et apres
lui la décadence avait commencé; il est vrai que c’est
1a un dieu que l’on peut adorer avec profit,’’ and if
it led Hill to the study of originals, we may overlook
the depreciation of the moderns. From New Jersey
he went to Cambridge to continue his studies at

Harvard; very soon here, by a paper contributed for

a prize to a mathematical miscellany, he attracted

the notice of Runkle, the editor, who was Newcomb’s

predecessor at the office of the American Ephemernis.

Hill became attached to the Ephemeris as computer,

and remained in discharge of these duties for thirty- |

two years. At first he worked at his own home, as
was then the custom; but under Newcomb’s manage-
ment, and in order to complete his theory and tables
of Jupiter and Saturn he lived for some years at
Washington, incessantly absorbed in his task. ‘‘ The
only defect of his make-up of which I have reason
to complain,’? Newcomb has written, ‘is the lack of
the teaching faculty.” In 1892 he withdrew to the
little farm where his boyhood was passed, and where
he still lives, asking nothing but the liberty to con-
tinue his labours.

The present volume carries us up to 1881, and
includes most, but by no means all, of his best known
papers. The essay which attracted Runkle’s notice
is No. 3, ‘‘On the Conformation of the Earth,’’ and
was written at the age of twenty-three. It is perhaps
not of any permanent importance, yet it is marked by
the clearness and the firm hand of his later writings
and the same salutary determination that theory
should give an account of itself arithmetically. It is
natural to compare it with Stokes’s memoir ‘‘ On the
Variation of Gravity,’’ written some twelve years
before, when he also was a young man, and the
comparison shows strikingly how Stokes the
physicist and Hill the analyst.

The two great memoirs ‘by which Hill is best
known are No. 29, ‘‘On the Part of the Motion of
the Lunar Perigee which is a Function of the Mean
Motions of the Sun and Moon,”’ and No. 32, ‘‘ Re-
searches in the Lunar Theory.’? These writings have
been greatly praised, but it seems impossible to praise
them too highly, whether for their difficulties or the
way these are overcome, or the greatness of the

NO. 1896, VOL. 73]|

is

advance which their solution implies. The latter
paper was the first which threw any real light upon
the general problem of three bodies, and it is well
worth notice how large a part arithmetic plays in its
success. The analysis is pregnant in the extreme,
but it is the actual calculation of a whole sequence
of periodic orbits which a moon might occupy that
gives it shape and name.

If this memoir may be said to be the first significant
word on the problem of three bodies, the former one,
on the motion of the lunar perigee, seems to be
almost the last word on a question that had outrun
calculation from Newton’s day to Delaunay’s. It is
doubtful whether the more determined effort to

calculate this quantity was made by Newton or
by Delaunay, but though naturally the degrees of

approximation they attained were very different, they
had this in common, that they proved the inadequacy
of the methods employed. Hill first, with the smooth-
ness of a conjurer, gives form to the intractable
equations, and then shows how the solution is con-
tained in a certain transcendental equation, an infinite
determinant. It affords striking evidence of Hill’s
power to contrast his treatment of this determinant
with that of Adams, who followed a similar route, sed
longo intervallo, as he said himself. The complexity
arising from, an infinite sequence of equations might
seem to preclude any general conclusions from being
drawn, but Hill uses this very feature in the most
beautiful manner to derive the eliminant in a trans-
cendental form in the shape cosm¢e= a known
quantity, and from this equation determines c, the re-
quired ratio. The secret of the is now
apparent. c is nearly equal to unity; hence it is very
much easier to approximate to cos7c, where we are
in the neighbourhood of a stationary value, than to
c directly; and though the difficulty recurs when we
seek to find the are 7c from a cosine in the neigh-
bourhood of its minimum, it is then an insignificant
one, for we are past the true complexities of the
problem.?

The remaining papers are naturally not of equal
moment with these, but we may be grateful to the
Carnegie Institution for making them accessible ir
the present collection. Several of them arose in con-
nection with Hill’s duties computer to the
Ephemeris, but even on such hackneyed subjects as
eclipse computing and reduction of star places he has
something good to say. He is a true artist; nulluwm
quod tetigit non ornavit. Of considerable general
interest are No. 18, ‘‘ Remarks on the Stability of
Planetary Systems,’’ and No. 14, ‘‘ A Method of Com-
puting Absolute Perturbations,’? which contains a
rescension of Hansen. Even the smaller papers, like
No. 22, ‘‘On the Solution of the Cubic and Biquad-
ratic Equations,’’ are usually marked by some
analytical felicity that makes one wish that Hill had
been able to bring his great powers to bear upon
a material not so invariably intractable and over-
loaded with tradition, and limited in its problems, as
practical astronomy. But if we feel that his hand

success

as

1 The point of th’s approximation is put somewhat incorrectly by M.
Puincaré in his introduction.

,

410

NATURE

[| Marcu 1, 1906

is subdued to what it works in, we feel, too, that
that is an essential ingredient of his success, and
that with less complete absorption his worl might
have been less brilliant as well as less convincing.

is CARS:

ULTRAMICROSCOPIC STUDIES OF THE
COLLOIDS.

Zur Erkenntniss der Kolloide. Ueber irreversible
Hydrosole und Ultramikroskopie. By Richard Zsig-
mondy. Pp. vit 185. (Jena: Gustav Fischer, 1905.)
Price 4 marks.

HIS work forms a valuable addition to the litera-
ture of the colloids, giving as it does an authori-
tative account of the results obtained through the
application of the method of ultramicroscopy to the
study of solutions of colloids.

A brief account is first given of the nature and
properties of colloid solutions or hydrosols. At the
outset the author refers to the difficulty of giving a
satisfactory definition of the term * solution.’’ He
adopts homogeneity as the most universal character-
istic of solutions. The definition of homogeneity will
naturally vary according to the delicacy of the methods
employed to test it. , By means of the method of ultra-
microscopy devised by Zsigmondy and Siedentopf, the
majority of colloid and even some crystalloid solutions
can be shown to be optically heterogeneous. Every
increase in the accuracy of the methods of examina-
tion would lead to a further limitation of the term
“© solution.’”? In order to include the colloids Zsig-
mondy defines solutions as uniform distributions of
solids in fluids, which are transparent to ordinary
light, and not separable into their constituents by the
action of gravity or by filtration.

In order to gain a clearer idea of the nature of
colloid solutions, it is necessary to find criteria for
distinguishing such solutions from those of crystal-
loids on the one hand and from suspensions on the
other. Zsigmondy only refers very briefly to the dis-
tinguishing characteristics of the former, as this
subject has been previously treated by Bredig in
his monograph on “ Inorganic Ferments.”’ He deals
more fully with the properties of colloid solutions
which distinguish them from suspensions. In this
connection he mentions the following as the chief
features distinguishing colloid solutions from suspen-
sions :-—

(1) The particles in colloid solutions are much
smaller than in suspensions. In colloid solutions the
average diameter of the particles varies from 5 to
20 mu. This difference is, however, one only of
degree.

(2) Many colloids are capable of undergoing irre-
versible changes. Separation of a metal from its
colloid solution may be readily brought about by the
withdrawal of water or the addition of electrolytes.
In this process the metal has undergone an irre-
versible alteration or coagulation. For the reforma-
tion of the colloid solution, chemical or electrical means
must be employed. In the case of suspensions, on

No. 1896, VOL. 73]

the other hand, sedimentation rapidly takes place
under the influence of gravity, and its rate is little
influenced by the withdrawal of water or by the
addition of electrolytes. The suspension may be re-
formed by purely mechanical means.

(3) Alterations in the total energy of the system are
frequently associated with the process of coagulation.
These have been measured in several cases by means
of the calorimeter.

(4) Colloids in solutions are capable of undergoing
reactions with one another, which closely simulate
purely chemical reactions.

The next section of the book deals with the classifi-
cation of colloid solutions or hydrosols. The classi-
fications of the hydrosols have been based on two
principles, namely, the size of the particles and the
reversibility or irreversibility of the hydrosol (Hardy).
On plate i. the author gives a graphic representation
of a classification of colloids founded on these prin-
ciples. The reversible colloids differ from the irre-
versible in not being readily coagulated by the addition
of electrolytes. It is noteworthy that irreversible col-
loids may be partially protected from the coagulating
action of electrolytes by the addition of a reversible
colloid to their solutions. Great quantitative differ-
ences are found to exist in the extent of protection
given by different reversible organic colloids to irre-
versible gold hydrosols.

A historical account of the preparation and pro-
perties of irreversible colloid solutions occupies the
next section of the book.

The author next gives an interesting account of the
development of the method of ultramicroscopy by
Siedentopf and himself. A full description is also
given of the necessary apparatus and of the method
of using it.

The succeeding sections give details of the results
of his own researches on gold hydrosols. By means
of the ultramicroscope he was enabled to determine
approximately the average size of the gold particles,
their colour, and the rapidity of their movements both
translatory and oscillatory. The limit of size deter-
minable by the ultramicroscope appears to be about
6 um in the case of gold hydrosols. Still smaller
particles (amicrones) are also present in gold hydro-
sols. Their presence may be proved by the coagu-
lation of the hydrosols on the addition of electrolytes.

An excellent summary is also given of the results
obtained by other observers through examination of
various colloid solutions by means of the ultra-
microscope.

Brief reference only is made to some points of
great theoretical interest, namely, the causes of the
stability of colloid solutions, and the mechanism of
their formation.

Ihe book concludes with a short summary of what
is known with regard to the products of coagulation
of colloid solutions.

The work as a whole is to be regarded as a valuable
monograph indispensable for those interested in the
ultramicroscope and its applications.

J. A. Mirroy.

Marcu 1, 1906]

NA TORE

411

SCIENCE IN ARCHAOLOGY.

Manuel de Recherches préhistoriques. Issued by the
Société préhistorique de France. Pp. 332; with
205 figures and 4 plates. (Paris: Schleicher
Fréres, éditeurs, 1906.) Price 8 francs.

| 2 year an eminent English Egyptologist pub-

lished a handbook for excavators, with especial

reference to Egypt, and remarked in his preface that
*“a complete archzeological training would require a
full knowledge of history and art, a fair use of
languages, and a working familiarity with many
sciences.’? The present work embraces a _ large
number of subjects that should be familiar to the prac-
tical archeologist, especially if engaged in field-work
on French soil.

The manual is issued by the Prehistoric Society of
France, and has been written by several of its lead-
ing members. Taken in conjunction with the first
congress of the society, held in the autumn at
Périgueux, it indicates a widespread interest in the
remote past as represented by flint implements, cave
deposits, dolmens, and Gaulish burials. Of recent
years, more and more emphasis has been laid on the
need for systematic excavation as opposed to hap-
hazard relic-hunting by amateurs; and this publica-
tion is intended, not only to assist the explorer in his
search for records of the past, but also to render them
accessible and self-explanatory when found. Private
interest and personal feeling always stand in the way
of corporate action in such investigations, but much
would be gained if the advice contained in this manual
were followed by the depredator, if only for his own
ends. To put it on the lowest ground, relics
accurately labelled and located gain enormously, not
only in scientific, but also in market value; and if
archeology is to justify its claim to be regarded as a
science, scientific exploration must be the rule, and
not the rare exception.

The chapters are all much compressed, and none
can be singled out as more important than another.
There are instructions for all the ordinary branches
of exploration in a most compact form; but in spite
of the French tradition, we venture to think that the
volume would have been even more practical if pub-
lished in a light but stout binding. A handbook in a
paper wrapper is hardly fit for use in the field. Atten-
tion may be directed to the method of hardening and
preserving skeletons and other bones by means of
silicate of potash, and to the practical advantages of
the process advocated for preserving iron. This metal
is the scourge of museum curators, and neither the
soda nor paraffin treatment has proved altogether
successful. The simpler, and apparently the more
satisfactory, method is to allow the metal to dry for
several hours after brushing in water, and then to
heat it to a dull red; if allowed to cool slowly,
the object should then be rust-proof, and the surface
clean and firm.

One of the most useful features of the manual is
the table for computing the height of a subject from
various bones of the skeleton; this method would no
doubt greatly reduce the number of 7-feet skeletons

NO. 1896, VOL. 73]

found even in this country. Another point on which
emphasis is laid is the desirability of photographing
dolmens, menhirs, and other antiquities of the kind
precisely from the four cardinal points; picturesque
views are dear to the ordinary photographer, but are
of little value for purposes of comparison. On this
point a caution should have been given as to the
difference between the true and magnetic north, as
accurate compass bearings of megalithic monuments
may often prove of considerable importance.

The student of prehistoric archeology in France and
elsewhere will be glad to find the various classifi-
cations of the Stone age brought together, even if no
attempt is made to coordinate them. The most
important are those of Mortillet, Piette, Salmon,
Boule, and Rutot, and in the last mentioned occurs
(as occasionally elsewhere) the irritating term ‘‘ Forest
Cromer bed.’’? Among the few cases where no scale
is indicated for the illustrations is that of the
Pressigny nucleus (Fig. 74); the extraordinary size of
these flints ought surely to have been stated. Finally,
it is somewhat of a shock to the orthodox to find the
following item in the glossary at the end :—‘‘ Bulbe
de percussion.—Mot impropre (voir Conchoide).”’

OUR BOOK SHELF.

Smoke Abatement: a Manual for the Use of Manu-
facturers, Inspectors, Medical Officers of Health,
Engineers, and Others. By William Nicholson.
Pp. xiiit+256. (London: Charles Griffin and Co.,
Ltd.) Price 6s. net.

Tue author of this handbook is chief inspector to the
Sheffield Corporation, and seems to have an extensive
acquaintance with the various enactments that have
been passed in this and other countries with a view
to ameliorate one of the greatest nuisances of modern
times, and devotes more than a third of the 250
pages the book contains to their recital. This is
undoubtedly useful to those desiring to make them-
selves acquainted with the legal aspects of the case,
but scarcely justifies the subtitle of a ‘‘ practical
handbook,’’ as the author’s idea of the nature of
smoke is of a most delightfully rudimentary character,
and his power, therefore, of prescribing remedies
necessarily limited. On searching the book for
a clear definition of smoke and a description of the
constituents that go to build it up, we find on p. 12
the following :—‘‘ Nature of the Nuisance—Smoke
consists of minute particles of carbon together with
a sticky tarry matter which settles and sticks to every-
thing it comes in contact with. It is dirt. Lord
Palmerston’s definition of dirt from a health point of
view is ‘ Matter in the wrong place,’ and carbon or
coal in the atmosphere is matter in the wrong place.’’

One of the chief remedies suggested by Mr. Nichol-
son is that the Sanitary Institute should now deat
with the question, and arrange for courses of lectures
on the subjects of ‘‘Smoke and the Injury there-
from,’’ ‘‘ The Causes of Smoke,’’ and ‘‘ The Practical
Prevention of Smoke,’’? after which examinations
should be held, and ‘‘ certificates of competency given
to all who satisfy the examiners.’’ The result of this
is foreshadowed by the author as follows :—

“Tf such facilities were offered, hundreds of
engineers and others would avail themselves of them,
and would not rest satisfied until they had procured
a smoke inspector’s certificate, which would become
as popular and as valuable as the sanitary inspector’s

NATROL EE

[Marcu 1, 1906

Having obtained the certificate and
the theoretical as well as the practical
knowledge, they would quickly be on the look-out
for official appointments, and if there was an un-
willingness on the part of the Local Authorities to
appoint them, the necessary pressure to compel them
to do so would be forthcoming.”

If Mr. Nicholson could induce the Sanitary Insti-
tute to add a lecture on ‘‘ The Nature of Smoke’ to
the course he prescribes, and was to attend it, he
would find the information of distinct advantage in
dealing with ‘‘ smoke abatement.”’

certificate.
possessing

The Preservation of Antiquities, a Handbook for
Curators. Translated from the German of Dr.
Friedrich Rathgen by Dr. G. A. Auden and Dr.

H. A. Auden. Pp. xiv+176; with 48 figures in the
text. (Cambridge: University Press, 1905.) Price

4s. 6d, net.

Dr. RatucEN states in his preface to the German
edition of this little book that it is intended to stimu-
late curators and others interested in the preservation
of antiquities to make public their experiences in this
branch of archzeology.

The first part deals with the changes brought about
by the long-continued action of soil, moisture, and
air on metals, glass, organic substances, limestone
and clay; the materials of which ‘‘ antiquities ’’ are
most usually composed. This is a subject about which
very little is known, one of the commonest cases, the
“rusting of iron,’’ being still a subject for argument
and speculation among chemists. The author, there-
fore, is only able, as a rule, to state the effects pro-
duced by these natural agents, and in comparatively
few cases can suggestions be made as to the modes by
which these effects are brought about.

In the second part, methods of cleansing recently
disinterred antiquities of various kinds and of pre-
serving them are given, and here the author is able to
quote largely and usefully from his own wide experi-
ence of this work.

The translators have added to the English edition
some notes of recent work and additional illustra-
tions which are useful in elucidating various points
in the text. The book should be useful not only to
curators for reference, but should prove suggestive to
all interested in the preservation of natural or artificial
structures exposed to the action of air, soil, or
moisture.

Organography of Plants. By Dr. K. Goebel. Au-
thorised English edition by Prof. I. Bayley Balfour.
Part i., pp. Xvit270. os. net. Part ii., pp. xiv+

708. 21s. net. (Oxford: The Clarendon Press.)
Tue German edition of the ‘‘ Organography ”’ has
already been reviewed in Nature (vols. lviil., p. 74,

Ixiii., p. 149, Ixvi., p. 51), and it is unnecessary, there-
fore, to insist again on the importance of Prof. Goebel’s
book, both to botanists and to others who are interested
in the development of plant life.

The Clarendon Press is to be congratulated on
having secured Prof. Bayley Balfour to undertake the
responsibility of preparing the English edition, and
his name on the title-page carries with it the assurance
that the work has been well done. Moreover, his
great knowledge of plants has enabled him to give
that indefinable cast of originality and interest to the
translation that one so often misses in presentations
of this kind.

The text is well broken up, by means of headlines
and by the use of different founts of type, thus render-
ing the book more easy to use. The printing, and
also the figures, are excellent, and there is a good
index, both of illustrations and of subject-matter.

NO. 1896, VOL. 73]

Both the Clarendon Press and the editor have laid
English-speaking botanists under obligation by the
excellent production in our own language of this
important work. Je Baie

Catalogue of the Madreporarian Corals in the British
Museum (Natural History). Vol. v., The Family
Poritida, ii., The Genus Porites, Part i., Porites of
the Indo-Pacific Region. By Henry M. Bernard.
Pp. vit+303+xxxv_ plates. (London: The Trustees
of the British Museum, 1905.)

IN the preparation of this important catalogue Mr.

Bernard was confronted with the difficulty, experi-

enced by nearly all naturalists who have attempted to

arrange corals in specific groups, that the characters
afforded by the skeletal structures only are so variable
that there is no possibility of accurately defining the
limits of ‘‘ species.’’ This is a difficulty which is wont
to grow rather than dwindle as our knowledge of

specimens of a genus increases, and Porites being a

common and widely distributed coral, represented in

the museum by very many specimens from numerous
localities, the difficulty presented itself in a particularly
exaggerated form.

No one will deny that the binomial system when
applied to such a genus is unsatisfactory, and it will
probably remain so unless further investigation of the
anatomy of the living polyps reveals some characters
of better value for purposes of classification. But
the system adopted by Mr. Bernard, of abandoning
the old specific names and giving the specimens a
geographical label and a number, does not appear to
offer a more satisfactory solution of the problem, and
will not, probably, be generally approved. Unsatis-
factory as they may be, many of these specific names
are of some value, and all of them of historical
interest. To sweep them all away at a stroke is a
drastic measure which cannot be recommended, either
on the ground of science or expediency.

But even if Mr. Bernard’s system is disapproved,
naturalists will undoubtedly agree in their tribute of
thanks for the skill and patience he has displayed
in building up this monumental work on the Indo-
Polynesian specimens of the genus. The detailed de-
scription of the specimens in the museum will be of
value to those who may, in the future, be tempted to
grapple with the species question in the genus; but
a real and important contribution to knowledge is to
be found in the concise statements concerning the
morphology of the skeleton and the affinities of the
genus. The catalogue is adequately illustrated.

Microscopes and Accessories: How to Make and Use

Them. Edited by Paul N. Hasluck. Pp. 160.
(London: Cassell and Co., Ltd., 1905:)| Price! iiss
net.

We are very doubtful whether the first portion of this
bool, dealing with the practical construction of a
microscope by the amateur, will serve any useful pur-
pose. Such an instrument, however well constructed,
must almost inevitably fall far short of the perfection
attained by the instrument makers, even if the amateur
be a first-class mechanic, and efficient instruments may
nowadays be picked up second-hand at ridiculously
low prices. In the description of the tube, all that is
said with regard to the attachment of the objective is
that at the bottom (of the tube) a dise of brass is
sweated on, the hole in its centre being % in. diameter,
and chased with a fine thread; not a word about the
standard screw now adopted by all makers. The
latter portion of the book, dealing with the preparation
and mounting of objects, is concise and to the point,
but presents nothing novel in its treatment of the
subject. R. T. HEWLETT.

Marcu 1, 1906]

NATURE

413

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions
expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake
to return, oy to correspond with the writers of, rejected
manuscripts intended for this or any other part of NATURE.
No notice is taken of anonymous communications.]

Cooperation between Scientific Libraries.

Tue note in Nature (February 15, p. 372) on Dr. T.
Muir’s paper in the Proceedings of the Royal Society of
Edinburgh directs attention to a difficulty which, as you
rightly say, affects many others than the mathematicians
of Scotland. You adduce, for example, Wales; but may I,
without giving offence to the Principality, venture to
suggest that the metropolis itself has still better claims to
dishonourable mention ?

In the two sciences which chiefly appeal to me, geology
and zoology, the difficulty mentioned by Dr. Muir has long
presented itself forcibly, and there is a lengthy list of books
that I have been trying to see in vain, some of them for
more than five years. They are, so far as I can ascertain,
in none of the many libraries of this city. Naturally, the
remedy suggested by Dr. Muir long ago presented itself
to me, and I have lost no opportunity of urging it in con-
versation and in print. In view of your own recognition
of the importance of the subject, I venture to ask you to
reprint for a wider public the following paragraph from a
paper contributed to the Museums Journal for April, 1902.
After alluding to the cooperation between American libraries
in the matter of cataloguing, and to the specialisation
among the libraries of Chicago, I wrote :—

“The extraordinary difficulty that a student has, even
in London, in seeing the literature of his subject—in fact,
the impossibility, unless he is prepared to spend large sums
of money on his private library—must have made many a
one long for the day when the learned societies and other
library authorities of London shall take this question of
cooperation in hand. To what end is all this fuss about
an international catalogue of scientific literature, with its
elaborate mechanism and enormous expense, if, when the
list of books is in his hands, it be still impossible for the
student to refer to them? The amount of money annually
spent by Government, through the libraries of the British
Museum, the Education Department, the Patent Office,
and the like, when joined with that spent by the great
societies, such as the Royal, the Zoological, the Linnean,
the Geographical, the Geological, with the College of
Surgeons and other public bodies of like character, is
surely enough, if properly administered, to buy the world’s
output of books each year; and far more than enough, if
we remember that all publications of the United Kingdom
go to the British Museum as a matter of course, and that
the donation lists of many of these libraries are nearly as
big as their purchase lists. If only the money could be
pooled, and the purchases distributed according to some
pre-arranged scheme among the various libraries; and if a
joint catalogue were prepared, and kept up from month
to month, showing not only the titles of books, periodicals,
and papers, but the libraries in which they were to be
found, then weary searching and fruitless wandering would
no longer be the lot of the conscientious student. Even as
things are, without so radical a reform as a redistribution
of income, I feel sure that a conference of librarians, bent
rather on furthering the interests of the reader than the
pride of their own institutions, and armed with the
necessary powers for cooperation, would soon lift London
libraries out of the hopeless muddle that we now have to
struggle with.”’

I hope that now this subject has been taken up in your
influential pages it will not be allowed to drop until those
concerned have at least attempted the remedy.

F. A. BaTHER.

The Blondlot 7-Rays

Ir would be interesting to know whether anyone has
obtained success in repeating the latest experiment designed
to show the objective reality of the n-rays, viz. that de-
scribed by M. C. Gutton in Comptes rendus for
January 15.

The writer has repeated M. Gutton’s experiment with

NO. 1896, VOL. 73]

much care, but has met with no more success in obtain-
ing any positive ‘result than he has in repeating a large
number of M. Blondlot’s own experiments, most of which
he has essayed, in all cases with absolutely negative
results, provided proper precautions were taken to avoid
effects due to temperature and other extraneous causes of
disturbance. ?

According to M. Gutton’s experiment, the effect of the
n-rays that proceed from a Nernst electric lamp upon a
spark in a primary circuit is to diminish the brilliancy
of another spark electrically induced in a secondary circuit
by the primary discharge. Here one would suppose that
the degree of brilliancy of the secondary spark can only be
a matter of the amount of the electrical energy in the
secondary circuit, but the writer finds that a very sensitive
Duddell thermo-galvanometer, which would indicate a very
small percentage of variation in the amount of this energy,
shows no variation whatever.

A. A. CAMPBELL SWINTON.

66 Victoria Street, London, S.W., February 20.

A 300-Year Climatic and Solar Cycle.

In June, 1902, I made a few remarks on an apparent
coincidence between sun-spot periods and longer periods of
rainfall and famine in north China. Not being, in any
sense, a meteorologist, I did not publish my conclusions
except locally. In connection with a notice in the ** Astro-
nomical Column ”’ of Nature, November 9g last (vol. Ixxiil.
p- 38), they are of sufficient general importance to recall
them. The notice in Nature is headed ‘* A 300-year Cycle
in Solar Phenomena,’’ and refers to a discussion in the
Astrophysical Journal wherein Mr. H. W. Clough, of the
Washington Weather Bureau, arrives at the conclusion that
a 300-year cycle exists in solar and the allied terrestrial
phenomena, and finds likewise an intermediate 36-year
cycle, and supports both by a reference to various pheno-
mena, such as aurora, periods of grape harvest, &c.

In 1877 Mr. A. Hosie, H.M. Consul at Chengtu, pub-
lished a paper in the Journal of the China Branch of the
Royal Asiatic Society on droughts in China (new series,
xii., 51), extracted from Chinese records. As the records
included all China, south as well as north, the tables did
not at first sight exhibit any apparent periodicity. Some
years after, on making a careful division into north and
south, I was struck with a remarkable period of about
300 years, which seemed to me marked clearly in north
China as an especial era of drought and famine. As, how-
ever, there seemed no reason for founding a new period,
for the intercalation of which there was as yet no accumu-
lated evidence, I proceeded no further with the subject.
Mr. Hosie’s paper went from the year 620 to 1643, cover-
ing a period of 1023 years, and attached to it was another
notice of sun-spots observed in China, also going back for
some 1300 years. The latter table, on account of the want
of any observation instruments, is, of course, very frag-
mentary, but at the time I deduced from it without refer-
ence to European observations, which I had not by me, a

probable period of 99 maxima in the 1920 years covered,

which seemingly gave a mean of 11-085 years, and which,
produced to modern times, fell in sufficiently satisfactorily
with the European records of the last century. Sir Norman
Lockyer in 1g0r had also published observations bearing
on a climatic curve of about six sun-spot periods, and
commenting on all these I made the following remarks,
which are entirely confirmative of Mr. Clough’s findings,
although deduced from such entirely different authorities.
““T now come to the long period or era which Mr.
Hosie’s records seem to require. The first of these calling
for notice seems to cover the three sun-spot periods 664—
697, though this is not so well marked as the others.
The second covers the similar period from the maximum in
963 to that in 996, when besides two years of drought in
northern China, 961 and 962, we find no less than twenty-
three years oct of the thirty-three characterised by excessive
droughts in one or more of the northern provinces. The
third covers the periods 1262-1295, when, in addition to the
antecedent year 1260, there are noted twenty-one years of
drought in the same provinces. The fourth is included
between the spot maxima of 1561 and 1594, and though
not so marked as the second and third, yet ten years of

414

NATORE

[Marcu 1, 1906

drought are recorded, besides the preliminary drought years
of 1557-1558. The fifth will, then, cover the equally well
marked cycle of drought, which, beginning in or about the
year 1860, has continued with scarcely an exception up to
the present.’’

This was written in 1902, and it is noticeable that, as
required by the cycle, the intervening years have proved of
normal rainfall in northern China. Proceeding, I stated :—

“We have thus four well marked eras of 299-25 years,
the beginnings of which in each case were marked by
perfectly similar climatal phenomena, each being charac-
terised as a period of drought in some special locality. It
has always seemed to me that meteorologists have been in
the habit of excessive generalisation, and that the true way
to arrive at the secular variations of climate is to com-
pare all observations made within a limited locality, where
the conditions are more or less specialised. The mean rain-
fall of China, as I remarked at the beginning, would not
have afforded the necessary data for such a comparison as
I have attempted, the reason being that droughts in north
and south China are in effect complementary, and never
occur contemporaneously : and herein lies the key to the
phenomena.

“ According to the accepted theory of the ‘ monsoon,” it
is produced by the excessive heating of the continent of
Asia between the degrees of 35 and 45 N.L. which causes
the rarefied air to flow off and leaves a partial vacuum to
be filled in by moist warm air rushing across the equator.
If from any cause the heat radiated from the sun be greater
one year than another, the regions where the monsoons are
elaborated are raised to a higher temperature, and the
force of the monsoon increased, and the warm air carrying
an extra supply of moisture is carried further north and
spread over a wider area; hence the north of China, the
usual limit of the monsoon, is superabundantly watered.

“If, however, the heating of the surface be insufficient
to set up the normal circulation, the moisture from the
tropics is dumped down in or about the latitude of the
Yangtse basin, and mid-China receives a superabundant
supply of rain, while the entire north is parched, and
famine in one or more province is the result. Hence a
wet summer in Shanghai is rarely or never accompanied
by a sufficient rainfall in the north.’

Similar conditions to a large extent prevail in India, and
hence it has happened that the latter third of the last
century was a period of drought and famine, which severely
taxed the resources of the country. I wound up the note
with the following remarks :—‘‘ It is not for me to suggest
an explanation. But the 299} year will probably be found
to depend on some hitherto unsuspected cosmical cause.’’

I do not pretend in this to take any credit to myself for
any discovery. My part was confined to drawing up a
column of centuries divided into three lines; in one was
marked the year, in the second the dates when sun-spots
had been observed, and in the third the years when
droughts had been recorded in the northern provinces; in
each of the latter a dark line was drawn across the column.
The result was remarkable at the first glance, the dark
lines congregating themselves thickly at the ends of the
seventh, tenth, thirteenth, and sixteenth centuries, the rest
being almost a blank. Personal experience showed me how
the nineteenth century had followed the same rule. Mr.
Clough’s observations may therefore be looked upon as fully
borne out by Chinese records; and it only remains to
ascertain the cause of the phenomenon, which has certainly
had a very considerable effect on the history of Asia.

I may point out the curious coincidence that the climatic
cycle of about thirty-four years seems to agree with three
sun-spot cycles, while the greater period of 2993 would
seem to correspond with twenty-seven.

Shanghai, January 8. Tuos. W. KincsmiLt.

The Origin of Bronze.

IN connection with Prof. W. Gowland’s remarks on the
origin of bronze in his presidential address to the Anthropo-
logical Institute, abstracted in your issue of February 15
(p. 381), it may be of interest to direct attention to the
fact that Plutarch, in his ‘‘ De defectu oraculorum,”’
refers to worked-out copper deposits in the island of
Eubcea, from which were formerly manufactured swords

NO. 1896, VoL. 73]

which were ‘‘ cold-forged ’’ (WuxphaAaros), and in this con-

nection he quotes Aischylus, who mentions a “ self-
sharpened — (avré@nx70s) Eubcean sword,” self-sharpened
meaning, I presume, sharpened without fire. I believe

that bronze containing only a small proportion of. tin is
malleable in the cold, but do not know if this would be
the case with that referred to by Prof. Gowland as con-
taining antimony. It would be interesting to know if
tin is associated with copper in Eubcea. Swords of pure
copper would hardly be of much use.
Joun W. Evans.
Imperial Institute, February 23.

Result of War affected by Soldier’s Stature.

Mr. Twice at p. 340 of your issue of February 8 points
out that the Japanese had an unquestionable advantage
in the recent war, as being smaller than the Russians—
they were smaller targets for fire-arms. This is quite
correct, but the advantage is inversely as the cubes of
their heights, and not as the squares only, which would
only apply to plank dummies. Bullets come from all
sides, and not from the front only, so that the thickness
of the men’s bodies must be taken into account as well as
their height and breadth. The average targets offered by
each to the enemy are (taking Mr. Twigg’s figures) as
the cubes of 1585 and 1642, or as 106 to 118, an advantage
in favour of the Japanese of about 12 per cent., or nearly
double that calculated by Mr. Twigg. :
W. E. Warranp.
Westhorpe Hall, Notts, February 24.

TWO BOOKS ON BIRDS.*

O watch the ways and habits of birds is a taste
which is growing rapidly. Some watchers of
birds, indeed, are not content to stop at observing
their habits; they want to know how the birds
acquired those habits and of what use they are to
them. They speculate upon what a certain habit, if
persisted in, may ultimately lead to. They wish to
know, among other things, how a bird came by its
colours, and what purpose in the bird’s economy is
served by, for instance, the red inside to its mouth,
seen only when it gapes. And when careful, minute,
and scrupulously accurate observers write down on
the spot what they see, or think they see, natural
history will always be the richer for their labours;
and the theories and speculations which these in-
quisitors weave from what they have seen and heard
cannot fail to prove interesting and suggestive
reading.

Mr. Selous, at once the pioneer and the great
exponent of this ‘* close observation,’’ who in a former
work on bird watching touched upon the birds of the
Shetlands, returned to his loved islands two years
later, and now gives us a whole volume devoted to
their birds and seals. In some three dozen short
chapters he discourses, with digressions, delightfully
upon his experiences. With the exception of a few
““peckings,”’ and minor interpolations—mostly having
to do with the working out of ideas jotted down in
the rough—the chapters contain his journal, written
from day to day amidst the birds with whom he lived
without another companion on one or other of these re-
mote islands, ‘‘ hated by thousands ”’ of birds, and feel-
ing himself the most unpopular person on the island.
Nothing more need be said to recommend the book
to the notice of those who follow birds in the field.
For his digressions, leading him sometimes wide of
the subject of birds, the author does not apologise.

1 “The Bird Watcher in the Shetlands. With some Notes on Seals—
and Digressions.” By Edmund Selous. Pp. xii+338 ; with 10 illustrations
by J. Smit. (London: 1. M. Dent and Co., 1905.) Price ros. 6d. net.

‘“Nature-Tones and Undertones.”’ Being Sketches of Life in the Open.
Illustrated by Photographs from Nature. By J. Maclair Boraston. Pp.
223. (London and Manchester: Sherratt and Hughes, 1905) Price 6s.
net.

MarcH 1, 1900}

He rather hopes that this batch of them will make
it apparent that they are a part of his method, or,
rather, a part of himself; and since they occupy so
much space in the book it seems only right that they
should appear on his title-page. Possibly the reader
is not meant to take them all too seriously, for Mr.
Selous warns us that he has not suppressed his errors |
even when he happened to know them, because, among
other reasons, ‘‘ if one has got in some idea or reflec-
tion that pleases one, or a piece of descriptive writing
that does not seem amiss, how tiresome to have to
scratch it out, merely because it is founded on a
wrong ppprehension lair spire to come tumbling
just for the want of a base! ”

The author rather seems to deprecate being included
in the ranks of the ornithologists, his ambition being
to make a naturalist who shall use neither a gun nor a |
cabinet. That is all very wei; but to decline to avail |
oneself of the work dose by others is sometimes to |
miss the clue whica would explain some puzzle. JI |

NATURE

herring-gull.’””, The chapters on seals are very in-
teresting, for few people have the chance of watching
these animals. A good index is a great advantage to
the reader, not always found in books of this kind.
A considerable part of Mr. Boraston’s new work is

| occupied by an account of a remote and little known

corner of Anglesey, and it is saying a good deal to
say that this is perhaps the pleasantest and most
interesting part of the book. How he journeyed there
—and back—and what birds and other things he saw
is told in the attractive and distinctly original style
so much commended in the notices of his former work.
Of more highly scientific interest, perhaps, is the
series of careful notes which the author made upon a
young cuckoo, These include several important ob-
servations which must not be detailed here; but we
cannot refrain from quoting the author’s concluding
reflections on the strangely ferocious fledgling he
watched so patiently. ‘‘ And knowing it for a solitary
and a wanderer beyond any of its kind, smuggled

Fic. 1.—Oyster-Catchers.

he had handled cabinet specimens, or if he did not
“hate the British bird book ’’ so heartily, he might
have known why the white lines on the diver’s neck
shone in such a peculiar way in the sunlight (p. 60),
and perhaps would have experienced increased enjoy-
ment in consequence. A theory anent the old puzzle
of the puffin and the bunch of fish it brings home in
its ornate beak, and some instructive observations on
young fulmars, are only a crumb or two out of the
good things which we mark in reading many charm-
ing pages. One of the illustrations shows birds
following the ways of “ Nature, red in tooth and
claw”; and this (together with that of a herring- |
gull dealing with a downy puffin) we dedicate to |
the conversion of those who favour the protection of |
the larger gulls. We dare not begin to quote for |
fear of never ending, and must confine ourselves to
this one sentence in explanation of the plate: ‘‘ I saw
another kittiwake being savagely murdered by another

NO. 1896, VOL. 73]

From ‘‘ Nature-Tones and Undertones.”

into life in an alien nest, tended in blind devotion by
creatures it requites as blindly by destroying their
own offspring; fashioned like a hawk to be hunted
by every chit that flies; never to mate, never to nest,
never to rear or lead its young; remembering this, I
could have wished that this Unnatural Selection had
not been, or that this strange mockery of life might
be undone.’’ In this chapter, too, we have an in-
teresting inquiry into the theory of the assimilation
of the cuckoo’s eggs to those of the foster-species, with
an analysis of collections of more than seventy nests of
various birds containing cuckoos’ eggs and the eggs
of the foster-parents. The author writes, ‘‘ The vari-
ation exhibited in the collections I have seen was
considerable, but I could in most cases have improved
the assimilation by transferring the eggs from one
nest to another. Unless more convincing evidence
were brought forward than such as was furnished by
the seventy-six nests mentioned above, I should con-

416

NATURE

[Marcu 1, 1906

clude that cases of resemblance between cuckoos’ egg's
and those of the species in whose nests they are
deposited, are due to coincidence rendered possible
by a large degree of variation in the former.”
Although digressions are not announced on the title,
the latter is wide enough to cover many things, and
many odd bits of out-of-the-way knowledge are woven
into this book, which is mainly concerned with birds.
A rather bitter attack on game preservers and sports-
men (with a slap at the army dropped in) is sand-
wiched between some most charming studies of wild
life and natural scenery, written in clear and powerful
and often quaint and humorous style. When has the
barn owl been more aptly described than in this pas-
sage? ‘* Never a sound from wing or throat as it flaps
or skims in the half-light, watching the ground with
its cat’s eyes as it goes, until suddenly the silence is
startled by a single, rasping yell such as might make
the hair stand on the back of every mouse for a

SHUDLIES "OF "CLOUD Ss:

M R. CLAYDEN’S work will be a standard one for
cs all students of clouds. When the now inter-
national classification was first proposed by the late
Ralph Abercromby and the present writer, our pur-
pose was to devise a classification for common use at
all meteorological stations and in all the navies of the
world. It is evident that such a classification must be
simple and practicable. A great number of forms
must lead to constant errors when used by ordinary
observers. Therefore we only proposed the ten types
given now in the international cloud atlas.

We were well aware, however, and expressed the
view in plain words, that these ten forms are not
sufficient for special studies of the transformation of
clouds or of the relations between cloud form and
weather. For these cases each of the ten great tvpes
must be divided into several subspecies, to which
proper names must be given.

Fic. 1.—Cirro-nebula changing to cirro-cumulvs.

quarter of a mile around. The Arch-mouser is on the |
trail, and such a master of his craft that he appears
at times to toot his horn in contempt of his quarry.
Or, is this sudden shrielk used to start any mouse |
that may be lurking below, so that when moving it
may be more readily discerned? ’’ Mr. Boraston, too,
sometimes wants to know why. The eighteen photo-
graphs which illustrate this nicely got up volume are
almost beyond praise. We have selected this one for
reproduction, not because it is by any means the most
beautiful, but because of the cleverness with which
the whole of this rock, with its seaweed and _ its
oyster-catchers, has been focused; it will appeal
strongly to those who love our west coast and its
birds. The whole book will be welcomed and
treasured up by the great fraternity of British bird-
men. O. V. APLIN.

NO 1896, VOL. 73]

From ‘‘ Cloud Studies.”

Various attempts have been made to extend the
scheme in this way. Abbé Maze in France, Prof.
Képpen in Germany, the Rey. F. L. Odenbach in
America, and, above all, the Rev. Clement Ley in
England, have proposed and defined more detailed
classifications; and Mr. Clayden has now in his cloud
studies taken a great step forward in this direction.

The descriptions and the illustrations reproduced
from photographs are excellent, and everyone who is
accustomed to observe the ever-changing panorama
of skies will admire the large amount of exact ob-
servations given in this book. The book contains
reproductions of many typical cloud-forms and certain
intermediate forms showing the transformation of
one cloud-form into another.

1 ‘Cloud Studies.” By Arthur W. Clayden, M.A. Pp. xiii+184; 61
plates. (Lond im: John Murray, rg905.) Price res. net.

Makcu 1, 1906|

NATURE

417

It is important to notice that the author accepts the
types of the international cloud atlas and arranges his
various forms as subforms of these types. There is,
however, one exception. Mr. Clayden does not admit
the nimbus cloud as a special type, but puts it under
the type stratus.
tive indicating that rain is falling from a cloud. We
cannot agree with this plan. Every form of cloud can
be transformed into another. It is, indeed, well
known that the true typical forms are rare,
majority of clouds being intermediate forms. Of
course, it often happens that stratus cloud is trans-
formed to nimbus. The farmer in Sweden says, “ if

He employs nimbus as an adjec-

the |

the fog is falling the weather will be fine, if the fog |

is lifting it comes back as rain.’’ It is really the case

that in certain weather conditions the fog follows the
upward motion of the air; in the rising air the tem-
perature falls, condensation goes on, and the light
fog is transformed to a dense nimbus with rain.

of clouds to a work of the greatest value, which should
be studied with the greatest care. No one who desires
to study the transformations of clouds or the relation
of cloud forms to weather can neglect to consider the
valuable results and ideas put forward by Mr. Clayden.

Of course, it is not possible for an international
committee or conference to establish a very detailed
classification of clouds, but we think it would be very
useful if the author would provide the plates and short
descriptions as a small atlas for use in observatories
and for specialists.

H. HILDELRAND HILDEBRANDSSON.

TRANSPACIFIC LONGITUDES
URING the year 1903 Canada extended ie longi-
tude work, carried from Greenwich to Vancouver,
across the Pacific to Australia and New Zealand. This
was made possible by the completion of the British

Fic. 2.—High Cirrus (Cirrus Excelsus.) From ‘‘ Cloud Studies.”

Nevertheless, there is a vast difference between the
fog formed on or near the ground and the true
canopy of nimbus cloud rushing forward beneath a
layer of alto-stratus in the front of a storm. But
here, as always, one form does sometimes pass into
another. The alto-stratus does also sometimes sink
down and become transformed into nimbus. We know
that during summer all low clouds, as a rule, assume
more or less the cumulus form. Thus we cannot say
that a stratus or an alto-stratus is a nimbus more
than that a stratus or a nimbus is a cumulus.

It is not possible to give in this short notice a de-
scription of the different forms presented in this book.
We must also abstain from an exposition of the
author’s views regarding the causes which produce
the different cloud forms. These views are in most
cases highly probable, and in all cases useful hints
are given for further investigations. Our purpose now
is only to direct the attention of our fellow-students

NO. 1896, VOL. 73]

Pacific Cable—the All Red Line—in the autumn of

1902. The sections of the cable are :—
Nautical miles
Vancouver to Fanning Island... 3654
Fanning to Suva, Fiji... 2181
Suva to Norfolk Island.. a 101g
Norfolk to Southport, Queens!: ad Bee a 906
Southport to Doubtless ‘Bay, New Zealand... 513

The observers (Dr. Otto Klotz and F. W. O. Werry)
were provided with practically identical instruments,
the principal ones being the two Cooke transits, of 3
inches clear aperture, and of about 36 inches focal
length. Cement or brick piers were built at every
station. The observers occupied alternate stations
across the Pacific, and as the number of stations
odd, Southport and Doubtless Bay are free from the
personal equation, without a direct determination of
the latter, although the personal equation was deter-
mined. Mr. Werry occupied Fanning and Norfolk,

is

4Ar&

NALTORE

[Marcu 1, 1906

ihe writer the other stations, including Sydney, Bris-
bane, and Wellington for personal equation. At
Southport connection was made with the observatories
at Sydney and Brisbane, and from Doubtless Bay with
Wellington.

It was on September 29, 1903, that the first mutual
observations and clock exchange were had with
Sydney, and so this night may be considered as the
one when for the first time longitude from the west
clasped hands with longitude from the east, and the
first astronomical girdle of the world was completed.

In making the comparison at Sydney between the
longitude brought from the east with that from the
west, I have used fhe value of Prof. Albrecht for
the are Greenwich-Potsdam oh. 52m. 16'051s., and for
the arcs from Potsdam to Madras, vid Teheran,
Bushire, Karachi, Bombay, and Bolaram, those of
Major Burrard, giving for the longitude of Madras
5h. 20m. 59-2355.

As there has been no re-determination of the various
arcs from Madras to Australia, I have adopted the
values given in the Australian report of Ellery, Todd
and Russell.

Applying these latter to the longitude of Madras, we
get for the longitude of Sydney

bh!) sms: s

IO 04 49 ... 0°355+0-088
The Canadian value is 10 04 49 ... 0°287+0'058
Difference areas . 0068

equivalent for the latitude of Sydney to 84 feet.
1886 value for Sydney is 10h. 04m. 49.545.

The final values of the Canadian determinations
are :—-

The

Final Longitude Values.

Longitude

Station | ; = il cae ACE ll
| ne Prob. Prob,
| Time error Are error

| h.m. s Ss. | eek iu ii
Vancouver 8 12 28°368 W. | sbo'os0 | 123 07 05°520 | fo'75
Fanning | 10 37 33°774 W. | o'054 159 23 26°610 | +o'8r
Suva. . It 53 42°389 RB. | +0055 | 178 25 35°835 | +0'B2
Norfolk + os | rr ar 4r'146 E. | +0056 | 167 55 17°190 | 0°84
Southport. . . To 13 39'782 E. | +0'056 | 153 24 56'730 | +0°84
Sydney . iter 10 04 49°287 E. | +0058 | 151 12 19°305 | 0°87
Brisbane . . 10 12 05'044 E. | +0'073 | 153 or 30°660 | +109
Doubtless Bay tr 33 567146 E. | +0060 | 173 29 o2"1g0 | +o'g0
Wellington | 11 39 05°087 E. | +0'075 | 174 46 167305 | +112

Orto Ktrorz.
Ottawa, December 30, 1905.

THE KANGRA EARTHQUAKE OF
APRIL 4, 1905.

FTER a lapse of only eight years since the great

earthquake of 1897, India suffered another calamity
of the same nature on April 4, 1905, less in violence
and extent, but more calamitous in its results, for it
claimed a death-roll of 20,000 souls. An interesting
preliminary account of this earthquake, by Mr. C. S.
Middlemiss, appears in the concluding part of vol.
xxxii. of the Records of the Geological Survey of
India, where the total area over which the shock was
felt is estimated at about 1,625,000 square miles, as
against 1,750,000 in 1897. The area over which the
shock was destructive is smaller in proportion than
these figures would suggest, for the isoseist corre-
sponding to 10 degrees of the Rossi-Forel scale in-
cludes only 200 square miles, and that corresponding
to 8 degrees of the same scale 2150 square miles, as
against 300 and 145,000 in 1897. In comparing these

NO. 1896, VOL. 73]

figures an allowance must be made for the personal
equation, and it seems that, if Mr. Middlemiss’s
standard had been adopted in 1897, the former of

_these figures would have been considerably increased

and the latter somewhat reduced.

There were two centres of great violence, one near
Kangra and Dharmsala, where the tenth degree of the
Rossi-Forel scale was surpassed, the other in the
Dehra Dun, where the ninth degree was not reached.
Between these two the violence was much less, and
Mr. Middlemiss points out that the two districts of
greatest destruction lie, each, in an embayment of
the course of the great boundary fault of the Hima-
layas; they are the only two irregularities in the
generally even sweep of the boundary of the Tertiaries
of the sub-Himalayan tract, and as the general effect
of the Tertiary, and post-Tertiary, folding and fold-
faulting has been to obliterate irregularities in the
outline of the mountain-foot, it is natural to suppose
that any marked irregularities still left may be in a
peculiar state of strain, especially liable to give rise
to geotectonic movements. Those which took place
on April 4 last seem to have exhausted themselves

Seale 1 inch=96 miles
[|] Altuviom
(MMM) Tertiary System
Old Himalayan Rocks

The ovals indicate Isoseismal No. 8

Fic. 1.—Origin of the Kangra earthquake of April 4, 1905.

underground, for no surface faults or changes of level
were detected.

The nature of the shock seems to have differed
from that of 1897, when all accounts agreed in
describing it as simple, with only one marked maxi-
mum of violence. In 1904 there were, both in the
Kangra and Dehra Dun districts, two or three
distinct shocks, and we may mention that this is
reflected in the long-distance records of the shocks,
which indicate at least two distinct impulses, following
each other at an interval of a couple of minutes,
whereas in 1897 there was no indication of more than
a single impulse. The violence of the shock at its
greatest seems to have been a little less than in 18973
at Kangra Mr. Middlemiss’s observations give the ac-
celeration of wave particle as about 13 feet per second
per second, the amplitude as 9-75 inches, and the period
as 1.57 seconds. ‘The time of origin, as deduced from
Jocal observations, is said to have been 6h. gm. os.
Madras time, within a second or two of error; the rate
of propagation was 1-95 to 1.98 miles per second as
between the origin and the seismograph stations at
Bombay, Calcutta, and Kodaikanal, but it must be

Marcu 1, 1906]

NATURE

remarked that this rate refers to the large motion
on the Milne seismographs, not to the felt shock,
the discussion of which is deferred to the larger
memoir promised.

Among miscellaneous. effects of the earthquake it
is mentioned that in some cases the flow of springs
was more or less completely checked, while others
increased or broke out in new places. In Sind and
Burma the shock was not felt, but affected the bubbles
of level tubes during survey operations, the move-
ment in the former district indicating a surface tilt of
about 30 seconds of arc above and below the hori-
zontal, in a north-east-south-west direction.

HENRY JAMES CHANEY.

N February 13 Henry James Chaney, who for
more than forty years was an authority on our
standards of weight and measure, ended his lengthy
official career at Hampstead after a painful illness of
some months’ duration.

He was born at Windsor in March, 1842, was
educated privately, and entered the Civil Service at
an early age. In 1860 he was appointed to the
Exchequer, the department in which at that time the
statutory powers with respect to weights and
measures were vested. Here he had the good fortune
to come into contact with Airy and Miller, who had
just completed their researches, undertaken at the
instance of the Government, in connection with the
restoration of the Imperial standards. Profiting by
their advice and encouragement, he devoted himself
with much zeal to the technical duties which were
imposed upon his department by the Sale of Gas Act,
1859. Under the direction of H. W. Chisholm, the
Warden of the Standards, he took an important part
in perfecting the official apparatus for verifying gas-
measuring instruments. He acted as secretary to
the Standards Commission, 1867-71, and had much
to do with the preparation of the voluminous appen-
dices to its reports.

On the abolition of the separate office of Warden
of the Standards in 1878, Mr. Chaney was placed in
charge of the Standards Department of the Board of
Trade. As superintendent of weights and measures
he was responsible for the model regulations with
respect to weights and measures on which the local
regulations throughout the country have been based.
He was for many years the representative of the
United Kingdom on the Comité International des
Poids et Mesures, and toolk an active share in its
proceedings. When the metric system of weights
and measures was made permissive in this country in
1897, Mr. Chaney compiled the new tables of metric
equivalents which were legalised the following year
by Order in Council.

Mr. Chaney’s scientific writings are for the most
part to be found in the periodical publications 6f the
Standards Department, and include, inter alia,
‘““ Report on the Standards of Measurement for Gas,”’
“Verification of Standards for the Governments of
India and Russia ’’ (1877), ‘‘ Screw Gauges ’’ (1881-3),
‘“* Densities and Expansions ’’ (1883), ‘‘ Expansion of
Palladium,’’ ‘‘ Re-comparison of the Imperial and
Metric Units’ (1883), ‘‘ Verification of the New
Parliamentary Standards of Length and Weight ”
(1881-3). His ‘‘ Re-determination of the Mass of a
Cubic Inch of Distilled Water ’’ (Phil. Trans., 1892),
which was intended to serve as a basis for calculating
the relation between measures of capacity and volume,
gave for the cubic contents of the gallon the value
277-463 cubic inches, a much better approximation
than the value 277.274 cubic inches, due to Kater,

NO. 1896, VOL. 73]

which was accepted up to that date. The researches
which have since been undertaken at the Bureau
International des Poids et Mesures, and are still in
progress, have yielded a provisional result for the
mass of a cubic decimetre of distilled water at its
maximum density which leads to. the value 277.420
cubic inches for the cubic contents of the gallon.
This does not differ much from Chaney’s result, and
i to be considered as the best determination up to
ate.

His well known work ‘Our Weights and
Measures,’’ which appeared in 1897, contains a mass

of metrological information not readily accessible else-
where. One of his latest contributions to science was
the article ‘‘ Weights and Measures’ in the supple-
ment to the ninth edition of the ‘‘ Encyclopedia
Britannica.’’ His last official publication was a re-
port on the ‘‘ Construction and Verification of a New
Copy of the Imperial Standard Yard ”’ (1905).

His great experience in precise measurement caused
him to be regarded as a valuable cooperator, and his
advice was frequently sought by official committees.
The Imperial Service Order was conferred upon him
in 1902, and the services rendered by him in connec-
tion with the restoration of the Russian standards of
weight and measure were recognised by the present
Tsar as well as by his grandfather, Alexander IT.

Mr. Chaney’s name has long been familiar in
metrological circles, and his death has removed
another link with the past. The memory of his kindly
disposition and ready assistance will be treasured by
au those who were in any way associated with

im.

NOTES.

WE are informed that the council of the Royal Society
has selected the following candidates for election as fellows
of the society :—Dr. C. W. Andrews, Mr. G. T. Beilby,
Mr. F. F. Blackman, Prof. T. J. I’Anson Bromwich, Mr.
P. H. Cowell, Mr. W. Heape, Mr. J. H. Jeans, Dr.
€. H. Lees, Captain H. G. Lyons, R.E., Prof A. B.
Macallum, Mr. J. E. Marsh, Dr. P. Chalmers Mitchell,
Mr. J. Swinburne, Prof. H. A. Wilson, Prof. A. E.
Wright.

A MEETING was held at the Mansion House on Monday,
the Lord Mayor presiding, to consider what steps should
be taken to commemorate the discovery by Dr. W. H.
Perkin fifty years ago of the first artificial colouring matter
obtained from a coal-tar product, and to celebrate the
great development of the coal-tar colour industry thus
started. A note describing the origin and nature of the
movement appeared in these columns on February 15
(p. 370). The proceedings at Monday’s meeting were
opened by Lord Halsbury, who moved :—‘‘ That, in view
of this being the fiftieth year of the foundation of the coal-
tar colour industry, it is desirable that steps should be
taken to memorialise the event and to do honour to Dr.
W. H. Perkin, the founder.’’ Sir William Bousfield
seconded the motion, which was supported by the Master
of the Leathersellers’ Company and Prof. H. E. Arm-
strong, and unanimously carried. Lord Rayleigh moved :—
““That an appeal be made in this country and abroad for
subscriptions for the purpose of carrying out the follow-
ing objects :—(1) The presentation to Dr. Perkin for his
lifetime of an oil portrait of himself, executed by an
eminent artist, the portrait to become the property of the
nation at his death. (2) The execution of a marble bust
of Dr. Perkin to be placed in the rooms of the Chemical

420

NA TORE

[Marcu I, 1906

Society. (3) The establishment of a ‘ Perkin Research
Fund’ for the promotion of chemical research to be
administered through the Chemical Society.’’ This resolu-
tion, which was also adopted, was seconded by Sir William

Ramsay, and supported by Sir Henry Roscoe and Mr.

David Howard. It is unnecessary here to detail the
steps in the growth of the German coal-tar colour
industry which is the commercial outcome of Dr.

Perkin’s discovery—an industrial development by which
this country might have been expected to benefit. But, as
a correspondent writes in the Times of February 24 :—
“Although in this country there have never been wanting
capable chemists able to carry on and extend the manu-
facture of colouring matters, there has been complete lack
of understanding on the commercial side of the complex
requirements of the industry and complete lack of sympathy
between the capitalist and the worker. The
failure must be credited to our universities and to our
faulty system of higher education—to our inbred Philis-
tinism. Little, if anything, has been done either in school
or university to evoke in the community even an elementary
understanding of the principles of science and of their
application to commerce and industry. We are now pay-
ing the penalty of our neglect.’’ To secure that the nation
shall derive full industrial value from scientific discoveries
will be possible only when we have developed a system
of secondary and higher education in which modern needs
and modern methods are recognised; for not until then
will there be among us a generation of employers and
capitalists able to understand expert opinions and with
scientific imagination enough to read the signs ot the
times.

scientific

Tne encroachments of the sea on parts of our coasts,
and the question of national responsibility for the protec-
tion of the seaboard against such erosion, was raised in
the House of Commons on Monday in an amendment to
the Address. Several members urged that the Government
should give financial assistance for the construction of
works for coast protection and afford facilities to local
authorities for obtaining loans on easy terms for the
defence of the The President of the Board of
Trade stated that the Government has decided to have an
inquiry in the form of a Royal Commission, which will
extend not merely to coast defence, but to two or three
other kindred subjects, such as waste lands and probably
afforestation. A Commission will be appointed at an early
date to inquire into the matter. Some objections to the
expenditure of Imperial funds upon the protection of
private property at sea-side resorts and other localities
were stated in an article in Nature of February 15
(Pp. 309).

SEVERAL years ago a commission was appointed by the
Imperial Academy of Sciences of Vienna to collect phono-
graphic records to be preserved for scientific study. Some
of the results obtained by expeditions to Kroatia, Slavonia,
and Lesbos were described in Nature of January 29, 1903
(vol. Ixvii., p. 301). The Vienna correspondent of the
Pall Mall Gazette now states that from North Tyrol and
Vorarlberg fifty-seven specimens of German dialects have
been obtained for the archives, and another forty-seven from
Carinthia. From New Guinea have been sent thirty-two
Phonographs recording the language and music of the
natives, with especially interesting war songs and the
accompanying drum music. From India have been received
valuable Sanskrit songs. An expedition
avhich was sent out to Australia is now on its way back,
and another party is about to start for Greenland.

NO. 1896, VOL. 73]

sea coast.

records of old

Ir is stated that the new director of the Vatican Observ-
atory will be Father J. G. Hagan, S.J., professor of
astronomy in Georgetown University, U.S.A., and director
of the observatory there.

In connection with the indication by the London County
Council of houses in London which have been the resi-
dences of distinguished individuals, a memorial tablet was
erected on Monday on No. 110 Gower Street, where Charles
Darwin resided from 1839 to 1842.

Mr. E. T. Wuittaker, F.R.S., has been appointed
Andrews professor of astronomy in the University of
Dublin, in succession to the late Prof. C. J. Joly, F.R.S.

The appointment carries with it the office of Royal
Astronomer of Ireland.
A Reuter message from Paris states that the com-

mittee of the Alliance Frangaise-Britannique received at
the Sorbonne on Monday the delegates of the London
branch of the Alliance, headed by Sir Archibald Geikie,
F.R.>., the chairman. M. Liard, Vice-Rector of Paris
University, and M. Levasseur, director of the Collége de
France, and honorary president of the Alliance Frangaise,
welcomed the British delegates. After Sir Archibald Geikie
had delivered an address on geology, the British guests
visited the Jaboratory and the large amphitheatre of the
Sorbonne. In the evening they were present at a banquet
given in their honour, the Minister of Public Instruction
being in the chair.

WE learn from the British Medical Journal that the next
meeting of the Congress of Experimental Psychology will
be held at Wirzburg, April 18-21. Among the communi-
cations promised are the following :—Dr. F. Kruger, on the
relations between experimental phonetics and psychology ;
Prof. O. Kulpe, on the present position of experimental
zesthetics; Dr. F. Schumann, on the psychology of read-
ing; Prof. R. Sommer, on psychiatry and the psychology
of the individual; Dr. W. Weygandt, on the psychological
investigation of congenital feeble-mindedness. | Communi-
cations relative to the congress should be addressed to Prof.
O. Kilpe, Wurzburg.

ABouT two years ago steps were taken to erect a fitting
memorial to James Watt at his birthplace. This is to
take the form of a commemorative public building and
statue at Greenock. In the Engineer of February 23 dis-
appointment is expressed that an object so obviously
worthy, and an appeal so influentially prosecuted, should
not have had greater success. Only 7ool. has been sub-
scribed in Great Britain and igol. in America. Influentia:
canvass, nevertheless, was made by Mr. Carnegie in the
United States, while in Great Britain Dr. Robert Caird

sent out 10,000 circulars inviting subscriptions. The
balance required, 9300l., has been contributed by Mr.
Carnegie.

OrnitTHOLOGY has lost its oldest votary by the death, on
February 20, of Prof. Jean Louis Cabanis, for many years
in charge of the collection of birds in the Museum of
Berlin. Born in 1816, his earliest work of importance
seems to have been the ornithology of Tschudi’s ‘* Fauna
Peruana’ in 1845 and 1846. He afterwards did the same
service for Sir Richard Schomburgk’s ‘‘ Reisen im
but the ‘* Ornithologische Notizen ”’
in the Archiv fir Naturgeschichte for 1847 almost marked
a new epoch in the progress of the science, for they were
written in conjunction, it may be said, with Johannes
Miller, and practically applied the principles of taxonomy
laid down by that great anatomist, in his contributions
to the Academy of Sciences in Berlin in 1845 and 1846,
On certain variations in the vocal organs of the Passeres—

Britisch-Guiana "’;

Makcu 1, 1906]

NATURE

421

a line of investigation so well worked out subsequently
in this country by Garrod and Forbes. In 1853 Cabanis
established the Journal fiir Ornithologie, of which he re-
mained editor until succeeded in 1893 by his son-in-law,
Prof. Reichenow, and with that journal—the prototype of
the Ibis, and hence of several others—his name will be
ever associated. The ‘‘ Museum Heineanum”’ is another
work by which he will be remembered; but the above-
mentioned ‘‘ Ornithologische Notizen’’ must be regarded
as by far his greatest performance, and, of course, they
excited no attention in this country for many years.

Mr. Morten P. Porsitp informs us that during the
summer of the present year a permanent station for the
study of Arctic science will be established on the south
coast of Disco Island, in Danish West Greenland. The
cost of the foundation is to be defrayed by a gift from
Mr. A. Holck, of Copenhagen, and the Danish Govern-
ment has promised an annual grant of 600!. towards its
maintenance. A laboratory, equipped with appliances and
instruments, especially for biological researches, will be
attached to the station, and work-places will be furnished
for visiting naturalists, foreign as well as Danish. The
establishment of two such places is contemplated at present.
The visitors will be allowed free use of instruments,
travelling outfit, and library of the station; lodging will
be free; and a small fee only will be charged for board.
The first visitors will be received in 1907, and notices, in-
viting application, will be issued in due course. A library
of Arctic literature is to be founded at the station, and is
to be made as complete as possible. Mr. Porsild, the
leader of the station, whose address until May 1 next is
Copenhagen, S., Denmark, will be glad to receive present-
ation copies of works on Arctic and Antarctic subjects,
especially on Arctic biology, for addition to the library.

Mr. Batrour proposed the toast ‘* The School and
Union ”’ at the annual dinner of the Students’ Union of
the London School of Economics and Political Science held
on February 24. Answering the question, What is it we
mean by economics in its wider sense? Mr. Balfour spoke
of the scientific character of the study of economics, and
went on to say :—‘‘ Science, if it means anything, means a
progressive knowledge, and I confess I detest the habit of
the unreasoning appeal to authority, especially when, as
is often the case, the authority is somewhat antiquated.
In science there is, or ought to be, no such thing as
authority whatever. A man of science builds, and gratefully
builds, on the foundations left by his predecessors; but
they are but foundations. It is his business to raise tier
after tier the fabric of ever-progressive knowledge.’’ Later
Mr. Balfour said he desired to see the school “ inspired
with that detached and disinterested scientific spirit which
is, after all, the true origin of all progress in this world.’’
We note with pleasure this frank recognition of the value
of the scientific spirit in all branches of learning and in
every department of enterprise by a great politician, and
we look forward to the time when every human activity in
this country will be governed by the methods of science
and imbued with its spirit.

Durinc the past few days the following reports of
seismic disturbances have appeared in the daily papers :—
February 21.—Shemakha (Government of Baku), Earth-
quake was felt at 12.10 a.m. Fort de France, Earthquake
shock was felt at 12.13 p.m. St. Lucia, Severe earthquake
occurred at 8.30 p.m. Other shocks were afterwards felt
at frequent intervals. Mont Pelée, Martinique, is active.
At Fort de France many houses have been demolished by

NO. 1896, VOL. 73]

earthquakes. La Soufriére, the St. Vincent volcano, is
more active than it has been since 1902. Buenaventura,
Colombia, Earthquake lasting seven minutes occurred at
10.35 a.m., the movement being from north to south.
After the earthquake there was a huge wave, which was
of no consequence at Buenaventura; but according to
reports from the coast so far as 50 leagues to the south,
2000 persons were killed by falling houses or drowned by
the wave, whole families being lost.

AccorDING to the Chemiker Zeitung, the General
Electrical Company, of Berlin, in conjunction, it is said,
with the firm of W. C. Heraeus, of Hanau, intends to
start a company for the production of mercury lamps made
out of quartz glass.

On February 10 Prof. van ’t Hoff gave a lecture on
thermochemistry before a large gathering of members and
guests of the Austrian Engineers’ and Architects’ Society
After a few preliminary remarks on the heat
of reaction and combination of chemical substances and
their calorimetric measurements, Prof. van ’t Hoff dwelt
upon the heat of alcoholic fermentations, of thermite de-
composition and of various illuminants, pointing out the
great amount of heat developed in the decomposition of
acetylene and the pressure developed in explosions, and
finally discussed the relations between heat development
and chemical affinity, referring at length to Berthelot’s
principle, which would find a measure of chemical affinity
in the heat developed, but which Prof. van ’t Hoff de-
clared untenable. The lecturer concluded with the remark
that this subject of thermochemistry was one in which a
more general application of modern chemistry was most
desirable; he was, however, of the opinion that it was the
duty of the man of science to seek out new ways and to
find out new laws, but that here his duties ceased, whilst
the practical technical man must himself sort out that
which was necessary and usable. After the lecture the
leading chemists and physicists of Vienna entertained Prof.
van ’t Hoff to a dinner given in his honour.

in Vienna.

As was mentioned in Nature of February (p- 322),
the sixth International Congress of Applied Chemistry will
be held this year in Rome from April 25 to May 3. It
may be remembered that the first congress was held in
Brussels in 1894, the second in Paris in 1896, the third
in Vienna in 1898, the fourth in Paris in 1900, and the
fifth in Berlin in 1903; a desire has been expressed that
the seventh meeting should be held in England. All com-
munications and applications for membership of the sixth
congress should be addressed to the Ufficio del Congresso,
Via Panisperna, 89, Rome. The subscription fee of 20 lire
is to be forwarded by P.O.O., made payable to Prof.
Giovanni Giorgis, the treasurer of the congress. Upon
application a pamphlet will be forwarded containing all
information requisite for applicants, together with the
regulations of the congress, a list of Italian and foreign
committees, a list of the sections, and the titles of papers
and communications that have been announced up to the
present. The English committee contains some thirty-
three names of representatives of fifteen leading scientific
societies connected with chemistry, including the Royal
Society, the Chemical Society, Society of Chemical Indus-
try, Society of Public Analysts, the Iron and Steel Insti-
tute, the Faraday Society, the Institute of Chemistry, &e.
In addition to the sectional meetings, which are to take
place on April 27, 28, and 29, and on May rt and 2,
lectures of a general nature will be arranged (such lectures
by Profs. H. Moissan, Sir W. Ramsay, and O. N. Witt

422

NATURE

[Marcu 1, 1906

are announced), a social gathering of the members will
take place on the evening of April 25, an excursion in the
neighbourhood of Rome will be made on Sunday, April 29,
and two alternative excursions, the one to Sicily and the
other to the Island of Elba, to places of chemical interest
on May 3; as the number of participators in the latter
is limited, preference will be granted to those who are
first to send in their names, and more especially to foreign
members. Members may further obtain a reduction of
49 per cent. to 60 per cent. on the Italian State Railways,
and 60 per cent. on tickets issued by the navigation com-
panies Navigazione Generale Italiana and La Veloce.
The papers to be contributed will be grouped in eleven
sections, and may be in one of the four official languages
of the congress, namely, Italian, French, German, and
English. The discussions after the reading of the papers
may also be carried on in one of these languages.

Museum News for February records the addition to the
Brooklyn Museum, New York, of a skeleton of the sperm-
whale, measuring 47 feet in length, which has been
suspended to the roof of the building.

In the American Journal of Science (February) Mr. C. C.
Trowbridge re-opens the disputed question of the inter-
locking of the emarginate primary flight-feathers in
raptorial birls, adducing apparently conclusive evidence that
this takes place in certain American hawks, with a result-
Ing increase of wing-power.

_THE contents of vol. Ixxx., part iv., of+the Zeitschrift
fiir wissenschaftliche Zoologie, comprise a paper by Dr.
E. Strand, of Christiania, on the structure and develop-
ment of spiders; a second, by Mr. J. Wilhelmi, on the
excretory organs of the fresh-water turbellarian flat-
worms of the section Tricladida; and a third, by Dr.
C. Hennings, of Rostock, on the ‘ tOmovarysche ”’ organ
in myriapods. The latter is the continuation of a paper
the first part of which appeared in the same journal in
1904. A systematic classification of the myriopods is given.

Ix the report of the Maidstone Museum, Library, and
Art-Gallery for 1905 is published a photographic reproduc:
tion of an original drawing by the late Mr. W. H. Bensted
of the well known slab (now in the Natural History
Museum) containing a large portion of the skeleton of a
young iguanodon, obtained by him from
quarry in Queen’s road, Maidstone, in 1834.
is, of course, mainly of historical interest.
the loan, for an_ indefinite period,
valuable, and in this country almost unique, collection of
Japanese pottery, made by the Hon. H. Marsham, has
been accepted by the museum authorities.

the ragstone
The drawing
An offer of
of an exceedingly

Tue January issue of the Emu contains an excellent
portrait of the late Captain F. W. Hutton. From the
report of the proceedings of the fifth session of the
Australasian Ornithologists’ Union, held at Adelaide
which appears in this number, we learn that the acting
president devoted his address to the subject of European
and other birds introduced into Victoria. The two species
that have thoroughly established themselves are the starling
and the sparrow. No one appears to have a good saya
for the latter, but as regards the former it is stated that
the residents in Riverina are longing for its arrival in
numbers to help them to cope effectually against the armies
of locusts and caterpillars that frequently infest those
districts. Thrushes, blackbirds, and greenfinches have
established themselves to a small extent in and around

NO. 1896, VOL. 73

the districts where they were first liberated, but chaffinches,
yellow-hammers, and siskins have practically failed to
accommodate themselves to their new surroundings.

In discussing the early stages of the Paleozoic rugose
corals, as a clue to the origin and relationships of the
group, Mr. C. E. Gordon, in the February number ot
the American Journal of Science, finds himself unable to
accept Mr. Duerden’s views as to the close connection
between the ancient tetrameral and the modern hexameral
typts of corals. On the contrary, he is of opinion that
we are not yet in a position to define their relationships
or to state which is the earlier of the two. In a second
paper in the same journal Mr. C. R. Eastman discusses
the affinities to the lung-fishes presented by the group of
armoured Palaeozoic fishes typified by Coccosteus, and
commonly known as the Arthrodira. From the study of
the North American genera Dinichthys, Dinomylostoma,
&c., the author comes to the conclusion that the alleged
relationship is well founded, thus confirming the views of

Dr. A. Smith Woodward. The author goes, however,
somewhat further, and urges that while the living
Australian Ceratodus (Neoceratodus) fosteri bears an

intimate relation to Arthrodira on the one hand, and to
the Palaeozoic Dipterus and its allies on the other, yet
that it is a more primitive type than any of these. It
represents, in fact, the direct line of descent from primitive
Palzozoic Ceratodonts, from which Dipterus and its allies
diverged in one direction and the Arthrodira in the other.
Hence the Dipnoi cannot be descended from the crosso-
pterygian ganoids, but are more probably derived from
Pleuracanthus-like sharks. Further, the association of the
Arthrodira with the Ostracophora (Pterichthys) in one
group, Placodermata, becomes obviously impossible. Mr.
R. S. Lull points out that the name Ceratops proposed by
Marsh for the Laramie horned dinosaur is preoccupied, and
he accordingly suggests the new name Proceratops, with
Agathaumidz as the family title.

Tue Pioneer Mail remarks that the immunity of Euro-
peans continues to be one of the most noticeable features
of the plague epidemic. Last year, in the Bombay Presi-
dency, where the disease carried off more than a quarter
of a million people, only nineteen Europeans in all were
attacked, of whom ten died. In the previous year, in the
same region, where 316,000 deaths took place, only eight
were amongst Europeans.

Mr. A. ELeNKIN, writing in the Bulletin du Jardin
impérial botanique, St. Petersburg (vol. v., part v.), on
the marine alge found near the biological station at
Mourmane, discusses the different forms of Lithothamnin,
and describes a new species characterised by the develop-
ment of bicellular spores.

In recording his impressions of the botanical congress
at Vienna in the Bulletin de l’Académie de Géographie
botanique, Mr. L. Navas, who represented the Société
Aragonaise des Sciences naturelles, presents his arguments
in favour of giving the authority for the genus and not
the authority for the binomial name of a plant.

A PERIODICAL bulletin—Le Bambou—devoted to the study
of the bamboo, its cultivation and uses, has been started
by Mr. J. H. de Lehaie, Mons, Belgium. The first
number, published January 15, contains an article on the
flowering and seeding of bamboos in Europe. From a
study of the collated data, the writer concludes that in the
section Arundinaria the majority of species flower gre-
gariously, produce seed and die, but in the case of
Phyllostachys the production of seed does not appear to
be the harbinger of death. y ‘

MarcH 1, 1906]

In addition to the descriptions of a number of Indian
forest fungi that Dr. E. J. Butler has been contributing
to the Indian Forester (October to December, 1905), some
of his remarks possess a more general interest. In con-
nection with the genus Chrysomyxa, a hetercecious species
in Europe produces teleutospores on rhododendrons and
zecidia on the spruce. In India, both zecidial and teleuto
stages of a Chrysomyxa have been found on Rhododendron
campanulatum, thus giving grounds for an assumption that
Chrysomyxa was originally confined to a single host.
Dr. Leather also makes some definite statements on the
subject of wheat rust, Puccinia graminis, and the ecidial
stage that occurs on the barberry. In India, the stages
on the wheat do not seem to depend upon the presence
of barberry bushes, as the most destructive areas of rust
were hundreds of miles distant, and, further, at the only
part of the Himalayan range where Aecidiwm berberidis
is known to occur black rust is extremely rare on cereals.

It has always been recognised that there is an un-
certainty as to the plant that yields the Manila Elemi of
commerce. Trimen and Bently, in ‘‘ Medicinal Plants,”
referred it to a species of Canarium allied to Canarium
commune, and later writers have generally referred it to

that species. Mr. E. D. Merrill, the botanist in the Philip- |

pine Islands, with specimens before him of fruit, flowers,
and the pitch locally known as “ brea,’’ assigns it to
Canarium luzonicum in Publication No. 29 of the Bureau
of Government Laboratories. Other species of Canarium
yield brea, but, according to the writer, do not furnish
the article of commerce. The same publication contains
the third list of new or noteworthy plants that Mr. Merrill
has identified. It includes a number of new species of
Medinilla and Rhododendron; of the fourteen species of
Rhododendron, thirteen are believed to be endemic.

(2), 12,
the functions of the remarkable
on the

In a note contributed to the Atti dei Lincei, xiv.
Dr. G. Noé
organs of sense first discovered by Hicks in 1857
wings of many species of Diptera.

discusses

In the Memorie of the Italian Spectroscopists’ Society,
xxxiv., 6, Messrs. A. Mascari and A. Cavasino discuss
the effect of atmospheric disturbances on the outline of the

NATORE

423

depends on the small difference between the boiling points

of oxygen and nitrogen. The whole apparatus is of a

| compact form, and of two examples in actual working at

sun’s disc, with special reference to the direction of the

wind and other meteorological conditions.

MempBers of the recent British Association party will
remember enjoying English salmon for dinner one day on
the voyage home from Beira. This reminiscence is sug-
gested by a note in the Revue générale des Sciences from
which we learn that an undertaking has successfully been
carried out for obtaining in Paris fish from the French
fisheries on the west coast of Africa, transported under
cold storage.

In connection with Prof. Sydney Hickson’s article on
““ Miners’ Worm ’’ (February 8, p. 344), attention may be
directed to a paper by Gino Peri_in the Atti det Lincei,
xiv.
far Ankylostoma duodenale is parasitic on animals other
than man. The author has succeeded in infecting dogs
through the mouth and by penetration of the skin, and
there are good reasons for believing that horses are also
liable to infection.

M. Georces CLaupe describes in the Journal de Physique
a series of apparatus for the separation of oxygen and
nitrogen by the liquefaction of air. In these the necessary
degree of cold is obtained by expansion accompanied by
performance of external work, and the process of separation

NO. 1896, VOL 73]

| the effect of the storm on the buildings ;

2), 12, dealing mainly with the question as to how |
s y q

Boulogne-sur-Seine, one is capable of generating 7oo and
the other 1000 cubic metres of 96 to 98 per cent. oxygen
per diem.

Tue U.S. Monthly Weather Review for September last
contains a graphic account of a tornado of marked severity
which visited Carbondale, Pennsylvania, on )
1905. Mr. W. M. Dudley, meteorologist in charge at
Scranton, about sixteen miles distant, issued a circular of
inquiry, and obtained special reports from neighbouring
districts. From these it appears that a funnel-shaped
cloud, from which vivid lightning played, moved across
the northern portion of Carbondale in a south-west to
north-east direction, covering a track two miles in length
and from 25 to 200 yards in width. About thirty houses
and other buildings were blown down, and some of the
roofs were carried to a distance of 600 feet. The trees
which were blown down fell to the eastward. The area
affected was, as usual, very small, the storm being chiefly
confined to the Carbondale district. At Scranton there was

August 30,

Fic. t.—A building which was moved in line with the direction of
motion of a tornado on August 30, 1905.

vivid lightning, but no other special characteristics were
observed ; the barometer was low, reading 29-64 inches, but
remained steady; there was no noticeable increase in the
wind velocity, and very little rain fell. The passage of
the cloud, which appeared to revolve in a backward
direction, was accompanied by a heavy rumbling noise.
The illustration, from one of the photographs taken, shows
the tcrnado
but its duration is not

occurred about 8h. p-n,

stated.

3om.

M. Cu. Ep. GurtLaume contributes to the Revue générale

| des Sciences for January 15 an interesting account of the

career of Colonel Charles Renard, whose death took place
in April of last year. From a popular point of view,
Colonel Renard sprang into fame in 1884-5 in connection
with the successful trips made by the navigable balloon
La France; but his scientific work covers a wider range
than this series of experiments, his inventions dating from
1875, when he devised a new air-valve for balloons, up
to within a short time of his death. Among other innova-
tions notice the the coefficient of

we introduction of

424

NALORE

(Marcu 1, 1906

‘‘Jaminage ’’ in connection with problems of thermal
conductivity between gases and solids; also improvements
in the construction of boilers and surface condensers based
on the same study, having for their obiect the construction

igation. Then, again, we find

of light motors for aérial nav
Renard turning his attention to portable hydrogen gener-
ators fer military ballooning and pneumatic elevators for
grain and other materials. Last, but not least, we have
the in December, 1903, all the

carriages of which were self-propelled by power transmitted

motor train, exhibited

from the motor through a series of jointed shafts. This
train was successfully conducted round sharp corners
through the streets of Paris.

Tue February number of Symons’s Meteorological

Magazine commences the forty-first volume of this useful
periodical. It began as a two-page ‘“‘ Rain-circular,’’ in-
tended to keep rainfall observers in touch with each other’s
work; in 1866 it became an eight-page magazine, and has
now gradually increased to twenty pages, and has attained,
under the editorship of Dr. H. R. Mill. to the position
of one of the most important monthly meteorological
published. Dr. Mill points out that the readers
of the magazine frequently tender advice; although
this cannet always be adopted individually, he has
endeavoured to give effect to the principal desiderata put
forward during the last few years.

reviews

The chief result has
been the introduction of a very useful ‘additional table of
fifty-four rainfall stations, giving the position and height
above sea, and the statistics of rainfall and temperature
for each month; it shows the value and date of the
maximum and minimum temperature, and the number of
nights at or below 32°, both in the shade and on the
grass; the thirty years’ average and the actual rainfall
for the month, the greatest fall in twenty-four hours, and
the number of rainy days, together with the mean annual
fall. Following numbers will show, somewhat like the
Weekly Weather Report of the Meteorological Office, the
total rainfall from January 1 to the end of the month
dealt with. This new table involves a considerable amount
of additional labour, but greatly enhances the value of the
publication.

A VERY interesting article on the uranium deposits of
St. Joachimsthal is contributed by Dr. Paul Gaubert to
No. 1 of vol. iii. of Le Radium. The article is illustrated
by geological maps of the district and of the mines, and
by two photographs of the town. The same number of
Le Radium contains also a résumé, by Prof. G. Sagnac, of
the experimental methods used in the study of the trans-
formation of Réntgen rays.

Tue report of the International Committee on Atomic
Weights for 1905 is published in the Proceedings of the
Chemical Society (vol. xxii., No. 303). During the past
year there was unusual activity in the determination of
atomic weights, and some of the work done relates to the
most fundamental The entire system of atomic
weights is thus affected more or less profoundly, and a
be needed in the near
In particular, the recent re-determinations of the
atomic weights of chlorine, sodium, and nitrogen appear
to show that the values obtained by Stas for these elements
are now no longer tenable.

values.

general revision would seem to

future.

in connection
with nitrogen has already been noticed in Nature (vol.
Ixxiil., p. 37). The
weights have been

Guye’s work
elements of which the atomic
re-determined cadmium, carbon,
gadolinium, iodine, potassium, silicon, strontium, tellurium,
and thorium.

No. 1896, voL 73]

other
are

Some interesting results have been obtained by Mr.
Percival Lewis in studying the degree of ionisation in the
gases resulting from coloured flames (Physical Review,
vol. xxi., No. 6). The specific ionic velocity was measured
in the case of a Bunsen flame into which solutions of
known concentrations of various salts of the alkalis and
alkaline earths were sprayed. ‘The ionic velocity apparently
varies in the case of each salt inversely as the square
root of its concentration in the flame; the specific ionic
velocity has, moreover, the same magnitude for ions of
the same sign from equimolecular solutions of all the
salts of all the alkali metals.
ions
ions.

The velocity of the negative
is always somewhat greater than that of the positive

The measurements given show also that the rate
of re-combination of the ions from the colourless Bunsen
flame is much greater than that observed in the case of
the coloured flames.

Pror. Henrt Motssan in a recent paper gave an account
of his experiments on the fusion and distillation of metals
of the platinum group. In the current number of the
Comptes yendus (February 19) he describes similar experi-
ments on the metals of the iron group, the metals examined
including nickel, iron, manganese, chromium, molybdenum,
tungsten, and uranium. All these were distilled in the
electric turnace, but the boiling points varied considerably.
The mest volatile proved to be manganese, which distils
readily before the l’ ne of the furnace is volatilised. Nickel
is fairly easy to distil, then chromium, which distils with
regularity under the action of a current of 500 amperes at
110 volts. Iron offers difficulties, on account of the dis-
solved gas causing foaming at the commencement of dis-
tillation, but with a current of 1000 amperes at 110 volts
4oo grams of iron distilled in twenty minutes. The boiling
point of uranium is higher than that of iron. The greatest
difficulty was experienced with molybdenum and tungsten ;
the latter metal, with a current of 500 amperes at 110 volts,
showed no signs of fusion in five minutes; even when the
current was raised to 800 amperes only 25 grams could be
distilled in twenty minutes.

Dr. G. H. Fow rer desires it to be known that the
Marseilles Exhibition of Oceanography and Sea Fisheries
has not been *‘ postponed,’’ as stated in a circular issued
by the British Commission of the Milan Exhibition. No
postponement of the Marseilles Exhibition has been con-
templated, though H.M. Treasury has refused financial
support.

Messrs. Sampson Low, Ltp., have just published the
eighth edition of Mr. W. T. Lynn's’ ‘‘ Remarkable
Eclipses ’’ and the thirteenth edition of his ‘‘ Remarkable
Comets.”’ Each book, though it contains only about fifty
pages, gives an interesting and accurate statement of the
main facts of the subject with which it deals.

Tue Country Press, Ball Street, Kensington, W., has
series of seven pictorial post-cards on which
are shown in an effective manner forty-two species of

issued a

British ferns. The idea is a good one, and should serve
to direct the attention of young people to the beauties of
this branch of plant life. Other natural objects are to be
dealt with in a similar manner in future series of post-
cards.

We have received a copy of the thirty-seventh annual
report of the Wellington College Natural Science Society,
that, namely, for 1905. It is quite clear that the society’s
activity has in no way diminished. The open Saturday
meetings provide the boys of the school with excellent fort-
nightly lectures, the subjects of which are by nc means

Marcu 1, 1906]

NATORE

2

425

exclusively scientific. The meteorological record is as
exhaustive as ever, and some reproduced photographs in-
cluded in the report show that the photographic section
is doing good work.

Tue Cambridge University Press has published a third
edition of ‘* Hydrodynamics,’’ by Prof. Horace Lamb,
F.R.S. The second edition of this standard work
reviewed at length in Nature of November 21, 1895 (vol.
liii., p. 49). In the present issue no further change has
been made in the general plan and arrangement of the first
edition, but the work has been carefully revised, occasional
passages have been re-written, and many interpolations and
additions have been made, amounting in all to about one-
fifth of the whole.

was

Mr. S. Hirzer, Leipzig, has commenced the publication
of a new and elaborate work entitled ‘‘ Handbuch der
anorganischen Chemie,’’ edited by Dr. R. Abegg, assisted
by many leading workers in chemistry—particularly
physical chemistry—in Germany and elsewhere. The
second part of vol. ii. has recently been issued, the title
being “‘ Die Elemente der zweiten Gruppe des periodischen
Systems.’’ The first part of this volume has not yet
appeared, but the first part of the third volume will be
published in the spring of this year. We propose to notice
the work when the volumes have been completed.

OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN.
ASTRONOMICAL OCCURRENCES IN MARCH :—

March 1. 6h. 14m. to 7h. 9m. Moon occults * Tauri (mag.

4°3)-

>, 2 6h. 41m. to 7h. 45m. Moon occults y Tauri (mag.
39).

»» 9 8b. 5m. Minimum of Algol (8 Persei).

o> 9, Ith. 51m.to 12h. 4om. Moon occults 6! Tauri (mag.
3°9).

» » I2h. 3m. to 12h. 31m. Moon occults 6? Tauri
mag. 3’6).

>») II. 16h. 11m. to 16h. 59m. Moon occults y Virginis
(mag. 3'0).

>, 12. 6h. 21m. to Sh. 31m. Transit of Jupiter's Satellite
III. (Ganymede).

» 14. 17h. 22m. to 18h. 23m. Moon occults y Libre
(mag. 4°1).

» 15. Venus. Illuminated portion of disc=0'993; of
Mars=0'962.

>, 18. 5h. Mercury at greatest elongation (18° 31’ E.).

>> 9; 10h. 34m. Transit (ingress) of Jupiter’s Satellite IIT.
(Ganymede).

>, 19. 12h. 58m. Minimum of Algol (8 Persei).

+, 21. Ih. Sunenters Aries. Spring commences.

>, 22. Qh. 47m. Minimum of Algol (B Persei).

>, 29. oh. Jupiter in conjunction with Moon (Jupiter

Ase32.iNE)s
20h. 56n. to 2th. 35m.
(Aldebaran, mag. 1°1).

9 Moon occults a Tauri

Comer ig06a (Brooks).—A further extract from Herr
M. Ebell’s ephemeris for comet 1906a, as published in No.
4075 of the Astronomische Nachrichten, is given below :—

Ephemeris 12h. M.T. Berlin.

1906 a (true) § (true) log x log A Bright-
h. m. s. <a ness

Mar. 6... 5 46 7 -.. +60 47 ... 0'2329 ... 0'0909 ... 0°48
See 544 18 2. 5Se20)-.. (012370... O'L072..- 0743
MOmen5 43 6 aoe SOMIS men nOl2423) ... O°T2301- 20:30
2g 5 42 22). GAN ir.e- | CL2470) ... OF 1398) =-7 0:36
Aer 542) 2 heen Ov25i17. 6 Ould Omens Ora
WOMeS4t 58cm OnQhm.O'2504)... OLL7TS 225 O30

This comet is now travelling nearly due south towards
the constellation Auriga, and will apparently pass between
Capella and 6 Aurigz, nearer to the latter, on about
March 21.

NO. 1896, VOL. 73]

CoMET 1905¢ (GIAcoBINI).—Comet 1905¢ has now become

faint as to be beyond the reach of the naked-eye
observer. On March 3 it will be only a little brighter
than at the time of discovery, and will set just before
9 p.m., or about three hours after sunset, slightly to the
south of west.

An extract from Herr A. Wedemeyer’s daily ephemeris,
as published in No. 4074 of the Astronomische Nachrichten,
is given below :—

Ephemeris 12h. M.T. Berlin.

so

1906 a (true) 6 (true) log x log A Bright-
I hee, RE he ness

Marzi lass agin =5 LO)... O;OZ84)).. OslS55..-. 1520
(onc, Ph 24 51S} =4 (On. O10546) ¥. O7T983) 2.5 1:05

() roy Boi) 10} —2 54 ... 0'0700 ... 0 2109 ... 0°92

Sis 25S =1 5 ..+, 010840) ..10°2234) 1... O:O0

TOM 2a2 Se Ui =©0 52 ... 0'0986 ... 072358 ... 0°72
E2226 0 (4 -.- O71120 -.. (072480) (0:64
WAGES OFA2 +0 58 .-. 071248 ... 072600) ... 0757

From this it will be seen that the comet is now apparently
traversing the constellation Cetus, and will be about 1° due
north of the wonderful variable Mira on the evening of
March 7.

A number of full notes of the observation of this comet
at the Arcetri Observatory, between December 11 and 31,
1905, are given by Signor A. Abetti in No. 4073 of the
Astronomische Nachrichten.

Lire of Pietro Taccuint.—We have received an interest-
ing short biography of Prof. Tacchini, written in Italian
by Signor L. Palazzo, who evidently knew the great
[talian astronomer intimately, and appreciated his works.
The brochure contains nine pages of text and a fine repro-
duction of Tacchini’s portrait; it is published by the Typo-
graphical Society of Modena.

Sun-spot SpectrRA.—A valuable paper on the spectra of
sun-spots is published in No. 1, vol. xxiii., of the Astro-
physical Journal by Profs. Hale and Adams. The
““widened lines’’ given in the table accompanying the
paper number 345, and were measured on ten photographs
—including three separate spots—taken with a grating
spectrograph in connection with the Snow telescope of the
Mount Wilson Solar Observatory.

The region measured was from A 5000 to A 5853, and, in
a second table, the wave-lengths of a number of ‘* bands ’’
shown in the spot spectrum are also given.

The discussion of the results is extremely interesting, but
is too lengthy to be even summarised here. It may be
remarked, however, that the lines of titanium showed the
greatest mean change of intensity, and that all the silicon
lines in the region considered were much weakened.

Reproductions of some of the photographs obtained
accompany the paper, and show the widened lines very
clearly.

“Tne Heavens At A Giance.’’—This well known card
calendar reaches its tenth year of issue with the present
(1906) copy, which contains the usual data and notes.
As in former years, we can only remark that it will be
found to be a very handy and useful source of reference
to everyone engaged in observational astronomy.

The calendar may be obtained from its author, Mr. A.
Mee, Tremynfa, Llanishen (near Cardiff), for sevenpence,
post free.

THE LANDSLIDE IN THE RHYMNEYV
VALLE Y.

THE principal source of the Rhymney River is a copious

spring in which the rain-water that has disappeared
into numerous swallow-holes, and flowed for some distance
underground in the Mountain Limestone, again rises to
the surface near the edge of the Millstone Grit. From this
point the incipient river flows in the direct line of dip of
the strata, that is, in a south-south-easterly direction,
across the outcrops of the Millstone Grit, the Lower Shale
series, and the Pennant Sandstone series of the South
Wales Coalfield. The length of its course on the Mill-

stone Grit is nearly two miles, and on the. Lower Shale
series five miles.

426

NATLORE

{Marcu 1, 1906

The Brithidir—in some parts called the Tillery—seam
of coal constitutes the dividing plane between the Pennant
Sandstone and the Lower Shale series.

In a section taken at right angles across the valley at
the point where the landslide—the subject of the present
notes—is taking place, that is, about one and a half miles
higher up the stream than the point at which the Brithidir
seam dips under it, the bottom of the valley is 750 feet
wide and 7oo feet above sea-level; the outcrops of the
Brithidir seam are 3000 feet apart and 1000 feet above
sea-level, and the summits of the Pennant Sandstone are
about one and a half miles apart and 1300 feet above sea-
level. The average inclination from the outcrop of the
seam to the bottom of the valley on each side is thus
approximately 1 in 4.

Above the outcrops of the seam the ragged edges of the
sandstone escarpments are seen projecting above the
accumulations of débris which hide their bases; below the
outcrops a superficial, grass-grown deposit, partly perhaps
of Glacial origin, consisting of earth, clay, sand, and
stones, probably not more than from 1o feet to 20 feet
thick at any point, and possibly thinner in many places,
lies upon and entirely conceals the shales. Part of this
deposit, having a width of between 2000 feet and 3000 feet
measured along the line of the valley, is known to have
been slowly moving down the western slope ever since
the Rhymney Railway was constructed across it, near the
bottom of the valley, some fifty years ago. The excessive
slowness of its general motion is shown by the following
facts :—first, the railway, together with a stone bridge
over it, has only been carried to a distance of from 6 feet
to 10 feet eastwards from its original position during the
whole of that long period of time; secondly, the arch of
the bridge, which, although damaged and partially dis-
torted, was prevented from being entirely broken up by
placing heavy balks of timber between its side-walls
under the level of the rails, was only removed, and re-
placed by a girder bridge, three years ago; lastly, the
river, which flows at the foot of a steep bank, not far from
the railway bridge, has retained its old channel, and has
been able to carry away the débris from the foot of the
moving bank sufficiently fast to prevent the latter from
invading its bed.

Although the general movement of the ground is so slow
and uniform that the roads and fences, and the vegetation
which grows upon the surface, give no clue as to what
is taking place over the greater part of the affected area,
there are local indications here and there which show that
a number of smaller and comparatively rapidly moving
landslides have occurred within the larger area from
time to time. One of these smaller landslides recently
damaged the village of Troedyrhiwfuwch, situate near
the upper end of the moving slope. This village consists
of a public house, a school-room, and two rows of twenty
or thirty houses, built upon the opposite sides of a road
which runs parallel to the valley at a height of about
200 feet above the river. The pine-ends of many of the
houses, in the row nearest the centre of the valley, appear
to have lately undergone substantial repairs, and the
public house has been entirely re-built, with its found-
ations, it is said, now resting on the solid rock. The
gardens of the houses nearest the northern end of the row
now under consideration, together with the division walls
between them and the outhouses contained in them, have
been ruined beyond repair, and part of the ground on
which the gardens were formed has been broken and piled
up behind the houses like the front of a wave advancing
down the slope, and appears to be still moving.

In this part of the coalfield, as well as over practically
the whole of Monmouthshire and part of East Glamorgan-
shire, the strata immediately underlying the Pennant
Sandstones consist of a succession of red and blue shales
and marls of greater or less thickness. In the New
Tredegar pits, which are not far from this locality, the
red and blue ground has a thickness of more than 300 feet.
This is, therefore, the kind of ground upon which the
landslide is taking place. But as most strata of this kind
disintegrate and soften when exposed to air and moisture,
it is not improbable that this property of theirs accounts,
to some extent at least, for the gradual movement of the
deposits lying upon them on the west side of the valley,

NO. 1896, VOL. 73]

and that it may be likewise responsible for the more
sudden landslide that took place a year or two ago on the
opposite side of the valley, which seriously damaged both
the Brecon and Merthyr Railway and one of the Powell
Duffryn collieries which lay in its path.

My thanks for information concerning the Rhymney
Railway and the bridge over it are due to Mr. Cornelius
Lundie, formerly general manager, and now consulting
director, to the railway company, who has known, and has
had occasion to observe, the movements taking place in
this locality for the last forty-five years, and is therefore
thoroughly conversant with the subject.

W. GaLLoway.

THE LAW RELATING TO UNDERGROUND
WATERS.

[XN one of the State papers recently issued by the depart-
ment of the United States Geological Survey there is

a report by Mr. D. W. Johnson dealing with the rights

of landowners and others to underground waters, for the

purpose of giving the owners of such waters some idea of

their rights and obligations.*

The report is not intended to be a legal treatise, but as
a practical guide for the officers of the hydrological depart-
ment, showing the relation of the law to problems which
are of a more or less hydro-geological character.

The law relating to underground waters in the United
States is practically the same as in this country, and the
decisions given in the courts there are founded on British
precedents modified in some cases by the different circum-
stances of the two countries.

Underground water is held to comprise all water which
for the time being is below the surface of the ground,
whether by penetration of the rainfall or soakage from
rivers and lakes, and which is dissipated throughout the
mass of porous soil or rock, except in cases where the
underground water can be traced as moving in a well
ascertained and definite course that can be located.

The fundamental principle upon which the laws regu-
lating the use of underground water is formed is this :—
That such percolating subterranean waters are a part of
the land itself. The land belongs to the owner, whether it
be rock, porous ground, earthy matter, or part soil and
part water, the water being as much his property as rock,
ores, or minerals. Consequently, he may take and use
such waters as he pleases, even though such use may
damage his neighbour by removing or diminishing water
from adjacent wells or springs, by causing subsidence to
land or buildings by abstraction of the water, or by render-
ing the water useless by pollution from sewage or refuse
from factories or mines, &c.

This principle has been admitted in the decisions given
by the courts owing to the difficulty of proving how much
of such water was within the limits of any given area, how
much comes from adjacent land, or how much passes from
one man’s land to that of his neighbour, and the im-
possibility of predicting what result may ensue from inter-
ference with what has been regarded as an unknown
quantity. There are, of course, local circumstances or con-
ditions which modify this general statement, but, broadly,
this is how the law stands at present.

In the United States, however, conditions have for some
time past been undergoing an alteration, and the investi-
gations and observations undertaken by the hydrological
department of the Government have been throwing con-
siderable light on the action of underground waters. In
many cases the original lack of knowledge which was the
reason for the ruling of the law as it now stands has
already disappeared.

We recently gave a short illustrated description of the
methods adopted by surveyors of the department for
measuring and defining the rate and direction of the flow,
and more particularly for showing the effect of percolation
of deleterious matter from factories, oil wells, &c., on the
underground supply of drinking water (NaTuRE, December
21, 1905).

1 ‘Relation of the Law to Underground Waters.”

Water Supply and Irrigation Papers, No. 122.
Publishing Office, 190s.)

By D. W. Johnson.
(Washington; Government

Marcu 1, 1906]

NATURE

427

The state of knowledge regarding the properties of
underground water may be said now to have become in
advance of the ruling of the courts on some of the ques-
tions involved. The earlier legal decisions were made
when little or nothing was known regarding the action of
the water beneath the surface. Since then the progress
of hydro-geological science has established as facts many
things regarding underground waters previously unknown
or only speculative, and the knowledge of the working of
underground waters remains much less in the realms of
the “secret, occult, and concealed.’’ It has now become
possible to define certain rights in these waters and to
protect these rights equally as well as those in surface
waters,

A case recently dealt with in one of the American State
courts directs attention to the importance of emphasising
the influence that the ever-increasing knowledge concerning
underground waters may have in governing legal decisions.
In an action brought in the State of Pennsylvania regard-
ing the pollution of underground water, the judge re-
marked :—Geology has become a progressive and in many
respects a practical science. More deep wells have been
sunk in one State of America than had previously been
dug in the entire earth in all time; and that which was
formerly held to be unknown and merely speculative re-
garding the properties of underground water has been by
experience reduced almost to a certainty. If it can be
shown that the work done by the owner of the land would
cause the inflow of salt water or oil to mingle with fresh
water, and the means of preventing the mixing are avail-
able at a reasonable expense, then clearly it is a violation
of the spirit of the law not to recognise the change, and to
apply the settled principles of right to the altered conditions
of fact.

In another case tried in California it was held that
the usual rule of common law on the subject of percolation
was not to be held as applying to an arid district that
depended entirely for its cultivation on water derived from
underground sources, and where the conditions were totally
different from those existing in the locality where the rule
in question was first established, and therefore an owner
has no right to injure his neighbour’s land by any un-
reasonable diversion of underground water by transferring
the same for gain to another district.

PHYSICAL RESEARCH IN AMERICA.

Two volumes, representing the first instalments of what

is promised to be an annual publication, have been
received from the physical laboratories of Harvard Uni-
versity.! Each contains fourteen papers contributed: by
the professors, staff, and students. In the preface the
director, Prof. Trowbridge, acknowledges the great
stimulus received by the establishment of the Thomas
Jefferson Coolidge research fund, which has provided the
laboratory with what the volumes show to be a very fine
equipment, and has greatly increased the enthusiasm for
physical research.

Most of the papers included are reprints from the Pyro-
ceedings of the American Academy and the Astrophysical
Journal. It is hardly possible to speak too highly of the
handsome treatment they have received at the hands of
the printer and binder, and especially of the manner in
which the numerous plates have been reproduced. The
range of subjects treated is a very wide one, and in a
review of this kind it is not possible to deal with each
paper individually.

In the first volume Prof. Trowbridge contributes an
interesting paper on the spectra of gases and metals at
high temperatures. He attempts to apply electrical
stimulus of known amount to the gas in a vacuum tube
by discharging through it a condenser of known capacity
charged to a high potential by his powerful accumulator
battery, by which he can obtain pressures up to 40,000
volts. He contrasts the relative intensities of the lines
in the spectra thus obtained with the results got by other
methods. When theorising on the relative volatility of

1 “Contributions from the Jefferson Physical Laboratory of Harvard
University.” (Cambridge, Mass., vol. i., 1903; vol. ii., 1904.)

NO. 1896, VOL. 73]

metals it is desirable, however, to adopt more accurate

data than some of those used in this paper, where “‘ soft-
iron’’ is said to melt ‘‘not far from t1100°,’’ and
aluminium ‘* between 700° and 800°,’”’ instead of 657°.

Spectroscopy is evidently a favourite study in the labor-
atory, since five papers in each of the two volumes are
devoted to it. Mr. Lyman gives an explanation of the
ghosts ’’ and ‘“‘ false spectra’? sometimes met with when
using gratings, particularly in the extreme ultra-violet, and
shows in a number of cases the relation between the wave-
lengths of the various false lines and those of the parent
lines to which they are due.

In another paper he discusses the various kinds of pro
longations of spectral lines met with when using gratings,
and shows them to be due to a cause quite different from
Sir Norman Lockyer’s ‘‘ long and short lines.’’

Another interesting paper is by Mr. Morse on the spectra
from the break in the Wehnelt interrupter, which appears
to give spectra of a special character not classifiable under
the division of “‘ flame,’’ “‘ arc,”’ “*‘ spark,’’ or ‘‘ enhanced
spark.”

Mr. B. O. Pierce contributes, in continuation of an
earlier research, papers on thermal conductivity of rocks,
one of which must have involved a long period of pains-
taking work. The apparatus employed was on a scale
only possible where very considerable funds were available.

Prof. Hall has a paper on a theory of thermoelectric
action, and, along with three other workers, one on
thermal and electrical effects in “‘ soft iron.”

In several instances, work commenced in the laboratory
appears to have been dropped on the publication of some
paper slightly overlapping the research contemplated. It
is a pity, for example, that the fine resistance bridge for
platinum thermometry, described by Mr. Edwards, should
not be used to solve some of the problems for which it is
suited, and that the construction of a gas thermometer
should not be proceeded with because of the publication
during the past few years of several researches on gas
thermometry.

Though none of the papers appear to be of epoch-making
importance, the volumes show how a well equipped labor-
atory may contribute substantially to the advancement of
knowledge. It would be interesting to see what effect the
endowment of a representative physical laboratory in this
country, with funds for research purposes, would have on
the character of the work done, especially if at the same
time it were possible to arrange that members of the
teaching staff should have a more reasonable proportion
of their time to devote to research work.

Ji Ae eH:

FIREBALL OF JANUARY 27, 1906.

MAGNIFICENT fireball was seen by many persons in
the north of England on the evening of January 27
at 8h. 33m. Descriptions of its appearance have been
received from Hull, Bramley, Bradford, Patrington, and
other places in Yorkshire, from Sleaford and _ Billing-
borough in Lincolnshire, from Cheadle, Staffordshire, &c.

Mr. H. Beckwith, at Hull, observed the meteor
travelling horizontally between the ‘‘ square’’ of Ursa
Major and the Belt of Orion, while at Cheadle, Miss
Blagg noted the path as just above ¢ Leonis. Mr. R.
Felton, at Patrington, estimated the brightness of the
object as quite equal to that of the full moon. It left a
trail visible for some time afterwards; one observer says
it remained for five minutes, two others estimate the
duration as eight minutes, while at Billingborough a
spectator watched it for more than ten minutes.

The meteor gave a very brilliant flash near its end
point, and the suddenness of its apparition startled many
people. Several of the observers were enabled to give
the position of its flight with fair accuracy from the
luminous trail it left behind.

The radiant point appears to have been near @ Bodtis, or
in 214°+53°, and the height of the meteor was from
about 59 to 45 miles over the North Sea immediately
east of the Lincolnshire coast. The disappearance occurred
at a point over ‘‘ the Wash,’’ about 6 miles S.S.E. from
Wainfleet. The length of observed path was approximately

1

428

NATURE

{ Marcu 1, 1906

42 miles, and probable velocity of the object 24 miles
per second.

The radiant point in the right hand of Bootes is very

little known as a centre of meteoric divergence in the
month of January. The only shower conformable with it
was observed at Bristol in 1887-9 January 25-29,

213°+52°.

In recent years fireballs have been very numerous in
this month, and especially at the epochs about January
g to 13 and 24 to 29. They appear, however, to have
belonged to a great many different systems, and have
not supplied evidence of any rich individual display of
bright meteors at this time of the year.

W. F. DENNING.

METHOD OF PRODUCING WAVES OF FRE-
QUENCY INTERMEDIATE BET WEEN HEAT
WAVES AND HERTZIAN WAVES.

HERE is at present a considerable gap of unexplored
wave-lengths intermediate between those of Hertzian

waves and what is commonly known as heat. The shortest
Hertzian waves which have heretofore been produced are
of the order of one millimetre length.

Some years ago the writer discovered a method of pro-
ducing the heretofore unknown waves above referred to.

It is based on the phenomenon discovered by the writer
and published by him in a paper on insulation and con-
duction read before the American Institute of Electrical
Engineers in 1894.

In the accompanying figure, AA are copper rods, BB are
plano-convex lenses. ‘he distance between the surfaces of

the lenses depends upon the wave-length which it is desired
to produce.

If BB were metallic terminals, the discharge passing at
c would have a long wave-length on account of the capacity
of BB. It is impossible to make metallic terminals small
enough to get very short wave-lengths. But, in the
apparatus shown in the sketch, if aa are connected to the
terminals of a high-voltage machine sparks will be found
to pass at c, and the oscillating conductor is merely the
small column of incandescent gas, c.

If the distance between Be is very short, the wave-length
will also be very short.

Waves may be produced in this method having a wave-
length certainly not longer than a few ten-thousandths of
an ‘inch, and there would appear to be no necessary limit
to the frequency. It sometimes happens that the discharge
tends to pass at a point outside the axis, and hence to give
a longer wave-length than desired, but this can be avoided
by properly proportioning the curvature of the lenses and
the diameter of the rods aa.

Inert gases of the helium type seem to give the best
results, but very good results are obtained by using quartz
lenses in air, the use of quartz having been suggested to
me by Prof. Elihu Thomson. Quartz does not seem to
become conducting on being heated by the passage of the
discharge to anything like the same extent as glass, and
hence the wave- length remains more constant.

NO. 1896, VOL. 73]

Owinggto pressure of other work, the writer has been
unable to continue these experiments, but the apparatus
would seem to be of interest as offering a means of
obtaining waves of any desired high frequency.

RecinaLp A. FESSENDEN.

UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL
INTELLIGENCE.
Oxrorp.—The statement of the income and expenditure
of the Common University Fund for 1905, published in
last week’s

Gazette, shows that the income was
68061. gs. $8d., to which the colleges contributed
61971. 19s. 4d. under the statute concerning college con-
tributions for university purposes, and the Royal Geo-
graphical Society 4ool. towards the support of the
department of geography. The total expenditure was
62601. 14s. 11d., of which sum 36621. 19s. 5d. was devoted

to scientific purposes, partly in the payment of the salaries
of university readers and professors, and partly in assisting
various laboratories and providing demonstrators and
assistants.

At a meeting of the Junior Scientific Club, held at the
Museum on February 23, Mr. M. H. Godby (Christ Church)
read a paper on ‘“‘ The Place of Natural Science in
Education.”’

CaMBRIDGE.—The Vice-Chancellor has been authorised to
convey to Lord Rayleigh the grateful thanks of the Uni-
versity for his magnificent gift of 77331. 12s. 8d., being
the amount of the Nobel prize awarded to him in 1904.
Lord Rayleigh desires that 5oool. of this should be
employed in erecting a new building in connection with the
Cavendish Laboratory, and that the remainder should be
devoted to the purchase of scientific books and periodicals
for the University Library.

Sir George Darwin, K.C.B., Plumian professor of
astronomy, will represent the University at the celebration
of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Benjamin Franklin
at Philadelphia in April.

The Special Board of Biology and Geology recommended
that the agreement between the University and Dr. Dohrn,
director of the Zoological Station at Naples, be renewed
for a further period of five years by the payment to him
of 1ool. per annum out of the Worts travelling bachelors
fund.

The General Board of Studies has nominated the follow-
ing gentlemen as members of the Board of Electors to the
professorships named below :—Dr. B. C. A. Windle, to
the professorship of human anatomy; Prof. F. W. Oliver,
to the professorship of botany; Lord Walsingham, to the
professorship of zoology and comparative anatomy; Mr. J.
Hutchinson, to the professorship of surgery; the Earl of
Carrington, G.C.M.G., to the professorship of agriculture.

The following have been nominated examiners by the
General Board of Studies for the special examination in
agricultural science and for the diploma in agriculture :—

Mr. J. B. Peace, Mr. H. Woods, Mr. T. B. Wood, Mr.
R. wn. Biffen, Prof. Middleton, Dr. Shore, Mr. T. A.
Dickson, and Mr. A. E. Shipley.

At Gonville and Caius College the triennial Thruston

prize of 54l., open to a member of the college of not more
than fifteen years’ standing who has published in the
course of the preceding three years the best original in-
vestigation in physiology, pathology, or practical medicine,
has been awarded to Mr. W. S. Perrin, research student
of the college. Mr. Perrin is an expert on protozoology,
and has published papers on a so-called trypanosome in the
oyster and on Pleistophora periplanetae.

Lorp RayLEIGH has promised to lay the foundation-stone
of a new science school at Dulwich College on Saturday,
March 3.

To the new buildings of the Sorbonne it has been
decided to add a new university chemical laboratory, the
Institut de Chimie, on a site between la rue Saint-Jacques
and la rue d’Ulm, that is, in the neighbourhood of the
Sorbonne.

Pror. R. J. Harvey Gipson writes from the Hartley
Botanical Laboratories, University of Liverpool, to point

Marcu 1, 1906]

NATORE

429

out that the proposed grant referred to in a note last
week (p. 406) is to be made to the botanical laboratories
to meet the expenses of investigations in applied botany
which the agricultural committee of the County Council
desires the botanical department of the University to carry
out. He adds:—‘‘ There is no department of economic
botany in the University, nor has any fund been collected
for the establishment of such a department, so that the
cost of such a school is not in any sense ‘ guaranteed.’ ”’

Tue Treasury has appointed a permanent committee to
advise the department as to the distribution of the grant-
in-aid of colleges furnishing education of a university

standard. The constitution of the committee is as
follows :—The Rev. H. G. Woods, chairman, Sir Francis
Mowatt, G.C.B., Sir William J. Collins, M.P., Prof. Henry
Jackson, “and Prof. W. S) McCormick. Mr. R. G.
Hawtrey, of the Treasury, will act as secretary. Dr.

H. G. Woods, the chairman of the committee, was in 1901
a Treasury Commissioner for the inspection of university
colleges. It will be noticed that the interests of science
are not represented upon the committee.

Tue academic congress, which recently met in St.
Petersburg to consider a number of questions relating to
Russian higher education, arrived at the following con-
clusions :—The Imperial Russian universities ought to be
State institutions, the duty of which should be to foster
the natural sciences; they should be autonomous institu-
tions, responsible only to the Minister of Education; they
should, further, be open to persons of both sexes alike,
irrespective of nationality and religious creeds; the uni-
versity diplomas should give no privileges in the entrance
to the professions, &c.; the State examinations should be
maintained, and those persons desirous of exercising the
right of putting their knowledge to professional uses should
be required to submit themselves to the corresponding
State examinations; the degree of ‘‘ Master ’’ should be
abolished, and those now holding it should receive the
““ Doctor’s ’’ degree.

Tue Charity Commission has forwarded to the Education
Committee of the London County Council a draft scheme
which provides that the City Polytechnic, which hitherto
has comprised the Birkbeck College, City of London
College, and Northampton Institute, shall cease to exist.
It is proposed that the Birkbeck College and the City of
London College shall constitute separate foundations, while
the Northampton Institute shall constitute a separate
charity. The whole of the endowments of the Birkbeck
College and the City of London College are determined
as educational endowments, and will therefore henceforth
be under the control of the Board of Education and not of
the Charity Commissioners, but the Northampton Institute,
as a charity, will presumably continue to be supervised by
the Charity Commission, and power is reserved for the
establishment of further schemes in respect of the two
colleges by the Board of Education and in respect of the
Northampton Institute by the Charity Commission. Sub-
ject to these provisions, the several institutions are to be
managed in accordance with their existing schemes and
by their present governing bodies.

In the House of Commons on Monday Mr. Austen
Chamberlain asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer
whether he had undertaken to include in the Estimates
for 1906-7 a sum of 20,000l. for the building fund of the
University College of North Wales, to which fund 61,o000l.
had been subscribed locally; if so, whether any conditions
had been attached to the proposed grant; and whether he
would make provision in the Estimates for similar grants
to the universities and university colleges of England in the
same proportion to the local subscriptions. In reply, the
Chancellor of the Exchequer said :—‘ I have undertaken
to ask Parliament to make a grant of 20,000l. to the build-
ing fund of the college when the money is actually re-
quired for the scheme, and subject to the condition that a
similar sum has first been spent upon it from other sources.
No part of this grant will have to be provided in the
Estimates for 1906-7. Similar grants have already been
made to the two other Welsh colleges of like character.
No such grants have in the past been made to university

NO. 1896, VOL. 73]

colleges in England, and, as the annual grants to these
institutions were largely increased—as I think most properly
increased—by the right hon, gentleman when he was
Chancellor of the Exchequer, | am not, as at present
advised, prepared to recommend a change of policy.”’

THE annual meeting of University College was held on
February 21. Lord Reay, who presided, referred to the
incorporation ot the college in the University of London,
and said its object is to secure the good of university
education in London as a whole. Speaking of the pro-
posed college of technology, Lord Reay said he is convinced
that increased facilities for higher technological work are
required in London, but unless all such higher technological
work is in the hands of the same authority there will be
the same risk of overlapping, duplication, possibly of
triplication, that there has been in the past. Now is the
great opportunity for giving to the University its due
responsibility, and from what the University has done in
the last five years, said Lord Reay, it will not fail to bear
that responsibility. If brought within the University the
new college of technology would be managed by a college
committee much as University College will be managed.
Such college committee would be subject to the general
direction on matters of university policy of the Senate, but
in all other matters it would be practically self-governing.
It would be possible to start the new college at once within
the University, and while starting it with a committee
under the Senate there would be time to consider what
modifications in the general constitution of the University
would be made necessary.

In the absence of Mr. Chamberlain, the Chancellor,
Alderman C. G. Beale, the Vice-Chancellor, presided at the
sixth annual meeting of the Birmingham University Court
of Governors on February 21. From the financial state-
ment it was seen that the income for the year had been
nearly 43,000/.; two new chairs had been inaugurated
during the last twelve months, one for electrical engineer-
ing and the other for civil engineering. The engineering
department as a whole had moved into its new quarters
at Bournbrook; although they were expecting the early
completion of this section, they were also looking forward
to the beginning of another by reason of the generous
donation of 50,000]. in November of last year; the exact
form of the extension was not yet fully decided, but plans
for the erection of new chemical and physical depart-
ments were being prepared. Remarking upon the diffi-
culty of determining how far a certain sum of money
would go in providing such accommodation, Alderman
Beale observed that whatever was done should be done
on a sufficiently large scale to be permanent; they had
sufficient experience to show that the large scale would
be the best in the long run. The erection of the Harding
Memorial Library, the outcome of the generous gift of
10,0001. from the family of the late Mr. Charles Harding,
was contemplated. The University had broken new
ground, as stated in the principal’s report, by the appoint-
ment of Mr. W. E. Collinge as special lecturer in economic
biology.

Lorp Hatssury delivered an address at the annual prize
distribution of the City and Guilds of London Institute on
February 16. He said that the old apprenticeship system
was a good rough-and-ready way of teaching young people
what they wished to practise later in life. What has been
attempted more recently, however, is to teach, not only
how to qo things, but the principles underlying their action.
As the result of the developments of modern life, the whole
world has become the market for competition. In
Germany, France, Switzerland, and other Continental
nations it has long been recognised that the old ways in
trade and commerce will not do, and the people there have
been preparing themselves by technical education, and in
other respects, not only to hold their own, but to forge
ahead in the industrial race. It is all very well for us to
assume an indifferent air, and say that we have been
getting on very well. Unfortunately, the facts seem to tell
a different story. For the maintenance of our commerce
we must use the means that other countries have used with
such successful results. As a judge, Lord Halsbury was
often struck with the large number of patent cases that

430

came before him in which the patents had been taken out
in Germany and brought over here to be developed and
worked at a profit. Why was this? While Germany has
founded numerous places for chemical experiment and re-
search, nothing of the kind is provided here, except at
such colleges and schools as those belonging to the City
and Guilds of London Institute. It is a matter of national
concern that whatever is possible should be done to give
a stimulus to the scientific and industrial activity of the
country.

SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES.

LONDON.
Society of Chemical Industry (London Section),
February 5.—Mr. R. J. Friswell in the chair.—
Carburetted water gas in the Bunsen burner: M.

Chikashigé. Carburetted water gas is now prepared in
the Kyoto University by injecting heavy petroleum oil with
steam into a water-gas generator filled with ignited coke.
The gas produced is passed through a superheater loosely
packed with fire-bricks, and then through a scrubber, after
which treatment it enters the gas holders. The mean
composition of the gas differs little from that of coal gas,
and the products of combustion closely resemble those of
coal gas. The carburetted gas has no effect on the
ordinary laboratory vessels, and the products of combustion,
unlike those of plain water gas, are not more injurious
in insufficiently ventilated laboratories than those of coal
gas.—The loss of nitre in the chamber process, part ie
J. K. H. Inglis. The loss of nitre, which usually amounts
to about 3 per cent. of the sulphur burnt, can best be
traced by complete analyses of the flue gases. The
analysis cannot be carried out by means of aqueous
absorbents owing to the formation of complicated bodies by
the interaction of nitrous acid and sulphur dioxide. But
the analysis may be conveniently made by the fractional
distillation of the gases, first at the temperature of liquid
air and subsequently at higher temperatures. The results
showed that only about 4 per cent. of the lost nitre was
lost as nitrous oxide and 43 per cent. as nitrogen peroxide.
In the first experiments the temperature of liquid air was
insufficient to effect the separation of nitric oxide from the
flue gases owing to the vapour pressure of nitric oxide.
Some further experiments were therefore made at a lower
temperature obtained by making liquid air boil under
diminished pressure. The amount of nitrogen oxides found
was no greater than in the earlier experiments, and this
might therefore mean that nitric oxide is not present in
the flue gases.—The removal of nitrous acid from concen-
trated nitric and sulphuric acid: O. Silberrad and B. J.
Smart. The experiments were made to determine to what
extent the reaction between nitrous acid and amines or
amides occurs in concentrated acids. Nitric acid containing
a small percentage of nitrous acid was taken either alone
or in admixture with sulphuric acid. The addition of
hydrazine occasions an explosion, and with this exception
substances such as urea, lead peroxide, oxamide, methyl-
amine nitrate, and amido guanidine are very inert towards
nitrous acid in presence of concentrated nitric acid, although
they react readily in dilute solution. The observation of
Franchimont that urea nitrate decomposes with evolution
of carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide was confirmed.
Zoological Society, February 6.—Mr. G A. Boulenger,
F.R.S., vice-president, in the chair.—Mounted cubs of the
timber-wolf (Canis occidentalis), obtained in the province
of Keewatin, Canada: F. Gillett.—Restored models of
the skulls and mandibles of Moeritherium and Palzo-
mastodon: Dr. C. W. Andrews. The models were pre-
pared by Mr. F. O. Barlow from the original specimens
collected from the Upper and Middle Eocene beds of the
Fayim, Egypt, and now preserved in the British Museum
and the Geological Museum, Cairo.—Lantern-slides of
sections of skin from the palmar and plantar surfaces of
twenty-four species of mammals, and the plantar surfaces
of seven species of birds: Dr. W. Kidd. The functions
of the papillary ridges and the papillary layer of the
corium in connection with the sense of touch were alluded
to.—Histology and physiology of the placenta in the
Ungulata: Dr. J. W. Jenkinson. A recent examination

NO. 1896, VOL. 73]

NAT OTL,

| Marcu 1, 1906

of the histological structure of the placenta in the sheep
and cow has shown (1) that in the formation of the
accessory cotyledons of the cow the epithelium lining the
cotyledonary crypts arises by simple modification of the
uterine epithelium; (2) that in the fully formed principal
cotyledons of both cow and sheep there is complete con-
tinuity of the intra- with the extra-cotyledonary uterine
epithelium; (3) that the greenish-brown pigment so
abundantly present in the trophoblast-cells is a derivative
of the hemoglobin of the maternal corpuscles which those
cells have ingested. ‘The pigment—which contains no iron
—is of two kinds, one of which has a definite absorption
spectrum resembling closely that of oxyhamoglobin. In
acid solution the spectrum approaches that of acid hamato-
porphyrin.—A living specimen of a dwarf species of cavy,
probably the salt-marsh cavy (Dolichotis salinicola); Sir
Edmund Loder, Bart. Owing to Burmeister (the original
describer of the animal) being under the erroneous im-
pression that he had founded the species on young speci-
mens and the fact that two distinct species occurred in
the same district, some considerable confusion had been
caused as to the status of the different forms of Dolichotis.
The author pointed out that the common Patagonian cavy
(D. patagonicus) differed from the dwarf D. salinicola and
the larger D. magellanicus centricola (the two species
found together) in having a broad dark band above the
white rump-patch.—A description of Trichorhiza, a new
hydroid genus: E. S$. Russetl.—Description of the new
genus Melissomorpha, formed for the reception of a horse-
fly of the Pangoninz division of the family Tabanide,
discovered by Colonel C. T. Bingham in Sikkim:
Gertrude Ricardo. The insect closely mimicked the
Indian bee Apis dorsata, L., having the flattened wide
tibize characteristic of the hive-bee, the general resemblance
between the bee and the fly being very striking.—Mammals
collected at Kuruman and Molopo in Bechuanaland by
Messrs. R. B. Woosnam and R. E. Dent: H. Schwann.
The specimens, numbering about 120, and belonging to
260 species, were of great interest as being topotypes of
several species described by Sir Andrew Smith in his ex-
pedition to Kuruman and the interior of South Africa.—
Description of a new species of ratel (Mellivora) from
Central Africa, also notice of the occurrence of a new
subspecies of chevrotain (Dorcatherium) in that district :
R. Lydekker. The author proposed to divide the genus
into three geographical races, viz. the typical form from
the Gambia, Bates’s chevrotain from the Cameroons, and
the present—Cotton’s chevrotain—from the Ituri Forest.—
The articulation of the vertebrate jaw: H. G. F. Spurrell.
The object of this paper is to direct attention to the
existence of two types of mouth in vertebrates. In one
type the articulation is in the plane in which the teeth
meet; in the other type it is not in the plane in which
the teeth meet, but in mammals above, in reptiles below
that level. This alteration in level is attained in mammals
by an ascending ramus of the jaw, in reptiles by a long
quadrate bone.

Entomological Society, February 7.—Mr. F. Merrifield,
president, in the chair.—Exhibitions.—Specimen of Lath-
robium laevipenne, Heer, a beetle new to the British list,
taken in a sandpit near Oxted, Surrey, in August, 1905:
W. E. Sharp.—Specimens of South African butterflies
belonging to the Nymphaline, Acreine, Danaine, and
Papilionine: Dr. F. A. Dixey. Attention was directed
to the significance of the fact that scents of an agreeable
nature (as in Pierine generally, Mycalesis safitza, &Xc.)
were as a rule confined to the male sex, while those of a
disagreeable or disgusting character (as in Acrzinz and
many Papilios) were often common to both sexes.—Four
species of Acraea taken in South Africa during the visit
of the British Association: Dr. G. B. Longstaff. The
species were (1) A. anemosa, Hew., from the Victoria
Falls, and Mochudi, in Bechuanaland; (2) A. alboradiata,
Auriy., previously known to Mr. Roland Trimen by two
females only, and considered by him as a variety of
anemosa ; (3) A. atolmis, Westw., to which Westwood gave
the names of atolmis and acontias, although there seems
no doubt they are one species; (4) A. atergatis, Westw.,
the two types of which are in the Hope collection at
Oxford.—T wo Diptera, which had been observed follow-

MARcH I, 1906]

NATURE

431

ing the bee, Andrena labialis, Kirb., by Mr. A. H. Hamm,
identified by Mr. G. H. Verrall as a species of Chortophila :
Prof. E. B. Poulton. Prof. Poulton stated that new and
interesting light had been thrown on the observation by
Colonel Yerbury, who pointed out that both flies were
males. At first sight it seemed astonishing that the bees
should be pursued by the males of inguiline flies, but he
suggested that the males in this way find their way to the
burrows, where they meet the females, which have also
reached them in the same manner, or where, more prob-
ably, they lie in wait for the freshly emerging females.—
Collection of Rhopalocera made in Spain during July and
August; 1905: W. G. Sheldon. There were also shown
for. comparison typical European specimens; an aberration
of A, aglaia, with the black blotches on the superiors
enlarged and banded, and with dark suffused ground colour
on all wings; and an interesting series of L. corydon and
var. hispana, with forms approaching var. polonus, from
Aragon, and intermediates between all these forms, and
also British, French, and Swiss typical specimens for com-
parison.—Papers.—(1) Some rest attitudes of butterflies ;
(2) some bionomic points in certain South African Lamelli-
corns: Dr. G. B. Longstaff.—Some new or hitherto un-
figured species of South African butterflies: Roland
Trimen.—Some observations on the reproduction of
Hemiptera-Cryptocera by Claydon Hewett: Commander
J. J. Walker.

Chemical Society, February 15.—Prof. R. Meldola,
F.R.S., president, in the chair.—Cuprous formate: A.
Angel. This salt was prepared by dissolving cuprous oxide
in an aqueous ammoniacal solution of ammonium formate
under petroleum, diluting with alcohol, acidifying with
formic acid, and washing the deposited crystals with ethyl
formate. Water immediately hydrolyses it to cuprous
oxide and formic acid, and dilute sulphuric acid at once
produces a precipitate of metallic copper.—The solubility
of triphenylmethane in organic liquids, with which it forms
crystalline compounds: H. Hartley and N. G. Thomas.
The results of these experiments confirm the existence of
a metastable region in which supersaturated solutions can-
not erystallise spontaneously.—The spontaneous crystallisa-
tion of supersaturated solutions: H. Hartley. It was
shown how the difference between metastable and labile
solutions might be explained from the kinetic standpoint
as a result of the increased solubility of the small crystals
which must be first formed in a spontaneous crystallisation.
—Preparation and properties of some new _ tropeines:
H. A. D. Jowett and A. C. O. Hann. The tropeines of
methylparaconic, terebic, glycollic, protocatechuic, and
phthalidecarboxylic acids were prepared. The results of
physiological experiments with these confirm Ladenburg’s
view that for mydriatic action to exist in a tropeine the
acyl group should contain a benzene nucleus and .an
aliphatic hydroxyl in the side-chain containing the carboxyl
group.—Studies in asymmetric synthesis, iv., the appli-
cation of Grignard’s reaction for asymmetric syntheses :
A. McKenzie. The author has studied the action of
magnesium propyl iodide, magnesium isobutyl iodide, and
magnesium a-naphthyl bromide respectively on J/-menthyl
benzoylformate, and effected in each case an asymmetric
synthesis of a substituted I-glycollic acid.—o-Cyanobenzene-
sulphonic acid and its derivatives: A. J. Walker and
E. Smith. The authors described a modification of
Jesurun’s method for the preparation of o-cyanobenzene-
sulphonic chloride, and referred to various substances
obtained from this by reduction and hydrolysis.—The con-
densation of dimethyldihydroresorcinol and of chloroketo-
dimethyltetrahydrobenzene with primary. amines, part ii.,
diamines, m- and -phenylenediamines: P. Haas.—A
modification of the volumetric estimation of free acid in
the presence of iron salts: C. Chester Ahlum. The iron
is precipitated by means of sodium dihydrogen phosphate,
and the filtrate titrated with standard sodium hydroxide.
In the reaction of the ferric salt with the phosphate, a
definite quantity of acid, directly proportional to the
amount of ‘‘ferric’’ iron present, is liberated, and is
corrected for by estimating the ‘‘ferric’’ iron present
before titrating. The method is applicablé to natural
waters containing iron salts and free acid.—The theory of
alkaline development, with notes on the affinities of certain

NO. 1896, VOL. 73]

S. E. Sheppard.—Resolution of 2: 3-
dihydro-3-methylindene-2-carboxylic acid into its optically
active isomerides: A. Neville. The acid forms with
I-menthylamine a well defined crystalline salt, which on
crystallisation from ethyl acetate gives, after a few crystal-
lisations, the pure salts of the d-acid and I-base.

reducing agents :

Paris.

Academy of Sciences, February 19.—M. H. Poincaré in
the chair.—The simultaneous determination of two points
by means of graphical construction on the large scale:
M. Hatt.—The boiling and distillation of nickel, iron,
manganese, molybdenum, tungsten, and uranium: Henri
Moissan (see p. 424).—The function of organic matter in
nitrification: A. Muntz and E. Laine. The experiments
of Winogradsky and Omeliansky have given rise to the
idea that the presence of humic material is not only un-
necessary, but even harmful to the process of nitrification.
The present researches deal specially with the réle of
humus in the nitrifying process, and it was found that
organic material in this form does not hinder the process,
and may be favourable. Abundance of humus is not an
indispensable condition for nitrification, but its presence is
favourable to the multiplication of the organisms, and the
nitrification ultimately becomes more rapid.—The reproduc-
tion of architectural monuments from their photographs,
practised especially in Germany: M. Laussedat.—
Synthesis of tertiary alcohols derived from paramethyl-
cyclohexane: Paul Sabatier and A. Mailhe. Methyl-
cyclohexanone (1:4) is readily obtained from paracresol
by reduction in presence of reduced nickel. It reacts
energetically with organomagnesium halogen compounds,
and the product of the reaction treated with water gives
tertiary alcohol. The alcohols arising from the action of
the methyl, ethyl, propyl, isopropyl, isobutyl, isoamyl, and
octyl magnesium iodides (or bromides) are described in
detail, and also the substituted ethylenes arising from their
dehydration. *The reaction with phenyl-magnesium bromide
and benzyl-magnesium chloride is also given. The optical
constants were determined, and found to correspond very
closely with the molecular refractive powers calculated
from the coefficients of Conrady and Brihl, thus furnish-
ing a further proof that the hexamethylene ring introduces
no abnormality into the refractive constant.—The dangers
of the ingestion of dead tubercle bacilli into tuberculous
and healthy animals: A. Calmette and M. Breton. In
the experiments described athe tuberculous bacilli were
sterilised by heating to roo°? C. Tuberculous guinea-pigs
had their death hastened by the repeated injection or inges-
tion of sterilised tubercle bacilli, the general effect being
similar to that produced by repeated injection of tuberculin.
In healthy animals the results are injurious, sometimes pro-
ducing disorders resembling those produced by tuberculin.
One practical conclusion to be drawn from this work is
that milk from tuberculous cows, even after sterilisation
by heat, is not a safe food, especially if the person taking
such milk is already tuberculous.—The photographic study
of the duration of discharge in a Crookes’ tube: André
Broca and M. Turchini. The photographs of the spark
were taken from a rotating mirror, the velocity being
adjusted so that a time of o-oo1 second corresponded to
63 mm. on the plate. The photographs showed a sudden
commencement of the discharge lasting 0-o0025 second,
followed by a weakening terminating asymptotically at the
end of about 0-0008 second. With a soft tube the same
form of discharge was observed, but the time throughout
was greater. The authors regard this method as giving
an upper limit for the time of discharge.—A method for
measuring the total quantity of X-rays emitted in a given
time: M. Gaiffe.—The radio-activity of springs of potable
water: F. Diénert and E. Bouquet. Measurements are
given of the radio-activity of the water from the Group de
Nouvet, Erigny, Riviére, and Breuil springs.—The con-
densation of the acetylenic nitriles with phenols. A general
method of synthesis of B-substituted acrylic B-oxyphenol
nitriles: Ch. Moureu and I. Lazennec. It has been
found that the condensation between alcohols and nitriles
of the type R—C=C—CN also takes place when phenols
are substituted for the alcohols. Details are given of seven
compounds formed in this way.—Researches in the pyrane
series: E. E. Blaise and H. Gault.—The presence of

432

NATURE

{Marcil 1, 1906

formaldehyde in caramelised substances: A. Trillat.
Quantities of formaldehyde varying from traces up to
0-27 per cent. have been found in caramel ; the higher the
temperature at which the caramel is formed, the higher the
percentage of formaldehyde. This fact may account for
the observed variation in fermentation of slightly burnt
sugar.—The bryological vegetation of the Antarctic regions :
Jules Cardot. An account of forty-six mosses collected
in various Antarctic expeditions.—The sporulated yeasts of
Gloeosporium: P. Viala and P. Pacottet.—The influence
of grafting on the quality of the grape and wine, and
its use in the systematic improvement of sexual hybrids :
M. Curtel and A. Jurie.—The evolution of colonies of
Diplosoma spongiforme and the ‘* displanchtomy 2 of the
‘idiozoids : Antoine Pizon.—The male and the sucker of
Nicothoa Astaci: A. Quidor.—The peat deposits of the
sea shores of Brittany, to the north of Morlaix, Finistére :
L. Cayeux.—A whirlwind of very small dimensions: M.
Luizet.

CaLcutta.

Asiatic Society of Bengal, January 10.—Types of fever
in Calcutta: Major L. Rogers.—Description of two new
species of cyprinoid fishes from the Helmand basin :
C. Tate Regan. Five species of fish were taken in the
stream of the Helmand basin by the members of the recent
Seistan Arbitration Commission. Of these, two, Scaphiodon
macmahoni and Nemachibus rhadinaeus, are described as
new.+The origin of mankind (according to the Lamaic
mythology): Rai Sarat Chandra Das Bahadur. In the
beginning of the Kalpa, when living beings had sprung up
in the regions of the Rirab (Sumeru) mountain, situated
above the residence of the four Dika Pala (guardians of
the world called Maharaja Kayiko), two Devaputra (angels)
came down to this earth from Heaven, being miraculously
transformed into human shape. One of them was Nima
Rabnang, and the other was Dawa Dimeh. These were
followed by other angels, whose term of residence in
Heaven had expired at the exhaustion of the merit they
had before. Thus humanity evolving from

THURSDAY, Marcu 1.

Rovat Society, at 4.30.—An Experimental Inquiry into the Factors which
determine the Growth and Activity of the Mammary Glands: Miss J. E.
Lane-Claypon and Prof. K. H. Starling, F.R.S.—The Specificity of
the Opsonic Substances in the Blood Serum: Dr. W. Bulloch and

G. T. Western.—The Internal Anatomy of S omoxys: Lieut. F.
Tulloch, R.A.M.C.
CHEMICAL SocIETY, at 8.30.—Studies of Dynamic Isomerism. Part IV.

Stereoisomeric Halogen Derivatives of Camphor: ‘I. M. Lowry.

Reve ON at 5—Jte Physiology of Plants: F.
F.R.S.

LINNEAN Society, at 8.—On a New Type of Stem from the Coal-
measures: Dr. D. H. Scott, F.R.S.—Notes on Some Species of Nereis
in the District of the Thames Estuary: Dr. H. C. Sorby, F.R.S.

Civi, anp MECHANICAL ENGINEERS’ Society, ar 8.—Coast
Protected by Chain Cable Groynes: R. G. Allanson- Winn.

GEoLocistTs’ ASsoOciaTion, at 8.—Note on an Ostracodal I.imestone from
Durlston Bay, Dorset : F. Chapman.—(1) Remarks onthe Upper Chalk of
Surrey : (2) The Devonian Limestones of Lummaton Hill, near ‘Vorquay :
A. J. Jukes-Browne

Darwin,

Lines

FRIDAY, Marci 2.

Rovat InstiruTion, at 9.—Hippocrates and the Newly Discovered

Health Temple at Cos; Dr. R. Caton.
SATURDAY, Marcu 3.

Rovat Institution, at 3.—lhe Corpuscular ‘Vheory of Matter: Prof.
J. J. Thomson, F.R.S.

MONDAY, Maxcu 5.

Society oF CHEMICAL INOUSTRY, at 8.—The Ignition of Nitro-com-
pound Explosives in Small Arm Cartridges : W. D. Borland.

Vicroria INSTITUTE, at 4.30.—On the Bearing of Recent Oriental
Discovery on Old Testament History: Rev. A. C. Robinson.

TUESDAY, Marcu 6.

—Food and Nutition: Prof. W. Stirling.

Society oF ARTS, at 8.—Imperial Questions in the West Indies: Sir
Nevile Lubbock, K.C.M.G.

ZooLocical. SOCIETY, at 8.30.

INSTITUTION OF CiviIL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Continued Discussion: A Plea
for Better Country Roads: G. R. Jebb.—Country Roads for Modern
Traffic: J. E. Blackwall —Prolable Paper: The Widnes and Runcorn
Transporter-Bridge: J. J. Webster.

WEDNESDAY, Maxcu 7.
Arts, at 8.—Art in Painting and Photography: J. C.

Roya. INSTITUTION, a

SocieETy OF
Dollman.
ENnToOMOLOoGICAL SociETY, at 8.—The late Prof. Packard’s Paper on the

Origin of Markings of Organisms: H. Eltringham.
GeoLocicat Society, at 8.—On the Occurrence of Limestone of the
Lower Carboniferous Series in the Cannock Chase Portion of the South

NO. 1896, VOL. 73]|

Staffordshire Cockin.—Liassic Dentaliide: L.
Richardson.

Society or Pusiic ANALysTs, at 8.

THURSDAY, Marcu 3.

Roya Society, at 4.30.—Probable Papers: The Microscopic Changes
in the Nervous System in a Case of Chronic Dourine or ‘‘ Mal de Coit,”
and Comparison of the Same with Those found in Sleeping Sickness: Dr.
F. W. Mott, F.R.S.—On the Relationship between Hemolysis and
Phagocytosis of Red Blood Cells: Dr. R. D. Keith.

Roya INsTITUTION, at 5.—The Physiology of Plants :
For. Sec. R.S.

InsTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—A New Single-Phase
Commutator Motor: V. A. Fynn.

MATHEMATICAL SociE1y, at 5.30.—On Function Sum Theorems con-

nected with the Series fxn n2: Prof. L. J. Rogers.—On Sommerfeld’s
1
Diceaction Problem and on Reflection by a Parabolic Mirror : Prof. H.
amb.

Coalfield: G. M.

F. Darwin

FRIDAY, MarcHo.

Royat Institution, at 9.—Some Dietetic Problems: Dr.iR. Hutchison.

PuHysIcAL SOciETY, at 8.

MaacoLocicaL Society, at 8.—Descriptions of twenty-seven Marine
Gastropoda,!and one Scaphopod, from the Persian Gulfand Gulf of Oman:
J. C. Melvill.—Note on Capudlus lissus, Smith: J. C. Melvill.—Mollusca
from a Rainwash, 150 ft. O.D. at Harlton: Rey. R. Ashington Bullen. —
Report on a Small Collection of Land and Freshwater Shells from
Uganda, with Descriptions of two New Species of Limicolaria and one of
Martensia: H. B. Preston.—On New Species of Polyplacophora from
South Australia: W. T. Bednall and E. H. V. Matthews.

INSTITUTION OF CiviL ENGINEERS, at 8.—The Design of a Two-hinged
Spandrel-Braced Steel Arch: R. Freeman.

SATURDAY, Marcu 10.

Roya INsTITUTION, at 3.—Tbe Corpuscular Theory of Matter: Prof.

J. J. Thomson, F.R.S.

CONTENTS. PAGE
Mathematical Astronomy. By R.A.S...... . 409
Ultramicroscopic Studies of the Colloids. By Dr.

Jie As Milzoyags vege) 2) <'. 2 ce Omarion) em
Science invArchzeolopiy.. = . = a) siiantenen tcl ite stemeOae
Our Book Shelf :—

Nicholson : ‘‘Smoke Abatement: a Manual for the
Use of Manufacturers, Inspectors, Medical Officers -
of Health, Engineers, and Others” ....... 411
Rathgen and Auden: ‘‘ The Preservation of Anti-
quities, a Handbook for Curators” . 2 ss) oot CRA
Goebel and Balfour: ‘‘ Organography of Plants.”—
lS oe Sorse OOo Ac Lo oD. > octane A Gue
Bernard: ‘‘ Catalogue of the Madreporariin Corals
in the British Museum (Natural History)” . . . . 412
‘© Microscopes and Accessories: How to Make and
Use Them.”’—Prof. R. T. Hewlett ie 412
Letters to the Editor :—
Cooperation between Scientific Libraries.—Dr. F. A.
Batheroepemeiye po). cc, oa) Pan een treo le
The Blondlot -Rays.—A. A. Campbell Swinton 413
A 300-Year Climatic and Solar Cycle.—Thos. W.
Kingsmill eset: - |. & Jansen oo sega
The Origin of Bronze. —Dr. John W. Evans 414
Result of War affected by Soldier’s Stature. — Major-
General W. E. Warrand te ae cee - 414
Two Books on Birds. (J///ustrated.) By O. V. Aplin 414
Studies of Clouds, (J///ustrated.) By Prot, H, Hilde-
brand Hildebrandsson < . 10:3. sis oe ee
Transpacific Longitudes. By Dr. Otto Kloz 417
The Kangra Earthquake of April 4, 1905. (/l:ch
MOD!) Se eat ee LS ape Rea
Henry James Chaney. . . 419
Notes.) (//iustvatedyi 3; 419
Our Astronomical Column :—
Astrenomical Occurrenccs in March . Fue 425
Comet 1906a (Brooks). . 3 dled s,, Ch eeeaereye 425
Comet 1905¢ (Giacobini) . 425
Lile of Pietro Tacchini 425
Sun-spot Spectra See: 425
‘'The Heavens atiaiGlance . .. . 5 5 2k 2 = 3 4eh
The Landslide in the Rhymney Valley. By Prof.

W).. \Gallowaiy, hase ste o) .: 2) cA ee ce eens apm) ea
The Law Relating to Underground Waters. . . . 426
Physical Researchin America. ByJ. A.H... . 427
Fireball of January 27, 1906. By W.F Denning 427
Method of producing Waves of Frequen.y inter-

mediate betwern Heat Waves and Hertzian

Waves. Prof. Reginald A. Fessenden, (/éustrated.) 428
University and Educational Intelligence - . 428
Societies and Academies . . Biaieds 5 430
Diary of Societies. 432

INCAS AOI CSE

433

THURSDAY, MARCH 8, 1go6.

A REVISED DOCTRINE OF VALENCY.

Neuere Anschauungen auf dem Gebiete der anor-
ganischen Chemie. By Prof. A. Werner. Pp. xii+
189. (Brunswick: F. Vieweg and Sohn, 1905.)
Price 5 marks.

eS 1893 Prof. Werner published his first important

paper on the constitution of inorganic compounds,
and expounded a new theory for the classification of
the large and complex group of substances known as
metal-ammonia compounds. Of these compounds a
few are common enough, such as the deep blue sub-
stance formed by the addition of ammonia to solutions
of copper salts, but the greater number do not come
within the range of ordinary analytical chemistry ;
they are for the most part of no industrial importance,
and consequently they are scarcely heeded except by
a very limited number of chemical workers. The
class of cobaltamines which has vexed many a gener-
ation of chemical students does not measure the limits
of complexity to which these compounds extend, and
certainly, without the guiding light of some good
theory as to their structure, the metal-ammonia group
constitutes one of the most bewildering tracts of
inorganic chemistry.

It is therefore a real service that Prof. Werner
renders in publishing in this volume (No, 8 of a series
of monographs on natural and mathematical science,
collectively called ‘‘ Die Wissenschaft ’’) a full ex-
position of his theory and an apercu of the compounds
to which it specially applies. We must not give the
impression, however, that Werner’s theory applies
only to metal-ammonia compounds. It is a general
theory ranging over chemistry as a whole, and is
applied to so simple a substance as sulphuric acid.
To describe it in a few words is almost impossible.
Perhaps the most central thing is the substitution
of the idea of association (Anlagerung) for the strict
and definite linkage implied in the ordinary valency
theory. This idea has, in a vague way, long prevailed
in chemistry in the distinction drawn between atomic
and molecular compounds. In CuSO, we are accus-
tomed to represent definite atomic linkages according
to the definite valencies of the component atoms. How
are we to represent the attachment of 5H,O to CuSO,
in the hydrated salt? The idea that valency is not a
sharply fixed quantity, and that it is not necessarily
exhausted when a stable compound is formed, is
familiar to us in the hypothesis of residual affinity.

Prof. Werner would have us revise our somewhat
diagrammatic and artificial ideas of valency. We are
to think of an atom as a small material sphere, from
the centre of which the attractive force of affinity is
exerted uniformly in every direction. Segregation of
the affinity into units of valency is not to be supposed ;
valency is merely to mean the observed proportional
numbers in which atoms associate with one another.
It is not dependent on one atom alone, but on the
nature of all the atoms that form the molecule. The

NO. 1897, VOL. 73]|

|

proportion of the affinity which is spent between two
atoms is confined to the restricted circular surface of
contact |theoretically one would say a point], the
Bindefléche, and depends in a high degree on the
nature of the atoms. Thus, the author adds, we
obtain a rational picture to represent the varying
valency of an atom, whilst from the dependence of the
distribution of the surfaces of contact on the relative
magnitudes of the atoms we reach, without further
hypothesis, a space configuration of the molecule.

As the simplest possible illustration of the advan-
tage claimed for these views we may cite the
formation of sulphuric acid by the union of SO, and
H,O. In each of these molecules it is usually con-
sidered that the valencies of the atoms are satisfied.
That being so, the readiness of the two molecules to
unite must be attributed to some selective action.
This is found in the tendency for the group (OH) to
be formed, and hence we write SO,+ H,O=O,S(OH),.
According to Prof. Werner, on the other hand, we
must suppose that neither the sulphur in SO, nor the
oxygen in H,O has spent its affinity, and that
accordingly the combination of the two molecules is
to be represented as follows: O,S+OH,=O,S.OH,,.
At the same time he admits that the compound may
pass into the configuration O,S(OH),. It might seem,
then, that there is not much gained. But he claims
that the great merit of this view lies in its conformity
with that which must be taken of analogous com-
binations where a secondary arrangement does not
take place. Such a case is to be found in the union
of halides to form what are, though commonly called
double salts, compounds strictly of the same order
as oxysalts. Thus we have KCIl+AuCl,=KAuCl,
analogous to K,O0+SO,=K,SO,. KAuCl, is as
much a potassium salt as K,SO,, and, though it may
not be impossible to give an ordinary valency formula
to some of these compounds, their formation cannot
be explained by anything corresponding to the sup-
posed primary cause (the formation of KO groups)
in the union of K,O and SO,. The attempt to bring
double halides as a whole within the ordinary valency
doctrine has not been successful.

But, as stated above, Prof. Werner’s theory has
arisen in connection with the metal-ammonia com-
pounds, and we will conclude this notice with a slight
indication of its application there. In the metal-
ammonia compounds we have an electropositive atom,
a number of (NH,) groups, and electronegative atoms
or groups. It is supposed that the positive atom has
the power of associating itself with or coordinating a
certain number of atoms or groups which must be
supposed to be in contact with this central atom and
to constitute a sort of first layer. The whole group
also forms the positive ion. Beyond and outside this
we have negative atoms or groups which give the
negative ions.

Luteo-cobalt chloride has the composition

CoCl,6NH,.
Cobalt is here shown with the valency of a triad, and
as a matter of fact the whole of the halogen may be
precipitated by silver nitrate. Purpureo-cobalt chloride

U

434

NATURE

[Marcu 8, 1906

is CoCl,.5NH,, but only two-thirds of its chlorine
can be precipitated. In praseo-cobalt chloride,
CoCl,.4NH,, only one-third of the chlorine reacts as
an ion, whilst the compound CoCl,.3NH, is not
ionised at all,

Now, according to Prof. Werner, the coordination
number of cobalt in all these compounds is six, that
is to say, the cobalt atom is in all cases associated
with six groups or atoms. Outside this are the
negative ions. The valency of the positive ion
diminishes as the electronegative element in it is
increased. Thus we have the following series of
compounds :—

[Co(NH,), "Cl, ; [Co(NH,),C1]’Cl, ; [Co(NH,),Cl,]/Cl;
and [Co(NH,),Cl,]°.

It will be seen that here again the essence of the
theory lies in the idea of coordination or association
as distinct from ordinary valency with its separate
linkages. The same ideas may be extended to water
of crystallisation in hydrated salts.

This slight sketch will, it is feared, give but a poor
idea of the ingenuity and comprehensiveness of Prof.
Werner’s theory, but it is all that the limits of space
allow. The book before us may be strongly com-
mended to all who are interested in the development
of chemical theory, and though, no doubt, the new
doctrine cannot by any means be called unexception-
able, there is much in Prof. Werner’s book that is
interesting and stimulating quite apart from the
clear exposition of the particular views it is intended
to disseminate. A. SMITHELLS.

THE DANISH FISHERY INVESTIGATIONS.
Meddelelser fra Kommissionen fra Havundersogelsen.
Serie Hydrografi, Bd. i., Nos. 7-8; Serie Fiskeri,
Bd. i., Nos. 4-8; Serie Plankton, Bd. i., No. a
(Kgbenhavn, 1 Kommission Hos C. A. Reitzel,

1905.)

HE reports issued by the Danish section of the
International Fisheries Investigation Organis-
ation deal to a greater extent with purely biological
matters than do the publications of the corresponding
British committee. Thus of the present instalment of
reports two relate to hydrographical researches, one
to plankton studies, while five deal with the life-
histories of species of fishes of economic importance.
The hydrographic reports consist of an investigation
by Mr. J. P. Jacobsen on the solubility of oxygen in
sea-water, with a description of the methods and
apparatus employed. Mr. J. N. Nielsen also con-
tributes an account of several hydrographic cruises
made by the Thor in the summer of 1904 on the
north coast of Iceland, and a discussion of the results

obtained. The sea-water on the north coast of Ice-
land is derived from warm Atlantic water in the
Denmark Strait—the Irminger current—and from

much colder, but lighter, water of Arctic origin, which
comes from the East Greenlandic polar current. The
climate of the North Icelandic coast is dependent to
some extent on the relative distribution of these two
contributing currents. The Irminger current flows

NO. 1897, VOL. 73]

north along the west coast of Iceland, and then, as a
result of the earth’s rotation, along the north coast.
‘This latter cause, and also the interference of the
East Greenlandic polar stream, produce a further
rotation of the current, so that it may even round
the north-east coast of Iceland and flow south. Along
its whole course the Irminger current yields up heat
to the atmosphere, cooling by convection as it does
so, so that even the lower layers give up their heat.
Land-water, produced by the melting of ice and snow
masses, cools down the coastal waters, and, being of
lower salinity, causes a surface current seawards
during the summer and an undercurrent landwards.
In winter the lower temperature of the land cools the
sea-water, which then sinking in consequence of its
greater density, flows seawards as an undercurrent,
while it is replaced by a surface current moving
towards the land.

The distribution of the comparatively warm Ir-
minger current is affected by the presence of drift
ice; in those years when drift ice is abundant on the
Icelandic coasts, the cold (though less dense) Arctic
water spreads over the surface, and blocks to a vari-
able extent the eastward passage of the Atlantic water.
But it also prevents the conduction of heat from the
latter to the atmosphere, and as a result, during these
hard ice years, the mean temperature of the air of
the first six months of the year is much lower than
in those years when drift ice is absent or less abundant
during the months in question. In this connection
the suggestion that telegraphic cable communication
with Iceland, and a coast telegraph line, should be
established is of considerable interest, for the advent
of the ice can usually be foretold by observations of
the temperature of the sea.

Not only does the temperature of North Iceland
during the winter depend on the distribution of the
eastern branch of the Irminger current, but the
fisheries vary in an analogous manner. This appears
to be the case with the great herring fishery, and cod
appear also to travel to the west, north, and east of
Iceland with the current, not appearing in abundance
until the temperature of the water reaches a certain
value. The pelagic larve of the latter fish are also
distributed by the current, as well as by the offshore
and inshore movements of the water due to the cause
mentioned.

A short note by Mr. C. G. J. Petersen on the
occurrence of Leptocephali is of exceptional interest.
It is well known that finds of this stage of the
common eel have been very rare in northern waters.
Dr. Petersen tells us that it occurred to him to look
for these larvae in warm and deep Atlantic water,
using special fishing apparatus. Accordingly in May,
1904, Dr. J. Schmidt found a typical Leptocephalus at
a station south-west of the Farde Isles, in water more
than 1000 metres in depth, and in a postscript it is also
added that great quantities of Leptocephalus brevi-
rostris have been found by Schmidt ‘‘in the depths of
the Atlantic,’’ presumably near the same place. Dr.
Petersen concludes that it is here, not in the Baltic
or North Seas, that the eels of Northern Europe breed,
passing in their migrations either the North Sea or

Makcu 8, 1906]

NATURE 435

the English Channel; and he discusses the value of
this discovery from the point of view of the Swedish,
Danish, and German eel-fisheries. We await with
considerable interest the further account of these
remarkable investigations.

The other reports are also of considerable interest.
Mr. A. C. Johansen writes on the life-history of the
young post-larval eel. Mr. A. S. Jensen contributes a
paper on the occurrence of the otoliths of Gadoid fishes
in the bottom deposits of the polar seas between the
Faerdes, Jan Mayen, and Scotland. Samples of mud
obtained from the sea-bottom in these regions fre-
quently contained otoliths derived from various Gadus
species. Nevertheless, the trawling operations of the
Michael Sars showed that the cod does not live
at the bottom of these seas. The occurrence of Gadus
otoliths is therefore to be explained by the horizontal
migration of these fishes from the shore grounds near
the surface of the sea. Some observations made by
Mr. T. Scott on the occurrence of whiting otoliths in
the stomach of the porpoise show also that these
structures may be distributed over wide areas of sea-
bottom, since whiting are eaten in large numbers by
the porpoise and the otoliths may be evacuated in an
undecomposed condition. This is presumably the case
also with other of the smaller gadoid fishes.

The remaining papers include a study of the post-
larval stages of Gadus, spp., and of Brosmius brosme
by Mr. J. Schmidt, both notable additions to the
literature of the subject, and a description of several
new Peridinians by Mr. O. Paulsen.

Jas. JOHNSTONE.

THE EVOLUTION OF BIOLOGY.
Geschichte der biologischen Theorien, seit dem Ende
des siebzehnten Jahrhunderts. Teili. By Dr. Em,
Radl. Pp. vii+320. (Leipzig: W. Engelmann,
1905.) Price 7s. net.
LTHOUGH biology is now permeated by the
evolution idea, and has continually before it the
ideal of giving a genetic description of the present
phase of the animate world, there is some reason to
fear, as Dr. Radl indicates, a growing apathy towards
the study of the evolution of the science itself.
Whether it be that many workers share Nietzshe’s
view that the study of history paralyses the intelli-
gence, or that they feel it their primary-business to
make history, not to read it, or that they regard
historical inquiries as the philosopher’s task, not
theirs, it seems certain that too little attention—in our
investigations, theories, and teaching alile—is paid
to the historical evolution of the science. A notorious
example may be found in the biological work of
Herbert Spencer, who, though he had almost acci-
dentally found inspiration from a slight acquaintance
with the work of von Baer, deliberately set his face
against looking for more. He preferred to think for

himself. But all cannot be excused as we excuse
Spencer, and even his work suffered from _ his
peculiarly detached independence of outlook. Whether

we will or no, the past lives in the present, and he
who thinks himself most emancipated from all scien-

NO. 1897, VOL. 73]

tific tradition may be a signal instance of the re-
habilitation or recrudescence of doctrines which
characterised his unknown intellectual ancestors. It
is not as if scientific discoveries were successive special
creations which had their day and ceased to be, giving
place to others unaffiliated to them. On the contrary,
as Dr. Radl’s book, and any other piece of careful
historical work, shows, biology is an_ evolution.
Generalisations grow and vary, there is an amphi-
mixis of ideas, there is an adaptation to the social
environment, there is a struggle for existence and a
survival of the fittest.

Without much discussion of the factors which
brought about the scientific renaissance, Dr. Radlk
begins by showing how the influence of Aristotle per-
sisted in men like Caesalpinus, Harvey, Glisson, and
Redi. The second chapter shows how the mechanical
modes of interpretation, vindicated by the physicists,
began to insinuate themselves into biology, through
Descartes, Borelli, Fr. Hoffmann, and Dr. Willis.
The advent of the microscope is then discussed, and
an interesting account is given of the work and in-
fluence of Malpighi and Swammerdam. A reaction
from Cartesian mechanism found expression through
the genius of Leibnitz, and vitalism its first thorough-
going exponent in Stahl.

The fifth chapter deals with the first half of the
eighteenth century, with the successors of Malpighi
and Swammerdam, and with the early preform-
ationists, such as Bonnet, Haller and Buffon. Then
follows an account of Linné’s systematic work.
Wolff is the central figure of the next chapter, which
deals with the foundation of the epigenetic theory.
Gradually the conception of individual development
expanded into that of racial evolution, but even more
in the minds of philosophic thinkers than of natural-
The ninth chapter gives us the history of the
rise and progress of morphology, illustrated especially
with reference to Cuvier and Etienne Geoffroy St.
Hilaire, Jussieu and P. De Candolle. After a brief
chapter on Bichat as representative of vitalism at the
end of the eighteenth century, the author passes to a
more detailed study of the German ‘ Naturphilo-
sophie,’’ as illustrated by Herder, Kant, Fichte, and
Schelling among philosophers, by Kielmeyer, Goethe,
Oken, Blumenbach, and Treviranus among biologists.
The present volume merely begins the story of the
evolution of evolution theory, the two last chapters
being devoted to Erasmus Darwin and Lamarck.

Having indicated the scope of this valuable historical
treatise, we must now express our high appreciation
of the author’s workmanship. He shows a first-hand
acquaintance with the works with which he deals, and
yet he has not allowed himself to be overwhelmed by
his scholarship. He has a keen selective instinct and
a rare terseness, and although he has written in what
was to him a foreign language, his style is lucid
and often vivid. One cannot but be impressed in read-
ing the interesting history with Dr. Radl’s calmness
and independence of judgment; he is neither depre-
ciative of men like Oken nor eulogistic of men like
Lamarck; he states their case with justice, and gives
chapter and verse for his judgments. In some cases,

ists.

436

NA PE OKRL

[Marcu 8, 1906

e.g. that of Lamarck, his estimate is by no means
that which many authoritative writers have expressed.

As we lay aside the volume some general reflections
remain convincingly with us—that the history of
biology is a rational evolution, and at the same time
inextricably intertwined with social evolution; that
the same general ideas are re-incarnated century after
century in more evolved forms; that each generation
meets the same old difficulties on a higher turn of the
spiral; that clearly thought-out conceptions which
seem for a time to be vanquished re-assert themselves
with renewed vigour, and find their position in a more
complete synthesis. The modern biologist, intent on
new discoveries, has no use for Aristotle, Descartes,
and Leibnitz, but their influence may be upon him
none the less. In speaking of the aqueduct of Sylvius,
the Malpighian tubules, the Graafian follicle, or the
Cuvierian organs, we quaintly acknowledge our debt
to the past, but perhaps we betray our indebtedness
more when we are least conscious of it, for even the
most modern system of biology is, like our own body,
a veritable museum of relics. Jc AN aR:

STOMATA AND PHYLOGENY.

Der Spaltéffnungsapparat im Lichte der Phylogenie.
Ein Beitrag zur “ phylogenetischen Pflanzenhist-
ologie.”’ By Dr. Otto Porsch. Pp. xiv+1096.
(Jena: Gustav Fischer, 1g05.) Price 8 marks.

HIS work, as its title announces, is an attempt

to use the stoma as a mark of relationship, and

thus to make it serve as a guide to the phylogeny of
plants. The author is filled with a pleasant enthusiasm
for his subject, and this he contrives to convey
to his readers, who, whether or no they are in com-
plete agreement with his views, will not deny that
he has produced an interesting and suggestive book.

Personally, we think he has done more, and that his

work has decided value. He begins by showing

(what has to some extent been shown before) that

definite types of stoma run through certain classes

or natural orders. He makes it clear that these types
remain recognisable even in plants exposed to various
environments. The gymnospermous type, for in-
stance, occurs in plants of such diverse habit as

Bowenia, Gingko, Dioon, and Gnetum.

The author allows that the gymnosperm type is
essentially a stoma adapted to xerophytic conditions.
This brings us face to face with what is a difficulty
in inquiries of this sort—namely, how far persistence
of type is due to adaptation. ‘This is especially difficult
in regard to the xerophytic habit, because our know-
ledge of the conditions which make this habit of value
is recent, and probably incomplete. It is only com-
paratively lately that conditions of life in a salt-marsh,
an English heath, and in the alpine regions of the
tropics have been recognised as equivalent environ-
ments in regard to transpiration. The author is, how-
ever, fully aware of the difficulty in question.

It is interesting to find the gymnospermous stoma
occurring in Casuarina, a genus known to possess
morphological characters which have suggested that
it may be an offshoot from an ancestor common to

NO. 1897, VOL. 73 |

gymnosperms and angiosperms. In concluding this
section the author has some remarks on the minuter
taxonomic value of the stoma, e.g. in Dasylirion,
where the stomatal characteristics may be used to dis-
tinguish the species. He also directs attention to the
Commelinaceze and Eriocaulaceze, and to the genus
Eucalyptus, in all of which the stoma is characteristic.
As showing the possible value of the stoma to the
palzeobotanist he quotes the case of a fossil Potamo-
geton recently shown by its stomatal type to belong to
the Loranthaceaze. Porsch gives an interesting account
of reduced and rudimentary stomata in the true leaves
of Ruscus, in parasites, and in submerged plants.
The latter case is especially interesting because here
the stomata can hardly be of use for gaseous ex--
change. But in the petals of flowers or the bully
stems of holoparasites it is clear that they may be
of importance for respiration. This is a function of
the stoma which Porsch does not sufficiently discuss;
thus in referring to the stomata of petals he considers
transpiration alone. The fact that large petals occur
devoid of stomata while others (Galtonia) have perfect
ones shows that the question is in need of physio-
logical inquiry.

In another interesting section the author describes
the stomata of seedling leaves, which are generally
of an undifferentiated type, even when the adult
leaves have highly specialised stomata, e.g. in Hakea,
Spartium junceum, &c. This seems at first sight a
case of ‘‘ recapitulation,’’ but the author is careful to
supply an alternative view, viz. that in the early
stages of existence a plant is less subject to drought,
so that the simple stomata of the seedling may be an
adaptation to conditions less rigorous than those to
which the adult is exposed. The author, however,
accepts, with certain reservations, the recapitulation
point of view.

The last section of the book deals with stomata in
relation to alternate generation. Porsch holds (with
Wettstein) the sporophyte to be an adaptation to life
on dry land in contrast to the gametophyte, which
retains aquatic characters. Taking the Bryophytes as
the lowest class in which stomata occur, he again
follows Wettstein in placing the mosses in the lower
division, the liverworts being a more specialised
form. It is in harmony with this view that in the
mosses stomata should occur only in the sporophyte.
Among the normal two-celled stomata are occasionally
found others of the four-celled type. This he looks
on as a ‘‘ reminiscence ’’ of an earlier form, in which
the intercellular spaces open externally in the simplest
manner between four epidermic cells.

In the liverworts, on the other hand, the gameto-
phyte possesses openings which function as stomata.
There is only one group in the liverworts which
exhibits a highly organised sporophyte, and here in
Anthoceros we find true stomata having a pair of
guard cells, which are probably of a higher type than
occurs elsewhere among the Bryophytes.

Among the Pteridophytes the most interesting fact
is that the stomata are of a type that may be supposed
to be the forerunner of the gymnospermous stoma.
| The characteristic lignification is not always present

Marcu 8, 1906 |

NATURE

437

but in some cases, e.g. in Todea, we find lignification
almost identical with that of certain gymnosperms.
On the whole the author may be congratulated on
having attained the end which he had in view,
namely, by tracing the history of a definite organ
through the vegetable kingdom, to demonstrate the
fruitfulness of the phylogenic method. E. D:

OUR BOOK SHELF.

Economic Geology of the United States. By Heinrich

Ries. Pp. xxi+435. (New York: The Macmillan
Company; London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.,
1905.) Price 2.60 dollars net.

- THis volume embodies the elementary course of

economic geology at Cornell University, where the
author is assistant professor. Some knowledge of
geology and mineralogy on the part of the student
is presupposed, and the work deals exclusively with
North American mineral deposits. At the same time
North America is so preeminently the continent of
mineral deposits, nearly all types and forms being
represented within its vast mineral areas, that a
treatise on American economic geology is nearly the
same thing as a study of mineral deposits in general.

The mode of arrangement differs from that of other
books on the same subject in that predominance is
given to the non-metallic minerals, the value of the
production of which exceeded that of the metallic
minerals in 1903 by thirty million pounds. The
twenty chapters into which the book is divided deal
respectively with (1) coal; (2) petroleum, natural gas,
and other hydrocarbons; (3) building stones; (4) clay;
(5) lime and calcareous cement; (6) salts; (7) gypsum;
(8) fertilisers; (9) abrasives; (10) minor non-metallic
minerals; (11) mineral waters; (12) soils and road
materials; (13) ore deposits; (14) iron; (15) copper;
(16) lead and zinc; (17) gold and silver; (18) silver
lead; (19) aluminium, manganese, and mercury; and
(20) minor metals.

In each chapter the treatment is the same. An
account of the minerals is followed by particulars of
their distribution in the United States, with sketch
maps, details of their use, recent statistics of their pro-
duction in the United States and in the world, and a
carefully selected bibliography. The twenty-five plates
reproducing photographic views of mines and the
ninety-seven diagrams in the text are alike excellent.
Altogether the work is an admirable one, and we
strongly commend it to teachers in this country as
a source of concise, accurate, and recent information
regarding the mineral deposits of the United States.

Edited by Dr. A. Engler.
and xxxv. Parts i.-iii.,
to xxx. (Leipzig: W. Engel-

Botanische Jahrbiicher.
Vols. XxXxXiii., Xxxiv.,
with index vols. i.
mann, Ig02-5.)

Tue series of papers produced under the direction of
Dr. Engler, as the “‘ Beitrage zur Flora von Afrika,’
continues to engage the attention of workers at the
botanic museum in Berlin. The papers that give
merely descriptions of new species are chiefly service-
able to monographers, but the results become more
interesting when they are collated for a genus or an
order, as in the revision of the Ochnaceze by Dr.
Gilg. In a short article that will be found in
Beiblatt, No. 79, Dr. Engler summarises the general
progress of the study of African botany in Berlin, and
indicates where further collections and explorations
are required. He refers to Dr. Fiilleborn’s collections
of the lower algz and Bacillariales taken from Lake

NO. 1897, VOL. 73]

Nyassa. They have been examined by Dr. Schmidle
and Dr. Otto Miller, and their descriptions and de-
ductions are published in these volumes. Other
systematic compilations include a contribution to the
flora of Madeira and the Canary Islands by Mr. J.
Bornmiiller, some notes by Drs. Gilg and Loesener
on the flora of Kiao-chau, the Chinese territory that
was occupied by Germany in 1898, and the “ Frag-
menta Phytographiz Australis occidentalis,’”? written
by Drs. Diels and Pritzel. Among the cryptogamic
contributions, Mr. G. Hieronymus publishes an
account of the pteridophytes collected in Ecuador and
Colombia by Mr. H. C. Lehmann, German Consul,
and Mr. E. Lemmermann deals with the algal vegeta-
tion in the Sandwich Islands. Among the ecological
papers, Mr. J. Holmboe sketches the botany of the
Norwegian moors. Mention should also be made of
the notices in the Beibldtter of addresses delivered
before the Society of Systematic Botanists, of which
not the least interesting is that by Prof. K. Fritsch
discussing the systematic position of the monocoty-
ledons.

The index to the first thirty volumes published in
1g04 is an important reference bool to systematic
botany from 1881; the systematic index, and the
catalogue under countries, will be found most useful.

The Practical Photographer.
Lambert. (Library Series.)
Optics and Lenses, pp. xxiv+64. No. 28, The
Optical Lantern for Projection and Enlarging,
pp. xxiv+64. (London: Hodder and Stoughton.)
Price, each vol., Is. net.

THESE two volumes form the December and January
issues of this useful series of photographic handbooks.
As usual, each is prefaced by a short essay on the
pictorial work of some well known photographer
written by the editor, and in these cases we are made
acquainted with the photographic work of Mr.
W. A. I. Hensler and Mr. Charles H. L. Emanuel.
They are also accompanied by a series of reproduc-
tions from the best works of these photographers,
which illustrate, more than words can describe, the
particular styles of treatment.

In the volume on photographic optics we have a
series of notes by numerous authors on various points
relating to lenses. These are more or less miscel-
laneous in their nature, but the several items are
generally clearly described, and may prove serviceable.
Numerous diagrams and process reproductions are
included in the text.

The volume on the optical lantern contains many
useful wrinkles which will materially aid the beginner
and prove useful to those who are already acquainted
with the manipulation of a lantern. Forms of
lanterns, illuminants, condensers, reflectors, are all
fully treated, and in addition there is much miscel-
laneous information on lantern optics, and sundry
items pertaining to lantern work. Included in these
pages are process reproductions of several photo-
graphs, details about which are given under “ Pic-
torial Notes.”’

Edited by the Rev. F.
No. 27, Photographic

The Sanitation of a Country House. By Dr. Harvey
B. Bashore. Pp. vi+103. (New York: John Wiley
and Sons; London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1905.)

Tuis little book would form a useful, popular, and
non-technical guide on sanitary matters to anyone
about to build a country house, but is necessarily one
for America, and the practice recommended and de-
tails given would not always suit this country. The
illustrations and diagrams, sixteen in number, are
excellent.

f
Go
KH

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions
expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake
to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected
manuscripts intended for this or any other part of NATURE.
No notice is taken of anonymous communications.]

The Perkin Jubilee and Chemical Industries.

Ar the meeting held at the Mansion House on
February 26, with the Lord Mayor in the chair, many men
of position and influence in the scientific world met to do
honour to Dr. W. H. Perkin, and to agree to celebrate
the jubilee of his discovery of the first coal-tar colour.
Whilst all felt not only the importance, whether from a
purely scientific or from an industrial point of view, of this
discovery, and whilst they all applauded Perkin’s researches
in other branches of science and his modest and retiring
bearing throughout, the fact could not be lost sight of that
although England was the country in which the coal-tar
industry was founded, it had practically, since those days,
passed out of our hands into those of the Germans. The
cause of this, I remarked, was not due to any want of
knowledge or power on the part of Dr. Perkin himself, but
rather to the absence of appreciation by capitalists and
others engaged in industry of the importance of scientific
method, or, in one word, to English Philistinism, the result
being that the successful prosecution of a new industry
the very existence of which depends on high scientific
attainment was impossible. In corroboration of this
opinion, which was also expressed in an excellent article
in the Times a few days before the meeting, I ventured to
direct attention to the fact that, being at that time (fifty
years ago) engaged in building up a chemical school at
Owens College, I knew three talented young German
chemists whose names have since become watchwords in
Germany (Caro, Martius, and Pauli) who were then
employed in chemical works in Manchester and the neigh-
bourhood. These men were intimately acquainted with
the colour industry, both in theory and practice, so far as
it had then advanced, and were perfectly capable, as was
afterwards proved, of carrying it on successfully. Had
they been supported by men of financial light and leading
in Lancashire the industry might have flourished in this
country. Not, however, finding the necessary support here,
they returned to Germany, where they became the leading
members of the great colour works at Ludwigshafen,
Hochst, and Berlin.

But the Germans, not content with having secured an
industry the value of which is reckoned at 50,000/. annually,
are preparing for future attacks. On the very day of the
Perkin meeting I received a letter from my friend Dr.
Hagen, the director of the Physikalische Reichsanstalt in
Charlottenburg, in which he informs me of the determin-
ation to found a corresponding Anstalt for chemistry, and
in the last number of the Berichte I find a statement made
by the committee of the German Chemical Society in sup-
port of this proposal. In this they point out, in the first
place, that the due development of chemistry, influencing
as it does so powerfully national life, cannot be ensured
by individual effort, and that the establishment of a
Reichsanstalt for chemistry is for this purpose necessary.
In the second place, they proceed to indicate a large number
of questions requiring solution which can only be satis-
factorily answered by long-continued research. They con-
clude by the remark that such an institution must be of a
national character, inasmuch as the subjects dealt with
are of national importance, influencing the welfare and
progress of the country.

Here we have a true trumpet call. Will England answer
to it or will she otherwise make up her mind again to
take a second place? In his admirable letter on ‘* Science
and the Industries’’ in the Times of Saturday, March 3,
Prof. Silvanus Thompson points out that the electrical
industry, and that of the manufacture of steel, are likely
to fall, if they have not already fallen, into the hands of
Germany and America, and insists, as many of us have
been doing for the last twenty years, on the necessity of
our commercial and educational leaders becoming aware of
the absolutely vital nature of the bearing of scientific re-
search on industrial prosperity. This conclusion is empha-
sised in a letter printed in the Times of March 6 from Sir
Joseph Lawrence, in which he urges the plea that English

NOA1897. VOL. 73

NATURE

[| Marcu 8, 1906

manufacturers are too poor and too closely run by com-
petition to be able to afford scientific leading! This is
indeed an appeal ad misericordiam!

The long and the short of it is that the Germans, and
the Americans I may add, see this, and are strenuously
working the principle into practice, whilst we remain
““ blind leading the blind.’? When will our eyes be opened?

Henry E. Roscoe.

Cooperation between Scientific Libraries.

Dr. BatnHer’s letter in your issue of March 1 is one
which deserves the hearty support of all scientific workers,
in the United Kingdom at least. I have long felt that the
whole of the literature indexed in the International Cata-
logue ought to be available for reference in some one
locality, and preferably in London. In my address as
president of the Chemical Society in 1894, foreshadowing
the time when our meeting-room would be too small, I
ventured to point out that ‘‘ This is a difficulty that
threatens to oppress all the Burlington House societies,
and must become more pressing as the importance of bring-
ing all societies having cognate aims into juxtaposition is
realised. Perhaps some day our friends and neighbours
the artists will have found quarters elsewhere more suited
for the display of their works—for they appear already to
have far outgrown the space at their disposal, and to be
therefore obliged to impose undesirable limitations on
exhibitors; when this occurs, it should be possible to find
accommodation more adequate to the needs of science and
fit presentment of its Imperial importance ’’ (Chem. Soc.
Trans., 1894, 358).

Since then, the University of London has vacated the
portion of Burlington House in which it long had its
quarters, and the Royal Society has let slip a golden
opportunity of securing these rooms for its own use, and
at the same time of affording to other cognate societies—
including the British Association—the increased accommo-
dation they so much need. The quad. roofed in would
make a magnificent reading-room. Sad experience teaches
me that there is little hope in this country that those who
are engaged in scientific work will consent to work together
for some serious common purpose: apparently every little
show must be run separately; but if they could be per-
suaded—if the Royal Society would for once have courage
and lead—much might be done to further a project such
as Dr. Bather advocates and bring it to a practical issue
at no distant date. Henry E. ARMSTRONG.

Tue letter of Dr. Bather on the above subject in NATURE
of March 1 (p. 413) is of much interest.

My experience in the preparation of the Royal Society
Catalogue of Scientific Papers fully confirms the state-
ments of Dr. Bather and of Dr. Muir, to whose paper he
refers, as to the inconveniences arising from want of
coordination between different libraries.

When we were commencing the indexing of the scientific
papers from 1884 to 1900, it was necessary to ascertain
the names of new serials that had come into existence
since 1883, and also to tale note of the serials that had
been omitted from the twelve volumes of the Catalogue
already published. Members of our staff were sent to some
of the scientific libraries in London, and a list was thus
obtained containing more than 1400 serials of various
degrees of importance. Many of these were, of course,
unsuitable for our purpose; a large number, however, were
incomplete, single volumes and sometimes single parts
only being available. These separate portions had probably
come to the various libraries as specimens, or for the pur-
pose of obtaining exchanges; and if there had been a
general agreement between the libraries of London, arrange-
ments might have been made to maintain such serials
complete in one or other of the libraries. If a joint hand-
list, as suggested by Dr. Bather, had been in existence,
much time expended by us in searching for these serials
would have been saved.

A few days ago I heard that the Royal Society of Edin-
burgh is engaged in considering a scheme of cooperation
amongst the principal scientific libraries of Edinburgh and
Glasgow, and that a complete list of scientific serials in
these libraries is to be compiled. It would be of great
advantage if a similar scheme could be carried out in

Marcu 8, 1g06 |

NATURE

439

London. In the libraries of the learned societies at
Burlington House alone there are many serials in dupli-
cate; some of these might profitably be replaced by others
which are not at present in these libraries. It often
happens that books and serials are sent to library com-
mittees on approval, and are rejected because they are
thought to be more suitable for other libraries ; but attempts
are not always made to ascertain whether these other
libraries possess them. At the present time, from want of
space and other causes, the duplication of periodicals at
Burlington House is avoided as much as possible.

In the subject index to the scientific literature of the last
century which the Royal Society is preparing, it is pro-
posed to indicate, in the introductory list of serials, the
libraries in which the cataloguing has been done, and also
to mention other libraries in which the books may be found.
This will be useful to workers, but it cannot be quite
complete, for the task would be too great to undertake in
its entirety. For example, there are more than 600 serials
which contain mathematical papers, and it would be im-
possible to name all the libraries where they are found.

March 3. HERBERT McLeop.

The Bees of Australia.

Up to the beginning of 1905, 224 species of wild bees
had been recorded from Australia, no less than 183 of
them having been described by F. Smith, of the British
Museum. I had the opportunity in 1904 to study Smith’s
types at the British Museum, and since then I have worked
up the unnamed Australian material belonging to that
institution, with the exception of some species of Halictus
yet to be examined. The following list shows the genera
found in Australia (including Tasmania), New Zealand and
the Austro-Malay Islands (taking the region as defined by
Wallace), and the number of species in each.

Family. Genus. New Austro-

Zealand. Malay
Islands

Australia.

Colletidze Phenacolletes *

Paracolletes (sens. lat.) 5
Anthoglossa *
Cladocerapis *
Andrenopsis *
Hyleoides *
Callomelitta *
n.g. aff. Callomelitta*
Prosopisteron *
Euryglossa *
Prosopis
Stilpnosoma *
Sphecodes
Halictus
Parasphecodes *
Nomioides
Meroglossa *
Nomia
Stenotritus *
Andrena ?
Gastropsis *
Scrapter ?
Ceratina
Exoneura
Allodape
Xylocopa
Lestis *
Anthophora
Saropoda
Tetralonia
Crocisa
Nomada
Megachile
Lithurgus
Thaumatosoma
Ctenoplectra
Coelioxys
Parevaspis
Anthidium
Apis (1 introd.)
Trigona 5

ANA

Prosopidz

ic

Andrenidze

mW

mb
OHH ONH NFO HH NH

”

Family ?
Panurgidz
Ceratinidze

Xylocopidze
Anthophoridze
Melectidze

Nomadidz
Megachilidze

| (ae Sass | Seite hesen [oases

Apidze

Lssodenees cullen lec IS ee eal Pas) eee sl eT atelbar i eThas

7
3

1

317 18
NO. 1897, VOL. 73]

The list proceeds from the most primitive bees up to
the most specialised. The genera marked with an asterisk
are wholly peculiar to Australia, so far as known; and
it will be observed that, as with the mammals, there are
many endemic genera of a primitive type. Lestis is the
only endemic genus allied to the ordinary long-tongued
bees, and that consists of two closely allied species, which
represent an offshoot from Xylocopa, probably not of very
ancient date. True Xylocopa, it will be noticed, just enters
Australia (but one species is common in the north), but is
rich in species in the Austro-Malay Islands, and extends
into Asia, Europe, Africa, and America. The Xylocopas
are the large carpenter bees, which nest in wood, and may
be transported across the water in floating trees. Until
recently, the genera Thaumatosoma and Exoneura were
supposed to be peculiar to Australia, but the first has now
been found in Burma and the second in Syria. They may
possibly be genera which are verging on extinction, but
as each differs only in one important particular from its
nearest ally (these allies being Megachile and Allodape
respectively), it is not impossible that they arose by parallel
mutations in the widely distant localities in which they
occur, quite independently.

The most interesting of the primitive genera is Phena-
colletes, based on a new species (P. mimus) discovered by
Commander J. J. Walker on the Penguin Expedition. The
Colletid bees are supposed to have been derived from the
fossorial wasps, and Phenacolletes is so like certain wasps
that I was not sure whether it was a wasp or a bee until
I had examined its pubescence with a compound micro-
scope. Unfortunately, we know nothing of the habits of
this insect, but Commander Walker kindly informs me
that it was taken on November 12, 1890, at Turtle Bay,
north end of Dirk Hartog Island. He finds in his journal
for that day that ‘‘ an upright growing shrub with ovate
glabrous leaves and large whitish-rosy mallow-like
flowers’? was the only plant which seemed to be at all
attractive to insects, so perhaps the Phenacolletes came
off that.

I have supposed that the bees with emarginate tongues
(Colletids and Prosopids) arose from the wasps indepen-
dently from those with pointed tongues, this seeming the
more likely, because the wasps themselves exhibit both
types. However, there are indications that in Australia
the first form may have become modified into the second
within the limits of the bee-group. This is especially
suggested by the tongue of Callomelitta, and by one of the
new species placed for the present in Paracolletes.

The new genus allied to Callomelitta, indicated in the
table, is for Sphecodes antipodes, Smith. Colonel Bingham
very kindly made a critical examination of this species at
my request, and found that it was not a Sphecodes, but
belonged to a new genus differing from Callomelitta in the
shape of the thorax, pubescence of hind tibiae, &c. It
will undoubtedly prove an important form from the stand-
point of the evolutionist.

The species marked as Andrena? and Scrapter? stand
in our lists as members of these northern genera, but they
have not been critically examined recently, and it is
questionable whether they are rightly classified. The name
Mellitidia has been applied. to the so-called Andrena of
Australia, and it is probably valid. Nevertheless, there
are some undoubted cases of well known northern genera
having endemic Australian species, while they have none,
so far as known, in the Austro-Malay region. “These are
Nomioides (found from Burma to Europe) and Tetralonia
(India to Europe, &c.); Saropoda (also European) is really
in the same category, as the single Austro-Malay species
is one of the Australian ones, which has reached the Aru
Islands. The case of the Tetralonia seemed a little
doubtful, but Colonel Bingham has critically examined
Smith’s type, and reports that it is a true Tetralonia, but
is a female, not a male, as Smith had it. Lithurgus is
also a genus of Europe and Asia, and likewise Africa,
which has Australian species, though none are known
from the Austro-Malay islands. In this case, it is prac-
tically certain that the genus is dispersed more or less
through the islands, and has been overlooked, for one of
the Australian species is exceedingly close to one of India.

Gastropsis, placed by Ashmead in the Andrenide, is
apparently allied to the European Meliturga, and is ina

440

NABPOLE

[Marcu 8, 1906

way intermediate between the two groups (long-tongued
and short-tongued) of pointed-tongued bees. Cladocerapis
and Prosopisteron are extraordinary endemic genera, which
do not lead in the direction of anything known elsewhere.

It will be observed that the native bee-fauna of New
Zealand is very poor, and quite lacking in distinction.
Two of the genera are world-wide, while the third
(Paracolletes) is found only in New Zealand and Australia,
the species of the two regions being quite closely allied.
It would seem that New Zealand received its bees in com-
paratively recent times from Australia (one of the species
of Prosopis is even identical with an Australian one), and
it may be added that all the affinity is with the southern
part of Australia, especially Tasmania. There is still a
possibility, of course, that New Zealand may contain some
ancient endemic genus, which is now rare and has been
overlooked by collectors.

The bees of the Austro-Malay islands are not at all
adequately known, though we have a good idea of the
general facies of the fauna. Most of the species were dis-
covered by Wallace; I find that about a dozen were known
before Wallace went to the islands, about seventy-four
were added by him, and sixty-six have been discovered
since. The species of Celebes are best known (41), but
from Amboina we know only 9, Lombok 3, Timor 8,
Ceram 3, Bourn 3, New Caledonia 4, Timor Laut 1, and
so forth. It is evident that a very rich field lies before
the collector in this region; but it is curious that so far
we have not a single endemic genus of bees from the
Austro-Malay islands, and it appears probable that few or
none exist. Instead, we have numerous species of widely
dispersed tropical genera; a varied, but not, apparently,
very isolated fauna. The contrast with Australia is
extreme. Of the eighteen genera represented, only six are
even confined to the eastern hemisphere, these being
Crocisa,! Allodape, Aspi, Saropoda, Ctenoplectra, and
Parevaspis.

To sum up, it is apparent that Australia posesses a very
old and long isolated bee-fauna, containing types which
seem to link, in greater or less degree, the bees and
fossorial wasps, the emarginate-tongued and _ pointed-
tongued bees, and the long-tongued and short-tongued bees.
It is therefore evident that the study of this fauna is likely
to yield much of interest in the future; and, it must be
added, there is little doubt that the number of species
awaiting discovery far exceeds the number already dis-
covered. On the other hand, we find in Australia also a
more modern fauna, containing even a few species quite
identical with those of the Asiatic mainland, and several
closely allied thereto. Such are certain species of Nomia,
Xylocopa, Anthophora, and Trigona. Of such forms, it
appears that they are either strong fliers (as Anthophora)
or else they have the habit of nesting in trees (as Trigona),
and thus it is not difficult to understand how they crossed
the sea. None of these genera, however, have reached
New Zealand, which is not only too remote, but also out
of the path of suitable marine currents. In the case of
certain cosmopolitan genera which have numerous
Australian species, such as Prosopis and Megachile, it is
to be noted that only a few of the species are specially
related to those of the Malay Islands and Asia; the others
constitute part of the peculiarly Australian fauna, although
they have not become generically altered.

T. D. A. CockErELL.

University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A.

The Intelligence of Animals.

In his review of Father Wassmann’s book (NATURE,
February 1, p. 351) Lord Avebury dissents from Father
Wassmann’s conclusion that the sagacity of ants is
“instinctive and essentially different from intelligence and
reflection,’? and repeats the opinion which he has held
for many years, that ‘it is difficult altogether to deny
to them the gift of reason.’’ The following incidents,
which I observed on a footpath in the Donetz Coalfield, in
Russia, in the summer of 1898, appear to me to show
that the insects here referred to possess both intelligence

1 Crocisa has been reported from the neotropical region, but the species
are probably not correctly referable to that genus.

NO. 1897, VOL. 73]

and the gift of reason, and, therefore, to lend a general
support of Lord Avebury’s views.

Numerous small black-beetles, about three-eighths of an
inch in length, were busily engaged in rolling, hither and
thither, balls of cow-dung, about half an inch in diameter,
which they had cut away from the edge of a still soft
mass of that substance that lay near the middle of the
path. As a rule, two insects were engaged in rolling each
ball, both walking on their hind legs with their fore-
feet resting on the upper curve of the ball—the one behind
pushing and walking forwards, the one in front pulling
and walking backwards. When the ball commenced to
roll on any declivity it passed over the body of the one
in front, which then lost its hold and was left behind.
But the other always held on tightly to the ball, and was
carried over and under it, several times in succession, until
the ball either ceased rolling or the insect was thrown off.
In the latter case the beetle followed to the bottom of the
slope on foot, and usually recovered the ball without
difficulty.

The principal slope upon which these disasters happened
constituted one bank of a small dry water-course about six
inches deep. The length of the bank from top to bottom was
ten or twelve inches. The dry bed of the water-course
was slightly inclined. In one instance, in which the beetle
was thrown off at the fourth or fifth revolution of the ball,
the latter rolled to the bottom of the bank, and then, turn-
ing at right angles to its former direction, continued to roll
down the bed of the water-course to a further distance of nine
or ten inches. The beetle followed to the foot of the bank,
but did not find the ball where it obviously expected to
do so. After hesitating and moving about in various direc-
tions to a distance of an inch or two, it ran down the
bed of the water-course to a distance of three or four
inches, returned, ran down again to a greater distance,
returned a second time, then ran down to within two inches
of the ball, but, failing to find it, gave up the quest and
climbed up the bank to the level part of the path. All its
movements, from the time it was forcibly parted from the
ball, had the appearance of being dictated by intelligence
and reason.

Again, a solitary beetle rolling a comparatively new ball
had reached a distance of nine or ten inches from the heap
when a second unoccupied beetle coming from the opposite
direction stood up in front of the rolling ball as if with
the intention of pulling it forward and assisting the first.
Instead of doing so, however, it brought the ball to a dead
stop. In vain the first beetle tried to move the ball; the
second held it fast. The first then got down and peered
round the side of the ball, apparently with the object of
ascertaining the nature of the obstacle. While this ex-
amination was proceeding, the second, with its fore-feet
still resting on the upper part of the ball, neither pushed
nor moved in any way. The first then stood up again be-
hind the ball and pushed it as before, but still the ball did
not move. For the second time the beetle got down, made
an examination as before, then, crouching with its back
well under the lower curve of the ball, heaved with all its
might—in the same way as a workman does in similar
circumstances—but the ball remained stationary. The first
beetle then came out from under the ball, and was pro-
ceeding round its right-hand side, with some new intention,
when the two seemed to catch sight of each other. The
second beetle threw itself on the ground with the quick-
ness of thought, and fled pursued by the other, both
running at their utmost speed. Fear, and a sense of guilt,
seemed to spur the flight of the one, resentment and
anger the pursuit of the other. In a chase which was
continued for a distance of six inches, the fleeing beetle,
which had started with an advantage of about an inch
and a half, increased the distance between its pursuer and
itself to more than two inches, when the former, seeing
the futility of further pursuit, stopped, returned to the
ball, and resumed its occupation of rolling it.

The reason why the second beetle stopped the ball, re-
mained absolutely motionless when the other got down
to reconnoitre, and ran away when it saw it was discovered
is not apparent. Dare we suppose that it was simply
amusing itself at the expense of the other? This was the
impression left on my mind at the time.

W. GaLtoway.

Marcu 8, 1906]

NATURE

441

Result of War affected by Soldier’s Stature.

In your issue of March 1 Major-General Warrand denies
that the chance of being shot in war depends, ceteris
paribus, merely upon the square of the soldier’s stature.

He would therefore introduce another factor, the thick-
ness of the body, which presents a target varying in size
according to the direction from which the fire comes.

This, however, is unnecessary. The stature alone should
be considered, because, for the sake of simplicity, we
assume that oblique fire is experienced equally by both
armies, and we also assume that all soldiers are of similar
build. The assemblage of human targets in each army is
therefore proportional in size to the square of the average
stature. Joun Hitt Twice.

The Hydro, Ben Rhydding.

WHAT IS WHISKEY?

[URS the last three months readers of the daily

Press have from time to time been the recipients
of informations concerning the nature of whiskey.
Their education must have been somewhat hetero-
geneous in that what whiskey should or should not
be seemed to change each week, in accordance with
the witness whose evidence was being reported;
perhaps now the so-called whiskey test case is over it
will be convenient to place before our readers some of
the most important facts brought to light by it.

The borough of Islington began its work in the
matter of potable spirits with brandy, and succeeded
in practically enforcing for this article of commerce
a chemical standard. This standard, as in the case
of the one which it has, at any rate for the time,
succeeded in establishing for whiskey, is a minimal
standard, i.e. brandy must contain at least a certain
proportion of so-called compound ethers, and whiskey
must, if the judgment in this case be maintained,
at least contain a certain proportion of so-called
impurities, viz. substances other than ethylic alcohol
and water. Before dismissing from our notice the
brandy standard, we would emphasise the fact that
in the case of brandy a minimal amount of one class
of by-product, the individual members of which almost
certainly have the same therapeutic effect, is de-
manded. In the case of whiskey, the Islington magis-
trate fixed a chemical standard based upon an
analytical, not chemical or even therapeutical, entity
containing such different substances as compound
ethers, higher alcohols, acids, and aldehydes. He
further strictly enjoined the kind of apparatus
in which whiskey must be produced, and the materials
which shall in the two countries producing whiskey
be solely used in the mash from which the spirit is to
be distilled. The question of a chemical standard for
brandy, and the protection which such a standard
affords to the public, was thoroughly discussed in
Nature of November 3, 1904. The anomaly of having
a fixed minimum and no fixed maximum for alcoholic
impurities in potable spirits is too palpable to need
amplification, and has been definitely recognised by
the Belgian authorities, who refuse to allow the sale
of a potable spirit possessing a coefficient of impurities
of more than 300. This fact is of special interest at
the present time, for if the Islington judgment is to
stand, no potable spirit can be sold as whiskey which,
inter alia, possesses a coefficient of impurities of less
than 380.

To the average reader the judgment containing the
definition of what for the future must be sold as Irish
and Scotch whiskey would read, and it consists of
some five thousand words, as if this question had
never been considered before; and, indeed, a leading
article upon this subject which appeared in a medical

No. 1897, VOL. 73]

contemporary last week contained the extraordinary
statement that ‘‘ five years ago there was no sugges-
tion even that potable spirits might be brought within
the operation of the Sale of Food and Drugs Act, with
a view to the detection of foreign or added spirit.”
It can scarcely be news to the readers of Nature that
a Select Committee under the chairmanship of Lord
Playfair was appointed in 1891 to inquire into precisely
the same question as was laid before the Islington
magistrate, and had at its disposal practically the
same material; it examined numerous witnesses,
chemical, physiological, and commercial, and reported
in 1891.

The best way of criticising Mr. Fordham’s judg-
ment is to summarise carefully the conclusions of this
committee. At the onset it is a relief to find that upon
one point at least they agree, viz. that according to
both there is no evidence that any potable spirit sold
in the United Kingdom as whiskey contains con-
stituents other than ethylic alcohol which are injurious
to health; in other respects we are afraid the Islington
magistrate in his judgment is diametrically opposed
to the report of this committee. Perhaps the shortest
way of dealing with this report in the present article
is to quote verbatim the Committee’s view with
regard to the definition of whiskey.

““Your committee do not attempt a legal definition of
whiskey. Whiskey is certainly a spirit consisting of
alcohol and water, with a small quantity of bye-products
coming from malt or grain, which give to it a peculiar
taste and aroma. It may be diluted with a certain quantity
of water without ceasing to be whiskey, and it may be
diluted with spirits containing little of the bye-products to
suit the pocket and palate of customers, and it still goes
by the popular name of whiskey. Your committee are
unable to restrict the use of the name as long as the spirits
added are pure and contain no noxious ingredients.’’
Then again :—‘‘ There are varieties in the purity of patent
or silent spirits. When they are made for blending it is
the object of the distiller to retain a percentage of bye-
products, though to a smaller extent than in pot-still
whiskey.”’

We cannot think that the Islington magistrate was
not aware of these conclusions, although it is exceed-
ingly odd that in so lengthy a judgment no mention
is made of the report of the select committee. How-
ever, the Islington dicta with regard to whiskey are
certainly clear. Irish and Scotch whiskey must be
produced by the distillation in a pot-still of the wort
derived from a mash consisting in Ireland of 75 per
cent. barley malt and 25 per cent. indigenous
grain, in Scotland of barley malt alone. We are not
told what kind of pot-still is to be used, although it
is quite clear to anybody who has studied the subject
that, with regard to the degree of rectification capable
of being produced, pot-stills differ inter se as much
as the patent-still differs from the pot. Whether or
not the chemical standard of the Islington analyst is
also to be maintained is not quite clear, but if so it
appears that at least some of the pure malt pot dis-
tilleries will have to modify their technique. So far
as concerns the actual term whiskey itself, it is not
stated definitely that this term, provided it be not
prefixed by the epithet Scotch or Irish, should be re-
fused to blended whiskies, that is, to whiskies consist-
ing in some part of patent-still or grain spirit, provided
they consist of ‘fa very considerable proportion ”’ of
pot-still whiskey. If these blended whiskies are to
conform to the chemical standard laid down by the
Islington analyst, practically all the blended whiskey
on the market at the present day will have to undergo
a considerable alteration. It is to be noted that, as
distinct from the report of the Select Committee, no

442

importance is attached by the Islington magistrate to
the question of taste or flavour, and no limit is placed
by him upon the amount of chemical impurities which
whiskey may contain. Although there is scanty
reason to believe that the higher alcohols, furfural,
and compound ethers in the proportion in which they
exist in pot-still whiskey as ordinarily consumed are
injurious to health, yet, nevertheless, one cannot view
with complaisance a legal definition of whiskey which
allows the quantities of these substances to be un-
limited. The only safeguard which the public will
have will be their own taste. They have shown dis-
tinctly what they like in that nine-tenths of the
whiskey consumed to-day consists of a blend, with
more or less pot-still whiskey, of this same patent-
still whiskey, which is to be whiskey no longer, be-
cause technologically, if not chemically and dietetic-
ally, it diverges: too widely from the mediaeval and
sentimental ‘* usquebaugh.”’

Two further points in the judgment of the Isling-
ton police magistrate will be of interest to techno-
logists; the first is the absolute condemnation of maize
as a constituent of the mash from which whiskey is
to be made. ‘This is especially interesting because to
those cognisant of the literature of the subject this
question of maize as a constituent of brewing and
distilling mashes is by no means a new one. Although
precedent seems to be no justification at Islington, it
is a fact that maize was used as a constituent of dis-
tilling mashes previous to 1881. We choose this date
advisedly, because in 1881 the use of this same
opprobrious maize as a constituent of brewing mashes

was by the Free Mash Tun Act actually legalised. j

Again, the Select Committee on bonded spirits was
fully cognisant of the use of maize in distilling mashes,
and in its report of 1891 had nothing to say against
this grain. Still further, in 1898 the Beer Materials
Committee, after a most exhaustive inquiry, refused
to prohibit the use of maize. Lastly, the American
Pharmacopeeia, which includes whiskey as an official
preparation of alcohol, specifically states that it may
be made from maize. So far as we can gather, the
objection to maize is that it cannot be, or at any rate
is not, ripened in this country. ;

The last point which we have space to consider is
the statement that, apart from taste and flavour,
patent-still whiskey has a different effect upon the
consumer from pot-still whiskey. It is true that the
therapeutic evidence at present at our command upon
this subject is somewhat scanty, but what there is
points to the conclusion that practically the only active
constituent in whiskey is ethylic alcohol, and that if
a given dose of whiskey differs otherwise than in
taste and flavour from a proportional amount of pure
ethylic alcohol equally diluted, this difference is due
entirely to the presence of certain compound ethers.
Now as a matter of fact, although patent-still
whiskey contains a smaller coefficient of impurities
than pure pot-still whiskey, the ethereal moiety of the
impurities is approximately the same in both. At
any rate, the amount of compound ethers taken in an
ordinary dose of patent-still or blended whiskey so
nearly approximates to that taken in any ordinary
dose of pot-still whiskey that no therapeutical differ-
ence is, a priori, to be expected between the two
beverages as consumed. The direct evidence we have
upon this subject bears out this a priori reasoning.

Over and above the details which have been brought
to light in these whiskey prosecutions, everyone must
be struck by the curiousness of a legislation which
allows disputes of this kind to be decided in a police
court. During the past few years many special com-
mittees have sat upon subjects relating to the work-
ing of the Sale of Food and Drugs Act, and not a

NO. 1897, VOL. 73]

NATURE

[Marcu 8, 1906

few of them have specifically recommended either the
institution of a permanent court of reference for
these matters or at any rate that they should be laid
before some specially organised tribunal. It is
sincerely to be hoped that before long these recom-
mendations may be adopted.

THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF SCIENCE,

Ale HE relation between the University of London

and the proposed new Royal College of Science
has been the subject of some discussion since the
publication of the report of the departmental com-
mittee on the college, described in our issue of
February 8 (p. 344). It is devoutly to be hoped,
however, that the consideration of this matter will
not divert attention from the essential point of the
committee’s report, namely, ‘‘ that it is desirable
that the new institution should be established imme-
diately, and that its organisation should proceed with-
out delay.’”’ Divergent views may be held as to the
nature of the connection between the University and
the new College, but there can be no two opinions
as to the folly of delaying the establishment of the
institute, as recommended by the committee, while
questions of control are being decided.

The subjoined letter from Mr. C. McDermid, hon.
secretary to the British Science Guild, appeared in
yesterday’s Times, and the plea of urgency contained
in it is endorsed in a leading article in the same
issue.

I am directed by the executive committee of the British
Science Guild to request you to be good enough to give
publicity to the following expression of the views of the
committee on a matter of great national importance.

The departmental committee on the Royal College of
Science has shown in its final report that a start can at
once be made to provide for the most advanced instruction
and research in several branches of applied science, which
all are agreed are imperatively necessary in the interests
of our national industrial progress.

The danger of delay in giving effect to the recommend-
ations of the departmental committee is recognised by the
leaders in science and industry, who are largely repre-
sented among the members of the British Science Guild.

The Government have signified their willingness to hand
over to a new governing body the present buildings of the
Royal College of Science and Royal School of Mines, the
new chemical and _ physical laboratories, which are
approaching completion, and some adjacent acres of land
on which to erect new buildings. In addition to this it is
understood that the Commissioners of the 1851 Exhibition
will provide an additional building site, and that the
council of the City and Guilds of London Institute will
cooperate in the scheme.

The Government are prepared to provide a yearly grant
about equal to the interest at 2} per cent. on one million
pounds sterling, and there is reason to hope that the
London County Council will vote an approximately
equivalent sum. In addition to this there is the munificent
gift of 100,o00l. from Messrs. Wernher, Beit, and Co.,
and the sum that it is expected will be provided for the
equipment of the new mining and metallurgical laboratories
as the central object of a national memorial to the late
Sir Henry Bessemer.

In view of all these most favourable conditions the
executive committee of the Guild earnestly hope that
neither the question of the ultimate and final relationship
of the new institution to the London University nor any
other matter will be allowed to interfere with the
immediate appointment of at least an organising governing
body. This body might deal inter alia with the status
and qualifications of the professional staff required and
obtain detailed expert advice with regard to the new
buildings to be erected.

Probably no more propitious time for founding a
college of the kind contemplated could be offered

Marcu 8, 1906 |

NATURE

443

than the present. The Perkin jubilee has been the
means of arousing a certain amount of interest as
to the cause of lost industries, and the remedies to
be applied if we are to secure industrial progress in
the future. Enlightened manufacturers are prepared
to give substantial support to an institution which
will aim at bringing scientific knowledge in close
relation with industries and industrial needs. Not
to take advantage of the present desire for action
would be dilatory policy; and if the scheme is held
up while discussion takes place upon its academic
aims and relationships, nothing could be more dis-
appointing to those who are anxious to see the estab-
lishment of an institute capable of rendering great
service to the community.

In the proposed new college no provision is to be
made for biological subjects; and Prof. Ray
Lankester has written a letter to Lord Rayleigh,
president of the Royal Society, pleading for the
recognition of the fact that the needs and the im-
portance of these sciences are as great or greater,
and that they are at present well-nigh destitute of
any endowment, or of adequate provision at the
public charge of laboratories and the means of
research. Prof. Lankester shows that there are
many branches of applied biology of importance to
the State, and though he does not propose any formal
action to the council of the Royal Society he trusts
“‘ that means may be devised of obtaining an assurance
from the Government of not merely continued, but
increased. provision for the highest work and train-
ing in the various sciences of the biological group—
including geology.”’

PROF. SAMUEL PIERPONT LANGLEY.

prt the zenith of his reputation, and possessed of
his full capacity for work, America and science
have to regret the death of Prof. Langley, who for
nearly twenty years directed and controlled the
energies of the Smithsonian Institution. The objects
promoted by such an establishment are so varied, the
interests that it has to maintain are so numerous, that
its direction can only be confidently entrusted to one
who combines the skill of the administrator with the
training of the man of science. The energy displayed
by Prof. Langley in the conduct of the Smithsonian
Institution, and its steadily increasing influence under
his direction, show that he loyally appreciated
the intentions of the founder, and that he proved
himself a worthy successor to Joseph Henry and
Spencer Baird, names still warmly treasured in the
memory of the American nation. We may recall,
though we cannot do justice to, some of the more
important features that have marked his connection
with the institution. His supervision of the museum,
and his earnest endeavour to make it more valuable
for instructed and uninstructed alike, led to re-
arrangement, and especially to the foundation of the
children’s room, a feature which may serve as a
model for similar institutions. The Bureau of
American Ethnology is a national undertaking that
has long been conducted on spacious,lines, but under
the late director this department has assumed mag-
nificent proportions, the care of which was an
enormous responsibility that even the assistance of
able colleagues could not wholly remove. The publi-
cations of this bureau show only the thoroughly
digested scientific conclusions, and represent but a
fragment of the immense amount of work actually
accomplished. But, perhaps, in the establishment and
management of the zoological park we see the
personal influence of the director most conspicuously
exhibited. It was his dream to establish a park in

NO. 1897, VOL. 73]

which the wild animals of his native land might live
as nearly as possible under conditions natural to them,
so that they might breed and thrive in captivity as
in their native haunts. The difficulties in the way
might well have daunted one less enthusiastic. More
than once the question of abolishing the park has
been considered, and over and over again he had
to fight the battle in the teeth of hostile or indifferent
politicians, who could not be made to appreciate the
value of the scheme, or to recognise that the preserv-
ation of the native animals, threatened with extinc-
tion, was a trust committed to their charge. He
lived to see this scheme placed on a permanent foot-
ing, and if on a more modest scale than he could
have wished, he could feel that his insistence had not
only preserved the nation’s heritage of wild animals,
but had opened up important regions of biological
research and of zoological art.

But, notwithstanding the severe demands the care
of such an establishment must make, Prof. Langley
did not allow his activity to be wholly absorbed
in the interests of the Institution. He never forgot
that he was a physicist and an astronomer before he
became an administrator. As a physicist, the problem
of flight largely engaged his attention, a subject to
the consideration of which he was led by his studies
on the internal force of the wind. To what extent
his experiments advanced the problem of aviation
it would be premature to pronounce. The form of
aérodrome which he favoured was capable of making
flights of a mile, unsupported except by the mech-
anical effects of steam engines. But these successful
flights were carried out on models. The application
of the same principle to larger mathines was, as he
contended, never fairly tried. The launching apparatus
was ineffective, and his machine never got into the
air at all. But if its capacity for sustained flight was
never tested, some of the mechanical features that he
tried and adopted will no doubt find their place in
later constructions. As an astronomer he will be
remembered for his direction of the Allegheny Observ-
atory and the important work which he accomplished
there on the sun and in the department of spectro-
scopy. His drawings of the solar surface, made
nearly forty years ago, remain unsurpassed for
delicacy and truthfulness, while his views on the
physical constitution of the sun are worthy of the
closest attention. As an experienced observer of solar
eclipses he was also well known, and thirty-five years
ago, when the spectroscopic examination of the sun’s
surroundings had made but little advance, he rendered
yeoman service. The invention of the bolometer
constitutes a distinct claim on our gratitude. This
sensitive instrument affords the means of measuring
minute changes in heat arising from the change in the
electrical resistance of an extremely thin strip of metal.
By its use Prof. Langley showed that the correc-
tions for atmospheric absorption, deduced by earlier
observers with less perfect instruments, are all too
small, and consequently the generally received value of
the ‘‘ solar constant ’? has been considerably increased.
With the same instrument our knowledge of the infra-
red spectrum has been greatly increased. The heat-
ing effects from rays unsuspected in previous investi-
gations have doubled the known extent of the solar
spectrum. By the aid of rock-salt lenses and prisms
Prof. Langley was able to show that bands of atmo-
spheric absorption were found to alternate with bands
of solar radiation, a fact of no inconsiderable import-
ance in terrestrial meteorology.

As a writer the late director of the Smithsonian
Institution was well known for his powers of graphic

description and vivacious style. His ‘‘ New Astro-
nomy,’’ published many years ago, attracted very

444

NATURE

[Marcu 8, 1906

considerable attention, and did much to popularise the
science in America. It is needless to say that he was
a member of many learned societies, American and
European; it will be sufficient to refer here to the
fact that he was elected a foreign member of the
Royal Society in 1895. At the age of seventy-two he
is removed from that position he was so well fitted to
adorn, and the respectful sympathy of the men of
science of all nations will be offered to those who
suffer by his loss. W.E. P.

NOTES.

OnE good purpose served by the movement referred to
last week (p. 419) to commemorate the jubilee of the dis-
covery of the first artificial coal-tar colour by Dr. Perkin is
that public attention has been directed to the relations
between scientific research and industrial progress. The
complete lack of sympathy between the capitalist in this
country and the scientific worker, largely due to the in-
difference shown by statesmen to scientific studies, has
been persistently deplored in these columns for many years ;
and we are glad that the general public is now being
enlightened as to the results of neglect of scientific
research. The coal-tar industries, founded upon an
essentially British discovery, have been lost to us, and are
now represented in Germany by two industrial groups
which, with a capital of 50,000,c00l., can pay dividends
of from 20 per cent. to 30 per cent. per annum. Prof.
S. P. Thompson, in a letter to Saturday’s Times, refers
to this lost industry, and shows that the electrical industry
and the manufacture of steel must pass to other countries
unless our manufacturers realise the industrial value of
higher technical education and _ scientific research.
“* Pioneering,’’ he remarks, ‘‘ as it is understood in an
electrical factory in the United States or in Germany, is
now almost non-existent in England; and the result on the
electrical industry in the next ten years must be simply
disastrous. Where are the newer kinds of electric lamps
being developed? The Nernst lamp, the flame lamp, the
vapour lamp, the oxide lamp, the osmium lamp, the tan-
talum lamp, all rich in future possibilities, where are they
being perfected? Not in England. I doubt if there is a
single British firm that is spending on such development
a tenth part of the sum that one single American firm
is spending on this one thing alone.- If we cease to
pioneer we become mere followers at a distance of those
who are going forward—ourselves cease to lead in the
development of the industry.’’ To save our country from
future disaster, our commercial and educational leaders,
and our statesmen, must realise the vital nature of scientific
research to national prosperity, and act upon this convic-
tion by making adequate provision for it.

THE town council of Hamburg has voted the sum of
586,000 marks (29,300l.) for the construction of a new
observatory at Bergedorf, about ten miles from Hamburg,
and 309,000 marks (15,450l.) for the instrumental and
electrical equipment of the observatory.

Pror. W. Oster, F.R.S., has been elected a member
of the Athenzum Club under the provisions of the rule
which empowers the annual election by the committee of
nine persons “‘ of distinguished eminence in science, litera-
ture, the arts, or for public services.”

Tue American Geographical Society has awarded Captain
R. F. Scott its gold medal in recognition of his services
as commander of the British Antarctic Expedition. The
Paris Geographical Society has awarded one of its gold

NO. 1897, VOL. 73]

medals to Major C. H. D. Ryder in recognition of his
work as surveyor and explorer in connection with the recent
Tibet mission, and his expedition to the sources of the
Brahmaputra.

Tue Berlin correspondent of the Times states that on
Monday the German Emperor formally opened the new
Museum for Marine Science, Berlin University. Among

those present at the opening ceremony were the Prince of —

Monaco, the Rector of the University, Geheimrath Diel,
and many distinguished representatives of natural science.
The institute, which owes its existence to the direct
initiative of the German Emperor, is intended to promote
and encourage the interest of the German people in marine
matters, and to place the subject upon a scientific basis.

Tue Empress Frederick Institute for the higher scientific
and practical education of medical men, which owes its
inception to a project initiated by the late Empress
Frederick, was opened in Berlin on March 1. The German
Emperor and Empress, accompanied by many members of
the Prussian Royal Family, were present. Sir Felix Semon
attended the ceremony in accordance with the commands of
King Edward, and in the course of a short address referred
to the King’s personal interest in the new institution.

A RoyaL Commission has been appointed to inquire into
the canals and inland navigations of the United Kingdom,
and to report on their present condition, financial position,
the facilities, improvements, and extensions required to
complete a system of through communication by water,
the expediency of canals being made or acquired by public
bodies, and other matters related to these subjects.

Sir Epwarp Fry will preside at the twenty-third annual
congress of the Royal Sanitary Institute, which will be
held at Bristol from July 9 to 14. The presidents of the
various sections will be :—Section i., sanitary science and
preventive medicine, Sir William J. Collins, M.P.;
section ii., engineering and architecture, Mr. Edwin T.
Hall; section iii., physics, chemistry, and biology, Dr.
W. N. Shaw, F.R.S.

Ar the third International Seismological Conference, held
at Berlin on August 15, 1905, Signor Luigi Palazzo was
elected vice-president of the permanent board of the Inter-
national Seismological Association. As Prof. A. Schuster
was unable to accept the presidency offered him, the
assembly deputed Signor Palazzo to act as president until
the new elections take place next summer. Signor Palazzo)
desires it to be known that the Italian Government has
consented to his acceptance of the office and responsibility,
and he asks for the support of all who take an interest
in the progress of seismology.

Dr. C. W. Anprews, of the British Museum, left
England last week to resume the quest for the remains of
extinct vertebrates from the Tertiary deposits of the Fayum
and other parts of Egypt. Recent discoveries in Egypt have
demonstrated the descent of the Eocene zeuglodonts trom
creodont Carnivora, and it is one of the objects of the
present expedition to endeavour to discover, in higher beds,
the missing links "between zeuglodonts and true cetaceans.
It may be added that the present expedition (like the
earlier ones) of Dr. Andrews has been rendered practicable
by the generosity of Mr. W. E. de Winton.

Science reports that, according to a despatch to the daily
papers from Washington, the Carnegie Institution has pur-
chased a tract.of six acres in the north-west section of

Washington, near Rock Creek Park, where it will erect

a permanent home. The site is near the building of the

_ Marcu 8, 1906]

NATURE

445

United States Bureau of Standards, and is in a command-
ing position, overlooking the entire city. The purchase
price was 7ool. an acre, and a building to cost 20,0001.
will be erected at once.

TuHeE great horticultural exhibition, to be held in the
gardens of the Royal Botanic Society on Wednesday,
June 13, will be opened by Princess Alexander of Teck.

Tue Badische Anilin- und Soda-Fabrik, of Ludwigs-
hafen, proposes to lay down a hydraulic power plant for
the preparation of nitric acid from atmospheric nitrogen by
the Birkeland process. Instead, however, of preparing
calcium and sodium nitrate for artificial manures, as in
the Norwegian installations, it is intended, in the first place
at least, to make potassium nitrate for explosive purposes.

AccorpDING to the Chemiker Zeitung, the proposed new
offshoot of the General Electrical Company, Berlin (p. 421),
for the manufacture of mercury lamps in Europe is to be
known as the ‘‘ Quarzlampengesellschaft.’’ The great
advantage of the lamps will be the possibility of preparing
them for all voltages up to 500 volts, and, in addition to
the fact that no carbons are required, the lamps should be
usable for 1000 hours without attention; it is expected that
the lamps will in many cases replace arc-lamps.

At the meeting in the Aula of the Berlin University on
February 21, which was held at the invitation of the pre-
liminary committee appointed last year to investigate the
question of the formation of a Chemische Reichsanstalt,
there were present some 150 of the most eminent repre-
sentatives of German academic and industrial chemists, as
well as several representatives of the Prussian Board of
Education. After a few remarks by the president, Prof.
Emil Fischer, the report of the preliminary committee was
presented by Prof. Nernst. The great majority of the
scientific and industrial societies consulted were decidedly
in favour of such an institution; sympathetic answers were
also received from most of the different German States and
from the Imperial Government offices. Prof. Ostwald, who
referred to the experiences gained during his recent stay in
America, spoke of the necessity of the proposed institute
from a scientific point of view, while Prof. Duisberg spoke
from the technical side. After further discussion, the meet-
ing unanimously agreed to the plans submitted by the pre-
liminary committee, and moved that the Imperial Treasurer
be approached on the subject. It is proposed that the in-
stitution be placed either in Berlin or in one of the suburbs ;
further particulars and details of the proposed scheme will
be given in a subsequent issue.

A REUTER message from Rome states that the convention
for the establishment of an International Institute of Agri-
culture has been signed by Italy, Russia, Servia, Belgium,
San Salvador, Portugal, Mexico, Luxemburg, Switzerland,
Persia, Japan, Ecuador, Bulgaria, Spain, France, Den-
mark, Greece, Sweden, Holland, Uruguay, Germany,
Nicaragua, Austria-Hungary, Great Britain, Egypt, the
United States, and Cuba. Other Powers have notified
their intention of signing the convention. The creation of
the International Institute of Agriculture is therefore
assured, and it will be able to begin its labours next year.
King Victor Emmanuel has determined that the palace of
the institute shall be completely finished by 1907. His
Majesty has presented the funds necessary for this enter-
prise, and the work will be started very shortly.

THE twenty-eighth annual general meeting of the Insti-
tute of Chemistry of Great Britain and Ireland was held
on March 1, Mr. David Howard, the retiring president, in

NO. 1897, VOL. 73]

the chair. In his address, Mr. Howard referred, among
other matters, to the great advances in chemistry that had
been due to the work of private practitioners, giving his
opinion that any action which tends to interfere with the
individual practitioners would be fatal to progress. With
greater facilities for training, and, consequently, a larger
supply of chemists, it was evident that only the most
efficient could hope to be successful. In conclusion, Mr.
Howard referred to the new president, Prof. Percy F.
Frankland, F.R.S., who had long been associated with
the institute, and whose father, Sir Edward Frankland,
was the founder and first president of the institute.

THE annual meeting of the Liverpool School of Tropical
Medicine, which was held last week in the Liverpool Town
Hall, under the presidency of the Lord Mayor (Alderman J.

Ball), was attended by a large number of prominent
citizens, including Sir Alfred Jones (chairman of the
school), Mr. William Adamson (vice-chairman of the

school), Prof. Carter, Prof. Ronald Ross, C.B., Dr. Caton,
Mr. Charles Booth, jun., and Mr. Philip Davey. Princess
Christian wrote expressing her constant warm personal
interest in the progress of the school, and sympathetic
messages were received from other prominent persons. The
report shows that excellent work is being done by the
school. The committee acknowledges the continued
generous support of the public, but further funds are
needed in view of the great development of research work.
A sympathetic reference was made to the regretted death
of Dr. J. E. Dutton, who lost his life while engaged in the
investigation of trypanosomiasis and tick fever on the
Congo.

AN agricultural conference was held in Bombay on
February 5 and following days. In opening the meet-
ings, Mr. Muir MacKenzie, the president, said that
important beginnings had been made in the department of
agricultural research and education. It was the late Mr.
Ozanne who gave the first effective impetus to the scientific
development of agriculture in the west of India. He
established the Kirkee demonstration farm and dairy. This
dairy has developed into an industry which has spread all
over India. Referring to the agricultural colleges, the
president said that by a course of study at the colleges it
was not expected to make a man into a scientific and
practical farmer. The colleges give an agricultural bent
to the student’s mind, and enable him to think correctly
about agriculture and to bring to bear upon agri-
cultural problems in India the information thus acquired.
Referring to the experiments with Egyptian cotton made
in Sind, he said this year the crop was estimated at 1200
bales, and next year 4000 bales were expected. They were
justified, he continued, in entertaining some confidence
that the establishment of that valuable product in Sind
would be an accomplished fact, and would prove a sub-
stantial addition to the agricultural resources of the
country.

Naturen for February contains an article by Prof. G.
Guldberg on the pigmies of the Congo forest.

WE have received a copy of a paper by Mr. C. O.
Esterly on the nervous system of copepod crustaceans,
issued in the Zoological Publications of the University of
California.

Amonc the contents of the February Zoologist reference
may be made to an article by Mr. G. Renshaw on the
extinct Mauritius dove, or “‘ pigeon hollandais ’’ (Alector-
aenas nitidissima). Discovered between 1774 and 1781,
it was still common in 1790, but when it was exterminated

446

NATURE

[Marcu 8, 1906

cannot be determined. There is a specimen in the Edin-
burgh Museum of Science and Art, and another at Port
Louis. :

To the January number of Spolia Zeylanica Dr. O.
von Linstow contributes a paper on parasitic worms
(Helminthes) in the Colombo Museum, while Mr. N.
Annandale discusses certain lizards and stalked barnacles
in the same collection. Among the lizards, a curiously
striped skink, which had been described as Euprepes
hallianus, is made the type of the new genus Theconyx.
In reference to the recent discovery by Dr. Willey that the
lemurs of the genus Loris are almost peculiar among
Primates in having four. mamma, Mr. Annandale records
that the same condition obtains in their allies of the genus
Nycticebus.

AccorpDING to the annual report for 1905, the Royal
Zoological Society of Ireland enjoyed an unusually good
year, the gate-money having increased by one hundred
pounds, while the entrance-fees and subscriptions reached
a total which has only once been exceeded, and then only
by a few shillings. The balance-sheet has also benefited
to a considerable extent by the sale of superfluous animals.
Very wisely, the council has spent a considerable portion
of this increased income in improving the accommodation
provided for the denizens of the gardens, the most
important addition being an open-air aviary measuring
90 feet by 50 feet, with a height of 20 feet. Experiments
have also been made, with most satisfactory results, in
placing tropical animals in the open air, a number of
parrots having been introduced into one of the smaller out-
door aviaries, while a party of Indian rhesus monkeys has
likewise been kept for some months without any shelter.
An excellent coloured plate, forming the frontispiece to
the report, shows these monkeys in the snow, apparently
in a high state of health and contentment.

Important information with regard to the origin, rise,
and decline of British whaling, both in the icy north and
in the southern seas, is furnished by Mr. T. Southwell in
the February issue of the Zoologist at the conclusion of
an article on last season’s catch of the Dundee whaling
fleet. Although Hull and Bristol had for a long time
previously been in the habit of sending vessels to New-
foundland and St. Lawrence Bay for seals and walrus,
Greenland whaling was initiated from London and Hull
in 1610 or 1611. The Dutch opened the route to Davis
Strait in 1719, but were not allowed for long to enjoy the
whaling by themselves. Scotland commenced Greenland
whaling in 1750 from Leith; Dundee, the only British port
from which whalers are now dispatched to the north, not
joining in until 1790. Sperm-whaling in the South Seas,
which appears to have been confined to the port of London,
commenced in 1775 and continued until 1853, when it was
abandoned to the Americans. During last season more
whales were seen in Davis Strait than for some years
past, the total catch being twenty-three.

WE have to acknowledge the receipt of four parts (Nos.
1434-7) of the Proceedings of the U.S. National Museum,
in the first of which Mr. E. A. Klages describes a collec-
tion of moths belonging to a certain group from Venezuela.
A fossil raccoon from a cave in California, described by
Mr. J. W. Gidley, forms the subject of the second. We
regret to see that in describing, in the third, certain
macaque monkeys from the Malay countries, Mr. G. S.
Miller seeks to replace the well known and universally
accepted generic name Macacus by Macaca, on the ground
that the latter is the earliest form of the name to be

NO. 1897, VOL 73]

found in scientific literature. We stand sorely in need of
a statute of limitation in regard to altering and replacing
names. In the fourth Dr. L. Stejneger describes a new
species of lizard belonging to the group of ‘‘ horned
toads ’’ from Mexico. Whether, however, this species is
entitled to be included under the latter title is almost
doubtful, seeing that it lacks the horns from which the
others take their name. It is also characterised by a
peculiar downward expansion of the lower jaw.

From Dr. F. Ameghino, director of the Buenos Aires
Museum, we have received copies of two papers from the
Anales of that institution, one dealing with the remains
of fossil penguins from the Tertiary deposits of Seymour
Island, in the Antarctic, and the other with the Tertiary
edentate mammals of France and Germany. Judging
from their metatarsal bones, some of which indicate birds
of very large size, the Seymour Island penguins are re-
presented by a large number of species, these being referred
by the author to no less than eight generic types, all of
which are regarded as distinct. Of wider interest is the
paper on the Oligocene and Miocene edentates of Europe,
especially since the author’s familiarity with American
representatives of the group renders him peculiarly well
qualified to test the determination of the European fossils.
It is satisfactory to learn that Dr. Ameghino is fully con-
vinced that among the latter are included armadillos,
aard-varks, and pangolins, some of the armadillos coming
very close to South American forms. This assemblage of
three groups of edentates in the countries fringing
northern Africa is suggestive that the latter continent may
have been the original home of the group, which reached
South America by direct land-connection.

Tue Bausch and Lomb Optical Co., of Rochester, New
York, the makers of the Minot microtomes, has recently
issued a new catalogue of its instruments, in which
reference is made to certain improvements in the Minot
automatic rotary microtome.

Unper the title *‘ Glycogéne et Paraglycogéne chez les
Végétaux,’’ some notes written by the late Prof. L. Errera
are published in the Recueil de l'Institut botanique,
Brussels, vol. i., 1905. The notes refer to microchemical
experiments on certain low organisms to test for the
presence of these substances.

Tue Trinidad Bulletin for January contains articles on
cocoa diseases observed in Ceylon and the West Indies,
and on the use of lime in agriculture. Two new instru-
ments for rubber-tapping are mentioned, the one a re-
volving pricking instrument, the other an improved
V-cutting knife. Reference is also made to the small fish,
species of Girardinus, found in Trinidad and Barbados, that
feed on the larvae of mosquitoes; it is suggested that it
would be useful to place them in pools in malarial districts.

Tue first stage in the inquiry as to the possibility of
establishing a beet-sugar industry in this country consists
in making cultivation trials in the districts where the
industry is likely to be located. Under the superintendence
of Mr. G. Clarke, of the County Technical Laboratories,
Chelmsford, sugar-beets were grown last year on experi-
mental plots on five different farms. The reports from the
growers giving cost and yield per acre are printed, together
with the chemical analyses, in a pamphlet published by
the Essex Education Committee. The cost of cultivation,
manures, and of raising the beets averaged rather more
than ten guineas per acre; on a large scale probably
eighteen to twenty tons of roots could be grown for about

Marcu 8, 1906]

NATURE

447

ten pounds per acre, and it is estimated that the farmer
would receive from seventeen to twenty shillings per ton of
trimmed roots delivered at the factory.

In a paper read before the Royal Geographical Society
on January 29 Prof. G. F. Scott Elliot gave an account
of his observations on the various plants that aid in the
formation of alluvial flats in the valleys of such rivers as
the Aconcagua, in Chile, and the La Plata. The compo-
site shrub, Baccharis marginalis, protected from drought
by gum-containing leaves, was found to be one of the first
settlers to fix the banks on the Aconcagua, after which
other plants, including poplars and willows, could secure
a hold, and gradually a river-side wood might be formed ;
or in the deeper backwaters plants of the nature of
Scirpus americanus or Juncus dombeyanus, and in the
shallows species of Eleocharis, spread out their horizontally
creeping stems and upright stallks holding the mud and
catching the drift until, in the marshy condition, grasses
could grow over and fill up the swamp.

AN experimental station for the study of sugar-cane
cultivation and of the diseases of the sugar-cane was
opened at Samalkot by the Madras Government In 1902.
Mr. C. A. Barber presents a report of the work for the
year 1903-4 in Bulletin No. 51 of the Department of Land
Records and Agriculture, Madras. Two local varieties,
Bonta and Yerra, and an introduced cane, Red Mauritius,
were selected for special experiment; the Bonta was eaten
out by jackals, the Yerra did not suffer much and gave
good results, but the Red Mauritius produced the greatest
weight of cane and the largest amount of jaggery. The
practice of wrapping the canes that is usual in the
Godavari district will form the subject of experiment; the
older leaves are twisted and wrapped round bamboos fixed
in the ground; the object is two-fold, the leaves serving as
a protection against jackals, and the bamboo supports
preventing the canes being blown down in cyclonic storms.

A TORNADO of considerable violence occurred at Meridian,
in the State of Mississippi, on the evening of March 2,
involving much loss of life and causing great destruction of
property. The tornado is said to have travelled at the rate
of seventy-seven miles an hour, and to have passed away
in two minutes. It apparently travelled from south-west
to north-east, and in its progress it is reported to have
ploughed a path 600 feet wide and one mile long.

A SEVERE hurricane occurred in the South Pacific on
February 7 and 8, and was attended by very serious loss
of life and property. According to the report received in
this country from San Francisco, received there through
the steamship Mariposa, damage to the value of 200,000l.
was wrought in Tahiti, and it is believed that similar
damage was caused in the Tuamotu Islands. The loss of
life is rumoured as numbering several thousands. Papiete,
situate on the north side of Tahiti, is said to have been
inundated, and it would appear that the hurricane was
accompanied by a series of high waves. The storm is re-
ported to have struck the islands with a wind velocity of
120 miles an hour at midnight on February 7, and to have
continued until four o’clock on the following afternoon.
In this part of the world storms usually travel from the
north-westward. According to the Admiralty sailing direc-
tions for the Pacific Islands, the hot months, December to
March, are those in which storms may be expected, and
clearly they are of fairly common occurrence in the Society
Islands and in the Tuamotu Archipelago, but as a rule the
hurricanes do not appear to be so severe as those of the
Atlantic and Indian Oceans or of the China Seas. At

NO. 1857, VOL. 73]

present the informatioa to hand with respect to the recent
storm is very meagre, and further details will be anxiously
looked for.

Japan has gained her supremacy in the East by a careful
and minute study of the methods of the West. It is now
the turn of the West to look towards the East for enlighten-
ment, and we do not look in vain. Weather is an
important item in commercial prosperity, and the study
of it is therefore of the highest importance to every nation.
If a country is subject to devastating cyclones, it is of the
utmost necessity that inquiry should be set on foot to try
to solve the causes of their frequency, and forecast, if
possible, their advent, in order to mitigate so far as
possible the damaging results which will eventually ensue.
One old British possession, a valuable asset to the British
Empire, is occasionally visited by these destructive air
movements, and instead of concentrating a meteorological
attack by erecting a first-class station, the British Govern-
ment reduces the already microscopic annual grant of tool.
to sol. In Japan science is respected, and respected prob-
ably because that country knows that scientific method is at
the base of progress. In meteorological matters Japan
does not mean to be left behind, and as the first duty of
a German colonist seems to be to set up a barometer and
thermometer and read them, so Japan follows suit by
organising a meteorological service in Korea and Man-
churia. An article upon this service, and the first-class
observatory at Chemulpo, appeared in the U.S. Monthly
Weather Review for September, 1905, and has already been
noticed in these columns (February 15, p. 374)-

A conspicuous and valuable feature of recent numbers of
the Proceedings of the Tokyo Physico-mathematical Society
is the number of short papers containing simple applications
of deductive reasoning to physical phenomena. Thus we
have an extension of Gibbs’s phase rule to systems in which
the potential differences between the phases enter into the
equations, by Shizuwo Sano (ii., 25); a theory of the rain-
bow due to a circular source of light, by K. Aichi and
T. Tanakadate (ii., 27); a discussion of the whistle pro-
duced by the vibration of a liquid drop, by T. Terada
(ii., 26); and an explanation of the existence of secondary
vibrations in seismic waves, by H. Nagaoka (ii., 28),
based on the supposition that the acceleration due to the
elastic force of the rock contains terms proportional to
powers of the displacement higher than the first.

“4 Prostem in Analytic Geometry with a Moral”’ is
the somewhat attractive title of a paper by Prof. Maxime
Bécher in the Annals of Mathematics, vii., 1. The
problem, which is quite elementary, consists in the deter-
mination of all the families of conics which cut a given
conic, say x?—y*=1, at right angles. Taking the inter-
secting conic as given by the general equation of the
second degree, the method of solution is to find the locus
of the points the polars of which with respect to the two
conics are at right angles, and to make this locus pass
through the intersection of the two conics. At this stage
the author advises the reader to complete the solution
himself before reading further; if he does so, there is con-
siderable probability that he will fail to obtain all the
four solutions. The reason of this is that there is one
family of orthogonal conics such that the polars of any
point with respect to one of these conics and the original
conic are at right angles, so that the coefficients in the
equation of this locus vanish identically. The interesting
point is that these conditions determine, not a single
curye, but a family of curves with the same degree of
generality as the families determined by the other con-
ditions.

448

NATURE

[Marcu 8, 1906

A NUMBER of papers on aérial navigation have appeared
comparatively recently. Of Captain Ferber’s work on
stability of aéroplanes mention has been already made
(p- 350), and it may be sufficient to add that in this par-
ticular connection, contrary to the old adage, ‘‘ an ounce
of theory is worth a pound of practice.’’ But the same
writer has since sent us a reprint of papers in the Revue
d’Artillerie for August last, now published by Berger-
Levrault, of Paris, under the title ‘‘ Pas A Pas, Saut a
Saut, Vol 4 Vol,’’ which, to emulate the author’s style, con-
stitutes a comprehensive vol aw vent of experimental
gliding up to date, illustrated by many figures. Turning
a little further back to the Revue scientifique (5,
24, 25), we find an interesting discussion by M. Bazin of
the source of energy in sailing flight of birds. The theory
is essentially identical with that brought into prominence
by Langley’s work, in which variations in wind-velocity
account for the phenomenon; but the author has also
shown how models can be constructed in which this ex-
planation is illustrated by the motion of a marble rolling
on a movable kind of switchback. More recently, in the
Revue générale des Sciences (xvi., 21), M. M. Léger
details his attempts at obtaining the necessary lifting
force in a machine of the “ plus lourd”’ type by a com-
bination of ‘‘ helicopters’’ (vertical screws) and aéro-
planes; his experiments have been carried out with the
assistance of the Prince of Monaco. A little further back
in the same series Lieut.-Colonel G. Espitallier discusses the
materials and construction of balloons. Prof. S. P. Langley’s
work is described in a pamphlet, reprinted from the Smith-
sonian report by the Washington Government. A paper has
also reached us from Madrid detailing the formation of
a Royal Aéreo-Club of Spain. The current numbers of
the Aéronautical Journal contain too much matter to be
summarised here. Attention should, however, be directed
to the flying model competition organised by the Aéro-
nautical Society for July of this year.

iii.,

A copy of the twenty-sixth volume of the Proceedings of
the Dorset Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club
has been received. The volume has been edited by Mr.
W. Miles Barnes. It contains the presidential address of
Mr. Nelson M. Richardson, and, in addition to other con-
tributions, papers by the Rev. O. Pickard-Cambridge,
F.R.S., on new and rare British Arachnida; the Rev. E. F.
Linton, on Dorset plants; Mr. H. Stillwell, on the returns
of rainfall in Dorset; the Rev. H. S. Solly, on the land-
slip at Lyme Regis; Mr. W. B. Barrett, on the flora of
the Chesil Bank and the Fleet; and the president, on first
appearances in 1904 of birds, insects, and first flowering
plants in Dorset.

OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN.
Discovery or a New Comet, 1906b.—A telegram from
the Kiel Centralstelle announces the discovery of a new
comet by Herr Kopff at the Kénigstuhl Observatory on
March 3.
At 14h. 52-8m. (KGénigstuhl M.T.) on the day of discovery
the position of the comet was
R.A.=11h. 35m. 56s., dec.=+1° 4o’,
and the following values were determined for the daily
movement :—in R.A, —7' (—28s.), in dec. +4’.
_A second telegram from Kiel announces that Dr. Valen-
tiner, observing at the Kénigstuhl Observatory, Heidel-
berg, on March 4, recorded the position of this object as
R.A.=11h. 35m. 35-8s., dec.+1° 4o! 37!
at 10h. 13-4m. (K6nigstuhl M.T.).
Thus it will be seen that the comet is in the southern
part of the constellation Leo, and was about half-way

NO. 1897, VOL. 73]

between yv Leonis and 8 Virginis when discovered. It is
travelling very slowly in a W.N.W. direction, and is on
the meridian about midnight. No intimation of its magni-
tude has, as yet, been received. :

THE Rinc Neputa 1n Lyra.—In 1902 Dr. Newkirk
showed, in his inaugural dissertation for the doctor’s degree
at Munich, that the central star in the annular nebula in
Lyra had a proper motion, and, from the value he obtained
for this movement, he deduced the parallax of the nebula,
finding it to be o”-10.

As this was the first nebula for which any proper motion
and parallax had been deduced, the verification of Dr.
Newkirk’s results became a matter of great importance, and
therefore Prof. E. E. Barnard has made several measure-
ments, photographic and visual, with the 4o-inch refractor
at Yerkes Observatory.

The results obtained do not verify those of Dr. Newkirk.
According to the latter the total displacement of the nucleus
during the five years which elapsed between Prof. Barnard’s
observations in 1898-9 and those of 1903-4 would have
amounted to o”-90, an easily measurable quantity, but no
displacement at all could be detected.

As Dr. Newkirk’s parallax for the central star depended
upon his value for the proper motion, it must now, accord-
ing to Prof. Barnard’s results, be rejected as fallacious.

The latter observer concludes from his observations that
everything in the immediate region of this nebula seems to
have the usual fixity of the ordinary small stars (Monthly
Notices R.A.S., vol. Ixvi., No. 3).

A CLUSTER OF NEBUL2 IN PERSEUS.—In No. 4069 of the
Astronomische Nachrichten Dr. Max Wolf describes his
discovery of a number of small nebulz in the regions about
B and Nova Persei. These objects were seen, and their
positions measured, on photographs obtained with the Bruce
telescope, and they mostly lie in two bands, for which Prof.
Wolf gives the positions.

The nebulz are especially dense where these two bands
coalesce, a region of 12’ (of arc) square containing 148 of
them. Their forms are generally recorded as ‘‘ round, with
central condensation,’’ and ‘‘ form of Andromeda nebula.’’ .

Twenty-Five NEw VaRIABLE Stars.—Circular No. 107 of
the Harvard College Observatory contains the positions and
magnitudes of twenty-five variable stars recently discovered
by Miss Leavitt from the examination of six plates taken
with the 24-inch Bruce telescope.

The plates are of fine quality, and probably show
altogether some 200,000 star images. The twenty-five
variables contained in the list lie in the constellations Orion,
Virgo, and Cygnus, and two of them in the last named
constellation have magnitude ranges of 3-5. and 3-0 re-
spectively.

THE GLOW SURROUNDING THE LuNnaR CRaTER LinNné.—
Some interesting results of observations of Linné are pub-
lished by Prof. E. E. Barnard in No. 4075 of the Astrono-
mische Nachrichten.

The glow surrounding the crater was measured, on
various dates between December, 1902, and November,
1904, with a micrometer attached to the 4o-inch refractor
at Yerkes, and Prof. Barnard concludes that its diameter
does vary with the moon’s age. The following table re-
presents the curve, obtained from the observational results,
for the varying diameters :—

Moca age Diam. of glow Moon's age Diam. of glow
ahs d.

h u h. 4”
70 6°6 14 0 3°4
80 6°0 15 0 353
90 "4 16 0 Bhs
10 0 48 17 0 3°4
Il 0 43 18 o 355
120 ee 4'0 | 19 0 38
13 0 . 357 |

The diameters have been reduced to the moon’s distance
on January 12, 1903, viz. 221,820 miles. Whilst not certain
of the exact form of the curve after full moon, Prof.
Barnard thinks there is no doubt that it rises.

Two measures of the crater itself gave a mean of 0!.63
when reduced to the above distance. This corresponds to
an actual diameter of about 3600 feet. Other interesting
details of the crater and the glow are given in Prof.
Barnard’s notes.

Marcu 8, 1906]

NATURE

449

THE VERTICAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE
METEOROLOGICAL ELEMENTS ABOVE
THE ATLANTIC.

N a previous article (vol. Ixxiii. pp. 54-56) we described
our expedition to the tropics, and gave the results of
the observations with balloons and on mountains, so far
as they related to the movements of the upper currents.
In the present article we will consider the observations
with kites, which furnished nearly continuous records

of temperature, humidity, and wind velocity from sea-level |

to a height of 2300 metres, and the direct observations to
a greater height which Mr. Clayton obtained in ascending
and descending the tropical peaks on the islands of
Teneriffe and Fogo. During a voyage of the White Star
steamer Romanic, from Boston to Gibraltar, Mr. Clayton
executed six kite-flights, and on board the steam-yacht
Otaria, between latitudes 37° and 10° N., longitudes 16°
and 31° W., with the assistance of M. Maurice, seventeen
kite-flights were made, besides two in the harbour of
Santa Cruz to investigate the sea breeze, and one in lati-
tude 43° 43’ N., longitude 8° 43’ W., for the study of
the changes in the free air produced by the total solar
eclipse. The observations obtained at the height of 1ooo

metres, compared with those at sea-level, are given in |

Tables i. and ii. The first table contains the observations
made in a general east and west direction between longi-
tudes 69° and 16° W., latitudes 42° and 33° N. West of
the Azores, that is to say, on the westward slope of the
permanent area of high pressure, the decrease of tempera-
ture with height was slow, there being two cases out of
the four in which the temperature increased immediately

above the ocean, the average decrease in the thousand
metres being but 0°41 C. On the eastern and southern
slopes of the high pressure the temperature decrease
approached the adiabatic rate, amounting on the average
to o°-73 C. per hundred metres. The relative humidity
diminished with altitude over the western barometric slope
and increased in the observations obtained over the eastern
slope, while the wind veered and increased with altitude
in the former locality and backed with diminishing velocity
in the latter. Fig. 1 shows the typical vertical distribu-
tion of the meteorological elements to the westward of
the Azores.

The observations made at the height of 1000 metres
and at sea-level in a general north and south direction,
between latitudes 35° and 10° N., appear in Table ii.
It will be seen that the temperature decrease is most
rapid (average o°-78 C. per 100 metres) near the
northern and southern limits of the north-east trades, and
is least rapid within the trade-wind region (average
0°07 C.), due to the presence of strata with inverted
temperature gradients, of which a typical example, with
the corresponding changes of humidity, is shown in Fig. 2.
The relative humidity varies inversely with the tempera-
ture, being slightly greater at 1000 metres just outside
the trade wind, and much less at this height within the
trade belt. While the observations of wind do not indicate
any marked deviation from the north-easterly direction,
there is a considerable decrease in the velocity of the
trade with increasing height.

Mr. Clayton’s study of the data collected in the tropics
points to the existence of three strata between the sea
and 4000 metres, characterised by differences in tempera-

Taste I.—Conditions at sea-level and at 1000 metres over the Atlantic, between Longitudes 69° and 16° West.

eerie crt ete ici Windidirection Wind Moen sete
Date Tone: = —_—
2 0 ° é
o metres Diff. ° Mees Diff. 2 Reaes Oe ieee Dif.
1905 i [ali | | ——— ; e
UnemeeM cts .endlum6o) To) 7°75 |— 375] 86 yh tee) 5 _
June 6 Be vais | telccaal Mh Seoul 3 245 | — 2°4| 96 52 — 44] S. 14 W.| S. 32 W. 8°5 | 12°0 +3°5
June 7 coo wmereieimticn || 3%) 19°8 | 13-4 |- 6:4] 90 73 ET Sagi Wey |S -n2O0 Mle 55 57 +0'2
Meansieren cs) <2 5 een _— | 4c — — 20} — = =— _— +18
June 10 Bis covst owe 19 17°5 98 |— 7°7| 68 60 - 8 — _— — — —
Tuly 3 2G AOR DOC 16 ZBtOR |tse3) | 1 O)e7 mere 100 + 29 | N. 28 E. | N..8 W. 70 6°5 -0'5
Afwthy Gl, Gece ipaseeecen 16 20°8 | 16°3 |= 4°5, — — — — _— _— _ —
WEIS oo. Soqmmmcoaieaccs || | = = =m | = 57S ie — ae) iit | _ = = = -05
|

Taste If.—Conditions

at sea-level and at 1000 metres over the

Atlantic, between Latitudes 35° and 10° North.

Smecaiaeadess aa | Humidity Wind direction Wrist! era ais
Date 3 ie ! |
? mstres Diff. 9 | taetres Diff. | e eres 2 metres Diff.
1905 zy | . | °
Aug. 19, p.m. 35 23°38 | 15°99 |— 7°9| 80 go + 10] N.56E.| N.56E. | 8:0 | 13°5 +5°5
Aug, 19, a.m. 35 | 236 | 147 |- 8:9| 79 | 96 | + 17| N.64E.| N.64E.| 7-0 | 10:0 | +3°0
Aug. 18, p.m. 34 23°7 | 1675 |-— 7:2] 84 92 + 8| N. 33 E. | N. 26 E. 6'0 5°55 —0'5
Aug. 18, a.m. 34 23 2a Th Sul eA less go ts Jali Ney 38), |e INe 50), 8:0 | 10°7 +2°
Means .., — — — |- 78) — = +10'0 | gu | Ss = = +2°7
Aug. 14 31 21°7 | 23°7 |+ 2°0| 85 18 = 67) \heNaGe EB. | IN 27)W.. || 13/0 50 —8:0
Aug. 9* 28 || 23:2 |. 23:9 |+ o7| 72 Al = aS SE Calm ro | O70) |) 1-0
Aug. 10* AS || Geton|| ean ES aeR)) eo | SI EREee eye ON AID Calm 310 | oo | -3°0
July 12 27 | 20°3 | 28°9 |+ 86) 84 On ers = ae eu ee =e
Aug. 4 24 23°0 | 1970 |— 4'0| 76 52 — 24|N. 28 E. | N. 60 E 8:0 9'0 +10
July 15 19 22'7 | 22°6|— o1| 89 2 = 37 | — _ — — =
July 20 WerOmnliezg-3) 272" snl ase 48 | — 35 ? N. 57. E. || 6:0) 10°5 | --4°5
July 27+ 15 25°7 | 28:2 |+ 2°5| 68 13 —~ 55 E. N.E. 3) le CAG || eats
July 28+ faa 25°2 | 20°5 |— 4°7) 60 66 15 | N. S 7:0 m5 —5'°5
Means ... —_— — — |-o'07| — = SOG = = = = —1'5
July 24 Ir | 26:0 | 18:7 |— 7°3| 83 93 ESATO ats ay Zs aay ee
July 22 10 24'0 | 18'0 |— 6°0] 96 | 100 + 4) _— = _— _— —
* Peak of Teneriffe. + Peak of Fogo.

450

ture, humidity, cloudiness, and wind. The trade wind,
limited to about 1000 metres in thickness, varies in direc- |
tion between north and east, is damp, and usually carries |
cumulus or strato-cumulus clouds in its upper portion.
Above the surface trade is a current about 2000 metres in
depth, varying in direction between north-east and north- |
west, but coming always from a direction to the left of |
the lower wind when facing it. This current is extremely |
dry and potentially warm, and its velocity is usually much
greater than that of the lower wind. At their plane of meet-
ing occurs a belt of calms or light winds with a marked
inversion of temperature, and this rise of temperature is |

40 PC. 60

80

C eS SSS SSS SS ne
IS 16 17 18 19°C. 60 PC 80 too

TEMPERATURE FRELATIVE HUMIDITY

ssw.

Fic. 1.— Vertical Distribution of Temperature, Humidity and Wind,

Lat. 40° 33’ N., Long. 46° 43' W

accompanied by a very decided fall of humidity, the re-
lative humidity in some cases falling to nearly zero. The
third stratum, which begins at a height of about 3000
metres, moves from a direction varying between east and
south or south-west, being generally from the east in
equatorial regions and from the south between latitudes |
15° and 30° N. As observed on the Peak of Teneriffe,
this stratum was dry in its lower portion, but had a
slightly larger vapour contents than the air immediately |
below. Alto-cumulus and alto-stratus clouds were seen
floating in it at a height of perhaps 4000 metres or 5000
metres, and from them light sprinkles of rain fell
occasionally. In passing into this upper current a rise |

of temperature was noted, but this was less marked than |

HEIGHT HEIGNT
IN o Pc 20 40 60 Bo too (NV
MI ETRES ESL I ESN OT FD Fd LO Co dy py oe aS
b
1600 | 4 1600
ooh 4 1400
1200 [ | 1200
1000 [ \
—— .
= 4 1000
L ~
. 4
500 F ‘ + 800
L \ 4
400 [ rd - = 400
200 A
[ 7 4 200
. a 4
CS SS ee ae See eee it A —i_I

(7 1819 2021 22 23 R425 2627 2829 30°C 80 foo Pc.

TEMPERATURE RELATIVE HUMIDITY

Fic 2.—Vertical Distribution of Temperature and Humidity, July 12,
1905; Lat. 27° 30’ N., Lone. 16° 48’ W.

NATORE

WIND

the rise encountered above the surface trade. Mr. Clayton |
also deduces the following facts from the observations :— |
(1) the Bases of the cumulus clouds are low over the
ocean, rarely exceeding 500 metres; (2) the height of the
inverted temperature gradient varies from day to day
between 300 metres and 1500 metres, with a probable
average of 1000 metres, and its height also appears to
undergo a diurnal change, being lowest at night or in the
morning and highest in the afternoon; (3) the adiabatic |
rate of decrease of temperature prevails over the ocean at
night as well as during the day.
The vertical distribution of temperature and humidity

NO. 1897, VOL. 73]

. (Marcu 8, 1906

revealed by our observations up to a height of 4ooo metres
agrees in general with that found by Prof. Hergesell during
the cruises of the Prince of Monaco’s yacht in 1904 and
1905 (see Comptes rendus de l’Académie des Sciences,
January 30, 1905, and Bulletin du Musée Océanographique
de Monaco, November 30, 1905). From the latter publi-
cation it is interesting to learn that a balloon, liberated
by Prof. Hergesell on August 7 last far to the westward
of the Canary Islands, indicated the same currents which
were found by us in the neighbourhood of these islands,
since it met the south-east and south-west winds above
the north-east trade. It is significant that this balloon

reached a greater height than did the

werenr Other balloons, which showed winds
See | ea; having a northerly component. We
1100 perceive that Prof. Hergesell no longer
1000 denies the possibility of an upper anti-
900 trade in a lower latitude than the
800 Canaries, but now simply states that
700 in the central part of the Atlantic he
600 found almost exclusively north-west
500 winds, from which he concludes that
Ache) the route followed by the currents
399) bringing the air from the equator
200 appears to be less simple than had been
ee supposed, and seems to depend on the

relative positions of the continents and
oceans. The study of the daily isobars
over the ocean, which was first made
under the direction of Le Verrier in
1864, showed that the pressure is not
distributed in uniform belts, and that
the isobars are everywhere deflected by the influence of
temperature distribution dependent upon the land and sea,
relations which were demonstrated by M. Teisserene de
Bort’s study of isonormals more than twenty years ago.
Hence it would appear that’ there are certain regions where
the anti-trade is more regular than elsewhere, the zone
between the Cape Verde and Canary Islands being no
doubt one of these; but this view is quite contrary to
the idea that the south-east and south-west winds observed
in the upper atmosphere near these islands, and hitherto
accepted as proof of the anti-trade, are due to local in-
fluences, which Prof. Hergesell still affirms to be true.

A. L. Roten.

L. TEISSERENC DE Bort.

8 10 12 MET. PSEC.

June 6, 1905 ;

THE TRANSFORMATIONS OF ROCK-MASSES.

THE study of the changes which rock-masses undergo
under natural conditions is in itself by no means an
inconsiderable branch of geology, and its pervading import-
ance throughout the whole field of the science brings it
continually to the front in stratigraphical as well as petro-
logical research. The literature of the subject is a large
one, but until now no serious attempt has been made to
deal fully and comprehensively with the principles and
phenomena of metamorphism as a whole. Prof. van Hise’s
wide experience in the Lake Superior region and elsewhere
has made him well fitted for a task to which he has devoted
seven years of labour; and the outcome of that labour, as
represented in the massive volume before us, will have a
permanent value for all who come after him in this field.
This treatise, as we are told in the preface, is ‘‘ an
attempt to reduce the phenomena of metamorphism to order
under the principles of physics and chemistry, or, more
simply, under the laws of energy.’? Metamorphism is
understood to include all alterations of all rocks by all
processes. This extension of customary usage may be de-
fended on logical grounds, and it has the advantage of

| constantly keeping in view the essential unity underlying

the complex operations of nature; but it involves a corre-
sponding enlargement of the subject-matter. The scrupu-
lous—almost relentless—manner in which the author follows
out in every detail the general scheme of treatment laid
down further swells the bulk of the volume, and, brought
out in the handsome style which characterises the produc-

1 “A Treatise on Metamorphism.” By Charles Richard van Hise.
(Monographs of the U.S. Geological Survey, vol. xlvii.) Pp. 1286 and
13 plates. (Washington, 1904.)

Marcu 8, 1906]

INA TORE:

451

tions of the Survey, it is physically not an easy book to
handle.

In the first chapter a general discussion leads to the
conclusion that the most important factor in metamorphism
is the depth of the rocks below the surface. In the upper
zone of the earth’s crust the chemical changes are such
as result in the production of simpler compounds from
more complex ones, while in the deeper part the reverse is
the case. The starting point of the author’s treatment is
this antithesis between the upper zone of catamorphism
and the lower zone of anamorphism. It appears to us
that, while the broad rule here laid down is doubtless of
significance, it has scarcely sufficient precision to serve as
a basis of classification. The productions of muscovite from
orthoclase, and of natrolite from albite, are, according to
this geological distinction, catamorphic changes, but it
cannot be said that they result in the formation of simpler
from more complex compounds.

The second chapter deals with the forces of meta
morphism, and the third with the agents of metamorphism,
i.e. especially gaseous and aqueous solutions. This involves
a résumé of the principles of physical chemistry, so far as

Fis. 1 —Fairview Dome, Sierra Nevada, from the north; illustrating the manner in which granite
scales parallel to the periphery as a result of expansion and contraction due to changes of temperature.

they are applicable to the subject. Although somewhat
handicapped by the author’s scepticism concerning the
doctrine of electrolytic dissociation, this summary will be
very useful to students of geology. Chapter iv. treats of
the characteristics of the two zones of metamorphism.
The law is found to be that in the zone of catamorphism
the alterations are attended by liberation of heat and ex-
pansion of volume; in the zone of anamorphism by absorp-
tion of heat and diminution of volume. The zone of cata-
morphism is divided into the belt of weathering, lying above
the level of underground water, and the belt of cementation,
lying below that level; and the geological processes
characteristic of these two belts are contrasted.

Chapter v., which might perhaps have been abridged
without impairing the value of the book, considers the
actual alterations undergone in nature by each of the rock-
forming minerals. The chemical reactions are illustrated
by equations, and the percentage increase or decrease of
volume is calculated in each case. The precise application
of these calculations is perhaps debatable, since special
assumptions have to be made regarding such gaseous and
soluble substances as take part in the reactions, and in
some cases the equations themselves are rather conjectural.
The next three chapters are an analysis of the processes of

NO. 1897, VOL. 73]

change in the belt of weathering, the belt of cementation,
and the zone of anamorphism respectively. Under the last
head the most important discussion is that relative to
secondary gneissic and schistose structures. The author con-
cludes that ** Rock-flow is mainly accomplished through con-
tinuous solution and deposition, that is, by re-crystallisation
of the rocks through the agency of the contained water.
But rock-flow is partly accomplished by direct mechanical
strains.’’ The ninth chapter deals with the phenomena
of metamorphism of individual rocks, and with this the
systematic treatment of the subject ends; but there remain
some interesting chapters applying the principles enunciated
in this treatment to certain other branches of geology.

Chapter x. discusses the difficulties which metamorphism
often introduces into stratigraphical investigation and the
manner in which these difficulties may be overcome. The
next chapter, which is the most novel part of the book,
has for its subject the relations of metamorphism to the
distribution of the chemical elements. It is shown that, as
compared with the parent igneous rock-masses, most sedi-
mentary rocks become impoverished in certain elements,
which are thus segregated in particular deposits. Some
of the numerical results are of a sur-
prising kind. Thus, it is calculated
that to oxidise the ferrous iron of the
nal rocks to the ferric state, in
which most of it occurs in the sedi-
ments, required 35 per cent. of the
oxygen now in the atmosphere. To
oxidise the sulphur and iron of iron-
sulphides to produce the sulphates of
the ocean and gypsum deposits, with
concurrent transformation of the iron
to the ferric form, required one and a
half times the oxygen now in the
atmosphere. The final chapter, occu-
pying no less than 240 pages, might
perhaps have been deemed sufficiently
complete in itself for separate publi-
cation. It is practically a treatise on
the principles of ore-deposition. The
subject is one upon which much diver-
gence of opinion is still found. Prof.
van Hise, as is well known from his
former writings, has devoted long
study to it, and the complete exposi-
tion which he now offers will be read
with general interest. From his point
of view, the majority of ore-deposits
have been produced by metamorphism,
in the broad sense of the term already
defined, and it results that the theory
of their genesis consists mainly in
bringing the phenomena which they
exhibit under the general principles
of metamorphism. The conclusion is
reached that in many cases the ores
have resulted from repeated segregations of the kind con-
sidered in the preceding chapter.

It is impossible to study Prof. van Hise’s work without
admiring the boldness of his design and the skill with
which it is carried out, and being grateful for the stores
of carefully arranged information which he has brought
together. We must readily admit, too, that he has done
good service in insisting upon the necessity for the geologist
to familiarise himself with the recent progress of physical
chemistry, a knowledge of which, as van *t Hoff and others
have shown, is a pre-requisite for attacking many of the
most pressing problems of geology. Granting this, how-
ever, we may still be permitted to doubt whether a purely
geological subject like metamorphism is most advantage-
ously dealt with in the manner which is appropriate to
the exact sciences. In such a formal schematic treatment
there is some danger of making it appear that our know-
ledge of metamorphism is to be deduced from chemical
principles instead of depending upon observation. Although
the criticism would not be a just one in the present case,
we venture to express a wish that the author had chosen

to describe the facts first and explain them afterwards, and
that he had made freer reference to actual rocks and
specified localities. AG SH

452

NATURE

{Marcu 8, 1906

A NEW OXIDE OF CARBON.

HE current number of the
chemischen Gesellschaft (1906, XXXiX., p. 689) contains
a preliminary communication by Messrs. Otto Diels and
Bertram Wolf, of the Berlin University, giving an account
of the preparation and properties of a new oxide of carbon
having the composition C,O,, for which they propose the
name carbon suboxide. The new oxide is obtained from
ethyl malonate, CH,(CO,C,H,),, by subjecting the vapour
of the latter to the action of phosphorus pentoxide at
300°; under these conditions two molecules of water are
removed by the action of the latter reagent, and a mixture
of ethylene and carbon suboxide formed, the reaction being
expressed by the equation

CH,(CO,C,H,),=2C,H,+2H,0 +C,0,.

The ethylene and carbon suboxide are condensed together
in a receiver cooled with liquid air, and subsequently
separated by fractional distillation.

Carbon suboxide is a gas at the ordinary temperature,
which burns in the air with a smoky flame, has a most
penetrating smell, resembling that of acrolein and mustard
oil, and attacks the eyes, nose, and respiratory organs
violently. On cooling it condenses to a colourless, highly
refractive liquid, which boils at 7° under 761 mm. pressure.
The results of the analysis and of the determination of
the vapour density show that the molecular formula is
€,0O,.

Carbon suboxide at once combines with water, re-forming

Berichte der deutschen

malonic acid, and also unites with ammonia, hydrogen
chloride, and aniline, forming malonamide, malonyl
chloride, and malonanilide respectively; it therefore con-

tains the chain of carbon atoms previously existing in the
malonic acid derivative from which it is prepared, and in
all probability possesses the constitution represented by the
formula OC: C:CO. Hence in both its constitution and
properties it has a close analogy with the metallic carbonyl
derivatives, and especially with Mond, Langer, and
Quincke’s nickel tetracarbonyl, Ni(CO),.

When the liquid suboxide is sealed in glass tubes it
slowly undergoes change at the ordinary temperature, and
is finally converted into a dark red solid, which dissolves
in cold water, yielding an intense eosin- -red solution, At
higher temperatures the alteration takes place much more
rapidly, and the product is then no longer completely
soluble in water. The nature of the changes here taking
place is still under investigation.

UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL
INTELLIGENCE.

CaMBRIDGE.—One hundred and fifty-five students have
entered for the First Part of the natural sciences tripos
and twenty-five for the Second Part in the coming June.
In the mechanical sciences tripos there are fifty candidates.
These figures show a considerable increase in the numbers
for the last few years. There are seventy-seven in for the
First Part of the mathematical tripos, and seven entered
for the Second Part.

The Vice-Chancellor has announced that the Girdlers’
Company has offered to renew, for a further period of
three years, its grant of rool. a year towards the study of
economics in Cambridge.

The General Board of Studies
degree of doctor in science Mr.
and Caius College.

The Special Board for Physics and Chemistry has agreed
to expend its share of the Gordon Wigan Fund as
follows :—(r) A sum of 5ol. per annum is to be granted
to the department of chemistry for five years for the
establishment of a prize or otherwise for the encouragement
of research in chemistry. (2) The balance of the income
is to be used for the assistance of research and teaching
amongst the departments of the University directly con-
nected with the Board, other than that of chemistry, it
being understood ea on the average the departments
should share equally. (3) Applications for grants are to be
made by the heads of departments and be considered at a
meeting of the Special Board held not later than the

No. 1897, VOL. 73]

has approved for the
F. W. Keeble, Gonville

division of the Michaelmas term in each year. Grants not
exceeding 74l. have been made out of the balance on in-
come account for 1905 to the departments of physics and
mineralogy to defray the cost of special apparatus.

Iz is reported from Berlin that Mr. Alfred Beit has pre-
sented 100,000l. to Hamburg for the establishment of a
university.

Tue Goldsmiths’ Company has made a grant of r1oool.
to the building and endowment scheme for Bedford College,
University of London. The Grocers’ Company has granted
25l. for the same purpose.

Tue Goldsmiths’ Company has made a grant of 10,0001,
to the Institute of Medical Sciences Fund, University of
London, on the assumption that a site will be provided
for the institute at South Kensington,

PRESIDENT THomAs, of Bryn Mawr College, has
announced, says Science, a gift of 16,0001. from Mr. John
D. Rockefeller, to enable the college to meet the expenses
incurred by the trustees over and above the gift of 50,000l.
in 1902 for the new library. Mr. Rockefeller has con-
tributed in all g1,o00l. to the college. From the same
source we learn that McGill University will receive 10,0001.
from the estate of the late Mr. Edwin H. King, former
general manager of the Bank of Montreal.

Mr. F. C. Forru, principal of the Municipal Technical
Institute, and director of technical instruction for Belfast,
has compiled a very useful ‘‘ Student’s Guide to Prizes and
Scholarships.’? The guide is primarily intended for the
information of present and future students of the institute
over which the compiler presides, but, as it contains details
of scholarships at universities and other institutions of
higher education, it should appeal to a wide circle of
students elsewhere. The guide demonstrates in a con-
vincing manner the numerous facilities in existence to
assist earnest students of slender means to continue their
education so far as their abilities allow.

Mr. Wynpuam, M.P., delivered an address at the distribu-
tion, on March 3, of prizes won by the students of the
Dover municipal schools of science, art, and technology.
He said the study of science is the study of truth. The pur-
suit of science is not beset by those pitfalls which are now
called ‘‘ terminological inexactitudes.’’ In science, if the
cause is known the effect can be foretold; it is the only
safe form of prophecy. The pursuit of pure science is the
noblest calling to which earnest endeavours can be given.
The present age is preeminently the age of science, and
all who study it feel they are comrades in the great quest
for truth. The pursuit of science has brought in its train
gifts of various kinds, and to the worker in technology it
has brought perhaps the greatest gift that anyone can
obtain—the gift of independence, not only pecuniary in-
dependence, but the gift to men and women of an ample
field for their own energy in which they can win distine-
tion, and at any rate justify their existence upon earth.

On February 28, in the presence of a large and re-
presentative gathering of agriculturists, representatives of
county councils, the Scotch Education Department, and
others interested in agricultural education, Lord Balfour
of Burleigh formally opened the new buildings of the
Edinburgh and East of Scotland College of Agriculture.
The new buildings, situate in George Square, Edinburgh,
consist of well equipped chemical, botanical, and bacterio-
logical laboratories and lecture-rooms, and class-rooms for
the various other subjects which form part of the college
course. Adequate provision is also made for the staff of
lecturers engaged in extension work in the counties. The
cost of the present scheme has amounted to more than
goool., and has been almost entirely met by grants from
the Scotch Education Department, the Carnegie Trust,
the Highland and Agricultural Society, and subscriptions
from landowners and farmers. In the course of an interest-
ing address, Lord Balfour referred with satisfaction to the
improved relations which now exist between the farmer
and those engaged in the work of agricultural education
and in the application of the various sciences to the investi-
gation of agricultural problems.

Marcu 8, 1906}

NATURE

453

Tue Education Committee of the London County Council
has issued a report, drawn up by a subcommittee, dealing
with the question of apprenticeship. A carefully thought
out scheme of scholarships for particular cases is, the
report states, the only effective, as well as the only legal,
substitute for the old-fashioned apprenticeship premium
within the reach of a local authority. The report shows
that there are in London various apprenticeship charities
with an aggregate income of 24,o00l. a year, and not more
than one-third of this sum has been expended in the pay-
ment of premiums. It is suggested that these funds might
with advantage be devoted to technical scholarships for
poorer children in higher elementary schools, or to the
maintenance of boys while they are attending day technical
instruction, and thus unable to earn wages. Attention is
directed in the report to the lack of technical training in
London, and the subcommittee urges that if the apprentice-
ship system is destined to disappear, it is necessary to find
a substitute for such training. Scholarships tenable at
evening classes, industrial scholarships at day technical
classes, and at trade schools, and the part-time system by
which the boy or girl spends a portion of the day in the.
workshop and the remainder in a day technical school, are
mentioned as ways of training which will take the place
of the old indentured apprenticeships.

Tue scheme of training urged upon the London County
Council by its Education Committee as a substitute for the
apprenticeship may be summarised briefly as follows :—
The intelligent boy, as he leaves the elementary school,
will have offered him the choice of two courses of instruc-
tion which will assure him an all-round training in a
skilled trade. There will be, first, the ‘‘ part-time”
system, in which he will spend a portion of the week in
the workshops and the remainder in the day technical
school, and, secondly, there will be evening classes.
In certain cases scholarships carrying free tuition and a
maintenance grant will be awarded to the day students to
compensate for the small earnings received during the
years of training. Other scholarships of less value will
be allowed to some of the evening students in order to
encourage regularity of attendance. From this class of
student will be drawn the skilled worker of the future.
The boy, as he leaves the higher elementary school, will
be able to enter the day trade school, either by paying the
fees himself or by winning one of the trade scholarships.
With this stream of boys coming from the higher elemen-
tary school will mingle another stream of boys who, having
completed their course at the secondary school, have com-
peted for one of the trade scholarships. From this class
of student will be drawn the future foremen and managers
of industrial undertakings. Finally, a development of the
senior County Council scholarships will make it possible,
not only for intermediate scholars, but also for certain of
the holders of trade scholarships, to proceed, for the highest
technological instruction in the engineering, electrical,
chemical, or other industries, to the university. From these
will be drawn, we may hope, the future inventor, the future
managers of large businesses, and the future “‘ captains of
industry.’’ A somewhat less elaborate system will afford
similar facilities for girls.

THE science laboratories and class-rooms at Dulwich
College have long been inadequate for the demands made
on them. The governors of the school, with their chair-
man, Lord Davey, have now, owing to the cooperation
of the Estates Governors with the Charity Commissioners
and the Board of Education, been able to commence the
building of a new science school, the foundation-stone of
which was laid with due ceremony on Saturday last by
Lord Rayleigh, P.R.S. The school is to consist of two
floors, the upper for chemistry, providing an advanced
laboratory, a large combined lecture-room and laboratory,
a junior laboratory, a separate lecture-room with preparation
store, and balance rooms; the lower for physical science,
and containing a senior and junior laboratory, two lecture-
rooms, and a school museum. Provision is also made for
a master’s room, a photographic dark-room, and a small
workshop. The building is being erected from the plans
of the school architect, Mr. C. E. Barry. In his speech in
the great hall Lord Rayleigh contrasted the old and present
position of science in schools. He pointed out that scientific

No. 1897, VOL. 73]

spirit and method should be the aim of the teaching. In
the present-day provision of elaborate apparatus and
fittings things were in danger of being made too mech-
anical. He mentioned the simple apparatus used by Max-
well, and by Hughes for the microphone, who carried
simplicity almost to an absurdity. The charms of accurate
measurement were briefly touched upon. He thought there
was also a tendency to try and cover too much ground in
science teaching at schools; less, more thoroughly done,
would be better. His own classical education was not
literary enough; he was taught no English composition.
Modern languages would be better than Greek for very
many boys.

Tue London Inter-collegiate Scholarships Board was
constituted in 1904 with the approval of the governing
bodies of University College, King’s College, and the East
London College, for the purpose of holding a combined
annual examination for entrance scholarships and ex-
hibitions tenable at those colleges. One examination has
been held already, and with satisfactory results. The next
examination will take place in London on May 15 and
following days. The competition is limited to those who
have not previously been students at any one of the colleges,
except where the contrary is stated. No candidate will be
admitted to the examination unless he has passed the
matriculation examination of the London University, or
any examination accepted by the University in lieu thereof,
or is the holder of a school leaving certificate, or is able
to furnish some evidence of having had a sound general
education which is satisfactory to the Board. Application
should be made to the secretary of the Board, University
College, London, Gower Street, W.C., for forms of entry,
which must be returned not later than May 1. Any
scheme tending to diminish the number of examinations to
which pupils in secondary schools are subjected is to be
welcomed, and we trust that the schoolmasters of London
will appreciate the efforts of this Board. The insistence
upon the possession of a good general secondary education
by the holders of scholarships at the group of colleges con-
cerned is a step in the right direction, and it is to be hoped
this example will be copied by similar institutions through-
out the country.

SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES.
LONDON.

Royal Society, March 2, 1905.—‘‘On the Electr
Resistance to the Motion of a Charged Conducting Sphere
in Free Space or in a Field of Force.’”’ By G. W. Walker.
Communicated by Prof. A. E. H. Love, F.R.S.

November 16, 1905.—'‘‘ First Photographs of the Canals

of Mars.’’ By Prof. Percival Lowell, Flagstaff Observ-
atory, Arizona. Communicated by Sir Norman Lockyer,
KC) Bs, FiR?S-

With this paper the author communicates a number of
photographs which undeniably prove the objective reality
of the Martian canals. From a large number of photo-
graphs obtained by Mr. Lampland during May and June,
1905, five have been selected for publication, and when
these are studied with the contemporaneous, yet quite in-
dependent, drawings made by Prof. Lowell, the more
prominent canaliform features on the Martian disc are
plainly seen.

The photographs show, so far as the grain of the photo-
graphic plate permits, that the canals are narrow and direct
lines following arcs of great circles or curving in a system-
atic manner. There is evidence, although for the present
the author does not care to assert it definitely, that both a
double canal and a double oasis have been photographed.

One remarkable result that has accrued from Mr. Lamp-
land’s researches is the increased efficiency to be obtained
by diaphragming down the objective, so that its effective
aperture becomes equal to, or less than, the length of the
atmospheric waves obtaining at the moment of observation.
If the aperture is so large that more than one such wave
is in front of the objective at the moment of exposure, poor
definition results, caused by the consequent quiver in the
rays from the planet; but if only one wave be included, the
atmospheric displacement of all the rays is homogeneous,
and good definition results.

454

NALOREE

{Marcu 8, 1906

In obtaining the photographs a colour screen and Cramer
isochromatic plates were employed, and the camera was
made movable so that numerous successive photographs
might be obtained on the same plate, thereby greatly in-
creasing the chance of obtaining at least one well defined
photograph at each observation. About 700 images of the
planet were secured in this way during the short time that
it was favourably placed for such work during the opposi-
tion of 1905.

December 7, 1905.—'‘ On Mathematical Concepts of the
Material World.’’? By Dr. A. N. Whitehead, F.R.S.
January 25.—‘‘ Galvanic Cells produced by the Action of

Light.—The Chemical Statics and Dynamics of Reversible
and Irreversible Systems under the Influence of Light.”
(Second Communication.) By Dr. Meyer Wilderman.
Communicated by Dr. Ludwig Mond, F.R.S.

February 15.—‘ The Chemical Constitution of Proto-
plasm as shown by the Rate of Tissue Disintegration.”
By Dr. H. M. Vernon.

‘If a kidney be perfused with saiine solution for five to
eight days, it is found that from 28 per cent. to 60 per cent.
of the tissues pass into solution. These constituents consist
of proteid and proteid disintegration products, and contain
a good deal of the peptone-splitting ferment erepsin.
Sometimes the passage of the kidney tissue from life to
death is quite gradual, with no accompanying disintegra-
tion. At other times it takes place suddenly, and the
proteid and ferment washed out of the kidney may very
quickly increase four- to twenty-fold, and then dwindle
away again. Sudden and very marked disintegration is
invariably produced by adding ether or chloroform to the
perfusion liquid. Sudden death produced by perfusion with
NaF does not lead to any sudden disintegration. The rate
of disintegration is extremely responsive to changes in the
perfusion liquid, e.g. substitution of 1 per cent. saline for
4 per cent. saline caused a thirty- to sixty-fold increase in
the disintegration both of ferment and proteid groups. On
the other hand, if already perfused saline were sent through
the kidney a second time, the proteid disintegration might
be diminished to a seventh its previous value, but the
ferment disintegration increased even twenty-fold.

After the first few hours’ perfusion, a roughly constant
amount of nitrogen continues to break away from the
tissues in a non-proteid form, though the proteid breaking
away at the time may vary as 1 to 1300. It is produced
by autolysis. Almost the whole of the nitrogen is present
in the tissues as potential proteid, and may be made to
break off as actual proteid; but if the kidney be perfused
with saline containing o-1 per cent. of lactic acid—which
has no action on ordinary proteid—more than half the
unstable potential proteid of the tissues is split up.

These results seem to indicate that the difference between
living and dead tissues is one of degree rather than of kind,
for the dead tissues show great lability, and their self-
decomposition is greatly augmented by stimuli.

Anthropological Institute, February 13.— Prof W
Gowland, president, in the chair.—Two clay images used
by the A-Kikuyu of British East Africa in harvest cere-
monies, and a slide showing four remarkable dance armlets
used by the natives on these occasions: Secretary. The
images were about g inches in height, and were very
rude representations of the human figure; they appear to
be greatly venerated by the natives; the two specimens
shown were, so far as is known, the only ones that have
reached Europe.—Selection of slides showing rude stone
monuments in Glamorganshire: A. L. Lewis. The author
described the monuments at Tinkinswood, near Cardiff, the
fine cromlech at St. Lythian’s which bears close re-
semblance to that at Kit’s Coty House. At Pontypridd
there is a curious group of stones consisting of a rocking
stone, surrounded by two circles and two small curved
avenues forming the head and tail of a serpent. This
group has been considered by many to be ancient, and
ingenious theories have been woven round it, but Mr.
Lewis was able to prove conclusively that the stones
had not been in position for very much longer than fifty
years. Mr. Lewis also showed slides of the dolmen at
Lanyon Quoit,—Notes on Deluge legends, tracing their dis-
tribution: N. W. Thomas.

NO. 1897, VOL. 73]

Linnean Society, February 15.—Dr. A. Smith Woodward,
F.R.S., vice-president, in the chair.—A lantern demonstra-
tion of the developmental changes in Zoogloea: Dr. H. C.
Bastian. Masses of Zoogloea in their early stage were
first shown, in which the constituent bacteria were plainly
recognisable. The growth of the masses, their alteration
in appearance and in reaction to staining fluids, together
with the progressive segmentation which they undergo,
were revealed by other specimens. Segmentation was
shown to progress until minute spherical or ovoidal units
were produced. During the first three to five days, while
these changes are occurring, the masses remain colourless
and the ultimate segmentation units develop into flagellate
Monads, or, more rarely, into equally minute Amcebe—
myriads of one or of the other of these forms appearing
(all of about the same size) where a few hours before they
were absent. Later, from fifth to tenth day, the ultimate
segmentation units of other masses appear as aggregates
of brown fungus-germs. Often the masses as a whole
become brown before segmentation has much advanced,
and the different stages were shown by which the bacterial
aggregates are completely converted into masses of brown
fungus-germs, together with the development of hyphz
therefrom. All the stages in the complete conversion of
the Zooglcea masses into Monads or Amcebze in the one
case, or into brown fungus-germs in the other, are clearly
recognisable, though it is impossible to say from the
appearance of the masses in their early stages which of
these three interchangeable forms of life will ultimately
be produced.—The structure of Isis hippuris (Linnzeus) :
J. J. Simpsen. The species in question is the only one
remaining in the genus, the other eighteen formerly in-
cluded having at various times been removed to other
genera of Alcyonaria. It is widely distributed, being found
in Iceland, the Mediterranean, Indian and Pacific Oceans,
though no specimen was found in the Challenger collec-
tions. The investigation was conducted on a series of
specimens obtained by the Indian survey ship Investigator,
from the surf-line and from 20 fathoms in the Andaman
Sea.—Note on the distribution of the genus Shortia (Torr.
and Gray): B. Daydon Jackson. By the aid of lantern-
slides, the distribution of the genus was indicated, and
various species described, with their distinguishing
characters shown.

Zoological Society, February 20.—Mr. G. A. Boulenger,
F.R.S., vice-president, in the chair.—A new drawing of the
skeleton of the Triassic rhynchocephalian, Rhynchosaurus
articeps, from the Keuper Sandstone of Shropshire: Dr.
A. Smith Woodward.—Breeding experiments with Lepido-
ptera: L. Doncaster and the Rev. G. H. Raynor. The
species used were Angerona prunaria and its var. sordiata,
and Abraxas gyrossulariata and its var. lacticolor. In
A. prunaria the banding of the var. sordiata was dominant
over its absence in the type, but the speckling characteristic
of the type appeared in the heterozygote, so that the latter
was both banded and speckled. The characters appeared

to segregate in the typical Mendelian manner, but in
several families there was an excess of prunaria over
sordiata. In A. grossulariata the var. lacticolor was a

Mendelian recessive, but was normally found only in the
female. By pairing a heterozygous male with a lacticolor
female, Jlacticoloy males and females were obtained.
Lacticoloy male x female gave only lacticolor; lacticolor
males by heterozygote females had given all males of the
type, all females lacticolor.—Tracheophone Passeres:
W. P. Pycraft. The author proposed to make the
Tracheophone Passeres one of four great divisions of the
passerine stem. “The most primitive of the divisions would
contain the Eurylamidz, Cotingide, and Philepitta. The
second would be represented by the Tracheophonz, the
third by the Tyrannidz and Pittida, and the fourth by the
rest of the Passeres.—A collection of mammals made by
Mr. C. H. B. Grant at Knysna, and presented to the
National Museum by Mr. C. D. Rudd: O. Thomas and
H. Schwann. The collection consisted of about 150 speci-
mens, belonging to 31 species or subspecies, of which the
most noticeable was Mrs. Rudd’s golden mole (Amblysomus
corriae), the description of which had already been laid
before the society. A new generic name, Nototragus, was
applied to the grysbok, which differed from the other

Marcu 8, 1906]

NATURE

455

members of Raphicerus by its possession of supplementary
hoofs.—Habits of the Australian lung-fish (Ceratodus
forsteri) as observed in the society’s menagerie: Prof. B.
Dean.

Royal Meteorological Society, February 21.—Mr.
Richard Bentley, president, in the chair.—Report on the
phenological observations for 1905: E. Mawley. As
affecting vegetation, the weather of the phenological year
ending November, 1905, was chiefly remarkable for the
dryness and mildness of the winter months, the drought
and frosts in May, the long spell of hot and dry weather
in July, and an exceptionally cold period in October.—
Brief discussion of the general features of the pressure
and wind conditions over the trades-monsoon area: W. L.
Dallas.—The dispersal or prevention of fogs: Dr. W. B.
Newton.

CAMBRIDGE.

Philosophical Society, January 29.—Prof. Thomson,
vice-president, in the chair.—The expansion of a gas into
a vacuum and the determination of the specific heat
at constant pressure for gases: G. F. C. Searle. If
gas, which is initially stored in a receiver at a high
pressure, be allowed to expand into an exhausted vessel,
and if the temperature of the whole mass of gas be allowed
again to become uniform, without any gain or loss of
heat, the final temperature (t’) will differ from the initial
temperature (t) unless U, the energy of a gram of gas, is
independent of the volume. For a gas obeying Van der
Waals’s equation (p+a/v*)(v—b)=Rt, it is shown that,
when the volume of one gram increases from v to v’, the
change of temperature is given by t—t!=a/C,(1/v—1/v’).
Regnault’s method of determining the specific heat of gases
at constant pressure is shown to be an extreme case of
the Thomson-Joule porous plug experiment.—The action of
radium and other salts on gelatin: W. A. D. Rudge.
The author has shown that barium salts produce the same
effect upon gelatin as is the case with radium salt, and
concludes from his experiments that radium has no specific
action upon gelatin, any result obtained being due to the
action of the barium in the radium salt upon the sulphur
compounds present in the gelatin.—A novel instrument for
illustrating the magnetic properties of iron: A. H. Peake.
In this instrument a strong magnetic field is produced by
sixteen bar magnets; this field, which is normally hori-
zontal, may be slightly inclined at will by rotating a turn-
table, to which the permanent magnets are attached,
through a few degrees. The specimen of iron under test
is very thin in proportion to its length; it is supported in
a freely pivoted cradle to which a control weight and a
long pointer are attached; the axis of the cradle is in the
same straight line with that of the turn-table——The
susceptibility of iron in colloidal solution: E. F. Burton
and P. Phillips. The paper is an account of experiments
made to determine the susceptibility of a colloidal solution
of iron in methyl alcohol. The susceptibility found in-
dicates that iron in colloidal solution has much stronger
magnetic properties than it would have if it existed merely
as a ferric (or ferrous) salt in the solution; on the other
hand, the magnetic properties are weaker than those of
pure iron. The results seem to point to the conclusion
that each particle in the colloidal solution consists of a core
of pure iron surrounded by a layer of some compound of
iron, e.g. the hydroxide.

MANCHESTER.

Literary and Philosophical Society, January 16.—
Sir William H. Bailey, president, in the chair.—Behaviour
of liquid films formed from a solution of saponin in water :
H. Stansfield. Although saponin films have very little
mobility, they are capable of becoming extremely thin. The
limiting thickness of a black saponin film is comparable
with that of the thinnest soap film. In the process of
thinning, the saponin films exhibit a grey stage; and
there are two characteristic abrupt changes in thickness,
the first from the white of the first order to the grey, and
the second from the grey to the black.—Battack printing
in Java: J. Allan. The process of battacking is more
akin to dyeing than to printing. The white cotton is first
freed from the starchy and saline matter of the “‘ finish ”’
by frequent washings and exposure in the wet condition

NO. 1897, VOL. 73]

to the sun. When thoroughly dried and cut into sarong
lengths it is ready to be printed. The whole fabric is
immersed in a dye bath, the parts not intended to be
coloured being protected by previously overlaying them with
a coating of wax, placed on in such a way as to form a
design. In the coarsest cloths the design is drawn in with
a thick brush by the women; in those of finer quality it
is stamped with a metal die by the men.—Remarks on the
germinal layers of vertebrates and on the significance of
germinal layers in general: J. W. Jenkinson.

January 30.—Mr. Francis Nicholson in the chair.—The
origin of the salt in the sea: R. L. Taylor. The paper
was a contribution to the controversy which began more
than thirty years ago between Dr. Sterry Hunt and David
Forbes. Hunt (whose views Mr. Taylor endorsed) con-
tended that on the original cooling of the globe, and before
the condensation of the water, the alkali metals, sodium
and potassium, existed in the crust of the earth entirely
as silicates, the primitive atmosphere containing the
chlorine as hydrochloric acid, and also probably sulphuric
acid. When the. water condensed these acids dissolved in
it, and the primitive ocean was thus really dilute acid.
This acid, however, soon became neutralised as it vigor-
ously attacked the silicates of which the crust of the earth
was composed. The calcium and magnesium, dissolved out
of the primitive rock at the same time as the alkalies,
have been gradually replaced by sodium carried down as
carbonate by rivers.

February 13.—Sir William H. Bailey, president, in the
chair.—Report on the recent Foraminifera from the coast
of the island of Delos, part iii., Lagenine: H. Side-
bottom. The writer directed attention to the points of
difference that occur in the same species, and stated that
some of the species found have not previously been reported
from the Mediterranean. Drawings of the most interesting
forms obtained were exhibited and described.

Paris.

Academy of Sciences, February 26.—M. H. Poincaré in
the chair.—Researches on some metals and minerals found
in the excavations at Susa, in Persia: M. Berthelot and
G. André. The objects examined come from the earliest
Elamite period, earlier than 750 B.c., and analyses are
given of articles of silver, copper, bronze, lead, and lead
silicate.—The propagation of a movement round a centre
in an elastic homogeneous and isotropic medium: study
of the wave correlative to the variations in density: J.
Boussinesq.—Some difficulties presented by the estim-
ation of carbon monoxide in gaseous mixtures : .Armand
Gautier and M. Clausmann. Synthetical mixtures of
carbon monoxide with hydrogen and air were analysed by
absorption with cuprous chloride and explosion with oxygen.
It was found that the absorption by cuprous chloride, even
in two successive treatments, was never complete, and that
measurable amounts of carbon monoxide escaped oxidation
by explosion.—An important inequality in the study of
quasi-waves of shock: P. Duhem.—The addition of hydro-
chloric acid to isobutylene oxide, (CH,),.C—CH,: Louis

O
Isobutylene oxide reacts with concentrated hydro-
a new chlorhydrin, (CH,),.CCI.CH,(.OH),
being formed. The starting point for the preparation of
the isobutylene oxide was the isomeric chlorhydrin,
(CH,),-C(OH).CH,Cl, prepared from monochloracetone by
Grignard’s reaction. ‘The physical and chemical properties
of these closely related isomers are compared.—M. Heim
was elected a correspondant for the section of mineralogy
in the place of M. de Richthofen.—The perpetual secre-
tary announced the death of M. A. F. A. Bienaymé,
correspondant for the section of geography and navigation.
—Observations of the Brooks comet (1906a) made with
the large equatorial of the University of Bordeaux: E.
Esclangon.—The indeterminateness of a function of a
variable in the neighbourhood of a transcendental singu-
larity: Pierre Boutroux.—Fourier’s series: Léopold
Fejér.—The integrals of a differential equation in the
neighbourhood of a di-critical point: H. Dulae.—The
application of the analysis of Dirichlet to quadratic forms
with coefficients: P. Fatou.—The theory of spectra: Ivar
FredholIm.— The vibrations of an elastic body the surface

Henry.
chloric acid,

456

NATURE

{Marci 8, 1906

A particular case of the
The exact

of which is at rest: A. Korn.
problem of n-bodies: Thadée Banachiewitz.
significance of Carnot’s principle: Louis Fredey.—
Lzvorotatory lactic acid: E. Jungfleisch and M.
Godchot. /-Lactic acid is much more easily transform-
able than the d-acid into the (d+J) acid, and increased
care in working is in consequence necessary. The crystal-
lised laevo-acid melts at 27° C., at approximately the same
temperature as the dextro-acid.—The cysts of Gloeosporium
and their réle in the origin of yeasts: P. Viala and
P. Pacottet.—Stellosphaera mirabilis, a new larva prob-
ably belonging to an abyssal form: R. Koehler and C.
Vaney.—The recuperative effects of raw meat after fast-
ing: Charles Richet. Experiments on dogs comparing
the recuperative effect after fasting of cooked meat, broth,
and raw meat showed that the latter food is the most
efficacious.—Study of the variations in the toxicity of the
contents of the small intestine : modifications of the blood :
MM. Charrin and Le Play.—The tectonic of the massif
of the Dent Blanche: Emile Argand.—The geology of
Iférouane: R. Chudeau.

New Soutu WALEs.

Royal Society, December 6, 1905.—Mr. H. A.
Lenehan, president, in the chair—A method of separ-
ating the clay and sand in clay soils and those rich
in organic matter: L. Cohen.—Latitude of the Sydney
Observatory; appendix to a paper on the provisional
determination of astronomical refraction, from observ-
ations made with the meridian circle instrument of
the Sydney Observatory: C. J. Merfield. An alteration
in the accepted value ($,=—33°51/ 41-55) is regarded as
unwise until the question is more compietely discussed.—
Sociology of some Australian tribes: R. H. Mathews.
The author stated his opinion that among the social in-
stitutions of a primitive people there is none of greater
interest and value to the anthropologist than the study of
these social systems. He also expressed his conviction
that neither ‘‘ sexual promiscuity’ nor “‘ group marriage ”’
has ever existed among the Australian aborigines.—An
undescribed species of Leptospermum and its essential oil :
R. T. Baker and H. G. Smith. ‘‘ The lemon-scented
Leptospermum,’’ the species described in this paper,
occurs in the north coast district of New South Wales
and the southern coast district of Queensland. It is a
shrub attaining a height from 6 feet to 12 feet, with erect
branches and small, lanceolate, ovate leaves, the flowers
occurring in the axils of the leaves on the upper branchlets.
The fruits measure about two to three lines in diameter.
Its differentiation from described species is based on both
morphological and chemical characters, although the former
are alone sufficiently marked to warrant its specific rank.

‘

DIARY OF SOCIETIES.
THURSDAY, Marcu 8.

Roya Society, at 4.30.—The Microscopic Changes in the Nervous
System in a Case of Chronic Dourine or ‘‘ Mal de Coit,” and Comparison
of the Same with Those found in Sleeping Sickness: Dr. F. W. Mott,
F.R.S.—On the Relationship between Hemolysis and Phagocytosis of
Red Blood Cells: Dr. R. D. Keith.—Upon the Properties of an Anti-
typhoid Serum obtained from the Goat : Dr. A. Macfadyen.

Royat INSTITUTION, at 5.—The Physiology of Plants: F. Darwin,
For. Sec.R.S.

INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—A New Single-Phase
Commutator Motor: V. A. Fynn.

MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY, | at 5.30.—On Function Sum Theorems con_

nected with the Series 24”/n2: Prof. L. J. Rogers.x—On Sommerfeld’s
1

Diffraction Problem and on Reflection by a Parabolic Mirror: Prof. H.
Lamb.—On Series of Zonal Harmonics: Prof. T. J. l’A. Bromwich.
FRIDAY, MarcuHo.

Roya. InstTriTUTION, at 9.—Some Dietetic Problems: Dr. R. Hutchison.

Puysica Society, at 8.—The Velocities of the Ions of Alkali Salt Vapours
at High Temperatures: Prof. H. A. Wilson.—Some Experiments on
Earth Currents at Kew Observatory: Dr. Harker.

Royat AsTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, at 5.—Preliminary Account of Flash
Spectra taken August 30, 1905: Dr. S. A.Mitchell.—Note on Certain
Anomalies observed in Radial Velocity Curves: Dr. Alex. W. Roberts.—
The Total Solar Eclipse of January 3, 1908: Dr. A. M. W. Downing.
—On the Variable Star 38, 1905, RX Andromede: A. Stanley
Williams.—(1) Discussion of Greenwich Observations of the Sun, 1864-
1900: (2) Discussion of Greenwich Observations of Venus, 1869-1900:
P. H. Cowell.

MatacoLocicaL Society, at 8.—Descriptions of twenty-seven Marine
Gastropoda, and one Scaphopod,from the Persian Gulfand Gulf of Oman:

J. C. Melvill.—Note on Capulus lissus, Smith: J. C. Melvill.—Mollusca j

from a Rainwash, 150 ft. O.D. at Harlton: Rey. R. Ashington Bullen.—
Report on a Small Collection of Land and Freshwater Shells from

NO. 1897, VOL. 73]

Uganda, with Descriptions of two New Species of Limicolaria and one of
Martensia: H. B. Preston.—On New Species of Polyplacophora from
South Australia: W. T. Bednall and E. H. V. Matthews.
INSTITUTION OF CiviL ENGINEERS, at 8.—The Design of a Two-hinged
Spandrel-Braced Steel Arch: R. Freeman.
SATURDAY, Marcu 10.
Rovat InstituTIon, at 3.—The Corpuscular Theory of Matter: Prof.
J. J Thomson. F.R.S.
MONDAY, Marcu 12.
Royat GEOGRAPHICAL SociETY, at 8.30.—Recent Journeys
Rhodope Balkans: Colonel F. R. Maunsell, C.M.G.
Society oF Arts, at 8.—Fire, Fire Risks, and Fire Extinction: Prof.
Vivian B. Lewes.

in the

TUESDAY, Marcu 173.

Roya INSTITUTION, at 5.—Food and Nutrition: Prof. W. Stirling.

INSTITUTION OF CivIL}ENGINEERS, at }8.—The Widnes and Runcorn
Transporter-Bridge: J. J. Webster.

THURSDAY, Marcu 15.

RoyAL SociEty, at 4.30.—Probable Papers: A Discussion of Atmospheric
Electric Potential Results at Kew from Selected Days during the Seven
Years 1898 to 1904: Dr. C. Chree, F.R.S.—On the Specific Heat of,
Heat Flow from, and other Phenomena of, the Working Fluid in the
Cylinder of the Internal Combustion Engine: Dugald Clerk.

CHEMICAL SOCIETY, at 8.30.—The Interaction of well dried Mixtures of
Hydrocarbons and Oxygen: W. A. Bone and G. W. Andrew.—The
Explosive Combustion of Hydrocarbons . W. A. Bone and J. Drugman,—
The Occurrence of Marsh Gas amongst the Decomposition Products of
Certain Nitrogenous Bases as a Source cf Error in the Determination of
Nitrogen by the Absolute Method: P. Haas.—Studies on Comparative
Cryoscopy. Part I1V. The Hydrocarbons and their Halogen Derivatives
in Phenol Solution: P. W. Robertson.—The Displacement of Acid
Tee I. Displacement of the Chloride and Nitrate Radicles: A. F.

oseph.

Rovat [NSTITUTION,at 5.—The Physiology of Plants: Francis Darwin,
For. Sec. R.S.

LinnEAN Society, at 8.—Discussion on the Origin of Gymnospernmis:
Opened by Prof. F. W. Oliver, F.R.S.

Sociery oF ARTS, at 4.30.—The Languages of India and the Linguistic
Survey: Dr. George A. Grierson.

FRIDAY, Marcu 16.

Royat INsTITUTION, at 9.—How to Improve Telephony : W. Duddell.

INSTITUTION OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Continued Discussion:
Large Locomotive Boilers. G. J. Churchward.—Probable Paper; Petro-
leum Fuel in Locomotives on the Tehuantepec National Railroad of
Mexico: L. Greaven.

EpipEMIOLOGICAL SociETy, at 8.30,—Evolution in Relation to Disease :
Dr. J. T. C. Nash.

CONTENTS. PAGE
A Revised Doctrine of Valency. By Prof. A.
Smithells, F.R.S. .. . 433

The Danish Fishery Investigations. ; By Jas. John-

C1 i0} 0 en on ou eno vor oo io Quorn 434
The Evolution of Biology. ByJ. A. T. 435
Stomata and Phylogeny. By F. D. 430
Our Book Shelf :—

Ries: ‘* Economic Geology of the United States” . 437
*“Botanischemjabrbiicher << ()) cect aeiei er to to Se
‘© The) Practical) Photographer 7 9). ss) ese
Bashore : ‘‘ The Sanitation of a Country House” . . 437
Letters to the Editor :—
The Perkin Jubilee and Chemical Industries. —Sir
Henrie Roscoe, ERS. 50 eee
Cooperation between Scientific Libraries. —Prof,.
Henry E. Armstrong, F.R.S.; Prof. Herbert
McLeod abe Rese a. oo: eee - 438
The Bees of Australia.—Prof. T. D, A. Cockerell , 439
The Intelligence of Animals.—Prof. W. Galloway 440
Result of War affected by Soldier’s Stature.—John
Hill Bwiggiey 2. 60s son ceo iey eaten cy ene
Wihatis Wihiskeyig-). . . . 7/s) @ imeuiernet <) lo) Remienmnrtta
ThesRoyal | Colleseiof Science 5) semen rile a enerie
Prof. Samuel Pierpont Langley. By W.E.P. .. 443
Notes) ae: ol (i ep ephyte) Col fe. cnr

Our Astronomical Column ;—
Discovery of a New Comet, 19064. ........
TheiRingsNebulaynvlyra |<) <peericm ntti eaee
A Cluster of Nebulz in Perseus. ......... 448
Twenty-five New Variable Stars ..... .-
The Glow surrounding the Lunar Crater Linné . .

The Vertical Distribution of the Meteorological

Elements above the Atlantic. (W2zth Diagrams.)
By Dr. A. L. Rotch and L. Teisserenc de Bort .

The Transformations of Rock-Masses. (J///ustrated.)

A New Oxide‘ofiCarbon ~~) 2 eee eee

University and Educational Intelligence .....

Societies ’and/Academies: <= 25) smo) acess

Diary, of Societies are. 10 =) <n it aene

NATORE

457

THURSDAY, MARCH 15, 1906.

TEXT-BOOKS ON PLAIN AND REINFORCED
CONCRETE WORK.

{1) Cements, Limes, and Plasters: their Materials,

Manufacture, and Properties. By E. C. Eckel.

Pp. xxxiv+712. (New York: J. Wiley and Sons;

London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1905.) Price
25s. 6d. net.

(2) Cement and Concrete. By L. C. Sabin. Pp.
x+507. (London: Archibald Constable and Co.,
Ltd., 1905.) Price 21s. net.

(3) A Treatise on Concrete, Plain and Reinforced.
By 1&. W. Laylor and S. E. Thompson. Pp.
xviii + 585. (New York: John Wiley and Sons;
London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1905.) Price
21s. net.

(4) Reinforced Concrete Construction. By A. W.
Buel and C. S. Hill! Pp. x+434. (London:
Archibald Constable and Co., Ltd., 1905.) Price
2Is. net.

(5) Concrete Steel: a Treatise on the Theory and
Practice of Reinforced Concrete Construction. By
W. Noble Twelvetrees, M.I.M.E., &c. Pp. xii+
218; illustrated. (London: Whittaker and Co.,
1905.) Price 6s. net.

(1) HIS book gives an exhaustive account of the

various processes involved in the preparation
of plasters, limes, and cements, and of the examin-
ation of these materials both by chemical and by
physical tests. It is probably one of the most com-
plete treatises which has been published up to the
present day on this subject, and the author justifies
the thoroughness of the treatment by statistics in
regard to the monetary value of the cementing
material annually produced in Europe and America;
in the United States the monetary value of cement-
ing materials increased from 21,773,246 dollars in

1900 tO 45,607,436 dollars in 1903.

The author classifies cementing materials under
two heads, viz. simple cementing materials, which
include all those produced by the expulsion of a liquid
or gas through the action of heat from a natural raw
material, and the setting properties of which are due
to the simple re-absorption of the same liquid or
gas, and complex cementing materials, which include
those cements the setting properties of which are due
to the formation of entirely new chemical compounds
during manufacture or use. Plasters are first dealt
with in group i.; the process of manufacture is ex-
plained, statistics are given as to the total pro-
duction of gypsum, and details of the chemical and
other properties of plasters used in building work;
one chapter in this section is devoted to the manu-
facture and properties of lime-sand bricks, which are
made by mixing sand, or gravel, with a relatively
small percentage of slaked lime.

As the value of Portland cement annually manu-
factured in the United States is three-fifths of the
total value of the output of cementing materials,
it is only natural that a very large portion of the

NO. 1898, VOL. 73]

| book should be devoted to the questions of the
manufacture and testing of Portland cement.
The quarrying and other preliminary work neces-
sary in order to obtain the raw materials from which
Portland cement is made are dealt with in a series
of well written and well illustrated chapters. Then
follow details of the preparation of the material for
the kilns, and of the best methods to employ in burn-
ing the cement and in working the kilns; this is the
first text-boolx on this subject in which we have found
a complete and detailed account of the construction
and working of the modern rotary kiln. The cement-
ing value of Portland cement depends so largely upon
the fineness and character of the grinding that the
author rightly devotes much attention to a descrip-
tion of the various grinding machines which have
been devised for this work. The last portion of the
book is devoted to an account of the physical and
chemical tests usually employed in testing Portland
cement, and the rules drawn up in 1904 by the
American society for testing materials are given in
full.

(2) The original investigations which form the
basis of this book were made by the author in con-
nection with the construction of the Poe Lock at St.
Mary’s Falls Canal, Michigan, under the direction of
the Corps of Engineers, United States Army. The
book is divided into four parts; in the first section
a brief account is given of the different cements and
limes in ordinary use, and the processes employed in
their manufacture; there is a good description of the
rotary kilns now often used in making Portland
cement.

In part ii. the author deals with the various physical
tests usually enforced in examining Portland cement
in order to ascertain its quality and its suitability
for various purposes, and a series of tables is given
of the results of tests made by the author in connec-
tion with the works at St. Mary’s Falls Canal. In
the last chapter of this section the author explains
carefully the method adopted at these works for re-
cording the receipt of Portland cement from the manu-
facturers, the methods adopted for storing it, and for
keeping the records of the various tests made from
sample barrels selected from each delivery; this
chapter will be found very useful as a guidance by
any engineer who may have to undertake similar
work.

The question of the correct proportion of the various
ingredients in concrete, and the methods employed in
mixing them, are dealt with in part iii., and a number
of tables is given for enabling in any case a determin-
ation to be made of the percentage of voids present
in broken stone of various classes when broken to
varying degrees of fineness; this portion of the book
is of an extremely practical nature, and contains a
great deal of useful information. The last portion
of this section is devoted to the testing of concrete,
and the results of a carefully arranged series of tests
carried out by the author are given in tabular form.
This portion of the book also deals with the question
of the determination of the modulus of elasticity of
concrete, and with such important points as the

x

458

change in volume during the process of setting, re-
sistance to fire, and other matters of a similar nature.

The last section of the book, part iv., is devoted to
a description of the various classes of work for which
cement concrete is most useful, and the question of
reinforced concrete, or concrete-steel, as the author
prefers to call it, is taken up. In the last few chapters
the methods of applying concrete—both plain and
reinforced—in large structures such as subways,
arches, reservoirs, retaining walls, dams, &c., are
fully explained. The book has a good index.

(3) The whole question of concrete work, both when
used by itself and when employed in combination with
steel, or reinforced concrete, as it is technically
known, is fully dealt with in this elaborate treatise.
The first portion of the book is devoted to the proper-
ties of Portland and other cements, and includes an
interesting chapter which deals with the chemistry
of hydraulic cements, and which has been specially
written for the book by a chemist, Mr. S. B. New-
berry. The authors then deal with the question of
the ordinary standard tests of Portland cement, and
quote the recommendations of the French Commission
of 1893, and of the special committee of the American
Society of Civil Engineers, appointed in 1904. There
are a number of first-rate illustrations of the various
appliances which are needed, and full explanations
are given as to the best way of carrying out these
standard tests. In addition to the standard tests,
special tests, such as those on compression, adhesion,
&c., are also discussed. This portion of the book
will be found extremely useful for reference purposes.

Two chapters deal with the questions of the method
of determining the laws of volumes and voids in
concrete work, and the right methods of proportion-
ing the ingredients used in making are explained in
detail. The methods described may seem almost too
elaborate, but there is no doubt that it pays well when
concrete is to be used on a large scale to spend a
considerable amount of time and trouble beforehand
in determining exactly the best possible mixtures of
cement, sand, and broken stone in order to produce
the most economical as well as the strongest concrete
suitable for the work which has to be carried out.

The authors then begin the subject of reinforced
concrete, and, after discussing the values which
should be used for the moduli of elasticity of concrete,
both in tension and compression, go on to deal
with the problem of the moment of resistance of a
reinforced beam. The formulz obtained are fairly
simple, and may be said to be approximately correct,
since the neglect of the tensile stress taken up by the
concrete is perfectly reasonable in designing such
beams. It appears to us very inadvisable in our
present state of knowledge to attempt to use extremely
elaborate formule in calculating the strength of re-
inforced beams, since the values obtained by different
experimenters, and even by the same experimenter,
for the moduli of elasticity of concrete differ by such
large amounts, and the assumption that the stress-
strain diagram is a parabolic curve seems to us quite
unwarranted by the experimental data available up to
the present time.

NO. 1898, VOL. 73]

NATURE

{Marci 15, 1906

The authors then give some convenient tables for
use in the calculation of the strength of beams and
slabs which are continuous over supports, and work
out a number of examples to illustrate the use of
these tables. In dealing with the mixing of concrete,
a number of illustrations is given of the various
types of mechanical mixers now used when concrete
has to be made on a large scale, including mixers
fitted with automatic measuring plants in order to
keep the proportions of the various materials abso-
lutely uniform, A special chapter in this section has
been written for the book by Mr. R. Feret upon the
effect of sea-water upon concrete.

A few chapters then follow on the question of the
effect of frost upon corcrete, both during the time
of depositing the concrete and after the concrete has
been deposited, upon the necessary proportions of
the various ingredients in order to secure absolute
water-tightness in any given mass of concrete, and
upon the protection afforded to iron and steel when
used in reinforced concrete against fire and rust. The
remaining chapters of the book are devoted to details
of conerete work in various situations, such as side-
walks of streets, floors and walls of buildings, found-
ations and piers for bridges, retaining walls, sewers,
subways, arches, reservoirs, and tanks, and the most
economical method of strengthening such concrete by
steel reinforcements. A very good bibliography of
the subject, and some appendices dealing with the
formule for the strength of beams, conclude a very
valuable book.

(4) This is a treatise for engineers engaged in the
design and construction of works in reinforced con-
crete, and is based mainly on American practice.
The book is divided into three parts; in part i., for
which Mr. Buel is responsible, after a brief explan-
ation of the properties of cement concrete and steel,
the methods of calculation are dealt with; simple
formule are deduced for the strength of beams, both
for the case when the tensile strength of the concrete
is taken into account, and when it is neglected; the
more important of the empirical formulz, such as
those due to Thacher, Christophe, and Hatt, are then
explained, and two very complete tables are given
for the safe loads in reinforced slabs of various spans,
based on Thacher’s formula.

The design of reinforced columns is then discussed,
and the author by a series of tables shows how closely
the strengths of such columns, deduced from the
formule he gives, agree with the actual crushing
strengths obtained in a series of tests at the Massa-
chusetts Institute of Technology. The application of
this system of construction to retaining walls, dams,
sewers, &c., is very fully explained, several neat
graphical constructions being given; and in this
chapter the author deals with the very important
problem of the use of steel reinforcement to prevent
the cracks liable to occur in large concrete structures,
such as dams and retaining walls, due both to
shrinkage in setting and to thermal stresses, and he
is of opinion that high carbon steel is more economical
for this purpose.

In the last chapter of this section the testing and

Marcu 15, 1906]

NATURE

459

design of reinforced concrete arches are taken up;
after a brief explanation of the elastic theory and its
application to the determination of the stresses in any
arch, Thacher’s formule for reinforced concrete
arches are given, and their use in practice explained
by the help of three typical examples of such arches,
a highway bridge of two spans, each of 423 feet, a
single-line railway bridge of 72-feet span, and, lastly,
a small semicircular arch culvert of 15 feet span.
These three examples are completely worked out, the
necessary graphical constructions being shown in full
in three plates; this chapter will undoubtedly be
found very useful to any engineer who is engaged in
the design of such arches.

Parts ii. and iii. are the work of Mr. Hill, and
deal respectively with representative structures and
methods of construction; the following branches of
work are dealt with :—foundations of various types,
including reinforced concrete piles, floors, walls and
arches in buildings, and columns. The illustrations
selected, though largely American, include also a
number of cases of work carried out in Europe on
the Hennebique system. The application of reinforced
concrete to large bridges and culverts is illustrated by
a number of structures which have recently been put
up in France on the Monier system, and it may be
pointed out that some hundreds of bridges of this
type have now been erected, principally in Germany
and Austria.

The last section of the book, on methods of con-
struction, is naturally largely taken up with the de-
scription of the various forms necessary in elaborate
reinforced concrete work. The future security of the
work depends entirely upon the care with which the
forms are designed and erected, and the economy of
the work is largely dependent upon forms so designed
that they can be rapidly put into position, readily
taken down, and readily re-erected on a fresh section
of the work. Many valuable hints and labour-saving
suggestions will be found in this portion of the book.
The author has evidently based this section upon ex-
perience of a very varied character in the erection of
reinforced concrete structures.

(5) This is another of the somewhat numerous text-
books which have appeared within the last few
months dealing with the important subject of rein-
forced concrete. The author points out that the use
of steel merely embedded in stone or concrete, as in
the well known skeleton system of construction, does
not develop the best properties of each of these
materials—reinforced concrete alone enables full
advantage to be taken of the special qualities of both
the steel and the concrete.

The first portion of the book deals with the physical
properties of the two materials, concrete and steel,
and a number of carefully selected tables is given
of tests of these materials. The general theory of
concrete-steel beams is then considered, and special
emphasis is laid upon the necessity of an accurate
knowledge of the moduli of elasticity.

We are afraid, however, that the author has fallen
into confusion of thought in discussing the question
of the position of the neutral axis; on p. 43 he refers

NO. 1898, VoL. 73]

to an imaginary beam of concrete and steel, and
appears to consider that each square inch of the con-
crete will carry the same total stress, ignoring
altogether the variation in intensity of stress with
distance from the neutral axis; and again, in
chapter iv., when discussing the position of the
neutral axis, he states that the position of this is
affected by the fact that the compressive strength
of the material (concrete) is greater than its
tensile strength. Surely there is confusion here
between strength and modulus of elasticity, and this
confusion seems to run through all the rules and
calculations for the position of the neutral axis. This
portion of the book certainly requires to be carefully
revised if it is to become a trustworthy text-book on
the subject.

The subject of floor design in concrete and steel is
taken up, several large floors constructed on the
Hennebique system are fully described, and tables are
given of working stresses which can be allowed, and
the building rules which have been laid down by
various authorities in connection with the design of
such floors. The application of reinforced concrete
to foundation work in bad soils is discussed, and the
author shows that by the use of this type of construc-
tion the depth to which the foundation must be taken
can be very considerably reduced. The last chapter
discusses the construction of reinforced concrete
columns, special attention being given to Considére’s
hooping method.

CHEMISTRY FOR SCHOOLS.
Notes on Volumetric Analysis. By J. B. Russell and

A. H. Bell. Pp. viiit+o94. (London: John Murray.)
Price 2s,

Introduction to Chemical Analysis. By Hugh C. H.
Candy. Pp. xiit+114. (London: J. and A.

Churchill, 1905.) Price 3s. 6d. net.

An Elementary Text-book of Inorganic Chemistry.
By R. L. Whiteley. Pp. viii+245. (London:
Methuen and Co.) Price 2s. 6d.

Elementary Chemistry, Progressive Lessons in. By
F. R. L. Wilson and G. W. Hedley. Pp. xii+168.
(Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1905.) Price 3s.

A Three Years’ Course of Practical Chemistry. By
George H. Martin and Ellis Jones. Pp. viii+112.
(London: Rivingtons, 1906.) Price 2s.

T seems to have become a recognised practice for
schools and colleges to produce their own small
text-books or notes on some portion of the science cur-
riculum, first for internal use, and then for the benefit
of outsiders. Whether this multiplication of little
books is desirable is somewhat questionable. With-
out going so far as to say that these small books
conduce to cramming or getting through examin-
ations, there is always a slight lurking suspicion about
this point. Our various ‘‘ examination ’’ boards are
perhaps answerable for the small bools production.
Mr. Russell’s book is intended, no doubt, for use
on the working bench. The directions for working
are short, mainly to the point and in _ logical
order, but surely they are too frequently repeated.

460

After about twelve pages of instructions and examples
on the use of permanganate, the student is still told
to weigh out so much ferrous salt, make up to so
much, &c.; litthe room is left for the student to think
and find out for himself.

After the idea of ‘‘ normal solution ’? has been once
grasped. many of the directions might be left out.
One somewhat objectionable point noted is the direc-
tion to weigh out a certain definite quantity of a sub-
stance, say 5-3 This is not an easy matter
for beginners. It is better to talke a weighed quantity
and make up solution to the desired strength by
addition of the calculated proportion of water.

The ground covered ranges from acid and alkali
through permanganate to silver and_ thiosulphate,
preceded by a good description of the use of the
burette, &c. The book will no doubt be useful,
especially with large classes where the instructor is
not able to get rapidly around to the students.

The preface of Mr. Candy’s book informs us that
the methods and processes of analysis and synthesis
have been chosen to meet the requirements of students
preparing for parts i. and ii. of the preliminary
scientific examination in the University of London
After
a sensible introduction, chapters follow on the identi-
fication of bases and acids, methods of separation
and tests of purity, and a very useful chapter on
preparations. In the latter section included
examples of preparations of mineral acids,
esters, alcohol derivatives, &c. The processes of
taking a melting point and a boiling point might
have been illustrated by a sketch. The prepar-
ation method for aldehyde is somewhat dangerous in
inexperienced hands. It is safer to drop alcohol, very
slowly, into the warm bichromate mixture and distil
off the aldehyde as fast as formed. Some short
chapters on equivalent and volumetric operations com-
plete the book. The matter is clearly expressed, and
the book will be useful for the class of students for
whom it is intended.

The first forty-two pages of Mr. Whiteley’s book
deal with physical changes and physical properties.
The book is rather freely illustrated by diagrams of
apparatus, and the descriptions and explanations are
generally quite clear, full, and understandable. It
is designed for the use of those studying elementary
chemistry on the lines of the Board of Education
syllabus. The purely chemical sections include air,
water, common salt, chemical theories, compounds of
nitrogen, carbon and sulphur. There are appendices
on solubilities of salts, questions and answers to
calculations. The book should be very useful,
especially to students unable to attend courses of ex-
perimental teaching or lectures.

The volume by Messrs. Wilson and Hedley
intended as a school course for beginners. It is
entitled ‘* Elementary Chemistry,’’ but a large part
of the book is concerned with necessary matters of
elementary physics, such as measuring, length, areas,
volume, the thermometer, density, solution, evapor-
ation and boiling, Boyle’s law, &c. The book is
simply and clearly written, and illustrated by useful

NO. 1898, VOL. 73]

”

grams.

and the first examination of the joint board.

are
salts,

is

NATURE

[Marcu 15, 1906

diagrams. Strictly speaking, there is no chemistry in
the book, but we think all boys intending to com-
mence that subject would benefit exceedingly by worl-
ing through the excellent course here given.

The plan of instruction set forth by Messrs. Martin
and Jones is to perform some experiments on a given
substance such as mixing ‘‘ salammoniac with quick-
lime and heating in a test tube.’ The inquiring stu-
dent is then required to write out an account of what
he notices, and to compare the results with those ob-
tained when one of the substances is heated alone.
Commenced with moderately young students who
have not the bogey of an examination paper, or a
particular syllabus, throwing a baleful shadow over
them, this plan should produce excellent results. The
book could scarcely be used to full advantage by stu-
dents working alone, but with a sympathetic teacher
at hand to fill in necessary explanations we think the
volume a valuable addition to the host of books
already available. W. Reger

CERTAIN MODERN VIEWS ON PATHOLOGY
By M. Félix
Félix Alcan,

Introduction a la Pathologie générale.
Dantec. Pp. x+504. (Paris:

1906.) Price 15 francs.
ES this work the author has grouped together a
large and heterogeneous mass of information and
speculation, always interesting and always fascin-
ating. The first line of his introductory remarks leads
us from the tubercle bacillus to the Milky Way, from
the infinitely small to the immeasurably large, and
we are soon assured that everything that exists in this
formidable interval of space can be subject to investi-
gation, provided it, in any way, can influence us.
This promise holds good for everything, from an
earthquake on the satellite of Sirius to an analogous
occurrence in the interior of an electron; and so on,
until after forty pages of pleasant reading we learn
that the object of the book is principally to support
the views of M. Bordet ‘‘ and some others ’’ as to the
question of immunity. The theories of Ehrlich and
his followers give a purely chemical interpretation of
the facts of immunity, and are unsatisfactory in-
asmuch as they confound colloidal changes with
chemical changes, properly so called. Ehrlich’s views,
he says, threaten to become to general pathology
what Weismann’s have been to biology.

le

“Tt is always dangerous to give names to things
which do not exist—this is to create entities, of which
it will afterwards be found extremely difficult to dis-
embarrass oneself.’’

The author divides his book into two great sections.
In the first he desires to advance slowly, to return
frequently to the same subjects, so as not to come
into too violent collision with the habit of thought
of those who have for a long time been familiarised
with the language of chemistry; also to give a short
account of such of the properties of colloids as may
be of interest to the biologist, and to sketch the main
lines of the physical theory of serotherapy. Thus he
leads the reader to the ‘‘ notion ’’ of the three heredi-
ties, chemical, physical, and symbiotic heredity. The

MakcH 15, 1906]

INA TCR

461

first part concludes with certain considerations as to
the influence of radiations on the equilibrium of living
substances.

In the second division of the work the author pro-
ceeds to render more precise the language prepared
in the first part of his study. He reviews the more
important types of infection, and particularly con-
siders intracellular parasitism and symbiosis; then
he passes on to the phagocytic studies of M. Metchni-
koff, and uses a language different from the vitalistic
expressions of the great Russian savant. Next
comes the considerations of the comportment of the
living organism towards injections of dead colloids,
thus leading up to the study of infection proper, 7.e.
disease due to living micro-organisms. The above
abstracts will suffice to show the aim of the author’s
book, and chiefly he desires to use “‘ the language of
equilibrium,’ language borrowed from physical chem-
istry. He holds the law of Le Chatelier valid for
the modification which an organism undergoes when
it triumphs over infection. ‘‘ The modification pro-
duced in a system of bodies in a state of equilibrium
by a variation of one of the factors in the equilibrium
is of such a nature that it tends to oppose itself to
the variation that determines it.’? His position is
even more clearly defined on p. 184, where he says
that he wishes to show that if the immunities that
result from the resistance of organisms to infection
resemble the phenomena of physical chemistry, the
resemblance is exclusively on the physical side. He
finds that questions on immunity and serotherapy are
discussed in the language of chemistry, even by those
investigators who do not accept the theories of
Ehrlich—therefore the very words used are filled with
unjustifiable hypotheses, and give an inflexible inter-
pretation to phenomena. For example, the partisans
of the chemical theory of serums admit the existence
of two definite and complementary substances,
‘“cytase ’’ and ‘‘ fixative,’’? the former thermolabile,
the latter thermostable, and these thermic relations,
according to M. le Dantec, suggest that these sub-
stances—even if chemically definite bodies—act in
virtue of their physical character rather than in
accordance with their chemical structure.

The phenomena of bacteriolysis receive at the
hands of Ehrlich a purely chemical interpretation;
M. le Dantec deliberately states that the chief fault
in Ehrlich’s theory is that the serum-producing
animal must have an immediate and profound know-
ledge of chemistry. This can scarcely be seriously
meant.

Nowhere does he give a complete account of the
views on immunity and toxins held by Ehrlich, nor
is this to be looked upon as a fault, inasmuch as those
of Ehrlich’s opinions that he does consider he re-
gards as entirely untenable. Still, this omission (if
such it be) shows that the book will be of little use
to a student really needing an introduction to general
pathology, however interesting and instructive the
work may be to the thoroughly equipped investigator ;
and to the latter the learned author doubtless
addresses himself. First and foremost he is a bio-
logist, and, moreover, is imbued with the belief that

NO. 1898, VOL. 73]

pathology is capable of throwing a flood of light om
biological questions. :

Many pages of the work remind us of the author’s
well known papers in the Annals of the Pasteur
Institute, and these pages will be read by many with
reminiscent pleasure.

Nowhere is the author more interesting and lucid
than in his discussion of Mendelian or discontinuous
heredity; his quotations are apt and instructive; his
own remarks carry with them the imprint of careful
study and original thought. In this connection he
replaces the ‘‘ representative particles’? of Darwin
and Weismann by the Pasteurian word ‘* microbe ’’—
meaning thereby particles productive of diatheses—
and claims that by so doing he loses nothing in the
narration of the facts, while gaining the advantage
of placing the diatheses (characters of Mendelian
hereditv) apart from the characters of heredity
properly so-called.

The book is well worth careful reading, and the
author is to be congratulated on a work which will
challenge the attention of the more advanced students
of pathology. Wao. Sr. C. SYMMERS.

OUR BOOK SHELF.

Die optischen Instrumente. By Dr. Moritz von Rohr.

Pp. v+130. (Leipzig: B. G. Teubner, 1906.)
Tue aim of this little book, one of a series dealing
popularly with various subjects of scientific or general
interest, is to give a simple account of the develop-
ment and modern theory of optical instruments, and
to make clear to readers possessing no_ special
technical knowledge the main features of their optical
construction. The treatment is largely based on the
work of Abbe; and in the introductory chapters, which
deal with the general principles governing the form-
ation of optical images and the consequences de-
pendent on the characteristics of the eye, special
attention is given to the question of aperture and the
limits of the image-forming pencils, and to the
manner in which the perspective of a picture may be
modified in the image. In the application of these
considerations to the photographic lens, the micro-
scope, and the telescope, there is some novelty and
interest. In other respects a clear and concise account
is given of the main properties and aberrations of the
different instruments, whether for objective or sub-
jective use, with some brief historical notes. The
section on the photographic lens is followed by useful
particulars as to enlarging and projection apparatus ;
the description of the microscope includes a short
explanation of Abbe’s theory of microscopic vision,
of the relation of ‘‘ numerical aperture ’’ to resolving
power, and of the sine law, and even admits of refer-
ence to the possibilities of photomicrography with
ultra-violet light. To the description of the ordinary
forms of telescope are added some notes on the prism
binocular as constructed by the Zeiss firm. The
diagrams and illustrations are noticeably well drawn
and clearly printed.

Second Year Chemistry, a Handbook for Laboratory

and Class Work. By Prof. Edward Hart. Pp.
vit165. (Easton, Pa.: The Chemical Publishing
Co., 1905.) Price 1.25 dollars.

Tue plan of this book is to begin, after a few theo-
retical generalities, with some careful quantitative
determinations. Thereupon follow qualitative ana-
lysis, chemical arithmetic, and, finally, more quanti-

462

NATURE

(MARCH 15, 1906

ttative analysis. The treatment is marked throughout
‘by a considerable degree of originality, and the book
appears agreeably free from the domination of an
examination syllabus or of the authority of any par-
ticular school. It is unusual to find the determination
.of silicon in pig-iron or steel in an elementary book,
and so also the use of a Hempel gas apparatus; but
there is, after all, no good reason why the practical
work of elementary students should not be inter-
spersed with exercises of this more technical kind. It
is astonishing what sanctity is still attached to the
established order of practical chemistry, and it is not
the least interesting feature of this book that it is
markedly unorthodox. Most teachers will admit that
they may profit by carefully inspecting the plans of
instruction adopted by their well accredited colleagues,
and such a remark may certainly be made of Prof.

‘Hart’s little book. AGES:

La Nature et la Vie. By Henry de Varigny. Pp.
ii+356. (Paris: Armand Colin, 1905.) Price
3.50 francs.

In a pleasant and easy fashion the writer of this book
carries the reader from the beginnings of life to its
termination by death. The origin of life on this
planet, the vital phenomena of the lower and higher
forms of vegetable and animal life, the part played
‘by bacteria in the fertilisation of the soil, the evolu-
tion of living forms, parasitism, the multiplication
of animals and plants, the beginning of the end,
the problem of death, and the immortality of the
protozoa are a few of the subjects dealt with. The
‘book may be recommended as a good popular intro-
duction for the educated but non-scientific reader to
‘general biological problems.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

{The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions
expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake
to veturn, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected
manuscripts intended for this or any other part of NaTurRE.
No notice is taken of anonymous communications.]

A Plea for Absolute Motion.

Newton believed in the possibility of absolute motion
(i.e. motion in space not necessarily relative to other
material bodies), founding his argument on the fact that
ithe rotation of a planet might be detected by experiment
on the planet itself without reference to outside bodies.
Newton’s reasoning is unanswerable, but it only takes us
part of the way. Though it proves that using the principle
of gyrostatic action we can determine direction in space
absolutely, it fails to distinguish one parallel line from
another. We can only observe relative motion. This state-
ment, which no one doubts, is generally taken to be
synonymous with the assertion that nothing but relative
motion will ever be known. So firmly is this generalisation
rooted in the present generation of philosophers that I am
afraid the expression of a contrary opinion will only result
in placing its author on the ‘“‘ Index’’ of De Morgan’s
Budget of Paradoxes.

It is therefore with considerable hesitation that I venture
to raise the question whether we are not most of us in
our innermost hearts believers in absolute motion, and
whether a good deal of the persistence with which we try
in our lectures to prove that no meaning can be assigned
to absolute motion does not arise out of the desire to
repress our own rebellious doubts. As regards the direct
evidence of observation we are all agreed, but if from the
outset we limit the results of reasoning to that which may
‘directly be controlled by experiment, we must throw over-
board a good many theories which are firmly believed in
by men of science. I will try to show that it is almost
impossible to exclude the idea of absolute motion from our
discussions, and that some of our scientific definitions
‘tacitly admit it.

NO. 1898, VOL. 73]

The observed motion of the solar system through the
stellar universe has frequently been introduced into the
discussion of relative motion, but I do not think that its
full importance has been recognised. The thesis I wish
to maintain is that the question whether our solar system
possesses velocity not only relatively to the stellar universe,
but absolutely in space, constitutes a definite problem to
which a scientific meaning can be attached. It is
immaterial to my purpose whether our present observations
are sufficient to allow us to draw any definite conclusions.
If the validity of the question itself is admitted, my point
is gained.

In order to free the main issue from the uncertainties
arising out of the imperfections of our observations, I will
base my argument on an ideal condition of the universe
which resembles the real universe sufficiently to be admitted
as a possibility. The displacement of a star relative to the
solar system may be determined in two ways. While
telescopic observations give us the angular motion in a
plane at right angles to the line of sight, spectroscopic
observations allow us to determine radial velocities. To
determine velocities by means of the telescope we require
to know the distance of the stars, but the determination
of parallax is a question of instrumental perfection and of
long-continued observation. We commit, therefore, no error
in principle if we imagine the parallaxes of the stars in
our ideal universe to be known, so that the combination
of telescopic and spectroscopic observations can determine
the relative velocity in magnitude and direction.

It is a matter of history that telescopic observations
alone have led to the conclusion that the solar system
moves relatively to the stellar system towards a_ point
which, as fixed by Prof. Newcomb’s discussion, has a
right ascension of 277°-5 and a declination of 35°. Taking
this point as apex, Prof. Campbell divided the heavens into
eighteen zones, obtained by drawing circles of latitude at a
distance of 10° with the apex as pole. In every one of
the zones which had a smaller apical distance than 90°, the
average motion was one of approach to the sun, and in
every one of the zones having an apical distance greater
than 90° the motion was one of recession from the sun.
A complete discussion gave for the line of direction, as
obtained by the spectroscopic method, R.A. 277°-5, dec. 20°,
the right ascension agreeing exactly with the value de-
duced by Newcomb, though the declination differs
materially. The relative velocity found was about 20 kilo-
metres per second.

We may now idealise this observed universe so as to
simplify the argument, and bring out its essential points.
Divide the heavens into a number of compartments. Let
in each compartment the relative velocities be measured
for a large number of stars combining the spectroscopic
and telescopic method. Let u be the average velocity of
each group relatively to the solar system, so that the
velocity of each star in the group can be represented by
u+v, poth quantities being vectors. For the sake of
argument, assume that wu is the same for all groups, and
that v within each group is distributed according to the
law of errors. As regards v, there is no predominance
of any direction (otherwise u would be affected), and its
magnitude will be distributed about its mean value in a
manner which we will take to be the same for all groups.
The question arises: How should we interpret such obsery-
ations if the facts were as stated ?

It is not sufficient to say that the observations would
prove a relative motion —wu of the sun with respect to
the stellar system, for this would only represent a small
part of the facts. The important point brought out by the
observations is that the relative motion is observed to be
the same for the mean point in each one of a great number
of groups of stars. The fact that within each group the
distribution follows the law of errors leads to the conclusion
that the groups are independent systems, and I put the
question thus: Does it require an explanation why all
these independent systems should have the same vector u
imposed upon them? If you admit the validity of this
question, if you begin even to discuss the alternative ex-
planation that the vector w reversed really belongs to the
solar system, and indicates its velocity, you have practically
surrendered to absolute motion. If there were only one
star in existence showing relative motion towards the

Marcu 15, 1906 |

NATURE

463

solar system, and someone were to begin to ask: Is it
the star that moves or ourselves? we should at once reject
the question as absurd, and say that the two alternatives
mean the same thing. But I doubt whether there will
be many who would be satisfied to contemplate a stellar
universe, each member of which has the same relative
velocity with respect to the sun, without feeling that here
is a problem which requires investigation.

The ideal case considered might be realised if we could
imagine observations to be taken from a molecule in a
mass of gas enclosed in a box, the observations being
taken in the interval between two collisions. If other
molecules could be brought within the range of observ-
ation, we should, indeed, find that for the mean point in
each group containing a large number of molecules the
observed relative motion has the same value, that value
being the reversed velocity of the molecule itself. If there
were any ordinary common-sense philosopher placed on
the molecule, he would argue that his observations have
really determined the absolute velocity of his place of
abode in space, but his wiser colleagues will tell him
that he is wrong, and that he has only determined his
velocity relative to the rest of the system. The common-
sense philosopher would then justly claim that he has done
more than that, and point out that the whole system of
molecules can be divided into a great many groups, and
that the relative velocity in all the groups is identical
in magnitude and direction. With our greater knowledge
from outside, we know that the velocity which has been
determined really belongs to the molecule, and we should
probably add (though this is not a matter which the
supposed observations could have proved) that it is the
velocity relative to the vessel which contains the gas.
But even then not all the facts which the observer on the
molecule has discovered are accounted for. If the gas
could be set into violent motion, without altering the
velocity of the particular molecule from which the observ-
ations are made, the observer would still obtain the same
value for his relative motion, but the different groups into
which he has divided his space would no longer give
identical values. The complete conclusion to be drawn from
the original observations is, that a velocity has been deter-
mined relative to an outside body which is mechanically
connected with the system, and that each group of mole-
cules is separately at rest relatively to this outside body.

Consider now the application of this example to our
problem. If we could argue by analogy we should con-
clude that the observed velocity of the solar system really
belongs to it, and not to the stars, but that it must be
taken as relative to something which is outside the stellar
universe, though connected with it. If that something is
material, we should be forced to the conclusion that we
have determined a velocity relative to a material body
which has not come into our range of observations at all.
The conclusion seems too absurd to be entertained. The
only alternative is to replace what in the case of the
gas was the containing vessel by something immaterial,
which therefore we cannot imagine to be in motion. Not
being capable of motion it must be at absolute rest, and
we may identify it with that abstraction to which we give
the name of space. All motion relative to space is absolute
motion.

It may be said that if this argument is to be applied
to the actual universe, I have left out of account a large
number of bodies of which we have no cognisance because
they are not luminous. It is possible that these obscure
bodies would, if we could observe them, show a systematic
motion which would quite upset the previous conclusions.
To this I reply that I have treated an ideal case which
may or may not coincide with the actual one. I have
expressed no opinion as to whether, on the strength of
present observations, we are justified in assigning absolute
velocity to the solar system; but it may be pointed out
that almost every theory which we now believe to be true
may some day be upset by facts at present undiscovered,
which cannot be reconciled with it. Should we come to the
conclusion that our solar system is in motion we may
have to modify that belief-in the future, but this possibility
does not prevent our being justified in adopting views which
are in accordance with the facts at present known.

There is an easy way out of the difficulty. When we

No. 1898, voL. 731

are driven to our wits’ end we have recourse to the zther..
Why, then, assume absolute motion when it is so simple-
to say that you have determined the motion relative to.
the ether? We should by this device be able to calm our-
consciences as regards relative motion, no doubt, but at
the expense of logical consistency. A moment’s reflection
will show, that the zther has nothing to do with the ques--
tion. If the zther were non-existent and the corpuscular
theory of light were true, the displacement at right angles.
to the line of sight would still be observed, and as regards
the radial velocities the contemplation of the correspond--
ing acoustical problem is decisive. The note of the whistle-
of an approaching engine is quite independent of the direc-
tion of the wind. Similarly, the observed Doppler effect.
when the spectra of stars are examined is independent of
any uniform drift there might be in the ether. No doubt.
we may, and probably must, consider the ether as.
immovable in space, and in that case absolute motion im
space becomes identical with motion relative to the zther ;
but the direct conclusion derived from the observation of
stars applies to space, and not to the ether.

All our observations of position can only be relative to
some standard point. Motion involves change of position,
hence motion can be relative only. This is the main argu-
ment on which the impossibility of absolute motion is
founded. But it proves only that observed velocity must
be relative, and not that there is nothing real correspond-
ing to absolute velocity. The argument also assumes
the very doubtful proposition that velocity must be derived
from change of position. It may be the other way round,
velocity may be the more fundamental thing, and change-
of position may have to be derived from it. It seems to

vdt or v=ds/dt as the-

equation representing the relationship between the position
and velocity. Indeed, if we read Poincaré’s description of
how we form our ideas of space, we must be struck by the-
importance attached to the muscular sensation which.
accompanies a change of position of our bodies. To quote
only one of his sentences :—‘‘ None of our sensations could
have led us by themselves to the conception of space. We-
are led to this conception only by studying the laws accord--
ing to which our sensations succeed each other.’’ Bearing:
this in mind, it seems rational to start from the idea of
velocity as rate of change of position, and deduce the idea,
of position from it. Rest would become an abstraction,_
and would have to be defined as an infinitely small motion.

There is, however, another way of looking at it. It is.
known that it is much more difficult to convince ourselves.
of the objective nature of time than of space or velocity.
In fact, I believe most metaphysicians now would deny:
the objective nature of time altogether. It might there-
fore be useful to accept both position and velocity as.
fundamental conceptions, and deduce time intervals from
them. In any case, sufficient has been said to show that:
the practical definition of relative motion cannot in itself
be taken to prove that absolute motion is an impossible-
conception.

If I suggested at the outset of this discussion that
most of us have all along been secret believers in absolute
motion, I was led to that belief partly by the manner-
in which the problem of solar motion in space has always
been treated. Those who have drawn the logical con-
clusion from the observations have not infrequently guarded)
themselves by some statement that after all it is only
relative motion they are trying to prove. But their dis-
cussion nearly always tacitly assumes, not relative, but
absolute motion, and I think most astronomers and
physicists, if taken unawares, would admit the absolute:
motion of the solar system in space as a proved fact,
though on second thoughts they might try to explain it
away by motion relative to the ether or by some other ex--
pedient invented ad hoc to safeguard their true faith in
relative motion.

But a tacit assumption of absolute motion is also in-
cluded in the definition of force which at present is much
in favour. ‘‘ Force is rate of change of momentum.’’ If
velocity is relative, momentum is relative also. The above
definition is therefore incomplete, and may be misleading
unless it is definitely stated what the standard system is
relative to which momentum has to be measured. Ever

be equally logical to take s=|

464 NATURE

[| MARCH 15, 1906

quite apart from the earth’s rotation the force of gravity
impelling a body to the ground is not correctly measured
by the rate of change of momentum relative to the earth.
Though the neglect of the mass of the body itself, compared
with that of the earth, may not lead to serious contradic-
tions in this particular instance, the definition is wrong in
principle unless absolute momentum be meant, or unless
it be specified that the momentum has to be taken relative
to some body unacted on by any forces.

For our definition of force we shall have to return to
Newton, and I may have to trouble you with a further
communication to justify my belief that though modern
criticism has been able to point out the weak spots of the
Newtonian system, it has failed to substitute any more
secure or more logical basis for our foundation of
mechanics. ARTHUR SCHUSTER.

The Diffusion of Solids.

IN view of the interest attaching to the vaporisation and
diffusion of solids, the following observations may be
worthy of record.

On the inside of the case of a silver watch between forty
and fifty years old, and opposite the steel pin of the key-
hole, a diffused, daris patch, larger than the key-hole
itself, was noticed. When a drop of strong hydrochloric
acid was placed on the spot, bubbles of gas were evolved,
and the colour gradually became lighter, though after ten

minutes, when action had apparently ceased, the patch was
still plainly marked. On adding a drop of potassium
ferrocyanide solution the blue precipitate due to iron was
formed. Similar results have been obtained with other old
watches. Since it was shown that the iron was not in
contact with the silver, the facts indicate that the iron, or
possibly some compounds of iron contained in it, vaporises,
dissolves in the silver, and penetrates for some distance
into the latter by diffusion.

Prof. F. D. Brown has observed an effect of
nature. On a porcelain writing tablet were notes
in blacklead perhaps forty years ago. While recent writing
is easily removed, these-marks can no longer be defaced
in any way by washing or mere surface scratching, showing
that the carbon has penetrated into the porcelain no in-
considerable distance. That this should have taken place
in the case of two such refractory solids as carbon and
porcelain is all the more remarkable.

similar
written

: ! Joun H. Howe.
Grammar School, Auckland, N.Z., February 4.

Earth Tremors in India.

Ix connection with the short description of the Kangra
earthquake, and the reference to the still greater earth-
quake of 1897, contained in Nature of March 1, p- 418,
it may be of interest to note that, at a distance of about
twelve miles from the point that was supposed to be the
centre of greatest disturbance in the latter earthquake,
tremors were still appreciable, at frequent intervals, in the
early part of 1904.

While we were sitting on the verandah of the Govern-
ment bungalow at Rongmudu, in the Garo Hills, near the
point at which the river Somersary changes the direction
of its flow from east to south, in the early afternoon of
February 10, 1904, my travelling companion, Mr. A. B.
Nowell, of Dwarra, Sylhét, directed my attention to a
booming sound like the beating of distant gongs, and at the
same time pointed to a glass of water standing on the
table in front of us, in which the water was distinctly
agitated. The tremor lasted for only ten or fifteen seconds.

Mr. Nowell, who had spent some months of each year
in that neighbourhood for several years in succession, in-
formed me that tremors occurred at frequent intervals |
every day when he first came there, but were getting fainter
and less frequent as time went on. Later in the same
‘day he directed my attention to another tremor, but as we
were then walking in the jungle I failed to appreciate it.
On the following day we travelled many miles southwards,
or away from the centre of disturbance, so that I had no
further opportunity of observing these phenomena.

W. GaLtoway.

No. 1898, VOL. 73]

Peculiar Ice Formation,

I siouLp like to direct attention to a peculiar ice form-
ation which I have noticed during the last week on the
moorland area at this place, and I should be glad to know
if this phenomenon has been observed elsewhere.

The moorland here is of considerable extent, and at a
height of 1000 feet above the sea level. The rocks on the
upper surface are of a brittle shale with outcropping sand-
stone, and on the lower slopes beds of clay and gravel. On
March 2 I noticed the surface of the ground for distances
of a hundred yards or more raised to a height of from
1 to 2 inches, and supported by ice pillars, which had
evidently grown by addition of water from below the
surface. The sensation of walking on these patches was
somewhat analogous to that observed when walking upon a
good pile carpet. The late snows had all melted, but the
surface contained much moisture, and there had been a
certain amount of frost the previous night. The time was
9-30 a.m., and as I stood there these ice pillars crackled
and fell in such order as to give the surface a honey-
combed appearance.

I found on examination all the talus slopes in the
gullies of the moorland to be covered with the same ice
structure. These ice pillars were not very evident until
some of the earth had been cleared away, as a thin layer
of earth was held up in a very uniform manner on the top
of them. I found them perpendicular to the surface, both
on the pathway and upon the inclined surfaces in the
gullies. Several hours afterwards, when the heat of the
sun’s rays had melted the ice pillars, the whole surface pre-
sented a honeycombed appearance. I only noticed this to
have taken place in those areas void of any vegetation what-
ever, and where the heat would be quickly radiated into
the atmosphere. The whole of these areas is now broken
up into a very fine titrated soil; if this tendency to super-
ficial vertical ice thrust is at all general, it appears to me
to be a great factor in the disintegration of surface soils.

James Fou.ps.

Darwen, Lancashire, March 5.

Cooperation between Scientific Libraries.

IN connection with the discussion raised by the note on
Dr. Muir’s paper (p. 372) and Dr. Bather’s letter, it may
be of interest to note that the Royal Irish Academy, some
five years ago, prepared a classified card-catalogue of the
scientific serials accessible in various libraries in Dublin,
and it is proposed to keep this up to date through the co-
operation of the various librarians. This catalogue is
always ready for reference by any member or visitor in
the academy’s reading-room; and it has been of late years
the custom for the library committees of various Dublin
institutions to inquire, when a new periodical is proposed,
as to its possible previous inclusion in one of the other
libraries. GRENVILLE A. J. CoLe.

March to.

Sounding Stones.

With regard to Mr. Tingle’s letter in Nature of
January 4 (p. 222) on sounding stones, it may interest you
to know that I have just seen at Pagan, the former capital
of Burma, now in ruins, a large log of fossil (or rather
silicified) wood, used as a gong. It emits a clear ringing
note when struck, and is used, like all pagoda bells or
gongs, to direct the attention of the guardian spirits to
the offering about to be presented by the pious Buddhist.

O. F. WHEELER CUFFE.

Meiktila Upper Burma, February 11.

An Inquiry for Books.

Can any reader of Nature direct me to English books
on the history of Arabic literature, history of Arabic educa-
tion, and general sanitation ? G. HamMaAm.

Oriental College, Zahleh, Beirdit, Syria, February 24.

MarecH 15, 1906]

NATURE

A NEW COUNTY BIRD-BOOK:!

BOOK on the birds of Hampshire and the Isle
4 of Wight fills up a blank in the list of English
county avifaunas, and is a particularly interesting
instalment of the series. Few, if any, districts in
Great Britain surpass this in the attractions it
possesses for the field naturalist, its natural features
presenting a greater variety than usually to be
found in an area of similar limitations, large though
this county If it boasted of nothing more than
the far-famed New Forest, the happy hunting-ground
of so many naturalists, Hampshire would furnish
material for a good bird-book. But in addition to its
. woodlands it embraces open downland and hills, culti-
vated country and a varied coast-line including the
muddy estuaries and harbours of the mainland and
the famous cliffs of the ‘‘Island.’? It is not, there-
fore, surprising to find the district credited with a list
of 127 resident birds and summer visitors, which re-
main to breed, in addition to 70
winter visitors, 36 occasional visi-
tors, and 61 species of so rare occur-
rence that the authors are obliged
to attribute their appearance to
accident. With regard to the occur-
rence of rare visitors on migration,
the authors point out that the light-
houses and vessels (to which are due
the discovery of so many waifs) on
this coast are not good stations for
observation.

is

is.

Hampshire has not been less
fortunate in her naturalists and her
natural historians than in her

natural features. From the days of
Gilbert White onwards the birds of
Hampshire have been. studied and
loved by many notable people.
Hardly less known than _ the
‘Natural History of Selborne,’’ we
have the immortal ‘‘ Instructions to
Young Sportsmen” of Colonel
Peter Hawker, and his more re-
cently published ‘* Diary ’’; Gilpin’s
‘Forest Scenery’? and Wise’s
‘History of the New Forest.’’
These, added to the writings on
local birds of the Rev. C. Bury,
Captain Henry Hadfield, Prof. T.
Bell, Mr. A. G. More, the Rev.
Richard Warner, Mr. G. B. Corbin,
Mr. E. G. B. Meade-Waldo, and
others, have furnished the authors
with a wealth of material stretch-
ing back to a time when little atten-
tion was paid to ornithology. But besides these more
pronounced naturalists, famous men of letters,
women, too, have made some mention of Hampshire
birds—Kingsley and Tennyson, and Jane Austen and
Charlotte Yonge—w hile the modern maker
has not left them alone.

In collections, too, the county is rich, and that of
Mr. E. Hart (without whose assistance no history
of Hampshire birds could be complete) at once sug-
gests itself as of preeminent importance. The strictly
local collection at Heron Court contains many _ his-
torical specimens, while the eggs owned by Dr. Rake
are of exceptional interest, many of them being re-
ferred to in Wise’s “‘ History of the New Forest.””
The work has bee excellently planned and carried

1 “The Birds of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.”

Kelsall, M.A., and Philip W. Munn. Pp. xliv+37r; illustrated. (London :
Witherby and. Co., 1905.) Price 15s. net.

NO. 1898, VOL 73]

Fic. r.—Black-headed Gull.
From a photograph by Mr. Smith Whiting.

and

| shank

of books |

By the Rev. J. E. |

465
out. With such a wealth of historical facts available
the authors proposed not only to deal with the birds
as they exist at this moment, but to trace their history
in the vues of those who have gone before them.
The ‘“‘ Natural History of Selborne’’ forms the back-
bone of the work, and we have here for the first time
what White has to say (not only in his book, but also

in his still unpublished ‘‘ Journal of Observations ”’)

about the birds of Selborne arranged in scientific
order.

Of the more interesting species the authors have
given very extended notices, and of all these the
honey buzzard is the most important, on account of

its having been found in former years more commonly
in this county than in any other part of England.
Among other birds of which valuable accounts are
given may be mentioned the raven, buzzard, hobby,
Montagu’s harrier, cirl bunting, hoopoe, and great
bustard. The breed of peregrines for which the Isle

of Wight was famous in the old days of hawking

From “‘ The Birds of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.’

still keeps a footing there; and to turn from de-
creasing species, it is pleasant to read that the red-
White’s

is increasing as a resident; that
‘clamouring ’’ favourite, the stone curlew, is happily

still plentiful, and that the woodcock, shoveller, and
tufted duck are becoming more numerous as breeding

species. But whether the great increase in numbers
of the black-headed gull will prove an unmixed
blessing is perhaps open to doubt.

A curious account is given of some merlins breed-
ing in Hampshire in the early ’sixties. The nests,
which were stated to have been found in such pre-
viously unheard-of situations as pollard hollies, and
holes in yew and beech trees, contained three eggs
in each instance. We should certainly have been in-

eggs to the kestrel had not the
from the nest in one instance,
together with the been:

clined to refer these
male bird been shot
and had not its skin,

eges
esss)

466

NATURE

[Marcu 15, 1906

sull in existence. An interesting introduction closes
with an account of the laws applying to local birds;
and the volume is embellished with a map of the
district, four drawings by Mr. G. E. Lodge, and
reproductions of some most beautiful photographs of
birds by Mr. Smith Whiting, one of which we are
enabled to reproduce. O. V. APLIN.

THE ADULTERATION OF BUTTER.
DS the last few years much unscrupulous

ingenuity has been applied to the sophistication
of butter. Both on the Continent and in this country
the adulteration of this, the best of edible fats, has
developed into quite an industry, having its own
factories and its own chemists, and conducting its
Operations on a scale which, for a furtive, dishonest
business, is really of remarkable magnitude. Con-
siderable profits are alleged to be made, and it is there-
fore not surprising that the traffic has flourished in
spite of all attempts at suppression. Perhaps it may
be of interest to those readers of NaturE who are
not chemists to have placed before them, with as little
technicality as may be, a slsetch of the modern methods
of butter-adulteration, and of the means adopted or
suggested to checkmate this form of fraud. The
importance of the matter both to the consumer and
the agriculturist may be pleaded as a justification
for discussing the question at some little length.

Butter, though consisting essentially of the fat of
milk, is always associated during manufacture with
more or less water, the quantity of which ranges
generally from 7 to 15 per cent. One of the simplest
forms of adulteration consists in working an excessive
proportion of water into the butter. To check this is
comparatively easy; a maximum limit of 16 per cent.
has been fixed by the Board of Agriculture, and per-
sons dealing in butter containing more water than
this are liable to prosecution.

There exists, however, an insidious variant of this
water-logging in the production of what is called
““milk-blended’ butter. In preparing this, skim
millk, costing about a penny per gallon, is largely
used. It may either furnish curd to be incorporated
with the butter, or, after a little “ ripening ’”’ with
micro-organisms to improve the flavour, it may be
used for direct admixture. By working up butter
with such milk a product may be obtained containing
25 to 30 per cent. of water, as well as a substantial
quantity of curd. The proportion of butter-fat in such
a mixture will often be less than 65 per cent., whereas
ordinary butter contains from 8o to go per cent. Yet the
sale of the article is not, legally, a fraudulent transac-
tion, provided the substance is sold as ‘ milk-blended ”
butter, and not simply as “ butter.’? At first sight
this may seem reasonable enough; the purchaser is
told what he is buying, and for the rest—well, caveat
emptor. But, after all, some regard should be had
‘to attendant circumstances. It is the poor who chiefly
consume the manipulated butter, and neither they,
nor, indeed, any ordinary purchaser, would realise
that the fat-value of the blended article is only about
three-fourths of that of genuine butter. Of course, if
the price is correspondingly lower there is no fraud.
But the contention of those who oppose the sale is
that there is always a substantial margin of unfair
profit; ‘‘ milk-blending,’’ in fact, is held to be essen-
tially a device for supplying an excessive proportion
‘of water, relative to the amount of fat, without in-
curring the penalties provided for infringement of
the Sale of Butter Regulations.

Be this as it may, a measure to prohibit the use of
the word ‘‘ butter ’’ for such mixtures, on the ground
that it is a misleading description, was brought for-

NO. 1898, VOL. 73]

ward two or three sessions ago, only to be sacrificed
to the exigencies of politics. It remains to be seen
whether a better fate is in store for it under the new
Administration.

Perhaps, however, the most frequent, and certainly
the most troublesome, sophistication of butter consists
in the admixture with it of fat other than that of milk.
There are two chief adulterants of this class now in |
use. One is a soft fat obtained from beef-suet by
removal of the harder ‘‘ stearin’’ portions; this fat
may sometimes be mixed with or replaced by lard,
and is generally churned up with water (or with milk)
to facilitate the subsequent ‘‘ blending.’’ The other
adulterant is a refined cocoa-nut ‘‘ oil’ or fat, purified
so as to be practically tasteless. These substances, |
supplied at about half the price of butter, are variously
known as ‘‘ mixing article,’ ‘‘enricher cream,”
““neutral fat,’’ or ‘‘ neutral blending,’’ and are care-
fully prepared to simulate butter in consistency. A
still more subtle adulterant is formed by a judicious
mixture of the two, which yields analytical figures
identical in some respects with those of genuine
butter. Let us examine this a little more closely.

Chemically, butter-fat consists of a mixture of
glycerides—that is to say, compounds of fatty acids
with glycerin. For instance, one such glyceride may,
with sufficient accuracy for our present purpose, be
represented as the following combination :—

/Oleic acid
Glycerin—Palmitic acid ;wznus water.
\\Butyric acid J

When these acids are freed from their chemical
union with the glycerin, the butyric acid is found to
be sharply distinguished from the other two by the
fact that it is soluble in water and volatile on distil-
lation with steam. Now the chief difference between
butter-fat and other fats lies in the comparatively high
proportion of butyric acid (and similar volatile acids)
which the butter-fat contains. The following sum-
mary represents the composition of a specimen of the
prepared beef-fat and of two samples of butter-fat :—

Butter-fat
Prepared beef-fat

No. 1 No.2
Per cent. : Percent. Per cent.

Volatile or soluble acids Practically nil... 5°0 67
Insoluble acids 95°5 90°0 88'e
Glycerin 10'9 D221 127
106°4 107°1 107°4

Less combined water 6°4 Fal 74
100°0 100°0 100°0

Like other natural products, the fat of millx varies
in the proportions of its components, and the two
samples here quoted show the range of variation met
with in ordinary butter. Analytically, No. 1 is
butter of low quality; No. 2, on the other hand, is
above the average. The difference consists, as will
be seen, in No. 1 containing less volatile acids,
less glycerin, and more insoluble acids than No. 2.
These are precisely the directions in which beef-fat
differs from butter-fat. Broadly, one may say that,
analytically, the first specimen of butter has more of a
beef-fat character than the second,

This is the point which the adulterator seizes upon.
“Tf,” he argues, ‘I start with butter No. 2, I can
add to it quite a considerable quantity of my prepared
beef-fat before the mixture shows a smaller percentage
of volatile acids than butter No. 1 contains; and since
No. 1 is perfectly genuine butter, it is difficult to see
how any analyst will be able to swear that my
mixture is not also genuine butter.’’ Indeed, the
analyst often finds it no easy matter to expose the

MarcH 15, 1906]

NATURE

467

fraud. If butter had always the same composition the
matter would be simple enough. It is the natural
variation, small though it be, which has hitherto
enabled the sophisticator to pocket his ill-gotten
fortune.

This variation arises from a number of causes, of
which some at least have been fairly well elucidated.
In the main it is due to differences in the feeding and
treatment of the cows. For instance, Dr. J. J. L.
van Rijn showed some years ago in Holland that
with the approach of winter, when grass was_ be-
coming poorer and less plentiful, and cows, kept late
in pasture, were much exposed to cold, the proportion
of volatile acids in the butter became abnormally
low; but that as soon as the animals were stabled, and
therefore better fed and protected from inclement
weather, the volatile acids began to increase. To
treat the cows more generously in the matters of
warmth and provender was thus the remedy for the
abnormality indicated. Nevertheless, there still re-
main some minor causes of variation, such, for
instance, as the different physiological conditions of
the cows in varying stages of lactation. The effects
of these, however, are largely neutralised when we
‘deal with butter made from the mixed milk of many
cows; though they have to be taken into account
where nothing is known about the history of a
particular specimen of butter.

What, then, it may be asked, are the means by
which any check at all can be placed upon the
sophistication? Having regard to the variation in
admittedly genuine samples, is not analysis useless
except in very gross cases of fraud? By no means.
Let us see what it can do, and how it may be
supplemented.

In his search for adulterants the analyst may
determine the following constants of the butter-
fat he is examining :—(1) Its specific gravity: in
Sutter this is higher than in beef-fat, but lower than
in cocoa-nut oil; (2) its refractive index: this again
is intermediate in value between those of the two
adulterants mentioned; (3) its ‘‘ saponification ’’ value,
which gives a measure of the total quantity of fatty
acids and also of the glycerin; and (4) most important
of all, the proportion of volatile acids. So far as
concerns butter, these physical and chemical data are
all correlated with the fact that glycerides of the
volatile acids form a relatively large proportion of
the genuine fat. They are therefore correlated with one
another, and, within limits, are interdependent. The
more volatile acid there is, the greater is the specific
gravity and the higher the saponification value,
whilst the refraction alters inversely. There is thus
a kind of parallelism preserved among the constants
of genuine butter, notwithstanding the variations in
their absolute values. For instance, given genuine
butter-fat such as that already referred to as ‘‘ No. 2,”
with 6.7 per cent. of volatile acids, one can predict
with confidence that its specific gravity will be pretty
close to 0.9130 (37°-8 C.), and its saponification value
not much different from 232. On the other hand, if
the butter-fat contains, like No. 1, only 5 per cent.
of volatile acids, we can say with equal confidence
that its specific gravity will be about 0.9105, and its
saponification value approximately 222.

Suppose, now, an adulterator mixes cocoa-nut oil with
the first of these butters until he has reduced the vola-
tile acids from 6.7 per cent. to 5 per cent., the quantity
in the second butter. Such an admixture would easily
be detected, notwithstanding the fact that the volatile
acids correspond in quantity with those of genuine
butter. For one thing, these acids can be further
examined and made to yield evidence of the admix-
¢ure; and for another, the addition of the cocoa-nut

No. 1898, voL 73]

oil has destroyed the parallelism referred to; the
figures are now quite inconsistent with one another,
and the sophistication is readily demonstrable. Speak-
ing generally, with a sufficiently extended analysis
there is no particular difficulty in detecting relatively
small quantities of cocoa-nut oil in butter. But a
mere determination of the proportion of volatile acids
will not suffice—which explains, perhaps, why this
special form of fraud has enjoyed a rather longer life
than it might otherwise have had.

The addition of beef-fat or lard is somewhat more
difficult to prove. Reliance has chiefly, though not
entirely, been placed upon the consequent diminution
of the volatile acids. Unfortunately, the natural
variation of these in genuine butter is rather con-
siderable, as has been pointed out. Yet even so, it
does not follow that the lowest known limit for
volatile acids must be taken as the criterion in form-
ing a judgment. There are often collateral circum-
stances which narrow the range of admissible vari-
ation. For instance, a large consignment of
“creamery ’’ butter must necessarily, under ordinary
commercial conditions, be a product of the mixed milk
of many cows, and hence the proportion of volatile
acids must tend towards the average value. The
minimum quantity, which in exceptional circumstances
milk-fat from a single cow might admittedly show, is
here lost in the general mean. No weight need be
given to it in judging the genuineness of the butter.
Similarly, samples purporting to be butter produced
in the summer or winter months cannot claim to be
judged by the low minimum sometimes found in
autumn butter. Again, it may be known, from
systematic analyses of genuine butter produced in a
certain region, and sampled in circumstances which
guarantee the representative character of the samples,
that the butter of this region in a specified month did
not, as a fact, fall below a particular value in the
matter of volatile acids. By having regard to these
and similar considerations, as well as to the actual
analytical figures, it has been possible in many cases
where butter adulterated with beef-fat or lard had been
imported into this country from the Continent, not
only to prove the fact of the adulteration, but to form
a fairly close estimate of its amount.

Some check has thus been placed upon the fraud in
question. Yet, although the means at disposal will
serve to discover the more considerable amounts of
adulteration, there is still a residuum of cases which
are either doubtful or in which the legal proof is
difficult by reason of the clever way in which advan-
tage has been taken of the natural variation in the
constants of butter. To deal with these cases other
means are required in supplement of the chemist’s
work. In Denmark, for instance, there is official
supervision of the butter industry; and in Holland
the Government has organised an admirable system
of State ‘* control,’’? whereby the official imprimatur is
accorded to butter produced in factories under the
Government inspection. Joining the ‘‘ control,’’? how-
ever, is at present a voluntary matter, and for fac-
tories not under it, and which may be suspected of
malpractices, a compulsory and more rigid system
of inspection has been proposed. In this country a
considerable amount of falsification has been going
on. Enterprising and unscrupulous individuals import
or manufacture the adulterants mentioned above, and
offer, in consideration of a substantial fee, to initiate
the proprietors of butter-blending factories into the
whole art and mystery of butter-‘‘faking.’? As
regards the suppression of this, the Customs authori-
ties in the first instance endeavour to secure that all
importations of adulterants coming within the legal
definition of margarine shall be marked accordingly,

468 NATURE

[Marcu 15, 1906

in order that their destination may be the better
traced. Further, the traffic in the finished mixture
has been somewhat checked by a number of prose-
cutions, undertaken by Government in the case of
imported products, and by a few local authorities in
cases where the ‘‘ blended’ butter was sold in this
country. But to kill the snake instead of merely
scotching it additional weapons are required. Useful
measures for this purpose would be: (1) To adopt a
recommendation made by a departmental committee
some years ago, that a minimal limit for volatile
acids should be fixed, below which a presumption
should be raised that the butter is not genuine;
this would strengthen the hands of the public analyst,
and though it would not altogether stop the adulter-
ation, it would restrict its amount and diminish the
profits accruing therefrom. (2) To enact that no sub-
stance shall be sold as butter if it contains less than
So per cent. of butter fat; this would prevent the
“loading ’’ of butter with curd or ‘ solidified milk.”
(3) To organise a system of strict inspection of butter
factories. (4) To give the Commissioners of Customs
greater powers for regulating the admission into this
country of adulterated butter and of substances which
may be used in the adulteration of butter. (5) Most
effective of all would be for the Government of each
butter-exporting country to adopt some system
modelled on the Netherlands ‘‘ control’? plan of com-
bined inspection and analysis, and to furnish an official
voucher of purity, without which the butter would
either not be admitted here at all, or only under
special conditions of marking. For this, however,
we shall have to wait. C. Simmonps.

A REMARKABLE DISCOVERY IN EGYPT.
N February 7 a most important discovery was
made by Prof. Naville at Thebes. The excava-
tion of the eleventh dynasty temple at Deir el-Bahari,
discovered by Prof. Naville and Mr. H. R. Hall, of
the British Museum, in 1903, has since been carried
on for the Egypt Exploration Fund by these gentle-
men, assisted by Mr. E. R. Ayrton. Mr. Ayrton being
unable to continue working for the Fund this year, his
place was taken by another of the Fund’s excavators,
Mr. C. T. Currelly, who joined the expedition for the
first time this year. During this season worl was
first carried on by Messrs. Hall and Currelly in the
southern court of the temple. Here were discovered
some interesting priests’ houses (?) of brick, dating
from the time of the twelfth to eighteenth dynasties,
and the south temenos-wall of the temple. This wall
was found to be of the same type as the south wall
of the great temple of Queen Hatshepsu, which was
thus shown to be in reality the north temenos-wall of
the eleventh dynasty temple. Later on Mr. Hall
began the excavation of the back part of the temple
to see how it ended. He discovered, Prof. Naville
says, “‘ the enclosure wall and found that the enclo-
sure was interrupted by a court or wide avenue, lined
on both sides by a single row of columns, and directed
towards the mountain. The rock had been cut open
to make way for the avenue.”

Later on, when Prof. Naville reached Thebes and
Mr. Hall left for England, work was directed to the
exploration of the remains of an eighteenth dynasty
building, also in the back part of the temple, which
had been discovered by Messrs. Hall and Ayrton in
1904. At the end of this building was made Prof.
Naville’s splendid discovery, described by him in the
Times recently. It consists of a cell or chapel ex-
cavated in the rock, lined with coloured relief sculp-
tures depicting King Thothmes IIT. making offerings
to the god Amen, and in the midst of it was found

NO, 1898, VOL. 73]

intact the original cult-image, a great painted and
gilded stone cow, of life size. The cow was the
emblem of Hathor, goddess of the western desert-
hills, who was specially venerated at Deir el-Bahari.
The image was dedicated by King Amenhetep II., the
son and successor of Thothmes III. The chapel
belongs really, not to the eleventh dynasty temple,
although placed at the end of it, but to the great
temple of Deir el-Bahari, with which it is contem-
porary. The great interest of the figure of the cow,
besides its importance as a work of art, lies in the
fact that this is the first time that an Egyptian cult-
image has been found intact in its shrine. The whole
chapel and image will be re-erected in the Museum of
Cairo. Illustrations of the find were published in the
Graphic and Daily Graphic of March 2.

This discovery is the latest proof of the remarkable
nature of Prof. Naville’s worl for the Egypt Explor-
ation Fund at Deir el-Bahari, which is one of the
most interesting sites for archaeological work in
Egypt, and one of the most productive of interesting
small antiquities, chiefly votive offerings to Hathor
of the time of the eighteenth dynasty. These often
are in the shape of little cows of blue glazed faience,
models of the great cult-images in the various cave-
shrines of Hathor, of which the newly discovered
chapel is one, the chief being the well known
Hathor-shrine, with the red painted reliefs, on the
platform of the great temple, found by Mariette many
years ago.

The work of the Egypt Exploration Fund, which is
now being carried on by Prof. Naville and his assist-
ants alone, needs considerably more monetary support
than is at present being extended to it. It is to be
hoped that this discovery will act as an incentive to
those who are really scientifically interested in the
progress of archeological knowledge, no matter
by what person that progress is effected, to give
their help to the Egypt Exploration Fund, which
discovered Naukratis and the store-city of Pithom,
identified the route of the Exodus, excavated Tanis,
Bubastis, and Herakleopolis, scientifically explored the
tombs of the most ancient kings at Abydos, and is
now bringing successfully to an end its most imposing
work, the excavation of the two temples of Deir el-
Bahari at Thebes.

NOTES.

Tue Bakerian lecture of the Royal Society will be de-
livered by Prof. John Milne, F.R.S., on Thursday next,
March 22, on ‘‘ Recent Advances in Seismology.”

Pror. O. Herrwic, professor of comparative anatomy,
University of Berlin, and Prof. H. O. Osborn, professor of
zoology, Columbia University, New York, have been elected
foreign members of the Linnean Society.

Tue annual general meeting of the Chemical Society
will be held on Friday, March 30, when the president will
deliver his address, entitled ‘‘ The Living Organism as a
Chemical Agency: a Review of some of the Problems of
Photosynthesis by Growing Plants.”

AN unprecedented mining disaster occurred on March 10
at the Courriéres colliery in the department of the Pas
de Calais. An explosion of fire-damp resulted in the loss
of more than 1100 lives. The causes of the explosion have
not yet been fully established. The colliery employed
6998 persons, and possesses forty-four seams of coal; the
annual output is about 2,000,000 tons. In 1890 attention
was directed to this colliery by Sir C. Le Neve Foster on
account of the remarkably low death-rate from falls of
ground, and it was reported upon by a deputation of
H.M. Inspectors of Mines. The average death-rate from

Marcu 15, 1906 |

NATURE

469

falls of ground per million tons of coal raised in the period
1890 to 1899 in Great Britain was 2-16, whilst at Courriéres
it was 0-39. The colliery was certainly admirably managed,
and this fact makes it difficult to account for the terrible
explosion, the immediate cause of which appears to have
been an underground fire.

WEATHER of a very wintry type has been experienced
this week over the British Islands, and in places the cold
has been unusually severe for the time of year. On Sunday
a large and important storm area arrived from the Atlantic,
and in the course of the day its centre traversed Scotland.
As the storm was approaching, strong westerly winds and
gales, with heavy rains, were experienced generally. The
storm developed considerable energy after reaching the
North Sea, the barometer falling as low as 28-4 inches,
and in the rear of the disturbance the wind greatly in-
creased from the northward. Strong northerly gales
accompanied by heavy squalls of snow or hail were ex-
perienced on Monday over nearly the entire country, and
the storm occurring at the time of spring tides caused
severe floods, especially along our east coast. The German
and Dutch coasts have also suffered greatly. Sharp frost
was experienced in Scotland and over the northern parts
of England.

Canon TristRaM, F.R.S., whose death, at the age of
eighty-three, took place on March 8, is believed to have
been the first zoologist to make special application of the
theory of natural selection. This he did in an article on
the ‘‘ Ornithology of Northern Africa,’’ published in the
then newly established journal the Ibis for October, 1859
(vol. i., pp. 429-433), and before the appearance of the
“Origin of Species,’’ grounding his belief solely on the
papers communicated to the Linnean Society on July 1,
1858, by Messrs. Darwin and Wallace (Journ. Proc. Linn.
Soc., iii., Zoology, pp. 45-62). ‘‘ Writing,’’ he said, “‘ with
a series of about 100 Larks of various species before me, I
cannot help feeling convinced of the truth of the views
set forth’? in those communications. ‘‘It is hardly
possible, I should think, to illustrate this theory better than
by the Larks and Chats of North Africa.’’ There is no
room here to reproduce the next three pages, but they
are worth reading now if only as recording an early and
full acceptance of the Darwinian doctrine, and whether so
much courage was shown by anyone elsewhere seems very
doubtful.

Mr. Hatpane, Secretary of State for War, in making
the customary annual statement as to the policy of the
Army in the current year, delivered a speech which has
been received with much satisfaction in the scientific world.
The need for clear thinking and for the application of the
methods of science to the affairs of State was recognised
frankly and emphasised repeatedly. Mr. Haldane’s
encouraging words to the military experts of to-day,. his
definition of the science of military organisation, and his
description of a new school of young officers—as much
men of science as engineers or chemists—should serve to
inspire Army men with the spirit that must actuate
successful practice. The Secretary for War assured the
nation that our officers are becoming men with scien-
tific training and reflective minds, and there is every hope
they will soon work in connection with a thinking depart-
ment such as that which took so prominent a part in
securing the recent Japanese success. It is fortunate for
this country that the Secretary for War believes in the
application of scientific knowledge to military affairs, and
we look forward to the time when this need for scientific

thought will be recognised in every branch of the public
service.

NO. 1898, VOL. 73]

THE correspondence on the cause of the loss of the coal-
tar colour industry, which is represented in Germany by a
capital of 5,000,000/., with an annual value of about
50,000!., and the prospect of other industries passing out
of our hands in the same way, continues in the columns
of the Times. The writer whose article upon the jubilee
of Dr. Perkin’s discovery gave rise to the correspondence
states in the issue of March 10 that in the early days of
the coal-tar industry there were not a few accomplished
chemists in England, but they could not find employment
in the colour factories ; and this being the case, the schools
naturally felt discouraged in their efforts to produce men
specially qualified for “Our methods of
policy,’’ he remarks, ‘‘ must be very different from those
adopted in the past if we are to succeed ; complete sympathy
must be established between science and industry.’? The
meaning and value of research have yet to be understood
by the commercial community and the manufacturers of
this country; and it is still necessary to impress upon the
nation that scientific method is an essential factor of the
development of industri When there is a_ scientific
laboratory in every works, the National Physical Labor-
atory will be able to take its proper place in a national
scheme for the promotion of progress of applied science.

Tue death of Mr. J. G. Goodchild removes a geologist
and naturalist whose knowledge covered an unusually wide
range, including ornithology, glacial geology, physical
geology, and mineralogy, in all of which he did useful
work, thanks to his thoroughness in testing generally
accepted explanations, his independent originality, his keen
insight, and his artistic skill. Mr. Goodchild served for
more than thirty years on the staff of the Geological Survey,
being especially engaged in Westmorland and Cumberland,
of which counties he made a comprehensive study. While
in London, in the winters, he was for some years a valued
worker at Toynbee Hall, living beside it in a Whitechapel
tenement, and devoting most of his evenings to the organ-
isation of its science classes. For the past fifteen years he
was in charge of the geological and mineralogical collections
belonging to the Geological Survey in the Edinburgh Museum,
and, in connection with his work there, he edited Heddle’s
““ Mineralogy of Scotland,’’ and prepared a careful mono-
graph on the Scotch zeolites. He was also lecturer in
mineralogy and geology at the Heriot Watt College. His
most important scientific contribution was his paper on
the glacial deposits of the Eden Valley, published by the
Geological Society in 1875; it will doubtless rank as one
of the classics of British glacial geology, though its in-
fluence suffered by its publication fifteen years before the
original views there expressed could be correctly appre-
ciated.

such work.

THE annual meeting of the Royal Society for the Protec-
tion of Birds will be held on March 20. The chair will be
taken bythe Marquess of Granby, G.C.B.

A ReEvuTER message from Lahore, dated March 10, re-
ports that a severe earthquake has occurred in Bashahr,
one of the hill States.

Tue Berlin correspondent of the Times states that Prof.
Koch delivered an address on March 7 at the Kaiser
Wilhelms Akademie, in the presence of the German
Emperor, on the subject of his investigations into the
causes and nature of the sleeping sickness in Uganda
and East Africa. His studies, he stated, have entirely
confirmed the results of the investigations of Dr. Castellani
and Col. Bruce, and he has devoted his efforts in particular
to investigating the habits of Glossina palpalis, the fly by
which the infection is conveyed.

470

NATURE

[ Marcu 15, 1906

Ir has been decided to found an International Associ-
ation of Colonial Agronomy to promote the scientific study
of the problems of colonial and tropical agriculture and of
the commercial utilisation of natural products. The head-
quarters of the organisation will be in Paris. The project
took shape at the last meeting of the French Association of
Colonial Agriculture and Colonisation, when a provisional
committee was appointed to organise the International
Association, with M. de Lanessan as president and the
following vice-presidents :—Great Britain is represented by
Prof. Wyndham Dunstan, F.R.S.; Germany, by Prof.
Warburg; Brazil, by M. de Piza, Brazilian Minister in
Paris; Italy, by Count Sabini; Mexico, by M. de Mier;
Holland, by Prof. Greshoff; Portugal, by Prof. Batalha
Reis; while France is represented by M. Myre de Vilers,
president of the French Geographical Society, Profs. Giard,
Miintz, Prillieux and Roux, and MM. Henrique, Tisserand,
M. Dybowski, of the French Colonial Office, and Prof.
Heim. The first meeting of this committee of initiation
will be held this month in Paris.

On Tuesday next, March 20, Dr. J. E. Marr, F.R.S.,
will deliver the first of three lectures at the Royal Institu-
tion on ‘‘ The Influence of Geology on Scenery.’’ These
are the Tyndall lectures; and on Thursday, March 29, Prof.
Bertram Hopkinson will begin a course of three lectures on
‘“ Internal Combustion Engines,’’ with experimental illus-
trations. The Friday evening discourse on March 23 will
be delivered by Lord Roberts, on ‘‘ Imperial Defence ’’;
on March 30 by Prof. Zeeman, on ‘‘ Recent Progress in
Magneto Optics’’; and on April 6 by Mr. W. B. Hardy,
on ‘‘ The Physical Basis of Life.”’

From the Egyptian Survey Department we have received
a copy of a ‘‘ Catalogue of the Geological Museum, Cairo,”
compiled by Dr. W. F. Hume.

In part vi. of vol. xix. of the Proceedings of the
Geologists’ Association Mr. M. A. C. Hinton describes
the horn-core of a ruminant from the Norwich Crag of
Bramerton as representing a new species of gazelle, under
the name of Gazella daviesi.

Tue eyes of deep-sea animals form the subject of an
instructive article, by Dr. O. Rabes, of Magdeburg, in the
February number of Himmel und Erde. Special attention
is directed to the strange larval fish recently obtained
during the Valdivia expedition in the Antarctic, and also
in deep water in the Indian Ocean, and described under
the name of Stylophthalmus paradoxus. In this creature,
the systematic position of which is uncertain, the eyes are
mounted, crab-fashion, on stalks, the length of which
apparently varies according to age.

THE modern practice of supplying hives of bees with new
queens at comparatively short intervals renders it essential
that a sufficient stock of queen-bees should always be
available at a moderate cost to the hive-owner. In America
it appears that there are establishments specially devoted
to the rearing of queens for sale; but as the price charged
is considerable, the entomological section of the Depart-
ment of Agriculture has issued a Bulletin (No. 55) in which
the author, Dr. E. F. Phillips, gives full instructions to
enable the hive-owner to breed his own queens.

TuHE mode in which the American prongbuck, or “‘ ante-
lope,’’ protects its young forms the subject of a beauti-
fully illustrated article, by Mr. H. H. Cross, in the
March number of the Century Illustrated Magazine.
According to the author, the female prongbuck,

NO. 1898, VOL. 73]

when

about to give birth to offspring, proceeds to the middle of
one of the numerous patches of cactus occurring in the
haunts of these animals, and there, by means of a series
of bounds in the descent from which the cactuses are cut
to pieces by her sharp hoofs, clears a space in the centre.
Here the young are born, and remain for some time, secure
from wolves, which are unable to penetrate the cactus-
fence. Danger is, however, experienced from eagles, and
to protect their young from these birds the antelope are
stated to display great courage.

Tue February issue of the Quarterly Journal of Micro-
scopical Science, which completes the forty-ninth volume,
contains five articles, all devoted to invertebrates, and all
of a highly technical nature. The most generally interest-
ing, perhaps, is one by Mr. D. H. Tennent on a cercarian
parasite, Bucephalus haimeanus, ‘infesting oysters in
America, more especially those growing in brackish water.
Mr. W. Woodland continues his investigations into the
mode of formation of spicules, dealing in this instance
with those of the Cucumaria, and the “ plate-and-anchor ””
type characteristic of Synapta. The maturation of un-
fertilised eggs of sawflies is discussed by Mr. L. Doncaster,
while Prof. J. E. Duerden endeavours to explain the réle
of mucus in his favourite corals, and Mr. W. S. Perrin
records observations on the structure and life-history of
Pleistophora periplanetae, a sporozoan parasite of the cock-
roach.

Miss Harriet RicHarpson has prepared a ‘‘ Monograph
on the Isopods of North America,’’ recently published as
Bulletin No. 54 of the United States National Museum
(pp. liii+727). This work contains careful analytical keys
of the families, genera, and species, and a short descriptive
account of each species illustrated by text figures of their
essential systematic features. The author has evidently
spared neither pains nor labour to make her monograph
complete, with the result that it must be regarded as an
essential part of the outfit of every zoologist who takes
an interest in the systematic study of this group of animals.

TuBERCULOSIS in cattle, by Mr. John M. Scott, is the
subject dealt with in Bulletin No. 55 of the New Mexico
College of Agriculture. Tuberculosis is defined, the extent
of the disease, symptoms, and modes of infection are de-
scribed, and the use of tuberculin is detailed. The Bulletin
is illustrated with five capital plates.

A sHoRT part continuing the work of the late Mr. G. S.
Jenman on the descriptions of West Indian and Guiana
ferns has been published. This and future parts will be
based on Mr. Jenman’s manuscript, and it is anticipated
that ‘the work can be carried to completion. In this part
the genus Lomaria, containing eight indigenous species, is
described.

A DEPARTMENT of forestry has been instituted in connec-
tion with the South African College, Cape Town. Pro-
vision is being made for ten resident students at Tokai,
where the arboretum, a forest museum, and other advan-
tages will furnish excellent facilities for the practical work.
The curriculum will consist of a preliminary scientific
course in the first year, followed by a two years’ forestry
course.

A BULLETIN, No. 52, on the agathi plant, issued by the
Department of Agriculture, Madras, deals with the culti-
vation of this plant, Sesbania grandiflora, as a support for
the betel-vine, the leaves of which form one of the in-
gredients of the masticatory pdn-sopdri. The agathi plants
are topped to prevent them growing too high; the branches

MARCH 15, 1906]

INE AI OIC

471

are fed to cattle or used as a green manure for the betel-
vines, and the tender leaves and young pods are served as
a curry.

IN the January number of the Bulletin of the Depart-
ment of Agriculture, Jamaica, Mr. W. Harris refers the
different varieties of yams cultivated in the island to four
species, Dioscorea sativa, or negro yam; Dioscorea alata,
or white yam; Dioscorea cayennensis, the yellow or afou
yam; and Dioscorea trifida, the Indian yam or cush-cush.
For the destruction of cotton worm and cassava cater-
pillar, where Paris green is likely to injure the foliage,
or when it may be washed off by rain, Mr. W. Fawcett
recommends a wash of lead arsenate.

THE committee entrusted by the Hawaiian Sugar
Planters’ Association with the control of the experiment
station at Honolulu notifies in its report for the year
ending September 30, 1905, that a division of pathology
and physiology has been formed under the directorship of
Dr. N. A. Cobb, in addition to the division of agriculture
and chemistry and a division of entomology. The work
of the last named has been chiefly devoted to the study
and breeding of insects that prey upon cane leaf-hoppers.
Among the bulletins prepared by the agricultural division,
the most important presents a review of fertiliser experi-
ments extending over eight years. A bulletin on the in-
spection and disinfection of cane cuttings is the first publi-
cation of the new department. The methods of preparing
Bordeaux mixture are discussed, and suggestions are made
for treating cuttings on a large scale.

In the Engineering and Mining Journal (vol. Ixxxi.,
No. 7) is the first authoritative statement of the discoveries
in a new gold field at Manhattan, in Nevada, which is at
present attracting much attention. The which
appear to be extraordinarily rich in gold, occur in lime-
stone in the vicinity of rhyolite.

veins,

TuE preliminary returns issued by the Home Office show
that the production of coal in Great Britain in 1905
amounted to 236,111,150 tons, or 3,699,366 tons more than
in 1904. The number of persons employed at mines under
the Coal Mines Regulation Act was 858,373, or 1-28 per
cent. more than in 1904. The production of copper ore
was 7115 tons, that of lead ore 27,482 tons, and that of
zinc ore 23,647 tons. Statistics of the production from open
workings are not yet available, so that details of the pro-
duction of other minerals are incomplete.

IN a paper on the screw propeller controversy published
in the Transactions of the Institution of Engineers and
Shipbuilders in Scotland (vol. xlix.; part iv.), Mr. James
Holden endeavours to demonstrate the true action of the
propeller, and to show that Rankine’s theory is wholly
erroneous. He considers that none of those writers who
have adopted the Rankine theory, in whole or in part, are
able to guide others, either scientifically or practically, in
the construction or use of screw propellers.

Tue latest addition to technical periodical literature is
a bi-monthly journal entitled Concrete and Constructional
Engineering. It has been founded with the object of meet-
ing the growing demand for information regarding con-
‘crete and reinforced concrete. The first issue (March)
«overs 74 octavo pages, and is admirably illustrated. It
«ontains articles by Lieut.-Colonel J. Winn, on the advent
of the concrete age; by Mr. W. N. Twelvetrees, on steel
skeleton construction; by Mr. C. F. Marsh, on reinforced
‘concrete foundations of buildings; by Mr. C. H. Desch, on
the setting of Portland cement; by Mr. B. H. Thwaite,

NO TS9S, VOL. 74)

on the preservation of iron and steel against corrosion; and
a digest of recent publications on concrete and construc-
tional engineering.

In the Journal of the Franklin Institute of Philadelphia
(vol. clxi., No. 2) Mr. E. Keller describes and illustrates
a number of improved methods and apparatus introduced
in the newly equipped assay laboratory of the Anaconda
Copper Mining Co. in Baltimore. The chief duty of the
laboratory is to determine the values of copper, silver, and
gold copper, and the equipment is probably
superior to any elsewhere. Stirring and filtering are
effected by machines, and in assaying operations every-
thing is handled in sets. Much labour has been saved,
breakage of expensive glass-ware has been very largely
eliminated, and the time of the furnace work and the con-
sumption of gas have been much reduced.

in crude

TueE modern locomotive question is chiefly one of boilers.
The great increase in the size of boilers and in the pressures
carried, which has taken place during the past few years,
has necessitated the re-consideration of the principles of
design, which had been settled with comparatively small
boilers carrying low pressures. The paper on large loco-
motive boilers read by Mr. G. J. Churchward before the
Institution of Mechanical Engineers on February 16 is
therefore opportune. He gives illustrations of various
locomotive boilers, and shows how much more heating
surface is now provided for a given area of cylinder than
was formerly considered necessary. The higher pressures
now common have undoubtedly produced much more
efficient locomotives, both in respect of hauling power and of
coal consumption. The improvement has been very marked
with every increment of pressure right-up to 227 lb. carried
by the new De Glehn compound locomotives of the Great
Western Railway.

Tue report of the superintendent of the Meteorological
Department of Ceylon for the year 1904 shows that 1904
must be reckoned as one of the “‘ dry ’’ years; the rain-
fall was considerably below the average over the greater
portion of the island, especially in the north: and west,
where deficiencies of 10 to 15 inches were recorded in
several districts. In May, however, the excess of rainfall
caused destructive floods; in the Kelani Valley alone 124
square miles were covered, involving great loss of property,
the water being higher than at any time since 1871. The
climate varies considerably in different parts of the island ;
in the lowlands it is tropical, but in the high parts of the
interior it is equal to that of many parts of Europe. The
highest shade temperature recorded in 1904 was 99°:8 at
Anuradhapura, in May, and the lowest, 28°-2, at Nuwara
Eliya, in February; this is the lowest reading on record.
Temperatures exceeding 100° have been recorded in some
years; the highest on record was 103°-7, at Trincomalee, in
May, 1890.

In the February number of the Bulletin de la Société
astronomique de France MM. Flammarion and _ Loisel
publish the annual summary of the climatology of 1905
as recorded at the Juvisy Observatory. It appears that a
notable feature of the atmospheric pressure was its extra-
ordinary irregularity. With the exception of February,
March, and July, the mean monthly temperatures were
below the normal. October was the coldest recorded in
the neighbourhood of Paris since 1757, excepting the
October of 1887. In discussing the solar-radiation record,

attention is directed to the abnormal cloudiness of 1905
and to its coincidence, in regard to time, with the large
number of sun-spots. The writers suggest that the

472

INA TORE

(Marcu 15, 1906

abnormal rainfall was caused by increased evaporation | Carnegie Institution by Prof. E. W. Scripture, first in

taking place in the tropics, and connect this, and the
cyclones, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions which took
place during the year, with the increased solar activity.

Messrs. LaNpER AND SmitH, of Canterbury,
us their catalogue of new meteorological instruments.
‘Mr. Lander has given much attention to the problem of

providing satisfactory
a ETL ST self-recording instru-
ea, [Oe A] ments at popular
prices, and has devised
new forms of appar-
for registering
wind-force and direc-
tion, rainfall, sunshine,
air pressure, tempera-
ture, and humidity.
The advantages of
using instruments
which will give a con-
tinuous record are
the desider-
atum is, of course, that
they shall give trust-
worthy records. The
anemometer appears to
be a modification of the
well known Dines’s
pressure tube anemo-
meter, with the addi-
tion of an arrangement
for recording upon a
separate paper the
direction of the wind
as well as its force.
The sunshine recorder
is of the photographic
type, but, unlike other
photographic recorders,
it makes use of a clock
for controlling _ the
admission of the light,
so that the record is
for instead
of for apparent
time as in all other
forms. As an example
of the efficient working
of the different appa-
ratus, Mr. Lander has
sent us some reduced
here — repro-
duced, of the sharp and
sudden thunderstorm of
February 8. They
clearly show an abrupt drop in the maximum force of the
wind from about forty miles an hour to almost a calm,
and an equally sudden shift in direction from W.S.W. to
N.W. The barometer, which had been falling steadily all
day, rose abruptly a tenth of an inch, with a simultaneous
drop of 12° in temperature and a fall of rain (or snow) of
about a quarter of an inch in a few minutes. During the
storm no less than six windmills were struck by lightning
near Canterbury, where the records were obtained.

have sent

atus

obvious ;

mean time
local

RAINFALL.

7 con = = a Sr
\oe ty URSDAY pa}

Fic. 1.—Reduced copies of records from
self-recording instruments, February 8.

curves,

Unper the title of ‘‘An American Laboratory for Ex-
perimental Phonetics in Germany,’’ Major H. vom Hagen
describes the experiments carried out with the aid of the

NO. 1898, VOL. 73]

Munich and later on in Berlin. The paper is illustrated
by tracings of phonographic records, and is published in
Prometheus.

In the Bulletin of the French Physical Society, No. 235,
it is stated that M. Ernest Bichat, who died towards the
end of last year, was the author of a number of papers on
magnetic rotatory polarisation in gases, and in conjunction
with M. Blondlot on oscillating discharges, on Kerr’s
phenomenon, and on the cylindrical absolute electrometer-
He was dean of the faculty of science at Nancy.

A portrait of Prof. Georg Cantor, of Halle, is published
in the January number of the American Journal of Mathe-
Cantor’s researches on the theory of multitudes
and the continuum earned for him the Royal Society’s
Sylvester medal in 1904, and, speaking of this theory, Dr-
Pittard Bullock Herr Georg Cantor is looked
upon as the discoverer and creator, and in rare cases has
a discovery been attributed to one man alone with more
readiness We extract this quotation from a thesis on
‘““The Power of the Continuum.’’ In this thesis Dr.
Pittard Bullock gives a proof that the power of the con-
tinuum is the lowest but one, or, in other words, that
there is no multitude the power of which is lower than that
of the continuum but greater than that of a dinumerable
multitude.

matics.

writes :—‘‘

Two papers on the vibrations and stresses in shafting

have recently appeared. One, forming the fourth of the
technical series of the Drapers’ Company Research
Memoirs, is based on a paper written by Prof. Karl

Pearson in 1885, and deals with torsional vibrations treated
by Saint Venant’s methods; it is illustrated by a large
number of lithographed diagrams. The other is a reprint
the Minutes of Proceedings of the Institution of
Civil Engineers of a joint paper by Dr. Chree, F.R.S.,
Captain H. R. Sankey, and Mr. W. E. W. Millington,
dealing in the main with the dangers arising from
synchronism between the periods of free vibration of the
loaded shaft and the periods of fluctuation of the force or
torque applied to it. In a large class of practical appli-
cations we have to deal with shafts carrying such loads
as flywheels, where the kinetic energy of the shaft itself
can be neglected,
comparison with that of the loads.

from

for purposes of rough calculation, in

IN a paper on the future of statistics, published in the
Statistical Journal (\xviii., 4), Mr. J. G. Mandello directs
attention, among other matters, to the need of organisation
in the publication of statistics. The paper deals, in a
large measure, with the tendency to chaos resulting from
the ever increasing production of printed literature om
statistics. It is becoming more and more difficult as time
goes on for a busy man to obtain the information which he
requires as to the actual state of knowledge in any branch
of statistical science, and the mere consulting of voluminous
masses of literature more often than not fails to give the
inquirer the information which he requires, and, indeed,
is not unlikely to end in the re-publication of work already
done. Mr. Mandello’s remedy is to limit the output of
printed matter, and to devote the money thus saved to
the establishment of central bureaux where papers of @
highly specialised character could be conserved, in type-
written form, for the use of future inquirers, a staff of
officials being appointed for the purpose of giving the
necessary assistance. A plan of this kind is already
working in connection with the Geological Survey of
Belgium. Instead of printing maps, which soon become

NEAR TE:

473

Marcu 15, 1906]

superseded, they keep large manuscript maps on which
the newest details are at once entered, and any specialist
can obtain on application a drawn copy of the map of any
region, which is naturally quite correct and up to date.
A side-issue, which the author does not consider, is whether
people would rush into archives with the same eagerness
with which they now rush into print, and whether it might
be better if they did not.

Tue great alteration which occurs in the fluorescence
spectrum of sodium vapour when the wave-length of the
exciting light is changed is the subject of a brief com-
munication by Prof. R. W. Wood in No. 4 of the
Physikalische Zeitschrift. Three kinds of monochromatic
light, having wave-lengths 5085, 4799, and 4676 respectively,
and generated by a cadmium are lamp of the Heraeus type,
were employed in the experiments.

Tue lecture delivered by Prof. Emil Fischer before the
German Chemical Society on January 6, and having for
its subject his recent researches on amino-acids, poly-
peptides, and the proteids, is published in the current
number of the Berichte (No. 3). The lecture covers an
extraordinarily wide field, and contains a résumé of the
experimental results obtained during the past five years
by Prof..Fischer and his colleagues. A briefer and more

general summary of recent work tending towards the
synthesis of proteid material is contributed by Prof.
Maillard to the Revue générale des Sciences for

February 15.

In the Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and
Sciences (vol. xli., No. 19) Messrs. Gilbert N. Lewis and
Plumer Wheeler have studied the electrical conductivity
of solutions of potassium iodide in liquid iodine. Such
solutions are found to conduct electricity as well as the
best aqueous solutions, but they present certain interesting
anomalies. In dilute solution the molecular conductivity
increases linearly with the concentration, rising to a maxi-
mum and then falling as the concentration increases; the
phenomena show a certain analogy with the deviations
from Ostwald’s dilution law in aqueous solutions. The
temperature coefficient of conductivity is, moreover, negative
for dilute solutions, but with increasing concentration it
passes through zero and becomes positive.

ALTHOUGH several attempts have been made to prepare

selenium iron alums of the type
Fe,(SeO,),,M.SeO,,24H,O,

no compound of this group has yet been obtained. In the
February number of the Gazzetta Dr. Cesare Roncagliolo
describes the method by which he has succeeded in pre-
paring the rubidium and cesium salts,

Fe,(SeO,),,RbSeO,,24H,O, Fe,(SeO,),,CsSeO,,24H,O.
As anticipated, these salts were found to be isomorphous
with the ordinary alums. As the rubidium and cesium
salts melt at about 4o° C. and 55° C. respectively, it may
be inferred by analogy with the other alums that the corre-
sponding potassium and sodium alums melt below o° C.
If this is the case, an explanation is afforded of the failure
hitherto experienced to prepare these salts.

A SIXPENNY edition of Lord Avebury’s ‘‘ Beauties of
Nature and the Wonders of the World we Live in’’ has
been published by Messrs. Macmillan and Co., Ltd.

Messrs. PerctvaL MarsuaLt anp Co. have published, at
3d. net, a pamphlet by Mr. A. H. Stanley dealing with
““ Patents to Inventors.”’ A chapter on patent agents is
included.

NO. 1898, VOL. 73]

Messrs. ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE AND Co., Lrp., have
published a second edition of Mr. Bertram Blount’s ‘* Prac-
tical Electro-chemistry,’’ the first issue of which was re-
viewed at length in Nature of April 18, 1go01 (vol. Ixiii.,
No. 1642). The present edition has been revised and
brought up to date. The revision of the section on organic
electrochemistry has been done with the assistance of Dr.
Mollwo Perkin.

THE twenty-first session of the London Geological Field
Class, conducted by Prof. H. G. Seeley, F.R.S., will be
opened on Saturday, April 28, by an excursion from Nut-
field to Redhill, for the observation of parallel escarpments.
In addition to the Saturday afternoon excursions, vacation
visits extending over two or three days will be made with
the view of examining a Tertiary locality in the Hampshire
basin, the Cretaceous rocks of north-west Norfolk, Devizes,
or Folkestone; the oolites of Swindon or Cheltenham ; and
the primary rocks of Clifton, the Mendip Hills, the Welsh
border, or Leicestershire. The secretary of the class is Mr.
J. W. Jarvis, St. Mark’s College, Chelsea, S.W.

A copy of the report of the Felsted School Scientific
Society for the year 1905 has been received. The organ-
isation of the members of the society into four sections has
now been in working order for two years, and has led to
sound collective work, and in some cases originated good
individual practical study. Special encouragement is given
to the individual efforts of Like most similar
organisations, this society is greatly in need of funds to
supply necessary instruments, specimens, and apparatus to
carry out the observations and other work planned by the
directors. Men of science could encourage the voluntary
study of science in secondary schools by presenting duplicate
specimens and unused instruments to school scientific socie-
ties. The report shows that a sustained effort is being
made at Felsted School to create active interest in the study
of science.

members.

Messrs. ISENTHAL AND Co. have just issued new cata-
logues dealing respectively with mercury vapour lamps for
all purposes, and with electric heating and cooking appli-
ances. The mercury vapour lamps are at present made
in three standard lengths of 18 inches, 26 inches, and
38 inches, so as to utilise fully the various standard
voltages from 100 volts to 250 volts. At present the lamps
are available only for direct current, though they are re-
commended for use on alternating current in connection
with the Grisson rectifier and electrolytic condenser. The
catalogue of heating and cooking apparatus is excellently
illustrated, and is divided into two sections. The first in-
cludes appliances for domestic purposes and use in hotels
and clubs, while the second is concerned with technical
apparatus for use in factories and laboratories.

OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN.
Comet 1905c.—Giacobini’s comet (1905c) has now become
much fainter, but does not set until some 33 hours after
sunset. A further instalment of Herr Wedemeyer’s
ephemeris is given below :—
Ephemeris 12h. M.T. Berlin.

1906 a (true) (6 true) log x log A Bright-
mess Ate ness
Maren OmseseneeeAiGy tal eee Ti 40) 1 OnNG ere 7.1 a O75 E
TQ) asae 2546 Ole. 2/159
22a 2s AMS Oz LA meen OPROF 8) 2.210237,
25 BRLON28i ne 5 5
28 BTSenOy ss Oly LE e.lO;20220e 019375) 2. O25
31 3 25 21 ... 6 53

As will be seen from the ephemeris, the comet is still
traversing the constellation Cetus towards Taurus, and

474

NATURE

[ Marcu 15, 1906

will enter the latter about March 27. On March 21 it
will be only about 2m. directly east of a Ceti.

Comet 1906b.—The comet discovered by Dr. Kopff will
evidently not become an object of popular interest, for it
passed perihelion at least two months ago, and is now
fading rapidly in brightness.

Below is given a set of elements and part of an ephemeris
published by Herr M. Ebell in Circular 86 of the Kiel
Centralstelle :-—

Elements.
T =1906 January 4'1289 Berlin.
CJS sep Py
RQ =328° 24’'2 + 1906'0
z= ‘0° 53'°5}
log g =0°03508

Ephemeris 12h, M.T. Berlin.

1906 a 6 log A Bright-
hemes Se a wy, ness

Mar. 15 II 3t 20 ar yy 9°7514 0°54
19 II 30 10 +2 2 9°7842 0'44

23 L207, +2 6 g'8166 0°36

27 Il 28 44 +2 9 9°8486 0°29

A set of elements computed from later observed positions
by Mr. Champreux gives the date of perihelion as
December 25-17 Greenwich.

REMARKABLE VARIATION IN THE SPECTRUM OF ¢ BoorTiIs.—
In No. 4067 of the Astronomische Nachrichten Drs. H.
Ludendorff and G. Eberhard direct attention to some re-
markable variations which took place very suddenly in the
spectrum of the double star ¢ Bodtis.

A spectrogram taken on June 3, 1905, showed a number
of bright emission bands undoubtedly similar to those seen
in the spectra of new stars, but another spectrum taken on
June 5 showed no trace of these.

On looking over previous spectra obtained at the Potsdam
Observatory on June 3, 4, and 26, 1902, respectively, only

the hydrogen series lines, the calcium line A 3934, the
magnesium line A 4481, and possible traces of other
absorption lines could be detected. No bright bands were

present.

The star is a well known double, classed as a ‘‘ Sirian ”’
star by Sir Norman Lockyer, as belonging to class I.a2
Py Prof. Vogel, and as a class A star in the Draper Cata-
ogue.

The question of the variability of the relative brightness
of the two components has been much discussed, but was
affirmed by W. Struve, Sir W. Herschel, and O. Struve.

A Brivuiant Friresatt.—In No. 368 of the Observatory
Mr. Denning has brought together a large number of
observations of a magnificent fireball which was seen in
Scotland and the northern counties of England on December
30, 1905.

The meteor appeared at about 4h. 26m., swelled out
into a disc, which one observer states was about half the
size of the moon, and disappeared when about 10°15°
above the horizon. The trail left by the meteor lasted
for about twelve or thirteen minutes according to most
observers, and during that time was contorted into a
variety of peculiar forms.

From the insufficient data yet to hand, Mr. Denning
supposes that this object was a very late e Arietid, having
its radiant point at about 4o°+23°, and on this supposition
the height of the meteor works out at sixty-seven miles
over Thornhill, in Dumfries, to twenty-seven miles over a
point some six miles south of Arran. The earth-point
would be about ten miles N.E. of Rathlin.

Thus the length of the path would be seventy-two miles
and the velocity about fifteen miles per second.

i In the same journal (Nos. 367 and 368) there is pub-
lished an interesting discussion of the 1905 Bielid meteors
by Prof. A. S. Herschel.

OBSERVATIONS OF PHBE DURING 1905.—A number of
photographic measures of Phoebe, made during the period
May 9 to December 14, 1905, are given in Circular 109 of
the Harvard College Observatory. The usual exposure
given to each photograph was two hours, and only very
faint images of the satellite were obtained; thus they were

No. 1898, \OL. 73]

very difficult to measure exactly, and the resulting residuals
are somewhat large.

It is seen from the measures that Phoebe attained its
maximum distance from Saturn, viz. 36’-4, on September 5-
The average differences between the observed distances and
declinations and those computed from the ephemeris pub-
lished in vol. liii. of the Annals (p- 141) were about —o!-2
and —o’.6 respectively.

Tue Leeps Astronomicat Socrety.—The Journal and
Transactions of the Leeds Astronomical Society (No. 12)
has just been received, and contains a number of interest-
ing papers which were read before the society during 1904.

In addition to these there is a résumé of the society’s
work during the year, as shown by a number of communi-
cations to various journals.

Non-members may obtain the journal for 1s.
Messrs. Jackson and Son, Leeds.

6d. from

NEW MAGAZINES OF BIOLOGICAL
CHEMISTRY.
OP ESaNsMeS dealing with the chemical aspects. of physio-
logical and pathological research have long been
current in Germany; but up to the present time English-
speaking workers have had to rely on periodicals dealing
with all branches of physiology and pathology for the
publication of their results. ‘This is by no means dis-
advantageous to the readers of such journals, for over-
specialisation has its drawbacks. But with the ever
increasing activity in the biochemical field of research, the
need has for long been felt of a special journal, and we
have to chronicle the advent of one—the Bio-chemical
Journal—which supplies the need, under the editorship of

' Prof. Benjamin Moore and Dr. Whitley, of the Liverpool

University. In America also a similar want has been
met by the issue of the first numbers of what is there
called the Journal of Biological Chemistry, which is edited
by Prof. Christian Herter, of New York, and Prof. J. J-
Abel, of Baltimore.

The prefix bio and the adjective biological indicate a
wider outlook than was implied by the older expression
physiological chemistry, for there are chemical matters
which have bearings, not only on physiology, but on
botany, zoology, and pathology; and, indeed, this broad
scope is already recognisable in the early issues of both
the journals mentioned. It will be sufficient to take the
English journal as an example. In the first number, just
to hand, there is a paper by Mr. Joseph Barcroft dealing
with the oxygen tension in the salivary glands and saliva,
and throwing new light on the question of internal re-
spiration in general. The professor of botany at Liver-
pool, Mr. Harvey Gibson, contributes an article on the
physiological properties of West Indian boxwood, so much
used now by the shuttle-makers of the north. The
cardiac symptoms noticed in many of these workers are
shown to be due to an alkaloid in the wood, which is dis-
solved out by the perspiration on the hands of the work-
people, and slowly absorbed into the system. Drs. Edie
and Whitley describe methods for estimating the daily gain
or loss of fixed alkali from the body, and the organic acids
in the urine; the application of their results in the case of
diabetes is pointed out. It was previously known that in
acid poisoning the body protects itself by an increased
formation of ammonia from urea; it is now shown that
there is a similar protective mechanism at work against
excess of alkali in the production of an increased amount of
organic acids from carbohydrates. The last paper, by Drs.
Moore, Edie, and Abram, more directly illustrates the appli-
cation of chemical studies to the elucidation of disease.
They find that the administration of a neutralised acid ex-
tract of the duodenal mucous membrane counteracts diabetes
in the few cases examined up to the present. The ex-
planation advanced of the benefit is that the extract stimu-
lates the pancreas to form that internal secretion whick
regulates carbohydrate metabolism, but which is apparently
in abeyance in the diabetic state.

Enough has been said to show the interesting and
important kind of material at hand, and we wish our
two new contemporaries every success in the future.

Marcu 15, 1906]

NATURE

HLS)

FORESTRY IN THE UNITED STATES.
THE United States Geological Survey has already issued

in the form of reports various papers dealing with |

the conditions of the localities in the more important forest
reserves. Professional Paper No. 29 of the forestry series

of the department deals with the forest conditions in the

Fic. 1.—Cultivated Valley in the Woodland Area of the Lincoln Forest Reserve, New Mexico.

Absaroka division of the Yellowstone Forest Reserve, Mon-
tana, and the Livingstone and Big Timber Quadrangles.
This report first treats of the location, extent, and
topography of the Yellowstone Reserve. The forest itself
is almost wholly coniferous, consisting of pines, spruce,
silver and Douglas firs. A most interesting account is given
concerning the distribution of these
species, especially in regard to alti-
tude and aspect. As regards the ages
of the trees’ the greatest diversity
prevails. Age classes occur, varying
from 15 to 20 years, 75 to 100 years;
also stands from 200 to 300 years
old are represented, this condition of
things having been brought about by
fire, the different age-classes corre-
sponding to burns of different periods.
The character and volume of mer-
chantable timber are next carefully
gone into. These naturally vary
according to the species of tree, as
well as the altitude and aspect in
which it is growing, and the report
brings out very interesting facts in
this connection.

Like other forest reserves, the pre-
sent one is divided into a number of
smaller divisions called townships,
which are carefully described in detail.
Two useful land classification maps
are appended.

A report of the forest conditions in
the Little Belt Mountains Forest Re-
serve, Montana, and the Little Belt

created by proclamation of the President in 1902. The
description of the included area is again given by town-
ships. The area is more or less mountainous, and, as a
natural consequence, the woodland growths are found to be
divided into zones determined by altitude. A very interest-
ing graphical representation of the various zones and species
occurring in them is included. Short descriptions of the
different species of trees are given,

= among which the yellow pine (Pinus
ponderosa) is the chief timber tree.

The conservation of trees in the re-

serve is of enormous importance in

i connection with the irrigation of culti-

] vated lands in its neighbourhood, or

vast areas that could be used for
agricultural purposes if a _ regular
supply of water were secured. Arti-

ficial tanks are at present employed
for the storage of intermittent surface
flows of water to be used for domestic
purposes and irrigation.

Paper No. 39 consists of a report
of the forest conditions of the Gila
River Forest Reserve, New Mexico.
This reserve was established by Presi-
dent McKinley in 1889. The reserve
includes several prominent mountain
ranges, and on the whole the area is
well watered, the streams from the
mountains carrying a _ considerable
flow to a long distance beyond the
forest regions. The reserve is
traversed by fairly good roads and
trails which follow the valleys. Agri-
culture is extensively carried on along
San Francisco River, but not to such
an extent along Gila River. The
settlers formerly found a very ready
market for their produce in the mining camps at Cooney
and Mogollon, but several of these camps have been de-
serted within the last year or two, and the market has
become considerably restricted. Grazing is an important
industry in this region, but will require careful attention
and supervision to prevent the inevitable result of over-

Mountains Quadrangle, forms Paper
No. 30 of the same series. Here
again the principal species are

Fic. 2.—Artificial ‘‘ Tank” for Water Supply.

conifers; but the chief value of the forest lies in its effect ,

on the conservation and regulation of the rainfall, hence it
is more in the nature of a protection forest than one pre-
served for its timber production.

The forest conditions of the Lincoln Forest Reserve, New
Mexico, are described in Paper No. 33. This reserve was

NO. 1898, voL. 73]

Lincoln Forest Reserve, New Mexico.

stocking, as this not only leads to a total destruction of
the grass roots, but also gives rise to drought at one period
and disastrous flooding at another. The yellow pine is
found to grow very well in this region, and will probably
form the principal species in re-stocking the land when the
older timber is removed.

NALORE

[Marcu 15, 1906

FORTHCOMING BOOKS OF SCIENCE.

ESSRS. BAILLIERE, TINDALL AND COX’S list
includes :—‘ Applied Bacteriology,’’ by Prof. R. T.
Hewlett and C. G. Moor, illustrated ; ‘* Laboratory Manual
of Physiology,’’ by Dr. F. C. Busch; ** Trypanosomes and
Trypanosomiasis,’’ by Laveran and Mesnil, translated
and edited by Dr. D. Nabarro; “‘ Practical Agricultural
Chemistry,’’ by F. Robertson; ‘* Rontgen Rays in General
Practice,’’ by R. H. Cooper; and a new edition of ‘* Philo-
sophy of Voice,’’ by C. Lunn.

Messrs. A. and C. Black promise :—‘ A Treatise on
Zoology,’’ edited by Prof. E. Ray Lankester, F.R.S.,
part v., ‘‘ Mollusca,’’ by Dr. P. Pelseneer, illustrated.

Messrs. Gebriider Borntraeger (Berlin) give notice of :—
** Hygienisches Centralblatt,’’ edited by Dr. P. Sommer-
feld; ** Zeitschrift fur Gletscherkunde,’’ edited by Prof. E.
Briickner ; ‘‘ Tabulae botanicae,’’ edited by Drs. E. Baur
and Jahn; ‘* Kryptogamenflora der Mark Brandenburg,”’
Band ii., Laubmoose; ‘‘ Forstbotanisches Merkbuch,”’ iv.,
Schleswig-Holstein; ‘* Allgemeine Botanik,’’ by Prof.
Warming; and *‘ Geschichte Roms,’’ by Prof. Drumann,
Band iii.

The Cambridge University Press list includes :—* Cam-
bridge Tracts in Mathematics and Mathematical Physics,”
No. 3, ‘‘ Quadratic Forms and their Classification by Means
of Invariant Factors,’? by Prof. T. I’A. Bromwich;
‘“ Trigonometry for Beginners,’’ by J. W. Mercer. The
following are in preparation :—‘ The Definite Integral, its
Meaning and Fundamental Properties,’’? by Dr. E. W.
Hobson, F.R.S.; ‘Singular Points and Asymptotes of
Plane Curves,’’ by Prof. C. A. Scott; *‘ The Axioms of
Geometry,’’ by Dr. A. N. Whitehead, F.R.S.; and ‘‘ The
Eikonal and its Application to Optical Instruments,’’ by
E. T. Whittaker, F.R.S.

Messrs. J. and A. Churchill give notice of :—* A Short
Practice of Medicine,’’ by Dr. R. A. Fleming; ‘‘ Preserv-
atives in Food and Food Examination,’’ by Dr. J. C.
Thresh; ‘‘ Essentials of Surface Anatomy,’’ by C. R.
Whittaker; “‘ A Manual of Midwifery,’’ by Dr. T. W.
Eden; ‘‘ Clinical Applied Anatomy; or, the Anatomy of
Medicine and Surgery,’”’ by C. R. Box and W. M. Eccles ;
‘““A Manual of Pathology, General and Special,’’ by Prof.
R. T. Hewlett; ‘“‘A Manual of Prescribing,’’ by Prof.
C. R. Marshall; “‘ Spinal Curvature,’’ by H. R. H. Bigg;
“Pharmaceutical Latin Grammar; or Prescriptions, how
to Write and Read Them,”’ by R. R. Bennett; and new
editions of ‘‘ A System of Dental Surgery,’’ by C. S.
Tomes and W. S. Nowell; and ‘* Minor Surgery and
Bandaging,’’ by B. Pollard.

Messrs. A. Constable and Co., Ltd., will publish :—
“ Radio-active Transformations,’’ by Prof. E. Rutherford,
F.R.S., illustrated; ‘‘ The Integrative Action of the
Nervous System,’’ by Prof. C. S. Sherrington, F.R.S.,
illustrated ; and ‘‘ Physiology of the Nervous System,’’ by
J. P. Morat translated and edited by Dr. H. W. Syers,
illustrated.

Messrs. J. M. Dent and Co. direct attention to :—
““ English Men of Science,’’ edited by Prof. J. R. Green,
F.R.S.—‘* Herbert Spencer,’’ by Prof. J. A. Thomson ;
“ Priestley,”” by Dr. T. E. Thorpe, C.B., F.R.S.; “‘ George
Bentham,’’ by B. D. Jackson; ‘‘ Huxley,’’ by Prof.
J. R. A. Davis; ‘“‘ Sir Wm. Flower,’’ by R. Lydekker,
F.R.S. Of Dent’s Mathematical and Scientific Series, the
following are in preparation :—‘‘ Geometrical Conics,’’ by
Profs. G. H. Bryan, F.R.S., and R. H. Pinkerton;
“Analytical Conics,’’ by Prof. C. A. Scott; ‘‘ Mechanics,’’
by C. S. Jackson and R. M. Milne; “‘ Trigonometry,’’ by
C. Hawkins; “ Algebra,’’ by Prof. H. W. Ll. Tanner,
F.R.S., and W. J. Greenstreet ; ‘‘ Practical Mathematics,’’
by J. E. Boyt; ‘‘ Light,” by F. E. Rees; ‘‘A French
Scientific Reader,’’ compiled by W. J. Greenstreet; ‘‘ A
German Scientific Reader,’’ compiled by C. R. Dow; and
““ Mathematical Tables,’’ by Prof. G. H. Bryan, F.R.S.

Mr. Gustav Fischer (Jena) announces :—‘‘ Flora, oder
Allgemeine Botanische Zeitung,’’ Jahrgung 1906, edited
by Prof. K. Goebel, Heft i., illustrated; ‘‘ Klinisches Jahr-
buch,’ fiinfzehnter Band, zweites Heft, illustrated; ‘‘ Phy-
siologie des Menschen,”’ by Prof. L. Luciani, German trans-
lation, Band ii., illustrated ; ‘‘ Das Rettungs- und Kranken-
beforderungswesen im deutschen Reiche,’’ by Prof. G.

NO. 1898, VOL. 73]

Meyer, Bildet zugleich den dritten Erganzungsband zum
klinischen Jahrbuch, illustrated; *‘ Résultats scientifiques
du Congrés international de Botanique, Wien, 1905,’’ illus-
trated; ** Die Wirbeltiere Europas mit Beriicksichtigung
der Faunen von Vorderasien und Nordafrika,’’ by Prof.
O. Schmiedeknecht ; ‘‘ Vegetationsbilder,’’ edited by Profs.

G. Karsten and H. Schenck, dritte Reihe, Heft vi. :
Emerich Zederbauer, Vegetationsbilder aus Nleinasien,

illustrated ; “‘ Verhandlungen der deutschen pathologischen
Gesellschaft,’’ edited by G. Schmorl, neunte Tagung,
gehalten in Meran vom 25 bis 29 September, 1905, illus-
trated; ‘‘ Gesammelte Abhandlungen,’’ Band iy., Sozial-
politische Schriften, by Prof. E. Abbe; and new editions
of ‘‘ Lehrbuch der Entwicklungsgeschichte des Menschen
und der Wirbeltiere,’’ by Prof. O. Hertwig, illustrated ;
““Tabellen zur Gesteinskunde ftir Geologen, Mineralogen,
Bergleute, Chemiker, Landwirte und Techniker,’’ by Prof-
G. Linck, illustrated; ‘* Einflhrung in das Studium der
Malariakrankheiten,’’ by Dr. R. Ruge, _ illustrated ;
““Anatomische, physiologische und physikalische Daten
und Tabellen zum Gebrauche fiir Mediziner,’’ by Prof. H-
Vierordt ; and ‘*‘ Lehrbuch der allgemeinen Pathologie und
der pathologischen Anatomie,’” by Prof. E. Ziegler,
Band ii., Lehrbuch der speziellen pathologischen Anatomie,
edited by Drs. E. Gierke and K. Ziegler, illustrated.

Messrs. Gauthier-Villars (Paris) promise :—‘‘ Guide du
Météorologiste amateur,’’ by Loisel; ‘‘ Lecons sur le
Séries trigonometriques,’’ by Lebesque; ‘‘ La Mécanique

des Phénoménes fondée sur les Analogies,’’ by Petrowitch ;
and ‘* Les Conserves alimentaires,’’ by Rocques. :

Messrs. Charles Griffin and Co., Ltd., announce :—‘ The
Theory of the Steam Turbine, a Treatise on the History,
Development, and Principles of Construction of the Steam
Turbine,’? by A. Jude, illustrated; ‘* Present-day Ship-
building: abridged from ‘ Steel Ships,’ Revised and
Specially Arranged to Meet the Requirements of Shipyard
Students, Ships’ Officers, and Engineers for their Re-
spective Examinations,’’ by T. Walton, _ illustrated ;
““Motor-car Mechanism and Management,’’ by W. P.
Adams, in three parts, illustrated, part ii., the Electrical
Car, and part iii., the Steam Car; ‘‘ General Foundry
Practice: a Practical Handbook for Iron, Steel and Brass
Founders, Metallurgists, and Students of Metallurgy,’’ by
A. C. McWilliam and P. Longmuir, illustrated; ‘‘ The
Elements of Chemical Engineering,’’ by Dr. J. Grossmann,
illustrated ; ‘‘ Locomotive Compounding and Superheating,’”
by J. F. Gairns, illustrated; ‘‘ Peat: its Use and Manu-
facture,’’ by P. R. Bjérling and F. T. Gissing, illustrated ;
““ The Clayworker’s Handbook, an Epitome of the Materials
and Methods Employed in Brickmaking and Pottery,’’ by
the author of ‘‘ The Chemistry of Clayworking,”’ illus-
trated ; ‘‘ Paper Technology, an Elementary Manual on the
Manufacture, Physical Qualities, Chemical Constituents,
and Testing of Paper and Paper-making Fibres, with
Selected Tables for the Use of Publishers, Stationers, and
Others,’’ by R. W. Sindall, illustrated ; ‘‘ Lessons on Sani-
tation,’ by J. W. Harrison, illustrated; ‘‘ Toxines and
Antitoxines,’’ by Dr. C. Oppenheimer, translated from the
German by C. A. Mitchell, with notes and additions by
the author, since the publication of the German edition ;
‘“The Treatment of the Diseases of the Digestive System,’”
by Prof. R. Saundby; and new editions of ‘‘ Chemistry
for Engineers and Manufacturers,’’ by B. Blount and
A. G. Bloxam, vol. i., the Chemistry of Engineering,
Building, and Metallurgy; ‘‘ Petroleum and its Products,
a Practical Treatise,’’ by Sir B. Redwood, illustrated ;
and ‘‘ Aids in Practical Geology: with a Section on
Palzontology,’’ by Prof. G. A. J. Cole, illustrated.

Messrs. Hodder and Stoughton give notice of :—‘A
History of Egypt from the Earliest Times to the Persian
Conquest,’’ by Prof. J. E. Breasted, illustrated; ‘* Every
Man’s Book of Garden Difficulties,’ by W. F. Rowles,
illustrated ; ‘‘ Every Man’s Book of Garden Flowers, with
Short Directions for their Culture,’’ by J. Halsham, illus-
trated; and ‘‘ A Nature Reader for Senior Students, being
an Anthology of the Poetry of Nature,’’ edited by the Hon.
Sir John Cockburn, K.C.M.G., and E. E. Speight.

Messrs. Hutchinson and Co. announce :—‘‘ Liberia, the
Negro Republic in West Africa,’? by Sir Harry Johnston,
G.C.M.G., K.C.B., &c., illustrated; Darwin’s ‘‘ Origin
of Species,’’ edited by J. W. Mathews; and Waterton’s.

MAakcH 15, 1906]

“* Wanderings in South America,’’ with notes, &c., by
W. A. Harding.

In Mr. John Lane’s list are:—‘ Bombay Ducks: an
Account of Some of the Everyday Birds and Beasts found
in a Naturalist’s El Dorado,’”’ by D. Dewar, illustrated ;
““The Wild Flowers of Selborne and Other Papers,’’ by
the Rey. Canon Vaughan, illustrated. New volumes in
the ~* Practitioners’ Library,’’ edited by H. Roberts:
““ Forms of Paralysis,’’ by Dr. J. S. Collier; ‘* X-Rays in
General Practice,’’ by Captain A. E. Walter. New
volumes in the Country Handbooks, edited by H.
Roberts: ‘‘ The Stable Handbook,’’ by T. F. Dale, illus-
trated; ‘‘ The Country Cottage,’’ by G. L. Morris and
E. Wood, illustrated. New volumes in the Handbooks of
Practical Gardening: ‘‘ The Book of Rarer Vegetables,”’
by G. Wythes and H. Roberts; ‘‘ The Book of the Winter
Garden,”’ by D. S. Fish; ‘‘ The Book of Market Garden-
ing,’’ by R. L. Castle, illustrated; and a new edition of
*‘ Rifle and Romance in the Indian Jungle: being the
Record of Thirteen Years of Indian Jungle Life,’’ by Cap-
tain A. I. R. Glasfurd, illustrated.

Mr. T. Werner Laurie will publish :—‘‘ Fishing for
Pleasure and Catching It,” by E. Marston, with two
chapters on Salmon and Trout Fishing in North Wales by
R. B. Marston, illustrated; and ‘‘ Modern Medicine for the
Home,” by E. Walker.

Among Messrs. Crosby Lockwood and Son’s forthcoming
books we notice :—New editions of ‘‘ The Art of Leather
Manufacture,” by <A. Watt; ‘Colliery Working and
Management,’’ by H. F. Bulman and R. A. S. Redmayne,
illustrated; ‘‘ A Handybook for Brewers,’’ by H. E.

Wright; and ‘‘ Sheet Metal Worker’s Instructor,’’ by
R. H. Warn and J. G. Horner, illustrated.
Messrs. Longmans and Co.’s list includes :—‘‘ Mammals

of Great Britain and Ireland,’”’ by J. G. Millais, vol. iii.,
completing the Rodentia with the Hares and the Rabbit;
it will also contain the Cervide (the Deer family), the
Bovidee (the Oxen), and the Cetaceze (Whales), illustrated ;
“* Health of Our Children in the Colonies, a Book for
Mothers,”’ by Dr. L. A. Robinson; ‘‘ Plants and their
Ways in South Africa,” by B. Stoneman; ‘‘ Design of
Lathes for High Speed and Heavy Cutting,’’ by J. T.
Nicolson and D. Smith; ‘‘ Practical Manual of Tides and
Waves,”’ by W. H. Wheeler, illustrated ; ‘‘ Scientific Prin-
ciples of Wireless Telegraphy,’’ by Prof. J. A. Fleming,
F.R.S.; “* Modern Steam Road Wagons,’’ by W. Norris,
illustrated ; “* Synthetica, being Meditations Epistemological
and Ontological, comprising the Edinburgh Gifford Lec-
tures of 1905,’’ by Dr. S. S. Laurie, two vols.; ‘‘ Plant
Response,’’ by Prof. J. C. Bose, C.I.E.; ‘‘ Mathematical
Papers of J. Willard Gibbs,’’ two vols.; ‘‘ Manual of
Diseases of the Nose and its Accessory Cavities,’’ by Dr.
H. L. Lack ; and “‘ Philosophy of Religion,” by Prof. G. T.
Ladd, two vols.

Messrs. Sampson Low, Marston and Co., Ltd., will
issue :—‘ Cotton Manufacture,’? by E. A. Posset, part ii.,
treating of combing, drawing, roller covering and fly
frames, with an illustrated description of all the modern

processes and machinery used, also all the calculations
required.
Messrs. Macmillan and Co., Ltd., announce :—

** Medizeval Rhodesia,’’ by D. Randall-Maclver, illustrated ;
““The Philosophy of Religion,’’ by Prof. H. Héffding,
translated bv Miss B. E. Meyer; ‘‘ Electrical Engineering
in Theory and Practice,” by G. D. Aspinall Parr, illus-
trated; ‘‘ Physical Optics,’’ by Prof. R. W. Wood, illus-
trated; ““A Manual of Geometry,’ by W. D. Eggar;
““ Lessons in Science, a Preliminary Course of Physics and
Chemistry,’’ by Prof. R. A. Gregory and A. T. Simmons;
and a new edition of ‘‘ Appendicitis: its Pathology and
Surgery,’’ by C. B. Lockwood.

Messrs. Methuen and Co.
dustry, Lighting, Traction,
Industry, its History,

promise :—‘‘ Electrical In-
and Power,’’ ‘‘ Shipbuilding
Science, Practice, and Finance,”
““Money Market,’’ ‘‘ Business Side of Agriculture,”’
** Brewing Industry,’’ ‘‘ Automobile Industry,’’ ‘‘ Mining
and Mining Investments,’’ ‘‘ Civil Engineering,’’ ‘‘ Coal
Industry,’’ “Tron Trade,’’ and ‘‘ Cotton Industry and
Trade.”’

Mr. John Murray announces :—‘ Heredity,’’ by Prof.
J. A. Thomson; “ Researches in Sinai,’’ by Prof. W.

no. 1898, VoL. 73]

NATURE

477

Flinders Petrie, F.R.S., illustrated; ‘‘ Noteworthy Fami-
lies (Science), an Index to Kinships in Near Degrees
between Persons whose Achievements are Honourable, and
have been Publicly Recorded,’’ by Dr. F. Galton, F.R.S.,
and E. Schuster; ‘‘ Our Waterways, a History of Inland
Navigation considered as a Branch of Water Conservancy,”
by U. A. Forbes and W. H. R. Ashford; ‘* Life of Isabella
Bird (Mrs. Bishop),’’ by Miss A. M. Stoddart, illustrated ;
““The Dead Heart of Australia, a Journey around Lake
Eyre in the Summer of 1901-1902, with an Account of the
Lake Eyre Basin and the Flowing Well of Central Aus-
tralia,’”’ by Prof. J. W. Gregory, F.R.S., illustrated ;
‘““ Human Blood, an Introduction to the Normal and Patho-
logical Morphology of Human Blood,’’ eight lectures de-
livered in the Pathological Laboratory of the University of

London, by Dr. G. A. Buckmaster, illustrated; ‘* The
Transition in Agriculture,’’ by E. A. Pratt; ‘‘ Recent
Development in Biological Science,’’ by W. B. Hardy,

F.R.S.; ‘* Artillery and Explosives, Essays and Lectures
Written and Delivered at Various Times,’’ by Sir A.
Noble, K.C.B., F.R.S., illustrated; and ‘* Chemistry of the
Albumens,”’ by Dr. O. B. Schryver.

The list of the Oxford University Press contains :—
“Elementary Chemistry, Progressive Lesson in Experiment
and Theory,’’ by F. R. L. Wilson and G. W. Hedley,
part ii. ; Knuth’s ‘‘ Flower Pollination,’’ authorised English
translation by J R. A. Davis, vol. i.; Solereder’s ‘‘ Ana-
tomical Characters of the Dicotyledonous Orders,’’ author-
ised English translation by L. A. Boodle and F. E. Fritsch,
revised by H. D. Scott; ‘‘ A Catalogue of the Herbarium
of Dillenius,’’ by G. C. Druce, with the assistance of Prof.
Ss. HE Mines Ros.) dibe (Bacenot athe Barth 2 (Cc: Das
Antlitz der Erde’’), by Prof. E. Suess, translated by Dr.
H. B. C. Sollas under the direction of Prof. W. J. Sollas,
F.R.S., vol. ii., illustrated; ‘‘ The Oxford Geographies,”’

vol. ii., ‘“‘ The Preliminary Geography,’’ by Dr. A. J.
Herbertson, illustrated; *‘ The Dawn of Modern Geo-
graphy,’’ by C. R. Beazley, vol. iii.; ‘‘ Lectures on the

Method of Science,’’ edited by Dr. T. B. Strong; and a
new edition of ‘* Human Anatomy for Art Students,’’ by
Prof. A. Thomson, illustrated.

Messrs. G. Philip and Son, Ltd., have in the press :—
“A Rhythmic Approach to Mathematics,’’ by E. L.
Somervell.

Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons, Ltd., announce :—‘‘ Mech-
anical Traction on Highways in the United Kingdom,”’
by Dr. C. A. M. Barlow; and a new edition of ‘‘ Home
Gymnastics for Old and Young,’’ by Dr. T. J. Hartelius,
translated and adapted from the Swedish by C. L6fving,
illustrated.

Messrs. G. P. Putnam’s Sons _ promise :—‘ Jordan
Valley and Petra,’’ by Prof. W. Libbey and Dr. F. E.
Hoskins, two vols., illustrated; and ‘** Tibet and Turkes-
tan,’’ by O. T. Crosby, illustrated.

The Religious Tract Society announces :—‘‘ By-paths in
Nature,’’ by F. Stevens, illustrated; and ‘‘ Every Boy’s
Book of British Natural History,’’ by P. Westell.

The Sanitary Publishing Co., Ltd., announce :—‘ Smoky
Fogs, How to Prevent,’’ by A. J. Martin; ‘‘ Drainage,
Cast Iron House Drainage, with Especial Reference to
the Drainage of Town Houses,’’ by G.’ J. G. Jensen; and
new editions of ‘‘ Drainage, By-laws as to House Drainage
and Sanitary Fittings made by the London County
Council,’’ annotated by G. J. Jensen, illustrated; and
“Drainage, Modern Drainage Inspection and Sanitary
Surveys,’’ by G. J. G. Jensen, illustrated.

The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge will
publish :—‘*‘ The Frozen South’’; a volume on_ the
Spectroscope, by Mr. H. F. Newall; and ** The Properties
of Liquids,’’ by Prof. C. V. Boys, F.R.S.

Messrs. Swan Sonnenschein and Co., Ltd., promise :—
““ Physiological Psychology,’’ by Prof. W. Wundt, trans-
lated by Prof. E. B. Titchener, in three vols., vol. ii.,
illustrated ; ‘‘ The History of Philosophy,’’ by Dr. J. E.
Erdmann, translated abridgment by W. S. Hough;
“Thoughts and Things: a Genetic Study of Logical
Process,’? by Prof. M. Baldwin, vol. i., ‘‘ Theory of
Knowledge, Functional Logic,’’ vol. ii., ‘* Theory of
Reality, Real Logic ’’; ‘‘ Man: or Problems Ancient and
Modern relating to Man, with Guesses at Solutions,’ by
Rev. W. T. Nicholson; ‘‘ The Student’s Text-book of

ioe

47

NATURE

[Marcu 15, 1906

Zoology,’? by A. Sedgwick, F.R.S., vol. iii., completing
the work, illustrated; ‘‘ Insect Pests of the Farm and
Garden,’’ by F. M. Duncan, illustrated; and ‘‘ School
Gardening for Little Children,’’ by L. R. Latter, with an
introduction by Prof. Geddes.

The University Tutorial Press, Ltd., announce :—‘‘ Geo-
metry, Theoretical and Practical,”? by W. P. Workman
and A. G. Cracknell, part ii., part ili.; “ Arithmetic for
the Preliminary Certificate Examination,” by H. R. Chope ;
“Model Answers to Arithmetic Questions for the Pre-
liminary Certificate Examination ”’; “ Algebra, Preliminary
Certificate Edition, With Section on Graphs,’’ by R.
Deakin ; ‘‘ Geometry, Theoretical and Practical, Preliminary
Certificate Edition (for Course A),’’ by W. P. Workman
and A. G. Cracknell; ‘‘ Euclid, Books i.-iii., Preliminary
Certificate Edition, with Mensuration and _ Practical
Problems arranged in Accordance with Euclid’s Order of
Proof,’’? by R. Deakin; ‘‘ Key to Matriculation Algebra ”’;
‘Logarithms and How to Use Them 2»; Chemistry,
First Stage, Theoretical Organic,”” by R. A. Lyster ;
“Chemistry, the Junior,’’ by R. H. Adie; “* Experimental
Science, the Junior,’ by W. M. Hooton; “ Hygiene,
Certificate,’? by R. A. Lyster ; “Technical Electricity,”
by Prof. H. T. Davidge and R. W. Hutchinson ; ‘*‘ Physi-
ology, First Stage,”’ by Dr. G. M. Meachen ; “* Elementary
Science of Common Life (Chemistry), Subject xxvi. of
the Board of Education Science Examinations,’’ by W. Ags
Boone; ‘‘ Properties of Matter,’ by C. J. L. Wagstaff ;
‘“ Elementary Science for the Preliminary Certificate Ex-
amination (General Section),’’ edited by rsa Rem
Stewart and W. Briggs; ‘‘ Elementary Science for the
Preliminary Certificate Examination (Section A, Chem-
istry),’’ by H. W. Bausor ; ‘© Elementary Science for the
Preliminary Certificate Examination (Section B, Physics),”’
by J. Satterly ; ‘‘ Intermediate Hydrostatics ae exinciples
and Methods of Education,’’ by Dr. S. S. Fletcher and J.
Welton; and new editions of ‘‘ First Stage Inorganic
Chemistry (Theoretical),’’ by Dr. G. H. Bailey; * Synopsis
of Matriculation Chemistry’’; ‘‘ New Matriculation
Physics: Heat, Light, and Sound,”’ by Dr. R. W. Stewart ;
‘Light, Text-book of,’’ by Dr. R. W. Stewart; and
‘Graphs, Graphical Representation of Algebraic Func-
tions,’”’ by C. H. French and G. Osborn.

Mr. T. Fisher Unwin promises :—‘‘ Haeckel: his Life
and Work,’ by W. Bélsche, translated by J. McCabe,
illustrated; and ‘‘ The Birds of Middlesex,” by J. E.
Harting, illustrated.

The following are Messrs. Whittaker and Co.’s announce-
ments :—‘‘ A Pocket Book of Aéronautics,’? by H. W. L.
Moedebeck, translated from the German by Dr. W. M.
Varley ; ‘‘ Electricity in Mines,’’ by P. R. Allen; ‘* Steam
Turbine Engineering,’”? by T. Stevens and H. M. Hobart;
“Electric Lamps and Electric Lighting,’ by L. Gaster ;
“Armature Construction, a Handbook for Electrical
Designers,”” by H. M. Hobart ; ‘* Single-phase Commutator
Motors,”’ by F. Punga; “A Treatise on Coal Mining,’’ by
G. L. Kerr and D. Burns; ‘‘ Polyphase Electric Currents,”
by A. Still; and ‘* A Text-book of Botany,’’ part i., “‘ The
Anatomy of Flowering Plants,’’ by L. M. Yates.

UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL
INTELLIGENCE.

Oxrorp.—The board of the faculty of natural science has
approved the supplication of Mr. Walter Garstang, Lincoln
College, for the degree of doctor of science.

Prof. W. J. Sollas and Dr. T. G. Bonney have been
appointed examiners in the honour school of geology.

The grant of 250]. a year to the pathological laboratory
from the University Chest has been renewed for five years,
and additional grants of rool. a year to the Pitt-Rivers
Museum and to the Hope department of zoology, and 5ol.
a year to the departments of mineralogy and geology have
been authorised by Convocation.

The important collection of New Zealand birds formerly
belonging to the late Mr. S. William Silver has been pre-
sented to the museum by his widow.

A fellowship examination in
announced by Merton College

NO. 1898, VOL. 73]

has been
Tuesday,

chemistry
to begin on

September 25. Candidates must have passed at the examin-
ations required by the University for the degree of B.A.
The value of the fellowship is 200l. a year for seven years,
and the holder may be re-elected if he is duly qualified.
Candidates may submit any dissertations or evidence of
research work not later than September 20.

At a meeting of the Junior Scientific Club held on
March 7, Mr. Henry Balfour read a paper on ** The Natural
History of the Bagpipe,’ and Mr. J. A. Brown one on
‘« Electrons.”

CampripGe.—The late Mr. Frederick James Quick having
left his residuary estate to the University, the income to
be used in promoting the study and research in the sciences
of vegetable and animal biology, the council of the Senate
has published a scheme for the administration of the
fund. This has been approved by the trustees, to whom
the will entrusts very considerable powers of emendation
and alteration. It is proposed to establish a Quick pro-
fessorship of biology with a salary of 1oool. a year, and
with a sum not exceeding 300l. a year for the maintenance
of a laboratory. In the first instance the professor is to
devote himself to the study of the protozoa, especially such
as cause disease. He will not be required to give lectures
in more than one university term, when he will be expected
to set forth the result of the researches carried on in his
laboratory. By the terms of the will the professor must
seek re-election every third year. The administration of the
fund will rest with a board of managers, the members of
which will also act as electors to the professorship.

The first report of the Studies and Examinations Syndi-
cate with regard to the abolition of compulsory Greek
having been rejected by the Senate, the Syndicate has tried
again, and has issued a second report, in which it suggests
what is known as a “ bifurcation of studies.’’ It is pro-
posed that both in the honours and in the ordinary course
for degrees the examinations shall be grouped into two
sections, the literary and the scientific, and that while those
who pursue the literary side must take in the Previous
Examination two classical languages, those on the scien-
tific side will be required ‘‘ to take two languages other
than English, one of the two being Latin or Greek.”
When the proposals come to be discussed a certain amount
of opposition may be expected from the historians and
moral science teachers, whose students are afforded no
relief. Whether the masters of the situation, the non-
resident members of the Senate, will allow the proposals to
be accepted is doubtful. It is a well known fact that when
the first report of the Syndicate was voted upon, a decided
majority of the resident members of the University voted
for reform. If the residents are again beaten they must
put their trust in the Royal Commission which, from various
signs, seems not so very far off.

The late master of Corpus Christi College, Dr. Ba
Perowne, has left his valuable collection of amber from the
Norfolk coast to the University, to be deposited in the
Sedgwick Geological Museum or in the Fitzwilliam
Museum.

It is proposed to grant a sum of 75l. out of the works
fund to Mr. W. G. Fearnsides, of Sidney Sussex College,
towards defraying the expense of a visit which he pro-
poses to make to Sweden to study the Tremadoc and
Arenig beds.

The following have been appointed examiners in the
special examination in geography and the examination for

the diploma in geography : Mr. G. G. Chisholm, Mr.
A. Re Hinks) Mr Hl. (Y. Oldham, and Prof. W. W.
Watts.

The next combined examination for sixty-six entrance
scholarships and various exhibitions at Pembroke, Gonville
and Caius, King’s, Jesus, Christ’s, St. John’s, and
Emmanuel Colleges will be held on Tuesday, December 4,
and following days. | Mathematics, classics, and natural
sciences will be the subjects of examination at all these
colleges. Scholarships and exhibitions will also be offered
for history, for modern languages, and for Hebrew.

We learn from Science that Mrs. A. A. Anderson has
given 20,o0ol. to Barnard College, Columbia University,
toward the establishment of a course in science.

Marcu 15, 1906]

NATURE

479

Tue fifth annual students’ soirée of the Sir John Cass
Technical Institute will be held on Saturday, March 17.
The guests will be received by Sir Owen Roberts, chairman
of the governing body, and Lady Roberts, Mr. George
Baker, J.P., vice-chairman of the governing body, and Mrs.
Baker. Short lectures and demonstrations on scientific
subjects will be given during the evening.

Ar the last meeting of the council of the University of
Birmingham several appointments to the staff were made.
Mr. George S. West was appointed assistant lecturer and
demonstrator in botany in succession to Dr. A. J. Ewart;
Dr. Theodore Groom was appointed senior lecturer in
geology and geography to succeed Prof. W. W. Watts,
F.R.S., recently appointed to the chair of geology in the
Royal College of Science, London; and Mr. Donald M.
Levy was appointed demonstrator in metallurgy to succeed
Mr. H. N. Schnurmann. Communications were received
announcing the bequest by the late Mr. John Feeney of
the sum of 20,0001., a donation from Messrs. W. and T.
Avery, Ltd., of 5o00l., and valuable gifts from Messrs.
Veritys, Ltd., Mr. J. C. Vaudrey, and Mr. Willoughby
Ellis. An assistant lectureship and demonstratorship in
civil engineering was established.

For the last few years Oberlin College has been engaged,
says Science, in raising a fund of 100,000]. This is now
almost complete. The fund was started by an anonymous
donor of Boston, who promised 20,0001. At the time of
the trustees’ meeting in November last the fund had
reached 67,0001. Since then numerous gifts have been
made, including 1oool. for library endowment, 4ool. for
additions to the women’s gymnasium, 20001. toward a
men’s building, 66001. from the estate of Dr. C. N. Lyman,
of Wadsworth, O., which will be devoted to library endow-
ment, 15,0001. to be used as endowment for the Slavic de-
partment of the seminary, 2000/. for library endowment,
and 1oool. for the art building. In the total of 97,000l.
now raised is counted 25,o00l. promised by Mr. Carnegie
for a library, on condition that 20,0001. be raised for library
endowment. To complete the fund, therefore, it will be
necessary for the college to raise about 10,0001. more. It
is expected that this will be done before commencement.

SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES.
LONDON.

Chemical Society, March 1.—Mr. A. G. Vernon
Harcourt, F.R.S., past president, in the chair.—Studies of
dynamic isomerism, part iy., stereoisomeric halogen deri-
vatives of camphor: T. M. Lowry. Measurements were
given of the solubility in alcohol of a-chloro- and a-bromo-
camphors, a@B- and az-dibromocamphors, and aB- and
am-chlorobromocamphors, both alone and in presence of a
small proportion of sodium ethoxide. The increase of
solubility on addition of the alkali is ascribed to the form-
ation in the solution of a small proportion of the stereo-
isomeric a/-compound.—The coagulating action of colloids,
part i.: W. P. Dreaper and A. Wilson. The results
obtained by the authors throw some light on dyeing and
tanning processes. The influence of gallic acid in the
manufacture of leather seems to be of a more direct nature
than was previously supposed.—Studies on optically active
carbimides, iii., the resolution of a-phenyl-a!'-4-hydroxy-
phenylethane by means of /-menthylearbimide: R. H.
Pickard and W. O. Littlebury. The /-menthylcarbamates
formed by combination with J-menthylcarbimide can be
separated by fractional crystallisation, and are then hydro-
lysed by alcoholic sodium hydroxide.—Experiments on the
synthesis of the terpenes, part viii., synthesis of the
optically active modifications of A*-p-menthenol(8) and
A‘:5()-p-menthadiene: F. W. Kay and W. H. Perkin,
jun. A'-Tetrahydro-p-toluic acid, 1-A°-p-menthenol(8),
A‘:5(°)-p-menthadiene, and d-A*:*(°)-p-menthadiene have all
been synthesised. By fractional crystallisation of the
brucine and strychnine salts of the first-named compound
it was resolved into optical isomerides, and from these the
two other compounds were prepared in an optically active
condition.—Studies in the acridine series, iii., the methyl-
ation of chrysaniline: A. E. Dunstan and J. T. Hewitt.
—Note on the application of the electrolytic method to the

NO. 18g8, VOL. 73]

estimation of arsenic in wall-papers, fabrics, &c.: T. E.
Thorpe.—Nitrogen halides from camphoryl-y-carbamide :
M. O. Forster and H. Grossmann. The action of
potassium hypobromite and hypochlorite on camphoryl-y-
carbamide has been found to give rise to dihalogen deri-
vatives which have all the properties of compounds con-
taining halogen attached to nitrogen.—The relation of posi-
tion isomerism to optical activity, vi., the rotation of the
menthyl esters of the isomeric chloronitrobenzoic acids :
J. B. Cohen and H. P. Armes. In the present investi-
gation the combined effect of the halogen and nitro-group
on the activity of the menthyl group has been examined.

Mathematical Society, March 8.—Prof. W. Buinside,
vice-president, and subsequently Sir W. D. Niven, vice-
president, in the chair.—Sommerfeld’s diffraction problem
and reflection by a parabolic mirror: Prof. H. Lamb.
Sommerfeld’s problem is that of the diffraction of plane
waves by a plane screen bounded by a straight edge. It is
shown that Sommerfeld’s solution may be arrived at in a
simple way by combining certain simple particular solutions
of the general equation of wave motion when expressed in
terms of the coordinates that define two systems of confocal
parabolic cylinders, the edge of the screen being the line
of foci of the cylinders. Slightly modified forms of these
solutions lead to a complete solution of the problem of
reflection by a convex mirror in the form of a parabolic
cylinder. It appears that in this application of the wave
theory the reflected waves, which the ordinary processes
of geometrical optics represent as diverging from a line of
sources coinciding with the line of foci of the cylinder,
really diverge from a plane of sources, terminated in an
edge at this line, and extending thence with continually
diminisning strength to an infinite distance on the concave
side of the mirror. The problems of reflection by concave
parabolic and paraboloidal mirrors are also discussed.—

. . . ey 5
Function-sum theorems connected with the series x”/,,2:
1

Prof. L. J. Rogers. The sums of the values of the func-

tion defined by the URE Hy —(1—x)"! log xdx for various

sets of values of the argument are shown to have definite
constant values.—Investigations on series of zonal
harmonics: Prof. T. J. 1’A. Bromwich. The paper re-
lates to the behaviour of series of the type %a,7”P,,(cos 6)
in the neighbourhood of points on the boundary of the
region of convergence.—The functions ga(x, 8) and /p(x, 6)
Rev. E. W. Barnes. The paper deals with the asymptotic
expansions of special types of integral functions.—The re-
lations between the p-line determinants formable from
a p by q array: Prof. E. J. Nanson.—An informal com-
munication On the divisors of numbers of certain forms was
made by Lieut.-Colonel A. Cunningham. The special
forms are g2%+1 and (a**+1)'+1.—Dr. F. S. Macaulay
made an informal communication On the equilibrium of
forces of given magnitudes the lines of action of which
pass through given points.

Paris.

Academy of Sciences, March 5.—M. H. Poincaré in
the chair.—The suboxides of carbon: M. Berthelot.—
Some arithmetical consequences of the theory of Abelian
functions : G. Humbert.—The propagation of a movement
round a centre in an elastic, homogeneous, and isotropic
medium: study of the wave produced without change of
density: J. Boussinesq.—The bean containing hydro-
cyanic acid, Phaseolus lunatus: L. Guignard. Frequent
cases of poisoning of animals by this bean have occurred,
due to the hydrocyanic acid it contains. This acid arises
from a glucoside, phaseolunatine, which is present in the
bean. Determinations of the amounts of hydrocyanic acid
obtainable from beans from various sources gave figures
varying between 0-006 per cent. and o-102 per cent. A
new method for detecting traces of hydrocyanic acid is
given._The synthesis of three dimethyl-cyclo-hexanols :
Paul Sabatier and A. Mailhe. The method of Sabatier
and Senderens has been applied to the addition of hydrogen
to the three xylenols. Details of the preparation of these
substances are given, together with their physical proper-
ties and those of their immediate derivatives—The mag-

480

NATURE

[ MarcH 15, 1906

netic chart of the British Isles: B. Baillaud and E.
Mathias.—Observations of the sun made at the Observ-
atory of Lyons with the 16 cm. Brunner equatorial during
the fourth quarter of 1905: J. Guillaume. Observations
were possible on thirty-three days during the quarter. The
results are given in three tables showing the number of
spots, the distribution of the spots in latitude, and the
distribution of the faculz in latitude.—The deformation of
quadrics: Luigi Bianchi.—The singularities of solutions
to some partial differential equations of the elliptic type:
Serge Bernstein.—The measurement of the loss of phase
by “reflection : A. Perot.—The phenomena of phosphor-
escence: A. Debierne.—Contribution to the study of
selenious anhydride: QC&chsner de Coninck.—The iodo-
mercurates of calcium and strontium: A. Duboin.
Crystallised compounds were isolated possessing the com-
position Cal,.Hgl,.8H,O for the calcium salt, and
SrI,.5Hgl,.8H,O for the corresponding strontium ‘salt.—
The nature of the decomposition of an aqueous solution of

copper sulphate by some alloys of aluminium: H.
Pecheux. In a previous note these reactions have been
studied from the qualitative side. The present paper is

with the quantitative aspect of the same re-
estimation of cadmium: H. Baubigny.—
of the hydrazones and the osazones :
condensation of benzidine-aniline,
and diphenyl-disazoamino-
antimony tartrate: J.

concerned
actions.—The
The thermochemistry
Ph. Landrieu.—The
diphenyl-bidiazoaminobenzene,

benzene: Léo Vignon.—An
Bougault.
paration of antimony tartrate leads to an impure product ;

similar objections do not apply to acetone.—The chemical
study of the seeds known as Java peas: Emile Kohn-
Abrest. Determinations of the amounts of hydrocyanic
acid produced by various modes of treating the seeds.—
The chemical characters of the wines arising from vines

attacked by mildew: E. Manceau.—The evolution of the
Ecerina of Glomeris: L. Léger and O. Duboscq.—A
natural mollusc-bearing layer in the Macta, Algeria, and

this river on the
The ferments of
The duration

the effect of the nature of the flow of
growth of the molluscs: J. Bounhiol.
the placenta: MM. Charrin and Goupil.

of persistence of the activity of the isolated heart: M.
Lambert.—The influence of old age on the arterial
pressure: A, Moutier.—A Miocene volcanic chain on the
eastern border of the Limagne: Ph. Glangeaud.—The
discovery of two Cretacean horizons in Morocco: W.
Kilian and L. Gentil.—The grand canon of Verdon, its
age and formation: E. A. Martel. ;

DIARY OF SOCIETIES.

THURSDAY, Marcu 15.

Roya Society, at 4.30.—A Discussion of Atmospheric Electric Potential
Results at Kew from Selected Days during the Seven Years 1898 to
1904: Dr. C. Chree, F.R.S.—On the Specific Heat of, Heat Flow
from, and other Phenomena of the Working Fluid in the Cylinder of
the Internal Combustion Engine: Dugald Clerk.

CHEMICAL SocIETY, at 8.30.—The Interaction of well dried Mixtures of
Hydrocarbons and Oxygen: W. A. Bone and G. W. Andrew.—The
Explosive Combustion of Hydrocarbons : W. A. Bone and J. Drugman.—
The Occurrence of Marsh Gas amongst the Decomposition Products of
Certain Nitrogenous Bases as a Source of Error in the Determination of
Nitrogen by the Absolute Method: P. Haas.—Studies on Comparative
Cryoscopy. Part IV. The Hydrocarbons and their Halogen Derivatives
in Phenol Solution: P. W. Robertson.—The Displacement of Acid

Radicles. I. Displacement of the Chloride and Nitrate Radicles: A. F.
Joseph.

Roya [nstiTuTION,at 5.—The Physiology of Plants: Francis Darwin,
For. Sec. R.S.

Linnean Society, at 8.—Discussion on the Origin of Gymnosperms :
Opened by Prof. F. W. Oliver, F.R.S.

Society oF ARTS, at 4.30.—The Languages of India and the Linguistic
Survey: Dr. George A. Grierson.

INsTITUTION OF MINING AND METALLURGY, at 8.—A Record of an
Investigation of Earth Temperatures on the Witwatersrand Gold Fields,
and their Relation to Deep Level Mining in the Locality: H. F.
Marriott.—Note on the Ammonia-Copper-Cyanide Process: E. Le Gay
Brereton.—The Cyanide Treatment of Cupriferous Tailings by the
Sulphuric Acid Process: W. S. Brown.

FRIDAY, Marcu 16.

Rovat InsTITUTION, at 9.—How to Improve Telephony : W. Duddell.

INSTITUTION OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Continued Discussion :
Large Locomotive Boilers. G. J. Churchward.—Probadle Paper: Petro-
leum Fuel in Locomotives on the Tehuantepec National Railroad of
Mexico: L. Greaven.

EPIDEMIOLOGICAL Society, at 8.30.—Evolution in Relation to Disease:
Dr. J.'T. C. Nash.

NO. 1898, VOL. 73]

It is shown that the use of alcohol in the pre- |

SATURDAY, Marcu 17.

Rovat INsTITUTION, at 3.—Lhe Corpuscular Theory of Matter:

J. J. Thomson, F.R.S.
MONDAY, Marcu 19.

Society oF Arts, at 8.—Fire, Fire Risks, and Fire Extinction: Prof
Vivian B. Lewes.

Royat GEOGRAPHICAL SociETY, at 8.30.—The Economic Geography
of Australia: Prof. J. W. Gregory, F.R.S.

Victoria INSTITUTE, at 4.30.—The Early Celtic Church of Britain and
Ireland: Eleanor H. Hull.

TUES DAY, Marcu 20.

Roya InstiruTion, at 5.—The Influence of Geology on Scenery: Dr.
J. E. Marr, F.R.S.

Zooxocical. SOCIETY, at 8.30.

Roya. HorticuLTURAL Society, Scientific Committee, at 4.—Mendelian
Laws of Inheritance: Charles C. Hurst.

INSTITUTION OF CIviL ENGINEERS, at 8.—The Outer Barrier, Hodbarrow
Iron Mines, Millom, Cumberland: H. Shelford Bidwell.

MINERALOGICAL SoctETy.—On the Occurrence of Linarite and Caledonite
in Co. Wicklow : Arthur Russell.

WEDNESDAY, Marcu 21.

Society oF ArTs, at 8.—Motor Boats: Bernard B. Redwood.

GEOLOGICAL Society, at 8.—The Chalk and Drift in Méen: Rey.
Edwin Hill.—On the Relations of the Chalk and Boulder-clay near
Royston (Hertfordshire): Prof. T. G. Bonney, F.R.S.—Brachiopod
Homceomorphy : Pygope, Antinomia, Pygites: S. S. Buckman.

ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY, at 8.

RoyaL MicroscopicaL SocigEtTy, at 8.—A Contribution to our Know-
ledge of the Rotifera of South Africa: C. F. Rousselet.—On the
Resolving Limits for the Telescope and the Microscope: E. M. Nelson.

Prof

| RovAL METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY, at 7.30.—South Africa as seen by a

Dr. H. R. Mill.
THURSDAY, March 22.
Roya Society, at 4.30.—Bakerian Lecture:
Seismology; Prof. J. Milne, F.R.S.
INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Electrical Equipment of
the Aberdare Collieries of the Powell Duffryn Co. : C. P. Sparks.—Elec-
tric Winding considered Practically and Commercially : W. C. Mountain.
Royat InsTITUTION, at 5.—Internal Combustion Engines: Prof. B.
Hopkinson.

Meteorologist :

Recent Advances in

FRIDAY, Marcu 23.
Roya INSTITUTION, at 9.—Imperial Defence : Lord Roberts.

| PuysicaL Society (University College), at 5.—On Unilateral Electric

Conductivity over Damp Surfaces: Prof. F. T. Trouton, F.R.S.— The
Construction and Use of Oscillation Valves for Rectifying High Fre-
quency Electric Currents: Prof. J. A. Fleming, F.R.S.—(n_the Use of
the Cymometer for the Determination of Resonance Curves : G. B. Dyke.
INSTITUTION) OF CivIL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Waves: F. K. Stevens.
SATURDAY, Marcu 24.
Rovat INsTiTUTION, at 3.—Thbe Corpuscular Theory of Matter:
J. J. Thomson, F.R.S.

Prof.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

Text-Books on Plain and Reinforced Concrete
WV ork jee Peer oS ehee NY
Chemistry for Schools. By W.R.H.. 459

Certain Modern Views on Pathology. By Prof.

Wm. St. C. Syucts 460
Our Book Shelt :
Rohr: Die pabechen Instrumente”. . 461
Hart: ‘‘ Second Year Chemistry, a a Handbook for
Laboratory and Class Work.” —A. S. 461
Varigny : ‘‘La Nature et la Vie” 462
Letters to the Editor : —
A Plea for Absolute Motion.—Prof. Arthur
Schuster, F.R.S. . a ans 462
The Diffusion of Solids. —John H. Howell . . 464
Earth Tremors in India.—Prof. W. Galloway 464
Peculiar Ice Formation.—James Foulds . : 464
Cooperation between Scientific Libraries. Prof.
Grenville A. J. Cole... 464
Sounding Stones.—O. F. Wheeler Cuffe . 464
An Inquiry for Books.—G, Hammam : 464
A New County Bird-Book, (J//lustrvated.) By O. V.
Aplin. . 3 - = 465
The Adulteration of Butter. By C. Simmonds 466
A Remarkable Discovery in Egypt Brot cule 2). 468
Notes. (With Diagram.) . pias ee 468
Our Astronomical Column :—
Conic esa ee ee
Comet 19064... nai
Remarkable Variation i in the Spectrum of ¢ Bostis 474
A Brilliant Fireball Ane Mrrcohs ’ 474
Observations of Phcebe during 1905 . Reccsoerce of Zi
The Leeds Astronomical Society . . LC 474
New Magazines of Biological Chemistry rere, 5 5:
Forestry in the United States. (/l/ustrated.) .. . 475
Forthcoming Books of Science . . 2 3) 5
University and Educational Intelligence. . oy 2 ea
Societies’and/Atcademies) 7 . = 2 4.4 = se Gee
Diary, of Societies)s:., =, «4; i,\r sy one alt

NERO TE

481

THURSDAY, MARCH 22,

THE BANTU SPEECH OF SOUTHERNMOST
AFRICA.

A Grammar of the Kafir Language. By J. McLaren,
M.A. Pp. xiv+240. (London: poo Green
and Co., 1906.) Price 5s.

FAIR-MINDED critic would start a review of
this work by a general verdict of praise for its

compactness and usefulness. It is an excellent gram-
mar of the Kosa! language of that southernmost
group of Bantu-speaking negroes known unfortun-
ately by the most inappropriate term, the Arab word
Kafir, or ‘‘ Unbeliever.”’ The group of Bantu peoples
who inhabit the coastlands of the southern extremity
of Africa, between the Transkei River in Cape Colony
and Inhambane in the Portuguese Province of Mogam-
bique, had better be styled generically ‘‘ Zulu ”’ rather
than ‘* Kafir ” or ‘‘ Kafir-Zulu.”’

The name Kafir (which, if it is still to be used, had
better be spelt as in Arabic with the single “‘f’’) is
derived from the Dutch Caffer and the Portuguese
Cafre, and these again from the language of the
Swahili Arabs whom the Portuguese encountered as
the masters and traders of South-eastern Africa in the
beginning of the sixteenth century. These Arabs, who
radiated from Zanzibar northwards and southwards,
called all the negroes south of the Zambezi delta
“ Kafir’? in the singular and ‘‘ Kufar ’’ in the plural,
and by this name they spoke of them to the Portu-
guese, who at first made use of the Zanzibar Arabs
as pilots and guides along the eastern coast of Africa.
The Cape Dutch borrowed the term from the Portu-
guese, and so passed it on to the English.

The great Zulu race ‘at the present day is divided
into three main branches so far as language or dialect
is concerned—the Ronga or Tonga section of South-

east Africa (including the Abagaza), between Ama-.

tongaland and Sofala; the Zulus of Zululand, with
their outlying colonies and offshoots in Swaziland,
Matabeleland, and across the Zambezi (through British
Central Africa to German East Africa); and the Kosa
Kafirs of Western Natal, Pondoland, and the Transkei
territories of Cape Colony. The difference between
the Zulu and Kosa dialects is much less than between
Zulu and Shi-ronga. Naturally, the Zulu speech that
has been dropped down here and there in little colonies
in East-Central Africa north of the Zambezi is already
departing widely from the Zulu in Zululand, owing to
intermarriage with local races.

The original place of origin in Central Africa of
the Zulu-Kafir peoples and dialects is still an unsolved
mystery; their nearest relations at the present day in
vocabulary and grammar (though not in phonology)
are the great Basuto group of Central South Africa
and the Damara (Ova-herero) of South-west Africa.
There is not that marked relationship with the exist-
ing tongues in Central Zambezia which one would ex-
pect to find, though, of course, as these are equally
“Bantu ”’ in form and construction they offer a good

1 It is more convenient to write this word, which begins with a lateral
click [=//osa], witha K. It is usually spelt Kosa i in South Africa.

NO. 1899, VOL. 73]

deal of resemblance to Zulu, but not more so than is
shown by the other Bantu languages of East Africa.
Here and there in the dialects of Lake Nyasa and
even of the tongues of inner East Africa there are
hints of resemblances to the Zulu group in vocabu-
lary. At the same time, many of the peculiar features
in vocabulary and grammar of the Zulu language
and its kindred dialects are only to be met with else-
where in the Se-suto forms of speech, and perhaps
in the Ochi-herero. The Zulu-Kafir language group
offers some archaic features in the form of its prefixes
and of certain word-roots. But it is not the ‘‘ Sanskrit
of the Bantu,”’ nor nearly so archaic as the languages
round Tanganyika and the Victoria Nyanza.

One of the most marked peculiarities of Zulu and
Kosa Kafir is the possession of three ‘‘ clicks.’? The
Shi-ronga dialects of South-east Africa, though closely
related to Zulu in vocabulary and grammatical struc-
ture, do not possess these clicks, and no trace of them
is met with in Se-suto or Ochi-herero, or indeed in any
other Bantu language. The general assumption is
that the clicks have been borrowed from the Hotten-
tots, and, of course, in the case of the Kosa Kafirs
this is conceivable, as for centuries they have bordered
on the Hottentot domain. Yet it is rather extraor-
dinary that the Basuto peoples, who in history certainly
preceded the Kafir-Zulu in the invasion of South
Africa, and who, as may be seen by their physical ap-
pearance, have anciently inter-bred with the Hotten-

‘tots, should not have borrowed any click from Hotten-

tot or Bushman. Likewise the Ova-herero and their
allies have been in close contact with Hottentot peoples
in South-west Africa without catching the infection
of the click. Miss A. Werner, one of the few serious
students in Great Britain of Bantu languages, has
written several articles on this subject, without, how-
ever, arriving at a definite conclusion as to whether
the Zulu-Kafir clicks are borrowed from Hottentots or
are independent developments of the language, re-
cently acquired in situ. The author of the work under
review seems to suggest that the three Zulu-Kafir
clicks may be explosive pronunciations of the gutturals.
If so, they might have developed separately without
Hottentot influence.

It is a pity in the work before us that the author
has not had the courage to quit South African pro-
vincialism and aim at bringing his grammar into ac-
cord with the approved classification of the Bantu
languages, and a system of spelling, such as that of
Lepsius, which is both scientific and logical. A strong
man should come forward, and, by his influence,
compel all philologists, the whole world over, to adopt
the Lepsius alphabet (with two or three trifling
changes) as the standard which all persons must adopt
in transcribing the languages of the world not already
and anciently expressed in Roman letters; nay, more,
it is to be hoped one day that all the civilised tongues
of the world—English, French, German, Russian,
Greek, Arabic, and every other speech with a litera-
ture—may be written down in one form of lettering
and according to one standard—perhaps the Lepsius—
of expressing sounds by letters.

Meantime, some uniformity of transliteration might

Y

482

NAT ORE

| Marcu 22, 1906

well be enforced in Africa. As it is, there is one
method adopted in the Western Congo, another in
South Africa, a third in East Africa, and a fourth in
West Africa and the Sudan. Mr. McLaren, in the
Kafir grammar under review, adopts the South African
standard; the three clicks which Lepsius expresses
by /, /, and // are rendered (as they have been for half
a century) by c, gq, and x.

Now throughout Eastern Africa, c or ch is used
to express the palatal consonantal combination of ts
which in South Africa and many West African mis-
sionary grammars is rendered by tsh; q is universally
used in North, North Central, and Western Africa
(besides by Lepsius) to transliterate the Arabic (y—
qof, a very explosive k, the old meaning of the Medi-
terranean gq. X is used by the Congo missionaries
(following the Portuguese) as an equivalent for the
English sh (s), and by others as a convenient form
of the Greek y to express the strong guttural kh
(Scotch and German ch). On the other hand, kh,
sh, and sh in transliterations into Roman letters of
Hindustani and Arabic names are intended to be pro-
nounced literally like an aspirated k, s, and zg. It is
therefore necessary for a logical orthography to adopt
c, g, and x for the purposes above mentioned, namely,
to represent the English ch, the Arabic ¢y and the
Greek y. Therefore it would be preferable to render
the South African clicks by other signs, such as those
proposed by Lepsius. i

For the practical purposes of those who wish to ac-
quire the Kafir language or arrive quickly at an
understanding of its main features, Mr. McLaren’s
grammar may be very highly commended.

H. H. JounstTon.

MINING LAW.

Mining Law of the British Empire. By Charles J.
Alford. Pp. xii+300. (London: Charles Griffin
and Co., Ltd., 1906.) Price 8s, 6d. net.

LTHOUGH admirable treatises on mining law

4 for the guidance of lawyers have been written

by Rogers, Walmesley, McSwinney, Bainbridge,

Cockburn, and numerous foreign authors, the field

has by no means been exhausted; and Mr. Alford’s

work forms a welcome addition to technical literature.

Written with conspicuous literary skill by a mining

engineer of wide experience, it gives a concise

summary of the various codes of mining law of the

British possessions throughout the world, with well

considered remarks on their characteristics. The

term mining law is taken by the author to mean the
enactments that regulate the acquisition and tenure
of mining rights. Mining regulations, which control
the methods of working mines, receive merely in-
cidental mention. In the case of Great Britain, it is
true, the Mines Regulation Acts are quoted at some
length as models; but even in this case no reference
is made to the Amendment Act of 1903 or to the
numerous special statutes, of which fourteen are
cited in Sir C. Le Neve Foster’s ‘‘ Ore and Stone

Mining,” that affect miners and workers in open pits

in this country. Indeed, Mr. Alford’s chapter on the

NO. 1899, VOL. 73]

mining law of Great Britain is the least striking in
the book. Mining in Great Britain is so largely a
matter of contract between lord and lessee, and so
largely concerned with non-metallic minerals, that
there is little scope for the comparative treatment of
the metal-mining rights and obligations that forms
so interesting a feature of the chapters dealing with
colonial laws.

The historical study of the inception of mining law
receives, as is to be expected in a book of a purely
practical character, only brief mention, and the author
has refrained from the temptation of citing the
ancient statutes set forth in that delightful old work
on mining law, the ‘ Fodine Regales’’ of Sir John
Pettus, Knight (1670). Originally, the author tells
us, the minerals of the country were worked by slaves
or serfs for the benefit of the lords of the soil; and
Mr. Alford would have added to the interest of his
note on the free miners had he mentioned the fact
that the last native-born Briton who was a slave in
Great Britain, died in the reign of Queen Victoria.
When the Queen ascended the throne, many men and
women were still living ‘who had in their youth
borne a legal bondage in the collieries of Scotland.
Such miners received wages, but were not allowed
to move away from their master’s estate. They were
bought and sold with the property; and although they
were freed from their servitude by an Act passed in
1799, the slave taint stuck to their occupation for
many years.

Mr. Alford divides his work into nineteen chapters,
dealing respectively with the principles of mining law,
and with the mining laws of Great Britain, British
India, Ceylon, Burma, the Malay Peninsula, British
North Borneo, Egypt (should not a word of explana-
tion have been given that Egypt is not a part of the
British Empire?), Cyprus, the Dominion of Canada,
British Guiana, the Gold Coast, Cape Colony, Natal,
the Orange River Colony, the Transvaal Colony,
Rhodesia, the Commonwealth of Australia, and New
Zealand. An analysis of the mining laws cited shows
a grouping of the principles of their construction into
two classes :—(1) that in which the State or a private
owner of mining property has the right to grant
concessions or leases; and (2) that in which any in-
dividual, under specified restrictions, has the right to
locate a certain limited area of ground or claim and
to work or to dispose of it. It is surprising to learn
that five-sixths of all the mining areas of the world
are worked under the former system of titles. The
concession system of large prospecting areas, followed
by mining leases of limited areas, of which the present
mining law of Egypt is an example, appears to be
the most advantageous system of opening up an un-
explored country.

As an authoritative statement of the conditions of
tenure of mining property under various laws, Mr.
Alford’s book cannot fail to prove of great value to
all connected with mining in the colonies. The work
is most carefully and accurately done. There are,
however, a few slight omissions; and in order to
make the survey of the mining law of the British
Empire complete, the author might with advantage

Makcu 22, 1906]

NATURE

483

add, when a new edition is called for, a few par-
ticulars ‘of the mining law of Newfoundland, the
oldest British colony, where copper and iron-ore
mining are actively carried on; of the West Indies,
where, in Trinidad and Barbados, asphalt mining is
of some importance; of British New Guinea, where
gold mines are worked; and of Nigeria, where some
tin ore is raised. Bennett H. Broucu.

ORGANIC CHEMISTRY APPLIED TO
PHYSIOLOGY.

Outlines of Physiological Chemistry. By Dr. S. P.
Beebe and Prof. B. H. Buxton. Pp. vii+195.
(New York: The Macmillan Co.; London: Mac-
millan and Co., Ltd., 1904.) Price 6s. 6d. net.

HE book deals chiefly with the theoretical side of
organic chemistry as applied to physiology. The

first chapter, of twenty-one pages, contains an account
of the following matters :—dissociation in solution,
nomenclature of acids, chemical equilibrium, catalysis,
colloids and crystalloids, colloidal solutions of metals,
aggregation, suspension and precipitation, oxidation

and reduction, osmotic pressure, calculations of a

formula, reasons why reactions take place, graphic

formule, and ultimate analysis.

It need scarcely be added that the space is entirely
inadequate to treat of such a heterogeneous collection
of chemical problems, even were it profitable to put
them in such juxtaposition. The student who has
made any study of general chemistry does not need the
chapter, and one who has not will scarcely be able to
grasp it in the condensed and jumbled form in which
it is here presented to him for the first time.

It would hence have been no loss if the book had
commenced with the elementary organic chemistry
of chapter ii., so as to leave all the space for this,
which is the proper introduction to the subject of the
book.

A description of the groups of organic compounds
most interesting to the physiological chemist is given
in chapters ii. to v., of the proteid molecule,
its component parts and disintegration products in
chapter vi., of enzymes in chapter vii., and an out-
line of the antitoxin theory, &c., under the title of
** Disease and Immunity,’’ forms chapter viii. and
concludes the volume.

This latter part of the book is on the whole well
and clearly written, but it might be made much, more
interesting by the authors breaking, even more fre-
quently than they do, their intention of saying nothing
about practical work. A description of organic com-
pounds and their relationships, without any statement
of what experiments the knowledge of these relation-
ships is based upon, forms only dry and unprofitable
reading. For example, it would be much better if
the reader were told how the purin bases, or hexone
bases, are separated, and would not have taken up a
vast amount of space. Without some such instruc-
tion, these bodies are only uninteresting names which
weary the reader.

The style of the authors is also such as may en-

chemist in the graphic formule which form the
organic chemist’s rosary. Thus at the opening of
chapter v. there occurs the statement, ‘‘ The chains
of C atoms have a tendency to curl over and join at
the two ends, forming in this way a closed chain.’
At another passage in the volume one reads of ‘ the
excretion of benzene rings.’? The account of the
chemistry of the proteid molecule is very clear and
well arranged, and this portion of the book may be
recommended to the physiological chemist interested
in the organic chemistry of proteids.
BENJAMIN Moore.

OUR BOOK SHELF.
Lectures on the Theory of Functions of Real
Variables. Vol. i. By J. Pierpont. Pp. Xii + 560.

(London and Boston: Ginn and Co., n.d.)

20s. net.
Tuts is emphatically a text-book, deductive in method
and Euclidean in arrangement; as such, it has the
defects of its qualities, but its merits are undeniable.
In this volume the author deals with the elementary
notions of rational and irrational number, point aggre-
gates, function, continuity, differentiation and inte-
gration. The subject last mentioned occupies pp.
333-500, so that conditions of integrability, change of
order of integration, upper and lower integrals, &c.,
receive a proper amount of attention. It should be
noted, too, that although it is confessedly incomplete,
the discussion of maxima and minima of functions of
two or more variables is satisfactory as far as it goes,
a most unusual circumstance as things are at present.
Perhaps the most valuable feature of novelty is that
the author occasionally criticises arguments once
thought sufficient, but now known to be fallacious,
illustrating by examples the way in which the de-
fective proofs break down. This is an excellent way
of making a student feel the necessity of mastering
the more refined methods of recent analysis. There
is one point in which the author has not quite done
justice to his authorities. After explaining Cantor’s
theory of irrational numbers, he gives a brief sketch
of Dedelkind’s method of partitions, but he does not
give this in its genuine form. The essence of a
partition is that it divides all rational numbers (with
the possible exception of one) into two classes, each
element of one class being less than each of the other.
After this definition it is proved that the aggregate
of partitions is continuous. Prof. Pierpont (p. 82)
defines a partition as dividing all real numbers into
two classes; this enables him to use Dedekind’s nota-
tion, when convenient, but it does not give a just
idea of Dedekind’s theory, and this is a pity. For
bibliographical details the reader is referred to the
““Encyclopadie der mathematischen Wissenschaften ”’;
this is all very well for those who have access to that
work, but in the interests of the student it would be
well to give a list of the most important original
sources. It ought to be said that in his preface the
author acknowledges his special obligation to Jordan,
Stolz, and Vallée-Poussin; at the same time it is
evident that he has made use of this and other
material in an independent way.

Sound and Rhythm. By W. Edmunds.

Price

Pp. xii+

96; and Box of Models of the Human Ear. (Lon-
don: Bailliére, Tindall and Cox, 1906.) Price
2s. 6d. net.

Tuis is an admirable little book. The elements of
physiological acoustics are described with remarkable

courage a too-realistic belief in the mind of the junior | lucidity and accuracy, and there is a wealth of illustra-

NO. 1899, VOL. 73]

484

NATURE

[Marcu 22, 1906

tion both in the text and in the diagrams. There

are chapters on the nature of sound, waves of sound, |

musical scales, organ pipes, ‘‘ time ’’ and movement,

the ear, and the voice. Nothing could be happier
than the exquisite drawings by Miss Martin Mohun
showing an ideal couple—a boy and girl—waltzing
and drawing sound curves on the seashore. Mr.
Lapidge’s diagrams are also excellent. To assist the
teacher six models, made by Mr. Lapidge, may be
obtained for the illustration of the book for one guinea.
These models show the structure of the middle ear
and the chain of bones. They are accurate in all
anatomical details. The box also contains a nightin-
gale pipe, which is in miniature an adjustable stopped
organ-pipe. Mr. Edmunds has succeeded in showing
how science may be made interesting to young people.
There is a constant appeal to observation and experi-
ment, and the whole subject is treated in such a way
as to promote the healthy development of the mental
faculties in early life. Joun G. McKeEnprick.

Historical and Modern Atlas of the British Empire,
specially prepared for Studenis. By C. Grant
Robertson and J. G, Bartholomew. Sixty-four
plates. (London: Methuen and Co., 1905.) Price
4s. 6d. net.

Philips’ Model Atlas. Fifty Maps and Diagrams in
Colour. (London: George Philip and Son, Ltd.
n.d.) Price 6d. net.

Tue first of these atlases is full of material de-
signed to show students and teachers how intimately
the studies of geography and history are related. The
excellently executed plates serve as graphic object-
lessons demonstrating the interdependence of cause
and effect, and are skilfully conceived with a view to
impress various important lessons pictorially. The
atlas may be commended to the careful attention of
both teachers of geography and history.

The sixpenny atlas of Messrs. Philip gives great
prominence to photographic relief maps of the

countries dealt with, and these plates will prove of —

great assistance in enabling young pupils to form
mental pictures of the distribution of highlands and
lowlands in the countries they are studying, thus
providing them with a means to understand the
direction of flow of rivers, the distribution of rain-
fall, and other important geographical features.

This wonderfully cheap atlas deserves to be used |

widely in junior classes.

Natural Science in Hygiene, or the Life-History of
the Non-Bacterial Parasites affecting Man. By Dr.
James Rodger Watson. Pp. vit+62. (Bristol:
John Wright and Co. ; London: Simpkin, Marshall,
Hamilton, Kent and Co., Ltd., 1905.) Price 1s. 6d.
net.

Ir is stated in the preface that this little book is in-
tended to place before the student of public health, in
a convenient and realistic way, the life-histories of
those members of the vegetable and animal kingdoms
which by their mode of life are of importance from a
public health point of view, and with which he is ex-
pected to make himself familiar.

If by “student of public health ’’ is meant the med-
ical man who is going to devote his life to public
health, the details given, though on the whole fairly
accurate and up to date, are far too meagre and in-
adequate to be of much service, but the diagrams of
life-cycles of the parasites discussed may serve to
impress the facts on the memory. The book seems
to be more suited to the requirements of the sanitary
or meat inspector or health visitor than of the student
of hygiene. R. T. Hew err.

NO. 1899, VOL. 73]|

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.«

[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions
expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake
to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected
manuscripts intended for this or any other part of NATURE.
No notice is taken of anonymous communications.]

A Plea for Absolute Motion.

Tue title of Prof. Schuster’s letter is somewhat wider
than its contents. The writer does not discuss whether the
term ‘‘ absolute motion ’’ is significant, but only whether,
assuming that the words have a definite meaning, the
absolute motion of any body can be determined by physical
inquiry. By implication he has himself answered the
question in the negative, for at the critical stage of his
discussion he introduces arguments which are not physical,
but philosophical.

Prof. Schuster asks, ‘‘ Does it require explanation that
all star groups have the same velocity vector imposed upon
them?’’ Certainly; it requires explanation no more and
no less than any other distribution of velocities. It is
highly desirable that the equations of the proper motions
of the stars should be established and their past history
traced until the physical circumstance that determined
those motions is discovered. But this circumstance need
not be a body at absolute rest. In the analogy which
Prof. Schuster gives, the inhabitant of a gaseous molecule
would be quite wrong if he decided that the rest of the
containing vessel was absolute. Accordingly, Prof. Schuster
has recourse to philosophical arguments. We have deter-
mined, he says, the velocity relative to a material body
which does not come within the range of our observations.
I should have thought that the mere fact that we had
determined a velocity relative to it proved that it had
come within the range of our observations; the deduction
from the motion of some of the stars of the existence of
dark satellites near them seems an analogous case; and
since, he continues, this conclusion is absurd, the body
must be replaced by something immaterial. Why is it less
absurd to determine a velocity relative to an unknown
immaterial than to an unknown material substance?
Finally, since the something is immaterial, it cannot be
in motion, and therefore it must be at absolute rest. The
term immaterial may have many meanings; but I should
have thought that an immateriality which precluded a
substance from being in motion also precluded it from
being at rest. A thought, for example, is incapable of
motion, but it is equally incapable of rest; any application
to it of the terms motion or rest is not true or false, but
simply meaningless.

It may also be pointed out that if the “‘ something at
rest’’ is immaterial, the analogy breaks down. The dis-
tribution of the velocities of molecules in a gas depends on
the collisions with the walls; but a star cannot collide
with an immaterial boundary.

Prof. Schuster says that the attempt to make all motion
relative to the ther is inconsistent. With all respect, I
do not think he sees the point. The reasons for our
preference of the Copernican to the Ptolemaic hypothesis
are two-fold. The first reason is that the equations of
motion of the solar system are simpler on the former
theory. The second reason is precisely that which made
the theologians object to the Copernican hypothesis; it
points out that it is the sun, and not the earth, which
holds a unique place in the solar system; this is a question
of scientific taste. There are the same reasons for referring
all motions to axes fixed in the zther—if we could deter-
mine them. Firstly, an attempt is being made to reduce
all laws to electrodynamic laws, and these are simplest on
the basis of a fixed zether. Secondly, the ether holds such
a unique place in the physical universe that it is desirable
to direct attention to the fact. The question of the
‘‘absolute motion of the «ther ’’—if any—cannot come
within the range of physical discussion any more than the
“‘ absolute motion of the sun’’ can come within the range
of any discussion based on the properties of the solar
system.

I should like to add a few remarks on the subject of
“ absolute rotation.’’ ‘‘ Rotation,’ it seems to me, like

Marcu 22, 1906]

NATURE

485

“ 5)

“expansion ’’ or ‘‘ shear,’’ is not the name of a distinct
kind of motion—it is only a term introduced to abbreviate
the discussion of a particular and important case of the
relative translation of the particles of a body. Direct
kinematical statements can only be made concerning
particles of infinitesimal volume; such particles can only
have translation, they cannot rotate. When bodies of
finite volume are considered, they are analysed into particles
the motions of which are then investigated. If there is
no relative translation between the particles the motion
is said to be pure translation; if there is relative transla-
tion the motion is said to be partly, or wholly, rotational.
It is the characteristic of rotation that two particles
situated on a straight line through the ‘‘ axis of rotation ”
possess a relative acceleration along that line, and it is
by the existence of these accelerations that absolute rota-
tion is detected. If we can find a line such that any two
particles situated on a line intersecting it are subject to
relative accelerations along the latter, the body is said to
rotate. It would be impossible for any observer on a rigid
body to detect its rotation, for the relative accelerations
of its particles could not be observed. If Foucault’s
pendulum were rigidly attached to the earth, or if the
water in Newton’s bucket were frozen, no observers on the
earth or the bucket having cognisance of these bodies only
could detect the ‘‘ absolute rotation.’’ In fact, the absolute
rotation of bodies of finite volume is only a special case of
the relative translation of particles.
Norman R. CamMpBELt.
Trinity College, Cambridge, March 18.

Interpretation of Meteorological Records.

THE series of curves given by Messrs. Lander and Smith’s
instruments, and published in Nature of March 15, are
most interesting, and one cannot help looking for the cause
of the close relation between the movements of all the five
instruments. It is with the view of offering an explan-
ation of the sympathy between these instruments that
the following lines are written. If I might venture to
suggest a first cause of these movements, I would say it
was the thunderstorm that drew the trigger which started
all of them. The. thunderstorm gave rise to a heavy
fall of rain—a quarter of an inch in a few minutes—
and this rainfall appears to have been the cause of the
movement of all the instruments, and instead of being
placed last in the series should have been put first. The
effect of a heavy local fall of rain is to cause a down rush
of air, the air being dragged downwards by the falling
rain. This downward moving mass of air checks the
wind, because its movement is at right-angles to the wind,
hence the drop in the wind-velocity curve. The wind not
being able to pursue its course gets deflected—in this case
the curve shows it was to the north-west. The down rush
of air where it meets the surface of the earth has its
velocity reduced and direction of movement changed ; its
pressure is therefore increased, and the barograph shows
that the pressure increased by the tenth of an inch. The
downward rush of air would bring the air from the upper
strata to the surface of the earth, and as this upper air
would be in all probability the colder, it would cause a
fall in the temperature, which the thermograph shows
amounted to twelve degrees.

On one occasion I had an opportunity of seeing this
downward movement of air produced by local rain. It
was while making some meteorological observations on
the top of the Eiffel Tower, in Paris. At first the weather
was fine, and the dust-counter showed that the impure
city air came to that height in great quantities. After a
time a heavy shower came on which reduced the number
of particles in the air, and at last the air became as free
from dust as any air I have ever tested on the mountain
tops of Switzerland. This increase in purity could only be
due to the rain dragging down the upper purer air to the
level of the top of the tower, as rain cannot wash the air
to anything like that purity.

If the time scale of the curves in the instruments had
been a good deal wider, and all the clocks going together,
one could have found out whether the above explanation

NO. 1899, VOL. 73]

was correct or not, as we would expect the rainfall curve to
begin first and all the others to follow, but from the close-
ness of the time scale of the curves no satisfactory in-
formation on this point can be obtained.

Ardenlea, Falkirk, N.B. Joun AITKEN.

Agricultural Education and Colonial Development.

IN your issue of January 11 reference is made to the
requirement which has recently arisen for specialists in
agriculture and the allied sciences for employment in the
British colonies and dependencies. The case, so far as
India is concerned, may be stated very briefly. The
Government is willing to spend money in the development
of agricultural education and research, but the efficient
recruitment of the department—or, more properly, depart-
ments, for there are eight local governments in India and
Burma, each of which will have its own separate agri-
cultural department—is not an easy matter. The educated
native of India has not hitherto devoted the interest to
the study of agriculture that he has to law and medicine,
and men qualified to give instruction or conduct investi-
gations in relation to this national industry are not to be
found in the country. It is quite unnecessary to raise the
question as to whether they will be obtainable in the
future. This is one of the great desires of the Indian
Government. In the meantime, however, men qualified to
fill the offices above indicated are required, and a search
has to be made elsewhere. In this respect, then, India
appears to be drawing upon the same market as other
countries.

In my view, the description of man that is required is
one possessing a thorough knowledge of principles. The
conditions of tropical agriculture are so very different from
those of the British Isles that it is highly desirable for the
Britisher to commence work in other continents with as
open a mind as possible. I am not thinking so much of
the agriculturist as of the botanist, entomologist, or
chemist. Just as the chemist who has made himself master
of pure chemistry makes eventually the best technical
chemist, and finds it, indeed, easier to apply himself to
any special technology than the so-called technical chemist,
so, likewise, for agriculture in foreign countries, the men
who will be most useful in the future will be those who
have obtained a thorough knowledge of their particular
science at college without any special reference to British
agriculture. J. WatteR LEATHER.

Agricultural Research Institute, Pusa, Bengal,

February 28.

Peculiar Ice Formation.

In reply to Mr. James Foulds’s inquiry in Nature
(March 15, p. 464) whether the prismatic forms of ice such
as he has recently observed in Lancashire have been
observed elsewhere, it may suffice to refer him to previous
volumes of Nature, more particularly to vols. xxxi. and
xlvii., for letters from Messrs. Woodd-Smyth and McGee,
also from myself. In the latter volume is an account by
me of a more extended series of observations on these
“crystallites ’’ than previous observers appear to have
made. Friability of soils is due to interstitial water.

Bishop’s Stortford, March 16. A. IRVING.

I OBSERVED the same formation as that described by Mr.
Foulds (p. 464) on bare soil, previously soaked with water,
near Champéry, in Switzerland, as winter frosts began;
and I believe that I have observed it everywhere as a
common phenomenon.

I take it that the wet surface is first frozen, and that, as
the cold penetrates, the ice exudes from the soil much as
lanoline exudes from a lanoline tube, the water expanding
as it freezes, and so forcing its way out between the more
compact masses of soil, lifting the frozen surface-sheet.

The first touch of sun caused the structure to break up.

It struck me at the time that this was the cause of the
injurious effect of frost on the surface of roads considered
from the cyclist’s point of view. W. Larpen.

Devonport, March 16.

4186

NA TORE

| Marcit 22, 1906

OBSERVATIONS
SOLAR ECLIPSES OF
i the the moon’s shadow

the southern portion of the United States of
America, travelling from New Orleans, through
Georgia, South and North Carolina, and leaving this
continent at Cape Henry, in Chesapeake Bay. After
traversing the Atlantic Ocean the shadow crossed
Spain, and cut the African coast at Algiers.

The large strip of country in America over which
the shadow passed drew a great number of American
observers to this region, and in a volume which has
quite recently been published we have a detailed
account of the observations and photographs.

For the main part, this valuable addition to eclipse
literature deals with the observations made by the
Naval Observatory, which equipped two stations on
the central line, one in North Carolina and the other
in Georgia, the intention being to duplicate the work
in order to minimise the danger of unfavourable
weather. Since, however, a large number of other
parties with varied equipments was scattered along
the line of totality, the reports of several of these have
been included in a separate section of this volume.

The stations fixed upon by the Naval Observatory’s
parties were two in the State of Georgia, namely,
Barnesville and Griffin, and one in North Carolina,
Pinehurst being the location selected. The reason
why two stations were chosen in the former State was
because it was desirable to concentrate the spectro-
scopic attack on the chromosphere near the end of
the shadow track, Griffin being the region where the
lower strata of the sun’s atmosphere during totality
were exposed longer to view. Griffin was twenty
miles distant from Barnesville. Prof. Updegraff was
placed in charge of the Georgia stations, while Prof.
Skinner superintended the work at Pinehurst.

Fortunately the weather was very favourable at all
the stations, so that the results here brought together
are numerous and very complete. First, as regards
the instrumental equipment at each of the stations.
Space does not permit reference to the instruments
in anything like detail, but the reader will find in the
volume all the information clearly set out. The
general scope of the work undertaken will, neverthe-
less, be gathered from the following brief summary
concerning the chief instruments employed.

Barnesville-—This station was chiefly used
photographing the corona. The largest instrument
employed there was an object-glass of 4-inch aperture
and 4o-feet focal length, the tube being pointed directly
at the sun at eclipse time. The image formed was
.36 inches in diameter.

Another instrument consisted of a battery of cameras
mounted on a wooden polar axis 11 feet long and
moved by a clepsydra. The cameras erected on this
were as follows:—three lenses of 6-inch aperture
having focal lengths of 104, 80, and 33 inches; a
4-inch Dallmeyer lens of 17-inch focal length; and a
3.s-inch Dallmeyer of 9.5-inch focal length.

In addition, there were two 5-inch equatorials for
visual observations and a prism-spectrograph.

Griffin.—At this station the attack was made from
the spectroscopic point of view. Here were located
a to-feet concave Rowland grating worked in con-
junction with a 3-5-inch quartz lens and a ccelostat;
the plates used were placed in curved backs, and the
first-order spectrum was employed. There was also
a large Rowland concave grating of 21-5-feet radius,
in connection with a quartz lens and
mounted after the method of Rowland.

OF THE
AND

swept across

TOTAL

1gol.!

AMERICAN

I900

year 1900

for

1C

also

but

worked
coelostat,

Publications of the U.S. Naval Observatory.’" Second Series. vol. vi,
ppendix i. By Rear-Admiral Colby M. Chester, U.S.N., Superintendent.
\ gton, 1905.)

NO. 1899, VOL 73]

| This was employed chiefly for the ultra-violet in the
second-order spectrum.

| Pinehurst.—Here was erected a 5-inch 4o-feet
| coronagraph pointed directly at the eclipsed sun.
Worked in connection with three independent ccelo-

| stats were:—a plane grating objective spectrograph
| with ruled surface 3.5 x5 inches (15,000 lines to an

inch); a concave (1o-feet) grating slit spectrograph
similar in ruling and size to the plane one; and a
4-inch prismatic camera with one flint glass prism
| of 60°.

| As at Barnesville, a large polar axis was here
erected to carry several cameras, and two Dallmeyer

Fic.

1.—The coronas of 1900 (upp2r) and rgot (lower) as photographed by

the U.S. Naval Observatory parties.
at top of each.)

(The ncrth point of the sun is

lenses of 38-inch focal length and a Voigtlander lens
were mounted on it. Three equatorials for visual
observations and a transit instrument completed the
equipment.

In the volume before us the results obtained with
each of the several instruments are individually dis-
cussed, and on the whole they have turned out very
satisfactory. Further, the volume is illustrated, not
only by a series of excellent reproductions from photo-
graphs of the camps and the instruments in situ, but
of the forms of the corona and the chromospheric

MakcH 22, 1906]

NATURE

487

spectrum. All these will be of great interest to other
observers of the same eclipse, as comparison of results
is of great importance in the interest of future eclipse
work.

It would lead one too far, and, indeed, it is not
necessary, to enter into the very complete treatment
here published of the various branches of work so
well brought together, but perhaps a word or two may
be mentioned with regard to some expectations that
were not so successfully realised as was hoped.

In the case of the 10-feet concave grating erected
at Griffin, the plates turned out to be very much
under-exposed. In explanation of this, Prof. Crew
not only summarises the possible causes of failure, but
adds some useful suggestions for use on future
occasions. In the case of the former he mentions
seven possible causes, the first being that the intensity
of radiation of the eclipsed sun was underestimated,
and consequently only the very brightest lines of the
chromospheric spectrum were recorded. The second
was that the effect of astigmatism in the curved
grating was underestimated.

the ultra-violet and of silver for light of longer wave-
lengths.’

With regard to the plane grating spectrograph
used at Pinehurst, Mr. Jewell states that the definition
of the lines was good from wave-length 3850 to 4100,
and ‘‘ remarkably fine near the H and K lines.’? The
definition between 3750 and 3850, and from 4100 to
4200, is described as “‘ fair,”? but “‘ very poor’’ at
wave-lengths less than 3700 and greater than 4200.
A complete and long table of wave-lengths of the
chromospheric lines measured is given in the report.

The coronal lines observed were six in number, the
mean wave-lengths of which were as follows :—
3382-4, 3453-3, 3644-0, 3801-8, 3987-5, and 5304-1.
The objective prism spectrograph at the same station
also secured chromospheric and coronal spectra, and
although a Jong list of the wave-lengths of the lines
is published, great weight cannot be given to their
accuracy, since the definition on the negative is de-
scribed as “‘poor over the whole spectrogram and par-
ticularly poor for the violet end.”’

Although no word has yet been said about other

Fic. 2.—The U.S. Naval Observatory Eclipse Station at Pinehurst, North Carolina,

A third reason was that an exposure of two plates
instead of one during totality was more than was
justified by the dispersion and slit width.

In Mr. Humphrey’s report relative to the 21.5-feet |
Rowland grating at Griffin, a very dissatisfied tone is |

pronounced with regard to the instrument’s efficiency.
He finally states :—‘‘ It does not seem probable, how-

ever, that a grating mounted according to the Row- |

land method and used with a slit can, even under the
most favourable circumstances, yield nearly as many
flash lines as may be obtained with a prism or a
concave grating used directly without lens or slit.
. .. It would be well in using a spectrograph of
this kind to avoid the chromatic aberration of lenses
entirely and to form the image on the slit by means
of suitable reflectors. It might also be best to use
silver reflectors and to avoid that part of the ultra-
violet of wave-length shorter than A 3600. Direct
grating or prism spectrographs should be used, if
possible without reflectors of any kind, but when a
reflector is used it should consist of magnalium for

NO. 1899, VOL 73]

The 4o-foot Coronagraph is on the left.

| branches of work taken up, the reader must be re-
ferred to the volume itself for the numerous reports
on them. We reproduce in Fig. 1 (upper part) a pic-
ture of the corona as photographed with the 4o-feet
camera at Barnesville, the exposure of which lasted
thirty-five seconds. It will be seen that it illustrates
well the ‘‘ wind-vane ”’ form typical at epochs of sun-
spot minimum. The lower part of this illustration
shows the corona of 1go1, taken also with the 4o-feet
instrument. Fig. 2 shows a general view of the
station selected at Pinehurst, the method of support-
ing the 4o-feet coronagraph, and the houses for the
| other instruments erected there.
The second portion of this important volume deals
| with the observations made during the solar eclipse
in Sumatra in May, rgot, the stations selected being
| Solok, Fort de Kock, and Sawah Loento. At the
first station clouds reigned supreme during totality,
but the chromosphere was photographed at third con-
tact through clouds. At the second station the
weather is described as ‘‘ perfect,’’ while the observers.

488

NATURE

[Marcu 22, 1906

at the third station only managed to obtain some
results at third contact, the weather being very un-
favourable.

At Fort de Kock, in addition to some beautiful
corona pictures (one of which is here reproduced
for comparison in Fig. 1) taken with the 4o-feet
coronagraph, used horizontally in this eclipse, photo-
graphs were secured with the 30-feet concave grating.
In the latter, films were used in consequence of the
sharp curve in the focal plane of the grating, but,
as the report says, ‘‘each film showed that, un-
fortunately, it had not been placed exactly in focus,
still the dispersion was so great that many of the lines
could be very easily identified.” A table is given
showing the results obtained from the measures of
these negatives, the spectrum covering A 3118-5 to
A 5204-7; intensities, character, and wave-lengths from
Rowland’s tables are also included.

At Sawah Loento the plane grating proved a
success, parallel rays falling on its surface and being
brought to a focus on the photographic plate by means
of a lens placed between the grating and the plate.
In spite of clouds, the negative taken at third contact
is said to have been fully exposed. The large dis-
persion employed and the definition obtained allowed
very accurate wave-lengths to be deduced, so that the
table of wave-lengths extending from A 3835-2 to
A 4957-8 will be very valuable to compare with those
made by other observers.

The discussion of these results is here carried to
some length, but space does not permit of any
extensive reference. It may, in the first place, be
said that both Mr. Jewell and Dr. S. A. Mitchell
record having observed the magnesium (A 4481) line
in the photograph of the chromospheric spectrum, and
both agree in the determination of the wave-length,
intensity, and length of arc. It is described as being
stronger in the chromospheric spectrum than in the
ordinary solar spectrum. The presence or absence of
this line in the chromospheric spectrum is a point of
such great importance that the observation above de-
scribed requires to be very carefully corroborated before
it can be finally accepted. It is, however, very difficult
to understand how the above identification of the
magnesium line with the chromospheric line has been
obtained, because in the list of wave-lengths here pub-
lished the evidence seems to point to a titanium origin.
Thus we find in this table that the wave-length of
the chromospheric line, as measured, is A 4481-4,
while the solar lines nearest this are, according to
Rowland, A 4481.298 (Mg) and A 4481.438 (Ti).
Further, has it been definitely established that the
solar line A 4481.298 is due to magnesium ?

It is also stated that it seems probable that the more
volatile gases of atmospheric air uncondensed at the
temperature of liquid hydrogen, together with
hydrogen, helium, neon, and argon, are present in
the chromosphere, but with regard to krypton and
xenon the evidence is not conclusive. These deduc-
tions also do not seem to be supported by sufficient
evidence, but will require further discussion before
they can be generally accepted.

Enough, perhaps, has been said to indicate to the
reader the importance to the study of solar physics
of the publication of such a volume as this. Here
we have all the data and discussions relative to two
eclipses brought together under one cover, rendering
a comparison of results a matter of little labour. One
blemish we may, however, remark, and that is that
the corona reproductions are not oriented in any way.

It may be still in the minds of our readers that, for
the observation of the recent eclipse of 190s,
Admiral Chester, Commander-in-Chief U.S. Eclipse
Squadron, was in command of four men-of-war told

NO. 1899, VOL. 73]

off for eclipse work in Algeria and Spain. Their
‘station bills,’’ showing the staff at each station and
the work to be accomplished, gave one a good idea
of the thoroughness with which the undertaking was
organised. We shall at any rate look forward to
another such volume as this, with, we hope, equally
successful results. Wittiam J. S. Lockyer.

AGRICULTURE AND THE EMPIRE.

N4?fURE for January 11 contains a short paper
i on a large subject. Seeing that the cultivation
of the soil, or agriculture, is the fundamental con-
dition of human existence with any approach to
civilisation, large is a very moderate description.

I take it that the object of the writer was to discuss
the part that the Home Country should play in
advancing agriculture in the Empire at large. That
is a matter which seems to me important enough to
receive a little discussion. It is one with which I
have been a good deal occupied during the past thirty
years. I should like, therefore, to attempt to define
the present position of the problem a little more
precisely.

May I begin with a very obvious remark? Agri-
culture is a sort of ‘“‘ noun of multitude.’’ There is
undoubtedly only one agricultural science based on
physiological principles; there are many agricultural
“arts”? based: on the application of that science,
whether empirical or otherwise, to widely different
physical conditions. The agriculture of the Lothians
differs widely from that of Bengal, and both differ
from that possible on the Gold Coast. This will
seem to many an absurdly trite remark. Neverthe-
less, experience shows that it represents a fact which
has often been overlooked, with loss and disappoint-
ment as the result.

It may, I think, be confidently stated that arable
cultivation has been brought in the British Isles to a
pitch of perfection which is not surpassed anywhere
in the world. It is, however, an ‘‘ intensive ’’ and
highly specialised agriculture. This is readily illus-
trated by the yield of wheat per acre. On land of
prairie value, where the nitrogen removed is balanced
by that received from the atmosphere, it has been
shown at Rothamsted that the yield is roughly some
to bushels or less. This actually represents the state
of things in the great wheat-growing countries from
which we draw our supplies—Argentina, Australia,
India and Russia—and the United States with 13
bushels are not much better. The yield of the United
Kingdom for the five years preceding 1904 was 31
bushels, and this was only surpassed by that of our
antipodal colony New Zealand, 32. _ é

This is largely due to the scientific research in
agriculture for which, I think, it may be fairly
claimed this country has always been preeminent. I
by no means think that it is exhausted. JI remember
Sir John Lawes saying to me that, having devoted
half a century to the study of the soil actually culti-
vated, he was still absolutely ignorant as to the sub-
soil and the part played by it. Our knowledge of the
action of manures is mainly empirical, and we have
still to learn much of its physiological significance.
Without this it cannot be said that we possess a
rational theory of manuring. Farmers must have
wasted enormous sums in the application of nitro-
genous manures until Frankland showed that a con-
siderable proportion passed off unused in the drain-
water.

I must confess that I am not clear that the arable
agriculture of the United Kingdom is in a backward
condition, that it does not compare favourably with
that of other countries, or that it stands in urgent

Marcu 22, 1906]

NATURE

489

need of Government aid in regard to research. Its
theoretical ptinciples can be taught in our universi-
ties and schools; its practice can only be learnt on
the farm. While saying this I must also express
my conviction that the agricultural wealth of this
country might be increased in many ways. In my
evidence before the recent departmental committee
on fruit culture I expressed a strong opinion that the
condition of that industry was in no way creditable
to us.

At the moment, where, so to speak, the shoe pinches
is not above but below. There is no dearth of scien-
tific knowledge in the country, but it floats on the
surface and does not permeate. The scientific and
even practical ignorance of the small cultivator is
profound. The Board of Agriculture and Fisheries
has tried to grapple with this by the wholesale dis-
tribution of carefully prepared leaflets. But such a
method of disseminating knowledge is of almost
heart-breaking difficulty. I have had prepared at
Kew a series of diagrams illustrating the diseases of
trees, suitable for schools. The Daily Graphic was
good enough to say that :—‘‘ This publication is equal
to the very best of those ever sent out by the United
States Department of Agriculture.’’ Yet the sale has
been disappointing, and the Board of Agriculture and
Fisheries does not see its way in consequence to
proceed with the further and still more needed series
dealing with the diseases of fruit trees. The crying
need, in my judgment, at the moment is the intro-
duction of intelligent cultural instruction into rural
elementary schools.

If we turn to India we have to face a difficult
problem. The revenue is dependent on the land, and
this in turn has to support a constantly increasing
population. It has been supposed that this might
be met by the use of British methods. But how?
Sir James Caird, who was sent out to study the
problem on the spot, reported that if the produce of
the land could be increased by 1 bushel per acre, all
would be well. No doubt; but how is this intensive
cultivation to be accomplished? Long cultivation has
brought the land down to a condition of nitrogen-
equilibrium. Dung is used as fuel, and the cultivator
is too poor to import artificial manures.

In 1g00 I attended a conference at the India Office
on the qualifications of an Inspector-General of Agri-
culture. The report of the proceedings is printed in
the Blue-book of the Botanical Work Committee
(pp. 77-78). I stated then, and the statement met
with general assent, ‘‘ It would be the greatest mis-
take to substitute for Indian agricultural practices
western methods, merely because they had succeeded
in the west. . . . The problem in India was how best
to graft the results of scientific agricultural knowledge
on to the stock (the really valuable stock) of Indian
agricultural practice and experience.”’

India has long had experimental farms in plenty.
They have not been without their usefulness. But
they have lacked permanence and a guiding principle.
It now owes in great measure to the munificence of
an American gentleman an agricultural research
institute at Pusa. It is further, I believe, intended to
establish a number of subordinate stations at a cost
of 250,0001. If these are to be staffed from home
forthwith, the result will be very much what the
Transvaal Director of Agriculture points out. The
Government of India should at once make up its
mind what appointments it proposes ultimately to
make, and inform the universities at home five
years in advance. Students at the universities cannot
be expected to engage in agricultural or allied studies
yee they see clearly what is to come of it at the
end.

NO. 1899, VOL. 73]

Let me turn now to the problem presented by the
West Indies and other of our tropical possessions.
Sir Daniel Morris is quoted as saying in regard to
the former :—‘‘ Agricultural education is at the root
of the successful development of these Colonies.”
This is perfectly true, only I rather doubt whether the
writer of the article quite understood the reason. In
temperate countries agriculture is a necessity of exist-
ence; in many tropical countries it is not. The waste-
ful production of a few ground provisions calls for the
minimum of effort, and is sufficient to sustain indo-
lence. But with the introduction of orderly govern-
ment a revenue becomes necessary. Sir Charles
Bruce has laid it down that ‘‘ in the Crown Colonies
generally . . . the only taxable fund is the wage
fund supplied by the annual proceeds of the cultivation
of the land”’ (Proc. Colonial Institute, vol. xxxvi.,
p. 248). To induce the negro to engage in profitable
cultivation instead of contenting himself with a bare
modicum of ground provisions provides a source of
revenue, raises his standard of comfort, and makes
for his moral progress. But he has to be taught by
example how to do it, and this is the agricultural
education which Sir Daniel Morris had in his mind.
It is widely different from anything of the kind in
this country.

In point of fact, tropical agriculture has little re-
lation to that of temperate countries. Its methods are
those of horticulture; it is essentially extended garden-
ing. For the supply of men for this purpose our
agricultural colleges would be of little or no use. The
problem has had to be met in a wholly different way.
The machinery for the purpose is compendiously de-
scribed in the following extract from the Colonial
Office List (p. xx.) :—‘‘‘ Botanic Stations’... are
small and inexpensive gardens, devised in 1885, in
order to afford practical instruction in the cultivation
of tropical crops, and were intended to develop the
agricultural resources at first of the smaller West
Indian Islands, and subsequently (1887) of British
possessions in Tropical Africa. Each is in charge
of a Curator, who is a gardener trained at Kew.”

The sort of success that has attended the system
may be illustrated by a single example. Cacao was
introduced to the Gold Coast from Kew. In r8gr the
export was valued at 41. In 1900 I was able to exhibit
at the Paris Exhibition from the botanic station the
first sample, to the best of my belief, grown on the
African continent, when it received a bronze medal.
In 1904 the export had risen to a value of more than
200,0001. In effect, cacao is exchanged for imported
goods; besides thus adding to the comfort of the
cultivators, it enables them to pay the taxes necessary
to maintain peaceful government.

For work of this kind the Empire has to depend
on Kew, which is organised for the purpose as an
advanced horticultural school. At the present moment
some seventy Kew men are in official employment
and carrying on the work I have described in our
various tropical colonies and possessions.

But besides native peasant cultures British capital
and enterprise are also largely embarked in the
tropical regions of the Empire in ‘“‘ planting indus-
tries.’? These meet with difficulties which the local
Government can and does supply skilled aid to
mitigate. Most of the West Indian colonies have a
“ Government analyst.’? Cambridge has secured the
traditional right to train and supply these. In-
cidentally they are able to give important aid in deal-
ing with agricultural problems. The value of the
work done by Prof. Harrison in British Guiana and
Prof. d’Albuquerque in Barbados can hardly be over-
estimated.

Ceylon possesses an almost unique staff of trained

490

NA TORE

[ Marcu 22, 1906

experts of every kind at Peradeniya, and a similar
organisation is in process of establishment in the
Federated Malay States. The rubber industry of the
Straits Settlements owes its success to the Director
of Public Gardens at Singapore. Besides Pusa, India
has experienced botanical experts, all university men,
at Calcutta, Madras, and Saharunpore.

Our self-governing colonies know pretty well how
to take care of themselves. All possess agricultural
departments and produce journals which will compare
more than favourably with anything at home. In
Canada the Central Experimental Farm at Ottawa
is certainly not eclipsed by any institution in the
United States. I may be pardoned a little vanity if
I remark that when the Transvaal Government
applied to Washington for an agrostologist it received
a Kew man. ;

To sum up. What the Home Country can supply
to the Empire is :—(1) cultural instructors such as are
trained for the purpose at Kew; (2) men with a
sound scientific training and a firm grasp of the prin-
ciples underlying agricultural practice of whatever
kind, and for these we must look to the universities.
Men who are merely familiar with British agricultural
‘conditions will be mostly of little use unless they
possess the flexibility of mind which will apply theory
to new and unfamiliar conditions. /

W. T. Tutsetton-Dyer.

NOTES.

THE position of the South Africa medal fund for the
endowment of a medal and scholarship or studentship in
commemoration of the visit of the British Association to
South Africa in 1905 is stated in a circular just issued by
Prof. J. Perry, honorary treasurer to the fund. The sub-
scriptions promised or paid amounted to 752I.; and to this
the council of the British Association has resolved to add
the unexpended balance of the special South African fund,
amounting to about Sool. The following report of the
executive committee was adopted at a meeting of sub-
scribers on March 2, and approved by the council of the
British Association :—(a) That the fund be devoted to the
preparation of a die for a medal to be struck in bronze,
23 inches in diameter, and that the balance be invested and
the annual income held in trust; (b) that the medal and
income of the fund be awarded by the South African
Association for the Advancement of Science for achieve-
ment and promise in scientific research in South Africa;
(c) that, so far as circumstances admit, the award be made
annually. It is to be hoped that a fund raised for so excel-
lent a project will receive a substantial increase from
members of the association who have not already con-
tributed to it, or from subscribers who may wish to add to
their subscriptions.

Tue terrible mine explosion at Courriéres, in the Pas de
‘Calais, on the morning of March tro, involving the loss
of about 1200 lives, has naturally led to all sorts of con-
jectures as to the immediate cause. As usual, atmospheric
conditions are said to have played a not unimportant part
in bringing about the tragedy. In some mysterious way
the very low barometric pressure over the North Sea on
March 12, two days later, is supposed to explain the
disaster. If, however, attention is concentrated on the
atmospheric conditions prevailing at the time of the acci-
dent, it will be found that they resembled those which
have accompanied the majority of the great disasters of
the past fifty The Bulletin météorologique de
France shows that during the night of March 9 a well

NO. 189g. VOL. 73]

years.

marked anticyclone extended from Spain in a north-easterly
direction across France and the Netherlands, so that at
7 a.m. on March 10, when the calamity occurred, the
barometer over the Lens district had risen to 765 mm.
(30-1 inches); it had, in fact, mounted nearly a quarter
of an inch in the course of the night. Obviously, if atmo-
spheric pressure played any part in bringing about the
catastrophe, the latter cannot in any way be associated
with a low and falling barometer.

Tue death of Mr. William Sowerby, for many years
secretary of the Royal Botanic Society, Regent’s Park, ~
occurred at his residence in Hertfordshire on March 9. A
grandson of James Sowerby, the famous illustrator of
“English Botany’’ and of ‘‘ British Conchology,’’ and
son of James de Carle Sowerby, another gifted naturalist,
Mr. W. Sowerby inherited the family taste for natural
history. He was responsible for the drawing of some
botanical plates, but early in life he became associated
with the Royal Botanic Society through his father, who
was a founder and the first secretary, and in Regent’s
Park he worked for half a century. An observation which
brought his name prominently before the public was the
discovery of a medusa in the Victoria Regia tank, this
being the first record of a medusa in fresh water, not to
say in a most unexpected locality. He keenly
interested in economic plants, and not only did he bring
together a unique collection, but he obtained fruit and
fibre, the latter being distributed on several occasions to
men for trial. Among his successful experi-

the cultivation of the white mangrove,
Ayicennia, that flourished and produced aérial roots in
artificial brackish water; he also demonstrated that sea-
weeds could be grown in tanks in the greenhouses.

Was

commercial
ments was

Ir is reported from Tokio that a severe earthquake has
occurred at Kagi, in Formosa. Many hundreds of persons
have been killed and injured, and a large number of build-
ings have been destroyed.

A Reuter message from New York states that, accord-
ing to advices from Honolulu, a volcano in Savaii Island
(Samoa) is in eruption on a large scale. Three villages
have been completely destroyed, including Maleda. The
lava stream is three-quarters of a mile wide, and is flowing
into the sea.

Dr. H. C. Bastian, F.R.S., gave a demonstration, with
the aid of lantern slides, “‘ On some Heterogenetic Pro-
cesses,’’ on March 15 at the rooms of the Medical Society.
Various micro-organisms were exhibited with the view of
meeting the objections that have been raised to Dr.
Bastian’s interpretations of the transformations observed.
An account of Dr. Bastian’s remarks is given in the Lancet
for March 17.

Tue secretary of the Decimal Association informs us
that he has within the past few days received fifty-three
promises of support from newly elected members of Parlia-
ment. In the last parliament there were 330 members
pledged to support the adoption of the metric weights and
measures in this country, and at the present time 253 votes
can be relied upon in the House of Commons. Additional
assents are being received day by day, and it is probable
that when the canvass now proceeding has been completed
there will be as many supporters in the present parliament
as there were in the last.

Tne report of the late Dr. S. P. Langley, secretary of
the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, for the year
ending June 30, 1905, shows that much valuable scientific

Marcu 22, 1906]

NATURE

491

work is accomplished year by year as a result of the grants
made by the institution from the Hodgkins fund adminis-
tered by it. One such piece of research is that in connec-
tion with speech or phonetics, by Dr. E. W. Scripture,
who has secured individual gramophone voice records of
much historical interest. A voice record of the German
Emperor was transmitted by Dr. Scripture in January,
1905, for preservation in the United States National
Museum. This record gives, in about words, the
Emperor’s conception of the aims and beauty of true man-
hood and of man’s duty to his fellow. It is stated that at
present only one other record of the Emperor’s voice exists,
namely, one made at the same time for preservation in the
library of Harvard University. Among other important
researches aided by the Hodgkins fund may be mentioned
the investigations of the upper air currents by means of
kites by Dr. A. L. Rotch, of Blue Hill Meteorological
Observatory ; the experiments conducted by Mr. Alexander
Larsen, of Chicago, in connection with the photography of
lightning flashes and the fluorescence of minerals; the
serial instantaneous photographic study of the flight organs
of animals, by Dr. von Lendenfeld; and Prof. W. P.
Bradley’s experimental investigation of the expansion of
air through a nozzle.

200

THe amphipod crustaceans of Catherine Bay, Murman
coast, form the subject of an illustrated paper by Mr.
E. van der Briiggen published in the last issue of Trudut
of the St. Petersburg Academy for 1905.

A paPER on Californian reptiles, by Dr. S. E. Meek, just
issued by the Field Columbian Museum, contains descrip-
tions, with figures, of two species of rattlesnake regarded
as new, as well as notes on a number of other snakes and
lizards.

We have received from the Field Columbian Museum
at Chicago a copy of a “ Check-list of Mammals of the
North American Continent, the West Indies, and the
Neighbouring Seas,’’ compiled by Dr. D. G. Elliot, and
issued by the museum. This bulky volume purports to
include the names of all species of mammals inhabiting
America as far south as Colombia that have been described
up to the date of publication. It is, in fact, supplementary
to the author’s two previous synopses of American
mammals.

“Tue Ideal Thoroughbred Stud’’ forms the subject of
No. 8 of Rural Studies Series, this being the title of a
lecture by the Rev. E. A. Woodruffe-Peacock, the well
known specialist on soils and grass-lands. With a full
knowledge of most large English stud-farms, the author
expresses his opinion that there is not one which has not
at least some deficiency; and after pointing out the lines
on which an ideal stud should be formed, he observes that
“the birthplace of a long and steady series of race-winners
cannot be a matter of mere chance.’’

Tue March number of the Naturalist contains an attrac-
tive coloured plate representing a pair of bearded tits in
their native marsh. The contents include Mr. G. W.
Lamplugh’s presidential address to the Northern
Naturalists’ Union at Bradford on January 27, having for
its subject the necessity for the amateur spirit in scientific
work. Attention is directed not only to the valuable work
accomplished by amateurs in the past, but also to the
many fields in which their assistance is of the utmost
importance at the present day. As an instance, the official
geologist cannot possibly devote long periods of time to
particular sections or pits, whereas an amateur living in the

NO. 1899, VOl. 73}

neighbourhood can easily do so, and thereby is not un-
frequently able to solve a problem which has been in-
explicable to his professional brother.

Tue programme of the July conference of the Museums
Association at Bristol is outlined in the February issue of
the Museums Journal. Among the articles is one by Mr.
H. Bolton on the future of museums, being the report of
a paper read at last year’s conference. The author urges
the advisability of a Government grant being paid annually
to provincial museums of first-class standing, in return for
which such institutions should be severally expected to
perform a certain amount of allotted work, and in all
instances to maintain a high standard of excellence.
Another address at the same meeting, by Mr. S. L. Mosley,
had for its subject museums and private collections, the
author pointing out how much good a private collector can
do by working for a museum, and how much harm when
seeking his own ends.

In the opening article in the February number of the
American Naturalist Dr. H. Ayers, taking for his text
‘““the unity of the gnathostome type,” urges that there is
neither anatomical nor embryological ground for removing
amphioxus from the vertebrate class, and that we may
class this creature as the sole representative of the Acrania,
in contrast to the Craniata, which includes all the rest.
Not only so, but the discovery by the author of rudimentary
jaw-structures in the lampreys renders the division of the
Craniata into Cyclostomata and Gnathostomata no longer
tenable. The Gnathostomata must comprise, therefore, the
Marsipobranchi as well as all the forms previously in-
cluded, so that all Craniata are Gnathostomes. The origin
of the craniofacial apparatus is thus to be sought in the
missing links between amphioxus and the Craniata. Old
age in brachiopods, by Dr. H. W. Shymer, and the habits
of the American spotted salamander, Necturus maculosus,
by Prof. A. C. Eycleshymer, form the subjects of the other
two articles in the same issue.

Science of February 16 contains a report of an address
delivered by Dr. C. H. Merriam, as vice-president and
chairman of the zoological section, at the New Orleans
meeting of the American Association for the Advancement
of Science, on the question whether mutation is a factor
in the evolution of the higher vertebrates. As the result
of a long practical acquaintance with American mammals,
Dr. Merriam is of opinion that there is no evidence of
origin by mutation (sudden marked variation) in this class,
but that everything points to variation by insensible degrees.
Here the author takes occasion to mention that among
mammals there is abundant evidence of the gradation of
one species or race into another, so much so that specific
or racial separation of specimens is often difficult. While
admitting that in rare instances species of plants may
arise by the perpetuation of ‘‘ sports,”’ Dr. Merriam states
his contention to be that ‘‘ the overwhelming majority of

‘plants, and so far as known, all animals, originate in the

generally recognised way, by the gradual development of
minute variations.”’

Ir is encouraging to notice the growing appreciation on
the part of Government departments and colonial adminis-
trators of the benefits to be derived from the application
of scientific methods under expert guidance to pearl and
other fishery industries. In the proposal to lease the pearl
fisheries to a company for a period of twenty years recently
laid by the Governor of Ceylon, Sir Henry Blake, before
his Legislative Council, it was expressly stipulated ** that

NATURE

[ MARCH 22, 1906

a sum of not less than Rs. 50,000 be expended annually
on the scientific development of the banks.’’ The Torres
Straits pearl-shell fisheries, it seems likely, will also be
put under scientific control and cultivation. In a report
by Mr. W. Saville-Kent to the Queensland Government
(1905) it is shown that the pearling industry to the north
of Australia is in a depressed condition due to over-deple-
tion of the natural shell-beds, so that they can no longer
be worked at a profit. Mere closure of the beds against
fishing is regarded as an inadequate measure, since the
remaining molluscs are too few and too scattered to ensure
sufficiently rapid propagation to re-populate the ground in a
reasonable time. Mr. Saville-Kent recalls what is known of
the breeding habits of the animals, and of their suitability
for transplantation, and recommends the establishment of at
least six ‘‘ Government pearl-shell breeding reserves ”’
at what seem to be suitable spots in the Torres Straits
area. At each reserve about 1000 adult pearl oysters will
be kept for breeding purposes enclosed in frames of wire-
netting, and Mr. Saville-Kent is of opinion that ‘* within
a period of three or four years... the adjacent waters
within many miles from these breeding centres should be
restocked with young shell to such an extent as to permit
of profitable fishing.’’ He also recommends the establish-
ment of an experimental cultivation laboratory on the
small islet of Wai Weer at Thursday Island, and suggests,
further, that a consignment of the Ceylon pearl oyster
should be laid down on the Torres Straits ground. It is
evident that a good deal in the way of scientific cultivation
could also be done by collecting the spat and by cultching
the ground, and that regulations may be required in regard
to public and private fishing on the beds, and the proper
treatment of the stock in the Government reserves. The
adoption, before it is too late, of such scientific methods is
probably the only way of restoring a depleted pearl-shell
industry.

THE progress of Indian agriculture has hitherto been
recorded in such publications as the Agricultural Ledger
issued by the Reporter on Economic Products, or the
bulletins circulated by certain of the provincial Govern-
ments; and reports on agricultural experiments have been
included in official reports dealing chiefly with land records
and administrative questions. The existing methods of
publication were not suited to the altered conditions pro-
duced by the activity of the new department organised by
Mr. James Mollison, first Inspector-General of Agriculture
in India, and all interested in Indian agriculture will
welcome the news that the Imperial and provincial De-
partments of Agriculture will henceforth publish a
“Journal ’’ and ‘‘ Memoirs.’’ The first number of the
Journal has just been issued from the Agricultural Research
Institute at Pusa. It is edited by the Inspector-General
with the assistance of the Pusa staff, and will be pub-
lished quarterly. The present number contains an interest-
ing account of the development of the Indian Departments
of Agriculture by Mr. F. G. Sly, officiating Inspector-
General, and seven articles on questions connected with the
cultivation of sugar-cane, cotton, and other Indian staples.
The intention of the Government is that the Journal shall
deal with agricultural subjects which are of interest to
general readers—crops, insect pests, cattle breeding, irriga-
tion, cooperative credit—while in a second publication,
to be entitled ‘‘ Memoirs of the Department of Agriculture
in India,”’ scientific work in agricultural chemistry, botany,
&c., will be recorded. The Memoirs will be published
as separate articles, and these will be arranged in series.

NO. 1899, VOL. 73]

Separate series will be issued for each of the chief divisions
of science. Both publications will be freely illustrated.

A veERY valuable report by Dr. A. C. Houston on the
bacteriological examination of mill has been issued by the
London County Council, with a preface by Sir Shirley
Murphy. The report is based on the examination of (a)
twenty samples of specially selected milk from twenty
separate healthy cows; (b) twenty samples of milk collected
from purveyors’ shops; (c) twenty samples collected from
dairy shops; (d) twenty samples collected from churns at
railway stations; and (e) twenty samples collected from the
establishments of well known milk dealers. The samples
under (a) served as a standard, while those under (b) and,
(c) were of milks of indifferent quality, in the main collected
from poor neighbourhoods and premises known to be ill-
adapted for the sale of milk. The various sources of
pollution of milk are enumerated, and an important re-
commendation is made with regard to a temperature
standard, viz. that all milk should be rapidly cooled below
10° C. and maintained at or below this temperature during
the whole period of transit and sale in order to prevent the
multiplication of bacteria. The following bacteriological stan-
dards are suggested :—(1) 1 c.cm. should not give evidence
of the presence of B. enteritidis sporogenes ; (2) 0-001 c.cm.
should not give evidence of the presence of B. coli.
(3) 0-0001 c.cm. should not give evidence of the presence of
streptococci; (4) the primary sediments (after twenty-four
hours) should not exceed 100 parts per 1,000,000; (5) the
secondary sediment (after centrifugalisation) should not
exceed 50 parts per 1,000,000. Finally, several reforms
which may be considered immediately practicable are sug-
gested for dealing with the milking, the conveyance of the
milk, and the vending of the same.

An editorial article in the Indian Forester (January)
advocates the formation of forest museums in each forest
division or in each province that may contain several
divisions. In Europe the inception of such a scheme is
found in Saxony, where each forest conservator is provided
with a set of mounted specimens of the chief insect pests
with instructions for dealing with them. In India the credit
of starting collections of timber specimens and other forest
produce for a conservator’s museum is due to Mr. Gass, of
the Coimbatore division, Madras. The collections for this
division have been extended to serve for the three circles
of the presidency, and a special building has been sanctioned
for the purpose.

IN consequence of the drought that was experienced
during the season 1904-5, particularly in Antigua, the
experiments arranged by Dr. F. Watts on the chemical
selection of sugar-canes in the Leeward Islands failed,
but the experiments with different varieties of sugar-cane
were carried out. In the report published as a separate
part by the Imperial Department of Agriculture for the
West Indies it is noted that the six canes giving the best
results in Antigua were the same as in the previous year,
thus confirming the good character of these canes. The
experiments in St. Kitts did not agree so closely with
those of previous years, this, no doubt, being caused by
the irregularity of the rainfall in different districts.

At a research meeting of the Royal Geographical Society
on March g, a paper was read by Mr. J. L. Myres on
the Alpine races in Europe. Rejecting Prof. Keane’s
theory of a North African origin, Mr. Myres said that the

‘brachycephaly of the Alpine stock might have been de-

Marcu 22, 1906]

NATURE

493

veloped locally, or might have immigrated from western
Asia, but there was no reason to suppose that the area
in which the race occurs in Europe was large enough or
secluded enough to account for so considerable a change.
The northern or steppe route into Europe was not avail-
able until the retreat of the ice-cap and the shrinkage of
the Caspian, but south of the Black Sea there was a route,
now concealed by submergences subsequent to the period
with which he was dealing. In Anatolia the conditions
were favourable for the development of a distinct type,
and at the same time south-east Europe was partially
isolated, and its climate rendered it little suitable for human
habitation. Homo alpinus was tall in Albania, short in
Central France; the dwarf broad-heads developed in south-
eastern Europe, where the climate was severe, the giant
broad-heads in Anatolia, where conditions were more
favourable; and it was natural to find the latter to the
east of the former, for they were driven out of Anatolia
later, leaving scattered ‘‘ Dinaric’’ populations east of
the Sea of Azov, and throwing out colonies beyond the
“* Cevenoles.’’ In favour of this -hypothesis were the facts
that (1) the fruit-culture of the European lake-dwell-
ing peoples was characteristically Anatolian; (2) physically
they were of the right type; and (3) even in classical times
Anatolia was noted for this type of dwelling.

At the eighth International Geographical Congress, Mr.
R. De C. Ward, of Harvard University, contributed a
useful paper on a more rational treatment of climatology.
He pointed out that the method of presenting climatic data
in the usual tabulated form is unsatisfactory, because it
does not bring out the cyclonic variations of different
weather conditions experienced from day to day. He does
not suggest any change in the recognised order of present-
ation, but he urges that wherever possible the cyclonic
unit should be made the basis of summaries, as well as the
diurnal, the monthly, the seasonal, and the annual unit;
also that much more attention should be paid to an
adequate verbal discussion. Over the greater portion of
the equatorial zone, weather and climate are almost
synonymous terms, but in the temperate zone, for instance,
the regular diurnal changes are very frequently over-
shadowed by the changes due to the passage of cyclones
and anticyclones. The author gives several clear illus-
trations, e.g. in mean monthly and mean annual ranges
of temperature we have the sum of both periodic and non-
periodic changes which occur during any month, irrespective
of the question whether the maxima and minima all
occurred under similar conditions, and thus we lose sight
of a very important factor in climate; and similarly with
regard to rainfall and other elements. More attention
should be given to seasonal averages, to departures from
the means, and even to the single occurrence of certain
phenomena. A tribute is paid to the more rational treat-
ment of climatology as evidenced by the beautiful charts
by Dr. Buchan in Bartholomew’s ‘‘ Atlas of Meteorology ”’;
but, valuable as such charts are, the author considers that
the various weather elements which, taken together, make
up climate should be summarised, not on the basis of the
year or month only, but of the cyclone which controls
them.

Tue Journal of the Royal Sanitary Institute (No. 1, 1906)
contains an interesting paper by Dr. W. N. Shaw, read
before the conference on smoke abatement, and entitled
“Is London Fog Inevitable?’’ The author pointed out
that we do not know the actual course of events in the
physical processes comprised in the origin and persistence

NO. 1899, VOL. 73]

of fog, and referred to two important inquiries made under
the superintendence of the Meteorological Council relating
to the winters of 1901-2 and 1902-3. In the first report
Captain Carpenter came to the conclusion that in winter
London was never free from a smoke haze; for some
months St. Paul’s was invisible from the Victoria Tower
at the times of observation, although in the following year
conditions were more favourable. The most frequent cause
of fog is the cooling of the surface by radiation under a
clear sky; there is no limit to the extent of country that
may be affected by the formation of fog under this con-
dition. In the second winter, 1902-3, Mr. Lempfert
assigned twenty-four cases out of thirty-nine dealt with to
the effect of radiation, while eight were considered to
consist practically of smoke alone. Thus about 20 per cent.
of the London fogs in that year might have been avoided
by the abatement of coal smoke, while the remainder de-
pended upon physical processes which are beyond our
control. Dr. Shaw remarks that one of the unsolved prob-
lems of this interesting subject is why the sun’s heat does
not dissipate the fog upon which it shines. It was found
that the sunshine recorder at Bunhill Row during the month
of December lost 83 per cent. of the sun’s burning power,
that at Westminster 61 per cent., and that at Kew 15 per
cent., so that if the sun has any substantial power of
dissipating early morning fog, the smoke of the London
atmosphere must seriously interfere with its effect. The
peculiar manner in which the density varies from place to
place, and various other points about London fog, await
further investigation.

TuE Geological Survey of Alabama has issued a revised
map of the south-eastern part of the Cahaba coalfield,
embodying the results of investigations made since the
publication of the original map in 1890. The vertical
.section shows fifteen seams, mostly of small size, in about
1800 feet of measures.

Statistics of the quantity and value of each of the
important minerals raised in India have been published
by Mr. T. H. Holland, F.R.S., in the Records of the
Geological Survey of India (1906, part i.). Compared with
1903, an increase of nearly 7 per cent. is shown in the
total value of mineral production. The production of coal,
8,216,706 tons, exceeded all previous records. There were
also produced 3596 tons of chromite, 286 carats of diamonds,
618,746 oz. of gold, 3256 tons of graphite, 3778 cwt. of
jadeite, 1315 tons of magnesite, 150,297 tons of manganese
ore, 19,575 cwt. of mica, 118,491,382 gallons of petroleum,
265,go1 carats of rubies, 1,170,205 tons of salt, 315,558 cwt.
of refined saltpetre, and 1388 cwt. of tin ore. Statistics
of the production of alum, amber, asbestos, borax, building
stone, clay, gypsum, limestone, marble, ochre, and slate are
incomplete.

In the Records of the Geological Survey of India (vol.
Xxxiii., part i.) Mr. E. Vredenburg deals with Pleistocene
movement as indicated by irregularities of gradient of the
Narbada and other rivers in the Indian peninsula. He
gives a very striking photograph of the falls of the Narbada
at Dhdri. Recent changes in the course of the Nam-tu
River, in the northern Shan States, are described by Mr.
T. D. La Touche, and the same author gives a note on
the natural bridge in the Gokteik Gorge, advantage of
which was taken in selecting a site for the railway bridge
on the Mandalay-Lashio line. Lastly, Mr. P. N. Bose
gives an account of the geology and mineral resources of
| the Narnaul district, in the Patiala State. The minerals

494

NATURE

(Marcu 22, 1906

of economic value met with include iron ores, mica, copper
ores, manganese, rutile, as well as limestone and other
building stones.

Ir has always been a difficult matter to obtain pure
lithium by the electrolysis of fused lithium chloride, which

has been the method employed up to the present, and was |

originally used by Bunsen. In the Zeitschrift fiir Elektro-
chemie of March 9, Messrs. O. Ruff and O. Johannsen
describe a process which they have satisfactorily worked
out for its preparation by the electrolysis of lithium
bromide. They prepare the lithium bromide by the action
of hydrobromic acid on the carbonate. The electrolysing
vessel is of copper, and is partially water-jacketed in order
that the walls may be kept cool and thus protected by
a coating of solid lithium bromide. The anode is of re-
tort carbon, and the two kathodes of iron wire 4 mm. in
diameter, The electrolyte consists of lithium bromide con-
taining 15 per cent. lithium chloride. A current of
100 amperes at 10 volts is employed, and the yield of
metallic lithium is about 80 per cent. of the theory. From
time to time the metal as it collects on the iron kathode
is removed with a flat iron spoon, and at once placed on
a cold stone surface, where it rapidly solidifies. Determin-
ations of the melting point showed it to be 180°, which

agrees with that found by Bunsen in the middle of the last
century.

of

A SIMPLE arrangement for purifying mercury which is
likely to prove of considerable service is described by
Messrs. G. A. Hulett and H. D. Minchin in the Physical
Review (vol. xxi., No. 6). The method consists in dis-
tilling the mercury in a Wurtz flask under diminished
Pressure, allowing bubbles of air to pass through the
mercury during distillation so as to prevent bumping.
The air also serves the very useful purpose of oxidising
any metallic impurity, such as zinc, cadmium, or lead,
which otherwise would contaminate the distillate.
Ordinary distillation in vacuo of mercury containing one
of these metals does not suffice to remove the impurity,
but by using the method described an amalgam of zinc
can be made to yield pure mercury in a single distillation.
An electrical method of ascertaining the presence of one

part of zinc in ten billion parts of mercury is described
incidentally. a

Tue March number of the Geographical Journal contains
an interesting table by Miss Nora E. MacMunn, compiled
from planimetric measurements made on an orographical
map at the School of Geography, Oxford, showing the
areas of the orographical regions of England and Wales.
As a rule, the plains have been measured to the 250-feet
contour line, and the hills have not been considered to
begin below that level. The average height of England
and Wales, calculated from these measurements, is 385
feet. Of the total 58,324-3 square miles constituting the
area of England and Wales, 26,481-6, or 45-4 per cent., are
under 250 feet in elevation; 16,364'5, or 28 per cent., are
between 250 feet and 500 feet; 10,476-3, or 18 per cent.,
are between 500 feet and 1000 feet; 4698-3, or 8 per cent.,
are between 1000 feet and 2000 feet ; 300-0, Or 0-5 per
cent., are between 2000 feet and 3000 feet ; and 3-6 are more
than 3000 feet above sea-level.

Mr. Frowoe is about to publish for the Radcliffe trustees
a ““ Catalogue of 1772 Stars, chiefly comprised within the
Zone 85°-g0° N.P.D., for the Epoch r1900,”? deduced from
observations made at the Radcliffe Observatory, Oxford,

during the years 1894-1903, under the direction of Dr.
A. A. Rambaut, F.R.S.

NO. 1899, VOL. 73]

|

OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN.

Discovery oF a New Comer (1906c).—A telegram from
Kiel announces the discovery of a new comet by Mr. Ross,
of Melbourne, on March 18.

Its position at 7h. 36-1m. (Melbourne M.T.) was

R.A.=2h. 3m. 52s., dec.=—7° 41’,

which is about half-way between ¢ and o Ceti.

A second telegram from Kiel states that Mr. Morgan
observed the comet at Glasgow (U.S.A.) on March 19. Its
position at 7h. 4o-9m. (Glasgow M.T.) was

R.A.=2h. 9m. 31-4s., dec.=—5° 47! 25”.
The comet is stated to be of about the eighth magnitude.

Comer 1906b.—Numerous observations of comet 19066
are reported in No. 4078 of the Astronomische Nachrichten.

Observing at Bamberg on March 4, the day after its
discovery, Prof. Hartwig found that the comet had a
diameter of about 10” and a central condensation of about
magnitude 11-0. The same magnitude was recorded by
Dr. Wirtz at Strassburg on March 6.

Prof. Max Wolf reports that the comet is easily seen
on his plates, and shows a tail of about half a degree in
length; with the 10-inch refractor a sharp nucleus was
observed on March 4, and it was seen that the tail extended
to the north-west.

Comer 1906a (Brooks).—In No. 4078 of the Astrono-
mische Nachrichten Herr M. Ebell gives a further daily
ephemeris for comet 1906a, extending from March 16 to

May 3. The following is an extract therefrom :—
Ephemeris 12h. M.T. Berlin.

1906 a (true) § (true) log » log A Bright-
le heey ES : ness
Mar. 20...5 41 5... +46 31 ... O:2618 3.. Of 1986. nowes
24..: 5 42 18... +43 47 ... O'2710) =. 0 2284) 2. son
2%... 5 43 58 ... +41 23 ... O:280r ... '0°2567) 4. Ome
April! 1.5) 45 57)... £39 18 ... O 289) 4.9072835) ce OnlS
5-5 48 10... +37 27 ... O-2081 ... 019080) sen One
9... 5 50 34 ... +35 48 ... 03060) «..,0'3325) 2. some

Brightness on January 27=1-0=about 10-0 m.

Observing at Arcetri on January 31, Dr. Abetti found
that the comet had a central nucleus of about the tenth
magnitude or a little greater, and that the surrounding
nebulosity extended for about 2’, chiefly towards the direc-
tion of lesser right ascension.

On March 22 this comet will pass near to B Aurige,
about 11m. (R.A.) to the west, whilst on April 5 it will
be only about 5m. west of @ Aurigz.

A PROGRAMME OF SOLAR RESEARCH.—Now that the Mount
Wilson Solar Observatory has fairly settled down to work,
Prof. Hale has revised his ‘‘ Programme of Solar Re-
search,’’ published several years ago, and gives an outline
of the revised programme in No. 1, vol. xxiii., of the
Astrophysical Journal.

Two principal studies are to be prosecuted. First, a
study of the sun as a typical star, with reference to stellar
evolution; secondly, the relationship between solar and
terrestrial phenomena.

These studies are divided into five groups, each of which
contains a number of subdivisions. The five main groups
are :—(1) direct photography; (2) spectroheliograph re-
searches; (3) spectroscopic investigations; (4) studies of
the total solar radiation; and (5) allied laboratory investi-
gations.

Most of these are now being prosecuted at Mount Wilson,
and Prof. Hale points out that there are many other solar
investigations which call for attention, and of which many
may be carried out by amateur observers with modest
equipments.

Harvarp COLLEGE OsseRvatory.—Prof. Pickering’s re-
port of the work done at Harvard College Observatory
during the year ending September 30, 1905, is the sixtieth
of the series, and contains the record of an immense amount
of work, too much even to summarise here.

One or two special features may, however, be mentioned.
Eighteen eclipses of Jupiter’s satellites and eight occult-
ations of stars by the moon were observed with the 11-inch
Draper telescope. Three of the occultations were photo-

Marci 22, 1906]

NATKOSR LE

495

so that the
instantaneous or

graphed continuously on a revolving plate,
nature of the disappearance, whether
gradual, could be recorded.

Numerous valuable observations of peculiar stellar spectra
were made during the year, including the discovery of
Nova Aquilaee No. 2 by Mrs. Fleming. This is the eighth
Nova discovered by that observer from the Draper memorial
spectrograms.

With the Bruce telescope 523 plates were obtained,
making 7504 in all, from which Miss Leavitt has discovered
1129 new variable stars during the year.

The bibliography of variable stars compiled by Miss
Cannon was nearly ready for publication when the Astro-
nomische Gesellschaft appointed a committee to undertake
a similar work. Prof. Pickering therefore proposes to
publish the Harvard work in an abridged form.

CATALOGUE OF 3799 BricuTt Stars.—A useful catalogue
of 3799 bright stars has just been published by M. J.
Bossert, of the Paris Observatory.

This catalogue gives the magnitude and mean coordinates
(1900-0) of each star, and, in addition, the precession,
secular variation, and proper movement, together with in-
structions and examples for finding the star’s position at
any given epoch.

The stars are arranged in zones of 1° of N.P.D., and
in each zone they are given in order of R.A., this classifi-
cation being considered the most convenient for meridian
observers.

Stars down to the seventh magnitude are included, the
magnitude of Aldebaran being taken as 1.0.

EcLipsE OBSERVATIONS AT CATANIA.—On the occasion of
the total solar eclipse of August 30, 1905, observations of
prominences, by the Lockyer-Janssen method, and of the
variations in the terrestrial electric field were carried out,
during the whole day. at the Catania Observatory.

The results are published in No. 1, vol. xxxv., of the
Memorie della Societa degli Spettroscopisti Italiani, and
show, among other things, that the maximum effect of the
solar radiation corresponds to the minimum pctential of
the atmospheric electricity.

MrcrROMETER MEASURES OF STRUVE DOUBLE S1aRs.—No.
4078 of the Astronomische Nachrichten contains the results
of a series of measures of eighty-one ‘‘ Struve ’’ double
stars made by Dr. H. E. Lau, of the Copenhagen Uni-
versity Observatory.

The position for 1900-0, the position-angle, the distance,
and the data and hour of each observation are given for
each star, and are followed by brief notes by the observer.

SOME APPLICATIONS OF THE THEORY OF
ELECTRIC DISCHARGE THROUGH GASES
TROVSRECTROS COP Vex

“THE luminosity produced by an electric current passing

through a gas at low pressure varies greatly in
character, not only when we alter the nature of the dis-
charge, as, for example, when we pass from the arc to
the spark, but also in many cases at different points of
the same discharge. The luminosity may be of one colour
at one place and of a very different colour at another, and
spectroscopic examination shows that the spectrum of the
same gas often varies considerably as we proceed along the
line of discharge. As recent experiments have thrown a
considerable amount of light on the processes going on
in the different kinds of electrical discharge and at different
parts of the same discharge, the study of the connection
between the changes in the electrical effects and the
changes in the spectra might be expected to throw some
light on the very interesting question of the genesis of
spectra. Many important points can very conveniently be
studied by the aid of Wehnelt’s method of producing the
current. In this method the kathode is a strip of platinum
or a piece of platinum wire on which either a little lime
or barium oxide has been deposited. This when heated
to redness emits large supplies of corpuscles, and by alter-
ing the temperature of the platinum very large variations

1 Discourse delivered at the Royal Institution on Friday, January 19, by
Prof. J. J. Thomson, F.R.S.

NOs TS99; VOL 73))

in the current passing through the tube and in the potential
difference between the electrodes can be obtained. In our
experiments the current varied from a small fraction of a
milliampere to several amperes, and the potential difference
from a few volts to several hundred. :

The apparatus used is shown in Fig. 1. aB is the
platinum strip with the lime on it; a thermocouple—a
platinum and platinum-rhodium junction—was fused to
this strip, and served to determine its temperature ; the
strip was connected with the earth, and was heated by
a current passing through the leads tm; a rheostat was
placed in series with the heating current, and by means
of this the temperature could be altered gradually. The
anode was a platinum disc; this was connected with the
positive pole of a battery of storage cells, the negative
pole of which was earthed; to allow of gradual variations
in the potential difference between the electrodes a
potential divider of roo resistances of 10 ohms each was
used. The current through the tube was measured by
a d’Arsonval galvanometer, and the potential difference
between the terminals by a Weston’s voltmeter.

Some of the most interesting features of the discharge
are very prominent when the temperature of the platinum
is high, say rt4oo° C., and the pressure of the gas low,
less than o-or mm. of mercury. The discharge is light

ra

Fic. 1.

blue, and its spectrum shows the mercury lines and the
band spectrum of nitrogen. In this case the relation
between the current and the potential difference is re-
presented by a curve like Fig. 2, the ordinates represent-
ing the current and the abscisse the potential difference. In
the case we are considering, when the wire is very hot and
the pressure low, the change from the dark to the luminous
discharge takes place very abruptly, an increase of the
potential difference by 1/100 of a volt being often sufficient
to convert a discharge where no light could be detected
even in a darkened room into one where the light was quite
bright. When luminosity appears there is a very rapid
increase in the current; in some of the experiments an
increase in the potential difference of 1/1oo of a volt
increased the current forty-fold. At this stage the thermo-
junction showed that there was no increase in the tempera-
ture of the platinum where the luminosity appeared; we
shall see later on that it is possible by using large potential
differences to get such large currents through the tube that
the platinum becomes appreciably warmer by the passage
of the current. SB AE

One point which I think very suggestive is the abrupt-
ness with which the luminosity round the kathode appears.
We see that by a very small increase in the potential
difference the discharge passes from a state in which no
luminosity can be detected, even in a dark room, to one
where the luminosity can plainly be seen in a bright light;
thus the molecules of the gas in the tube, just when the
luminous discharge is on the point of appearing, are in
a state in which a very small change in the electrical

496 NATURE

[MarcH 22, 1906

conditions of the tube makes the molecules pass from a
condition in which they are not giving out an appreciable
amount of light to one where they are brightly luminous,
and, as the great increase of the current when the
luminosity appears shows, this change in state is accom-
panied by an emission of corpuscles. From this and other
considerations I have come to the conclusion that what
takes place when the gas becomes luminous is that the

Dark Space 4mms
Electrodes 5mms apart

Discharge

-4
450+ ID ampere

100}

x)
roamperc

o 10 giELp 20 30 40 50 Volts
Fic. 2.
internal energy in the atom, in consequence of its

bombardment by the corpuscles, increases, and when it
gets up to a certain critical value the equilibrium of the
atom becomes unstable, an explosion occurs resulting in
an expulsion of corpuscles, and such a shaking up of
those left in the atom that these vibrate so vigorously
that the energy radiated is sufficient to produce luminosity.
Thus I regard the ionisation of the gas as being due, not
to the corpuscles in the atom being dragged out by the
direct action of the electric forces in the field, or as being
knocked out by a rapidly moving corpuscle striking against
them, but to an explosion due to the atom having absorbed
so much internal energy that its equilibrium becomes
unstable. Other phenomena point to this as the method
by which ionisation is effected. If the corpuscles are
dragged out of the atoms by the electric field, the velocity
with which they are projected should depend upon the
strength of the field; while if they are projected by an
explosion their velocity would depend only upon the nature
of the atom, and not upon the strength of the field. Now
when Roéntgen rays fall upon a substance the atoms of the
substance are ionised, and corpuscles are emitted forming
a stream of kathodic rays. Barkla has lately shown, how-
ever, that the penetrating power of the kathodic rays
produced in this way is independent of the intensity of
the Rontgen rays. Now the electric force in the Réntgen
rays depends upon their intensity, and the penetrating
power of the kathodic rays depends upon their velocity,
so that this result shows that the velocity of the corpuscles
does not depend upon the intensity of the force acting
upon them. Again, Lenard has shown that the velocity
of the corpuscles ejected when ultra-violet light falls upon
a metal is independent of the intensity of the light.
Lenard also investigated the secondary kathode rays pro-
duced when kathode rays fall upon matter, and found
that, in addition to rays the velocity of which was of the
same order as that of the primary rays, and which may
be regarded as deflected primary rays, there were other
very slow rays, and the measurements he gives indicate
that the velocity of these varies but little from that of the
primary rays.

A point of great importance which can easily be shown

NO. 1899, VOL. 73]

by this apparatus is that the stage at which luminosity
sets in depends upon the current density through the tube,
and not merely upon the potential difference. One way
of showing this is to lower the temperature of the platinum,
keeping all the other conditions the same, and again
determine the relation between the current and the potential
difference. The effect of lowering the temperature is to
reduce the number of corpuscles starting from the kathode,
so that with the same potential difference the current
density is smaller. If the relation between the current
and potential difference is represented by a curve such as
Fig. 3, it will be seen at once that the lower curve cannot be
deduced from the upper curve by reducing all the ordinates
in the same proportion. The critical points on the curves,
i.e. the place where ionisation by collision begins and where
the luminous discharge appears, are at very different poten-
tials: the greater the current density the smaller the
potential difference corresponding to these critical points.
Thus, to take a case actually observed. When the wire
was very hot the discharge was brightly luminous with a
potential of 24 volts; on lowering the temperature no
luminosity could be detected with a potential difference of
110 volts.

We can also show the effect of current density without
altering the temperature of the kathode by placing near
the tube an electromagnet so arranged that its lines of
magnetic force in the discharge tube are along the line
joining the kathode and the anode; the effect of the mag-
netic field is to make the corpuscles move along the lines
of force, and thus without altering the number of cor-
puscles emitted by the kathode it concentrates their paths
and so increases the maximum current density in the
tube. When the magnet is on, ionisation by collision and
luminosity both occur at a much lower potential difference
than when it is off, and it is easy to arrange matters so

| that, keeping the potential difference constant, the discharge

is luminous when the magnet is on and dark when it is
off. When the potential difference is too small to produce
a bright discharge even when the magnet is on, the current
through the tube is often greater when the magnet is on
than when it is off. By placing the magnet so that the
lines of magnetic force are across the line joining the
kathode to the anode we can render the paths of the

/600}—-

Discharge

1000)

800|—

BaiGnr YELLow Neg

CAarHovE-

400;}—

CATHODE -

Dui YELLOW HEAT
n 1

© £1029 40 60

Discharge)

eovolts

Fic. 3.

corpuscles more diffuse than they would be without the
field, so that the maximum current density is less when
the magnet is on than when it is off; in this case it
requires a larger potential difference to produce a luminous
discharge with the magnet on than with it off. Similar
effects produced by a magnet on another kind of discharge
are described in my ‘‘ Recent Researches,’’ p. 105.

Marcu 22, 1906]

The potential difference P just where the glow com-
mences, when the pressure is low, sometimes varies so
capidly with the current i as to be roughly inversely pro-
portional to it. The following are some values of 7 and
P for a gas at a constant low pressure as the temperature
of the platinum strip was increased; the numbers are in
the order of increasing temperature :—

(in scale divisions) P (volts) Pi
60 360
8-7 ee 40 348
11-2 O08 30 : 336
14. a 25 coc 350
Such a simple relation between P and i is, however,

exceptional.

NATURE

The fact that the potential differences at which ionisation |

by collision or luminosity begins depend upon the current

density, shows that the ionisation or luminosity of an |

atom need not, and, indeed, cannot entirely, be the result
of a single collision between a corpuscle and the atom.

corpuscle depends only upon the electric field, and not
upon the current density, the effect of increasing the current
density would merely be to increase in the same proportion
the number of luminous atoms, while, as a matter of fact,
if the potential difference is kept constant and the current
increased by raising the temperature of the platinum strip

the increase in the luminosity is greater out of all pro- |

portion than the increase in the strength of the current.

The result, however, is easily explained if we look at |

the question from the following point of view.
that for ionisation or luminosity to take place the internal
energy of the atom must increase by certain amounts, say
E,, E, respectively. Then, if the energy possessed by the
corpuscle were very great, the result of one collision with
an atom might be to give to the atom enough energy to
ionise it or make it luminous, or both. But even if the
corpuscle were less energetic, and did not in one collision
give enough internal energy to the atom to ionise it, it
would communicate some energy to it, and if the atom
had any power of storing up energy this would form a
contribution towards the critical amount of energy required
by the atom before it is ionised. The atom, after having
had this energy communicated to it, would, so long as it
retained any of it, not require so much energy to ionise
it as before. The atom, too, might acquire energy, not
merely by corpuscles striking against itself, but also by
the collision of corpuscles with neighbouring atoms; such
collisions generate soft Roéntgen rays, the energy of which
might be absorbed by the atom under consideration and
help to raise its energy to the critical point; the energy
in the Roéntgen rays might by itself raise the internal
energy of the atom to this value, or else raise it so

Suppose |

nearly to this value that the collision with a corpuscle |
would give it enough energy to carry it past the critical |

stage. The rate at which the energy, due to collisions
of corpuscles with itself or with neighbouring atoms, comes

to an atom will be proportional to the rate at which |

energy is being communicated to the gas, i.e. to Fi,
where F is the electric force and i the current density,
and thus for a constant electric force would be proportional
to the current density. The atom will radiate away some
of its internal energy; if the rate of this radiation is pro-
portional to the amount of energy, E, possessed by the
atom, say equal to BE, then if q is the rate at which
energy is being communicated to the atom, we have

dE/dt=q—BE,
so if E vanishes with t,
E=q/B8(1—e-B¢ .

Thus q/B is the limit to the energy acquired by the atom,
and this is proportional to gq, while q is proportional to
Fi, so that the atom will acquire the critical amount of
energy or not according as Fi is greater or less than a
certain value.

Application of these Results to Spectroscopy.—We have
seen that the passage from the dark to the luminous dis-
charge occurs with great abruptness, an increase of the
potential difference by 1/100 of a volt being sufficient in
certain circumstances to convert a discharge in which no
fuminosity at all could be detected to one where it was

NO. 1899, VOL. 73]

For if that were the case, then since the energy of the | neighbourhood.

497

quite bright. This suggests that the luminosity sets in

| when the internal energy of the atom, or rather of that

part of it which gives rise to the particular kind of light
present in the luminous discharge, attains a_ perfectly
definite value. This way of regarding the origin of the
luminosity affords a very simple explanation of the variation
of the spectrum with the kind of discharge and of the
effect of introducing capacity or self-induction into the
circuit containing the discharge tube. Let us consider
the rise in energy of -a vibrating system inside the atom;
let E be the energy at the time t, a the rate at which it
is absorbing the work done in the discharge tube; the
energy may be supplied to it from the R6éntgen radiation
in the tube or from the corpuscles which come into
collision with the atom, a@ will be proportional to the
rate at which the electric field producing the discharge is
doing work in the neighbourhood of the atom we are
considering ; it will thus be proportional to the product
of the electric force and the flux of corpuscles in this
Let us suppose that the system radiates
energy at a rate proportional to E, say equal to BE, then
we have
dE/dt=a—BE,
or
E=a/B (1—e-8?)

| if E=o when f=o0.

Consider two different systems, A and B, in the same
atom; let E,, «,, 6,; E, a, B, be the values of E, a, B
for the systems A and B respectively.

E, =«,/8, (1—e-Fi*),
E,=a,/B, (1—e-Bet),

Now suppose that the system A is one that does not
absorb much, but also does not radiate much, while B
absorbs a great deal more than A, but radiates still

DS ——

Fic. 4.

more in proportion, so that a,>a, but a,/B,>a,/B,, then
ultimately E, is greater than E,, but at first E, is greater
than E,. The curves A and zB, Fig. 4, represent the
variations of E, and E, with the time. :

Suppose, now, that systems A and B become luminous
when the internal energy is equal to W. It is not neces-
sary to assume that the critical amount of energy is the
same for the two systems; the assumption is only made
to simplify the diagram; it will be seen that the argument
will apply if the critical amounts of energy are different
in the two cases.

Now consider, first, the case when the rate at which
work is being done in the tube is so small that though
a,/B, is greater than W, a,/B, is less than W, the case
represented in Fig. 4; here system A acquires the amount
of energy necessary to make it luminous, while system
B does not; thus in this case the spectrum of the gas
would show the lines corresponding to A, but not those
of B. Suppose, now, we increase the rate at which work
is done in the tube, so that both a@,/B, and a,/f, are
greater than W, the case represented in Fig. 5.

Here the system B attains the critical amount of energy,
and it reaches this value before A does so, so that in this
case the lines of B will be visible. Let us now consider
the lines in the spectrum corresponding to the system A;
these will be visible if the energy in the system reaches
the critical value. The conditions in this case are in some
respects more unfavourable for the supply of energy to

498 NAT

MOISE: [Marcu 22, 1906

this system than they were in the previous one. For in
the first case the system B got into the condition in which
it radiated as much energy as it received, and thus did
not absorb any of the energy; in the second case, how-
ever, B became luminous before its radiation was equal
to the absorption; it is thus taking in more energy than
it gives out, and this may result in a diminution in the
rate of supply of energy to A. It would be so, for ex-
ample, to a marked extent if the conditions were such that
A received a considerable portion of its supply of energy
from B; this diminution in the supply might be great
enough to prevent the internal energy in B reaching the
critical value. Thus the effect of the increase on the rate
of supply of the electrical energy might be to weaken, or
even obliterate, the lines of A, and while with the smaller
rate we had the lines of A and not those of B, with the
larger rate we might have the lines of B and not those
of A; thus an increase in the rate at which the electric
field is doing work such as would be produced by in-
creasing the current through the discharge tube might
result in an entire change “of the spectrum. We should
expect that it would only be in exceptional cases that the
lines of A would be obliterated under the conditions hold-
ing in case 2, but in all cases the increase in the brilliancy
of the lines of B would be large compared with the in-
crease of those in A.

We see from the equations giving E, and E, that until
the supply of energy has lasted for a time ‘comparable
with 1/8,, E, is large compared with E, ; thus for electrical
discharges which last for an exceedingly short time we

Fic. 5

might have the lines of B visible and not those
of A.

In a discharge tube conveying an electrical current the
amount of work per unit volume of the gas done by the
electrical forces per unit time varies very largely from
one point of the tube to another; if the cross section of
the discharge is the same at all parts of the tube, so that
the current density is uniform, the rate at which the
electrical forces do work will be proportional to the electric
force; as this is much greater near the kathode than at
other parts of the tube, we should expect the lines of
systems of the type B to preponderate near the kathode,
and to be absent or much feebler in other parts of the
tube. If the tube were of the type frequently used for
spectroscopic purposes with a capillary portion in the
middle, then since the current density is much greater in
this portion than in any other, the rate of work per unit
volume of the gas will be much greater in the capillary
portions than in the wide parts of the tube, and we should
therefore expect the lines of systems of the type B to be
much more prominent in the capillary part than in the
wide part.

Effect of Self-induction and Capacity. —Suppose that we
have a tube of uniform bore arranged as in Fig. 6, the
terminal of the tube being connected with the ‘plates of
a condenser of capacity oe and that there is a coil the
coefficient of self-induction of which is L placed in series
with the tube; then if the discharge through the coil

begins when the potential difference between the plates

NO. 189y, VOL. 73]

easily

of the condenser is V,, the potential difference between
the plates after a time ¢ will be
V, cos pt,
and the current through the tube
CV ,p sin pt,
where p=1//LC.

Thus the maximum value of the product of the current
and the potential difference, i.e. rate at which the electric
forces are doing work in the tube, is CV,°p or V,°/C/L,
and is thus proportional to the square root of the capacity
and inversely proportional to the square root of the self-
induction. Thus increasing the capacity increases the
maximum rate of work, and therefore increases the
brilliancy of the lines corresponding to systems of the type
B relatively to those of type A, while inserting self-
induction in the circuit increases the brilliancy of those of
type A as compared with those of type B. If we suppose
that the ‘‘blue’’ spectrum of argon corresponds to a
system of type B, the red to a system of type A, we have
an explanation of the changes in the spectrum of this
gas, for by inserting capacity in the circuit we can change
from the red to the blue spectrum, while having got the
blue we can get back to the red by imserting self-induc-
tion. I have here a little model which is intended to
illustrate the way in which the red and blue spectra of
argon originate. It is based on the fact that when we
send a current of electricity through a circuit the current

Fic. 6.

does not rise to its steady value instantaneously, but,
starting from zero, increases with the time in exactly the
same way as we have supposed the intrinsic energy in the
atom, i.e. the way represented by the curve in Fig. 4.
The quantity in the electrical case corresponding to the
radiation 8 is the resistance of the circuit divided by the
self-induction, while the quantity @ is inversely proportional
to the self-induction. Thus a circuit with large self-induc-
tion and small resistance is analogous to the system A,
while one with small self-induction and large resistance
is analogous to a system of type B. Now my model of the
argon atom consists of two circuits, C and D, placed in
parallel. C has large self-induction and small resistance,
D has little self-induction but large resistance. An electric
lamp is placed in each circuit. If I supply energy in one
way, i.e. by continuous current, to the system, the red
lamp in C lights up, the blue lamp in D is dark, while
if fed by an alternating current the blue lamp shines and
the red is dark. It would be interesting to see whether
as we gradually diminish the self-induction we get the
whole of the lines in the blue spectrum at once, or whether
the lines of this spectrum enter in groups one after the
other. I have tried somewhat similar experiments with
the hot lime kathode to see in a mixture of gases, mercury
vapour and air, which spectrum first appeared as the rate
of doing work in the gas was gradually increased. The
great difficulty in this determination is that when once

Marcu 22, 1906]

NATURE

499

the luminosity begins there is such a rapid increase in
the ionisation that the current through the gas and the
rate of doing work increase in an exceedingly short time
through a wide range of values, and thus a gradual in-
crease in the rate of work is exceedingly difficult to
obtain. On several occasions, however, I was convinced
that on gradually increasing the rate of work the mercury
lines were the first to appear, and were the last to dis-
appear when the rate of work was reduced from a high
value, at which both the nitrogen and mercury spectra
were bright, down to a point where the discharge ceased to
be luminous.

The preceding considerations have also an important
application to the difference between the arc and spark
spectra. In the continuous are discharge, although the
average rate of work is much higher than in the spark,
the maximum rate is very much less; in the spark dis-
charge we have an exceedingly intense current density last-
ing for a very short time, and while the spark is passing we
have a very much greater rate of work than in the arc.
Hence the state of things in the spark will be analogous
to that represented in Fig. 5, and the lines corresponding
to systems of the type B will be enhanced relatively to
those of type A; we conclude, then, that the arc lines
correspond to systems of the type A, the spark lines to
those of type B.

The work done in the discharge tube is probably ulti-
mately converted for the most part into heat, so that the
rate at which work is being done at any part of the tube
is approximately proportional to the rate at which heat
is being produced in the tube. I do not, however, regard
temperature, i.e. the energy due to the translation of the
atoms as a whole, as having any direct connection with
the production of spectra. The work done by the electric
field on the corpuscles is, since the corpuscles can easily
penetrate the atoms of the gas, first converted into internal
atomic energy; this energy may ultimately be for the
most part transformed into the energy of translation of
the molecules of the gas, and so appear as temperature,
but it by no means follows that if we heat the molecules
of the gas by non-electrical means to the temperature to
which even a few of its molecules are raised by the
electric discharge we shall get a luminous spectrum. The
production of the spectrum depends upon the _ internal
energy of the atom; when we use the electric discharge
all the work done by the corpuscles goes at first into the
form of internal atomic energy, while if we supply the
same amount of energy to the gas by thermal, as dis-
tinguished from electrical, means, the energy will go
first into increasing the energy of translation of the atom,
and very little of it will ever get inside the atom. It
is probable, however, that some of the energy of trans-
lation will get converted into internal energy, and that
temperature is one way of giving internal energy to the
atom, and so producing luminosity; from our point of
view, however, it is a very extravagant method, as the
fraction of the energy spent in heating the gas which
goes to produce luminosity is small.

The coefficient of absorption a of the systems will de-
pend upon the way in which the internal energy is given
to the atom as well as upon the rate at which the electric
field is doing work in the neighbourhood of the atom.
Thus, for example, if the internal work is given by means
of rapidly moving corpuscles, the coefficient of absorption
will depend upon the velocity of the corpuscle, for we
can easily show that when a corpuscle passes at a fixed
distance from a system of corpuscles having a definite
period of vibration there is one velocity of the corpuscle,
depending on this period, fast if the period is short, slow
if it is long, for which the energy given by the corpuscle
to the system is a maximum. Thus the relation between
the amounts of energy absorbed by two systems from the
corpuscles depends upon the velocity of the corpuscles.
The velocity of the corpuscles in a discharge tube depends
upon the pressure of the gas, so that even though the
rate at which the electrical forces are doing work may
be the same at two different pressures, the relative intensi-
ties of the lines of two systems A and B may be different.

Again, we might expect that the coefficient of the rate
of absorption of energy would be different acccrding as
the energy is given to the atom by means of the large

NO. 1899, VOL 73]

systems which form the positive ions or by means of
small corpuscles, and that the relative brightness of lines
might be different in the two cases. In the Kanal-strahlen
we have positive ions moving through a gas and producing
luminosity, and the spectrum of this luminosity possesses
interesting peculiarities differentiating it from the spectrum
of other parts of the tube. Perhaps the most striking
difference, however, is when the positive ions strike against
a salt like lithium chloride; they make the red lithium
line appear with great brilliancy, while if corpuscles strike
against the chloride the red line is not visible. It is re-
markable that the spectrum of the metal is produced much
more readily by the positive ions when they strike against
a salt of the metal than when they strike against the
metal itself; this is shown in a striking way if we take
the liquid alloy of sodium and potassium and direct a
stream of Kanal-strahlen upon it; the clean parts of the
alloy appear quite dark, but the specks of oxide scattered
over its surface shine with a bright yellow light, giving
the sodium spectrum.

When the internal energy of the atom is increased by
means of light, as in Prof. Wood’s beautiful experiments
on the fluorescence of sodium vapour, the coefficient of
absorption of a system will depend upon the relations
between the periods of that system and the period of the
incident light vibrations; thus, as Prof. Wood found to be
the case, the numerous lines in the spectrum given out by
the vapour alter greatly in character and wave-length when
the period of the incident light is changed.

The same principles which explain the variation in the
intensities of the spectra given out by two different systems
in the same atom can be applied to explain the variations
in the intensities of the spectra of two gases, A and
B, when these are mixed together. We know that under
some conditions the lines of only one constituent of the
mixture appear, while under others we get the lines of
both the gases. Let us suppose that the lines of A appear
with a lower rate of work of the electric forces than
those of B, and that we send a constant current through
the discharge tube, we can calculate what the electric force
must be to produce from the molecules of A alone the
number of ions required to carry this current; having
founda the electric force on this supposition, we can, know-
ing the current, find the rate at which the electric forces
woula be doing work in the tube; if this rate of work
is less than that required to make B luminous, the current
will be carried by the ions of A alone, and the spectrum
of B will not be developed; if the rate of work on this
supposition is greater than that required to make B
luminous, the spectrum of B will appear, and it must
take a share in carrying the current. Let us suppose that
we have so much of A present that the rate of work is
not sufficient to develop the spectrum of B, and consider
what will happen as the proportion of A is diminished.
In order to supply the number of ions required to carry
the given current from the smaller number of molecules
of A, the electric force, and therefore the rate of work
in the tube, must, on the supposition that the current
is wholly carried by A, increase, and if we con-
tinually diminish the amount of A present the rate of
work will at last reach a value sufficient to make B
luminous with the given current. This stage will give
the smallest quantity of A which can for the given current
wholly swamp the spectrum of B. The rate of work done
in the tube will depend on the current going through it
and also on the pressure of the gases, so that both these
quantities will influence the proportion of the gas B re-
quired to make its spectrum visible.

MICROSCOPIC AQUATIC PLANTS AND THEIR
PLACE IN NATURE,

EVERY piece of water, besides containing large plants
and animals which are readily visible to the naked

eye, harbours a more or less considerable number of minute
forms, which pervade all the layers of the water in vary-
ing amount, and collectively constitute the plankton or
pelagic life. The most important difference between the
1 Abstract of a lecture on ‘The Microscopic Plants of our Waters,’’

delivered before the London Institution on February 1 by Dr. F. E.
Fritsch.

500

NATURE

[Marcu 22, 1906

plankton and the remaining flora and fauna of our waters
lies in the fact that all the organisms which compose
it are free-floating during the greater part of their life.
Practically all the pelagic plants belong to the group of the
algze, and their minute size, of course, suits them well to
a floating existence. A certain number of them are motile
(e.g. Volvox, Gonium, Pandorina, &c.), and these are able
actively to maintain themselves in their position in the
water; but the large majority are non-motile, and all
these forms are slightly heavier than water, and conse-
quently tend to sink; they develop diverse mechanisms, by
means of which their power of flotation is increased. The
most important of these are :—assumption of a flat plate-
like shape (Pediastrum, Merismopedia, many Desmids) ;
development of numerous delicate processes from the body
of the plant (Stephanodiscus, Richteriella); arrangement
of the individuals of a colony in a more or less stellate
manner (Asterionella, some Tabellarias); assumption of a
delicate acicular shape (Synedra); formation of fat in the
cell (many Diatoms and Cyanophycez), and so on.

In spite of these adaptations, however, most of the non-
motile organisms of the plankton sink to the bottom of
the containing vessel in the space of a. few minutes after
they have been collected. How is it that this does not
happen in nature? It has been suggested that the con-
tinuous currents in the water, due to the wind and other
causes, help to buoy up the organisms of the plankton;
but it is of course also possible that in collecting such
delicate forms they are damaged in some way or other
so as to deprive them of that power of floating which
suits them so well to their natural habitat. An interest-
ing point connected with the development of the diverse
floating mechanisms is that in some plants they have been
found to be far more strongly developed in the summer
than in the winter forms; this is, undoubtedly, in some
way connected with the lower specific gravity of the water
in summer, although the exact relation is not yet quite
evident.

If the plankton of any piece of water is examined from
week to week or month to month, we find not only
astonishing variations in the quantity of organisms pre-
sent, but also very marked differences in the specific con-
stitution of the pelagic life. The quantity of the plankton
is generally very much less in the winter than in the
summer months, and the organisms composing it are quite
different in the two seasons. Thus in the Thames there
are four well marked annual phases, each characterised
by its own peculiar plankton. This periodicity exhibited
by the pelagic life stands in close relation to the external
seasonal changes; some of the forms prefer cold, others
warm water, and consequently they flourish in those
seasons which are most to their liking. Some plants are
particularly sensitive, and consequently only put in an
appearance for a very short space of time each year.
During their period of absence from the plankton these
organisms persist as resting spores in the mud at the
bottom of the piece of water; when favourable conditions
return the spores germinate, giving rise to a new gener-
ation of pelagic organisms, which by their prolific division
are able to dominate completely a piece of water in a few
days’ time.

The pelagic plants form the food of the animal plankton ;
these, again, are devoured by their larger brethren, which
are the main source of nutrition for the smaller fishes.
The larger fish are mostly carnivorous, feeding on smaller
individuals of their kind. The organic matter of the
pelagic plants thus gradually travels from one organism to
another until it comes to form part of the body of the
large aquatic animals; it passes through a series of in-
carnations before being returned to the water in the form
of excrements or products of decay of dead animal and
vegetable bodies. This organic matter is built up by the
pelagic plants from simple inorganic salts and from carbon
dioxide dissolved in the water, and these latter substances
are thus changed into a form which makes them available
to the aquatic fauna. All the organisms of the latter, as,
indeed, all the animals of the world, are ultimately
herbivorous. Without some kind of plant growth a piece
of water must remain a lifeless, dead mass, unpopulated,
and a thing apart from the living world around it. The

NO. 1899, VOL. 73]

presence of vegetation immediately transforms it into a
throbbing universe, full of energetic life, exhibiting complex
inter-relationships, and connects it with the remaining
parts of our universe. The most important element of the ©
vegetation from this point of view, however, is the phyto-
plankton, and a piece of water with plenty of pelagic
plants is sure to form a good breeding-place for fish and
other aquatic animals.

UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL
INTELLIGENCE.

Oxrorp.—The report of the committee of the school of
geography for 1905 shows that the school now holds a
strong position in the University, and is doing valuable
work in encouraging the study of geography and surveying,
and in providing special courses of geographical lectures
suited to the requirements of the different final honour
schools. Both the lectures and practical instruction were
well attended throughout the year, although there were only
a few candidates for the diploma. ‘This year, in addition
to the ordinary work during term, a special course lasting
three weeks, specially suited to those who are engaged in
teaching, is being arranged for August. The instruction
will be both practical and theoretical, and there ought to
be no lack of support for so useful an innovation.

CaMBRIDGE.—The forestry committee having been com-
missioned to submit a scheme of study and examination
for the diploma in forestry, recommends that the Senate
approve the following :—Candidates, before receiving the
diploma in forestry, shall be required to produce evidence
that they have (1) passed (or obtained exemption from) the
Previous examination, together with the additional subjects ;
(2) satisfied the examiners in physics, chemistry, geology,
and botany, either in part i. of the examination for the
diploma in agriculture, or in that examination in combin-
ation with the Natural Sciences Tripos, part i., or in some
other examination or examinations approved by the com-
mittee; (3) diligently attended courses of instruction in
forest botany, in entomology, in forestry, in forest men-
suration, surveying, and engineering, and such other courses
in related subjects as may from time to time be approved
by the committee; (4) attended for a time equivalent to
One academical year courses of instruction in practical
forestry approved by the committee; (5) obtained a certifi-
cate of proficiency in practical forestry approved by the
committee; (6) passed the examination for the diploma;
(7) been admitted to a degree in the University.

The general board of studies has approved for the degree
of Doctor in Science Mr. G. H. F. Nuttall, Christ’s
College.

The general board of studies also recommends that it
be authorised to appoint, subject to confirmation by the
special board for medicine, Mr. G. H. F. Nuttall to be
reader in hygiene in connection with the special board for
medicine; that the university lectureship in bacteriology
and preventive medicine terminate on his appointment as
reader; and that the readership terminate with the tenure
of office of Mr. Nuttall.

Dr. W. A. THorNTON has been appointed to the newly-
created professorship of electrical engineering at Armstrong
College, Newcastle.

AccorRDING to a message from Wolfville, Nova Scotia,
Mr. Carnegie has promised to the Acadia University 6000!. —
for a new science building as soon as 20,0001. has been
raised for a forward movement now in progress. Of this
sum nearly half is already in hand, and the rest is de-
finitely promised.

Tue council and principal of the Bedford College for
Women will hold the usual reception at the college on
Commemoration Day, May 9, after the presentations for
degrees at the University of London. The Pfeiffer entrance
scholarship in science, tenable for three years, and of the
annual value of 48/., will be offered for competition in
June next.

At the annual dinner of the students of the Camborne
Mining School, held in Camborne on March ro, the prin-

Marcu 22, 1906]

NATURE

501

cipal, Mr. J. J. Beringer, in reviewing the growth of the
school for the past ten years, made some remarks upon the
recent report of the departmental committee on the Royal
College of Science. He pointed out that while the fellows
of the faculty of mining and metallurgy may be only
capable of being produced and fully nourished to maturity
in the new institution, yet the general practitioners would
still find their way to Camborne for their training. The
chairman of the school committee, Mr. C. V. Thomas,
remarked that though encouragement was given by the
Government and the County Council, sufficient material
assistance had always been wanting, and plans for ex-
tensions were crippled for want of funds.

SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES.

LONDON.

Royal Society, December 7, 1905.—‘‘ A Biometrical Study
of Conjugation in Paramecium.’’ By Dr. Raymond
Pearl. Communicated by Prof. Karl Pearson, F.R.S.

The purpose of this investigation was to determine

whether any sensible differentiation exists between the
conjugating and non-conjugating members of a population
of the common ciliate infusorian Paramaecium caudatum,
and to what degree structurally similar individuals tend
to pair together in conjugation. The characters principally
studied were length and greatest breadth of the body, and
the shape of the organism as measured by the length-
breadth index. The material used covered a considerable
range of cultural conditions. It was found that there is a
very considerable differentiation between conjugant and
non-conjugant individuals. In respect to the absolute size
characters (length and breadth of body), the differences
between the means for the two groups of individuals
amounted to from to per cent. to 20 per cent. of the mean
size of the larger (non-conjugant) individuals. Not only are
conjugants absolutely smaller than non-conjugants, but
they are also sensibly differentiated in shape. Further,
they are much less variable, and less highly correlated.
There is a strongly marked tendency for like to pair with
like in the conjugation of Paramecium. The coefficients
of correlation measuring homogamy in conjugation, are
relatively very high, both for direct and cross assortative
pairing, in all the characters examined. By an experimental
study of random pairings it was shown that this homogamy
in conjugation is due to a real assorting and pairing of
like with like, and not a spurious effect of local differenti-
ation in the culture. Further, by comparing records
obtained from recently united pairs of conjugants with
similar records from pairs about to separate, it was shown
that the results cannot be due to any process of equalisa-
tion in size during the process of conjugation itself. The
probable manner in which the homogamic pairing is
brought about is discussed, and it is shown that the results
are easily explicable on the basis of known facts regarding
the behaviour of the organism. It is pointed out that the
demonstration of the existence of a relatively fixed ‘* con-
jugant type’’ has a direct bearing on current views as to
the theoretical significance of protozoan methods of repro-
duction. The importance of getting positive evidence that
a sensible degree of homogamy actually exists among
organisms living under natural conditions has been many
times emphasised by writers on evolution. The present
work brings forward such evidence for a single organism
standing low in the scale of organisation.

January 18.—‘‘ A Case of Regeneration in Polychete
Worms.’’ By Arnold T. Watson. Communicated by
Prof. C. S. Sherrington, F.R.S.

January 25.—‘ On the Overstraining of Iron by Tension
and Compression.’? By Dr. James Muir. Communicated
by Prof. A. Gray, F.R:S. =

The behaviour of mild steel under compression is investi-
gated. Compression stress-strain curves are usually shown
very much rounded at the yield-point. In this paper a
specimen of steel is shown to have obeyed Hooke’s law
until abrupt permanent shortening occurred at the stress
of 213 tons per square inch. At this stress the reading on
a Ewing “‘ compression extensometer ’’ altered from 241 to

NO. 1899, VOL. 73]

2900 without increase of load. This permanent shortening
at the compression yield-point was found to be practically
equal to the extension at the tension yield-point of the same
material. A second compression test made on the same
specimen, after recovery from the compressional overstrain,
showed that the compression yield-point had been raised by
a step of 4 tons per square inch. This was approximately
the step by which the tension yield-point of the material
could be raised by tensile overstrain.

Experiments were further made to investigate the be-
haviour under compression of steel which had previously
been subjected to tensile overstrain. The experiments seem
to indicate that there are two distinct causes contributing
to the phenomenon of hardening by tensile overstrain :—
(1) the overstraining itself—the actual stretching of the
material—seems to harden the material equally as regards
both resistance to tension and to compression; while (2)
the process of recovery from tensile overstrain, which seems
to bring into existence an internal stress, raises the tension
yield-point by a definite step above the overstraining stress,
but seems to lower the compression yield-point by approxi-
mately an equal amount below the overstraining stress.
For example, a specimen subjected to a series of tension
tests in which the loading is carried just beyond the yield-
point (recovery from overstrain being effected between each
test) might exhibit yield-points at 20, 25, 30, 35, and 40
tons per square inch. The corresponding compression yield-
points should probably occur at about 20, 15, 20, 25, and
30 tons per square inch. This conjecture can scarcely be
said to have been fully established, further research being
necessary ; but it is shown that steel may be hardened by
tensile overstrain to resist higher stresses both in tension
and in compression, although material so hardened always
withstands a greater stress in tension than in compression.

February 8.—‘ Polarisation in Secondary Réntgen Radi-
ation.’”? By Dr. C. G. Barkla. Communicated by Prof.
J. J. Thomson, F.R.S.

In a previous paper the author gave an account of ex-
periments which demonstrated the partial polarisation of
a beam of X-rays proceeding from the anti-kathode of an
X-ray focus tube. The secondary radiation from sub-
stances of low atomic weight placed in the primary beam,
however, varied in intensity in the two principal directions
by not more than about 20 per cent.

The experiments described in this paper were made on
the secondary radiation proceeding from a substance of low
atomic’ weight, for, according to the theory given, the
radiation proceeding in a direction perpendicular to that of
propagation of the primary should be almost completely
polarised.

The method was similar to that used in previous experi-
ments, the intensity of tertiary radiation from a light sub-
stance placed in the secondary beam being studied by means
of electroscopes, shielded from the direct primary and
secondary radiations.

The principal experimental difficulties were due to the
weakness of the tertiary beams.

Carbon was chosen as the radiating substance because
the energy of secondary radiation from substances of low
atomic weight had been found to be proportional merely
to the quantity of matter passed through by a primary of
given intensity, and as absorption diminishes with the
atomic weight, the lower the atomic weight the greater is
the energy of secondary radiation proceeding from thick
plates exposed to a given primary.

A large mass of carbon was placed in the primary beam,
and the horizontal secondary beam proceeding from this in
a direction perpendicular to that of propagation of the
primary was studied. In it was placed a second mass of
carbon, and two electroscopes were situated to receive
tertiary rays proceeding in horizontal and vertical direc-
tions. As the X-ray tube was turned round the axis of the
secondary beam, the intensities of tertiary radiation in the
two directions changed, one increasing to a maximum while
the other decreased to a minimum.

It was found that the horizontal tertiary reached a maxi-
mum and the vertical a minimum when the primary beam
was horizontal, and that the conditions were reversed when
the primary was turned through a right-angle.

502
This result was anticipated by the theory previously
given, and may be explained by considering the electrons

in the radiating substance to be accelerated in the direction
of electric displacement in the pulses passing over them.

The intensities in the two principal directions were
approximately in the ratio 3:1. Considering the obliquity
of primary, secondary, and tertiary rays in the beams ex-
perimented upon, this result indicates fairly complete
polarisation in a narrow pencil of secondary radiation pro-
ceeding from the substance in a direction perpendicular to
that of propagation of the primary.

When iron was used as the radiator in the secondary
beam, though the rates of deflection of the electroscopes
were of the same order of magnitude as before, there was
no appreciable variation as the direction of the primary
beam was changed.

This result was what previous experiments on iron led
one to expect, and was the most conclusive proof of the
interpretation of the results obtained with carbon. The
independence of motion of the electrons disappears in the
heavier atoms, and each is subject to considerable forces
not directly due to the primary pulse (in this case the
secondary pulse) and not in the direction of electric dis-
placement in this pulse. Hence the variation in intensity
of the tertiary in different directions becomes inappreciable,
while the pulse thickness in the tertiary beam becomes
greater than in the secondary, and is consequently more

readily absorbed.
Geological Society, February 16,—Annual General
meeting.—Dr. J. E. Marr, F.R.S., president, in the

chair.—Influence of the geological structure of English
Lakeland upon its present features. Anniversary
address: President. After an account of the light thrown
upon the structure of Lakeland by the writings of other
geologists, the president considered his subject under the
following heads :—Events prior to the uplift which pro-
duced the dome; production of the dome; initiation of the
drainage-lines; effects of the three types of rocks upon
the scenery ; modification of old drainage-lines ; depression
of the outskirts; effects of meteorological conditions,
(1) general, (2) the Glacial period. Of the events prior to
the dome-shaped uplift, he laid greatest stress upon the
movements of Devonian times, which had caused the
Lower Palzozoic rocks to be affected by fractures forming
a roughly rhomboidal network, the fissures being marked
by belts of broken rock along their courses. He accepted
Hopkins’s view of the formation of a dome comparable in
shape to a ‘‘ caddy-spoon’’ with the short handle to the
east. He gave further reasons in support of the view that
the uplift of the dome and the final movements of the
Pennine Chain were of Tertiary date. After commenting
on the theory that rocks of New Red Sandstone age ex-
tended over the district, he discussed the nature of the
radial drainage impressed upon these newer rocks during
the uplift of the dome, and the removal of these rocks in
the district itself by denudation, producing a superimposed
drainage on the Lower Palaeozoic rocks. The changes
which took place in the valleys as the result of the imposi-
tion of the rivers upon the ancient rocks were then dis-
cussed, and it was maintained that diversion of the river-
courses had largely taken place owing to the easier erosion
along the shatter-belts. When discussing the effects of
meteorological conditions he commented on_hill-outlines,
where the upper parts of hill-slopes presented a convex out-
line towards west and south, and a concave curve towards
east and north. ‘This he attempted to explain as due to the
more profuse growth of vegetation on the slopes facing
west and south.

February 21.—Sir Archibald Geikie, Sec.R.S., president,
in the chair.—The constitution of the interior of the earth,
as revealed by earthquakes: R. D. Oldham. This paper
sets forth the information to be obtained from the records
of distant earthquakes. The record of a great earthquake
exhibits three phases, of which the third represents wave-
motion travelling along the surface of the earth, and can
give no information regarding the interior. The other two
phases ferm the preliminary tremors, and represent the
emergence of two forms of wave-motion propagated through
the earth. Up to a distance of 120° of arc from the origin,

NO. 1899, VOL. 73]

NATURE

[Marcu 22, 1906

these waves are propagated at a rate which increases with
the depth of the wave-path, and reaches an average of more
than 10 km. sec. for the first-phase, and more than
6 km. sec. for the second-phase waves. The increase may
be attributed to the effect of increased pressure and
temperature. Beyond this limit the first-phase waves show
a reduction in the mean rate of transmission, while the
second-phase waves are found, not where they would be
expected, but at about 11’ later. Two interpretations are
given. Either alternative leads to the conclusion that, after
the outermost crust of the earth is passed, there is no
indication of any rapid change of physical and chemical
properties until a depth of about six-tenths of the radius
is reached.—The Tarannon series of Tarannon: Dr. Ethel
M. R. Wood. The Tarannon strata are well developed in
the Llanbrynmair-Tarannon district, and the present paper
gives the results of a detailed survey of the entire Tarannon
series as there exhibited. Lists of the contained graptolites
are given, and the species are paralleled with those from
the corresponding beds of the south of Scotland, the Lake
District, North Wales, central Wales, and Sweden,
demonstrating the similarity of the graptolitic succession in
all these districts. The Tarannon series in this district
has a maximum thickness of 3500 feet, but thins somewhat
as it is traced north-westward. It rests conformably on
Llandovery rocks below, and passes up without a break
into Wenlock beds above. ‘This rock-series is strati-
graphically continuous from base to summit. The strata
of the overlying Wenlock series present all the characters
of the Denbigh Grits and Flags of North Wales. The
Llandovery series, which underlies the Tarannon series,
has, at present, been recognised only in the western part
of the district, namely, in the valley of the Twymyn, and
its rocks are brought to the surface by an anticlinal fold.
A comparison of the graptolitic lists shows that the
Tarannon series, as here defined, corresponds almost exactly
with the Gala or Queensberry group of the south of Scot-
land, includes all the palzontological zones hitherto
assigned to the Tarannon, and fills up the whole period
intervening between the Llandovery below and the Wenlock
above.

Physical Society, February 23.—Prol. J. Penry, RaReSss
president, in the chair.—A note on Talbot’s lines: J.
Walker. The diffraction-pattern of a line of mono-
chromatic light seen in focus, due to a rectangular aperture
with its sides parallel to the line, is characterised by dark
bands arranged at equal intervals on either side of the geo-
metrical image of the line. The effect of covering half
the aperture with a retarding plate is to displace the bands
of an odd order towards the covered side by an amount
proportional to the retardation introduced, those of an
even order remaining fixed. Suppose that the light is
white and that its monochromatic constituents have been
made by spectral analysis to occupy different angular posi-
tions in the field. Owing to the dispersion, the bands of
an even order are obliterated; but in the case of those of
an odd order the dispersing power of the plate itself pro-
duces a dispersion of the bands, and consequently these
bands will be seen, provided the plate have a suitable thick-
ness and be so placed that the dispersion of the bands
produced by it acts in opposition to the primitive dispersion
of the light.—Secondary R6ntgen radiation: Dr. C. G.
Barkla. In previous papers the author has shown that
the secondary X-rays from certain gases and. light solids
subject to Réntgen radiation may be fully explained by
considering the corpuscles or electrons constituting the
atoms to be accelerated in the direction of electric dis-
placement in each primary R6ntgen pulse as it passes
through such substances, and that the interaction between
the electrons affects only to a slight extent the character
of the secondary radiation. Experiments on the absorption
of rays proceeding from thick plates of a large number of —
elements showed that beyond the region of atomic weights
in which the character of the secondary radiation is almost
independent of the nature of the radiation, the absorb-
ability is a periodic function of the atomic weight of the
radiator, and that, so far as these experiments have gone,
different periods are represented by curves of similar form.
The theory which has been found to explain all the pheno-

MarcH 22, 1906]

NATURE

393

mena of secondary radiation from light atoms may be ex-
tended to explain these results, if the independence of
motion of the electrons is conceived to disappear with an
increase in the number of electrons in the atom.—Records
of the difference of potential between railway lines when a
train passes and at other times, and a suggested method
for the observation of earth currents and magnetic vari-
ations: C. W. S. Crawley and F. B. O. Hawes. The
experiments described in the paper were made on the
London and South-Western main line, between’ Walton
and Weybridge stations. To each rail of the up line a wire
was permanently attached, and the other ends of the wires
were connected to the terminals of a reflecting galvano-
meter. The deflections of the galvanometer were recorded
on a moving sheet of paper, and curves obtained showing
the variation in the current through the galvanometer.
The curves showed a concordance in the results from
successive trains. The normal current through the galvano-
meter began to be disturbed about one minute before the
passage of a train, and the disturbance lasted about two
minutes.

Royal Microscopical Society, February 21.—Dr. Dukin-
field H. Scott, F.R.S., president, in the chair.—A method of
producing stereo-photomicrographs: W. P. Dollman. A
number of good stereoscopic prints were exhibited in the
room in illustration of the paper.—A simple method of
taking stereo-photomicrographs and of mounting the prints
without cutting: Mr. Taverner. Though this paper was
upon the same subject as the previous one, the methods of
the authors were different, and Mr. Dollman limits his
operations to very low powers, giving amplifications of 9
to 20 diameters only. He uses a stop in front of the
objective, and exposes first one side of the lens and then
the other as he takes his two stereoscopic pictures. Mr.
Taverner uses higher powers, and a peculiar stop at the
back of the objective. The authors adopt a similar arrange-
ment for obviating the necessity of cutting the prints.—A

second list of rotifers of Natal: Hon. T. Kirkman. The
author described a remarkable new species, Copeus
triangulatus.

Anthropological Institute, February 27.—Prof W.

Gowland, president, in the chair.—Ancestor worship in
Japan: W. G. Aston. It was shown that the so-called
ancestor worship of the Japanese is in reality a cult of the
sun and other nature deities, but as the sun or sun-goddess,
by a genealogy which covers a period of about 2,000,000
years and contains many miraculous incidents, is feigned
to be the ancestor of the Mikados, the Japanese naturally
speak of this cult as ancestor worship. We should not
follow their example. The descent of the Japanese nobility
from the sun-goddess and other deities of the old Pantheon
is to be regarded in the same light. There is a worship
of true ancestors in Japan, but it is due to Chinese in-
fluence, and is of later origin.—Anthropological notes
from Lake Tanganyika: W. A. Cunnington. The author
dealt with the manners, customs, and arts, &c., of the
natives living by the lake. Among the slides exhibited was
a series showing the different stages of the manufacture of
a pot, the peculiar point being that the bottom of the pot
is put in last. Other slides showed examples of weapons,
dress, houses, and costumes of the natives.

March 13.—Prof. W. Gowland in the chair.—A collec-
tion of Palzolithic implements from the neighbourhood of
Southampton: W. Dale. The author divided the imple-
ments into the following groups:—flakes, plain and
trimmed ;- implements with the butt end purposely left
smooth, used for chopping; oval- and almond-shaped
implements with a cutting edge all round; pointed imple-
ments with both edges equal, and tapering gradually;
pointed implements with one curved and one straight edge,
adapted for making long cutting strokes; pointed imple-
ments in which one side has been left as flat as possible—
these occur very sparingly in the Hants gravels.—
Materials for a study of tatu in Borneo: R. Shelford and
Dr. C. Hose. The paper contained the observations made
by the writers amongst the Kayans, Kenyahs, Bakatans,
Kalabits, and Sea-Dayaks of Sarawak. All the inform-
ation on the subject by previous writers had been analysed

NO. 1899, VOL. 73]

and compared, special use being made of Dr. A.
Nieuwenhuis’s books on Borneo. Kayan tatu, which is
still a flourishing art, was described in considerable detail,
not only with reference to the tatu designs employed, but
also to the elaborate ceremonial accompanying the practice.
The Kenyahs and Sea-Dayaks also appear to have
borrowed the practice of tatu very largely from the
Kayans; but most of the Indonesian tribes have all had
at one time or another a distinctive tatu. It is most un-
fortunate that the practice is rapidly dying out amongst
these people. It was not found possible to classify the
tatued peoples of Borneo in three main divisions as had
been done by Dr. Nieuwenhuis for those of a less extended
area.

Linnean Society, March 1.—Prof. W. A. Herdman, F.R.S.,
president, in the chair.—A new type of stem from the Coal-
measures : Dr. D. H. Scott. The stem is one of the many
interesting fossils obtained from the pit at Shore-Little-
borough, in Lancashire, opened up for scientific purposes
by the generosity of the owner, Mr. W. H. Sutcliffe. The
sections were cut by Mr. J. Lomax. The specimen was
derived from one of the roof-nodules, which generally re-
present a peculiar flora, distinct from that of the seam-
nodules immediately below. Specimens of the great
petioles of the same plant had been discovered a year or
two before the stem itself came to light. The fragment
was about 15 cm. long, and belonged to a stem of con-
siderable size, the diameter being about 12Xx6-5 cm. The
new stem is referred to the family Medullosez, of which it
constitutes a unique type. It is placed in a new genus,
named Sutcliffia, in honour of Mr. Sutcliffe, of Shore-
Littleborough, and the specific name S, insignis is proposed
for it—Notes on some species of Nereis in the district of
the Thames estuary: Dr. H. C. Sorby. In the course of
yachting expeditions during successive summers for more
than twenty years, Dr. Sorby has observed some remark-
able facts connected with the Heteronereis form in two
species of Nereis. The rarity of the occurrences should
make the record of them acceptable. Notes are given in
the paper on five species of Nereis found in the Thames
district.

Sociological Society, March 14.—Prof. E. Ray Lankester,
F.R.S., in the chair.—Notes on the sociological appeal to
biology for suggestion: Prof. J. A. Thomson. The
sociologist is beginning to recognise the usefulness of
analysing out the organic processes which contribute to
the result which we call social activity. The same is true
of the sociologist’s appeal to biology. If the recognition
of biological factors operative in social activity is very
partial the result is sure to be fallacious. By recognising
the operation of biological factors in the life of a societary
group the sociologist brings what is distinctively social
into greater prominence. There is some danger of an
inaccurate ‘‘ materialism ’’ if we pretend that sociology is
merely a higher department of biology. The chief value
of the appeal to biology by sociological students is three-
fold :—(a) aiding in analysis; (b) showing that various
modes of social activity have a biological aspect; (c) sug-
gesting from biological experience the discovery of socio-
logical laws.

,

Paris.

Academy of Sciences, March 12.—M. H. Poincaré in the
chair.—The propagation of a movement round a centre in
an elastic, homogeneous, and isotropic medium: J.
Boussinesq.—The effects of the absorption of tuberculin
by the digestive tube in healthy and tuberculous animals:
A. Calmette and M. Breton. The experiments described
show that tuberculin, when absorbed by the alimentary
canal, is toxic for non-tuberculous animals, the effect being
especially marked for young animals. The tuberculin is
no better tolerated when the dosage starts from a minimum
and is progressively increased. For tuberculous animals a
very much smaller dose of tuberculin is poisonous.—The
evolution of the Tertiary mammals: the importance of
migrations: Charles Depéret.—The seventh scientific
voyage of the Princess Alice: Prince Albert of Monaco.
General description of the work done in oceanography,
zoology, microbiology, and meteorology of the Sargasso
Sea, in mid-Atlantic.—Observations of the comet 1906b

504

IA TAO R EE

[MarcH 22, 1906

made with the large equatorial of the Observatory of
Bordeaux: E. Esclangon. The observations were made
on March 6 and 7. The comet had the appearance of a
star of 10-5 magnitude, surrounded by a very feeble
luminosity.—The electromotive forces of contact between
metals and liquids, and an improvement in the iono-
graph: Charles Nordmann. Diagrams are given of the
apparatus and of a record of the recording instrument for
a period of twelve hours.—The sympathetic vibration of a
string giving a low note under the influence of one giving

a higher note, and the possible consequences arising
from ‘this: Edmond Bailly. It has been held up to now

that a note cannot produce a sympathetic vibration in a
string of lower pitch than itself. The author describes
an experiment leading to a contrary conclusion.—The
action of hot sulphuric acid on salts of platinum and

iridium in the presence of sulphate of ammonium: Marcel
Delépine. Both these metals are dissolved by boiling
sulphuric acid in very appreciable quantities. Complex

acids appear to be formed in which the sulphuric acid is
not precipitable by barium chloride.—The action of peroxide
of nitrogen on ammonia and some ammoniacal salts: MM.
Besson and Rosset. When liquid ammonia at —go®° C.

is added to solid nitrogen peroxide at the same tempera- |

ture there is a violent explosion. The reaction can be
moderated by working with ammonia gas at —20° C.; the
products are nitrogen, nitric oxide, and. ammonium nitrate.
—The action of silicon chloride upon cobalt: Em.
Vigouroux. At a high temperature silicon chloride is re-
duced by cobalt, a volatile metallic chloride being formed
and a cobaltosilicon remaining behind. The amount of
silicon in this latter compound tends to the silicide Co,Si
as a limit.—The dilactide of levorotatory lactic acid: E.

Jungfieisch and M. Godchot.—A method of determin-
ation of the foreign materials contained in cocoa and
chocolate: F. Bordas and M. Touplain. The substance

is treated with carbon tetrachloride mixed with varying |

so as to get a range of density
between 1-6 and 1-346. A separation of the. materials of
different densities is readily effected.Polyvalent anti-
oxydase serum: C. Gessar.—Contribution to the systematic
anatomy of some kinds of ferns: Ferdinand Pelourde.—
Nuclear fertilisation in the Mucorinee: M. Dangeard.
Hylochoerus Meinertzhageni: Maurice de Rothschild and
Henri Neuville.—The structure of the cacum or filiform
appendices of the middle intestine of Phyllium crurifolium :
L. Bordas.—The comparative anatomy of the Sipuncu-
lide : Marcel A. Hérubel.—The evolution of the supposed
coccidia of cephalopods: Th. Moroff.—A new disease of

proportions of benzene,

the trout: L. Léger.—The analysis of tubercle bacilli:
G. Baudran. Separate analyses were made of dead and
living bacilli. The former gave lecithin, cholesterin, and
fat, cellulose, nuclein, and albumenoid materials. The

living bacilli gave, in addition, an anaéroxydase and an
alkaloid.—The reaction of the blood a function of nutri-
tion: Jean Gautrelet. There is an absolute parallelism
between the apparent alkalinity of the blood and the activity
of the organic exchanges as measured by the amount of
hemoglobin.—The Pleistocene glaciers in the valleys of
Andorre: Marcel Chevalier.—The volcanoes of the
Livradois and Comté, Puy-de-Déme: Ph. Glangeaud.—
The tectonic of the Ivrée and Strona zones: Emile
Argand.—The diatom-bearing sediments of the region of
Lake Tchad: Paul Petit and H. Courtet.

DIARY OF SOCIETIES.

THURSDAY, Marcu 22.

Royat Society, at 4.30.—Bakerian Lecture: Recent Advances in
Seismology; Prof. J. Milne, F.R.S.—On Methods whereby the Radiation
of Electric Waves may be mainly confined to Certain Directions, and
whereby the Receptivity of a Receiver may be restricted to Electric
Waves emanating from Certain Directions: Chevalier G. Marconi.—A
Note on the Theory of Directive Antenne or Unsymmetrical Hertzian
Oscillators: Prof. J. A. Fleming, F.R.S.

INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Electrical Equipment of
the Aberdare Collieries of the Powell Duffryn Co. : C. P. Sparks.—Elec-
tric Winding considered Practically and Commercially : W. C. Mountain.

Rovat INsTITUTION, at 5.—Internal Combustion Engines: Prof. B.
Hopkinson.

FRIDAY, Marcu 23.

Royat INSTITUTION, at 9.—Imperial Defence : Lord Roberts.

Puysicat Society (University College), at 5.—On Unilateral Electric
Conductivity over Damp Surfaces: Prof. F. T. Trouton, F.R.S.—The

No. 1899, VOL. 73]

Construction and Use of Oscillation Valves for Rectifying High Fre-
quency Electric Currents: Prof. J. A. Fleming, F.R.S.—On_ the Use of
the Cymometer for the Determination of Resonance Curves: G. B. Dyke.

INSTITUTION OF CiviL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Waves: F. K. Stevens.

SATURDAY, Marcu 24.

Roya Institution, at 3.—The Corpuscular Theory of Matter:

J. J. Thomson, F.R.S.
MONDAY, Marcu 26.

Society oF ARTS, at 8.—Fire, Fire Risks, and Fire Extinction: Prof.
Vivian B. Lewes.

INSTITUTE OF ACTUARIES, at 5.—Some Aspects of Registration of Title
to Land: J. R. Hart.

Prof.

TUESDAY, Marcu 27.
Roya INSTITUTION, at 5.—The Influence of Geology on Scenery: Dr.

J. E. Marr, F.R.S.

INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Continued Discussion: The
Outer Barrier, Hodbarrow Iron Mines: H. Shelford Bidwell.—The Har-
bours of South Africa : C. W. Methven.

WEDNESDAY, Marcu 28.

Society oF Arts, at 8.—Coal Conservation, Power Transmission and

Smoke Prevention: A. J. Martin.
THURSDAY, Marcu 29.

RovAL Society, at 4.30.—Probable Papers : On the Dilatational Stability

of the Earth: Lord Rayleigh, O.M., P. R.S. On the Observations of

Stars made in some British Stone Circles. Second Note: Sir 16
Norman Lockyer, K.C.B., F.R.S. t
Roya {NSTITUTION, at 5.—Internal Combustion Engines: Prof. B.

Hopkinson.

INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—A djourned Discussion:
Electrical Equipment of the Aberdare Collieries of the Powell Duffryn
Company: »C. P. Sparks.—Electric Winding, considered Practically
and ‘Commercially : W. C. Mountain.

FRIDAY, Marcu 30.

Royat INsTITUTION, at 9.—Recent Progress in Magneto-optics :

Zeeman.

Profige2
SATURDAY, Marcu 31.

Royat INsTiITuUTION, at 3.— lhe Corpuscular Theory of Matter: Prof.
J. J. Thomson, F.R.S.
CONTENTS. PAGE
The Bantu Speech of Southernmost Africa, By
Sir H. H. Johnston, K.C.M.G. . as
| Mining Law. By Bennett H. Brough. . aay Oe
| Organic Chemistry applied to Biysiology.. By
Prof. Benjamin Moore Boo oe

Our Book Snelf :—

Pierpont: ‘* Lectures on the Theory of Functions of
Real Variables,” vol. PepeNG? oe ke
Edmunds : ‘ Sound ae Rhy thm.” —Prof. John G.
McKendrickyhiR.S: «005. a) = linen tee aero
Robertson and Bartholomew: ‘Historical and
Modern Atlas of the British Empire, specially pre-
pared for Students”’; ‘‘ Philips’ Model Atlas” 484
Watson : ‘‘ Natural Science in Hygiene, or the Life-
History of the Non-Bacterial Parasites affecting
Man.”—Prof. R. T. Hewlett . 484
Letters to the Editor :—
A Plea for Absolute Motion.—Norman R.
Campbell . 484
Interpretation of Meteorological Records. —Dr. John
Aitken, F.RiS.). . 3 ~ + 485
Agricultural Education and Colonial Development, _—
Dr. J. Walter Leather. . a 485
Peculiar Ice Formation.—Rev. ‘A, Irving; Ww.
Larden) i: 485
American Observations of the Total Solar Eclipses
of 1900 and 1go1. (J//ustrated.) By Dr. William
J. Si Lockyere =. 486
Agriculture and the Empire. -_By Sir W. T. Thisel-
De rege 8 iis Glib ol Summers
INiotes ams hs Raed 499
Our Astronomical Column: —
Discovery of a New Comet (oe Mews ree. 494
Comet 19064. . 5 Re ommre lc) om coc 494
Comet 1906a (Brooks) . oS Seisdieellctys <a
A Programme of Solar Research aN; shoe Age coy 'sjhalaty Coe
Harvard Gollege’@bservatory . .). 2%.) = « 494
Catalogue of 3799 Bright Stars . . - = <2). |.) 2 ae4ag
Eclipse Observations at Catania. - eon n. 2tcl5,
Micrometer Measures of Struve Double Stars. . 495
Some Applications of the Theory of Electric Dis-
charge through Gases to Spectroscopy. (2th
Diagrams.) By Prof. J. J. Thomson, F.R.S. . . . 495
Microscopic Aquatic Plants and their Place in
Nature, By Dr. F. E. Fritsch .. apie 499
University and Educational Intelligence © eee, oe Oe
Societiesand’Academies . . 50. Ji: sijticie aaeeOu
Diary ofSocieties) i.) 2. % +.» cies manimcneich ame

NATURE

505

THURSDAY, MARCH 29, 1906.

STARS AND NEBULAS.

The System of the Stars. By Agnes M. Clerke.
Second edition. Pp. xvi+403. (London: A. and
C. Black, 1905.) Price 20s. net.

HERE is much excellent sense in the French
proverb, ‘‘Prends le premier conseil d’une

femme, et non le second,’’ which expresses the view
that the intuitive instinct of a woman is a safer
guide to follow than her reasoning faculties; and
although in these days it is considered ungracious to
make this suggestion, evidence of its truth is not
difficult to discover in most literary products of the
feminine mind. It is no disparagement to Miss
Clerke to say that even she shares this characteristic
of her sex, so that sometimes she lets her sympathies
limit her range of vision in the field of stellar re-
search. No doubt this disposition is exercised un-
consciously, but what is an attractive instinct when
applied to ordinary affairs of life is derogatory when
it influences the historiographic consideration of con-
tributions to natural Inowledge.

There are many students of science who follow the
trend of a writer like Miss Clerke with lamb-like
sequacity, and consider it almost a presumption to
express any dissatisfaction with her presentment or
interpretation of scientific fact. It is a sign of weak-
ness to occupy a position of this kind; and particu.
larly so when the author whose views are accepted
is not actively engaged in the investigation of the
field surveyed. Science is not a persuasion in which
personal opinion has to be respected whatever the
value of the material evidence in its support. We
may admire Miss Clerke’s literary skill and be im-
pressed by the brilliant periods in which she frequently
encloses simple matters of fact, but, at the same
time, we may be permitted to recollect that she is a
bibliographer rather than an observer, and therefore
her works, be they never so distinguished as litera-
ture, need only be regarded as narratives by a spec-
tator, when the weights of the results and conclusions
recorded in them are being decided. There is, as
Francis Bacon knew, a vast difference between
opinions based upon the study of books and papers
and those derived from individual observation and
experience. ‘‘ Studies themselves doe give forth
Directions too much at Large, except they be bounded
in by experience. Crafty Men Contemme Studies;
Simple Men admire them; And Wise Men Use them.
For they teach not their own Use; But that is a
Wisdome without them and above them, won by
Observation.”

This statement of Miss Clerke’s position is neces-
sary by way of excuse for the temerity of a reviewer
who ventures to criticise some points in a work of
such a substantial character as the present one. The
book has been revised so completely that scarcely a
page of it remains the same as in the original edition
published fifteen years ago. In this period much new
work has been accomplished, and from it Miss Clerke
has selected what she considers to mark

NO. 1900, VOL. 73]

essential

steps in the progress of sidereal science, to incorporate
with the results previously described. The task of
sidereal astronomy was formerly stated to be the in-
vestigation of ‘‘ the nature, origin and relationships of
sixty million stars and upwards of eight thousand
nebulz,’’ but the numbers are now ‘“‘ 30,000,000 stars
and nebule.’? The discovery of terrestrial
helium has led to the recognition of a new stellar
type having helium rays prominent in their spectra,
while oxygen, silicon, and titanium are among other
substances the rays of which have been identified in
celestial bodies in recent years. Numerous stars have
been proved by the spectroscope to be close couples;
and * Prof. Campbell showed in 1g02 that, among the
entire multitude of stars, one in six or seven is so
constituted.’? From spectroscopic observations, it has
also been possible to determine that the solar system is
moving toward an apex in right ascension 277° 30!
and declination +20° at the rate of 124 miles a second,
the probable error of the result being less than one
mile a second. The demonstration of the motion of
nebulze in the line of sight has shown that there is
no difference in this respect between nebulz and stars,
and has thus removed a difficulty formerly offered to
the view that stars arise from a condensation of
nebulous matter. Finally, the large number of vari-
able stars found in certain globular clusters, the
phenomena presented by such temporary stars as Nova
Aurigze and Nova Persei, and the structure and dis-
tribution of nebulz in relation to the Millky Way, can
only be simply and sufficiently explained by the exist-
ence in space of clouds of obscure particles alone or
associated with luminous matter. The most note-
worthy discoveries of astronomical science in recent
years are, indeed, those which demonstrate or suggest
that space may include as much dark material as
bright.

Until a few years ago it was believed that nebulze-
are masses of glowing gas at a high temperature;
but Miss Clerke is now able to write, ‘‘ experience
is wholly contradictory of the notion that nebulz are
excessively hot bodies.’’ It is scarcely too much to
say that the evidence brought forward by Sir Norman
Lockyer in connection with his meteoritic hypothesis
of celestial evolution is chiefly responsible for the-
change of view that has taken place. An astronomer
unfamiliar with the literature of astrophysics would
not, however, derive this impression from the study
of any parts of this bool in which nebulz are dealt
with. Again, it is stated that a consensus of opinion
regards gaseous nebulez as being “‘ luminous through
electrical excitement ’’; but though this is frequently
mentioned, there is no record of the suggestion made-
in 1888, as the result of spectroscopic examinations
of meteorites, that in the Orion nebula ‘‘ the hydrogen
is electrically excited ’’; yet this observation was re-
corded in the original edition of Miss Clerke’s book.

The low temperature of nebulz, electrical excitation
as a cause of luminosity, and the suggestion that the-
apparently continuous spectrum of white nebule, like
the nebula of Andromeda, would prove to be an inter--

120,000

rupted band of colour, are all functions of the
meteoritic hypothesis. These three points have been,
Z

506 NATURE

[Marcu 29, 1906

specifically and repeatedly mentioned in connection
with the hypothesis, as, for instance, in the remark
that the general absence of bright lines of metallic
vapours, and of the bright lines of hydrogen in white
nebulz ‘‘ evidently justifies the conclusion that we are
here in presence of those bodies in celestial space, the
temperature and the electrical excitation of which are
at a minimum, and as the continuous part of the-spec-
trum is brought under examination further stages will
be recognised. . . . There can be little doubt that when
our instrumental appliances and observing conditions
become more perfect, it will be found that the so-called
continuous spectra will be a perfect mine of new
knowledge regarding the true nature of the changes
which occur as condensation increases ’’ (‘‘ Meteoritic
Hypothesis,’ pp. 323, 324):

This was written sixteen years ago; and the work
that has since been done enables Miss Clerke to arrive
at the same conclusions, though she has forgotten the
observations which have changed the position formerly
occupied. She can now write :—

“Gaseous nebulz are, in fact, reasonably believed
to be at a temperature not much above absolute zero.
They are not, then, incandescent, but rather ‘ lumin-
escent’; their light is independent of thermal con-
ditions.”’

Also we find in several places the view accepted that
even the spectra of white nebulae are not truly con-
tinuous, but show
“slight inequalities in the flow of light, indicating
effects of absorption, of emission, or of both com-
bined.”

In the present state of knowledge of nebular spectro-
scopy, no opinion of substantial value can be ex-
pressed as to the relationship existing between nebula
exhibiting the characteristic line at A 5007 alone or
with other lines, and nebulae with apparently con-
tinuous spectra, but the view that the difference is due
to different degrees of condensation of congeries of
meteoritic matter—cosmic dust—the Andromeda type

_of nebula being in a more condensed condition than

an irregular nebula like that of Orion, is at least as
reasonable as any other. Even if this suggestion is
considered to be of negligible value, there remains the
fact that the present tendency is to regard the spectra
of all nebulae as being really discontinuous, as was
anticipated in the meteoritic hypothesis. Moreover,
Miss Clerke admits that, apart from the question of
the apparent differences between the two spectroscopic
types of nebulze,
‘relationship between the various orders of nebulz
is manifest. The tendency of all to assume spiral
forms demonstrates, in itself, their close affinity;
so that to admit some to membership of the
sidereal system while excluding others would be a
palpable absurdity. And since those of a gaseous
constitution must be so admitted, the rest follow in-
evitably.”’

It is not clear from this, or from other remarks
in the book, how we are to regard the white
nebule, if only as a working hypothesis. Most
spiral, nebulae do not give the characteristic spectrum
of hydrogen and helium, yet it is agreed that all
spiral forms are closely related. If it is assumed that

NO. 1900, VOL. 73 |

the spiral nebulz with bright line spectra are entirely
gaseous in constitution, it is difficult to explain the
existence of apparent “ stars,’’ presumably at a higher
temperature than that of the general mass of gas,
threaded upon the spirals. If, however, the view
is accepted that the luminous radiations of so-called
““ gaseous ’’ nebulz are really only the visible mani-
festations of electric or dynamic disturbances of a
mass of cosmic dust—and few would now deny the
existence of darlk matter in nebula—the explanation
of spiral nebulz is easy, and the difficulty as to the
relationship between these nebulee and others dis-
appears. The existence of streams, sheets, and shells
of palpable matter intersecting at various points is
sufficient to account for the bright portions of spiral
nebulze with the apparent stars arranged along the
spirals; if nebulae have this meteoritic constitution
spiral forms ought to predominate, as they actually
do. Spiral nebulz like those of Andromeda and
Canes Venatici are certainly not purely gaseous in
constitution, though a few years ago it was more
necessary to insist upon their non-gaseous nature than
it is now; but while we await crucial observations to
decide how nebulze of different spectroscopic types are
related, Miss Clerke might have shown that an ex-
planation has been given, though she may disapprove
of it.

A knowledge of the constitution of nebule is of
fundamental importance, for upon it must be based
any satisfactory scheme of evolution of celestial
species. All astronomers accept the idea of evolution
from nebulz, but as to the order of development, and
the means by which it is brought about, no hypo-
thesis has met with general adoption, even as a work-
ing principle. A common ground of agreement, how-
ever, is that nebulae showing the characteristic trio
of lines—aAdA 4860, 4950, and 5007—in their spectra
are at a relatively low temperature. Given the
cosmical amoeba in the form of a nebula, what will
become of it? The question cannot be answered
directly, because sidereal ontogeny transcends human
experience; but though the development of the in-
dividual nebula cannot be followed, a sidereal phylo-
geny can be based upon the spectroscopic characters
of celestial species. Miss Clerke does not deal with
nebular and stellar spectra from the point of view of
development; for she takes Secchi’s four types of
spectra as her groups for discussion, and only makes
incidental reference to the stages occupied by par-
ticular stars in an evolutionary scheme. The helium-
stars, typified by certain stars in the constellation
Orion, are regarded as the first results of condensation
from nebulze; Sirian stars represent the next stage,
and then the solar condition is reached.

‘‘Tn a general sense it may indeed be said that the
spectra of the sun and of solar stars imply a state of
things in their reversing layers analogous to that
prevailing in the arc-light, while in helium and Sirian
stars the conditions of the spark are more nearly
reproduced.”’

From stars of the solar type, Miss Clerke suggests
that the development is toward the condition of Betel-
geux, which exhibits the Fraunhofer spectrum in

Marcu 29, 1906|

IAA GT ele

507

association with titanium flutings or bands, then to
a Herculis, in which ‘‘the bands have acquired
strength through the efflux of time, it is supposed,
and the progress,of cooling.’? Further than this
she does not go, Secchi’s fourth type of stars, showing
absorption flutings of carbon in their spectra, being
regarded as a class apart, and not united to the sun
and its congeners in an evolutionary series.

In this classification of stellar spectra, temperature
is not considered as an essential factor or a con-
comitant of the changes described; the question of
the temperatures of the stars forms the subject of a
separate chapter, new to the present edition. Heat
is not entirely discarded, but ‘‘ luminescence,”’
‘‘radiology,’? and ‘‘electrical excitement’? now
appeal to Miss Clerke’s affections, and she flirts with
them whenever she has the opportunity, though little
is known of their resources. By this course she is
able to believe, with Sir William and Lady Huggins,
that solar stars are hotter than Sirian stars, while
she acknowledges, as has been shown, that arc-lines
are characteristic of the former type of spectra and
spark-lines of the latter. Whether the temperature
of the electric spark is actually higher than that of
the arc has yet to be decided, but solar stars can only
be placed at a higher temperature-level than white
stars by neglecting much circumstantial evidence in
support of the superiority of the spark. As a matter
of fact, laboratory observations, so far as they are
available, show that the same spectra can be pro-
duced by thermal or electrical action. Under con-
ditions from which electrical influences were probably
excluded, and the spectra obtained were due solely
to high temperature, nitrogen at temperatures above
3000° C. has been found to give an emission spectrum
in which the principal lines characteristic of the
element were visible (Nasini and Anderlini, Atti dei
Lineei, July, 1904). The agency by which gases and
vapours are rendered incandescent seems, indeed, to
be inconsequential, and high temperature is probably
competent to produce the same spectroscopic results
as those observed when incandescence is caused by the
oscillatory discharge.

Electric and thermal effects cannot, however, be
distinguished from one another in stellar spectra;
therefore any attempt at a temperature classification
must provide for possible electric influences. It was
recognised by Sir Norman Lockyer more than thirty
years ago (Roy. Soc. Proc., vol. xxii., p. 372, section
ii., June, 1874) that the action of electricity must be
included in the term ‘‘ temperature ’?; and while the
chemical changes effected by thermal and electric
forms of energy cannot be discriminated in celestial
spectra, the aim should be to construct a chemical
classification without waiting for a complete under-
standing of the active causes of atomic vibrations or
molecular combinations revealed by the spectroscope.

From whatever point of view stellar spectra are
studied, little support can be found for the conclusion
that the solar stars are at a higher temperature-level
than the white stars. From a comparison of the
spectra of Capella and Vega—typical solar and white
stars respectively—Sir William and Lady Huggins

NO. 1900, VOL. 73]

concluded that ‘* The solar orb seemed intrinsically
the blwer, and was inferred to be the hotter of the
two’’; but neither the observation nor the inference
can be regarded as established. Adopting the relative
length of the ultra-violet spectrum as a criterion of
stellar temperature, observations show that solar stars
are really weaker in ultra-violet rays than white stars.
In a paper on ‘‘ Radiation through a Foggy Atmo-
sphere’? (Astrophysical Journal, vol. xxi., No. 1,
January, 1905) Prof. Schuster accepts ‘‘ the compara-
tive weakness of the ultra-violet radiation in
stars’? as a fundamental fact which he attributes to
molecular scattering in the photospheric regions of
these bodies; but whatever the explanation, it is clear
that spectroscopists have not adopted Sir William
and Lady Huggins’s view as to the ultra-violet spec-
trum of solar stars, but hold an opinion directly
opposed to it. The extension of spectra into the
ultra-violet may be regarded as the result of increased
temperature, but by this standard white stars are
placed above solar stars, and not below them.

All standards of comparison should, however, lead
to the same spectroscopic succession if they are true
tests of evolutionary development of celestial species.
The sequence derived from comparisons of the lengths
of ultra-violet spectra is the same as that revealed
by the presence of gaseous and metallic lines of
helium and hydrogen, and the enhanced and arc lines
of the metals. In stars which have relatively the
longest ultra-violet spectra there are few absorption
lines; iron is represented practically by the enhanced
lines alone, and the lines characteristic of the are
spectrum are almost or entirely absent. Only by
considering the length of the ultra-violet spectrum
together with the presence or absence of iron lines and
lines that are intensified in passing from the condition
of the are to that of the spark can a useful classifi-
cation of stellar spectra be established. When this
principle is adopted a chemical classification of spectra
becomes possible, and a reasonable scale of stellar
thermotics is arrived at. From a hot star like
Bellatrix a descending series can be arranged through
B Persei, y Lyre, Sirius, Castor, and Procyon to
Arcturus—a relatively cool star—by considering the
changes in the spectrum of any constituent in passing
from one grade to another. A continuous ascending
series of spectra reaching up to Bellatrix can also be
arranged from the spectrum of nebulz of the Orion
type through planetary nebulz and the Wolf Rayet
stars showing the line A 4688 in their spectra to Orion
stars in which this line is dark. This arrangement
of spectra corresponds also with the sequence which
would be expected as the result of various degrees of
chemical dissociation at different temperatures. Stars
having the smallest number of chemical elements re-
presented in their spectra are probably the hottest,
while an increased number of lines in other spectra
is probably due to the existence of an increased
number of chemical elements as the result of lower
temperatures, the inferior position on the temperature
scale being indicated also by the reduction of the
relative length of the spectrum, increase of the relative
intensity of red radiation and general absence of

solar

508

NATURE

[ MARCH 29, 1906

enhanced lines. Little is said about this chemical
classification by Miss Clerke, and nothing in its
favour, yet it represents the conclusions of a lifetime
devoted to the study of spectra in the laboratory and
observatory, and abundant material relating to it
appears in the Proceedings of the Royal Society.
Anyone unfamiliar with this material who reads what
Miss Clerke has to say upon the temperatures of the
stars and the interpretation of stellar spectra would
have an inadequate idea of the results of systematic
studies of these subjects, or of the existence of sub-
stantial ground of appeal against her verdict.

An instance of an incomplete statement that tends
to mislead the reader is afforded by the note on Sir
William and Lady Huggins’s experiments on the be-
haviour of the H and K lines of the spectrum of
calcium (Roy. Soc., June 17, 1897). By reducing the
density of calcium vapour the lines H and K were
obtained alone, and it was concluded that the various
appearances of calcium lines in celestial bodies were
due to the different states of density of the gases from
which the lines were emitted or absorbed, and not to
degrees of dissociation. The H and K lines in the
solar spectrum are considered to prove the existence of
““the metal calcium in a highly rarefied state ’’; and
upon this evidence, referring to the condition of
this element, Miss Clerke remarks :—‘‘ The hypo-
thesis of its dissociation in the sun thus remains
unyerified.’”’ As a matter of logic, the experiments
only prove that the H and K lines of calcium
are spectroscopically persistent, and were able to
survive (as might have been expected) conditions
which effaced weaker lines in the spectrum of the
element. Because brachiopods belonging to the genus
Lingula are found in the sea at the present day as
they were in Paleozoic ages, while many other forms
that were contemporary have disappeared, we do not
conclude that organic evolution is impossible, but only
that the organism represents a type which persists in
spite of changes of conditions. In the same way the
continued existence of the H and K lines affords no
evidence whatever against the view that there are
different molecular groupings of calcium at different
temperatures. By reducing the density of the calcium
vapour, Sir William and Lady Huggins reduced the
quantity acted upon; so the dissociated condition re-
presented by the appearance of H and K alone was
reached sooner. Similar experiments were made by
Sir Norman Lockyer in 1879, and the conclusion
arrived at was that a reduction in the quantity of a
substance generally simplifies the spectrum. ‘In all
probability the effects hitherto ascribed to quantity
have been due to the presence of the molecular group-
ings of greater complexity. The more there is to
dissociate, the more time is required to run through
the series, and the better the first stages are seen
(Roy. Soc. Proc., vol. xxx., p. 26).

It will be seen, therefore, that the principal point
of Sir William and Lady Huggins’ experiment on
calcium vapour at different densities was the subject
of laboratory experiments more than twenty years
earlier, and that their conclusion, though it is men-
tioned by Miss Clerke without reservation or reference

NO. 1900, VOL. 73]

”

to previous investigations, is not a safe one to apply
to the consideration of the condition of calcium in
the sun or stars as indicated by spectroscopic appear-
ance. Moreover, if the changes of the calcium spec-
trum are interpreted as effects of tenuity, the similar
spectral variations of magnesium and iron ought to
admit of a like explanation, whereas there is good
evidence that they are due to constitutional changes
brought about by thermal or electric action.

Many other debatable matters are dealt with by
Miss Clerke in a manner which suggests that the
last word has been said upon them when she is really
only presenting one side of a case. It may be assumed
that, like a good advocate, she is as familiar with the
defendant’s case as she is with the plaintiff’s, but the
real strength of the evidence opposed to the views she
adopts could only be shown by the disciple of another
school of spectroscopy; and a small volume would be
required to plead this cause. No writer on astronomy
has a more facile pen than has Miss Clerke, and we
can forgive the occasional florid style when we re-
member the vast amount of reading and careful
analysis involved in the preparation of a volume of
this kind. The work is so good that every student
of astronomical physics must be familiar with it, and
every astronomical library must include it. Because
of its essential qualities it is to be regretted that a
broad view has not been taken of all contributions to
the subject made by competent investigators; for by
neglecting such aspects as have been referred to in
the foregoing paragraphs an incomplete story is pre-
sented of the meaning and mysteries of sidereal
development revealed by spectroscopic research.

R. A. Grecory.

BRITISH ASCIDIANS.

The British Tunicata: an Unfinished Monograph.
By the late Joshua Alder and the late Albany
Hancock. Edited by John Hopkinson, with a His-
tory of the Work by the Rev. A. M. Norman,
F.R.S., &c. Vol. i. Pp. xvi+t146+xx plates.
(London: Printed for the Ray Society, 1905.) Price
12s. 6d. net.

HERE are probably few precedents for the publi-
cation of an unfinished biological monograph
thirty years after the authors penned their last re-
marks, especially of a monograph dealing with a
group which has been the object of much detailed
investigation by other hands in the interval. The
chequered history of the present worl is briefly, but
sympathetically, told by Canon Norman, from whose
preface the following paragraph may be extracted :-—

‘Though so many years have elapsed, the value of
this Monograph is great, since (1st) it contains full
descriptions with illustrations of the Tunicata of our
fauna as known up to the time of the death of the
authors; (2nd) because many of the new species had
been only briefly diagnosed, and the fuller descrip-
tions and figures of these which are now given will
enable them to be better Known and understood; and
(grd) it is especially desirable that the full account of
Hancock’s investigations should be published together
with a portion of his beautiful drawings.”

Marcu 29, 1905]

NATURE

509

For these reasons the student of the Tunicata cannot
be otherwise than grateful to the Ray Society for the
publication of this work, and especially for the
liberality with which it has been illustrated. The
coloured figures representing many of the authors’
species must rank among the best figures of ascidians
extant, and the numerous collotype reproductions of
Hancock’s drawings of the branchial sac, &c., wil]
greatly facilitate the task of identification.

The first volume, which we hope may so6n be
followed by the remainder of the work, contains
(1) the authors’ introduction (a historical summary of
British records of Tunicata up to the year 1870), (2) a
reprint of Hancock’s paper ‘‘On the Anatomy and
Physiology of the Tunicata’’ (published by the
Linnean Society in 1867), and (3) an account of thirty
British species referred by the authors to the genus
Ascidia. Two of these so-called species are now
described for the first time, viz. Ascidia amoena and
Ascidia Moret.

It is no discredit to the memory of the distinguished
authors of this monograph, whose general accuracy
of observation has long been established, if we express
a conviction that no modern expert in this group of
marine animals will be prepared to recognise the
claims of half Alder and Hancoclx’s ‘‘ species ’”’ to
specific rank. It is not improbable that the thirty
forms described in the monograph will be ultimately
referred to some ten or twelve ‘‘ good species’ at
most.

Excluding Ascidia canina, the relations of which to
Ciona intestinalis, L., appear, strangely enough, to
have been overlooked by Hancock, the remaining
twenty-nine species of Ascidia, as described by the
authors, would in these days be referred to the three
genera Phallusia (with the single species mamillata),
Ascidia and Ascidiella of Roule. Adopting for the
moment Alder and Hancock’s specific names, and con-
fining our attention to the forms dealt with in their
monograph, we may say that each of the genera Ascidia
and Ascidiella includes three main types. To Ascidia
(s. str.) belong (1) mentula, with which robusta, rubi-
cunda, and rubrotincta are probably synonymous;
(2) mollis, with crassa, plana, Alderi, and possibly
vyudis, as allies; and (3) plebeia (=conchilega of
Miller), with which producta, inornata, and depressa
are closely related or synonymous. To Ascidiella
belong (1) obliqua (=prunum of Miller), to which the
new species amoena appears to be related; (2) venosa,
and (3) a large series of very variable forms referable
in the main to the types sordida (=virginea of
Miiller), scabra, and pustulosa (=aspersa of Miller),
of one or other of which the authors’ “species ”’
elongata, aculeata, Morei, Normani, affinis, elliptica,
pellucida, orbicularis, and vitrea appear to be merely
varieties or local forms.?

There is probably no group of animals in which
external conditions exert a greater influence upon
the size, shape, and structure of the body than in
the case of the ascidians, owing to their permanent

1 For a fuller discussion of the relations of particular species special
reference should be made to Prof. Herdman's paper in Jour. Linn. Soc.,
xxiv., 1893, and Hartmeyer’s ‘“‘ Holosome Ascidien ” in ‘‘ Meeresfauna von
Bergen,’’ rgor.

NO. 1900, VOL. 73]

fixation under the most diverse natural conditions,
their mode of feeding, and the plastic character of
the test which serves them for a skeleton. Differences
in the supply of food alone—and no factor is liable
to greater extremes than the amount of phytoplankton
in littoral waters—must influence the development of
an ascidian’s body in so many different ways that
great variability must be the rule rather than the
exception. In these circumstances it doubtful
if the natural history of this group can be adequately
treated in any monograph until much additional work
has been done, not only in the systematic observation
of the nature and extent of local variations, but also
in direct experiments concerning the effect of different
conditions upon the growth of the progeny of selected
parents. Until such work has been done, any attempt
to define specific limits within (e.g.) the virginea-
scabra-aspersa group must remain a mere expression.
of personal opinion.

In the meantime the publication of the present work
is likely to lead to the clearing up of many uncer-
tainties, provided it is regarded mainly as a repository
of facts, and not as an authoritative guide to the
classification or nomenclature of the group.

This aspect of the work has been fortunately
retained under the editorship of Mr. Hopkinson,
who has restricted his notes to the addition of
such bibliographic and distributional records, pub-
lished prior to 1871, as were necessary for the com-
pletion of the authors’ MSS. up to the date of
Hancock’s latest work. The editorial footnote ‘* on
the intimate relationship existing between the Tuni-
cata and the Polyzoa,’’ on the first page of the
authors’ introduction, conveys just the right touch of
archaic suggestiveness.

We notice a couple of misprints: Weigmann for
Wiegmann (pp. 7 and 12), and Mongula for Molgula
(p. 46); and may point out that Figs. 8 and 9 on
plate xi. represent not ‘‘ probably a variety of Corella
parallelogramma,”’ but Hancock’s own species, Corella:
larvaeformis, which we presume will be described in

is

the second volume of the monograph.
f W. GARSTANG.

THE METALLURGY OF IRON AND STEEL.
Elementary Practical Metallurgy, Iron and Steel. By
Percy Longmuir. Pp. xiiit+270+13 plates. (Lon-
don: Longmans, Green and Co.) Price 5s. net.
Wg on practical metallurgy have generally
consisted of descriptions of series of experi-
ments suitable for performance in an ordinary labor-
atory possessing the usual equipment with small assay
furnaces; but this book is an elementary work on the
metallurgy of iron and steel, written with the view
not only of serving the needs of the ordinary beginner
among students, but of attracting the severely prac-
tical man to the study of metallurgical literature, and
thus helping him ultimately to the position of being
able to throw the light of new discoveries on his daily
work, and to make application of suitable results—
evidently a practical apostle of the methods of the
| British Science Guild. The writer thoroughly agrees

510

NATORE

| Marcu 29, 1906

with the author that ‘Such a work should not be
overloaded with detail, but the facts presented
should be accurate and the matter reliable,’’ for
nothing more certainly repels the very specially prac-
tical man than a mass of finical hedgings, which are
only fit for discussion among philosophers, but do not
affect the main present issues. While this is so,
looseness of expression is the last thing to permit
oneself, as no type of man more appreciates accurate
statements if they are simply expressed. While the
author has in the main succeeded in his ideal, there
are some points which the writer would change. Thus,
p. 7, ‘‘ Elasticity . . . is the length to which... .”
Similarly, tenacity, breaking load, ductility, and duc-
tility as applied to wire-drawing are not satisfactory.
Interesting and simply written chapters on refrac-
tories, iron ores, and the blast furnace follow. The
author’s wide practical experience in foundries lends
a special interest to his chapters (vi. to ix.) on pig-
and cast-irons, for in the works he was daily brought
into contact with the adjustment of those properties
of cast-iron to the fulfilment of the orders on hand,
and this may account for his almost bitter treatment
of the enemy, sulphur, which is perhaps not quite
so black as he has painted it.

These chapters should also show why there is such
a fascination in the study of this complicated material.
Next comes a good chapter on malleable cast-iron, but
a statement on p. 128 is a little confusing. British
malleables are said to contain something like 0.3 per
cent. S, which agrees with the writer’s experience.
Then it is stated that grey hamatite refined is used,
but this would really contain less than o.1 per cent. S.
The fact seems to be that a material called refined
haematite, but really white haematite re-cast into small
pigs, is used, and the old refined grey pig is not
obtainable on the open market.

In comparing the Siemens and Bessemer processes,
the important point of the much smaller percentage
of loss in the open-hearth seems to have been omitted.
The crucible, Bessemer, and open-hearth processes are
described in considerable detail, and p. 227, on the
production of sound steel, is excellent, while it was
only to be expected from the author’s researches that
the influence of casting temperature would be
adequately dealt with. Chapters xviii. and xix., on
the metallography of the heat treatment of steel and
of hardened steels, are profusely illustrated, and deal
with the subject from the carbonist’s point of view,
with the intimation that there are other theories, a
wise decision, as whichever of the many theories may
prove to be the correct one, that given is the easiest
to understand, and the reader may search out the
others if so minded. The author, in using for illus-
tration microsections of articles he has used, such
as hack-saw, table-blade, razor, and file, sets the
seal on his desire to attract the practical man, and
if on examining similar tools he should find different
structure it ought to stimulate inquiry. The final
chapter on special steels, while good in itself, will
impress on the reader that there is much—very much
—more beyond. The work, which is printed on
matte surface paper, most agreeable to the eye, with

NO: 1900, VOL. 73]

thirty-one of its sixty-four illustrations printed on
smooth paper to bring out the required detail, can be
recommended to the beginner as a ‘‘ book which will

primarily awalsen interest.”’
A. McWItiaM.

OUR BOOK SHELF.

Glue, Gelatine, and their Allied Products. By Thomas
Lambert. Pp. xii+153. (London: Chas. Griffin
and Co., Ltd., 1905.) Price 5s. net.

Tuts is a handbook intended for the use of glue manu-
facturers, agriculturists, and students of technology.
It describes the preparation and properties of glue and
gelatin, and also of certain side-products, such as
size, cements, and fertilisers. The description is
written chiefly from the practical standpoint, though
some notes on the chemistry of the products are in-
cluded. Diagrams of plant and machinery illustrate
the working of the various processes mentioned in the
text.

While the book contains much trustworthy informa-
tion, there is some confusion in its arrangement.
Thus the first chapter purports to be “ historical,’’ but
it deals principally with matters quite other than his-
torical; as, for example, ‘‘ chondrin and its proper-
ties,’ ‘‘ railway accommodation,” ‘‘ water supply,”
and so on. Moreover, it would, we think, have been
better if the author had written either specifically for
manufacturers or specifically for the manufacturing
chemist, instead of addressing himself sometimes to
the one and sometimes to the other. The manufac-
turer, for instance, hardly wants a detailed description
of Kjeldahl’s method of determining nitrogen; on the
other hand, the chemist might well be spared the state-
ment that ‘‘ all crops contain certain mineral matters
in their ashes.”

The book would form a good nucleus for better
things. | With some re-arrangement of its subject-
matter, and a less superficial treatment of the chem-
istry involved, it might develop into an_ excellent
manual of the technology of glue and gelatin.

Webbia-Raccolta di Scritti Botanici pubricati im
occasione del 50° anniversario della Morti di Fillipo
Barker Webb. Edited by Prof. U. Martelli. Pp.
xi+393. (Florence: S. Pellas, 1905.) ;

Purtip BarkER WEBB, in whose honour this volume

has been compiled, lived in the first half of last cen-

tury; during his career at Oxford he developed a

taste for the classics and natural history which a

substantial patrimony allowed him to cultivate. In

the course of his travels he visited Spain, Portugal,
the Canary Islands, and other countries, combining
botany and geology with pleasure. He resided
generally in Paris during the intervals between his
journeys, and there he directed and carried out the
work in connection with the ‘‘ Phytographia Canari-
ensis ’?; also he accumulated a large herbarium, in-
cluding several French collections. At his death his
botanical treasures were lost to France, as he be-

queathed all his plants and books, together with a

sum of money for their maintenance, to the Grand

Duke of Tuscany.

This volume contains a number of original papers
that have been contributed by Italian botanists as a
token of gratitude for the stimulus which these collec-
tions have given to Italian botany. Most of the
papers are concerned with systematic botany. Prof.
O. Beccari, writing about palms, contributes an
account of the Indian genus Trachycarpus, allied to

Chameerops; a list of species from New Guinea, in-

Marcu 29, 1906]

NATURE

511

cluding a new genus, Barkerwebbia, under _the
Arecineze, and a revision of the order for the Philip-

pines. Prof. U. Martelli describes a number of
new species of Pandanus. A review of European
umbellifers, in which the writer includes the

Araliaceze, forms the subject of a lengthy paper by
Dr. B. Castellani. Prof. E. Bartoni publishes a short
MS. by Parlatore on Linnzus’s herbarium which
is especially appropriate, as Webb and Parlatore were
friends, and held each other in mutual esteem.

A Course in Mathematical Analysis. By Edouard
Goursat. Translated by E. R. Hedrick. Vol. i.
Pp. viii+548. (London and Boston: Ginn and Co.,
ged.)|, Price 16s.

Tuts readable and trustworthy translation will be

welcome to those who cannot enjoy the original, the

merits of which are by this time well known. The
typography is unusually good, and is very creditable
to all concerned, such symbols as the square of a,, or
even of a’, being printed in a satisfactory way, which

English printers might imitate with advantage. There

are a few terms here and there which are ungrateful

to an English ear; ‘“‘involutionary’’ or ‘ involu-
tional’? would be more agreeable to analogy than

‘‘involutory,’’ and ‘‘nappe’’ is retained instead of

being rendered by ‘‘ sheet.’’ But these are trifles, and

those of us who have no French can now study a

treatise which is eminently lucid and attractive, as

well as being up to date and sufficiently rigorous for
the purpose it is designed to fulfil.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions
expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake
to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected
manuscripts intended for this or any other part of NATURE.
No notice is taken of anonymous communications.]

Agriculture and the Empire.

Tue article by Sir W. T. Thiselton-Dyer in your issue
of March 22 is a fair statement of the position the Home
Country should take in the development of agriculture in
the Empire at large, and of the necessary training the
future experts and researchers in Indian agriculture should
receive; and this view requires pressing upon those re-
sponsible for the development of agriculture in our colonies,
so that the policy of employing as agricultural experts men
with a mere smattering of scientific method, combined
with a more or less thorough knowledge of British agri-
culture, may not be followed. Investigation and . careful
research are wanted, and the only men who can perform this
are those whose sense of proportion and scientific methods
of attack have been developed by a systematic training in
the sciences having a bearing on agriculture. Agriculture
is at once a science, an art, and a business, and the
successful agriculturist at home must be a man equipped
with an adequate knowledge of all these subjects, combined
with a special ability for one or more of them.

The agricultural colleges of Great Britain afford a train-
ing in the science and art of agriculture, but on the
business side of the subject not much can be attempted,
as personal experience and responsibility of the individual
for his business transactions are necessary conditions.
Many agricultural colleges and agricultural departments of
our universities possess the necessary scientific equipment
and a staff of adequate attainments to give to the future
Indian or colonial expert a thorough systematic training
in such sciences as chemistry, botany, and zoology, in an
agricultural atmosphere. The latter condition must be of
immense importance in impressing on the student the re-
lations of the pure science to practice; and although the
practical application he will experience abroad will differ
essentially from that observed at home, he will at all
events be prepared to use his science to solve problems of
economical value, and, if his training has been broad and

NO. 1600, VOL. 73]

thorough, to become a most useful factor in developing the
agriculture of the country. It is certain that a man trained
at an agricultural college or at an institution equipped
with the necessary facilities for the study of animal or
plant life will be better able to enter upon his duties as
investigator of agricultural science in India than a man
whose training has been received at the ordinary technical
college. From the staff and students of this college during
the past few years experts have gone: to South Africa,
four, including the director of the Transvaal Agricultural
Department; to India, four, including two to Pusa; to
British Guiana, the West Indies, and Egypt, two, as well
as to other countries, so that it can claim some connection
with agriculture in our colonies.

Sir W. Thiselton-Dyer says that notice should be given
five years in advance of the requirements for trained men;
with this opinion I agree, though I doubt its practicability.
What we require is more men of recognised ability to train
for such position. Hitherto some branch of technical work
other than agriculture has been the object, to a great
extent, of the trained student, but now that there is a
future for highly trained men who will bring their scientific
knowledge and spirit of investigation to bear upon the
problems of agriculture at home and abroad, we hope that
men of the right stamp will come to be trained partly
perhaps in this country, and afterwards under the con-
ditions in which their future work will lie, but in any case
to go through a complete course of systematic study in the
science to which they intend to devote themselves when
they have gained their technical experience. It is a fact,
and one to be deplored, that the agricultural students are
not always drawn from the best of our rising generation,
since farming is looked upon as the profession to be
engaged in by those ‘‘ who are too clever for the Army and
not stupid enough for, the Church ’’; but now that we can

| offer a field for a well trained man to make a name and a

living in the domain of agricultural research, we should
secure a greater proportion of suitable men. In this
country, for the researcher, apart from the teacher, there
is little chance for a trained man to earn a livelihood, but
abroad, where the resources of the soil have yet to be
developed, there is a good prospect of employment for
men who are thoroughly equipped with the requisite scien-
tific knowledge and possess the spirit of investigation.

Another point to which Sir W. Thiselton-Dyer has
directed attention is the proper teaching of science in our
rural elementary schools, and, I would add, our rural
secondary schools. How often do we see, especially in the
latter class of school, the teacher (who is often selected for
his chemical knowledge) teaching by book alone, and with-
out reference to the conditions amid which his scholars live.
Chemistry is one of the least suitable of the natural sciences
to teach children whose lives will be, or ought to be, spent
in the country. Botany or zoology taught by a teacher
who has learnt these subjects, and has been trained in their
application to outdoor life as it exists in an English farm
or country village, would be far preferable, and I venture
to think that Kew, the agricultural departments of our
universities, and our agricultural colleges could supply such
teachers, and so could influence to a considerable extent
the value of the teaching in country districts.

The Board of Education has, I understand, the latter
matter in hand, and I trust that under the advice of their
excellent rural inspector a scheme will be formulated which
will in some way check the tendency of modern education
to prepare solely for town life. M. J. R. Dunstan.

South-Eastern Agricultural College (University of

London), Wye, Kent, March 26.

Sea-sickness and Equilibration of the Eyes.

Many people have no doubt noticed, when travelling by
sea, that the motion of the ship could be seen very dis-
tinctly, even when there were no hanging lamps, draperies,
or fixed points, such as the horizon or clouds, within range
of sight.

Some may think that seeing the motion in this way is
due to the imagination receiving its suggestions from the
motion of the internal organs, and especially the stomach,
for I am here supposing the body to be held perfectly
rigid.

512

NATURE

[Marcu 29, 1906

From observations which I have recently made it seems
evident to me that the cause for seeing the motion is
entirely different.

In the first place, you can always see the motion a
fraction of a second before you begin to feel it. In the
second place, you cannot see a perfectly horizontal motion
‘or a gentle vertical (heaving) motion. In the third place,
watching a fixed point close to you, such as a pattern on
a carpet, when the ship is pitching and rolling, is far more
tiring to the eyesight than when the ship is motionless or
running perfectly steadily. All this points to the appearance
being due to a true relative motion of the eyes to the ship.

The eyes are suspended in their muscular settings, much
in the same way as are ships’ compasses in their binnacles.
The eyes are, furthermore, perfectly balanced, so as to
make their muscular displacements as little tiring as
possible. In their normal position, the pull of gravity is
exerted vertically through their centres, and the muscular
mechanism is compensated for gravity.

Any angular change of position will displace the eyes
just as it displaces the stomach, excepting that the eyes,
being a great deal more sensitively suspended, will register
‘the displacements more quickly. It is not, however, the
motion of the eyes which strains the eyesight, but the act
of resisting this motion.

If, with your eyes shut, you attempt to fix the mental
representation of a point, which a moment previously you
were watching with eyes wide open, you will find that,
after one or two motions of the ship, the bodily feeling
will precede any visual sensation which your imagination
can conjure up. The imaginary point is no longer fixed,
but follows the eyes as they let themselves go to the motions
of the ship. No strain of the eyesight is caused by a
muscular resistance, and the displacements, while felt, can
no longer be seen. ALFRED SANG.

Pittsburg, U.S.A., February 26.

Production of an Electrically Conductive Glass.

EXPERIMENTS have from time to time been made, both
in England and abroad, to ascertain what ingredients are
best for the purpose of producing glasses of very high
electrical resistance.

The utility of a vitreous substance which would conduct
electricity comparatively well does not appear, however, to
have so far claimed any consideration.

I beg therefore to direct attention to a glass which has
recently been made in my laboratory. Its chief feature is
that it readily conducts electricity.

For the windows or cases of electroscopes and all high-
tension apparatus requiring a transparent cover capable
of screening off external electrical fields, this material offers
many advantages. A conducting varnish is no longer re-
quired for glass which conducts electricity itself. In addi-
tion to these practical considerations, there arises the
interesting question as to the process by which electricity
passes through this substance—whether it is electrolytic.
Its resistance varies very markedly with temperature
changes. I hope later to give more precise details. The
‘basis of the glass is sodium silicate.

Cuarves E. S, Puitiips.

‘Shooters Hill, Kent, March 12.

Interpretation of Meteorological Records.

Ix discussing the records of the meteorological instru-
ments at Canterbury (Nature, March rs), Dr. Aitken
suggests that the heavy rain which fell dragged down the
higher air, and so caused the fall of 12° indicated on the
thermograph curve, and he very clearly and convincingly
shows the consequent effect on the barometric pressure and
wind velocity. If, however, the air had been in a state of
stable equilibrium previous to the thunderstorm, the effect
of such a mechanical dragging down of the higher air
would have been to heat by compression that air so
much that the temperature would have been raised rather
than lowered at the ground-level. But if, previous to the
storm, the upper air had from any cause become very much
colder than the lower air, the atmosphere would be in a

state of unstable equilibrium, that is to say, the rate of

NO. 1909, VOL. 73]

change of temperature with height would be greater than
the adiabatic rate of change due to heating by compression
of descending air. In such a case the changes recorded by
the various curves may have been initiated by this heavy
cold air suddenly descending and displacing the lower air,
which by its sudden uprising would be cooled, the moisture
in it condensed, and a heavy fall of rain caused.

The lightning which accompanied this storm introduces
an element of uncertainty into any attempted explanation,
for we do not know yet the manner in which electric
charges are generated in the atmosphere. But it seems
probable that a great cooling of the higher air is an
accompaniment of a state of electric tension, for it is
difficult to see otherwise why a thunderstorm should be
followed by a lowering of the temperature near the ground-
level. R. T. Omonp.

Edinburgh.

Oscillation of Flame Cones.

I snoutp be glad if any of your readers could give an
explanation of the cause of the following flame pheno-
menon, produced while experimenting with a modification
of Prof. Smithells’s apparatus for the separation of the
cones of a Bunsen flame.

A mixture of gas and air is burned at the top of a
vertical tube (made preferably of combustion tubing) about
4 feet long and % inch to 1 inch in diameter, having a
delicate screw adjustment for regulating the proportions of
gas and air.

The air supply is carefully and slowly increased, until
an almost explosive mixture is reached, and the inner cone
is very short and sharp and of a light green colour. On
admitting a very slight increase of air after this point, the
inner cone (sometimes the two cones) descends the tube
to a distance of about 2 feet, and then pauses and goes
up again, re-joining the outer cone. The flame then
“sharpens ’’? again and repeats the process, and will con-
tinue to do so for several hours without further adjustment
of the gas or air being made.

There is every appearance of an explosion wave being
propagated, as shown by the increasing velocity of the
descending flame and by the occasional emission of a note
as it reaches the end of the travel.

The length of travel can be regulated by the amount of
air admitted, varying from 1 or 2 inches to about 2 feet
in the same tube. If it be allowed to exceed a certain
limit the inner cone is extinguished at its lowest point, but
immediately re-lights at the top of the tube, and then re-
turns as before. The periodicity can be varied from about
once in five seconds to once per second.

The gas pressure does not need any special regulation,
the ordinary variations from a town supply not affecting
the results.

The following are the points requiring explanation :—

(1) As the proportions of gas and air are constant, what
is the cause of the periodic ‘‘ sharpening ’’ of the cones
after meeting at the top of the tube?

(2) What prevents the explosion wave being completed,
and the consequent firing back of the mixture?

(3) What causes the inner cone to return and travel up
the tube, re-joining the outer one at the top?

(4) The alteration in the character of the flame (in view
of the fact that the proportions and pressure of gas and
air are constant) points to some form of wave motion
bringing the molecules into closer contact. If this be so,
what are the conditions which set up this wave motion
and what determines its periodicity ?

Harotp E. TEmpre.

Olton, Warwickshire.

Tue phenomenon described in the foregoing letter is in
part dealt with in a paper by Dr. Ingle and myself in the
Transactions of the Chemical Society for 1892 (vol. Ixi.,
p- 204). The continued oscillation of the inner cone is, I
think, explained by the fact that the mixture of gas and
air in the tube is not uniform. We have, indeed, found it
necessary to use elaborate mixing appliances to make it
uniform. When a portion of the mixture rich in air reaches

Marcu 29, 1906]

NATURE

313

the top of the tube the inner cone is propagated through
it and descends until it reaches a stratum richer in gas,
when it re-ascends. The fluctuation in the composition of
the gaseous mixture escaping from a Bunsen burner can be
seen by the throbbing of the inner cone, when the air supply
is considerable. I may add that in the construction of
burners for the incandescent mantle great importance is
attached to the perfect mixing of gas and air, since it
becomes possible thereby to have a steady flame with a
relatively large quantity of primary air.

The University, Leeds. A. SMITHELLS.

Gas for Heating and Lighting Laboratories.

I SHALL be greatly favoured if you will inform me which
are the best ‘‘ gas-making plants’’ for supplying a labor-
atory with gas derived either from coal, or paraffin oils.

Do you know anyone who has had experience of these?
I more particularly incline to those easily managed and
maintained, simple and inexpensive. ALEX. PArRby.

Lynne House, Albyn Lane, Aberdeen, March 7.

Ir I were fitting up a large laboratory I should put in
a small water gas generator and inject paraffin oil into
the fuel during the period of steaming, fixing the hydro-
carbons in the gas produced by passing through a super-
heater.

I see in the Journal of the Society of Chemical Industry
for February 28 a paper by Masumi Chikashige, who had
been fitting up the Kyoto University laboratory with a gas
made in this way, and of which he gives the results, which
appear to be very satisfactory. In the discussion upon the
paper your correspondent will also find some useful hints
as to the fitting up of laboratories with heating-gas where
coal-gas is not available.

If he should not require enough gas to make a small
carburetted water gas plant successful, and if he can get
petrol or benzene, he will probably find carburetted air the
cheapest thing to use. Vivian B. Lewes.

Royal Naval College, Greenwich, S.E., March 12.

Cooperation between Scientific Libraries.

As this subject has recently been receiving attention in
NATURE, it may interest some readers to know that the
Royal Society of Edinburgh is taking steps for the pur-
pose of finding out what can be done so far as the south
of Scotland is concerned. A committee, of which I am
convener, has been appointed by the council, and this
committee is at present engaged in obtaining information
from the various libraries of Edinburgh and Glasgow. It
is hoped that later on a conference will be held, at which
suggestions for joint action would be considered, and an
endeavour made to draw up a scheme of cooperation for
consideration by the various societies and _ institutions
directly concerned.

I shall be very glad to supply information regarding the
work of the committee to anyone who is specially interested
in it, and also to receive particulars of any similar work
which is being undertaken elsewhere.

Hucu Marsnatt.

University of Edinburgh, March 26.

THE PROBLEMS OF GEOLOGY.

T= admirably printed book deserves description
rather than criticism, since the author, in his
wide range of personal observation and reading, aptly
plays the critic to the views that he successively pro-
pounds. With an unnecessary assumption of
modesty, he apologises in his preface for ‘‘ the clumsi-
ness of a geologist, who is more at home with the
hammer than the pen.’’ We can scarcely believe that
one who has tinged even his most serious scientific
contributions with the high attraction of literary style

1‘*The Age of the Earth, and other Geological Studies.” By W. J.

Sollas, D.Sc, F.R.S. Pp. xvi,+ 328. (London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1905.)
Price ros. 6d. net.

NO. 1900, VOL 73]

can in reality know so little of himself. Aimost
all the papers in the present volume state a proposition
and sustain an argument. There is, perhaps, a
lighter one, describing a visit to the Lipari Isles; but
even this contains a theoretical explanation of a diffi-
cult problem at the end. Yet the book is entirely
readable, and will serve to bring to workers in all
manner of fields the views of one who holds that
nothing terrestrial is foreign to the subject of geology.

The papers are of various modern dates, and might,
as we venture to think, have been brought nearer to
uniformity in the text itself. Corrections are intro-
duced in footnotes; but essays need not be treated
as prize-poems, to be crowned with honour, and to
remain unalterable. We do not want to read, for in-
stance, that ‘‘ the boring party is at this moment at
work’? on Funafuti, when evidence is immediately
given that the task was completed seven years back.
But this is a matter of pure detail; the scientific con-
siderations put forward are uniformly fresh, vigorous,
and inspiring.

The article on ‘‘ The Age of the Earth’ naturally
brings us to no definite conclusion, seeing that the
data on which a correct judgment depends are still of
the scantiest description. A large number of readers,
however, rejoice in such discussions; and we even
discern grounds for combat when we are asked to
believe that the opening of the fossiliferous stratified
series lies only twenty-six million years behind us.
In the following paper, on ‘‘ The Figure of the Earth,”
we are introduced, as general readers, to Mr. Jeans’s
very recent hypothesis of a pear-shaped primitive
earth, and a secondary pear-shaped earth with an
equatorial bulge. Lest we should pin our faith to
these or any other proposed forms, we shall do well
to notice the excellently chosen language in which
the author places them before us. In the discussion
of the earth’s loss ef heat, radium is held up to us
(p. 63) as “‘ threatening to destroy all faith in hitherto
ascertained results, and to shatter the fabric of reason-
ing raised upon them.’? Now and again, therefore,
we suspect in Prof. Sollas the artist who feels in him
a mission to produce and paint, even if in perishable
pigments. The pigments are not his fault; they are
all that others will provide for him; but the artist
in him must find expression, spite of all. After this,
dare we revert to the passage in the preface in excuse
of ‘‘ the clumsiness of a geologist *’?

The summary of the results of the famous Funafuti
boring is very welcome, especially in view of the
cautious absence of generalisations that characterised
the Royal Society report. It is a matter of regret that
von Richthofen should have passed away without read-
ing the authoritative re-vindication of his views as to
reefs in Tyrol contained on pp. 131 and 132 of the
present volume. ;

The sixth chapter, on ‘‘ The Origin and Formation
of Flints,’? should set at rest many fantastic theories
still prevalent among amateur geologists. We only
wish that the numerous flints of radiolarian origin
could have been included in this lucid essay. Zoolo-
gists will be especially attracted by the next chapter,
on “ The Origin of Freshwater Fauna ”’ (faunas ?), in
which Lake Tanganyika, among other areas, is dis-
cussed. William Smith’s views on the contempor-
aneity of similar faunas are defended in ‘* The Key to
Terrestrial History ’’; and an address on ‘‘ Geologies
and Deluges,”? in which objection is properly taken
to Suess’s reliance on the Chaldazan narrative of the
deluge, concludes the varied and uniformly interesting
series.

If we accept “ planctone ’’—but would the author
write ‘ gnomone’’?—the only slips that we notice
in this excellent book are in proper names, Burnett,

514

Huddleston, Birnham, and Mojsisoviks. The quota-
tion from Tennyson on p. 233 has got astray, mainly
in punctuation.

In conclusion, we would ask attention to the re-
markable tour de force, or rather tour d’esprit, en-
titled ‘“‘ The Influence of Oxford on the History of
Geology ’’ (p. 219). In this, Plot’s work as a “‘ critic ”’
is compared with that of Steno as a “ prophet”’;
Kidd, an Oxford chemist, appears to be regarded as
having furnished a serviceable brake to the wheels of
Hutton’s chariot; while Buckland’s abandonment of
the Noachian deluge as a geological factor, only
to accept several deluges in place of it, is held up as
a claim upon our gratitude. Here we think we see
Prof. Sollas revelling in his mission as an artist;
yet he paints far too frankly, and has no desire to
deceive us. The pigments have been made in an

NAL OIE

[Marcu 29, 1906

to the great loss the laboratory had sustained by the
deaths of Sir E. Carbutt and Sir B. Samuelson.

The report of the executive committee for 1905 was
presented and approved for presentation to the Royal
Society on the motion of Sir J. Wolfe Barry, seconded
by Mr. David Howard. The scheme of work for 1906
was also approved. The report showed progress in all
directions.

Some fourteen scientific papers of importance have
been published officially, while members of the staff
have contributed nine others to various journals.

The second volume of ‘‘ Collected Papers’’ is in
course of preparation. The scheme of work for 1906
includes a research into the resistance of materials of
construction to impact, the continuation of the wind
pressure and steam researches, the completion of the
work with the Ampere balance, and some experiments

.

Fic. 1.—The Sella Mass, Tyrol, the remains of a supposed ancient coral atoll.

ancient university; but we
picture. We still prefer what we may consider as the
first draft of this address, a modest pamphlet issued
in Bristol in 1883, in which stress is laid on the pro-
gress of geological thought rather than on the bene-
fits to be derived from its academic retardation.

see right through the

THE NATIONAL PHYSICAL LABORATORY.
“THE annual meeting of the general board of the

National Physical Laboratory was held at Bushy
House on Friday, March 16. There were present, in
addition to the chairman, Lord Rayleigh, the follow-

ing among others:—Sir John Wolfe Barry, Mr.
Beilby, Mr. Kempe, Mr. R. K. Graye, Colonel
Crompton, Mr. Hadfield, Mr. Gavey, and Mr.

Howard.

In opening the proceedings, Lord Rayleigh referred

NO. 1900, VOL 73

(From ‘‘ The Age of the Earth, and other Geological Studies.’’)

of great interest on the effect of the continued appli-
cation of high pressure to insulators. In the metal-
lurgical division a research into the properties of
aluminium bronze promises interesting results.

The report announced the intention of the Govern-
ment, communicated to the Royal Society in December
last, to grant a sum of soool. for buildings during the
year, and the increase of the annual grant by 5ool.
It referred also to the very successful meeting in the
House of Commons last August, under the chairman-
ship of Mr. Haldane, which led up to a petition,
signed by 150 members of the House, asking that the
grants should be increased, and the chairman was able
to announce that the Chancellor of the Exchequer had
recently intimated his intention of making the building
grant for the year 10,0001. instead of 5oo0ol., as
originally contemplated. We are able to add that this
increase was largely due to an appeal to the Chan-

Marcu 29, 1906]

NATRORE

aS

cellor of the Exchequer by Mr. Haldane as president
of the British Science Guild.

It was also stated that the Goldsmiths’ Company
had very generously made a donation of roool., with
the request that it should be devoted to some specific
object.

The very cordial thanks of the board were voted

to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Haldane, Sir
J. Lawrence, Sir J. Brunner, and the other gentle-
men who had interested themselves in the House of
Commons petition, and also to the Goldsmiths’
Company.
_ The director gave an account of the proposed addi-
tions to the buildings rendered possible by the in-
creased grant, and explained the plans which had
been prepared by the building committee. The sug-
gestion that the work of erecting these buildings
should now be pressed forward was cordially
welcomed, and at a meeting of the executive com-
mittee held later power was given to the building
committee to talke the necessary steps. The board
then adjourned to inspect the laboratory and to view
the new electrical buildings, which are now approach-
ing completion. They have been erected by Messrs.
Mowlem and Co., at a cost of about Soool., to the
design of Messrs. Mott and Hay, who very kindly gave
their services, while with marked generosity Messrs.
Mowlem’s tender was based on the cost price of the
buildings.

It is hoped that they may be opened on June 25 on
the occasion of the visit of the foreign guests of the
Institution of Electrical Engineers. In view of this
ceremony the invitations on March 16 were restricted
to members of the board and ‘their personal friends,
the usual annual gathering of friends of the labor-
atory being postponed until June.

NOTES.

A PRELIMINARY programme has been received of the
events in connection with the Franklin bi-centenary, which
the American Philosophical Society will celebrate at Phila-
delphia on April 17-20. The opening ceremony will take
place on April 17, when the president, Prof. Edgar F.
Smith, will deliver an address. Numerous papers on sub-
jects of science will be read on April 18 by distinguished
American men of science. In addition to these, Sir George
Darwin, K.C.B., F.R.S., will read a paper on the figure
and stability of a liquid satellite, and Prof. Hugo de Vries,
of Amsterdam, will deal with elementary species in agri-
culture. Addresses will be given during the evening of the
same day by Prof. E. L. Nichols, on Franklin’s researches
in electricity, and Prof. E. Rutherford, F.R.S., on the
modern theories of electricity and their relation to the
Franklinian theory. On April 19 honorary degrees will be
conferred by the University of Pennsylvania, and an oration
will be delivered by the Hon. Hampton L. Carson,
Attorney-General of Pennsylvania. Ceremonies will be per-
formed on this day at the grave of Franklin. On April 20
addresses in commemoration of Franklin will be given by
Dr. H. H. Furness, who will speak of him as citizen and
philanthropist ; Dr. C. W. Eliot will pronounce a eulogy
of him as printer and philosopher; and Dr. J. H. Choate
as statesman and diplomatist. The presentation of the
Franklin medal to the Republic of France, in accordance
with the Act of Congress, will be made by the Hon. Elihu
Root, Secretary of State.

Dr. Lippertz, the scientific director of the bacteriological
department of the Farbwerke, Hochst a. M., is going to
South Africa with Dr. Robert Koch to study the question
of sleeping sickness.

NO. 1900, VOL. 73]

We learn from the British Medical Journal that the
donations to the fund being collected for the establishment
of an Institute of Cancer Research in connection with the
University of Heidelberg now amount to 34,000l.

An exhibition devoted to engineering and mechanical
appliances will be held at Olympia from’ September 15 to
October 17. Sir William White, K.C.B., is president, and
the list of patrons includes the presidents of the various
engineering societies. The offices of the exhibition are at
Balfour House, Finsbury Pavement, London.

Tue eighth International Agricultural Congress will be
held in Vienna on May 21-25, 1907. The proceedings of
the congress will be carried on in eleven sections, of which
section ii. will be devoted to questions on instruction in
agriculture and forestry, section vi. to agricultural in-
dustry, the protection of plants, and
section x. to vine growing, &c.

section vii. to

A Reuter telegram states that M. Mylius Erichsen’s
Danish expedition to the north-east coast of Greenland will
leave Copenhagen at the end of June, and will proceed vid
the Fzrée Islands and east Iceland to the east Greenland
pack-ice, through which the explorer expects to be able
to penetrate into East Greenland between 57° and 77°
northern lat. In addition to the Danish members, the
exploring party will probably include Dr. A. Wegener, from
Germany, as physicist and meteorologist, and Dr. Baron
Firchs, from Russia, as geologist.

AccorDING to a Reuter message from Peshawar, a letter
from the Governor of Balakh states that while some
peasants were preparing their land for cultivation they
came upon some ruins, which on further examination proved
to be wall enclosures of a ruined city. The Governor
visited the spot, and found the ruins of a large city, with
some gold coins, the inscriptions on which nobody could
read. Old Afghans said they had heard from their ancestors
that a large Kafir (or infidel) city existed in the vicinity,
which had been destroyed long since, and that in the ruins
were buried the treasure of the Kafir kings. Some of the
coins were sent to the Ameer for inspection.

Tue Washington correspondent of the Times states that
the report of the American members of the International
Commission for the Preservation of the Niagara Falls re-
commends that legislation be passed, based on a treaty
between America and Canada, to prevent further depletion
of the water, to maintain the present scenic effects, and
to regulate the electrical supply companies which are using
the Falls for power. It is proposed to limit the diversion
of the waters on the American side to 28,500 cubic feet a
second, and the diversion on the Canadian side to 36,000
cubic feet. This advantage of Canada is in reality only on
paper, as the power generated on the Canadian side is
used largely in the United States. The report states that
the diversion of water by works already authorised is likely
to injure the Falls, and will possibly leave the American
fall dry. It is estimated, however, that five-sixths of the
total of 60,900 feet a second authorised chiefly affects the
Canadian Horseshoe Falls.

Mr. Frank STROMSTEN gives a good account of the
anatomy and development of the venous system of various
species of turtles (Amer. Journ. of Anatomy, iv., 1905,
p- 453). About forty turtles of the more common species
were dissected, and fifty turtle embryos were studied for
the development of the veins. In general, the development

516 NATURE

[MarcH 29, 1906

of the veins of the hepatic and renal portal systems is the
same in turtles as in lizards and snakes, but there are
important differences.

Science BuLLetin No. 7 of the Brooklyn Institute con-
tains an account by Mr. C. Schaeffer of beetles new to
the United States, and also a description, by Dr. H. G.
Dyar, of new moths from Arizona. Among the latter use
is made of the generic name Janassa, usually applied to
a group of Paleozoic fishes. The marine ostracod crus-
taceans of Vineyard Sound form the subject of a paper
by Mr. J. A. Cushman in the Proceedings of the Boston
(U.S.A.) Society of Natural History, vol. xxxii., No. 10.

Tue results of a study of the wing-structure of the
hymenopterous insects of the group Tenthredenoidea, pub-
lished in No. 1438 of the Proceedings of the U.S. National
Museum, have enabled Mr. A. D. MacGillivray to demon-
strate the origin of the modern complex hymenopterous
wing from one of the simplest type. Throughout the line
of evolution all the modifications have tended to render
the wing more efficient as an organ of flight, this efficiency
being due to the arrangement of the veins in such a manner
as to stiffen the areas subjected to the greatest strain.

In the Verhandlungen of the German Zoological Society
for 1905 Prof. Simroth discusses the geographical distribu-
tion of land-shells, salamanders, and ganoid fishes, more
especially in connection with climatic changes due to pre-
cession of the equinoxes; while Dr. K. Guenther con-
tributes a review of theories and facts bearing on_bird-
migration. Special interest attaches to an article by Dr.
O. Abel on the phylogenetic evolution of the cetacean dent-
ition and the systematic relations of the Physeterida. Both
physeteroids and ziphioids are considered to have origin-
ated, independently, from squalodonts during the Miocene,
while the latter are connected with the true Eocene zeuglo-
donts by means of Microzeuglodon. If this phylogeny be

well founded, we may accept the descent of cetaceans from
creodont carnivores.

AMONG the contents of part ii. of the third volume of
the quarterly issue of the Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collec-
tions is a paper on the great whale-shark (Rhinodon
typicus), by Mr. B. A. Bean, in which figures are given
of the type specimen taken at the Cape in 1828, and of an
individual recently stranded on the Florida coast. This
shark is stated to grow to a length of 60 feet, and is thus
the next largest animal to the biggest kinds of whales. Like
its relative the northern basking shark, it has a terminal
mouth and feeble dentition, and is quite harmless to man.
In a second article Mr. W. H. Osgood describes remains
of certain ancestral musk-oxen from Alaska and other parts
of Arctic America, while in a third Mr. T. Gill furnishes
a very interesting account of the carp group. In the course
of a paper on Mexican land-shells, Dr. W. H. Dall de-
scribes a new genus, Hendersonia, remarkable for having
developed a multispiral discoid shell, with an upturned
mouth, quite unlike those of its relatives.

In the Bulletin of the Johns Hopkins
February (xvii., No. 179) the biographical sketches of
medical worthies of former times, which have formed a
marked and interesting feature of recent issues, are con-
tinued, the subject of this month’s sketch (by Dr. Walter
Steiner) being the Rev. Gershom Bulkeley, of Connecticut,
born about 1635, who, having served in the ministry, was
obliged to resign owing to weakness of voice, and sub-

NO. 1900, VOL. 73]

Hospital for

sequently devoted himself to the practice of medicine.
Articles of medical interest, reports of societies, &c., com-
plete the number.

In his presidential address to the Entomological Society
of London, Mr. F. Merrifield surveyed the results obtained
by other investigators and himself in studies of the in-
fluence of temperature and other conditions on insects. As
a result of artificial experiments, it has been found that
alteration of temperature on developing insects affects to
some extent the colouring of the adults. Apparently high
and low temperatures do respectively make the insects
tend to approximate in colouring to warmer temperate and
arctic types.

Tue issue of the Philippine Journal of Science, the first
number of which (January) has reached us, is further proof
of the manner in which scientific research is being culti-
vated by the American Government. The journal is well
printed on paper ro inches by 7 inches, and contains several
excellent illustrations. The editors are Dr. Paul Freer
and Dr. Richard Strong and Mr. H. D. McCaskey, and
the contents of the present number are three articles on -
the cocoa-nut palm and oil, by Dr. Freer, Mr. E. B. Cope-
land, and Mr. H. S. Walker respectively ; the occurrence
of Schistosoma japonicum vel. Cattoi (a parasite fluke) in
the Philippines; and a study of some tropical ulcerations -
of the skin, by Dr. Strong.

Pror. Apami discusses in an interesting paper the ques-
tion of the transference of bovine tuberculosis to man
through milk (Amer. Medicine, ix., 1905, p. 683). He
holds that such conveyance is not so frequent as is generally
accepted (von Behring goes so far as to attribute most
human tuberculosis to the use of tuberculous milk in
infancy). Kitasato has recently published statistics of the~
incidence of tuberculosis in Japan, which show that the
deaths from tuberculosis in Japan are just about in the
same proportion to the total deaths and to the total popula-
tion as are the deaths from this disease in European
countries ; but primary intestinal tuberculosis in the young
(which has been attributed to the ingestion of tuberculous
milk) is rather more prevalent (30 per cent. of the total)
than in Europe and America (25 per cent.). The use
of cows’ milk for feeding infants is unknown in Japan, and
Prof. Adami therefore holds that the facts gathered in
Japan show that intestinal tuberculosis, which is as fre-
quent there as in Europe, cannot be attributed to the
ingestion of infected cows’ milk, and cannot therefore be
of bovine origin; and the inevitable conclusion is that if
intestinal tuberculosis is moderately frequent, and not of
bovine origin, then similarly a large proportion of European
intestinal tuberculosis is in all probability not due to
infection from milk.

Two leaflets referring to British East Africa have been
received; of these, leaflet No. 12 of the Department of
Agriculture, Nairobi, provides a list of forage plants with
their special characteristics, and leaflet No. 2, issued by
the Forest Department, deals with native trees. The list
of native trees, with vernacular names and uses, is accom-
panied by a few hints as to the selection of suitable species,
the collection of seeds, and the methods of planting.

Tue Kew Bulletin for the year 1900 (Nos. 178-180)
reached us a few days ago! The Bulletin, which has been
in abeyance since the volume for 1901 was completed—with
the exception of a part issued as No. 1, 1905—was re-
inaugurated with a part recently published as No. 1,
1906. This number is devoted entirely to descriptions of

Marcu 29, 1906]

NATURE

517

mew specimens, the contents being ‘‘ Decades Kewenses,
xxxvi-xl.,’’ ‘* Diagnoses Africana, xiv.,’? and ‘* New
Orchids, Decade 26.’’ The first furnishes a list of ferns
cand flowering plants, of which the majority were collected
by Dr. Henry in China. An interesting species is Cuscuta
Upceraftit, that has been grown on potatoes from seed
collected in Tibet by Mr. W. M. Upcraft. A list of staffs
in botanical departments at home, in India, and the colonies
thas also been published as Appendix iv., 1905.

AN interesting report on the mineral resources of the
Kalahasti Zamindary, Madras, has been published by Mr.
V. S. Sambasiva Iyer, of the Mysore Geological Depart-
ment (Bangalore, 1906). Gold, iron ore, barytes, and
marble are met with. The evidences obtained and the
records of old workings fully justify a detailed prospecting
of the Sirasinambedu gold deposits.

In the Engineering Magazine for March there is an
admirably illustrated account of gypsum mining in the
vicinity of Paris by M. Jacques Boyer. Interesting de-
tails are given of the calcination of the material and of
the preparation of plaster of Paris. At the present time
some eighty companies are engaged in the industry near
Paris, and 5500 workmen are employed.

A REMARKABLE example of the surface outcrop of an iron
ore deposit is illustrated in an article on iron ore in
Mexico, by Mr. R. H. Anderson, in the Engineering and
Mining Journal of New York (vol. Ixxxi., No. 9). The
deposit is situated on the Las Truchas creek, near the
boundary of the States of Michoacan and Guerrero. The
outcrop is 10,000 feet in length and 4oo00 feet wide. It
rises to a height of 450 feet.

THE paper on smoke prevention contributed by Mr. A. J.
Martin to the conference on smoke abatement at West-
minster in December, 1905, has now been published in
pamphlet form (London: Sanitary Publishing Co., Ltd.,
price 1s.). Mr. Martin advocates a scheme of long-distance
gas transmission, and urges that a strong permanent com-
mittee be appointed by the Government to deal with the
evils produced by smoky fogs, and the desirability of pro-
viding a cheap, smokeless fuel for domestic and industrial
use.

THE opening number of vol. iii. of the Bolletino of the
Italian Meteorological Society contains an_ interesting
article on the supposed connection between rainfall and
volcanic activity, unsigned, but evidently emanating from
the Observatory of Catania. The author finds that
whether account is taken of the daily variation in the
activity of Etna during the eruption of 1892, or the whole
series of eruptions the date of which is known with
accuracy, there is no evidence of any connection between
the volcanic activity of Mount Etna and the local rainfall ;
neither of these determines or is determined by the other.

Tue weather during the past week has been unusually
cold and disagreeable over the whole of the British Islands,
ithe day temperatures being about 10° below the average
for fifty years, with sharp frost at night, and frequent
showers of snow and hail. These conditions were produced
‘by a complex distribution of barometric pressure, the chief
features of which were an anticyclone lying over the
Atlantic at some distance to the west of our shores, with
areas of low pressure over Germany and the south-west of
France, and they were consequently accompanied by bitter
northerly and north-easterly winds, whilst gales were ex-
perienced on several coasts. The following low night
screen temperatures have been reported to the Meteor-

NO. 1900, VOL. 73]

ological Office :—22° in the Midland counties and 23° in
the south of England. At Greenwich the exposed thermo-
meter fell to 18° on the morning of March 23. Sunshine
exceeded the normal amount in several districts.

Tue University of Innsbruck publishes in a concise and
handy form the results of the observations made at its
meteorological observatory, situated about 1886 feet above
the sea. The last pamphlet received contains observations
and mean results for 1902, taken three times a day, together
with hourly values from various self-recording instruments.
The tables have been prepared by Dr. W. Trabert, which
is a sufficient guarantee for the accuracy of the work.
There is a useful appendix by Mr. H. von Ficker on cloud
formation in the Alpine valleys from observations extend-
ing from January, 1904, to March, 1905, with valuable
notes on the occurrence and behaviour of the Fohn wind.
This phenomenon is well known to Alpine observers as,
generally speaking, a dry, warm wind, to the influence of
which the melting of the snow in the spring is chiefly
due.

THE current number of the British Journal of Psychology
(vol. i., part iv.) contains as its main feature an article by
Dr. W. H. R. Rivers entitled ‘‘ Observations on the Senses
of the Todas,’’ a small and possibly degenerating com-
munity of about 800 individuals, living among the Nilgiri
Hills in southern India. The methods of observation
were similar to those used by the Cambridge expedition
to the Torres Straits. Visual acuity, colour-vision, visual
illusions, tactile discrimination, tactile illusions, sensibility
to pain, smell, taste, hearing, were all made the subject
of tests. Of these the most elaborately treated are
visual illusions, particularly the illusion of compared hori-
zontal and vertical lines, and Dr. Rivers puts the results
obtained from the Todas in this department of observ-
ation alongside those obtained from Cambridge under-
graduates. In his general conclusions he lays stress on
the difference in the part played by inference in the process
of determining the sensory threshold, and the consequent
difficulty of comparing sense-acuity in races of different
culture. This play of inference reaches its greatest scope
in the case of smell. In visual acuity and the tactile
acuity of the forearm it would appear that the Todas
have a slighter degree of sensibility than more civilised
races, but they are inferior rather than superior in acuity
of smell, and probably in acuity of hearing; they are also
less sensitive to pain. Among other articles are those of
Dr. James Ward, ‘“‘Is ‘ Black’ a Sensation?’’ and of
Mr. W. McDougall, on ‘‘ The Illusion of the ‘ Fluttering
Heart’ and the Visual Functions of the Rods of the
Retina.’’ Mr. McDougall points out that two quite
distinct illusory appearances have been hitherto confused
and brought together under the designation ‘‘ the flutter-
ing heart,’’ and he claims that the true explanation of one
of these is to be found in a suggestion made by Prof. J.
von Kries.

In the Chemiker Zeitung for March 21 is an interesting
report, by Dr. E. Gerlach, dealing with the advances made
by electrotechnical industries during last year. The
writer deals particularly with electrical illumination, tele-
graphy and telephony, new accumulators, dynamo
machines, electrical heating, power transmission, “electrical
railways, conductors and insulators, and measuring instru-
ments.

As is well known, the carbides of different metals yield

different hydrocarbons when acted upon by water. Thus
while calcium carbide gives acetylene, aluminium carbide

518

NATURE

[Marcu 29, 1906

produces marsh gas (methane). We learn from the Zeit-
schrift fiir Elektrochemie (vol. xii., p. 20) that in St.
Alban, France, a carbide is now being manufactured from
which ethylene is evolved when it is acted upon by water.
The ethylene so obtained is pumped into sulphuric acid, by

which it is absorbed with production of ethyl hydrogen

sulphate. Now when ethyl hydrogen sulphate is acted upon
by water, alcohol and sulphuric acid are produced. By
distillation the alcohol can be obtained free from the

sulphuric acid, and the sulphuric acid can again be obtained
the concentrated condition by evaporation. Further-
more, the metallic oxide which is used in the production
of the carbide is again obtained when the carbide is acted
upon by water, so that the production of alcohol is summed
up in the equation carbon+energy=alcohol. Up to the
present it has been found necessary to use four times
the quantity of carbon which should theoretically be re-
quired. How much more energy it is necessary to employ
than is required by the theory is not stated. We remember
that so far back as 1893, when the calcium carbide industry
was in its infancy, it was suggested that the acetylene
by reduction with hydrogen be converted into
ethylene, and the ethylene so obtained be employed for the
manufacture of alcohol. In fact, we believe that several
patents were taken out upon the subject. Owing to the
difficulty of reducing acetylene, the process could hardly
be expected to be a success. In the present case, however,
provided the formation of the carbide is not too costly and
the recovery of the sulphuric acid and metallic oxide not
too expensive, the process seems to possess at any rate the
elements of success.

in

might

Tue first part has been received of an ‘‘ Atlas of the
World’s Commerce,’ by Mr. J. G. Bartholomew, which is
to be published by Messrs. George Newnes, Ltd.
two parts. The parts, which cost 6d.
appear fortnightly.

, in twenty-
each net, are to

Mr. Davip Nutr has issued a ninth edition of the late
Prof. A. Milnes Marshall’s well known book on ‘‘ The
Frog: an Introduction to Anatomy, Histology, and
Embryology.’? The work has been edited by Dr. F. W.
Gamble, who has revised the chapter on development and
added some figures.

A NEW
nology,

monthly periodical, entitled Science and Tech-
price sixpence net, has just appeared. It is in-
tended to be of interest and assistance to teachers and
students. The first number contains articles dealing with
educational administration, examination syllabuses, and re-
ports of meetings. The only contribution of a wholly
scientific character is a reprint of Prof. S. P. Thompson’s
lecture at the Royal Institution on the electric production
of nitrates from the atmosphere.

A THIRD edition of Sir William Ramsay’s ‘‘ Gases of
the Atmosphere. The History of their Discovery,’”? has
been published by Messrs. Macmillan and Co., Ltd. The
first edition of the book, published in 1896, included a
non-technical description of argon, discovered in the atmo-
sphere in 1894. To the second edition of 1900 a new
chapter was added describing the other four inactive gases
discovered to be present in air—helium, separated from the
atmosphere in rg00, and neon, krypton, and xenon, dis-
covered in 1898, and separated from argon and from each
other during 1899 and 1900. The present edition has also
been enlarged by the addition of another chapter, this one
treating of the radio-active gases produced by the dis-
integration of radium and radium-thorium, which have

been added recently to the list of constituents of the atmo-
sphere.

NO. 1900, VOL. 73]|

OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN.

Comet 1906c.—From observations made on March 19,
20, and 21, Dr. Strémgren has computed the following
elements and ephemeris ‘for the comet discovered by Mr.
Ross on March 18 :—

Elements.

T =1906 Feb. 22'216 Berlin M.T.

co= 281° 24" 1]
2 1720) 2! -T +1900"
= 80° 34" ‘oJ
log a 9°8833
aoe. 12h. M.T. Berlin.
1906 a 6 log A Bright
h. m. s , ness
Mar. 29 ... 2 38 33 + 4 115 0°2356 0°63
April 2 2 48 40 +7 384 0°2547 0°53
6 258 9 +10 47°5 .. 0'2732 0°44
(Kiel Circular, No. 87.)
OBSERVATION OF COMET 1905¢ AFTER PERIHELION.—A

letter received from Prof. H. R. Morgan (Glasgow, U.S.A.)
by Prof. Pickering states that the former observed
Giacobini’s comet, 1905c, on February 21, that is, since
it appeared to the east of the sun.

The comet’s apparent position at 7h. om. 448. (Glasgow

M.T.) was a=1h. 8m. 20:2s., Ue ue g/ 11”, which gave
corrections of —11s. and —3/-4 to Herr Ww edemeyer’s
ephemeris on the date of obeervangn (Astronomische

Nachrichten, No. 4079).

New VARIABLE STARS IN THE REGION ABOUT y SAGITT22.—
From the comparison of several photographs taken with the
Bruce telescope, Prof. Wolf has discovered fifty-five new
variable stars in the region about y Sagitte.

In No. 4079 of the ‘Astronomische Nachrichten he gives
the details concerning the discovery and measurement of
each star, and, in addition, a list showing the position
(1855-0) and the magnitude on various dates between 1900-7
and 1905-7. Forty-seven circular charts which accompany
the paper show the region immediately surrounding each
variable.

THE SUPPOSED NEBULOSITY AROUND Nova AgouiIL® No. 2.
—In the opinion of Prof. Frost, the suggestion that the
nebulous appearance of images of Nova Aquilz No. 2 is
entirely due to chromatic aberration is the correct one.

Plates taken with the 24-inch reflector at Yerkes Observ-
atory on September 21 and 27, and October 23, 1905, show
no nebulosity, whilst Prof. Wolf has obtained similar
effects to this apparent nebulosity with other stars having
peculiar spectra. A third argument against the pheno-
menon being due to true nebulosity is that, in order to
produce the image obtained, the intrinsic brightness would
have to be at least 1800 times as bright, in proportion to
the light of the star, as that of the nebula known to exist
around Nova Persei (Astronomische Nachrichten, No. 4079).

Some TESTS OF THE SNOW TELESCOPE.—A very interest-
ing note by Prof. Hale, published in No. 1, vol. xxiii., of
the Astrophysical Journal, describes the present condition,
and some tests, of the large Snow telescope which has
been erected at the Solar Observatory, Mount Wilson.

The greatest inconvenience encountered in the early use
of this instrument was in connection with the spectro-
heliograph work. Three mirrors are employed, of which
the first, the 30-inch ccelostat mirror, reflects the solar rays
on to a 24-inch plane mirror, which in turn directs the
beam on to the 24-inch concave mirror of 6o0-feet focus,
which forms the image of the sun on the primary slit.

When the instrument was used, with a high sun, on a
hot, windless day, it was found that a serious change of
focus, amounting in some cases to 12 inches, occurred, and,
worse still, the mirrors became distorted, giving a differ-
ence of focus for the opposite limbs of the image of as
much as 3 inches.

On days when a cool breeze blew across the surface of
the mirror the change was less, so arrangements have now
been made to send a current of air across the face of each
mirror between the exposures, by means of fans.

Prof. Hale has found that an hour after sunrise is the
best time for solar work, and after that an hour before
sunset.

MarcH 29, 1906 |

NAT ORE

yo)

Experiments are being carried out for the purpose of
discovering some good substitute for glass in mirror
making. ‘‘ Invar’’ has proved to be too soft, and the
fused quartz discs have not been a success. Prof. Hale
suggests that speculum metal will be found to answer the
purpose better than glass.

Photographs taken with the Snow telescope have proved
better than those obtained with the 4o-inch refractor at
Yerkes, and Prof. Hale states that, from a mechanical
standpoint also, the telescope has proved completely
successful.

STUDIES ON THE SYNTHESIS OF PEPTIDES
AND PROTEIDS.*

MONG the many brilliant achievements in synthetic

chemistry accomplished by Prof. Emil Fischer during

the last quarter of a century, none have surpassed in

interest the remarkable series of researches which formed

the subject of a recent address to the German Chemical
Society.

In reading this address it is impossible to say which
commands greater admiration, the author’s consummate
skill and endless resource in sweeping aside each difficulty
as it arose in a most intricate field of experimental
inquiry, or his intense and ceaseless activity in producing
almost month by month during the past five years a wealth
of new knowledge of the very first importance to biological
science.

“Whilst our cautious colleagues,’’ says Prof. Fischer,
““fear that a systematic study of this group of compounds
(the proteids) will be beset with endless difficulties on
account of their troublesome physical features, there are
others, among whom I count myself, who are more
optimistic, and hold that an attempt at least ought to be
made with every modern appliance to lay siege to this
unconquered citadel; for it is only by a bold attempt that
the limitations of our present methods can be adequately
gauged.”

The success which has so far attended Prof. Fischer’s
first attack promises a speedy capitulation. The proteids
will then be made to deliver up the key to their molecular
structure, and the first real advance in biochemistry will
have been accomplished.

Although physiological chemistry has done much in the
past in the way of classifying the numerous members of the
proteid group, in preparing a few members in the crystal-
line form, in attaching to different individuals different
biological functions, and in ascertaining the fundamental
changes effected by ferment action, our knowledge of their
chemical constitution has up to the present been extremely
meagre. Apart from the percentage composition, it is
limited mainly to the results of hydrolysis by acids, allxalis,
or digestive ferments. When submitted to these agents
all proteids yield successively albumoses, peptones, and,
finally, amino-acids. Of the nature of the first two we
are but little better informed than of that of the proteids
themselves.

The study of the amino-acids has been attended with
more success, for not only has the structure of the majority
of them been ascertained, but many have been prepared
synthetically. The following is a list of amino-acids
obtained by hydrolysing one or other of the natural

’

proteids :—
Glycine Serine (a-amino-8-hydroxy-
Alanine propionic acid)
Aminovaleric acid Tyrosine
Leucine Tryptophane (skatolamino-
Isoleucine acetic acid)
Phenylalanine Lysine
Glutamic acid Arginine
Aspartic acid Histidine
Cysteine Diaminotrihydroxydodecanic
a-Pyrrolidine carboxylic acid acid

(proline) Diaminoglutaric acid

Diaminoadipic acid

Hydroxyaminosuccinic acid
Dihydroxyaminosuberic acid
1 Vide Address by Prof. Emil Fischer, ‘* Untersuchungen tiber Amino-

siuren Polypeptide und Proteine” (Berichte der deutschen Chem. Gesell.,
1906, XXxIx., 530.)

NO. 1900, VOL. 73]

Hydroxy-pyrrolidine — carb-
oxylic acid (oxypyroline)

It was to the study of these acids—the fragments, so
to speak, of the albumin molecule—that Fischer first
directed his attention, hoping ultimately by piecing them
together to construct the simplest of the albumins. In
the synthesis of the monoamino-acids Fischer has added
to the methods already known that of brominating the
alkyl malonic esters and then converting the correspond-
ing acid into the a-bromo-fatty acid, which with ammonia
yields the amino-acid. He has, moreover, devised an
ingenious process for resolving the synthetic, and, con-
sequently, inactive compounds into their active components.
The amino-acids are such weak acids that they refuse to
form crystalline salts with the active alkaloids. By con-
verting them into the benzoyl or formyl derivatives, strong
acids are produced which may be easily resolved by the
ordinary process of fractionally crystallising the salts of
the active bases. The diamino-acids, such as ornithine
(ad-diaminovaleric acid) and lysine (ae-diaminocaproic
acid), both common products (the former as arginine) of
proteid hydrolysis, have also been synthesised by Fischer
by adapting Gabriel’s reaction in one case and that of
Blank in the other. Gabriel’s phthalimidopropylmalonic
ester, when brominated, gives a monobromo-derivative,
which is then hydrolysed and heated to remove one carboxyl
group, the resulting compound being phthalimidobromo-
valeric acid,

CO
C,H
EXO)
This was converted into the amino-derivative, and by
splitting off the phthalyl radical the racemic form of
natural ornithine was obtained,

NH,.CH,.CH,.CH,.CH(NH,).COOH.

The starting point for the preparation of lysine was
Blank’s y-cyanopropylmalonic ester,

CN.CH,.CH,.CHy.CH(COOC,H;)s,
which is converted by nitrous acid into a-oximino-d-cyano-
valeric ester,

CN.CH,.CH,.CH,C(:NOH).COOC,Hs.

The latter, on reduction, yields the racemic form of lysine
(ae-diaminocaproic acid). The synthesis of hydroxya™ino-
acids such as serine of silk fibroin has also been accom-
plished by applying Strecker’s reaction to the hydroxy-
aldehydes. Thus ammonia converts the cyanhydrin ot
glycollic aldehyde into the aminocyanhydrin which on
hydrolysis yields inactive serine,

CH.(OH).CHO—CH,(OH).CH(OH).CN—

‘ CH.(OH).CHNH,.CN—-CH,(OH).CHNH,.COOH.

Of no less importance to the solution of the albumin
problem have been the new methods furnished by Fischer
for the separation and identification of the products of
proteid hydrolysis, for a correct knowledge of the varied
compounds which compose the albumin molecule must
necessarily precede any attempt to effect its synthesis.
Foremost among these stands the ‘‘ester method.” It
consists in converting the mixture of amino-acids, obtained
on hydrolysis, into the corresponding esters, which are
then submitted to fractional distillation under very much
reduced pressure (10-15 mm.). The method cannot, how-
ever, be conveniently applied to the separation of tyrosine
or the diamino-acids, which are treated in a different
fashion. Space does not permit of more than a passing
reference to the formation of benzoyl, formyl, and
B-naphthalene sulphonyl derivatives, and of the phenyl
hydantoins obtained with phenylisocyanate, all of which
have been utilised either in the purification or identifi-
cation of the amino-acids. We must leave this part of
the subject in order to follow Prof. Fischer into the more
attractive field of constructive research, and examine the
plans which he has laid for attacking the synthetic side
of the problem. Simply stated, the object he has had in
view has been to link together two, three, four, or more
molecules of those amino-acids which the proteids yield
on hydrolysis, and by varying the combinations to
obtain eventually something resembling the peptones or
the simplest albumins. To these artificial combinations of

SN. CH,.CH,,CH, CHBr.COOH.

520

amino-acids Fischer has given the name of polypeptide,
or, according to the number of single amino-acid groups
present, di-, tri-, tetra-, &c., peptide. This view of the
constitution of proteid matter, which seemed at the outset
of the investigation warranted by the nature of the evidence
then forthcoming, received ample justification by the
very recent isolation of the first natural dipeptide in the
process of hydrolysing silk fibroin. But we are antici-
pating matters. The first of the polypeptides was obtained
by Curtius in 1882, but as its structure is complex and
has only been lately ascertained, we will begin with the
simpler members prepared by Fischer.

In i901 Fischer and Fourneau found that glycine
anhydride, which, according to Curtius, is formed when
glycine ester is heated in aqueous solution, is partly
hydrolysed with mineral acids into glycylglycine, the first
and simplest of the dipeptides,

PCH CON
NH NH + 1,0 =NB,.CH,.CO.NH.CH,.COOH.
\CO.CH,

A year later Fischer found that a third amino-acid or
peptide group could be linked to the carbethoxy-derivative
of glycylglycine (prepared by the action of chloroformic
ester on the dipeptide) by heating it with leucine ester,
whereby carbethoxyglycylglycyl-leucine ester resulted, which
on hydrolysis is converted into the free acid,

C,H;CO,.NH.CH,.CO. NH. CHy.CO.NH.CH(C,H,)CO,H.

The next year saw the introduction of a new method
for adding fresh links to the peptide chain by the use of
thionyl chloride. This effects the conversion of the end
carboxyl group into the acid chloride, and it thus became
possible by the subsequent action of an amino-ester to
add a new peptide group to the molecule. Thus
carbethoxyglycylglycine was converted successively into
the acid chloride, and then by the action of glycine ester
into carbethoxydiglycylglycine ester, and by a repetition of
the process into carbethoxytriglycylglycine ester. Similar
compounds with different amino-acids were obtained by
this reaction. In all of them, however, the carbethoxy-
group at the amino end of the chain refused to be removed,
and a new method had to be found for preparing the free
polypeptides. This was soon forthcoming. In 1903 Fischer
and Otto introduced the chloracyl chlorides for the pur-
pose. Glycylglycine ester was first combined with
chloracetyl chloride, hydrolysed, and warmed _ with
ammonia, whereby diglycylglycine was formed,
CICH,.COCI + NH,.CH,.CO,NH.CH, COOR=

CICH,.CO,NH.CH,.CO, NH.CH,.COOR + HCI.
CICH,.CO,NH.CH,.CO,NH.CH,.COOH + NH;=
NH, CH,.CO,NH.CH,.CO,NH.CH, COOH + HCl.

led to the
and penta-

This method proved extremely fruitful, and
production of a variety of di-, tri-, tetra-,
peptides.

It will be easily conceived how the methods just de-
scribed afford the means of lengthening the peptide chain
at either end. In the one case an a-chloro- or bromo-
acyl chloride is added to the amino-group at one end, or,
at the other, the carboxyl group is converted into the acid
chloride, for which purpose thionyl chloride has since been
replaced by phosphorus pentachloride dissolved in acetyl
chloride. In the first case the action of ammonia, in the
second that of an amino-acid or another peptide (the ester
is not necessary) in presence of alkali, produces the new
peptide. By combining the two processes, hexa- and hepta-
peptides giving the biuret reaction have been formed from
diglycylglycine, and Prof. Fischer confidently predicts the
synthesis of still longer chains. In the present year
Fischer has also found. that two molecules of the methyl
ester of diglycylglycine can by heating be combined into
the ester of pentaglycylglycine, which yields the hexa-
peptide on hydrolysis. ;

If the proteids themselves and the amino-acids to which
they give rise comprised optically inactive members, the
experimental difficulties in the way of synthesis might be

looked upon as approaching solution; but few of the
natural products are inactive, and the question of pre-
paring by artificial means active polypeptides must be

NO. 1900, VOL. 73]

NATORE

{Marci 29, 1906

faced. This part of the problem has not been neglected.
By resolving the amino-acids into their active constituents
before linking them together, or by submitting certain
inactive members to the selective fermentation of pancreatic
juice (for trypsin acts upon some of the polypeptides as it
does on proteids), active polypeptides have been obtained.

In addition to the action of trypsin, the polypeptides
exhibit many characteristics of the simpler proteids; they
are for the most part soluble in water; especially is this
the case where the peptide is composed of different amino-
acids; they are insoluble in alcohol, and many of the
higher members give the ‘‘ biuret ’’ reaction. Like the
proteids, also, they are quickly and completely hydrolysed
by strong hydrochloric acid into amino-acids; the action
of dilute hydrochloric acid and caustic alkalis is, on the
other hand, very slow.

The concluding sections of the address will appeal more
especially to physiologists, for they deal with the products
of hydrolysis of the proteids themselves. Space will not
permit of more than a passing reference to them; the
reader who is interested in the products obtained by the
action of pancreatic juice or the combined action of pepsin,
hydrochloric acid, and pancreatin must refer to the original
memoir. It may, however, be stated that pancreatin
yields, in addition to numerous monoamino-acids, a pro-
duct which does not give the biuret reaction, but shows a
certain resemblance to the artificial polypeptides, and breaks
up on hydrolysis with acids into alanine, leucine, glutamic
and aspartic acid, as well as proline and phenylalanine.
By the successive pepsin and pancreatin digestion the
amount of this polypeptide body is diminished, but in its
place proline and phenylalanine appear.

As many of the commoner forms of proteid matter
behave in this way, Fischer concludes that proline is an
actual constituent of the proteid molecule. For similar
reasons he includes tyrosine, leucine, alanine, tryptophane,
&c., which always appear in the pancreatic digestion of
albumin, a view which is supported by the action of
pancreatic juice on the artificial polypeptides containing
these groups. But of all the facts which point to the
polypeptide nature of the albumins, the most convincing
is Fischer and Abderhalden’s latest discovery of a dipeptide
in silk fibroin, which they have identified as glycyl-d-
alanine. The method of preparation is interesting, because
it introduces the new principle of combining acid with
pancreatic hydrolysis. The silk fibroin is first digested
with 7o per cent. sulphuric acid for several days at 18°,
then diluted with water, the acid removed with baryta,
and the liquid evaporated and submitted to the action of
pancreatic juice for eight days. The tyrosine which had
then separated was removed, and the esters of the amino-
acids were formed in the usual way and heated under
reduced pressure at 65° to remove the alcohol and a little
glycine and alanine ester.

From the syrupy residue dissolved in alcohol and satu-
rated with ammonia gas (to convert the dipeptide ester
into the diketopiperazine), a crystalline precipitate of glycyl
alanine anhydride slowly separated. Fischer sees in this
discovery a near prospect of obtaining the most important
constituents of the natural peptones, and even of the
albumoses, and of reproducing them artificially. ‘‘ But the
problem of reproducing true albumins,’’ says Fischer, “ is
of far greater difficulty, for their reconstruction from the
first products of hydrolysis (peptones and albumoses) will
require entirely novel methods, and when these are found
their application will probably be a laborious process.
One may therefore ask the question whether the eventual
success will compensate for the labour expended. This
depends, in my opinion, on the profit which biological re-
search can derive from it, and this, again, on the manner
in which the synthesis has been accomplished. For such
a synthesis may be compared to a tourist who rushes.
through a country in an express train and sees nothing.
It is otherwise if the synthesis is constrained to advance:
slowly and to construct the molecule step by step. It is
then like a traveller journeying on foot, who notes every
feature of the road, and tries each side-path before the:
right one is found. He not only learns every inch of the
country, but understands the nature of its inhabitants. He
knows his way and can direct others. I can only loole

Marci 29, 1906]

NATURE

521

upon it, therefore, as a piece of good fortune that synthesis
demands the creation of countless new methods of con-
struction, separation, and recognition, and the study of
hundreds of intermediate products before the proteids them-
selves can be reached. For these methods not only serve
in the end to produce all the natural albumins, but bring
to light many more which may eventually serve to explain
the remarkable changes which certain proteids effect in
the form of ferments and toxins. J. BeaGs

THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS.

JN its report for 1905, the Royal Society for the Protection
of Birds directs attention to the circumstance that the
year under review is the first during which it has enjoyed
the privilege of a Royal Charter. Reference is also made
to the importance of last year’s ornithological congress in
connection with the recognition of the great principle that
bird-protection is an international affair, and that, in the
case of migratory species, it is of little use to adopt pro-
tective measures in this country if indiscriminate slaughter
is carried on abroad. It is, moreover, also pointed out
that we are by no means free from reproach in this matter
even at home, as is exemplified by the instance of a honey-
buzzard which was killed and mounted in the Isle of
Wight, although such procedure would have been illegal
in Hampshire. The progress of bird-protection in India is
referred to with approval; but it is stated that further inter-
national action is required in connection with the trade
in ‘‘ osprey-plumes.”’

Simultaneously with the report of the English Society for
the Protection of Birds, we received those of the kindred
American body, the National Association of Audubon
Societies, for 1904 and 1905. The former of these contains
a history of the ‘‘ Audubon movement’’ in the United
States by Mr. W. Datcher, the president of the association,
and also the results of a special effort for the protection
of water-birds, made possible by a fund at the disposal of
the association. In the report for 1905 the president has
to congratulate the association on its first year’s working
as a corporate organisation, the incorporation having
largely augmented its power for good. After referring to
the cordial relations existing between the association and
foreign bodies the work of which is of a similar nature,

_ the president directs special attention to correspondence re-
lating to the urgent need of protection for the extensive
bird-colonies in certain islands in the Pacific. Special
efforts are being made to enlist the interest of the general
public in bird-protection by means of exquisitely illustrated
leaflets (of which we have received a sheaf) descriptive of
some of the rare and more interesting birds. In the case
of the cardinal and so-called American goldfinch, the illus-
trations are coloured.

THE PLACE OF POLYTECHNICS. IN
EDUCATION.*

"THOSE of you who know what you are doing here and

know what is being done in other places must feel
that we are at a very interesting, almost a critical, time
from an educational point of view. We may be said,
indeed, to be at the beginning of a new renaissance—a new
birth of learning, just in the same way that our forbears,
A.D. 1000 up to A.D. 1200, were in the forefront of that
first renaissance. But the trouble is that the dark ages
did not cease then, for we have had a dark age since, and
it is to correct this second dark age that this: new birth
is necessary. Now what did the inhabitants of Europe
do at that first renaissance? They kept on the schools
which had been brought down by the different rulers, the
different church authorities, from the time of the Roman
Empire. The Roman schools, judging from what the
Romans did from Scotland to the south end of the Red
Sea, must have dealt with the science of the time, and
that perhaps is the reason that the earliest universities
always included ‘‘ the nature of things’ in their curricula.
A modern public schoolmaster might not think their educa-

1 Extracts from an Address delivered at the Borough Polytechnic Institute
on December 4, 1905, by Sir Norman Lockyer, K.C.B., F.R.S.

NO. 1900, VOL. 73]

tion complete because Latin and Greek were the modern
languages then, and the students were taught no dead
ones; but, be this as it may, at the renaissance they in-
sisted upon the teaching of Latin, because then everybody
who was anybody spoke Latin—it was the lingua franca
of Europe—and not to speak Latin was to belong to the
corps of the deaf and dumb. Secondly, they had to learn
Greek, because the movers in the educational world at that
time were chiefly doctors, and they had learned all they
could about doctoring and surgery from bad Latin ctrans-
lations of bad Arabic translations of the Greek authorities,
so that when the Greek manuscripts became available all
the world was agog to learn Greek in order chiefly that
they might learn medicine and surgery. Now, I want to
point out to you that in this we had education founded
absolutely and completely upon the crying needs of the
time. Very good. Then if we are going to do anything
like that in our new renaissance, what ought we to do if
we are to follow precedent? We must arrange our educa-
tion in some way in relation to the crying needs of the
time. The least little dip into the history of the old uni-
versities will prick the bubble of classical education as it
is presented to us to-day. Latin was not learned because
it had the most magnificent grammar of known languages.
Greek was not learned in consequence of the transcendental
sublimity of ancient Greek civilisation. Both these things
were learned because people had to learn them to get their
daily bread, either as theologians or doctors or lawyers,
and while they learned them the ‘‘ nature of things ’’ was
not forgotten.

Now what is the problem of to-day? We are in a world
which has been entirely changed by the advent of modern
science, modern nations, and modern industries, and it is
therefore perfectly obvious that if we wish to do the best
for our education it must be in some relation to those three
great changes which have come on the world since the old
days. Remember, in the old days there was no experi-
mental philosophy, there was no steam, there was little
relation practically between the ordinary lives of the people
and the phenomena, or, at all events, the working of the
world of nature around them. But with us all our life, the
poorest life, the richest life, the country life, the town
life, if it is to be lived properly and wholesomely, has to
be lived in the full light of modern science; we have to
know exactly the best thing to do and why we should do
it. The problem before us to-day, if it be the same problem
that was before those old peoples, the problem, that is to
say, of learning everything we can from those around us
in other nations, must drive us to the study of modern
languages, just as the modern world conditions drive us to
modern science, so that there, I think, we have an answer
to those who may ask of us: What changes are you going
to make in modern education if you are going to have the
best possible education? First of all, we have the fact
that we are bound, if we follow precedent, to deal with
those things which are of importance from the present
point of view. Latin is no longer the lingua franca of
Europe, and we have better guides in science and philo-
sophy than Aristotle. A question which arises when we go
on to consider this matter is a very simple one: Is it
worth while bothering about education? Is it worth while
troubling to inquire what the old renaissance did or the
new renaissance ought to do? Now there we approach a
question in which the world is certainly very much wiser
than it was a few years ago. Thirty or forty years ago, I
am sorry to say, in this country practically nobody cared
anything whatever about education, at all events about the
education of the people, and the trouble with us now—the
trouble that we shall have to take years to get over—is
that in Germany that question was settled as early as the
time of Luther, who insisted that it was the duty of all
communities to look after the education of their children
as well as the building of bridges and the making of roads.
Now I think it is generally accepted, both in this country
and in others, that whether the citizens of a State are
educated or not is a matter of absolutely supreme import-
ance, and when I say “‘ educated ’’ I mean educated morally
and physically as well as intellectually. It is no longer
merely the concern of the child or of the child’s parent.
It is acknowledged to be the only true foundation for a

522

NALORE

[| Marcu 29, 1906

State’s welfare and continued progress under conditions of
peace or under conditions of war. We must face the appli-
cations of all the new sciences to every department of our
much more complex national life, from the lowest employ-
ment to the highest fields of statecraft. If this is anything
like true we have a great responsibility cast upon us when
we talk about education. And when we inquire into the
conditions we are still more impressed by this strenuous
necessity of looking the facts in the face and seeing how
this question affects us, not merely as being in this
Borough Polytechnic, but as being Britons, as being
members of a civilised community in the twentieth century.
I have already said that even so far back as the time of
Luther the Germans insisted that all their children should
be educated; there should be no difference between the
rich and the poor. What has grown out of that? The
thing has gone on from strength to strength, until now in
Germany, to deal with the Old World, we find a country
with the greatest number of universities, with the greatest
possible desire, from the Kaiser down to the peasant, to
do everything for Germany that can be done by educating
every child that is born in the country. What did
democracy do when it had fair play in the United States
of America? The first thing done was to apportion millions
of acres for the future endowment of education. The acres
did not mean much capitalised then, but they mean a great
deal capitalised now; so that in the western States of
America, where you get the purest voiced democracy that
you can get, I think, on the surface of the planet, the
children of the citizens, boys and girls, are educated from
the age of six to the age of six-and-twenty without any call
upon the parents or without any hesitation to carry as
many as possible up to the very highest form of education.
And when does the technical instruction come in there?
The technical instruction is given only to those who have
taken degrees in the university. Japan is following on
the same lines. The educational system of Japan was
started as near as may be at the same time that the new
educational policy was begun here. The result of it has
been that you have in Japan now a completely trained
nation, trained to think, trained to do the best along any
line that may turn up, and the difference between the
existence of such a training and its opposite we have now
in comparing the present condition of Japan with the
present condition of China. Japan has become a world
Power with whom we are proud to associate simply be-
cause the Japanese children have been taught to think and
to do for thirty years. That is one of the most blessed
things to think of, because it shows that if any nation,
even the British nation, ultimately finds that it is back-
ward, some thirty years, or perhaps even twenty years,
spent in Japanese fashion may put everything right. But
if that is so, then it is my duty to point out to you that
we have a great deal to do. I have said that our present
system of education was commenced, roughly, some thirty
years ago, when the Japanese system was started, but at
present our system deals only with primary and secondary
education. It is a most extraordinary thing that our
Minister of Education has not anything to do with the most
important part of education. It is a situation truly British.
Well, if we find that it is necessary to imitate the action
of other States in having a department which shall include
the top of education as well as the bottom, it is right
that I should tell you at once that this will cost a great
deal of money above what we spend at present. If we tale
one German university, Berlin—the equivalent of the Uni-
versity of London—the German State spends on it the sum
of 169,000l. a year. That is to say, it spent that sum in
the year 1891-2; whereas for our higher educational
institutions—all the universities and university colleges in
England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales—until quite
recently, the British Government allowed a smaller sum.
That, I suppose, perhaps may be considered a fair estimate
of the importance of education in the eyes of the British
Government and in the eyes of the German Government.
The worst of all this is that it is not merely a question of
money and increasing taxation; it is a question of the
hampering of all the industries of the country from top to
bottom, from John O’Groat’s to Land’s End. In an
official document published by the United States Govern-
ment some four years ago, it was stated, as a result of

NO. 1900, VOL. 73]

considerable inquiry, that, taking the day students in the
United States, in those colleges and universities where only
day students were considered, there were more teachers of
science in the United States than there were students of
science turned out from the English colleges. Now, if
that or anything like it is true, do you think that in any
continued competition along any line in connection with
any industry in the United States and here, we are
likely to come out top? It is absolutely impossible. Sir
William Mather, more recently, has given us some inform-
ation on this point. He spent four months in America
looking up the technical colleges and the conditions relating
to the education of the industrial classes. He found that
ten years ago there were attending educational establish-
ments, that is to say, universities and colleges, 32,000 day
students ; all these were taking a three years’ course. To-
day there are 65,000 students being educated at these same
colleges, and he says the spirit of America is so completely
aroused to the necessity of making science the basis of all
industry, it does not matter whichever it is, however simple
the undertaking, that the whole tendency and trend of
thought and feeling is to educate large masses of their
young men so that they may take their part, not only as
managers, employers, and capitalists, but as foremen and
chief workmen in their great industries; and he ends by
saying that it is necessary that we should urge our Govern-
ment, whether it be Liberal or Conservative, to take care
that there should be sufficient expenditure provided to enable
our young people throughout the length and breadth of the.
land to possess equal advantages to those of young people
of Germany and America.

If it is right that there should be this education, con-
ferring upon the nation these enormous advantages, in
considering the thing from the point of view either of the
child or the child’s parent, should there be one State-aided
education for the rich and another for the poor? That is
to say, if education—the best education—is worth all that
is claimed for it, should the State deliberately foster the
artificial production of a breed of second-rates? How can
every child have a fair chance? Some of the older ones
among you may remember Kingsley’s ‘‘ Saint’s Tragedy.’”
I will just quote two verses, with a little alteration in
one :—

‘« The same piece of clay makes a tile,
A pitcher, a taw, or a brick;
Dan Horace knew life—you may cut out a saint
Or a bench from the self-same stick.

‘* We fall on our legs in this world,
Blind kittens tossed in neck and heels ;
’Tis education that licks Nature's cubs into shape,
She's the mill-head if we are the wheels.”

Surely, then, if we must not differentiate education, if
we must not knowingly support second-rate education, our
duty is to find the best. We come, then, to the problem
which I have not the courage to bring before vou now,
because one might talk for a week about it, and I have
only twenty minutes left, even if you will grant me as
much as that.

What is the best education? It has taken the world a~
long time to find out what it already knows about it, but
I doubt whether even now the world has quite got to the
bottom of the problem. I thinik we may begin by saying
that the best education should teach us to learn how to
think, how to observe and how to use our hands, eyes
and brain; how to exercise the body, how to become
good and useful citizens, and—this is my own notion,
perhaps you all will not agree with it—how to bear arms.
If you have such an education as that going on all over
the United Kingdom, my idea is that, whatever may
happen to them afterwards, whether the children become
archbishops or ploughmen, they would not be harmed by
such an education, and, as a matter of fact, they could
not have spent their time better. Now that is a very
important thing to bear in mind, because there are systems
of so-called education about which it could be shown in a
moment that those who have been put under them might
have spent their time very much better. We must dis-
criminate really very much more carefully than is generally
done between education, which I will define as the power
of learning how to think, and instruction, which means

MakcH 29, 1906]

NATORE

323)

the accumulation of facts. Education may bring us into
contact with doing things by which money may be earned,
but that contact in education is used for mental training.
Useful knowledge may easily become the bane of educa-
tion. Instruction in doing things frankly pursued for the
purpose of earning a living is generally not so imparted
that the power of thinking properly is increased and the
general training carried on further. If that is anything
like true, we come to the important consideration that the
best teaching must certainly include the teaching ot doing
things—we must not merely cultivate the memory—and,
above all, we must not stuff useful knowledge or any-
thing else into those young minds with which we have
to deal. They are not Strassburg geese; and the more
you attempt to stuff them the worse it will be. What we
have to do is to train the mind as a delicate rapier, enabling
it to do anything it has to do in the most perfect manner
—to train the eye, the hands, the brain to face anything
under the best possible conditions. The question here
arises, What sort of a Code have we now for the education
of the young?—this new Code—the Code for the year 1905
for elementary schools. Well, for myself, I thank God
that we have such a document. It is an enormous improve-
ment upon everything, upon anything, which has gone
before it in our country. I remember some twenty years
ago, when the only concession made to the new knowledge
was that some candidate, if he liked, might say some-
thing of what he knew about the common pump; it hardly
went further than the common pump, but the new Code
goes very much further than the common pump, and you
may even look at the stars if you like; you may even
observe once or twice a year where the sun is or where
the moon rises. Having this official education for the
young, how are we to deal with it in relation to such an
institution as yours? How are we to consider what should
happen to the young minds of boys and girls going up
that educational ladder which Huxley pictured to us some
years ago—that educational ladder from the gutter to the
university? In considering such a ladder as this, of course
the end of the teaching, the end of the time spent, in the
primary school constitutes the first rung at which the
educational ladder may be left, and you have to consider
the certain number of boys and girls unfortunately getting
off the educational ladder when they leave the elementary
school. The question arises, Must everybody when they
leave the primary school, and that, I am thankful to say,
at a gradually increasing age; when they have done with
the official, with the complete education, must they have
done with the instruction which will enable them better
to earn their daily bread—the instruction which should, if
possible, be placed before them, because really it is to
tackle that instruction and to tackle the life connected
with it that they have been taught to think? If you omit
to give a higher education, or education combined with
instruction, to your boys and girls after you have taught
them to think, you have made a good deal of that educa-
tion ridiculous. Your institute proves that it is much
better to give instruction to the young in things that they
have to do before you make them absolutely face the
music in the real contact with the stern world of reality,
which they will certainly have to face sooner or later.
When you consider, therefore, the stepping-off places from
the education ladder—I have just referred to the first—and
the necessity of getting instruction, of putting instruction
in the way of those who have to step off the educational
ladder, the importance, the enormous importance, of such
an institution as yours begins to force itself upon one.
Take the child in an elementary school under the present
regulations. Instead of going on to the secondary school
and continuing still further up the educational ladder, it
can go to a higher elementary school. That is a new idea
in England, and it is a very admirable one. When you
aslx, Why does the child step off ? you will find yourself con-
fronted chiefly with the dearness of education in this
country, and then with the supposed necessity for early
employment.

With regard to those two questions, I would just like
to tell you a little story. I had, some thirty years ago,
to visit Holland on an official mission, and among others
I saw the Minister of Public Instruction there, who was

NO. 1900, VOL. 73]

a great friend of Prof. Reike, to whom I was accredited,
and he told me what they had been doing then in Holland
for the last six or seven years; precisely this same thing
that the Board of Education is now doing with regard
to the higher elementary schools. The boys left the
elementary schools generally at the age of fourteen, and
the habit was for those little creatures to be sent at once
to the offices and counting-houses of the merchants in
Rotterdam and Amsterdam and other places to begin their
work as clerks, and the Minister told me, with a twinkle
in his eye, that these shops and counting-houses were most
extraordinary places, because they were full of high stools.
The Minister thought he could not proceed with this sug-
gested change of the continuation school, which was called
the higher town school, until he could get the sympathy
of those various merchants, and he went round and asked
them whether, if he could prepare boys up to the age of
seventeen years, they would make a trial of them. They
said they would. I visited Holland some four or five
years after this had taken place, and the Minister told
me that if I went to Rotterdam or Amsterdam I should
no longer find any of those tall stools. He said :—
““Seventeen-year-old boys are there, and they will
have none others; the time for the use of the boy of
fourteen in a merchant’s office in Holland has passed away ;
the boys who begin to do their work after they have been
taught to think up to seventeen are so much better.’
There is just another story touching another point I will
say a word about later. The Minister was so interested
with this, and was so satisfied and delighted at the satis-
faction which those boys gave to their employers, that he
thought he would go a step further. I should tell you that
the boys who continued in school after fourteen up to the
age of seventeen were chiefly taught science and Latin,
and he was anxious to know what would happen in the
case of a competition between these boys and those from
the gymnasia, which are the equivalents of our higher
grammar or public schools in this country. The boys from
the gyninasia went, in the natural course, when they left
the gymnasia, to the university. So he obtained per-
mission from the Government to give the high town school
boys an extra year. Now, what did they have to do in
this extra year? They had learned Latin, and they had
learned science from the age of fourteen in their continu-
ation school; all they had to do was to learn Greek. It
seemed an impossible thing for the town schoolboys to
attempt to learn as much Greek in nine months, which was
the school year, as the boys in the gymnasia, who had
been accumulating during nine years their instruction in
the gymnasia and the primary schools; but, as a matter
of fact, when the test leaving examination came to be gone
through, the boys from the higher town school romped
in over the gymnasia boys. So you see my story shows
that the university is not an absolutely prohibited thing
if those who have to do with the boys and girls concerned
are keen enough to take every advantage of every oppor-
tunity ; and it shows also that employers of labour, at all
events in other countries, and I expect in this, will see
the advantage of getting supplied with clerks and other
assistants who have been taught to think as opposed to
getting their offices crowded with people who have still
to learn how to think.

There are several other questions connected with the
Huxley educational ladder. One is that in leaving each
rung we have frankly to acknowledge that we have to face
the music of the struggle for existence. Not every boy
who enters a primary school can go, of course, to the
university, can go perhaps higher than a secondary school ;
some will even fail to get to a secondary school, but what
you have to consider, I think, generally in relation to
institutions like this is that if there is to be any stepping
off the ladder the change must be made in the best possible
way. The present system of allowing these changes from
rung to rung to take place by examination by outsiders is,
I think, absolutely and completely indefensible. I would
hold the teachers in every primary school absolutely re-
sponsible for saying that such and such of their students
will benefit by secondary education and some of their
students will not, and if that be done, then, in conse-
quence of the recent action of the London County Council,

524

NATURE

[| Maxcu 29, 1906

it seems to me that you will have a rapidly increasing
number of the best English boys and girls going on with
their pure education, certainly well into the secondary
stage. In this way you will catch your potential Faradays.
One of the delightful things I found in my inspection
here with Mr. Millis was that in your instruction, frankly
so called, you make it as educational as you can, so that
those who come to you after the age of the primary school
may, if they so choose, by taking advantage of one or other
of your organisations, not only get an immense amount of
absolutely needed instruction for various walks of life, but
an education which will be practically as good as an educa-
tion which could be got on the ordinary education ladder
to enable them to enter the universities. The recent
improvements in education are brought home to us by the
fact that Huxley’s ladder by itself no longer represents all
the present possibilities. There are now platforms at the
chief stepping-off places, and ladders from them also lead-
ing to the university for those who do not fear to climb.
These platforms are technical schools and institutes, in
which practical training in science laboratories and litera-
ture must both find place.

There is one word I should like to say with regard to
your day school. It is called a ‘* Technical Day School
for Boys.’’ I find that in the London County Council list,
Appendix B, it is called a ‘‘ secondary school.’’? Now are
you a secondary school? That is a point that I am not
quite familiar with. What I understand is that under the
new regulations a school to be a secondary school must
make application to the Board of Education to be reckoned
as such, and if it is accepted you have this enormous
advantage, or will have very shortly, if you have not it
now. Your students will have the right to go to the uni-
versity by passing the leaving examination, which will
ultimately be carried on by the teachers in the secondary
school, or, at all events, with teachers associated with the
secondary school. I think you will agree with me that the
less any education in any locality is fettered by examination
by outsiders the better for that education it will be. If
you are a secondary school your students will be able, as
a matter of course, to enter the new university. Thank
God that in London, after centuries of the neglect of
education, we have a university; we shall soon be as well
off as a good many second-rate towns on the other side of
the water have been for hundreds of years. I believe it
is settled that your students can matriculate at the uni-
versity, can become internal students without the bugbear
of Latin, if you look upon Latin as a bugbear. Personally,
I do not; if you have time to learn Latin, so much the
better, but if the struggle for existence is so great that it
is science or nothing with you, well, with science you can
now enter the London University from a secondary school.
You will then carry your local students right up to the
second rung, some will go on to the university, and some
will step off to your evening classes. Voltaire, talking
about education, said :—‘‘ On étudie les livres en attendant
qu’on étudie les hommes ’”’ (‘‘ We study books before we
have a chance of studying men”’), Well, we have got
past that now; we not only study books, but we study
things, but whether we study books or things our educa-
tion will not be complete until we study men, that is to
say, until we have varied occasions of mingling with others
who are thinking about other things, so that we may ex-
change thoughts and ideas and sympathies with other
students of different branches of knowledge. Now I want
to point out what a magnificent opportunity you have here
for that kind of collegiate education. You are practically
a college, and I believe strongly that this collegiate life,
as we may call it, this mixing with one’s fellow men, is
of the very highest quality, that it is the absolute essential
of a complete course of education which should produce
what is called character. And let me remind you that
people are prepared to pay a great deal for character. I
find, for instance, that Mr. Balfour not very long ago said
the collective effect of our public school education on
character could not be over-rated, but he thought the boys
of seventeen or eighteen who are educated in them do not
care a farthing about the world they live in except so far
as it concerned the cricket field, the football field, or the
river. You have the machinery to enable you to care a

NO 1900, VOL. 73]

great deal about the world you live in, to know an immense
deal about it, and you have also the machinery for
this formation of character. Now I believe in the com-
bination, and it is upon that ground I hope some future
day to see a strong secondary school here. I believe it
will be a very great boon to this part of London; in fact,
I feel so strongly on this that I should say your enormous
advantages would be wasted if you did not take some
part in the general scheme of pure education, and that
part is quite obvious; you have to make your day school
one of the best secondary schools it is possible to imagine.
I should have hesitated to give you my opinion on your
proper place in education and the excellence of your teach-
ing staff and laboratories if I had not had an opportunity
of examining your institution, and, in concluding, I want
again to thank Mr. Millis for his very great kindness in
showing me over it the other day.

UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL
INTELLIGENCE.

Dr. R. S. Lut, associate professor of zoology at the
Massachusetts Agricultural College, has been appointed
assistant professor of vertebrate palzontology in Yale Uni-
versity, and associate curator of vertebrate palzeontology in
the Yale University (Peabody) Museum.

Pror. W. W. Warts, F.R.S., who is leaving Birming-
ham to take up the professorship of geology at the Royal
College of Science, was entertained by his geological friends
in Birmingham on March 23. Prof. Charles Lapworth,
F.R.S., who presided, referred to the many services which
Prof. Watts had rendered to geological students. Prof.
Watts, after acknowledging the presentation made by Mr-
J. Whitehouse on behalf of the past and present students,
said that he was going to a school which would be in
healthy but friendly rivalry to the Birmingham school.

American institutions for providing higher education con-
tinue to benefit from the generosity of wealthy American
citizens. Science announces that Princeton University has
been made the residuary legatee of the estate of Mrs. J.
Thompson Swan, which is said to be worth about 60,000.
The late Mr. Edwin Gilbert, of Georgetown, Conn., has
left 12,0001. for the model farm of the Connecticut Agri-
cultural College. Harvard University has received a gift
of 10,0001. from Mr. R. W. Sayles, of Norwich, Conn.,
to establish a fund, preferably for the acquisition, prepar-
ation, and maintenance of collections suitable for a geo-
logical museum.

Tue Board of Education has issued a return showing
the extent to which, and the manner in which, local authori-
ties in England and Wales have applied funds to the pur-
poses of technical education, and other forms of education
other than elementary, during the year 1903-4. In con-
sequence of the fact that the Education Act, 1902, was
coming into operation throughout the year with which the
report deals, and that advantage was taken of this fact
to initiate a new series of returns of this form of expendi-
ture, the year must be regarded from the statistical point
of view as transitional in character, The volume is, in
fact, divided into two parts, the first continuing for about
half the total number of local authorities the former series
of returns, and the second initiating the new series for the
remainder. The consequence is that the volume provides
no total of the figures dealing with the whole country, and
in view of the incompatibility of the bases of the expendi-
ture shown in the two parts, such totals would only be
misleading.

Tue 1906 issue of the ‘‘ Register and Official Announce-
ment ’’ of the Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts,
has been received. Among other interesting information, it
may be noticed that the University has several funds for
the endowment of fellowships. A sum of 600]. is now
available for junior and senior fellowships from the George
F. Hoar fund of 20,000l., provided by the generosity of Mr.
Carnegie. There are in addition a citizen’s fund of 1000l.,
the income of which is to be used for the aid of ‘‘ some one
or more worthy native-born citizens of the city of Worcester

an

MarcH 29, 1906]

NATURE

925

who may desire to avail themselves of the advantages of
the institution,’’ and the Field fund of rool., the income
of which is “‘ to provide for the minor needs of a scholar
or fellow.’’ These fellowships are intended for young men
and women of promise who desire to pursue post-graduate
studies in order to fit themselves for intellectual careers.
In general, those intending to devote themselves to some
special branch of learning are preferred to those directly
fitting themselves for one of the ‘‘ three learned pro-
fessions.”’

At the Convocation of the Calcutta University on
March 3, the Vice-Chancellor, Sir Alexander Pedler, dealt
with the work of the University during the period 1873-
1905. He said that the number of schools sending up
candidates to the matriculation examination of the Uni-
versity was three times greater at the end than at the
beginning of the period. In the same interval the number
of colleges in connection with the University increased
from fifty-two to eighty-one, and the number of professors
and lecturers in these colleges from 278 to 717. Sir
Alexander Pedler went on to ask, Has the University in
any way troubled itself to secure that this expansion has
been accompanied by the provision of three or four times
the number of equally well trained and experienced pro-
fessors and teachers? Has the University ascertained that
the new schools and colleges are equal in quality to those
of older and more mature growth? Are three or four
times as many well trained or well paid teachers at work
in the colleges and schools as thirty years ago? Are there
three times as many professors or teachers for the colleges,
trained in all the modern developments of western learn-
ing and acquainted with all the most recent discoveries in
science as there were thirty years ago? To all these ques-
tions he said a direct negative must be given. The Govern-
ment, which in its colleges ought to take the lead in such
matters, has allowed a reverse policy to go on, and while
in 1873 in Bengal the number of European professors or
Indian professors with European training in Government
colleges was thirty-one, in 1905 the number had fallen to
twenty-seven, while the number of Indian or Indian trained
professors had increased from nineteen to sixty. In
university work in European countries and in England,
when the number of students under instruction in colleges
is compared with the number of professors and lecturers
in various subjects engaged in teaching them, it is found,
Sir Alexander Pedler said, to be about ten students to each
professor. In the case of American technical colleges, fre-
quently the ratio works out at one professor to seven or
eight students. . At the Michigan University one professor
for every six students is found, and also at the Toronto
University. Turning to the case of India, in the arts
sections of certain colleges affiliated to the Calcutta Uni-
versity, for every professor there are such numbers of
students as fifty-three or forty-six, and other similar
numbers, or from five to nine times as many students as
in other countries.

SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES.
Lonpon.

Royal Society, January 18.—‘‘ A Study of the Mechanism
of Carbon Assimilation in Green Plants.’’ By Francis L.
Usher and J. H. Priestley. Communicated by Prof.
W. M. Travers, F.R.S.

(1) The photolysis of carbon dioxide may take place out-
side the plant in absence of chlorophyll, provided one of
the products is removed.

(2) The normal products of the photolysis are hydrogen
peroxide and formaldehyde, though under certain con-
ditions formic acid may be formed.

(3) In the plant the decomposition of the hydrogen
peroxide is provided for by a catalysing enzyme of general
occurrence.

(4) The condensation of the formaldehyde is dependent
on the healthy condition of the protoplasm.

There are therefore three factors essential to photo-
synthesis from carbon dioxide and water in the plant; they
are (1) vitality of the protoplasm, (2) presence of a cata-

NO. 1900, VOL. 73]

lysing enzyme, and (3) presence of chlorophyll. If any
one of these factors be interfered with, the process of
photosynthesis ultimately comes to an end, through the
destruction of the optical sensitiser, chlorophyll.

The relations between the various factors in this process
may be diagrammatically expressed thus :—

Carbon dioxide + Water

([funot removed, destroys|\—> CHLOROPHYLL

\

Hydrogen peroxide a Formaldehyde
7 not renoved, poisons)
ZL
ENzyME LIVING PROTOPLASM
Oxygen Carbohydrates

Society of Chemical Industry, March 5.—Mr. A. G.
Salamon in the chair.—The ignition of nitro-compound
explosives in small arm cartridges: W. D. Borland.
The action of the igniter, i.e. the percussion cap, is to
eject through the fire holes of the case a mixture of solid
and gaseous products at temperatures between 2400° C.
and 3200° C. in such quantity, volume, and time that the
initial resistance of the bullet or shot is overcome before
the bulk of the charge of powder develops its full energy,
but without any hesitation which may upset alignment or
perceptible “‘ hang-fire.’’ The rapidity with which these
gaseous and solid matters are applied to the powder is
determined by exploding the percussion cap in a hollow
steel cylinder provided with a hardened steel plunger and
resting upon a crusher lead. The proportion which the
crushing pressure bears to total energy is found in prac-
tice to be a trustworthy guide to the rapidity with which
the heat of the igniter is applied to the explosive, and
consequently to the ratio which chamber pressures in the
small arm bear to observed velocity of projectile. The
volume of the gaseous matters in relation to the surface
of the explosive can be readily determined. These must be
large enough to ensure sufficiently high chamber pressures
being set up for the most efficient combustion of the
powder. The temperature of ignition was determined by
radiation methods of observation, the cap being exploded
into a glass tube and the radiation intensity of the solids
observed by comparison with a radiant of known intensity,
the portion of the spectrum chosen being in the neighbour- |
hood of 6563 wave-length. The paper includes tables
illustrating the action of different igniters on different
explosives, both sporting and military, and tracing the
effect of total heat energy and temperature of igniter upon
velocity, pressure, and rapidity of ignition observed in
ballistic trials.

Zoological Society, March 6.—Mr. C. S. Tomes,
F.R.S., vice-president, in the chair.—A specimen of Rana
goliath, obtained by Mr. G. L. Bates at Efulen, in South
Cameroon: G. A. Boulenger. This frog measured 10
inches from snout to vent, and was much larger than any
frog hitherto known.—‘‘ Flying”’ snakes: R. Shelford.
The power of ‘‘ flying ’’ has been recorded by natives to
be possessed by three species of snakes in Borneo, viz.
Chrysopelea ornata, C. chrysochlora (Opisthoglypha), and
Dendrophis pictus (Aglypha). All three species have the
ventral scales with a suture or hinge-line on each side; by
means of a muscular contraction these scales can be drawn
inwards, so that the whole ventral surface of the snake
becomes quite concave, and the snake itself may be com-
pared to a rod of bamboo bisected longitudinally. By
experiments on C. ornata it was seen that the snake when
falling from a height descended, not in writhing coils, but
with the body held stiff and rigid, and that the line of the
fall was at an angle to a straight line from the point of
departure to the ground. It is highly probable that the
concave ventral surface of the snake helps to buoy it up
in its fall; it can readily be shown that a longitudinally
bisected rod of bamboo falls more slowly than an undivided
rod of equal weight.—A series of reports on the zoological

526

NATURE

{Marcu 29, 1906

results of the third Tanganyika expedition conducted by Mr.
W. A. Cunnington in 1904-5 was read. Report on the fishes :
G. A. Beulenger. The collection consisted of 300 speci-
mens referable to eighty-four species, twenty-eight of which
were new.—Crustacea: Dr. W. T. Calman. In addition to
the two species already known from Lake Tanganyika, no
fewer than ten specimens of new species belonging to the
family Atyidz, including the representatives of two new
genera, were obtained. From lakes Nyasa and Victoria
Nyanza only a single species was obtained, the widely dis-
tributed Caridina nilotica (C. wyckii). The absence of this
common species from the gatherings made in Tanganyika
emphasised the isolated character of the Macruran fauna of
that lake. All the species found in Tanganyika, and all
but one of the genéra, were peculiar to the lake. There
was no ground for regarding the Macrura of Tanganyika
as having any specially ‘* marine ” affinities. The other
members of the groups to which they belonged, the genus
Palemon and the family Atyide, were characteristically,
and all but exclusively, fresh-water animals.—Mollusca :
E. A. Smith. This collection contained examples of thirty-
three species, one of which was new.—Fresh-water sponges
obtained from lakes Victoria Nyanza, Tanganyika, and
Nyasa: R. Kirkpatrick. The collection comprised eleven
specimens representing five species, one from Tanganyika

being mew to science, two others from Tanganyika
(Spongilla moorei, Evans, and S. tanganyikae, Evans)
having already been recorded from that locality. Small

specimens of a fourth species, viz. Spongilla cartert, Bower-
bank, were obtained from the Victoria Nyanza, and a fairly
large specimen of a fifth, viz. Spongilla biseriata, Weltner,
was collected in a swamp bordering Lake Nyasa. Included
in Mr. Kirkpatrick’s report were descriptions of two new
species and a new variety of fresh-water sponges, based on
material obtained from the White Nile.—Oligochzte
worms: F. E. Beddard. They comprised examples of
four new species.—The meduse of the genus Limnocnida
obtained during the expedition: R. T. Gunther.

Geological Society, March 7.—Sir Archibald Geikie,
Sec.R.S., president, in the chair.—The occurrence of lime-
stone of the Lower Carboniferous series in the Cannock-
Chase portion of the South Staffordshire Coalfield: G. M.
Cockin. Silurian limestone underlies the Coal-measures
in the southern part of the South Staffordshire Coalfield,
and a rock, probably similar, was found in a borehole at
Cannock-Chase Colliery. A shaft was sunk some thirty
years ago north of the latter locality, but was abandoned.
In the waste-heaps, which have remained undisturbed since
1875, a number of fossils belonging to the Lower Carbon-
iferous Limestone have been found. A fault must be pre-
sumed to bring Carboniferous Limestone into the position
indicated. An account of the strata pierced by boring is
appended.—Liassic Dentaliide: L. Richardson. Among
the fossils collected in the cuttings on the new Honeybourne
and Cheltenham Railway were many belonging to the
family Dentaliida, and, as the majority are new, the
author has investigated the Liassic members of the family
contained in several collections. The growth of the
scaphopod-shell is effected by additions at the anterior end,
while the posterior end suffers by wear and absorption.
The members of this class are essentially marine, inhabit-
ing deep water, and feeding principally on Foraminifera.
Eight new species are described, and eight species already
isnown are discussed.

Entomological Society, March 7.—Mr. F. Merrifield,
president, in the chair—Two specimens of Mitcrodon
latifrons, Lw., a rare dipteron taken in the New Forest
in June, 1905: H. W. Andrews.—Examples of Nonagria
neurica, Hb., and N, dissoluta, var. arundineta, Schmidt,
from Germany, with (?) var. arundineta from Central
Asia, for comparison with N. dissoluta and N. var.
arundineta from Kent, Cambridge, and Norfolk: H. M.
Edelsten.—A variable series of Gynopteryx gladiaria,
Guen., and its varieties: L. B. Prout.—Combs of the
honey bee formed on a branch of nut tree, the bees having
swarmed late in the year: A. J. Chitty. After July the
bees deserted the combs, and, having consumed all the
honey contained in them, again swarmed on a neighbour-
ing tree.—A specimen of Prodenia littoralis, Boisd., which

NO. 1900, VOL. 73]

had emerged in a breeding-cage kept, with many others,
by Major R. B. Robertson at Boscombe, Hants, for
the reception of caterpillars found in that district: Prof.
R. Metdola. The moth emerged on July 16, 1905.
The species, which is figured in Hampson’s ‘‘ Moths of
India,”’ is said to have a distribution. extending from the
Mediterranean subregion throughout the tropical and sub-
tropical zones of the Old World.—A Mantis on a portion
of the bark of a tree found by Mr. F. Birch in Trinidad,
who stated that its close resemblance to a withered leaf
was evidently a protection for aggressive purposes: O. E.
Janson.—A series of Callimenide; a small family of
Orthoptera, consisting of two genera, Dinarchus, with the
single species D. dasypus, Illig., and Callimenus, of which
all the known species were included, with the exception of
C. inflatus, Br., from Asia Minor: M. Burr.—Specimens
of Argynnis niobe, var. eris, Q, from the Pyrenees,
Cevennes, and south Tyrolese mountains: H. Rowland-
Brown. Attention was directed to the remarkable form
of the example taken at Gavarnie, in July, 1905, of which
the coloration of the upper side of all the wings was ruddy
copper-red shot with blue upon the nervures. Whereas
specimens of eris and other Argynnids from the moun-
tainous regions of central France showed a tendency to
maintain constant pale forms, those from the Pyrenees are
generally more highly coloured, while the high Alpine forms
of Central Europe inclined to melanism.—An original note-
book of Burchell’s taken to South Africa in 1812: Prof. E. B.
Poulton. The note-book established the date of the
author’s birthday, hitherto unknown, to be July 12, while
it also recorded, for the first time, the superstitious dread
of the native Hottentots for the **death’s head moth,”
known locally as the ‘‘ devil bee.’’—Specimens of Pierine
butterflies from South Africa, India, and Asia Minor: Dr.
F. A. Dixey. The specimens illustrated how the under
sides of the dry-season forms in the group are apt to take
a red tinge, and it was especially interesting to note that
the same tendency was manifest in all species collected
from such widely separate regions.—Note on _ the
migration of Lepidoptera against the wind, extracted
from a report on ‘‘The Pearl Oyster of the Gulf of
Manaar, Avicula (meleagrina) fucata,’’ by Henry Sullivan
Thomas, in the Madras Journal of Literature and
Science: C. O. Waterhouse.—A plague of ants in the
Observatory district, Cape Town, South Africa: Colonel
C. T. Bingham.—Some rest attitudes in butterflies: Dr.
G. B. Longstaff. The paper was illustrated by numerous
specimens arranged upon backgrounds of specially prepared
sand-paper approximating to the natural surroundings of
the insects in their various habitats.—Observations on the
life-history of Trichoptilus paludum, Zell.: Dr. T. A.
Chapman.—Some parasitic hymenopterous insects of
North Queensland: F. P. Dodd.

Physical Society, March 9.—Dr. C. Chree, vice-
president, in the chair.—The velocities of the ions of alkali
salt vapours at high temperatures: Prof. H. A. Wilson.
This paper contains a summary of previous work. It is
shown that all results so far obtained are consistent with
the view that any salt of cesium, rubidium, potassium,
sodium, or lithium gives in a Bunsen flame negative ions
having a velocity of 1000 cm. per sec. for one volt per cm.,
and positive ions having a velocity of about So cm. per sec.
This result can be explained by supposing that each salt
molecule emits a negative corpuscle which forms the
negative ion, and that the rest of the molecule forms the
positive ion.—Some experiments on earth-currents at Kew
Observatory: Dr. J. A. Harker. An account of experi-
ments made some years ago at Kew Observatory on the
earth-currents produced by electric traction schemes, and
on the disturbances they cause on the self-recording mag-
netic instruments kept continuously running to register the
variations in the declination and the horizontal and vertical
forces. Two large earth-plates were buried about 4 feet
deep and 200 yards apart, and connected through a_photo-
graphic recording voltmeter of high resistance. On the
traces given, the effect of the trains on the Central London
Railway was strikingly shown. The nearest point to Kew
is about six miles distant. The same disturbances, and
also those due to special traction experiments carried out
on the system of the London United Electric Tramway

Marcu 29, 1906]

NATURE

527

Company during the period when the Central London Rail-
way was shut down, were also clearly shown on magneto-
graph curves. The effects are much greater on the vertical
force than on the horizontal force or the declination. A
second system of investigation was to connect the earth-
plates through the primary of a transformer, the secondary
terminals of which were connected to a Sensitive moving-
coil galvanometer of suitable period and damping. The
galvanometer recorded a ballastic throw for each movement
of a tramway controller, while the slower variations due
to magnetic storms were without effect. A telephone
similarly connected gave a perceptible sound for each con-
troller movement.

Royal Meteorological Society, March 21.—Mr. R.
Bentley, president, in the chair.—South Africa as seen by
a meteorologist: Dr. H. R. Mill. The lecture was illus-
trated by a series of lantern-slides from photographs taken
during the tour of the British Association in 1905. The
places visited included Cape Town, ‘Table Mountain,
Durban, Maritzburg, Ladysmith, Johannesburg, Pretoria,
Bloemfontein, Kimberley, Bulawayo, the Matoppo Hills,
the Victoria Falls of the Zambesi, Salisbury, Umtali, and
Beira. During the return journey, Mombasa, Cairo, and
the Suez Canal were visited. Photographs were shown of
meteorological stations in many of the places named, and
the views of the scenery were selected to bring out the
climatic features.

CAMBRIDGE.

Philosophical Society, February 12.—Mr. F. Darwin
in the chair.—Notes on cycads: with exhibition of a rare
species acquired by the Botanic Garden: A. C. Seward.
The author exhibited a plant of Cycas Micholitzti, Dyer,
recently obtained by the curator of the Botanic Garden
from Messrs. Sanders and Sons. This species was dis-
covered by one of Messrs. Sanders’ collectors, Mr. W.
Micholitz, in Annam, and described last year by Sir
William Thiselton-Dyer in the Gardeners’ Chronicle,
August 19, 1905, p. 142. The author directed attention to
the importance of cycads as representing scattered survivals
from a remote past, and as plants which still retain traces
of ancestral characters.—Respiration and vitality: F. F.
Blackman.—Experiments on the hybridisation of barleys :
R. H. Bitfen. The behaviour of the more important
differentiating characters to be found among the varieties
of barley has been investigated.—A comparison of the
results from the Falmouth declination and horizontal force
magnetographs on quiet days in years of sun-spot maxi-
mum and minimum: Dr. Chree.

February 26.—Dr. Fenton, vice-president, in the chair.—
An indicator for strong acids and bases: Dr. Fenton.
Reference was made in previous communications by the
author to a new condensation product, derived from methyl-
furfural, which has the molecular formula C,,H,O,. It
was pointed out that this substance may have useful appli-
cations in organic analysis, since it gives highly character-
istic colour-reactions with certain classes of compounds,
such as amines and ureas. In the present paper it is
shown that the reagent serves also as an indicator of
alkalinity, and further, that by condensation with urea a
colourless base is obtained which is turned blue with acids,
and may therefore be used as an acid indicator.—The
action of acid chlorides of acetylenic acids on ketonic com-
pounds: S. Ruhemann. The paper gives an account of
experiments undertaken with the view of supporting the
constitution of the product of the reaction between phenyl-
propiolyl chloride and acetylacetone, and the formula of
the substance formed from it under the influence of
secondary bases. The properties of this substance have
been found to resemble in every respect those of oxalyldi-
benzylketone.—The dihydrotetrazines: S. Ruhemann.
The author has extended his research on tetrazoline, and
found that the properties of dimethyltetrazoline differ most
markedly from those of tetrazoline.—The velocity of trans-
formation of sugars by alkalies: R. S. Morrell and A. E.
Bellars. Aqueous solutions of glucosates, fructosates, and
mannosates of guanidine, potash, and soda undergo slow
change indicated by a decline in the rotatory power. The
velocity of change, as measured by the diminution of the

NO. 1900, VOL. 73]

optical activity of the solutions, is that of a unimolecular
reversible reaction. Under the conditions of the experi-
ments glucose and fructose are mutually transformable, the
production of mannose and acids proceeding at such a slow
rate that glucose and fructose first attain an equilibrium,
which is afterwards disturbed by the appearance of steadily
increasing quantities of saccharinic acid. In the case of
guanidine mannosate solutions, the velocity constant
obtained from observations of the fall in rotatory power
has nearly the same value as the corresponding one for
guanidine glucosate and fructosate, but direct measurement
of the rate of disappearance of the mannose gave a very
much lower value.—The influence of very strong electro-
magnetic fields on the spark spectra of (a) vanadium,
(b) platinum and iridium: J. E. Purvis. The field strength
was 39.980 C.G.S. units. (1) With regard to vanadium, two
lines become sextuplets and four lines become quintuplets.
There are a number of lines divided into four, whilst the
great majority of them become triplets. Also there are a
few doublets, and there are about eight lines which do not
appear to be affected. The distances of the separated con-
stituents from the normal lines were measured, and the
value of dA/A* calculated; and it is seen that many of the
lines may be expressed by the same formula, the appear-
ances of the undivided lines and the separated constituents
and the values of da/A? being essentially identical.
(2) Similarly, with regard to the metals Pt and Ir, there
are lines of both metals which may be grouped together
as possessing identical dA/A* values, and the normal lines
and separated constituents of which are similar in appear-
ance. (3) In several instances the values of dA/A* for the
several constituents seem to be simple multiples of each
other.
Paris.

Academy of Sciences, March 19.—M. H. Poincaré in the
chair.—Observations of nebulae: M. Bigourdan.—The dis-
tillation of titanium and the temperature of the sun: Henri
Moissan. The boiling point of titanium is very high, and
it was necessary to employ a current of 1000 amperes at
55 volts in the electric furnace to volatilise it readily. The
distitted titanium was obtained on the cold tube mixed with
lime, distilled from the furnace body. This lime was re-
moved by acetic acid, and the residue was proved by its
chemical properties to be titanium. ‘Taking the tempera-
ture of the electric arc as 3500° C. (Violle), it is clear from
the fact that titanium vapour exists in the sun that the
temperature of the sun must be above 3000° C.—Benzyl-
and phenylborneols and their products of dehydration: the
benzyl- and phenyl-camphenes: A. Haller and E. Bauer-
The secondary benzylborneol was prepared by the reduction
of benzyleamphor, and its dehydration by phthalic
anhydride; formic acid and pyruvic acid gave rise to the
a-benzyleamphene. The tertiary benzylborneol was_pre-
pared by Grignard’s reaction from camphor ; its dehydration
gave an isomeric f-benzylcamphene, the properties and’
derivatives of which are described.—The facies of variation
of certain nepheline syenites from the Los Islands: A.
Lacroix.—Gennadas, or bathypelagic Peneids: E. L.
Bouvier.—The sheet of the Geological Survey, on the scale
of 1:80,000, dealing with the region of Gap: Michel
Lévy.—Functions which depend on other functions: Vito
Volterra.—Observations of the Kopff comet (1906b) made
with the bent equatorial of the Observatory of Lyons: J-
Guillaume. The observations were made on March 5, 6
and 7. The comet appeared as a nebulous star of
diameter and about 10-5 magnitude.—Observations of the
comet 1906b made at the Observatory of Algiers with the
31-8 equatorial: MM. Sy and Villatte. Observations were
made on March 5, 6, 7, and 8.—A new solution of the
problem of magnetic induction for .an isotropic sphere :
Tommaso Boggio.—The resistance of emission of an
antenna: C. Tissot. A discussion of the most favourable
conditions for using a thermal indicator as a receiver of
Hertzian waves.—The mechanism of the positive light :
P. Villard. The positive column in a Geissler tube is re-

ig

| garded as a chain of gaseous particles traversed by the

current. It still remains to be determined whether the
emission-of light is due to the passage of the current or
to the progressive dislocation of the chain by the shock

528

of the negative ions.—Antimony and sulphide of antimony :
MM. Chrétien and Guinchant.—The action of the amino-

ethers and imino-chlorides on organo-magnesium deri-
vatives: R. Marquis. An attempt at a new general
method for the synthesis of ketones, starting with the
imino-ether R.C(OR):(NR). The yield in the case of

benzophenone is good, but the method is not general. In

some cases the imino-chloride gives better results.—The
preparation of glycidic ethers and of aldehydes in the
hexahydroaromatic series: Georges Darzens and P.

The glycidic esters were obtained by the inter-
chloracetic ester with cyclohexanone in the
presence of sodium ethylate. The aldehyde is prepared
from the glycidic ester by heating in a vacuum. The
reaction has been applied successfully to homologues of
cyclohexanone.—The structure and probable origin of the
magnetic iron ore of Diélette, Manche: L. Cayeux. Con-
clusions as to the mode of formation of the ore are drawn
from a micrographic study.—The gasteropods collected by
the Charcot Antarctic Expedition: A. Vayssiere.—The
structure of the sporal wall of the Myxosporidia: L. Léger
and E. Hesse.—A genus of lamellibranchs with multiple
mouths: Paul Pelseneer. The genus Lima is charac-
terised in its normal condition by having two symmetrical
buccal orifices, each of which leads directly into the
cesophagus.—X-rays and genital activity : F. Villemin.
—The disease of wine (Graisse): E. Kayser and E.
Manceau.—The toxin and antitoxin of cholera: MM. Brau
-and Denier. The serum of animals which have received
the toxin under the skin possesses very slight antitoxic
power. The antitoxic power of the serum becomes much
more marked when the toxin has been injected into the
veins.—The laws of muscular elasticity and their applica-
tion to energetics: Charles Henry.—Some new palzonto-
logical data on the Devonian of western Ahenet, Central

Lefebure.
action of

Sahara (expedition of MM. R. Chudeau and E. F.
Gautier): Emile Haug.—The fauna of the Lower Coal-
measures of Baudour (Hainaut): J. Cornet.—The flora of
the same: Armand Renier.—Chalk and clay on the sea
floor: J. Thoulet.

DIARY OF SOCIETIES.

THURSDAY, Marcu 20.

Roya Socrety, at 4.30.—On the Dilatational Stability of the Earth :
Lord Rayleigh, O.M., P.R.S.—On the Observations of Stars made in
some British Stone Circles. Second Note: Sir J. Norman Lockyer,
K.C.B., F.R.S.—The Calculation of Ellipsoidal Harmonics: Sir
William D. Niven, K.C.B., F.R.S.

RovaL [sTITUTION, at 5.—Internal Prof. B.
Hopkinson.

INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—A djourned Discussion:
Electrical Equipment of the Aberdare Collieries of the Powell Duffryn
Company: -C. P. Sparks.—Electric Winding, considered Practically
and Commercially : W. C. Mountain.

FRIDAY, Marcu 30.
Rovat INSTITUTION, at 9.—Recent Progress in Magneto-optics :
Zeeman.

Combustion Engines:

Prof. P.

SATURDAY, Marcu 31.
Rovat INstiTuTION, at 3.—Lhe Corpuscular Theory of Matter:

J. J. Thomson, F.R.S.
MONDAY, Aprit 2.
at 8.—Fire, Fire Risks, and Fire Extinction:

Prof.

Society oF Arts
Vivian B. Lewes.

Society oF CHEMICAL INDUSTRY, at 8.—The Ropiness in Flour and
Bread. and its detection anc Prevention: E. J. Watkins.—The Rése-
Herzfeld and Sulphuric Acid Methods for the Determination of the
Higher Alcohols.—A Criticism: V. H. Veley, F.R.S.

TUESDAY, Apri 3.
Royat INSTITUTION, at 5.—The Influence of Geology on Scenery: Dr.
J. E. Marr, F.R.S.
INSTITUTION OF CivIL ENGINEERS, at 3.—The Harbours of South Africa :
Cc. W. Methven.—Prosable Paper: On the Resistance of Iron and
Steel to Reversals of Direct Stress: Dr. T. E. Stanton and L. Bairstow,

WEDNESDAY, Aprit 4.

INSTITUTION OF CiviL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Variations in Directiono the
Wind, and an Instrument for determining them Graphically: B. F.
Beverley.

GeEo.ocicat Society, at 8.—Ona Case of Unconformity and Thrust in
the Coal-measures of Northumberland: Prof. G. A. L. Lebour and Dr.
J. A. Smythe.—The Carboniferous Succession below the Coal-measures
in North Shropshire, Denbighshire, and_Flintshire : Dr. Wheelton Hind
and J. T. Stobbs.

ENTOMOLOGICAL SocIETY, at 8.

Society oF Puspric ANALYSTS, at 8.

Society oF Arts, at 8.—Ramie and its Possibilities :

NO. 1900, VOL. 73]

Prof.

Mrs. Ernest Hart.

NA PORE

[Marcu 29, 1906

THURSDAY, Aprit s-

Roya Society, at 4.30.—Probable Paper: On the Physiological Action
of a Recently Discovered African Arrow Poison: Dr. Charles Bolton.

CuemicaL Society, at 8.30.—An Improved Apparatus for measuring
Magnetic Rotations and obtaining a Powerful Sodium Light: W. H.
Perkin, Sen.—The Rusting of Iron: G. T. Moody.— Jn the Determina-
tion of Carbon in Soils: A. D. Hall, N. H. J. Miller and N. Harmer —
The Electrolysis of the Salts of BB- -Dimethylglutaric Acid: J. Walker
and J. K. Wood.—Bromo- ‘and Hydroxy-Derivatives of 888'8'-Tetra-
methylsuberic Acid: J. K. Wood.—Some new Orthoxylene Derivatives:
G. Stallard.—A new Solvent for Gold. Preliminary Note: J. Moir.—
The Molecular Condition in Solution of Ferrous Oxalate: a Correction :
S. E. Sheppard and C. E. K. Mees.

Roya InstiruTion, at 5.—Internal Combustion Engines:
Hopkinson.

INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Electrical Equipment of
the Aberdare Collieries of the Powell Duffryn Company: C. P. Sparks,—
Electric Winding considered Practically and Commercially : WwW. C.
Mountain (Conclusion af Discussion).

LINNEAN Society, at 8.—£.xhibition : Some Plants new tothe Pre-Glacial
Flora of Great Britain: Clement Reid, F.R.S.—Pafers: A Second
Contribution to the Flora of Africa.—Rubiacez and Composite, Part II. :
Spencer Moore.—The Anatomy of the Stem and Leaf of Nuytsia
floribunda, R.Br.: E. J. Schwartz.—Taiwanites, a new Genus of
Coniferz from the Island of Formosa: B. Hayata.

Civir anp MEcHANICAL ENGINEERS’ SOCIETY, at 8.—Steam Turbines:

G. D’A. Meynell.
FRIDAY, Apri 6.

MavacotocicaL Society, at 8.—On a Species of the Land Molluscan
Genus Dyakia from Siam: Lt.-Col. H. H. Godwin-Austen, F.R.S.—
Descriptions of new Species of Land Shells from Peru ani Colombia:
S. I. Da Costa.—Note on Swainson’s Genus Volutilithes: R. Bullen
Newton.—Further Notes on the Genus Chloritis, with Description of new
Species: G. K. Gude.—lertigo parcedentata, Braun, in Holocene
Deposits in Great Britain: A. S. Kennard and B. B. Woodward.

Rovat INSTITUTION, at 9.—The Physical Basis of Life: W. B. Hardy,

“RS.

Prof. B.

SATURDAY, Apri 7.

Roya INSTITUTION, at 3.—Thbe Corpuscular Theory of Matter:
J. J. Thomson, F.R.S.

Tue Essex Fierp Crus (at Essex Museum of Natural History, Stratford),
at 6.30.—Salt-making in Essex, Ancient and Modern: Miller Christy.—
Neolithic Man in Epping Forest: F. W. and H. Campion.

Prof.

CONTENTS. PAGE
Stars and Nebule. By Prof. R. A. Gregory . 505
British Ascidians. By Dr. W. Garstang 508

The Metallurgy of Ironand Steel. By A. McWilliam

509
Our Book Shelf :—
Lambert: ‘* Glue, Beene, and their Allied Pro-
ducts,—C.S. .. BENS (0)
“ Webbia-Raccolta di Scritti Botanici publicati. in
occasione del 50° anniversario della Morti di ee
Barker Webb” . . . = SEG
Goursat : “A Course in Mathematical Analysis” Cesc) Ssh
Letters to the Editor :—
Agriculture and the Empire.—M. J. R. Dunstan Str
Sea-sickness and A haat of the Eyes.—Alfred
Sang : f Sir
Production of an ’ Electrically Conductive: Glass =
Charles E.S. Phillips. . .. 512
Interpretation of Meteorological Records. Soo.
Omond . 512
Oscillation of Flame Cones.—Harold E. Temple;
Prof. A. Smithells, F.R.S. . . 512
Gas for Heating and Lighting Laboratories. —Alex.
Pardy ; Prof. Vivian B. Lewes 513
Cooperation between Scientific Libraries. —Dr. Hugh
Marshall. . . : 513
The Problems of Geology. ‘(Ilustrated.) 2 aT
The National Physical amie oe Ra O MRC in isl”!
Notes) =.) cur ee Sc 515
Our Astronomical Column :—
Comet 1906¢ . . . Ry os Se RS
Observation of Comet 1905¢ after Perihelion... . 518
New Variable Stars in the Region about y Sagitize - 518
The Supposed Nebulosity around Nova Aquilze No, 2. 518
Some Tests of the Snow Telescope . . 518
Studies on the Syeeesis of Peptides and Proteids,

By]. 5-7 Coa cee. RTE es otas esd Ge
The Protection of Birds’ ee Pamenehiec ois!
The Place of Polytechnics in Education. By Sir

Norman; Lockyer, K-C.B., FIRES) J.) eee
University and Educational Intelligence Oise se
Societies andAcademies. © 2.05 a) oe sien oie eae
Diary. of; Societies# 1c! «oer bol ohne 528 |

NATORE

5929

THURSDAY, APRIL 5, 1906.

IONS, ELECTRONS, AND CORPUSCLES.

Les Quantités élementaires d’Electricité: Ions, Elec-
trons, Corpuscles. Mémoires réunis et publiés
par Henri Abraham et Paul Langevin. Two
volumes. Pp. xvi+1138. (Paris: Gauthier-Villars
et Fils, 1905.) Price 35 francs.

Sige © very important work, which has been brought

out by the French Physical Society under the
joint editorship of MM. Abraham and Langevin, con-
sists of a series of digests of the memoirs on which
the foundation of the electrodynamic theory of matter
is laid. In some cases réswmés of their researches
have been written especially for this worl by the
original authors, but in the majority of instances the
papers have been dealt with by abstractors. The
value of this method depends entirely on the insight
which is brought to bear upon it, and the task must
have been particularly difficult in the present instance
owing to the great variety of the material concerned,
since many of the investigations are purely experi-
mental, whilst others require all the skill in abstract
reasoning possessed by the pure mathematician. The
excellence which we should expect from the names
of the editors, one of whom, M. Langevin, has himself
made extensive and valuable contributions to the
subject, is completely justified by the result. When-
ever it was consistent with the necessary brevity, the
abstractors have kept to the original words of the
author, and, so far as the reviewer has been able to
discover, no author can claim that his views have
been misrepresented in any important particular.

The book will be heartily welcomed by all who are
interested in the development of the electron theory,
whether it be in its most general aspect as a funda-
mental theory of physical phenomena or in its ex-
tremely interesting applications to such complex
branches of the subject as the conduction of electricity
through gases and radio-activity. It is true that we
have a number of books, such as J. J. Thomson’s
““Conduction of Electricity through Gases’? and
‘Electricity and Matter,’? Larmor’s ‘‘ 4ither and
Matter,” Poincaré’s ‘“ Electricité et Optique,”’ Stark’s
“Die Electrizitat in Gasen,’’ and Rutherford’s
** Radio-activity,’’ which in one way or another con-
tain the whole of the material of the two volumes
under review; but in these cases the material has
usually been selected, often, of course, with gain of
interest, so as to emphasise the point of view of the
particular author. In the present work, on the con-
trary, we are furnished with an account of each por-
tion of the subject as it developed itself in the mind
of its discoverer. The work therefore fills a distinct
lacuna in the literature of the subject.

Recent advances in electrodynamics have placed the
fundamental principles of physics in an interesting
but not altogether satisfactory position. By consider-
ing the energy of the electric field, J. J. Thomson
showed, many years ago, that a moving electric
charge possessed a spurious mass due to the disturb-

NO. IQOI, VOL. 73]

ance it created in the ether through which it was.
moving. This idea has been more than confirmed
by the experiments of Kaufmann on the mass of
the Becquerel rays or negative electrons. These ex-
periments show that the whole of the mass of these
electrons is of electrical origin, and is due entirely to,
the motion of their electric charges. The work of
Lorentz and Larmor has given very good reasons for
supposing that all matter consists solely of electrons,
so that we are forced to the conclusion that the mass
of all matter is due to the electrical charges of its
ultimate particles.

The reasoning by which this result has been arrived
at is dynamical in character, and is therefore based’
on mass, space, and time as fundamental conceptions.
Thus, by the application of a system of thought in
which mass is a fundamental conception, we have
succeeded in resolving the idea of mass into some-
thing, viz. electricity, which lies outside the system.

There appear to be two ways of escape from the
confusion implied by this paradoxical result. The
first is to resolve electricity into the mass motion of
a mechanical ether, and thus to make everything
again consistent with the fundamental laws of me-
chanics. Attempts to construct a dynamical theory:
of the ether have continually been made ever since
the ether began to figure in the literature of exact
science. The most successful hitherto has been that
of Larmor, which made the ether a perfect fluid com-
posed of gyrostatic atoms. According to this view,
which has been criticised by Poincaré in his ‘“ Elec-
tricité et Optique,’’ the velocity of the ether is along
the lines of magnetic force.. We have, however, good
grounds for thinking that the drift velocity of the
ether is proportional to the vector product of the.
electric and magnetic forces, and it is probable that
the successful ether theory will furnish an explanation,
of this result.

The second way of escape is to take the equations
of the electromagnetic field as ultimate relations.
which are empirically given and of which there is no.
‘“explanation.’’? By making energy the fundamental
conception, we could then obtain a consistent scheme
which would not involve the idea of mass in any
fundamental way. The equations of motion of any
material system could then be obtained by an appro-
priate variation of the energy function, which of
course contains only electric and magnetic terms,
and the results expressed in terms of force subse-
quently if required. On this view the momentum
in any system is obtained as the volume integral of
the vector product of the electric and magnetic forces,
and mass is simply the vector coefficient which results
on dividing the increase in this by the corresponding
increase in velocity. This method of stating the case,
which makes mass a very secondary conception, will
at once be recognised as our old friend the ‘‘ ener-
getic’’ view of things, and the electrodynamic ex-
planation of mass may justly be regarded as a great
triumph for energetics. The considerations which
have been brought forward in the preceding para-
graph show, however, that the solution in terms of

AA

359

NATURE

[APRIL 5, 1906

energy is not the only solution of the problem, and
it remains for the future to decide which of the two
is the more convenient and the more fundamental.
The ‘‘ energetic ”’ of physical philosophy
suffers by being intangible and lacking in imaginative
stimulus, whilst the material it males use of in order
to build up a picture of the phenomena of nature is
not characterised by the simplicity which is desirable
in relations of so ultimate a character.

Returning to the book under review, we find, natur-
ally, that a great deal of it refers to the important

system

investigations on the charge, mass, velocity, and
other properties of ions and electrons. These have
been described with that excellence which charac-

terises the whole production. The reader will find a
particularly satisfactory account of Townsend’s very
exact investigations on ionisation by collisions.

There is a minor point which may be criticised, and
that is the prominence given to Moreau’s results on
the velocity of ions produced by metallic salts in
flames. That investigator found that the velocity of
the negative ions varied in an unexplained way with
the concentration of the salt and the atomic weight
of the metal, whereas H. A. Wilson found it to be
independent of both these factors. The editors appear
to have overlooked the experiments on this subject of
the last-named author,

With this slight exception, we have nothing but
praise for the whole work, and heartily congratu-
late the French Physical Society and all who have
been concerned in its production. We hope that they
will be able to bring out more volumes of a like Ixind
as the development of the subject proceeds. It will
be remembered that a few years ago the French
Physical Society published a very important series of
memoirs, on all branches of physics, which had been
communicated to the International Congress at Paris
in 1900. The extraordinary activity of the society in
this way must command the admiration and grati-
tude of physicists in every part of the world.

O. W. RicHarpson.

ANOTHER PLEA FOR RATIONAL
EDUCATION.

On Professional Education, with Special Reference to
Medicine. An Address delivered at King’s College,
London, on October 3, 1905. By Prof. T. Clifford
Allbutt, F.R.S. Pp. vi+8o0. (London: Macmillan
and Co., Ltd., 1906.) Price 2s. net.

oe HERE is no state so perilous as that in which

things seem good to us, and at present in

England the schoolmaster is complacent, the public

indifferent.”’ So Prof. Allbutt generalises early in

his address, directing attention, however, in a foot-
note, to a single exception in the case of the head-
master of the Perse School, Cambridge. Though
many more earnest schoolmasters anxious to reform
scholastic methods could be named, thoughtful ob-
servers of English educational procedure must admit

—in spite of the current bickerings among politicians

as to religious instruction in elementary schools—that

the schoolmaster’s policy of laisser-aller and the apathy

NO. I9OI, VOL. 73]

of the public are, and have been, the chief causes of
the chaotic and rudimentary state of our secondary
education. For half a century it has been dinned into
the ears of statesmen, parents, and schoolmasters that
no system of higher education, whether academic or
technical, can prove successful in the absence of a
sane, modern, and broad supply of secondary educa-
tion given by rationally trained teachers. Prof.
Allbutt is to be congratulated upon ranging himself
on the side of the prophets, and though for the
present he may be a voice crying in the wilderness,
his able advocacy of the introduction of sweet reason-
ableness into our secondary schools will some day be
counted unto him for righteousness.

A few of Prof. Allbutt’s lessons to the schoolmaster
may be quoted with advantage. ‘ The scientific study
of facts is the lever by which liberal culture has been
re-awakened, and we are beginning to see that the
ideas and methods of natural science, instead of being
merely curious or commercial, are, if not the flower
of education, at any rate the stem and branches.”’
‘On both ‘ sides ’ [of most schools], while the memory
is exercised, and the intellect somewhat called upon,
the imagination, the centre of creative life, the source
of great action, is left out in the cold.’’ The teacher
who fears the baneful effects of specialisation may
note this:—‘‘] am satisfied that if the two main
coefficients of mind—the intellect and the imagination
are fostered, it proves best in the end to promote
development in each person on the lines of his own
nature.’’ But we have kept what in our judgment is
the most important quotation—trite though the advice
is—to the last :—‘‘ It is not so much what a man is
taught as how he is taught it.”

This advice leads naturally to the consideration of
the present secondary school curriculum. Not every
essential part of a wide subject can be included in a
single address, but it is to be regretted that Prof.
Allbutt has so little to say on the simplification and
lightening of the absurdly congested time-tables of
most schools. It is true that we are told that the
current teaching of Greelk and Latin is a parody of
education, and that, like Sir William Ramsay, Dr.
Allbutt considers chemistry is not a good subject for
boys, but some guidance in the direction of a ruthless
cutting down of the number of subjects at present
studied by young boys would have been welcome. It
is in this direction that the schoolmaster has a right
to look to the man of science for guidance. Cannot
physiologists and psychologists agree together as to
what groups of faculties should be trained during the
years of school-life, and, with the help of peda-
gogical experts, decide which groups of subjects best
assist such training? Until this is done, or until
some masterful genius filled with the pedagogic
passion arises who will solve this most pressing of
educational problems, secondary education will con-
tinue to be a process of filling the minds of boys
and girls with pellets of information in a multitude
of subjects, and of loading the verbal memory with
a brecciated congeries of unrelated facts.

On the tertiary, or university, stage of education

APRIL 5, 1906]

NA TORE

531

Prof. Allbutt speaks with authority and full know-
ledge. He points out to the medical student who
through comparative indigence has to proceed from
the secondary to the medical school without the in-
itiatory university course with which his more opu-
lent contemporary is favoured, that ‘‘ there is no
difficulty, at any rate in university education, in using
for general training the broader principles of any one
of the professional faculties.’”’ Applying his principle
already quoted, that it is not what is taught but how
it is taught, Dr. Allbutt shows how professional
studies may be made sources of culture and broad
ideas by the non-university medical student. But there
is in no sense a disparagement of the unique value
of a good university course, with its chances of inter-
course with many types of intellect and the oppor-
tunities the student has of learning the best which
has been done and said in the world.

The question of examiners and examinations is
dealt with also. We are told that ‘‘ the professional
examiner, he who makes it his business to range
from place to place imposing mechanical tests whole-
sale, is one of the new terrors of life.’’ We are not
introduced, however, to the evil effects of examina-
tions upon the examiners. The examiners are, in
many cases, distinguished men of science who eke
out insufficient emoluments by undertaking examining
work in their leisure hours—time which, in a ration-
ally organised system that recognised the workman
to be worthy of his hire, would be devoted to re-
search work. Enough has been heard of the evil
effects of examinations upon students, and, indeed,
much has been done in the direction of judicious in-
spection to remedy these, and it is time to recognise
that the employment of eminent leaders in science to
do the work which competent teachers can perform
better is an improvident use of our best intellects.

We notice, in conclusion, that Prof. Allbutt sums
up the end of education to be action. ‘‘ We learn,
that we may do,’’ he says. The educated man must
not rest satisfied with his education, and be content
selfishly to enjoy the intellectual gratifications placed
at his disposal. Like each one of us, the educated man
is one member of a complex society with many needs
to be satisfied, many abuses to be swept away, many
wrongs to be redressed. The privileges the educated
man has enjoyed, and the sources of satisfaction his
education has revealed to him, should serve as in-
centives urging him to work for the advancement of
his race and the further development of human
society. ie ANS Ss

A MARE’S NEST.

The Utilisation of Nitrogen in Air by Plants. By T.
Jamieson. Pp. 82+18. (Aberdeen: The Agricul-
tural Research Association, 1905.)

M ATTHEW ARNOLD has somewhere a finely

ironical passage in which he comments upon

the British habit of labelling its institutions with a

great name without considering whether they possess

any great thing to correspond, and certainly the name
of ‘‘ Research’? has rarely been more taken in vain

NO. I9OI, VOL. 73]

than in the present publication. The Agricultural
Research Association appears to be a body of gentle-
men in the neighbourhood of Aberdeen who maintain
certain experimental plots under the direction of Mr.
T. Jamieson. It is further assisted by grants from
the County Council and from the Board of Agri-
culture, and it has issued the above report for 1905,
heralded by some startling preliminary trumpets in
the Scottish Press. Briefly speaking, Mr. Jamieson
claims to have ‘‘ discovered ’’ ‘‘ that plants generally
absorb free nitrogen directly from the air, and trans-
form it into albumen.’’ He proposes to wipe out agri-
cultural science between the dates of De Saussure and
himself, writing, indeed, with a curious resemblance
to the amateur speculations of sixty years ago.

Mr. Jamieson begins by demolishing, to his own
satisfaction, the theory that leguminous plants fix
nitrogen by the agency of bacteria, and the quality
of his argument may be gauged from the following
passage :—‘‘ It should be borne in mind, also, that
bacteria were never proved to be present. The small
particles found in the tubercles were merely assumed
to be bacteria.’’ What are we to say to a man who
proposes to dismiss the nineteen years’ work of some
scores of investigators in every country by denying
a fact he could demonstrate to himself at any moment
had he the most elementary acquaintance with the
manipulation of bacteria? But no; Mr. Jamieson
prefers to speculate on his own, without even reading
up the subject. There is a curious footnote on p. 29
which, we imagine, is meant to display Mr.
Jamieson’s acquaintance with the literature of
nitrogen fixation ; a list of authorities is given, equally
amazing as regards either its inclusions, its omissions,
or its spellings of proper names. Beyerinck appears
variously as Burginck and Beirjerenck. But when
we leave Mr. Jamieson’s criticism and turn to his
constructive work the result is even more amazing.
He takes an ordinary plant, spurrey, for example, and
finds certain hairs on the leaves. To ascertain the
purpose of these hairs he applies to them iodine or
some other reagent capable of staining proteid. He
finds that the tips of these hairs, which are at first
empty and then become green with chlorophyll, give
later a reaction for albumen, which disappears again
as the hairs age. ‘‘If the formation of albumen
takes place in the tip of this hair, one would expect
to find its absence in the early stage, its presence in
the later or active stage, its discharge through the
channels and round the cells of the plant, and its pos-
sible absence in the latest stages—and this is what
has actually been found.”’

“The evidence that nitrogen is absorbed by these
tips, and is there fixed and manufactured into albu-
men, is thus as complete as could well be desired.”
“The direct absorption of nitrogen, and its direct
fixation as albumen, thus seems demonstrated even
more satisfactorily than is possible by chemical
analysis,’”’ and none, accordingly, is attempted. ‘ ’Tis
safer so,’’ as the American poet puts it. Mr. Jamie-
son does not bring forward a single experiment to
demonstrate that nitrogen has been fixed by any of his

|! plants; this fundamental fact (?) he assumes.

532

NATROL

[APRIL 5, 1906

The fact that many investigators like Boussingault
cand Lawes and Gilbert found no fixation of nitrogen
during the growth of plants Mr. Jamieson dismisses
on the ground that the plants under experiment had
not attained their normal vigour, forgetting that
Lawes and Gilbert had dealt with and dismissed this
very point in their field experiments upon root crops.
Mr. Jamieson even argues that the growth of the
leafy turnip crop with small or no nitrogenous dress-
ings implies that the crop has drawn its nitrogen from
the atmosphere, whereas this is the standard example
in the lecture-room of how the great reserves of
nitrogen in the soil can be made to feed the plant if
nitrification be promoted by the frequent cultivations
and the high soil temperatures which characterise
tthe growth of the turnip crop.

It is on this sort of foundation that Mr. Jamieson
proposes to re-build the whole edifice of agricultural
‘science; really the thing would be amusing were it not
‘so dangerous and discreditable to the cause of scientific
research. Mr. Jamieson has a following. Putting aside
this official backing, and the dukes, earls, and mar-
‘quises who figure as patrons, there is a body of solid
‘farmers and landowners who sit under him and take
advice on practical matters which they suppose to re-
present the last word of science. Accustomed to the
amenities of theological disputation, these men like their
agricultural science in the same style ; not the dry light
of reason, but a strenuous assertion of a monopoly of
ithe truth, rhetoric and passion, and a vigorous de-
iunciation of the other side—all these they get from
Mr. Jamieson. But it is a windy diet, and sooner
or later disagrees with the subject, whereupon science
gets the blame. AN, ID). lal.

OUR BOOK SHELF.
Technical Methods of Ore Analysis. By A. H. Low.

Pp. x+273. (New Yorls: John Wiley and Sons;

London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1905.)

‘Tuts book is of interest as showing the exact methods
of analysis of ores in use in the United States at the
present time. The author is a member of a well
‘known and_ old-established firm of analysts and
assayers in Denver whose results are accepted with
respect by miners and smelters in the western States.
It is unusual for such a man to publish exact descrip-
tions of the methods used in his office, as any discover-
able flaw in a method might be seized on and magni-
‘fied by his rivals with prejudicial results to his busi-
ness. Now that Mr. Low has shown so much courage,
his example may be followed.

The book contains detailed descriptions of the esti-
mation of the ordinary constituents of ores, omitting
all ‘‘ fire methods’ of assay. The details are minute
enough to be tiresome in reading the book through,
the account of the precautions to be taken in volu-
metric analysis, for example, being repeated whenever
a volumetric method is reached. In this swarm of
details the salient points of the methods are lost, and
as the headings are somewhat vague, careful search
is necessary to find out what method is being de-
scribed. An analyst must generally read the whole
of a section if he wishes to refresh his memory on
some particular point, and will count himself for-
tunate if he has hit on the right section. Neverthe-
less, the point will probably be in the book, to be dis-
covered by perseverance.

NO. 1901, VOL 73]

The methods are usually good and carefully de-
scribed. It seems a pity that Mr. Low should desig-
nate the determination of zine by ferrocyanide the
““author’s method,’’ without referring to Galetti or
Fahlberg, to whom he is indebted for so much, but
there is probably no intention to deceive. Also, in
the estimation of copper by iodide, the practice of
adding a solution of potassium iodide, instead of
crystals, is recommended without any warning as
to the decomposition of the solution if it is kept for
some time. However, the book is generally trust-
worthy and useful. There is no book like it, and the
analyst will naturally have a copy on his shelf.

The Lepidoptera of the British Islands. A Descrip-
tive Account of the Families, Genera, and Species
Indigenous to Great Britain and Ireland, their
Preparatory States, Habits, and Localities. By
Charles G. Barrett. Vol. x. Pp. 384. Heterocera :
Pyralidina—Tortricina. (London: Lovell Reeve’
and Co., Ltd., 1905.)

StncE our notice of the last volume of this work

entomologists have to regret the death of the accom-

plished author, well known as one of the best practical
lepidopterists in England long before he commenced
the elaborate monograph which he did not live to
complete. Hitherto, however, there has been no in-
terruption in the publication of the successive parts,
and we understand that the manuscript was left prac-
tically complete to the end of the Tortricina, which is
the more satisfactory as the Tortricina are a large
and difficult group which have been somewhat
neglected by most British lepidopterists, but to which

Mr. Barrett devoted special attention.

The families included in vol. x. are Pyralidina ;
Phycitide (conclusion), 13 genera (Cateremna_ to
Plodia); Anerastiida (genus Anerastia), Crambidze
(6 genera), Galeriidz (5 genera), Tortricina, Tortri-
cidze (17 genera), Cnephasidz (5 genera), Lozoperidz
(7 genera), Sercoridz# (commencement, 4 genera).

The general arrangement of the present volume is
similar to that employed in preceding volumes, and
the remarks on the habits of the insects are detailed
and interesting. For example, we are told that the
first species in the volume (Cateremna_ terebrella,
Zinck.) has a curious habit of emerging during
thunderstorms, these being, as is well known, fre-
quent in the eastern counties. The history of the
various species, small and inconspicuous as many of
them are, is very fully given throughout.

W.. (Rake

A First Reader in Health and Temperance. By
W. Taylor. Pp. iv+219. (London, Westminster :
Church of England Temperance Society and
G. Philip and Son, Ltd., n.d.) Price 1s. 6d.

In this small book the instruction is given in forty-
three lessons wherein all difficult words are avoided
so far as possible, and when such words are necessary
their meaning is always explained. The elementary
matter dealt with is suitably illustrated, and the worl:
is in every respect to be commended.

The various physiological requirements of the body
are explained in simple language, and it is shown
that alcohol is not only unnecessary but may be
actually detrimental to every healthy function.
Abstention from alcohol is, in fact, the dominant text
of the book.

It is not easy to conceive a book better suited to
meet the needs for which it is designed. The subject
of personal hygiene is made interesting and it is
treated in a very happy and lucid manner, appropriate
to the intellectual powers of young children, for
whom the book is designed to serve as a first reader.

APRIL 5, 1906]

NADRUORL

293:

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions
expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake
to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected
manuscripts intended for this or any other part of NATURE.
No notice is taken of anonymous communications.]

Spectral Series in Relation to Ions.

As I have already shown (Physik. Zeitschr., vi., 892,
1905), the observation of the Doppler effect on the Kanal-
strahlen permits the detection of spectra emitted by the
positive ions (Kanal-strahlen). I have made such re-
searches on Kanal-strahlen in hydrogen, potassium vapour,
and mercury vapour in cooperation with Messrs. S.
Kinoshita, K. Siegl, and W. Hermann. We shall give
details of our methods and measurements in separate
papers; but here I wish to state the principal results of the
researches, together with some general conclusions.

The series of lines (Ha, HB. .) of hydrogen is a first
subordinate series. Its lines are revealed by accurate
analysis as pairs or doublets. The difference of wave-
lengths of the two components is, as Michelson has found
(Phil. Mag., xxxiv., 280, 1892), 0-14 Angstrom unit for
Ha and o-o8 Angstrém unit for Hf8; the measurements
made by Ebert (Wied. Ann., xliii., 790, 1891) give 0-132
Angstrém unit for Ha. In every other first subordinate
series of doublets, and also in the case of hydrogen, the
difference in oscillation frequencies of the components of
the doublet is constant throughout the series; this differ-
ence is for Ha 0-33, for HB 0-34 per 1 cm. path in vacuo.
My previous and recent observations lead to the conclusion
that the first subordinate series of doublets of hydrogen
has as carriers monovalent positive atom-ions, i.e. atoms of
hydrogen which have lost a single negative electron.

A second subordinate series of lines of the hydrogen
has been observed in certain stars. From their spectral
position, Rydberg (Astrophys. Journ., vi., 233, 1897) has
calculated the principal series of hydrogen; he gives to
the first line of it the wave-length 4687-88 Angstrom; this
line has been observed in stars with bright lines. It is
found also (somewhat displaced) in all spectrograms I have
taken of the kathode rays or Kanal-strahlen, partly alone
and partly in cooperation with Mr. Kinoshita. This line of
the principal series—it may be termed H8—shows also the
Doppler effect in the Kanal-strahlen, the quantity of the
effect being the same as for the first subordinate series of
doublets ; the principal series of the hydrogen, which is also
composed probably of doublets, has therefore the same
carrier as the first subordinate series, namely, the mono-
valent positive ion of hydrogen.

In cooperation with Mr. Siegl I have further examined
another doublet of a principal series, namely, the second
doublet of the principal series of potassium (A 4047-36—
4044-29). Both components show the Doppler effect in the
Kanal-strahlen, and the amount is the same as that calcu-
lated for an atom of potassium which has lost a single
negative electron. Therefore, in the case of the alkali-
metals also, the principal series of doublets has monovalent
positive ions as carriers.

In the spectrum of mercury hitherto only series of
triplets have been found—a first and a second subordinate
series (Kayser and Runge). Using a small concave grating
kindly lent to me by Prof. Runge, I succeeded, in cooper-
ation with Mr. Hermann, in examining the Doppler effect
on the lines of mercury. It was found that all components
of triplets, and further all triplets of a series, have the
same positive ion as carrier, and, moreover, the lines of
the first and of the second series show the same Doppler
effect in type and quantity. Both series of triplets of
mercury have therefore the same carrier, the bivalent
positive ion of mercury; for the Doppler effect really found
agrees in quantity with the effect calculated theoretically
for an atom of mercury which has lost two negative
electrons.

‘The lines of mercury not belonging to the series of
triplets show likewise a Doppler effect, but there is a

NO I9OI, VOL. 73]

difference in character and amount between them and the
lines of the two series of triplets. There are lines which
show a larger effect than the series of triplets; the carrier
of these lines is therefore a positive ion of mercury of
higher valency, t.e. an atom of mercury which has lost
more than two negative electrons. To these lines of
higher valency belongs the line A 4078-1.

Finally, there are lines in the spectrum of mercury which.
show a smaller Doppler effect than the lines of the series.
of triplets; their displacement is roughly 1-5 times smaller
than that of a line of a triplet of equal wave-length.
Therefore they have as carrier not a bivalent, but a mono-
valent positive ion of mercury. To these lines belong the
wave-lengths AA 2536-72, 4339:47-3021-64, 3984-08-2847-85.
It seems that A 2536-72 is the first component of a principal
series of doublets, that the pair AA 4339-47-3021-64 belongs.
to a first, and the pair AA 3984-08-2847-85 to a second sub~
ordinate series of doublets. This being so, mercury con-
firms the view that the principal and the first and second
subordinate series of doublets have monovalent positive
ions as carriers.

Generalising the foregoing results, we have come to the
following conclusions :—The carriers of the spectra of lines
of the chemical elements are positive atom-ions. All lines of
a series have the same carrier, and, moreover, the same
carrier may emit several series at the same time. The
carrier of the principal series and of the subordinate series
of doublets is a monovalent positive atom-ion; the carrier
of the subordinate series of triplets is a bivalent positive
atom-ion; ions of a higher valency emit likewise line
spectra, but the structure of these is not yet recognised.
The spectrum of an element, for example, that of mercury,
may represent a mixture of several spectra, namely, of the
spectra of its monovalent, bivalent ions, and of ions of
higher valency.

The foregoing results and conclusions are in striking:
agreement with the results which were arrived at by
Runge and Paschen (Ber. d. Berliner Akad., 1902, 380,
720) in their researches on the Zeeman effect of series of
lines. They found that the principal series of doublets of
all elements examined (Na, Cu, Ag, Mg, Ca, Sr. Ba) show
in type and amount, when measured in oscillation fre~
quencies, the same Zeeman effect ; this also holds good for
the first and the second series of doublets. The first and
second subordinate series of triplets show in type and
amount another Zeeman effect than the series of doublets ;
but the series of triplets of different elements are again
in the same way broken up by a magnetic field. The
agreement of my results with those of Runge and Paschen
comes out in the following detail :—The lines of mercury
(AA 2536-72, 4339-47, and 2847-85) referred by me to series of
doublets must show in a magnetic field the known splitting:
up of the lines of the principal and of the subordinate
series of doublets. Runge and Paschen enumerate these
lines under those which do not show the behaviour of
triplets, and, in fact, their statements on the magnetic
behaviour of those lines are concordant with that postulate-

It follows from the Zeeman effect that the centres of
emission of series of lines are periodically accelerated
negative electrons. From the complexity of their mag-
netic splitting up we may draw the conclusion that these
centres of emission—the negative electrons—are coupled
in electrodynamic systems; the electrodynamic structure
of these systems of negative electrons is for the emission of
series of doublets rather than for the emission of series of
triplets.

We do not know of spectra of neutral atoms. It follows
from the foregoing results that the known spectra of lines
can only be emitted if the chemical neutral atoms have lost
negative electrons, and thus have become positive atom-
ions. Therefore the electrodynamic symmetry of the system
of negative electrons in the positive atom-ion is different
from the symmetry in the neutral atom. Certain systems
of negative electrons have in the positive monovalent ion
an electrodynamic symmetry which enables them to emit
radiation of electromagnetic energy; this symmetry is
characterised by the emission of doublets. Losing two or
more negative electrons a neutral atom also gains an
electrodynamic symmetry capable of radiation; but the

534

NAPROLREE

[APRIL 5, 1906

electrodynamic symmetry in the bivalent ion is different
from that in the monovalent ion; it is characterised by the
emission of triplets.

Spectroscopically the chemical elements show a uniform
behaviour in a striking way. Their monovalent ions emit
of doublets of analogous structure and_ identical
magnetic behaviour; their bivalent ions emit series of
triplets likewise of analogous structure and identical mag-
netic behaviour. From element to element the variables
are only the proportions of the spectra or the constants of
the laws, of the series of doublets and triplets.

Gottingen, March 5. de

series

STARK.

The Kew Bulletin.

A Frew words of explanation may be useful to anyone
interested in the Kew Bulletin. It was started in 1887,
partly to meet a suggestion made in the House of Commons
and partly to serve as ‘‘ an expeditious mode of communi-
cation to the numerous correspondents of Kew in distant
parts of the Empire.’’ It has been the vehicle for the
publication of a vast amount of information of various
kinds, some on purely scientific, but mostly on economic
subjects. The number of copies printed has necessarily
been limited, but it has always been hoped that the Press
would aid in the further diffusion of information of general
interest to the public.

The volumes before 1892 have long been out of print.
To meet this difficulty, selected papers which proved to be
of permanent interest have been from time to time re-
printed.

Since 1901 the Bulletin has been somewhat in abeyance,
though the routine appendices which are required for
various purposes have been kept up. The fact is that to
produce the Bulletin satisfactorily requires—what it has
never had—some sort of staff which would be specially
charged with it. The volume of work which falls on Kew
is little understood. Besides its own routine and adminis-
trative duties, Kew acts as technical adviser to all Govern-

ment departments at home, as well as in a varying
measure to India and the colonies. For many years the
annual number of letters sent out has averaged about

14,000, which is about two-thirds of that of the Commercial
Department of the Foreign Office. The publication of the
Bulletin has simply been crowded out.

My functions as director ceased on December 15,
but I was retained in a consultative capacity until
March 31. In order to give my successor a clear start I
have done my best in the interval to clear off arrears.
The third and concluding volume of the ‘‘ Index Florze

Sinensis ’’ has been issued. An eighth volume of the
“Flora of Tropical Africa’? has been all but passed

through the press. The long delayed ‘‘ Wild Fauna and
Flora of the Royal Botanic Gardens ’’ has been published.
A catalogue of the exhibited collection of portraits of
botanists has been prepared and is in type, and a second
edition of the “ Hand-list of Ferns and Fern-allies culti-
vated at Kew’ is in the printers’ hands. A third quin-
quennial supplement to the ‘‘ Index Kewensis”’ is being
prepared for the press. é

The continuation of the ‘“‘ Flora Capensis’’ is being
actively pushed forward, and other much needed under-
takings are in view.

In order to restore the Bulletin to something like
vitality, it was thought advisable to issue in one or more
numbers for each year such matter as was available, with
title and table of contents. This will allow the annual
volumes to be bound, and the series made continuous to the
satisfaction of careful librarians. The volumes for 1900
and 1901 are already issued, and the succeeding ones will
follow immediately. A word of acknowledgment must be
given to the generous aid of the new and active Controller
of H.M. Stationery Office in expediting the work.

The director has taken up the publication of the Bulletin
from the present year, and will, I hope, be able to continue
it, but on a somewhat more elastic plan. No attempt will
be made to issue it monthly, but material and documents
of general interest will be printed at once.

Kew, March 30. W. T. TuisErton-Dyer.

NO. 1901, VOL. 73]

Int: rpretation of Meteorological Records.

I ovuire agree with Mr. Omond’s remarks in Nature of
March 29 with regard to the heating of downward moving
that

air, if it had been simply a case of air which
had previously been in thermal equilibrium and moved
downwards its temperature would have been raised to

that of the lower air; but in this case it was a mixture
of air and water, and the water would absorb the heat
produced by the compression of the air, and, further, any
little heating that might not be so absorbed would in-
crease the dryness of the air, and so cause evaporation
and absorption of heat.

With regard to the effects of electricity on rainfall, they
are much too little understood to be entered on here, but
it may be stated that a sudden fall of rain, or an increase
in rate of fall, is often observed very shortly after a flash
of lightning. Joun AITKEN.

Ardenlea, Falkirk, N.B., March 31.

Request for Prints of Photographic Portraits.

I snouLp be grateful to your photographic readers,
whether amateur or professional, who would send me,
within the next two or three weeks, waste photographic
portraits, to be cut up, mounted, reduced to a miniature

scale, and so to be published without names. They are
wanted in considerable numbers to control results at
which I have already arrived, relating to resemblance.

Family portraits would be particularly acceptable. I
make this appeal, finding it extremely troublesome, as
well as costly, to obtain the needed material in other

ways. FRANcIS GALTON.
42 Rutland Gate, London, S.W.

Peculiar lce Formation.

As the question of earth-bearing ice-pillars has been
recently raised in your columns (pp. 464, 485), there are
one or two points to which I should like to direct atten-
tion, as they may be of interest to your readers. While
working in company with a colleague on Divis Moun-
tain, Belfast, in 1902, our attention was attracted by
the peculiar formation of ice so admirably described by
your correspondent of March 15. It seemed perfectly
obvious that the ice-pillars had, in growing, lifted the
earth and stones by exerting a pushing force in the direc-
tion of their length, and that without lateral support,
putting the expansive force of water on freezing out of the
question as an explanation. All doubt on this point was

| removed by our finding an impression of a nailed boot,

made in the mud before the frost, and on which the pillars

| had grown on all parts of the mud on which there were

no impressions of nails, and were wanting wherever the
nails had been. This gave a curious effect, as if the boot
had been shod with long spikes, each nail being represented
by a narrow cylindrical pit an inch and a half deep. The
pressure of the nails had evidently destroyed the conditions
which led to the formation of the pillars.

I was unable to determine whether the ice in each pillar
was in crystalline continuity, but there was nothing to
lead one to suspect the contrary. I thought I could dis-
tinguish a rude hexagonal form in some of the pillars, but
this may have been merely chance. On the whole, it
would seem as if the idea that a growing crystal is
capable of exerting a mechanical force in some definite
direction is not entirely without support. Such a force

| would go far towards explaining many peculiarities of the

natural growth of crystals. Take, for example, the hori-
zontal veins of fibrous gypsum so common in the Keuper
Marl. It is impossible to conceive of the formation in soft
rocks of a horizontal fissure of the extent of some of these
veins, and it is difficult to escape from the conclusion that
the growth of the fibrous crystals forced apart the sides of
the vein, lifting the enormous weight of rock above. This
suggestion is by no means a new one.
W. B. Wricut.
28 Jermyn Street, S.W., March 27.

APRIL 5, 1906 |

NATURE

535

Formula for finding the Date of Easter,

Ir may be of interest to some of your readers to know
of the following empirical formula—attributed to the
famous mathematician Gauss—for determining in an easy
manner the date on which Easter falls in any year from
1900 to 2100 :— Oe

(1) The number of the year is divided by 19; re-
mainder=a. :

(2) The number of the year is divided by 4; re-
mainder=b. ‘

(3) The number of the year is divided by 7; re-

mainder=c.
(4) 19Xa+24 is divided by 30; remainder=d.
(5) 2xb+4c+6xd+5 is divided by 7; remainder=e.
Easter will be the 22+d+e of March, or, if this number
exceed 31, it will be the d+e—g of April.
The calculation for the present year is as follows :—

(1) mgeS rc0+6 (a=6)
19
1906

(2) 4—=476+2 (6=2)
4

(3) 198 = 27242 (za)
i

(4) (BPO) 24 _ 4s 18 (d=18)

30
(s) BX ATH UG Na) OX TT 51746... = te)

As 22+18+6 is in excess of 31, we take the alternative
18+6*9=15, on which day of April Easter falls this
year. Cuas. LEIGH.

The Victoria University of Manchester, March 30.

Chinese Names of Colours.

In your issue of January 11 (p. 246) Mr. Alfred H. Crook
writes respecting the name given by the Chinese to a
certain tint of blue, which he translates quaintly as ‘‘ snow-
green colour.”’ The following explanation may be of
interest to him and to others of your readers.

S Hsiieh, the word he translates ‘‘ snow,’’ also means
ice,”’ and to the natives of southern China is far better
known in reference to the latter object than to the former,

as the same name is applied to both natural and artificial
ice

a3

Tsing originally meant ‘ clear,” ‘ tranquil,”’
“smooth ”’ (applied to water). The change from ‘‘ smooth
water ”’ to the ‘‘ colour of smooth water ’’ is an easy one,
so that a secondary meaning of the word is ‘‘ sea-green ”’
*““ sea-blue.’” Quite different words are used to express

‘

or
other green tints, such as grass-green, and other blue
tints, such as indigo-blue.

Putting the two words together, one finds the meaning of

f # 3% (hsiieh tsing seh) to be “‘ice-blue colour”? or
‘“ blue ice colour.’’ Anybody who has noticed the tint of
ice in great masses such as one gets in north China and
in Switzerland, and who has seen the colour referred to by
Mr. Crook, will agree with me in saying that the name

given by the Chinese, far from being fanciful, is very

appropriate. lee
Hong Kong, February 15.
The Adulteration of Butter.
My attention has been directed to an article in your

issue of March 15 on ‘‘ The Adulteration of Butter ’’ in
which your contributor refers to the composition of butter
fat as a triglyceride of oleic, palmitic, and butyric acids,
or as containing such a substance. Some years ago I
traced this opinion to Mr. Bell, a former analyst of Somer-
set House, who appears to have based his conclusions upon

NO. I190I, VOL. 73]

the insolubility of butter fat in alcohol. Butter fat is,
however, soluble in alcohol, and I have no doubt whatever
that a process of fractional precipitation from this solution
would enable us to ascertain with fair accuracy what the
real constituents are. My own experiments certainly
pointed to a great number of separate glycerides being
present, palmitin and stearin separating out in tolerable
purity. The separation of the lower fatty acid compounds
is more difficult to attain, probably owing to their exist-
ence as esters. It would be interesting to know whether
the theory of the presence of triglyceride rests upon a more
stable foundation than that of Bell’s statement.
J. H. Lester.

Royal Exchange, Manchester, March 17.

Your correspondent scarcely does justice to Dr. Bell’s
observation.

Whether butter fat is completely soluble in alcohol or
not depends upon the volume, strength, and temperature
of the solvent. Bell showed that when the simple glyceride
tributyrin was mixed with melted ordinary fat to the
extent of 10 per cent., it could be entirely removed by
treatment with warm alcohol. But when butter fat was
similarly extracted, from 2 per cent. to 3 per cent. only of
the fat was dissolved out, and the soluble portion was not
tributyrin. Therefore the butyric acid of butter fat is not
present as the simple glyceride tributyrin, but chiefly or
wholly as a mixed glyceride. Further, the portion dis-
solved from the butter was found to contain ‘‘ soluble ”’
and ‘‘ insoluble ’’ acids in proportions agreeing closely with
those required for the mixed glyceride oleo-palmito-
butyrin.

Some years later (Proc. Chem. Soc., 1889) Blyth and
Robertson noted the isolation from butter fat of a crystal-
line mixed glyceride, to which they ascribed the formula of
palmito-stearo-butyrin.

The ‘‘ presence of triglyceride’ in butter fat will hardly
be questioned; what your correspondent has in mind is,
apparently, the occurrence of mixed (i.e. complex)
glycerides. Many such have been isolated from various
natural fats in the last few years; this is, in fact, the most
notable feature in the recent chemistry of fats. That
complex glycerides exist in butter Bell’s and Blyth’s experi-
ments leave no reason to doubt, though more rigorous proof
of their precise composition is desirable.

March 20. C. Stmmonbs.

The Existence of Absolute Motion.

In discussing this question it is surely necessary to place
stress on the contrast between the places of absolute direc-
tion and absolute position in dynamics. The result of
observation is that the laws of motion are competent to
explain such phenomena as nutation and retain the simple
Newtonian form when certain directions which can be
found with reasonable accuracy are assumed to be absolute.
The contrary assumption, that these directions were not
absolute, but moving with absolute angular velocities, say
of the order of one degree per second, would necessitate a
re-statement of the laws of motion involving great loss
of simplicity. In the same way, we cannot without loss
of simplicity suppose that the acceleration of the earth
with respect to the centre of the solar system differs greatly
from the absolute acceleration, and suggest that the
material universe has an absolute acceleration of the order
of one hundred miles per second per second.

On the other hand, the laws of motion would not be
modified in the slightest if the whole universe possessed a
uniform and constant absolute velocity, however great that
velocity might be, even, for example, ten times the velocity
of light. Compared with such a velocity as this, the
velocity of the solar system relative to the centroid of the
visible stars is probably insignificant. Evidence as to the
existence of such a velocity must be sought elsewhere ;
dynamics alone will not supply it.

F. J. W. Waipp.e.

Merchant Taylors’ School, E.C.

NATURE

[APRIL 5, 1906

SAILING CRAFT IN EUROPE AND ASTA.)

N these days, when sails are falling more and more |

into disuse for ocean-going vessels, and the con-
struction of sailing-ships is a dwindling industry, it
is refreshing to come across a book like this, breath-
ing throughout an intimate knowledge of sailing-
ships and sailors, displaying insight into, and sym-
pathy with, the nature of the men who follow the sea
on the coasts of many countries, and showing in
every page powers of quick observation and ready
understanding of all that makes for the efficiency of
sailing craft. The author indicates his recognition of
the inevitable triumph of the steam-ship in competi-
tion with the sailing-ship for purposes of both peace
and war, but he rejoices no less in the belief that
throughout all time fishing- and coasting-vessels will
remain dependent upon sails, and so
will constitute a school of seaman-
ship in which the traditions of the
past will be maintained. Mr.
Warington Smyth describes the
volume modestly as ‘fan attempt to
record the peculiarity of the prin-
cipal types of sailing craft in Europe
and Asia which I have observed

.. and to consider the causes
which have been at work in the de-
velopment of boats and the results
attained under the conditions with
which they have had to con-
tend.”

This attempt has been eminently
successful, and has resulted in the
production of a book which is a
perfect treasury of information on
the subject treated, is well arranged,
brightly written, and beautifully
illustrated. The author has received

both hulls and sails in the vignettes scattered freely
throughout the text are admirable in their details.
The interest of the book is increased by the introduc-
tion of numerous reproductions of famous pictures of
shipping, and no pains have been spared by the
publisher either in regard to these illustrations or to
other features for which he is responsible.

Mr. Smyth excludes from his survey pleasure boats,
yachts, and square-rigged vessels, and gives adequate
reasons for that course. About one-half of the book
is devoted to European types, beginning with the
Baltic and Scandinavian countries, and _ passing
to Holland, Scotland, the east coast of England and
the Thames estuary, the south and west coast of
England, and then to France and the Mediterranean.
To English readers, probably the most interesting
section of the bool will be that dealing with Eastern

the assistance of many competent

authorities in special classes of
vessels described. Captain Drechsel
has dealt with Danish vessels; Mr.
Colin Archer, the well known naval

architect of Larvik, has been re-
sponsible for details of Norwegian
types; Mr. Robert Duthie, of the
Scottish Fishery Board, has given
valuable information in regard to
the Scottish. fisheries, and other
friends have assisted in regard to
extra-European types. The descrip-
tions are arranged in geographical
divisions, which is not merely the
most natural scheme, but also that
which best brings into relief the
underlying motive of the book, namely, the illustra-
tion of the influence of local conditions upon form,
type, and sail-plan. Other writers, notably the late
Mr. Dixon Kemp, and those who, since his death,
have continued the revision of his work on “ Yacht
and Boat Sailing,”? have emphasised the influence of
local conditions, and gathered large stores of informa-
tion illustrating the general principle. In most cases
these writers have dealt with the subject from a more
technical standpoint than that assumed in the volume
under review. It must not be assumed, however,
that Mr. Warington Smyth has neglected technicalities

Fic.

or unduly sacrificed them to a popular treatment of |

his subject. On the contrary, for many classes of
sailing-vessels he gives the “lines” (or building
drawings) and the sail-plans, and his portraitures of

1 “Mast and Sail in Europe and Asia.” Pp.

E By H. Warington Smyth.
x1x-+ 448,

(London: John Murray, 1906.) Price 21s. net.

NO! 1GOls VoL. 73)

1.—Norwegian Pilot-boat—Sail and Cabin Plans. From ‘‘ Mast and Sail in Europe and Asia.’

vessels, including those of the Indian Ocean, the Malay
Peninsula, the Gulf of Siam, and China. Here we
find special types of great antiquity, differing widely
from Western vessels, but well adapted for their
special services and surroundings. Mr. Smyth com-
bines philosophical reflection with a yachtsman’s en-
thusiasm and a technical knowledge which goes
beyond that of the ordinary amateur, and this fact
adds to the charm of his book.

One quotation may be permitted, even within the
limited space available in this notice, as indicating
this side of his work. He says:—‘‘It is probably
true that the degree of civilisation of any race is
remarkably reflected in its boat architecture. The
variety of its adaptations to the peculiar requirements
of its waters is a measure of its appreciation of the
value of the cheapest and most certain method of
communication known to man; and it is evidence of

APRIL 5, 1906 |

IN AT ORE

537

its ability to use materials at command and fit them
to its needs. The highest degree of civilisation in
maritime races has always been marked by activity
in boat-building and by variety of design and rig.
In no case has this been more notable than in the
history of China and of Holland, and in the Adriatic
in the fifteenth century, in Europe during the last
two centuries and in the United States since 1780.
The Negro, the American Indian, and the Slav, on
the other hand, have never designed a sea-going boat
or cut a sail. It has not been for want of water-ways
or of opportunity. It has been simply owing to a
lower class of intelligence and to want of originality
and enterprise.”’ F

Mr. Smyth’s allusions to the indirect influence upon
character and resource of life and work in vessels
equipped with sail power are also notable :—‘‘It is
above all in the men who handle sails that the self-
reliance which is bred by tempest, darkness and the
shadow of the Angel of Death reaches its highest
point. The seriousness, from this point of view, of
the loss of masts and yards to the Navy has been
fully recognised, and it has only been reluctantly ac-

Fic. 2.—Hong Kong Junk. From “ Mast and Sail in Europe and Asia."”

ceded to on account of the pressing importance of
other more essential forms of training. But amongst
the coasters and fishermen of the world the mast and

the sea will find himself in a by-path of the modern
world, among the old thoughts, the old traditions,
the old methods, and the old virtues of the great
seas. And when this civilisation shall have con-
demned itself and passed the way of others, the lug-
sail and the lateen will still be navigating the deep,
conned by other races, but the same grim, great-
hearted sailor men.”’

Enough has been said to indicate that, in our judg-
ment, this book should find a hearty welcome from all
who love to sail the seas and manage their own craft,
and from all who are interested in the maintenance and
development of that hardy race of seamen bred on the
coasts of the United Kingdom, and leading a life of
hardship, difficulty, and danger which must develop
qualities of the highest value to the maritime great-
ness of the British Empire.

W. H. Wuite.

NO. 1901, VOL. 73]

THE SOLAR ECLIPSE OF 1905.

Ie is very satisfactory that reports of the recent

eclipse expeditions indicate that at some stations
the weather conditions were all that could be desired,
because we know that at several stations op-
portunities for securing good results were frus-
trated by clouds. The Hamburg Observatory
party chose a spot which, however, did not
come under the second category, and judging by the
first portion of the report published,‘ which deals
chiefly with the general arrangements and journey
to and from the position of observation, it achieved
complete success in all lines of work. The report
itself is of great interest, and is accompanied, not
only by excellent reproductions from photographs of
camp scenes, &c., but by capital pictures of the
corona. The style of reproduction here employed is
to be highly recommended, and other publishers of
reports might with advantage copy the good example
set.

The party was not a very large one. It consisted
of Prof. R. Schorr, the director of the observatory,
Dr. Schwassman, the observer, and an observatory
attendant, Herr Beyermann, and they were assisted
by Prof. Knopf, director of the Jena Observatory, who
joined the expedition.

The station selected and used as the observing

| position was Souk-Ahras, in Algeria, lying on the

railway from Tunis, and to the south-west of Bone.
The accompanying illustration shows the station

_ occupied, with the several instruments in position.

| The work of the expedition was chiefly devoted to

the following points :—structure of the inner corona;
photography of the outer corona and extensions; a
search after intra-Mercurial planets; the determination
of the brightness of the corona and the total day-
light during the eclipse; contact, meteorological, and
other observations. The only spectroscopic work
attempted was the employment of a Thorp diffraction
grating to secure the spectrum of the corona.

For the attack on the inner corona a horizontal
telescope of 20 metres focal length was employed.
With this, very excellent photographs were obtained.
Perhaps the most interesting part of the account of
these photographs is the recording of three or four
oval, ring-formed, cloud-like caps which lay at a
distance of 4 to 6 minutes of arc above the large
prominence on the east limb, and indicated a close
connection with the eruptive nature of the promin-
ence. These rings, it may be remembered, were also
photographed by the Greenwich Observatory party
under the direction of the Astronomer Royal, which
observed at Sfax, in Tunisia, so that an independent
photographic record of them is very important, as

sail more than hold their own; and here a student of this is the first time they have been caught on the

have been

That such phenomena

sensitive film.

| previously seen will be gathered from the following

extract? relating to some spectroscopic observations
made by Sir Norman Lockyer in 1870 :—

“And what was going on, while this was happen-
ing? A prominence, obviously with its root some
distance from the limb, had gradually travelled beyond
the limb; in appearance it became very much more
elevated, and seen, as it were, in perspective over
the limb; but what I saw first was very rapidly
changed, in a way that would be explained by sup-
posing that cyclones were being shot up into the
solar air like bombs! the changes in the F line were
so rapid and curious. I was not observing with an
open slit, so I at once coined the term ‘ motion
forms,’ because the forms observed did not in any
way represent the shape of the prominence. But the

1 Mitthetlungen der Hamburger Sternwarte, No. ro.
2 ‘Solar Physics,"”” by Sir J. Norman Lockyer, p. 402.

538 NATURE [| APRIL 5, 1906
——. Be a !
extreme velocity can be imagined from the great de- | one he has chosen, for in the course of some 300
parture of those bright lines from the stable dark | octavo pages he traces the story of the district in
line F, seen below them, and not only that, but we | which Pickering is situated from pre-Glacial times up
can think out the explicit character of this prominence | to the date of his publication, including the geology,
action. They were really in this case, as already | the archeology early and later, local legends and
stated, smoke vings thrown up by enormous circum- | folklore; and very good miscellaneous reading he
solar action.” makes of it. The earlier sections, however, can

We thus see that after the lapse of thirty-five years
these ‘‘lozenge’’ forms, as they were then called
spectroscopically, have been caught in the mesh of
the photographic plate.

For the search after intra-Mercurial planets two
objectives of to cm. aperture and 4 metres focal length
were used equatorially, and plates were exposed for
120 and 63 seconds. So far the negatives have
been examined, no unknown object has been detected,
but it is interesting to remark that on both plates
Mercury appears of the fifth or sixth magnitude eleven |
hours after inferior conjunction.

Successful measures were made of the brightness
of the corona with a Weber photometer by Prof.
Knopf, but the reductions are not yet quite complete.

oht

as

scarcely be said to conform with his title-page, for
it is admitted that for many thousands of years after
the period of his second chapter no human being yct
existed in Britain in the latitude of Pickering, and
the town itself would, of course, be even later.

There is, however, no harm in this, and it must be
confessed that the admirable material existing in the
neighbourhood, and the masterly way in which much
of it has been treated by competent hands, offer great
temptations to include nature’s story as well as man’s.
The Kirkdale cave is one of the best known of these
natural features of the localitv, and was exhaustively
described by Dr. Buckland in 1822 before the Royal
Society, in a paper which is a model of scientific
analysis. The physical conformation of the country,

Fic. 1.—The Hamburg Observatory’s Eclipse Camp in Souk-Ahras.

The 20-metre coronagraph is on the right, and the twin equatorial planet-finder

on the left.

Shadow bands were clearly seen, and the dimensions
of those measured were about 50 cm. long and 4 cm.
to 5 cm. broad. W. J. S. Lockyer.

THE STORY OF AN ENGLISH TOWN.
HE modern changes in literary methods and the |
demands of the reading public have altered the |

character of many classes of books, but none has |
been so much affected as that dealing with topo-

graphy. ‘The subsidised family history, the elaborate
folding pedigrees, plates of armorial bearings or of
equally uninteresting tombs of former magnates of
the locality, have disappez ared from such works, unless
their intrinsic interest coincides with that of the sub-
ject of the book. Genealogists and students of family
history are now provided with publications of their
own, surely a change of a practical kind, and one
which allows the substantive matter of a topographical
work to take its real place. Even when the older |
fashion is cast aside for the new, however, there are |
many alternatives in the treatment of local history.
Mr. Gordon Home may be said to be thorough in the
1 “The Evolution of an English, Town ; ; being the Story of the Ancient

Lown of Pickering in Yorkshire.” By Gordon Home. Pp. xix+298.
(London: J. M. Dent and Co., 1905.) Price ros. 6d. net.

NO. 1901, VOL. 73]

the hills around rising to a height of upwards of
1400 feet, naturally provides an admirable field for the
observation of the action of ice, and here Mr. Home
has taken full advantage of the survey made by Prof.
Kendall, while the existence and behaviour of the
glaciers in the valleys converging on Lake Picker-
ing in the lesser Ice are made very clear by
the diagrams provided. | Naturally enough, there
a good “deal of elementary geology in these chapters,
and Mr. Home at times also gives his imagination
a somewhat free rein, but he does not confuse fact
and imagination,
Coming to the later
place to archeological conditions, we are on
ground; the relics are more plentiful and more
directly comparable with similar remains in other
localities and even other countries. Hypothesis and
even imagination still have their uses, but the more
abundant materal should keep the student to the
safer zone of comparative archeology. Here again,
in the Barrow period, Mr. Home is fortunate in
having masters of the craft to appeal to. Dr. Thur-
nam and Canon Greenwell have both ssovaelae ample
matter for the story of man during the later Stone
and early Bronze ages, and Mr. Home might have
drawn upon them more largely with advantage to

age

is

times, where geology gives

surer

APRIL 5,. 1906 |

NATURE

539

his book. A few figures of some of the urns and

other relics found by Canon Greenwell in the barrows |
formed more instruc- |

of the North Riding would have

tive illustrations than the somewhat scrappy and
heterogeneous plate of ‘* prehistoric weapons ’”’ that

faces p. 34. A plate of urns in the Pickering Museum
is, indeed, given further on, but it lacks typological

last few
remains,

qualities. Much has been done during the
years towards the classification of barrow
more especially in the case of the pottery, and there
should be no difficulty in presenting a series from
so rich a district as Pickering on a plan more in
accordance with the results of recent research. In
spite of such occasional lapses Mr. Home carries the

the reader through the story with considerable skill
and vivacity.
the most interesting to the general reader,
legends,

A later chapter will probably be found
that dealing
witchcraft, and folklore. Here

there is ample material for a

with local

considerable volume, for it is
certain that where Mr. Home
has gleaned so much there

must exist a vast harvest for
the trained student. The
figure from this chapter re-
produced here has been used
in sympathetic magic, the
universal practice of which
Mr. Frazer treats in ‘‘ The
Golden Bough.’’? Traces of
Scandinavian importations are
frequent, and some of the sur-

vivals in local custom have
the flavour of a much more
Fic. 1.—Relic of witchcraft remote age. A good deal has
found intheneighbourhood already been done in_ this

of Pickering. The figure
was made of pitch, beeswax,
bullock’s blood, hog's lard,
and fat from a_bullock’s
heart. It was used for
casting spells on people,
the pin being stuck in the
figure where the ‘ ill-cast”’
From

direction for Cleveland, but it
is evidently a fruitful soil and
well worth careful and ex-.
haustive treatment. There are
some admirable photographic
reproductions of the very re-

was required to fall. f : z ae
CORBAEREGTitiOn” of | an markable, and in some cases
English Town.” beautiful, wall paintings in

Pickering Church, and_ the

story of the regulations of the Duchy of Lancaster
during Plantagenet and later times is full of quaint
customs and interesting matter. The book as a whole
has a cheerful air, and may well lead some who are
unacquainted with the beauties and interest of Cleve-
land to pay Pickering a visit.

A few points may be worth the author’s consider-
ation if his book should reach a second impression.
He seems to be unaware (p. 30) that the Bateman
collection of sepulchral urns is now in the museum
at Sheffield, and a detailed catalogue was published
by the curator in 1899; on p. 45 he states that bronze
spearheads have been found in round barrows near
Pickering, which seems unlikely; and on p. 48 he
figures a quern of a known Roman type in the Bronze
age section. On p. 57 an unfortunate slip makes
data singular instead of plural.

THE GROWTH OF BEET-SUGAR IN
ENGLAND

ORD DENBIGH’S motion in the House of Lords
on Monday night, asking for a rebate on the
present excise duty on any sugar made in this coun-
try from beets during a certain limited period, raises
two interesting questions. On one of them—the

NO. 1901, VOL. 73]

| desirability of the State incurring expenditure in order
to establish a new industry in the country—we have
little to say in these columns; we may be content to
point out that it is possible for a Government de-
partment to teach the community businesses S previously
unappreciated. This very beet-sugar manufacture has
been introduced into the United States by the action

of their Department of Agriculture, with the result
that the production has grown to 210,000 tons of
sugar in 1904-5 as compared with 20,000 tons ten
years earlier.

| The other point in dispute is the possibility of
growing satisfactory sugar-beet in this country,
with its greater rainfall and lower sunshine than
the typical Continental centres of sugar produc-
tion. However, the experiments, organised for so

many years by Mr. Sigmund Stein, of Liverpool, and
latterly by Lord De nbigh himself, have amply demon-
strated that over the east and south- east of England
larger crops of sugar-beet can be grown than in
Germany without any loss of quality, either as re-
gards the proportion of sugar in the root or its
quotient of purity. American experience also shows
how adaptable the sugar-beet is to wide diversities
of soil and climate.

The English farmer requires but little education
in the management of the crop, since the cultivation
it requires differs but little from that of the mangel,
though the cost per acre is slightly greater. We may
take it as settled by numerous experiments extending
over many seasons now that the farmer would be
prepared to grow sugar-beet in quantity, provided a
price were offered approaching that which is said
by the foreign factories, that is, from 16s. to 20s.
per ton of roots. How far the manufacture would be
profitable at those rates can only be settled by trial
on a commercial scale; a factory must be erected in
a suitable district and given a fair working test for
two or three years.

While the data available show prospects of a reason-
able return on the capital that would be required, one
or two difficulties suggest themselves which cannot
be resolved except by actual working. The first lies
in the provision of labour; the process of manufacture
must be practically completed in three months after
harvest, and it is doubtful whether labourers could be
obtained in this country to work three or four months
in the factory and the rest of the time on the land.
The other doubtful point is whether the necessary
scientific control, for sugar-making from beet is a
very specialised piece of chemistry, can be obtained
cheaply enough here. Lord Denbigh practically asks
the State for a little assistance to get these points
settled; with a rebate of the excise duty, equivalent
to a bonus of 2s. 6d. per ewt. on sugar manufactured
from beet grown in England, there is a_ sufficient
margin of profit in sight to draw the capital required
for the first factory, and a very few years would suffice
to demonstrate whether the business would be possible
without artificial assistance, or whether the experi-
ment must be dropped.

Without doubt, the establishment of a beet-sugar
industry would give the farmer an additional outlet
in many parts of the country; it would, however,
not work the semi-revolution in agriculture which has
resulted from it in many other places. The English
farmer already practises intensive agriculture, and the
| mangel crop, so integral an element in a rotation in
| the “south of England, gives rise to the heavy

manuring, the thorough cultivation, and the wealth

of food for stock which have been the great benefits
| conferred by the sugar-beet on the agriculture of
Germany and the north of France.

540

NATURE

[APRIL 5, 1906

PROF. LIONEL SMITH BEALE, F.R.S.

ROF. LIONEL SMITH BEALE, F.R.S., whose
death occurred on March 28 at the age of
seventy-eight years, was the son of Mr. Lionel John
Beale, and was educated at King’s College School
and King’s College, London. A year after taking
his degree in medicine he established a private labor.
atory in Carey Street, Lincoln’s Inn, for pathological,
microscopical, and chemical research and teaching;
and in 1853, at the early age of twenty-five, was
appointed professor of physiology and general and
morbid anatomy at King’s College. He afterwards
held the chair of pathology, and “finally that of the
principles and practice of medicine at King’s College,
resigning the latter in 1896. For forty years Brot
Beale was physician to King’s College Hospital, and
among other honours and appointments received by
him during his active career may be mentioned the

Baly medal in 1871 for researches in physiology;
Croonian lecturer to the Royal Society, 1865;
Lumleian lecturer, Royal College of Physicians,
London, 1875; president of the Royal Microscopical
Society, 1879; and Government medical referee for
England, 1891-1904.

As a teacher, Prof. Beale was remarkable for his
lucidity; and his lectures were admirably delivered,
riveting the attention of his hearers. He had the
esteem of all his pupils; and those who had the
privilege of a closer intimacy with him feel that they
have indeed sustained a great loss by his death.

His principal work, that which gained him the
Fellowship of the Royal Society, was on the minute
structure of the tissues; ‘‘ Beale’s carmine stain ’’
and his injection mixtures are well known to all
microscopists.

Prof. Beale was the author of many works, among
the best known being the ‘‘ Archives of Medicine,’’
containing researches carried out in the laboratory at
Carey Street; ‘‘ How to Work with the Microscope ’
““The Microscope in Medicine’’; ‘‘ Protoplasm,
Physical Life and Law ”’; ‘‘ The Liver ’’; and “ Slight
Ailments and their Treatment, ”’ besides many papers
in the Philosophical Transactions and other publi-
cations of learned societies. Re ae

NOTES.

Tue fourteenth ‘‘ James Forrest ’’ lecture of the Institu-
tion of Civil Engineers will be delivered by Mr. &. A.
Hadfield on Wednesday, May 2, the subject being ‘‘ Un-
solved Problems in Metallurgy.’’

Tue Government of India has decided, with the approval
of the Secretary of State, to establish an institute in India
as a centre for practical instruction of medical officers and
subordinates in the use and management of Réntgen ray
apparatus, and as a depét for the storage and repair of
such apparatus. The institute will be located at Dehra
Dun, and will be under the superintendence of an officer
of the Indian Medical Service.

Pror. R. MEtpota, F.R.S.,
de I’Instruction publique of France for
connection with the foundation of the
of which association he

an Officier
services in

Franco-
honorary

made
his

has been

Alliance

Britannique, is the

secretary.

A REUTER message states that, after perceptible shocks
of earthquake, a crevice, out of which lava flowed, opened
on the side of Mount Vesuvius, on March 28, some hundred
yards from the upper station of the Funicular Railway.
The eruption from the principal crater also continues.

1901, VOL. 73]

At the Meteorological Office Mr. R. G. K. Lempfert
has been appointed superintendent of the statistical branch,
Mr. Ernest Gold has been selected for appointment as
superintendent of the instruments branch, and Mr. J. A.
Curtis succeeds Mr. J. S. Harding as cashier and chief
clerk.

Tue Easter excursion of the Geologists’ Association will
this year be to Lyme Regis. ‘The party will leave London

on Thursday, April 12, and return to town on Tuesday,
April 17. A detailed itinerary and time-table has been
published by the association. The excursion will be

and Mr. G. W.

directed by Dr. H. B. Woodward, F.R.S.,

, Young, the excursion secretary.
Tue death is announced of Mr. Carl Heinrich yon
Siemens. Born in 1829 at Menzendorf, in Mecklenburg,

of a family of fourteen. For the
greater part of his life he cooperated with his brothers
Werner, William, and Friedrich in the development of
the various undertakings with which the name of Siemens
is associated. A detailed notice of his career is published
in the Engineer of March 30.

he was the sixth son

ACCORDING to a Laffan telegram from New York, dated
March 31, the De Forest Wireless Telegraphy Company
has been sending experimental messages from its station
at Coney Island to Ireland every night for some time, and
on March 28 a thousand words were transmitted, of which
572 were received and recorded. The longest distance that
had previously been covered by this company’s service was
from Coney Island to Colon, 2100 miles; the new record
3200 miles. The sending stations in Ireland are not
yet completed, so that a tetrahedral kite is used tempor-
arily for receiving work.

is

Tue following are among the lecture arrangements at
the Royal Institution after Easter :—Prof. W. Stirling,
three lectures on glands and their products; Dr. P.
Chalmers Mitchell, two lectures on the digestive tract in
birds and mammals; the Rev. J. P. Mahaffy, two lectures
on (1) the expansion of old Greek literature by recent dis-
coveries, (2) the influence of ptolemaic Egypt on Grzeco-
Roman civilisation; Prof. W. J. Sollas, F.R.S., three
lectures on man and the Glacial period; and Sir J. Dewar,
F.R.S., two lectures on the old and the new chemistry.
The Friday evening meetings will be resumed on April 27,
when Prof. J. W. Gregory, F.R.S., will deliver a discourse
on ore deposits and their distribution in depth. Succeeding
discourses will probably be given by the Hon. C. A.
Parsons, F.R.S., Prof. J. H. Poynting, F.R.S., Prof. A:
Schuster, PoRiSseMr. L. Hill sReSebrof H. Moissan
F.R.S., Sir James Dewar, F.R.S., sual others.

In the House of Commons on Monday, Sir W. Foster
asked why dead specimens of cancer, preserved in a non-
deleterious fluid, have been declared to be forbidden
admittance to the post, and why certain specimens,
addressed to the Imperial Cancer Research Fund, were
ordered to be destroyed immediately on their arrival in
this country from abroad. In the course of his reply, Mr.
Buxton said :—‘‘ The cancer specimens addressed to the
Cancer Research Fund are, I am informed on the highest
authority, harmless; and, as I am assured that the use
of the post is of great importance for the successful
prosecution of the researches of the fund, I hope to be able
to make a special exception in their favour. I think it
desirable, however, that the matter should be discussed
with the delegates of the countries principally concerned
at the approaching Postal Congress, and I have instructed

APRIL 5, 1906]

WATTLE,

541

the British delegates accordingly. In the meantime,
packets addressed to the Cancer Research Fund will be
delivered.”

Tue following awards of medals and other honours for
this year have just been decided by the council of the
Royal Geographical Society :—A Royal (Founder’s) medal
to M. Grandidier, for the results of his many years’ work
on the island of Madagascar; a Royal (Patron’s) medal
to Dr. Robert Bell, F.R.S., director of the Geological
Survey of Canada; the Victoria research medal to Prof.
W. M. Ramsay, who has been working at ancient geo-
graphy for many years, and is an acknowledged authority
in that branch of study; the Murchison award to Major
H. R. Davis, for his explorations in the Shan States,
Kachin Hills, Yun-nan, Siam, and Sechuan; the Gill
memorial tg Major A. St. Hill Gibbons, for the exploring
and survey work which he has done in Barotseland on his
two expeditions in 1895-6 and in 1898-1900; the Cuthbert
Peek fund to Major H. H. Austin, C.M.G., for his ex-
ploration in the Lake Rudolf region, the Sobat region, and
his expedition from Omdurman to Mombasa vid Lake
Rudolf in 1900 and 1901; and the Back bequest to Major
R. G. T. Bright, C.M.G., for his exploring work in the
Sudan, Uganda, and East Africa.

In vol. vii., article v., of the Bulletin of the Illinois
State Laboratory, Mr. F. Smith continues his notes on
North American oligochzte worms, dealing in this instance
with a species of Lumbriculus.

Tue report of the Australian Museum, Sydney, for the
year ending June, 1905, is before us. The most important
addition during the year is a collection of ethnological speci-
mens from North Queensland made by Dr. W. A. Roth,
protector of aborigines for that district.

In contrasting different statements as to the purpose
and function of museums, the March issue of Museum
News (Brooklyn, N.Y.) takes occasion to rebuke the
“Century Dictionary ’’ for employing the word ‘“‘ curiosi-
ties ’? in this connection, the accumulation of ‘‘ curiosities ”’
being exactly what every curator who knows his business
does his best to avoid.

Tue thirty-fourth number of the publications (they have
no general title) of the Bureau of Government Laboratories
at Manila is devoted to an account of birds from Mindoro
and the adjacent islets, and to notes on three birds of
rare occurrence in Luzon, one of these latter being the
bittern. The first paper, which is well illustrated, contains
descriptions of several new species, among them being a
needle-tailed swift.

A FULLER account of the Black Hills beetle (Dendro-
ctonus ponderosae), a scolytid infesting pine-trees in the
Black Hills of South Dakota and elsewhere, described by
the author some time ago, is given by Dr. A. D. Hopkins
in Entomological Bulletin No. 56 of the U.S. Department
of Agriculture. The serious nature of the damage caused
by this beetle is indicated by the statement that between
7oo and 1000 million cubic feet of timber have been
destroyed by it in the Black Hills Forest Reserve alone.

Tue third part of the Bergen’s Museum Aarbog for
1905, of which we have received a copy, contains a long
and fully illustrated paper by Mr. O. J. Lie-Pettersen on
the marine rotifers of Norway, the result of investigations
commenced in the summer of 1900, and a second by Mr.
H. Brock on Norwegian medusas. The two last papers

NO. I9OI, VOL. 73]

in this part are devoted to archzxological subjects. We
have also received a copy of the Aarsberetning of the same
institution, containing the director's report of progress for
the past year.

Part iii. of the third volume of the Transactions of the
Hull Scientific and Field Naturalists’ Club shows careful
attention on the part of that body to local subjects. The
first article, for instance, deals with the natural aspects
of Hull and its neighbourhood; and others are devoted to
the East Riding Mycetozoa, local diatoms, and reclaimed
lands of the Humber district. Two local celebrities are
accorded biographical notices, with portraits, while the
editor, Mr. T. Sheppard, discusses the position of the Hull
Museum as regards education.

THE papers in the March Zoologist comprise one on the
birds of the Faroes, and a second on those of Anglesey ;
while in a third Mr. R. Warren records a change in the
habits of herrings visiting Killala Bay, county Mayo. It
appears that since 1899 the fish, which used to keep to
the bay, have taken, for about three weeks in the autumn,
to entering the estuary and tidal part of the river. So close
have they on some occasions come in-shore that scores
may be taken with a landing-net.

THE contents of the first part of vol. Ixxxi. of the Zezt-
schrift fiir wissenschaftliche Zoologie comprise one paper
by Mr. W. Schimkewitsch, of St. Petersburg, on the de-
velopmental history of the arachnid Thelyphonus caudatus,
and its comparison with that of other members of the
same group. In a second paper Mr. R. Meyer discusses
the histology of the nervous system of the common star-
fish, Asterias rubens, while in the third Mr. O. Kohlmeyer
describes the elastic tissue in the mucous membrane of the
palate of the brown rat, the distribution of which has never
previously been worked out.

An extinct volcano in Arizona and its crater form the
subject of a paper by Mr. D. M. Barbinger in the issue
of the Proceedings of the Philadelphia Academy for
December last. One of the most remarkable features con-
nected with this mountain is the presence of an enormous
mass of meteoric iron. As the result of his investigations,
the author comes to the conclusion that a huge meteor, of
which at least the outer coat was metallic, fell to the
earth in this locality, and that its size was so great that
portions of it were fused and detached. Further, a large
hole in the adjacent strata was made by the fall of the
meteor.

Dr. W. J. Hotranp has sent us a paper on the osteology
of the American dinosaur Diplodocus, with special refer-
ence to the model of the skeleton presented by Mr.
Carnegie to the Natural History Museum, and installed by
Dr. Holland himself. In this paper, which forms No. 6
of the second volume of the Memoirs of the Carnegie
Museum, the author directs attention to the pose in which
the skeleton has been mounted, explaining that, in his
opinion, the peculiar structure of the occipital region
renders the angle which the skull forms with the vertebral
column a matter of necessity. Dr. Holland finds himself
unable to accept Baron Nopsca’s interpretation of the
nature of the problematical bone which has been regarded
as a clavicle.

Tue black locust tree (Robinia pseudo acacia) is such a
familiar inhabitant of railway banks, especially in parts
of France, that we read with interest Dr. Charles A.
White’s account, in the Popular Science Monthly for

542

ITA TLE:

{APRIL 5, 1906

March, of the troubles which have beset attempts to

establish it in similar situations in America, especially in
Pennsylvania. The wood of the tree is excellently suited
railroad ties, but, unfor-
tunately, as soon as the stems attain a sufficient size to be
of use they are liable to be destroyed by the burrowing
larvee of a longicorn beetle (Cyllene robiniae); and so
persistent is this beetle in its attacks, that Dr. White
considers the further planting of these trees to be sheer
waste of labour and money.

for making fence posts and

Tue second number of the Bio-Chemical Journal con-
tains four papers of considerable interest, and if the present
standard be maintained we predict a long and _ useful
“life ”’ Mr. Leonard Hill dis-
cusses filtration as a possible mechanism in the living

for this new publication.

organism, and concludes that it does not occur under
natural conditions; Mr. G. S. Haynes, writing on the

pharmacological action of digitalis, strophanthus, and squill
on the heart, considers that it is essential that these drugs
should be standardised, as the amounts of active con-
stituents vary much. He finds that strophanthus is 8 to 10
times as toxic as digitalis, and that squill is an excellent
cardiac stimulant. Dr. Roaf and Mr. Whitley contribute
a paper on the action of acids, alkalies, and salts on the
tadpole; and Dr. MacLean details observations on the
Fehling test for dextrose in urine, proving that creatinin
is the cause of the masking of the sugar reaction which
sometimes occurs in urine-testing.

A BRIEF description appears in the Journal of the Royal
Microscopical Society (February) of a newly discovered
synangium that, as the writer, Mr. D. M. S. Watson,
states, would two years ago certainly have been regarded
as the fructification of a marattiaceous fern. The
synangium consists of from four to seven sporangia grouped
round a central receptacle that is hollowed out into a
cup at the top, thus bearing considerable resemblance to
the sporangia of the recent fern Kaulfussia and of the fossil
species Ptychocarpus wunitus. Having regard to Mr.
Kidston’s discovery that the synangium of Crossotheca,
formerly considered to be that of a marattiaceous fern, was
the male fructification of Lyginodendron, Mr. Watson
leaves it open whether the new species, Cyathotrachus
altus, should be placed in the ferns or cycadofilices.

IN connection with the work of the instructors in horti-
culture that have been appointed by certain county councils
in Ireland, it has been found that there is need of a
scientific journal that will help to supply the knowledge
required by small farmers and occupiers of holdings. To
meet this want a new monthly publication, Irish Garden-
ing, has been started, the first number having been issued
this month. After a short note of encouragement from
Sir Horace Plunkett, Mr. F. W. Moore provides an appro-
priate article on the present condition of horticulture in
Ireland. The use and value of horticultural demonstration
plots is discussed by Mr. J. G. Toner, and a trite com-
parison of English and Irish potatoes is contributed by Prof.
J. Wilson in which, while upholding the quality of the
Irish potato, he suggests that there is scope for new Irish
varieties. Judging from these articles and the numerous
notes on various topics, the new journal promises to fulfil
its purpose of directing attention to the scientific principles
that underlie good garden practice.

Tue discussion on *‘ The Origin of Gymmnosperms ’’ at
the Linnean Society, arranged for the meeting on March 15,
drew a very large audience. Prof. F. W. Oliver,

NO. 1901, VOL. 73]

in

opening the discussion, referred to the generally accepted
view that the line of descent of the gymnosperms had
proceeded through the ferns and cycads, this view being
supported by the discovery of multiciliate spermatozoids
in Ginkgo and in cycads, and by the recognition of the
fossil group of cycadofilices. The discovery of seeds in
connection with several of the Palaeozoic * ferns ’’ had ied

to their transference to a new and rapidly increasing
group of pteridosperms. If the Palaeozoic were an ‘‘ age
of pteridosperms ’’ rather than an “‘ age of ferns,’’ was

the filicinean origin of the gyimnosperms
should a lycopodiaceous origin be sought?
favoured a derivation of the pteridosperms
the cyeads and Cordaitez from the ferns. Mr. E. A. N.
Arber, dealing with the earlier geological records of the
true ferns, also expressed his adherence to the fern-cycad
line of descent. He instanced the Botryopterideze as true
ferns existing in the Carboniferous and Permian ages, and
pointed out that the connection of gymnosperms and
ferns must have been far back in the Palawozoic epoch.
Prof. A. C. Seward, while accepting the filicinean origin
for the cycads, dissented from the view that the conifers
followed the same line of descent. His recent investi-
gations of the Araucariez pointed to their being a very
ancient group of gymnosperms, and for them, if not for
conifers generally, he considered a lycopodiaceous deriva-
tion as the more probable. Owing to the late hour, Dr.
D. H. Scott was unable to give his address, as announced,
so the proceedings were postponed to the meeting fixed for
May 3, when an opportunity will be afforded for other
members to take part in the discussion.

weakened, and
Personally, he
and eventually

Tue work of the expedition dispatched by the Smith-
sonian Institution of Washington to the Canadian Rockies
and Selkirks, under the direction of Prof. W. H. Sherzer,
of the Michigan State Normal School, is described in the
report of the late Dr. S. P. Langley for the year ending
June 30, 1905. The expedition had a successful season’s
work on the glaciers along the line of the Canadian Pacific
Railway. A selection was made of those five glaciers
which are most accessible to the student of glacial geology,
and these were found to exhibit the characteristics of
glaciers throughout the world. Four or five days of com-
fortable railway travel places an investigator in the midst
of snow-fields rivalling those of Switzerland, and the ice
bodies descending from these fields may be studied from
modern hotels as a base, and a horse may be ridden to the
feet of the glaciers studied by the expedition. So far as is
known, there is in this district the most magnificent de-
velopment of glaciers of the Alpine type on the American
continent, and the purpose of the survey was to gather
as much information as possible concerning them. Many
photographs illustrating the details of glacial structure were
obtained, and a full report of the expedition may be
expected later.

We have received a copy of the results of the meteor-
ological observations made at stations under the control
of the Deutsche Seewarte for the year 1904. These observ-
ations include those made at ten stations of the second
order, at which readings are taken three times daily; at
four of these stations, viz.) Hamburg, Wustrow, Memel, and
Borkum, hourly values and means obtained from self-
recording instruments are given in addition. For all days on
which stormy weather was experienced on the German
coasts, observations for several times a day are published
from those of the fifty-six storm signal stations affected.
This valuable publication forms one of the series of ** Meteor-
ological Year-books’’ issued by the various organisations

APRIL 5, 1906]

NALOKE

543

of the German Empire; these are all identical in form, the
plan of which is practically that adopted by the Inter-
national Meteorological Congress at Rome in 1879, and
leaves nothing to be desired. With the exception of an
occasional improvement, such as the reduction of the old
anemometrical factor, which assumed that the velocity of
the wind was three times as great as the velocity of the
cups of the instrument, and the addition of a table show-
ing for each station the difference between local time and
mid-European time adopted in Germany in April, 1893,
there has been practically no change in the contents of
publication for many years. This continuity of form is a
great advantage, and considerably enhances the value of
the work.

We have received from the director of the Vatican
Observatory, Sig. P. Angelo Rodriguez, O.S.A., vol. vii.
of the Pubblicazsioni della Specola Vaticana (Tipografia

Vaticana, Rome, 1905). In these pages we first have the
individual daily meteorological observations made during
the years 1902 to 1904, both years inclusive. These are
graphically plotted in three tables which are given at the
end of the volume. Sig. Mg. Alfredo Tonetti contributes
a valuable study of the cloud observations made during
the years 1891-6, and this is followed by two appendices,
which include observations of meteors for the years 1891
to 1896, and the mean monthly values of cloudiness for
the same period. Among other sections of interest may be
mentioned a brief discussion of the exceptional high
temperatures recorded in July and August of the year 1904,
comparison data being added commencing in 1890. Sun-
spot observations are also dealt with, and, in addition to
the individual daily observations, a summary for each
year, commencing with 1896, is added. Special reference
is made to the large spot of February, 1905, and a repro-
duction (original size) of the solar disc for February 7 is
added, the original photographic image measuring nearly
eleven inches in diameter.

Ix the Transactions of the Institution of Engineers and
Shipbuilders in Scotland (vol. xlix., part v.), Mr. W. A.
Ker publishes a suggestive paper on some common errors
in the use of electric motors for machine driving. In it
he gives a list of common machines, with the types of
motors which he considers most suitable for them.

ATTENTION is directed in the Engineering and Mining
Journal (vol. \xxxi., No. 10) to the very low cost of ore
dressing which has been attained at the mill of the Osceola
Copper Mine, Lake Superior. The average cost per ton
of rock stamped in 1905 was only 83d., as against gd. in
1904. hese extraordinary figures were obtained in the
treatment of a million tons of rock per annum, all the
ore passed through the mill having been crushed to go
through a j-inch to 3/16-inch round hole.

Tue locomotive industry is dealt with in an exhaustive
paper by Mr. L. Le Chatelier in the Bulletin de la Société
ad Encouragement (vol. cviili., No. 2). Beginning with
Trevithick’s locomotive of 1803, he illustrates the leading
types, and expresses the opinion that the works of the
Hanover Engineering Company represent the most perfect
example of the international locomotive industry. The
Crewe works, with their 7500 workmen and their annual
output of seventy-five locomotives, are referred to by the
author in terms of warm admiration.

“Economic Studies in Italy’’ form the subject of a
letter by Prof. Achille Loria in the Economic Journal for
March. A noteworthy feature of Italian economics is the
absence of any scientific treatment of socialistic problems.

NO. 1901, VOL. 73}

In the Bulletin of the Belgian Royal Academy (1905,
xi.), the death is announced of the oldest member, M.
Gustave Davalque, who was elected associate in 1854 and
member in 1859, and drew up reports on mineralogy for
the society subsequent to 1872.

Pror. Luici1 Berzoiarr contributes to the Rendiconti of
the Lombardy Institution an interesting account, extending
to more than sixty pages, of the work of the late Prof.
Luigi Cremona. A list of previous biographical notices is
given in a footnote.

Pror. G. Crsiro, of Liége, describes in the Bulletin of
the Belgian Academy, x., a new method of proving geo-
metrically the principal formule of spherical trigonometry,
notably Lhuilier’s and Euler’s formule, Napier’s and
Delambre’s analogies, and the expressions for the radii of
the circles of a triangle. E

Mr. H. M. Taytor, F.R.S., has published in the
Messenger of Mathematics, No. 414, a collection of geo-
metrical dissections, in which it is shown how to trans-
form figures from one shape into another by division
into a definite number of parts and re-arrangement of the
parts. While these constructions afford a highly interest-
ing study, it may be desirable to point out that if it be
required, for example, to convert a rectangle into a square
of equal area by this method, the construction presupposes
a knowledge of the side of the required square.

Ix the Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society

| for January Prof. Jacques Hadamard gives a review in

French of the late Prof. Willard Gibbs’s ‘‘ Elements of
Statistical Mechanics,’’ which appeared in 1902. Based as
the review is on a detailed study of Gibbs’s work and of
criticisms thereon, the notice forms in some respects an
innovation in reviewing which might with advantage be
followed on other occasions in connection with mathe-
matical works. It is certain that the book in question
contained many features that could only be properly judged
after long and minute study.

IN a paper reprinted from the Abhandlungen of the Royal
Academy of Saxony, xxix., 4, Dr. Otto Fischer discusses
the dynamics of the motion of a system of bodies jointed
together and moving in space. An illustration of such
jointed systems is afforded by the limbs of animals. In
general, a system of n jointed bodies has 3n+3 degrees
of freedom, but there are many cases in which the number
is less, and the author shows how the equations can be
simplified by replacing the system by a dynamically equi-
valent set of particles or ‘‘ reduced system.”

Unper the title ‘‘ Abhandlung zur Didaktilk und Philo-
sophie der Naturwissenschaft,’’ Messrs. Julius Springer,
of Berlin, are issuing a series of pamphlets, in the form
of monograph supplements to the Zeitschrift fir den
physikalischen und chemischen Unterricht. The object of
these pamphlets is to give expositions of various points
connected with the teaching of the sciences in question.
No. 5 of the series is by Prof. Hans Keferstcin, of Ham-
burg, and contains an exposition of the elementary proper-
ties of lenses and optical combinations treated from an
experimental point of view. In the introduction the author
points out that two of the various branches of physics,
mechanics and optics, are made to assume a more mathe-
matical aspect than the rest, the former by introducing the
concept of particles, which reduces the study to that of
certain systems of points, the latter by the concept of
rays, leading to the study of certain systems of lines. The

544

NATURE

[APRIL 5, 1906

present pamphlet treats exclusively of the magnifications
produced by lenses, the paths of the rays, and the prin-
ciples of the microscope and telescope.

Tue danger which may accompany the teaching of
elementary chemistry to children has been sadly illustrated
by the death of a girl of fifteen years of age—a pupil at
the Plymouth Secondary School—caused by swallowing a
strong solution of caustic soda while working in a prac-
tical chemistry class. The coroner’s inquest showed that
the child—one of a class of eight—misinterpreted the direc-
tions given by the instructor, and sucked into a pipette
a concentrated solution of the alkali without previously
diluting it, as she had been told to do; in doing this she
managed to swallow some of the solution. In view of the
fact that three other pupils out of the eight in the class
gave evidence showing that they also had not followed
the directions given, it is clear that, in order to guard
against such accidents, the experiments should be devised
in such a way that, in the event of a misunderstanding,
no evil results may accrue. In the present case, for
instance, in which the neutralisation of sulphuric acid by
caustic soda was being studied, the concentrated solutions
might have been diluted by the demonstrator in front of
the class, and the diluted solutions thus prepared then
have been used for the pupils’ measurements. Other simple
expedients could readily be suggested in which the use of
an ordinary pipette is avoided. In the practical study of
chemistry there are many possibilities of accident, and this
should be borne in mind by the examining and inspecting
authorities which prescribe the work to be done in school
laboratories, and by the teachers who devise experiments
for their pupils. It should be unnecessary to add that the
instructor, particularly when he has to deal with children,
should not only have seen chemical experiments performed,
but have acquired by a prolonged course of laboratory
work a real knowledge of manipulation and of the dangers
likely to be incurred in any case.

Messrs. Joun J. GRIFFIN AND Sons, Lrp., have issued
a third edition of their well illustrated list of apparatus
for electrochemistry, arranged for students working through
Dr. Liipke’s ‘‘ Grundziige der Electrochemie.”’

A POPULAR article, with several striking illustrations,
upon the eye-spots exhibited by various creatures as orna-
ments or for protective purposes appears in the April
number of Pearson’s Magazine.

THE current issue of the Home Counties Magazine
contains, among other interesting matter, a reprint of a
lecture by Mr. M. J. C. Meiklejohn on the place-names
of Northwood and district, and the first of a series of
articles in which the editor, Mr. W. Paley Baildon, has
collected all available references to

arranged them in chronological order.

Paul’s Cross, and

Tue current number of Past and Present, the successor
to the Natural History Journal, published in connection
with the Friends’ Schools, is before us.

The magazine
shows that

great encouragement is given in these schools
to observational science, and that the boys are in the habit
of making and recording outdoor observations in biological
and meteorological science. The illustrations of the school
buildings are proof enough that the claims of science are
not forgotten in the school curriculum.

SEVERAL parts of volumes of Transactions of the Royal
Society of Edinburgh, containing papers read before the
society during the sessions 1902-3, 1903-4, and 1904-5, have
just been received; and also vol. xliii. of the Transactions,

NO” T9OH, VOL. 73)]

edited by Dr. A. Buchan, F.R.S., and Mr. R. T. Omond,
devoted to the Ben Nevis observations during the years:
1893-7. As abstracts of the papers read before the society
appear periodically among our reports of meetings, it is.
unnecessary to refer again to the many important contri-
butions now printed in full in the Transactions recently
issued.

Tue fifth part of vol. ii. of the Proceedings of the Uni-
versity of Durham Philosophical Society has been received.
The number contains five papers read before the society
between February 9 and April 27, 1905, together with the
proceedings for the academic year 1904-5. Prof. H.
Stroud contributes a paper on spark-gap experiments for
detecting radio-activity, Dr. J. A. Smythe a note on a
contact rock from the Island of Mull, Mr. A. Brennan
notes on abnormal flowers of Lilium Martagon (Linn.),
Dr. D. Woolacott a paper on the pre-Glacial ‘‘ wash’ of
the Northumberland and Durham coalfield, and Mr. G-
Thomson one on the effect of light on selenium.

OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN.

ASTRONOMICAL OCCURRENCES IN APRIL :—
April 5. 5h. 48m. to 6h. 42m. Moon occults a Leonis.
(Regulus, mag. 1°3). .
6. 7h. 3m. to 7h. 57m. Moon occults x Leonis (mag-

47): a
»» I5h. 50m. to 16h. 19m. Moon occults « Leonis
(mag. 4°I).

II. Ith. 30m.

14. 8h. 19m. 53 ne o

15. Venus. Illuminated portion of disc =0'967. Or
Mars =0°978.

16. 15h 48m. to 16h. 29m.

Minimum of Algol (8 Persei).

Moon occults @ Capricorn

(mag. 4°2). ; y ;

18. 23h. Saturn in conjunction with Moon. Saturn
O° 22’ N.

24. 8h. 22m. Transit (ingress) of Jupiter’s Satellite IDI.
(Ganymede). .

y> 15h. Venus in conjunction with Moon. Venus
SealileaN .

26. 4h. Jupiter in conjunction with Moon. Jupiter
© ido IN

99 Be Near approach of Moon to a Tauri (Alde-

baran).
27. 8h. 51m. to gh. 48m.
(mag. 4°6).
30. Ith. 33m, to 12h. 28m.
(mag. 4°7).
Comet 1906b.—A part of the ephemeris for comet 1906b
(Kopff), calculated by Herr M. Ebell and published im

Moon occults 119 Tauri

Moon occults ¢ Cancri

No. 4080 of the Astronomische Nachrichten, is given
below :— :
Ephemeris 12h. M.T. Berlin.
1906 a (true) 6 (true) log 7 log A Bright-
a hy omenes: ; ness
April’ (6) <>.) DIG2205302-- 2 24.2 OF} 3955) O0S3 ORE
14... Il 20 0S)... 2.28. ... 0°§397 .2. OvaiizS)-- ona
22... Dl) 2Osg8i7.. 2 26) --. 0154402 OMeO ne moto,
30 ... II 20 58 ... 2 20 ... 0°5484 ... 04468 ... 0°64

Unit brightness on March 3=about mag. 11-0.
This comet is still in the constellation Leo, near to the
star 7, which is on the meridian at about 11 p.m.
The suggestion that this object was a periodic comet of
short period is not confirmed by the observations. ‘
Observing at Strassburg on March 17, Dr. Wirtz re-
corded that the comet had a nucleus of mag. 11-5, the
total magnitude being 11-0. The nebulosity was only ony
in diameter, and appeared to be extended towards position

angle 270°.

Comet 1905c.—The following is an extract from Herr
Wedemeyer’s ephemeris for comet 1905¢ (Giacobini) as
published in the supplement to No. 4080 of the Astrono-
mische Nachrichten :—

April 5, 1906]

Na PORE

545

Ephemeris 12h. M.T. Berlin.

1906 a (true) 6 (true) log log A Bright-
Inewamms Se aati 6 ness
Atprilismees 3050 465-0. }Gur ays O:2300) ... O°3763))... 10,20
Omens 45: 22°... Ome Ogra. 0°2559 .. 0 3943 ... O'17
Liens) 53) SS) =< ae Ou 5Oms-tOL27 10 ... OAT D4 x0. Onl5
mee wel 22) 2.4 +lOe4Omns OF2870) ... OF4 27/5) -5 OMI
ieee 8 53)... tale20re. OZON4 ... O'4428: ....Oc1T

An observation at Strassburg on March 17 gave correc-

The comet
ill-defined

magnitude

tions of —1is. and —3/-9 to this ephemeris.

was pale, with no certain nucleus, and the
nebulosity was about 2’ in diameter; total
about 11-5.

This faint object is now apparently traversing the con-
stellation Taurus towards the Pleiades, and will be some
3° south of that asterism on April 23. It sets, a little to
the N. of W., at about 9 p.m.

A SysremMatic Stupy oF Faint Stars.—Apropos of Prof.
Kapteyn’s plan for studying faint stars, Prof. Pickering
gives a detailed account of how similar work is being
performed at Harvard College Observatory in Circular
No. 108.

It is impossible to describe the whole work here, but
both photometric and photographic methods are being
employed, and by using the two 24-inch reflectors Prof.
Pickering hopes to extend the survey to stars fainter than
Phoebe.

In studying the spectra, the 8-inch Draper and Bache
telescopes have been employed, and stars down to the
eleventh magnitude have been observed — successfully.
Using the 24-inch reflectors, Prof. Pickering hopes to
photograph the spectra of much fainter stars.

By following the stars precisely, so that the resulting
spectrum is merely a line, thirteenth magnitude stars have
been dealt with, and, on a photograph obtained with the
8-inch Draper telescope, the spectrum of a star of mag. 13-3
is sufficiently clear to be classified; the same plate shows
the spectra of r1o stars within 1° of the North Pole.

STARS HAVING PECULIAR SPECTRA.—In Circulay No. 111
of the Harvard College Observatory, Prof. Pickering gives
a list and details of twenty-four stars which, from a study
of the Henry Draper memorial photographs, Mrs. Fleming
has found to have “* peculiar ’’ spectra.

One or two of the objects call for special remark. The
star D.M.+21° 1609 is identical with N.G.C. 2392, which
was found to have a continuous spectrum, with three
bright lines, by Wenlock and Peirce on January 7, 1869.
D’Arrest, also, found it to be gaseous. Photographs taken
at Harvard on November 21, 1900, and November 27,
1905, Show no traces of the bright lines characteristic of
gaseous nebule, but that its spectrum is of the
fourth type. This star is in Gemini, its approximate
right ascension and declination (for 1900) being 7h. 23-3m.
and +21° 7’ respectively.

In the spectrum of the star D.M.+36° 3907 the hydrogen
line HB appears as a fine bright line centrally superposed
on a dark line, on photographs taken on July 4 and
November 4, 1905.

A spectrogram of the variable star R Cygni, obtained
on November 19, 1890, showed the hydrogen lines Hy and
H6 bright, but a photograph taken on December 7, 1904,
with the same instrument, shows a spectrum of the fourth
type containing no trace of bright hydrogen lines.

Tue Lunar Eciipse oF Fesruary 8.—The total eclipse
of the moon which took place on February 8 this year was
fully observed at the (Goodsell Observatory, Northfield,
Minn. (U.S.A.), and an account of the observations is
given in No. 3, vol. xiv., of Popular Astronomy.

Dr. Wilson especially remarks on the brightness of the
eclipsed moon, and on the remarkable contrasts of colour
seen on the darkened surface.

Five photographs were secured, and the last one, taken
with a small camera attached to the telescope, exposure
5m., shows the details of the lunar surface and its unequal
colouring very plainly.

Similar observations were made by M. Quénisset at the
Nanterre Observatory, and four of his photographs are
reproduced in the March number of the Bulletin de la
Société astronomique de France. He records the shadow
as ‘‘ very transparent.”’

NO. I1GOI, VOL. 73]

PARALLEL RUNNING OF ALTERNATE
CURRENT GENERATORS.

HE Bulletin des Séances de la Société francaise de

Physique for the second quarter of last year contains

an interesting article by M. Boucherot on the general prin-

ciples which enter into the design and construction of
alternating current generators.

After a brief description of the present methods of con-
struction, the author passes on to consider, first, the
wave form; secondly, the regulation; thirdly, parallel
running ; and, finally, methods of compounding.

The most important part of the article is that devoted
to the question of parallel running, and, although the
mathematical treatment is not verv clearly explained, the
conclusions arrived at are interesting.

The question is considered under two headings. In each
the subject of inquiry is the influence of the fly-wheel, or
the fly-wheel effect of the rotating parts, on the oscillations
about a state of uniform angular velocity; but under the
first heading the oscillations .are caused by the variations
of turning effort of the prime mover during a single revolu-
tion, and under the second heading the oscillations are
produced by the action of the engine governor.

In dealing with the first of these there are two quanti-
ties which are of prime importance in the calculations viz.
the energy stored in the rotating parts, W(=3J9’), and
the elastic couple or restoring force, C,, which is defined
as the couple which tends to restore the rotating parts to
phase coincidence with the network to which the armature
is connected, when the deviation is one radian. Then it
is shown that the natural period of the system is
2m/J/C,, and the restoring force C,=Cypk, where Cy is
the full load torque, p the number of pairs of poles, and k
the ratio of the short-circuit current to the normal current.

Next, the analysis of the turning moment is given for
single-cylinder and for miultiple-cylinder engines as
follows :—

- Order of harmonic Half load Full load
Single cylinder I O12 O14
” ” 2 09 09
Ay a 3 orl2 Ol
0 4 ons 4 o'4 rt Ol
Multiple cylinder... I or bop ol
‘S a sts 2 0°5 Be 02
” » 3 0°35 oo O'5
> ” 4 o4 ve Ov4
the mean constant turning moment being reckoned as
unity.

Each harmonic produces its own oscillation in the rotating
system, the amplitude of which is proportional to the value

of the harmonic multiplied by a (not W/W—W,, as

stated in the original), where n is the order of the harmonic
and W, =C,/2n-. If the total fly-wheel effect happens to
be such that W=W,,, resonance will occur, and this ex-
pression will enable the designer to proportion the rotating
parts so as to avoid serious trouble.

More interesting is that part of the article devoted to the
effect of the engine governor on parallel running and hunt-
ing. The subject is confessedly a difficult one, and at
present there is no accepted theory. The suggestion put
forward by the author is somewhat compressed and difficult
to follow; and, even so, only the chief points of the argu-
ment can be mentioned here.

The generating set with its governor is treated as being
composed of two interdependent oscillating systems, each
with its own natural period and its own coefficient of
damping. In addition to these four quantities, two others
are of great importance, viz. K, the percentage variation
of speed between no load and full load, and 14, the time
lag of the governor. The latter quantity is defined as the
time which elapses between the governor reaching its
extreme position and the turning moment of the engine
taking up its corresponding value. This time lag is greater
in compound and triple expansion than in simple engines,
due to the passage of the steam through the cylinders.

Considering, first, the case of a generating set connected
to an external network assumed to be of infinite capacity, it

546 NATURE

{ APRIL 5, 1906

is shown that the periodicity of the oscillation is given by
the equation
tan (a.T,)=1/27(a,/a—-a/a,),

where 27/a is the period of the oscillations produced,
2m/a, is the natural period of the governor, and m is the

ratio of the actual damping of the governor to the smallest
value of the same coefficient which makes the governor
dead beat.

This equation of a in terms of Ty represents a series of
curves, some of which give rise to negative values. The
positive values corresponding to m=1 and a,=6-32 are

Ca

vy) a5 1 Jeconde 15

Fic. 2.

shown in Vig. 1. Of these curves, only the lowest one re-
presents oscillations which are not evanescent.

For this case the conclusion is reached that for satis-
factory running the percentage variation of speed IK must
not be too small, and the fly-wheel effect must be designed
in proportion to the time lag of the governor.

-wmwe nny gw DS

Passing to the case where two sets are working in
parallel, the equation giving the frequency of the oscilla-
tions is similar to the above, provided the damping in the
generators is small. In this case, however, the curves
which give positive values of a are quite different, being as
shown in Fig. 2. The straight line portions correspond

NO. IQOI, VOL. 73]

to a=a,, where the natural the
alternator.

Now the rate of subsidence of any oscillation contains a
term (1—a/a,), and it is consequently clear that it would
be unsafe to allow any value of T, between o and o-5, or
between 1 and 1-5, as shown in the figure. If, however,
the damping of the governor is much greater than the
critical dead-beat value, satisfactory working» may be
possible.

A point of great interest is brought out in this connec-
tion, viz. the influence of the fly-wheel effect. The straight
portions of the curves in Fig. 2 depend upon the natural
period of the alternator, which in turn depends upon the
fly-wheel. The heavier the fly-wheel the less the value of
aq, and consequently the longer the straight portion of the
curve as shown in Fig. 3. In other words, the greater
the fly-wheel effect the greater will be the range of Ty, for
which satisfactory working is difficult. From this it would
appear that it is quite possible to provide too heavy a fly-
wheel.

The article concludes with a brief reference to the various
methods of compounding alternators.

2m/aq is period of

GEOLOGICAL NOTES.

IN the Zeitschrift der Gesellschaft fiir Evrdkunde su

Berlin (1905, p. 412) Prof. Dr. A. Phillipson, of Bern,
outlines his recent journey of 10,000 kilometres through
the west of Asia Minor, including Brussa, near the Sea
of Marmora, and Makri, on its Mediterranean inlet in the
south. The preliminary results indicate the existence of
a ‘‘ Lydian mass” of granite, gneiss, and crystalline
schists, which forms on the whole a hummocky country,
flattening itself out where the lower course of the Maeander
cuts into it. The inhabitants are mostly clustered along
the included basins of Neogene deposits. A zone of meta-
morphic limestones and less altered phyllites lies outside
this mass, following the strike of the bow-shaped crystal-
line core; and the discovery of a new species of Fusulina
(p. 417) places part of this outer zone as Permo-Carbon-

iferous. To the south and south-east, the Cainozoic earth-
movements have brought up folded limestones of the
Cretaceous and Eocene type of Greece and Rhodes. The

complete results of the journey will not be worked out for
several years.

Dr. G. Steinmann continues, in the Berichte der natur-
forschenden Gesellschaft zu Freiburg-im-Breisgau for
September, 1905, his ‘‘ Geologische Beobachtungen in den
Alpen.’’ The question of Klippen-structure and overfold-
ing in the classical Alps of Glarus leads on to a comparison
with the eastern Alps. The author gives a valuable ex-
position of Schardt’s views, which were published in 1893,
and which led to the conception of the breaking up of an
overthrust limestone mass into blocks or ‘* klippen,’’ which
lie discordantly among later sediments. Without going so
far as Termier (p. 32), Dr. Steinmann sees in this striking
theory of overfolding the true explanation of the phenomena
of the Bundnerschiefer and the limestone zone, and he
appeals to workers in the eastern Alps to consider Schardt’s
views at least in the light of a scientific possibility. The
last part of the present paper includes a bold but reason-
able speculation as to the connection between deep-sea
radiolarian deposits and diabasic igneous rocks. It is
suggested, for the Alpine, Scotch, and other instances, that
these basic igneous masses accumulated under the ocean-
floors, just as more highly silicated rocks are believed to
gather under continents. Consequently, a deep-sea epoch,
followed by one of compression and overthrusting, would
lead to a squeezing out of ‘‘ ophiolitic ’’ igneous rocks some-
where along the zone of the radiolarian cherts.

The activity of geological research in the African
colonies is evidenced by a recent part of the Transactions
of the Geological Society of South Africa, published in
Johannesburg in September, 1905. Mr. A. L. Hall de-
scribes (p. 47) the mode of occurrence of the tin-ore in the
picturesque Bushveld area forty miles north-east of Pretoria.
The ore was first noticed in the local granite as recently
as 1904, and the field was described by H. Merensky
in that year. Its exploitation at once followed, and Mr.

APRIL 5, 1906]

NATURE

547

Hall has been able to examine the rocks traversed by the
new shafts and drives. The field was extended, while
his paper was in preparation, by a further discovery on
the farm Vlaklaagte. In this case there is evidence
of the deposition of the cassiterite in good crystals, of the
size of coarse shot, throughout a granitoid rock, which
is of later age than the surrounding red granite. Minerals
containing fluorine, topaz being among them, are already
known in the Bushveld igneous series, and hence there is
reason to believe that the tin-ore may have been developed
on Enkeldorn and Vlaklaagte in the manner recognised
in the “ classical stanniferous localities.”’

Mr. H. Kynaston appropriately describes (ibid., p. 61)
rocks allied to greisen, from a point much further north, in
the Olifants River Valley. He also adds to our knowledge
of the norites and schists associated with the Bushveld
granite, perhaps as marginal phenomena. Dr. Molengraaff,
whom we regard almost as a veteran in these years of
rapid exploration, and as the founder of much of our
knowledge of the Transvaal, further supports his view
(ibid., p. 63) that the Pretoria series may be correlated
with the jasper beds of Griqualand West. He now de-
scribes Mr. Leslie’s discovery of crocidolite in the ferru-
ginous quartzites of the Pretoria series in the Lydenburg
district. These beds overlie the well known dolomite,
which thus may be paralleled with the Campbell Rand
dolomite of the south. Dr. Molengraaff’s account of con-
tact-altered rocks in the Pretoria series should fit in with
Mr. Kynaston’s observations further north; and the con-
ferences of the Geological Society of South Africa will
doubtless show how much of the extensive alteration is
due to the granite and felsite series, and how much to
the sheets of norite. The present tendency, however,
seems to be towards the linking of these two types of
intrusive rock in a continuous series.

Mr. VYhord-Gray (ibid., p. 66) describes in some detail
the occurrences of gold in the Pretoria series round
Pilgrim’s Rest (Lydenburg gold-field), and concludes in
favour of the view that a mineral infiltration, carrying
both gold and copper, took place along certain zones of the
conformably bedded series. The horizontal ‘‘ reefs’? may
thus be described as altered quartzites.

The correlation of the members of the Transvaal system
is again taken up by Prof. Schwarz, who attacks the
problem in the north of Cape Colony, in Prieska. He has,
quite independently, reached the same conclusions as Dr.
Molengraaff, and, with certain cautious reservations, passes
his comprehensive eye over similar beds in India and North
America also. The extraordinary uniformity of deposits
in South Africa across enormous areas certainly gives one
a new faith in lithological stratigraphy; and it is on this
ground that Prof. Schwarz wishes to bring together the
two series of ferruginous jaspers in the southern part of
the Transvaal, calling in a thrust-plane to his assistance.
The general feeling will be, both in our islands and in the
Transvaal, that detailed mapping will ultimately bring a
just correlation in its train. But detailed geological
mapping requires good topographic maps, and the limited
resources of the colony seem just now, from a legislator’s
point of view, to have many prior claims upon them.

Mr. F. P. Mennell shares “with the equally energetic
Mr. A. J. C. Molyneux the task of elucidating the geo-
logical problems of Rhodesia, a region about as large as
France, Germany, Austria-Hungary, and _ Italy put
together. The gold problem is naturally the first thing to
be investigated, and Mr. Mennell (ibid., p. 82) seeks to
correlate the Rhodesian “‘ banket,’’ which he shows to be a
true conglomerate, with the gold-bearing series of the
Rand at Johannesburg. ‘‘ So far,’’ however, “‘it is only
at the Eldorado Mine, in the Lomagundi district, that gold
has been proved to exist in payable quantities’’ in the
banket of Rhodesia. As Prof. J. W. Gregory recently
informed us, other deposits or vein-stuffs may have become
known as banket, and it is certainly wise to restrict this
term, of Transvaal origin, to the quartzose conglomerates,
wherever they occur. In Rhodesia, Mr. Mennell has to
deal with a metamorphosed series of sediments, including
these conglomerates, and penetrated by ancient and now
schistose basic rocks. The widely occurring granite is
later than the basic intrusions, and has produced consider-
able contact-alteration in the entire series. The gold, in

NO. 1901, VOL. 73|

| accordance with the view now prevalent for the Rand de-
posits also, is regarded as a subsequent infiltration.

Part ii. of vol. xxxii. of the Records of the Geological
Survey of India contains Mr. Hayden’s “‘ Preliminary Note
on the Geology of Tibet,’’ already noticed in this Journal
(Nature, vol. Ixxii., p. 285), and Dr. T. H. Holland’s
paper on the occurrence of bauxite in India. The
latter author directs further attention to the aluminous
nature of the Indian laterites, and throws the whole field
of these rocks open to the prospector. He points out
(General Report of the Survey, ibid., p. 142) that the red
bauxites of Les Baux were first worked as iron-ores; and
in his paper on bauxite the analyses of Indian samples
are all from rocks previously known as laterites. A very
interesting point is the high percentage of titanium dioxide
revealed, and Dr. Holland supports Dr. R. S. Bayer in
believing that some unfamiliar and possibly new substance
becomes precipitated with the titanium in these cases. Dr.
Holland regards bauxite as an intimate admixture of
gibbsite, Al,O,.3H,O, and diaspore, Al,O,.H,O.

Another Indian paper is by Mr. E. W. Wetherell, on
the dyke rocks of Mysore (Mysore Geological Department
Memoirs, vol. ii.), in which a large number of specimens
are conscientiously described. The descriptions — suffer,
however, from the fact that the species of triclinic felspar
are not determined. Nor are the misprints so few as the
‘““corrigenda ’? might lead one to suppose. The drawings
for the plates show exceptional care and delicacy.

Mr. G. H. Girty, of the U.S. Geological Survey (Proc.
Washington Acad. of Sciences, vol. vii., June 20, 1905,
p- 1), has instituted a comparison between the Carbon-
iferous faunas of western America and those of Russia and
other areas. The ultimate result tends to the increase of
the Upper Carboniferous series in America at the expense
! of beds now classified as Permian. The _polyzoan
Archimedes, moreover, is shown to possess a far wider
range than would be gathered from a consideration of the
typical American deposits.

Messrs. Stanton and Hatcher, assisted by Mr. Knowlton,
discuss the geology and palzontology of the Judith River
beds, in northern and central Montana and the adjacent
parts of Canada (Bulletin 257, U.S. Geol. Survey, 1905).
The outcome of stratigraphical study, and the examination
of the vertebrate and plant remains, show that these beds
are no longer to be regarded as on the Laramie horizon,
but are Senonian at the highest, and reach down to the
Cenomanian.

The same survey (Bulletin 262) issues contributions to
mineralogy, by several authors. The researches on which
these careful papers are based arose in connection with
the general work of the survey, and the results are here
conveniently brought together. Messrs. Hillebrand and
Ransome discuss the nature of carnotite (p. 18), which,
“instead of being the pure uranyl-potassium vanadate, is
to a large extent made up of barium and calcium com-
pounds.’’ From this ‘‘ mixture of minerals’’ the true
carnotite remains to be extracted and defined. Messrs.
Lindgren and Hillebrand (p. 48) incidentally direct attention
to the optical properties of chrysocolla, which, though
noticed by Jannetaz, have been very generally overlooked.
Mr. Schaller (p. 115) gives us a critical analysis of
dumortierite, deducing thence the formula

8AI,0,.B,0,-H,0.6Si0..

The boron oxide was first indicated by R. B. Riggs in
1887. These are only a few of the matters that will attract
mineralogists to these 147 pages.

The surface-features of the glaciated areas of North
America have provided a wide field for description and for
controversy. Mr. R. S. Tarr has sent us four papers, in
which various problems are set forth. That on moraines
of the Seneca and Cayuga lake valleys (Bull. Geol.
Soc. America, vol. xvi., p. 215) is mainly descriptive.
The drainage-features of central New York (ibid., p. 229)
involve questions of stream-capture, the lowering of water-
partings, and the formation of new slopes by detrital de-
posits, such as delight the glacial expert. A geographical
account of the gorges and waterfalls of central New York
(Bull. American Geographical Soc., April, 1905) is largely
concerned with the relations of pre-Glacial and post-Glacial

548

NA TORE:

[APRIL 5, 1906

—_—>

valleys. Of still more general interest is the paper on
some instances of moderate glacial erosion (Journal of
Geology, vol. xiii., 1905, p. 160), with its examples of
granite boulders lying in a sand derived from their own
decay, and left undisturbed by the passage of an ice-sheet
over them. The remarkable variations in the intensity of
glacial erosion recorded by Dr. Ampferer from the valley
of the Inn (Nature, vol. Ixxi., p. 236) might be cited in
support of the author’s observations.

The sixth volume of Spelunca is to be devoted to a
review and bibliography, by M. E. A. Martel, of all
papers on caves published so far in the twentieth century.
The first part, issued in June, 1905, covers the papers deal-
ing with France, and the enthusiastic author has spared
no pains in making a series of complete and valuable
abstracts. The result is a readable work, full of attraction
for the geographer as well as the geologist, in which M.
Martel devotes most of his own energies to the tracing
out of the courses of underground streams.

In the Geological Magazine for 1905, Dr. Francis Baron

Nopesa has begun a study of the remains of British
dinosaurs, preserved in the collections of the British
Museum at South Kensington. He shows that some

crocodilian remains are mingled in the rock with those of
Polacanthus. The remarkable bony dermal armour and
the general skeleton of this dinosaur are figured, and the
inflexible union of the lumbar vertebrze is pointed out as

a unique feature in this group. The author is, indeed,
led to style Polacanthus a sort of glyptodon among
dinosaurs. GAAS]. GC.

THE FORTHCOMING INTERNATIONAL
CONGRESS OF APPLIED CHEMISTRY.
HE sixth International Congress of Applied Chemistry,

already mentioned in Nature (this vol., pp. 322 and
421), will be opened at Rome on April 26 by H.M. the
King of Italy. The work of the congress is divided into
eleven sections, and in each section an extensive pro-
gramme has already been organised. Many of the most
eminent chemists of Europe and America have promised
to attend and deliver papers. Sir Wm. Ramsay will give
an address on the purification of sewage, Prof. Moissan
will lecture on the distillation of metals, and Dr. A. Frank,
of Berlin, on the direct utilisation of atmospheric nitrogen
in the manufacture of manures and chemical products.
Among the numerous papers which have been received by
the committee of the congress, the following may be
noticed as possessing general scientific interest :—

Section ii—The extraction of thorium and cerium
from the monazite sands, and their utilisation in Welsbach
mantles, by Prof. F. Garelli and G. A. Barbieri.

Section iii. (metallurgy).—The actual state and the future
of thermoelectric metallurgy, especially with regard to
steel, by Major E. Stassano; report on the state of metal-
lurgy in France, by the Comité des Forges de France.

Section vii. (agricultural chemistry).—Chemical changes
during the assimilation of nitrogen by bacteria, by Dr. J.
Stoklasa; the significance of the bacterial examination of
soils, by Prof. Remy.

Section viii. (hygiene and medical chemistry).—The value
of inulin as food in glycosuria, by Prof. C. Ulpiani; our
present knowledge of the fats from the standpoint of
physiological chemistry, by Dr. A. Jolles; inosuria, by
Dr. Meillére.

Section x. (electrochemistry and physical chemistry).—
This section is represented by more papers than any of the
other sections. The following may be mentioned :—Certain
cases of hydrolysis, by Prof. Veley; the van ’t Hoff-
Raoult formula, by Prof. W. D. Bancroft; isomorphism
and solid solutions, by Prof. Bruni; electrochemistry of
non-aqueous solutions, by Prof. Carrara; relations between
proteids and electrolytes, by Prof. Galeotti; action of
catalysts in the Deacon process for manufacturing chlorine,
by Prof. G. M. Levi; silicide of carbon and the calcium
carbide industry in France, by Prof. Moissan; catalysis
by common metals, by Prof. Sabatier; chemistry of
colloids, by Prof. Beckhold; amphoteric elements, by Prof.
Le Blanc; toxins and anti-toxins, by Prof. Ehrlich;
solid polyiodides of the alkali metals, by Prof. Abegg;

NO. 1901, VOL. 73]

dissociation of fused salts, fused silicates, and glasses, by
Prof. Doelter.

The Italian State railways have granted to the members
of the congress and their ladies a reduction of about
60 per cent. on the price of an ordinary railway ticket
from the frontier to Rome. On their arrival in Rome
members of the congress will receive from the committee
a book of coupons, which will enable them to obtain at
any station tickets at fares reduced by 4o per cent. to
60 per cent., according to the length of the journey. These
tickets are available from April 26 until June 11, so that
members of the congress may have the opportunity of
visiting the International Exhibition at Milan. The sub-
scription fee for membership of the congress is 20 lire for
gentlemen and 15 lire for ladies. A special ladies’ com-
mittee has been formed to receive foreign ladies with the
purpose of making their stay in Rome as pleasant as
possible.

All inquiries should be addressed to the bureau of the
congress, 89 Via Panisperna, Rome

PHYSICAL CONDITION OF CHILDREN
ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS.

THE physical condition of those who are about to enter

on active service in the affairs of life, and whose
energy is the chief of the national assets, is certainly a
matter of great national importance. Every effort is justi-
fied in producing as effective a working community as is
possible, and Dr. Kerr’s report affords welcome evidence
of the increasing concern with which those who direct
education are regarding the physical conditions of child-
life.

During the period dealt with in this report a limited
investigation was made of the conditions of some 3500 of
the girls and boys attending the Council’s schools, and very
striking were the results obtained. It was found that
some 42 per cent. of these possessed insufficient clothing
to retain animal heat, and therefore stood in urgent need
of help in this direction; it is not surprising to find that
chese children were below the average weight of the
school for their age; 45 per cent. of those examined had
dirty clothes and bodies, and about one-quarter of these
were in a verminous condition; here again these children
fell distinctly short of the average age weight. The above
results tend to show, perhaps, no more than the fact of
poverty, although the excessive shortage of weight in the
worst clad class of scholars suggests that insufficiency of
clothing is a definite factor in producing malnutrition, the
insufficient food energy being first taxed to keep up the
animal heat.

The greatest effect upon the life capital of the popula-
tion is produced by the infantile mortality, which in some
years actually kills off during the first year one in five of
all children born; the question naturally arises, what is
its effect upon the survivors? Does the adverse environ-
ment which slaughters one in five have a maiming effect
upon those left? Dr. Kerr’s investigations indicate that
the children born in a year when infantile mortality is
low show an increased physique, and those born in the
years of high infantile mortality show a decreased physique.
It appears, therefore, that in the years of high infantile
mortality the conditions to which one in five or six of
the children born are sacrificed have a maiming effect upon
the other four or five.

The examination of the teeth of some 1500 school
children demonstrated that, in the case of the boys, some
90 per cent. had caries, and 7o per cent. to a serious
extent. Only the boys who had insufficient grinding
surface were below the average in physique. It appears,
therefore, that caries must be severe to produce an effect
on nutrition.

As the result of an examination of the condition of the
eyes, it was found that a constant number of about
10 per cent. of scholars have bad vision; and it is estim-
ated that deafness alone is probably sufficient to interfere

IN

1 ‘Report of the Education Committee of the London County Council
submitting the Report of the Medical Officer (Education) for the Year
ended March 31, 1905.” No. 922. (London: P. S. King and Son, 1905 }
Price 1s., post free, 1s. 2d.

APRIL 5, 1906]

NATURE

549

to a considerable extent with the educational instruction
of at least 5 per cent. of scholars.

The necessity for increased endeavours to obtain better
physique is sufficiently obvious to anyone visiting the
schools, and it is satisfactory to find that the school exer-
cises are being improved.

Dr. Kerr deals in this report with the question of the
exclusion of children from school attendance between the
ages of three and five years. He appears to favour the
existence of the present state of things, but in this view
he will probably not receive much support from medical
officers of health. Doubtless school attendance affords
facilities for the spread of certain communicable diseases
(7o per cent. of the infants under five who are at present
admitted to the Council’s schools have not yet had measles
or whooping-cough), and the advantage to the child of
postponing attacks from these diseases for even a year or
two is so great that it offers one strong argument in
favour of excluding children under five from school attend-
ance. Dr. Kerr states that children learn more in the years
three to five than they will learn in the same period at
any time subsequently. But in children between three and
five the reasoning from what they see and hear is very
slight indeed, and in the opinion of many the child does
not really stand in need of school-teaching before it reaches
the age of five.

Increasing solicitude is shown in regard to the personal
cleanliness of the children attending the public elementary
schools, and Dr. Kerr discusses some of the problems
underlying the difficult question of dealing with underfed
children. The nurses working under the Council are
accomplishing a highly important work of considerable
educational value in examining for cases of ring-worm,
vermin, and unwholesomeness, and in many cases they
follow up their school work by home visits. In connection
with the campaign now being carried on in favour of
personal cleanliness in schools, the provision of school
washing-baths, as distinct from swimming arrangements,
is becoming increasingly necessary in many parts of
London.

The more important facts dealing with infectious disease
in this report relate to the subjects of diphtheria and
measles. From the result of much observation and many
carefully recorded facts, Dr. Kerr concludes that when
a school becomes a source of infection it is generally
found that the cases of diphtheria are connected with a
class or classes in which the average age of the children
is between five and eight. Rarely do cases below five
or above eight become sources of infection, and never has
it happened in the investigations that a class the average
age of which is less than four or above ten has been
found to be acting as a disseminating centre. These
classes appear to become sources of infection because the
children at these ages have the power of partial resist-
ance to the onslaught of diphtheria bacilli, and a
large proportion of them are capable of attending school
while suffering from slight attacks. Dr. Thomas, the
assistant medical officer, in a valuable report upon measles
and school closure, concludes that in London at present
the disease only spreads in classes under five years of age,
except in certain better-class districts, and that to effect
any useful purpose school closure must take place before
the “first crop’’ falls. The old practice of waiting until
the attendance fell to a certain limit was useless in arrest-
ing the spread of measles, and did absolutely no good.

STUDIES OF NATIVE TRIBES.

T HE American ethnological work in the Philippines is

making steady progress. The first part of vol. iv. of
the publications has just appeared. It deals with Moro
history, law, and religion. Mindanao and Sulu were con-
quered in the Middle Ages by Mohammedans, who estab-
lished a new form of government and introduced a written
code of laws. Previous to this there was no written
history, but thenceforth the datus or chiefs kept their
genealogies, and these, brief though they be, are the only
sources for Moro history. Prior to the American acquisi-
tion of the islands the tarsila or genealogies were rigidly

NO, 1901, VOL. 73]

kept out of sight of all foreigners and non-Mohammedans,
but the Ethnological Survey has been successful in getting
copies of many of them; these have now been translated,
and are published in the volume before us. The Moros
comprise various tribes, which differ as considerably as
the Ilocano and the Igorot; the language is Malayan, but
the characters employed are Arabic, which makes the work
of transliteration no easy one. Some pages of the codes
are published here in facsimile; the genealogies are re-
produced in the ordinary form, and an exact translation
of the genealogy and commentary is also given. There
are introductory sections, but perhaps it would have beem
well to add explanatory notes to the translations in
addition. :

In vol. xxxix. of the Proceedings of the Royal Society
of New South Wales, and also in the Journal of the
Geographical Society of Queensland for 1905, Mr.
R. H. Mathews maintains (1) that Australian tribes do
not practise exogamy; (2) that the eight clan tribes trace
descent through the mother; and (3) that there is a cioss-
division, cutting through phratries and classes, in the
eastern tribes. His first and second points are based on
the alleged possibility of marriage with any woman of the

same generation. His third point, confirmed by Dr.
Howitt (‘‘ Native Tribes,’’ p. 106 n.) in some measure,
may be correct, but seems to point rather to totemic

exogamy within the phratry. Mr. Mathews would do well
to give (1) the names of all correspondents, and (2) actual
genealogies, so that his statements can be verified. He
should also explain the object of phratries and classes, if
they are not regulative by marriage; success in this would
greatly strengthen his case. His researches, if correct, are
subversive of much that has been written of late years,
but he cannot expect the anthropological world to accept
his unsupported statements. If anthropology were officially
recognised by the British Empire, evidence on the point
would soon be forthcoming. As it is, only untrained
observers are available, and much reliance cannot be placed
on them.

POLONIUM AND RADIO-TELLURIUM.

SINCE the discovery of polonium—the first radio-active

substance investigated by Madame Curie—much doubt
has existed as to its true nature and as to its relationship
with radio-tellurium, subsequently separated by Prof.
Marckwald from radio-active bismuth salts. Several papers
which have recently been published throw considerable
light on the problem, without, however, giving to it a
definite solution. Madame Curie (Physikalische Zeitschrift,
No. 5) has determined the constant of decay characterising
her ** polonium,’’ and finds that it is practically identical
with that ascribed by Prof. Marckwald to his radio-
tellurium ; in both cases the activity falls to half its value
in about 140 days, so that there can be little doubt that
the two substances are identical. In discussing the
chemical properties of ‘‘ polonium,’? Madame Curie con-
cludes that there is no ground for considering that it more
closely resembles tellurium than bismuth. In No. 4 of the
Berichte of the German Chemical Society, Prof. F. Giesel
has investigated the radio-activity of a ‘‘ B-polonium”’
which differs from the older polonium or radio-tellurium
by its emitting B rays instead of a rays; the activity
of this substance falls to half its value in 6-14 days. This
value does not correspond with the rate of decay of any
of the known degradation products of radium. Meyer and
von Schweidler, on the other hand (Proceedings of the
Vienna Academy of Sciences, February 1), have obtained
a radio-active bismuth which appears to behave as a
mixture of radium D, radium E, and radium F; but
Madame Curie (Physikalische Zeitschrift, No. 6), in dis-
cussing this result, considers that polonium cannot be
identical with radium D or radium E, but only with
radium F. Closely connected with these researches must
be mentioned an investigation by Prof. H. Becquerel
(Physikalische Zeitschrift, No. 6) of some of the characters
of the a rays emitfed by radium, and by substances
rendered active by radium.

NATO RIG

[APRIL 5, 1906

MEDITERRANEAN FEVER}

HE reports of the commission for the investigation of
Mediterranean fever, part iv., recently issued, contains

a number of important papers. It is shown that in 86 per
cent. of patients the Micrococcus melitensis is present in
the peripheral blood, but usually not in large numbers
(Staff-Surgeon Gilmour, R.N.), that it can be recovered
from most of the organs and tissues post mortem, and
from the urine, but not from the saliva (Captain Kennedy,
R.A.M.C.). A critical examination of the blood for the
agglutination reaction, by Fleet-Surgeon Bassett-Smith,
R.N., shows that the blood in 148 cases, other than
Mediterranean fever, gave an agglutination reaction only
in four. The four latter had recently returned from Malta,
and, though suffering from other affections at the time,
had had the fever. The agglutination test is therefore per-
fectly trustworthy. Three papers deal with the possible
propagation of the disease by insects. Mosquitoes, Culex
pipiens and Stegomyia fasciata, were proved to be capable
of carrying infection; in one case it was highly probable
that a human being had been infected in this way, and
experimentally one monkey was thus infected (Major
Horrocks and Captain Kennedy). In view of the obsery-
ations recorded in a previous report of the natural in-
fection of goats with the M. melitensis, the further in-
vestigations in this direction are of great interest. Major
Horrocks and Captain Kennedy find that 41 per cent. of

the goats in Malta are infected, and that 10 per cent.
supplying milk excrete the M. melitensis in their mills,

and monkeys and goats can be infected by feeding with
the infected milk. Cows, bullocks, mules, and in one
instance a dog, are other animals proved occasionally to be
infected. Like goats, cows may transmit the micro-
coccus in their milk (Staff-Surgeon Shaw, R.N., and
Captain Kennedy). These results suggest that a very
important source of human infection is from domestic
animals, particularly via@ milk. Ambulatory cases in man
and the excretion of the micrococcus in the urine are also
sources by which infection may be transmitted both to
man and animals.

UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL
INTELLIGENCE.

Ar the University of Messina, Profs. G. Bagnera and
E. Bortolotti have been appointed to chairs for higher
analysis and calculus respectively.

Ar the annual graduation ceremonial of the University
of St. Andrews, on Tuesday, the honorary degree of LL.D.
was conferred upon Dr. A. C. L. G. Ginther, F.R.S.,
Prof. J. Cook Wilson, professor of logic in the University
of Oxford, and Prof. A. H. Young, professor of anatomy
in Victoria University, Manchester.

At Lehigh University a course in electrometallurgy has
been established. In its main outline it is similar to the
course in metallurgy, but differs from it in omitting assay-
ing and geology. The time thus gained is devoted to
electrical engineering. There are thus two courses of four
years each offered in the department of metallurgy.

Some interesting data relating to the heating of uni-
versity buildings are contained in a paper by Mr. H. W.
Spangler in the Journal of the Franklin Institute of Phila-
delphia (vol. clxi., No. 3), in which he describes the
system of heating and lighting the dormitories of the
University of Pennsylvania from a central station about
1200 feet away.

In addition to the Clift-Courtauld and Pfeiffer scholar-
ships to be awarded in June, the council of Bedford College
for Women offers a Deccan scholarship in science, value
6ol., for three years, On the result of the entrance scholar-
ships examination. The scholarship will be awarded only
to candidates who wish to qualify themselves to earn a

1 “Reports of the Commission appointed by the Admiralty, 'he War
Office, and the Civil Government of Malta for the Investigation of Mediter-
ranean Fever, under the Supervision of an Advisory Comm‘ttee of the Royal
pocistyay Part iv. Pp. 187. (London: Harrison and Sons, 1906.) Price
3s. 6

NO. 1901, VOL. 73]

living, and cannot obtain their university education with-
out pecuniary help.

A PRIVATE view of the exhibition of students’ work will
be held at the Borough Polytechnic Institute on April 7.
In view of the attention which is being directed to the
work done on the Continent and in America in the direction
of industrial training for apprentices, many men of science
interested in educational problems may be glad tu learn
more of the work of an institute which has made in-
dustrial training, combined with a govd educational
foundation, one of its strongest features,

A PRELIMINARY meeting in connection with the second
International Congress on School Hygiene, to be held in
London in August, 1907, was held at the University of
London on March 30. Sir Lauder Brunton, F.R.S., presi-
dent of the congress, announced that French educationists
and medical men have determined to do all in their power
to make the congress in London a complete success, and
other countries have taken the matter up. A gratifying
reception has been accorded to the idea of an international
congress both in Canada and in South Africa, and it is
hoped that at the congress there will be a thoroughly
representative gathering, not only of the colonies, but of
every civilised country in the world. The congress, Sir
Lauder Brunton said, promises to be one of the largest
and most important ever held in London. Resolutions
were adopted approving the idea of holding the second
congress in London, asking the King to extend his Royal
patronage to the congress, approving the steps already
taken to initiate the arrangements for the congress, and
inviting the cooperation of educational and municipal
authorities, societies, and other representative bodies
interested in education and the health and development of
children during school life.

Tue annual dinner of the Bristol University College
Colston Society was held on March 30. The president,
Mr. J. W. Arrowsmith, announced the receipt of a cheque
for sool. from Lord Strathcona, who was unable to attend.
He added that for the past six years an anonymous donor
has sent the college 1o0ol. annually for its sustentation
fund. The Hon. Mrs. Whittuck, of Bath, has offered
150ol. to form part of the endowment of a chair of
economic science, provided the council of the college sees
its way to establish such a chair. It has been determined
to take up in earnest the task of establishing a university
for Bristol, and a committee has been formed, covering
the counties of Wiltshire, Somerset, and Gloucestershire.

Lord Winterstoke has offered 10,o00]., Mr. J. S. Fry
10,0001., and Sir Frederick Wills and Mr. F. J. Fry
500o0l. each, thus making up 30,000/. Altogether from
150,000l. to 200,000]. are wanted. Mr. Whitelaw Reid,

the United States Ambassador, and Mr. Birrell, President
of the Board of Education, both responded to the toast
of ‘‘ Our Guests.’? Mr. Reid described American experi-
ence in the founding of universities. The people of the
United States began by copying Oxford and Cambridge,
the only two English universities in 1833; but in time
they found that the demands of a new people, and of a
continent that had to be subdued to the uses of civilisation,
called more and more for some higher education of a
different kind. Thus while the great English schools still
adhered chiefly to the humanities, theirs began a diver-
gence, which every year found more decided, towards
science and its applications. The most notable tendency
as yet in recent higher educational development in America
is towards scientific and technological study with a special-
isation always growing more precise, if not also more
narrow, in reference to the student’s intended pursuits in
life. After describing the development of schools and
institutions of higher education since the Civil War, Mr.
Reid went on to say that none of these schools has money
enough, though many of them have considerable amounts.
First, of course, stands the Leland Stanford with its
princely endowment, from one man and his wife, of
between seven and eight million pounds. Next comes
Columbia with more than six million pounds, then Harvard
with about five and a half millions, Chicago with nearly
four millions, and Cornell with nearly three. The
great work of Yale has been done with true Connecticut

APRIL 5, peaoeoy

UND ANIA CW 5am

thrift, since they cannot yet count up quite two millions
of pounds; and that of Johns Hopkins, briefer but also

great, has been achieved with an endowment of little above
one million. The Carnegie Institute at Washington has
two millions. Many of the other institutions of higher
learning are far less adequately provided for; but in

general it may be said that the Republic is more liberal
with its schools than with anything else. In no other field
do its private citizens display more generosity, and as for
public expenditure, to give but one illustration, it may be
mentioned that the single State of New York spent in 1905
from the public freasunicst State and local, for its schools
in the neighbourhood of nine million pounds.

SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES.

LONDON.

Royal Society, December 7, 1905.—‘‘ On the Influence of
Bias and of Personal Equation in Statistics of Ill-defined
Qualities: an Experimental Study.’ By G. Udny Yule.
Communicated by Prof. O. Henrici, F.R

To attempt to answer the question raise -d by the results
of the preceding investigation an experiment was conducted,
by asking observers to classify under such headings as
‘““light,’’ ** medium,’’ ** dark,’’ scraps of photographic paper
printed to different depths of colour. The results show that
(1) personal equation in the use of such terms is very large
indeed; (2) the majority of observers tend to return an
excess of pairs of tints of the same name; (3) the amount
of this excess is increased when different observers’ results
are pooled, owing to their varying personal equations ;
(4) but it is markedly less than the excess of the number of
homonymous pairs (as compared with a normal distribu-
tion) in several of the tables for inheritance of qualities.
The answer to the question remains therefore somewhat
indefinite, and further investigation is required.

Chemical Society, March 15.—Prof. R. Meldola, F.R.S.,
president, in the chair.—The interaction of well-dried
mixtures of hydrocarbons and oxygen: W. A. Bone and
G. W. Andrew. The results of experiments carried out
chiefly with well-dried mixtures of ethylene and oxygen
indicate that steam is not essential to the combustion of
hydrocarbons.—The explosive combustion of hydrocarbons :
W. A. Bone and J. Drugman. The results of this re-
search indicate that there is no essential diflerence between
the slow and rapid combustion of a hydrocarbon, and that
explosive combustion probably involves the initial form-
ation of unstable hydroxylated molecules, which sub-
sequently undergo thermal decomposition into simpler pro-
ducts.—The occurrence of methane among the decompo-
sition products of certain nitrogenous bases as a source
of error in the estimation of nitrogen by the absolute
method: P. Haas. The author confirms and extends to
a large number of substances Dunstan and Carr’s observ-
ation that in the Dumas method of determining nitrogen
in organic substances an error may be caused by ‘the
inclusion of marsh gas in the gas collected and measured.
—Studies on comparative cryoscopy, part iv., the hydro-
carbons and their halogen derivatives in phenol solution :
P. W. Robertson.—The displacement of acid ions,
part i.: A. F. Joseph. The author describes his in-
vestigations on the quantitative action of hydrochloric acid
on the nitrates of potassium, sodium, and strontium, and
of nitric acid on i
compounds of arylamines with aromatic nitro-derivatives :

C. L. Jackson and L. Clarke. 4 : 6-Dibromo-1 : 3-
dinitrobenzene dimethylaniline, 4-chloro-r : 3 : 5-tribromo-
2:6-dinitrobenzene dimethylaniline and other similar

additive products are described.—Influence of substituents
in the trinitrobenzene molecule on the formation of
additive compounds with arylamines: J. J. Sudborough
and N. Picton. The formation of additive compounds
between a- or §-naphthylamine and __ s-trinitrobenzene
derivatives is completely inhibited by the introduction of
three methyl-, two methoxy-, or three bromo-radicals into

the trinitrobenzene molecule.—The relations between
absorption spectra and chemical constitution, part iv., the
re-activity of the substituted quinones: A. W. Stewart

and E. C. C. Baly. An examination made of the

NO. I9OI, VOL. 73]

was

absorption
are drawn

spectra of various quinones, and conclusions
as to the conditions in which these substances
exist.—The constitution and properties of acyl thio-
cyanates: J. Hawthorne.—A mode of formation of
aconitic and citrazinic acids and their allyl derivatives,
with remarks on the constitution of aconitic acid: H.
Rogerson and J. If. Thorpe.—<Aromatic sulphonium
bases: S. Smiles and R. Le Rossignol. ‘wo methods
of preparing aromatic sulphonium bases are described,
(1) from a sulphoxide and phenetole with a dehydrating
agent, (2) from a sulphinic acid and phenetole with strong
sulphuric acid.—A new form of calcium chloride tube for

combustion: A. E. Hill. This tube is described and illus-
trated in the current number of the Proceedings of the
Chemical Society, 1906, xxii., 87.—Lhe viscosity of liquid

mixtures, part iii: A. E. Dunstan.—The action of
phenylpropiolyl chloride on the ketonic compounds, part ii. :
S. Ruhemann.

Paris.

Academy of Sciences, March 26.—M. H. Poincaré in the
chair.—The methods used in the search for luminous
particles mixed with the gas of the chromosphere and
the solar protuberances. Application during the eclipse of
1905: H. Deslandres. The lines due to the gases are
readily observed, but the continuous spectrum due to the
presence of liquid or solid particles is much more difficult
to recognise. The author attacked this problem during
the last eclipse, making use of coloured screens to remove
the gaseous radiations. A preliminary account of the
results is given.—Observations on Gennadas: E. L.
Bouvier. The author draws the following conclusions
from his work in this and a preceding paper on the same
subject: the Gennadas are clearly bathypelagic, and do
not descend to live at great depths; they do not rise to the
surface for reproduction, and are derived from Benthe-
sicymus by adaptation to a bathypelagic existence.—Quasi-
waves of shock in the midst of a fluid which is a good
conductor of heat: P. Duhem.—The Oligocene basin of
Ebro and the Tertiary history of Spain: Ch. Depéret and
L. Vidal.—The total eclipse of the sun of August 30, 1905 >
solar protuberances of two colours: J. Esquirol.—A magic
square: G. Tarry.—The theory of characteristics: E-
Goursat.—Discontinuous ensembles: L. Zoretti.—The
development of non-integrable functions in trigonometrical

series: P. Fatou.—Hyperelliptic surfaces defined by inter-
mediate singular functions: Louis Remy.—The deform-
ation of the metals of a railway: G. Cuénot.—A mode

of construction of aéroplanes allowing of an increase, in
notable proportions, of their sustaining power: E. Seux.
The evaluation of the power of microscopic objectives: L.
Malassez.—The variations of the absorption bands of a
crystal in a magnetic field: Jean Becquerel. The spec-
trum of xenotime, a uniaxial crystal giving fine absorption
bands, was obtained with a Rowland grating, and the
effect of placing the crystal in a magnetic field examined.
The resulting displacement of some of the bands was much
greater than would be expected from the magnitude of the
ordinary Zeeman effect in metallic vapours.—Gaseous
osmosis through a colloidal membrane: Jules Amar. A
perfectly dry colloidal membrane is impermeable to carbon
dioxide ; the gas diffuses through only when the membrane
is moist, and the amount diffused diminishes progressively
as the membrane dries.—A contribution to the study of the
intermittent discharge: G. Millochau.—New researches
on bulbs producing X-rays: M. Nogier.—The use of the
Cooper-Hewitt lamp as a source of monochromatic light :
Ch. Fabry and H. Buisson. This mercury are lamp,
which is now made commercially, gives a light of uniform
intrinsic lustre. The yellow and green rays are so fine
as to give interference phenomena with a difference of
path of 22 cm., that is to say, of an order of about
490,000. The yellow rays give particularly fine results.—
The isolation and some atomic characters of dysprosium :
G. Urbain. The author has isolated 50 grams of an
earth the spectral characters and atomic weight of which
show such constancy among the different fractions that it
is impossible to imagine that if is a mixture. Details of
the methods of separation used and the spectrum observed
are given.—The commercial preparation of calcium
hydride : Georges F. Jaubert. The product, as put on the

B52 INGA TROT, [APRIL 5, 1906
market, contains about 90 per cent. of calcium hydride, Expedition.—Pafer : Recent Exploration and Survey in Seistan: Col.
the remainder consisting chiefly of oxide and nitride. One Sir Henry McMahon, K.C.S.1. B ;

a = Z Vicroria INSTITUTE, at 4.30.—The Bible in the Light of Modern
kilogram of this, when acted on by water, gives about a

cubic metre of pure hydrogen. The lifting power of this
being about 1200 grams, calcium hydride has been already

used in aéronauties.—The action of the xanthic leuco-
maines on copper: N. Slommesco.—A new type of
equilibrium reaction: L. J. Simon. The equilibrium
studied was the reaction between urethane and _ pyruvic
acid.—Practical details in the estimation of cadmium: H.
Baubigny.—The estimation of the albumenoid material

in milk: MM. Trillat and Sauton. The methed is based
upon the property of formaldehyde of rendering the milk

albumenoids insoluble without affecting their weight. The
working method is given, and also control analys 5-— he
catalytic action exercised by alkaline and alkaline-earth

salts in the fixation of atmospheric oxygen by solutions of

polyphenols: E. Fouard.—The formation and distribution
of the terpene compounds in the bitter orange: Eug.
Charabot and G. Laloue.—A parasite of the pearl oyster
determining the production of fine pearls at the Gambier
Islands: L. G. Seurat. The parasite is named Tylo-
cephalum margaritiferae, and, owing to its pearl-forming
properties, is of considerable economic importance.—The
origin of the nerves: N. A. Barbierii—Hzamatogen and
the formation of haemoglobin: L. Hugeuneng and Albert
Morel.—Aseptic hyperthermia due to operations: MM.
Charrin and Jardry.—A contribution to the history of the
Piedmont geosynciinal : Emile Argand.—A contribution to
the physical geography of the Atlas chain of Morocco:
Louis Gentil.

DIARY OF SOCIETIES.

THURSDAY, Aprrivs.

‘Rovat Society, at 4.30.—On Retardation of the Discharge of an Electro-
scope by Means of certain Radio-active and other Substances: Dr.
W. S. Lazarus-Barlow.—On a Mineral, which retards the Rate of
Discharge of an Electroscope: Dr. E. H. Biichner.—On a New Method
‘of obtaining Continuous Currents froma Magnetic Detector of the
Self-Restoring Type: L. H. Walter —On the Distribution of Radium in
the Earth's Crust, and on the Earth's Internal Heat: Hon. R. J. Strutt,
Ff R.S.—On the Physiological Action of a recently discovered African
Arrow Poison: Dr. C. Bolton.

CuHemicat Society, at 8.30.—An Improved Apparatus for measuring
Magnetic Rotations and obtaining a Powerful Sodium Light: W. H.
Perkin, Sen.—The Rusting of Iron: G. T. Moody.— )n the Determina-
tion of Carbon in Soils: A. D. Hall, N. H. J. Miller and N. Harmer. —
The Electrolysis of the Salts of BB- Dimethylglutaric Acid: J. Walker
and J. K. Wood.—Bromo- and Hydroxy-derivatives of B88 8'-Tetra-
methylsuberic Acid : J. K. Wood.—Some new Orthoxylene Derivatives:
G. Statlard.—A new Solvent for Gold. Preliminary Note: J. Moir.—
The Molecular Condition in Solution of Ferrous Oxalate: a Correction :
S. E. Sheppard and C. E. K. Mees.

Roya InstTiruTion, at 5.—Internal Combustion Engines:
Hopkinson.

INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Electrical Equipment of
the Aberdare Collieries of the Powell Duffryn Company: C. P. Sparks,—
Klectric Winding considered Practically and Commercially: W. C.
Mountain (Conclusion of Discussion)

Linnean Society, at 8.—Axhibition: Some Plants new tothe pre-Glacial
Flora of Great Britain: Clement Reid, F.R.S.—Pagers: A Second
Contribution to the Flora of Africa.—Rubiacez and Composite, Part II. :
Spencer Moore.—The Anatomy of the Stem and Leaf of Wuytsia
floribunda, R.Br.: E. J. Schwartz.—Taiwanites, a new Genus of
Coniferz: from the Island of Formosa: B. Hayata.

Civit aND MECHANICAL ENGINEERS’ SocIETY, at 8.—Steam Turbines:
G. D'A. Meynell.

Profs Bs

FRIDAY, Aprit 6.

Macacotocicat Society, at 8.—On a Species of the Land Molluscan
Genus Dyakia from Siam: Lt.-Col. H. H. Godwin-Austen, F.R.S.—
Descriptions of new Species of Land Shells from Peru and Colombia :
S. I. Da Costa.—Note on Swainson’s Genus Volutilithes: R. Bullen
Newton.—Further Notes on the Genus Chloritis, with Description of new
Species: G. K. Gude.—Vertigo parcedentata, Braun, in Holocene
Deposits in Great Britain: A. S. Kennard and BB. Woodward.

Roya INSTITUTION, at 9.—The Physical Basis of Life: W. B. Hardy,
F.R.S.

Geo.oaists’ AssoctaTIon, at 8.—The Pressure-chipping of Flint, and the
Question of Eolithic Man: S. H. Warren.

SATURDAY, Arrit 7.
Rovat INSTITUTION, at 3.—Tbe Corpuscular Theory of Matter:
J. J. Thomson, F.R.S.
Tue Essex Frevp Civ B (at Essex Museum of Natural History, Stratford),
at 6.30.—Salt-making in Essex, Ancient and Modern: Miller Christy.—
Neolithic Man in Epping Forest: F. W. and H. Campion.

MONDAY, Arrit og.

Rovat GEOGRAPHICAL SocieETy, at 8 30.—Presentation by H.E, the
American Ambassador of the Gold Medal of the American Geographical
Society to Captain R. F. Scott, Commander of the National Antarctic

NO I9OI, VOL. 73]

Prof.

Science : W. Woods Smyth.

TUESDAY, Apri ro.

Zoorocicas. Society, at 8.30.—The Freshwater Fishes of the Island of
Trinidad, based on the Collection, and Notes and Sketches, made by Mr.
Lechmere Guppy, Jun.: C. Tate Regan.—The Marine Fauna of
Zanzibar and British East Africa from Collections made by Cyril
Crossland in the Years 1901-2. Alcyonaria: Prof. J. Arthur Thomson
and W. D. Henderson.—(1) Cyclopia in Osseous Fishes; (2) Notes on
Supernumerary Eyes, Local Deficiency and Reduplication of the Noto-
chord in Trout Embryos: Dr. |. F. Gemmill.

INSTITUTION OF CiVIL ENGINEERS, at 3.—On the Resistance of Iron and
Steel to Reversals of Direct Stress: Dr. T. E. Stanton and L. Bairstow.

Farapay Society, at 8.—Note on the Rotating Electric Steel Furnace
in the Artillery Construction Works, Turin: &. Stassano.—Electro-
thermics of Iron and Steel: C. A. Keller.—Recent Developments in the
Gin Electric Steel Furnace : G. Gin.—Note on the Cleaning of Work by
Means of the Electric Current : H. S. Coleman.

WEDNESDAY, Aprrit 11.
RoyaL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, at 5.

CONTENTS. PAGE
Ions, Electrons, and Corpuscles. By Dr. O. W.
Richardson. . . Paes cS)
Another Plea for Rational ‘Education, By A. T. S. 530
A Mare’s Nest. By A. D. H. Rhee Bee 6 859
Our Book Shelf :—
Low: ‘‘ Technical Methods of Ore Analysis” - 532
Barrett : ‘The Lepidoptera of the British Islands.
A Descriptive Account of the Families, Genera,
and Species Indigenous to Great Britain and
Treland, their Preparatory States, [labits, and
Localities.” —W. F. K. . see
Taylor : ‘‘ A First Readerin Health and "Temperance Ee
Letters to the Editor:
Spectral Series in Relation to Ions. —Dr. J. Stark 533
The Kew Bulletin. —Sir W. T. Thiselton-Dyer,
K.C.M.G., F.R.S. 534
Interpretation of Meteorological Records. —Dr. John
Aitken, F.R.S.. . 534
Request for Prints of Photographic Portraits. —_Dr.
Francis Galton, F.R.S.. . Priests ot Giey!
Peculiar Ice Formation.—W. ‘B. Wright . oe 534
Formula for finding the Date of Easter. —Chas.
Leitch. jeep Reh Srey
Chinese Names of Colours. Bene Sas
The Adulteration of Butter.—J. H. Lester; Cc.
Simmonds : SSS:
The Existence of ‘Absolute Motion.—F. Te Ww.
Whipple ; tia ee oe 535
Sailing Craft in Europe and Asia, 5(Mustrated.) By
Sir W. H. White, K.C.B., F.R.S. . 536
The Solar Eclipse of 1905. (Ultustrated.) By Dr.
W.J.S. Lockyer. . 537
The Story of an English Town. Illustrated.) 535
The Growth of Beet-Sugarin England . ; 539
Prof. Lionel Smith Beale, F,R.S. 2 Rede Ede 540
Notes 6 ‘ 54°
Our Astronomical Column :—
Astronomical Occurrences in April 544
Comet 19064 . 544
Comet 1905¢ . : 544.
A Systematic Study of Faint Stars 545
Stars having Peculiar Spectra : 545
The Lunar Eclipse of February 8 . 545
Parallel Running of Alternate Current Genera-
tors. (With Diagrams.) . 545
Geological Notes. By G. A.J.C. : ; eva. Jbyele)
The Forthcoming International Congress of
Applied Chemistry . ites Oe 5 - 548
Physical Condition of Children in Elementary
Schools. . > Ae tee peers)
Studies of Nativeuiribes; 5). annseces enane 549
Polonium and Radio-Tellurium . 549
Mediterranean Fever . . 550
University and Educational Intelligence. 550
Societies and Academies SE oh 8 551
DiaryjofiSocieties marin) canine nner 552

MAT O RCE

Sai

THURSDAY, APRIL

12,

THE PHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECT OF LIFE IN
THE ALPS.

Hohenklima und Bergwanderungen in threr wirkung
auf den Menschen. By N. Zuntz, A. Loewy, F.
Miiller, and W. Caspari. Pp. xvit+494, and tables.
Dedicated to E. Pfliiger, in celebration of the
jubilee cf his doctorate. (Beriin: Bong and Co.,
1905-)

aN LPINE literature has a special charm; it re-kin-
4 dles memories of happy hours spent among the
mountains, and thrills us with echoes of that intense
delight in life which was the prominent characteristic
of days in Switzerland. No doubt many things con-
tribute to the pleasure which the Alps give to thou-
sands of men and women, but one obvious and potent
factor is the sense of well-being; we feel that, like
the elixir of life, mountain air and scenery rejuvenate
body and mind.

In the important work just published by Prof.
Zuntz, Prof. Loewy, and their comrades, a scientific
basis is afforded for this rejuvenating influence. The
volume contains an account of an expedition under-
taken expressly to carry out physiological investiga-
tions at high altitudes. Such expeditions have been
frequently made, the most notable being the pioneer
one of Paul Bert, the extensive one of Kronecker and
his colleagues, and those which Mosso has repeatedly
carried out in the Monte Rosa district. The expedi-
tion conducted by Prof. Zuntz has no doubt reaped
great advantages from the study of the work of its
predecessors, and the results achieved are in conse-
quence more convincing, and from the physiological
standpoint more valuable.

Since the object of the expedition was the enlarge-
ment of physiological science, the essential features of
the account are of necessity somewhat technical.
But the volume contains many passages which are of
general interest, including an extensive historical ac-
count of earlier expeditions. There are in every one
of the twenty-two chapters passages which will ap-
peal to all those who love the Alps, for Prof. Zuntz
is himself one of this fraternal band, and reveals his
own enthusiasm not only by the character of the de-
scriptive writing, but more directly by the interpolation
of many beautiful Alpine illustrations. Moreover,
such practical details as clothing, food, and exercise
are dealt with from the alpinist’s point of view, and
what is termed ‘‘ sport ’’ is treated in a most sugges-
tive way.

To the majority of readers, especially if they should
be medical practitioners, the most interesting portions
of this really great work will be those which set forth
the peculiarities of the climate in high altitudes and
the influence which these peculiarities must exert, not !

only on vigorous athletes who climb the topmost
peaks, but on the ever-increasing number of less am-

NO. 1902, VOL.:-73 |

bitious mortals who seek the Alps in order to restore
shattered health, or to check the advance of disease.
In chapter xx. the benefits and dangers of life in
moderately high altitudes are set forth in the light of
the results of the expedition; the new basis for esti-
mating the value of such benefit or the extent of
such danger which is given in this part of the work
should of itself secure the general reputation of the
volume owing to its direct bearing upon some of the
most important hygienic topics of the day.

It is impossible in the short space of this notice to
do justice to such a comprehensive volume, but since
the essence of the work lies in the physiological effects
which were observed at high altitudes, and these form
the basis referred to in the preceding paragraph, a
brief summary of the physiological results must be
attempted. In order to realise their nature, the plan
of the expedition will be first described.

Two physiological professors, two assistant pro-
fessors, and two younger members of the medical pro-
fession engaged in physiological research formed the
personnel of the expedition. For more than twelve
months each member of the party had made elaborate
experiments of a preliminary character in the Berlin
laboratories in order to become efficient in the quanti-
tative work necessary for the investigation of the body
metabolism. The details of the expedition were
planned with great care and forethought; valuable
aid was afforded by Prof. Kronecker, of Berne, and
Prof. Mosso, of Turin, the most essential feature of
this help being the offer of the working laboratories
established in the Brienz district by Kronecker and in
the Monte Rosa district by Mosso. In July, 1901,
the actual work was begun at Brienz. This is situ-
ated at the east end of the lake of that name, and lies
at the height of 1857 feet; it is connected by a moun-
tain railway with the summit of the Brienz Rothhorn
(7713 feet). At Brienz each member of the party, by
strict diet and other precautions, placed himself in a
condition of nitrogenous equilibrium, that is, a condi-
tion in which the quantity of nitrogen assimilated
from the food is equal to that excreted in twenty-four
hours. After a few days the party divided, three
members going by train to the summit of the Brienz
Rothhorn, the others remaining at the lower level -
both groups performed given amounts of muscular
exercise and conducted similar physiological investi-
gations. Finally the groups changed places, and the
work was continued as before. This formed the first
part of the inquiry; the second part was of a more
severe character. Starting from that delightful
valley in which Gressoney-la-Trinité nestles amongst
the flowery slopes of the Lysthal, the party ascended
to the Col d’Olen, where, at a height of 9420 feet,
Mosso has established his lower mountain laboratory.
After spending some days in preparations, four mem-
bers of the party and Prof. Sella, of Rome, climbed
with guides and porters to the summit of the Signal
Kuppe or Point Gnifetti of Monte Rosa, 14,965 feet.
Here they stayed for seven days in the hut, now
widely known as the Capanna Osservatorio Regina
Margherita, which was erected for experimental pur-

BB

554

NATORE

[APRIL 12, 1906

poses through Mosso’s endeavours. The first days
were most tempestuous, and the account of the stay
on the summit is full of interest; an incident in the
weelk was the recovery of a collapsed Alpine tourist,
who, to the surprise of the party, turned out to be a
lady. The whole party suffered more or less severely
from mountain sickness, and a valuable part of the
investigations deals with this familiar complaint.

Animals were taken up all the ascents for experi-
mental purposes, others being left below for control
observations.

The physiological results are related respectively to
the influence of moderate altitudes, i.e. up to 7500 feet,
and of high altitudes up to nearly 15,000 feet, the
former being chiefly the Brienz-Rothhorn experiments,
the latter the Monte Rosa ones. They may be briefly
summarised under the following different headings :—

(1) Blood Changes.—It is now well known that, as
first suggested by Paul Bert, the blood is altered in
high altitudes. The most striking change is that
discovered by Viault, who found that the red blood
corpuscles increased from five millions to seven or
eight millions per cubic millimetre of blood. Similar
increase was observed in the present expedition, but it
was somewhat uncertain in character. The determin-
ation of the specific gravity of the blood and of the
serum showed that the increase when present was not
due to plasma diminution through the excessive
evaporation of perspiration; moreover, an examination
in animals of the tissue which is the seat of the cor-
puscular formation (the red marrow of the bones)
showed that this was in a state of greatly augmented
activity. There is therefore no question that the red
corpuscles increase in number, and the authors state
in their work that the stimulating influence is the
diminished oxygen tension of the blood itself.

(2) Digestive Efficiency.—By careful quantitative ex-
aminations of the food and excreta, it was shown
that altitudes up to Sooo feet exercised a favourable
influence upon the completeness of the digestive pro-
cesses, the indigestible residues diminishing especially
when the surroundings were cold. In very hot sur-
roundings this favourable influence was not so ap-
parent, and in these circumstances muscular exer-
tion caused it to be of the reverse type. At very
high altitudes, 14,900 feet, the efficiency of digestion
was greatly impaired.

(3) Oxidation Processes.—The extent of these was
determined by the relation between the absorbed
oxygen and the total heat production of the body. It
appeared that even at such low altitudes as 1500 feet
the total oxidation was increased, this being excep-
tionally high during muscular exertion, whilst in
moderate and high altitudes the oxidation processes
were greatly increased. The increase is set down to
two circumstances; firstly, the diminished thermo-
genetic capacity of the muscles, which are impaired
by the inadequate supply of oxygen in their circulating
blood, thus throwing the necessary heat production
upon the oxidation of more complex compounds than
those offered by the muscles; secondly, the presence
in the tissues of abnormal oxidisable substances.

NO, 1902, VOL. 7.3)|

(4) Proteid Metabolism.—The most important of
the numerous changes brought forward in the re-
sults of the expedition are those connected with the
fundamental nitrogenous substances, proteids. It
has been firmly established in physiology that whilst
every growing animal assimilates through food more
nitrogen than is excreted, this is not the case in the
adulf except in special circumstances. Growth
implies proteid storage, which is believed to be utilised
for the increased formation of cellular structures, and
even in the adult such local muscular growth may
occur as the result of special muscular exercise, train-
ing, &c., but it soon reaches a limit and is compara-
tively insignificant. In the convalescent it is a marked
feature of recovery from wasting illness. After mak-
ing due allowance for all disturbing influences, a most
important result was arrived at by the work of the
expedition. Even at Brienz (1500 feet) a stage was
reached in’ which the total N-import exceeded the
N-export, whilst on the Rothhorn this excess was most
marked. Moreover, this phase of metabolism persisted
for a considerable time after leaving the moderately
high altitude. This implies the production of a phase
of nitrogenous metabolism resembling that of the
growing animal; it is, in short, a renewal of youth.
It is noteworthy that along with this nitrogen storage
there was no corresponding increase of body weight,
the intensity of the oxidation processes in non-nitro-
genous compounds being more than sufficient to mask
the proteid gain. At the highest altitudes the gain
was not so apparent, but this is amply accounted for
by the digestive derangement which was associated
with the mountain sickness.

(5) Respiration and Circulation.—The decrease of
the oxygen tension in the blood in consequence of
the decreased partial pressure of the oxygen of the
air was in accordance with the results obtained by
Hifner and others in connection with hemoglobin, In
opposition to Mosso’s results the authors found that
there was not a decreased tension of carbonic acid
in the blood. They bring forward evidence which
suggests that deficiency of oxygen in the blood can,
like excess of carbonic acid, stimulate the respiratory
centre; this is of interest as it is opposed to the
physiological view now generally accepted. The
peculiar type of breathing known as the Cheyne-
Stokes respiration, described by Mosso as occurring
at high altitudes, was observed by the members of
the expedition on Monte Rosa, but the explanation
now advanced is quite different from that offered by
Mosso. Zuntz regards the phenomenon as impaired
activity of the respiratory centres, which are only
capable of being adequately roused if the carbonic
acid has by accumulation reached a certain tension
in the blood.

As regards the circulatory changes, the only one
of a fundamental character appeared to be due to the
altered activity of the heart. At moderate altitudes
the heart’s activity, like that of the respiratory
mechanism, is augmented to meet the need for more
oxygen and more effective oxygen transport by the
blood, but at very high altitudes there appeared to be

APRIL 12, 1906|

NATURE 5

5

on

a great tendency to cardiac weakness owing to the
direct action of insufficient oxygen in the blood sup-
plying the muscular walls of the heart.

This scanty and imperfect sketch may serve to show
the very extensive field which is covered by the physro-
logical worl of the expedition, but, in addition, many
valuable observations were made upon the symptoms,
progress, and nature of mountain sickness. The cause
of this complaint is, according to the authors, the
deficiency of oxygen transport by the blood. The in-
dividual variations in the manifestation of the symp-
toms and the disappearance of the symptoms on
habituation are considered to be due to the relative
adequacy or inadequacy of the mechanisms by which
the organism endeavours to protect itself against this
oxygen deficiency. One such mechanism is the cir-
culation flow, and if this is unable to bear the strain
of increase, then nervous influences diminish the vas-
cular area of the digestive organs in order to supply,
so far as practicable, the higher nerve centres in the
brain; in consequence of this anzmia, an extensive
derangement of the digestive functions is produced
which shows itself in the sickness and other symptoms
that are the characteristic features of the trouble.

In conclusion, attention must be directed once again
to the practical bearing of the Rothhorn experiments.
These deal with the effects produced by moderately
high altitudes, and to such altitudes thousands of men
and women go every year, whilst the numerous sana-
toria frequented by invalids are situated at these
elevations. Moderate altitudes of less than 8000 feet
appear, in consequence of the lessened atmospheric
pressure, to benefit the whole organism in the follow-
ing particulars. The tissue which produces the
oxygen carriers of the blood is stimulated into greater
activity, the oxidation of abnormal substances is in-
creased, the heart’s action is augmented, the respira-
tory muscular mechanism is brought into more

energetic use, and, finally, that proteid assimilation |

which is so directly related to cell growth and cell
restoration assumes the phase present in the young
and growing animal. In consequence of all these
changes, and particularly the last one, altitudes of
from 4000 to 7ooo feet must exercise a most bene-
ficial and even rejuvenating influence. In the case
of many invalids the effect will be to arm the body
for its fight against such insidious foes as the tubercle
bacillus and to hasten recovery in all cases of con-
valescence from bodily or mental prostration. Only
those whose circulation is seriously impaired directly
or indirectly by organic disease are debarred from the
probability of such beneficial effects.

Experience has revealed to many the profound truth
which is expressed in the beautiful and familiar
words, ‘‘ I] will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from
whence cometh my help.’’ In their monumental
work Prof. Zuntz and his colleagues present physio-
logical reasons for the assurance that whilst moun-
tain scenery may arouse the imagination, mountain
air will stimulate those organic functions which form
the foundation for health of body and happiness of
mind.

NO. 1902, VOL. 73]

A COMPREHENSIVE DYNAMICS
PHYSICISTS.

The Dynamics of Particles and of Rigid, Elastic, and’
Fluid Bodies. By Prof. Arthur Gordon Webster.
Pp. xii+588. (Leipzig: B. G. Teubner, 1904.)
Price 10 marks.

TTENTION has been directed in more than one
recent review to the tendency to over elabor-
ation in the standard treatises to which an English
reader would naturally turn for information on such
branches of applied mathematics as the principle of
least action, the potentials of ellipsoids, or the equa-
tions of motion of a perfect fluid. What has been
said already must be said again, in order to make
good the claims which Prof. Webster puts forward
in his preface, and to prove that this bools, written

by an American and published in Germany, fills a

distinct want.

That the student of physics should have to consult
five volumes of Routh, three of Love, and a large
work of Lamb is a state of affairs which could not
very well be allowed to continue. It is true that
these treatises afford an excellent preparation for the
man who proposes to devote his whole lifetime to
mathematical research, regardless of cost. But it is
becoming more and more evident that the physicist
must know something about the intricate mathe-
matical machinery which has been so_ successfully
employed to bring a large proportion of physical
phenomena into one connected theory. We include
under this category reversible phenomena. Whether
the subject-matter of this book is called dynamics, or
the study of quadratic forms, or the theory of geo-
desics in a hyperspace with special reference to
particular definite applications makes no difference.
The present reviewer may perhaps be allowed once
more to state his conviction that irreversible energy
transformations, whether statistical or non-statistical
in character, cannot satisfactorily be accounted for
as properties of quadratic forms except by the method
of energy-accelerations, that is, by studying the
second, and not the first, differential coefficients with
respect to the time of the squares and products occur-
ring in the energy function. But the omission of
these phenomena leaves a great portion of modern
physics which cannot be properly understood without
some knowledge of a very extended and very advanced!
portion of applied mathematics.

In his preface—which, by the way, is so exhaustive
as to leave a reviewer but little fresh to add—Prof.
Webster states of the book that ‘‘ It is obvious that
it leads to no particular examinations, from which
we in America are to a large extent fortunately free.’”
Examples, as such, are therefore omitted, although
most of the standard applications of general prin-
ciples are included in the text; for instance, motion
of a spherical pendulum, the brachistochrone and
tautochrone under gravity, potentials of a disc and
cylinder, form of a rotating liquid in a uniform field
or under self-gravitation, torsion of elliptic and
triangular prisms, and so forth. In connection with
these applications an intentional feature is very con-

FOR

556

WA LRO RL

[APRIL 12, 1906

spicuous, namely, the attempt, wherever practical,
to illustrate the conclusions by diagrams or by appeal
to experiment. Prof. Webster is a firm believer in
both the analytical and the geometric method, and he
rightly emphasises the importance of Lagrange’s
monumental work, in which there are no figures, but
only algebraic equations. But in the interpretation
of results the geometrical method is often the most
fruitful, and it certainly appeals best to the reader
who, like Prof. Webster, regards geometry as a
physical subject. Possibly it is not so generally
known as it ought to be that one important branch
of dynamics, namely, uniplanar rigid dynamics, can
be treated practically without the use of analysis by
drawing diagrams for each problem, and inserting
a force, Ma, at the centre of each mass, and a couple,
Mk*d*0/di*, about that centre. Be this as it may,
the curves illustrating the motions of tops, the com-
pounding of oscillations, and similar problems convey
much more meaning than a mere formula.

The book consists of three parts. The first deals
with general principles and applications to systems
of particles. It contains the principle of least action,
the theory of free and forced oscillations for finite
systems, and a short account of the theory of cyclic
systems. The second deals with statics and dynamics
of a rigid body. The third practically treats of con-
tinuous distributions of matter the dynamical proper-
ties of which are determined by partial differential
equations with regard to the space-coordinates. By
this we include attractions, theory of the potential,
spherical and other harmonic analysis, elasticity,
hydrostatics, hydrodynamics and sound.

Like every other book, this one has some good
features and some defects. To take one or two small
instances chosen at random; it is pointed out, rightly
(p. 205), that the statement that forces applied to a
rigid body are sliding vectors with five coordinates
is not a property of forces, but of rigid bodies. On
the other hand, it would be surely better to employ
the word translation for rotation-couple on Pp. 209.
Again, on p. 404, the expression for the potential of
a distant body is not nearly so convenient as the
ordinary form involving A+B+C—3I, which is not
given.

Prof. Webster assumes a fair knowledge of the
calculus, but not of differential equations or of higher
analysis. It would, however, appear that a fair
knowledge of the geometry of x, y, and = is needed;
in evidence of this need, the equation

cos 7A+cos?“+cos? p=1

appears assumed on the second page. For anyone
so equipped, Prof. Webster has ‘‘ attempted to pro-
vide a treatise which would in not over a year’s
time offer to the student an amount of knowledge
of Dynamics sufficient. to prepare him for the study
of Mathematical Physics in general.”

But we are surely justified in examining what
chances the English student of physics or engineer-
ing has of taking his place beside his American and
German rivals in drawing upon this store of know-
ledge. The hopes that might have been raised a

NO. 1902, VOL. 73]

year or two ago as to prospective reforms in mathe-
matical teaching will be sadly dispelled by a study
of recent papers set in examinations for leaving
school or matriculation. In these we find the old
tendency to choke off the learner of an inquiring turn
of mind, the old artificial questions on solving
meaningless equations and simplifying meaningless
expressions, mostly fractional, in short, everything
best calculated to encourage mere mental gymnastics
and to destroy all power of intelligently assimilating
new ideas. The training required to produce a
human examination-answering machine capable of
working at matriculation level and of going no
further would, if directed into a right channel, enable
that same learner to differentiate and integrate
rational algebraic functions, to calculate the areas of
their graphs, and perhaps in the third year of a
college course to read this book. GiB

A NATURALIST’S PHILOSOPHY.

Essays on Evolution and Design. By the late Prof.
John Young. Edited, with an analysis and an
introduction, by William Boyd. Pp. xiii+248.
(Glasgow: James Maclehose and Sons; London:
Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1905.) Price 6s.

mM ANY who knew the late Prof. John Young as

a versatile thinker and keen critic will be
interested in this posthumous volume which discloses
his philosophy. To a wider audience the book will
appeal by its vigorous criticism of mechanistic inter-
pretations, its protest against theories of fortuity, and
its confession of faith in a cosmic plan. The author
seems to have felt acutely that the scientific formu-
lations which attempt to give a genetic description
of how things have come about fall very far short
of being adequate, and that in any case they are
never explanations which will satisfy the human
spirit. Prof. Young sought to show that whether
we consider the fundamental concepts of matter and
force, the living organism, or the mind of man, we
find that the naturalistic scheme is either guilty of
petitio principii or of that ‘ materialism ’’ which
attempts to give a false simplicity to the facts. The
principle of continuity breaks down at every point,
and our only alternative to giving up scientific explan-
ation (as so many have done) is to fall back on the
idea of design, and to make appeal to ‘‘ the regulating
influence of plan of some sort.’’

To many it will appear that the bulk of the book
is an argumentum ad ignorantiam, and that many of
the failures in scientific interpretation on which the
author laid an incisive finger are only partial and
temporary failures. Where he found insuperable
difficulties, e.g. in the application of the selectionist
theory, others find corroboration and encouragement.
But it may serve a useful purpose to have vividly
pointed out some of the difficulties involved in the
origin of living organisms with individualities of
their own, in the evolution of. many important pheno-
mena of animal structure and function, in the rise
and progress of mental life, and in the emergence
of the distinctively human ‘‘ ought.”? If we under-

ApriL 12, 1906]

NATURE

557

stand the author aright, he believed not merely in a
“cosmic plan,’’ not merely in a ‘‘ will behind pheno-
mena,’? but that ‘processes are directed by an
external power.”

Prof. Young seems to have taken the evolution
theory cum grano salis; he thought that the origin
of variations is left unaccounted for, that natural
selection is an over-rated factor, that it is a modal, not
a causal principle, ‘‘ subordinated to something other
than itself,’’ that the Lamarckian interpretation can-
not be disregarded, and that far too little attention
is paid by naturalists to the individuality of the
organism itself. But apart from his insistence on
the necessity of recognising “‘ the regulating influence
of plan of some sort,” his book is critical rather than
constructive. It is matter for regret that he did not
live to work out the positive part of his thesis, that
‘many facts in various fields of inquiry point to the
existence of a plan.”’

The value of the book is increased by an able in-
troduction by the editor, Mr. William Boyd, who also
supplies an admirable synopsis of each chapter. It
is evident that the essays were not intended by Prof.
Young to be given to the public in their present form,
for in some parts the argument is neither accurate
nor clear. Thus, in regard to Weismann’s conception
of the germ-plasm, the author wrote :—

““Romanes makes the difficulty more obvious by
showing that Weismann’s view requires us to believe
that the germ plasm is independent of and unaffected
by what happens to the parent. It is impossible,
therefore, for acquired characters to exist, far less to
be transmitted; for no variation, however favourable,
ean take place unless it was foreshadowed in the
ancestral protoplasm. This protoplasm was the com-
ponent of the first simple forms which came into
being. It is immortal. On its characters depend
those of its most remote descendants. Now on this
view these characters must be represented by particles
of some sort, certainly of some magnitude. What is
this but to declare design in its most authoritative
form?”’

Still more perplexing is the comparison of the sea-
urchin’s pedicellariz with young Crinoids, and the
aviculariz of Polyzoa with Brachiopods.

OUR BOOK SHELF.

Heat and Steam (Elementary). An Introductory

Supplement to a Text-book of Marine Engineer-
ing for the Use of Naval Officers, @xc. By
Engineer-Commander Tompkins, R.N. Pp. 54.

(Portsmouth : J. Griffin and Co. ; London: Simpkin,
Marshall and Co., Ltd., 1906.) Price 1s. 6d. net.

Tue author is instructor in steam and marine engineer-
ing at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, and has
prepared a text-book on marine engineering, primarily
for the use of naval officers. This text-book has
reached a second edition. In connection with recent
changes in the training of cadets and junior naval
officers, a new syllabus of instruction in heat and
steam has been issued by the Admiralty. As a con-
sequence, Commander Tompkins has found it neces-
sary to modify certain portions of his text-book, and
has done so in the present pamphlet, which he terms
an ‘‘ Introductory Supplement.’’ Young naval officers

NO. 1902, VOL. 73]

will be enabled to use this at once, in association
with the text-book, and as soon as arrangements can
be made the new matter is to be incorporated in the
second edition.

The supplement follows the text-book in clearness
and simplicity of treatment, and should be of great
value to the classes for whom it has been chiefly
prepared. It embraces a brief historical review of
the development of steam engines; an excellent sum-
mary of the principles of thermodynamics, written in
simple language; and a sketch of the applications of
those principles to engine design. The work is well
up to date; it contains explanations of the types of
steam turbines introduced by Parsons and De Laval,
and of approved types of water-tube boilers. Measure-
ment of power, the mechanical equivalent of heat
the sources and conservation of energy, and estimates
of efficiency are dealt with in a manner that makes
the subjects intelligible to readers possessing only
moderate mathematical knowledge. Some of the
illustrations are based on most recent practice, in-
cluding results obtained by the cruiser Amethyst
fitted with turbine engines, and the sister ship Topaze
fitted with reciprocating engines. Commander
Tompkins has taken great pains to meet the require-
ments of the readers for whom the work has been
primarily undertaken, and he has succeeded. Outside
the officers of the Navy, however, there are many
persons who may benefit by his work, especially those
who desire to understand the principles of the steam
engine and whose mathematical knowledge is limited.

Atlas of Japanese Vegetation. Edited by Dr. M.
Miyoshi. Sets i.-iii.; plates 1-24. (Tokyo: Z. P.
Maruya and Co., Ltd., 1905.)

TueseE are the first three parts of an atlas depicting
various types of Japanese vegetation, and containing
twenty-four plates, accompanied by an explanatory
text in English and in Japanese. The plates are
reproductions from photographs, and it is remarlk-
able, considering the skill and cheapness of artistic
labour in Japan, to find that the plates of the third
part bear the legend “‘ printed in Germany.”’

The plates are of varied interest. Those in the
first part will prove attractive to owners of gardens
in this country. Plate vi. is a view of a garden laid
out in Japanese style, and shows a scene entirely
different from the so-called Japanese garden which
is often seen at great houses in England, and where
there is nothing characteristically Japanese in the
arrangement of the plants or in the general effect
produced by the laying out of the ground. A view
of an iris garden is very pretty. Mr. Miyoshi states
that the Japanese have evolved nearly 400 varieties
of Iris laevigata var. Kaempferi, which show marvel-
lous diversity in the size, shape, and colour of the
flowers, and even in the character of the leaves.
Prunus mume, also figured, is a Chinese species, so
long cultivated in Japan that it is now generally
known as the Japanese plum, and of it there are now
more than 300 distinct varieties.

The second part consists mainly of forest scenes,
the most peculiar of which is one of the Japanese
beech (Fagus Sieboldi), with a dense undergrowth of
Sasa nipponica, a small broad-leaved bamboo. The
Japanese larch, the Hondo spruce, and some other
trees are also figured. The third part is of great
interest, showing pictures of plants in the little-known
Loochoo Islands, and of these the most curious is
a scene representing Cycas revoluta dotted over an
extensive landscape. There is also a good picture of
the screw-pine, Pandanus odoratissimus, the leaves
of which are now being made into hats by the
Japanese in Formosa. AucustinE Henry.

558

UN ALTE CHTE:

[APRIL 12, 1906

The Integration of Functions of a Single Variable.

Cambridge Tracts in Mathematics and Mathe-
matical Physics, No. 2. By G. H. Hardy, M.A.
Pp. vili+5 (Cambridge : University Press, 1905.)
Price 2s. 6d. net
Now that function- theory is fairly well developed, it
is much easier than it used to be to discuss in an

orderly way the elementary problems of explicit in-
tegration. By showing how this can be done, Mr.
Hardy has produced a very instructive and pleasant
supplement to the ordinary text-books. Moreover, he
has done a useful service by emphasising the work of
Liouville, whose theorem (quoted on p. 49) is of great
generality, and occurs with others in memoirs which

have not, perhaps, received all the attention they
deserve. To these memoirs, as well as those of Abel,
Tchebichef, &c., reference is made in the notes and
appendix; this, of course, adds greatly to the value
of the pamphlet.

It must be remembered that the ‘* Cambridge
Tracts,’’ of which this is No. 2, are not intended to

be exhaustive, but rather suggestive and helpful to
those who are really interested in the progress of
mathematical theory, and prepared to study it at first
hand. Mr. Hardy seems to have carried out this idea
as well as his opportunity admitted; and his reader
ought to feel that he gets his half-crown’s worth of
entertainment. For example, on pp. 13-16 we have
Hermite’s beautiful way of finding, by elementary
yational operations, the rational part of the integral
of a rational function, and in connection with this
an example involving, in an unexpected fashion, the
theory of invariants. To the remark on p. 38 it may
be added that the problem of deciding whether a
given integral is pseudo-elliptic or not is likely to be
of a nature quite similar to that of deciding whether

‘two given conics can be associated with poristic
circum-inscribed polygons. No finite number of

rational operations can give an answer; but we can
decide whether poristic polygons of any assigned
number of sides exist or not. To the references on
this subject the names of Halphen and NKowalevsky
might have been added.

The Laboratory Book of Dairy Analysis. By H.
Droop Richmond, F.1.C. Pp. viiit+90. (London :
C. Griffin and Co., Ltd., 1905.) Price 2s. 6d. net.

WirH the progress of technical instruction in dairy-

ing a need has arisen for a little handbook on mill

‘composition and simple methods of millx analysis for

‘dairy managers. There is also a need for a short

handbook of dairy analysis for the trained chemists

who find themselves called upon to undertake analyses
wof millx, cream, butter, and cheese in the laboratories
of agricultural colleges and institutions. Mr. Rich-
mond has attempted to serve both purposes in one
little volume, and, as might be expected, the result
is not entirely successful. For the chemist the illus-
trations of laboratory assistants performing simple
laboratory operations, such as using a wash-bottle,
are, to say the Jeast, unnecessary, while to the dairy
manager who is not a chemist the directions for the
more difficult analyses would be quite unintelligible.
However, for the chemist the book provides a mass
of useful details in a concise form. The analytical
methods are well chosen, though it is curious to find
no mention of the Westphal balance for the determin-
ation of the specific gravity of milk; and we can
detect no errors or inaccuracies, though there is
occasional need for greater clearness, for example, in
the meaning of ‘‘ the Reichert-Wollny figure.’? These
‘defects are unimportant, and the book will find a
useful place in many an agricultural laboratory.
As Ss 10):
NO 1002, VOI. 73]

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions
expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake
to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected
manuscripts intended for this or any other part of NATURE.
No notice is taken of anonymous communications. ]|

Chemistry in Rural Schools.

Ir has no doubt caused as much surprise to others as it
has to myself to read, on the authority of the principal of
the South-Eastern Agricultural College, that ‘‘ chemistry is
one of the least suitable of the natural sciences to teach
children whose lives will be, or ought to be, spent in the
country ’? (M. J. R. Dunstan, Nature, March 29, p. 511).
I have no doubt that Mr. Dunstan has good reasons to
assign for this expression of opinion, but those who are
interested in the subject of education in rural schools will
probably want some more explicit statement before re-
considering their curricula. For my own part I had come
to an opposite conclusion. It has been my privilege during
the last few years to have been associated with the founders
of two rural schools, one in Essex and the other in Suther-
land. The curricula of these schools were very carefully
considered by my colleagues and myself, and the question
of the suitability of chemistry was never raised; on the
contrary, we considered that from the disciplinary as well
as from the utilitarian point of view it had everything in
its favour. Nor have we had any reason during the exist-
ence of these schools to doubt the wisdom of including
chemistry in the curricula. As a means of training in ex-
perimental method and of inculcating habits of careful
observation and accurate reasoning, this science (with
physics) has been taught with the greatest success. It is
popular with the pupils and of distinct value to them in
after life, even when that life is ‘* spent in the country.”

Perhaps the best justification I can offer for the con-
clusion to which my own experience has led me is furnished
by the Sutherland Technical School, founded three years
ago at Golspie by the Duchess of Sutherland. The pupils
in this school are as ‘“‘rural’’ a set of lads as could be
gathered from any part of the Highlands, being for the
most part of the crofter and fishing class. Their age varies
from twelve and a half years upwards, and the course of
instruction extends over a period of three years. During
the first year four hours a week are given to elementary
practical physics, and the same amount of time to prac-
tical chemistry during the second year. Both physics and
chemistry will be continued in the third year. The head-
master, Mr. E. W. Read, writes to me as follows :—‘‘ The
boys like the work, and find no particular difficulty with it :
besides, I find their knowledge a great help in the natural
history lessons and in the gardening. Further, I feel
strongly that the mental discipline of chemistry properly
taught is very great, and is likely to put a boy’s mind in
the attitude of desiring to keep pace with the progress of
the timés. Most of our boys will have to go straight to
work, and I should be very sorry if a single one left with-
out some knowledge of elementary chemistry.”

We have had a similar experience in Essex, and it
would be of interest to learn from others who have
first-hand knowledge of the teaching of science in rural
schools of a similar type to those founded by the Countess
of Warwick and the Duchess of Sutherland how far chem-
istry has been successful as a recognised part of the curri-
culum. It would appear from Mr. Dunstan’s letter that
he considers this science to have been inserted in the
curricula at the expense of the biological sciences. This
is not the case in the two schools with which I am con-
cerned. Natural history subjects (in the broad sense) are
also taught, and one of the reasons which weighed with
us in including chemistry was that an elementary training
in this subject was considered essential as a preliminary
foundation for the biological subjects. With respect to the
education of young men who are actually ‘‘ on the land ’’
or who are preparing for rural occupations, the teaching of
chemistry at the Central School of the Essex County
Council at Chelmsford has always been most successful,
both in popularity and in subsequent results. The former
staff instructor, Mr. T. S. Dymond, now of the Board of
Education, to whose zeal and ability the successful intro-

APRIL 12, 1906]

duction of chemistry among the Essex farmers and horti-
culturists is largely due, could no doubt furnish some
interesting information on this subject. At any rate, it
was by the close observation of Mr. Dymond’s work during
the period of my connection with the Essex Technical In-
struction Committee that I was most strongly convinced
of the suitability of chemistry as a subject for secondary
rural schools.

Mr. Dunstan may, however, not include the work being
done at the Chelmsford central school within the range of
his criticism, as the pupils there catered for are certainly
beyond the age of those attending the other two schools
dealt with in this letter. In defending the claims of
chemistry as a suitable subject—not dogmatically, for I am
quite open to arguments against my view—it is hardly
necessary to say that the most liberal interpretation of the
definition of the term is asked for, and that my advocacy
presupposes that the subject is properly, i.e. scientifically,
taught. I am quite aware that distinguished authorities
like Prof. Clifford Allbutt and Sir William Ramsay have
expressed views similar to those of Mr. Dunstan. That
makes it all the more necessary, however, to raise the
whole question and have it authoritatively handled in the
interests of rural education. R. MELpoLa.

April 5.

Carrivorous Habits of the New Zealand Kea Parrot,

IN your issue of December 28, 1905, there occurs a note
referring to statements made-at a meeting of the Philo-
sophical Institute of Wellington with regard to the habits
of Nestor notabilis, to the! effect. that the carnivorous
habits that have been attributed to this parrot are ex-
aggerated, if not totally untrue. It is unfortunate that
this report of the meeting has obtained the wide currency
that Nature will give it, for it is abundantly evident that
the speakers at Wellington were unacquainted with the
facts about the kea.

In the course of various trips about the South Island
of New Zealand during the last five or six years, I have
made inquiries from shepherds and others likely to know
about the kea as to how far their own personal acquaint-
ance with this bird tallied with the common statements
that they attack sheep. I was surprised to find that, in
North Canterbury and in Marlborough, these men doubted
the truth of these statements. They had never known the
kea attack sheep in these districts. I was, consequently,
inclined to take the view just put forward by the members
of the Wellington Institute. I then wrote a series of
identical letters to run-holders, shepherds, and others who
were supposed to have had experience in this matter in
Otago, with the result that overwhelming evidence of the
existence of this habit was presented to me. Possibly the
“naturalists and estate agents ’’ of the Wellington Institute
had not tapped the right district; that they gave their
opinion in good faith I do not for a moment doubt.

It must be borne in mind that the kea is confined to
the high mountainous country of the South (or Middle)
Island, and does not occur in the North Island. It lives
in the rough mountain tops in Alpine districts, and it is
in this high, rough country that the damage to sheep has
occurred, as Sir W. Buller has pretty fully described in
his monograph on the “‘ Birds of New Zealand.”

Tt was in the Wanaka district, in Otago, that the
greatest amount of damage was done in the early days of
sheep-farming, and it was to managers of stations, to
shepherds, musterers, and “‘kea shooters’’ employed on
some of these stations that my inquiries were directed.

Several of these run-holders lost sheep by thousands, and
reckoned their losses from kea attacks by thousands of
pounds; some were practically ruined by the kea and the
rabbit combined.

They engaged men specially to shoot and otherwise
destroy keas; the county councils gave 1s. to 2s. 6d. a
head for the birds; the squatters and Government also
paid for beaks. Is it probable that these people would
expend hundreds, nay, thousands, of pounds on a chimera?

Let me quote one or two extracts from letters received
by me from men who have seen the kea attacking sheep,
who have seen the sheep coming in at muster with holes
in their sides and the entrails hanging therefrom, and

NO. 1902, VOL. 73]

NATURE

| ji, 3330)

SS)

on shearing have noted the wounds on the skin. These
men, I may say, are well known in the district, and I
have taken every care to apply only to those whose word
may be relied on to give their own personal experience.
These letters I hope to publish in full in the Transactions
of the New Zealand Institute next year, so that their
personal experiences in the early days of sheep-farming
may be preserved.

Mr. Fraser, now stock inspector in Nelson province,
writes :—‘‘ I was engaged sheep-farming in the Hawea
and Wanaka lake districts in 1871-1883. I lost thousands
of sheep from keas. I have seen the kea attacking the
sheep, and also eating into a sheep when the latter was
stuck in deep snow. I have opened scores of kea crops
and found wool and meat therein. I have laid poison in
dead sheep in snow, gone back later and found dead
kkeas.””

It was at Mr. Henry Campbell’s station near Lake
Wanaka, Otago, that these injuries to sheep were first
(in 1868) traced to the kea, and I quote a letter from a
Mr. J. H. King, who, early in the ’seventies, was
employed to shoot the keas :—

““T have seen a flock of twenty or thirty birds attack
a mob of sheep in the high precipitous country. The
sheep as soon as attacked would huddle together as if
driven by dogs; the keas would harass them until one
kea would suddenly alight on a sheep’s back, holding on
to the wool of the rump. The sheep so attacked would
immediately single itself from the mob and rush frantically
about, and would either go over a bluff or drop down
from exhaustion, when the kea which had still held on
was joined by several others, and they soon destroyed the
sheep.’’

Mr. King has shot a kea which was on a sheep’s back.

It may be noted that the attacks are mostly made at
night, hence the rarity of personal observation of these
attacks; that they occur in a comparatively limited area,
from the region of Mount Cook and the Mackenzie country
in South Canterbury to the Takitimu range in South-
land, but the centre of the area is round lakes Wanaka,
Hawea, and Wakatipu.

Finally, as a comment on the irresponsible statements
made at the Wellington Institute, I may quote from the
Otago Daily Times of February 16, 1906 :—‘‘ A meeting
of landholders at Culverden to-day passed a_ resolution
urging the Government to increase the bonus of 6d. each
paid for keas’ heads, and asking the county councils of
Canterbury affected by the kea nuisance to cooperate with
them in petitioning the Government for assistance in re-
ducing the pest. The keas have been very numerous in
the mountainous parts of Amuri county during the last
two years. They seem to have moved northwards from
Otago... .””

The report then proceeds to give the experiences of
various Canterbury run-holders, which are in all respects
similar to those recorded thirty vears ago by the Otago
men (vide Buller’s ‘‘ Birds’? and Hutton’s ‘‘ Animals of
New Zealand ’’).

There can be no doubt that the keas have wrought, and
are still causing, great havoc among. sheep in certain
districts.

It may be werth noting that the statement frequently

made (vide Wallace’s ‘‘ Darwinism ’’) that they ‘‘ go for
the kidney-fat’’ especially is an exaggeration. Those

men whom I have interviewed tell me that the kea will

eat any part, even the entire carcase, of a sheep. leaving

the bones clean; they are not such ‘‘ gourmets ’’ as has

been supposed. W. B. Bennam.
Dunedin, February 18.

A New Productof Actinium,

Recent work has directed attention to the great simi-
larity in the modes of transformation of actinium and
therium. Thorium, probably itself inactive, gives rise to
radio-thorium (Hahn, Jahrbuch d. Radioact. u. Elektron.,
which emits a rays; radio-thorium forms
thorium X, which is followed by the other well known
products. the emanation and the active deposit. Actinium
behaves in a very similar way. By the same method, which
was successful in separating thorium X from thorium,
Gedlewski (Phil. Mag., July, 1905) showed that a new

560 NATURE

[APRIL 12, 1906

product, actinium X, could be separated from actinium.
Actinium X produces the emanation, and this in turn the
active deposit. The similarity between these two sub-
stances is even closer, for I have found that a new pro-
duct is present in actinium which is intermediate between
actinium and actinium X, and, from analogy to thorium,
will be called for convenience ‘‘ radio-actinium.’’ This
product emits @ rays, is half-transformed in about twenty
days, and is the parent of actinium X.

The separation of radio-actinium from an actinium solu-
tion in radio-active equilibrium can be often accomplished
by producing a very small precipitate in the solution, which
settles down slowly and carries with it the new product,
while most of the actinium and actinium X remain in the
solution. Amorphous sulphur was found to be very con-
venient for that purpose. To a fairly strong hydrochloric
acid solution of actinium some sodium thiosulphate was
added, and the small amount of sulphur was allowed to
settle down in the cold. After filtration the precipitate was
tested for activity. It showed a strong a-ray activity, but
comparatively very little 6-ray activity, and gave out very
little emanation.

The a-ray activity steadily rises to a maximum after
about three weeks, the activity then being about two or
three times its initial value. The activity then decays and
ultimately according to an exponential law, with a period
of about twenty days. The f-ray activity and emanating
power reach a maximum at the same time, and decay with
the same period. This rise of activity to a maximum is

due to the formation of actinium X from the radio-
actinium. This is shown by the increase of the emanating

power, and was also verified by direct separation of
actinium X from the radio-actinium. For instance, if one
separates the actinium X when the activity of the radio-
actinium is decreasing, the activity of the residue again
rises and varies in the same way as in the above described
experiment. Actinium itself, freed from all its products,
gives out practically no a or B rays, but then slowly in-
creases in activity, reaching a maximum after about four
months. Godlewski obtained almost inactive actinium,
showing that he had unknowingly separated the new pro-
duct from the actinium. I have observed that when dis-
solving actinium in hydrochloric acid, generally a small
portion remains undissolved, and this fraction contains
radio-actinium to a large extent.

Giesel long ago stated that his preparations of emanium
increased in activity for about six months. This may prob-
ably be explained by the formation of radio-actinium. In
a recent paper, Marckwald (Ber. d. d. chem. G., 1905,
2264) compared the chemical properties of actinium and
emanium, and concluded that actinium and emanium were
not identical, but the latter was the parent of the former,
the activity of his actinium decaying in the course of several
months. This is in contradiction with Debierne’s state-
ment that his actinium does not lose its activity. The
decaying substance, separated by Marckwald, which he con-
cluded to be the actinium of Debierne, may possibly be the
product radio-actinium, because a precipitation of thorium
with sodium thiosulphate carries down the radio-actinium
also. But it remains to be explained why his actinium
did not rise at first, or why it did not seem to contain
actinium X.

It may be mentioned that the above described experiments
were carried out both with the actinium of Debierne and
the emanium of Giesel. The same results were obtained
in both cases.

A more complete account of these experiments will be

given later. O. Haun.
McGill University, Montreal, March Pris

The April Meteors.

THESE meteors will return this year at a favourable
period, the moon being near new and only visible as a
slender crescent for a short time before sunrise. If the
atmosphere should prove clear during the night following
Saturday, April 21, a number of Lyrids will probably be
seen. The shower is likely to reach its best after mid-
night, when the radiant at 271°+33° will have attained a
sufficiently high altitude to favour the visible distribution
of its meteors.

NO. 1902, VOL. 73|

|

The display is seldom very rich, and has not developed
striking brilliancy since 1803, but it sometimes offers fairly
conspicuous features, as in 1901. Usually it does not equal
the strength of the annual Perseid shower of August, and
it is certainly of much shorter duration, for its period of
special activity is often confined to a few hours. In 1901
the Lyrids were pretty bright and plentiful on April 21,
though on the previous night the display could be scarcely
recognised during a long watch. An interesting feature of
this system is that its radiant, like that of the August
meteors, exhibits a daily motion eastwards amongst the
stars. This displacement is, however, very difficult to trace
owing to the brief duration of the shower, and to its com-
parative feebleness at many of its returns.

Observers would do well to watch attentively for early
Lyrias on April 18 and 19, and for late members of the
stream on April 22, 23, and 24 next. Individual meteors,
accurately recorded on these dates, may be regarded as very
valuable, since it will be possible to compare their paths
with duplicate observations secured elsewhere, and thus
their radiant points and heights in the air may be deter-
mined with trustworthy precision.

Meteors from streams contemporary with the Lyrids are
usually somewhat rare, but in recent years two showers of
slow-moving meteors have been well pronounced from
southern positions at 189°-31° and 218°=31°.

W. F. DENNING.

THe interesting Lyrid meteor shower passed unobserved
last year owing to the generally unsatisfactory state of the
weather that prevailed at the time of its expected appear-
ance. In the event of better atmospheric conditions
obtaining at the present epoch, the Lyrids are likely to be
strongly in evidence, as the circumstances that regulate
the intensity of these meteor apparitions will be ex-
ceptionally favourable. According to calculations by the
writer, the Lyrid shower will fall in 1906 on the night
of April 19, and will be visible at least in part from both
sides of the Atlantic, though the main bull of the display
will descend over the American continent. The earlier
maxima on April 19 fall due about roh. 30m. and 14h. 30m.
G.M.T.; the second and stronger phase of the shower will
culminate at 19h. 30m., and will be followed by two other
maxima, one of which occurs on April 19 23h. and the
other on April 20 2h. The last and final outburst of
meteoric activity will, of course, completely elude observ-
ations over the American continent. Of the minor showers
associated with the period, the most prominent will be
visible on the nights of April 23 and 25; on the former
there is a well defined maximum at 13h., while on April 25
two or three maxima will take effect between gh. and
12h. 30m. Joun R. Henry.

April 7.

Sea-sickness and Equilibration of the Eves.

In connection with the above subject, which Mr. Sang
brought under the notice of your readers in your number
for March 29, I would like to point out that it has
been long known that the eves may play an important part
in sea-sickness. When making some investigations con-
nected with a ‘‘ New Variety of Ocular Spectrum ’’ (Proc.
Roy. Soc. Edin., vol. x.), I found that by acting on the eyes
alone a very disagreeable sickness, similar to sea-sickness,
could be easily produced. The subject was comfortably
seated in a chair with his head in a large cylindrical box.
The box was open below, but partly closed on the top
by a circular piece of wood by which the box was
suspended. The cylindrical sides of the box were made
of tracing paper having broad black vertical bands painted
on it. When the box was rotated on a vertical axis, the
black and white vertical bars passed in succession in front
of the observer. The effects on the subjects were various;
sometimes they felt as if they were rotating in a direction
the opposite of that of the box, but the most certain
result was a very disagreeable sickness, which continued
for some time after the experiment was made. Personally,
I find the best preventive of sea-sickness is to lie down
and read anything I may be interested in, holding the book
in such a position that it shuts out the view of all other
objects. Joun AITKEN.

Ardenlea, Falkirk, N.B., March 37.

APRIL 12, 1906 |

NATURE

NOTES ON SOME CORNISH CIRCLES.
Il.
The Tregeseal Circles (lat. 50° 8! 25” N.,
long. 5° 39/ 25” W.).
HERE are two circles situated on Truthwall

Common near to Tregeseal and not far from St.
Just; the one is nearly to the east of the other, and |

Fic. 4.—The Eastern

there are outstanding stones, including four holed |
stones, and several barrows. The eastern temple has |

Photo. by Lady Lockyer
Fic. 5.—The Mén-an-tol.

a diameter of 69 feet, and includes, at the present |
time, nine erect and four prostrate stones; the ori-

1 Continued from p. 368

NO. 19C2, VOL. 73]

ginal structure seems to have contained twenty-eight
stones according to Lukis.

My wife and I visited the region in January, 1906,
but previously to our going Mr. Horton Bolitho, ac-
companied by Mr. Thomas, whose knowledge of the
local antiquities is very great, had explored the region
and taught us what to observe.

The chief interest appears to lie on the N.E. quad-

’

Photo. by Lady Lockyer.
Circle at Tregeseal.

rant, where, in addition to a famous longstone on a
hill about a mile away, the nest of holed stones and
several of the barrows are located. Carn Kenidjacls,
a famous landmark, lies to the north.

Of the two circles, I confined my attention almost
exclusively to the eastern one, as the other is in a
fragmentary condition, though it is still traceable.
It is hidden almost entirely from the eastern circle
by a modern hedge.

Mr. Horton Bolitho, who accompanied us in Jan-
uary, has again visited the spot, with Mr. Thomas,
for the purpose of further exploration, and determin-
ing the angular height of the sky-line along the dif-
ferent alignments, which I have plotted from the
6-inch and 25-inch maps. My readers will therefore
see that my part of the work has been a small one,
and that they are chiefly indebted to those I have
named.

No theodolite survey has as yet been made for deter-
mining the azimuths and the height of hills. The
following approximate azimuths have been determined
by myself from the 25-inch map, and the elevations by
Mr. Horton Bolitho by means of a miner’s dial.

Alignments Azimuth Elevation
Apex of Carn N. 12 8E. 4 O°
Barrow 800’ distant N. 20 8E. 3 50
Two barrows goo’ distant N. 50 8 E. I 50
Holed stones N. 53 20E. I 15
Longstone N. 66 38 E 2 10
Stone N. 76 13 E.
The carn referred to in the above table is Carn
Kenidjack, called ‘‘the hooting cairn.’? The rocks

on the summit, in which there is a remarkable
depression, are still by local superstition supposed to
| emit evil sounds by night.

562

NATURE

[APRIL 12, 190)

Of the sight-lines studied so far, those to and from
the Longstone and the holed stones seem the most
important. The Longstone,! 13 miles to the N.E.,
is a monolith 10 feet high on the western side of a
hill; it is visible from the circle though furze has
grown round and partly hidden it.

The meanings of the various alignments seem to be
as follows :—

Dec. N. Star Date
Apex of Carn 2 33 Arcturus 2330 B.C.
Barrow 800’ distant 40 29 6) 1970 ,,
Two barrows goo’ distant 25 20 21 ? Solstitial
Holed stones Za 2a 2Oen AS
Longstone 16 2 May sun
Stone 9 15 Pleiades 1270 B.C.

Regarding the possible solstitial alignments, the
the

declinations obtained may be

neglected until

azimuths and angular heights of the hills have been
determined with a good theodolite. A change of
—to' in the angular elevation, and hence about that
in the resulting declination, would bring the date
given by the barrows to about 2000 B.c.

The position of the Longstone is well worthy of

Trae h Mon PR

The May-sun alignment, it may be noted, differs
from that from the circle. The heights of hills
when determined may give us the same solar declina-
tion; that now used gives the declination of the sun
for April 28 and August 15 in our present calendar.

Regarding the alignment on Lanyon Quoit, it need
only be pointed out that the Pleiades date obtained
is some 200 years after the date obtained for the
analogous alignment from the circle, showing that
if these two monuments—the Tregeseal circle and
the Longstone—have any relationship, the removal to
the high plain, now known as Woon Gumpus and
Boswen Commons, was an afterthought improve-
ment.

I next come to the holed stones, not only the nest
of them not far from the circle, but the famous
Mén-an-tol itself.

I had heard before going to Tregeseal that the four
holed stones shown on the Ordnance map had been
knocked down and set up again (not necessarily in
their old places) two or three times. Mr. Horton

Bolitho and Mr. Thomas, however, in their examina-
tion

were convinced that the largest of them has

léans Wesiwarcs
Slightly. VA

> log’ on Lanyon Quoct.

Amp. of Line A B = 26°= Dec I6°

Fic. 6.—Plan of the Mén-an-tol from Lukis, showing that it was an apparatus for observing the sunrise in May and August in

one direction and the sunset in February and November in the other.

attention. Several very fine monuments which marl
the surrounding horizon are visible from it in
azimuths with which other monuments have made us
familiar. They are as follows :—

Alignment Az. Hills

Longstone to Mén-an-tol N. 50 30 E. 0 34
7 9g Maidens

(Boskednan) N.54 OE. ... Io

AA W. Lanyon QuoitN. 67 oF. ... 0 o

s Lanyon Quoit IND72) 45) Boe ONO

These values, of which the angular heights of the
hills were determined approximately from the con-
tours on the 1-inch Ordnance map, lead us to the fol-
lowing declinations :—

Alignment Dec Star Date
Longstone to Mén-an-tol 24 7.N. ... Solstitial sun
Longstone to 9 Maidens

(Boskednan) ... .. 22 37N. ...’Solstitial sun
Longstone to W. Lanyon

Quoit ... ; Eel 4e SENG wen ay layesun
Longstone to Lanyon

Quoit ... 10 30 N. ... Pleiades ... 1030 B.C.

name generally given to a monolith.

NO. 1902, VOL. 73]

1 In Cornwall this is the

Sun’s declination, 16° N. or S.

never been moyed. They also express the belief that
the others are not more than a foot or so from their
original positions, and that this change is only due
to their re-erection by Mr. Cornish after they had
fallen down. So far I have heard nothing of the
direction of the hole in the stone which retains its
original position.

Another interesting matter is that the explorers in
question were able to trace an ancient stone alignment
from the circle to the holed stones.

I have long held that these holed stones were
arrangements for determining an alignment. The
famous Odin stone at Stenness, long since dis-
appeared, was, if we may trust the very definite state-
ments made about its position, used to observe the
Barnstone in one direction and the chief circle in the
other.

The azimuths suggest that theodolite measures may
show that the Tregeseal stones might have been used
in the same way; they, the Longstone and Lanyon
quoit, are in nearly the same straight line, the align-
ment, holed stones to Longstone and Lanyon quoit,
being N. 67° E., so that the May sunrise may have
been noted in this way.

APRIL 12, 1906]

NAT OLAS

$63

Several other monuments, e.g., Chtin Castle and
Cromlech, are to be found in the immediate neigh-
bourhood of the Tregeseal Circle and the Longstone,

D. LOOKING s.WL

Scate } INcH To J YDpOT

Fic. 7 —lhe Mén-an to’. Front view and section, from Lukis.
but these will have to await further investigation as to
their character and antiquity before any conclusions
concerning their astronomical use can be deduced.
NORMAN LOCKYER.

IRRIGATION IN THE TRANSVAAL.’
HERE are few subjects on which such a great

diversity of opinion exists as on the adminis-
tration of South Africa. Free labour and Chinese

SECTION OF D.

labour, the electoral franchise of the Transvaal, the |

various routes from the interior to the coast, the

language to be adopted in Government schools—on |

these and on many other points one hears well-in-
formed and perfectly honest-minded people assert-
ing, and that with considerable warmth, the most
Opposite views; views which they maintain are
founded on facts.

all are agreed, and that is that the great want of
South Africa is not gold or diamonds, but water in
sufficient volume to be spread over the land when

volume of water

. . . . | i i a é a c i £ Ua
But there is one subject on which it may be asserted | GEIS euch) Seal) Gey [Be eee el

and where it is required. Not that the country is |

generally devoid of rain, but, as it has been well pur,
““When rain is wanted it is generally not there; when
it is not wanted it is invariably present.”’

No one was more fully alive to this want than
the late distinguished High Commissioner, Lord
Milner. He borrowed the services of Sir William
Willcocks, one of the most prominent members of
the small band of English hydraulic engineers from
India who have done so much on the Nile. He
further procured two engineers, Messrs. Gordon and
Strange, thoroughly trained in the excellent irrigation
school of India, to advise, one in the Cape Colony and
the other in the Transvaal, upon irrigation matters.
Willcocks’s tour took place during the war, when he
was much hampered by the difficulty of getting about
the country. His visit, also, was a short one, but not
too short to prevent his submitting a very able report
full of thoughtful suggestions. Gordon and Strange
went to South Africa after the war. They are there
still, and may render invaluable services to the country
if the agricultural classes can be made to believe that
they have anything to learn, and that there may be
advantages in accepting a scheme which requires all

1 “*Inter-Colonial Irrigation Commission.” Interim Report. Pp xxxvii

E300; (Pretoria: Government Printing and Stationery Office, 1905.) Price
7s. 6d.

NO. 1902, VOL. 73]

to submit to certain restrictions for the benefit of all,
instead of each farmer being free to follow his own
devices. A distinguished member of the present
Cabinet has remarked that the Boer farmer
seems to haye a perfect instinct for disobey-
ing the law. Unless he learns to substitute
for this instinct the dictates of reason, there
is little hope of irrigation flourishing in
South Africa.

Besides procuring the services of these
officers, Lord Milner shortly before leaving
South Africa appointed a commission to re-
port on the legislation required to enable the
water resources of the Transvaal and Orange
River Colony to be thoroughly utilised, and
also on ‘* the precautions necessary in deal-
ing with subterranean water, more especially
in areas situated on the dolomite formation,
so as to prevent as far as possible the diver-
sion of such water from public streams and
fountains to the detriment of the public.”’

It was directed that an interim report
should be submitted as soon as possible on
this last subject. This report, dated May 20,
1905, is now before us. The commission con-
sisted of Mr. Justice Wessels, Judge of the
Supreme Court of the Transvaal, three other Dutch
and two English gentlemen, one of whom was Mr.
Strange.

The commission has collected a large mass of
interesting information and opinions from. thirty-one
witnesses, of whom no fewer than nine were pro-
fessional geologists. South Africa is to be congratu-
lated in possessing so many scientific gentlemen whose
evidence was of great value. The other witnesses
were principally engineers and farmers. Of the latter
there were seven.

In framing an irrigation project the two first ques-
tions to ask are generally, How much land is it pro-
posed to irrigate? How much water is available to
irrigate it? In all but the most favoured countries
the area which it is desired to water far exceeds the
available. In the Transvaal the
It is not
so easy to say how much water is at our disposal.

Usually irrigation is practised by canals and water-
courses drawn from rivers and lakes, natural or
artificial. By careful observation one finds how
much water, at the season when irrigation is required,
can be drawn from the river or lake. Elsewhere
irrigation is practised by pumping water from wells,
going down to the water-bearing stratum. Such a
stratum is usually found in alluvial plains at no very
great depth, and wells may be sunk within a few
hundred yards of each other without causing injury
by one exhausting the other. The recent Indian
Irrigation Commission found that in that country
about 13 millions of acres were yearly watered in this
way.

The peculiarity of the situation on the dolomite
formation of the Transvaal is that the subterranean
water tapped by the boring rod is not due to the rain

| which falls vertically on the surface of the land above,

| 50 cubic feet per second.

but that the whole of the limestone substratum is
pierced by holes and tunnels, flowing streams, and
stagnant reservoirs, so that if water be pumped from
a well there is no certainty that another well situated
ten miles off may not be thereby sucked dry.
Ultimately the water finds its way out to the surface
through springs discharging at times more than
It seems evident that the
catchment basins of these subterranean waters do not
necessarily correspond with those of the earth’s surface

_ above, and the problem of defining their limits and

564

NATURE

{APRIL 12, 1906

calculating the volume of the water that may be
drawn from them is not an easy one. Nor is it
rendered more easy by the spirit evinced by the Boer
farmer witnesses.

Three of the honoured name of Erasmus (two
brothers and the son of one of them) refused to recog-
nise any difference between the ownership of water
flowing under his ground and of metals found there.
Pressed again and again to see the difference between
picking up a diamond found on his lands and pump-
ing away the water drawn in from the lands of others,
the reply of one of the farmers was quite clear :—‘‘ ]
consider that it is a bad principle when a man owning
land under a properly registered title in any country
cannot take full advantage of the profit he is able to
make,’’

Not only did these farmers claim the right to use
all the water they could suck into their pumps and
employ in irrigating their own lands, but they also
insisted on their right to sell to their neighbours the
water they did not require themselves.

It might happen, then, that the owner of a small
pump large enough for his own fields might find his
water supply cut off by a larger pump in his neigh-
bour’s farm, and he might have to buy from the
owner of this large pump the water that had hitherto
been his own.

The situation is evidently a difficult one. If such
a case were to occur in India it would probably be
ruled that a very careful scientific survey should be
made of all the subterranean channels with the view
of finding exactly how the waters flow, and that until
this point was cleared up farmers should have a re-
striction put on the area of their lands which they
were allowed to irrigate. Probably no one would
be wronged if they were each limited to irrigating
two-thirds of their farms. But this would require
a stronger Government than is ever likely to rule in
the Transvaal. Probably the commissioners are right
in the recommendations they make, and they know
that none more drastic would have a chance of being
adopted.

These recommendations, after providing for the
wants of towns and of mine owners, are to the effect
that farmers should be allowed to pump freely for
their own use for watering cattle or for irrigation.

“That traffic in underground water should be pro-
hibited, and that an owner should not be allowed to
sell or barter underground water which he does not
require for his own use.’’ ‘‘ That it is unnecessary
to prove that water in the dolomite formation flows
in channels . . . and that if the Judge thinks that
the facts establish a connection between the pumping
and the diminution of the water in a stream he can
prevent the pumping to such an extent as he thinks
its

This last recommendation is a most important one.
Will the Transvaal judges have the courage to carry
it into effect?

Since the above was written, an interesting notice
has appeared in Nature of March 1 (p. 426). From
this it seems that the subject of underground waters
has been occupying attention in the United States.
The law there seems to favour the view of the Boer
farmer, viz., that the owner of the surface of the land
is equally owner of all that lies directly below that
surface, whether it be rock, stagnant water or running
water. This law is, however, receiving severe shocks
from the advance of geological knowledge, and as
means have now been found of measuring the flow
of subterranean water it is probable that the law may
be conformed to what is clearly only justice, and a

|

THE FORTHCOMING MEETING OF THE
BRITISH ASSOCIATION AT YORK.

[pe fourth meeting of the British Association in

York will be held in that city on August 1-8,
the date being fixed earlier than usual to enable
members and their hosts to combine attendance at
the meeting with a subsequent tour abroad or a visit
to the northern moors for the shooting season. The
association was founded in York in 1831, and had for
its first president the Earl Fitzwilliam, F.R.S. It
celebrated its jubilee there in 1881, under the presi-
dency of Lord Avebury, then Sir John Lubbock, and
it now meets again, after three-quarters of a century,
in the city of its birth.

At the inaugural meeting on Wednesday, August 1,
Prof. E. Ray Lankester, F.R.S., president-elect, wilf
assume the presidency and deliver an address. On
Thursday, August 2, there will be a soirée; on Friday,
August 3, a discourse on ‘‘ Volcanoes’ will be de-
livered by Dr. Tempest Anderson; on Monday,
August 6, a discourse on ‘‘ The Electrical Signs of
Life, and their Abolition by Chloroform,’’ will be
delivered by Dr. A. D. Waller, F.R.S.; on Tuesday,
August 7, there will be a soirée; and on Wednesday,
August 8, the concluding meeting will be held.

The sections and their presidents are as follows :—
(A) Mathematical and Physical Science, Principal
E. H. Griffiths, F.R.S.; (B) Chemistry, Prof. Wynd-
ham Dunstan, F.R.S.; (C) Geology, Mr. 'G. W.
Lamplugh, F.R.S.; (D) Zoology, Mr. J. J. Lister,
F.R.S.; (E) Geography, Sir G. D. Taubman Goldie,
K.C.M.G., F.R.S.; (IF) Economic -Science and
Statistics, Mr. A. L. Bowley; (G) Engineering, Dr.
J. A. Ewing, F.R.S.; (H) Anthropology, Mr. E.
Sidney Hartland; (1) Physiology, Prof. Francis Gotch,
F.R.S.; (K) Botany, Prof. F. W. Oliver, FURJS’>
(L) Educational Science, Prof. M. E. Sadler.

To the antiquarian York has preeminent attrac-
tions, its Roman remains, its medizwval bars and
walls, which still encircle the greater part of the city,
its Norman castle and noble minster, being each
objects of special interest. The city also contains
several manufactories interesting to scientific men;
opportunities will be given for visiting these under
skilled guidance in the afternoons, after the meetings
of the sections. Excursions will be organised to
several places of interest.

The neighbourhood of York, though flat, presents
many objects of geological and archzological interest,
many of which are reached by good level roads;
cyclists are therefore recommended to bring their
machines with them to the meeting.

It is hoped that it may be possible to arrange for
an exhibition of photographs taken by the members
in South Africa, for which the reception room affords
ample accommodation.

York enjoys exceptional railway facilities, being
under four hours from London, five hours from Edin-
burgh. The various railway companies will issue re-
turn tickets, at a single fare and a quarter, from
the principal stations in the United Kingdom to York.
These tickets, which will be available from July 31
to August 14, may be obtained by members and
associates attending the meeting on presentation of a
certificate signed by one of the local secretaries. The
North-Eastern Railway Company will also issue
periodical tickets to members and associates, at cheap
rates, for going and returning as often as desired
during the time of the meeting between York and the
chief places in the district.

An attempt may be made, provided sufficient support

landowner will not be permitted to tale more than his | is forthcoming, to arrange at the end of the meeting

due share of the water that passes under his soil.
NO. 1902, VOL. 73]

a yachting excursion, lasting two or three weeks, to

APRIL 12, 1906]

NADPORE

565

Norway or other interesting district, limited to
association ticket-holders.

A handbook dealing with the natural history and
archeology of the York district has been specially
written for the occasion, and a copy will be presented
to each member of the association.

It is anticipated that there will be a large amount
of private hospitality, and as so many members were
unable to visit South Africa last year it is expected
that there will be a very large meeting.

THE ERUPTION OF VESUVIUS

HE activity of Vesuvius, incessant for some time
past, has culminated in an eruption which,
making every allowance for newspaper exaggeration,
stands in the foremost rank of historic eruptions, even
if it is not already the greatest of all. It is not yet
at an end; we cannot say that it has reached its
climax; but the interest excited is so great that some
forecast of the future, so far as this is possible, may
be attempted.

The late Prof. John Phillips pointed out that the
volcanoes of the Phlegraean fields have had two periods
of activity, each lasting about four hundred years, and
that Etna has also had two great periods of activity,
the first of which lasted ALNottt 800 years, reaching its
maximum in the second century B.c., while the
second, commencing about the fourteenth century, had
attained its maximum about the end of the eighteenth,
after which eruptions declined in violence “and. fre-
quency; from this he concluded that a period of 700
or 800 years may be assigned to the periods of volcanic
activity of Etna. It is probable that in all cases of
volcanic activity there is some such period, in which
the eruptions, spasmodic at first, increase gradually
in frequency until they attain a maximum, and then
die out again, the length of the period being deter-
mined by the size of the reservoir of molten rock
which gives rise to the eruptions; but there is not as
yet any means of determining what will be the dura-
tion of the present series of Vesuvian eruptions, or
whether it has reached its maximum; all that seems
certain is that there are no signs of this being passed.

Between A.D. 79, when Pompeii was destroyed, and
1631, eleven great eruptions were recorded; the seven-
teenth century gave four, the eighteenth tw enty-three,
and in the nineteenth, up to 1869, the date of Prof.
Phillips’s work, twenty-four were recorded. After that
date there was the great eruption of 1872, and an
almost continuous condition of activity ever since. It
may be that we have now reached the climax, or the
future may have catastrophes in store still greater
than that which we are now witnessing; but, if there
is any virtue in analogy or inference, centuries must
elapse before the mountain resumes that condition of
quiescence which existed before our era, and for pro-
longed periods in the centuries which followed its
commencement.

The length of these periods of volcanic activity and
the difference between those of neighbouring volcanic
centres shows that the cause lies deep in the earth,
and that the conditions are beyond our ken. Pro-
phecy must necessarily be vague, and can do no more
than indicate the future course of events in the most
general and guarded terms; yet mankind will always
want to peer into the future. Attempts will be made
to predict the time of coming eruptions, and not
wholly without justification, for extra-mundane con-
ditions must, to some slight extent, influence the

manifestations of volcanic activity. Prof. Palmieri
believed that there was a distinct increase in the
activity of ejection from the cone and in the abundance
of the lava at the new and full moon, and it is possible

NO. 1002, VOL. 73]

that a connection exists with cycles of variation of
climate, magnetic force, or the frequency and distribu-
tion of certain solar phenomena, but the relation may
be only of the nature of the proverbial last straw
that broke the camel’s back. On occasion it may do
so, but though sometimes the camel can bear many
more eee at others he has given way before even
one was added to his load; and so it is with volcanoes.
The cause of their eruptions is so preponderatingly
mundane that any slight effect of extra-mundane
causes must be elusive, ‘difficult to establish, and only
to be detected by the study of a long series of averages.
For purposes of prediction they are of little use.
There is, however, some comfort for the immediate
future in the reported subsidence of Pozzuoli; if real,
this probably indicates that the present paroxysm has
reached its climax, and will now slowly cease.

From the Press reports of the eruption, the follow-
ing particulars of scientific interest have been ex-
tracted and arranged as a diary of events :—

Great blocks of
of the funicular

April 5.—Vesuvius in strong activity.
rock hurled as far as the lower station
railway.

April 6.—The new crater began to emit
abundant stream. The lava has arrived within
four miles of the village of Bosco-Trecase.

April 7.—Bosco- Trecase destroyed. After midnight loud
rumblings were heard, followed by a violent earthquake
shock, which shattered the windows in the town. Then
lava began flowing from Ciaramella, where a fresh fissure
had opened up a few days previously. From the Ciaramella
crater masses of incandescent rock were ejected, and a
torrent of lava swept down at a terrific speed, flowing in
two streams, one 200 yards broad moving towards the
centre of the town. The town had hardly been evacuated
when the lava invaded the houses, several of which were
burned down, and soon Bosco-Trecase seemed to be
enveloped in flames. At 6 a.m. Bosco-Trecase was com-
pletely surrounded by a stream of lava. The cone on the
Pompeii side of Vesuvius collapsed, and on the opposite
side a new crater opened at the base of the cone in the
Atrio del Cavallo and vomited lava and stones. The prin-
cipal crater was in violent eruption. Explosions were
unceasing. A shower of grey-black ashes fell in the streets
of Naples.

April 8.—Central crater of Vesuvius was again emitting
quantities of lava. Repeated éxplosions were followed by
subterranean rumblings and by earthquake shocks, which
were distinctly felt in the villages at the foot of the moun-
tain. At 12.31 a.m. a slight shock of earthquake was felt
at Naples, and a second at 2.10 a.m., both disturbances
being accompanied by rumblings. A telegram from Naples
at 6.30 p.m. announced that Ottajano, Poggio Marino,
and Somma had been entirely abandoned. At Ottajano
the lava was flowing 7 feet deep through the streets. At
8 p.m. the flow of lava seemed to be generally somewhat
slackening. A shower of black dust, like iron filings, fell
throughout Montenegro, covering the surface of the country
toa aepth of a millimetre with an iron-grey layer. Prof.
Mattucci, director of the Vesuvius Observatory, made the
following report :—

“The eruption of Vesuvius has assumed extraordinary
proportions. Yesterday and last night the activity of the
crater was terrific and ever increasing. The neighbour-
hood of the observatory is completely “covered with lava.
Incandescent rocks are thrown up by the thousand to
the height of 2400 feet, and even 3000 feet, and fall back,
forming a large cone. Another stream of lava has appeared
from a fissure the position of which is not well defined.
The noise of the explosions and of the rocks striking
together is deafening. The ground is shaken by strong
and continuous seismic movements. The seismic instru-
ments threaten to break, and it will probably be necessary
to abandon the observatory, which is very much exposed to
electric shocks. The telegraph is interrupted, and it is
believed that the funicular “railway has been destroyed.”’

April 9.—The stream of lava in the direction of Torre
Annunziata has remained stationary since yesterday even-
ing. The dynamic action of the volcano appears to be

lava in an
three or

566 NATURE

(APRIL 12, 1906

diminished considerably, and the situation now seems to
be more satisfactory. The shower of ashes has ceased to
pour on Naples. The atmospheric conditions are unfavour-
able, and the seismic instruments last night registered
several earthquake shocks. A steamer with 1000 persons
on board left Capri this morning for Naples, but was
unable to reach her destination, as when about a mile off
the coast the passengers were nearly suffocated by falling
cinders and ashes, and the vessel has anchored here so as
to enable the passengers to witness the eruption.

Vesuvius Observatory, 6.30 p.m.—Report from Prof.
Mattucci :—‘** The explosive activity of Vesuvius, which
was very great yesterday and was accompanied by very
powerful electric discharges, diminished yesterday evening.
During the night the expulsion of rocks ceased, but the
emission of sand increased, completely enveloping me and
forming a bed more than ten centimetres deep, which
carried desolation into this elevated region. Masses of sand
gliding along the earth created complete darkness until
7 o'clock. Several blocks of stone broke windows of the
observatory. Last night the earthquake shocks were
stronger and more frequent than yesterday, and displaced
the seismic apparatus. Yesterday afternoon and this morn-
ing torrents of sand fell. While I am telegraphing several
balls of fire rise with loud rumbling from the enlarged
craters and the new elevated crevasses.’’

April 10.—Report from Prof. Mattucci :—‘‘ Last night was
calm except for a few explosions of considerable force from
time to time. At 4 o’clock this morning the explosions
became more violent. The seismic instruments of the
observatory record strong disturbances in the interior of
the mountain.’’ The roof of the market of Monte Oliveto,
Naples, fell in, on account of the accumulation of volcanic
ash upon it.

NOTES.

AT a meeting of the council of the Royal College of
Surgeons of England held on April 5, the Walker prize
of 1ool., founded by the late Mr. C. C. Walker to encourage
investigation into the pathology and therapeutics of
cancer, was awarded to Prof. C. O. Jensen, of Copen-
hagen. The committee appointed to advise the council in
reference to the award of the prize was influenced, not
merely by the actual work which Prof. Jensen has done
in investigating the nature of cancer and the effect of
treatment upon it, but also by the extent to which he has
opened up a field of research to those engaged in the study
of cancer on certain lines, enabling them to carry out their
investigations over longer periods of time and under better
and more determined conditions than have up to the present
time been possible. The Jacksonian prize for 1905 Was
awarded to Mr. R. C. Elmslie for his essay on ‘‘ The
Pathology and Treatment of Deformities of the Long Bones
due to Disease occurring during and after Adolescence.’?
The prize-subject for the year 1907 will be ‘‘ The Operative
Surgery of the Heart and Lungs, including the Pericardium
and the Pleura.’” The subject selected for essays to.» be
submitted in competition for the Cartwright prize for the
period 1906-1910 “Prevention of Dental Caries.’’
The honorary medal of the college was awarded to Lieut.-
Colonel Sir Richard Havelock Charles, I.M.S., in appreci-
ative recognition of his gift of anthropological specimens—
an addition to the museum of special value and import-
ance, not only on account of the number and variety of
the specimens presented, but also because of the authentic
particulars attached to them.

was

AT a meeting of the Royal Geographical Society on
Monday, Mr. Whitelaw Reid, the United States
Ambassador, presented to Captain R. F. Scott, R.N.,
C.V.O., the gold medal of the American Geographical
Society, in recognition of his sledge journey on Antarctic
ice and the work of the National Antarctic Expedition.

NO. 1902) VOL. 72)]

Office has informed the
addressed to France and

THE secretary to the Post
Decimal Association that letters
Germany, weighing more than 3 oz. but not more than
15 grams, if only stamped 23d., are not surcharged.
Although the difference in weight is but small (about 5 per
cent.), still the fact should be generally known, because
letters are frequently stamped with 5d. which, under this
ruling of the Post Office, would go for 23d.

Courses of instruction in oceanic research will be held,
as in former years, in Bergen, during the university vaca-
tion (August 8 to October 15), mainly on the lines
previously adopted. The courses will consist partly of
lectures, partly of practical instruction and assistance in
laboratory work; excursions will also be made, during
which the use of various appliances and instruments will
be practically demonstrated. The course will be conducted
by Dr. A. Appell6f, Dr. D. Damas, Mr. B. Helland-
Hansen, Mr. E. Jgrgensen, and Mr. C. F. Kolderup. Any-
one desiring to attend the course should make application
to the Oceanographical Institute of Bergen Museum,
Bergen, Norway, beture July 1.

A DEPUTATION waited upon Mr. Lloyd-George, M.P.,
President of the Board of Trade, on Monday to urge the
necessity for further amendment of the patent law by
legislation which would enforce in the United Kingdom
the forfeiture of all British patents for inventions which
were worked without, but not within, the United Kingdom,
after the lapse of three years from the date of application
in the country of origin unless the patentee could justify
his inaction to the Board of Trade. In the course of his
reply to the views placed before him by members of the
deputation, Mr. Lloyd-George pointed out that the Patent
Act of 1902 embodied the principle of compulsory work-
ing, and he wished to know where the Act had broken
down. He thought it necessary to see that, while the
commercial community was protected, protection was also
afforded to those poor people who, while they have the
brains, have not the cash to enjoy the full benefit of their
ingenuity.

A COMMITTEE has been appointed to inquire into and
report upon matters connected with the Department of
Agriculture and Technical Instruction for Ireland. The
committee is constituted as follows :—Sir Kenelm Digby,
late Under-Secretary for the Home Department (chair-
man); the Hon. John Dryden, late Minister of Agriculture
in Ontario; Mr. W. L. Micks, member of the Local
Government Board for Ireland; Mr. F. G. Ogilvie, prin-
cipal assistant-secretary for technology in the Board of
Education; and Mr. Stephen Brown, chairman of the
Kildare County Council. The committee is to inquire
whether the provisions of the Agriculture and Technical
Instruction (Ireland) Act, 1899, constituting the depart-
ment, and the methods which the department has followed
in carrying out those provisions, have been shown by
experience to be well suited to the conditions of Ireland ;
whether any, and if so what, changes are desirable in those
provisions and methods; and to report also upon the re-
lations of the department to the Council of Agriculture,
to the Agricultural Board, and to the Board of Technical
Instruction; upon its relations to local statutory bodies ;
upon the funds at its disposa] and the modes of employ-
ing them, and upon its position in regard to other depart-
ments, especially those charged with educational functions.

From the April number of the Popular Science Monthly
we learn that the regents of the Smithsonian Institution
have passed a resolution expressing their profound sorrow

APRIL 12, 1906]

NATURE 5

at the death of Dr. S. P. Langley, secretary of the institu-
tion from 1887 to his death. The resolution includes the
following appreciative record of Dr. Langley’s work :—‘ In
the death of Mr. Langley this institution has lost a dis-
tinguished, efficient, and faithful executive officer, under
whose administration the international influence of the
parent institution has been greatly increased, and by whose
personal efforts two important branches of work have been
added to its care—the National Zoological Park and the
Astrophysical Observatory. The scientific world is in-
debted to Mr. Langley for the invention of important
apparatus and instruments of precision, for numerous
additions to knowledge, more especially for his epoch-
making investigations in solar physics, and for his efforts
in placing the important subject of aérial navigation upon
a scientific basis. All who sought the truth and cultivated
science, letters, and the fine arts, have lost through his
death a co-worker and a sympathiser.’’ The executive
committee has been requested to arrange for a memorial
meeting to be held in Washington; and Dr. A. D. White
has been invited to prepare a suitable memorial which
shall form a part of the records of the Board of Regents
of the institution.

Tne belemnites of the Speeton Clay form the subject of
a paper by Mr. T. Shepherd, issued as No. 29 of Hull
Museum Publications.

WE have received a copy of a fourth supplement to ‘‘ A
Catalogue of the Books in the Library of the Indian
Museum,’’ containing additions from the autumn of 1899
to that of 1903.

In No. 1440 of the Proceedings of the U.S. National
Museum, Mr. Knud Andersen describes horseshoe-bats
collected in the islands of Nias and Engano, Malay Archi-
pelago. No. 1441 of the same serial is devoted to a re-
vision of American Palzeozoic insects, by Mr. Anton Hand-
lirsch, of the Imperial Natural History Museum at Vienna,
to whom the Transatlantic specimens have been sent. A
large part of the collection was obtained from the Upper
Carboniferous shales of Mazon Creek, in Illinois, where
they are found imbedded in washed-out nodules. Since
only about one nodule in a thousand contains an insect’s
wing, the search would be impossible were it not for the
fact that other fossils are comparatively common. Owing
to ill-health, Prof. Scudder was unequal to the task of de-
scribing the collections, and it was for this reason that
they were handed over to the Austrian palzontologist.
The systematic conclusions reached by Mr. Handlirsch
differ somewhat from those of Prof. Scudder, and render
insect phylogeny simpler. The order of Palaeodictyoptera,
which is the oldest, is regarded as the ancestral stock from
which all other insects are descended. In No. 1439 of -he
same serial Mr. Handlirsch describes a new and interest-
ing type of cockroach from the Cretaceous beds of the
Judith River, Montana.

Parts iv. and v. of vol. xvi. of the Proceedings of the
Royal Physical Society of Edinburgh have been received.
The former is entirely devoted to a catalogue of the crus-
taceans of the Forth area, by Dr. T. Scott; while certain
rotifers from the same district form the subject of a paper
in No. 5, by Mr. J. Murray. The latter issue also con-
tains an important paper by Prof. J. G. Kerr on the
embryology of certain primitive fishes, more especially the
lung-fishes and fringe-finned ganoids. As the result of his
investigations, the author concludes that vertebrate limbs
are probably medified external gills, the theory that they ?

NO. 1902, VOL. 73]

are derivatives from a pair of lateral skin-folds being, in
his opinion, purely hypothetical, and not supported by
embryological evidence. According to Prof. Kerr’s view,
two pairs of the primitive gills lost their respiratory func-
tion and assumed a motor one, developing at first into
““ stylopterygia,’’ then into the ‘‘ archipterygia ’’ of Cera-
todus, and finally, but independently, into ‘‘ chiropterygia.”’
This implies the theory that the archipterygium is really
the primitive type of fin, and also involves the acceptance
of Gegenbaur’s idea that limb-girdles represent branchial
arches. The limbs of Lepidosiren and Protopterus are re-
garded as reversions to the stylopterygian type. Further,
the author asserts his belief in the intimate relationship
between lung-fishes and salamanders. Dollo’s theory that
the diphycercal tail of modern lung-fishes is derived from
a heterocercal type is considered improbable.

We have received copies of the Sitzungsberichte of the
Royal Bohemian Academy of Sciences for 1904 and 1905.
One of the most interesting articles in the former of these
is an account, by Dr. G. Eisen. of the now extinct Indians
of the Santa Barbara Islands, off the Californian coast.
Our knowledge of these Indians is derived from the accounts
of the early voyagers, from the missionaries who sub-
sequently settled on the islands, and from the remains in
their refuse-heaps and the skulls and skeletons which have
from time to time been collected. Some of the islands
probably at one time had a population approaching 1000
each, but in 1823 only about goo were left on Santa
Barbara and the neighbouring islets; and by 1875 all had
disappeared, the last survivor in San Nicolas having been
deported in 1853. Although they manufactured a certain
number of domestic utensils, these Santa Barbara Indians
are described by the missionaries as the most degraded of
all human beings, with’ a morality lower than that of
animals. Insects, especially grasshoppers, formed a por-
tion of their food, and, like the natives of the adjacent
mainland, they probably fed to a great extent on the larger
kinds of earthworms. Possibly they belonged to the
Shoshonean stock of the mainland. Their extermination
is attributed to the changed conditions of existence im-
posed upon them by the missionaries.

In Science for March 9 and 16 several papers on yellow
fever, read before the American Association for the Advance-
ment of Science, are reported. Prof. Calkins discusses the
protozoan life-cycle, and concludes that the yellow-fever
microbe probably belongs to the spirochetes. Mr. J. H.
White summarises the practical results of discoveries on
yellow fever transmission, Mr. H. C. Weeks discusses the
practical side of mosquito extermination, and Dr. J. Carrol,
in a paper entitled ‘‘ Without Mosquitoes there can be no
Yellow Fever,’’? reviews the evidence, showing that yellow
fever is conveyed solely by the mosquito Stegomyia
fasciata.

In the first number of the Philippine Journal of Science,
issued in January, Mr. E. B. Copeland, discussing the
water relations of the coco-nut palm, attributes much
value to an open position where transpiration is consider-
able and the trees receive full illumination. These observ-
ations would help to explain the fact that coco-nut trees
growing near the sea shore produce more fruit than those
growing further inland, although analyses show very little
differences in the composition of the soils.

Tue second number of the Philippine Journal of Science
(i., No. 2) maintains the high standard of its predecessor.
Mr. H. S. Walker discusses the keeping qualities of coco-

568

NATURE

[APRIL 12, 1906

nut oil and the causes of its rancidity; the latter seems to | 1876-1900. We can only briefly mention some of the

pe due to the growth of moulds in imperfectly dried copra.
Mr. C. S. Banks describes and illustrates the principal
insects attacking the coco-nut palm, and Mr. A. M.
Clover writes on Philippine wood oils. Mr. W. D. Smith
describes certain Orbitoides from the Binangonan lime-
stone, and Dr. R. Strong experiments on vaccination
against plague. Mr. M. Herzog details an investigation
on beri-beri, from cases of which he has succeeded in
isolating the kakke coccus of Okata kokubo.

In the Bulletin du Jardin impérial botanique of St.
Petersburg (vol. vi., part i.) Mr. A. Elenkin puts forward
the view that in lichens the algal and fungal constituents
do not exist for mutual benefit, but, being differently acted
on by external factors, one flourishes at the expense of the
other. Mr. B. Issatchenko, writing on the conditions under
which chlorophyll is formed, dissents from the results
obtained by Mr. W. Palladin that a concentration of 35 per
cent. to 50 per cent. of sugar prevents its formation. Mr.
P. Isuzew announces that he has found trees of the bird-
cherry with rose-coloured flowers in the province of Perm,
and also that early and late flowering varieties were
observed growing side by side.

In the West Indian Bulletin, vol. vi., No. 4, a number
of papers on sugar and sugar cultivation are collected from
which a fair idea of the state of the industry in the West
Indies can be obtained. While it cannot be said that the
industry has been as yet re-established on a sound basis,
the opinions expressed by such capable judges as Sir Daniel
Morris, Dr. F. Watts, and Dr. H. H. Cousins all point to
a successful future if only planters will take advantage of
the improved varieties, and if separately or in combination
they will arrange for the establishment of factories equipped
with modern machinery. New seedlings giving a higher
proportion of saccharose are being evolved; the well known
seedling B. 208, now under cultivation in Barbados, Jamaica,
Queensland, and elsewhere, has been surpassed by another
Barbados seedling, B.1529, and some of the Jamaican
seedlings of 1904 promise to give excellent results. The
fluctuations of the sugar industry in Antigua and St. Kitts
during the last twenty-five years can be readily followed
from the diagrams given by Dr. F. Watts.

AN contribution to the subject of foliar
periodicity in tropical countries is provided by Mr. H.
Wright in the Annals of the Royal Botanic Gardens,
Peradeniya, vol. ii., part iii., 1905, recording a large
number of interesting observations. Contrasting the in-
fluence of internal and external factors, two arguments in
favour of the former are found in the small number of
species that pass through a leafless period each year, and
the striking fact that there is not a month in the year
when all the deciduous species are in full leaf. On the
other hand, since more than half the deciduous species
pass through their leafless phase during the dry period from
January to March, it is obvious that climate has con-
siderable influence on periodicity. Of the physical factors
that produce climate, Mr. Wright attributes the greatest
importance to humidity. In this connection, the curves of
monthly variations of temperature, rainfall, and humidity
placed alongside the curve indicating the number of
deciduous species in each month are especially instructive.

important

A very elaborate discussion of the climate of Beyrout,
Syria, has been undertaken by Dr. S. Kostlivy, and pub-
lished by the Royal Bohemian Society of Sciences. Since
the year 1876 the observations have been regularly printed
in the year-books of the Austrian Meteorological Service ;
the discussion in question refers to the twenty-five years

e (NOs IgO2violn en

principal results of Dr. Kostlivy’s valuable work. The
yearly variation of the monthly means of atmospheric
pressure is considerable; the highest monthly mean was
in January, 1898, 30-18 inches; the lowest in July, 1893,
29-70 inches, the mean variation being about half an inch.
The highest monthly mean temperature occurs in August,
81°-5, the lowest in January, 55°-4. The absolute extremes
were 101°-3, in October, 1898, and 30°-0, in December,
1897. The mean annual rainfall is 35-65 inches; of this
amount 59-8 per cent. falls in winter, 18-5 per cent. in
spring, 0-7 per cent. in summer, and 21-0 per cent. in
autumn. During the whole series of twenty-five years, no
rain fell in August in twenty-two cases, and none in July in
twenty cases. The greatest fall in twenty-four hours was.
53 inches, in October. Snow is unknown at Beyrout, but
hail occurs, on an average, on six or seven days in each
vear. Fog occurs very rarely; it was only observed on
nineteen days during the whole period. The most pre-
valent wind is from the south-west, being about 31 per
cent. of the whole of the wind notations; stormy days
occur, on an average, only about seven times a year.

Tue Meteorological
Summary ”’

Office has issued its ‘* Annual
for 1905, based upon observations made at
153 stations in the United Kingdom; it contains an interest-
ing account of the conspicuous meteorological occurrences.
during the year. There was a remarkable absence, after
the first three months, of gales which affected any large
extent of country ; during the three months ending with July
no general gale was experienced on our coasts. The most
violent storm of the year occurred on March 15; it came
on with remarkable suddenness, and at Falmouth one of
the gusts reached a velocity of 103 miles. Strong gales
were also experienced in the last three months of the
year. Rainfall was deficient over the kingdom generally,
the loss being from 10 inches to 13 inches at some places ;
but at several stations in Scotland and Ireland the rainfall
was above the average, and at Dungeness an excess of
8 inches was recorded. There was no snowstorm worthy of
special mention, although snow was of frequent occurrence
in the first months of the year. Thunderstorms were re-
corded in every month in some part of the country, but
the distribution was very irregular. The most remarkable
droughts occurred in the winter season; a period of dry
weather which set in about the middle of December, 1904,
Was maintained with but unimportant interruptions until
the middle of February, 1905. May was also a very dry
month over an extensive region. The maximum tempera-
ture recorded was 87°, at Maidenhead, on July 26; there
were many readings of 80° and upwards. The lowest
temperatures in England occurred about January 19; at

Llangammarch Wells a reading of 11° was registered. In
Scotland and Ireland the greatest cold was about

November 19; Braemar registered 5°.
in the mornings from about the middle of October;
November had also several foggy days, but the worst
visitation of the year occurred from December 10-14. An
exceedingly high tide swept down the east coast of England
on the night of January 6-7, flooding extensive tracts and
causing great destruction of property; it was accompanied
with a hard north-westerly gale.

Fog was prevalent

An informal address by Dr. A. G. Bell to the Com-
mittee on Coinage, Weights, and Measures of the U.S.
House of Representatives on February 16, giving an ex-
planation of the reasons why the United States should
abandon its heterogeneous systems of weights and
measures, is printed in the National Geographic Magazine

APRIL 12, 1906]

NALORE

569

for March. The committee had under consideration a Bill
before Congress proposing that, from July 1, 1908, all the
departments of the Government of the United States, in
the transaction of business requiring the use of weight
and measurement, shall employ and use the weights and
measures of the metric system. Dr. Bell gave an ex-
haustive account of the anomalies of the British systems
of measurement in use in the United States. He pointed
out that all civilised countries, with the exception of the
United States and Great Britain and her colonies, have
adopted the simpler and more scientific decimal system.
He reminded the committee that the metric system was
legalised in the United States in 1866, and that its adop-
tion by a portion of the population had increased the
present confusion. By reference to the decimal system of
coinage already in use in the States, Dr. Bell provided
convincing instances of the simplification possible with it
in the conversion of units, and explained that the United
States, when it changed from the old system of pounds,
shillings, and pence to the present dollars and cents, did
not adopt the metric system of weights and measures be-
cause the latter, as we know it, did not appear until after
the American Coinage Act of 1792. The facts that our
whole system of arithmetic is decimal, that no difficulty
whatever is experienced by ordinary workmen in the use
of the metric system—provided there is no question of con-
verting their measurements—and that the use of the metric
system need not mean the use of new tools, were all
clearly explained. It is interesting to note, in connection
with this Bill before Congress, that the committee on
publicity of the Metrological Society, of which Prof. Simon
Newcomb is chairman, has circulated a letter urging all
persons in favour of the introduction of the metric system
to write, and also secure from other friends, as many
letters to representatives in Congress as possible, so that
they may see that public sentiment is in the direction of
the adoption of decimal weights and measures.

In the Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts
and Sciences, xli., 24, for February, Mr. B. O. Pierce
describes, with diagrams, experiments on the manner of
growth of a current in the coil of a nearly closed electro-
magnet, as influenced by the width of the air gap.

We have received part i. of the Transactions of the
English Ceramic Society for the session 1905-6, and notice
that, in view of the greatly increased activity of the society,
it has become necessary to issue its publications in a serial
form, instead of in a single volume at the completion of
the session, as was formerly the case. The present number
contains five papers read before the society during
November and December of last year.

OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN.

Comet 1906c.—The following extension of Dr. E.
Stromgren’s ephemeris for comet 1906c is taken from
Circular No. 88 of the Kiel Centralstelle :—

Ephemeris 12h. Berlin M.T.

1906 a é log A Bright-

4 h., m. s, Ate; ness
April 10 3 Ol mesma O 0'2912 0°37
14 3 15 40 +16 19 0°3084 O31

18 3.23 54 ... +18 45 0°3249 0'27

22 3 31 52 +20 59 0°3405 0723

ZO 3 G0uS +23 4 0°3553 9°20
39... 3 47 14 +25 0 0 3693 O'17

time of discovery=1-o=about mag. 80.

NO. 1902, VOL. 73]

Brightness at

This object is now apparently leaving the constellation
Aries for that of Taurus, and will pass through the
Pleiades group on April 26-27.

In reference to the paragraph on comet 1g05c¢ on p. 545,
where it was stated that that comet, also, would pass near
to the Pleiades, the latter name was given in mistake for
the Hvades.

MEASUREMENTS OF LINNE DURING THE ToTaL EcLIpPsE OF
THE Moon.—In Circular No. 113 of the Harvard College
Observatory, Prof. E. C. Pickering publishes the results of
a series of measurements of the bright spot around the
lunar crater Linné, made by Mr. R. H. Frost during the
total eclipse of the moon which took place on February 8.

These results show that the diameter of the spot began
to increase as Linné passed into the earth’s shadow, and
to decrease rapidly on the return of sunlight to that portion
of the moon’s surface.

This apparently confirms Prof. W. H. Pickering’s theory
that the phenomenon is due to the formation and melting
of hoar-frost.

THe TEMPERATURE OF THE SuN.—An important paper
bearing on the question of the temperature of the sun’s
surface was communicated to the Paris Academy of Sciences
by M. Henri Moissan on March 109.

In the course of his well known experiments with the
electric furnace, M. Moissan recently succeeded in dis-
tilling titanium, and from the temperature therein employed
he deduces probable limits for the temperature in that part
of the sun’s body where, as seen from the solar spectrum,
titanium is volatilised.

The temperature of the arc employed has been previously
determined as about 3500° C., and, taking into account the
uncertainty as to the pressure existing in the solar atmo-
sphere, M. Moissan concludes that the probable tempera-
ture varies between Prof. Wilson’s estimated value of
6590° C. and the value obtained by M. Violle, viz.
2000° C. to 3000° C., the probability being that the latter
value is nearer to the truth (Comptes rendus, No. 12).

Tue MeELsournE Opservatory.—The thirty-ninth annual
report of the work done at Melbourne Observatory deals
with the period April 1, 1904, to March 31, 1905, its chief
point being a statement of the progress of the work in
connection with the Astrographic Chart. To this end the
astronomical work has been almost entirely confined to
meridian observations and stellar photography.

The catalogue series now totals 1149 satisfactory plates,
and is complete, whilst for the second catalogue series 455
plates have been obtained. For the chart series, with single
exposures of 60m., 565 plates have been passed, thus com-
pleting this part of the work. Four hundred and ninety-
five plates, with triple exposures of 30m. each, have also
been obtained for the chart.

On March 31, 1905, 317 Sydney and 612 Melbourne
plates, containing 177,069 and 206,604 stars respectively,
had been measured.

The measurement of the long series of magnetic curves
extending back for thirty-seven years was nearly completed
‘when the report was issued, 37,212 day-curves out of about
40,000 having been measured.

MountTING THE 60-INCH REFLECTOR AT Harvarp.—An
interesting description of the method which is being
employed in mounting the late Dr. Common’s 60-inch re-
flector at Harvard College Observatory is given in No. 3,
vol. xiv., of Popular Astronomy.

Instead of being supported on a solid pier, nearly the
whole of the weight of the instrument is borne on a
cylindrical steel float partly submerged in a tank of water,
and so fitted as to be perfectly steady.

The coudé method of mounting has been employed, so
that the observer may remain in a comfortably fitted room
and make his observations through an eye-piece which
retains a constant position and direction.

Electric motors have been employed to drive the tele-
scope, and, by a number of switches conveniently placed in
the observing room, the observer is able to maintain full
control over all the necessary adjustments.

on

INA TOTALS

[APRIL 12, 1906

BIRD-LIFE AT THE SOUTH ORKNEY
ISLANDS.

-yURING the years 1903 and 1904 the Scottish National
Antarctic Expedition made important ornithological
researches in the icy regions of the far south, and also at
the remarkably remote island of Diego Alvarez, otherwise
Gough Island, in the South Atlantic. In both, extensive
collections of birds were made, which were recently de-
scribed in the pages of the Ibis.

The main scene of these investigations was at the South
Orkneys, a group of more than a dozen islands lying some
600 miles south-east of the Falklands, and which, though
discovered so long ago as 1821, had remained among the
least known lands within the South Polar seas. The
climate of this archipelago, in spite of its comparatively
low latitude (60°-61° S.), is essentially polar, the summer
temperature being much the same as in regions 10° further
south, while in winter as many as 72° of frost were
registered.

On Laurie Island, the second largest (30 square miles)
of the group, eleven months were spent by the expedition,
including the winter of 1903. During this period a number
of interesting and valuable observations were made re-
lating to the native birds (some of them little known), their
habits, migrations, nidification, and geo-
graphical distribution ; while the collections
formed enabled me to describe phases
previously quite unknown in the plumage
of several rare species, and also included
the eggs of forms never before obtained.

Only a few birds essayed to winter, but
on the return of spring marvellous numbers
arrived to spend the Summer and to rear
their young.

The penguins were by far the most
numerous, and were of four kinds. The
Adélie (Pygoscelis. adéliae) was the most

abundant, its numbers being estimated at
not less than five millions; the ringed
(P. antarctica), which was previously re-
garded as nowhere common, evidently has
its metropolis at the South Orkneys, for
at least one million nested on Laurie
Island alone; while the gentoo (P. papua)
was less numerous, since it here nears the

southern limit of its range. Another
species, the macaroni penguin (Catar-

rhactes chrysolophus), was found in very
small numbers, but it probably breeds
somewhere in the archipelago. The three
first mentioned species of penguin nested

swooped down to snatch the same treasures from the much
persecuted parents.

When courting, as one of the pictures shows, the
enamoured ones elevate their bills and utter their far from
musical love songs. They do this in unison, moving their
heads backwards and forwards or waving them from side
to side all the while.

Next to the penguins, the petrels were the most numerous
of the bird inhabitants of the island. Of these, eight
species were present, most of which were nesting on the
their

sea cliffs, or on the steep screes springing from
bases. On such sites was discovered the egg of the Cape

petrel or pigeon (Daption capensis), a bird weil known to
voyagers for more than two hundred years, yet one which
had hitherto succeeded in hiding its plain white egg from
the gaze of oologists. Many of the eggs of this bird were
found on the ledges of the cliffs, but collecting them was
not a pleasant pursuit, for these birds, like some others of
their order, have the power of squirting a quantity of evil-
smelling oil at intruders, making good marksmanship at
$ feet. Fortunately the giant petrel (Ossifraga gigantea),

a bird as big as a goose, did not practise this art, other-
wise the taking of its egg would indeed have been an ordeal.
This species, too, sat close, and when pushed off its nest,
which consisted of a great heap of stones, it vomited the

in great ‘‘ rookeries,’’ some of which con-
tained several millions of inhabitants, and
extended as a broad belt for two cr three
miles over elevated plateaux bordering the
Their nests were constructed of small stones deliber-
ately collected one by one, and, on an average, there was
a nest to each square yard of the area occupied.

Life in these great bird cities was not altogether a
happy one. The penguins are ill-natured and pugnacious
birds, and woe betide the citizen who trespassed upon the
domain of his neighbours, or the poor unfortunate who
had not secured a mate and ventured within the precincts
of the rookery. Then the bills of all the birds around
were turned against the intruders, and a fearful commotion
ensued which generally resulted in a free fight all round,
cach pair of birds attacking their neighbour, and ended in
the rookery becoming a veritable pandemonium, rendered
hideous by the harsh screeches of hundreds of thousands
of voices. Such squabbles and their consequences, how-
ever, were mere trifles when compared with two scourges

sea.

ever present among the sitting birds. Foremost among
these were the savage giant petrels, the greatest ol
feathered ruffians, which wandered in numbers through-

out the community gorging themselves to repletion on the
eggs and young forcibly taken from the brooding penguins.
The second terror was the Antarctic skua, many of which
hovered overhead, like so many harpies, and incessantly

NO. 1902, VOL.

Cael

are)

Fic. 1.—Acélie Penguins’ Rookery on Graptolite Islard.

contents of its gorged stomach, and thus lightened was able
to take wing. The other species resorting to the island for
a summer home and nursery were Wilson’s petrel (Oceanites
oceanicus) and the ice petrel (Pagodroma nivea), both of
which are very abundant. A single pair of the black-bellied
storm petrel (Fregetta melanogaster) and their egg were
found, and thereby a remarkable extension southwards in
the previously known range of this species established.
Possibly two other petrels were nesting, namely, the
Antarctic and slender-billed fulmars (Thalassoeca antarctica

and Priocella glucialoides), and a whale bird (Prion
bankst) was seen off the islands.
A tern (Sterna hirundinacea), a gull (Larus domini-

canus), and a skua (Megalestris antarctica) nested in the
vicinity of the shore, but the latter only was abundant.
The blue-faced shag (Phalacrocorax atriceps), previously
not a well known species in any respect, nested in numbers
on islets off the coast; and lastly we found another little

known specie namely, the white sheath-bill (Chionis
alba), a remarkable bird distantly related to both the
plovers and the gulls. It was quite common, and took up

its quarters amid the nesting
dead young and broken eggs ;

penguins, feeding on their
in fact, these birds were

APRIL 12, 1906]

NATURE 571

regular scavengers, to which the dung of seals did not
come amiss.

The chief food of the millions of penguins and tens of
thousands of petrels was the opossum shrimp (Euphausia
antarctica), and when one remembers the vast numbers of
this little crustacean consumed daily by the birds on Laurie
Island alone, one can only compare their numbers in the
sea with the grains of sand upon its beaches.

The Scottish National Antarctic Expedition is to be
heartily congratulated on the excellence and importance of
its ornithological work. Mr. Bruce, the leader of the ex-

pedition, has presented a complete set of the South Orkneys

inquiry, it had been ascertained that a certain propor-

tion of the amount required fer bumaing and equipping
such a tank would be guaranteed by private firms and
public bodies. It was obvious that the condition of
shipbuilding at the time the proposals were formerly
made did not favour the movement, and it was there-
for2 decided to suspend action. Since the scheme was
first mooted, additional private experimental tanks had

been either laid down or projected by some of the great
shipbuilding firms of the country. Such tanks as these,
however, could never supply the need that existed for pure
research. The council had therefore decided to call together

Fic. 2.—Ringed Penguins courting (Brown’s Bay).

and other birds collected during the voyage of the Scotia
to the Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh.
For the loan of the blocks from which the pictures have
been reproduced we are indebted to the editors of the Ibis.
Wn. EaGLe CLarKeE.

INSTITUTION OF NAVAL ARCHITECTS.

HE annual general meeting of the Institution of Naval
Architects was held last week, commencing Wednes-
day, April 4, and being continued over the following
Thursday and Friday. A full programme of twelve papers
had been prepared by the secretary, Mr. R. W. Dana.
The subjects dealt with were of various interest, vessels
fitted with internal combustion motors occupying a good
deal of attention. There was, however, no paper on the
steam turbine.
On members assembling on the morning of Wednesday,

the president, the Right Hon. the Earl of Glasgow, took
the chair, and after the usual formal business had been
transacted, proceeded to read his annual address. He
referred to the launch of the large line-of-battle ship
Dreadnought, and gave certain figures relating to the
Navy Estimates. Reference was made to the pro-
posed. experimental tank at Bushy. There had _ been,

he said, a general appeal to members of the institution
for financial support, but, as the result of preliminary

NO. 1902, VOL. 73]

| the committee that had the matter in hand, and ascertain
the views of the members on the present position of the

scheme, and the prospects of its being brought to a
successful conclusion. Should the shipowners of the

country be unwilling to subscribe the comparatively small
amount needed to build, equip, and maintain such a tank,
nothing would remain but to abandon the scheme and dis-
solve the committee. The president hoped, however, that,
before such a conclusion was reached, a fresh effort might

be successfully made to carry out upon scientific lines a
work of vital importance to the development of naval
architecture in this country.

The first paper read was a contribution by Admiral

C. C. P. FitzGerald, the subject being the new scouts
recently designed for the Royal Navy. Details of these
vessels were given, and the subject of naval scouting was
discussed both from the strategical and tactical point of
view. A discussion followed, in which several naval
officers took part, and it was pointed out that the scouts
were analogous to the old 36-gun frigates, these being the
most powerful ships that could be detached from the fleet
without weakening the line of battle.

Sir Edward J. Reed next gave an account of the vessels
he had designed for service in the colonies. They were of
various descriptions, consisting of both screw and paddle
boats, the former being of the ordinary or of the tunnel-
screw type, whilst both stern-wheel and side-wheel boats
were used on the shallow waters of colonial rivers.

572 NATLORE

On the
opened by Mr.

measurement rules,

second day of the meeting the proceedings
R. E. Froude reading a paper on yacht
and the late International Conference
on Yacht Rating. Delegates from different countries
attended this conference, but America did not send any
representatives, a matter which was to be regretted. The
French delegates abandoned the position they originally
took up, the formula they had brought forward not being
pressed. The formula uitimately agreed upon by the con-
ference was

L+B+3G+3d+3W75S—F

2

where L=length, B=beam, G=chain girth, d=girth
difference (i.e. skin girth minus chain girth), S=sail area,
and F=freeboard. ‘The reasons on which the formula was
based were set forth in Mr. Froude’s paper, and were also
dealt with in the discussion by which it was followed.

Two papers on motor-boats followed. The first was by
Mr. Linton Hope, and dealt with the speed of motor-
boats and their rating for motor purposes, and the second
was by Mr. James A. Smith, and was on the design and
construction of high-speed motor-boats. These papers were
read consecutively, and discussed together. The Marine
Motor Association has adopted a formula for rating motor-
boats for racing purposes. It is as follows :—

(P2/A)+/1.=rating,
where P=motor-power, A=immersed sectional area at the
point of greatest beam, and L=length. Motor-power
is obtained by the following formula :—

AxSxR
eye =MP,

where A is the total piston area of all cylinders in square
inches, S=stroke in feet, R=maximum revolutions per
minute, and C is a constant equalling 1000 for 4-cycle
and 600 for 2-cycle motors. Mr. Hope gave particulars
of a large number of existing motor-boats, and the lines
of several of the best known. The most interesting part
of his paper, however, was a diagram giving curves of
speeds and ratings of a large number of existing boats,
the data being obtained either from racing records or trials
made specially. Mr. Smith, in his paper, also referred to
the methods of handicapping motor-boats by a rating rule,
and gave particulars of certain of the best known recent
craft of this type. A discussion followed, in the course of
which Mr. Froude objected to the formula adopted because
it was not homogeneous, as it included as factors both
length and area.

At the evening meeting on Thursday an_ interesting
paper was read by Mr. J. E. Thornycroft on gas engines
for ship propulsion. Particulars of different types of pro-
ducers were described and illustrated. A large part of the
paper was taken up by a description of the Capitaine system.
This consists of a suction producer and a gas engine. It
had been fitted into a yacht which took part in the
reliability trials at Southampton last year. It had also
been fitted in a canal barge which recently made a trip
from the Thames through the canal system of England
to Birmingham, Manchester, and back to London by way
of Oxford. These practical illustrations are considered
sufficient proof that the system can be applied to marine
propulsion. In the discussion which followed the reading
of the paper, the chief point raised was whether bituminous
coal could be used in a suction producer. Up to the
present anthracite has been the fuel employed, the bitumin-
ous coal being subjected to caking in the producer, and thus
stopping the working. Mr. Thornycroft stated that Mr.
Capitaine was endeavouring to solve this problem, and had
already constructed a producer which appeared to answer
the purpose.

A paper was next read by Prof. R. S. Weighton, of
Newcastle, the subject being the efficiency of surface con-
densers. In this paper the author described a new form of
condenser which was presented to the engineering laboratory
of University College, Newcastle, by Messrs. Richardson,
Westgarth and Co. Very exhaustive tests had been made,
there having been 4oo fuli experiments in all. The results
of these were plotted, and given in tables and diagrams
accompanying the paper. The condenser is of the surface
type, fitted with tubes on the general principle adopted in

NO. 1902, VOL. 73]

| was stated to have been ten years in bottle.

[APRIL 12, 1906

The tubes are divided into three
nests, each nest being placed in a separate compart-
ment. Water circulates through the tubes and the steam
amongst them. On entering the first compartment a large
part of the steam is condensed in the usual way. In place,
however, of allowing the resultant water to flow over all
the remaining tubes, it is trapped by means of a diaphragm,
and flows at once to a receptacle at the bottom of the con-
denser. The steam that remains uncondensed flows into
the next compartment, and circulates amongst the second
nest of tubes; here a further quantity is condensed, and
the water again trapped off. Any remaining steam is
then condensed in the third compartment. From the
voluminous tables attached to the paper it was to be
gathered that for a given size of condenser and a given
volume of cooling water a much larger quantity of steam
could be dealt with in the form of condenser described.

On the last day of the meeting, Friday, April 6, the
proceedings commenced with a paper on freeboard rules,
the author being Mr. J. Foster King. The paper explained
the difference between the British and the German rules
in regard to freeboard, the latter allowing a deeper
lading than in the case of vessels belonging to this country.
For some time past the Board of Trade has been giving
attention to this question, and amendments of the load-
line tables have been under consideration. The President
of the Board of Trade has given his sanction to amended
rules and tables, such as are shown by the author in his
paper, so as to bring the practice of this country more in
conformity with the German rules, thus removing certain
disabilities under which ships flying the British flag
labour in comparison with German competitors.

A paper by Mr. J. L. Twaddell on the overhead wire
cableway as applied to shipbuilding was next read. This
system of transporting material on the building slip has
been installed at Newcastle under the superintendence of
Mr. Twaddell. It takes the place of the more elaborate
overhead gantries and electric travelling cranes which have
been a marked feature in some of our best equipped ship-
yards. In some respects the cableway is more flexible
and convenient, but the durability of the cables was a
point raised during the discussion which followed the
reading of the paper. Experience will show how far this
may prove a defect in the new system.

A paper by Mr. Alex. Murray on the introduction of
cranes in shipyards dealt with a subject of a similar
nature, and served to illustrate how enterprising German
shipbuilders have proved themselves to be in the equip-
ment of their yards. The cantilever cranes and tower
cranes erected in one German yard, and illustrated in the
paper, are of the most elaborate, and must be also of the
most costly, description.

A paper by Mr. Herbert Rowell on oil-tight work in
ships of light construction gave particulars of riveting
and other details of strengthening surfaces necessary to
make steel-plated vessels oil-tight. :

The last paper read was by Mr. J. R. Barnett, and gave
particulars of a number of steam yachts built within the
last twenty-five years.

marine condensers.

PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL CHARACTERS
OF HUFF.

T a recent dinner of the Royal Society Club, Major
MacMahon, who represents the Royal Society on the
governing body of Winchester College, was so good as to
present to the club a quantity of huff—a variety of ale for
which the college has long been famous. It is brewed
(from malt and hops only) in March of every other year,
and is the ‘‘ duplex visia”’ or ‘‘ double beer” of Shakes-
peare, called ‘‘ huff cap’’ in Greene’s ‘* Looking Glass for
London and England, a.p. 1594,’’ ‘‘ because,’’ according to
the editor, ‘‘ it inspirited those who drank it to set their
caps in a huffing manner.’’ The sample offered to the club
In appearance
it was clear and bright, and of a deep brown colour. Its
taste was that of a well-hopped ale of high alcoholic
strength.
As several members of the club expressed a desire to
know something of the composition of this fine old ale,
and in particular as to how it compared in character with

APRIL 12, 1906]

NATURE

573

other beers of repute, Major MacMahon was so good as to
permit an examination of it to be made in the Government
Laboratory.

The results were as follows :—

Specific gravity an 1°00873
Original gravity m0 I°11667
Percentage proof spirit 3 ARS
Ash—per 100 c.c. : 20 0°465 gram.
Albumenoids—per 100 c.c. .. TOO Tuts,

Total acid—per 100 c.c. (as acetic)... 0718

Volatile acid—per 100 c.c. ,, ... 0°04

Specific rotatory power [a@]p (3:36) +65°4

The alcohol which it yielded by distillation was further

examined, with the following results, calculated to proof
strength :—

2”

bP

Per cent.
Esters (as ethyl acetate) ... 0.0524
Aldehyde 36 208 0-004

Higher alcohols 5 20 ++» 0-240

Huff is the strongest ale of which the Government Labor-
atory has any record. The nearest to it in point of alcoholic
strength and general character is the strong Burton ale
known as ‘‘ Royal Ale.’’ A sample of this, brewed in
March, 1905, exported from Liverpool to New York, on
analysis in the Government Laboratory gave the following
numbers :—

Specific gravity 1°02275
Original gravity - 1°10862
Percentage proof spiri . 20°2
Ash—per 100 c.c. 5 30 07490 gram.
Albumenoids—per 100 c.c. ... ae OLO4'S mats
Total acid—per 100 c.c. (as acetic)... 0°16 3
Volatile acid—per 100 c.c._,, nn O;O8 Ones
Specific rotatory power [a]n (3-36) +960
Examination of Alcohol—Results Calculated to Proof
Strength.

Per cent.
Esters (as ethyl acetate) ... 0-022
Aldehyde ; cos 2x0 Nil
Higher alcohols... - 0-05

A number of analyses of various ales and stouts, taken
from a paper by Mr. A. R. Ling in the Brewer’s Journal
for July, 1903, are appended, and for comparison the results
of the examination of huff and the sample of ‘‘ Royal Ale ”’
are expressed in the same terms.

Pror. E. A. Mincuin has resigned the Jodrell chair of
zoology in University College, London, in view of his
appointment to the new chair of protozoology in the Uni-
versity of London. Prof. E. H. Starling has been appointed
to the Jodrell chair of physiology at University College.
The title of emeritus professor of zoology has been con-
ferred upon Prof. E. Ray Lankester, and that of emeritus
professor of civil engineering and surveying on Prof. L. F.
Vernon-Harcourt.

AmonG educational benefactions to the colleges of the
United States recently announced by Science the follow-
ing may be mentioned. By the will of Dr. W. T. Bacon
his estate is given for life to Mrs. Bacon, but at her
death the Hartford Medical Society will receive an endow-
ment of 20,000l., and Yale University will receive a part
of the residuum of the estate, which is understood to be
worth nearly 60,0001. It is reported that Mrs. J. B.
Stetson has offered to give 20,0001. to Stetson University
on condition that the present trustees resign. Parsons
College, Fairfield, Iowa, recently received 16,000l.. addi-
tional endowment through the will of Colonel Charles
Parsons, of St. Louis. This increases the donor’s gifts to
29,2001. Through the generosity of a Chicago physician
(anonymous) and of Dr. Benjamin Taylor Terry, of New
York City, Indiana University has received offers of two
endowments for pathological research. The income of each
fellowship is 150]. a year. Both offers are made under
the condition that the University provides adequate library
and laboratory facilities for such work.

Tue Government measure to amend the law relating to
education in England and Wales was introduced in the
House of Commons on Monday by Mr. Birrell, Minister
of Education. It is proposed that the limit of twopence
as a rate for secondary education should be removed, that
Wales should have a National Education Council, and that
complete public control should be secured for all elementary
schools receiving State aid. The first clause of the measure
proposes that, after January 1, 1908, a school shall not
be recognised as a public elementary school unless it is a
school provided by the local education authority, so that
no elementary school will receive a penny of public money,
either from rates or taxes, if it does not become a pro-
vided school within the meaning of the Act. Every
elementary school receiving rates and grants will thus
become at once a provided school; and it will supply the

Barton Other Ales Stroie Dublin Stouts London Stouts sta
| Pale = = Burton “ Huff Cyst
Ale Ale | Ale

(Bottled) A B Cc A B A B

| |
Original gravity + 1061°3 1052°8 10402

Attenuation gravity = «+» |IOI2*5 IO10'4 |
Absolute alcohol (by weight) che | 5°20] 4°57] 3°55)
Total acidity expressed as acetic O10 0708 ~=0°07
Composition of the Extract.
Fermented matter | 64°75, 64°92) 64°55)
Maltose (apparent) ee | 6°05) 804) 8-32}
Dextrin (apparent) ... xe ... | 14°88] 13°97] 14:06
Ash 400 dion | 2°41; 2°03] = 2*I4)
Other substances II‘GI| It‘o4 10°93

1059°0 I108°6 10814 1074°1 1072°2 1069°7 1116°67 1108-62
1008'0 I013"4

1021°6 L1018°2 1021°7 1022°8 \1020°9 | 1008-73 1022°75

4°38 9°36 6°69) 5°51) 5:20) 5°13) 1°72) 9:25
0°08 O16 020' 0720 O16; o14 o18 o'16
62°93, 66°11, 63°5 | 587 | 55°7| 56°6 76°96 65°42
8°74 AslOe SI5ei || VuOt6) |» T2sT | Mres2 2°38} 3°30
15°46 14°21 169 | 198 I4°I | 13°74 6°09 14°74
1°93 199° 20 23 a i 22 1°54. «1°75
10°94 13°50 -12°5 96 |} 15:4] 15°6 13°03, 14°79

It will be seen that the appellation of ‘‘ duplex visia”’
as applied to huff—a liqueur among beers—is fully justified.
ADs ARS

UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL
INTELLIGENCE.

Campripce.—An exhibition of sol. a year, tenable for

two years, is offered by the governing body of Emmanuel
‘College to an advanced student commencing residence at
the college in October. The exhibition will be awarded
at the beginning of October. Applications, accompanied
iby two certificates of good character, should be sent to the
Master of Emmanuel not later than October 1.

NO. 1902, VOL. 73]

same kind of religious instruction as is now given in
provided schools. No catechisms or distinctive religious
formularies will be taught, and the conscience clause will
operate. This will be the general rule throughout the
land. The second clause of the Bill authorises a local
education authority, for the purpose of continuing any
existing voluntary school as a provided school, to make,
with the consent of the Board of Education, arrangements
for carrying on a public elementary school with the owners
of the schoolhouse, subject to the condition that the educa-
tion authority must, during the continuance of the agree-
ment, assume the whole responsibility of maintaining the
fabric. The cost of this change is estimated at about
260,0001, a -year. To meet the expenditure involved in

these proposals, a further annual grant of 1,000,000l. is

ost

NAT ORE

[APRIL 12, 1906

to be given, in addition to the existing grants. It is pro-
posed in another part of the Bill to make educational
endowments as serviceable as possible for the advancement
of education, and to consolidate, simplify, and improve the
administrative machinery ncw in use. No provision is
made for the training of teachers. We are not con-
cerned here with the sectarian difficulties which seem to
make it. hopeless to contemplate a permanent settlement
of the question of religious teaching in State schools. The
denominationalists regard the provision of religious instruc-
tion without creed or catechism, prescribed by the Bill, as
opposed to their principles and as an endowment of un-
denominationalism ; therefore they will oppose the measure.
The Labour Party, on the other hand, has taken the
logical position that State aid should only be given for
secular education; and that all religious instruction should
be abolished in elementary schools, though moral or
ethical teaching could be given based upon the best thoughts
and works to be found in the literature and history of the
world. Until a common factor of agreement is found in
sectarian doctrines, or religious instruction is banished
entirely from elementary schools, our educational system
promises to continue to be the shuttlecock of opposing
parties.

SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES.

Lonpbon.

Royal Society, Decen ber 7, 1905.—‘‘ Ona Pre perty which
holds good for all Groupings of a Normal Distribution of
Frequency for Two Variabies, with Applications to the
Study of Contingency-tables for the Inheritance of Un-
measured Qualities.’’ By G. Udny Yule. Communicated
by Prof. O. Henrici, F.R.S.

Suppose a contingency-table to have been formed for two
characters which have been assigned in some way (not
necessarily quantitatively) into classes. Extract from the
general contingency-table the frequencies in any four
adjacent compartments, and consider these as forming, by
themselves, an elementary contingency-table. If the sign
of association in all such elementary tetrads be the same,
the general contingency-table may be termed isotropic. In
an isotropic table the sign of the association is the same,
not only for every tetrad of adjacent frequencies, but for
every set of four frequencies in the compartments common
to two rows and two columns. ‘The table remains isotropic
in whatever way it may be condensed by grouping together
adjacent rows or columns, and if, as an extreme case, it
be reduced to four-fold form, the sign of the association in
such four-fold table is the same as in the elementary
tetrads of the original table. If the rows and columns of
an isotropic table be disarranged, the disarrangement is
no longer isotropic, but the rows and columns can easily
be rearranged in isotropic order. The normal frequency
distribution for two variables is isotropic, and possesses the
preceding properties. An examination of a number of
tables recently published by Prof. Pearson for inheritance
of anthropometric measurements (stature, span, forearm
and head measurements) shows that all are at least
approximately isotropic. On the other hand, the tables for
inheritance of eye-colour published by the same writer on
the basis of Mr. Galton’s material, are, without excep-
tion, anisotropic, the divergence from isotropy being of
such a kind as would be produced by an excess of frequency
in the diagonal compartments of the table corresponding
to identity of eye-colour in the two relatives. This excess,
in the case of the tables for inheritance in the first degree,
is not, however, so great as would be given by the theory
of simple alternative inheritance, which accordingly re-
quires modification. The same type of anisotropy appears
to hold for the great majority of the tables for inheritance
of coat-colour in horses given by Prof. Pearson, and also
for the miscellaneous characters, mental and physical, in
man, given by him in the Huxley lecture (1903). The
marked prevalence of this type of distribution for such
very diverse qualities, as compared—so far as investigation
has gone—with its complete absence in the case of measured
characters, raises the question whether it may not be, in
whole or in part, of subjective origin.

The above abstract should have preceded that printed
in last week’s Nature (p. 551).

NO 1902, VOL. 73]

January 18.—* The Growth of the Oocyte in Antedon: a
Morphological Study in Cell-Metabolism.’’ By Dr. Gilbert
Chubb. Communicated by Prof. E. H. Starling, F.R.S.

The paper deals with the growth of the oocyte in Antedon
bifida, Pennant, and is an attempt to utilise the morpho-
logical changes accompanying this process to determine the
relative physiological significance of the various cell-
structures.

The most striking expression of nucleclar activity con-
sists in the intermittent discharge of spherules into the
cytoplasm throughout the growth of the egg. Of these
spherules, those discharged during the earlier period of the
egg’s growth constitute the yolk-nucleus, and both the
origin and later behaviour of the latter structure are shown
to be due to the progressively changing physical consistency
of the cytoplasm. Neither the yolk-nucleus nor the
nucleolar matter discharged subsequent to its formation
take any part in yolk formation.

Evidence is adduced to show that the chromatin is re-
sponsible for the formation of the nucleolus, and that it is
in this latter structure that the waste products of cyto-
plasmic activity undergo their final changes.

The irregularity of the germinal vesicle, so often accepted
as an indication of the direct participation of this structure
in yolk formation, is shown to be due to purely physical
causes. The actual process of yollx formation is shown to
be unaccompanied by increased nuclear activity, and to
consist merely in the automatic conversion into a more
stable form of material deposited in solution in the cyto-
plasm by the chromatin throughout the entire growth of
the egg.

Zoological Society, March 20.—Dr. Henry Woodward,
F.R.S., vice-president, in the chair-—Descriptions of the
species of the coleopterous genus Sciobius: Guy A. K.
Marshall. The genus comprised forty-one species, of
which twenty-two were described as new.—A contribution
to the study of evolution based upon the Mexican species
of Cnemidophorus: Dr. Hans Gadow. The main object
of the paper was to trace the correlation of certain vari-
ations exhibited by the lizards of this genus, and the
environmental, bionomic conditions. To do this a revision
of the numerous species of the genus had been necessary,
most of the ample material for which had been collected
by the author himself. Especial attention had to be paid
to an exhaustive study of the surprisingly great variability
of certain characters, in particular the changes of the
colour-pattern and the scutellation of the collar and of the
limbs. The distribution of the many races, into which
some of the species seemed to have recently differentiated
themselves, was likewise followed up in detail.

Geological Society. March 21.—Mr. Aubrey Strahan,
F.R.S., vice-president, in the chair.—The Chalk and Drift
in Moen: Rev. Edwin Hillh The problem of Moen is to
account for portions of Drift, isolated, and seemingly in-
cluded, in cliffs of Chalk. It has been assumed that these
portions occupy dislocations, and that the dislocations were
either simultaneous with, or subsequent to, the deposition
of the Drift. But cases are here described where Drift is
seen to occupy cavities in dislocations, which had been
water-worn, and consequently had been produced, before
the advent of the Drift. A probable assumption that there
were pre-Glacial cliffs similar to the present, with clefts
and furrows in the cliffs, which were covered in Glacial
times with a mantle of Drift now in course of removal
by denudation, explains every variety of Drift-inclusion.
Slopes of uniform inclination, which rise from the beach
to the bases of the vertical cliffs, appear to be talus-slopes.
In reality they are everywhere solid Chalk, with only a
skin of débris; this suggests post-Glacial changes in sea-
level.—The relations of the Chalk and Boulder-clay near
Royston (Hertfordshire): Prof. T. G, Bonney. On the
uplands south of Royston, Mr. H. B. Woodward has de-
scribed three sections (Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. lix.,
1903, Pp. 362), which in his opinion indicate that a great
ice-sheet, as it advanced from the north, sheared off large
masses of Chalk and mixed them up with its ground- or
englacial moraine (the Chalky Boulder-clay). The author
points out that this interpretation rests on an hypothesis
—namely, that the latter deposit is the direct product of

APRIL 12, 1906]

NATURE 575

land-ice—which, as it involves some serious difficulties,
cannot yet be taken for granted. That ice is capable of
shearing off and thrusting before it large masses of rock
is also an hypothesis, fer which the author, after doing his
best to study ice-work in the field, can find no valid evidence.
He maintains that these sections do not suggest the above
explanation. At the Pinner’s Cross Pit the Boulder-clay is
not, strictly speaking, ‘‘ banked-up’’ against the Chalk,
but occupies a hollow in the Chalk. In the pit south-west
of Newsell’s Park, a shear-plane can indeed be seen in
one face, which, however, is explicable by ordinary fault-
ing. A few yards farther to the south-east, Boulder-clay
appears above the floor of the pit, filling an arched cavity.
This is, no doubt, a singular position, but there is nothing
to show that the Chalk has been thrust over the Clay.
The author suggests that, as in Méen, the Clay has been
carried down from above into cavities already formed in the
Chalk.—Brachiopod’ homceomorphy: Pygope, Antinomia,
Pygites: S. S. Buckman. This paper deals with the
diphyoid Terebratulz, of which so many species have borne
the name Terebratula diphya (Colonna). It is pointed out
that this name is pre-Linnean, and can only date from the
time when it was revived by L. von Buch in 1834. It
appears that Terebratula diphya is not the type of the
genus Pygope. Reasons are given for taking as the type
of Pygope one of the forms of T. antinomia which is
considered to be the same species as T. deltoidea, Val.
Then the later generic name Antinomia, Catullo, is dis-
cussed. The genus was founded on five species, and one
of them is now selected as the type—the genolectotype.
This is A. dilatata, Catullo, supposed to be equivalent to
Terebratula antinomia, Catullo, that is, to what is now
selected to be the type of that species. In that case the
species would bear the name Antinomia antinomia (Cat.).
But there is yet another series of diphyoids, typified by
Terebratula diphyoides, d’Orb. It is pointed out that,
although the species covered by the name diphyoides are
very like Pygope as now used, yet they all differ in having
particular characters in the preperforate stage—a dorsal
ridge and a ventral sulcus.

Royal Microscopical Society, March 21.—Rt. Hon.
Sir Ford North, P.C., F.R.S., vice-president, in the chair.
—A contribution to our knowledge of the Rotifera of
South Africa: C. F. Rousselet.—A new form of finder
which can be used on any microscope, and by which the
object registered on one microscope can be found on any
other: J. M. Coon.—Some Oribatidee from Sikkim :
N. D. F. Pearce. Most of the tropical species were on
the average smaller than those found in temperate climes.
—The limits of resolving power for the microscope and
telescope: E. M. Nelson.

Entomological Society, March 21.—Mr. F. Merrifield,
president, in the chair.—Six @@ examples of the
Pierine genus Eronia with corresponding Q@Qs: Dr.
F. A. Dixey. Attention was directed to the extreme
diversity shown by the 99s in these closely allied
species. Dr. Dixey considered that this characteristic
was due to the fact that in every instance the Q had been
diverted from the ordinary aspect of the group by the oper-
ation of mimicry, either Miillerian or Batesian. The
species of entirely different affinities which had acted pre-
sumably as models were associated also with the exhibit.
—Two specimens of Emmelesia unifasciata which emerged
in August last from pupa which had lain over since the
autumn of 1900, thus having passed five seasons in the
pupal stage: R. Adkin.—Progressive melanism in the
Riviera of Hastula hyerana: Dr. T. A. Chapman. A
discussion followed on melanism and its causes.

Physica] So-;e:v, March 23.—Pio’. J.. Perry, F.R.S.,
president, in the chair.—Unilateral electric conductivity
over damp surfaces: Prof. F. T. Troutom. Some time

ago the author noticed a rather perplexing difference in
electrical resistance depending on the direction in which
the measuring current was passed. The resistance under
examination was that of the layer of moisture which
adheres to glass when exposed to moist atmospheric con-
ditions. The arrangement in which this resistance
measurement was effected was one used for determining
the temperature of deposition of dew. For this purpose
two parallel wires of platinum were melted on to a glass

NO. 1902, VCL. 73]

surface at a small distance apart. The surface could be
artificially cooled. A cell and a galvanometer were inserted
in series with the two platinum wires. As soon as moisture
condensed on the glass the circuit was completed and a
current passed, thus permitting the accurate determination
of the dew-point. When a delicate galvanometer is used
a small current can be detected long before the true dew-
point is reached. It is at this stage that the anomalous
behaviour in the resistance is found. On passing a current
across the glass surface when exposed to ordinary atmo-
spheric conditions, it was found to diminish to a certain
minimum value, the amount of which depended on the
hygrometric state, On reversal, the current assumed its

original value, and then diminished to a minimum as
before, and so on for further reversals. In order more
conveniently to study the matter with larger currents, tin-

foil grids were prepared by pasting strips of tinfoil on to
glass plates. The theory put forward to account for the
phenomenon depended on the transportation of moisture
over the surface by the current. In this way the effective
thickness of the layer might be much diminished by a
banking up of the moisture along the edge of one of the
metallic electrodes.—The construction and use of oscillation
valves for rectifying high-frequency electric currents: Prof.
J. A. Fleming. The author recalled the fact that so far
back as 1890, when investigating the Edison effect in glow-
lamps, he had shown that the space between the incan-
descent carbon filament and an insulated metal plate placed
in the vacuous bulb possessed a unilateral conductivity,
negative electricity being able to pass from the filament
to the plate, but not in the opposite direction. This led
him to suggest an arrangement of the above kind for
separating out or rectifying the oppositely directed currents
in an alternating current. This effect was now recognised
as due to the copious emission of negative ions or electrons
from the incandescent carbon. It was by no means
obvious, however, before trial, that any such rectifying
arrangement or valve would operate with currents of very
high frequency. For example, electrolytic rectifiers such
as the aluminium-carbon cell were not available for high-
frequency currents because a time element entered into the
chemical actions involved. In 1904, however, the author
discovered that if the carbon filament in an electric glow-
lamp was surrounded with a metal cylinder connected to
an insulated terminal by a wire sealed through the bulb,
and if the filament was made incandescent by an insulated
battery, then between the insulated terminal and the
negative pole of the battery a unilateral conductivity existed
which was operative with currents of any frequency, and
the valve so made might be employed to render electrical
oscillations measurable by an ordinary sensitive galvano-

meter. The author exhibited oscillation valves made on
this plan.—The use of the cymometer for the de-
termination of resonance curves: G. B. Dyke. The ex-

periments described in the paper were made with a view
to the adaptation of the direct-reading cymometer to the
delineation of resonance curves and the determination of
the logarithmic decrements of wave trains and the resist-
ance of oscillating sparks.

EDINBURGH.

Royal Society, February 19.—Dr. R. H. Traquair, vice-
president, in the chair.—The elevation of the boiling point
of aqueous solutions of electrolytes: Rev. S. M.
Johnston. The paper contained a detailed account of
the method of experiment, and after giving the experi-
mental results in a number of cases, proceeded to examine
into reasons for the observed increment in the value of
the elevation constant as indicated by theory. When the
ratio of the molecular conductivity for a given concentra-
tion to the value for infinite dilution was plotted against
the elevation constant, the graph for each salt was, up to
a certain ionisation, a straight line parallel to the ionisa-
tion axis, but changed direction at this point. Arguments
were adduced that this increment in the value of the
elevation constant was due to hydration; and if this ex-
planation be assumed, the observations gave a means of
determining the ionisation, and therefore the concentration,
at which hydration commences. Thus for solutions of
Cdl, LiCl, NH,Br, and NH,I, with concentrations respec-
tively of 1-8, 0-92, 0-74, and 0-7 gram equivalents per litre,

576

NATURE

[APRIL 12, 1906

it was calculated that hydration commenced at ionisations
(respectively) of o 103, 0:57, 0-678, and o-694.—The form-
ation of certain lakes in the Highlands: Dr. L. W. Collet
and Dr. T. N. Johnston; with a note on two small lakes
in the Alps. The paper and the appended note dealt with
the characters of certain lakes in relation to their origin
as rock basins or barrier basins.—The methods of standard-

ising preparations of the suprarenals: Dr. Isabella
Cameron.

March 5.—Prof. Crum Brown, vice-president, in the
chair.—The igneous geology of the Bathgate and Linlith-
gow Hills, part ii., petrography : J. D. Falconer.

In this continuation of a former paper the petrography of
the igneous rocks was discussed under three heads :—
(1) the lavas; (2) the contemporaneous intrusions; (3) the
later intrusions, chiefly in the form of dykes and sills, and
probably of late Carboniferous age.—Three papers dealing
with some of the zoological results of the Scottish National

Antarctic Expedition were communicated, namely, the
South Orkney Collembola: Prof. G. G. Carpenter; the
Turbellaria collected by the expedition: Drs. J. F.

Gemmill and R. T. Leiper; and the Echinorhynchus
antarcticus: Dr. J. Rennie. The last paper was an
account of a new species of parasitic worm obtained from
the stomach of a Weddell whale.

Paris.

Academy of Sciences, April 2.—M. H. Poincaré in the
chair.—Photography of the solar protuberances with
coloured screens during the eclipse of August 30, 1905:

H. Desiandres and G. Blum. ‘The object of the work
was to use coloured screens in order to cut off, as far as
possible, all the permanent gaseous radiations of the pro-
tuberaneces.. Three screens were used, a green screen trans-
parent from A 505 to A 580, a lighter green screen trans-
parent from A 500 to A 580, and a_ yellow screen
transparent for the red, orange, and yellow. Owing to
the presence of some clouds the scheme could not be
carried out completely, but the general results were satis-
factory, and the authors recommend the method for use
in future eclipses.—The action of the radium emanation on
chromogenic bacteria: Ch. Bouchard and M. Balthazard.
There are two groups of chromogenic bacteria; in the first
the colouring matter produced remains adhering to the
bacterium, in the second the colouring matter becomes
diffused throughout the culture medium. The radium
emanation is not capable of modifying the chromogenic
power of the first group, but exerts a distinct effect on the
second group. A detailed study was made of the pyocyanic
bacillus, and it was found that, amongst the various bio-
logical properties of this organism, the power of secreting
pigments was the one most sensible to the action of the
radium emanation. The virulence of the organism was
also clearly reduced; much larger doses of the emanation
were necessary to affect. the reproductive power of the
organism.—The heart of King Rameses II. (Sesostris) :
M. Lortet. The microscopic characters of the muscle
peculiar to the cardiac muscle of the heart were clearly
made out.—A new arrangement of the spectroheliograph :

G. Millochau and M. Stefanik. he spectroheliographs
at present in use have the disadvantage of registering on
the photographic plate all the vibrations produced by the
various rolling and rubbing parts used in the construction.
In the instrument described an attempt has been made to
reduce these effects——Remark on the preceding note: J.
Janssen,—The analytical reduction of any system of
forces in E,: P. H. Sehoute.—Hypertranscendental
functions : Edmond Maillet.—The most probable numerical
value of the ratio €/u, of the charge to the mass of the
electron in the kathode rays: C. E. Guye. A correction
is introduced into the usual formula for deducing the ratio
of the charge to the mass of the electron, the effect of which
is to reduce the difference between the experimental values
of Simon and Kaufmann. This result is favourable to the
hypothesis of the identity of the electrons which constitute
the kathode rays and the 8 rays of radium.—The influence
of compressibility on the formation of drops: H. Ollivier.
It is shown that the formation of small liquid drops is
largely influenced by the elasticity of the walls and by the
compressibility of the liquid; the experimental measure-
ments can be applied to measure the latter.—The halogen

0. 1902, VOL. 73,

combinations of thallium: V. Thomas. A thermochemical
paper.—The action of some alixaloids with respect to pollen
tubes: Henri Coupin. Most alkaloids have a very toxic
action on pollen tubes. Certain alkaloids, which for a
given dose are toxic to the tubes, at a greater dilution
may actually serve as food.—The action of carbonic acid
on the latent life of some dried seeds: Paul Becquerel.
—A contribution to the physiology of grafting: G. Riviere
and G. Bailhache.—Some larval forms from the collec-
tions of the Prince of Monaco: H. Coutiere.—The
isopods of the French Antarctic Expedition: Mlle. Harriet
Richardson.—The influence of feeding on the value of the
urological coefficients and on the mean weight of the
molecule elaborated: A. Desgrez and J. Ayrignac. The
experiments were made on twenty-five healthy subjects, and
the effects of varying diet studied. The diets included milk

alone; milk, eggs, and vegetables; milk and vegetables;
mixed diet, with a little meat; mixed diet, with much

meat; and an absolutely vegetarian diet. The results are
given in tabular form. —Demonstration of the fibrinogenic
unetion of the liver: MM. Doyon, Claude Gautier, and
Albert Morel.—The origin and mode of formation of Oolitic
iron minerals: Stanislas Meunier.

DIARY OF SOCIETIES.
WEDNESDAY, Arrit 18.

Rovat METEOROLOGICAL SociETY, at 7.30.—Some so-called Vagaries ot
Lightning reproduced Experimentally : A. Hands.—Nete on the Value
ef a Projected Image of the Sun for Meteorological Study : Catherine O.

tevens.

Roya Microscopicat Society, at 8.—Exhibition:

Lantern Slides of
Plant Structure tg by Mr. A. Flatters,

CONTENTS.
The Physiological Effect of Life in the Alps. By
EG

A Comprehensive Dynamics for Physicists. By By

GREE Bees : S55
A Naturalist’s Philosophy oy eae O)
Our Book Shelf :—

Tompkins : ‘* Heat and Steam (Elementary). An Intro-
ductory Supplement to a Text-book of Marine
Engineering for the Use of Naval Officers, &c.” . 557

** Atlas of Japanese Nene ?—Dr. ae
Henry 0: 557
Hardy: ‘* The Integration oi Functions of a . Single
Variable” . . ae 558
Richmond: ‘The Laboratory “Book » of Dairy
Analysis” . . oot : 24s. Solem Sos
Letters to the Editor :—
Chemistry in Rural Schools.—Prof. R. meee
BRS Soa 558
Carnivorous Habits of the New Zealand Kea Parrot, =
Prof. W. B. Benham : Boo Sab)
A New Product of Actinium.—Dr. O. ‘Hahn. Pie St)
The April Meteors. —W. F. Denning; John R.
Henryaacee 560
Sea-sickness and ‘Equilibration of the ‘Eyes. —Dr.
John Aitken, F.R.S. . . 560
Notes on Some Cornish Circles. II. (Ilustrated.)

By Sir Norman Lockyer, K.C.B., F.R.S. . ... . 561
Irrigation in the Transvaal 563
The Forthcoming Meeting of the British ‘Associa-

tion at York ane ch ouge - » 564
The Eruption of Vesuvius... ot sb eka eee OF}
Notes saaea. wahaes ae eye w L{a¥0)
Our Astronomical Column :—

Comet 1906¢ 569
Measurements of Linné ‘during ‘the Total Eclipse of the

Moon . A Ses cago os Get

The Temperature of the Sun. 6 di oh ep lger=conths amas OOD

The Melbourne Observatory . . . shee Smeg OO)

Mounting the 60-inch Reflector at Harvard. 569
Bird-Life at the South Orkney Islands. _ (Uilustrated:

By Wm. Eagle Clarke... . 2 rome. 5/9)
Institution of Naval Architects. . 571
Physical and Chemical Characters of “Huff. ‘By

tS DOP GN ty ANominero. Sy/2
University and Educational Intelligence’ <a ae ng ea
Societiesand“Academies = 1.4/2 24-1 -secure-t sn eS
Diary/of Societies a. 5 00.. .r is se Seen ee

NATURE

O07

THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 1906.

THE GLOSSOPTERIS FLORA.
Catalogue of the Fossil Plants of the Glossopteris
Flora in the Department of Geology, British
Museum (Natural History); being a Monograph of
the Permo-Carboniferous Flora of India and the

Southern Hemisphere. Pp. Ixxiv+255. By E. A.
Newell Arber, (London: The British Museum
[Natural History]. Published by Order of the

Trustees, 1905.) Price 12s. 6d.
N this catalogue the author makes ‘an attempt
towards a complete summary of what is at pre-
sent known on the subject of the Glossopteris Flora,”
and he may be cordially congratulated on the
successful completion of a task both arduous and
difficult. Dr. Smith Woodward, the keeper of the
department of geology, has very wisely encouraged
the production of catalogues, which are in reality
monographs of the greatest value to both botanical
and geological students. The scattered literature
dealing with the Glossopteris flora renders the work
of the monographer very heavy, and the nature of
much of the material on which he must base his con-
clusions necessitates considerable self-control and
caution.

Mr. Arber’s introduction treats of the Glossopteris
flora under three heads :—(1) its botanical affinities ;
(2) its distribution in space; (3) the evidence as to its
age and distribution in time. The sediments of
Upper Carboniferous and Permian age have yielded
a rich supply of fossil plants in both hemispheres ;
but in the case of India, Australia, South Africa, and
South America the difficulty of drawing a satisfactory
line between the Carboniferous and Permian strata
has foreed geologists to adopt the term Permo-
Carboniferous for the plant-bearing beds of India and
more southern lands. In these Permo-Carboniferous
strata the genus Glossopteris is the most abundant
fossil, and for this reason the southern vegetation
which flourished during the epoch between the Lower
Carboniferous and Triassic periods has been ‘desig-
nated the Glossopteris flora. It has long been
recognised that the Glossopteris flora differs in too
many respects from the northern flora of the same
geological age to justify the belief, which was
formerly held, as to the world-wide distribution in
the latter part of the Palaeozoic era of the vegetation
which is represented by the rich stores of fossils in
the American and European Coal-measures. The
approximate distribution of the plants of the two
provinces is clearly shown in the maps published by
Mr. Arber (p. xix.).

One very serious difficulty in the way of giving a
satisfactory botanical account of the Glossopteris flora
is the lack of petrified material, and, in the case of

nearly all the genera, the absence of fertile leaves or |

shoots. The genus Calamites, represented by several
distinct types in the northern flora, has not so far
been recognised in the Glossopteris flora; in its place
occur Phyllotheca and Schizoneura, two represent-
atives of the Equisetales about which our information

NO. 1903, VOL. 73]

| has undertaken an impossible task.

is still very incomplete. Both genera are adequately
treated by Mr. Arber, but the botanist, however
thorough the treatment, cannot help being made
aware of the insufficiency of the material at his dis-
The genus Sphenophyllum affords another
example of a characteristic northern type which can
hardly be considered a true member of the Glosso-
pteris flora. It is true, as Mr. Arber points out, that
Prof. Zeiller has shown good reason for. referring
the Indian specimens, for which Royle in 1833 insti-
tuted the genus Trizygia, to Sphenophyllum. Mr.
Arber figures a fragment from Natal as Spheno-
phyllum sp., but the specimen is too imperfect to
serve as satisfactory evidence of the existence of the
genus in South Africa. In the case of plants with
fern-like fronds we cannot speals with any confidence
as to their botanical position.

The simple tongue-shaped leaves with a distinct
mid-rib and anastomosing secondary veins, which
Brongniart named Glossopteris and placed among
the ferns, have never been found, in spite of their
extraordinary abundance, with sori or sporangia. <A
recent discovery by Mr. Arber affords the first satis-
factory clue to the nature of the sporophylls. The
fronds of Glossopteris occasionally found in
association with smaller scale-leaves, and on these
groups of sporangium-like organs have been detected.
These bodies are considered, on the whole, to exhibit
a greater resemblance to the microspores of recent
cyeads than. to the sporangia of ferns. The palzo-
botanist who describes specimens of Glossopteris is
compelled to face the problem of recognising specific
characters among the numerous leaf-forms, but if he
knows anything of recent ferns he must admit that he
Mr. Arber, with
the conscientious care which characterises his work,
has grappled with this difficulty, and his synopsis of
species supplies us with the best working scheme so
far devised.

Neuropteridium is another southern genus founded
on simply pinnate and sterile fronds, which, like
Glossopteris and Gangamopteris, must be left as a
plant of doubtful position. Among other members of
the Glossopteris flora which it has been customary
to place among the ferns are Tzeniopteris, Spheno-
pteris, and Pecopteris; but the absence of fertile
fronds again sets a limit to our knowledge. One
interesting conclusion to be gleaned from the occur-
rence of certain ferns in the southern Permo-Carbon-
iferous vegetation (e.g. “Tzeniopteris and Clado-
phlebis) is that the Glossopteris flora includes types
which, in the northern
Mesozoic than Palaeozoic.

Schizoneura, Neuropteridium, and Voltzia (a
conifer) also represent other genera which apparently
migrated into Europe in early Mesozoic times.
Another striking fact is the absence of any members
of the lycopodiales in the Glossopteris flora of
Australia and India. On the other hand, Lepido-
dendron, Sigillaria, and some rather obscure speci-
mens referred to Bothrodendron have been found in
South Africa and South America. Mr. Arber takes
the view that the occurrence of these fossils in South
America and South Africa may be accounted for by

ce

r

posal.

are

hemisphere, are rather

578

NATURE

[APRIL 19, 1906

migration from the northern flora. It must, how-
ever, be borne in mind that lycopodiaceous plants
existed in the far south in the Lower Carboniferous
epoch.

Another characteristic member of the northern flora,
which is not included in lists of plants from Gond-
wana Land (the name given by Suess to the southern
continent which supported the Glossopteris flora), is
Cordaites. It is, however, probable that the strap-
like linear leaves known as Noeggerathiopsis, which
are abundant in the southern Paleozoic province, are
in some cases at least generically identical with
Cordaites. This opinion, previously expressed by the
reviewer, was strengthened by an inspection of some
leaves recently discovered by Mr. Leslie which he
had an opportunity of seeing last summer at
Vereeniging. We have as yet no satisfactory evidence
that the Cycadophyta were represented in the true
Glossopteris flora. Similarly, we cannot assert with
confidence that the few specimens compared by
various writers with the existing Ginkgo biloba
afford any proof of the existence of the ginkgoales.
The coniferales did not play a conspicuous part in
the southern vegetation; various fragments have been
referred to Voltzia and other genera, but such speci-
mens as occur appear to be indistinguishable from
northern Triassic and Rheetic forms.

Although recent work has perhaps tended to bring
more closely together the northern and southern
Permo-Carboniferous floras, there can be no doubt
as to the correctness of the view that the later
Palzozoic vegetation of India, South America, South
Africa, and Australia differed sufficiently from that
of the northern hemisphere to justify the recognition
of two botanical provinces. The southern flora lacks
the richness and variety which characterise the
northern; the number of genera is smaller, and in
many localities the abundance of Glossopteris—almost
to the exclusion of other genera—suggests a greater
monotony in the vegetation. To some extent the
apparently greater wealth of the northern flora may
be the result of exceptionally favourable conditions
for the preservation of land plants, but this does not
account for the strikingly different facies. The exist-
ence of widespread Glacial deposits in India, South
Africa, and Australia furnishes us with a probable
means of explaining the uniformity in the vegetation
of Gondwana Land and the contrast which it presents
to that of the northern hemisphere. In the case of
many European genera we are able to make use of
anatomical characters as an index of conditions of
growth, but the almost complete absence of petrified
specimens in the southern province compels the
admission that we cannot claim to recognise in the
plants themselves any satisfactory evidence as to the
nature of the climate in which they grew.

We can cordially recommend Mr. Arber’s volume
as the best and most comprehensive account of the
Glossopteris flora which has been written; he has
produced a book bearing the impress of wide know-
ledge and of a well balanced critical faculty, which
cannot fail to be of the greatest value to both
geologists and botanists. A. C. Sewarp.

NO. 1903, VOL. 73]

A GROUP OF TEXT-BOOKS OF PHYSICS.

(1) The Organised Science Series: (1) First Stage
Physiography (Section I.), Edited by Dr. R. W.
Stewart. Pp. xiii+256; diagrams. (London:
University Tutorial Press, Ltd., 1905.) Price 2s.

(2) Science Handbooks for Laboratory and Class-
room: Elementary Physics (Third Year). By John
N. Brown. Pp. 111+diagrams. (London : Blackie
and Son, Ltd., 1905.) Price 2s.

(3) Examples in Physics. By
Pp. vi+172. (London:
Price 2s. 6d.

(4) Advanced Examples in Physics. By A. O. Allen.
Pp. 60. (London: Edward Arnold, n.d.) Price
Is. 6d,

(5) Physics. By Charles R. Mann and George R.
Twiss. Pp. x+ 453; illustrated. (Chicago: Scott,
Foresman and Co., 1905.) Price 1.25 dollars.

C. E. Jackson.
Methuen and Co., n.d.)

eS stream of physics text-books continues to

flow. The large number of institutions in
which this subject is now taught probably makes in-
evitable a corresponding multiplicity in the text-books
issued. Each teacher or group of teachers finds some-
thing lacking in the books available for his classes,
and at the first opportunity a new manual is produced.
But besides the stimulus of this thoroughly healthy
quest of the ideal, the requirements of examination
syllabuses are important factors in giving rise to
publication. Each examination has its independent
syllabus somewhat arbitrarily selected from the sug-
gestions of the members of a board, meeting in com-

| mittee, and the result is that every examination is

thought to require a special text-book by those who
wish to secure a maximum of passes for their pupils
at the least expenditure of labour.

(1) Although the latter motive is distinctly present in
connection with the first of the books in our list, we
must at the same time readily admit that it is a
most admirable volume except in name. It is a
mystery why one part of chemistry added to two parts
of physics should produce ‘‘ physiography,’’ but of
course Dr. Stewart is not responsible for this. The
book has been written to meet the requirements of
the Board of Education in regard to the examination
bearing its name. Dr. Stewart is no novice in the
writing of text-books. He is alive to the difficulties
which pupils encounter, and he removes them in
advance. The outcome is a manual which rises far
above the particular purpose for which it was written,
and it may be confidently recommended as a very
satisfactory introduction to physics and chemistry suit-
able for school use. It contains a large number of
examples, many of which are worked out.

(2) Mr. Brown’s handbook on elementary physics
forms one of a series issued under the general editor-
ship of Dr. J. G. Kerr. It is intended as a third
year’s school course, practical and theoretical. The
matter is to some extent of the same kind as the
physical part of Dr. Stewart’s text-book; we cannot,
however, bestow the same praise upon it. The
theoretical part is very meagre, and, moreover, in

APRIL 19, 1906 |

NATURE

o79

many cases is rather crude, and with the directions
for the experiments which constitute the main part
we are not well satisfied. Surely in a calorimeter
experiment it is not well to have the water so high
as 40° C., especially when a thermometer reading to
fifths is used; and surely, also, it is bad science to
teach a boy that he can ascertain the temperature of
a Bunsen flame by heating a 32-gram mass of copper
in it and transferring it to a calorimeter. If this is
done, is he too young to be shown at the same time
that a small bead of copper will get visibly hotter
(judging from tint), and that even a very thin platinum
wire will melt in a Bunsen burner? The temperature
found in the experiment with the copper ball is less
than rooo®? C. The questions at the end of each
chapter are the best things in the book. Many are
based on phenomena with which the boy will have
acquired familiarity in his sports and other amuse-
ments, and these will certainly encourage him to take
an interest also in more serious pursuits; but the
problem on the hanging of a man strikes one as
rather too brutal for a school-book.

(3) The volumes by Mr. Jackson and Mr. Allen
consist of collections of examples. Those brought
together by Mr. Jackson are of an elementary char-
acter. There are about 600 classified according to
the branches of physics to which they relate, and
these are followed by fifty test papers of mixed
problems, each paper containing about ten questions.
Thus we have here about 1000 questions the order
of difficulty of which reaches practically that of the
intermediate examination in the University of London.
This collection will certainly be welcomed by a large
number of teachers under the Board of Education and
in technical schools. The advanced questions have
been so constructed as to lead to reasonable results.
Answers are provided only to the classified questions.

(4) The collection made by Mr. Allen is of a much
more advanced character, viz., that of a final pass
or honours degree in physics. The problems are
selected in the main from examination papers set by
the London and Victoria Universities. Answers are
given, and these the present reviewer proceeded to
test, but he had omitted to observe an introductory
note by Prof. W. Stroud :—

““ Answers are appended to the problems. This is
the only feature of the book I rather regret, but they
are inserted in the interests of private pupils. I should
be delighted if only some of the answers were wrong,
so that students (whose notion of working examples
is to juggle with the numerics in a question so as to
get the numeric in the answer) might be righteously
confounded, but I have no hope; for Mr. Allen’s
carefulness and exactitude are such that in his preface
he does not even tell the users of his bool that ‘ any
corrections to the answers will be gratefully re-
ceived.’ ””

We commend the book as an aid to the simplification
of the work of a teacher, but at the same time we
hope that it will not encourage him to put altogether
aside the labour of compiling his own problems based
on his own experiments and study. Such examples |
are of far greater value both to teacher and pupil.

(5) With the aim which the writers of this volume

NO. 1903, VOL. 73]

have set before themselves we have very full sym--
pathy. It that the academic method of
teaching physics tends to discourage a certain class
of boy from paying any attention to his subject. To
remove this fault a less formal method is desirable,
especially in schools. Ultimately the youth who
desires a sound knowledge must be willing to learn.
by logical methods, for it is by these only that ac-
curate ideas can be acquired. But unless he is a born
student his interest must first be aroused. He must
be led to see that an intelligible account can be given
of the mode of action of many of the puzzling pheno-
mena which surround him; he must learn that things
with which he has been familiar are not events iso-
lated completely one from another so that each has
no bearing on the other, but that a knowledge of one
contributes to his knowledge of another. In this way
a desire for further knowledge is awakened.

We have also considerable sympathy with the way
in which this aim is carried out. Their book is full
of illustrations, largely from half-tone blocks—motor-
cars and express trains in full motion, eight-oared
shells, small engine attached to short train, looping
the loop, charming children swinging on a gate (so-
different from the ordinary wood-cut children), photo-
graphs of real ripples on a pond, engines, turbines,
and other machinery, the lifting-magnet with its five--
ton load of iron, mining coal with compressed-air
drill—these are some that meet the eye as the pages
are rapidly turned over. Sometimes, indeed, the ap-
plication seems rather indirect. Thus a_half-tone
figure of a man hard at work on the top of a hay--
cart is labelled, ‘‘ Haying: A man cannot work
unless he consumes food.’’ But, even in such a case,
the picture is clearly intended merely to call up a
series of real events, and not to portray any one
with brutal accuracy. History is also called upon to
contribute; knowledge has only gradually been ac-
quired. The boy gets an idea of its growth; the

is certain

“heroes ’’ of science are introduced to him (but
without portraits !).
All this is excellent, and will work well. Our only

regret is that so much accuracy had to be sacrificed
in the text in order to carry out the scheme completely.
Is not it better, perhaps, to postpone the explanation
of some things until a safe foundation for true know-
ledge has been obtained? The pupil will require to
unlearn many of the statements made here, and this
will certainly induce a period of distrust. Some will
never unlearn them. NWHowever, the suggestion that
a book of this kind might be better curtailed is the
only critical one we have to offer.

MANUFACTURE OF ALUMINIUM.
The Production of Aluminium and its Industrial Use.
By Adolphe Minet. Translated, with additions, by
Leonard Waldo. Pp. vi+266. (New York: John
Wiley and Sons; London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd.,
1905.) Price ros. 6d. net.

HIS book brings together the theory and practice
of the aluminium industry in a complete and
readable form. It commences with a more or less

580

NA LO RL

[APRIL 19, 1906

detailed and historical survey of the chemical processes
which were employed before the metal was produced
upon a commercial scale by the aid of the electric
current. The successful chemical processes which
were all based upon the reduction of salts of alumin-
ium with sodium and were simply modifications of
the method used by Wohler in 1827, when he discovered
the metal, brought first and foremost in their train the
remarkable cheapening in the manufacture of sodium ;

because unless sodium could be obtained at a low

cost it was impossible to manufacture aluminium
cheaply. However, by purely chemical processes it
was never found possible to produce aluminium

below about thirty shillings per kilo. In fact, in 1889
the price was 38s. per kilo., but at the end of 1891,
soon after the advent of successful electrolytic pro-
cesses, it had fallen to 5s., and at the present day it
is rather less than 2s. per kilo.

Minet describes the electrical and _ electrolytic
methods in chronological order. To the brothers
Cowles, of America, belongs the honour of first pro-
ducing a working furnace in which they were able
to obtain alloys of aluminium with other metals, by
striking an arc in a mixture of bauxite and oxide of
iron or other metal. The Héroult seems to have been
the first furnace in which a fused aluminium salt—
cryolite—was actually electrolysed on a commercial
scale, and modifications of this furnace are at the
present day among the most successful which are
employed, and the one worked by the British Alu-
minium Co. at Foyers is a Héroult. The production
of aluminium is essentially one of electrolysis, but it
is also electrothermic in so far as the passage of the
current serves to keep the bath molten. The bath
usually consists in the first place of fused cryolite, and
as the electrolysis continues the loss of aluminium is
replaced by additions of aluminium fluoride or of alu-
mina. If the bath were regenerated by continual
additions of cryolite, in time the quantity of sodium
fluoride would become excessive, and sodium and not
aluminium would be yielded up at the kathode.

Most authorities consider that in a bath which is
regenerated with alumina the alumina and not the
fluoride undergoes electrolysis. Minet, however, con-
siders that it is the aluminium fluoride which under-
goes electrolysis, and that the fluorine given up at
the anode continuously reproduces cryolite.

Part ii. deals with ‘‘ aluminium and its alloys.’’ In
this the author deals with the cost of the production of
aluminium and its alloys. Aluminium is perhaps of
more general use in the form of its alloys than in the
pure condition. We see that Minet mentions its use in
the pure state for surgical instruments—woe betide
these instruments if antisepticised in mercuric chloride.

A few very interesting pages are devoted to the em-
ployment of aluminium as a reducing agent, in the
production in the pure state of such metals as
chromium, vanadium, manganese, &c., and also for
welding purposes. Minet states that ingots of
chromium weighing roo kilos. are prepared at Essen
in one charge, and the production of this quantity of
metal is said to take only twenty-five minutes.

The translator contributes a short appendix upon

NO. 1903, VOL. 73]

‘“ Aluminium in the United States.”’

The book may
be heartily recommended as a very useful contribution
to the subject. Boe Mines

PETROL MOTOR-CARS.,

Motor-cay Mechanism and Management. In three
parts. Part i. The Petrol Car. By W. Poynter
Adams. Pp. x+174. (London: C. Griffin and Co.,
Ltd., 1906.) Price 5s. net.

ieee author states that his object is to put into the

hands of owners and drivers of motor-cars in a
convenient and handy form some knowledge of the
general mechanical principles which ought to be
understood by those who drive them.

This idea has been carried out very fairly. The
early chapters on the engine and on the various organs
are treated in sufficient detail, and although there are
a few blemishes and mistakes, these are not of any
considerable importance.

When, however, the author deals with a matter
which is extremely difficult for the average car-owner
or driver to understand—namely, the understanding
and care of the electrical accessories, which are now
everywhere used—we can have nothing but praise for
the very thorough manner in which this very difficult
question has been dealt with; in fact, it is evident
that the author is a trained electrical engineer, and
has consequently been able to approach this subject
from the standpoint of one who has had to explain
the nature of electrical developments to the ordinary
user of electric apparatus. We think the author’s
short and concise descriptions of the various sources
of electrical supply which are now available, his de-
finitions of conductors, insulators, and other electrical
terms which must be used to make his explanations in-
telligible, are so good and so well arranged that they
should be read by anyone who wishes to obtain a
bird’s-eye view of electrical engineering so far as it
applies to ordinary users of electric light and power;
at any rate, it is certain that the average user of the
modern motor-car finds himself very frequently at fault
when he has to puzzle out stoppages on the road due
more to the failure of his electrical accessories than to
any other cause, except perhaps that of the universal
bugbear, the care of the pneumatic tyres.

On p. 85, when mentioning the importance of a
good compression in order to get economical working
of the engine, the author makes statements which
are liable to mislead the user when he says that 37
per cent. of the full value of the charge is transformed
into useful work, and that if the compression is in-
creased to roolb. this may be increased to 45 per cent.
We find no note correcting this by explaining how
this refers to a perfect engine, and that with such
forms of internal combustion engines as are used
for cars not more than 50 per cent. of such efficiencies
are likely to be realised.

At the present day, when so much is being said as
to the want of courtesy and consideration for other
users of the road by the drivers of motor-cars, the
author’s remarks from p. 15 to the end ought to be
read by everyone who drives a car.

ApkIL 19, 1906]

NATURE 581

ev)

OUR BOOK SHELF.

Our Stellar Universe. By Thomas Edward Heath.
Pp. vi+26; with 26 star-charts and stereograms.
(London: King, Sell and Olding, 1go5.) Price
ios. net.

Wuitst most students of astronomy are able to talk

glibly of ‘stellar parallax’? and ‘‘ light-years,”’ few

of us are wont to form any persistent, concrete idea
of the figures we employ, nor do the usual star-charts

assist us in this matter. For this reason we extend a

hearty welcome to Mr. Heath’s latest effort to portray,

as truthfully as the meagre data available will allow,
the actual three-dimension character of space.

In his ‘‘ Road Book to the Stars,’’ which we re-
viewed in these columns on September 28, 1905, Mr.
Heath explained how he had discovered a simple scale
on which concrete comparisons of stellar depths could
be based, and from that had been led to the construc-
tion of stereograms which would give a visual con-
ception of the relative distances.

In the present volume he publishes twenty-six of
these stereograms, including the whole of the sky,
each one taking in fifty degrees square as seen from
the earth. Twenty-six key-maps show these areas
without distortion, and near each star disc are placed
symbols denoting the magnitude, the spectral type,
and the measured, or hypothetical, parallax. The
hypothetical diameter of the star in miles, based on
the assumption that the light-giving power of the star
per unit area is equal to that of the sun, appears in
an index, which also gives the data from which the
kkey-maps were plotted and forms a handy and valu-
able reference table of the 1520 stars included.

In order to render their differences visible on the
stereograms, all the parallaxes have been multiplied
by 19,000, and where the actual values are unknown
Mr. Heath has taken, as a theoretical quantity, the
average parallax of the spectral type to which any
one belongs.

Even if the stereoscopic appearance does not in-
dicate the actual facts, these stereograms are of great
interest and beauty, and should certainly find a place
in every school or institution where astronomy is
studied. They will, at least, counteract the natural
assumption, made when ordinary star-charts, or even
the sky itself, -are consulted, that the heavens are
simply studded with objects which are all in one plane.

For example, looking at No. 7—which shows the
area facing xvh R.A. and 45° N. dec.—we see
7 Herculis standing out in the near foreground and
Arcturus far removed, whilst the Northern Crown is,
at first sight, hardly recognisable owing to the un-
familiar appearance produced by the separation of its
stars in the third dimension. W. E. Rorston.

Chapters on Paper-making. Vol. ii. By Clayton
Beadle. Pp. vii+174. (London, 17 The Borough,
London Bridge: H. H. G. Grattan, 1906.) Price
5s. net.

Tue object of this volume is ‘‘ educational ’’; it is
a contribution to paper-making technology, mainly
as an aid to the student worker in his worl: of self-
instruction. The author devotes himself to the task
of popularising the worl: of the City and Guilds of
London Institute by reproducing the examination
papers set in the subject of paper-making in the
years 1901-5, and, putting himself in the position of
examinee, giving full answers to these questions.
This task is prefaced by the confession that the
answers gives. may be in many cases open to criticism,
as it is evident that certain of the subjects formu-
lated as examination questions are in effect ‘‘ leading
questions ’’ in the industry. This, however, is a

is to be really ‘* educational,’’ must keep the student
mindful of difficulty, that is, of the objective realities
of technical work. It is clear to us that the author
has exactly appreciated the aims of the examiners in
challenging the original faculties of students, and in
suggesting, in the form of examination problems,
some of the leading lines of progress.

In addition to this, which is the main subject-
matter of the volume, the author has included a
chapter dealing generally with the much controverted
subjects of technical education and industrial re-
search, and a section upon gelatine sizing embodying
the results of original investigations. i

The book contains a large number of special
dissertations which will interest technologists and

practical men, and its appeal, therefore, is to a wide
circle of readers.

Anales del Museo Nacional de Buenos Aires. Ser. 3,
vol. v. Pp. 574; 289 text-figures. (Buenos Aires,
1905.)

THE size of this volume is a sufficient proof of the
energy with which the study of biology and the related
sciences is carried on in the capital of the Argentine
Republic, more especially by the professors and
officials of the national museum. Two papers in the
present issue by Dr. F. Ameghino, the director of the
museum, both dealing with the presence of a perfora-
tion in the astragalus of certain recent and extinct
mammals, have been already mentioned in these
columns. The bulk of the volume is, however, occu-
pied by an article by Dr. E. L. Holmberg on the
Amyrilidaceze indigenous to and cultivated in Argen-
tina, and a second, by Mr. F. F. Outes, on the Stone
age in Patagonia. In the latter the author describes
stone implements of all descriptions, from rude flint
flukes and scrapers to beautifully chipped arrow-heads
and perfectly spherical ‘‘ bolas.’' The Palaolithic, or
Pleistocene, implements are all referred to a single
epoch. The resemblance of these implements to those
found in Europe, North Africa, and North America is
very close, although, as might have been expected,
the closest similarity is found in the case of the North
American types. In the Neolithic epoch, on the other
hand, three periods are distinguishable, each indicat-
ing a distinct step in advance of its predecessor.
Throughout the Neolithic epoch Patagonia presents
characteristics in the matter of flint implements dis-
tinguishing it from the rest of Argentine territory.
The similarity between the Patagonian neoliths
and those of the southern and south-eastern United
States is surprisingly close, but between the former
and those of the western United States a less marked
resemblance exists. Apparently some of these stone
arrow-heads were used until a very recent date by
certain of the Indian tribes.

Ro.
By the Rev. Gilbert
and classified under
(London: Elliot Stock,

The Natural History of Selborne.
White, M.A. Re-arranged
subjects by Charles Mosley.
1905.) Price 6s. net.

Tue distinctive feature of this edition of the famous

natural history classic is the re-arrangement of the

work according to the subjects dealt with. First,
there are descriptions of the locality and its physical
characteristics, and these are followed by thirteen
sections, respectively concerned with meteorology,
geology, ethnology, mammals, birds, reptiles, fishes,

insects, spiders and mites, worms, botany, super-
stitions, and a miscellany of subjects. This con-
venient arrangement will greatly assist naturalists

and other students in referring to White’s master-

tribute to the method of the institute, which, if it | piece.

NO. 1903. VOL. 73]

or
io)
to

NAL ORE

[APRIL 19, 1906

ERD TERS LO iE DITOR.

[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions
expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake
to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected
manuscripts intended for this or any other part of NATURE.
No notice is taken of anonymous communications.]|

The Existence of Absolute Motion.

Tue article of Prof. Schuster’s in your number of
March 15, entitled ‘‘ A Plea for Absolute Motion,’’ is
very interesting, but I think there are several conceptions
contained therein which will not bear analysis. Partly in
reference to his article, therefore, but also because the
question is such an important orfe, I think it may be well
to consider as definitely as may be what direct observational
or experimental evidence we have for a zero point of
motion belonging to space alone, and to which all motions

of material bodies may be referred.
Not to be entangled in the snare which is as old as

human discussion, I define my terms for present use. By
space I mean vacuum in the ordinary sense, that which
exists in interplanetary space, that to which we approach
in our laboratories, nothing more or less. We have good
reason to believe that in the visible universe no other kind
of space exists. This is not, I believe, Prof. Schuster’s
use of the word, but I shall try to show that it is the
only proper scientific use.

By absolute motion I mean
reference to this space alone.

The first evidence is furnished by the observed orbits of
binary stars.

motion considered with

motion was toward the earth must of necessity reach us
sooner than the light emitted when this approach com-
ponent of the star’s velocity was smaller or negative.

The observed orbit would therefore be distorted in a per- |

fectly definite manner. ‘The fact that this distortion is not
observed proves that the velocity of light is not dependent
upon the velocity of the source, and must therefore depend
upon some positional property of space alone.

The conclusion is vividly represented as _ follows :—
Imagine a hollow sphere in space with a light source at
its centre. In general, a light wave leaving the centre
will not reach all parts of the surface in equal times.
There exists, however, one. motion of the sphere for which
this condition is fulfilled, and this state, which is abso-
lutely independent of all existing bodies, has a funda-
mental claim to be called absolute rest, because it depends
on space alone.

Further evidence is furnished by the laws of electro-
dynamics. The magnetic effect of electric convection is
generally considered to be now beyond question. From it
we know that the electromagnetic attraction between two
like point charges moving together is a function of their
velocity. Since there is no relative motion of the two
and they may be considered alone in space, the motion is
with respect to space alone. The state of absolute rest is
found when the electromagnetic attraction is zero for all
directions of the line joining the two charges.

The evidence furnished by the Kaufmann experiment on
the mass of a rapidly moving electron, indicating as it
does a limiting velocity in space, also implies the existence
of absolute motion.

The evidence is not so good as in the other cases, be-
cause the effect is complicated by the existence of an
outside magnetic field with reference to which the electron
moves.

I foresee Prof. Schuster’s objection to the above. What
I have considered he will call motion relative to the ether,
while his argument was based on space in a philosophical
sense. I have carefully avoided the term ether. It seems
to me the word has nothing to do with the discussion.
The universe, out to the furthermost visible star, is of
such a nature as to be traversed by light.. With space in
any other sense we have nothing whatever to do, because
it does not exist in the visible universe. Even if such
““space’’ did exist outside the visible universe, it is
difficult to understand how our observational data could
have any bearing on the matter.

Finally, if any more argument is necessary to show that

NO. 1903, VOL. 73]

If the velocity of light is dependent on the |

motion of the source, light which left the star when its | tion of surface charge.

the only space we can consider is that which surrounds
us in the universe, it might be derived from the funda-
mental notion of space perception. Our perception of
space is brought about through various sensations, sensa-
tions which are caused by events which do not take place
in a hypothetical space, non-existent so far as we know,
but in the real space which surrounds us. Our very use
of the word therefore arises out of experience, and to think
of another space is to form only what Mr. Spencer would
have called ‘‘a symbolic conception.’’ Indeed, I fear if
this fundamental standpoint of perception were strictly
adhered to, those arguing from the standpoint of another
space would have great difficulty in making themselves
clear. We cannot be too careful, it seems to me, in con-
sidering the origin of our fundamental conceptions.

At any rate, real space, as has been pointed out,
possesses a positional, or perhaps better a motional,
attribute, and so gives us a basis, founded on experience,
for a conception of absolute motion.

F DaniEL Comstock.

Zurich, Switzerland, April 3.

The Magnetic Inertia of a Charged Conductor in a
Field of Force.

I THINK there is, in Another Place, possibly some mis-
understanding concerning the inertia of a moving charged
conductor due to the magnetic energy set up by its motion.
It depends upon the distribution of the electrification, and
may vary from a minimum up to infinity. No question of
distortion due to high speed is involved, so the theory is
quite simple. Say a sphere of radius a has any distribu-
For simplicity, let it be sym-
metrical round the axis of motion, so that the surface
density is representable by the sum of any number of
zonal harmonic distributions. The corresponding magnetic
fields follow. Their magnetic energies are all independent,

| so that the actual magnetic energy is the sum of the

separate magnetic energies.
The really practical case, which is also very simple, is

when the conductor has a charge Q and moves in a uniform
| electric field F. Then the surface density is

a =(Q/47a* + 3cF cos 8, (1)
where @ is the polar angle. The magnetic force is
H=H, + Hy=(Qz/477*) sin 0+ 3cF(a3u/7*) sin @cos 0. (2)

The magnetic energy is 3H’, and by integration comes

| to

T=ha' [wQ?/6ma + Suc?F? ra’). (
The magnetic inertia is therefore m=m,(1+h), where
is the value for the uniform charge, or m,=Q*/6za,

h=n?/157, if 2=(3F)(47a*c/Q). (4)
This n is the ratio of the induced electric force at the

pole to the undisturbed force. If n=1, F is just large
enough to make the surface density be zero at one pole.

my,

and

Then h=1/47. This is the increased inertia due to the
disturbance of the distribution of the charge. The
‘“ equation of motion ’’ under F is

FQ= {m+ y(t +%)ja, (5)

where m is the mass of the body. The whole is subject to
the restriction of small w/v and small acceleration, so
that the electric and magnetic fields sensibly travel with
the charge. Nor need F be constant in space or in time,
provided it does not vary too rapidly in relation to the
size of the conductor. In slow motion the magnetic
energy is the fraction u°/v* of that part of the electric
energy that depends upon the transverse electric force.
April 3. OLIvER HEAVISIDE.

Old Customs and Festivals,

My mother, now in her eightieth year, was led by a
recent article by Sir Norman Lockyer in Nature to relate
some reminiscences of some of the festivals formerly cele-
brated in Newton-on-Ayr. One of these seems to point
to ancient human sacrifices. In her mother’s school-days,
the pupils of Newton-on-Ayr annually elected a king and a
queen on Candlemas Day. On ‘‘ Pase Friday ’’ (Good

APRIL 19, 1906]

INA TORE:

583

Friday) the king and queen, decked with daffadowndillies,
were led out to the Newton Moors, where they were
solemnly interred in graves dug side by side in a sandy
knowe. Hands were clasped through a hole bored in the
sand between the graves.

The burial ceremony had disappeared by the time my
mother went to school, but the selection of a king and
queen still persisted, though in a degenerate form. The
pupil who presented the largest sum of money to the
teacher on Candlemas Day was crowned king or queen,
an¢ the royal health was drunk in toddy provided by the
schoolmaster.

I append a list of some of the festivals in vogue in my
mother’s childhood. Some of them survived until within
thirty years ago, but all, with the exception of New Year’s
Day, are now practically extinct.

Hogmanay (December 31).—Presents demanded.

New Year’s Day.—First-footing; exchange of visits;
carousal.
Hansel Monday (first Monday after January 1).—Ex-

change of presents.

Candlemas.—Election of school-king.

Huntygowk [Hunt the Gowk=Cuckoo] (April 1).—Fools’
errands, &c.

May Day.—Washing of face in dew to keep freckles
away.

St. John’s Eve.—Firing of guns by sailors over captains’
houses.

Midsummer Fair.—Great cattle-fair on main street of
Newton. On this evening, or some other about this
season, the herds in the neighbouring village commune of
Prestwick built a great bonfire.

Kipper Fair (first Friday after August 13).—Procession
of ‘‘ whipmen’”’ on gaily caparisoned horses. Horse races
and gala on Newton Sands. Publication of lampoons.
Feasting on kippered salmon and ale.

Hallowe’en (October 31).—The great saturnalia of the
year. Stealing of kale-stocks; smashing of doors with
same; smoking-out of house dwellers; disguises; turnip
lanterns; diving for apples; eating from one common dish ;
burning nuts, and many other fortune-telling rites.

Martinmas.—Killing of the mairt or mart, the animal
the carcase of which was salted down for winter use.

Christmas, Good Friday, and Easter were not observed.

I have not included hiring fairs, ordinary cattle and
horse fairs, &c., or the fast days which were quite modern
ecclesiastical institutions. I ought, perhaps, to have in-
cluded the Queen’s birthday (May 24), for, even in my
boyhood, that day was honoured in such a boisterously
loyal manner as compared with the non-observance of the
anniversary in most Scottish towns, that I cannot help
thinking the bonfire raisers may in part have inherited their
enthusiasm from the traditions of some ancient festival.
The progress of a blazing boat through the streets of Ayr
and Newton was the crowning episode of the day. The
boat was stolen from the Newton fishermen, and no com-
bustible property was on that day safe from confiscation.

W. SEMPLE.

Dumfries, Scotland, March 1.

Chemistry in Rural Secondary Schools.

Pror. Metpora has raised an important question on
Mr. Dunstan’s letter. Speaking of two rural secondary
schools, he says that chemistry (with physics) ‘‘ has been
taught with the greatest success’’ and is “‘ of distinct
value in after life.’’? It would be useful to have inform-
ation about the careers of the individual boys on which
he bases his opinion, and the character of the science
teaching in the two schools referred to. My experience
with young farmers in Essex has led me to think that the
chemistry taught in many rural schools has had too little
bearing upon the problems of rural life to be of much
practical use, and school life is too short to admit of a
science being taught as a means of mental discipline unless
at the same time the pupils are building up knowledge that
is essential to future progress.

The county institution at Chelmsford to which Prof.
Meldola alludes includes schools of horticulture and agri-

NO. 1903, VOL. 73]

culture. Though not secondary schools, it may be useful
to state that, while in teaching horticultural students the
biologist found it quite possible to get .on without the
chemist, in teaching agricultural students the chemist could
make little progress without the biologist. It was not that
chemistry and physics were not taught to all the students,
but that the biologist, qua biologist, necessarily possessed
both chemical and physical knowledge, while the chemist,
qua chemist, knew no biology. In rural secondary schools
biology should be an important subject of instruction,
most rural industries being more or less biological. But
no progress in biology can be made without an adequate
knowledge of chemistry and physics, so that it is not a
question of whether these sciences should be taught—there
can be no possible doubt about that—but how they are
taught. The teacher needs to be essentially a biologist, or
at any rate to have studied science in a biological atmo-
sphere, e.g. in an agricultural college, in order to be able
to teach chemistry as a natural science and build up a
knowledge of its principles by the study of substances and
phenomena that come within the experience of rural life.
To give a concrete case. A common subject of instruc-
tion in the chemistry of a rural school is Weldon’s process
for the recovery of manganese in the manufacture of
chlorine. To not one boy in a thousand is the knowledge
of this process likely to be useful in after life, unless as
cram for an examination. The underlying principles could
be just as well illustrated by a study of the process of
liming land to neutralise acidity and promote oxidation,
a better subject educationally because coming within the
boy’s own range of experience, and affording knowledge
which might be useful to every boy in the school. But
how many of the existing rural school science masters
possess the knowledge of natural science necessary to deal
with it? T. S. Dymonp.
Savile Club, W., April 15.

Diurnal Periodicity of Ionisation of Gases.

In the course of some experiments on the spontaneous
ionisation of air and other gases in closed vessels, Mr.
N. R. Campbell and I have detected a well marked perio-
dicity in its value. It has two maxima and two minima
in each twenty-four hours, the maxima occurring between
8 a.m. and 10 a.m. and between 10 p-m. and I a.m.
at night, while the minima occur with great regularity at
or near 2 p.m. and 4 a.m. The form of the curve drawn
for the observations of any single day is, as a rule,
sufficiently well marked for the maxima and minima to
be apparent, while if the mean of the observations for
several days be taken, the form of the resulting curve is
unmistakable.

The cause of this periodicity has not, as yet, been deter-
mined. A continuous record of the temperature of the
laboratory was taken, and it was found to have a simple
daily period with a maximum during the day and a very
regular minimum at 7 a.m. The temperature fell steadily
from 6 p.m. until seven o’clock the following morning,
and, as during this interval the ionisation rises to a
maximum, falls to a minimum, and then rises to a maxi-
mum again, it does not seem possible to connect the
variations with temperature.

On the other hand, the variations of atmospheric potential
show some striking parallel features. This quantity has a
double daily period. Its maxima, like those of the ionisa-
tion, are not very well defined, and occur about the same
times. The minima in both cases are remarkably constant,
and occur at exactly the same hours—2 p.m. and 4 a.m.
The irregularities in the atmospheric potential curves are
less marked during the night than during the day—an
observation which holds also for the ionisation curves.
Lastly, this diurnal variation of the atmospheric potential
is most marked in February, and it was in the ionisation
curves for February that the periodicity was first noticed.

This and other possible causes of the periodicity are at
present being investigated, and although the research is
necessarily a slow one, we hope soon to be in a position
to publish a full account of the work. ALEx. Woop.

Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge, April 9.

NATURE

[APRIL Ig, 1906

New Spot on Jupiter.

On April 10 I observed Jupiter in sunshine and noted
the red spot central at sh. 43m., longitude=30°-o. I soon
remarked that the north equatorial belt curved abruptly
north in the region north of the red spot and hollow, and
that at the following end of this slanting attachment there
Was a very conspicuous dark spot which was quite new to
me. It became central at 6h. 58m., longitude=75°.3, and
seemed nearly as plain as the shadow of a satellite.

On April i2 the same region of Jupiter came under
review. The red spot was central at 7h. 25m., longi-
tude=31°-6, and the new north tropical spot at 8h. 33m.,
longitude=72°-7. The shadow of the first satellite was

projected on the disc at the following end of the dark
material forming the south tropical disturbance, and_ it
appeared very little darker than the north tropical spot.

Observations were made on April 10 with 10-inch With-
reflector, power about 220, and on April 12 with 123-inch
Calver-reflector, power 315.

During the present opposition of Jupiter the north
equatorial and north temperate belts have been extremely
faint, but the former recently developed a much deeper
tone, and particularly in that section lying north of the
red spot. The late outbreak of dark material in the
north tropical zone will probably lead to the further in-
tensification of the belts in this region.

It is hardly necessary to suggest that the new marking
should be followed as critically and as long as possible
during the short period remaining available for such
observations before Jupiter’s conjunction with the sun.
Its rate of motion probably differs little from that of the
red spot, and it may be looked for near the planet’s
central meridian on April 22 at 6h. 48m., April 24 at
8h, 26m., and April 29 at 7h. 37m. W. F. DENNING.

Bristol, April 14.

Oscillation of Flame Cones.

Like Prof. Smithells, who endeavoured to explain the
phenomena described in Mr. Temple’s letter to NaturRE
(March 29, p. 512), I have made many experiments with
gas and air mixed by mechanical means and otherwise
(Proc. Roy. Soc., vol. xxiv., and elsewhere), but
unable to agree with his conclusions in this case.

Assuming the mixture ascending the tube to contain
20 per cent. of gas by volume, and the relative densities
of the air and gas to be as 1 to 0-5, then the head which
produces the current is equal to a column of air 4-8 inches
(0-4 foot) high, and, disregarding friction, the velocity =
/2¢0-4=5 feet per second.

Again, assuming the average absolute temperature of the
gases above the flame, when the latter has descended to a
depth of 2 feet, to be 1500° F., and the corresponding
temperature of the air entering the tube from below to be
520° F., the head becomes 18 inches (1-5 foot) and the
velocity = /2g 1-5=9.8 feet per second. :

According to Mallard and Le Chatelier (‘‘ Annales des
Mines,’ Sme Série, Tome iv., p. 326), the maximum
velocity of translation of flame in a perfectly motionless
mixture of lighting gas and air, contained in a glass tube
of similar dimensions to that used by Mr. Temple, is
4 feet per second, but when the mixture is moving or
agitated the velocity of translation increases, and may
even assume the form of an explosive wave. The maxi-
mum velocity of 4 feet per second was obtained when the
mixture contained 17-5 per cent. of gas, or, according to
the authors, 2-5 per cent. more than is necessary for com-
plete combustion.

Variations in the velocity of the current on the one hand,
and of the flame on the other, appear to me to account for
all the phenomena observed by Mr. Temple.

62 Park Place, Cardiff. W. GaLtoway.

am

Interpretation of Meteorological Records.

Ix the interesting discussion of the records of Lander
and Smith’s instruments at Canterbury (Nature,
March 15) both Dr. Aitken (pp. 485, 521) and Mr. Omond
(p. 512) appear to have overlooked the fact that no rain
fell, but only snow to the depth of more than 1 inch.
This snow was mixed with a little hail at the commence-

NO 1903. VOL. 73]

ment of the storm, but no rain fell as assumed by both
your correspondents. The records state that the 026 inch
of rainfall consisted of snow melted as it fell. The first
sign of the storm was distant thunder and a darkening of
the sky in the north-west. The glycerin barometer com-
menced its usual sharp rise before the first hail arrived
and the storm was directly overhead. It is a curious fact
that the rain or snow with a thunderstorm occurs with
the sharp barometric vise, and not with the fall as one
might expect. J think the great fall in temperature was
due to the snow, and not as described by your corre-
spondents. The rainfall curve did not begin first as
suggested by Dr. Aitken, but the barometer as explained
above. It is another curious fact that, although my house
is the highest here, and has my anemometer on top of
30 feet of iron tubing above roof, and wireless telegraphy
aérial 80 feet above street (with which I was busy at
time of storm), yet no damage was done; but within 100
yards much lower houses had chimneys and walls thrown
down and roofs split, &c., and people were seriously injured.
Many houses, windmills, and a church in the district were

set on fire. A. LANDER.
Canterbury.

Effect of Solar Eclipse on Fish.

DuriNG the partial solar eclipse observed in England on
August 30, 1905, I was taking a holiday, and fishing in
Slapton Ley (Devonshire). All the morning the sport had
been indifferent, but as the eclipse neared its maximum
the fish suddenly became ravenous, and I took more in
that hour than all the rest of the day. My experience was
also that of all the other boats out there at the time.
The explanation, I presume, would be that the fish
imagined night was approaching, and therefore prepared
for supper; and as every fisherman knows, the last half-
hour, when dusk is gathering, is the time that fish are
mostly on the feed, and will readily take any bait.

; A. Mose y.

Union Bank Buildings, Ely Place, London, E.C.,

April ro.

Sea-sickness and Equilibration of the Eyes.

IN connection with the above subject (p. 511) it may
perhaps interest your readers to know that German sailors
recommend as a cure for sea-sickness to take a looking-
glass and look steadily at your own eyes in it. Every
motion of the ship is shared by the looking-glass, and
consequently by so doing your own eyes follow the motion
of the ship. GEOFFREY MARTIN.

Edinburgh, April 13.

AN ETHNOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE
PHILIPPINES.'

Wee characteristic energy, the Americans have
made a good beginning with the study of the
multifarious natives of the Philippine Islands. Dr.
A. E. Jenks, who is chief of the Ethnological Survey
for the Philippine Islands, has recently published a
substantial volume of 266 pages, and 154 plates, on
the Bontoc Igorot, who live in the centre of the
northern end of Luzon. Judging from the short
account of their physical characters, they, like so many
other peoples in the East Indian Archipelago, are a
mixture of Indonesians and Proto-Malays; a few are
distinctly narrow-headed, about three times as many
are broad-headed, and somewhat less than two-thirds
are intermediate. The average stature of the men
is 5 feet 43 inches; the women average nearly 7 inches
shorter. There is no trace of Negrito blood. The
1‘*The Bontoc Igorot.”” By Alhert Ernest Jenks, Department of the
Interior. Ethnological Survey Publications, vol. i. (Manila, xq05.)
“Negritos of Zamabales”” By William Allan Reed. /é/d., vol. ii.,
parti. (Manila, 1904.)
‘*The Nabaloi Dialect.”

(Manila, 190s.)
“The PBataks of Palawan.”

By Otto Scheerer.
By Edward Y. Miller.

Tbid., vol. ii., parts ii., iii.

(Bureau of Public

| Printing.)

APRIL 19, 1906]

NATURE

585

settlement of Bontoc is divided into thirteen wards
or political divisions, called ato; each has its separate
governing council, which can declare war or make
peace. Each ato contains three kinds of buildings :—
(1) public edifices, fawi and pabafunan, for men and

Fic. 1.—Relative Heights of American, Mixed Blood, and Pure Negrito

boys; (2) similar houses, ola, for girls and young
women before their permanent marriage; and (3)

private houses, afong, for families and widows. The
pabafunan is the home of the various ato ceremonies,
and is sacred to the male SEX} it is the men’s club by
day and the unmarried men’s dormitory; the fawi is
the council house, and as such is fr equentcs mainly
by old men; it is also the skull-house.

|

Jenks |

adds a note on the distribution of similar wae houses |

in Eastern Asia and in Oceania. The olag is the
dormitory of the girls from the age of two years until
they marry, and where they receive their lovers. The
afong is the only primitive dwelling in the Philip-
pines which is built on the ground, but it contains a
small upper storey, and often an attic over this; these
are used as store-rooms for cereals. The clothes,
ornaments, tattooing utensils, weapons, and the like
are described and figured. Of great interest are the
accounts of the ordinary domestic operations, especially
those connected with the cultivation of rice and the
regulation of irrigation; the rules seem to be framed
with common-sense, and the people appear to be
sufficiently law-abiding. The hill-sides are elaborately
terraced; the author doubts whether this art has been
borrowed from the Chinese, and inclines to the view
that it is indigenous to the East Indian Archipelago,
having spread northwards to Japan. Various plants
are cultivated, but rice is the most important vege-
table product, and in consequence most of the re-
ligious ceremonies are in connection with this crop,
and take place at stated occasions from seed-sowing
to the close of the harvest. Also associated with the
importance of rice in the social economy is the
employment of palay, the unthreshed rice, as a
medium of exchange, and a measure of exchange
value, for articles bought and sold. Palay is at all
times a good currency; it is always in demand, being
the staple food; it keeps eight or ten years without

NO. 1003 VOL. 73]

| be it

deterioration; it is portable and infinitely divisible ;
it is of very stable value, and cannot be counter-
feited. Certain villages have special commodities,
which are made or produced in superfluity for pur-
poses of barter, such as pots, cloths, salt, pigs. The
Igorot has as clear a conception of the relative value
of two things bartered as has the civilised man when
he buys or sells with money; but whatever he trades,
a five-cent block of Mayinit salt or seventy- -dollar
carabao (buffalo), the worth of the article is always
calculated on the basis of its value in palay, even
though the payment is in money. The standard of
value of the palay currency a small
bunch of palay tied up imme diately below the heads
of grain; it is about 1 foot long, half head and half
straw. On the whole, there great uniformity in
the size of the handful.

The forces of nature are personified in the person
of the only god known to the Igorot. He instituted
the club- houses and gave rules. of conduct, telling
people not to lie or steal, and to have but one wife;
the home should be kept pure, and all men dwell as
brothers.

Enough has been said to show the importance of
this work, which deals in a fairly thorough manner
with a people about whom nothing was previously
known, and who have lived their lives uncontaminated
by foreign influence. Dr. Jenks candidly admits that
the time at his disposal was insufficient to exhaust
the subject, and we can only hope that the work so
well begun will be thoroughly completed ere long.
The Igorot community seems a very favourable one
for an exhaustive sociological study. It would be
very desirable for an investigator to make an ex-
haustive census of each ato, recording the whole
genealogies of each family, accordine to the method
introduced by Dr. Rivers; by this means accurate
information could be obtained concerning the real
nature of these wards, the reason for the social and
family functions of certain individuals would be made
clear, and the system of kinship and the regulation of
marriage would be demonstrated.

is

On a previous occasion we have referred to the
memoir on the Negritos of Zambales, by Mr. W.

Reed, which contains a large number of excellent
plates illustrating the general appearance and some
of the occupations of these ve ry interesting and primi-

iG. 2.—Negrito Men of Bataan making Fire with Bambo .

tive people. The Negritos were, without doubt, the
aboriginal inhabitants of the Philippines, and they
and their congeners in the Malay Peninsula, and in
the Andamans, are the relics of one of the most
archaic of human stocks. This can only be regarded

NATORE

[APRIL 19, 1906

as a preliminary study, but, so far as it goes, it has
considerable value and interest. The Aeta
bales are of a dark chocolate-brown colour, and when

of Zam- |

pure their hair is woolly; the men have an average

height of 5 feet 2 inches; they are broad-headed, the

cephalic index of the men averaging 82 and that of |

the females 86; their noses are exceedingly broad, but
they have practically no prognathism. The Negritos
studied by the author are not in the most primitive
condition, as they have ceased to be purely nomadic
hunters, and have taken to a little agriculture. It is
to be hoped that Mr. Reed, or some other competent
person, will pay especial attention to the real nature
of the “scattered families’’ that wander from one
place to another; to discover this it will be necessary
to learn the names and relationships of every in-

‘dividual of each community, and this should be done |

ae

PRINT

og

Fic. 3.—Group of Battak Women, showing Flayed-bark Skirts and
Shaved Heads.

for several communities, then we shall learn whether
they are clans with mother-right or families with
father-right. It is important to map out the hunting
grounds, and to record whether they consist of
personal property.

Despite the similarity of name, there is no reason
to connect the Battak of Palawan with those of
Sumatra. They are a wild, hunting folk, who culti-
vate one or two tuberous plants, and in a few places
plant small fields of rice. They gather gums, which
they carry to the coast and trade for rice, beads, &c.
They wear a scanty garment of bark cloth. They are
a mixed Negrito people, and appear to be analogous
to the Sakai of the Malay Peninsule. The present
paper is only a slight sketch; doubtless these interest-
ing people will be carefully studied in the future.

NO. 1903, VOL. 73]

They, like the Negritos of Zambales and elsewhere,
are worth special investigation, as they represent the
first stage of the passage from a hunting to an agri-
cultural mode of life. No people in this stage of
culture has been at all adequately studied from the
sociological point of view, and our American
colleagues have here a fine opportunity for investi-
gations that are much needed by ethnologists and
sociologists.

The term Igorot (the form ‘‘Igorrote’’ is
barbarous) is one of those names like Dyak, which
has been used so loosely as to be worthless; etymo-
logically it means mountaineer, and therefore can
have no racial or even tribal significance. The gram-
matical study by Dr. Scheerer is concerned with that
division of the Igorot who know themselves as Ibaloi
and their language as Nabaloi. Contrary to popular
opinion, the author can trace no Chinese influence
among the people, but, on the other hand, he has
found among Ibaloi personal names some that are

Fic. 4.—Ibaloi Women (Girl on Right Side).

pure Japanese words. At present it is impossible to
say whether these are more than accidental similari-
ties, or to determine in which direction the loan may
have taken place. Nabaloi, like all Philippine
dialects, is agglutinative, built up of roots and
particles; it belongs to the great Oceanic linguistic
stock. A. C. Happon.

THE OCEANOGRAPHY OF THE PACIFIC.
NOTABLE addition to our knowledge of the
Pacific Ocean is contained in a paper by Dr.

James M. Flint, published as Bulletin No. 55 of the
United States National Museum. In the early part
of the year 1899 the U.S.S. Nero, a steam collier of
nearly 5000 tons, which had been purchased for use
during the Spanish-American war, was fitted out and
dispatched from San Francisco, with instructions to
survey a route for a telegraph cable between the

APRIL 19, 1906]

NATURE

On
[o/e)
“I

United States, the Philippine Islands, and Japan.
The ship was in command of Commander Belknap
so far as Manila, where he was relieved on account
of illness by Lieut.-Commander H. M. Hodges.

As previous surveys had established a satisfactory
route so far as the Sandwich Islands, the work of
the Nero began at Honolulu, whence the ship sailed
on May 6, 1899. The instructions were to follow
as nearly direct lines as practicable from Honolulu to
Midway Island, thence to Guam, and from Guam to
Luzon; also from Guam to Japan. Soundings were
to be taken on the outward voyage at intervals of
to miles and 2 miles alternately; temperatures of the
air, and surface and bottom of the sea to be re-
corded; currents noted; samples of bottom to be col-
lected and preserved. The return course was planned
to cross the primary route zigzag at angles of forty-
five degrees, the sides of the zigzags to be 20 miles
in length, and soundings to be taken at the apices.
When it is stated that this plan, modified by circum-
stances chiefly as regards intervals between sound-
ings and detours from the main line in order to
develop marked irregularities in the contour of the
ocean bed, was effectively carried out, we may agree
that the belt 14 miles wide and more than 6000 miles
in length has been examined with a thoroughness,

Fic. 1.—Diatom ooze obtained at a depth of 2788 fathoms in latitude
t4° 24’ N., and long. 135° 31’ E. Coscinodiscus rex, Wallich, magnified
15 diameters.

at least in so far as soundings are concerned, which
is unequalled by any survey hitherto made of an
ocean tract.

The chief interest as regards depths centres about
the region between Guam and Midway Islands.
About half-way between the two a plain more than
3000 fathoms from the surface is interrupted by what
is apparently a range of mountains, extending over
three degrees of longitude, and rising in places to
720 fathoms from the surface. From the western
limit of the plain, some 300 miles from this mountain
range, the contour is quite irregular until Guam is
reached. Extensive detours to north and south of
the direct course showed a mountainous region, with
peaks rising to 689 fathoms below sea-level and
valleys descending to a depth of more than 5000
fathoms. Four soundings below the 5000-fathom line
were made in an abyss to which the name ‘‘ Nero
Deep’’ was given, with the record of 5070, 5101,
5160, and 5269 fathoms. The last sounding is, of

course, the deepest on record, being only 66 feet less |

NO. 1903, VOL. 73]

| cultural ‘‘ headquarters staff.’’

than 6. statute miles. Its position was __ lat.
12° 43! 15!’ N., long. 145° 49' E., or 75 miles E.S.E.
of the island of Guam.

From Guam to Yokohama the soundings indicated
a continuous range of mountains connecting the
Ladrone Islands with the Bonin group.

Another result of importance obtained by the Nero
is the discovery of diatom ooze as a bottom deposit
in tropical waters. Many distinct patches of character-
istic diatom ooze were found on the line, especially
between Guam and Luzon. Along a line about 300
miles in length, lat. 14° 28’ to 14° 50’ N., and
long. 136° to 130° 30’ E., diatom ooze was brought
up at thirteen stations from depths between 2432 and
3547 fathoms. Again, between Guam and Midway
Islands ooze of a similar kind was obtained at three
stations. In all the specimens examined the diatoms
belong almost exclusively to a single species, identified
by Prof. Mann as Coscinodiscus rex, Wallich. We
reproduce the figure given in the plates accompanying
the paper of ‘diatom ooze from station 746 (lat.
14° 24! N., long. 135° 31 E.), 2788 fathoms. Mag-
nified 15 diameters.”’

We are unable to do more than direct attention to
the two most remarkable discoveries made by this
expedition. It is scarcely necessary to add that the
table of 2074 soundings, with details of bottom de-
posits, and a large number of temperature observ-
ations, forms in itself an even more valuable con-
tribution to oceanography than the two “ records ”’
we have mentioned.

AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH IN INDIA.

4p ee publication of the first annual report of the

Imperial Department of Agriculture of India is
little short of an epoch-marking event. As I have said
elsewhere, agricultural research has not been wholly
neglected in India in the past. Much excellent work
has been done by able men working under conditions
which were never encouraging. But it has been fitful
and uncoordinated, and always at the mercy of un-
instructed and unsympathetic officials, whose one
canon of criticism has been the solvency of the annual
balance-sheet.

India now possesses what it may be hoped before
the century has run out will be regarded as the
Rothamsted of the East; and the characteristic irony,
I might almost say cynicism, of the British race is
content that it should owe its foundation in great
part to the large-minded munificence of an American
gentleman.

The outcome will not be found to-day or to-morrow,
but only after years of patient work. The Govern-
ment of India must not be impatient for immediate
results or querulous about current expenditure. That
must needs be capital invested, and the return will be
the eventual increase of the wealth and prosperity of
the population of India.

It now possesses for the first time a real agri-
The various experts
charged with particular features of the biological
campaign are no longer scattered, but are brought
together in one institution, where they can work in
sympathetic partnership. A glance through the pages
of this report is sufficient to reveal the enormous area
of the field before them. It may be prudent at the
start to make a sustained attack on a few problems
rather than to nibble at many.

W. T. TuHtseLton-Dyer.

1 Annual Report of the Imperial Department of Agriculture for the year
1go4-05. (Calcutta; Government Central Press, 1906.) Price 1s. 2d.

588

NATURE

[APRIL 19, 1906

THE :ERUPTION OF VESUVIUS.

ype eruption of Vesuvius has quieted down since
last week, though scoriz and ash ‘continue to
be ejected and there still seems to be a slow flow of
lava, but in comparison with the activity of the erup-
tion on April 8 the volcano is quiet—until next time.
How soon or how long deferred this may be cannot
be predicted, but the pause has enabled us to take
stock of events and form some estimate of this out-
burst as compared with previous ones. The most
important qualification of earlier reports is in regard
to the reported flow of lava through the streets of
Ottajano; an outburst of lava on the outer slope of
Monte Somma would be remarkable indeed, but later
accounts show that none such took place, the damage
at Ottajano and San Giuseppe being due to a very
heavy fall of ash,

The reports from the Vesuvian Observatory and the
definite statement of Messrs. Thos. Cook and Son
that their electric tramway has not suffered more than
a temporary interruption of traffic, due to the fall, of
ash, show that no lava flowed in that direction. On
the other hand, there seems to have been an extensive
outflow into the Atrio del Cavallo and on the south
side of the voleano. The lava, which stopped just
short of Bosco-Trecase, seems to have reached further
than the stream of 1754.

In spite of the prominence given to these lava
streams in the daily papers, the eruption seems to
have been less remarkable, in this respect, than that
of 1895, not to mention others of earlier date, but the
volume of volcanic ash produced and scattered over
the surrounding country has been very great, and
the aspect of the volcano has been materially changed,
not only by the addition of a mantle of grey ashes, but
also by the destruction of a portion of the cone. The
upper part of the funicular railway has been destroyed
—blown away, so far as can be made out—in the
enlargement of the old crater; the voleano as a whole
is noticeably lower than it was, and must have re-
sumed very much the aspect it showed after the
eruption of 1822.

The Naples correspondent of the Times described
in Tuesday’s issue the nature and results of the recent
eruption. Some extracts from this narrative, dealing
with points of scientific interest, are subjoined, with a
diary of events abstracted from Press reports.

The most intense activity occurred on the night of
Saturday, April 7, when the sides of the cone subsided
and the streams of lava, already set free, gained a terrible
impulse. The electric phenomena of thunder and lightning,
which ordinarily attend any great volcanic convulsion, were
then at their height, and the ejection of large blocks from
the crater and fiery scoriz is said to have surpassed any-
thing within the memory of the present generation. The
main courses taken by the lava flow seem to have been
six in number: towards Ottajano on the north, to San
Giuseppe and Terzigno on the east, past Bosco-Trecase to
Torre Annunziata on the south, to Torre del Greco and
past the observatory on the west. Of these, the most
formidable stream was that which descended towards Torre
Annunziata, those which deviated towards Torre del Greco
and Terzigno being only its branches. At Torre Annunziata
the lava stopped just short of the wall of the cemetery
outside the town. .

The actual area of ground covered by lava cannot yet
be conjectured, though it is believed to exceed that covered
by all recent eruptions. Next in importance comes the fall
of volcanic dust and scoriz. The direction of this fall varied
each day. The worst suffering was inflicted upon Ottajano
and San Giuseppe Vesuviano towards the north-east. In
both places a large number of houses succumbed to the
weight that fell on their roofs. Considerable damage was
also done, from the same Cause, at Torre del Greco.

NO. 1903. VOL. 73]

During the first three or four days the dust plunged the:
towns in the immediate vicinity of the volcano into utter
darkness, and materially increased the panic that had
already set in. Even Naples was in a state of semi-dark-
ness, from which it had hardly emerged on April 12. The
roofs and roads seem to be inches- deep in an extraor-
dinarily fine, reddish-grey dust, which rises in dense clouds
behina every carriage and foot passenger. as

In some places the drift of ash seems-fully a yard deep ¢
at Ottajano and San Giuseppe in the lightest deposits it
must measure three inches. The great danger in both
places—and, indeed, in most of the towns on the slopes
of Vesuvius—would be a heavy rainfall and the formation
of mud-torrents, which will more than complete the ruin.
already begun by the lapilli. At the coast towns, Torre
del Greco, Torre Annunziata, Resina, and others, the work
of disencumbering the streets and buildings of the lapilli
and ashes is already in active progress.

It is difficult to compare the extent of this latest erup-
tion with that of those which have preceded it. Eye-
witnesses of both declare it to have been more formidable
than that of 1872, which practically destroyed Torre del
Greco for the fourth time. The distance to which the ash
was carried is so dependent on other atmospheric influences
that it cannot constitute a test. In this case the ash seems
to have. reached Bari and towns on the Adriatic coast.
One notable change has been wrought by the eruption.
The cone, which has for so long been such a distinctive
feature of the mountain, appears to be gone.

The following diary of the eruption is in continuation of
that given last week :—

April 11. Vesuvius Observatory.—Report from Dr.
Matteucci :—‘‘ For brevity’s sake I do not give details of
my position and that of the carabineers at the observatory,
which has been very unpleasant and alarming. Throughout

the night and up to 8 o'clock this morning we were
completely enveloped in dense showers of dust. As I
telegraph everything tends to reduce anxiety, and the

seismic instruments show quieter records than yesterday.
I shall remain here as long as possible—as long as I. have
food. If my words could influence the population they
would be words of encouragement and sympathy in full
confidence that Vesuvius will shortly become calmer.”

Showers of volcanic ash and other fragmentary pro-
ducts continue to fall. San Giuseppe almost buried in
places by mounds of ash and lapilli, and Ottajano in much
the same condition. Torre Annunziata remains abandoned,
and Torre del Greco is almost deserted. The roads in
Naples are covered with a thick layer of volcanic dust,
which continues to fall upon the city. The summit of the
voleano cannot be seen on account of the dense clouds of
steam and dust over it, but it is reported that the shape
of the cone has undergone great change, and Dr.
Matteucci estimates that the top is now nearly 250 metres
lower than before the eruption.

April 12.—Seismographs quiet. Volcanic ash has ceased
to fall in Naples, Portici, Torre del Greco, and Torre
Annunziata, but the shower continues at Ponticelle, St.
Anastasia, and Somma.

April 13.—No noticeable disturbances. The volcano still
surmounted with a dense cloud, which appeared, however,
to be disappearing.

April 14.—A shower of ash fell at San Giuseppe
Vesuviano and Ottajano to a depth of about 14 inches.
Heavy falls of dust also recorded in the communes of
Collina, Strocchia, Bosccreale, Somma, and Ottajano.
Slight earthquake shock felt at Ottajano and Terzigno.

April 15.—At 2 p.m..a heavy shower of ash began fall-
ing at Ottajano, Boscoreale, Bosco-Trecase, and Torre
del Greco, causing intense darkness. There was a slight
fall of ashes at Pertici, Resina, San Sebastiano, and San
Georgio.

April 16.—No signs of activity. Seismographs quiet.

April 17.—Conditions normal except for a shower of ash
falling on Ottajano and St. Anastasia. Dr. Matteucci
reports from the observatory that, with the exception of a
few hours, last night was calm. The activity of Vesuvius
is limited to a decreased emission of dust, falling in the
eastern districts.

APRIL 19, 1906]

NATURE 589

NOTES.

We regret to announce that Prof. W. F. R. Weldon,
F.R.S., Linacre professor of comparative anatomy, Oxford,
died suddenly on Friday last, April 13, at the early age
of forty-five.

Tue University of Berlin has announced the award of a
prize of sol. for the best physical or mathematical research
presented to the philosophical faculty for the doctor’s
degree in 1906.

Tue eighty-ninth annual meeting of the Swiss Scientific
Society will be held this year at St. Gall from July 29
to August. 1 under the presidency of Dr. Ambihl. The
programme will include an excursion to Mt. Sentis.

On behalf of the family of the late Prof. Manuelli, of
Modena, Herr T. Waitzfelder has presented the Munich
Museum with an interesting collection, in which are some
original pieces of apparatus used by Galvani and other

Italian investigators, together with some pieces of
alchemistic apparatus.
Tue Schleswig-Holstein Board of Agriculture has

elected Dr. Hans Wehnert to succeed Prof. Adolf Emmer-
ling as director of the agricultural chemistry laboratory at
Kiel. Dr. Wehnert studied at Brunswick Technical High
School and Rostock University, and has had a wide ex-
perience as a manufacturer’s chemist.

Mr. Epcar R. Waite has resigned his position as
zoologist, Australian Museum, Sydney, consequent upon
his appointment to the curatorship of the Canterbury
Museum, Christchurch, New Zealand. Before he left

England for Sydney in 1892 Mr. Waite was an active

secretary of the Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union, and also
editor of the Naturalist.
A. CORRESPONDENT of the Daily Mail, at Entebbe

(Uganda), reports on April ro that Lieut. Forbes Tulloch,
who accompanied the Royal Society’s commission sent
there to investigate sleeping sickness, has accidentally con-
tracted the disease, and has left for England in charge
of Lieut. Gray. The message states that the commission’s
laboratory has been closed, and all the inoculated monkeys
shot to avert further accidents.

A messaGE from a correspondent of the Times in Athens
states that a telegram from Sparta announces the discovery
of the famous sanctuary of Artemis Orthia, before whose
altar the Spartan youths were scourged when initiated into
the privileges of manhood. The site is on the bank of the
Eurotas. Votive offerings of ivory and terra-cotta and
quantities of small leaden figures have also been found, as
well as pottery, which confirms the belief that this was
one of the most ancient Spartan shrines.

Tue council of the Institution of Naval Architects has
nominated Mr. Sidney W. Barnaby to represent that insti-
tution on the sectional committee on screw threads and
limit gauges of the Engineering Standards Committee in
the place of Mr. McFarlane Gray, resigned. The Secre-
tary of State for India has nominated Mr. A. Brereton to
represent the India Office on the sectional committee on
locomotives in the place of Sir Frederick R. Upcott.

On Thursday next, April 26, Dr. P. Chalmers Mitchell
will deliver the first of two lectures at the Royal Institu-
tion on ‘‘ The Digestive Tract in Birds and Mammals.”
The Friday evening discourses will be resumed on April 27,
when Prof. J. W. Gregory will deliver a discourse on “‘ Ore
Deposits and their Distribution in Depth.’’ The discourse

NO: 1903. VL. 73)|

on May 4 will be given by the Hon. C. A. Parsons, on
“©The Steam Turbine on Land and at Sea,’’ and on May 11

by Prof. J. H. Poynting, on “* Some ..stronomical Con-
sequences of the Pressure of Light.”
Hermann Scunaus, one of the most thorough and

earnest German writers on photography, died on March 14
from paralysis. Beginning life as a bookseller’s assistant,
first in Jena and afterwards in Bonn, Frankfurt, and
Ziirich, Schnaus in 1881 entered the photographic pub-
lishing firm of Liesegang, at Dusseldorf. After editing
Photographische Archivs, the first German periodical de-
voted to photography, Schnaus founded first Der Amateur-
photograph (now Photographische Welt) and afterwards
Appollo, and in 1905 took over the editorship of the Photo-
graphische Industrie, to the pages of which he had
assiduously contributed from its inception.

From the Chemiker Zeitung we learn that the Syndicate
of French Sugar Manufacturers, 42 rue du Louvre, Paris,
is offering for competition a prize of 100,000 francs for a
new application of sugar in the industries, other than the
food industry. A condition of the award is that the sug-
gestion shall have been tried in France, and, according to
official statistics, have caused an increase in the consump-
tion of sugar-in France of at least 100,000 tons in the
year. The support of the syndicate is promised in the
event of a diminution or the complete abolition of the
present sugar tax being necessary for the successful de-
velopment of the proposed application. Foreigners are not
prevented from taking part in the competition.

Own March 17, at Baden-Baden, Prof. Adolf Emmerling,
director of the agricultural chemistry laboratory of the
Board of Agriculture of the province of Schleswig-Holstein,
died in his sixty-fourth year. After graduating at Frei-
burg in 1865, Prof. Emmerling was for nearly four years
an assistant in the chemical laboratory of Freiburg Uni-
versity, and for a further two years under Bunsen at
Heidelberg ; from thence he went to Kiel to direct the
work of what was then the agricultural chemistry labor-
atory of the agricultural Gewerbeverein, which position he
held until his death. His numerous scientific researches
were published mainly in the Berichte of the German
Chemical Society and the ‘‘ Landwirtschaftlichen-Versuchs-
stationen ’’: these included a number of new experimental
methods and descriptions of new apparatus. Prof.
Emmerling, who was a Knight of the Order of the Red
Eagle, received the title of professor in 1882, and that of
Geheimer Regierungsrat in 1900.

Sir Tuomas Browne, the author of ‘“ Religio Medici,’’
who lived at Norwich in the middle of the seventeenth
century, was buried in the church of St. Peter Mancroft
during the early part of the last century. It is believed
that his skull was abstracted from the grave and is now
preserved at the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital. We
learn from the Times that recently there has been a con-
siderable expression of opinion in Norwich that the skull
ought to be returned to the tomb whence it was taken.
The hospital governors on Saturday unanimously passed
a resolution agreeing to this course, on condition that the
tomb shall be opened in the presence of representatives of
the hospital with the view of satisfying them that the re-
mains therein are without a skull.

An earthquake as severe as that of March 17 occurred
in South Formosa in the morning of April 14. Kagi was
again the town which suffered the most damage. By the
disturbance on March 17 1228 persons were killed and

INA TiO TEE,

[APRIL 19, 1906

2329 injured, while 5556 houses were totally, and 3383
partially, destroyed. In the present case seven persons were
killed and thirty-five injured at Daigo, where 400 buildings
were destroyed, while in the Ajensui district the casualties
amounted to three killed and fifteen injured, 1191 houses
collapsing and 749 being partially wrecked. A Reuter
message states that the shock of April 14 was much more
severe than that of March 17, and the low death roll, as
well as the comparatively small amount of damage done,
is to be explained by the fact that the people were more
on the alert after their experiences of last month, and
that after the havoc caused by the first disturbance there
was not much left to destroy.

ARRANGEMENTS have been made to hold a joint meeting
of members of the American Institute of Mining Engineers
and of the Iron and Steel Institute in London during the
week commencing July 23. The Lord Mayor of London
has kindly consented to act as chairman of the London
reception committee, and a varied programme of entertain-
ments, visits, and excursions will be provided. Meetings
for the reading and discussion of papers will be held on
the mornings of July 24, 25, and 26, with visits to works
in the afternoons. The Lord Mayor will give an evening
reception at the Mansion House on July 24. On July 27
the annual dinner of the institute, to which the American
visitors are invited, will be held at the Guildhall. Detailed
particulars will be issued when the arrangements are
further matured. After the meeting in London, a tour will
be arranged for the American visitors to York, Middles-
brough, Neweastle-on-Tyne, Glasgow, and Edinburgh. As
an alternative excursion a number of the American visitors
have been invited by the local reception committee for the
summer meeting of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers
to take part in the Cardiff meeting of that society.

As previously announced, the annual meeting of the
Iron and Steel Institute will be held on May to-1r. At
the first meeting the Bessemer gold medal for 1906 will
be presented to Mr. Floris Osmond (Paris), and the awards
of the Andrew Carnegie gold medal and research scholar-
ships for 1906 will be announced. Among the papers that
are expected to be submitted during the meeting are the
following :—Influence of silicon, phosphorus, manganese,
and aluminium on chill in cast iron, E. Adamson ; influence
of manganese on iron, Prof. J. O. Arnold; relation between
type of fracture and microstructure of steel test pieces,
C. O. Bannister; use of oxygen in removing blast furnace
obstructions, C. de Schwarz; volume and temperature
changes occurring during the cooling of cast iron, Prof. T.
Turner. The following reports on work carried out during
the past year by holders of Carnegie research scholarships
will be submitted :—Hardness of the constituents of iron
and steel, Dr. H. C. Boynton; heat treatment of wire,
J. Dixon Brunton; quaternary steels, Dr. L. Guillet ; in-
fluence of carbon on cast iron, W. H. Hatfield: prepar-
ation of carbon-free ferromanganese, E. G. LI. Roberts
and E. A. Wraight; deformation and fracture in iron and
steel, W. Rosenhain.

THE most important paper in No. 181 of the Proceedings
of the American Philosophical Society is one by Miss
M. E. Marshall on the anatomy of that aberrant night-
jar Phalaenoptilus nuttali, the investigation taking into
consideration the mutual relationships of the three families

usually included in the Caprimulgi.

AMONG the contents of the Sitsungsberichte of the Royal
Bohemian Academy of Sciences for 1905 may be mentioned
an article by Dr. A. Frié on the reptiles of the Bohemian

NO. 1903, VOL. 73]

Cretaceous ; Montenegro leeches, by Mr. R. Blanchard; the
glanas of holothurians, by Mr. K. Thon; and the third
part of an account of certain fresh-water amphipod crus-
taceans, by Prof. F. Vejdovsky.

IN a paper published in the Proceedings of the
Rochester (U.S.A.) Academy of Science (iv., p. 203) Mr.
C. L. Sarle concludes that the Silurian fossils described
as Arthrophycus and Deedalus, the nature of which has
received very various interpretations, are really burrows,
Deedalus, at any rate, being probably the work of a
sedentary polychatous annelid. The structures form
elaborate open spirals of the ‘‘ Archimedean ’’ type.

Tue concluding portion of the catalogue of the marine
shells of Victoria, by Messrs. Pritchard and Gatcliff, forms
the main portion of the contents of part ii. of vol. xviii.
of the Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria. Mr.
F. Chapman describes a new cephalaspid fish from the
Silurian of the colony, referred to the genus Thyestes
(Auchenaspis), as T. magnificus. The species of the genus
hitherto known are all small, but the new one rivals in
this respect the majority of the representatives of the
typical Cephalaspis.

THE contents of Scientific Investigations (Fisheries,
Ireland), No. 7, 1904 (1906), include a report by Mr.
E. W. L. Holt on artificial propagation of Salmonide in
1904-5; notes on the spawning season of rainbow trout,
by Mr. C. Arens (the translation of a paper written for
the International Fish Congress at Vienna last year);
records of salmon-marking experiments in Ireland from
1g02 to 1905, by Mr. A. B. E. Hillas; and statistical in-
formation relating to salmon fisheries.

In a report by Mr. E. D. Sanderson on miscellaneous
cotton-insects in Texas, forming Bulletin No. 57 of the
Entomological Division of the U.S. Department of Agri-
culture, attention is directed to the fact that, owing to
the ravages of the ‘‘ boll-weevil,’’? cotton cultivation has
entered on a new phase in Texas, and that noxious insects
which were formerly ignored have now assumed, in con-
sequence of early and rapid cultivation and _ reduced
acreage, increased importance as factors in the success or
otherwise of the crops. Although the investigation is still
in its infancy, it is suggested that the remedy for these
minor pests will be found in improved methods of culti-
vation rather than in recourse to poisons.

We have received separate copies of several papers
recently published in the American Journal of Science,
among which are three by Mr. G. R. Wieland on Cre-
taceous turtles and tortoises, which have been already
noticed in our columns. In a fourth the same author dis-
cusses the “* pro-embryos ’’ of the fossil cycads of the group
Bennettiteae. Since, with the exception of the archegonia
of Cycadinocarpus, no developmental stage has hitherto
been described in any fossil plant, the discovery is regarded
by the author as one of the highest importance. This paper
is dated 1904; while others, by Dr. J. Wortman, on re-
mains of Eocene Primates in the Peabody Museum, were
originally published during that and the preceding year.
Of more recent date is a revision of the New York Helder-
bergian crinoids, by Miss M. Talbot, and a review of the
fauna of the Palaeozoic Chazy Limestone of North America,
by Mr. P. E. Raymond.

Notes on Bahama snakes, by Mr. J. L. Cole, and the
description of a new Bahama sea-spider, or pycnogonid,
by Mr. T. Barbour, form two of the articles in the March
issue of Naturalist. Mr. W. Stone con-

the American

APRIL 19, 1906]

NATURE

59!

tributes notes on Pennsylvanian and other reptiles and
amphibians, while Prof. M. A. Wilcox commences an
account of the anatomy of the limpet, -lcmaea testudinalis,
a subject to which he has for several years devoted atten-
tion. The author states that he has endeavoured to make
the communication ‘‘ serve as an introduction to the study
of the fascinating but neglected group of Gastropoda.”
In the sixth article Dr. A. Hollick and Prof. E. C.
Jeffrey discuss the affinities of certain Cretaceous plant
remains commonly assigned to the genera Dammara and
Brachyphyllum. The so-called Dammara is assigned to a
new genus of araucarian under the of Proto-
dammara, while the shoots and branches referred to
Brachyphyllum are likewise of an araucarian nature.

name

Tue February number of Le Bambou contains an article
on the identification of species of Phyllostachys, also
cultural hints on some of the Arundinarieze, and notes on
the resistance of bamboos to frost in the south of France.

Tue list of new garden plants for the year 1905, issued
as appendix iii., 1906, to the Kew Bulletin, contains, as
usual, a large number of orchids, especially species of
Cattleya, Cypripedium, Dendrobium, and Odontoglossum.
The African continent continues to furnish a considerable
proportion of plants, including species of Aloe, Lissochilus,
and Polystachya. Messrs. J. Veitch and Sons have intro-
duced a number of Chinese plants, of which the Primulas
have attracted attention, particularly Primula Cock-
burniana that bears large orange-scarlet flowers.

A SECOND paper on the Panama Canal, by the Hon.
Theodore P. Shonts, chairman of the Isthmian Canal
Commission, is published in the February number of the
National Geographic Magazine. ‘The experiments with
foreign labour, arrangements for transportation facilities,
and similar matters are fully described.

THE report on the state of the ice in the Arctic seas
during 1905 has been issued by the Danish Meteorological
Institute. The general conclusion drawn is that great
masses of ice were disengaged from the firm ice in the
north polar regions at an earlier date than usual, and the
ice drifted southward faster and in greater quantities than
in a normal year.

Tue February number of the Bulletin of the American
Geographical Society is almost entirely devoted to a report
of the second annual meeting of the Association of American
Geographers, which was held in New York on December
26 and 27 last, under the presidency of Prof. W. M. Davis.
About thirty-three papers were communicated, and abstracts
of most of these are to be found in the report.

In an article entitled ‘‘ Winning the West,’’ in the
February National Geographic Magazine, Mr. C. J.
Blanchard gives an interesting account of the extraordinary
progress made by the United States Reclamation Service
during the last few years. Of the fifty millions of acres
which it is estimated can be reclaimed from the desert by
irrigation, ten millions have already been made produc-
tive, at a cost of some ninety millions of dollars. This
area is occupied by a population of about two millions, and
every year it returns a harvest valued at more than one
hundred and fifty millions of dollars.

We have received a reprint of a paper, published in the
Bulletin of the American Geographical Society, by Mr.
Daniel T. Macdougal, on the delta of the Rio Colorado.
With the help of a map by Mr. Godfrey Sykes, which

NO. 103. VOL. 73]

accompanies the paper, the author describes the complex
hydrography of the region between the international
boundary and the present head of the Gulf of California.
Some useful notes on the climate and flora are added. The
paper gains in interest from the fact that the Salton sink
and Imperial Valley immediately the north of the
boundary are likely to be greatly modified in the near
future by the work of the U.S. Reclamation Service.

to

THE report of the Meteorological Council for 1904-5 (the
last year of the administration of the Meteorological Office
by that body), which was recently presented to Parlia-
ment, contains an interesting account of the operations of
the office since its establishment as a department of the
Board of Trade under Admiral (then Captain) FitzRoy in
1854. The amount of up-hill work carried out by Admiral
Fitzxoy, with Mr. T. H. Babington as scientific assistant,
and the very few clerks at his disposal was remark-
able. His first care was to issue trustworthy instru-
ments to vessels of the navy and mercantile marine, and
to collect observations relating to meteorology over the
oceans; but pending the receipt and collation of these
observations he quickly converted Maury’s numerical wind
charts into seasonal charts of graphical wind-stars, and
issued them in great numbers to seamen. These were soon
supplemented by monthly charts, from observations obtained
from British ships, combined with those from Maury’s
charts. Subsequently he collected and collated synchronous
observations for both land and sea, from the study of
which he was enabled to commence his system of storm
signals and weather forecasts by which his name in this
country is best known. After his death, in 1865, the
management of the office was placed under a committee of
the Royal Society, with an increased grant; this body
established the self-recording observatories, and under the
able administration of Mr. R. 1. Scott, as director, the
operations of the office were greatly extended. In 1877, on
the recommendation of a committee of inquiry, the
Meteorological Committee, the services of the members of
which were honorary, was replaced by a paid council, with
a further increase in the grant. After the lamented death
of Prof. Henry Smith in 1883, General (now Sir Richard)
Strachey became chairman; his great administrative power
and ability in the direction of the constantly increasing
work and usefulness of the office (with Mr. Scott, and more
recently Mr. Shaw, as secretary), are too well known to
require further comment here. The work of all depart-
ments, relating to marine meteorology, weather forecasts,
and the discussion of the observatory and other records,
attained a high degree of excellence, and compares favour-
ably with that performed by any foreign meteorological
organisation.

A NEW method of exactly standardising thermometers
between o° C. and —4°-o C. has been devised by Prof.
T. W. Richards and Mr. F. G. Jackson; it is described
in the Proceedings of the American Academy (vol. xli.,
No. 21), and consists in observing the temperatures re-
cordea for the freezing point of dilute hydrochloric acid
solutions of known concentration. A table is given of the

values for the freezing point of solutions of different
strengths. The method should be of special service in
standardising thermometers used for accurate physical-

chemical researches, particularly in measurements of the
freezing point of dilute solutions.

In the Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts
and Sciences (vol. xli., No. 20) Prof. Theodore W. Richards
and Mr. R. C. Wells deal with the possibility of utilising the

NAV T OT LS:

[APRIL 19, 1906

temperature of transition of sodium bromide dihydrate into
the anhydrous salt as a fixed point in accurate thermometry.
As the result of their investigations they conclude that
when the salt is quite pure the transition of the dihydrate
into the anhydrous salt takes place at a temperature of
but that the exact
is slightly modified by

507-674 C., value of the transition
point

impurity.

the presence of traces of

Considerable difficulty is experienced in pre-
paring pure sodium bromide free from sodium chloride ; it
cannot be obtained by re-crystallising the ordinary bromide,
but must be made from pure bromine and pure sodium
carbonate.

these

Details are given of the methods used in puri-
the sodium ultimately
obtained giving a value of 23 008 for the atomic weight of

fying materials, bromide
sodium; this value agrees closely with that recently found
for the atomic weight by the same investigators using a

method based on the analysis of sodium chloride.

Tue variation of the properties of the hydroxyl group
of alcohols as the nature and number of the alkyl radicals
attached to the carbon atom are varied forms the subject
of a suggestive paper by Prof. Louis Henry in No. 12 of
the Bulletin of the Belgium. The
observations are of interest both from. practical and classifi-

Royal Academy of

catory standpoints. It is pointed out that as the number
of alkyl groups is increased in passing from a primary to
a tertiary alcohol, the
hydroxyl those

properties characterising the
with the hydroxyl
radical of water to those characteristic of the hydroxyl
of bases, potash. In particular the different
behaviour is emphasised of the three classes of alcohols
towards the halogen hydrides, towards acetyl chloride,
and during esterification by means of hydrogen chloride
and a_ fatty The generalities established can be
utilised as a means of predicting the behaviour of the
mixed alkyl
action of the halogen acids.

pass from associated

such as

acid.

ethers when subjected to the decomposing

A WELL-ILLUSTRATED price-list of sundials and sundial
pedestals has just been issued by Messrs. Newton and Co.
Many forms of horizontal and vertical dials, and also
pocket dials, are described in the catalogue, which should
be seen by anyone who desires to possess a timekeeper of
this kind as a reminder of the days when hours were
marked by shadows on a dial.

A cory of the 1905 of the Rugby School
Natural History Society has been received. It is to be
regretted that ‘a distinct falling off in the keenness of
the sections taken as a whole ’’ during 1905 was, accord-
ing to the preface, noticed by the officers of the society.
It may be hoped that the present year will, by its ex-
ceptional exhibition of vigour, retrieve the character of what
has been a hard-working society.

report for

Tue Journal of the Royal Sanitary Institute (vol. xxvii.,
No. 3) contains the full text of the important series of
papers read at the conference on smoke abatement in
December, The list includes the address by Sir
W. H. Preece, K.C.B., on factory and trade smoke abate-
ment ; and Commander W. F.
Caborne ; on smoke from factories, by
Dr. S. Rideal; on the artificial production of persistent
fog, by the Hon. Rollo Russell; on the destructive effect
of smoke in relation to plant life, by Mr. Arthur Rigg;
on the work of the Hamburg Smoke Abatement Society,
by Mr. J. B. C. Kershaw; smoke
Mr. J. W. Lovibond; and on the effect of
smoke on plant life, by Miss M. Agar.

NO. 1903, VOL. 73]

1905.
papers on stoking, by

the abatement of

on observations on
densities, by

OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN.

Tue Continuous SPECTRUM OF THE CHROMOSPHERE.—Aw
interesting communication dealing with the question of the
existence of a continuous spectrum in the radiations
emitted by the chromosphere was communicated to the
aris Academy of Sciences by M. Deslandres on March 26.

M. Deslandres made special preparations for the eclipse
in August last in order to determine whether the continuous
spectrum (i.e, the radiations emitted by solid or liquid
particles) of the chromosphere is brighter, as bright, or
less bright than that of the neighbouring carona. Employ-
ing coloured screens, which absorbed the gaseous radi-
ations, he photographed the uneclipsed ring of chromo-
sphere and corona directly, and, in order to determine
what proportion of the transmitted radiations was due to
the light emitted by the metallic prominences, &c., he
simultaneously employed two grating cameras which dis-
closed the presence and intensity of the latter.

Comparing the images photographed through screens
with similar ones obtained in the usual manner by Count
de la Baume Pluvinel, it was seen that the former ex-
hibited many striking peculiarities in the large group of
prominences in the north-east quadrant. On the screen
photographs the prominences were much shorter than on
the ordinary photographs, whilst their base and a series
of nuclei towards the north were much brighter than the
other portions, features not noticeable on the ordinary
negatives. Spectrograms of the corona secured at Palma
by Dr. W. J. S. Lockyer confirmed the results of this
comparison.

M. Deslandres concludes that these prominences did emit
a continuous spectrum which was more intense than that
of the neighbouring parts of the corona, and were far
richer in incandescent particles. A programme for the
prosecution of this important research in future eclipses

accompanies M. Deslandres’s communication (Comptes
rendus, No. 13).
OBJECTIVE-PRISM DETERMINATIONS OF STELLAR RapIAL

VeLocities.—Circular No. 110 of the Harvard College
Observatory contains a brief description of some results
recently obtained with the objective-prism method of deter-
mining radial velocities. In this method an exposure is
made in the usual way, then the prism is turned through
180° and a similar exposure made, or the telescope may be
reversed and the photographic plate turned through 180°.
Stars with known velocities serve as standards for the dis-
placement of the corresponding lines in the two spectra.

A reproduction of a spectrogram of the Pleiades, taken
on January 29 with the 11-inch Draper telescope, is given
in the Circular. On this plate about a dozen stars could
be measured, and the probable error in the resulting
velocities would be about +3-5 km. The scale is
52”-6=0-1 cm., and the exposures were thirty-seven and
thirty minutes respectively. On another plate, secured on
January 29 with two exposures of about twenty minutes
each, about 100 stars could be measured, although a
number of them, owing to distortion at the edge of the
plate, could only be employed to ascertain the corrections
necessary.

In No. 2, vol. xxiii., of the Astrophysical Journal, Mr.
Geo. C. Comstock discusses a similar method for deter-
mining radial velocities, but he proposes two similar direct-
vision prisms placed in front of the objective. Formule
for calculating the velocities from the measures obtained
accompany Mr. Comstock’s paper.

Tue OBSERVATION OF LONG-PERIOD VARIABLES.—In
Circular No. 112 of the Harvard College Observatory Prof.
Pickering publishes a plea for the organised observations

of long-period variable stars, observations which are
especially suitable for amateur observers. In order to

facilitate this work various catalogues of such stars have
already been published by the Harvard observers, and a
new one, bringing the results up to date, is now in the
printer’s hands. When published, copies of this catalogue
will be given to all observers who can make use of it.

A number of enlarged copies of Father Hagen’s charts
of the fainter variables are also being prepared, and will
be supplied at cost, or given, to observers qualified to use
them. Instructions as to the improved method of making
these observations are included in the present Circular.

APRIL 19, 1906]

NATURE

593

GEOLOGY IN PRACTICE.

qt will be sufficient to mention such names as the Black

Hills, the Bighorn Mountains, the Foxhills and
Laramie Range, and the Garden of the Gods to indicate
that the preliminary report on the Central Great Plains (1)
includes some classical and highly interesting ground.
The area covered by the report comprises the greater part
of South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas, and the eastern
part of Colorado and Wyoming—an area of no less than
13 million square miles.

A good deal has already been written about one portion
or another of this vast region; the first half of this volume
gives a clear generalised account of the stratigraphy and
structural geology of the whole; it is, however, by no
means a mere abridgment of previously gathered inform-
ation—it embodies the results of much original work.

‘From the time when the middie-Cambrian sea washed
the Rockies and the adjacent highlands up to the latest
physiographic conditions, the geological history of the
region is here depicted in a broad manner. One feature
of this country at once arrests attention, viz. the repetition
in one epoch after another of widespread, uniform con-
ditions of sedimentation—thus the great expanse of
Dakota-Lakota sandstone in Cretaceous times, the equally
widespread Arikaree sands of the
Tertiary, and to-day the sandy alluvial
deposits laid down by the rivers when
they can no longer bear their load,
and spread far and wide as the
streams slowly turn from course to
course. Less striking, perhaps, but
equally widespread, are the argil-
laceous deposits like the Pierre shale
of the Cretaceous. Here, as in other
parts of the world, a series of ‘* Red
Beds’? puzzles the geologist to place
a limit to the top of the Carboniferous
or the base of the Trias.

But it is not so much for the pure
geology that this report will be read
as for a guide—a very practical guide
—to the sources of underground
water. The general conditions govern-
ing the underground water system of
the Great Plains are simple. A thick
succession of alternating sandy and
impervious sediments constitutes the
rocky floor of the country. These
beds are tilted up in the north and
west, and dip thence gradually south-
ward and eastward. Water-bearing
beds are found in the Cambrian and
in every other formation locally up to
the recent hills of blown sand; but by
far the most important is the Dakota B
sandstone, which spreads out as a great sheet 150 feet to
300 feet thick beneath the entire area of the plain. ‘This
sandstone is underlain by the Red Beds or by the Carbon-
iferous limestone and shale, or, in East Dakota, by the
Sioux quartzite; it is overlain by the great mass of clays
and shales of the Benton, Niobrara, and Pierre form-
ations. The principal zone of intake lies 4000 feet to 6000
feet above sea-level on the flanks of the Rocky Mountains
and the Black Hills; as a result, high pressures are found
in wells hundreds of miles from this region.

In this country we trust that the bearing of geological
structure upon the amount and quality of water to be
obtained in any given area is as well understood as it is
across the Atlantic. Yet, although to be “‘ like mother
makes it ’’ may express the excellence of a soup, the same
can in no wise be said of geo-hydrological literature. We
have a curious shyness about graphic modes of presenting
information, a diffidence about making unavoidably clear,
so that he who runs may read. It is in this direction that

1 Reports of the United States Geological Survey. (1) Preliminary
Report on the Geology and Underground Water Resources of the Central
Great Plains. By N. H. Darton. 1905. (2) Preliminary Report on the
Geology of the Arbuckle and Wichita Mountains in Indian Territory and
Oklahoma. By J. A. Taff. With an Appendix on Ore Deposits by H.

Foster Bain. 1904. (3) The Geology of the Perry Basin in South-eastern
Maine. By G. O. Smith and David White. 1905

NO. 1903, VOL. 73]

| cover whether the ‘‘

Fic. 1.—‘* Toadstool Park” in badlands west of Adelia, northern Sicux county, Nebr,
stones overlain by Brule clays

the volume under discussion excels; there are no fewer
than fourteen maps, and twelve of these bear directly upon
water-supply problems.

The landowner, the engineer, the manufacturer, rarely
has the time or the requisite special knowledge to sift the
information usually conveyed in records of well borings.
He cannot afford to spend hours in the endeavour to dis-
ratchel ’’ of one sinker is the ‘* muck
and rubble’’ of another, whether ‘* blue bungum’’ can
really be distinguished from ‘‘ hard bind,’’ or Kimmeridge
clay from Gault. The geologist must know these things ;
what the landowner asks him is, How deep must I sink
for water here? and How much may I expect to find? It
is true that none but Providence or the ‘* dowser’’ could
answer these questions in terms of precise exactitude, but
the report before us proves how much can be done by
taking the subject seriously and by the application of
graphic methods to focus the geological information in its
varied forms into one or more simple images, so that even
the “‘ man in the street ’’ can see at a glance what are the
possibilities of any. particular situation. The maps, in
addition to giving the general geology, show also the under-
ground areas occupied by the more important formations
separately, and, by means of contours, the depth of the
bed-rock beneath superficial deposits, the depth of the

Sand-

most important water-bearing stratum, and the altitude of
the head of water, as well as other useful information.

The yolume is profusely and beautifully illustrated.
Three of the plates, exhibiting forms produced by erosion,
have been reproduced to accompany this notice.

Mr. Taff in his report (2) describes the structure and
stratigraphy of the two groups of hills, the Arbuckle

and Wichita Mountains, which rise abruptly, like islands,
from the Red Rock plain in Oklahoma and Indian Terri-
tory, a region which lies south-east of that described in
the previous report.

These two hill-groups have a common alignment, their
axes trending north-westward and south-eastward. Their
geological history appears to be identical; underlying the
sedimentary rocks in each case are pre-Cambrian granites,
Sranite-porphyries, and aporhyolites—the oldest rock is a
gabbro, in the Wichita group. The succeeding Cambrian
and Ordovician strata bear no evidence of folding; the
period of uplift which has led to the exposure of the
igneous pre-Cambrian rocks began in the middle of the
Pennsylvanian (Carboniferous) epoch and culminated near
its close, before the deposition of the Red Rocks (? Carbon-
iferous or Permian) which in this region constitute the
prevailing surface rock.

We are glad to see that the field staff records its appreci-

594

NATURE

[| APRIL 19, 1906

ation of the arrangement by which the palaontologists
were enabled to accompany the party—a very proper plan,
and one which in this case greatly facilitated the speed
and exactness of correlation and mapping, — besides
accumulating material for an import-
ant monograph on the fossils.

The report contains two geological
maps and several views of the scenery.
An appendix on the reported ore de-
posits of the Wichita Mountains, by
Mr. H. Foster Bain, should be of use
as a warning to prospectors.

(3) Henceforth let no man say there
is coal in Perry. For seventy years
have the dwellers in south-eastern
Maine cherished the hope that coal
lay within their borders ; and had they
not good reason? Perry lies near the
edge of a structural basin, and they
had been told that the ** Perry ’’ beds
were Triassic, consequently that coal

might be found beneath them; the
Canadian Geological Survey had
coloured the beds Carboniferous on

their map—in spite of Sir William
Dawson’s diagnosis of the plants—and
mining ‘‘ experts,’’ glancing at the
same obscure plant remains, had said,
“Here you are, the very thing,’’ and
had gladly bidden the people to bore ;
and they bored, through the Perry
beds into the Silurian lavas, but into
no coal. Still in hope, the sum of 15,000 dollars was asked
for to put down more bore-holes ; it was decided, however,
first to call in the aid of the U.S. Geological Survey De-
partment, with the result that Messrs. Smith and White
were sent to examine the ground. Then, hey presto! the

Fic. 2.—Eroded Sandstones, Monument Park, Colorado.

obscurity vanished—a ten days’ reconnaissance was
enough. There is no coal in the Perry beds, only con-
glomerate with a little sandstone and shale and _inter-
stratified basic lava. Subsequent examination of the badly

NO. 1903, VOL. 73]

Fic. 3.—‘‘ Jail Rock,” showing castellated form of weathering of Gering sandstone and slopes
‘of Brule clay ; valley of North Platte in the distance.

preserved plants confirmed the age of the beds to be
Devonian, probably Chemung, and, incidentally, produced
two new generic types. The plants are figured in six
plates. Je Ames

|

STUDIES OF TEMPERATURE AND
PRESSURE OBSERVATIONS.

M ETEOROLOGISTS will be interested in a _ paper
recently published by Dr. van Rijckevorsel, and
entitled ‘* Konstant auftretende secundare Maxima und

Minima in dem jahrlichen Verlauf der meteorologischen
Erscheinungen,’’ part ii. (Rotterdam: Van Hengel, 1905).
This is really the second portion of a previous publication,
only in this instance the number of stations dealt with
is more numerous, and the stations themselves more
generally distributed over the earth’s surface.

By the method explained in the pamphlet the author
has obtained for twenty-two stations the mean annual
temperature variations, the resulting curve representing
the mean of observations of altogether 3636 years. The
author then proceeds to eliminate the annual period of
twelve months, and also discusses the residuals. The
main result at which he arrives is that, no matter whether .
he deals with all the observations collectively, with the
European stations alone, or with stations collected in
north or south hemispheres, there is over the whole
earth’s surface during twelve months a half-yearly period
of temperature the epochs of which are identical. It
shows maxima in the beginning of March and September,
and two minima in the first days of June and December.
Another oscillation which is referred to is one composed
of a series of very small maxima and minima.

With regard, however, to the six-monthly oscillation of
temperature, a variation which seems to be clearly marked,
it is interesting to note that the epochs of maxima seem
to pick out the times when the north and south poles of
the sun are consecutively turned towards the earth.

As the author finds that stations representing the north
and south hemispheres give practically identical results, it
would be interesting if he would try an east and west
system of grouping of stations, and see if the same result
is obtained. In the light of recent work, it seems quite
possible, but not probable, that if stations in North-
West Africa, South and North America, Honolulu, and
Siberia be formed into one group, and the rest of the world
into another, the same variation, but of opposite or nearly
opposite phase, might be the result. The attempt is well
worth trying, since the author has all the material at his
hand, and the more stations employed in South America to
counterbalance the larger number used and more easily
obtained in the European area the better. In this pamphlet
curves are given showing the variations derived, and

APRIL 19, 1906]

NWA TORE

595

numerous tables containing the data for stations which
possess observations extending more or less continuously
over fifty years or more.

In a recent number of the Meteorologische Zeitschrift
(January) Prof. Hofrat Hann has contributed a new deter-
mination of the mean temperature of the earth’s atmo-
sphere. In the second edition of his classical ‘* Lehrbuch
der Meteorologie,’’ recently noted in this Journal, he gave
us the results of a discussion of the material then avail-
able, but the publication of more data by Prof. Mohn
dealing with the air temperature in the region of the
North Pole renders a slight modification of the mean values
necessary.

Prof. Mohn has just completed a study of the meteor-
ological observations made during Nansen’s memorable
North Polar expedition in 1893-6, and has been able to
make a new determination of the mean temperatures of
the air for the parallels of latitude 60° to go° north. These
new values have enabled Prof. Hann to re-calculate afresh
the mean temperature of the whole northern hemisphere,
using the results obtained in the investigation of Spitaler
for the parallels from o% to 55° N. The value obtained
for the mean of the northern hemisphere was _ finally
15°-1 C. For the southern hemisphere Prof. Hann had
previously determined the value to be 13°-6 C., so that the
mean value for the whole earth comes out as 14°-35 C. It
is interesting to remark that the northern hemisphere
appears to be 1°-5 C. warmer than the southern. Spitaler
in 1886 came to a similar conclusion, his figures being :—

Northern hemisphere 15°-4 C.
Southern hemisphere 14°-8 ,,
Whole earth ... eco LS cet
Excess of N. over S. Os-0nes

Prof. Hann points out that the meteorological observ-
ations made during the recent Antarctic expeditions will
be of special interest in relation to this question, since a
new and better determination of the value for the southern
hemisphere is rendered possible.

Attention is directed to the investigation of Prof. Supan,
who formed the mean air temperatures into two groups,
namely, east and west hemispheres, the dividing lines being
20° W. and 160° E. In this case the eastern hemisphere
appears to be the warmer, as can be judged from the follow-
ing mean temperatures calculated by Prof. Hann :—

Hemisphere
West East
North Pole to equator ... 14°96 C. ... 15°-6 C.
North Pole to 30° N. Be-O15, Bora

SOgeNiitOy Equator Secteesmn 24 oe y5-° s-- i25 e080 58
Eiguator to} 30° S.) jeeeeeeesc- 0 ,,
Equator, to) 50° ‘S., eaaeeee

It is only when more southern latitudes are included in
the regions investigated that the resulting values give an
excess of temperature for the western hemisphere.

In the northern hemisphere the land exceeds the water
surface, while the opposite is the case in the southern
hemisphere. The figures given above for these districts
indicate, therefore, that the land has a capacity for raising
the mean temperature of the air, the temperature of the
northern in excess of the southern hemisphere being 1°-5 C.

According to General Tilto, there is a greater proportion
of land to water in the eastern than in the western hemi-
sphere, the values being

Percent. Per cent,

E " land water
Western Hemisphere (80° N. to 70°S.) ... 17... 83
Eastern a As a rao uecyfek ose = (a!

From this, therefore, the eastern hemisphere should be
warmer than the western. The above figures show that
this is actually the case, thus corroborating the deductions
made for the relative temperatures of the north and. south
hemispheres.

In an article which appeared in these columns in 1904
(vol. Ixx., p. 177) entitled ‘‘ A World-wide Barometric
See-saw,’” an account was given of the results of a
study by Sir Norman Lockyer and myself of baro-
metric changes of short period, which brought to light the
existence of two large regions on the earth’s surface, anti-
podal to one another, which behaved in an inverse manner

NO. 1903, VOL. 73]

to each other. In this article a chart was given illus-
trating the distribution of the different types of pressure
variation, and it was pointed out that the further any
station was placed from the centres of the two main
regions, namely, India and Cordoba, the less the baro-
metric variations were like those of these two regions.

In a recent paper by Dr. Wilhelm Krebs, of Gross-
flottbek, entitled ‘‘ Barometrische Ausgleichsbewegung in
der Erdatmosphare’’ (Das Weltall, Jahrgang 6, Heft 8,
p- 118), the distribution of this short-period barometric
change is discussed, and the author constructs an isophase
chart from some of the data published in the original com-
munication from which the above-mentioned article was
an abstract.

The method adopted by Dr. Krebs is to call the Indian
(Bombay) barometric change 100 per cent., and determine
the percentage of the changes in relation to India at nine-
teen other stations distributed over the earth’s surface.
This procedure is really not valid, because there are two
stations, namely, Bombay and Cordoba, which should both
be taken as too per cent. each, the one positive and the
other negative. Calling Bombay 100 per cent., Dr. Krebs
deduces Cordoba as 31 per cent.! Since the Cordoba
pressure change is the inverse of that of Bombay, it is
difficult to see how the 31 per cent. is obtained. Further,
the chart becomes very misleading, for the isophase lines
connect up places which have a totally different short-period
barometric variation. Thus, for instance, his 70 per cent.
line passes through Norway and Sweden, European Russia,
Arabia, the Indian Ocean, and Australia. The pressure
changes in the latter three regions are closely similar, but
all very different from those existing in the first three
regions named.

As a matter of fact, the chart already referred to as
published previously in this Journal was really an isophase
map. In it each of the different signs there adopted,
namely, +, +?, —, —?, &c., represented types of baro-
metric changes, the + signs, for instance, representing all
places which behaved like India, and therefore represented
as 100 per cent. according to Dr. Krebs’s method. A more
minute differentiation than this seems at present impossible
until a much larger number of stations are employed in
the survey. Wituiam J. S. Lockyer.

THE MINERAL WEALTH OF ALASKA.
ECENT developments have shown that Alaska as a
mining field stands in the front rank among the
possessions of the United States. Its annual gold produc-
tion represents a value of some 1,600,000!.. It produces
silver, copper, and coal in considerable quantities, and its
recently discovered tin and petroleum deposits are of great
promise. During the past year the investigation of the
mineral resources of Alaska has been energetically carried
on by the United States Geological Survey under adverse
conditions, and the Bulletins (Nos. 259, 250, and 236)
recently published by Mr. A. H. Brooks, Mr. G. C. Martin,
and Mr. C. W. Wright afford striking evidence of the
excellent work that is being done in this direction by
officers of the survey. Attention has naturally been directed
chiefly to the gold placers. The placers of the Seward
Peninsula, a field embracing an area of 20,000 square
miles, still hold the first place in gold production in
Alaska. Seven distinct types of alluvial gold deposits are
met with in Alaska :—

(1) Creelx placers, at the level of small streams.

(2) Hillside placers, on slopes.

(3) Bench placers, in ancient stream deposits 50 feet to
300 feet above present streams.

(4) Gravel-plain placers, in the coastal plain of Seward
Peninsula.

(5) Sea-beach placers, on
access.

(6) Lake-bed placers, in beds of present or ancient lakes.

(7) River-bar placers, on gravel flats near the beds of
large streams.

The mining of placer gold in Alaska is carried on during
June, July, August, and September; and mining operations
are rendered difficult not only by the short available season,
but also by the lack of fall in the streams, the poor supply

shore to which waves have

596

IARC EES

{APRIL 19, 1906

of water and timber, the half-frozen condition of the
gravel, and the high cost of labour and transport. In
spite of these obstacles the wide and uniform distribution
of alluvial gold, the healthy climate, and the proximity
of the phenomenally rich goldfields of the British Yukon
territory justify prospecting and mining for gold over so
extensive an area. The methods of gravel and placer
mining in vogue are well described by Mr. €: W.
Purington. Hydraulic methods are the favourites, and the
construction of the requisite ditches has gone on with
great activity, about a hundred miles being under con-
struction and a similar length in use. In the Porcupine
district in. south-eastern Alaska, near the- international
boundary, hydraulicing has proved economical. The gravel
is attacked in this way, and sluice-boxes are lain on bed
rock, everything being worked into them by the powerful
stream from the hydraulic nozzle.

Of the gold-ore deposits in Alaska by far the most
important is that of the Alaska-Treadwell mine on the
eastern side of Douglas Island. ‘Ihe ore bodies consist of
mineralised albite-diorite occurring in the form of intrusive
dykes in black slates. The dykes are distributed through-

out a zone about 3000 feet in width, extending along
the strike for three miles. ‘The ore consists mainly of

rock impregnated with pyrites, in part filled by veins of
calcite and quartz. The average value of the rock mined
is 8s. per ton. The ore dykes have been developed along
the dip for a distance of about 1000 feet. Hot ascending
solutions, possibly of magmatic origin, appear to have been
the cause of mineralisation, and the evidence is in favour
of only one period of concentration.

None of the metals of the platinum series has yet been
found in the Alaska alluvium, but stream tin discovered
on the Anikovik River in 1900 has been found over an
area of 450 square miles. During the season of 1904 de-
velopment work on tin lodes was in progress at Lost River
and Cape Mountain, and new discoveries of tin lodes were
reported at Brooks Mountain, Ears Mountain, and in the
Darby Mountains, all in Seward Peninsula.

The attempts to develop petroleum fields in Alaska which
were begun in 1gor have been continued, but so far with-
out any commercial production.

Promising ,surface indications of petroleum have, how-
ever, been found in the Controller Bay, Cook Inlet, and
Cold Bay fields. Though only a few wells have been
bored, Mr. Martin’s studies have shown that there is ample
justification for further prospecting, and that the Pacific
Coast region of Alaska may prove an important source of
illuminating oil. In this connection it is of interest to
note that the Bering River coal is the best that has yet
been found on the Pacific Coast. An average of twelve
analyses showed 75-65 per cent. of fixed carbon, 15-06 per
cent. of volatile matter, 7-97 per cent. of ash, 1-30 per cent.
of moisture, and 1-24 per cent. of sulphur. Coal, mostly
of a lignitic character, is also widely distributed in south-
western Alaska, whilst the coals of the Cape Lisburne
region are of two distinct classes, low-grade bituminous
coal of Mesozoic age, and high-grade bituminous coal of
Paleozoic age. ihe former covers an area of 300 square
miles with 150 feet of coal in forty or fifty seams, ten of
which seem to be of economic importance. The Palaeozoic
coals are also undeveloped. They occur in limited areas,
and the beds are much crumpled and broken, so that mining
will be difficult and expensive. ‘The product will, how-
ever, probably command as good a price as the best coals
shipped to Alaska.

UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL
INTELLIGENCE.

Oxrorp.—The electors will proceed to the election of a
Sibthorpian professor of rural economy on June 9. The
professorship has now been made tenable for life, subject
to the liability of the holder to vacate it by deprivation for
sufficient cause. The present stipend of the professorship
is about 7ool. a year.

NO. 1903, VOL. 73|

CampripGe.—Applications for the John Lucas Walker
studentship, the holder of which must devote himself (or
herself) to original research in pathology, are invited, and
should be sent, accompanied by references—not _ testi-
monials—not later than May 8, to Prof. G. Sims Wood-
head, Pathological Laboratory, New Museums, Cam-
bridge, to whom also applications for further information
regarding the studentship may be addressed. The student-
ship is of the annual value of 20o0l. (grants may also be
made for assistance and apparatus), and is tenable, under
certain conditions, for three years from July 1.

Mr. Earte has been appointed to succeed Sir A. Pedler
as Director of Public Instruction in Bengal.

Dr. J. Mortver, of Gratz University, has been appointed
professor of pharmacognosia in Vienna University in
succession to Prof. von Vogl.

Pror. J. Precur has been appointed to succeed. Prof.
Dieterici as professor of experimental physics in the
Yechnical High School, Hanover.

Pror. Dr. E. KNogevenaceL has been appointed director
of the Heidelberg University chemical laboratory in suc-
cession to Prof. Theodor Curtius, ex-prosector of the Uni-
versity; while Prof. A. Klages has been deputed to take
Prof. Curtius’s lectures on experimental organic chemistry.

It has been decided to add to the University of Nancy
a new physical institute, toward the cost of which the
Government has promised 300,000 francs, while a further
contribution of 50,000 francs has also been announced.
This will mean that, apart from buildings fer the medical
faculty, there have been added within quite recent years
new institutes for chemistry, electrotechnics, and applied
mechanics, whilst the brewing school has been newly
organised.

It is announced in Science that Mr. Andrew Carnegie
has given 400,00o0l., in addition to previous gifts, for the
maintenance of the Carnegie Technical Schools, Pittsburg.
From the same source we learn that by the will of the
late Andrew J. Dotger, of South Orange, N.J., the
Tuskegee Institute will receive 131,000/. on the death ef
his wife. It is also interesting to record that about
10,0001. has already been raised for the new professorship
of lumbering in the Yale Forest School of the 30,000l.
which is sought as an endowment. In fourteen western
States 88o0ol. was raised from sixty contributors.

AmonG the courses of lectures to be held during May,
arranged for advanced students and others in connection
with the University of London, the following may be
mentioned. A course of about seven lectures on the
morphology of the Bryophyta will be given at the Chelsea
Physic Garden by Prof. J. B. Farmer, F.R.S., beginning
on May 8; a course of eight lectures on the physiology of
nerve will be delivered in the physiological laboratory of
the University by Dr. N. H. Alcock, commencing on
May 8; and a course of four lectures on the atmospheric
circulation and its relation to weather will be given on
May 1, 8, 15, and 24 by Dr. W. N. Shaw, F.R-S:

Ix the Journal of the Royal Sanitary Institute (vol.
xxvii., No. 3) Dr. G. Reid gives drawings of a new type
of elementary school now adopted by the Education Com-
mittee of Staffordshire. The central hall type of building

hitherto in favour was found to present difficulties in
making adequate provision for ventilation by natural

means, and a plan of building was adopted in which one
semi-detached hall would serve for three departments, the
class-rooms being designed in pavilion form with veranda
communication. The cost of erection of the new type is
considerably less than that of the central hall type, the
cost of schools to accommodate 1020 and 628 children
respectively being tol. ros. and 11l. 1s. in the former
case as compared with 15/., which was the average cost
per head of the central hall type of building.

APRIL 19, 1906]

NATURE 597

SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES.
| ONDON.

Royal Society, December Ths eae —*‘*On the Inheritance |
of Coat Colour in Horses.’’ By C. C. Hurst. Communi- |
cated by W. Bateson, F.R.S. |

Analysis of the Stud Book shows that in thoroughbred |
horses chestnut is a Mendelian recessive to bay and brown,
which are dominants. Omitting other colours, it appears
that when mated with chestnuts, bays and browns are
either (a) pure DD, giving no chestnut foals, or (b) DR,
giving, on an average, equality of chestnuts and of
dominants.

Chestnuts mated with chestnuts (of any ancestry) breed
true to chestnut, with about x per cent. of exceptions
(9 in 1104), which may perhaps be due to errors in the
records.

These observations differ from those of Prof. Pearson,
who found no intrinsic difference between the inheritance
of chestnut and other colours (Phil. Trans., A, vol. cxev.),
and has declared (Biometrika, ii., p. 214) that Mendelian
principles do not apply to horse-colours.

(Note added January 31.)

In the paper read January 18 Prof. Weldon disputes
these conclusions, while admitting that chestnuts breed
true with about 1-5 per cent. of exceptions. His argu-

The Stud Book
are afterwards
demonstrable

ment depends on the recorded exceptions.

is very accurate, but many of the records
corrected, and there is sufficient margin

error to make it possible that the rare exceptions which
cannot be eliminated may be due rather to mistake than
to physiological peculiarity in the animals. Very few of
the supposed exceptions have appeared in public uncorrected.
Genuine exceptions may perhaps occur, but the returns
have scarcely the extreme precision necessary to establish

sf
o1

such occurrences. Similarly the records show occasional
exceptions to the purity of the pure dominants—about
I per cent.

It is no doubt by including the families in which these

exceptions occur among those from the DR dominants that
Prof. Weldon has found a large excess of dominants from

the mating DRxR.

Finally, the distinct properties of chestnuts must be
ascribed to segregation and not to ancestry, for their
behaviour in heredity is entirely different from that of

bays and browns,

though their ancestral composition may
for several

generations he ave been the same.

January a Observations and Photographs of Black

and Grey Soap Films.’’ By Herbert Stansfield. Com-
municated by Prof. Schuster, F.R.S.
This seni describes some work on soap films. that

originated with an examination of the two kinds of black
films, undertaken in connection with a continuation of
Reinold and Riicker’s researches on soap films. The two
kinds of black soap film were first described by Newton.
Reinold and Riicker made electrical measurements which
indicated that one black film was twice the thickness of
the other, and this result has been confirmed by Johonnott’s
measurements with a Michelson interferometer. Johonnott
found that the limiting thickness of the thicker black was
12 “4 (imicromillimetres), after which it changed abruptly
to the thinner black, 6 wu thick.

Vertical plane films were examined by reflected light
with a low power magnification, and it was found that the
abrupt change from the thicker to the thinner black could
readily be observed with films made from a solution of
sodium oleate in water. It was also found that the change
from one black to the other was the last and most striking
of a series of similar changes that take place as a film
thins. The process of thinning appears to be continuous
and gradual until a thickness ‘Of about 100 wu is reached,
but after that it is accompanied by a series of abrupt steps.
The photographs, taken with a camera and film box made
for the purpose, show the two black films and_ three
stages between the coloured part of the film and the thicker
ictels which are called the first, second, and third sreys,
the numbers increasing with the thickness as in Newton’s
orders of colours.

The photograph reproduced in Fig. 1
frame, made of thin glass rod,

NO. 1903, VOL. 72|

shows a vertical
supporting a film which is

J
in the act of changing from the thicker to the thinner
black; the small white discs that are formed on the

advancing boundary of the thinner black appear to consist
of material removed in the process. A narrow line of the
first grey and traces of the thicker greys can still be seen
between the coloured part of the film and the black.

A film shut up in an air-tight glass cell containing some
of the soap solution does not thin beyond the thicker black
stage if the equilibrium between the film and the water

vapour is not disturbed. The thinner black is formed if

Fic. 1.—-Oleate of soda film. Magnification 9. Photograph showing

formation of the thinner black, and remnants of the grey stages.

evaporation
by bringing
shown that
increase

takes place from the film; it may be produced
a light near to the cell. Johonnott has recently
the same effect can be produced by a sudden
of pressure in the cell. The change back again
from the thinner to the thicker black, or to still thicker
stages, can be produced by causing water vapour to con-
dense on the film.

the paper also deals with the formation
which

of the coloured

patches are often seen moving down through a
coloured film. They have round heads and drawn out
tails, and bear some resemblance to tadpoles. The head
often shows concentric rings of colour, indicating that it
is like a convex lens in shape. These tadpoles, or lens-

Fic. 2.—Oleate of p>tash film. Showing a growth of solid material on the
left side, and lens-sha, ed thickenings falling through the coloured part
of the film.

shaped bodies, often have grains

their origin in minute
which form in the black at

the top of the film.

2 shows the way in which solid material sometimes
grows in a film. The film represented, instead of thinning

in the usual way and becoming all black, only developed
a few millimetres of black at the top, and then continued
for hours to produce swarms of lens-shaped thickenings.

When a film is behaving in this way, the grains in the

598

NAT ORE

[APRIL 19, 1906

black and the lens-shaped thickenings in the coloured part
of the film may be seen shooting into the tips of the
dendritic growth of solid material.

The separation of solid matter in a soap film is probably
connected with the formation of solid pellicles on the
surfaces of aqueous solutions, which has been described by
Ramsden, and it supports the theory of churning, advanced
by Agnes Pockels, that the butter separates out in the
bubbles formed in the churning process.

A film which is thinning rapidly owing to rapid evapor-
ation often develops a curious ‘‘ grey pattern’’ when a
considerable amount of black has been formed. This
pattern sometimes shows five or six grey stages of thick-
ness, and seems to be produced by material spreading out
into the film from thickenings which have accumulated
during the thinning process.

It is suggested that the grey pattern, the grains in the
black, and the lens-shaped thickenings are formed, like the
solid growths in the films, by the concentration of the
soap solution.

February 15.—‘‘ The Influence of Increased Barometric
Pressure on Man. No. I.’ By Leonard Hill, F.R.S.,
and M. Greenwood.

The results of the present investigation show that

(1) A man can be submitted to a total pressure of seven
atmospheres without untoward effects, provided decom-
pression be effected gradually, and the capillary circulation
be aided by repeated contractions of muscles, joint move-
ments, and changes of posture.

(2) There is no sense of increased barometric pressure
so long as the former is constant. :

It is probable

(1) That the subjective effects of increased pressure, apart
from voice changes and lip anesthesia, depend upon
psychical conditions, such as anxiety and excitement.

(2) The changes in the percentage of carbon dioxide in
the alveolar air are conditioned solely by physical vari-
ations, and not by any increase or diminution in the re-
spiratory metabolism.

In conclusion, the authors remark that they were unable
to find any evidence in support of Snell’s opinion (‘‘ Com-
pressed Air Illness, or so-called Caisson Disease,’’ London,
1896, Lewis, p. 212) that the presence of CO, in the re-
spired air exercises a peculiarly unfavourable influence under
increased pressure. Thus in one experiment the percentage
of CO, in the chamber air, at +31lb., was 0-62 (equivalent
to more than 1-8 per cent. at +0), and no untoward
results occurred on decompression.

Society of Chemical Industry (London Section), April 2. —
Mr. A. G. Salamon in the chair.—Ropiness in flour and
bread, its detection and prevention: E. J. Watkins.
Breads most frequently attacked by this disease are such
as contain bran or low-grade white flours. In the present
investigation it has been sought by means of culture ex-
periments and the artificial production of ropiness in sound

flour. to establish the identity of an organism isolated
from specimens of ropy bread and flour obtained in
England. Cultures made from this bread yielded a small

motile bacillus which, after repeated subculturing, was
used in a series of experiments made with a known sound
flour. Varying proportions of the culture were added to
the water used for making dough. Such doughs when
fermented showed no sign of bacterial effects, and the
bread produced was of normal character when it left the
oven. The bread when kept in a moist atmosphere at
temperatures of 25° C. to 35° C. became ropy in about
twenty-four hours. When the temperature was kept below
18° C. the disease did not appear. Dryness of the air
generally prevented ropiness even when the temperature
was high.
ing the growth of the bacillus, it being found in a series
of tests with varying quantities of acetic acid in the dough
that the bread did not become ropy when kept long periods
under conditions suitable to the bacillus. The cultural and
microscopic characters prove the organism to be Bacillus
mesentericus (Fliigge).—The Rdése-Herzfeld and sulphuric
acid methods for the determination of the higher alcohols ;
a criticism: V. H. Veley. The two methods generally
adopted for the determination of the higher alcohols are

Acids exercise a powerful influence in prevent- |

| conditions of six ancient solar eclipses.

Germany, and Switzerland) and the sulphuric acid method,
adopted in France, consequently practised in this country,
and officially used as a general qualitative test for the
purity of all kinds of alcohol in Russia. Since these
methods give very divergent results in the hands of
different analysts, the author records various experiments
to determine the accuracy or otherwise of the processes,
and also criticises them.

Entomological Societv, April 4.—Mr. C. O. Water-
house, vice-president, in the chair.—Specimen of the very
rare ant Formicoxenus nitidulus, a neuter, found in a nest
of Formica rufa at Weybridge during the present month :
H. St. J. Donisthorpe.—Specimen of Platypsylla
castoris, Ritsema, a coleopterous parasite of the beaver,

| from France: G. C. Champion.—Specimens of a Noctua,

believed to correspond to Dr. H. Guard-Knagg’s original
description of Agrotis helvetina (‘‘ Entomologist’s Annual,”
i872): W. S. Sheldon.—Examples of butterflies taken last
year in Majorca showing injury to the wings, caused
apparently by the attacks of lizards: A. H. Jones.—An
account of the calcara observed on the legs of some
Hymenoptera: Rey. F. D. Morice. The calcara were,
the author said, quite constant in each species, and useful,
therefore, as distinguishing characters, the only hymeno-
pteron he had come across without them being the ordinary
hive-bee. Kirby and Spence considered that they were
used for climbing purposes, but this was unlikely, as the
spurs occurred in species which did not climb at all. So
far as he had noticed, they were used by members of this
order for the purpose of cleaning their antenna. Mr.
C. O. Waterhouse said that similar spurs existed in the
Trichoptera, though they did not assume beautiful forms
as in the Hymenoptera; but as to their uses, he was not
aware that any observations had been published or made
on the subject. Mr. G. C. Champion remarked that they
were also well developed on the hind-legs of some
Coleoptera.

Linnean Society, Apiil 5.—Dr. A. Smith Woodward,
F.R.S., vice-president, in the chair.—Some plants new to
the pre-Glacial flora of Great Britain: Clement Reid.
Fifty photographs were exhibited derived from material
procured at Pakefield, near Lowestoft. The remains were
black, and therefore troublesome to photograph, but the
specimens themselves could not long be preserved, as an
efflorescence occurred, and they fell to pieces, but experi-
ments were now being conducted with the view of per-
meating the fruits with paraffin, and so ensuring their
preservation.—A second contribution to the flora of Africa :
Rubiaceze, and Composite part ii.: S. Moore. In a
former memoir composite plants were alone dealt with.
In the present paper are submitted descriptions of Rubiacez
as well as of Composite. To the former natural order
twelve new additions are proposed, referable to the follow-
ing genera :—Otomeria, Oldenlandia, Heinsia, two species
of Tarenna, Randia, Tricalysia, Polyspheria, and two
species each of Canthium and Diodia. The Composite
regarded as new number fifteen, of which Helichrysum
claims six species; Vernonia, Inula, and Senecio two each,
and Felicia, Bidens, and Dicoma one each.—The structure
of the stem and leaf of Nuytsia floribunda, R. Br.: E. J.
Schwartz. Nuytsia floribunda is a member of the
Loranthaceze and a native of West Australia, and, unlike
other members of this order, it is non-parasitical and a
tree attaining a height of some 30 feet.—Taiwanites, a
new genus of Coniferze from the Island of Formosa: B.
Hayata. Dr. Masters considers the genus a valid one,
judging from a small scrap which he had received from
the author, who believed his new genus to be intermediate
between Cryptomeria and Cunninghamia-: he himself
pointed out that it combined the foliage of Athrotaxis
with the cone of Tsuga; in any case it is a very interest-
ing genus.

Royal Astronomical Society, April 11.—Mr. W. H. Maw,
president, in the chair.—Explanation of the apparent
secular acceleration of the earth’s orbital motion: P. H.
Cowell. The author had found that certain arbitrary
assumptions with regard to the sun and moon satisfied the
He concluded that
it was wrong to assign an arbitrary secular acceleration

the Rése-Herzfeld (officially recognised in this country, | to the moon and none to the sun, and to justify this by

NO. 1903, VOL. 73]

APRIL 19, 1906|

NATURE

So)

supposed tidal influence. The rate at which the day in-
creases appears to be o.ooss. per century, this being about
ten times greater than previous estimates.—Planetary in-
version: F. J. M. Stratton. The author had been led to
this investigation by Prof. Pickering’s suggested explan-
ation of the cause of the retrograde motion of Phoebe, the
ninth satellite of Saturn. It was assumed that at the time
this satellite was thrown off from its primary the latter
had a retrograde motion of rotation, which subsequently
became changed to a direct motion by the inversion of the
planet’s axis. The author concluded that while the theory
remains for the present a speculative hypothesis, it is sup-
ported by the theory of tidal friction, and gives the only
explanation of certain facts that has so far been put for-
ward.—High-level chromospheric lines and their behaviour
in sun-spot spectra: Prof. A. Fowler. The observations
showed that enhanced lines appear as high-level lines in
the chromosphere, and that the corresponding Fraunhofer
lines are generally enfeebled in the spectra of sun-spots.—
Discussion of the Harvard observations of the eclipses of
Jupiter’s satellites, 1878-1901: Prof. R. A. Sampson.
The author gave an account of this discussion, which will
be published by the Harvard Observatory.

CAMBRIDGE.

Philos»phical Society, March 12 —Dr. Fenton, vice-
president, in the chair.—A theory of the widening of lines
in the spectrum: Prof. J. J. Thomson. The view put
forward is that the widening of the lines is due to re-
sonance. The luminous molecules emit waves of light, and
as these are also waves of electric and magnetic force, a
luminous particle produces a strong electrical field in its
neighbourhood; this will act on the vibrating electrified
particles in a neighbouring luminous molecule, while this
second molecule will exert similar forces on the first mole-
cule. Two adjacent luminous particles thus exert forces
on each other, and, if the natural periods of the two are
equal, the action between them may result in a consider-
able change in the period. As the vibrating systems are
surrounded by many systems, some at one distance and
others at another, the changes produced in the periods will
not be constant, but may have any value included between
certain limits, the range between the limits increasing with
the number of luminous molecules. This. range in the
value of the periods causes the original bright line to be
spread out into a band.—The transmission and reflection
of the radiation from radio-active substances: Prof. J. J.
Thomson. The amounts of secondary, tertiary, and
radiation of a higher order transmitted through and re-
flected from a plate of matter placed in the path of
radiation from radio-active substances are calculated, and
methods obtained for comparing the total ionisation pro-
duced by the secondary and other rays with that produced
by the primary rays.—(1) The asymptotic expansion of the
integral functions

xT (1 + a77) ana CJ

gel aT (1 +76)
T(1 4-72)

s eee ee
n=0 T(1 ++ 18)

w=0
(2) The asymptotic expansion of integral functions defined
by generalised hypergeometric series: Rev. E. W. Barnes.
A method of following the course of certain chemical
actions, and a period of induction in the action of water
on monochloracetic acid: P. V. Bevan. The method de-
scribed was to determine the resistance of the solution in
which the chemical action was taking place. In dilute
solutions, when an acid such as hydrochloric acid is set
free as the action progresses, this method affords a very
delicate way of observing the rate of decomposition. The
action of water on monochloracetic acid was investigated,
and was found, except just at the beginning, to follow the
normal monomolecular course.—The_ radio-activity of
metals and their salts: N. R. Campbell. Measurements
of the activity of metals and their salts show that the
radio-activity of ordinary materials is an atomic property.
The identity in respect of this property of samples of the
same salt prepared by different methods shows that the
apparent activity cannot be due to impurity.—A relation
between the velocity and the volume of the ions of certain
organic acids and bases: T. H. Laby and G. A. Carse.
A method of finding the relation between the velocity and

NO. 1903, VOL. 73]

linear dimensions of an ion is to calculate the latter
by taking the cube root of the ionic volume found from
the molecular and atomic volumes, and combine this with
the ionic velocity. It is found that the product of these
two quantities is approximately constant for the members
of the homologous series which the authors have examined,
viz. the fatty acids, amines, pyridines, and anilines, but
varies from series to series.—A preliminary note on the
maiotic phenomena in the eggs of the hermaphrodite Angio-
stomum nigrovenosum (Ascaris nigrovenosa): S. A.
McDowall. The synapsis of the chromosomes is very
clearly shown in this animal.—The reduction of the general
ternary quintic to Hibbert’s canonical form: H. W.
Richmond.

DuBLIn.

Roval Dublin Society, February 20.—Dr. W. E. Adeney
in the chair.—The vapour pressure of a pure liquid at
constant temperature: Prof. Sydney Young. In order to
find whether the statement contested by Battelli and others,
that the vapour pressure of a pure liquid is independent of
the relative volumes of liquid and vapour, is borne out by
experimental observations, the author has collected together
the results of his determinations of the vapour pressures
of twenty-seven carefully purified liquids. He points out
(1) that errors due (a) to the presence of dissolved air and
other impurities, (b) to the vaporisation of mercury, and
(c) to readings being taken too rapidly, would have the
effect of making the observed pressures higher at small
than at large volumes ; (2) that those errors must be smaller
when readings are taken during evaporation than during
condensation; (3) that the errors are likely to be greater
at high temperatures than at low ones. With twenty-one
out of the twenty-seven pure substances, forty-five series of
determinations were successfully carried out, the liquids
having been almost free from air, and no signs of de-
composition having been observed. There were 493 deter-
minations of vapour pressure, each being the mean of, as
a rule, four readings taken at different volumes. That the
mean observed fall in pressure during evaporation for the
257 determinations at temperatures up to 180° was less
than 1 in 10,000 may be regarded as a proof that the vapour
pressure is really independent of the volume. At tempera-
tures above 180° the mean fall in pressure for 236 deter-
minations was 1 in 1450.—Views illustrating the permo-
Carboniferous glaciation of South Africa: Prof. G. A. J.
Cole.

March 20.—Prof. Sydney Young, F.R.S., in the chair.—
Electromagnetic mass: Prof. A. W. Conway. This was a
continuation, in an expanded form, of the paper read at
the meeting held January 16.

Paris.

Academy of Sciences, April 9.—M. H. Poincaré in the
chair.—Some problems in mathematical physics appertain-
ing to the equation of M. Fredholm: Emile Picard.—A
means of controlling a system of clocks synchronised elec-
trically: G. Bigourdan. In a system of clocks controlled
electrically the synchronism may be disturbed owing to
various causes. By the use of a galvanometer attached to
each controlled clock, and the suppression of the directing
current once in each minute, at the zero second, any
deviation can be measured.—Concerning the presentation
of a number of the ‘‘ Catalogue photographique du Ciel ”’
from the Observatory of Toulouse: M. Loewy. This
number is chiefly devoted to the measurements of the recti-
linear coordinates of stellar images taken photographically
with a view to the determination of the solar parallax by
means of the planet Eros.—The transformations of systems
of partial differential equations of the second order: J.
Clairin.—The dichroism, double refraction, and conduc-
tivity of thin metal plates obtained by kathode pulver-
isation: Ch. Maurain. The effects described were shown
most strongly by bismuth, but similar results were obtained
with gold and nickel.—Gaseous osmosis through a colloidal
membrane: Jules Amar. From the experiments described
the author concludes that gaseous osmosis through the
tissue employed is in accord neither with the experimental
laws of Bunsen and Graham nor with the theories of Stefan
and O. Meyer.—The variations of the absorption bands of
a crystal in a magnetic field: Jean Becquerel. Some of

600

NA LORE

[APRIL 19, 1906

the results obtained can be most readily explained by
assuming that certain bands correspond to the vibrations
of positive ions.—The production of high vacua by means
of liquid air: Georges Claude and René J. Lévy. The
arrangement is based on the absorption of gases by char-
coal at the temperature of liquid air.—The acoustic proper-
ties of certain halls for speaking: M. Marage. Experi-
ments confirming the views put forward on the resonance
of halls by Wallace Sabine—The variations of some
properties of quartz: H. Buisson. Two fine specimens of
quartz were compared, measurements being made of their
density, coefficient of expansion, double refraction, refrac-
tive index, and rotatory power. There were distinct differ-
ences between the two specimens, all the deviations being
in the same sense. It is thus clear that quartz, even well
crystallised, cannot be considered as a perfectly pure sub-
stance with absolutely defined properties, or even as a
homogeneous body.—The radio-activity of springs of drink-
ing water: F. Dienert.—Some pyrophosphoric compounds :
J. Cavalier. The preparation and properties of the pyro-
phosphoric esters of ethyl, propyl, butyl, and amyl alcohols
are described. They all proved to have molecular weights
corresponding to the formula R,P,O,, determined by the
eryoscopic method.—Barium iodomercurates: A. Duboin,
—The pure ferromolybdenums: Em. Vigeouroux. In the
direct combination of iron and molybdenum with the iron
in excess, the definite compound Fe,Mo is formed, and no
other compound containing less molybdenum appears to be
capable of existence.—The influence of the ketonic and acid
grouping in the same molecule: L. J. Simon. The con-
densation of the acetylenic amides with phenols. A general
method for the synthesis of ethylene-oxyphenol amides :
Ch. Moureu and J. Lazennec.—The genesis of an iron
mineral: L. Cayeux.—A preliminary note on globoids and
certain granulations of seeds, resembling the metachromatic
corpuscles in some of their properties: J. Beauverie and

A. Guilliermond.—The Khaya of Madagascar: H.
Jumelle and H. Perrier de la Bathie. Reasons are
shown for regarding this as a new species, Khaya

madagascariensis.—Study of the variations of nitrogen and

phosphoric acid in the juices of a grass plant: G. Andre.
The treatment of seed with copper salts: E. Bréal. The
superficial sterilisation of seeds by copper solutions not

only prevents cryptogamic diseases, but also causes a good
utilisation of the reserves.—The heats of combustion and
the composition of the bones of the skeleton of the guinea-
pig, considered as a function of the age: J. Tribot.— The
nucleus of the red blood corpuscles in birds: M. Piettre
and A. Vila.—The Pleistocene glaciers in the valleys of
Andorra and the neighbouring high Spanish valleys : Marcel
Chevalier.—Contribution to the Tertiary flora of northern
Morocco: Ed. Bonnet.—Observations on moving shadows
at sunset and sunrise: Cl. Rozet. The phenomenon of
moving shadows has hitherto been observed only during
an eclipse of the sun. The author points out the con-
ditions under which the same phenomenon can be seen at
sunset and sunrise.—Measurements of the variations of the
gravitation constant in the Simplon Tunnel: Marcel
Brillouin.—The results of atmospheric studies in the region
of the trade winds: L. Roteh and L. Teisserenc de Bort.

Care Town.

South African Philosophical Society, February 28.—
Dr. J. C. Beattie, president, in the chair.—Rock speci-
mens showing the occurrence of Glacial beds in the Griqua
Town series of Hay: A. W. Rogers. Flattened and
striated stones, the peculiarities of which can at present
only be attributed to glacial agencies, occur in a hard
ferruginous rock near the top of the Griqua Town series
in Hay. They are of various sizes, from an inch or two
up to 18 inches long. They consist of chert; a few grit
pebbles are found, but as yet no granites or other igneous
rocks are known from those beds; some hollows, now
partly filled with specular iron, may represent limestone
fragments. The boulders are scattered at wide intervals
through the matrix in most cases, though gravelly grits
also occur.—Under water in south-eastern Bechuanaland :
A. L. Du Toit. The term south-eastern Bechuanaland is
used as including the divisions of Mafeking and Vryburg
as far westwards as Kuruman.—A set of linear equations
connected with homofocal surfac Dr. Thos. Muir.

NO. 1903, VOL. 73]

DIARY OF SOCIETIES.

MONDAY, ApRIL 23.

Society oF ARTS, at 8.—lvory : Alfred Maskell.
VicTorIA INSTITUTE, at 4.30.—Review of Sir Henry H. Howorths ‘‘Ice
or Water”: Prof. Edward Hull, F.R.S.

WEDNESDAY, Arrit 25.

GEOLOGICAL SocrETY, at 8.—Trilobites from Bolivia, collected by Dr.
. W. Evans in 1901-1902: Philip Lake.—Graptolites from Bolivia,
collected by Dr. J. W. Evans in 1901-1902: Dr. E. M. R. Wood.—The
Phosphatic Chalks of Winterbourne and Boxford (Berkshire): H. J.
Osborne White and Llewellyn Treacher.

THURSDAY, Aprit 26.

Roya. InsTITUTION, at 5.—The Digestive Tract in Birds and Mammals:
Dr. P. Chalmers Mitchell.

SoctETY OF ARTS. at 4.30.—Seistan, Past and Present: Colonel A. H.
McMahon.

INsTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Long Flame Arc
Lamps: L. Andrews,

MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY, at 5.30-—Perpetuants and Contraperpetuants :
Prof. E. B. Elliott.—(1) A Question in the Theory of Aggregates ;
(2) The Canonical Forms of the Ternary Sextic and Quaternary Quartic :
Prof. A. C. Dixon.—On the Question of the Existence of Transfinite
Numbers: P. E, B. Jourdain.—Some Theorems connected with Abel’s
Theorem on the Continuity of Power Series: G. H. Hardy.—On a Set
of Intervals about the Rational Numbers: A. R. Richardson.

FRIDAY, ApriL 27.

Roya InsTiTuTION, at 9.—Ore Deposits and their Distribution in
Depth: Prof. J. W. Gregory, F.R.S.

INSTITUTION O¥ MECHANICAL ENGINEERS. at 8.—Petroleum Fuel in
Locomotives on the Tehuantepec National Railroad of Mexico: Louis
Greaven.

PHysICAL SOCIETY, at 5.

AERONAUTICAL SOCIETY, at 8.—The Use of the Balloon in the National
Antarctic Expedition: Captain Robert Falcon Scott, R.N.—The
Experiments of the Brothers Wright: Sir Hiram S. Maxim.

CONTENTS.

PAGE
The Glossopteris Flora. By A.C. Seward, F.R.S.. 577
A Group of Text-Books of Physics .. .. . . 578
Manufacture of Aluminium, By F.M.P. .. 579
Petrol Motor-Cars 6 a ecto naerhc mae 580
Our Book Shelf :—
Heath: ‘‘ Our Stellar Universe” .. . 581
Beadle : ‘f Chapters on Paper-making ” Owobousie.
‘“ Anales del Museo Nacional de Buenos Aires.”—
R. L. DL MnnGn cht Coc eco 581
White: ‘‘ The Natural History of Selborne” 581
Letters to the Editor :—
The Existence of Absolute Motion.—Daniel
Gomstockiiij¢.. «a0 2s) sa (@edeieen em
The Magnetic Inertia of a Charged Conductor in a
Field of Force.—Oliver Heaviside, F.R.S. 582
Old Customs and Festivals. —W. Semple . .. 582
Chemistry in Rural Secondary Schools.—T. S.
Dymond MPMPR reer sno 5 SS
Diurnal Periodicity of Ionisation of Gases.—Alex.
Wood@2e) = = 583

New Spot on Jupiter.—W.F, Denning .....

Oscillation of Flame Cones.—Prof. W. Galloway . 5%4

Interpretation of Meteorological Records.—A.
Lander: =. 584

Effect of Solar Eclipse on Fish.—A. Mosely, C.M.G. 584
Sea-sickness and Equilibration of the Eyes.—Dr.
Geoffrey Martin . . 3 |. . os eppoleeeenses
An Ethnological Survey of the Philippines. (///us-

trated.) By Dr. A.C. Haddon, F.R.S...... . 584
The Oceanography of the Pacific. (///ustvated,) . 586
Agricultural Research in India By Sir W. T.

Thiselton-Dyer, K.C.M.G., F.R.S. oa AM ee
The Eruption of Vesuvius 588
INOteS” eee ated oie oan 589
Our Astronomical Column :—

The Continuous Spectrum of the Chromosphere 592
Objective-prism Determinations of Stellar Radial

Velocities . 1 eee en tee 592

The Observation of Long-period Variables... . 592

Geology in Practice. (J///ustrated.) By J. A. H. . 593
Studies of Temperature and Pressure Observations,

By Dr. William J. S. Lockyer . Reread ooo, Sieh!
The Mineral Wealthof Alaska ......... . 595
University and Educational Intelligence . . . . . 596
Societies and Academies. (///ustvated.) .... + + 597
Diary of Societies’: ... .. . «wie! alee) elas ieae EOS

NALOG RE

601

THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 1906.

THE NEW ORGANIC CHEMISTRY.

Verbindungen. By Prof.

xlv+1163. (Brunswick :
Price 4o marks.

Chemie der alicyklischen
Ossian Aschan. Pp.
Vieweg und Sohn, 1905.)

EW reflections are more curious than those which
contrast the manifold complexity of the organic
chemistry of the present day with the crude simplicity
of the fundamental conceptions upon which it has been
built up. Broadly speaking, these conceptions are
but two in number—first, the almost repulsively
mechanical atomic theory of Dalton, which we still
retain in practically its original form, and second,
the irritatingly mysterious doctrine of valency intro-
duced by Frankland and Kekulé, also still preserved
much as it was enunciated, but which eludes our
grasp and sets us chasing shadows so soon as we
attempt to translate it into definite mechanical con-
ceptions. Yet, on the ground-work afforded by these
two conceptions, so irreconcilable in their nature and so
hopelessly crude in the eyes of the physicist, the organic
chemist has built up a purely experimental science
which embraces hundreds of thousands of different
substances within a scheme as perfect as any known
to science, which classifies with similar perfection
the reactions by means of which those substances are
produced and the behaviour which they exhibit, and
has led to the synthetic preparation of hosts of
compounds the production of which our immediate
predecessors regarded as amongst the most intimate
secrets of animal and vegetable life.

This result has been attained by the systematic
development of experimental methods, and by applying
those methods, as they became sufficiently powerful,
to the consecutive study of the diverse classes of
compounds occurring in organic chemistry. Long
ago, experimental methods were sufficiently strong to
permit of their successful application to large numbers
of aromatic compounds. To-day, the rough methods
of the older chemists have become largely superseded
by far more delicate ones, by methods which render
possible the building up, piece by piece, of the fragile
molecular structures numbered amongst the alicyclic
compounds. The organic chemist has probably always
realised the filamentary character of his hypotheses,
and, knowing that he has no prophetic or far-reaching
mathematical theory with which,to eke out his own
cunning, has been led to rely very largely upon his own
manipulative skill. For this reason, and more especially
is this the case in the branch of the subject now under
consideration, organic chemistry partakes of the
nature of an art as much as of that of a science, and
to be successful, the organic chemist must be endowed
with a sort of intuition which education cannot impart
and instruction cannot destroy.

The systematic study of the alicyclic compounds
dates back only some twenty-five years. At that time
the wonderful successes achieved amongst the aro-
matic compounds by Kekulé and his followers seem
almost to have suggested that all complex organic

NO. 1904, VOL. 73|

| substances might be benzene derivatives. One of the
most important alicyclic compounds known to us,
namely, camphor, was formulated by Kekulé as an
aromatic substance, and for long the Kekulé consti-
tution for camphor held its own, in spite of objections
raised by Armstrong and others. Gradually, however,
as the early work of Freund, and especially of W. H.
Perkin, jun., was developed, it became clear that
benzene derivatives are not the only possible closed
chain carbon complexes, and derivatives of 3, 4, 5, and
6 membered closed carbon chains were prepared
synthetically; it was thus demonstrated that there
exist in nature many important closed ring compounds
which belong to a class totally different from that of
the aromatic compounds, and which may be termed,
as Bamberger first suggested, the alicyclic com-
pounds.

A worl: like the present, which aims at giving a
full and complete account of all that has been done in
a subject which has grown so rapidly, and
even yet but in its childhood, is greatly needed, and
probably no one is better equipped for successfully
carrying out the colossal task involved in its produc-
tion than Prof. Aschan, of Helsingfors. For the
worker in this subject, such a book as Aschan has
produced is invaluable, if only as an aid to the
mnemonic arrangement of his knowledge, and for
the student, face to face with the task of studying
hundreds of lengthy memoirs, such a classified digest
of the whole subject as is here provided offers invalu-
able indications as to what must be read and what
may be safely disregarded.

The classification adopted in the work consists
primarily of a division into a general and a special
part; further, each division of the subject is ushered
in by an historical introduction, which both
interesting and of considerable educational value as
leading up, tersely and plainly, to the main theme.
The general part includes an introductory chapter
defining the scope of the subject dealt with, a
theoretical discussion relating to the development of
the subject, a discussion as to the influence of ring
formation upon the chemical and physical properties
of ring compounds, and an exposition of the stereo-
chemistry of alicyclic substances. The special part
comprises a systematic description of the methods of
formation and preparation of alicyclic compounds,
followed by a detailed and equally systematic presen-
tation of our present knowledge of monocyclic,
bicyclic, tricyclic, and polycyclic carbon compounds.

The variety of types and the complexity of detail
involved in the study of the alicyclic compounds
possibly make essential the primary division of the
work into a general and a special part; the instances
which can be quoted in which some repetition results
from the introduction of a general summary as a
preliminary to the detailed section are therefore, per-
haps, unavoidable in a work of this kind. At the
same time, any duplication of matter in the general
summary and the detailed description has some draw-
backs, because it increases the actual number of pages
to be got through without essentially affecting the

DD

is

is

602

NALORE

[APRIL 26, 1906

amount of information which is imparted: and the
stream of literature incessantly poured upon the
unfortunate chemist is now so voluminous that
few can attempt to read even the most interesting
work in detail; the pages have to be merely skimmed
through, and the task of forming and storing an
adequate visualisation of the whole is possible only to
the highly trained memory.

The general arrangement of the book, although
highly systematic, sometimes leads to difficulties in
finding any desired subject. Thus, the dihydro-
phthalic acids are dealt with on p. 827, the tetra-
hydrophthalic acids on p. 771, and the hexahydro-
phthalic acids on p. 702; yet all these substances were
prepared by v. Baeyer at the same time and described
in the same paper. The difficulty of finding one’s
way about the book would, however, be far greater
were it not for the excellent index and detailed table
of contents.

In the sections devoted to the terpenes and the
camphor group, we cannot but miss the spirit of
selection and criticism which lends such fascination
to the account of the same branch of organic chemistry
given by Prof. Harries in Meyer and Jacobson’s
‘“Handbuch der organischen Chemie.’’ But, after

all, Aschan’s book is so replete with valuable detail |

that any serious attempt on his part to exercise the
critical faculty might have impaired the usefulness
of the whole work. At the same time, the value o
the book as a comprehensive digest would certainly
be the greater if more stress had always been laid on
investigations which really mark an epoch. Thus, the
brief mention made on pp. 501 and 563 of Perkin

and Thorpe’s recent synthesis of a-campholytic and

isolauronolic acids appears quite inadequate in view
of the way in which this synthesis cleared the field
and settled definitely the question of the constitutions
of these two important acids.

A similar objection may be raised in connection
with the otherwise excellent discussion of the con-
stitution of pinene on pp. 170 to 186, from which it
is by no means easy for the casual reader to discern
the really essential points in the complicated argu-
ment. The whole discussion relating to this problem
centred for a long time upon the constitution of
isocamphoronic acid, and for this Tiemann and
Semmler offered the formula

HO.OC.CMe,.CH(CH,.CO.OH),,
whilst v. Baeyer suggested

CMe,.CH,.CO.OH

|
H0.0C.CH.CH,.CO.OH

The discussion was settled once and for all by Perkin,
who prepared both these acids and proved thereby
that the Tiemann and Semmler constitution correctly
represents isocamphoronic acid. No mention seems,
however, to be made in the work of these two
syntheses, although they are vital to the argument.

In such a comprehensive work as the one under
consideration it is surprising that so few slips and
On p. 22, lines 13 to 32, and p. 23,
NO. 1904, VOL. 73]

omissions occur.

lines 10 to 37, the action of sodioacetacetic ester
upon trimethylene bromide is stated, in accordance
with the original paper of 1883, as leading to the
formation of acetyltetramethylenecarboxylic ester,
CH, /COMe
CHC De ¢
CH,“ CO.OEt
but no mention is made of Perkin’s subsequent demon-
stration that this reaction, both in the case of acet-
acetic and of benzylacetic ester, really leads to the
production of oxygenated ring compounds, thus :—

CH,—CH,—G.CO:0Et CH,—CH,—C.CO.OEt

| | and |

CH,—-0==EMe CH.—-O==GPh
although when sodiomalonic ester is employed a
tetramethylene derivative actually results. The reac-
tion is correctly stated in the special part of the worl:
at p. 418.

Further, on p. 38, v. Baeyer’s old condensation of
three molecules of malonic ester into one of phloro-
glucintricarboxylic ester is still figured in all that
simple symmetry which constitutes one of the glories
of our elementary text-books. No mention is niade
of Moore’s proof (Tvans. Chem, Soc., 1904, 165) that
the product is really the phloroglucindicarboxylic ester
of Bally, although v. Baeyer himself refers to the
correction in his recently published collected works.

A curious slip occurs on p. 585—probably as the
result of confusion with the work of Zelinsky—where
Perkin and Haworth are represented as having pie-
pared hexamethylene by the action of sodium on
bromocyclohexane in boiling alcoholic solution, but
where an equation is given representing the action
of sodium on hexamethylene bromide. The synthesis
was actually effected by the action of sodium on
hexamethylene bromide in metaxylene solution; the
action of sodium in boiling alcoholic solution would
obviously have led to the production of normal hexane.

A valuable section is devoted to the discussion of
the stereochemical relationships which may exist be-
tween isomeric alicyclic compounds, and the elucida-
tion of the isomerism is materially facilitated by the
use of carefully designed figures; the somewhat intri-
cate stereochemistry of these substances can hardly
be brought home to the reader more clearly than is
here done. On p. 354 an erroneous constitution is
assigned to isolauronic acid, and the deduction drawn
therefrom that this acid can exist in four optically
active modifications ; isolauronic acid actually contains
no asymmetric carbon atom, and, as is clear from the
correct constitution assigned to it on p. 698, is
incapable of exhibiting optical activity.

The section dealing with irone, ionone, and allied
substances possessing the odour of violets forms a
particularly lucid exposition of the finest piece of worl:
done by Tiemann. Amongst the copious references
given is to. be noted one of the first fruits of the
system of abstracting chemical patents introduced
into the Chemisches Centralblatt during the last few
years. Now that so much of the pioneer work in
organic chemistry appears for the first time in patent
specifications, references to the.patent literature are

—-

ApRIL 26, 1906]

NATURE

603

as necessary as references to the ordinary scientific
journals,

In reading chemical compilations of German origin
we are sometimes struck by the scant attention re-
ceived by work done in this country, and are often
forced thereby to the conclusion that the author’s
study of English chemistry is limited to the system of
abstracts issued by the Berlin Chemical Society. No
such fault can be found here; the author is obviously
as much at home in the Journal of the Chemical
Society as in the Continental journals, and gives full
credit to all results, from whatever source they are
derived.

For Aschan’s new book, as a whole, nothing but
praise is possible, and the few points to which objec-
tions have been made rank as nothing when regarded
as raised from the perusal of a book 1200 pages long,
which aims at giving a systematic account of the
alicyclic compounds. The study of these substances
has been mainly carried out at fever heat during the
past quarter of a century, and the necessarily ragged
way in which the results have been laid before the
world in the current journals must have offered
immense difficulties to the compiler.

We cannot close this book, containing as it does
a lucid account of one of the most important and
intricate sections of organic chemistry, without re-
flecting with pleasure that the intense but systematic
work which has led, during the last twenty years,
to the synthetic building up of such complex molecular
structures as those of camphor and of the terpenes
has been largely carried out in our own country.

We de 12s

THE SYSTEM OF THE FIXED STARS.

Der Bau des’ Fixsternsystems mit
Beriicksichtigung der photometrischen Resultate.
By Prof. Hermann Kobold. Pp. xi+256. (Bruns-
wick: Vieweg und Sohn, r1go06.) Price 5.60 marks.

besonderer

O prove that the stars form a stable system is a
problem that has had attractions for many
philosophical minds. The problem has not been
solved, possibly may not be capable of solution, but
the attractiveness of the speculation remains. Analogy
with the solar system has suggested, and given sup-
port to, such an idea. The harmony that is to be
perceived in the ordered motions of the planets, per-
mitting countless revolutions to be performed without
permanent change or irregularity, might well give
rise to the hope that the same principle that governs
the solar system could be detected in the larger
scheme of the stellar universe. Such an idea would
naturally have sway at a time when speculation was
little fettered by numerical data drawn from rigorous
observation. If there was little evidence to support
the notion, there was nothing to contradict it. Kant
or Lambert could suggest without difficulty that the

stability of the system was secured by each star
moving in a definite orbit, which ensured the main-
tenance of the general form and arrangement. The

influence that that thought has exercised on modern
NO 1904, VOL. 73]

investigation is of more importance than the thought
itself. To suspect the influence of the Milky Way
in the scheme of the Cosmos, and to make its in-
vestigation the centre of inquiry, was to bequeath us
a legacy which is by no means exhausted. Later
schemes suggested by improved instrumental appli-
ances have widened the scope and raised fresh issues,.
but the significance of the Milky Way remains.
Similarly with the problem of the sun’s motion, which
a hundred years ago Herschel solved so satisfactorily,
considering the character of his material. Disputed
by Bessel and supported by Argelander and a host of
later astronomers, the solution has passed through
many stages and given rise to novel methods of treat-
ment, involving the application of fresh hypotheses.
In these later times we have pressed into the service-
the results brought to light by the spectroscope,
especially difficult of interpretation as they are, and
allowing the exercise of much ingenuity. But the
essential problem remains the same. The only ques-
tion is, What advances have we made in solving the
riddle which perplexed earlier investigators ?

In proportion as the problem becomes more and
more complicated, either by repetition of similar pro-
cesses or the introduction of fresh ones, the greater is
the necessity for the examination of the evidence to test
its value in combination, and of bringing the whole:
material to bear in one consecutive argument. This
is the task which Dr. Kobold has undertaken, and’
in which he has acquitted himself with credit. One
may not in every case draw the same conclusion, or
with the same certainty, that the author does, but the
evidence is at least presented with completeness, and’
we have the opportunity of bringing our critical’
faculty to bear upon the various lines of argument
which are marshalled in review. Such a book is in-
structive to the tyro and suggestive to the expert.
The one may adopt the conclusions which the author
has drawn up, as indicating the general position of
science towards this problem, tne other may see the
necessity for pursuing fresh lines of research, or of
supporting alternative explanations of the results pre-
sented. In any case it is an advantage to see what
has been attempted and what has been accomplished.

The author divides his book into three sections.
In the first he describes on broad lines how the facts
which may aid in solving the problem of the con-
struction of .the universe have been collected. The
reader who comes fresh to this subject, without any
previous acquaintance, gains an intelligent notion of
the manner in which the positions of the stars have
been ascertained, and can grasp clearly the supreme
importance of an accurate determination of the pre-
cession constant when the question of proper motion
is considered. The brilliancy and the colour of stars
are both discussed, though the practical bearing of
the latter point on this particular problem is not
very clear, and in any case is more conveniently dealt
with in discussing the spectroscopic observations,
which are also brought under notice. Parallax and
stellar distribution are adequately described, and there-
fore in this section we get a tolerably complete sketch
of the main processes of stellar observation, except in

604

NATURE

[APRIL 26, 1906

the department of double and variable stars. Into the
significance of variable, and especially of ‘‘ new stars,”’
the author does not enter. Doubtless he is well
advised in considering the introduction of such topics
premature, but the omission shows that we have a
certain class of facts which cannot yet be brought
into line with other data. We have not yet succeeded
in weaving our information into a consistent whole.

In the second section we have the results of observ-
ation mainly as exemplified in the production of star
catalogues, whether of place or of spectrum, of
brilliancy or of distance, for in these catalogues,
applying, as they do, to large areas in the sky, must
be contained the information which is to solve the
problem of the universe. No inconsiderable portion of
this section is occupied with the question of proper
motion and the proper method of its treatment. Here
we have raised for us, in an acute form, the question
of the parallactic as distinguished from the actual
motion of the star, and the legitimacy of the assump-
tion as to the absolute lawlessness of direction of the
star’s own motion. On this and similar points a
certain amount of controversy exists, and Dr. Kobold
is known to hold very definite views. Fortunately we
do not consider it necessary to enter into any of these
differences of opinion. We are simply concerned in
pointing out the general direction to which the com-
bined information points, and its bearing upon the
existence of a stellar system. These conclusions Dr.
Kobold collects in his third section, and, greatly
daring, has summarised ‘‘on half a sheet of note-
paper.’’ This statement is so succinctly expressed that
it may be reproduced almost literally. Through-
out a finite space of spherical form are scattered bodies
very different in mass and in physical conditions.
With gaseous nebula at very low temperature occur
other bodies in a condition of glowing heat and
advanced condensation. The arrangement of the
separate masses is not uniform; they are crowded
together in clusters about certain centres of con-
centration. These groups possess a loose relation-
ship, and are arranged in the form of a spiral having
many branches. In the more distant parts of this
spiral the hotter and gaseous stars predominate. The
sun is comparatively near to the centre of this spiral,
and the stars which stand in closest connection with
it have also similar physical conditions. On the sun
is impressed a motion towards a point in the Milky
Way, the principal plane of the whole spiral, and a
great number of stars near the sun participate in this
same motion. Among the stars there are numerous
groups having an apparent motion directed to points
in the Milky Way. The stars of each group are in
one plane, and their true motion, on the character
of which definite information is still wanting, takes
place in this plane.

This may seem a very small outcome for so much
work, but it will hardly be urged that the author has
erred on the side of caution. In any case _ this
““Schlusswort ’’ is valuable, since it expresses the
opinion of one who is especially qualified to speak
on a subject which possesses in an equal measure
both interest and difficulty. W. EB:

NO. 1904, VOL. 73]

A PHYSIOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE
BRITISH FLORA.

British Flowering Plants. By the Right Hon. Lord

Avebury. Pp. xxiiit+450. (London: Macmillan
and Co., Ltd., 1905.) Price 15s. net.
ORD AVEBURY has given us in the past

several delightful books on botanical subjects,
dealing more especially with the forms and functions
of leaves, flowers, and fruits. At the time when the
earlier of these books were published there was a
tendency to reduce botanical morphology to a cut-and-
dried series of shapes and forms, each designated by
a Latin name the correctness of which received more
attention than the purpose served by the various
modifications. In ‘‘ Flowers, Fruits, and Leaves,’’
and “‘ British Wild Flowers in Relation to Insects,’’
Sir John Lubbock adopted the more natural treatment
of studying form in the light of function, with the
result that on account of their broad conceptions and
the appeal they made to the reasoning faculty, these
books obtained a wide circulation, and even now they
maintain their position among the foremost contribu-
tions to the subject. In the circumstances the author
has drawn freely from his previous works in writing
this volume, which is restricted to British plants, and
contains shorter or longer references to all our
flowering plants. It provides, therefore, a running
commentary to British floras in general and to
Bentham’s “ British Flora ’’ in particular.

On the details of buds and stipules, a subject that
Lord Avebury has studied very carefully, much in-
formation is provided. In the genus Lathyrus the
shape of the stipules varies from the large foliaceous
type of Lathyrus maritimus through the narrow sagit-
tate stipules of Lathyrus pratensis to the minute,
slender stipules that occur in Lathyrus nissolia.
These and other forms found in the genus are col-
lated, and it is pointed out how the shape fits in with
the attachment of the leaf to the stem. The complex
nature of the stipules of the hawthorn also receives
elucidation. A full account is given of the winter
buds of the beech, the pine, and the spruce. It will
be seen from these that the examination and dissec-
tion of the winter buds of trees and shrubs provide
a capital exercise for a nature-study class. Consider-
able attention has been paid to the dichogamous and
diclinous conditions of flowers. The ordinary straw-
berry furnishes a good instance. Darwin distin-
guished female flowers producing plenty of fruit,
complete flowers less fertile, and male flowers natur-
ally bearing no fruit. Schulz observed for the same
plant gynomoneecious, andromonececious, gyno-
dicecious, and androdicecious forms. This is only one
of several types of variation in the flower that too
frequently pass unnoticed. A certain amount of work
has been published on floral variation, more recently
by students of biometric problems, but there is plenty
of opportunity for observations continued over a series
of generations to obtain more definite conclusions on
the subject of small variations.

An introductory chapter deals with categories and
types, as for instance, flowers of water plants,

APRIL 26, 1906]

NATURE

605

methods of protection of the flower against rain, &c.
The table on p. 18 collating the modes of dispersal
of the fruits of our trees and-shrubs brings out the
facts very distinctly, and similar tabulations will
readily suggest themselves. With regard to the in-
dividual descriptions, it seems a pity that many are
so short and that the vegetative parts have not re-
ceived more consideration, but obviously in the limits
of a single volume this could not be managed. The
absence of, technical terms, except for the few that
are defined in the glossary, renders the book available
to all interested in botany. The book is confined
mainly to elementary topics, but students of advanced
botany will find that they also can learn much from
the information supplied, and can obtain not a few
references to questions awaiting explanation or re-
quiring more evidence to verify the explanations that
have been offered. The illustrations are numerous,
well produced, and appropriate.

OUR BOOK SHELF.

Rowimg and Track Athletics. Pp. ix+449. The
American Sportsman’s Library. Edited by Caspar
Whitney. Rowing, by Samuel Crowther. Track
Athletics, by Arthur Ruhl. (London: Macmillan
and Co., Ltd.; New York: The Macmillan Co.,
1905.) Price 8s. 6d. net.

InN this book the history and progress of rowing
and track athletics in America are described in a
very interesting manner. From the British sports-
man’s point of view the book will be read with very
great pleasure, for it shows how eagerly the Americans
have strived, and not in vain, to excel the prowess of
the athletes this side of the Atlantic. From the scien-
tific point of view this history is also of value, for it
shows the evolution of ideas which have culminated
in the present methods.

The old order changeth for the new, and a race
cannot now be won as in the old days, when it was
customary ‘‘ to have your friends out in boats on the
course and to impede the other crew as much as
possible; the race was not always to the swift—if the
home man happened to be the slower,’’ as the author
here narrates.

At the present day the successful oarsman or track
athlete is he who is able to combine with the greatest
efficiency a number of variables. In the case of the
former, some of these variables include personal fit-
ness, easiness of style, length of oar and width of
blade to suit his particular capability, length and
weight of boat, and alertness of brain to take advan-
tage of prevailing conditions and possibly unforeseen
eventualities.

In this book we see how hard the struggle has
been in America to acquire efficiency, and possibly the
reason why. In many national characteristics climate
plays a very important part, and, in the case of row-
ing or track athletics, the influence of climate can be
clearly detected. The British style of rowing, for
instance, has been evolved by Britishers under British
weather conditions. The lines on which this efficiency
has been secured need not, and should not necessarily,
be identical with those evolved in America, since the
climate of the latter country is so different from that
of the British Isles.

In track: athletics the same principle holds, and this
is borne out by the fact that, on-the average, the
American is the fastest sprinter, while the Britisher
is best at long distances. In fact, as the author states,

NO. 1904, VOL. 73]

; put.

“There is, undoubtedly, something magnetic in our
American air, at least in the sort of atmosphere that
is found in. the north-eastern Atlantic States. . . -
What the English climate lacks in this stimulating
effect it seems to make up in its general soothing and
nourishing influence, and if the athlete who has been
bred in it is deficient in snap and nervous spring he
is strong in endurance and vitality.”’

Without going into further detail, the reader must
be lett to read the book for himself. The illustrations,
though not very numerous, are typical, and a capital
index concludes the volume.

Economie Forestiére. By G. Huffel.
Pp. ix+422. (Paris: Lucien Laveur, 1904.)
to francs.

Tome Premier.
Price

France has always taken a leading part in sylvi-
cultural science, and the above volume is a good
indication of the thorough manner in which this
nationally important subject is practised in that
country. The French Government has learned by
past experience the disastrous results which the in-
judicious destruction of the forest inevitably brings,
but at the same time France can furnish unrivalled
examples of the benefits of proper forest management
and administration.

The present work is divided into four parts. The
first part deals with the use of the forest, both as
regards the production of materials applicable to the
needs of man and the beneficial influence it has upon
the climate. A very interesting historical summary
is given of the uses to which the forest was formerly
This was pretty much the same in all coun-
tries, viz. the chase and pasturage. Then came the
time when the forest was principally of value in re-
gard to its wood production, especially in France, for
firewood, until this was to some extent superseded by
coal and other substitutes. A most interesting table
is included giving the variations in the price of
timber during the nineteenth century in France and
Austria. The author also goes into the numerous
uses to which timber may be put, and the different
substances which are to be got from it by chemical
means, from the crude products of distillation to the
finest silk. The author further gives a survey of the
colonial forests and their products. Then follow two
or three chapters dealing with the very important but
formerly too frequently disregarded aspect of sylvi-
culture, namely, the influence of the forest on the
climate. Very interesting statistics regarding the
daily, monthly, and yearly variations of temperature
inside and adjacent to the forest are given. Further,
the forest influences the humidity of the air. It in-
creases the rainfall. It regulates and preserves the
soil-moisture and controls the ‘‘ flow off ’’ in such a
way that disastrous floods and equally pernicious
droughts are prevented. The protection forest, and
the necessity for its preservation in the high collecting
ground, is dealt. with in a masterly manner. The
forest regions of France, the hygienic influence and
zsthetic aspects of the forest, each receives its due
share of attention.

In parts ii. and iii. we have a historical account
of the forests of France from the very earliest time.
Forest administration in all its branches, together

_with the equipment and training for the State forest

service, are fully treated. Part iv., which concludes
this volume, contains a vast amount of statistics con-
cerning the present forests and forest regions of
France.

The author has evidently spared no pains to make
this volume as complete as possible in every way, and
it cannot fail to be of great service to those for whom
it is written.

606

Physiologie des Menschen. By Dr. L._ Luciani.
German Edition by Dr. S. Baglioni and Dr. H.
Winterstein. Part v. Pp. 161-320. (Jena: G.
Fischer.) Price 4 marks.

Tue fifth part of Dr. Luciani’s text-book of physi-
ology deals with the mechanical and chemical pheno-
mena of digestion in the alimentary canal, with the
absorption and storage of the food-stuffs, and with
the excretory functions of the intestinal tract.

The first chapter gives an excellent account of the
gastric movements, and of the nerve mechanism con-
trolling them. The second chapter deals with the
digestion of the various food materials by means of
the pancreatic and intestinal juices, and of the bile.
An exceptionally full réswmé is given of the results
following upon removal of extensive portions of the
small intestine in animals and in man. ‘The products
and probable significance of bacterial digestion are
also fully described and discussed.

The account of the peristaltic movements of the
intestines and of.the nerve mechanism controlling
them is well brought up to date, giving briefly the
results of the most recent researches in this field.

The final chapter treats of absorption in the
stomach and intestines. The channels and mechanism
of absorption of different food-stuffs—carbohydrates,
fats, and proteids—are fully described. A very
interesting epitome is given of the synthesis of the
products of proteolysis and lipolysis by means of the
intestinal epithelium. The theories with regard to
the formation and fate of glycogen in the liver and
muscles are critically reviewed. A brief account is
also given of the various forms of pathological and
experimental diabetes.

The fifth part of the work well maintains the high
standard for accuracy and clearness set by its pre-
decessors. J. A. Mirroy.

G. B. Baccioni. Pp.

Seta Artificiale. By
Brice) 3.50:

(Milan: Ulrico Hoepli, 1906.)
Tus is an interesting account of ‘artificial sill ”’
or ‘“lustra cellulose,’*? an industry which has now
assumed serious proportions; in fact, the present pro-
duction of these new textile threads may be estimated
at not less than six tons per day, chiefly manufactured
in France, Germany, and Belgium. In the preface
it is stated that a Societa Italiana della Seta
Artificiale in Pavia is the first organisation to under-
take developments in Italy. The technology of the
industry is briefly outlined in six chapters (pp. 230),
attention being chiefly directed to the systems based
upon the spinning of collodion (nitrocellulose). The
alternative systems, based upon the Cuprammonium
and ‘‘ Viscose ’’ solutions of cellulose, are also de-
scribed.

The work is a compilation from various sources in
the technical literature of cellulose, and makes no
claim to an original treatment of the subject-matter.
Its appeal will be chiefly to specialists.

The book is original as to binding, for which a
sill fabric is employed—as a covering to the humble

231.

“board ’’—the weft of which is a_lustra-cellulose

yarn.

Zwolf Vorlesungen iiber die Natur des Lichtes. By
Dr. J. Classen. Pp. x+249; diagrams. (Leipzig :
G. J. Géschen, 1905.) Price 4 marks.

THESE lectures consist in a series delivered in the

winter of 1904-5 in Hamburg to a popular audience.
The theme of the lectures is the development of the
wave-theory, culminating in the special form of this
theory which postulates the essential identity of
luminous and electromagnetic waves. The lectures

NO. 1904, VOL. 73]

INCA TORE

[APRIL 26, 1906

were illustrated experimentally, and a special feature
in connection with them is the care taken in devising
experiments of a simple and attractive kind.
Although they were delivered to a lay public, it must
not be supposed that they are popular in the bad
sense. They are infused throughout with the scien-
tific spirit; there is no sacrifice of accuracy on the
altar of simplicity. The subject is dealt with in a
way which must have proved very welcome to the
non-professional listener who had some very elemen-
tary knowledge of it and desired to have the funda-
mental experimental facts brought before him in a
consecutive way. Geometric propagation, dispersion
of colour, interference and diffraction phenomena,
double refraction and polarisation, electric oscilla-
tions and their quasi-optical properties, the explan-
ation of the demonstrated relations between electrical
conductivity and the optical properties of metals—
these, in brief outline, are some of the chief pheno-
mena which are expounded. Each experiment is de-
scribed with the help of a diagram.

We have little but praise for this somewhat un-
pretentious volume. We note only that the devices
attributed here (as usual) to Lecher and Blondlot
are essentially the same as that employed previously
by Sir O. Lodge in the investigation in which he was
engaged when Hertz published his demonstration of
the possibility of producing electromagnetic waves.

A la Poursuite d’une Ombre. By Prof.
Pp. 98. (Montpelier: G. Firmin, 1905.)

In the seven chapters contained in this volume Prof.
Moye gives a popular account of the observations
made by the Société astronomique Flammarion de
Montpelier, at Alcala de Chisbert, during the total
eclipse of the sun on August 30, 1905. The eclipse
party consisted of eleven persons, who made a series
of valuable observations of the corona and the chromo-
sphere with portable telescopes, spectroscopes, and
cameras, and with the naked eye.

In addition to the account of the actual observ-
ations, the author discusses eclipse phenomena in
general at some length, and gives the results obtained
by previous observers since the commencement of de-
tailed eclipse work. A number of drawings and photo-
graphs illustrate his remarks.

To anyone unfamiliar with solar eclipse work who
desires to make a general survey of all the associated
phenomena, and the methods employed in observing
them, the book will afford a useful introduction to
the subject, and will give him just an insight into
the present theories concerning the different portions
of our luminary.

Moye.

Ueber Vererbungsgesetze.
(Berlin: Gebriider Borntraeger, 1905.)
marks.

By C. Correns. Pp. 43
Price 1.50

ALTHOUGH only six years have elapsed since De Vries
re-discovered the laws of heredity originally pro-
pounded by Gregor Mendel, Abbot of Briinn, in 1866,
the subject has received so much attention—and in
this country especially valuable work has been carried
out—that many accounts of the general principles
have been written. Prof. Correns, one of the fore-
most workers on the subject, publishes in this
brochure the substance of a lecture delivered at
Meran, dealing almost entirely with the botanical
side. The account does not go far beyond Mendel’s
propositions, but the subject of cryptomerie is ex-
plained with the help of an excellent coloured plate
of flowers of Mirabilis, and the writer refers to
Galton’s theory and the extent to which characters
mendelise, i.e, develop according to Mendel’s laws.

APRIL 26, 1906]

NATURE

607

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions
expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake
to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected
manuscripts intended for this or any other part of NATURE.
No notice is taken of anonymous communications.]

Diurnal Variation of Ionisation in Closed Vessels.

Tue connection between the periodicity in the ionisation
in closed vessels and the variation in the intensity of the
electric field near the earth’s surface suggested by Messrs.
Campbell and Wood in Nature of April 19 (p. 583) may
readily be explained on the theory of conduction through
gases if we assume that the ionisation is caused by radi-
ation from extra-terrestrial sources.

The view of the origin of the earth’s field which appears
to be in closest agreement with the facts is that it arises
in rainy regions on account of the negatively charged rain
conveying its charge to the earth, which thus becomes
negatively charged. This leaves a high positive potential
in the atmosphere immediately above the rainy region
which very rapidly distributes itself over the earth’s sur-
face by means of discharges in the upper regions of the
atmosphere where the pressure is low enough for ionisation
by collisions to occur. Owing to the high conductivity of
the upper regions of the atmosphere, therefore, the potential
will differ only to a relatively slight extent over different
regions of the earth’s surface; most of the fall of potential
between the positive charge over the rainy region and any
point of the earth’s surface will occur in the badly conduct-
ing layer of air at a high pressure, which is comparatively
close to the earth’s surface.

The above theory is due to Mr. C. T. R. Wilson, with
whom I have recently discussed the matter. The explan-
ation of the connection between the earth’s field and the
ionisation in closed vessels which follows might be made
to fit other views of the nature of the earth’s field, but I
have selected Mr. Wilson’s, as it appears to be the most
probable.

The distribution of the earth’s field, then, reduces itself
to a case very similar to that between two plane electrodes
immersed in a gas and maintained at a constant difference
of potential. Consider what happens if we increase the
ionisation near one electrode to a greater extent than that
near the other. The potential gradient will become smaller
where the ionisation is greatest, and conversely. In the
case of the earth the ionising rays presumably come
from extra-terrestrial sources, and will be absorbed to some
extent by the earth’s atmosphere. They will therefore be
more intense further away from the earth’s surface, and
when for some reason or another they increase in intensity
they will increase the ionisation at a point some distance
from the earth’s surface to a greater extent than at a point
near to it. From what has been said above, an increase in
the ionising rays should therefore produce an increase in
the electric intensity close to the surface, and vice versa.

This corresponds exactly with what Messrs. Campbell
and Wood have found to be the case; the maxima and
minima in the earth’s electric field are simultaneous re-
spectively with the maxima and minima in the ionisation
in a closed vessel.

It may be of interest to add that Borgmann (Jurn.
Russk. Fisik. Chimiéesk. ObSéestva [physical part], xxxvii.,
No. 4, pp. 77-98, 1905) has also recorded a minimum at
about 3 p.m. in the ionisation in a closed vessel. The fact
that the time is nearly the same at Cambridge and St.
Petersburg seems to indicate that the ionisation is caused
by radiation coming from the sun. The fact that the daily
variations in the earth’s field are conditioned by the sun
has already been remarked by meteorologists (cf. Arrhenius,
“Kosmische Physik,’’ ii., p. S90). :

I wish to point out finally that the above explanation
of the changes in the earth’s field does not depend essentially
on radiation coming from extra-terrestrial sources. Any
cause which simultaneously increased the penetrating
radiation near the earth and the ionisation further away
from it would work in the same way. \

} O. W. RicHaRDSON.

Trinity College, Cambridge, April 22.

NO. 1904, VOL. 73]

The New Spot on Jupiter.

Tue recent outbreak of dark material in the north
equatorial belt and north tropical zone of Jupiter has
further intensified, and forms a very prominent and striking
feature in the region north-following the red spot. The
slanting belt, alluded to in my letter published in last
week’s Nature (p. 584), appears to be rapidly extending
in a longitudinal direction, and the large dark oval spot
on its following side has been several times re-observed

here. Transits were obtained as under :—
Longitude
h. m.
April 15 500 6 8 752
20 5 22 775
22 7 2 . didi
The rate of motion appears, therefore, to conform very
nearly with that of the red spot and of system ii. of
Crommelin’s ephemerides (gh. 55m. 40-6s.). On April 20

the north tropical spot was very distinctly seen nearly two
hours before sunset, and the transit obtained on that date
was regarded as accurate.

The preceding side of the slant-belt is moving much
faster than the north tropical spot, and it is highly prob-
able that in a few weeks a new and conspicuous belt will
have formed and entwined itself completely round the
planet. In this phenomenon we have a repetition of that

observed in the spring of 1860 (see Monthly Notices R.A.S.,
April, 1860, and December, 1898, vols. Xx., P- 244, and
lixeps

76) < W. F. DENNING.

Utilisation of Nitrogen in Air by Plants.

Your reviewer (p. 531) of the above work has, like others,
failed to furnish any proof against my theory of the fixation
of free nitrogen by plants. He desiderates direct chemical
proof of the increase of nitrogen in the plant, beyond the
nitrogen that is provided by the seed and the soil. — Those
acquainted with agricultural chemistry know the difficulty
of directly determining a slight increase in the quantity of
nitrogen, in the circumstance of the comparatively large
quantity of nitrogen in the soil necessary to produce a
vigorous plant, and they will understand how difficult it is
to produce such proof; with the greater information now
available, however, it may now be forthcoming. But for
this difficulty, the fixation of nitrogen would have been
found out long ago.

The experiments at Rothamsted conducted by Lawes
and Gilbert are identified with the subject of nitrogen-
The idea of the inability of plants to fix free nitrogen is
largely based on their experiments. As mentioned in a
book written by the recently appointed director at Roth-
amsted—Mr. A. D. Hall—it occupied their minds “* from
the very beginning of their experiments until the end.’”
It was their ‘‘ dominant idea.”? I may therefore refer to
experiments carried out there which show that Lawes and
Gilbert themselves found (as many others have done) an
increase in nitrogen in growing crops, the source of which
could only be ascribed to the atmosphere ; thus (see p. 10),
“As a result of three years’ cropping with barley and
clover, and then with clover only, an average amount of
319-5 Ib. of nitrogen was removed, yet the soil contained,
on analysis at the end of the experiment, 2832 Ib. of
nitrogen per acre in the top 9 inches, or a gain of 175 lb
per acre in the three years, making a total, with the crop
removed, of nearly soo lb. of nitrogen per acre to be
accounted for.’’ This was a troublesome fact. It was
sought to be explained by the tubercles on legumes, but
that an increase was got without legumes is shown by
another set of experiments (see p. 8) :—‘‘ the various crops
were grown continuously with mineral manures, but with-
out any supply of combined nitrogen; the following average
amounts of nitrogen per acre were taken away :—

Ib.

** Wheat 24 years ... 22°1
Barley... 24 55 22°4
Root Crops ZO Me eee, LOR
Beans 24 ,, of which two fallow 45°5
Clover 22 ,, 6crops only... 39°8”

608

NATURE

Here again was an increase, and one which legume
tubercles could not be brought in to explain. It was only
when Lawes and Gilbert, trying to get chemical evidence,
grew feeble, unnatural plants under unnatural conditions
that they failed to get a similar increase of nitrogen. On
this ground alone they supported the theory of the in-
ability of the plant to draw nitrogen from air, and thus
supported themselves in the notorious controversy with
Liebig, the distinguished German who has done more for
agriculture than any other man of science, and who,. by
the way, denounced the Rothamsted experiments in no
measured terms (see the ‘‘ Natural Laws of Husbandry,”’
Ppp- 157 and 298). ;

Obviously, therefore, to show that plants fix free
nitrogen is to undermine the work with which Rothamsted
is chiefly identified.

Your readers will understand the value of the critique
when they know that the initials under it are those of
the director at Rothamsted. THOS. JAMIESON.

Glasterberry, Milltimber, April 10.

I am glad to see that Mr. Jamieson does recognise the
necessity of some proof of his assertion that nitrogen has
been fixed by the plants he has been examining; he now
says. that “it may now be forthcoming.’? When Mr.
Jamieson’s ‘‘ may ’’ has been converted into ** is,’? chemists
and botanists may begin to consider his speculations as to
how the process is effected. For let us bear clearly in
mind that Mr. Jamieson’s theories only deal with the
question of how the nitrogen is fixed; that it is fixed at
all he takes for granted.

But what an unlucky series of experiments to enforce
his argument has Mr. Jamieson selected from Rothamsted.
He quotes three non-leguminous crops, wheat, barley, and
roots, which when grown continuously on the same land
for a period of twenty-four to thirty years have removed
on the average 16 Ib. to 22 lb. of ‘nitrogen per acre per
annum. But at the beginning of the experiments the soil
was estimated to contain about 3000 Ib. per acre of com-
bined nitrogen, i.e. five times as much as the thirty years’
cropping has removed. Furthermore, analyses have been
made and published which show that the soil has lost
nitrogen during this period; the average loss on the
unmanured wheat plot from 1865 to 1893, was 10 Ib. per
acre, which if added to the 5 Ib. per acre of combined
nitrogen brought down by the rain pretty well accounts
for the 19 Ib. per acre removed in the crop. Knowing as
we do that there are great reserves of nitrogen in, the
soil, and that they slowly become available for the plant
thers is no reason to suspect that these non-lesuminous
plants have needed to take any nitrogen from the air to
yield the crops that are recorded. *

Then Mr. Jamieson quotes the output of nitrogen from
two leguminous crops, clover and beans, and it is just
about double that of the non-leguminous crops; very much
more than double, in fact, if calculated on the number of
crops actually obtained, and not spread over an average of
years. Yet Mr. Jamieson goes on to say that the “ legume
tubercles ’’ cannot be brought in to explain this: when
the only crops yielding anything like an average amount
of nitrogen are the two, beans and clover “which by
accepted theories obtain nitrogen from the air by means
of the bacteria in the ‘‘ tubercles”? on their roots. Most
people regard these experiments as a very sound piece of
evidence for the fixation of nitrogen by leguminous crops
alone. = Ate <

Let us consider these results from another point of view;
the wheat crop without nitrogen, but with phosphoric acid
and potash, at Rothamsted averages about fifteen bushels
per acre, barley about twenty bushels per acre, the root-
crops (mangels) about 5-4 toms per acre; this is the sort
of level that is reached when the crop has to rely upon
the air and the original stock of nitrogen in the soil. Is
Mr. Jamieson proposing to recommend farmers to grow
crops of this size, for that is.what they must come to when
they have only the air to draw upon for their nitrogenous
food ? z

In his concluding paragraph Mr. Jamieson appears to
suggest that Lawes and Gilbert ran the. Rothamsted ex-

NO. 1904, VOL. 73]

[APRIL 26, 1906

periments as a sort of conspiracy to disguise the truth in
favour of a prepossession of their own, and that after their
déath the body of scientific men who constitute the com-
mittee of management engaged their present director to
continue the traditional fraud; this is a ** theory ’’ which,
like others of Mr. Jamieson’s, must require a robust con-
fidence in the credulity of his disciples. AS Dre

A Horizontal Rainbow.

I sHaLt be much obliged if a reader of Nature will
kindly give me an explanation of the following :—

I was on Loch Lomond yesterday, a _ perfectly still,
cloudless day, with haze as from east wind over the moun-
tains. There had been hoar-frost in the morning. About
10.15, from the deck on the steamer at Balloch, 1 observed
a broad patch of. strong prismatic colours on the abso-
lutely calm surface of the loch about half a mile from the
pier, my back. being turned to the sun. I watched this
patch with interest, and, as the steamer approached it,
it gradually lessened and almost disappeared; but in its
place a rainbow, faint but distinct, lay horizontally on the
surface of the water, one end resting beside the bow of
the steamer and the arc curving for perhaps 150 yards
ahead, the sun still being behind me. I never saw any-
thing of this kind before, and was much interested. The
loch was absolutely calm, reflections of sea-gulls, Xc.,
being perfect.

The only explanation I can think of is that, after the
hoar-frost and possible sea-fog of the earlier morning, there
was just a film of fog left undisturbed on the calm surface
of the water, sufficient to break up the rays of the sun
into their component parts. W. R. M. Cuurcu.

Western Club, Glasgow, April 12.

THE SAN FRANCISCO EARTHQUAKE OF
APRIL 18.

N the immediate presence of a great catastrophe,
in which hundreds of lives have been lost, and
San Francisco, the ‘‘ Queen of the Pacific,’’ has been
almost entirely destroyed, it is not to be expected that
details of much scientific value should be recorded.
All that is here possible is to describe briefly the
course of events, to trace in rough outline their con-
nection with former shocks and with the geological
history of the district, and to refer to the unfelt earth-
waves registered at distant observatories.

Nature ann EFFects OF THE EARTHQUAKE.

Though the coast of California from San Francisco
to Los Angeles is one of the chief seismic regions of
the globe, the first and greatest shock was heralded
by no warning tremors or earth-sounds. It occurred
at 5.13 a.m. (that is, 1.13 p.m. Greenwich mean time),
pethaps, as the seismographic evidence would imply,
a few minutes earlier. As in all tectonic earthquakes
of the first magnitude, the duration of the shock was
considerable, not less than two or three minutes, and
it was in this time that the chief part of the destruc-
tion, so far as it was directly due to the earthquake,
was accomplished. Five minutes later another and
less violent shock was felt, and, in the midst of almost
continuous tremors, a third prominent shock took
place at 8.15 a.m., and others shortly before to a.m.,
and about 1.30 and 7 p.m. None of these seems to
have been registered in European observatories, but
they sufficed to throw down walls already damaged.
Soon after the first shock fires broke out in several
parts of the city, and spread rapidly, the water-mains
having been injured. Attempts, on the whole suc-
cessful, were made to limit their extension by blowing
up passages through the crowded parts, with the
result that about one-quarter of the city may be ulti-
mately saved. heen

Like Charleston, whick was so seriously damaged
by an earthquake twenty years ago, San Francisco is

APRIL 26, 1906 |

NATORE

609

built upon a peninsula; and the effects of the two
shocks, as revealed by the distribution of the damage,
were very similar. Although the whole of both cities
suffered severely, the chief destruction was confined to
houses built on low-lying ‘‘made’’ land. In San
Francisco this land is occupied by business houses and
warehouses, and, in the southern part, by cheap
tenements and poorly-built lodging-houses. At 5
a.m. most persons were in bed, and thus there was
little loss of life in the business district, and much
in that covered by the tenements. The better-class
residential district, situated on the hills, escaped with
comparative impunity, so far as the earthquakes were
concerned, though the fires afterwards spread to that
quarter.

That San Francisco was situated within or close
to the epicentral area is shown by the continuous
after-shocks, and by the effects of the shock.
Observers in the open air state that the streets could
be seen to bulge and wave as if about to crack
open. Three miles of railway have sunk out of sight
between Suisan and Benetia; several railway tracks
have been destroyed for scores of miles; and on the
harbour-front the earth appears to have sunk from six
to eight inches. Great cracks were formed in the
streets, and these cracks were twisted into all shapes.
The houses, before they were destroyed by fire, were
also seen to be out of alignment.

Outside San Francisco many towns are known to
have suffered severely, especially San José, Santa Cruz
and Santa Rosa; others less seriously, from Mendocino
on the north to Monterey on the south. With our
present information (and the absence of news from
neighbouring places, and especially from the Lick
Observatory, is disquieting), the meizoseismal area
is a band extending along the coast and parallel to
the Coast Range, about three hundred miles in length
and not more than fifty miles in width. The extent
of the disturbed area will remain unknown until
inquiries have been made, but it is curious how few
details on the subject have yet been published. Los
Angeles (only 350 miles S.E. of San Francisco) does
not seem to have been affected to any extent by the
principal earthquake, though the shock was _ felt
severely throughout the whole of the neighbouring
State of Nevada, and there are vague reports of more
distant observations. ,

PosITION OF THE EPICENTRE AND SEISMIC SEA-WaAVES.

If the line drawn so as to bound the known area of
destruction be even approximately correct, there can
be no doubt that the epicentre was submarine and
situated some little distance from the coast. The fact
that the shock was felt at San Francisco two or three
minutes after the epicentral time implied by the seismic
records is also in favour of this conclusion. The
chief difficulty in accepting it lies in the absence
of any very great sea-waves. Much of San Fran-
cisco is only about twelve feet above high-water
mark, and would have been submerged by any con-
siderable wave. There seems, however, to have been
some disturbance of the sea. Many vessels, it is said,
were washed ashore with each disturbance, and washed
out again by the receding waters. There are also
unconfirmed reports that Terminal Island, a seaside
resort about twenty miles from San Francisco, has
been destroyed by a sea-wave, and that other places
on the Californian coast have also been swept away.
At present it is probable that the first decisive
evidence of sea-waves, if any existed, will come to us
from the eastern shores of Japan, which would be
reached by them in about ten and a half hours after
the earthquake.

NO. 1904, VOL. 73]

GEOLOGICAL RELATIONS OF THE EARTHQUAKE.

The earthquakes of California have been studied for
some years by Messrs. Holden and Perrine, of the
Lick Observatory, and the geology of the State is
being revealed through the labours of Messrs. Russell,
Diller and Lawson; while an admirable summary
of their relations was recently presented in M. de
Montessus’ valuable work on ‘‘ Géographie séismo-
logique”’ (pp. 404-412). Between the Rocky Moun-
tains and the Pacific are the parallel chains of the
Sierra Nevada and the Coast Range. Among the
Rocky Mountains earthquakes are few and slight; on
the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada they are more
frequent, and sometimes, as in the Owen’s Valley
earthquake of 1872, of considerable severity. The
western portion of the Sierra Nevada, the Cascade
Range, is remarkably free from earthquakes, though
it is worth noting by those who see an intimate rela-
tion between volcanic and seismic actions that it con-
tains the recently extinct cones of Shasta, Mount Hood
and Mount Rainier. Again, the Coast Range, and
especially the districts surrounding San Francisco and
Los Angeles, is one of the great seismic regions of
the globe. Lastly, to the west of California the sea-
bed deepens rapidly, the contour of 4000 metres lying
only a short distance from the land, and from this
region many of the strong Californian earthquakes
are known to proceed.

Recent studies have established a close connection
between these earthquakes and the geological
structure of the district. Whether the earthquakes
take place under the Coast Range or beneath the
adjoining ocean, the longer axes of the isoseismal
lines are either parallel or perpendicular to the sub-
oceanic contour-lines, the crust-folds of the Coast
Range and the long lines of fault of the Pacific sea-
board. It is difficult to resist the conclusion that in
the wesiern United States we are presented with
mountains in four successive stages of growth. In
the Rockies we have ranges so ancient that they have
almost ceased to grow; in the Sierra Nevada to the
west another which is approaching old age; the Coast
Ranges are in the stage of youthful, vigorous growth,
with the possibility of a long and active life before
them; while, still farther to the west and not yet risen
above the ocean, there seems to lie an embryonic
range, of which the San Francisco and other earth-
quakes are the birth-throes.

Tue Unretr Eartu-WaAVES.

In all parts of the world delicate seismographs
soon afterwards recorded the occurrence of a violent
earthquake. The first waves reached Victoria (B.C.)
at 1.16 p.m.; at Washington the movement was so
strong that the pen passed off the recording sheet. In
a quarter of an hour the seismographs of Great
Britain took up the tale, large disturbances being re-
corded at Shide, Bidston, and Edinburgh; at Birming-
ham the pointer of the Omori horizontal pendulum
swept three times off the drum. Passing over to the
Continent, they set to work the instruments at Berlin,
Heidelberg, Vienna, Laibach, Turin, Rome, and many
other places. The pendulums at Florence shared the
fate of those at Washington and Birmingham. The
seismograph at Cape Town also registered the move-
ment, while those in Japan were disturbed by the
waves proceeding in the opposite direction across the
Pacific. Only the scantiest details are as yet made
known, but, if we may judge from the diagram at
Birmingham, the complete series of records will be
one of great interest and value.

The first series of preliminary tremors reached Bir-
mingham at th. 25m. 3s. p.m. (G.M.T.); they were

610

NATURE

small in amplitude and had an average period of 6-4

seconds. At th. 35m. 7s. they.were followed by the
second series of preliminary tremors, much larger in
amplitude and with an average period ot 11-4 seconds.
These tremors, as is now well known, traverse the body
of the earth with velocities of about to or 11 and 5
km. per second respectively. At rth. 45m. 13s. began
the principal portion of the movement, consisting of
undulations which travel over the surface with a
nearly uniform velocity of 3-3 or 3-4 km. per second.
In the initial phase of this portion the undulations
had an average period of 44.1 seconds; in the slow-
period phase (which began at th. som. ) of 25-2
seconds, and in the succeeding quick-period phase of
16.2 seconds. Unfortunately, this portion of the
record is incomplete, for the pointer of the pendulum
swept off and on the drum three times, several waves
being thus lost, and the initial epoch of the quick-
period phase cannot be determined. The end-portion
of the disturbance began at 2h. 1m. 4s., and consisted
of a long series of unusually clear and regular waves
with an average period of 15-0 seconds.
of this portion is uncertain, for these waves were re-
inforced at 3h. 28m. 38s. by the undulations of the
principal portion which travelled through the an-
tipodes along the major are joining San Francisco
and Birmingham. At 3h. 56m. 57s., however, the
trace becomes nearly steady, but a careful examina-
tion reveals another series of long, low undulations
from 4h. 58m. 32s. to sh. 6m. 34s., which represent
the return of the first series of surface-undulations
after they had completed the tour of the globe and
travelled once more as far as Birmingham. The
interval between the first and third passages of these
waves is 3h. 13m. 19s., and corresponds to a mean
velocity of 3.36 km. per second.

MAGNITUDE OF THE SAN FRaNcIsco EarTHOUAKE.

The mere fact that the earth-waves should disturb |

a seismograph after travelling 30,000 miles is
sufficient evidence to show that the earthquake belongs
to the very front rank. If we might estimate the
intensity of a shock by the maximum range of move-
ment at Birmingham, we should have to regard the
San Francisco earthquake as much stronger than the
Indian earthquake of April 4, 1905, but as inferior to
the remarkable Central Asian earthquakes of July 9 and
23, 1905. The period of the larger waves approaches,
however, so closely to that of the pendulums themselves
‘that it by no means follows that the range and

epoch of the maximum displacement of the

instruments correspond with those of the earth’s ==>
crust. Nor can we infer much from the extent
of the destruction of the lofty, badly-founded
houses of San Francisco. If the Colchester

The duration |

Fic.

‘earthquake of 1884 had originated beneath the city |

and west-end of London instead of beneath the
villages of Peldon and Rowhedge in Essex, the
damage would have been considerable, and _ the

earthquake would have held a higher place in our
estimation. When, however, we consider the great
area covered by the injured towns in California, the

displacement of the superficial soil, the crumpling of

the railway tracks, and the widespread registration of
the unfelt waves, it is clear that we must give to the
San Francisco earthquake a place inferior, no doubt,
to the Lisbon earthquake of 1755 and the Indian earth-
quake of 1897, but probably one in the same rank as
the Neapolitan earthquake of 1857, the Japanese
earthquake of 1891, and the Indian earthquake of
1905.
C, Davison.
NO. 1904, VOL. 73]

[APRIL 26, 1906

THE LIFE OF THE AUSTRALIAN BLACKS.

[Bone for the anthropologist, who wants well-sifted

and trustworthy material, and for the ordinary
reader who would like to know something about the life
of the native Australian, this is a most useful book. In
fact, for the latter purpose it may be said to stand
entirely alone. There is no other work on the Aus-
tralians which gives anything like so good a general
view ; it is clear of superfluous technicalities, eminently
readable, and written with so much sympathy that we
cease to be surprised at the success of the writer in
getting at such secret matters as male initiation cere-
monies and beliefs about Byamee, all of which are
strictly forbidden lore to the Euahlayi woman. Mr.
Lang’s introduction explains the bearing of the book
on current controversies.

1.—A native carrying a message-stick. From ‘‘ The Euahlayi Tribe.”

Besides these two important subjects, Mrs. Parker
has much to tell us about the social organisation,
magicians and their initiation, a witch woman whose
feats are distinctly mystifying, the life of children of
both sexes up to and including the initiation cere-
monies, burial customs, dress, amusements, the pro-
vision of food, and mythology; and on many points
we learn something which throws light on previous
knowledge. Although we hear nothing of the so-
called sex-totem among the Euahlayi, they hold that
the male children are made by a lizard, the female by
the moon, who is sometimes assisted by the crow.
This looks like the raw material of the sex-totem. It

1 “The Euahlayi Tribe, a Study of Aboriginal Life in Australia.” By
K. Langloh Parker ; with an Introduction by Andrew Lang. Pp. xxviit+
156 ; with 6 illustrations by a native artist. (London: A, Constable and
Co., Ltd., 1905.) Price 7s. 6d. net.

APRIL 26, 1906]

NATURE

611

may be noted that the lizard is one of the forms of
the sex-totem in South Australia. In connection with
children, it is interesting to note that we have in the
Euahlayi a variant of the Arunta belief recorded by
Strehlow, which has also a close connection with the
belief of the northern Arunta visited by Spencer and
Gillen.

An important subject, on which little information
was previously available, is that of the yunbeai or
individual totem, which is usually confined to medicine
men, but among the Euahlayi is held to be granted
to their special favourites. More important still is the
information about Byamee. Unless Mrs. Parker’s
evidence can be impeached on the ground of European
influence, it will henceforth be impossible to deny that
the Australians have gods and a religion. We learn
from this work that prayers are offered to Byamee
both at the Bora and at the funerals of men.

Mrs. Parker alludes to the boomerang, and provides
mathematicians with another problem in the shape of
the performances of the boodthul, a miniature club
which travels further if it is thrown through the top
of a bush than if it has an unimpeded flight. The
book contains six illustrations by a native artist.
Mrs. Parker does not mention them, but she has in-
formed the present writer that the artist had no
European training. It may, however, be surmised
that he had seen European pictures. Nag Wind:

BORIC ACID AS A FOOD. PRESERVATIVE.'

a: HE report of the English departmental committee
on the use of preservatives in foods contains
voluminous evidence on the harmful nature of most
of the antiseptics employed in commerce. It was
issued in 1901, and among its recommendations one
finds that the use of any preservative in milk should
be constituted a punishable offence. It, however,
makes an exception in the case of butter and cream,
which are substances taken in relatively small
amounts, and allowed 0.5 per cent. of boric acid in
the former, and 0.25 per cent. in the latter case.

Those who have had the time to read the evidence
will be struck with the almost complete unanimity of
the medical witnesses on the harmful effects produced
by boric acid and its compounds. Unfortunately
there will always be some who disagree with the
majority, and it is particularly unfortunate from the
point of view of the public welfare that one of these
is Dr. Oscar Liebreich, whose opinion is on most
subjects entitled to careful consideration and respect.
The special pleading on behalf of boric acid and borax
contained in Dr. Liebreich’s former publications are
repeated in the pamphlet just issued, and we fear
that the useful work of those who are trying to pre-
vent adulteration, and protect the public from those
tradesmen who cover their misdeeds and want of
cleanliness by the employment of antiseptics dangerous
to health, will be seriously impeded thereby.

The question has also become an acute one in
America, and the United States Department of Agri-
culture appointed Dr. Wiley, their principal chemist,
to investigate the matter on a large scale by experi-
ments on human beings, over a long period. Dr.
Wiley’s report was most unfavourable to the use of
these preservatives; the ill-health set up in the sub-
jects of his experiments, and the alterations in bodily
metabolism to which this was due, are described in
detail, and furnish systematic evidence on the subject
which confirms what was known. from clinical experi-
ence, and to those who had experimented previously

1 “Third Treatise on the Effects of B rax and Boric Acid on the

Human System.”’ By.Dr, Oscar Licbreich. Pp. vii+7o. (London:
J. and A. Churchill, 1906.) Price ©s. net.

NO. 1904, VOL. 73]

on animals. To the umnprejudiced observer Dr.
Wiley’s report settled the matter once and for all.

The special object of Dr. Liebreich’s new brochure
is to criticise some details in Dr. Wiley’s work.
This is always an easy thing to do when the subjects
of an experiment are numerous, and in the human
subject in particular it is often difficult to obtain
precise details. Some of these, on account of the ill-
health set up by the drug, had to abandon the con-
tinuation of the observations. This obviously reduces
the number of observations, but at the same time is
in itself a striking piece of evidence against the con-
tinued use of borax and boric acid. Dr. Liebreich
does not dispute the ill-health of Dr. Wiley’s willing
subjects, but he is driven to attribute this to other
causes, like inefficient hygienic surroundings. He
does not dispute the loss of body weight, but says this
is not by any means always injurious.

Those interested in this most important question
should of course read both sides, and one sincerely
trusts that in this instance the weight of a great
name will not be allowed to overbalance the all but
universal testimony of others to the contrary.

PROF. W. F. R. WELDON, F.R.S.

HE ’seventies of last century may be said to have
witnessed the renaissance of biological studies
in Cambridge. It was in the year 1870, if we mistake
not, that Michael Foster, at the invitation of Trinity
College, became prelector in physiology and founded
the great school for which the university has since
been famous. Of his pupils the greatest was F. M.
Balfour. He very soon became the centre of a new
system which was thrown off, so to speak, from the
main body, and rapidly acquired form and influence.

Weldon was one of the most distinguished products
of the zoological school which was in this way
established. He was the son of Mr. Walter Weldon,
F.R.S., the distinguished chemist, and was educated
at King’s College, London. He entered at St. John’s
College, Cambridge, in 1878, of which foundation he
became first a scholar and in 1884 a fellow. After
taking his degree in 1881 he at once threw himself
with characteristic vigour and disinterestedness into
zoological teaching and research. He became demon-
strator in comparative anatomy in 1884, and held the
office for one year. In 1885 he was appointed to the
newly-established lectureship on the morphology of the
invertebrata, which office he held until he left Cam-
bridge in 1891. Asa lecturer Weldon is not likely to be
forgotten by those who heard him. He was remark-
able for the ease and mastery with which he handled
his subject, and for the earnestness and clearness of
his teaching. It was impossible to sit inert under him;
he had the gift of compelling attention.

Weldon’s early researches were mainly concerned
with morphological problems, the study of which had
been so strongly stimulated by the work of Darwin.
In the ’sixties, ’seventies and early ‘eighties of last
century the hope existed that it would be possible by
minute morphological study actually to trace the
pedigrees of existing organisms and to get some com-
prehension of the wonders and complexities of animal
structure. In the ’eighties, however, with the progress
of experience it began to be obvious that these hopes
could not be realised, that the problem could not be
solved by morphology, and that we must turn to other
sources if we wanted to progress in ideas. Weldon
was soon touched by the scepticism which thus arose,
and cast about in the latter part of his time at Cam-
bridge for new methods. These he saw must come
in part at least from an exact study of variation, and

612

NATURE.

[APRIL 26, 1906

his work was henceforth mainly directed. to that sub-
ject. He spent his vacations at the laboratory of the
Marine Biological Association at Plymouth and in the
Zoological Laboratory at Naples, and devoted himself
to laborious and systematic measurements of the parts
of various marine organisms. These researches were
continued with increased vigour at University College,
London, where in 1891 he succeeded Prof. Ray
Lankester as Jodrell professor of zoology. Here he
entirely fulfilled the expectations which had been
formed of him at Cambridge. Effective and enthusi-
astic as a teacher, he soon gathered around him a body
of young workers whom he inspired by his own
intensive fire.

During his career at University College he played
a leading part in initiating the changes which, after
some set-backs, resulted in the recent reorganisation
of the University of London as a teaching body. In
the completion of this most important work he was
debarred from active participation, for in 1899 he was
appointed the Linacre professor of comparative
anatomy in the University of Oxford.

At Oxford he devoted himself with signal success
to the duties of his professorship, paying special
attention to the subject of variation. He again formed
the centre of an active school of research, and
founded in conjunction with Prof. Karl Pearson the
journal Biometrika to advance the subject which he
had so much at heart. Of his biometric work much
might be said, but this must suffice. He was the
one English biologist who actually realised what the
whole attempt to give quantitative exactness to bio-
logical concepts really means; and he was the first to
calculate organic coefficients of correlation and to
suggest their important bearing on evolution.

Weldon held the chair at Oxford until his death
on Good Friday last, after an illness of little more
than twenty-four hours. He was born in 1860, and
was therefore a comparatively young man when he
died. He had about reached the stage of life when
the germinating processes of the brain have attained
their maximum and the mind begins to tale stock
of its ideas and to seek for means of coordinating |
them and of so bringing them before the world. He
had several works on hand, all of which are unfinished.
The most important, perhaps, is that in which he hoped
to set down the conclusions he had reached on the
great subject of the origin and the handing on by
heredity of the properties of organisms.

His work, therefore, is not finished, but of whom
can it be said that his work is finished? He has at
least carved out the steps by which others will mount.
He has sown the seed. It is for us who remain and
for those who come after us to reap the fruits of his
labours.

He was essentially a good man, and happiness was
his portion in this life. Blessed in his domestic
circumstances, and in holding one of the most dis-
tinguished positions the zoological world has to offer ;
in the possession of good health, of considerable bodily
strength and activity, of indomitable energy, of a
quick and penetrating intellect which rendered all
intellectual effort pleasurable, of acute literary and
artistic instincts, of a simple, honest, and lovable
nature which endeared him to all who came in contact
with him, he had everything which is necessary for
earthly happiness. So amply had nature lavished her
gifts upon him that he might well have been counted

among her spoilt children. But he was lofty in his |
aims and strenuous in his life. His early death is a
grievous blow to science; to his friends it is an
affliction hard to be borne; to those who loved him it |
can only appear as a cruel and unnecessary calamity; |

1904, VOL. 73]

but yet, can we say that he was not happy in his

death, as in his life?

Under the wide and starry sky

Dig the grave and let me lie,
Glad did I live and gladly die

And I laid me down with-a will.

PROF. PIERRE CURIE.

PIERRE CURIE, co-discoverer with his wife,

- Mme. Sklodowska Curie, of the element
radium, and the investigator of many of its properties,
met his death as the result of a street accident in Paris
o1 Thursday, April 19. He was crossing the Place
Dauphine when he was knocked down by a cab and fell
under a heavy van coming from the opposite direc-
tion. The wheels passed over his head, and when
taken to the police station life was found to be extinct.

Cut off in the midst of a career of active scientific
investigation, in the flower of life and at the height of
a unique reputation, brilliantly won and universally
acknowledged, his death will be mourned by the whole
civilised world. In this country, where the importance
oi his work and discoveries was early and_ fully
recognised, and where the fame attaching to his name
has spread widely, deep sympathy will be felt for Mme.
Curie in her tragic bereavement, coupled with a sense
of loss that a partnership in science so illustrious and
fruitful has been brought to so untimely a close.

Born in Paris on March 15, 1859, Pierre Curie
received his early education at the Sorbonne, where
he attained the degree of Doctor of Science. He was
made professor of physics in the Municipal School of
Physics and Chemistry in Paris in 1895, and in 1900
he became professor at the Sorbonne. His earlier
researches, extending over the period 1885-1894, in-
cluded investigations into the phenomenon of ee
electricity, in conjunction with his brother, urie,
the construction and use of electrometers es guard-
ring condensers, the magnetic properties of iron,
oxygen, and other substances at different temperatures,
and the construction of sensitive aperiodic balances.

In 1895 M. Curie married Marie Sklodowska, one
of the senior students at the Municipal School, where
he was professor, and joined his wife in the new field
of research opened up by M. Henri Becquerel’s dis-
covery of the radio-activity of uranium and its com-
pounds. From 1898 onwards appeared the remark-
able joint publications dealing with the discovery of
radium and the investigation of its properties. ‘The
great advances made by. the two investigators in this
field may be traced to the collaboration of a trained
physicist and a skilled chemist in a subject which
may truly be described as a meeting ground of the
two sciences. M. Curie’s earlier results on piezo-
electricity, and the construction and use of electro-
meters and condensers were ingeniously applied to
the requirements of the new work, and in his hands
resulted in a ready and trustworthy method for the
electrical measurement of radio-activity being worked
out. In the detection and initial stages of the separa-
tion of radium and polonium in pitchblende, the
method accomplished what in the hands of Bunsen
the spectroscope had accomplished in the detection
and separation of caesium and rubidium in the waters
of Durkheim. When sufficient radium had _ been
obtained, M. Curie and his pupils investigated the
physical properties, while Mme. Curie devoted herself
to the more: purely chemical problems, the determina-
tion of the atomic weight of the new element, and
the attempt to separate polonium.

M. Curie’s most important contributions to the study

APRIL 26, 1906|

NATURE

613

of the nature of the new element comprise the dis-
covery, in conjunction with Mme. Curie, of the so-
called induced activity conferred by radium on sur-
rounding objects, and the proof that the penetrating
radiations transport negative electricity even after they
have been made to pass through a sheet of metal
connected to earth. In conjunction with M. Laborde
he discovered and measured the spontaneous evolution
of heat from radium compounds.

In 1903 the Davy medal was conferred by the Royal
Society on M. and Mme. Curie, and they shared with
M. Branly the Osiris prize, and with M. Becquerel the
Nobel prize for physics. M. Curie was made a member
of the Institute of France in 1905. He will be re-
membered in this country for the lecture on radium,
delivered with characteristic modesty and_ simplicity
of manner, at the Royal Institution in 1903. He
refused the Cross of the Legion of Honour offered by
the French Government, on the ground that he pre-
ferred to remain a simple citizen, holding no doubt
the view that scientific discovery is its own sufficient
reward.

It has been said by a recent writer that there will
come a time when men will date the coming in of
their kingdom to the day when Curie and Laborde
discovered the spontaneous evolution of heat from
radium. Certainly no limit can be set to the conse-
quences in the near or distant future which may be
expected to flow from the discoveries with which the
name of Curie is associated.

Like R6ntgen shortly before, Curie emerged at one
step from comparative obscurity to universal fame,
and what they achieved is still within the horizon of
the humblest investigator. Like the soldiers of
Napoleon, each of the rank and file of the army of
patient investigators carries in his knapsack a
marshal’s baton. The career of M. Curie illustrates
this, and continues as an inspiration and encourage-
ment to others. None have set in motion more
pregnant influences. No one stands in less need of
the historian to perpetuate his memory. IBaSis

NOTES.

In the disastrous earthquake at San Francisco, a de-
tailed description of which is given in another part of the
present issuc, it is reported that upwards of 1000 persons
lost their lives, and that material damage was done to the
value of more than sixty million pounds sterling. There
seems little reason to doubt that most of these lives and
the greater part of the property were lost in the fire which
followed the earthquake, and that a little forethought would
have prevented, or at least greatly lessened, the awful
calamity. Electric mains were broken by the earthquake
shock at a time when the current was being supplied, and
gas and water mains were shattered. The electric current
does not appear to have been stopped at the power stations,
and the consequent numerous short circuits which occurred
soon inflamed escaping gas and set fire to buildings in
many parts of the city. The broken water mains obliterated
the water supply, and the only means of checking the fire
seems to have been the demolition by dynamite of property
in its path. The steel buildings in the city appear to be
almost intact. The earthquake did not damage them, and
the fire only consumed the woodwork. Despite the rumours
which have been in circulation as to damage to universi-
ties and observatories in the disturbed/area, it is gratifying
to know that there is as yet no ‘confirmation of such
calamities. Upon inquiry at the Royal Astronomical
Society, we learn that no news has been received about

NO 1904, VOL. 73]

any of the Californian observatories. Astronomers are
particularly anxious as to the fate of the Lick Observatory,
situated as it is very near to the centre of disturbance,
and in view of a rumour that has reached a London fire
insurance company of serious injury to the observatory.
The Solar Observatory at Mount Wilson—near Pasadena,
which is ten miles N.N.E. of Los Angeles—is probably too
far to the south to have been damaged.

Some changes in the organisation of the Geological
Survey of Canada have recently been made by the Premier,
Sir Wilfrid Laurier. For more than five years Dr. Robert
Bell, F.R.S., has been the acting-director of the Survey,
and has managed the business as well as the scientific
affairs to the satisfaction of the scientific, mining, and
the general public. In this period he has accomplished
much valuable work, initiated many useful new features,
and raised the standing of the Survey in general estimation.
Since the Survey began, sixty-three years ago, about 470
maps have been prepared and issued, and nearly one-third
of this number have been published during the past five
years, while others are nearly ready. By the change of
organisation which has just been instituted, a business
administrator has been appointed, while Dr. Bell is given
the title of Chief Geologist of the Dominion. Dr. Bell
will continue to prepare his reports, maps, and other works,
and will have a free hand in geological matters, so that
he ought apparently to be congratulated on being relieved
of a troublesome and difficult part of his work.

Tue bi-centenary of the birth of Benjamin Franklin was
celebrated by the American Philosophical Society at Phila-
delphia on April 17-20, in accordance with the programme
announced in Nature of March 29 (p. 515). Addresses
were read from the universities of Oxford, Cambridge,
Glasgow, and Edinburgh, the Paris Academy of Sciences,
and many other institutions. A statue of Franklin, pre-
sented to the City of Paris by Mr. J. H. Harjes, was to
have been dedicated on April 20 at an international festival,
in which the French Government had arranged to take
part, but the celebrations were postponed in consequence of
the catastrophe at San Francisco.

Pror. W. Ostwatp has been elected a foreign member
of the Danish Academy of Sciences.

Pror. GABRIEL OLTRAMARE, who for fifty years held the
chair of mathematics at University, died on
April 10, in his ninetieth year.

Geneva

Tue death is announced, at sixty-five years of age, of
Dr. N. S. Shaler, professor of geology at Harvard Uni-
versity and dean of the Lawrence Scientific School.

Tue annual meeting of the South African Association
for the Advancement of Science will be held at Kimberley
on July 9-14, under the presidency of Mr. G. F. Williams.

Dr. DupLey Buxton has been elected chairman of the
council of the Selborne Society for the ensuing year, during
which the society will attain its majority, having been
founded in 1885. The annual will be held on
May 25, when the president, Lord Avebury, will deliver an
address.

soirée

A TELEGRAM from Sarajevo, Bosnia, states that at 11 a.m.
on April 19 a short, sharp earthquake shock was felt there.
The shock was undulatory in character, and travelled from
west to east. An earthquake shock was felt at Grants
Pass, Oregon, at 1.11 a.m. on April 23. The Wellington
correspondent of the Times reports that both the Eastern

614

NATURE

[APRIL 26, 1906

Company's cables between New Zealand and Australia
suddenly broke on April 23, as the result, it is presumed,
of submarine disturbances. A sharp earthquake shock was
felt at San Francisco at 10.39 p.m. on the same date. It
lasted about three seconds, and the motion was from east

to west.

Dr. V. F. L. Martevucci, director of the Vesuvius
‘Observatory, has issued the following reports :—April 18.—
A very violent squall blew the plume of smoke which hung
over Vesuvius on to the observatory, bearing with it a
quantity of dust and asphyxiating gases. The crater,
though shrouded in thick mist and rain, seems to be quiet.
April 20.—The shower of ash has ceased and the cloud
of dust has dispersed, leaving visible the crater, which
continues to eject, though more calmly, globular masses
of vapour containing lesser quantities of dust, which fall
on the eastern slopes of the volcano. No further shocks
have occurred, only very slight movements being reported
by the more sensitive seismographs. April 23.—The seismic
instruments are very steady. The crater is emitting grey
vapour, together with small quantities of dust at intervals.

AccorpInG to the Chemiker Zeitung, the number of
patents applied for during 1905 in Germany was 30,085
as against 28,360 in 1904, whilst the number of patents
fully taken out was 9600 against 9189. Of the different
applications, 22,030 were by Germans, 1769 by Americans,
1410 by Frenchmen, 1264 by Englishmen, 873 from Austria,
707 from Switzerland, 473 from Belgium, 249 from Hun-
gary, 246 from Russia, 230 from Denmark, 188 from Italy,
174 from Sweden, 48 from Norway, &c. The largest
number of new patents for the year came under the head-
ing of electrotechnics. During the year 8623 patents ex-
pired or for other reasons ceased to be worked, while at the
end of the year 32,430 patents remained in force.

From Budapest we learn that the director of the
Hungarian Chemical Agricultural Institute has presented
a strong petition to the Government urging the complete re-
organisation of the institute, which was opened twenty-five
years ago by the Minister of Agriculture as a central ex-
perimental station for agricultural chemistry. In the first
instance it is proposed that no further analyses for private
persons be undertaken, as this is not only unfair to the
private laboratories, but provides so much work for the
institute as to hinder members of the staff from following
up any line of scientific research. Great stress is laid upon
the advisability of bringing all the experimental stations
into intimate union with the Imperial Institute of Hungary.
According to the director’s proposal, the reorganised insti-
tute shall be divided into seven departments, each under
the supervision of a head chemist.

Tue Easter party of naturalists and students at the
Liverpool Marine Biology Committee’s station at Port
Erin, in the Isle of Man, has been larger than usual, and
the available accommodation in both hatchery and labor-
atory has been fully occupied. In addition to senior students
from the botanical and zoological departments of the uni-
versities of Manchester and Liverpool, the following pro-
fessional workers have occupied tables in the laboratory :—
Dr. H. E. Roaf (bio-chemistry), Mr. J. Pearson, Mr. W.
Gunn and Prof. Herdman, and Mr. Chadwick, the curator
of the biological station. In the sea-fish hatchery the
season has been a good one. Although the first fertilised
plaice eggs were obtained from the spawning pond on
February 13, only one day earlier than last year,
embryos in large numbers appeared comparatively early

NO. 1904, VOL. 73]

j million in

in the season, and the output of young fish is now about a
advance of the corresponding date in 1905.
Five and three-quarter million plaice eggs have now been
obtained from the pond, ard nearly three and a_ half
million larvae have been set free in the Irish Sea. The
largest number put out on one day was 470,000, on
April 20.

Tue latest report of the Decimal Association, of which
Lord Kelvin is a vice-president, states that it is proposed
to open a new Parliamentary campaign to prepare the way
for the introduction of a Bill in the House of Commons,
on the lines of the Bill which has already passed the House
of Lords. The report goes on to point out that advocates
of the metric system of weights and measures in the United
States of America have been encouraged by the introduc-
tion of a Bill in the House of Representatives by Mr.
Littauer, which provides for the exclusive use of metric
weights and measures in all Government departments.
This Bill, as has been recorded already in these columns,
is now before a Standing Committee of the House of
Representatives, and there is every hope that it may be
reported on favourably. The executive committee of the
association records in the report its thanks to the Associ-
ation of Trade Protection Societies for its continued
advocacy of the compulsory adoption of metric weights and
measures. Since this association represents retail as well
as wholesale traders, its support may be taken as a distinct
refutation of the assertion that the shopkeepers of the
country do not wish to see the adoption of the decimal
system of measurement. The report mentions also that
the Canadian Government has appointed as lecturer a pro-
fessor of the University of Toronto to devote a year to the
task of explaining the metric weights and measures in all
the leading cities from Halifax to Vancouver.

Reports are being received of twilight glows and of the
deposition of dust, supposed to be due to the recent erup-
tion of Vesuvius. Prof. Stanislas Meunier has collected on
the roof of his house in Paris dust said to be identical
with the dust of the eruption of 1872. At Southall,
Middlesex, Mr. G. Gibson has also collected dust appar-
ently of similar nature. Dr. F. A. Bather, writing from
Wimbledon, informs us that on the evening of April 18
the sunset was strongly reminiscent of the Krakatdo glows.
It will be interesting to learn whether similar observations
have been recorded in other localities. The distribution of
the dust would depend chiefly upon the upper air currents,
which are usually different from those at the surface, and
although the surface winds have recently been from north
and north-east, the dust may have been carried to north-
west Europe by currents in the upper air.

It is stated in the Cologne Gazette that the German
Government is making preparations for the issue shortly
of weather forecasts for agriculturists. The forecasts will
be sent free or at a nominal charge, and the success of the
undertaking will be judged from returns of the subsequent
weather supplied by the recipients of the information. We
think this is a step in the right direction; the experiment
has already been made with much success in the United
States and elsewhere. Prof. Willis Moore, e.g., in an

| article in the National Geographic Magazine for June,

1905, says:—‘ No large grower of fruits or vegetables
is content to be excluded from the receipt of the frost
During the hay and corn harvest (June-
September) special forecasts have been, for many years,
issued to farmers in this country by the Meteorological

forecasts.’’

~APRIL 26, 1906]

NATURE

615

Office. The only charge now made is for the actual cost
of the telegrams, and the success of the work is judged,
as proposed in the German scheme, by the returns made
by the recipients themselves. From the last published
annual report (1904-5) we see that the total and partial
success of the forecasts amounted to 92 per cent. for the
country generally, and that 58 per cent. were completely
successful.

Tue Bulletin of the Italian Meteorological Society is now
issued in two-monthly parts, and includes original con-
tributions and monthly results of observations at a con-
siderable number of stations. The issue for February-
March contains an interesting account of the ascents of
two unmanned balloons in August last, near Treviso,
Venice, in both of which readings were obtained at alti-
tudes exceeding 10,000 metres. The first important in-
version of temperature, amounting to 6° C., was experi-
enced between 10,000 metres and 10,385 metres, on
August 4, notwithstanding the fact that a few hours
previously a very violent thunderstorm occurred at the
station. The second ascent was made on August 30, at
the time of the solar eclipse; the inversion of temperature
was not so marked as in the previous case, but amounted
to 3° C. between the heights of 18,000 metres and 20,000
metres. The exact altitude of the inversion during this
ascent is somewhat uncertain, as the barometric trace was
partially obliterated by the peasants who picked up the
records. Thunderstorms were also prevalent about twelve
hours prior to the time of this ascent. The discovery of
such inversions of temperature is known to be one of the
most interesting results connected with the recent explor-
ations of the upper air.

To vol. xxvi., part iv., of Notes from the Leyden
Museum, Dr. H. W. van der Weele contributes three
papers on Malay Neuroptera, the most important of these
dealing with the representatives of the family Sialide.
Among other notes, Dr. J. G. de Man discusses and re-
describes certain Malay crustaceans of the genus Palzmon,
while Dr. R. Horst describes a parasitic copepod crustacean
of the genus Penella infesting a large fish from the
Moluccas.

A HaAND-List of Philippine birds has been drawn up by
Messrs. R. C. McGregor and D. C. Worcester, and pub-
lished at Manila by the Bureau of Government Labor-
atories. A slip inserted within the cover announces that
the publication of the Bulletins of the Bureau has been
discontinued, and that in their place will be issued a new
serial, the Philippine Journal of Science, while the Bureau
itself becomes the Bureau of Science of the Philippine
Islands.

Tue January issue (vol. x., part i.) of the Transactions
of the Leicester Literary and Philosophical Society con-
tains a report of the president’s address at the annual
meeting in October last, in which attention is directed to
the decadence of artistic feeling and good taste in the
design and execution of architectural and kindred objects
in and around Leicester. The contents include a paper
by Mr. J. R. Plant on the geological history of molluscs,
and a second, by Mr. H. Donisthorne, on Isle of Wight
beetles.

No. 1442 of the Proceedings of the U.S. National
Museum is devoted to notices of the type specimens of
Ordovician and Silurian Bryozoa collected and described
by Mr. U. P. James. These fossils, which came from the
Cincinnati group, are mostly in the Walker Museum at

NO, 1904, VOL. 73]

| has

Chicago, although some are preserved at Washington.
According to the author of the paper before us, Mr. R. S.
Bassler, the original determinations were for the most part
erroneous. Descriptions of new South American moths, by
Mr. W. Schaus, of Twickenham, form the subject of
No. 1444 of the same serial.

Tue life-history of the North American cave-salamander,
Spelerpes maculicaudus, by Messrs. A. M. Banta and
W. L. McAtee, forms the subject of No. 1443 of the Pro-
ceedings of the U.S. National Museum (vol. xxx., p. 67).
This handsome salamander appears to be confined to the
Mississippi valley, where, although commonly found in
caves, it may occasionally be met with in woods. When
in caves, it is generally to be found at no great distance
from the entrance, usually but little beyond the twilight
zone. For breeding purposes, however, these creatures
penetrate deeper into the recesses of the caves, where the
larvee are produced ; such full-grown larvee as are met with
in the open country having probably been washed out by
freshets. Within caves the adult salamanders are usually
to be found in crevices or upon rock-shelves.

Tue March number of the Museums Journal contains an
account, by Dr. W. E. Hoyle, of the new zoological
institute at Breslau; while Prof. J. T. Wilson’s paper on
the Australian Museum, Sydney, which was read last
year at the Worcester conference, is printed in full. In
another article it is stated that Mr. E. Lovett, of Croydon,
formed a large collection of manufactured objects
which he is desirous of using as the basis of a “ Folk
Museum.’’ A schedule is given of the collection of appli-
ances and allied objects used by primitive man, arranged
to illustrate the evolution of idea, form, and design, with
the amount of superficies required for their proper display
in a museum.

In parts i. and ii. of vol. xxxv. of Gegenbaur’s Morpho-
logisches Jahrbuch, Prof. B. Hatschek, of Vienna, com-
mences a series of studies on the theory of the primitively
segmental structure of the vertebrate skull, dealing in this
instance with the anterior extremity of the spinal neural
system of the lancelet. Dr. Fleischmann’s series of papers
on the morphology of the cloaca and related organs in the
amniote vertebrates is continued by Messrs. H. Dimpfi
and J. Schwarztrauber, who respectively discuss these struc-
tures in the guinea-pig and the sheep. In a long paper
Mr. G. Ruge brings to a conclusion an elaborate series of
studies of the external form of the liver in the Primates,
dealing in this instance with the monkeys of the Cerco-
pithecus group. As might have been expected, these dis-
play a very generalised character in respect to this organ,
which is markedly different from that of the anthropoid
group. Among other papers on vertebrate morphology is
one by Mr. H. Braus on the question whether the form-
ation of the skeleton is dependent on the muscular layer,
and a second, by Prof. G. Jelgersma, on the origin of the
vertebrate eye. For the conclusions in both these cases
we must refer our readers to the original papers, as they
are too long to be given here.

Tue authors of a _ forthcoming
“* Eclipse ’’—the famous racehorse—ask us
that they would be very glad to be informed of any refer-
ences to this celebrated horse in contemporary literature ;
to his breeder, the Duke of Cumberland; to his purchaser,
Wildman; and to his subsequent owner, Dennis O’Kelly.
The monograph will be as completely illustrated as possible
from contemporary paintings and engravings and other
sources, and will contain detailed photographs of the

monograph upon
to announce

616

NATURE

[APRIL 26, 1906

anatomy of “‘ Eclipse’’ and the most famous of his de-
scendants, which should prove interesting both to biologists
and breeders. It is important that information should
reach the authors before June 1 if possible, and all letters,
manuscripts, prints, or pictures addressed to ‘‘ Eclipse,”’
c/o Mr. W. Heinemann, 21 Bedford Street, London, W.C..,
will be acknowledged before that date, and will be treated
with the greatest care.

Mr. Henry S. WELLcomE, of Snow Hill Buildings, E.C.,
is organising an exhibition in connection with the history
of medicine, chemistry, pharmacy, and the allied sciences,
and has issued a circular indicating the range of the pro-
posed exhibition. The loan of any objects of interest is
solicited ; these will be insured and carriage paid both
ways. The date of the proposed exhibition has not yet
been definitely settled.

In the Comptes rendus of the Paris Academy of Sciences
(April 2, p. 823) M. Lortet gives an account of an ex-
amination of the contents of four vases containing the
viscera of King Rameses II., the Sesostris of the Greeks,
who is believed to have died about 3164 years ago. Profs.
Hugouneng, Renaut, and Rigaud were associated with M.
Lortet in the examination, and three of the vases were
surmised to contain the stomach, intestine, and liver of
the great king preserved with soda and aromatic resinous
substances, and enclosed in linen bandages. A fourth jar
contained the heart of the monarch, hard and horn-like,
but on microscopical examination showing the typical

bundles of muscle fibres of cardiac muscle, crossing one
another.

In the April number of the Monthly Review, Mr. Paul
Uhlenhuth writes on the blood-relationship of man and
apes, and describes how, by means of the precipitin test,
various albuminous substances and the blood of different
animals may be distinguished from one another. The test
has also considerable medico-legal importance, and_bio-
logically may be employed to ascertain the relationship of
various animals to one another. In this way it may be
shown that the anthropoid apes are most nearly akin to

man, while the lemurs are but distantly, if at all, related
to him.

Some years ago Dr. A. Gallardo advanced a dynamical
interpretation of the karyokinetic figures in cell division

that was explained in Nature of November 13, 1902,
by Prof. M. Hartog. Dr. Gallardo has somewhat
modined his former theory, and applying the results

obtained from a study of the properties of colloids, he
postulates in a paper published in Annales del Museo
Nacional de Buenos Aires, vol. xiii., a negative charge for
the chromatin and a_ positive charge for the cytoplasm
around the poles of the spindle. In proof of his theory the
writer reproduces the figures obtained with special
apparatus on a metallic plate forming one electrode in an
electrolytic solution.

Ir is remarkable that, despite the numerous investi-
gations during the last ten to twenty years into the coffee-
leaf disease caused by species of Hemileia, the complete
life-history of the fungus has not been worked out. Mr.
G. Massee directs attention to the want of information
concerning the ecidial stage in his revision of the genus
published in the Kew Bulletin, No. 2, 1906. Four species,
two of them recently determined by Mr. Massee, are de-
scribed, and the probability of the zcidial stage is con-
sidered. In addition to an announcement regarding the
publication, and a list of the contents of a volume on the

NO. 1904, VOL 73]

‘<< Wild Fauna and Flora of Kew Gardens,” a supple-
mentary list of fungi prepared by Mr. Massee is given,
among which three species new to science are described
and illustrated.

AccorDING to the Pioneer Mail, the Bombay Government
has decided that arrangements should be made for the
starting of experiments in the cultivation of rubber plants
both in the southern and northern circles, and in the
garden of economic botany which is about to be estab-
lished in Bassein. In the northern circle Mr. Ryan has
been requested to prepare and submit, under the direction
of the conservator, a scheme for the plantation of the
Ficus elastica, and for experiments with a view to ascer-
tain the yield of rubber and its commercial value, and to
suggest other rubber plants likely to show good results-
At the Bassein garden Mr. Gammie has been asked to
prepare a scheme of experiments on a smaller scale with
numerous rubber-yielding plants with the object of ascer-
taining which are the most likely to succeed in the coast
districts of the Bombay Presidency. For the southern
circle orders have been given for the preparation of a
scheme for experimental plantation, more particularly of
Hevea, in one or more localities under the direction of the
conservator.

Mr. O. F. Cook, in article entitled ** The Vital
Fabric of Descent,’’ published in the Proceedings of the
Washington Academy of Sciences (vii., p. 301), urges that
kinesis is the main factor in the evolution of organisms.
“Kinesis is not a mysterious force or mechanism to be
sought in reproductive cells; it is a general property of
organisms, as gravitation is of matter. And of kinesis
we know more than of gravitation. Two factors and two
results are already obvious. The factors are heterism, or
intra-specific diversity, and symbasis, or inter-breeding in
a specific network of descent... .’’ ‘‘ Natural selection
neither originates species nor actuates their further de-
velopment ; progressive change would go on whether selec-
tion were active or not, and whether the environment
were uniform or not. Nevertheless, selection conduces to

SS¥

an

adaptation, since by permitting changes in some directions
and forbidding them in others, it deflects the specific
motion. The workings of natural selection are adequately
explained only by the kinetic theory.”

In the Zeitschrift of the Berlin Gesellschaft fiir Erdkunde
(1906, No. 3) appears the first part of an interesting
historical paper on the measurement of geographical areas
before the invention of the planimeter, by Dr. W.
Schmiedeberg.

THE new issue (vol. xix., part i.) of Mitteilungen aus
den deutschen Schutzgebicten contains papers on the daily
variation of temperature and pressure at Windhuk, German
South-West Africa, and of temperature at Herbertshdhe,
Bismarck Archipelago, by Dr. J. Hann. Dr. P. Heidke
contributes a paper on the meteorology of German East
Africa, dealing with the means for the years 1899 to 1902
from twenty-two stations.

Tue April number of the Bollettino of the Italian Geo-
graphical Society contains an extremely interesting paper,
by Dr. Roberto Almagia, on the earliest Italian contribu-
tion to oceanography. The pamphlet described is the
““Relatione del Mare ’’ of Giovanni Botero, published in
Rome in the year 1600, and it is remarkable that not only
the main division of the subject into statical and dynamical
sections, but the subdivisions of each of these into special
parts, follow closely the method of treatment adopted in
modern research.

APRIL 26, 1906]

NATURE

617

We have received a reprint from the Numismatic
Chronicle of a paper, by Sir John Evans, K.C.B., de-
scribing the silver medal or map of Sir Francis Drake,
which commemorates the voyage round the world com-
pleted in 1580. Three, or at most four, examples of this
medal are known, two of which are in the British Museum
and one in Sir John Evans’s collection. Sir John Evans
agrees with Mr. Miller Christy that the silver map and
that which is attached to the work of Peter Martyr, ‘‘ De
Orbe Novo ”’ (Paris, 1587), are from the hand of the same
engraver, about whom it is only known that the initials
of his name were “‘ F. G.”’

Two reports (Nos. 107 and 108) have been issued by the
British Fire Prevention Committee containing particulars
of experimental tests of the fire resistance of concrete
floors. The two floors were practically identical in design,
and were subjected to the same conditions. The results

of the tests were, however, very different according to the |

The one having Thames ballast | selenium increases on exposure to sunlight, being especially

concrete aggregate used.
concrete for the protection of its steel-work failed, whilst

the other, with clinker concrete and coke breeze protection |
No independent fire tests |

to the girders, remained intact.
on such a scale with floor areas measuring 15 feet by
22 feet have been previously carried out.

Ar the Institution of Civil Engineers an interesting paper
on the resistance of iron and steel to reversals of direct
Stress was read by Dr. T. E. Stanton and Mr. L. Bairstow
on April 10. The results of their experiments, which were
carried out at the National Physical Laboratory, may be

summarised as follows :—The superiority, in resistance to |
reversals of stress, of moderately high-carbon steels over |

low-carbon steels and wrought irons, which was discovered
by Wohler to exist when the rate of reversals was 60 per
minute, still holds when this rate is increased to 800 per
minute, although, according to Reynolds and Smith’s ex-
periments, this superiority no longer exists when the rate
of reversals is in the neighbourhood of 2000 per minute.
So far as comparisons can be made between the results
of the authors’ experiments and those of Wohler and Sir
Benjamin Baker, there is no marked reduction in resist-
ance due to raising the rate of reversals to 800 per minute.
Experiments in which the ratio of tension to compression
varied from 1-4 to 0-72 indicated that between these limits
the value of the maximum range of stress was practically
independent of the actual values of the limiting stresses in
tension and compression. The resistance of the materials
in three typical cases of rapid reduction of area of the

specimens has been determined. The failure of iron speci- |

mens due to the development of the slip-lines of Ewing
and Rosenhain into cracks has been determined for the
case of direct stress, and the failure of moderately high-
carbon steel, due to the development of cracks in the ferritic
areas of the structure, has also been established. ;

Messrs. ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE AND
publish shortly a work on ‘* Recent
Physiology of Digestion,’’ by Prof. E. H.

Coy. erp sawill
Advances. in the

Starling, F.R.S.

Sir Martin Conway has written a history of Spits-
bergen which the Cambridge University Press will shortly
publish under the title of ‘* No Man’s Land.”’

Tue London Stereoscopic and Photographic Company,
Ltd., has issued a new catalogue of photographic apparatus
intended primarily for the use of amateurs. The list is
attractively produced and conveniently arranged, and copies
may be obtained post-free on application.

NO. 1904, VOL. 73]

| greatest

Tue Country Press, 19 Ball Street, Kensington, has
published a series of twelve picture post-cards of the leaves
of British trees and shrubs showing the exact venation in
each case. These cards are intended for the use of
children and others taking up nature-study; but it is to
be hoped that teachers will prefer to direct the attention
of their pupils to the actual leaves of plants, and to
encourage the children to collect and study natural objects
themselves rather than pictorial representations of them,
however correct and artistic these may be.

OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN.

EMPLOYMENT OF SELENIUM CELLS DURING ToTaL SOLAR
Eciipse.—During the total eclipse of August last, the
observers at Tortosa made use of selenium cells for the
double purpose of determining the variation in sunlight

| during the progress of the eclipse, and of ascertaining the

exact moments of the beginning and end of totality.
As is generally known, the electrical conductivity of

sensitive to the less refrangible end of the spectrum ; there-
fore, by placing the cell in series with a battery and a
delicate reflecting galvanometer, the amount of light fall-
ing on the selenium may be registered by registering the
movements of the galvanometer beam of light.

Whilst the decrease of light, during an eclipse, is not

| visible until the eclipse is well advanced, the galvanometer

needle at Tortosa was seen to move immediately after first
contact, and for nearly an hour showed a uniformly in-

| creasing resistance.

Assuming that the light during totality was of the same
quality as that obtaining at dawn, the results derived from
the observations show that its brightness was about equal
to that of the sky some thirty or forty-five minutes before
sunrise.

The results obtained regarding the instants at which
totality began and ended were very satisfactory, and it is
suggested that, by placing similar equipments along the
line of totality during future eclipses, far better results
could be obtained than by the visual observations hitherto
depended upon (Astrophysical Journal, No. 2, vol. xxiii.).

CaTaLoGue OF PLEIADES Stars.—We have received from
Dr. R. S. Dugan, of the Princeton (N.J.) Observatory, a
copy of the inaugural dissertation presented by him for the
doctorate of the Heidelberg University.

This publication contains the magnitudes and mean
places (for 1900-0) of 359 stars of the Pleiades group. In
addition to the catalogue, Dr. Dugan discusses the methods
employed in measuring the plates and reducing the data
thereby obtained. A chart of the group, on which the cata-
logue number of each star is shown, also accompanies the

| dissertation.

Tue TotaL SoLtar ECLIPSE OF THE SUN OF JANUARY,
1907-—Among the numerous important papers communi-
cated to the meeting of the Astronomical and Astrophysical
Society of America, held at New York on December 28-30,
1905, ‘there is one by Prof. David Todd which will prob-
ably be found to be of special interest to eclipse observers.

Prof. Todd and Mr. Baker have computed the essential
data for ten possible stations, and have discussed the latter
and the means of getting to them. It appears that the
new railway across Russian territory will afford the
facilities for reaching the Turkestan stations,
whilst observations will also be possible some 600 miles
north-west of Peking. The complete discussion is to be
published in the American Journal of Science (Science,
No. 586, vol. xxiii., N.S.).

OBSERVATIONS OF NEBUL2.—Since 1884 M.

the year

Bigourdan, of the Paris Observatory, has been assiduously

employed in making a complete survey of nebulz.

The results of this survey are to be published in five
volumes, of which two (iv. and vy.), dealing with the
nebulz situated between 14h. and 24h., have already
appeared.

At the meeting of the Paris Academy of Sciences held
on March 19, M. Bigourdan presented the second part of

618

NATURE

vol. i., including the measures of nebulz situated between
oh. and 2h. of right ascension. The first part of this
volume will contain the introduction, and will include a
full description of the instruments and methods employed
in the research.

Vol. ii., including the section 2h.-gh., is to appear soon,
and will be followed by vol. iii., giving the results for
the region gh.-14h. (Comptes rendus, No. 12).

A Larce PuoroGrapnic NesuLa 1N Scorrio.—On
examining the photographs obtained during his sojourn
at Mount Wilson last year, Prof. Barnard found that an
immense region near to m and 8 Scorpii is occupied by a
large nebula which is comparable in size, and in the
peculiarities of its several branches, with the great nebula
in Orion and the extended nebulosity of the Pleiades.

A short description of this nebula, together with a
splendid reproduction of a photograph of it, taken with
the 10-inch Brashear lens of the Bruce doublet, is given
in No. 2, vol. xxiii., of the Astrophysical Journal.

The nebula extends some 43° or 5° in a north and
south direction, and its brightest portion lies about 23° to
the south of a Scorpii.

A striking fact in connection with this object is that
all the larger stars connected with it are, as might be
expected, of the Orion type.

Prof. Barnard thinks that the branching, straggling
character of this and similar nebula tends to discredit the
accepted form of the nebular theory of stellar evolution,
and doubts whether that theory would have ever been
constructed if, at the time, our present knowledge of the
appearance of nebule, as shown by photography, had been
available.

CANADIAN TIDES.

PAPER on tide levels and datum planes on the

Pacific Coast of Canada was read recently by Mr. W.
Bell Dawson, the engineer in charge of the tidal survey, at
the meeting of the Canadian Society of Civil Engineers.
The survey of the Canadian waters on the Atlantic side
has been in progress now for some years under Mr.
Dawson’s charge, and has so far advanced that permanent
tide gauges have been fixed at several representative parts
of the coast, and sufficient tidal observations obtained to
enable the Marine Department to issue tide tables for
most of the principal ports. The survey has now been
extended to the Pacific Coast.

In the paper under notice the bench marks and data
used by the Admiralty, the Hudson’s Bay Company, and
the town authorities on the coast have been connected up
by levelling, and the bench marks at Victoria, Esquimault,
Vancouver, and other tidal stations referred ta one common
standard. These levels are given in the pamphlet. The
importance of publishing such results is emphasised by
the fact that the bench marks of former surveys are now
to a great extent useless, because they were never made
public, and the level books containing the records of these
surveys have been destroyed by fire, and so a large amount
of good work has been rendered useless, and subsequent
trouble and expense caused.

The tides on the Pacific Coast are peculiar, the leading
feature being a pronounced diurnal inequality which
accords with the declination of the moon, and is subject
to an annual variation with the change in the declination
of the sun; also there is an unusually large solar effect
relatively to the lunar, especially in the northern part.
In some parts of the coast during the greater part of the
day there is a long stand or only slight fluctuation near
high-water level, with a sharp, short drop to the lower
low water which occurs once in the day. Owing to this
diurnal inequality the two highest and lowest points in
the tide curve for the month may be as much as five
days before or after the full and new moon. While the
tides on the Atlantic side of Canada follow the phases of
the moon, and accordingly the alternations of spring and
neap tides are the dominant features, the tides on the
Pacific side may be described as declination tides.

The careful study of the tides and of the mean sea-
level appears to indicate that this coast is rising at a
rate as great as 1 or 2 feet in the century.

NO. 1504, VOL. 73]

[APRIL 26, 1906

THE INTESTINAL TRACT OF MAMMALS.

N a memoir ‘‘ On the Intestinal Tract of Mammals ”’
(Trans. Zool. Soc. of London, xvii., part v., December,
1905, pp. 437-536), Dr. Chalmers Mitchell extends to
mammals the line of investigation which has already, in
his hands, yielded results of great interest when applied to
birds, namely, the systematic study of the pattern and
arrangement taken by the folds and coils of the intestinal
tract. With this object, the author describes the pattern
of the intestinal coils in a great number of mammals dis-
sected by him, representing examples of each of the prin-
cipal subdivisions of the entire class. The descriptions are
supplemented by an excellent series of text-figures, which
show the arrangements in a semi-diagrammatic, but clear
and accurate, manner. In the case of mammals of which
the author has not been able to procure specimens for
dissection, he quotes from the existing descriptions of

; other authors such details as apply to the problems which

are the object of his investigation. Thus the memoir
before us gives an account, which is practically complete,
of what may be called the general morphology of the
mammalian intestinal tract, that is to say, of that portion
of the gut comprised between the stomach and the anus.
From his investigations the author arrives at a number of
interesting conclusions, of which only a few can be
mentioned in the limits of this article.

Starting from an ancestral type of vertebrate, in which
the alimentary canal ran a straight course through the
body, suspended by a mesentery from the dorsal wall of
the body-cavity, the gut becomes thrown into a series of
folds as the result of a process of growth, whereby it be-
comes longer than the straight length between its extreme
points. The process of elongation can be traced both
phylogenetically, by a comparison of different vertebrate
types, and ontogenetically, in the development of any given
species. The more or less complicated folding of the gut
which results involves the dorsal mesentery, and also the
blood-vessels draining from the different parts of the gut,
which tend to take short circuits between portions of the
gut approximated to each other by the process of folding.

The intestinal tract, in both birds and mammals, is
divided into two regions, anterior and posterior, by the
outgrowth at a certain point of a caecum or pair of ceca.
Probably in all cases a pair of czeca were primitively pre-
sent, as is usually the case in birds. In mammals, as a
general rule, a single caecum is formed, but in some cases
two complete czca, or a rudiment of a second in addition
to the usual one, still occur. In a few cases, however,
all trace of a caecum has disappeared entirely. The intes-
tinal tract anterior to the caecum is divisible into two
regions, the duodenum and the small intestine, or
““ Meckel’s tract,’’ as the author proposes to call it. The
latter represents only a very short portion of the primitive
straight gut, not more than two or three body-somites ;
but in nearly all birds and mammals it becomes the longest
portion of the gut, growing out to form the greater part
of what is. known as the ‘“‘ pendant loop”’ in mammalian
embryology, and is the chief absorbing portion of the gut.
The intestinal tract behind the cacum may be called the
hind-gut, and corresponds to a much larger portion of the
primitive straight alimentary canal than the duodenum
and Meckel’s tract together. In birds the hind-gut is re-
latively very short. In mammals, however, it is always
long, sometimes extremely so, and becomes divided into
two regions, the colon and the rectum. ‘The colon is often
greatly lengthened, and thrown into loops or coils. The
rectum may also be considerably lengthened, but, as a
rule, it is not very much longer than the portion of the
primitive straight gut which it represents.

In certain groups of mammals a very primitive type of
intestinal tract is still found. As the author points out,
however, likenesses which are due to the common possession
of primitive features, once possessed by the whole group,
cannot be regarded as evidence of near relationship.
Equally useless for proof of affinity are resemblances due
to the loss or reduction of parts that were once the pro-
perty of the ancestral stock. Clues to affinity must rather
be sought in resemblances depending on definite anatomicaf
peculiarities that are new acquisitions, and the more

APRIL 26, 1906]

NATURE

619

complex these structures, the more convincing the evidence
they furnish, since it then becomes so much the less prob-
able that the same anatomical device should have been
produced twice than that it should have been acquired once
only. In the Artiodactyla, for example, ‘‘ a definite case
of an anatomical peculiarity, so well marked and complex
as to be a safe guide to affinity,’’ is seen in the elongation
and spiral coiling of the proximal portion of the colon.
The Perissodactyla and rodents supply other examples of
evolution along a definite radius from the ancestral centre.
From his investigations the author deduces inferences of
importance for the general theory of evolution, especially
as regards the limitation of the possible range of variation
of organs in any set of animals which have once come to
occupy a particular radius. Further changes and elabor-
ations are then restricted by the past history, that is to
say, by the limited material which it has furnished for
further specialisation. In this way a simple explanation
is given for the definite grooves, recognised by many
writers, along which the specialisation of organisms must
necessarily move, without having recourse to the assump-
tion of any mysterious directive forces. Be ACM:

SCIENTIFIC REPORTS OF THE LOCAL
GOVERNMENT BOARD.‘

HE first half of the volume under notice is devoted to
the medical officer’s report, statistical data, and de-
tails of various inspections and inquiries by the Board’s
inspectors. The second half contains reports of the
auxiliary scientific investigations carried out for the Board.
The first of these is a memorandum by Dr. Theodore
Thomson on rats and ship-borne plague. The conclusion
arrived at is that ‘“‘ the part played by the rat in trans-
mission of plague to man, although real, falls far short
of the importance which has generally been attributed to
it.’ This may be true, but in view of the predominant
part played by the rat in the dissemination of plague in
the various Sydney epidemics, it is to be hoped that the
campaign against this rodent will in no way be relaxed.

Bearing on the same subject, Drs. Haldane and Wade
report on methods of rat destruction and disinfection on
ship-board. In this especial attention is directed to the
Clayton process, in which sulphur is burned at a high
temperature, and air charged with the products of its
combustion is pumped into the ship’s hold. The gas is
rapidly fatal to rats and other vermin, and is germicidal
to non-sporing microbes, but it does not penetrate a loaded
hold well, and has a deleterious action on certain articles.
On the whole, however, it seems to be the best method to
employ for rat destruction. Dr. Klein details further ex-
periments on the two types, virulent human and _ less
virulent rat, of the plague bacillus differentiated by him
and described in a previous report. Dr. Klein also
records some interesting observations on the influence of
symbiosis on the virulence of microbes.

An important paper on the differentiation of various
streptococci and staphylococci is contributed by Dr. M. H.
Gordon. Hitherto the differences exhibited by the members
of these classes of micro-organisms, particularly the
streptococci, have been slight and indefinite, but by making
use of culture media containing various mono-, di-, tri-,
and poly-saccharides and glucosides, important differential
characters are obtainable. Dr. Sidney Martin has con-
tinued his studies on the toxic action of microbes, dealing
in the present volume with that of the Proteus vulgaris.
The results, however, in this case are somewhat indefinite,
the toxic reaction being mainly evinced by the develop-
ment of agglutinin in the blood. Dr. Houston gives a
detailed report of the bacteriological examination of normal
human dejecta, and of the intestinal contents of sea-fowl
and of fish. All gulls contained typical B. coli in their
excrement in enormous numbers, but guillemots did not
contain B. coli of any sort. As regards fish, those obtained
“from a source seemingly above all suspicion of objection-
able contamination, may contain sometimes apparently
typical B. coli in their interior; in the great majority of

1 “ Thirty-third Annual Report of the Local Government Board, 1903-4.” |

Supplement containing the Report of the Medical Officer for 1903-4.

NO. 1904, VOL. 73]

cases the results were either wholly negative or the microbes
that were isolated proved to be atypical in character.’

Dr. Alan Green contributes further observations on
chloroformed calf vaccine which prove that the quality
of the lymph prepared by this method is of a high order.

The above brief review shows that this report contains
matter of the greatest interest and importance which
should be studied by all bacteriologists and by those to
whom the care of the public health is entrusted.

R. T. HEWLett.

INFRA-RED SPECTRA.*

“]°HE record of an enormous amount of work on the

absorption spectra of organic compounds and emission
spectra of various metals and gases in the infra-red region
is given in the volume under notice. The investigations
were commenced whilst the author was a graduate student
at Cornell University, and completed under the auspices
of the Carnegie Institution of Washington.

Even to summarise the mass of valuable information
contained would exceed the limits of our present space, but
it may be said at once that, to workers along similar and
related lines, these results, and the descriptions of the
apparatus and methods whereby they were obtained, are
indispensable.

Part i. occupies nearly seven-eighths of the whole volume,

and deals with the absorption spectra of 131 organic
compounds up to 15 uw. As is pointed out in the very
complete historical review, all previous workers in this

subject have abandoned the investigation at 7m for the
alcohols and 10 4 for some few other compounds.

The description of the apparatus and methods is ex-
haustive and invaluable. From o8p to 2-5 a quartz
prism was employed, beyond that, and up to 15m, one
made of rock-salt. The source of the radiations was a
Nernst lamp “‘ heater,’’ which gives a spectrum of which
the energy curve is smooth and continuous. A reflecting
spectrometer of 35 cm. focal length was employed for the
explorations of the spectrum up to 15, and a considerable
portion of the work up to 7-5 « was repeated with a spectro-
meter of 1 m. focal length.

The distribution of the energy in each spectrum was
determined by means of a radiometer similar to that devised
by Nicholls, but with some modifications.

The principal reasons for this investigation were the
determination of the influence of molecular weight upon
absorption spectra, and also the effect of molecular struc-
ture. The results show that in different compounds each
of these causes in turn acts separately, whilst in other com-
pounas the absorption is produced by the combined effect.

In recording the quartz-prism results the author deals
separately with each absorption band in the nineteen com-
pounds investigated, whilst in the other results the com-
pounds are treated separately, notes being made of the
chemical structure and properties of each substance where
necessary.

Numerous tables set out the numerical results in various
forms, whilst 140 full-page transmission curves show them
graphically. In addition to these the author has written
seven brief appendices dealing with side-issues in connec-
tion with the apparatus and the investigation and its
results.

In part ii. Mr. Coblentz deals with the infra-red emission
spectra of various metals, metallic chlorides (alkalies), and
gases. The metals were employed as the poles for the arc
producing the radiations, whilst the chlorides were vola-
tilisea on carbon arcs. The apparatus was very similar to
that described in part i., except for a few modifications
rendered necessary by the greater intensity and unsteadi-
ness of the radiations.

With the metals, a black-body spectrum due to the
oxides, and sufficiently strong to obliterate any emission
lines which might be present, was found, and in the alkali
chloride spectra no lines were discovered beyond 2m. Of
the gases investigated—in vacuum tubes—N was found to
be the only one having strong emission lines in its infra-
| red spectrum. CO,, CO, and the vapour of C,H,HO were

By William W. Coblentz.
(Washington, D.C, : The Carnegie Institution, 1905.)

1 “Investigations of Infra-Red Spectra.”
Pp. vi+331-

620

NATURE

[APRIL 26, 1906

found to exhibit a very strong emission band at 4-75 yp.
The emission spectrum of C,H,OH shows that a vapour
in a vacuum tube can emit a continuous spectrum.
Angstrém’s conclusions—deduced from the fact that the
total radiation increases, while the luminous radiation
decreases, with increase of pressure in the gas—that there
are two kinds of radiation present during the electrical dis-
charge are found to be in close agreement with the observed
facts. These different discharges were named ‘ regular ”’
and irregular’? (i.e. luminescence) by the previous
observer. An interesting theoretical discussion of the
action of pressure in this connection is given in the volume.

W. E.R.

DISEASES OF VINES.*

Two parts of the Annales de l'Institut Central Ampélo-
logique Royal Hongrois, devoted to two of the vine
diseases, have lately reached us.

In one of these parts (part iii.) an account is given of

the littke known disease caused by the attacks of Phyllo-
sticta Bizsozeriana. Vhe disease was first noticed in the
year 1900, and it has been kept under observation since
then, with the result that its spread has been traced in some
detail. The symptoms are somewhat similar to those of
the dreaded ‘‘ black-rot,’’ but it does not appear as if it
will prove so dangerous a parasite. In addition to a brief
life-history of the fungus, illustrated by an excellent plate,
a useful compendium of the species of Phyllosticta occurring
oi. ihe vine is given.
Part iv. contains an unusually complete account of the
grey-rot ’’ caused by Botrytis cinerea. This is one of
the parasites of the vine which the cultivator most dreads.
All aérial parts of the host-plant are attacked indis-
criminately, and quickly become covered with a greyish
or brown mould, which produces enormous quantities of
ashy-grey spores. This stage is succeeded by the form-
ation of small black sclerotia in the diseased tissues of the
stems, leaves, and fruits. Naturally the fungus has been
investigated time after time, but the researches of Istvanffi,
published in this volume, have added a number of fresh
facts to our knowledge of its life-history. In the first
place, a series of laboratory investigations was made with
the object of determining the conditions under which the
fungus brought about the infection of the host-plant. The
optimum temperature for the germination of the spores
proved to be 25° C., whilst the spores were killed by ex-
posure to a temperature of 38°C. to 41° C. The effects
of drying the spores were then investigated. One day’s
drying over sulphuric acid at laboratory temperatures, either
in light or darkness, was sufficient to kill 75 per cent. of the
spores, and desiccation for thirty-six days was fatal to all
of them. Spores previously germinated and exposed to
this treatment suffered still more severely. The results of
freezing were again seriously to diminish their germinating
capacity.

The action of a number of the commoner fungicides
on spores was then examined, with interesting results.
Thus a 1 per cent. solution of Bordeaux mixture only
prevented the germination of some 60 per cent., and a
10 per cent. solution about 10 per cent. Spores which
were allowed to dry after soaking in Bordeaux mixture all
failed to germinate. Others sown in drops on the foliage
of the host-plant not only germinated, but infected the
tissues below them. On examining the action of the con-
stituents of this mixture, lime water proved to be singu-
arly efficacious in preventing germination.

In the majority of these experiments the spores of
Monilia and of Coniothyrium were exposed to the same
conditions, with results, on the whole, similar to those
already quoted. At the same time, the life-history of the
ungus was traced in detail. Istvanffi succeeded in
germinating the sclerotia, and has settled the point once
for all that they do give rise to the apothecia of Sclero-
tinia fuckeliana. So many observers have failed to obtain
this ascigerous stage that it is well to have this definite
statement. The sclerotia retain their germinating capacity
for at least twenty-one months. Another interesting point

l'Institut Central Ampélologique Royal Hongrois,”’
(Budapest, 1905.)

“ce

1 “Annales de
tome iii., livre 5 and 4, 1905.

NO. 1904, VOL. 73]

brought out in the course of this research is that the well
known adpressoria of the fungus are the early stages in the
development of the sclerotia. In addition to the micro-
conidia observed by Brefeld and others, Istvanffi records the
production of an oidial stage.

For further details, and for methods to be adopted for
checking the spread of this pest, the original must be
consulted. It is full of points of interest to the student of
plant pathology, and makes one regret more and more
that this country possesses no institute similar to the
Central Ampélologique Royal Hongrois, where the pressing
problems of plant disease can be adequately examined.
Here we have to trust to the private individual for what
investigations are made, and he all too rarely has oppor-
tunities to make them on the comprehensive scale possible
at such an institution.

EARTHQUAKE ORIGINS.
A MONG the most interesting and important of the new
ideas, which have been introduced into seismology, in
late years, must be classed Major E. G. Harboe’s notion of
the nature of earthquake origins. Originally treated as a
point, the focus of an earthquake has long been recognised
as an area, but we are still in the habit of regarding it as
restricted in size and small in comparison with the
dimensions of the area over which the earthquake is felt.
On this hypothesis the decrease in violence is correlated
with increase in distance, and due to a gradual diminution
of intensity as the disturbance travels from its origin ;
according to Major Harloe’s conception, the focus of an
earthquake is no longer restricted in size, but ramifies,
with a varying degree of initial violence, over nearly the
whole of the seismic area.

On the generally accepted hypothesis the coseismal lines
should more or less correspond with the isoseismal, a de-
crease in violence being accompanied by an increase of
time interval, but such is far from being the case, and we
have been in the habit of attributing the irregularities to
errors of observation; Major Harboe has now shown that
another explanation is possible, and that the irregularities
in recorded times almost disappear if his hypothesis of the
nature of the origin is adopted. From the discussion of
the records of earthquakes he reaches the conclusion that
the true rate of propagation of the sensible shock is about
o-4 kilometre per second, the higher velocities obtained by
other investigators being compounded of the rate of pro-
pagation of the disturbance along the origin, and that of
the wave-motion set up by this disturbance.

This rate of propagation is that of the sensible shock,
which can be felt by human beings, and not that of the
large waves recorded by seismographs outside the seismic
area proper; the latter, the rate of propagation of which
is about 3 kilometres per second, are regarded as different
in character, and propagated in the consolidated rock at
some little depth below the surface, the sensible shock
being due to quite superficial waves propagated through
the more fissured and less coherent surface rocks.

One of the weightiest of the objections to this hypothesis
was the value of 3-28+005 km. sec. obtained by Profs.
Sekiya and Omori in 1902 from the seismic triangulation
started by Prof. Milne in 1884. This is dealt with in
vol. viii., part iii., of Gerland’s Beitrdge sur Geophystk,
where Major Harboe remarks that, in spite of the long
period over which the observations extended, only four
earthquakes seem to have given usable records from all
the stations, three earthquakes at three stations, and one
at two stations. Taking two of these earthquakes, for
which records from a number of meteorological observ-
atories have been published, he finds that the velocity and
direction of propagation, deduced from the triangulation,
lead to most discordant results at other stations, irregulari-
ties which disappear if a branch of the origin is supposed
to have traversed the field of triangulation and the disturb-
ance to have spread outwards to the stations.

Whether the hypothesis stands the test of future in-
vestigation or not, it seems to explain many previously
inexplicable anomalies, apart from those of time. It
appears to work out satisfactorily in the case of those
earthquakes by which Major Harboe has attempted to test

APRIL 26, 1906]

NATURE

it, but the only true testing must be left to investigators
of the future, for it is to be feared that in the past
seismologists have been inclined to reject, as bad, all re-
cords of time which failed to fit in with their preconceived
ideas of the direction of propagation of the shock, though
they might have fitted in with a less simple, though possibly
truer, conception of the form and extent of the earthquake
origin. R. D. OxrpuHam.

CURRENTS IN THE STRAITS OF MESSINA.

froR our knowledge of the physical conditions at the

bottom of the sea we are very largely beholden to the
enterprise of submarine cable companies; indeed, it is
difficult to imagine a more thoroughly satisfactory method
of survey than that employed by them. Duties connected
with the maintenance of cables have led to the discovery
of details in the configuration of submarine gullies, of fresh-
water outlets beneath the sea, and of alterations in the
bed of the ocean itself, which would otherwise have eluded
observation. Prof. Platania, of the Istituto Nautico of
Catania, has directed attention to another rather surprising
fact, namely, that in the Straits of Messina there are deep-
water currents of sufficient velocity to cause the interrup-
tion of the cables joining Sicily with the mainland (‘* I
cavi telegrafici e le correnti sottomarine nello stretto di
Messina,’’ reprinted from the Atti della R. Accademia
Peloritana, vol. xx.). The period under observation covers
the last forty years, during which time there have
been twenty-six interruptions; neglecting two, nineteen
occurred between November and April, and five between
May and October. The strong currents cause a continual
attrition by sand and pebbles. The rocks on the sea
bottom are swept free of mud and sand, and their rough
surfaces, thus exposed, have worn out the cables lying
upon them. In one case a cable seems to have been
corroded by a sulphurous spring. The surface currents
attain a speed of five miles an hour. They have always
been a danger to navigation, and the wrecks of two large
vessels which were lying last summer upon the Sicilian
shore show that Scylla and Charybdis have lost none of
their power. The existence of correlated strong deep-water
currents had been suspected. Biologists have long been
attracted to Messina by the plentiful harvest. of deep-sea
animals which are occasionally brought up to the surface
by a vast turmoil of waters, thus affording almost unique
opportunities. M. Thoulet and others have repeated the
classical experiments of our countryman, Captain Richard
Bolland, made in 1675 in the Straits of Gibraltar, and
have demonstrated the existence, at twenty fathoms, of an
undercurrent flowing in a contrary direction to that on
the surface, but these currents have not yet been as
systematically studied as the importance of the subject
demands. The tides, as is frequently the case in narrow
straits, as, for instance, inside the Isle of Wight, are
doubled.

A PERIODICAL FOR PALASONTOLOGISTS.

HIS new venture in scientific literature,’ which is to
appear quarterly, and leads off with a double number,
will be warmly welcomed by all paleontologists, for since
the ** Annales des Sciences Géologiques ’’ ceased to exist,
there has been no accredited journal for paleontology in
France. The ‘‘ Annales des Sciences Naturelles : Zoologie,’”’
it is true, has on occasion offered the hospitality of its
pages, but the whole of its space is not too great for the
living subject.

Material enough and to spare lies ready to hand at the
Paris Museum in collections from all parts of France and
its colonies, while it is further intended to carry on
D’Orbigny’s incompleted tasks begun in his “‘ Paleontologie
Francaise’? and ‘‘ Prodrome de Paléontologie — strati-
graphique universelle.’’ The publication of illustrations of
the yet unfigured types of the latter work, with reprints
of the author’s diagnoses, accompanied by notes and ex-

1 “Annales de Pa'éontoligie, publi¢es sous la direction de Marcellin

Roule.” Tome i. fasc. 1 and 2, Januar 6. Pp. xi . ates
(Paris : Masson et Cie.) / Ma Wigs sa

NO. 1904, VOL. 73]

621

planations, an undertaking of great merit, is begun in this
first part.

As regards guiding principles, the editor, while not wish-
ing in any way to dictate to his contributors, gently
suggests in his introduction that he has preferences. On
the one hand, he seeks memoirs on stratigraphical or purely
systematic paleontology, in which the principal object will
not be the multiplication of genera and species, holding as
he does that miewx valent des choses sans noms que des
noms sans choses. On the other, he inclines to papers
having a philosophic bearing.

With his former predilection all must be in accord,
while of the latter, the very first paper, one by the veteran
Albert Gaudry, ‘‘ Fossiles de Patagonie. Les attitudes de
quelques Animaux,’’ is an excellent example, where “‘ atti-
tudes ’’ is used to express the comparative bearing, gait,
and appearance, and not posture alone. The author points
out that in Tertiary times in Patagonia Plantigrades and
Rectigrades predominated over Digitigrades.

The editor and M. A. Thevenin give the first instalment
of a series of memoirs on the paleontology of Madagascar,
in which they deal with the molluscan fauna from newly
discovered Upper Cretaceous beds on the eastern side of
the island. Some of the species enumerated are identical
with those found by the Rev. R. Baron in the northern
and north-western districts, that were described by Mr.
R. B. Newton in the Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. for 1889
and 1895, a fact to which, however, allusion is not made.
This fauna presents considerable analogy with that which
lived during the same epoch in India.

The second contribution to the same series, by M.
Douville, treats of some nummulitic beds in Madagascar.

M. Boule adds a memoir on ‘‘ Les grands Chats des
Cavernes,’’ principally the lion, that takes the form of a
popular review of current knowledge on the subject.

The part concludes with the opening portion of the de-
scriptions and figures of D’Orbigny’s types already re-
ferred to.

Altogether there are roo pages of text, with nine photo-
type plates, besides abundant illustrations in the text, all
the figures being most excellent, and veritable works of
art.

There is, indeed, but one objection to raise, and that
is against the adoption of dual pagination, each paper
having its distinct pagination in addition to that of the
volume, because the disadvantages of this system for pur-
poses of citation far outweigh any possible benefits.

It is to be hoped that the glossy surfaced paper selected,
so suitable for modern text illustrations, though not for
type of the face employed, is not of that perishable de-
scription which we have been lately warned will deprive
future generations of the fruits of our intellectual labours.

B. B. W.

UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL
INTELLIGENCE.

CamBrIDGE.—The special board for mathematics has put
forward new proposals, both with regard to the mathe-
matical tripos and the mechanical sciences tripos, which
involve far-reaching changes. The first-named report
points out that in the opinion of the special board the
existing mathematical tripos is unsatisfactory as an examin-
ation. The special board proposes to substitute for the
present part i. a new part i., which may be taken by a
student either at the end of his first or second year. Parti.
will not qualify for a degree without further examination.
It is hoped that this part will be taken by many who pro-
pose to proceed later to study engineering or natural
sciences. The board further proposes that for the existing
part ii. a new part ii. be established, which must be taken
at the end of the third year. The position of senior
wrangler is abolished, but the class list of each part will
contain three classes, the names in each class being
arranged alphabetically. Schedules are published for each
of the proposed new parts.

With regard to the report of the mechanical sciences
tripos, the special board of mathematics suggests that
part ii. of the tripos should be abolished, and it is pro-
posed to modify part i. by the inclusion of a number of

622

NAT ORE

{APRIL 26, 1906

papers on questions of greater difficulty o1 of wider range
than the average of those now set. The other papers of
this part are, however, to be made easicr than the present
average. The board hopes to include a paper on chemistry
in the future. It is also considered to be desirable that
the examiners should be empowered to take into consider-
ation the laboratory and drawing-office work done by the
student during his course; but perhaps the most important
of the recommendations is that every candidate for the
mechanical sciences tripos, unless he has obtained honours
in one of the honours examinations of the University, must
pass a qualifying examination in elementary mathematics
and mechanics, which will be held twice a year.

The special board for biology and geology has re-
nominated Mr. F. A. Potts, of Trinity Hall, to use the
University table at Naples for four months from April 1.
Applications for the use of this table and for that at the
Marine Biological Association’s laboratory at Plymouth
should be sent in to the chairman of the special board
(Prof. Langley) on or before May. 24.

Dr. Haddon is giving a special course of lectures on
magic and savage religion on Mondays during this term.

Pror. Friepricn Czarek, of the Prague Technical High
School, has been appointed professor of botany in Czerno-
witz University. Prof. Armin Tschermak, of the University
of Halle, has been appointed professor of physiology and
medical physics in the Veterinary High School, Vienna.

It is announced by Science that Adelbert College,
Western Reserve University, has received 30,0001. from the
grandchildren of Mr. Joseph Perkins, formerly a_ trustee
of the college. The money is to be used for a department
of sociology and a chemical laboratory.

On Commemoration Day at Glasgow University on
April 18 the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws was con-
ferred upon Mr. James S. Dixon, founder of the lecture-
ship of mining in the University, and Mr. R. E. Froude,
superintendent of the Admiralty experimental works at
Haslar.

AttHouGH we are far behind other nations in govern-
mental recognition of the claims of anthropology, the uni-
versities, the older ones leading the way, are following
their Continental sisters in making it a subject of system-
atic study by providing courses of instruction and establish-
ing diplomas and other distinctions. The Oxford committee
for anthropology has just issued the regulations for the
diploma and the list of lectures for the next two terms.
It is pointed out by the committee that not only members
of the university, especially those whose work will bring
them in contact with native tribes, will benefit from the
newly-established course of study, but also those already
in contact with native races who feel the need of extend-
ing their anthropological knowledge during their ‘* long
leave.’’ The schedule of lectures shows that although
no provision can yet be made for systematic instruction
covering the whole of the very wide field in even a summary
manner, students who present themselves are sure of find-
ing helpful and stimulating teaching in all the more
important branches of the subject: the chief omission at
present is the failure to include social organisation, usually
a crux for missionaries and the untrained generally, among
subjects on which aid may be sought. The secretary of
the committee is Mr. J. L. Myres, Christ Church, from
whom all information may be obtained.

SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES.
I] ONDON.

Royal Society, F- b:uary 1.—*S A Further Communication
on the Specificity and Action in-vitro of Gastrotoxin.’’ By
Dr. Charles Bolton.

An analysis in the test-tube of the gastric cytotoxin
obtained by injecting the rabbit with guinea-pig’s stomach
cells has shown that it is a complex body. After-a single
injection there is a great increase in the hemolysin
normally occurring in the rabbit’s blood, and after further
injections an artificial hemolysin makes its appearance.
The artificial hamolysin is distinguished from the natural
hasmolysin, because the former can be complemented by
guinea-pig’s normal blood serum, whereas the latter cannot.

NO. 1904, VOL 73]

There is also present in the immune serum a substance
which agglutinates the red blood corpuscles. Closely
associated with the appearance of this artificial hemolytic
immune body is that of an agglutinin which acts upon the
gastric granules, and also that of a precipitin which acts
upon the soluble proteids of the gastric cells. By repeat-
ing the injections these substances are found to be present
in the blood for several months. Whether they are one and
the same or distinct bodies has not yet been proved.
After several injections, and not less than about five weeks
from the first, a further substance appears in the blood,
which possesses an action upon the intact gastric cells.
In spite of repeated injections this substance disappears
from the blood in about four months. It is probably of
the same nature as a hemolysin, but this point requires
proof.

The hemolytic factor is only active against blood. The
actions of the agglutinin and precipitin are not confined
to the constituents of the gastric cells, but extend to other
proteids of the body. Whether there are separate
agglutinins and precipitins for different proteids, or
whether the same substances act upon all proteids, has
not been determined; at all events, if the same bodies are
concerned in all cases, their action upon the proteids of
the stomach cells is probably greater than that upon other
proteids. Whether the gastrolysin itself is truly specific
remains to be proved.

The few experiments that have been undertaken in the
case of the human stomach indicate that the human
gastric cytotoxin is identical in constitution with that of
the lower animals.

February 8.—‘‘ Explosions of Coal-gas and Air.’’ By
Prof. Bertram Hopkinson.

The explosion of homogeneous mixtures of coal-gas and
air at atmospheric pressure and temperature is investigated
by means of platinum resistance thermometers placed at
various points in the explosion vessel. The vessel is of
dumpy cylindrical form and 6-2 cubic feet capacity, and
the mixture is fired by an electric spark at the centre.
Each thermometer consists of a loop of bare platinum wire
about 5 centimetres long and 1/1oooth inch diameter, which
is placed in series with a battery of constant potential and
a reflecting galvanometer, of short periodic time, the de-
flection of which is recorded photographically on a _ re-
volving drum. On the same drum the pressure of the gas is
recorded. The arrival of the flame at any wire is marked
by a sharp rise in its resistance, and the rate of rise, when
corrected for the time lag of the wire, gives a measure
of the velocity with which the gases about it combine.
It is found that with a mixture consisting of one volume
of gas and nine of air the flame spreads from the
spark in a somewhat irregular manner, but at a rate of
roughly 150 centimetres per second. A thermometer
placed near the spark shows a sudden rise of temperature
to about 1200° C., after which the temperature remains
nearly constant until the flame approaches the walls of
the vessel. With the rapid rise of pressure which then
occurs the adiabatic compression of the burned gas at the
centre causes the temperature there to rise to about
1900° C., with the result that the wire of the thermometer
generally melts. At a point near the walls the gas is com-
pressed to near the maximum pressure before ignition,
and the temperature consequently rises suddenly to 1200° C.
or 1300° C., and as there is little subsequent compression
there is not much further rise of temperature. Thus, in
consequence of the different treatment of the gas at
different points in the vessel, differences of temperature of
500° C. exist in the gas at maximum pressure after an
explosion of this kind. That such differences must neces-
sarily exist after an explosion even in a vessel impervious
to heat does not appear to have been noticed hitherto.
These differences are rapidly obliterated by convection
currents, but their magnitude at the moment of maximum
pressure is such as to make it impossible to obtain an
accurate estimate of the specific heat from the pressure
record after the manner of Messrs. Mallard and Le Chate-
lier. The work of these experimenters is not, however,
open to the chief objection that has hitherto been urged
against it, viz. that combustion was incomplete when they
measured the specific heat. The experiments here de-
scribed show that the combustion at any point is prac-

ApRIL 26, 1906]

tically finished 1/4oth of a second after it begins, and
that 1/30th of a second after the attainment of maximum
pressure the gas in the vessel may be regarded as a
mixture of CO,, steam, and inert gases in chemical
equilibrium.

The pressure of the ignited gas at the centre of the
vessel is increased during the spread of the flame from
one atmosphere to six. During this time it loses no heat,
and the rise of temperature observed is from 1200° C. to
1900° C. It follows that between these limits of tempera-
ture the average value of y for these gases is 1-25.

With a weaker mixture containing one volume of gas
and twelve of air the spread of the flame is very much
slower, about 2} seconds elapsing before all the gas is
burned. Owing to the slow propagation of the flame, con-
vection currents play an important part during the process
of ignition; the burned gases rise to the top of the vessel,
and the last portion of gas to be ignited is not close to the
wall, but immediately under the spark, and a short distance
from it; but though the flame is propagated very slowly,
the combustion of any given portion of gas, when once
started, proceeds almost as rapidly as in the stronger
mixture. There is no ‘‘ after-burning’’ in the sense of
the slow completion of a reaction already begun. Within
1/1oth of a second before the time of maximum pressure
some gas is still unburnt; within 1/1oth of a second after
all the gas is completely burned, and the mixture every-
where in chemical equilibrium.

Incidentally, the difference of temperature between a
fine wire immersed in the gas and the temperature of the
gas is determined by comparing the temperatures of two
wires, one having double the diameter of the other, placed
close together in the same explosion. The error due to
radiation is thus found, and it is shown that if a wire
1/50oth of an inch in diameter is getting hotter at the
rate of 1300° C. per second, then it must be 200° C. colder
than the gas surrounding it. The results are used to
find the actual temperature of the gas from that of a wire
1/roooth of an inch diameter immersed in it, and the
conclusion is drawn that the temperatures in a gas-engine
cylinder cannot be obtained by the use of a wire thicker
than this, except by applying corrections amounting to
several hundred degrees centigrade.

The bearing of the results on the question of “* after-
burning ’’ in the gas engine is discussed, and it is shown
that the high specific heat of the products of combustion,
together with some loss of heat during the passage of the
flame through the compression space, accounts for all the
peculiarities of the gas-engine diagram. The form of
diagram obtained with weak mixtures is due simply to
the very slow propagation of the flame, and not to any
delay in the attainment of chemical equilibrium at a point
which the flame has already reached.

March 15.—‘‘A Discussion of Atmospheric Electric
Potential Results at Kew, from selected Days during the
Seven Years 1898 to 1904.’’ By Dr. C. Chree, F.R.S.

The paper contains an analysis of atmospheric electricity
results at Kew on selected fine-weather days—usually ten
a month—from 1898 to 1904.

All days were excluded when rain fell or negative
potential was recorded. All data are given in absolute
measure (volts per metre). The diurnal inequalities for
individual months and the vear are represented by curves.
These all show two distinct daily maxima and minima.
The minima always occur near 4 a.m. and 2 p.m. The
times of the maxima are more variable, the day interval
between the two being longer in summer than in winter.

The highest mean potential gradient occurs in December.
Whilst the amplitude of diurnal inequality is greatest in
mid-winter, the ratio in which it stands to the mean daily
value is then least. The diurnal inequalities for the
several months are analysed in 4-wave Fourier series.
The 12-hour term is, in general, the most important; the
changes in its amplitude and phase angle throughout the
year are comparatively small. The 24-hour term is much
larger in the winter than in the summer months, and its
phase angle varies greatly. Attention is also given to the
phenomena of individual days. The difference between the
highest and lowest hourly values averages two and a half
times the amplitude of the regular diurnal inequality, and
is fully larger than the mean value for the day. ‘

NO. 1904, VOL. 73]

NATURE :

623

Of various meteorological elements temperature is found
to have much the most marked influence, high mean
potential and large diurnal range of potential being
associated with low temperature in every month of the
year, except the hottest (July).

An appendix compares the diurnal inequalities of
potential and barometric. pressure. Diurnal inequalities
were got out for each month of the year for the baro-
metric pressure at Kew for an t1-year period. The
similarity between the diurnal inequalities of the two
elements is found to be confined to the 12-hour terms;
the 24-hour terms present diametrically opposed phenomena
in the two cases. The afternoon minimum and evening
maximum of potential are in every month notably in
advance of those of barometric pressure. If any relation-
ship of cause and effect exists between the regular diurnal
changes in the two elements, the pressure change would
seem to be the effect, the potential change the cause.

Geological Society, April 4.—Mr. R S. Herries, vice-
president, in the chair.—A case of unconformity and
thrust in the Coal-measures of Northumberland: Prof.
G. A. L. Lebour and Dr. J. A. Smythe. The sections
described occur on the coast north of the Tyne, near
Whitley Sands, between Table Rocks and Briar-Dene Burn.
The base of the ‘‘ Table-Rocks Sandstone’’ is found to
rest unconformably upon a series of alternating shales and
sandstones, among which is a well-marked band of clay-
ironstone crowded with Carbonicola acuta, one of those
““ mussel-bands ’’ which are found to be perhaps the most
remarkably persistent strata in the north of England
Carboniferous rocks.—The Carboniferous succession below
the Coal-measures in North Shropshire, Denbighshire, and
Flintshire: Dr. Wheelton Hind and J. T. Stobbs. This
paper opens with a critical account of previous research
among the Carboniferous rocks of North Wales. Then
follows a detailed account of the various beds, exposed in
numerous quarries worked for road-metal, iron manufac-
ture, lime, cement, chert, or building-stone. Fossil lists
are given from each exposure of importance. A range table
is given of the chief brachiopods and corals, and the
palzontological sequence is compared with that occurring
at Bristol and in the north of England.

Chemical Society, Aoril 5.—Prof. R. Meldola, F.R.S.,
president, in the chair—An improved apparatus for measur-
ing magnetic rotations and obtaining a powerful sodium
light: W. H. Perkin, sen. The improved apparatus
consists of a short but very powerful coil carrying a
powerful electric current. The coil is cased with steel, and
has a 3-inch gun-metal tube through the centre, the interior
of this being the position of the magnetic field. The glass
measuring tubes are supported in this tube in a metal
trough which can be kept at any required temperature.
A method of obtaining a powerful sodium light was de-
scribed, which consists in heating a platinum boat contain-
ing sodium chloride by a small oxygen-coal gas flame.
This causes the sodium chloride to volatilise, and the
vapour, passing into a flame produced by a large Bunsen
burner, gives a very intense, yellow light, which can be
maintained for a long time.—The rusting of iron: G. T.
Moody. The explanation of rusting as a process involving
the production of hydrogen peroxide, as advanced by
Dunstan, is directly negatived by experimental evidence,
which shows that atmospheric corrosion results first from
the interaction of iron and carbonic acid, whereby ferrous
salt is formed, and subsequently from the more or less
complete oxidation of ferrous salt by oxygen. It is found,
moreover, that the composition of iron rust is not fairly
represented by the formula Fe,O,(OH),, as stated by the
foregoing investigator.—The estimation of carbon in soils :
A. D. Hall, N. H. J. Miller, and N. Marmu. The soil
is treated with chromic acid, and the resulting gases passed
over a short length of copper oxide. The carbon dioxide
formed is absorbed by alkali and estimated by double
titration.—Electrolysis of salts of {’-dimethylglutaric
acid: J. Walker and J. K. Weod.—Bromo- and hydroxy-
derivatives of 88B’B'-tetramethylsuberic acid: J. K. Wood.
—Some new o-xylene derivatives: G. Stallard.—A new
solvent for gold, preliminary note: J. Moir. The author
finds that gold-leaf dissolves fairly readily when floated on
an acid solution of ordinary thiocarbamide, and sofuiion

624
i
is accelerated by the presence of an oxidising agent. The
gold compound produced forms brilliant, colourless, six-

sided lozenges, and contains 45-4 per cent. of gold.—The
molecular condition in solution of ferrous oxalate, a cor-
rection: S. E. Sheppard and C. E. K. Mees.—Acetyl
and benzoyl derivatives of phthalimide and phthalamic acid :
A. W. Titherley and W. L. Hieks.—The dynamic
isomerism of phloroglucinol: E. P. Hedley. The follow-
ing conclusions were established :—(1) that in neutral solu-
tions phloroglucinol exists in both modifications, the enol
being greatly in preponderance over the keto-form ; and
(2) that this equilibrium is undisturbed vy the class of
solvent.—Studies in asymmetric synthesis, v., asymmetric
syntheses from /-bornyl pyruvate : A. McKenzie and H.
Wren.—I-Methylcyclohexylidene-(4)-acetic acid: W. H.
Perkin, jun., and W. J. Pope.—Condensation of benzo-
phenone chloride with a- and f-naphthols : G. W. Clough.
—The constitution of coerulignone (cediret), a preliminary
note: J. Moir.—A comparative crystallographic study of
the perchlorates and permanganates of the alkalis and the
ammonium radical: T. V. Barker. On comparing the
perchlorates with the permanganates, it is found that the
effect of replacing an atom of chlorine by one of manganese
is much the same as that induced by the substitution of
sulphur by selenium, say, in the sulphates of the same
metals. The crystallographic evidence for placing man-
ganese in the seventh group of the periodic classification,
so far as such evidence goes, is therefore of the strongest
possible kind.—Contribution to the theory of isomorphism
based on experiments on the regular growths of crystals
of one substance upon those of another: T. V. Barker.—
Cohstitution of salicin. Synthesis of pentamethylsalicin :
J. C. Irvine and R. E. Rose. It is shown that salicin
(and hence also helicin and populin) contains the same
y-oxidic linking as the methylglucosides and sucrose.—A
product of the action of isoamyl nitrite on pyrogallol:
A. G. Perkin and A. B. Steven. The main bulk of the

product formed in this reaction has the composition
C,H,O,, and it appears likely that it may consist of
hydroxy-o-benzoquinone.—A___ reaction of ellagic and

flavellagic acids: A. G. Perkin. Ellagic acid is oxidised
by sulphuric acid to a compound having the formula
C,,H,,O,,- Flavellagic acid yields a similar oxidation pro-
duct.—Some thio- and dithio-carbamide derivatives of
ethyleneaniline and the ethylenetoluidines: O. C. M.
Davis.

DIARY OF SOCIETIES.

THURSDAY, Apri 26.

Royat INSTITUTION, at 5.—The Digestive Tract in Birds and Mammals :
Dr. P. Chalmers Mitchell.

Soctety or ARTS, at 4.30.—Seistan, Past and Present: Colonel A. H.
McMahon.

InstiTuTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Long Flame Arc
Lamps: L. Andrews.

MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY, at 5 30.—Perpetuants and Contraperpetuants:
Prof. E. B. Elliott.—(1) A Question in the Theory of Aggregates ;
(2) The Canonical Forms of the Ternary S+xtic and Quaternary Quartic :
Prof. A. C. Dixon.—On the Question of the Existence of Transfinite
Numbers: P. E. B. Jourdain.—Some Theorems connected with Abel’s
Theorem on the Continuity of Power Series: G. H. Hardy.—On a Set
of Intervals about the Rational Numbers: A. R- Richardson.— On Two
Cubics in Triangular Relation: Prof. F. Morley.—On the Accuracy of
Interpolation by Finite Differences: W. F. Sheppard. ‘

FRIDAY, Apri 27.

Royvat INSTITUTION, at 9.—Ore Deposits and their Distribution in
Depth: Prof. J. W. Gregory, F.R.S.

InsTITUTION OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS. at 8.—Petroleum Fuel in
Locomotives on the Tehuantepec National Railroad of Mexico: Louis
Greaven.

PuysicaL SOCIETY, at 5.

AERONAUTICAL SOCIETY, at 8.—The Use of the Balloon in the National
Antarctic Expedition: Captain Robert Faleon Scott, R.N.—The
Experiments of the Brothers Wright: Sir Hiram S. Maxim.—The
Carrying Power of Aéroplanes: M. José Weiss.

MONDAY, ArRix 30

INSTITUTE OF ACTUARIES, at 5.—Reversionary Securities as Investments :
Cc. R. V. Coutts.

TUES DAY, May t.

Society ar ARTS, at 4.30.—Social Conditions in Aus ralia: Hon. J. G.
Jenkins, Agent-General for South Australia.

ZooLoGicaL SvciETY, at 8.30.—Additi nal Notes on Anthropoid Apes,
with Exhibition of Specimens: Hon Walter Rothschild —On Mammals
collected in South-west Australia by Mr. W. E. Ralston: Oldfield
Thomas, F.R.S.—On the Lepidoptera collected during the Recent
Expedition to Tibet: H. J. Elwes, F.R.S., and Sir George Hampson,
Bart.

NO. 1904, VOL. 73]

NATURE

Society oF Pustic ANALYsTS, at 8.—The Estimation of Fat in Homo-

CHEMICAL SOCIETY, at 8.30.—Tbe Relation between Absorption-Spectra

Civit anp MECHANICAL ENGINEERS’ SOCIETY, af 8.—Some Observations

93105

[ApRIL 26, 1906

WEDNESDAY, May 2. }

INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS, at 3.—The Fourteenth ‘‘ James
Forrest” Lecture: Unsolved Problems in Metallurgy: R. A. Hadfield.
SociETY OF ARTS, at 8.—Submarine Signalling: J. B. Millet. z
ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY, at 8. :

Butter: Dr.
Detection of Cyanogen in Java and other Beans:
R. T. Thomson.—On the Examination of Linseed, Olive and Other
Oils: R. T. Thomson and H. Dunlop. <q
THURSDAY, May 3- .
Rovat Society, at 4.—Election of Fellows.—At 4.30.—Probable Papers:
On a Static Method of Comparing the Densities of Gases: Prof. R. Threifa!
F.R.S.—The Stability of Submarines: Sir William H. White, K.C.B.
F.R.S.—The Action on Bacteria of Electrical Discharges of High
Potential and Rapid Frequency: A. G. R. Foulerton and A. M. Kellas.
—The Action of Pituitary Extracts upon the Kidney: Prof. E. A.
Schafer, F.R.S., and P. T. Herring.
RoyaL INSTITUTION, at 5.— The Digestive Tract in Birds and Mammals:
Dr. P. Chalmers Mitchell. *

and Chemical Constitution, part v. : The 7soNitroso-compounds: E. C. C.
Baly, E. G. Marsden, and A W. Stewart.—The Action of Tribromo-
propane on the Sodium Derivative of Ethyl Malonate, part ii.) We Be
Perkin, jun., and J. L. Simonsen.—Brazilin and Hematoxylin, part”
vii, Some Derivatives of Brazilein: P. Engels, and W. H. Perkin,
jun.—Pipitzahoic Acid : M. Sanders.—The Constitution of the —
Hydroxides and Cyanides obtained from Acridine, Methyl-acridine and
Phenanthridine Methiodides: C. K. Tinkler.—The Constitution of Am-
monium Amalgam: EK. M. Rich and M. W. Travers.—Action of Light
on Potassium Ferrocyanide: G. W. A. Foster.

Linnean Socigty, at 8.—Origin of Gymnosperms (Continuation of Dis-
cussion): Dr. D. H. Scott, F.R.S. '

on Bacterial ‘l'ank Operations: Dr. W. O. Travis.

CONTENTS.

PAGE
The New Organic Chemistry. By W.J. P. .... 601
The System of the Fixed Stars. By W.E.P... . 603
A Physiological Study of the British Flora ... . 604
Our Book Shelf :— te
“Rowing and Track Athletics” ....... .-. 605-
Huffel: ‘‘ Economie Forestitre” : . . 2 = 2 las 608,
Luciani: ‘‘ Physiologie des Menschen.”—Dr. J. A.
Milroy ; : aches 8 606 —
Baccioni: ‘*Seta Artificiale” <) <9 25)
Classen: ‘‘Zwolf Vorlesungen iiber die Natur des
Lichtes!? o. (a ign vs... in tae inte? cee
Moye: ‘A la Poursuite d’une Ombre” .... - . 606
Correns: ‘‘ Ueber Vererbungsgesetze” .. - . 606
Letters to the Editor: —
Diurnal Variation of Ionisation in Closed Vessels.—
Dr. O. W. Richardson . . yi See 607
The New Spot on Jupiter.—W. F. Denning . .. 07
Utilisation of Nitrogen in Air by Plants.—Thos. :
Jamieson; A. D. H. A : ar A
A Horizontal Rainbow.—W. R. M. Church . . . 608
The San Francisco Earthquake of April 18. By

Dr. G. Davison 2 2 2... di er
The Life of the Australian Blacks, (J///ustrated.) By ’

N. W. T. : noe +e ate, le eer re
Boric Acid as a Food Preservative ..... Orr
Prof. W..F. R: Weldon, FUR.S: 2-2) eee 6LE
Prof. Pierre Curie.) By FS: |.) ic.) <\scuieateeenems eee
Notes. 6 6 8 Spe fer os Hers, re) eels) 613
Our Astronomical Column :— ;

Employment of Selenium Cells during Total Solar
Eclipse 4.050... 4 s +5 19h
Catalogue of Pleiades Stars... - .. 55-2. Ree
The Total Solar Eclipse of the Sun of January, 1907 . 7
Observations of Nebulze PP ck oe
A Large Photographic Nebula in Scorpio . . ~~. . 919
Canadian Tides 3 odo) 8. gat “etl hese ey ‘3
The Intestinal Tract of Mammals. By E. A. M. is

Scientific Reports of the Local Government Board.

By Prof. R. T. Hewlett . er Gs ak.
Infra-Red Spectra. By W. E.R. ... .2 2 aD
Diseases of Vines: ... Wun). +) .\.0 teu pen a
Earthquake Origins. By R.D. Oldham..... 620
Currents in the Straits of Messina ........ 62!
A Periodical for Palezontologists. By B.B.W.. ©

University and Educational Intelligence ..... ©
Societies and Academies... .......+-++-.
Diary of Societies) -2.:0.5.0 s:-.. . cient) pean ennen mE

a
hal

|

hl

INSTITUTION LIBRAR

I

3 9088 01359 6697

Ii