sopaaes ee ON a Boeosrses hemmtarteonasnaeeainteeesboe ike vl fi Os (ky, ( pal 7 hl is linea Kt bal ye Ta Was Whe nila \ i vi Ge 7 a ih Ni aI ni i aes ' ay \ ae Ni Nature, ] July 22, 19°9 Nature A WEEKLY ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL OF SCIENCE Nature, July 22, 190¢ << Nature AY WEEKEY Nature, July 22, 19 [ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL OF SCIENCE VOEWUME SOX MARCH to JUNE, 1909 “ Ty the solid ground } Of Nature trusts the mind which builds for aye.’ —\WWoRDSWORTH 2013 Qs Wondon NeANGeVielsients ACN AcgNeDEG@@s limite NEW YORK: THE MACMILLAN COMPANY [ Nature, July 22, 1909 RICHARD CLAY AND Sons, LIMITED, BREAD STREET HILL, E.C., AND BUNGAY, SUFFOLK. Nature, July 22, 1909 INDESS Assot (Mr.), the Determination of the Solar Constant, 468 Abbot (W. J. Lewis), Mammoth Skeleton, 225 Abbott (George), the Colours of Leaves, 429 Abel (O.), Bau und Geschichte der Erde, 367 Abruzzi (H.R.H. Prince Luigi Amedeo of Savoy, Duke of the), Ruwenzori: an Account of the Expedition of, F. de Filippi, Prof. J. W. Gregory, F.R.S., 281 Absorption of Light, Electrons and the, R. A. Houston, 338 Acoustics : Thermal Effects of a Musical Arc, M. La Rosa, 29, 89; the Gramophone as a Phonautograph, Prof. John G. McKendrick, F.R.S., 188 Acquired Character, the Inheritance of, Dr. Wm. Woods Smyth, 277 Acquired Characters in Plants, the Heredity of, Rev. Prof. George Henslow, 93 Actinium, the Radio-active Deposits of, S. Russ, 8 Adams (W. Poynter), Motor-car Mechanism and Manage- ment, 33 Adams (Prof. W. S.) the Rotation of the Sun, 141 Adler (E.), New Electrical Hardening Furnace, 209 Adriatic, the Shores of the, the Austrian Side, F. Hamilton Jackson, 274 Aérolite, Fall of an, in Mokoia, New Zealand, on Novem- ber 26, 1908, W. F. Denning, 128 Aéronautics: the Aéro and Motor Boat Exhibition, 111; Count Zeppelin’s Airship, 165; Count Zeppelin’s Ascent, May 29, 405; the Royal Prussian Aéronautical Observa- tory’s Aérological Expedition to Tropical East Africa, Profs. R. Assmann and A. Berson, 171; International Balloon Observations made by the Bavarian Meteor- ological Service, 199; Aérodonetics, F. W. Lanchester, Prof. G. H. Bryan, F.R.S., 221; Artificial and Natural Flight, Sir Hiram S. Maxim, Prof. G. H. Bryan, F.R.S., 221; Recent Progress in Aéronautics, Major George O. Squier, Prof. G. H. Bryan, F.R.S., 223; the Stabilisa- tion of Aéroplanes, Etienne Maigre, Prof. G. H. Bryan, F.R.S., 223; Astronomische Ortsbestimmung im Ballon, Prof. Adolf Marcuse, Dr. William J..S. Lockyer, 244; the Government and Aéronautical Research, Prof. G. H.Bryan, F.R.S., 313; the International Commission for Scien- tific Aéronautics, 354; Rubber Balloons, Prof. Assmann, 354; Method of Ventilating the Instrument during Ascent, Prof. Assmann, 354; Theoretical Applications of Upper-air Observations, Prof. Bjerknes, 355; Results of Theodolite Observations on Ballons sondes at Trappes, Teisserenc de Bort, 355; Experiments to determine the Rate of Ascent of Rubber Balloons in Still Air, Prof. Hergesell, 355; Award of the Osiris Prize to Louis Blériot and Gabriel Voisin, 499 Aflalo (F. G.), Sunset Playgrounds : Others in California and Canada, 431 Africa: the Royal Prussian Aéronautical Observatory’s Aérological Expedition to Tropical East Africa, Profs. R. Assmann and A. Berson, 171; die Bliitenpflanzen Afrikas, Franz Thonner, Dr. Otto Stapf, F.R.S., 333; the Ore Deposits of South Africa, J. P. Johnson, 305; Rock-engravings in South Africa, L. Péringuey, 411; Corr., R. Lydekker, 438 Fishing Days and Agamennone (Dr. G.), Seismological Service established in | Italy after the Riviera Earthquake of February 23, 1887, 438 Age, Growth, and Death, the Problem of, a Study of Cytomorphosis, Prof. Charles S. Minot, 335 Agriculture: Peat Deposits of Connecticut, 48; Scientific Aid for the British Tenant Farmer, 51; Breeding for Milk, 77; Correlations of Areas of Matured Crop and the Rainfall and Certain Allied Problems in Agriculture and Meteorology, S. M. Jacob, 89; Elementary Agricultural Chemistry, Herbert Ingle, Dr. E. J. Russell, 93; Agri- cultural Education, 101; Crows and Poultry, 106; Analyses of Brewers’ and Distillers’ Grains, Messrs. Fagan and Allan, 106; American Insect Pests, Dr. Ball, 138; Dr. Chittenden, 138; W. D. Hunter, 138; Indian Wheats, 138; Manurial Experiments on Wheat in South Australia, 198; Lucerne, 198; Some Aspects of the Wheat Problem, Dr. E. J. Russell, 282; Economic Value of Australian Pasture Grasses, F. Turner, 139; the Dry-rot of Potatoes, Sibyl Longman, 148; Black Scab or Potato- wart, Prof. T. Johnson, 179; the Powdery Scab of the Potato Spongospora subterranea, Prof. T. Johnson, 389; the Experimental Breeding of Indian Cottons, Part ii., on Buds and Branching, H. Martin Leake, 150; Cotton- growing in the West Indies, West Indian Bulletin, the Journal of the Imperial Agricultural Department for the West Indies, 164; Prickly Pear as Cattle Food, 167; the Journal of the South-eastern Agricultural College, Wye, Kent, 170; Parasites of the Cotton-worm, Mr. Jemmett, 197; Rainfall Conditions of Transvaal, Mr. Macdonald, 198; Plants Poisonous to Stock, J. Burtt- Davy, 225; Agriculture at Grenada, 286; Importation of Sugar-canes, Regulations for British Guiana, 286 ; Sussex Cattle, H. Rigden, 317; Effects of Nitrogen-fixing Bac- teria on the Growth of Non-Leguminous Plants, Prof. W. B. Bottomley, 327; the Fertilisation of Tea, George A. Cowie, 385; Two New Parasites of the Black-currant Mite, Miss A. M. Taylor, 447; Relations between the Permeability of Soils and their Aptitude for Irrigation, A. Muntz and L. Faure, 449; Injurious Insects observed in Ireland during 1908, Prof. G. H. Carpenter, 479 Aitken (Dr. J.), a Simple Radioscope and a Radiometer for showing and measuring Radio-activity, 478 Alaska, ein Beitrag zur Geschichte nordischer Kolonisa- tion, Prof. H. Erdmann, 121 Aldrich (L. B.), the Determination of the Solar Constant, 68 Alecia (W.), the Streletz Steppe, 500 Algze, Fresh-water, from Burma, including a few from Bengal and Madras, W. West and G. S. West, 125 Algebra, School, W. E. Patterson, 426 Algué (Prof. José), Meteorological Conditions in the Philip- pine Islands, 1908, 299 Allan (Mr.), Analyses of Brewers’ and Distillers’ Grains, 106 Alleroft (A. Hadrian), Earthwork of England, Prehistoric, Roman, Saxon, Danish, Norman, and Medizval, 69 Allen (H. Stanley), the Photo-electric Fatigue of Zinc, 178 Altea and their Industrial Applications, E. F. Law, 243 Alpine and Bog Plants, Reginald Farrer, 344 vi Lndex Nature, July 22, 19¢9 Alternating Circuit of Parallel Wires, the Simple Equivalent of an, Dr. J. W. Nicholson, 247 Amaftounsky (M. A.), the Constitution of the Sun, 51 America: Higher Education in the United States, 112; Physiological and Medical Observations among the Indians of South-western United States and Northern Mexico, AleS Hrdlicka, 126; the American Philosophical Society, 443; Notes of a Botanist on the Amazon and Andes, Richard Spruce, 458; American and Canadian Waterways, 461; American Philosophy, the Early Schools, Prof. J. W. Riley, 489 Amulets, Tibetan and Burmese, Dr. W. L. Hildburgh, 387 Anatomy: the Intracranial Vascular System of Sphenodon, Prof. A. Dendy, 268-9; Brains of Two White Philo- sophers and of Two Obscure Negroes Compared, Prof. B. G. Wilder, 443; Anatomical Results of Excavations in Nubia, Drs. G. Elliot Smith and Douglas E. Derry, 466 Ancestry of the Marsupialia, the, Prof. Jas. P. Hill, 159; the Writer of the Note, 159 André (Ch.), les Planétes et leur Origines, 274 Andrewes (Dr.), Micro-organisms Present in Sewer Air, 203 Andrewes (Ewart S.), the Theory and Design of Structures, 4 Animal World, the Transformations of the, Charles Depéret, 452 Animals at Home, W. P. Westell, 192 Anschiitz (Prof. Richard), Life and Chemical Worl of Archibald Scott Couper, 329 Anstey (H. C.), Applications of the Internal-combustion Engine to Marine Propulsion, 173 Antarctica: Return of the British Antarctic Expedition, 102; Lieut. Shackleton’s Antarctic Expedition: (1) Explorations and Results, (2) the South Magnetic Pole, Dr. C. Chree, F.R.S., (3) Meteorological Observations, W. H. Dines, F.R.S., (4) Biological Results, 130; Scien- tific Achievements of British Antarctic Expedition under Lieut. Shackleton, 377; Report on the Scientific Results of the Voyage of S.Y. Scotia during the Years 1902, 1903, and 1904, under the Leadership of Dr. William S. Bruce, Vol. iv., Zoology, Part i., Zoological Log, David W. Wilton, Dr. J. H. Harvie Pirie, and R. N. Rudmose Brown, vol. v., Zoology, Invertebrates, 161; National Antarctic Expedition, 1901-4, Album of Photographs and Sketches, 460; the French Antarctic Expedition, Com- munication from Dr. J. B. Charcot, 285 Anthropology: Reports of the Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to Torres Straits, Vol. vi., Sociology, Magic and Religion of the Eastern Islanders, 9; Curious Device for cheating Death, H. C. Brown, 48; Proportion of Sexes produced by Whites and Coloured Peoples in Cuba, Walter Heape, 57; an Imperial Bureau of Anthropology, Dr. A. C. Haddon, F.R.S., 73; Canoe Ornamental Carv- ings from South-eastern British New Guinea, Dr. Selig- mann, 106; the Veddas, Dr. C. G. Seligmann, 119; Photographs of the Veddas of Ceylon and of their Cere- monial Dances, Dr. C. G. Seligmann, 349; Royal Anthro- pologial Institute, 119, 298, 359, 387; Origin of the Terms of Human Relationship, A. Lang, 139; Moun- taineers of the Euphrates, E. Huntingdon, 167; German Anthropological Papers, 204; the Nuraghi of Sardinia, Dr. Duncan Mackenzie, 226; Australian Kinship, Dr. A. Lang, 247; Native Man in Southern India, E. Thurston, 257; the Blackfeet Indians of Montana, W. MacClintock, 298; the Romanichels, Bob Skot, 318; Baskets used in Repelling Demons, Kumagusu Mina- kata, 369; Crania and Bones from Ancient Ruins in Rhodesia, Dr. F. C. Shrubsall, 379; Tibetan and Bur- mese Amulets, Dr. W. L. Hildburgh, 387; Cranial Capacity of Fossil Men of the Type known as Nean- derthal, Marcellin Boule, 390; der Unterkiefer des Homo Heidelbergensis aus den Sanden von Mauer bei Heidel- berg, Otto Schoetensack, Dr. William Wright, 398; Origin of the People of Egypt, Dr. Elliot Smith, 407 ; Origin of the Turkish Crescent, Prof. Ridgeway, 407 ; the Burning Bush and the Origin of Judaism, Prof. P. Haupt, 444; Human Skeleton discovered in Cavern of Le Moustier, Dordogne, Dr. Ludwig Reinhardt, 466 ; Skeleton of the Fossil Man of La Chapelle-aux-Saints, Marcellin Boule, 480; Pre-animistic Stages in Savage Religion, E. Clodd, 501; European Population of the United States, Prof. W. Z. Ripley, 501 Apiculture, Problems of, Dr. W. Malden, 356 Apnoea, the Production of Prolonged, in Man, W. G. Royal-Dawson, 8; Dr. H. M. Vernon, 39 April Meteors, John R. Henry, 188 Aquarium of the New York Zoological Society, 500 Arboriculture : Mitteilungen der deutschen dendrologischen Gesellschaft, 325 Archeology : Excavation of Celtic Rubbish-heap near Oare, Mrs. M. E. Cunnington, 17; Geographical and Archzo- logical Explorations in Chinese Turkestan in 1906-8, Dr. M. A. Stein, 47; Earthwork of England, Prehistoric, Roman, Saxon, Danish, Norman, and Mediwval, A. Hadrian Allcroft, Rev. John Griffith, 69; the Botallek Circles, Sir Norman Lockyer, K.C.B., F.R.S., 97; Canoe Ornamental Carvings from South-eastern British New Guinea, Dr. Seligmann, 106; Palzolithic Implements, &e., from Hackpen Hill, Winterbourne Bassett, Rev. H. G. O. Kendall, 118; Stone Implements of the French Older Palzolithic Age, Dr. Hugo Obermaier, 139 ; Hand- book for Egypt and the Sudan, 155; Palolithic Vessels of Egypt, or the Earliest Handiwork of Man, Robert de Rustafjaell, 246; the Tomb of Horemheb, Egypt, A. E. P. Weigall, 437; Memoirs of the Peabody Museum of American Archeology and Ethnology, Harvard Univer- sity, Explorations in the Department of Petén, Guatemalo and Adjacent Region, T. Maler, 160; Roman Metal- worl: found at Deep Dale Cave, W. Turner, 198; the Nuraghi of Sardinia, Dr. Duncan Mackenzie, 226; Open- ings in Knap Hill Camp, Wiltshire, Mrs. M. E. Cunning- ham, 287; the Uses and Dates of Ancient Temples, Sir Norman Lockyer, K.C.B., F.R.S., 340; Ancient Sarco- phagi used in Modern Interments, 351; Stone Circles in Ireland, A. L. Lewis, 359; Steatite Figures (Nomori), T. A. Joyce, 437; Early Civilisation in Northern Greece, Messrs. Wace, Droop, and Thomson, 437; Anatomical Results of Excavations in Nubia,.Drs. G. Elliot Smith and Douglas E. Derry, 466; the Welsh Gorsedd, Rev. W. Griffith, 468; Wall-paintings of Altamira Cavern, Lotus Péralté, 501; United States National Museum Collection of Rosaries, I. M. Casanowicz, 502 Architecture: the Planning of Fever Hospitals and Dis- infecting and Cleansing Stations, Albert C. Freeman, 185 Ardern (Edward), Principles of Sewage Treatment, Prof. Dunbar, 5; Sewer Construction, Prof. Henry N. Ogden, 5; Modern Methods of Sewage Disposal, W. H. Trentham and J. Saunders, 5 Armstrong (Prof. Henry E., F.R.S.), British Association, Winnipeg Meeting, 159 Ascherson (P.), das Pflanzenreich, Potamogetonacee, 424 Ascoli (W. S.), the Guatemalan Earthquakes and Eruption of 1902, 35 Ashworth (J. R.), Is there a Vertical Magnetic Force in a Cyclone? 4o ; Asia: the Morphology of Asia, 91; Dr. Sven Hedin on Central Asia, 372 Asiatic Society of Bengal, 89, 150 Aspinall (John A. F.), the Electrification of Railways, Address at Institution of Mechanical Engineers, 260 Assheton (Ric.), the Germ-layer Theory, 492 Assmann (Prof. R.), the Royal Prussian Aéronautical Observatory’s Aérological Expedition to Tropical East Africa, 171; Rubber Balloons, 354; Method of Ventilat- ing the Instrument during Ascent, 354 Association of Teachers in Technical Institutions, the, 446 Association of Technical Institutions, the Functions of Technical Colleges, Dr. George T. Beilby, F.R.S., at, 22 Astrographic Conference at Paris, the, 440 Astronomy: the Meteoric Fireball of February 22 and its Streak, W. F. Denning, 13; the Meteoric Streak of February 22, W. F. Denning, 42; Fireball of February 22, W. F. Denning, 69; the Spectra of Various Nebula, Prof. Wolf, 19; the Proposed Programme of Work for the Reynolds Reflector at Helwan, Egypt, Knox Shaw, 19; Our Astronomical Column, 19, 50, 79, 108, 141, 160, 200, 228, 259, 288, 320, 353, 380, 409, 430, 468, 502; Ob- servations of Comet Tempel,-Swift, Prof. Barnard, 19; Comet Temple,-Swift, 1908d, M.M. Ramband and Sy, 79; the Levels of Sun-spots, A. W. Dobbie, 19 ; Sun-spots Nature, on Eely az ceed Index Vil and Solar Temperature, Mr. Evershed, 169; a New Curtis, 321; Prof. W. H. Wright, 321; the Circularity of “ Cave-nebula ’’ in Cepheus, Prof. Wolf, 19; the Recent Magnitude of Nova Persei, Prof. Nijland, 19; Double- star Measures, Prof. Burnham, 19; Measures of Double Stars, Dr. Lau and Herr Luplau-Janssen, 200; Anomalous Refraction and Spectroheliograph Results, Prof. Julius, 50; the Constitution of the Sun, J. F. Hermann Schulz, 51; M. A. Amaftounsky, 51; the Rota- tion of the Sun, Prof. W. S. Adams, 141; Partial Eclipse of the Sun in Canada, Dr. Downing, 320; Hale’s Solar Vortices, A. Brester, 79; Pressure in the Sun’s Atmo- sphere, MM. Fabry and Buisson, 229; the Upper Layers of the Solar Atmosphere, M. Deslandres, 354; Recent Solar Researches, Prof. Ricco, 288; the Present Solar Activity, W. E. Rolston, 320; Critical Examination of the Monochromatic Images of the Sun with the Hydrogen Lines, H. Deslandres and L. d’Azambuja, 389; Un- symmetrical Enlargement of the Lines of the Arc Spec- trum and their Comparison with those of the Solar Spectrum, Ch. Fabry and H. Buisson, 389; Changes in the Figure and Dimensions of the Sun, Prof. Moulton, 439; the Determination of the Solar Constant, Messrs. Abbot and Fowle, jun., L. B. Aldrich, 468 ; Stellar Evolu- tion, Prof. Moulton, 79; Radial Velocity of a Persei, F. Goos, 51; a Catalogue of 1625 Southern Stars, Ernest Cooke, 51; the Melbourne Observatory, Mr. Baracchi, 51 ; the Cape Observatory, 79; the Botallek Circles, Sir Norman Lockyer, K.C.B., F.R.S., 97; Photographs of Morehouse’s Comet, 1908c, Rev. Joel Metcalf, 108 ; Spec- trum of the Comet 1908c (Morehouse), A. de la Baume- Pluvinel and F. Baldet, 149; Prof. Hartmann, 380; Posi- tions of Morehouse’s (1908c) Comet, Dr. Ebell, 169; Observations made at Meudon Observatory on More- house’s Comet, H. Deslandres, A. Bernard, and J. Bosler, 179 ; Comet Morehouse, 1908c, Prof. F. Ristenpart, 260; Observations of, Mr. Motherwell, 200; Theory to Account for Changes in the Tail of Comet c 1908, Prof. E. E. Bamard, 444; Relation between the Magnitudes and Colours of Stars, Herren Miiller and Kempf, 108; Colours and Magnitudes of Stars, Mr. Franks, Miss Bell, 288; Photographic Determination of the Colours of the Stars, Oesten Bergstrand, 299; a Remarkable Promin- ence, Father Chevalier, 108; a Treatise on Spherical Astronomy, Sir Robert Ball, F.R.S., 123; Fall of an Aérolite in Mokoia, New Zealand, on November 26, 1908, W. F. Denning, 128; Transactions of the International Union for Cooperation in Solar Research, 134; Astro- nomical Occurrences in April, 141; in May, 259; in June, 409; Common Motions of the Principal Urse Majoris Stars, Dr. Ludendorff, 141; the Surface of Rotat- ing Mercury as a Reflecting Telescope, Prof. R. W. Wood, 141; Photographs of the Earthshine on the Moon, M. Quénisset, 141; Cosmical Matter in Space, Prof. Newall, 142; Observations of Variable Stars, Prof. Nijland, 142; Systematic Motion of the Stars, Prof. Dyson, 148; the Gases of the Ring Nebula in Lyra, Prof. Bohuslay Brauner, 158; Position of Daniel’s (1907d) Comet, H. H. Kritzinger, 169; Recent Observations of Daniel’s Comet, 1907d, Prof. Wolf, 410; the Apparent Dispersion of Light in Space, Prof. Lebedew, 169; Coloured Stars in the Globular Cluster M. 13, Prof. Barnard, 169; the United States Naval Observatory, 170; Astronomy of To-day, Dr. Cecil G. Dolmage, William E. Rolston, 181; April Meteors, John R. Henry, 188; In- ternational Chart of the Heavens, 193; Diameter and Position of Mercury, Prof. Stroobant, 200; Mercury as an Evening Star, 320; the Watican Observatory, 200; a Chinese Planisphere, E. B. Knobel, 209; the 60-inch Reflecting Telescope of the Mount Wilson Observatory, California, Dr. G. W. Ritchey, 209; Royal Astronomical Society, 209, 387; Moving Force of Terrestrial and Celes- tial Bodies in Relation to the Attraction of Gravitation, Dr. H. Wilde, 209; Mars as the Abode of Life, Percival Lowell, 212; the ‘‘ Original’’ Canals of the Martian Doubles, Prof. Lowell, 260; Mars, Prof. Lowell, 353; Develop- ment of Martian Canals, Prof. Lowell, 288; Halley’s Comet, Mr. Crommelin, 228; the Meteoric Shower of Halley’s Comet, W. F. Denning, 259; the Spectra of Nebuiz, Prof. Wolf, Dr. Eberhard, 229; Orbits of Spec- troscopic Binaries, R. H. Baker, F. C. Jordan, 229 ; Spec- troscopic Binaries, Prof. Campbell, 321; Dr. Heber D. Planetary Orbits, Prof. T. J. J. See, 229; Astronomische Ortsbestimmung im Ballon, Prof. Adolf Marcuse, Dr. William J. S. Lockyer, 244; Persistent Trail of a Meteor on March 14, Edward J. Steer, 248; Harvard Observa- tory Expedition to the Elevated Plateau of South Africa, 250; Harvard College Observatory, Prof. Pickering, 321; Annals of the Astronomical Observatory of Harvard College, a Search for a Planet beyond Neptune, W. H. Pickering, 463; Chromospheric Calcium Lines in Furnace Spectra, Dr. A. S. King, 260; Mount Wilson Solar Observatory Report, Prof. Hale, 260; Determination of the Solar Parallax from Observations of Eros, Arthur R. Hinks, 270; the Solar Parallax from Observations of Eros, Prof. Perrine, 468; les Planétes et leur Origines, Ch. André, 274; the Gravitative Strain upon the Moon, Evan McLennan, 276; Sir Oliver Lodge, F.R.S., 307; Occulta- tions of Planets, Dr. Downing, 288; SS Aurige (31.1907) an Irregular Variable, Prof. Hartwig, 288; a Group of Red Stars in Sagittarius, Mrs. Fleming, 288; the Calculation of Cometary Orbits, Prof. Kobold, 288 ; Photometric Observations at Catania, A. Bemporad, 288 ; the Intra-Mercurial Planet Problem, Prof. Campbell, 320; Dr. Perrine, 320; the Uses and Dates of Ancient Temples, Sir Norman Lockyer, K.C.B., F.R.S., 340; Jupiter, Prof. Lowell, 353; a Remarkable Transit of Jupiter’s Third Satellite, Mr. Innes, 409 ; the Perturba- tions of Brooks’s Comet (1889 V) by Jupiter in 1886, Prof. Poor, 410; G. Deutschland, 410; Spectra of some Spiral Nebulz and Globular Star Clusters, E. A. Fath, 354; a General Solution of the Spectroheliograph, M. Des- landres, 380; the Brightness of the Corona, Prof. Per- rine, 380; a Standard Scale of Photographic Magnitudes, Prof. Pickering, 380; the Origins of Satellites, Prof. See, 380; the Orbit of € Bodtis, Prof. Doberck, 380; the Birth of Worlds, Prof. A. W. Bickerton, 380; Spectro- scopic Comparison of o Ceti with Titanium Oxide, A. Fowler, 387; the Spectrum of Magnesium in Hydrogen, E. E. Brooks, 410; Dispersion of Light in Interstellar Space, Dr. Ch. Nordmann, 409; the Variable Star 6.1909, Ursze Majoris, Prof. Wolf, 410; the Rings of Saturn, Prof. Levi-Civito, 439; Camera Objectives for Spectrographs, Mr. Plaskett, 440; the Astrographic Con- ference at Paris, 440; Solar Activity and Terrestrial Mag- netic Disturbances, Dr. L. A. Bauer, 444; the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, 446; Death of Prof. Carl N. J. Borgen, 464; the Ensuing Return of the Perseid Meteors, 468; a Double Image Coelostat for determining the Moon’s Position, Mr. Wade, 468; Discovery of a Comet, 1goga, Mr. Daniel, 502; M. Javelle, 502; Prof. Kobold, so2; M. Borrelly, 502; Elements and Ephemeris for Winnecke’s Comet, 1909, Prof. Hillebrand, 502; the Recent Lunar Eclipse, June 3, MM. Borrelly and Coggia, 502; J. H. Elgie, 503; the Photoheliometer, Prof. Poor, 503; the Errors of Position of Images Photographed through Glass, Dr. Schlesinger, 503 ’ Astrophysics: the Yielding of the Earth to Disturbing Forces, Prof. A. E. H. Love, F.R.S., at Royal Society, 252; the Gravitative Strain upon the Moon, Evan McLennan, 276; Sir Oliver Lodge, F.R.S., 307 Atkins (W. R. G.), Osmotic Pressures of the Blood and Eggs of Birds, 179 f Atlantic, General Results of the Meteorological Cruises of the Otaria on the, in 1905, 1906 and 1907, L. Teisserenc de Bort and Prof. A. Lawrence Rotch, 219 Atlas of the Empire, an, 213 Atmosphere, Ionisation in the, Prof. A. S. Eve, 36 Atmosphere, the Isothermal Layer of the, E. Gold, 68 Atmosphere, the Upper Layers of the Solar, M. Deslandres, 354 Atmosphere, FeReS:, 127; 3973 J. P. Cave, 456 Atoms, Radio-activity in Relation to Morozoff’s Theory of the Constitution of, Prof. B. de Szyszkowski, 276 SS Aurige (31-1907) an Irregular Variable, Hartwig, 288 ; % Austerweil (Géza), New Method of Isomerisation in the Terpene Series, 330 Australian Kinship, Dr. A. Lang, 247 Temperature of the Upper, Dr. GC. ‘Chree; W. H. Dines, F.R.S., 455; Charles Prof. vill L[ndex Nature, July 22, 1y09 Austrian Side, the, the Shores of the Adriatic, F. Hamil- ton Jackson, 274 Avasia (D. N.), Lac Cultivation in India, 436 Avery (Messrs. W. and T., Ltd.), New 300-ton Universal Testing Machine, 408 Aviation: Aérodonetics, F. W. Lanchester, Prof. G. H. Bryan, F.R.S., 221; Artificial and Natural Flight, Sir Hiram S. Maxim, Prof. G. H. Bryan, F.R.S., 221 Awano (S.), Power of Plants to Absorb Moisture through the Leaf Surface, 436 Azambuja (L. d’), Examination of the Upper Layers of Calcium and Hydrogen in the Solar Atmosphere and of the same Black Filaments in the Two Layers, 269; Critical Examination of the Monochromatic Images of the Sun with the Hydrogen Lines, 389 Bacot (A.), Cross-breeding of Two Races of the Moth Acidalia virgularia, 58 Bacteriology: Determination of a Coefficient by which the Rate of Diffusion of Stain and other Substances into Livings Cells can be Measured and by which Bacteria and Other Cells may be Differentiated, H. C. Ross, 27; Influence of Glucosides on Growth of Acid-fast Bacilli, F. W. Twort, 58; Physico-chemical Method of Sterilis- ing in the Cold and at a Distance, A. Billon-Daguerre, 59; So-called ‘‘Sexual’’ Method of Forming Spores in Bacteria, C. C. Dobell, 88; Evacuation of Tubercle Bacilli by the Bile in the Intestine in Animals affected with Latent Lesions, A. Calmette and C. Guérin, 89; Micro-organisms Present in Sewer Air, Dr. Andrewes, 203; Bacterial Contamination of Milk, Dr. Savage, 203; the Bacteriology of Diphtheria, 243; Invisible Patho- genic Micro-organisms and the Physical Proofs of their Existence, A. Chauveau, 299; Effects of Nitrogen-fixing Bacteria on the Growth of Non-leguminous Plants, Prof. W. B. Bottomley, 327; Spore-formation in the Disporic Bacteria, C. Clifford Dobell, 435; Can Opsonins be Obtained directly from Bacteria and Yeast, Dr. R. Greig- Smith, 479; the Coagulation of Condensed Milk, Dr. R. Greig-Smith, 479 Bailey (E. B.), the Cauldron Subsidence of Glen Coe and the associated Igneous Phenomena, 448 Bailey (L. H.), First Course in Biology, 34 Baillehache (le Comte de), Unités Electriques, 488 Bairstow (L.), Elastic Limits of Iron and Steel under Cyclical Variations of Stress, 359 ‘Baker (C.), Microscope Objectives of a New Formula, 320 Baker (Dr. H. Brereton, F.R.S.), the Influence of Mois- ture on Chemical Change, Wilde Lecture at Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, 175 ‘Baker (R. H.), Orbits of Spectroscopic Binaries, 229 Baldet (F.), Spectrum of the Comet 1908c (Morehouse), 149 ‘Balfour (Andrew), Third Report of the Wellcome Research Laboratories at the Gordon Memorial College, 495 Ball (Dr.), American Insect Pests, 138 Ball (Sir Robert, F.R.S.), a Treatise on Astronomy, 123 Ballistics: Flight of a Rifled Projectile in Air, Dr. J. B. Henderson, 57 Ballon, Astronomische Ortsbestimmung im, Prof. Marcuse, Dr. William J. S. Lockyer, 244 Ballou (H. A.), ‘‘ Millions’? and Mosquitoes, 16 Bannister (C. O.), Cupellation Experiments: the Thermal Properties of Cupels, 388 Baracchi (Mr.), the Melbourne Observatory, 51 Barbier (Ph.), Transformation of Pinonic 1 : 3-Dimethyl-4-phenylacetic Acid, 89 Barkla (Dr. C. G.), the Absorption of X-rays, 37; Ionisa- tion by Roéntgen Rays, 187; Phenomena of X-ray Trans- mission, 419 Barnard (Prof. E. E.), Observations of Comet Temple,- Swift, 19; Coloured Stars in the Globular Cluster M 13, 169; Theory to Account for Changes in the Tail of Comet ¢ 1908, 444 Barnes (H. T.), Phenomenon connected with the Discharge of Electricity from Pointed Conductors, with a Note by John Zeleny, 297 Barnes (Prof. James), a Simple Fabry and Perot Inter- ferometer, 187 Barometric Oscillation, W. H. Dines, F.R.S., 8 Spherical Adolf Acid into Barratt (Dr. J. O. W.), Method of Estimating the Total Volume of Blood contained in the Living Body, 387 Barre (M.), Double Sulphates of Calcium, 510 Barrett (J. W.), Seal-rocks at Westernport, Bass Strait, 57 Barrett (Prof. W. F., F.R.S.), New Form of Optometer, 348; Methods of Determining the Amount of Light ir- regularly reflected from Rough Surfaces, 388; New Polarimeter for the Measurement of the Indices of Refrac- tion of Opaque Bodies, 388 Baruch (Dr. M. P.), Flora von Paderborn, 105 Bashford (Dr. E. F.), Incidence of Cancer in Mice of Known Age, 387 Basic Steel, the Manufacture of, 135 Basidiomycetes, Synopsis of the British, a Descriptive Catalogue of the Drawings and Specimens in the De- partment of Botany, British Museum, Worthington G. Smith, 184 Baskets used in Repelling Demons, Kumagusu Minakata, 369 Baterden (J. R.), Timber, 94 Bateson (Prof. W., F.R.S.), Genetics, 396 Bau und Geschichte der Erde, O. Abel, 367 Bauer (Edmond), Radiation and Temperature of the Flame of a Bunsen Burner, 209; the Nature of Flame Spectra, 408 ; Preparation of the Three Oxy- and the p-dimethyl- amido and Diethylamidobenzylidenecamphors and_ the p- and m-tolylidenecamphors, 479 Bauer (Dr. L. A.), Solar Activity and Terrestrial Magnetic Disturbances, 444; Department of Commerce and Labour, Coast and Geodetic Survey, United States Mag- netic Tables and Magnetic Charts for 1905, 293 Bauer (O.), Solubility of Steel in Sulphuric Acid, 384 Bayard (P.), a New Isomeride of Indigo, 149 Bayliss (Dr. W. M.), Osmotic Pressure of Congo Red, 326 Baz-Nama-yi-Nasiri, the, a Persian Treatise on Falconry, the Method and Scope of 71 Be uerel (Jean), New Type of Magnetic Decomposition of the Absorption Bands of Crystals, 209 Becquerel (Paul), the Suspension of Life in certain Seeds, 270 Bees, the ‘‘ Sense of Direction ’’ in, Gaston Bonnier, 269 Beilby (Dr. George T., F.R.S.), the Functions of Technical Colleges, Address at Association of Technical Institutions, 22 Bell (Miss), Colours and Magnitudes of Stars, 288 Bell-Marley (H. W.), Hunting the Hump-backed Whale in Natal Waters, 16 Bemmelen (Dr. W. East Indies, 1903-7, 293 Bemporad (A.), Photometric Observations at Catania, 288 Benham (Charles E.), Fluorescence of Lignum Nephriticum, 159; an Optical Phenomenon, 458 Benson (Dr. Margaret), Structure and Relations of the Reproductive Organs of Heterangium Grievit, 239 Bentley (Wilson J.), Studies of Frost and Ice Crystals, 492 Berger (A.), das Pflanzenreich, Liliaceze-Aloineze, 424 Berger (E.), New Method of Preparation of the B-halogen Derivatives of Naphthaline, 149 Berget (A.), Lecons de Physique générale, 6 Bergstrand (Oesten), Photographic Determination of the Colours of the Stars, 299 Berkeley (Earl of), Osmotic Pressures of Weak Solutions of Calcium Ferrocyanide, 28 Bernard (A.), Observations made at Meudon Observatory on Morehouse’s Comet, 179 Bernthsen (Hofrath Prof.), Nitrogen, 412 Berson (A.), the Royal Prussian Aéronautical Observatory’s Aérological Expedition to Tropical East Africa, 171 Bertrand (Gabriel), Action of the Bulgarian Ferment Yoghourt on Various Sugars, 390 Bessel’s Functions, Wave Motion and, Prof. G. H. Bryan, F.R.S., 309 Besson (A.), Action of Gaseous Hydrochloric Acid on Amorphous Silicon, 59; New Silicon Chlorides of the Silicomethane Series, 180; Action of Oxidising Agents upon Silico-chloroform, 329 Bezenov (B. W.), Calendar of Algal Growth in the Bay of Sebastopol, 167 van), Magnetic Survey of the Dutch Fixation of Atmospheric Vature, July 22, 1909 Index ix Bickerton (Prof. A. W.), the Birth of Worlds, 380 Billon-Daguerre (A.), Physico-chemical Method of Sterilis- ing in the Cold and at a Distance, 59 Binaries, Spectroscopic, Prof. Campbell, 321; Dr. Heber D. Curtis, 321; Prof. W. H. Wright, 321; Orbits of, R. H. Baker, 229; F. C. Jordan, 229 Biochemistry: Biochemie, ein Lehrbuch fiir Mediziner, Zoologen und Botaniker, Dr. F. Rohmann, 6; the General Characters of the Proteins, Dr. S. B. Schryver, 397 Biology: First Course in Biology, L. H. Bailey and W. M. Coleman, 34; Parallel Paths: a Study in Biology, Ethics, and Art, T. W. Rolleston, 35; Biology and its Makers, with Portraits and other Illustrations, Prof. W. A. Locy, . 95; the Cell as the Unit of Life, and other Lectures delivered at the Royal Institution, London, 1899-1902, an Introduction to Biology, Allan Macfadyen, 123; Ernst Haeckel, Prof. Walther May, 126; Lieut. Shackleton’s Antarctic Expedition, Biological Results, 130; Biologia Centrali-Americana: Orthoptera, Vol. i., Dr. Henri de Saussure, Dr. Leo Zehntner, and A. Pictet, Forficulide, Count de Bormans, Vol. ii., Acridiidza, Prof. Lawrence Brunner, Tettigina, Albert P. Morse, and Phasmide, Robert Shelford, 241; the Problem of Age, Growth, and Death, a Study of Cytomorphosis, Prof. Charles S. Minot, 335; zur Biologie des Chlorophylls, Laubfarbe und Himmelslicht, Vergilbung und Etiolement, Ernst Stahl, 393; the Method and Scope of Genetics, Prof. W. Bateson, F.R.S., 396; Capacity for Regeneration of One of the Brittle-stars, S. Morgulis, 465; the Germ-layer Theory, Ric. Assheton, 492; Meaning of Sexuality in Relation to the Formation of Gametes, Dr. Max Hart- mann, 500; ‘‘ Chemical’? Embryos, 507; Marine Biology: Relations of Marine Organisms to Light, Prof. B. Moore, 16; Sex in Sea-urchins obtained by Experimental Parthenogenesis, 29; Migration of the Thread-cells of Moerisia, C. L. Boulenger, 88; Specimen of Pelagothuria from the Seychelles, J. C. Simpson, 88; some Marine and Fresh-water Organisms, 174; Miiler’s Ostracod Crustacean Gigantocypris agassizi, L, Luders, 174; Fresh-water Species of Cyclops of Long Island, Dr. Esther Brynes, 174; Gigantocypris and the Challenger, Dr. W. T. Calman, 248; Amphipoda Hyperiidea of the Sealark Expedition to the Indian Ocean, A. O. Walker, 269; Marine Mollusca of the Sealark Expedition, Dr. J Cosmo Melvill, 269; Pecten, W. J. Dakin, 273; Photo- phores in Decapoda, S. W. Kemp, 328; a Problematical Organism thrown up during a Storm in Bass Strait, Prof. Baldwin Spencer, 350; Apical Pigment-spots in the Pluteus of Echinus miliaris, F. H. Gravely, 359; Marine Biology in the Tortugas, 382; Annual Breeding Swarm of the Atlantic Palolo, Dr. A. G. Mayer, 382; Experiments on the Scyphomedusan Cassiopea xama- chana, Dr. Mayer, 382; Origin of the Lung of Ampul- faria, Prof. W. K. Brookes and B. McGlone, 382; Significance of the Conspicuousness of the Coral-reef Fishes of the Tortugas, Prof. Reighard, 382 Bircham (F. R. S.), Applications of the Internal-combustion Engine to Marine Propulsion, 173 Birds: Moral Superiority among Birds, A. R. Horwood, 40; the Birds of Tierra del Fuego, Richard Crawshay, 155; Bird Notes, 295; Kunst und Vogelgesang in ihren wechselseitigen Beziehungen von naturwissenschaftlich- musikalischen Standpunkte beleuchtet, Dr. B. Hoffmann, 336 Birkeland (Kr.), the Norwegian Aurora Polaris Expedition, 1902-3, Vol. i., on the Cause of Magnetic Storms and the Origin of Terrestrial Magnetism, 410 Birkeland (Prof.), Fixation of Atmospheric Nitrogen, 412 Birth of Worlds, the, Prof. A. W. Bickerton, 380 Bishop (Rey. Dr. Sereno E.), Death and Obituary Notice of, 164 Bisiker (W.), the British Empire (and Japan), 213 Bjerknes (Prof.), Theoretical Applications- of Upper-air Observations, 355 Blaise (E.), Syntheses by Means of the Mixed Zinc Organo- metallic Derivatives, 2¢ ee Se (Sir Rowland), Death and Obituary Notice of, 103 Blériot (Louis), Award of the Osiris Prize to, 499 Bloch (Eugéne), Part played by Impurities in the Photo- electric Effect with Liquids, 89 Bloch (L.), Phosphorescence and Combustion Flames of Sulphur, 149 ‘* Blowing ’’ Wells, Sydney H. Long, 339; Dr. A. Strahan, F.R.S., 370; Beeby Thompson, 429 Bliitenpflanzen Afrikas, die, Franz Thonner, Dr. Otto Stapf, F.R.S., 333, Boas (Dr. J. E. V.), Lehrbuch der Zoologie fiir Studierende, 214 Body at Work, the, Dr. Alex. Hill, 366 Bombay, the Flora of the Presidency of, Cooke, 362 Bonacina (L. C. W.), the ‘‘ Daylight Saving ”’ Bill, 69 Bone (Prof. W. A., F.R.S.), Explosive Combustion, with Special Reference to that of Hydrocarbons, Discourse at Royal Institution, 81 Bonnier (Gaston), the ‘‘ Sense of Direction ’’ in Bees, 269 Book of Nature-study, the, 344 Books of Science, Forthcoming, 53 Books of Science, Supplementary List of Forthcoming, 85 t Bootis, the Orbit of, Prof. Doberck, 380 Bordas (F.), the Diastases of Milk, 270 Borgen (Prof. Carl N. I.), Death of, 464 Bormans (Count de), Biologia Centrali-Americana, Orthoptera, Vol. i., Forficulidze, 241 Borrelly (M.), Discovery of a New Comet, r1909a, 502; the Recent Lunar Eclipse, June 3, 502 (Borrelly-Daniel) Discovery of a Comet, 1909a, Mr. Daniel, 502; M. Javelle, 502; Prof. Kobold, 502; M. Borrelly, 02 BEE (L. Teisserenc de), General Results of the Meteoro- logical Cruises of the Otaria on the Atlantic in 1905, 1906, and 1907, 219; Results of Theodolite Observations on Ballons sondes at Trappes, 355 Bosler (J.), Observations made at Meudon Observatory on Morehouse’s Comet, 179 Bosworth (G. F.), Cambridge County Geographies: Essex, Kent, Surrey, Sussex, 305 Botallek Circles, the, Sir Norman Lockyer, K.C.B., F.R.S., Dr. Theodore 9 Botany: a Mould in Tanning with Oil, André Piedallu, 30; Variety of Organic Iron in Plants, P. J. Tarbouriech and P. Saget, 30; Death of J. Barbosa Rodriguez, 47; Obituary Notice of, 104; Phylogeny of the Bryophytes and Ferns, Dr. H. Schenck, 49; Einleitung in die experi- mentelle Morphologie der Pflanzen, Dr. K. Goebel, 61; Parthenogenesis und Apogamie im Pflanzenreiche, Dr. Hans Winkler, 61; Sense-organs in Leaves, Prof. G. Haberlandt, 76; Plant Distribution on ‘‘ Mesas”’ near Boulder, Colorado, W. W. Robbins and G. S. Dodds, 76-7; Alternation of Generations in Plants, Dr. W. H. Lang, 87; the Montane Flora of Fiji, Miss L. S. Gibbs, 87; Linnean Society, 87, 148, 269, 359, 448, 478; Quan- tity of the Alkaloid Taxine in Yew, Richard J. Moss, 88; the Heredity of Acquired Characters in Plants, Rev. Prof. George Henslow, 93; Flora von Paderborn, Dr. M. P. Baruch, 105; Flora of Volcanic Region of Java and Sumatra, Dr. A. Ernst, 105; Ferments and Latent Life of Resting Seeds, Jean White, 118; Fresh-water Algze from Burma, including a few from Bengal and Madras, W. West and G. S. West, 125; Davidia involucrata, Baill., A. S. Horne, 148; Index Kewensis Plantarum Phanerogamarum, 156; Fluorescence of Lignum Nephriticum, Charles E. Benham, 159; Dr. O. Stapf, F.R.S., 218; John H. Shaxby, 248; Plants with Magic Qualities, Dr. H. Marzell, 166; Calendar of Algal Growth in the Bay of Sebastopol, B. W. Beenov, 167; Prickly Pear as Cattle-food, 167; Black Scab or Potato-wart, Prof. T. Johnson, 179; the Powdery Scab of the Potato, Spongospora subterranea, Prof. T. Johnson, 389; the Rate of Fall of Fungus Spores in Air, Prof. A. H. Reginald Buller, 186; Death of Prof. F. E. Hulme, 197; Obituary Notice of, 224; Influence of Radium Rays on Plants, Prof. C. S. Gager, 198; Sand-binding Plants, V. Subramania Iyer, 198; Oil-palm Kernels, a Variety with Soft Shells, 198; Lalang Grass, Material for Paper Pulp, J. M. Hillier, 198; Limitation of the Genus Athyrium, Dr. E. B. Copeland, 226; Structure and Rela- tions of the Reproductive Organs of Heterangium Grievit, x Index Dr. Margaret Benson, 239; Bulletin of Miscellaneous “Information, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, 1908, 246; Classification of the Geoglossacee, Dr. E. J. Durand, 258; Botanical Discoveries near Dover, Rev. J. Taylor, 258; W.R. Jeffery, 258; Suspension of Life in Certain Seeds, Paul Becquerel, 270; the New Flora of the Vol- vanic Island of Krakatau, Prof. A. Ernst, 279; Camp- fires on Desert and Lava, W. T. Hornaday, 279; Geo- tropism and the Statolith Theory, E. Maigre, 286; Philip- pine Species of Garcinia, E. D. Merrill, 286; Botany of the Fzerées, 303; Anthocyanin, Miss M. Wheldale, 328; die Bliitenpflanzen Afrikas, Franz Thonner, Dr. Otto Stapf, F.R.S., 333; Experiments with Cyclamen Seed- lings, Sir W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, 349; Flora of Ngami- land, Major and Mrs. E. J. Lugard, 351; the Flora of the Presidency of Bombay, Dr. Theodore Cooke, 362; Flower and Grass Calendars for Children, Agnes Fry, 368 ; Spermatogenesis in Dioon edule, Prof. C. F. Cham- berlain, 37 Transport of Carbon Dioxide in Leaves, Dr. V. Zijlstra, 379; Lectures on the Evolution of the Filicinean Vascular System, A. G. Tansley, 391; zur Biologie des Chlorophylls, Laubfarbe und Himmelslicht, Vergilbung und Etiolement, Ernst Stahl, 393; Cytology of Fucus, Dr. S. Yamanouchi, 407; Vegetation in and around the Red-rock Lake, Colorado, Dr. F. Ramaley, 407; das Pflanzenreich, Scrophulariaceze-Calceolariez, Fr. F. Kiinzlin, Erythroxylacee, ©. E. Schulz, Styracacez, J. Perkins, Potamogetonacee, P. Ascherson and P. Graebner, Orchidacez-Ceelogynine, E. Pfitzer and Fr. Kranzlin, Liliaceaze-Aloinew, A. Berger, Sarraceniacez, J. M. Macfarlane, Stylidiaceee, J. Mildbraed, Nepen- thacez, J. M. Macfarlane, Araceze-Monsteroidez and Cal- loideew, A. Engler and K. Krause, 424; the Colours of Leaves, George Abbott, 429; Causes of Autumnal Colour Effect in Leaves of Terminalia catappa, Dr. M. Miyoshi, 465; Power of Plants to Absorb Moisture through the Leaf-surface, S. Awano, 436; the Gardens of Achnashie, Rosneath, Rev. D. Landsborough, 436; Botanic Gardens and Government Domains in Sydney, New South Wales, J. H. Maiden, 436; Vegetative Cross between Nightshade and Tomato, Prof. H. Winkler, 436; Modifications of Colour in Plants, Prof. H. Kraemer, 443; New Observa- tion on the Moth of the Olive, Th. Dumont, 449; Plants and their Ways, E. Evans, 452; Mikroskopischer und physiologischer Praktikum der Botanik fiir Lehrer, G. Miiller, 452; a First Book of Botany, Elizabeth Healey, 452; Familiar Swiss Flowers, F. E. Hulme, 452; the Pollination of the Primrose, John J. Ward, 457; W. E. Hart, 457, 492; The Reviewer, 457; Notes of a Botanist on the Amazon and Andes, Richard Spruce, 458; New South Wales Linnean Society, 479; Reddening of the Branches of Salicornia, H. Colin, 480; Influence of Nutritive Media on Development of the Embryos of Pinus pinea, J. Lefévre, 480; the Streletz Steppe, W. Alechin, 500; the Flora of Prince Charles Foreland, Spitsbergen, R. N. R. Brown, 501; a Warm- water Bath as Means of Forcing Plants, Prof. H. Molisch, 501; Algz and Lichens of Lake Selguer, A. A. Elenkin, 501 Bott (A. E. H.), Minimum Thermometer and Severe Cold, 140 Bottomley (Prof. W. _B.), Effects of Nitrogen-fixing Bac- teria on the Growth of Non-leguminous Plants, 327 Bouasse (Prof. H.), Cours de Physique conforme aux Pro- grammes des Certificats et de l’Agrégation de Physique, Optiques, Etudes des Instruments, 153 Bougault (J.), the Condensation of Glyoxylic Acid with some Ketones, 389 Boulanger (A.), Hydraulic Générale, 396 Boule (Marcellin), Cranial Capacity of Fossil Men of the Type known as Neanderthal, 390; Skeleton of the Fossil Man of I.a Chapelle-aux-Saints, 480 Beuleager (C. L.), Migration of the Thread-cells of Moerisia, Bourne (Prof. Gilbert C.), the Natural History Museum, 229 Bowman (Dr. F. H.), the Structure of the Wool Fibre and its Relation to the Use of Wool for Technical Purposes, 4 Bowman (Prof. H. L.), a Stage Goniometer for Use with the Dick Pattern of Microscope, 178 Nature, July 22, 1909 Boyer (Jacques), Artificial Production of Precious Stones, 8 40 Bragg (Prof. W. H.), Want of Symmetry shown by Secondary X-rays, 327 Brassey (Lord), Types of Warships omitted in Recent Programmes of Naval Construction, 172 Brauner (Prof. Bohuslav), the Gases of the Ring Nebula in Lyra, 158 Brauns (Prof. R.), the Mineral Kingdom, 275 Breeding for Milk, 77 Brendler (Dr. Wolfgang), Mineralien-Sammlungen, 423 Brester (A.), Hale’s Solar Vortices, 79 Brethes (J.), Nests of the Argentine Spider Mastophora extraordinaria, 137 Bridges (J. H.), Essays and Addresses, 217 Bridgman (P. W.), High Hydrostatic Pressures, 107 Brightwen (Eliza), Last Hours with Nature, 129; the Life and Thoughts of a Naturalist, 426 Briner (E.), Chemical Reactions in Gaseous Mixtures sub- mitted to very High Pressures, 479 British Antarctic Expedition, Return of the, 102 British Association Committee appointed for the Investiga- tion of Gaseous Explosions, with Special Reference to Temperature, First Report of the, Prof. E. G. Coker, 505 British Association, Winnipeg Meeting, Prof. Henry E. Armstrong, F.R.S., 159 British Association, Winnipeg Meeting of the, 432 British Butterflies and other Insects, 67 British Empire (and Japan), the, W. Bisiker, 213 British Guiana, the Geology of the Goldfields of, J. B. Harrison, 395 British Islands, the Genitalia of the Noctuidze of the Lepidoptera of the, F. M. Pierce, 246 British Museum: Synopsis of the British Basidiomycetes, a Descriptive Catalogue of the Drawings and Specimens in the Department of Botany, Worthington G. Smith, 184; Catalogue of the Lepidoptera Phalznz in the British Museum, Sir George F. Hampson, Bart., 338 British Science Guild, Sir William Ramsay, 52; Frederick Pollock, 52 Brizard (M.), the Charges of Chemical Fumes, 449 Brodrick (H.), Limestone Caves of Marble Arch, Co. Fer- managh, 88 Broglie (M. de), Photographic Registration of Brownian Trajectories in Gases, 329; Measurements of the Brownian Movements in Gases and the Charge of Par- ticles in Suspension, 389; the Charges of Chemical Fumes, 449 “‘Bromoil ’’ Process, the, F. J. Mortimer, 324 Bronson (Dr. Howard L.), on the a Rays from Radium B, Sir 159 Brooke (Gilbert E.), the Essentials of Sanitary Science, 182 Brookes (Prof. W. K.), Origin of the Lung of Ampullaria, 382 Brooks (E. E.), Spectrum of Magnesium in Hydrogen, 410 Brooks’s Comet (1889 V), the Perturbations of, by Jupiter in 1886, Prof. Poor, 410; G. Deutschland, 410 Brown (E. and W.), Influence of Breed on Egg-production - in Poultry, 138 " Brown (H. C.), Curious Device for Cheating Death, 48 Brown (R. N. Rudmose), Report on the Scientific Results of the Voyage of S.Y. Scotia during the Years 1902, 1903, and 1904, under the Leadership of Dr. William S. Bruce, Vol. iv., Zoology, Part i., Zoological Log, 161; the Flora of Prince Charles Foreland, Spitsbergen, sor Brown (William), an Introduction to Social Psychology, William McDougall, 245; Lectures on the Elementary Psychology of Feeling and Attention, Prof. E. B. Titchener, 245 Browning (Dr. Phillip E.), Introduction to the Rarer Elements, 182 Bruce (Colonel Sir David), Kleine’s Observations on the Period during which the Tsetse-fly was capable of trans- mitting a Trypanosome Infection, 315; Latency in Infectivity of Tsetse-flies, 436 Bruhat (G.), Coefficient of Emanation, 89 Brunner (Prof. Lawrence), Biologia Centrali-Americana, Orthoptera, Vol. ii., Acridiida, 241 Diffusion of the Actinium Nature, July 22, 1509 Index X1 Brussel (J. B. Van), Mechanical Irrigation Plants, Nile Irrigation Station at Wadi Kom-Ombo, 18 Bruylants (P.), Derivative of Trimethylene, 228 Bryan (Prof. G. H., F.R.S.), Aérodonetics, F. W. Lan- chester, 221; Artificial and Natural Flight, Sir Hiram Maxim, 221; Recent Progress in Aéronautics, Major George O. Squier, 223; the Stabilisation of Aéroplanes, Etienne Maigre, 223; Wave Motion and Bessel’s Func- tions, 309; the Government and Aéronautical Research, 33 Buisson (H.), Comparison of the Lines of the Spectrum of the Electric Arc and of the Sun, Pressure of the Re- versing Layer in the Solar Atmosphere, 149; Pressure in the Sun’s Atmosphere, 229; Unsymmetrical Enlarge- ment of the Lines of the Arc Spectrum and their Com- \ parison with those of the Solar Spectrum, 389 Buller (Prof. A. H. Reginald), the Rate of Fall of Fungus Spores in Air, 186 Burbank’s (Luther) Work, the Scientific D. S. Jordan and V. L. Kellogg, 337 Burgess (G. H.), Melting Point of Platinum, 329 Burnham (Prof.), Double-star Measures, 19 Burtt-Davy (J.), Plants Poisonous to Stock, 225; Cata- logue of Native Trees of the Transvaal, 318 Butterflies, British, and Other Insects, 67 Byrnes (Dr. Esther), Fresh-water Species of Cyclops of Long Island, 174 Aspects of, Calcium Lines in Furnace Spectra, Chromospheric, Dr. A. S. King, 260 Calculation of Cometary Orbits, the, Prof. Kobold, 288 Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal, 89, 150 California Earthquake of April 18, 1906, Andrew C. Lawson, 10 Calman (Dr. W. T.), Gigantocypris and the Challenger, 248; a Treatise on Zoology, Part vii., Third Fascicle, Crustacea, 361 Calmette (A.), Evacuation of Tubercle Bacilli by the Bile in the Intestine in Animals affected with Latent Lesions, 9 Cambridge: Reports of the Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to Torres Straits, Vol. vi., Sociology, Magic, and Religion of the Eastern Islanders, 9; Cambridge Philosophical Society, 88, 328, 419; Reform at Cam- bridge, 345; the Darwin Commemoration at Cambridge, 49 Cambridge County Geographies: Essex, Kent, Surrey, Sussex, G. F. Bosworth, 305 Camera Objectives for Spectrographs, Mr. Plaskett, 440 Coeee (P. J.), the Urine in Diseases of the Pancreas, 3 Camp-fires on Desert and Lava, W. T. Hornaday, 279 Campbell (A.), Method of Testing Photographic Shutters, 419 Campbell (Prof.), the Intra-Mercurial Planet Problem, 320; Spectroscopic Binaries, 321 Campbell (Norman R.), an Electromagnetic Problem, 39 Canada, Partial Eclipse of the Sun in, Dr. Downing, 320 Canadian Waterways, American and, 46r Canals of the Martian Doubles, the ‘‘ Original,’’ Prof. Lowell, 260 Canals, Development of Martian, Prof. Lowell, 288 Cancer, Incidence of, in Mice of known Age, Dr. E. F- Bashford and Dr. J. A. Murray, 387 Cany (M.), Penetration of Pulverised Liquids into the Respiratory Tracts, 150 Cape Observatory, the, 79 Cape Town: Royal Society of South Africa, 360 Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, the, Prof. John Edgar, 399 Carnegie Institution of Washington, the, 142 Carnegie Trust, Scientific Research and the, 20 Caro (Dr. N.), Fixation of Atmosvheric Nitfogen, 412 Caro (Prof.), Process for the Manufacture of Calcium Cyanamide by, 472 Carpenter (Prof.), Melting Point of Iron. r4o0 Carpenter (Prof. G. H.), a Student’s Text-book of Zoo- logy, Prof. Adam Sedgwick, F.R.S., Vol. iii... the Introduction to Arthropoda, the Crustacea, and Xipho- sura, J. J. Lister, F.R.S., the Insecta and Arachnida Dr. A. E. Shipley, F.R.S., 361; a Treatise on Zoology, Part vii., Third Fascicle, Crustacea, Dr. W. T. Calman, 361; Injurious Insects observed: in Ireland. during 1908, 479 Carpenter (R. C.), Internal Combustion Engines, their Theory, Construction, and Operation, 124 Carpentier (M.), Remarks on a Set of Standards of Length presented by M. Johansson, 209 Carré (P.), Magnesium Derivatives of the Xylyl Bromides, 300 Carus-Wilson (C.), the Pitting of Flint-surfaces, 448 Casanowicz (I. M.), United States National Museum Collection of Rosaries, 502 Cassell’s Elementary Geometry, W. A. Knight, 305 Catania, Photometric Observations at, A. Bemporad, 288 Cattle: Breeding for Milk, 77 . Caucasus: la Céte d’Azur Russe (Riviera du Caucase), E. A. Martel, Prof. Grenville A. J. Cole, 40 Cave (Charles J. P.), the Temperature of the Upper Atmo- sphere, 456 ““ Cave-nebula ’’ in Cepheus, a New, Prof. Wolf, 19 Cell as the Unit of Life, the, and Other Lectures delivered at the Royal Institution, London, 1899-1902, an Intro- duction to Biology, Allan Macfadyen, 123 Cepheus, a New ‘* Cave-nebula’’ in, Prof. Wolf, 19 Ceramics: Transactions of the English Ceramic Society, 385; Gas-firing, Dr. Seligman, 385: Mr. Schmatolle, 385; Adsorption and Dissolution of Gases by Silicates, Messrs. Moore and Mellor, 385 Chadwick Lectures, the, University of London, Session 1907-8, W. D. Scott-Moncrieff, 397 Challenger Society, 328 Chamberlain (Prof. C. F.), edule, 378 Chapman (A. C.), Estimation of Creatinine, 470 Chapman (F. M.), Manner in which Young Flamingoes Feed, 499 Chappuis (J.), Lecons de Physique générale, 6 Charcot (Dr. J. B.), the French Antarctic Expedition, Communication from, 285 Charpy (Georges), Action of Carbon Monoxide upon Chromium, Nickel, Manganese, their Oxides and Alloys, 59; Formation of Graphitic Oxide and the Definition of Graphite, 210 Chattaway (Dr. F. D., F.R.S.), Ammonium Perhalides, Spermatogenesis in Dioon 349 Chauveau (A.), Invisible Pathogenic Micro-organisms and the Physical Proofs of their Existence, 299 Chauvenet (Ed.), Anhydrous Combinations of Thorium Chloride with the Alkaline Chlorides, 389 Chemistry: Biochemie, ein Lehrbuch fiir Mediziner Zoologen und Botaniker, Dr. F. RoOhmann, 6; Radio- thorium, Frederick Soddy, 12; Evolution of Heat by Radium, Drs. E. von Schweidler and V. F. Hess, 18; Decomposition of Water by Radium Salts, A. Debierne, 149; Chemical Action of the Penetrating Rays of Radium on Water, Miroslaw Kernbaum, 149; Production of Radium from Uranium, Frederick Soddy, 308; Liquid Radium Emanation, Sir William Ramsay, K.C.B., F.R.S., 347; Radium and Uranium contained in Radio- active Minerals, Ellen Gleditsch, 449; Variation of Re- fractive Indices of Mixtures of Liquids with their Com- position, Dr. V. F. Hess, 18; Osmotic Pressures of Weak Solutions of Calcium Ferrocyanide, Earl of Berkeley, E. G. J. Hartley and J. Stephenson, 28; Spontaneous Crystallisation of Monochloracetic Acid and its Mixtures with Naphthalene, Dr. H. A. Miers and Miss F. Isaac, 28; Atomic Weight of Potassium, G. D. Hinrichs, 29; Syntheses by Means of the Mixed Zinc Organo-metallic Derivatives, E. Blaise and A. Keehler, 29; Colloidal Properties of Starch with Respect to its Chemical Constitution, Eugéne Fouard, 29; Handbuch der anorganischen Chemie, 32; Death and Obituary Notice of Prof. Julius Thomsen, M. M. Pattison Muir, 46; Supposed Effect of Crystallisation for modifying the Properties of the Solution of a Body resulting from the Direct Union of Two Solutions, D. Gernez, 59; Mole- cular Volumes, Densities, and Atomic Weights. A. Leduc, 59; Equilibria between the Liquid and Solid Phases in the Mixture NaCIl+H,O, Camille Matignon, Xil Index Nature, uly 22, Iyo9 59; Determination of Physical Constants of the Peptones, L. Lematte and A. Savés, 59; Action of Gaseous Hydro- chloric Acid on Amorphous Silicon, A. Besson and L. Fournier, 59; Action of Carbon Monoxide upon Chromium, Nickel, Manganese, their Oxides and Alloys, Georges Charpy, 59; Condensation of the Mesoxalic Esters with Aromatic Hydrocarbons, A. Guyot and G. Estéva, 59; Sensitive Reactions for the Detection and Identification of Glycerol, Georges Denigés, 59; Action of Light upon Milk to which Potassium Bichromate has been Added, A. Gascard, 60; Sterilisation of Milk by the Ultra-violet Rays, Victor Henri and G. Stodel, 60; Determination of Added Water in Decomposed Milks, André Kling and Paul Roy, 270; the Diastases of Milk, F. Bordas and F, Touplain, 270; Explosive Combus- tion, with Special Reference to that of Hydrocarbons, Prof. W. A. Bone, F.R.S., at Royal Institution, 81; Phosphides of Tin, Pierre Jolibois, 89; Transformation of Pinonic Acid into 1: 3-Dimethyl-4-phenylacetic Acid, Ph. Barbier and V. Grignard, 89; Elementary Agri- ‘cultural Chemistry, Herbert Ingle, Dr. E. J. Russell, 93; Leakage of Helium from Radio-active Minerals, Hon. R. J. Strutt, F.R.S., 147; Liberation of Helium from Radio-active Minerals by Grinding, J. A. Gray, 238; Cryoscopy of Colloids, Jacques Duclaux, 149; a New Isomeride of Indigo, A. Wahl and P. Bayard, 149; Action of Caustic Potash on Borneol, Camphor, and Isoborneol, Marcel Guerbet, 149; Phosphorescence and Combustion Flames of Sulphur, L. Bloch, 149; New Method of Preparation of the 6-Halogen Derivatives of Naphthalene, G. Darzens and E. Berger, 149; Action of Iron on Wine, M. Trillat, 150; Chemische Krystallo- graphie, Prof. P. Groth, 154; New Calcium Carbide Factory at Odda, Norway, 168; Application of the Platinum Resistance Thermometer to the Determination of Molecular Weights in Fused Potassium Nitrate as a Solvent, J. G. L. Stern, 168; the Influence of Moisture on Chemical Change, Wilde Lecture at Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, Dr. H. Brereton Baker, F.R.S., 175; the Hydrolytic Dissociation of Chloride of Bismuth, René Dubrisay, 180; Calculation of Molecular Weights by Means of Vapour Densities, Toluene, A. Leduc, 180; New Silicon Chlorides of the Silico-methane Series, A. Besson and L. Fournier, 180; Purification of Hydrated Sulphuric Acid from Arsenic by Freezing, M. Morance, 180; Colouring and Tinctorial Properties of Picric Acid, Léo Vignon, 180; Improved Method of preparing Allylearbinol, H. Pariselle, 180; Introduction to the Rarer Elements, Dr. Phillip E. Browning, 182; New Crucible Support and Furnace, 204; Relation between Composition and Conductivity in Solutions of meta- and ortho-Phosphoric Acids, Dr. E. B. R. Prideaux, 209; Radiation and Temperature of the Flame of a Bunsen Burner, Edmond Bauer, 209 ; Radiation of Potassium Salts, E. Henriot, 209; Electro- analysis of Mercury Compounds with a Gold Kathode, Dr. F. Mollwo Perkin, 209; Action of Hydrogen on Sodium, A. Holt, jun., 209; New General Method for the Preparation of the Alcoholic Amines, Paul Sabatier and A. Mailhé, 209; Formation of Graphitic Oxide and the Definition of Graphite, Georges Charpy, 210; Pre- paration of Pure Iodic Anhydride, Marcel Guichard, 210; Complete Synthesis of Laudanosine, Amé Pictet and Mlle. M. Finkelstein, 210; Catalytic Preparation of the Ketones, J. B. Senderens, 210; an Organic Chemistry for Schools and Technical Institutes, A. E. Dunstan, 215; an Intermediate Course of Laboratory Work in Chemistry, E. K. Hanson and J. W. Dodgson, 215; Laboratory Notes on Industrial Water Analysis, a Survey Course for Engineers, Ellen H. Richards, 215 Derivatives of Trimethylene, P. Bruylants, 228: Increase in the Migration Value of Hydrogen in Hydrogen Chloride, Mr. Chittock, 228: Action between Metals and Acids and the Conditions under which Mercury causes Evolution of Hydrogen, Dr. S. W. J. Smith, 239; Study of the Gases disengaged by the Action of Copper Salts on Steels, E. Goutal, 239; Rapid Methods for the Chemical Analysis of Special Steels, Steel-making Alloys and Graphite, C. M. Johnson, 272; Radio-activity in Relation to Morozoff’s Theory of the Constitution of Atoms, Prof. B. de Szyszkowski, 276; Atomic Weight of Chromium, 288; Tantalum and its Industrial Applica- tions, Alex. Siemens at the Royal Institution, 290; Electrolytes and Colloids, the Physical State of Gluten, Prof. 7. B. Wood and W. B. Hardy, F.R.S., 296; Results of Cooling Hydrated Platin-cyanides in Liquid Air, J. Emerson Reynolds, 297; Effect of Temperature on lonisation, J. A. Crowther, 297; Ionisation of Various Gases by Secondary y Rays, R. D. Kleeman, 298 ; the Density of Acetylene, E. Mathias, 299 ; Cuprous Sulphate, A. Recoura, 299; Magnesium Derivatives of the Xylyl Bromides, P. Carré, 300; Oxidation of Aromatic Nitro- and Nitroso-derivatives by Ammonium Persulphate, A. Seyewetz and L. Poizat, 300; Influence of the Reaction of the Medium on the Activity of the Maltases from Maize, R. Huerre, 300; the General Characters of the Proteins, Dr. S. B. Schryver, 307; Seventh International Congress of Chemistry, 313; the International Congress of Applied Chemistry, 412; Fixa- tion of Atmospheric Nitrogen, Hofrath Prof. Bernthsen, Prof. Birkeland and Dr. N. Caro, 412; Scientific Work of the International Congress of Applied Chemistry, 470; a Curious Property of Neon, Prof. J. Norman Collie, F.R.S., 326, 347; Osmotic Pressure of Congo-red, Dr. W. M. Bayliss, 326; Colour Demonstrations of the Dissociating Action of Water, R. L. Taylor, 328; Anthocyanin, Miss M. Wheldale, 328; Work of Archi- bald Scott Couper, Prof. Richard Anschiitz, 329; Fusi- bility of Mixtures of Gold and Tellurium, H. Pélabon, 329; Melting Point of Platinum, W. Waidner and G. H. Burgess, 329; Action of Oxidising Agents upon Silico- chloroform, A. Besson and L. Fournier, 329; New Method of Isomerisation in the Terpene Series, Géza Austerweil, 330; Suboxide of Cesium, E. Rengade, 330; Legons sur le Carbone, la Combustion, les Lois chimiques, H. le Chatclier, Prof. Arthur Smithells, F.R.S., 331; Ammonium Perhalides, Dr. F. D. Chatta- way, F.R.S., 349; the York Air Tester, Messrs. John J. Griffin and Sons, 352; the Elements of Physical Chemistry, Prof. J. Livingston R. Morgan, 363; Out- lines of Physical Chemistry, Dr. George Senter, 363; Chemical Physics Involved in the Decarburisation of Iron-carbon Alloys, W. H. Hatfield, 385; Anhydrous Combinations of Thorium Chloride with the Alkaline Chlorides, Ed. Chauvenet, 389; the Condensation of Glyoxylic Acid with some Ketones, J. Bougault, 380: Theory of Organic Bases according to the Viscosity of their Solutions, D. E. Tsakalotos, 390; Colouring Properties of Lead Chromate, Léo Vignon, 390; Action of the Bulgarian Ferment Yoghourt on Various Sugars, Gabriel Bertrand and F. Duchiacek, 390; the Theory of Valency, Dr. J. Newton Friend, 395; the Nature of Flame Spectra, E. Bauer, 408; Education and Research in Applied Chemistry, Prof. Raphael Meldola, F.R.S., at Society of Chemical Industry, 413; Tungsten, H. R. Van Wagenen, 439; Composition of Atmospheric Air, Georges Claude, 449; the Charges of Chemical Fumes, MM. de Broglie and Brizard, 449; a Chromyl Sub- chloride, P. Pascal, 449; Solubility of Lead Sulphate, J. Sehnal, 449; Revision of the Atomic Weight of Phos- phorus, G. Ter Gazarian, 449; Oxidation of the Poly- hydric Alcohols by a Peroxydasic System, E. de Steecklin and E. Vulquin, 449; Vorlesungen iiber chem- ische Atomistik, Dr. F. Willy Hinrichsen, 453; First Principles of Chemical Theory, Dr. C. H. Mathewson, 453; Estimation of Phosphorus in Iron and Steel, Prof. Chesneau, 470; Estimation of Creatinine, F. C. Cook and A. C. Chapman, 470; Production of Pure Tellurium from its Ores, Prof. R. Schelle, 470; Experiments on the Action of the Silent Electric Discharge on Ethylene and Acetylene, Dr. M. Z. Jovitchitch, 471; Action of Dicarboxylic Acids on Cellulose, Prof. Knecht, 471; the Alcoholysis of Certain Esters, Prof. Haller, 471: New Method of preparing Ethyl Ether, Jean B. Senderens, 471-2; Experiments in Relation to the Theory of Dye- ing, L. Vignon, 472; the Hydrolysis of Proteins, Dr. L. Hugouneng, 472; Process for the Manufacture of Calcium Cyanamide by Prof. Caro, 472; Analysis of Beeswax, Prof. Hugh Ryan, 479; Montanin and Mon- tana Waxes, Prof. Hugh Ryan and T. Dillon, 479; Preparation of the Three Oxy- and the p-Dimethylamido- and Diethylamidobenzylidenecamphors and the p- and Nature, July 22, 1999 Index xiii m-Tolylidenecamphors, A. Haller and Ed. Bauer, 4709; Normal Butine and some of its Derivatives, George Dupont, 479; the Maltase from Buckwheat, J. Huerre, ' 479-80; Chemical Reactions in Gaseous Mixtures sub- mitted to very High Pressures, E. Briner and -A. Wroczynski, 479; Untersuchungen tuber Kohlenhydrate und Fermente (1884-1908), Emil Fischer, 485 ; die Grund- proben der ‘* Deutschen Tiefsee-Expedition,’’ Sir John Murray and Prof. E. Philippi, 486; ‘‘ Chemical’’ Embryos, 507; Double Sulphates of Calcium, M. Barre, 510; the Metallic Character of the Pyryl Group, R. Fosse, 510 Cheneveau (C.), Apparatus for Radio-active Measurements by the Electroscope Method, 228 ‘Chesneau (Prof.), Estimation of Phosphorus in Iron and Steel, 470 Chetwynd (Commander L. W. P.), an Explanation of the Adjustment of Ships’ Compasses, 276 Chevalier (Father), a Remarkable Prominence, 108 Chick, the Development of the, F. R. Lillie, 271 Children, Hours of Sleep for, 79 China, Western Teaching for, Dr. Henry Dyer, 99 Chittenden (Dr.), American Insect Pests, 138 Chittock (Mr.), Increase in the Migration Value of Hydro- gen in Hydrogen Chloride, 228 Chlorophylls, zur Biologie des, Laubfarbe und Himmels- licht, Vergilbung und Etiolement, Ernst Stahl, 393 Cholesterol in the Animal Organism, the Origin and Destiny of, Part v., Mary T. Fraser and J. A. Gardner, 327 Chree (Dr. C., F.R.S.), Temperature of the Upper Atmo- sphere, 127, 397; Lieut. Shackleton’s Antarctic Expedition, the South Magnetic Pole, 130; Department of Com- merce and Labour,. Coast and Geodetic Survey, United States Magnetic Tables and Magnetic Charts for 1905, L. A. Bauer, 293; Magnetic Survey of the Dutch East Indies, 1903-7, Dr. W. van Bemmelen, 293; Survey of India, 293 Chromospheric Calcium Lines in Furnace Spectra, Dr. A. S. King, 260 Chronometry : the Summer Season Time Bill, 45 ; the ‘‘ Day- light Saving ’’ Bill, L. C. W. Bonacina, 69; Daylight and Darkness, 230 Church (Prof. Irving P.), Mechanics of Engineering, 33 Circularity of Planetary Orbits, the, Prof. T. J. J. See, 229 Clark (Dr. G. Herbert), Histological Changes in the Liver and Kidney after Chloroform Administered by Different Channels, 328 Claude (Georges), Composition of Atmospheric Air, 449 Clay Modelling in Manual Training from Plan, Elevation, and Section, F. W. Farrington, 36 Clay Modelling in Manual Training, Scholars’ Handbook, 36 Clerici (Dr. Enrico), Simple Method of Finding Indices of Refraction of Liquids under the Microscope, 319 Clinch (G.), Sculptures of the Chalk Downs in Kent, Surrey, and Sussex, 298 Clodd (E.), Pre-animistic Stages in Savage Religion, sor Cloud Photographs from a Balloon, Dr. William J. Lockyer, 310 Clough (C. T.), the Cauldron Subsidence of Glen Coe and the Associated Igneous Phenomena, 4a& Clutterbuck (Rev. F. C.), Prospect of a Short Water Supply during the Coming Summer, 352 Coal: Practical Coal Mining, Prof. Henry Louis, 242; the Imperial Side of the Fuel Question, 277; Sir W. Ramsay, K.C.B., F.R.S., 278; Arthur McDougall, 309 Coblentz (Dr. W. W.) Investigation of the Radiation Con- stants of Metals, 288 Cockerell (Prof. T. D. A.), Another Fossil Tsetse-fly, 128 Codrington (T.), Notes on the Neighbourhood of the Vic- toria Falls (Rhodesia), 147 5 Ccelostat, a Double-image, for determining the Moon’s Position, Mr. Wade, 468 Coggia (M.), the Recent Lunar Eclipse, June 3, 502 Cohen (J. B.), Dew-ponds, 309 Cohen (Louis), Influence of Terminal Apparatus on Tele- phonic Transmission, 18 Coker (Prof. E. G.), Laboratory Machine for Applying Bending and Twisting Moments Simultaneously, Ss. Internal Combustion Engine, H. E. Wimperis, 124; In- ternal Combustion Engines, their Theory, Construction, and Operation, R. C. Carpenter and H. Diederichs, 124 ; First Report of the British Association Committee ap- pointed for the Investigation of Gaseous Explosions, with Special Reference to Temperature, 505 Cole (Prof. Grenville A. J.), la Céte d’Azur Russe (Riviera du Caucase), E. A. Martel, 40 Coleman (W. M.), First Course in Biology, 34 Colin (H.), Reddening of the Branches of Salicornia, 480 Collie (Prof. J. Norman, F.R.S.), a Curious Property of Neon, 326, 347 Coloured Objects, the Photography of, Dr. C. E. Kenneth Mees, 489 Coloured Stars in the Barnard, 169 Colours of Leaves, the, George Abbott, 429 Colours and Magnitude of Stars, Mr. Franks, Miss Bell, 288 Comets: Observations of Comet Tempel,-Swift, Prof. Barnard, 19; Comet Tempel,-Swift, 1908d, MM. Ram- band and Sy, 79; Photographs of Morehouse’s Comet, 1908c, Rey. Joel Metcalf, 108; Position of, Dr. Ebell, 169; Observations made at Meudon Observatory on Morehouse’s Comet, H. Deslandres, A. Bernard, and J. Bosler, 179; Observations of Comet Morehouse, Mr. Motherwell, 200; Prof. F. Ristenpart, 260; the Spec- trum of Morehouse’s Comet, Prof. Hartmann, 380; Posi- tion of Daniel’s (1907d) Comet, H. H. Kritzinger, 169 ; Recent Observations of Daniel’s Comet, 1907d, Prof. Wolf, 410; Halley’s Comet, Mr. Crommelin, 228; the Meteoric Shower of Halley’s Comet, W. F. Denning, 259; the Calculation of Cometary Orbits, Prof. Kobold, 288; the Perturbations of Brooks’s Comet (1889 V) by Jupiter in 1886, Prof. Poor, 410; G. Deutschland, 410; Discovery of a Comet, 1909a (Borrelly-Daniel), Mr. Daniel, 502; M. Javelle, 502; Prof. Kobold, 502; M. Borrelly, 502; Elements and Ephemeris for Winnecke’s Comet, 1909, Prof. Hillebrand, 502 Commerson (Philibert, D.M., Naturalist du Roi), the Life of, an Old-World Story of French Travel and Science in the Days of Linnzus, Captain S. Pasfield Oliver, 430 Compasses, an Explanation of the Adjustment of Ships’, Commander L. W. P. Chetwynd, 276 Comstock (Prof. D. F.), an Electromagnetic Problem, 39 Conchology, Growth of the Shell of Patella vulgata, L., E. 5. Russell, 87 Conran (M. J.), Theorems on the Twisted Cubic, 88 Conwentz (Prof. H.), the Care of Natural Monuments with Special Reference to Great Britain and Germany, 275 Cook (F. C.), Estimation of Creatinine, 470 Cook (T.), the Electrostatic Separation of Minerals, 178 Cooke (Ernest), a Catalogue of 1625 Southern Stars, 51 Cooke (Dr. Theodore), the Flora of the Presidency of Bom- bay, 362 Copeland (Dr. E. B.), Limitation of the Genus Athyrium, 226 Cornish (Dr. Vaughan), Wind-waves in Water, Sand, and Snow, 119 Corona, the Brightness of the, Prof. Perrine, 380 Cosmical Matter in Space, Prof. Newall, 142 Cosmogony, Scientific Papers, Vol. ii., Tidal Friction and, Sir George Howard Darwin, K.C.B., F.R.S., 421 Cotton Growing in the West Indies, West Indian Bulletin, the Journal of the Imperial Agricultural Department for the West Indies, 164 Cotton-weaving Sheds,.Report of the Departmental Com- mittee on Humidity and Ventilation in, ror Coulomb’s Law, Priestley and, C. J. Woodward, 8 Coulthurst (S. L.), the Oil and Bromoil Processes, 67 Globular Cluster M Prof. 13, Couper (Archibald Scott), Life and Chemical Work of, Prof. Richard Anschiitz, 329 Courmelles (Fouveau de), the Treatment of Nevus by Electrolysis and Radium Combined, 480 Cowie (George A.), the Fertilisation of Tea, 385 Cox (C. F.), Darwin and the Mutation Theory, 16 Cracknell (A. G.), Geometry, Theoretical and Practical. 7 Cram (M. P.), Fractionation of Crude Petroleum by Capil- lary Diffusion, 409 7; the , Craniology : Relative Size of the Frontal Lobe of the Brain, XIV Prof. Franklin P. Mall, 166; Cranial Capacity of Fossil Men of the Type known as Neanderthal, Marcellin Boule, 390 Crawford (W. J.), Dimensional Changes produced in Iron and Stecl Bars by Magnetism, 339 Crawley (Rev. A. E.), Vélkerpsychologie, eine Untersuch- ung der Entwicklungsgesetze von Sprache, Mythus und Sitte, Wilhelm Wundt, 334 Crawshay (Richard), the Birds of Tierra del Fuego, 155 Crew (Dr. Henry), General Physics, 122 Crocodile’s Nest, a, G. W. Grabham, 96 Crommelin (Mr.), Halley’s Comet, 228 Crowther (J. A.), Passage of Réntgen Rays through Gases and Vapours, 57; Effect of Temperature on Jonisation, 2 Ccible Support and Furnace, New, 204 Crustacea : Changes in the Common Shore Crab caused by Sacculina, F. A. Potts, 88; an Account of the Crustacea of Norway, Prof. G. O. Sars, W. A. Cunnington, 184; Anaspidacea, Geoffrey Smith, 435 ; Crystallisation, Influence of Radium on the Velocity of, Louis Frischauer, 389 Crystallography: Chemische Krystallographie, Prof. P. Groth, 154; Studies of Frost and Ice Crystals, Wilson J. Bentley, 492 Cunningham (Mrs. M. E.), Openings in Knap Hill Camp, Wiltshire, 287 h Cunnington (Mrs. M. E.), Excavation of Celtic Rubbish- heap near Oare, 17. .- Cunnington (W. A.), an Account of the Crustacea of Nor- way, Prof. G. O. Sars, 184 Curtis (Dr. Heber D.), Spectroscopic Binaries, 321 Curves, Easement, Prof. R. H. Smith, 467 Cushman (Allerton S.), the Preservation of Iron and Steel, 8 Girlone? Is there a Vertical Magnetic Force in a, J. R. Ashworth, 40 Cytology: the Cell as the Unit of Life, and other Lectures Delivered at the Royal Institution, London, 1899-1902, an Introduction to Biology, Allan Macfadyen, 123 Cytomorphosis, the Problem of Age, Growth, and Death, a Study of, Prof. Charles S. Minot, 335 Dakin (W. J.), Pecten, 273 Daniel (Mr.), Discovery of a New Comet, 1909a, 502 Daniel’s Comet, 1907d, Recent Observations of, Prof. Wolf, 10 Daniel’s (1907d) and Morehouse’s (1908c) Comets, Positions of, H. H. Kritzinger, 169; Dr. Ebell, 169 Dannemann (Dr. Friedrich), aus der Werkstatt grosser Forscher, 182 Darbishire (A. D.), Experimental Estimation of the Theory of Ancestral Contributions in Heredity, 27 Darwin (Sir George Howard, K.C.B., F.R.S.), Scientific Papers, Vol. ii., Tidal Friction and Cosmogony, 421 Darwin Celebrations in the United States, 72 Darwin Centenary Celebration, the, 433 Darwin Commemoration at Cambridge, the, 496 Darwin and Modern Science, Essays in Commemoration of the Centenary of the Birth of Charles Darwin and of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Publication of the ‘‘ Origin of Species,’’ Prof. R. Meldola, F.R.S., 481 Darwinism, Recent Papers on, 142 Darzens (G.), New Method of Preparation of the B-Halogen Derivatives of Naphthalene, 149 Dates: Scientific, Handbuch zur Geschichte der Natur- wissenschaften und der Technik, “66 Davenport .(Gertrude and Charles), Heredity of the Colour of Hair in Man, 257 Davis (J. J.), Biological Studies of Three Species of Aphidide, 257 Davis (J. R. Ainsworth), Nature Study, 192 Davis (Prof. W. M.), Glacial Erosion in North Wales, 179 Daylight and Darkness, 230 “Daylight Saving ’’ Bill, the, L. C. W. Bonacina, 69 Deacon (Dr. G. F.), Death of, 499 Debierne (A.), Decomposition of Water by Radium Salts, 149; the Radium Emanation, 389 Deegener (Dr. P.), die Metamorphose der Insekten, 156 Index Nature, July 22, 1909 Delage (Yves), Sex in Sea-urchins obtained by Experimental Parthenogenesis, 29 Demons, Baskets used in Repelling, Kumagusu Minakata, 369 Dendy (Prof. A.), Sphenodon, 268 Denigés (Georges), Sensitive Reactions for the Detection and Identification of Glycerol, 59 Denning (W. F.), the Meteoric Fireball of February 22 and its Streak, 13; the Meteoric Streak of February 22, 42; Fireball of February 22, 69; Fall of an Aérolite in Mokoia, New Zealand, on November 26, 1908, 128; the Meteoric Shower of Halley’s Comet, 259 Depéret (Charles), the Transformations of the Animal World, 452 : Deprez (Marcel), Coefficient of Self-induction of a very long Bobbin, 179 Derry (Dr. Douglas E.), Anatomical Results of Excavations in Nubia, 466 Design in Creation, the Evolution of the Atmosphere as a Proof of, John Phin, W. E. Rolston, 216 Design in Nature, Dr. J. Bell Pettigrew, F.R.S., 151 Deslandres (H.), Observations made at Meudon Observatory on Morehouse’s Comet, 179; a General Solution of the Spectroheliograph, 239, 380; Examination of the Upper Layers of Calcium and Hydrogen in the Solar Atmosphere and of the same Black Filaments in the Two Layers, 269 ; the Upper Layers of the Solar Atmosphere, 354; Critical Examination of the Monochromatic Images of the Sun with the Hydrogen Lines, 389 Despaux (A.), Explication méchanique des Propriétés de la Matiére, Cohésion, Affinité, Gravitation, &c., 6 Deutschland (G.), the Perturbations of Brooks’s Comet (1889 V) by Jupiter in 1886, 410 Devaux-Charbonnel (M.), Constitution of Subterranean Tele- phone Circuits in Large Towns, 29; the Standardisation of Condensers, 479 Dew-ponds, Geo. Hubbard, 223; Prof. J. B. Cohen, 309; Arthur Marshall, 429; L. Gibbs, 458 Diederichs (H.), Internal-combustion Engines, their Theory, Construction, and Operation, 124 Dilg (Carl), Post-embryonal Development of the Amazonian Manati, 166 : Dillon (T.), Montanin and Montana Waxes, 479 Dines (W. H., F.R.S.), Barometric Oscillation, 8; Lieut. Shackleton’s Antarctic Expedition, Meteorological Observa- tions, 130; the Temperature of the Upper Atmosphere, the Intracranial Vascular System of 455 Diphtheria, the Bacteriology of, 243 Diseases, a Manual of Infectious, Dr. E. W. Goodall and Dr. J. W. Washbourn, 454 Dixon (Prof. H. B., F.R.S.), Experiments on the Ignition Point of Gases by the Method of Adiabatic Compression suggested by Prof. Nernst, 119; Photographs showing the Generation and Nature of ‘‘ Explosion Waves” in Gases, 348 Dobbie (A. W.), the Levels of Sun-spots, 19 Dobell (C. C.), So-called ‘‘ Sexual’? Method of Forming Spores in Bacteria, 88; Spore-formation in the Disporic Bacteria, 435 Doberck (Prof.), the Orbit of € Bodtis, 380 Dodds (G. S.), Plant Distribution on ‘‘ Mesas ’’ near Boulder, Colorado, 76-7 Dodgson (J. W.), an Intermediate Course of Laboratory Work in Chemistry, 215 4 D6flein (Prof. F.), Probleme der Protistenkunde, I., die Trypanosomen ihre Bedeutung fiir Zoologie, Medizin, und Kolonialwirtschaft, 489 Dolmage (Dr. Cecil G.), Astronomy of To-day, 181 Dorée (C.), Cholesterol in the Animal Organism, Part iii., 28 Double-image Coelostat for Determining the Moon’s Posi- tion, Mr. Wade, 468 Double-star Measures, Prof. Burnham, 19 Double Stars, Measures for, Dr. Lau and Herr Luplau- Janssen, 200 Downing (Dr.), Occultations of Planets, Eclipse of the Sun in Canada, 320 Dowson (J. Emerson), Producer Gas for Engines, 200, 232 Dreaper (W. P.), Research and the Colleges, 128 Droop (Mr.), Early Civilisation in Northern Greece, 437 288; Partiali Nature, July 22, 1909 Drowning: Schafer Method of Artificial Case of the Apparently Drowned, 138 Dryness of Winter (1908-9), the, Alex. B. MacDowall, 40 Duane (William), Evolution of Heat by Radio-active Bodies, Respiration in 449 Dublin: Royal Dublin Society, 88, 179, 388, 479; Royal Irish Academy, 88 Duboscq (O.), the Signification of the Rhabdospora, Sup- posed Parasitic Sporozoa in Fishes, 480 Dubrisay (René), the Hydrolytic Dissociation of Chloride of Bismuth, 180 Duchacek (F.), Action of the Bulgarian Ferment Yoghourt on Various Sugars, 390 Duclaux (Jacques), Cryoscopy of Colloids, 149 Duddell (W.), a Bifilar Vibration Galvanometer, 419 Dudgeon (L. S.), Haem-agglutinins, Haem-opsonins, and Hezem-lysins in the Blood from Diseases in Man, 58 Duffield (G.), Emission Spectrum of Silver Heated in a Car- bon-tube Furnace in Air, 168 Dufour (A.), Examination of Zeeman Effect for Certain Bands in the Emission Spectra of Gases, 352 Dumont (Th.), New Observation on the Moth of the Olive, 449 Dunbar (Prof.), Principles of Sewage Treatment, 5 Dunstan (A. E.), an Organic Chemistry for Schools and Technical Institutes, 215 Dupont (Georges), Normal Butine and some of its Deriva- tives, 479 Durand (Dr. E. J.), Classification of the Geoglossacez, 258 Dutch East Indies, Magnetic Survey of the, 1903~7, Dr. W. van Bemmelen, Dr. C. Chree, F.R.S., 293 Dutch East Indies, Meteorology of the, 356 Dyeing, Experiments in Relation to the Theory of, L. Vignon, 472 Dyer (Dr. Henry), Western Teaching for China, 99 Dyke (G. B.), Production of Steady Electrical Oscillations in Closed Circuits and a Method of Testing Radio-tele- graphic Receivers, 239 Dynamics: a Brief Course in Elementary Dynamics for Students of Engineering, Ervin S. Ferry, 95; Notes on Dynamics, Sir G. Greenhill, 455 Dyson (Prof.), Systematic Motion of the Stars, 148 Earland (A.), Cycloloculina, a New Genus of Foraminifera, 5 Earth, the Face of the, E. Suess, 91 Earth, the Yielding of the, to Disturbing Forces, Prof. A. E. H. Love, F.R.S., at Royal Society, 252 Earthquakes: the California Earthquake of April 18, 1906, Andrew C. Lawson, 10; Earthquake at Calabria, February 27, 15; Earthquake in Portugal and Spain, 255; at Winnipeg, 349; Reinforced Concrete as a Suitable Material for Buildings likely to be Subjected to Earth- quakes, 353; the Guatemalan Earthquakes and Eruption of 1902, W. S. Ascoli, 359; the Cause of Earthquakes, Prof. Hobbs, 444; the Italian Earthquake of December 28, 1908, Dr. G. Martinelli, 445; Earthquake in Southern France, 464; see also Seismology Earthshine on the Moon, Photographs of the, M. Quénisset, 141 Earthwork of England, Prehistoric, Roman, Saxon, Danish, Norman, and Medieval, A. Hadrian Allcroft, Rev. John Griffith, 69 Eastman (Dr. Charles R.), Devonian Fishes of Iowa, 318 Ebbinghaus (Prof. H.), Death and Obituary Notice of, 14 Ebell (Dr.), Position of Morehouse’s (1908c) Comet, 169 Eclipses: Partial Eclipse of the Sun in Canada, Dr. Downing, 320; the Recent Lunar Eclipse, June 3, MM. Borrelly and Coggia, 502; J. H. Elgie, 503. Edgar (Prof. John), the Carnegie Foundation for the Ad- vancement of Teaching, 399 Edinburgh Royal Society, 59, 148, 328,-478, Education : the Functions of Technical Colleges, Dr. George T. Beilby, F.R.S., at Association of Technical Institu- tions, 22; Handbook to the Technical and Art Schools and Colleges of the United Kingdom, 36; Secondary Education in England, 42; Western Teaching for China, Dr. Henry Dyer, 99; Agricultural Education, 101; Death and Obituary Notice of Sir Rowland Blennerhassett, 103 ; Index XV Higher Education in the United States, 112; the En- couragement of Research, Dr. E. H. Griffiths, F.R.S., 127; Research and the Colleges, W. P. Dreaper, 128; Rural Education in its Various Grades, 174; Functions of a University, Prof. C. Lloyd Morgan, F.R.S., 176; the Defects of English Technical Education and the Remedy, Dr. Robert Pohl at the Association of Teachers in Technical Institutions in Huddersfield, 205; Death of Dr. J. Marshall Lang, 283; Sammlung Naturwissen- schaftlich-padagogischer Abhandlungen, Prof. J. A. Green, 304; the Reform of Oxford University, 311; Re- form at Cambridge, 345; Goethe und Pestalozzi, Karl Muthesius, 368; the Carnegie Foundation for the Ad- vancement of Teaching, Prof. John Edgar, 399; Educa- tion and Research in Applied Chemistry, Prof. Raphael Meldola, F.R.S., at Society of Chemical Industry, 413; the Association of Teachers in Technical Institutions, 446 ; the Supply of Secondary Education in England and Else- where, A. J. Pressland, 473 Edwards (Dr. W. H.), Death of, 164, 224 Egypt: Mechanical Irrigation Plants, Nile Irrigation Station at Wadi Kém-Ombo, J. B. van Brussel, 18 ; Hand- book for Egypt and the Sudan, 155 Egyptology: Paleolithic Vessels of Egypt, or the Earliest Handiwork of Man, Robert de Rustafjaell, 246; the Tomb of Horemheb, Egypt, A. E. P. Weigall, 437 Ekman (Dr. V. W.), Measurements of the Compressibilitiés of Pure Water and of Sea-water, 168 Electricity : Priestley and Coulomb’s Law, C. J. Woodward, 8; Moving-coil Galvanometer, Methods of Making the Instrument Suitable for Measuring Small Currents, Dr. M. Reinganum, 18; Rotation of the Electric Arc in a Radial Magnetic Field, J. Nicol, 27; Ionisation in the Atmosphere, Prof. A. S. Eve, 36; an Electromagnetic Problem, Prof. D. F. Comstock, 39; Norman R. Camp- bell, 39; Effect of Heat upon the Electrical State of Living Tissues, Dr. A. D. Waller, 58; Physico-chemical Method of Sterilising in the Cold and at a Distance, A. Billon-Daguerre, 59; Electromotive Force of Iodine Concentration Cells with One Electrode Saturated with Iodine, Principal A. P. Laurie, 59; Sterilisation of milk by the Ultra-violet Rays, Victor Henri and G. Stodel, 60; Suggested Effect of High-tension Mains, Sir Oliver Lodge, F.R.S., 67; Measurement of Dielectric Constants by the Oscillations of Ellipsoids and Cylinders in a Field of Force, W. M. Thornton, 86; Attempt to Detect Some Electro-optical Effects, Prof. H. A. Wilson, 118; the Electrical Properties of Flame, Prof. H. A. Wilson, F.R.S., at Royal Institution, 143; Effect of Radiations on the Brush Discharge, A. E. Garrett, 147; Pirani’s Method of Measuring the Self-inductance of a Coil, A. E. Snow, 147-8; High-potential Primary Battery, W. S. Tucker, 148; Resonator Sparks, their Spectroscopic Analysis, G. A. Hemsalech and A. Zimmern, 149 ; Electro- motive Forces of Magnetisation, V. Posejpal, 149; In- tegration of the Equations of Motion of an Electron describing an Orbit about an Ion in a Magnetic Field, Prof. Augusto Righi, 168; the Photo-electric Fatigue of Zinc, H. Stanley Allen, 178; the Electrostatic Separa- tion of Minerals, T. Cook, 178; Coefficient of Self-induc- tion of a Very Long Bobbin, Marcel Deprez, 179; New Electrical Hardening Furnace, E. Sabersky and E. Adler, 209; Relation between Composition and Conductivity in Solutions of meta- and ortho-Phosphoric Acids, Dr. E. B. R. Prideaux, 209; Electro-analysis of Mercury Compounds with a Gold Kathode, Dr. F. Mollwo Perkin, 209; Electricité Industrielle, C. Lebois, Prof. Gisbert Kapp, 213; Two New Systems of Electric Wiring, 227; Specific Heat of Air and Carbon Dioxide at .Atmospheric Pressure, by the Continuous Electrical Method, at 20° C. and at 100° C., W. F. G. Swann, 238; Production of Steady Electrical Oscillations in Closed Circuits, and a Method of Testing Radio-telegraphic Receivers,.Dr. J. A. Fleming and G. B. Dyke, 239; Effect of an Air Blast upon the Spark Discharge of a Condenser Charged by an Induction Coil or Transformer, Dr. J. A. Fleming and H. W. Richardson, 239; the Simple Equivalent of an Alternating Circuit of Parallel Wires, Dr. J. W. Nichol- son, 247; Measurement of the Energy of Negative Elec- trons given out by Metals Heated in a Vacuum, Dr. A. Wehnelt and F. Jentzsch, 258; the Electrification of Rail- XVi Index Nature, July 22, 1909 ways, John A. F. Aspinall at Institution of Mechanical Engineers, 260; Properties of Doubly-charged Ions, Drs. J. Franck and W. Westphal, 287; Tantalum and _ its Industrial Applications, Alex. Siemens at the Royal In- stitution, 290; Phenomenon connected with the Discharge of Electricity from Pointed Conductors, with a Note by John Zeleny, H. T. Barnes and A. N. Shaw, 297; Theory of the Alternate-current Generator, Prof. Lyle, 328; Electrons and the Absorption of Light, R. A. Houston, 338; Counting of a Particles (Electrically charged Helium Atoms) by Prof. E. Rutherford’s Method, T. H. Laby, 348; Electric Splashes on Photographic Plates, A. W. Porter, 348; Transformers for Single and Multiphase Currents, Prof. Gisbert Kapp, 365; Electrical Engineer’s Pocket Book, Horatio A. Foster, 365; Selec- tive Wireless Telegraphy, Sir Oliver Lodge, F.R.S., 381; the Charge of a Negative Ion of a Flame, Georges Moreau, 389; Measurements of the Brownian Movements in Gases and the Charge of Particles in Suspension, M. de Broglie, 389; Heavy Electrical Engineering, H. M. Hobart, Prof. Gisbert Kapp, 391; Electrical Conductivity of Pure Hexane, G. Jaffé, 409; a Bifilar Vibration Galvanometer, W. Duddell, 419; the Charges of Chemical Fumes, MM. de Broglie and Brizard, 449; New Electrode for Electro- lytic Determination of Metals, J. W. Turrentine, 470; Experiments on the Action of the Silent Electric Dis- charge on Ethylene and Acetylene, Dr. M. Z. Jovitchitch, 471; the Treatment of Nzevus by Electrolysis and Radium Combined, Fouveau de Courmelles, 480; Unités Elec- triques, le Comte de Baillehache, Dr. J. A. Harker, 488; the Theory of Electric Cables and Networks, Dr. Alex- ander Russell, 490; Inductance and Resistance in Tele- phone and Other Circuits, Dr. J. W. Nicholson, 509 ; New Wave Detector for Wireless Telegraphy and Tele- phony, G. E. Petit, 509; Method of Making Condensers with Pure Paraffin Wax, C. L. B. Shuddemagen, 502 ; the Arthur Wright Electrical Device for Evaluating Formule and Solving Equations, Dr. Russell and Arthur Wright, 509 Elenkin (A. A.), Algae and Lichens of Lake Selguer, 501 Elgie (J. H.), the Recent Lunar Eclipse, June 3, 503 Ellis (G. W.), Cholesterol in the Animal Organism, Part iv., 28 Elsden (J. V.), Geology of the Neighbourhood of Seaford, I Pineaogeny: Experimental Zoology, Dr. Hans Przibram, Dr. Francis H. A. Marshall, 2 Embryology: the Development of the Lillie, 271; Growth of Nerve Fibres, son, 325; Experimental Embryology, J. 451; ‘‘ Chemical’? Embryos, 507 Engelmann (Prof. Wilh.), Death of, 375 Engineering : Mechanical Irrigation Plants, Nile Irrigation Station at Wadi Kém-Ombo, J. B. van Brussel, 18; Lathe Design for High- and Low-speed Steels, Prof. John T. Nicholson and Dempster Smith, 33; Mechanics of Engineering, Prof. Irving P. Church, 33; Motor-car Mechanism and Management, W. Poynter Adams, 32; Steam Plant Trials at the Greenvale Mill, Littleborough, G. B. Storie, 50; Recent Grain-handling and Storing Appliances at the Millwall Docks, Magnus Mowat, 50; the Theory and Design of Structures, Ewart S. Andrews, 64; the Strength of Materials, Prof. Arthur Morley, 64; Death and Obituary Notice of Prof. W. C. Kernot, 75; Railway Tunnel under River Detroit, 76; Foundations of Lofty Buildings in American Practice, Frank W. Skinner, 78; the Internal-combustion Engine, H. E. Wimperis, Prof. E. G. Coker, 124; Internal-combustion Engines, their Theory, Construction, and Operation, R. C. Carpenter and H. Diederichs, Prof. E. G. Coker, 124; Construction and Wear of Roads, H. A. R. Mallock, F.R.S., 141; Laws of Heat and Transmission Deduced from Experiment, Prof. J. T. Nicholson at Junior Institu- tion of Engineers, 144; New Calcium-carbide Factory at Odda, Norway, 168; the Panama Canal, 197; Producer Gas for Engines, ]. Emerson Dowson, 200,° 232 ; Laboratory Notes on Industrial Water Analysis, a Survey Course for Engineers, Ellen H. Richards, 215; the Plant Necessary in Warship Construction, 227; Oil Motors, G. Lieckfeld, 246; the Microscope in Engineering, Walter Rosenhain, Chick) he URE Ross Harri- W. Jenkinson, 250; Automatic Recorder of Carbon Dioxide, Mr. Rosen- hain, 259; Problems Connected with the Construction of New York Times Building, C. T. Purdy, 259; the Elec- trification of Railways, John A. F. Aspinall at Institu- tion of Mechanical Engineers, 260; Death and Obituary Notice of Dr. Bindon Blood Stoney, F.R.S., 315; Road Motors and Problems Connected with Them, ‘* James Forrest ’’? Lecture at Institution of Civil Engineers, Colonel H. C. L. Holden, F.R.S., 323; Reinforced Concrete as a Suitable Material for Buildings likely to be Subjected to Earthquakes, 353; Elastic Limits of Iron and Steel under Cyclical Variations of Stress, L. Bairstow, 359; Trans- formers for Single and Multiphase Currents, Prof. Gis- bert Kapp, 365; Electrical Engineer’s Pocket Book, Horatio A. Foster, 365; Comparison Tests between New Féry Spiral Pyrometer and a Standardised Thermoelectric Féry Radiation Pyrometer, G. C. Pearson, 379; Heavy Electrical Enginecring, H. M. Hobart, Prof. Gisbert Kapp, 391; Death of Eugene Grenet, 404; New 300-ton Universal Testing Machine, Messrs. W. and T. Avery, Ltd., 408; Briquette-making, Prof. W. Galloway, 409 ; Easement Curves, Prof. R. H. Smith, 467; Death of Dr. G. F. Deacon, 499; First Report of the British Associa- tion Committee appointed for the Investigation of Gaseous Explosions, with Special Reference to Temperature, Prof. E. G. Coker, 505 England: Secondary Education in England, 42; the Supply of Secondary Education in England and Elsewhere, A. J. Pressland, 473; Earthwork of England, Prehistoric, Roman, Saxon, Danish, Norman, and Medizval, A. Hadrian Allcroft, Rev. John Griffith, 69 Engler (A.), das Pflanzenreich, Araceae-Monsteroideze and Calloideze, 424 Enteropneusta, Morphology of the, Dr. Arthur Willey, aR S.5 218 Entomology: Cross-breeding of Two Races of the Moth Acidalia virgularia, Louis B. Prout and A. Bacot, 58; British Butterflies and other Insects, 67; Papers and Reports on Insects, 81; Nests of the Argentine Spider Mastophora extraordinaria, J. Brethes, 137; American Insect Pests, Dr. Ball, 138; Dr. Chittenden, 138; W. D. Hunter, 138; die Metamorphose der Insekten, Dr. P. Deegener, 156; Death of Dr. W. H. Edwards, 164, 224; Parasites of the Cotton-worm, Mr. Jemmett, 197; Biologia Centrali-Americana, Orthoptera, Vol. i., Dr. Henri de Saussure, Dr. Leo Zehntner, and A. Pictet, Forficulide, Count de Bormans, Vol. ii., Acridiida, Prof. Lawrence Brunner, Tettigine, Albert P. Morse, and Phasmide, Robert Shelford, 241; die Termiten oder weissen Ameisen, K. Escherich, 245; Biological Studies of Three Species of Aphidide, J. J. Davis, 257; Angolan Oil-beetles (Meloidee), Dr. F. Creighton Wellman, 263; Variability of the Six Castes of South African White Ants or Ter- mites, Dr. Ernest Warren, 264; Catalogue of the Lepidoptera Phalenz in the British Museum, Sir George F. Hampson, Bart., 338; the Tent-building Habits of the Ant Lasius niger, Linn., Dr. Marie Stopes and C. G. Hewitt, 388; YLwo New Parasites of the Black- currant Mite, Miss A. M. Taylor, 447; Economic Loss to United States through Disease-carrying Insects, Dr. L. O. Howard, 448; New Observation on the Moth of the Olive, Th. Dumont, 449; Injurious Insects observed in Ireland during 1908, Prof. G. H. Carpenter, 479 Erdmann (Prof. H.), Alaska, ein Beitrag zur Geschichte nordischer Kolonisation, 121 Eredia (Dr. F.), Discussion of the Temperature at Rome, 1855-1904, 106 Erlangen, Festschrift der Physikalisch-medizinischen Societat zu, zur Feier ihres roo jahrigen Bestehens am 27 Juni, 1908, 411 Erlangen, Sitzungsberichte der Physikalisch-medizinischen Societat in, 411 Ernst (Dr. A.), Flora of Volcanic Region of Java and Sumatra, 105; the New Flora of the Volcanic Island of Krakatau, 279 Eros, Solar Parallax from Observations of, Prof. Perrine, 68 Escherich (K.), die Termiten oder weissen Ameisen, 245 Essays and Addresses, J. H. Bridges, 217 Estéva (G.), Condensation of the Mesoxalic Esters with Aromatic Hydrocarbons, 59 Nature, July 22, 1929 Index XVil Etévé (A.), Measurements of the Coefficient of Resistance of Air, 149 Ethnography: Death and Obituary Notice of Dr. J. D. E. Schmeltz, 405 Ethnology: Physiological and Medical Observations among the Indians of South-western United States and Northern Mexico, AleS Hrdli¢ka, 126; Death and Obituary Notice of Dr. William Jones, 196, 255; the Nandi: their Language and Folklore, A. C. Hollis, 249; Rock- engravings in South Africa, L. Péringuey, 411; Corr., R. Lydekker, 438 Eugenics, the Scope of, Prof. Karl Pearson, 203 Evans (E.), Plants and their Ways, 452 Evans (E. J.), Spectroscopic Researches, 508 Eve (Prof. A. S.), Ionisation in the Atmosphere, 36 Evershed (Mr.), Sun-spots and Solar Temperature, 169 Evolution: Darwin and the Mutation Theory, C. F. Cox, 16; Parallel Paths: a Study in Biology, Ethics, and Art, T. W. Rolleston, 35; Darwin Celebrations in the United States, 72; Recent Papers on Darwinism, 142; the Darwin Centenary Celebration, 433; Darwin and Modern Science, Essays in Commemoration of the Cen- tenary of the Birth of Charles Darwin and of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Publication of the ‘‘ Origin of Species,’’ Prof. R. Meldola, F.R.S., 481; the Darwin Commemora- tion at Cambridge, 496; Stellar Evolution, Prof. Moul- ton, 79; the Evolution of the Atmosphere as a Proof of Design in Creation, John Phin, W. E. Rolston, 216; Man in the Light of Evolution, Dr. J. M. Tyler, 275; Lectures on the Evolution of the Filicinean Vascular System, A. G. Tansley, 391; Mendelian Action on Dif- ferentiated Sex, Dr. D. Berry Hart, 478 Ewart (Prof. J. C., F.R.S.), the Natural History Museum, 229 Ewen (D.), the Bessemerising of Hardhead, 388 Explosive Combustion, with Special Reference to that of Hydrocarbons, Prof. W. A. Bone, F.R.S., at Royal In- stitution, 81 Explosives: the Manufacture of Explosives, Oscar Gutt- mann, 272; Detonation of Gun-cotton, Prof. C. E. Munroe, 443 Eyre (Dr. J.), Pathogenesis of Micrococcus melitensis, 328 Fabry (Ch.), Comparison of the Lines of the Spectrum of the Electric Arc and of the Sun, Pressure of the Reversing Layer in the Solar Atmosphere, 149; Pressure in the Sun’s Atmosphere, 22 Unsymmetrical Enlargement of the Lines of the Arc Spectrum and their Comparison with those of the Solar Spectrum, 389 Fabry (Prof. E.), Traité de Mathématiques générales a l'usage des Chimistes, Physiciens, Ingénieurs, et des Eléves des Facultés des Science, 488 Fabry and Perot Interferometer, a Simple, Barnes, 187 Face of the Earth, the, E. Suess, 91 FzrGes, Botany of the, 303 Fagan (Mr.), Analyses of Brewers’ and Distillers’ Grains, 106 Falconry: the Baz-Nama-yi-Nasiri, a Persian Treatise on Falconry, 371 Fallex (M.), la France et XXe Siécle, 368 Faraday Society, 209 Farrer (Reginald), Alpine and Bog Plants, 344 Farrington (F. W.), Clay-modelling in Manual Training from Plan, Elevation, and Section, 36 Fath (E. A.), Spectra of some Spiral Nebule and Globular Star Clusters, 354 Faure (L.), Relations between the Permeability of Soils and their Aptitude for Irrigation, 449 Fauvel (Pierre), Effects of Chocolate and Coffee on Uric Acid and the Purins, 480 Feldtmann (W. R.), the ‘‘ Wholesale Idea’’ in Gold- mining, 299 4 Ferry (Ervin S.), a Brief Course in Elementary Dynamics for Students of Engineering, 95 Féry (C.), Determination of the Constant of Stefan’s Law, 209 Fever Hospitals and Disinfecting and Cleansing Stations, the Planning of, Albert C. Freeman, 185 Prof. James ses Colonies au Début au Field (J. H.), Kite Flights in India and Neighbouring Sea Areas during the South-west Monsoon Period of 1907, 77 Figure and Dimensions of the Sun, Changes in the, Prof. Moulton, 439 Filippi (F. de), Ruwenzori: an Account of the Expedition of H.R.H. Prince Luigi Amedeo of Savoy, Duke of the Abruzzi, 281 Filter with Regular Interstices of Variable Dimensions, a Metallic, Emile Gobbi, 300 Finkelstein (Mlle. M.), Complete Synthesis of Laudanosine, 210 Finlayson (A. M.), Nephrite and Magnesium Rocks of South Island, New Zealand, 359 Fireball of February 22, W. F. Denning, 69 Fischer (C. E. C.), Constructive Work for Restraining the Flow of Torrents and of the Reboisement of Mountain Slopes near Interlaken, 17 Fischer (Dr. Emil), the Paparud& Procession among the Roumanian Peasants, 204 Fischer (Emil), Untersuchungen iiber Kohlenhydrate und Fermente, 485 Fisher (Willard J.), Variation of the Viscosity of a Gas with Temperature, 77 Fisher (W. R.), Schlich’s Manual of Forestry, 35 Fishes, Recent Papers on, 357 Fishing: Sunset Playgrounds: Fishing Days and Others in California and Canada, F. G. Aflalo, 431 Flame, the Electrical Properties of, Prof. H. F.R.S., at Royal Institution, 143 Fleece, the Golden, Dr. Felix Oswald, 96 Fleming (Dr. J. A., F.R.S.), an Elementary Manual of Radio-telegraphy and Radio-telephony for Students and Operators, 65; Production of Steady Electrical Oscilla- tions in Closed Circuits, and a Method of Testing Radio- telegraphic Receivers, 239; Effect of an Air Blast upon the Spark Discharge of a Condenser charged by an In- duction Coil or Transformer, 239 Fleming (Mrs.), a Group of Red Stars in Sagittarius, 288 Flies, Sense of Smell in, Dr. Alex. Hill, 308 Flora of the Presidency of Bombay, the, Dr. Cooke, 362 Flora of the Volcanic Island of Krakatau, the New, Prof. A. Ernst, 279 Flower and Grass Calendars for Children, Agnes Fry, 368 Fluorescence, Early References to, and Light Transmitted by Thin Gold Films, John H. Shaxby, 128 Fluorescence of Lignum Nephriticum, Charles E. Benham, 159; Dr. O. Stapf, F.R.S., 218; John H. Shaxby, 248 Foley (N.), British and American Customary and Metric Legal Measures for Commercial and Technical Purposes, A. Wilson, Theodore 367 Folklore: Plants with Magic Qualities, Dr. H. Marzell, 166; the Paparudaé Procession among the Roumanian Teasants, Dr. Emil Fischer, 204; the Nandi: their Language and Folklore, A. C. Hollis, 249 Foods, Human, and their Nutritive Value, H. Snyder, C. Simmons, 366 Forestry: Results of Destruction of Forests in Northern China, F..N. Meyer, 17; Constructive Work for Restrain- ing the Flow of Torrents and of the Reboisement of Mountain Slopes near Interlaken, C. EK. C. Fischer, 17; Schlich’s Manual of Forestry, W. R. Fisher, 35; Trees: a Handbook of Forest-botany for the Woodlands and the Laboratory, Prof. H. Marshall Ward, 126; Sand-binding Plants, V. Subramania Iyer, 198; Germination of Myra- bolan Seedlings, J. E. C. Turner, 258; the Production of ‘‘Sal’’ Shorea robusta, A. L. McIntire, 317; Cata- logue of Native Trees of the Transvaal, J. Burtt-Davy, 318; Rate of Growth of Palms, A. W. Lushington, 351; Trees on the Dawyck Estate in Peebles, W. B. Gourlay, 378; Over-consumption of Wood in the United States, 435; Lac Cultivation in India, D. N. Avasia, 436 Fosse (R.), the Metallic Character of the Pyryl Group, 510 Fossils : Untersuchungen fossiler Holzer aus dem westen Vereinigten Staaten von Nordamerika, Dr. Paul Platen, 185 Foster (Horatio A.), Electrical Engineer’s Pocket Book, 365 Fouard (Eugéne), Colloidal Properties of Starch with re- spect to its Chemical Constitution, 29 Fournier (L.), Action of Gaseous Hydrochloric Acid on XViil Index Nature, July 22, 1909 Amorphous Silicon, 59; New Silicon Chlorides of the Silicomethane Series, 180; Action of Oxidising Agents upon Silicochloroform, 329 Fowle (Mr., Jun.), the Determination of the Solar Constant, 68 Fowler (A.), Spectroscopic Comparison of o Ceti with Titanium Oxide, 387 Fox (Francis), Pitchblende from Trenwith Mine, 349 France et ses Colonies au Début au XXe Siécle, la, M. Fallex and A. Mairey, 368 Franck (Dr. J.), Properties of Doubly-charged Ions, 287 Franks (Mr.), Colours and Magnitudes of Stars, 288 Fraser (Mary T.), Origin and Destiny of Cholesterol in the Animal Organism, 327 Fraser (Sir Thomas), Strophanthus sarmentosus, its Phar- macological Action and Use as an Arrow-poison, 328 Freeman (Albert C.), the Planning of Fever Hospitals and Disinfecting and Cleansing Stations, 185 Frenkel (Dr. M.), Method for Rendering Motor-car Escape Gas Odourless, 413 Fresh-water Algw from Burma, including a few from Bengal and Madras, W. West and G. S. West, 125 Freudenberg (Wilhelm), Fauna of the Hundsheim Cave in Lower Austria, 263 Friedenthal (Dr. Gustav), Beitrage zur Naturgeschichte des Menschen, 211 Friend (Dr. J. Newton), the Theory of Valency, 395 Frischauer (Louis), Influence of Radium on the Velocity of Crystallisation, 389 Fritz (Dr. F.), Carpal Vibrisse and Underlying Structures on Under Surface of Lower Part of Fore-arm of the Cat, 10 Hycet and Ice Crystals, Studies of, Wilson J. Bentley, 492 Fry (Agnes), Flower and Grass Calendars for Children, 368 Fry (G. Cecil), A Text-book of Geography, 31 Fryer (J. C. F.), the Percy Sladen Trust Expedition to the Indian Ocean, 321 Fuel Question, the Imperial Side of the, 277; Sir W. Ram- say, K.C.B., F.R.S., 278; Arthur McDougall, 309 Fuller (W. P.), Effect of Temperature on the Hysteresis Loss in Iron in a Rotating Field, 419 Fungi: Synopsis of the British Basidiomycetes, a Descrip- tive Catalogue of the Drawings and Specimens in the Department of Botany, British Museum, Worthington G. Smith, 184; the Rate of Fall of Fungus Spores in Air, Prof. A. H. Reginald Buller, 186 . Gager (Prof. C. S.), Influence of Radium Rays on Plants, 198 Galitzin (Prince), Records of the Calabrian Earthquake obtained at Pulkowa, 226 Galloway (Prof. W.), Briquette-making, 409 Gamgee (Dr. Arthur, F.R.S.), Death of, 136; Obituary Notice of, 194 Gardening, Alpine and Bog Plants, Reginald Farrer, 344 Gardiner (J. H.), Origin, History, and Devélopment of the R6ntgen-ray Tube, 438 Gardiner (J. Stanley, F.R.S.), the Percy Sladen Trust Ex- pedition to the Indian Ocean, 321; the Germ-layer Theory, 428 Gardner (J. A.), Cholesterol in the Animal Organism, Parts iii. and iv., 28; Origin and Destiny of Cholesterol in the Animal Organism, 327 Gardner (Prof. Walter M.), the Structure of the Wool Fibre and its Relation to the Use of Wool for Technical Pur- poses, Dr. F. H. Bowman, 4 Garrad (A. J.), New Method of Illumination for Photo- graphic Work, the ‘‘ Petrolite” Photographic Lamp, 439 Garrett (A. E.), Effect of Radiations on the Brush Discharge, 147 Gas: Producer Gas for Engines, J. Emerson Dowson, 200, 232 Gascard (A.), Action of Light upon Milk to which Potas- sium Bichromate has been Added, 60 Gaseous Explosions, First Report of the British Association Committee appointed for the Investigation of, with Special Reference to Temperature, Prof. E. G. Coxer, 505 Gases: Number of Molecules in Unit Volume of a Gas, P. Ghose, 39; the Gases of the Ring Nebula in Lyra, Prof. Bohuslav Brauner, 158; Internal Pressure in Gases, A. Leduc, 449 Gaskell (Dr. Walter Holbrook, F.R.S.), the Origin of Vertebrates, 301; Gaskell’s ‘‘ Origin of Vertebrates,”’ 428 Gaupp (Prof. E.), Problem of Man’s Right-handedness, 500 Gautrelet (Jean), Hypotensive Function of Choline in the Organism, 240 ; Gazarian (G. Ter), Revision of the Atomic Weight of Phos- phorus, 449 Gems: Artificial Production of Precious Stones, Jacques Boyer, 408; the Famous Hope Diamond, 464 Genetics, the Method and Scope of, Prof. W. Bateson, F.R.S., 396 Geography: Geography, Structural, Physical, and Com- parative, Prof. J. W. Gregory, F.R.S., 31; a Text-book of Geography, G. Cecil Fry, 31; la Céte d’Azur Russe (Riviera du Caucase), E. A. Martel, Prof. Grenville A. J. Cole, 40; Geographical and Archeological Explorations in Chinese Turkestan in 1906-8, Dr. M. A. Stein, 47; Alaska, ein Beitrag zur Geschichte nordischer Kolonisa- tion, Prof. H. Erdmann, 121; Structural Geography, Prof. J. W. Gregory, F.R.S., 157; the Reviewer, 157; Royal Geographical Society’s Medal Awards, 165; Mountaineers of the Euphrates, E. Huntingdon, 167; the British Empire (and Japan), W. Bisilker, 213; the Shores of the Adriatic, the Austrian Side, F. Hamilton Jackson, 274; Ruwenzori, an Account of the Expedition of H.R.H. Prince Luigi Amedeo of Savoy, Duke of the Abruzzi, F. de Filippi, Prof. J. W. Gregory, F.R.S., 281; Mr. Roosevelt’s Pro- jected Hunting Trip in East Africa, Sir H. Johnston, 285 ; Cambridge County Geographies: Essex, Kent, Surrey, Sussex, G. F. Bosworth, 305; Leonardo da Vinci and Geography, Prof. Dr. Eugen Oberhummer, 351; la France et ses Colonies au Début du XXe Siécle, M. Fallex and A. Mairey, 368; Dr. Sven Hedin on Central Asia, 372; Revue de Géographie annuelle, 455 Geology : Limestone Caves of Marble Arch, Co. Fermanagh, H. Brodrick, 88; the Face of the Earth, E. Suess, 91; Geological Society, 118, 147, 179, 298, 359, 419, 418; Anniversary Address at, Time in Relation to Geological Events, Prof. W. J. Sollas, F.R.S., 118; Karroo System in Northern Rhodesia, and its Relation to the General Geology, A. J. C. Molyneux, 118; Notes on the Neigh- bourhood of the Victoria Falls (Rhodesia), T. Codring- ton, 147; Petrography of the New Red Sandstone in the West of England, H. H. Thomas, 147; Glacial Deposits of Western Carnarvonshire, Dr. T. J. Jehu, 148; the Glenboig Fireclay, its Halloysite and Sideroplesite, Prof. J. W. Gregory, 148; Sketch of the Mineral Resources of India, Sir T. H. Holland, 163; Glacial Erosion in North Wales, Prof. W. M. Davis, 179; Untersuchungen fossiler Holzer aus dem westen Vereinigten Staaten von Nord- amerika, Dr. Paul Platen, 185; the Rhine-Rhone Water- parting, Dr. L. Ritter von Sawicki, 258; the Lahat ‘“Pipe,’’ J. B. Scrivenor, 298; Sculptures of the Chalk Downs in Kent, Surrey, and Sussex, G. Clinch, 298; a Direct Estimate of the Minimum Age of Thorianite, Hon. R. J. Strutt, F.R.S., 308; the Percy Sladen Trust Expedi- tion to the Indian Ocean, J. Stanley Gardiner, F.R.S., 321; J. C. F. Fryer, 321; Permian Footprints, G. Hickling, 328 ; “ Blowing ’’ Wells, Sydney H. Long, 329; Dr. A. Strahan, F.R.S., 370; Beeby Thompson, 429; the Boulders of the Cambridge Drift, R. H. Rastall and J. Romanes, 359; Nephrite and Magnesium Rocks of South Island, New Zealand, A. M. Finlayson, 359; Bau und Geschichte der Erde, O. Abel, 367; the Geology of the Goldfields of British Guiana, J. B. Harrison, 395; the Ore Deposits of South Africa, J. P. Johnson, 395; Death and Obituary Notice of T. Mellard Reade, 404; the Hartfell-Valentian Succession around Plynlimon and Pont Erwyd (North Cardiganshire), O. T. Jones, 419; Geology of the Neigh- bourhood of Seaford (Sussex), J. V. Elsden, 419 ; Cauldron Subsidence of Glen Coe and the Associated Igneous Phenomena, C. T. Clough, H. B. Muff, and E. B. Bailey, 448; the Pitting of Flint Surfaces, C. Carus-Wilson, 448 ; Geology of the Mount Flinders and Fassifern Districts, Queensland, Dr. H. I. Jensen, 479; die Grundproben der “Deutschen Tiefsee-Expedition,’’ Sir John Murray and Prof. E. Philippi, 486; History of the Geological Society of Glasgow, 1858-1908, with Biographical Notices of Prominent Members, 487 Nature, July 22, 1909 L[ndex XIX Geometry: Geometry, Theoretical and Practical, W. P. Workman and A. G. Cracknell, 7; Practical Solid Geo- metry, Rev. P. W. Unwin, 305; Cassell’s Elementary Geometry, W. A. Knight, 305 ; the Teaching of Geometry, Prof. George M. Minchin, F.R.S., 373; Grundlagen der Geometrie, D. Hilbert, 394 Germ-layer Theory, the, J. Stanley Gardiner, F.R.S., 428; the Reviewer, 428; Ric. Assheton, 492 German Anthropological Papers, 204 Germany: the Care of Natural Monuments with Special Reference to Great Britain and Germany, Prof. H. Con- wentz, 275; Mitteilungen der deutschen dendrologischen Gesellschaft, 325; Germany and the Patents and Designs Act, 1907, 401 Gernez (D.), Supposed Effect of Crystallisation for Modify- ing the Properties of the Solution of a Body Resulting from the Direct Union of Two Solutions, 59 Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften und der Technik, Hand- buch zur, 66 Gesichtsempfindungen, Abhandlungen zur Physiologie der, aus dem physiologischen Institut zu Freiburg-i-B., 125 Gessard (C.), the Catalase of the Blood, 449 Ghose (P.), Number of Molecules in Unit Volume of a Gas, 39 Gibbs (L.), Dew-ponds, 458 Gibbs (Miss L. S.), the Montane Flora of Fiji, 87 Gibson (A. H.), Depression of Filament of Maximum Velocity in a Stream flowing through an Open Channel, 147 Gibson (Charles R.), Scientific Ideas of To-day, 181 Gigantocypris and the Challenger, Dr. W. T. Calman, 248 Giglioli (Dr. Henry H.), an Ornithological Coincidence, 188 Gill (Rev. H. V.), a New Kind of Glow in Vacuum Tubes, 35 Gilmore (C. W.), Osteology and Affinities of the Jurassic American Iguanodont Reptiles of the Genus Campto- saurus, 378 Gilpin (J. E.), Fractionation of Crude Petroleum by Capil- lary Diffusion, 409 Glasgow, History of the Geological Society of, 1858-1908, with Biographical Notices of Prominent Members, 487 Glass, Errors of Position of Images Photographed through, Dr. Schlesinger, 503 Glasson (J. L.), Want of Symmetry shown by Secondary X-rays, 327 Glazebrook (Dr. R. T., F.R.S.), Photometric Units, 374 Gleditsch (Ellen), the Radium and Uranium contained in Radio-active Minerals, 449 Globular Star Clusters, Spectra of Some Spiral Nebula and, E. A. Fath, 354 Goadby (K.), Experimental Poisoning, 472 Gobbi (Emile), a Metallic Filter with Regular Interstices of Variable Dimensions, 300 Goddard (S. F.), the Scalding and Sweating of Copper Bat- tery Plates, 388 Goebel (Dr. K.), Einleitung in die experimentelle Mor- phologie der Pflanzen, 61 Goethe und Pestalozzi, Karl Muthesius, 368 Gold (E.), the Isothermal Layer of the Atmosphere, 68 ; Upper Air Temperatures, 217 Gold, the Story of, E. S. Meade, 306 Golden Fleece, the, Dr. Felix Oswald, 96 Goldfields of British Guiana, the Geology of the, J. B. Harrison, 395 Golf, the Physics of, Sir Ralph Payne-Gallwey, 237 Goodall (Dr. E. W.), a Manual of Infectious Diseases, 454 Goodbody (Dr. F. W.), Lead Poisoning, 472 Goos (F.), Radial Velocity of a Persei, 51 Gorsedd, the Welsh, Rev. W. Griffith, 468 G6ttingen, Royal Society of Sciences, 90, 420 Gourlay (W. B.), Trees on the Dawycl Estate in Peebles, Lead Poisoning, 436; Lead 378 Goutal (E.), Study of the Gases Disengaged by the Action of Copper Salts on Steels, 239 ; Gouy (M.), Magneto-kathode Rays, 149 Government and Aéronautical Research, the, Prof. G. H. Bryan, F.R.S., 313 Grabham (G. W.), a Crocodile’s Nest, 96 Grablovitz (Prof.), Secondary Oscillation Recorded by the Tide-gauge at Ischia, 466 ! Grace (H.), Effect of Temperature on the Hysteresis Loss in Iron in a Rotating Field, 419 Graebner (P.), das Pflanzenreich, Potamogetonacez, 424 Grain-handling and Storing Appliances at the Millwall Docks, Recent, Magnus Mowat, 50 Grammar of Life, the, G. T. Wrench, 426 Gramophone as a Phonautograph, the, McKendrick, F.R.S., 188 Gravely (F. H.), Apical Pigment-spots in the Pluteus of Echinus miliaris, 359 Gravitative Strain upon the Moon, the, Evan McLennan, 276; Sir Oliver Lodge, F.R.S., 307 Gray (Prof. A.), Lagrange’s Equations of Motion and Elementary Solutions of Gyrostatic Problems, 59 Gray (J. A.), Liberation of Helium from Radio-active Minerals by Grinding, 238 Gray (J. G.), Low-temperature Experiments in Magnetism, Prof. John G. 59 Gray (R. C.), Magnetic Properties of Certain Copper Alloys, a9 Great Britain and Germany, the Care of Natural Monu- - ments with Special Reference to, Prof. H. Conwentz, 275 Greece, Early Civilisation in Northern, Messrs. Wace, Droop, and Thomson, 437 Green (Prof. J. A.), Sammlung Naturwissenschaftlich- padagogischer Abhandlungen, 304 Greenhill (Sir G.), Notes on Dynamics, 455 Greenish (Prof. Henry G.), Handbuch der Pharmakognosie, Prof. A. Tschirch, 3 Greenly (Edward), the Ancient Greeks and Natural Science, 224 Greenwich, the Royal Observatory, 446 Greenwich Winter of 1908-9, the, Alex. B. MacDowall, 218 Gregory (Prof. J. W., F.R.S.), Geography, Structural, Physical, and Comparative, 31; the Glenboig Fire- clay: its Halloysite and Sideroplesite, 148; Tuesite, 148; Structural Geography, 157; Ruwenzori: an Account of the Expedition of H.R.H. Prince Luigi Amedeo of Savoy, Duke of the Abruzzi, F. de Filippi, 281 Greig-Smith (Dr. R.), Can Opsonins be obtained directly from Bacteria and Yeast? 479; the Coagulation of Con- densed Milk, 479 Grenet (Eugéne), Death of, 404 Griffin (Messrs. John J., and Sons), the York Air-tester, 352 " Griffith (Rev. John), Earthwork of England, Prehistoric, Roman, Saxon, Danish, Norman, and Medizval, A. Hadrian Allcroft, 69 Griffith (Rev. W.), the Welsh Gorsedd, 468 Griffiths (Dr. E. H., F.R.S.), the Encouragement of Research, 127 Grignard (V.), Transformation of Pinonic Acid into 1: 3-Dimethyl-q-phenylacetic Acid, 89 Groth (Prof. P.), Chemische Krystallographie, 154 Growth of Nerve Fibres, Ross Harrison, 325 Grundproben der ‘‘ Deutschen Tiefsee-Expedition,’’ die, Sir John Murray and Prof. E. Philippi, 486 Guatemala, Explorations in the Department of Petén, and Adjacent Region, Memoirs of the Peabody Museum of American Archeology and Ethnology, Harvard Univer- sity, T. Maler, 160 : Guerbet (Marcel), Action of Caustic Potash on Borneol, Camphor, and Isoborneol Acid, 149 Guérin (C.), Evacuation of Tubercle Bacilli by the Bile in the Intestine in Animals affected with Latent Lesions, 89 Guichard (Marcel), Preparation of Pure Iodic Anhydride, 210 Guillemard (H.), Variations of Organism with Altitude, 510 Gun-cotton, Detonation of, Prof. C. E. Munroe, 443 Gun-firing Disturbances at Tiverton, Distant, 405 Guttmann (Oscar), the Manufacture of Explosives, 272 Guyot (A.), Condensation of the Mesoxalic Esters with Aromatic Hydrocarbons, 59 Gypsies: the Romanichels, Bob Skot, 318 Gyroscopischen Horizon Fleuriais, Beschrijving en Onderzoek van der, (Model Ponthus et Therrode), L. Roosenburg, 455 of Dehydrations the XX Lndex L Nature, uly 22, 1909 Haberlandt (Prof. G.), Sense-organs in Leaves, Haddon (Dr. A. C., F-.R.S.), an Imperial Anthropology, 73 Haeckel (Ernst), Prof. Walther May, 126 Hahn (Prof. Hermann), Handbuch _ fir Schilertibungen, 425 Hale (G. E.), Examination of the Upper Layers of Cal- cium and Hydrogen in the Solar Atmosphere and of the same Black Filaments in the Two Layers, 269 Hale (Prof.), Mount Wilson Solar Observatory Report, 260 Hale’s Solar Vortices, A. Brester, 79 Haller (Prof.), the Alcoholysis of Certain Esters, 471 Haller (A.), Preparation of the Three Oxy- and the p- dimethylamido- and —_diethylamidobenzylidenecamphors and the p- and m-tolylidenecamphors, 479 Halley’s Comet, Mr. Crommelin, 228 Halley’s Comet, the Meteoric Shower of, W. I’. Denning, 259 Hampson (Sir George F., Bart.), Catalogue of the Lepidoptera Phalzenz in the British Museum, 338 Handbook to the Technical and Art Schools and Colleges of the United Kingdom, 36 Hands (Alfred), Lightning and the Churches, 228 Hanson (E. K.), an Intermediate Course of Laboratory Work in Chemistry, 215 Hardy (G. H.), a Course of Pure Mathematics, 36 Hardy (W. B., F.R.S.), Electrolytes and Colloids, Physical State of Gluten, 296 Harker (Dr. J. A.), Unités Electriques, le Comte de Baille- hache, 488 Harries (Hy.), Obituary Notice of Dr. For.Mem.R.S., 402; Corr., 439 Harris (Rollin A.), Manual of Tides, 91 Harrison (J. B.), the Geology of the Goldfields of British Guiana, 395 Harrison (Ross), Growth of Nerve Fibres, 32 Hart (Dr. D. Berry), Mendelian Action on Sex, 478 Hart (W. E.), the Pollination of the Primrose, 457, 492 Hartley (E. G. J.), Osmotic Pressures of Weak Solutions of Calcium Ferrocyanide, 28 Hartmann (Dr. Max), Meaning of Sexuality in Relation to the Formation of Gametes, 500 Hartmann (Prof.), the Spectrum of Morehouse’s Comet, 380 Hartwig (Prof.), SS Aurigze (31.1907) an Irregular Variable, 288 Harvard College, Annals of the Astronomical Observatory of, a Search for a Planet beyond Neptune, W. Pickering, 463 Harvard College Observatory, Prof. Pickering, 321 Hastings (Prof. C. S.), the Hevelian Halo, 444 Hatch (Dr. F. H.), Text-book of Petrology, 337 Hatfield (W. H.), Chemical Physics Involved in the Decar- burisation of Iron-carbon Alloys, 385 Haupt (Prof. P.), the Burning Bush and the Origin of Judaism, 444 Havelock (T. H.), the Wave-making Resistance of Ships, 208 Healey (Elizabeth), a First Book of Botany, 452 Healey (Maud), Fossils from Napeng Beds of Burma, 287 Heape (Walter), Proportion of Sexes Produced by Whites and Coloured Peoples in Cuba, 57 Heat: Thermal Effects of the Musical Arc, M. La Rosa, 29, 89; Effect of Heat upon the Electrical State of Living Tissues, Dr. A. D. Waller, 58; Laws of Heat and Transmission Deduced from Experiment, Prof. J. T. Nicholson at Junior Institution of Engineers, 144; Com- parison Tests between New Féry Spiral Pyrometer and a Standardised Thermoelectric Féry Radiation Pyrometer, G. C. Pearson, 379; Evolution of, by Radio-active Bodies, William Duane, 449; Effect of Temperature on the Hysteresis Loss in Iron in a Rotating Field, W. P. Fuller and H. Grace, 419; Condensation of the Radium Emanation, A. Laborde, 509 Heavens, International Chart of the, 193 Heck (J. H.), Mechanical Method for Determining the Thrust of Propellers, 173 Hedin (Dr. Sven), on Central Asia, 372 Heidelberg, der Unterkiefer des Homo Heidelbergensis aus den Sanden von Mauer bei, Otto Schoetensack, Dr. William Wright, 398 76 Bureau of physikalische the von Neumayer, 5 Differentiated Hemsalech (G. A.), Resonator Sparks, their Spectroscopic Analysis, 149 Henderson (Dr. J. B.), Flight of a Rifled Projectile «in Air, 57; Elasticity of Ships as Deduced from Experiments on the Vibration of Dynamical Models, 173 Henri (Victor), Sterilisation of Milk by the Ultra-violet Rays, 60 Henriot (E.), Radiation of Potassium Salts, 209 Henry (John R.), April Meteors, 188 Henslow (Rev. Prof. George), the Heredity of Acquired Characters in Plants, 93 Hepburn (Dr. A. Barton), Artificial Waterways and Com- mercial Development (with a History of the Erie Canal), 3097 Heredity: Experimental Estimation of the Theory of Ancestral Contributions in Heredity, A. D. Darbishire, 27; the Heredity of Acquired Characters in Plants, Rev. Prof. George Henslow, 93; the Inheritance of Acquired Character, Dr. Wm. Woods Smyth, 277; the Scope of Eugenics, Prof. Karl Pearson, 203; Heredity of the Colour of Hair in Man, Gertrude and Charles Davenport, 257; (1) the Theory of Ancestral Contributions in Here- dity ; (2) the Ancestral Gametic Correlations of a Men- delian Population Mating at Random, Prof. Karl Pearson, 268; Mendelian Action on Differentiated Sex, Dr. D. Berry Hart, 478 Hergesell (Prof.), Experiments to Determine the Rate of Ascent of Rubber Balloons in Still Air, 355 Heron-Allen (E.), Mammoth Skeleton, 225; Cycloloculina, a New Genus of Foraminifera, 285 Herter (Prof. C. A.), on Infantilism from Chronic Intestinal Infection, Characterised by the Overgrowth and Persist- ence of Flora of the Nursling Period, 92 Hess (Dr. V. F.), Evolution of Heat by Radium, 18; Variation of Refractive Indices of Mixtures of Liquids with their Composition, 18 Heuse (Dr.), Methods of High Vacua, 50; Relative Efficiencies of Methods for the Production of High Vacua, 438 Hewitt (C. G.), the Tent-building Habits of the Ant Lasius niger, Linn., 388 Heyl (P. R.), Physics of the AEther, 443 Heyn (E.), Solubility of Steel in Sulphuric Acid, 384 Hickling (G.), Permian Foot-prints, 328 Hickson (Prof. Sydney J., F.R.S.), the Natural History Museum, 229 Higgins (Hugh), Low-temperature Experiments in Mag- netism, 59 High-tension Mains, Suggested Effect of, Sir Oliver Lodge, HARES: 5) 167, Hilbert (D.), Grundlagen der Geometrie, 394 Hildburgh (Dr. W. L.), Tibetan and Burmese Amulets, 387 Hilger (Dr. W.), die Hypnose und die Suggestion, ihre Wesen, ihre Wirkungsweise und ihre Bedeutung und Stellung unter den Heilmitteln, 273 Hill (Dr. Alex.), Sense of Smell in Flies, 308; at Work, 366; Vapour-density and Smell, 427 Hill (Prof. Jas. P.), the Ancestry of the Marsupialia, 159 Hillebrand (Prof.), Elements and Ephemeris for Winnecke’s Comet, 1909, 502 Hillier (J. M.), Lalang Grass, Material for Paper Pulp, 198 Hinks (Arthur R.), Determination of the Solar Parallax from Observations of Eros, 270 Hinrichs (G. D.), Atomic Weight of Potassium, 2c Hinrichsen (Dr. F. Willy), Vorlesungen itiber chemische Atomistik, 453 the Body Histological Changes in the Liver and Kidney after Chloroform Administered by Different Channels, Dr. G. Herbert Clark, 328 Hobart (H. M.), Heavy Electrical Engineering, 391 Hobbs (Prof.), the Cause of Earthquakes, 444 Hoffmann (Dr. B.), Kunst und Vogelgesang in ihren wechselseitigen Beziehungen von naturwissenschaftlich- musikalischen Standpunkte beleuchtet, 336 Holden (Colonel H. C. L., F.R.S.), Road Motors and Problems connected with Them, ‘‘ James Forrest’? Lec- ture at Institution of Civil Engineers, 323 Holland (Sir T. H.), Sketch of the Mineral Resources of India, 163 yale cohen Index Xxi Hollis (A. C.), the Nandi: their Language and Folklore, Houston, 286; Pollution of Sea-water, Prof. Kenwood 249 Holt (A., Jun.), Action of Hydrogen on Sodium, 209 Holt (E. W. L.), the Life-history of the Eel, 357 Hopf (Ludwig), the Human Species, Considered from the Standpoints of Comparative Anatomy, Physiology, Pathology, and Bacteriology, 424 Hornaday (W. T.), Camp-fires on Desert and Lava, 279 Horne (A. S.), Davidia involucrata, Baill., 148 Horticulture: Treatment of Trees for Insect Pests, 138 Horwood (A. R.)j, Moral Superiority among Birds, Calamites (Calamitina) Schutzei, Stur, 478 Hoskins-Abrahall (W.), a Winter Retreat for Snails, 96 House in the Water, the, Charles G. D. Roberts, 129 Houston (Dr.), Water Examinations, Value of the Storage of Raw River-water Antecedent to Filtration as a Means of Purification, 286 3 Houston (R. A.), Electrons and the Absorption of Light, 40; 22 33 Howard (Dr. L. O.), Economic Loss to United States through Disease-carrying Insects, 448 Hrdli¢ka (Ales), Physiological and Medical Observations among the Indians of South-western United States and Northern Mexico, 126 Hubbard (Geo.), Dew-ponds, 223 Huddersfield, Association of Teachers in Technical Institu- tions in, the Defects of English Technical Education and the Remedy, Dr. Robert Pohl at, 205 Huerre (J.), the Maltase from Buckwheat, 479-80 Huerre (R.), Influence of the Reaction of the Medium on the Activity of the Maltases from Maize, 300 Hugouneng (Dr. L.), the Hydrolysis of Proteins, 472 Hulme (Prof. F. E.), Death of, 197; Obituary Notice of, 224 Hulme (F. E.), Familiar Swiss Flowers, 452 Human Species, the, Considered from the Standpoints of Comparative Anatomy, Physiology, Pathology, and Bac- teriology, Ludwig Hopf, 424 Hunter (J. de Graaff), Apparatus for Measurements of the Defining Power of Objectives, 28 Hunter (W. D.), American Insect Pests, 138 Hunting, Brown-bear, in Alaska, G. Mixter, 378 Huntingdon (E.), Mountaineers of the Euphrates, 167 Hutchin (H. W.), Determination of Tungstic Acid in Low- grade Wolfram Ores, 388 Huyghens (Christian), GZuvres completes de, publiées par la Société hollandaise des Sciences, 307 Hybridisation : Cross-breeding of Two Races of the Moth Acidalia virgularia, Louis B. Prout and A. Bacot, 58; the Scientific Aspects of Luther Burbank’s Work, D. S. Jordan and V. L. Kellogg, 337 Hydraulics: Depression of Filament of Maximum Velocity in a Stream Flowing Through an Open Channel, A. H. Gibson, 147; the Flow of Rivers, Bouquet de la Grye, 148; Hydraulic Générale, A. Boulanger, 396 Hydro-carbons, Explosive Combustion with Special Refer- ence to that of, Prof. W. A. Bone, F.R.S., at Royal Institution, 81 Hydrodynamics: Wave Motion and Bessel’s Prof. G. H. Bryan, F.R.S., 309 Hydrogen, Spectrum of Magnesium in, E. E. Brooks, 410 Hydrography: Manual of Tides, Rollin A. Harris, 91; Hydrographical Surveying, Rear-Admiral Sir William J. L. Wharton, K.C.B., 307; New Method of Plotting Currents from Observations of Drifters, Prof. Thompson, 28 Hydrology: Artificial Waterways and Commercial Develop- ment (with a History of the Erie Canal), Dr. A. Barton Hepburn, 307; the Water Supply of Kent, with Records of Sinkings and Borings, William Whitaker, F.R.S., Dr. H. Franklin Parsons, Dr. H. R. Mill, and Dr. J. C. Thresh, 432; American and Canadian Waterways, 461; Water Power in the United States, 494 Hydrostatics: High Hydrostatic Pressures, P. W. Bridg- man, 107 Hygiene: Hours of Sleep for Children, 7a; Ventilation for Dwellings, Rural Schools, and Stables, F. H. King, 127; the Essentials of Sanitary Science, Gilbert E. Brooke, 182; Death of Dr. Letchworth Smith, 224; Water Examinations, Value of the Storage of Raw River Water Antecedent to Filtration as a Means of Purification, Dr. Functions, and F. N. Kay-Menzies, 413 Hypnosis: die Hypnose und die Suggestion, ihre Wesen, ihre Wirkungsweise und ihre Bedeutung und Stellung unter den Heilmitteln, Dr. W. Hilger, 273 Ice Crystals, Studies of Frost and, Wilson J. Bentley, 492 Ichthyology : Submerged Vegetation of Lake Windermere as Affecting the Feeding Grounds of the Fish, Prof. F. E. Weiss, 120; the Life-history of the Eel, E. W. L. Holt, 357; Recent Papers on Fishes, 357; the Signification of the Rhabdospora, Supposed Parasitic Sporozoa in Fishes, L. Léger and O. Duboscq, 480 Ihering (H. von), les Mollusques fossiles du Tertiaire et du Crétacé supérieur de l’Argentine, 262 Images Photographed Through Glass, Errors of Position of, Dr. Schlesinger, 503 Imperial Bureau of Anthropology, an, Dr. A. C. Haddon, F.R.S., 73 Imperial Side of the Fuel Question, the, 277; Sir W. Ram- say, K.C.B., F.R.S., 278; Arthur McDougall, 309 Index Kewensis Plantarum Phanerogamarum, 156 India : Sketch of the Mineral Resources of India, Sir T. H. Holland, 163; Survey of India, Dr. C. Chree, F.R.S., 293; the Percy Sladen Trust Expedition to the Indian Ocean, J. Stanley Gardiner, F/R.S., 321; J. C. F. Fryer, 321; the Flora of the Presidency of Bombay, Dr. Theo- dore Cooke, 362; Natural History in India, 370 Infantilism from Chronic Intestinal Infection, on, Charac- terised by the Overgrowth and Persistence of Flora of the Nursling Period, Prof. C. A. Herter, 92 Infectious Diseases, a Manual of, Dr. E. Dr. J. W. Washbourn, 454 Ingle (Herbert), Elementary Agricultural Chemistry, 93 Innes (Mr.), a Remarkable Transit of Jupiter’s Third Satel- lite, 409 Insects: Papers and Reports on Insects, 81; die Metamor- phose der Insekten, Dr. P. Deegener, 156; Papers on Molluscs and Insects, 263; Insect Stories, Vernon L. Kellogg, 344 Institution of Civil Engineers, ‘‘ James Forrest ’’ Lecture at, Road Motors and Problems Connected with Them, Colonel H. C. L. Holden, F.R.S., 323 Institution of Mechanical Engineers, the Electrification of Railways, John A. F. Aspinall at, 260 Institution of Mining and Metallurgy, 29, 299, 388 Institution of Naval Architects, the, 172 Interferometer, a Simple Fabry and Perot, Prof. James Barnes, 187 Internal-combustion Engine, the, H. E. Wimperis, Prof. E. G. Coker, 124 Internal-combustion Engines, their Theory, Construction, and Operation, R. C. Carpenter and H. Diederichs, Prof. E. G. Coker, 124 International Chart of the Heavens, 193 International Commission for Scientific Aéronautics, the, 354 International Congress of Chemistry, Seventh, 313 International Congress of Applied Chemistry, 412; Scien- tific Work of the, 470 International Union for Cooperation in Solar Research, Transactions of the, 134 Interstellar Space, Dispersion of Light in, Dr. Ch. Nord- mann, 409 Intra-Mercurial Planet Problem, Prof. Campbell, 320; Dr. Perrine, 320 Ionisation in the Atmosphere, Prof. A. S. Eve, 36 Ionisation by Réntgen Rays, Dr. Charles G. Barkla, 187 Iron, Malleable Cast, S. Jones Parsons, 454 Iron and Steel Bars, Dimensional Changes produced in, by Magnetism, W. J. Crawford, 339 Iron and Steel Institute, the, 384 Iron and Steel, the Story of, J. Russell Smith, 126 Isaac (Miss F.), Spontaneous Crystallisation of Monochlor- acetic Acid and its Mixtures with Naphthalene, 28 Isothermal Layer of the Atmosphere, the, E. Gold, 68 Italy: le precipitazioni atmosferiche in Italia dal 1880 al 1905, 192; the Italian Earthquake of December 28, 1908, Dr. G. Martinelli, 445 Iyengar (N. V.), Meteorology of Mysore for 1907, 140 Iyer (V. Subramania), Sand-binding Plants, 198 W. Goodall and Xxil Index Nature, uly 22, 19¢9 Jackson (F. Hamilton), the Shores of the Adriatic, the Aus- | Kew: Index Kewensis Plantarum Phanerogamarum, 156; trian Side, 274 Jacob (S. M.), Correlations of Areas of Matured Crop and the Rainfall and Certain Allied Problems in Agriculture and Meteorology, 89 Jaffé (G.), Electrical Conductivity of Pure Hexane, 409 Jarl (C. F.), the Quarrying of Cryolite, 470-1 Javelle (M.), Discovery of a New Comet, 1909a, 502 Jeffery (W. R.), Botanical Discoveries near Dover, 258 Jehu (Dr. T. J.), Glacial Deposits of Western Carnarvon- shire, 148 Jemmett (Mr.), Parasites of the Cotton-worm, 197 Jenkinson (J. W.), Experimental Embryology, 451 Jensen (Dr. H. 1.), Geology of the Mount Flinders and Fassifern District, Queensland, 479 Jentzsch (F.), Measurement of the Energy of Negative Electrons given out by Metals Heated in a Vacuum, 258 Johnson (C. M.), Rapid Methods for the Chemical Analysis of Special Steels, Steel-making Alloys and Graphite, 272 Johnson (Dr. George Lindsay), Photographic Optics and Colour Photography, including the Camera, Kinemato- graph, Optical Lantern, and the Theory and Practice of Image Formation, 185 Johnson (J. P.), the Ore Deposits of South Africa, 395 Johnson (Prof. T.), Black Scab or Potato-wart, 179; the Powdery Scab of the Potato Spongospora subterranea, 89 3 Tebreton (Sir H.), Mr. Roosevelt’s Projected Hunting Trip in East Africa, 285 Johnston-Lavis (Dr.), the Eruption of Vesuvius of April, 1906, 289 Jolibois (Pierre), Phosphides of Tin, 89 Jones (Prof. H. C.), Effect of Temperature on the Absorp- tion of Certain Solutions, 444 Jones (L. M.), Practical Physics, 425 Jones (Ll. T.), Simple Apparatus to Measure the Diffusion of Gases, 438 Jones (O. T.), the Hartfell-Valentian Succession around Plynlimon and Pont Erwyd (North Cardiganshire), 419 Jones (R. L.), Analysis of the Records of the Anemograph at Madras Observatory, 18 Jones (Dr. William), Death and Obituary Notice of, 196, 255 Jordan (D. S.), the Scientific Aspects of Luther Burbank’s Work, 337 Jordan (F. C.), Orbits of Spectroscopic Binaries, 229 Jourdain (Philip E. B.), the Relevance of Mathematics, 382 Jovitchitch (Dr. M. Z.), Experiments on the Action of the Silent Electric Discharge on Ethylene and Acetylene, 471 Joyce (T. A.), Steatite Figures (Nomori), 437 Julius (Prof.), Anomalous Refraction and Spectroheliograph Results, 50 Jupiter: Jupiter, Prof. Lowell, 353; Mr. Lampland, 353; a Remarkable Transit of Jupiter’s Third Satellite, Mr. Innes, 409; the Perturbations of Brooks’s Comet (1889 V) by Jupiter in 1886, Prof. Poor, 410; G. Deutschland, 410 Kapp (Prof.: Gisbert), Electricité Industrielle, C. Lebois, 213; Transformers‘for Single and Multiphase Currents, 365; Heavy Electrical Engineering, H. M. Hobart, 391 Kay-Menzies (F. N.), Pollution of Sea-water, 413 Kearton (R.), the Adventures of Cock Robin and his Mate, 129 Keeling (B. F. E.), Climate Changes in Egypt, 319 Kelloggs (Vernon L.), the Scientific Aspects of Luther Bur- bank’s Work, 337; Insect Stories, 344 Kelman (Janet Harvey), Trees shown to the Children, 192 Kemp (S. W.), Photophores in Decapoda, 328 Kempf (Herr), Relation between the Magnitudes and Colours of Stars, 108 Kendall (Rev. H. G. O.), Paleolithic Implements, &c., from Hackpen Hill, Winterbourne Bassett, 118 Kent, the Water Supply of, with Records of Sinkings and Borings, William Whitaker, F.R.S., Dr. H. Franklin Par- sons, Dr. H. R. Mill and Dr. J. C. Thresh, 432 Kenwood (Prof.), Pollution of Sea-water, 413 Kernbaum (Miroslaw), Chemical Action of the Penetrating Rays of Radium en Water, 149 Kernot (Prof. W. C.), Death and Obituary Notice of, 75 Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information, Gardens, Kew, 1908, 246 Khartoum, Third Report of the Wellcome Research Labora- tories at the Gordon Memorial College, Andrew Balfour, 495 Kinematographic Vision without Vibrations, the Problem of, C. de Proszynski, 480 King (Dr. A. S.), Chromospheric Calcium Lines in Furnace Spectra, 260 King (F. H.), Ventilation for Dwellings, Rural Schools, and Stables, 127 Kinship, Australian, Dr. A. Lang, 247 : Kitchen (Dr.), Invertebrate Fauna of Uitenhage Beds in Cape Colony, 262 Kleeman (R. D.), Velocity of the Kathode Rays ejected by Substances exposed to the y Rays of Radium, 86; Ionisa- tion of Various Gases by Secondary y Rays, 298; Nature of the Ionisation produced in a Gas by y Rays, 328 Klein (P.), New Automatic Mercury Pump, 329 Kling (André), Determination of Added Water in Decom- posed Milks, 270 Knecht (Prof.), Acid of Dicarboxylic Acids on Cellulose, 471 Knight (W. A.), Cassell’s Elementary Geometry, 305 Knobel (E. B.), a Chinese Planisphere, 209 Knudsen (Martin), Molecular Effusion and Transpiration, Royal Botanic 491 Kobold (Prof.), the Calculation of Cometary Orbits, 288; Discovery of a New Comet, 1goga, 502 Keehler (A.), Syntheses by Means of the Mixed Zinc Organo- metallic Derivatives, 29 Kohlenhydrate und Fermente, Untersuchungen iiber, (1884- 1908), Emil Fischer, 485 Koéppen (Dr. W.), Study of the Upper Air, 408 Kraemer (Prof. H.), Modifications of Colour in Plants, 443 Krakatau, the New Flora of the Volcanic Island of, Prof. A. _ Ernst, 279 Kranzlin (Fr.), das Pflanzenreich, Scrophulariacez- Calceolariee, 424; das Pflanzenreich, Orchidaceze~ Ceelogynin, 424 Krause (K.), das Pflanzenreich, Araceze-Monsteroideze and Calloideze, 424 Kritzinger (H. H.), Position of Daniel’s (1907d) Comet, 169 Kriiger (Dr. O.), Addition to the Atwood Machine, 227 la Baume-Pluvinel (A. de), Spectrum of the Comet 1908¢ (Morehouse), 149 la Grye (Bouquet de), the Flow of Rivers, 148 La Rosa (M.), Thermal Effects of a Musical Arc, 29, 89 Laboratory, the National Physical, during 1908, 109 Laborde (A.), Apparatus for Radio-active Measurements by the Electroscope Method, 228; the Condensation of the Radium Emanation, 509 Laby (T. H.), Counting of a Particles (Electrically Charged Helium Atoms) by Prof. E. Rutherford’s Method, 348 Lampland (Mr.), Jupiter, 353 Lanchester (F. W.), Aérodonetics, 221 Landsborough (Rey. D.), the Gardens of Achnashie, Ros- neath, 436 Lang (Dr. A.), Origin of the Terms of Human Relation- ship, 139; Australian Kinship, 247 Lang (Dr. J. Marshall), Death of, 283 Lang (Dr. W. H.), Alternation of Generations in Plants, 87 Lankester (Sir E. Ray, K.C.B., F.R.S.), the Need of a Great Reference Library of Natural Science in London, 27 Leaeen (C. E.), Cylindrical Specimens Twisted to Destruc- tion, 348 Latham (Baldwin), Percolation, Evaporation, and Condensa- tion, 298 Lathe Design for High- and Low-speed Steels, John T. Nicholson and Dempster Smith, 33 Lau (Dr.), Measures for Double Stars, 200 Laurie (Principal A. P.), Electromotive Force of Iodine Concentration Cells with One Electrode Saturated with Iodine, 59 Laveran (A.), Trypanosome pecaudi, T. dimorphon, and T. congolense, 179 Law (E. F.), Alloys and their Industrial Applications, 243 Prof. © Nature, July 22, 1909 Lawson (Andrew C.), the California Earthquake of April 18, 1906, 10 le Chatelier (H.), Legons sur le Carbone, la Combustion, les Lois chimiques, 331 Lead Poisoning, K. Goadby, 472 Lead Poisoning, Experimental, K. Goadby, 436 Leake (H. Martin), the Experimental Breeding of Indian Cottons, Part ii., on Buds and Branching, 150 Leaves, the Colours of, George Abbott, 429 Lebedew (Prof.), the Apparent Dispersion of Light in Space, 169 ; Lebois (C.), Electricité Industrielle, 213 Leduc (A.), Molecular Volumes, Densities, and Atomic Weights, 59; Calculation of Molecular Weights by Means of Vapour Densities, Toluene, 180; Internal Pressure in Gases, 449 Lefévre (J.), Influence of Nutritive Media on Development of the Embryos of Pinus pinea, 480 Leffingwell (Dr. Albert), the Vivisection Controversy, 63 Léger (Louis), Costiasis and its Treatment in Young Trout, 389; the Signification of the Rhabdospora, Supposed Parasitic Sporozoa in Fishes, 480 Leipzig, a Course of Lectures Delivered in the University of, Mental Pathology in its Relation to Normal Psychology, Dr. Gustav Stoérring, 216 Leishman (Lieut.-Colonel W. B.), Transmission of Tick Fever, 349 Lematte (L.), Determination of Physical Constants of the Peptones, 59 Length, a Wave-length Comparator for Standards of, Dr. A. E. H. Tutton, 477; the Use of Wave-length Rulings as Defining Lines on Standards of Length, Dr. A. E. H. Tutton, 478 Lepape (Adolphe), Radio-activity of the Thermal Springs of Bagnéres-de-Luchon, 180 Lepidoptera: the Genitalia of the Noctuide of the Lepidoptera of the British Islands, F. M. Pierce, 246; Catalogue of the Lepidoptera Phalznz in the British Museum, Sir George F. Hampson, Bart., 338 Levi-Civito (Prof.), the Rings of Saturn, 439 Levy (D. M.), the Bessemerising of Hardhead, 388 Lewis (A. L.), Stone Circles in Ireland, 359 Leyst (Dr. E.), Meteorological Observations made in 1907 at Moscow Observatory, 258 Library of Natural Science, the Need of a Great Reference, in London, Sir E. Ray Lankester, K.C.B., F.R.S., 427 Lieckfeld (G.), Oil Motors, 246 Light, the Apparent Dispersion of, in Space, Prof. Lebedew, 169 Light, Dispersion of, in Interstellar Space, Dr. Ch. Nord- mann, 409 Lightning and the Churches, Alfred Hands, 228 Lignum Nephriticum, Fluorescence of, Charles E. Benham, 159; Dr. O. Stapf, F.R.S., 218; John H. Shaxby, 248 Lillie (F. R.), the Development of the Chick, 271 Linnean Society, 87, 148, 269, 359, 448, 478; Awards, 375 Linnean Society, New South Wales, 479 Lister (J. J., F.R.S.), a Student’s Text-book of Zoology, Vol. iii., the Introduction to Arthropoda, the Crustacea, and Xiphosura, 361 Lloyd (Captain R. E.), Rats of Calcutta, 499 Medal Local Government Board, 1906-7, Thirty-sixth Annual Report of the, 203 Lockyer (Sir Norman, K.C.B., F.R.S.), the Botallek Circles, 97; the Uses and Dates of Ancient Temples, 340 Lockyer (Dr. William J. S.), Astronomische Ortsbestimm- ung im Ballon, Prof. Adolf Marcuse, 244; Cloud Photographs from a Balloon, 310 Locy (Prof. W. A.), Biology and its Makers, with Portraits and other Illustrations, 95 Lodge (Sir Oliver, F.R.S.), Suggested Effect of High- tension Mains, 67; the Gravitative Pull upon the Moon, 307; Selective Wireless Telegraphy, 381 London Institution, the, 283 London Institution, the Royal Society of Arts and the, 100 London, the Need of a Great Reference Library of Natural Science in, Sir E. Ray Lankester, K.C.B., F.R.S., 427 Long (Sydney H.), ‘‘ Blowing ’’ Wells, 339 Longman (Sybil), the ‘‘ Dry-rot’? of Potatoes, 148 Index XXill Loud (F. H.), Meteorological Statistics of the Colorado College Observatory for 1907, 49 Louis (Prof. Henry), Practical Coal Mining, 242 Love (Prof. A. E. H., F.R.S.), the Yielding of the Earth to Disturbing Forces, Lecture at Royal Society, 253 Lowe (Messrs. F. C., and Son), Artificial Dew- and Rain- ponds made by, 437 Lowell (Prof. Percival), Mars as the Abode of Life, 212; the ‘‘ Original’’ Canals of the Martian Doubles, 260; Development of Martian Canals, 288; Mars, 353; Jupiter, 353 Lucas (F. A.), Length of Skeletons of Great Whales, 104 Ludendorff (Dr.), Common Motions of the Principal Urse Majoris Stars, 141 Luders (L.), Miiller’s Ostracod Crutacean Gigantocypris agassizi, 174 Ludgate (Percy E.), Proposed Analytical Machine, 89 Lugard (Major and Mrs. E. J.), Flora of Ngamiland, 351 Lunar Eclipse, June 3, the Recent, MM. Borrelly and Coggia, 502; J. H. Elgie, 503 Luplau-Janssen (Herr), Measures for Double Stars, 200 Lushington (A. W.), Rate of Growth of Palms, 351 Lydekker (R.), Rock-engravings in South Africa, Corr., 438 Lyle (Prof.), Theory of the Alternate-current Generator, 328 Lyra, the Gases of the Ring Nebula in, Prof. Bohuslav Brauner, 158 McAdie (Prof. A. G.), Suggestion for Reform of Meteoro- logical Methods, 227 MacClintock (W.), the Blackfeet Indians of Montana, 298 M‘Conachie (William), Close to Nature’s Heart, 129 Macdonald (Mr.), Rainfall Conditions of the Transvaal, 198 McDougall (Arthur), the Imperial Side of the Fuel Question, 309 McDougall (William), an Introduction to Social Psychology, 245 MacDowall (Alex. B), the Dryness of Winter (1908-9), 40; the Greenwich Winter of 1908-9, 218 Macfadyen (Allan), the Cell as the Unit of Life, and Other Lectures Delivered at the Royal Institution, London, 1899-1902, an Introduction to Biology, 123 Macfarlane (J. M.), das Pflanzenreich, Sarraceniacee, 424; Nepenthacez, 424 McGlone (B.), Origin of the Lung of Ampullaria, 382 McIntire (A. L.), the Production of ‘‘ Sal’? Shorea robusta, 317 McKendrick (Prof. John G., F.R.S.), a Winter Retreat, 8; Are the Senses ever Vicarious? 38; The Gramophone as a Phonautograph, 188 Mackenzie (Dr. A. P.), Strophanthus sarmentosus, its Pharmacological Action and Use as an Arrow-poison, 328 Mackenzie (Dr. Duncan), the Nuraghi of Sardinia, 226 McLennan (Evan), the Gravitative Strain upon the Moon, 276 McLennan (Prof. J. C.), on the Relation of ‘* Recoil ”’ Phenomena to the Final Radio-active Product of Radium, 490 Magnesium in Hydrogen, Spectrum of, E. E. Brooks, 410 Magnetism: Rotation of the Electric Arc in a Radial Mag- netic Field, J. Nicol, 27; an Electromagnetic Problem, Prof. D. F. Comstock, 39; Norman R. Campbell, 39; Is there a Vertical Magnetic Force in a Cyclone? J. R. Ashworth, 40; Magnetic Properties of Certain Copper Alloys, A. D. Ross and R. C. Gray, 59; Low-temperature Experiments in Magnetism, J. G. Gray and Hugh Higgins, 59; New Vessel to Continue the Magnetic Survey of the World, 78; Magnetic Rays, 80; Self- demagnetising Factor of Bar Magnets, Prof. S. P. Thompson and E. W. Moss, 87; Lieut. Shackleton’s Antarctic Expedition, the South Magnetic Pole, Dr. C. Chree, F.R.S., 130; Electromotive Forces of Magnetisa- tion, V. Posejpal, 149; Magneto-kathode Rays, M. Gouy, 149; Integration of the Equations of Motion of an Elec- tron Describing an Orbit about an Ion in a Magnetic Field, Prof. Augusto Righi, 168; Meteorological and Magnetical Report of the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society, 287; Department of Commerce and Labour, Coast and Geodetic Survey, United States Magnetic Tables and Magnetic Charts for 1905, L., A. Bauer, Dr. C. XXIV Index Gi Nature, uly 22, 19.9 Chree, F.R.S., 293; Magnetic Survey of the Dutch East Indies, 1903-7, Dr. W. van Bemmelen, Dr. C. Chree, F.R.S., 293; Survey of India, Dr. C. Chree, F.R.S., 293 ; Dimensional Changes Produced in Iron and Steel Bars by Magnetism, W. J. Crawford, 339; Death of Dr. G. von Neumayer, For.Mem.R.S., 375; Obituary Notice of, Hy. Harries, 402; Corr., 439; Magnetic Storm at Kew, 376; the Magnetic Survey Yacht Carnegie, 465; the Norwegian Aurora Poiaris Expedition, 1902-3, Vol. i., on the Cause of Magnetic Storms and the Origin of Terrestrial Magnetism, Kr. Birkeland, 410; Effect of Temperature on the Hysteresis Loss in Iron in a Rotat- ing Field, W. P. Fuller and H. Grace, 419; Meteoro- logical and Magnetical Observations at Stonyhurst Col- lege Observatory for 1908, 438; Solar Activity and Terrestrial Magnetic Disturbances, Dr. L. A. Bauer, 444 Maiden (J. H.), Botanic Gardens and Government Domains in Sydney, New South Wales, 436 Maigre (Etienne), the Stabilisation of Aéroplanes, 22 Maigre (E.), Geotropism and the Statolith Theory, 286 Mailhe (A.), New General Method for the Preparation of the Alcoholic Amines, 209 Mairey (A.), la France et ses Colonies au Début au XXe Siécle, 368 Makower (W.), Expulsion of Radio-active Matter in the Radium Transformations, 238 Malaria: ‘ Millions’? and Mosquitoes, H. A. Ballou, 16; the Campaign against Malaria, Prof. Ronald Ross, F.R.S., at Royal Institution, 415 Malden (Dr. W.), Problems of Apiculture, 356 Maler (T.), Memoirs of the Peabody Museum of American Archeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Explora- tions in the Department of Petén, (Guatemala, and Adjacent Region, 160 Mall (Prof. Franklin P.), Relative Size of the Frontal Lobe of the Brain, 166 Malleable Cast Iron, S. Jones Parsons, 454 Mallock (A.), Best Conditions for Photographic Enlarge- ment of Small Solid Objects, 29 Mallock (A., F.R.S.), Utilisation of Energy Stored in Springs, 358 Mallock (H. A. R.), Construction and Wear of Roads, 141 Man, the Production of Prolonged Apnoea in, W. G. Royal- Dawson, 8; Dr. H. M. Vernon, 39 Man in the Light of Evolution, Dr. J. M. Tyler, 275 Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, 119, 209, 328, 359, 388; Wilde Lecture at, the Influence of Moisture on Chemical Change, Dr. H. Brereton Baker, F.R.S., 175 Mantoux (Charles), the Intra-dermo-reaction to Tuberculin in the Treatment of Tuberculosis, 240 Manufacture of Paper, the, R. W. Sindall, 422 Marconi (Commendatore G.), Transatlantic Wireless Tele- graphy, Discourse at Royal Institution, 233, 264 Marcuse (Prof. Adolf), Astronomische Ortsbestimmung im Ballon, 244 Marine Biology: Relations of Marine Organisms to Light, Prof. B. Moore, 16; Sex in Sea-urchins Obtained by Experimental Parthenogenesis, Yves Delage, 29; Migra- tion of the Thread-cells of Moerisia, C. L. Boulenger, 88; Specimen of Pelagothuria from the Seychelles, J. C. Simpson, 88; Some Marine and Fresh-water Organisms, 174; Miiller’s Ostracod Crustacean Gigantocypris agassizt, L. Luders, 174; Gigantocypris and the Challenger, Dr. W. T. Calman, 248; Amphipoda Hyperiidea of the Sealark Expedition to the Indian Ocean, A. O. Walker, 269; Marine Mollusca of the Sealark Expedition, Dr. J. Cosmo Melvill, 269; Pecten, W. J. Dakin, 273; Photophores in Decapoda, S. W. Kemp, 328; a Problematical Organism Thrown up during a Storm in Bass Strait, Prof. Baldwin Spencer, 350; Apical Pigment-spots in the Pluteus of Echinus miliaris, F. H. Gravely. 359; Marine Biology in the Tortugas, 382 ; Annual Breeding Swarm of the Atlantic Palolo, Dr.: A. G. Mayer, 382; Experiments on the Scyphomedusan Cassiopea xamachana, Dr. Mayer, 382; Origin of the Lung of Ampullaria, Prof. W. K. Brooks and B. McGlone, 382; Significance of the Conspicuousness of the Coral-reef Fishes of the Tortugas, Prof. Reighard, 382 Mars: Mars as the Abode of Life, Percival Lowell, 212; the ‘* Original ’’ Canals of the Martian Doubles, Prof. Lowell, 260; Development of Martian Canals, Prof. Lowell, 288; Mars, Prof. Lowell, 353 Marshall (Arthur), Dew-ponds, 429 Marshall (Dr. Francis H. A.), Experimental Zoology, Dr. Hans Przibram, 2 Marsupialia, the Ancestry of the, Prof. Jas. P. Hill, 159; the Writer of the Note, 159 Martel (E. A.), la Céte d’Azur Russe (Riviera du Caucase), 40; Phenomenon of Intermittence of the Gouffre de Poudak, 449 Martinelli (Dr. G.), the Italian Earthquake of December 28, 1908, 445 Marzell (Dr. H.), Plants with Magic Qualities, 166 Massarini (Dr. J.), Discussion of the Winds at Rome, 17 Materials, the Strength of, Prof. Arthur Morley, 64 Mathematics : Geometry, Theoretical and Practical, W. P. Workman and A. G. Cracknell, 7; a Course of Pure Mathematics, G. H. Hardy, 36; Lagrange’s Equations of Motion and Elementary Solutions of Gyrostatic Problems, Prof. A. Gray, 59; Mathematical Society, 87, 299, 359, 478; Theorems on the Twisted Cubic, M. J. Conran, 88; Proofs of Generalised Fourier Sum Theorems in Trigono- metrical and in Bessel Functions, Prof. W. McF. Orr, 88; Proposed Analytical Machine, Perey E. Ludgate, 8q: Uniformity in Mathematical Notation and Printing, 102: Surfaces having a Family of Helices as One Set of Lines of Curvature, Eva M. Smith, 140; the Graphical Deter- mination of Fresnel’s Integrals, J. H. Shaxby, 269; Prac tical Solid Geometry, Rev. P. W. Unwin, 305; Cassell’s Elementary Geometry, W. A. Knight, 305; Ciuvres com- plétes de Christian Huyghens publiées par la Société hol- landaise des Sciences, 307; the Teaching of Geometry, Prof. George M. Minchin, F.R.S., 373; the Relevance of Mathematics, Philip E. B. Jourdain, 382; Grundlagen der Geometrie, D. Hilbert, 394; School Algebra, W. E. Pat- terson, 426; Traité de Mathématiques générales a l’usage des Chimistes, Physiciens, Ingénieurs, et des Eléves des Facultés des Science, Prof. E. Fabry, 488; the Nautic- Astronomical and Universal Calculator, R. Nelting, 490; the Arthur Wright Electrical Device for Evaluating For- mule and Solving Equations, Dr. Russell and Arthur Wright, 509 Mathewson (Dr. C. H.), First Principles of Chemical Theory, 453 Mathias (E.), the Density of Acetylene, 299 Matignon (Camille), Equilibria between the Liquid and Solid Phases in the Mixtures NaCl+H,O, 59 Mattingley (A. H. E.), Mallee-fowl (Lipoa ocellata), 113 Maxim (Sir Hiram S.), Artificial and Natural Flight, 221 May (Prof. Walther), Ernst Haeckel, 126 Mayer (Dr. A. G.), Annual Breeding Swarm of the Atlantic Palolo, 382; Experiments on the Scyphomedusan Cassiopea xamachana, 382 Meade (E. S.), the Story of Gold, 306 Mechanics: Mechanics of Engineering, Prof. Irving P. Church, 33; Utilisation of Energy Stored in Springs, A. Mallock, F.R.S., 358 Medicine: the Intra-dermo-reaction to Tuberculin in the Treatment of Tuberculosis, Charles Mantoux, 240; an Inquiry Concerning Scientific and Medical Journals, Prof. Karl Pearson, F.R.S., 276; Strophanthus sarmentosus, its Pharmacological Action and Use as an Arrow-poison, Sir Thomas Fraser and Dr. A. P. Mackenzie, 328 ; Death and Obituary Notice of Prof. Heinrich von Ranke, 350; Festschrift der Physikalisch-medizinischen Societat zu Erlangen zur Feier ihres 100 jahrigen Bestehens am 27 Juni, 1908, 411; Sitzungsberichte der Physikalisch-medi- zinischen Societat in Erlangen, 411 Mees (Dr. C. E. Kenneth), the Photography of Coloured Objects, 489 Melbourne Observatory, the, Mr. Baracchi, 5 Meldola (Prof. Raphael, F.R.S.), Education and Research in Applied Chemistry, Address at Society of Chemical Industry, 413; Darwin and Modern Science, Essays in Commemoration of the Centenary of the Birth of Charles Darwin and of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Publication of the ‘‘ Origin of Species,’’ 481 Melland (Charles H.), the Sense of Proximity, 456 Nature, July 22, 1909 Index XXV Mellor (Mr.), Adsorption and Dissolution of Gases by Sili- cates, 385 Melvill (Dr. J. Cosmo), Marine Mollusca of the Sealark Expedition, 269 Mental Pathology in its Relation to Normal Psychology, a Course of Lectures delivered in the University of Leipzig, Dr. Gustav Storring, 216 Mercalli (Prof. G.), the Calabrian Earthquake of October 23, 1907, 318 Mercury, Diameter and Position of, Prof. Stroobant, 200 Mercury as an Evening Star, 320 Merrill (E. D.), Philippine Species of Garcinia, 286 Meslin (Georges), Polarisation by Lateral Diffusion, 299 Metallurgy : the Story of Iron and Steel, J. Russell Smith, 126; the Manufacture of Basic Steel, 135; Melting Point of Iron, Prof. Carpenter, 140; Alloys and their Indus- trial Applications, E. F. Law, 243; a Process of Making Ribbon Metals, Messrs. Strange and Graham, Ltd., 348; Cylindrical Specimens Twisted to Destruction, C. E. Larard, 348; the Iron and Steel Institute, 384; the Pre- servation of Iron and Steel, Allerton S. Cushman, 384; Physical Tests for Protective Coatings for Iron and Steel, J. Cruickshank Smith, 384; Solubility of Steel in Sul- phuric Acid, E. Heyn and O. Bauer, 384; Chemical Physics Involved in the Decarburisation of Iron- carbon Alloys, W. H. Hatfield, 335; Ageing of Mild Steel and the Influence of Nitrogen, C. E. Stro- meyer, 385; Determination of Tungstic Acid in Low- grade Wolfram Ores, H. W. Hutchin and F. J. Tonks, 388 ; Cupellation Experiments, the Thermal Properties of Cupels, C. O. Bannister and W. N. Stanley, 388; the Bessemerising of Hardhead, D. M. Levy and D. Ewen, 388 ; the Scalding and Sweating of Copper Battery Plates, S. F. Goddard, 388; Malleable Cast Iron, S. Jones Par- sons, 454; Production of Pure Tellurium from its Ores, Prof. R. Schelle, 470 Metcalf (Rey. Joel), Photographs of Morehouse’s Comet, 1g08c, 108 Meteorology : Barometric Oscillation, W. H. Dines, F.R.S., 8; Weather for the Week ending February 27, 15; Dis- cussion of the Winds at Rome, Dr. I. Massarini, 17; Analysis of the Records of the Anemograph at Madras Observatory, R. L. Jones, 18; the Dryness of Winter (1908-9), Alex. B. MacDowall, 40; Is there a Vertical Magnetic Force in a Cyclone? J. R. Ashworth, 40; Meteorological Statistics of the Colorado College Observa- tory for 1907, F. H. Loud, 49; the Isothermal Layer of the Atmosphere, E. Gold, 68; Temperature of the Upper Atmosphere, Dr. C. Chree, F.R.S., 127, 397; Upper Air Temperatures, E. Gold, 217; the Temperature of the Upper Atmosphere, W. H. Dines, F.R.S., 455; Charles J. P. Cave, 456; Kite Flights in India and Neighbour- ing Sea Areas during the South-west Monsoon Period of 1907, J. H. Field, 77; Correlations of Areas of Matured Crop and the Rainfall and Certain Allied Problems in Agriculture and Meteorology, S. M. Jacob, 89; Discussion of the Temperature at Rome, 1855-1904, Dr. F. Eredia, 106; Mean Annual Rainfall of Wales and Monmouth- shire, G. B. Williams, 106 ; Royal Meteorological Society, 119, 298, 387; Wind-waves in Water, Sand, and Snow, Dr. Vaughan Cornish, 119; Lieut. Shackleton’s Antarctic Expedition, Meteorological Observations, W. H. Dines, F.R.S., 130; Meteorology of Mysore for 1907, N. V. Iyengar, 140; Minimum Thermometer and Severe Cold, A.E. H. Bott, 140; Tidal Wave in the New Hebrides, 164; Correlation in Seasonal Variation of Climate, Gilbert Walker, F.R.S., 167; le precipitazioni atmosferiche in Italia dal 1880 al 1905, 192; Mirage at Grimsby, 196; Rainfall Conditions of the Transvaal, Mr. Macdonald, 198; Weather for the Week ending April 10, 199; Inter- national Balloon Observations made by the Bavarian Meteorological Service, 199; the Greenwich Winter of 1908-9, Alex. B. MacDowall, 218; General Results of the Meteorological Cruises of the Otaria on the Atlantic in 1905, 1906, and 1907, L. Teisserenc de Bort and Prof. A. Lawrence Rotch, 219; Dew-ponds, Geo. Hubbard, 223; Prof. J. B. Cohen, 309; Arthur Marshall, 429; L. Gibbs, 458; Suggestion for Reform of Meteorological Methods, Prof. A. G. McAdie, 227; Weather Bureau of the Philippine Islands, Report for 1906, 227; Death and | Obituary Notice of Captain Henry Toynbee, 256; Meteorological Observations made in 1907 at Moscow Observatory, Dr. E. Leyst, 258; April Sunshine, 285 ; Distribution of the Polar Ice during 1908, 287; Meteorological and Magnetical Report of the Royal Corn- wall Polytechnic Society, 287; Percolation, Evaporation and Condensation, Baldwin Latham, 298; Meteorological Conditions in the Philippine Islands, 1908, Rev. José Algué, 299; Cloud Photographs from a Balloon, Dr. William J. S. Lockyer, 310; Climate Changes in Egypt, B. FB. E. Keeling, 319; Prospect of a Short Water Supply during the Coming Summer, Rev. F. C. Clutterbuck, 352; Method of Ventilating the Instrument during Ascent, Prof. Assmann, 354; Theoretical Applications of Upper-air Observations, Prof. Bjerknes, 355; Results of Theodolite Observations on Ballons sondes at Trappes, Teisserenc de Bort, 355; Meteorology of the Dutch East Indies, 356; Death of Dr. G. von Neumayer, For.Mem.R.S., 375; Obituary Notice of, Hy. Harries, 402; Corr., 439; Report of Bombay and Alibag Observa- tories for 1908, 379; the Anticyclonic Belt of the Northern Hemisphere, Col. H. E. Rawson, 387; May Sunshine, 407; Study of the Upper Air, Dr. W. Képpen, 408; Artificial Dew- and Rain-ponds made by Messrs. F. C. Lowe and Son, 437; Report of the Sonnblick Society for 1908, 437; Meteorological and Magnetical Observations at Stonyhurst College Observatory for 1908, 438; the Hevelian Halo, Prof. C. S. Hastings, 444 Meteors: the Meteoric Fireball of February 22 and its Streak, W. F. Denning, 13; the Meteoric Streak of February 22, W. F. Denning, 42; Fireball of February 22, W. F. Denning, 69; Fall of an Aérolite in Mokoia, New Zealand, on November 26, 1908, W. F. Denning, 128; April Meteors, John R. Henry, 188; Persistent Trail of a Meteor on March 14, Edward J. Steer, 248; the Meteoric Shower of Halley’s Comet, W. F. Denning, 259; the Ensuing Return of the Perseid Meteors, 468 Metrology : Remarks on a Set of Standards of Length, pre- sented by M. Johansson, M. Carpentier, 209; British ana American Customary and Metric Legal Measures for Commercial and Technical Purposes, N. Foley, 367; a Wave-length Comparator for Standards of Length, Dr. A. E. H. Tutton, 477; the Use of Wave-length Rulings as Defining Lines on Standards of Length, Dr. A. E. H. Tutton, 47 Meyer (F. N.), Results Northern China, 17 Meyer (Prof.), the Two Living Secret Languages Current in Ireland, Shelta and Béarlagar na Saor, 106 Meynier (J.), Catalytic Action produced by Moisture, 470 Michelson (Prof. A. A.), the Ruling of Diffraction Gratings, of Destruction of Forests in 444 Microscopy: Apparatus for Measurements of the Defining Power of Obiectives, J. de Graaff Hunter, 28; Royal Microscopical Society, 59, 178, 327, 448; Simple Method of Illuminating Opaque Objects, J. E. Stead, F.R.S., 168; a Stage Goniometer for Use with the Dick Pattern of Microscope, Prof. H. L. Bowman, 178; Method of Mounting Rotifers and Protista in Canada Balsam, Rev. Eustace Tozer, 225; the Microscope in Engineering, Walter Rosenhain, 250; Cycloloculina, a New Genus of Foraminifera, E. Heron-Allen and possible that on the bursting and disintegration of the mass one large fragment was hurled in a direction nearly opposite to that of the original course? The resistance of the air at the comparatively low altitude of the meteor must have been considerable in checking its velocity, but some more potent influence must have suddenly stayed the westerly rush of the object, diverted it or its material earthwards, and then, as abruptly, dispersed it far and rapidly eastwards. W. F. DENNING. NOTES. Tue following fifteen candidates have been selected by the council of the Royal Society to be recommended for election into the society :—Mr. E. C. C. Baly, Sir Thomas Barlow, Bart., Rev. E. W. Barnes, Dr. F. A. Bather, Sir Robert A. Hadfield, Mr. A. D. Hall, Dr. A. Harden, Mr. A. J. Jukes-Browne, Prof. J. G. Kerr, Prof. W. J. Lewis, Prof. J. A. McClelland, Prof. W. McFadden Orr, Dr. A. B. Rendle, Prof. J. Lorrain Smith, and Prof. J. T. Wilson. Tue Times announces that a well-equipped aérodynamic laboratory is about to be established by the Aéro Club de France with the assistance of the State. It is computed that more than 5ooo/. will be required to start this project, the utility of which is unquestioned. Practica! tests in planes, propellers, engines, &c., will be carried out at this laboratory. Tue seventh annual session of the South African Associa- tion for the Advancement of Science will be held at Bloemfontein during the week ending October 2, under the presidency of Sir Hamilton J. Goold-Adams, K.C.M.G. The assistant general secretary is Mr. P.O. Box 1497, Cape Town. Tue sixth International Psychological Conference will be held at Geneva from August 3 to 8 next. An exhibition is being arranged, and a special section is to be devoted to animal psychology. M. E. Claparéde, 11 Champel, Geneva, is the general secretary, Cellerier, Montchoisy, Geneva, is the treasurer. E. Hope Jones, avenue de and M. Tne Paris correspondent of the Daily Chronicle states that the wireless telegraph station on the Eiffel Tower has been receiving messages from the station at Glace Bay, Canada, a distance of 3250 miles. A new installation is being fitted at the Eiffel Tower, by means of which it is hoped to establish wireless telegraphic communication with Saigon (Cochin China), a distance of 6800 miles. On Thursday next, March 11, Mr. A. D. Hall will begin a course of two lectures at the Royal Institution on ‘‘ Recent Advances in Agricultural Science.’’ The Friday evening discourse on March 12 will be delivered by Mr. S. G. Brown on ‘“‘ Modern Submarine Telegraphy,’’ and on March 19 by Mr. R. Threlfall, F.R.S., on ‘* Experi- ments at High Temperatures and Pressures.”’ Tue Berlin correspondent of the Times announces the death of Prof. H. Ebbinghaus, professor of philosophy at the University of Halle, at fifty-nine years of age. Prof. Ebbinghaus contributed extensively to the Zeitschrift fiir Psychologie, of which he was the founder, while of his several books the best known are his work ‘*‘ On the Memory ”’ (1885), and the first volume, which appeared three years ago, of the unfinished ‘* Principles of Psycho- logy.” An exhibition of optical and ophthalmological appliances will be held in the rooms of the Medical Society of London on March 12 and 13, from noon to 10 p.m. each day. ‘Marcu 4 10909] Mvccu interest is being taken in the International Aéro- nautical Exhibition which will be opened at Frankfurt a. M. in the beginning of July next. Four sheds will be reserved for airships, which will make ascents, with passengers, from the exhibition grounds. Frequent ascents will also be made by ordinary balloons, and various aéro- nautical societies have been invited to take part in them. Flights with aéroplanes, in which some of the best-known aviators will compete, promise to be of special interest. Industries connected with aéronautics will be represented, and one section will be devoted to inventions and apparatus of the past. Wireless telegraphy and carrier pigeons will be employed for communications to and from the exhibi- tion, and some prizes of considerable value will be awarded. TELEGRAPHIC messages from Havana through Reuter’s Agency ‘announced that on February 27, beginning at 1J.21 a.m., the seismograph there was disturbed inter- mittently for forty minutes. The earth waves moved from east-north-east to west-south-west: A message from Palmi, Calabria, on the same date states that a violent earthquake shock was felt there at 1.50 a.m., and that two other shocks followed later. From the same source it is reported that a slight shock was felt at Reggio di Calabria at 6.45 p.m. Reuter further reports that sound- ings taken in the Straits of Messina and in the ports of Messina and Reggio di Calabria show that no alteration in the ocean floor in those parts or in the coast-line was caused by the recent earthquakes. Prof. Milne recorded at Shide, Isle of Wight, on February 27, at 4.58 p.m., an earthquake of great intensity, which was at its maximum at 5.36 p.m. The origin of this disturbance was about 5000 miles distant. Tue thirty-first annual general meeting of the Institute of .Chemistry was held on Monday, March 1, Prof. Percy F. Frankland, F.R.S., the retiring president, in the chair. In his presidential address, Prof. Frankland emphasised the fact that whilst the well-being of the community is greatly promoted by the services of competent chemists, the mischief. which can be wrought by the ill-trained and incompetent is incalculable. It is one of the chief duties of the institute to maintain a high level of training for professional chemists by demanding of candidates for its membership evidence of thorough training, and by re- quiring them to pass searching examinations. Particular attention has been given lately to the educational side of the institute’s activity. Referring to research, Prof. Frankland reminded the fellows that the results of research are not necessarily recorded in the Transactions or Pro- ceedings of a scientific society or journal. There is a vast amount of research involving originality and attainments of the highest order which from its very nature cannot be published at all. Many chemists whose names are not associated with academic researches are ‘nevertheless fully equipped and highly original investigators. There much training in originality of thought and _ experi- mental procedure which is not called research, and much of what is called research involves no originality in the thought or deed. After congratulating the institute on the choice of Dr. George T: Beilby, F.R.S., as the new president, Prof. Frankland thanked the fellows and associates for their kindness and consideration during his term of office. On behalf of the fellows and associates the president then presented an illuminated address to Mr. David Howard, in recognition of his services to the insti- tute in various capacities, as member of council, honorary treasurer (eighteen years), president, vice-president, and censor, extending altogether more than thirty years, at the same time congratulating him on the approach of his NO. 2053, VOL. 80| is NATURE 5 15 seventieth birthday, while yet retaining remarkably his health and vigour. Tue Elizabeth Thompson Science Fund, to which refer- ence has been made in previous years in these columns, established ‘‘ for the advancement and prosecution of scientific research in its broadest sense,’? now amounts to 52001. As accumulated income will be available next month, the trustees of the fund desire to receive applica- tions for grants in aid of scientific work. This endowment is not for the benefit of any one department of science nor for men of science of any particular nationality, but it is the intention of the trustees to give preference to in- vestigations which cannot otherwise be provided for, whick have for their object the advancement of human knowledge or the benefit of mankind in general, rather than to re- searches directed to the solution of questions of merely local importance. Applications for assistance from the fund must be accompanied by full information as to the precise amount required, the exact nature of the investiga- tion proposed, the conditions under which the research is to be prosecuted, and the manner in which the grant asked for is to be expended. All applications must reach, before March 15, the secretary, Dr. C. S. Minot, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass., U.S.A. Decided preference will be given to applications for small amounts, and grants exceeding 6ol. will be made only in very exceptional circumstances. Prior to 1898, eighty-one grants were made, and of these seven only have yielded no published result. Since 1898 sixty-five further grants have been made, and the work aided by some of them is still un- finished. Tue weather report for the week ending last Saturday, | February 27, shows that the temperature over England was considerably below the average, especially in the south, the deficiency in the south-east of England amount- ing to 5°-4. In the south-west and south-east of England the shade temperature fell below 15°. At Greenwich the thermometer. in’ the _sun’s rays registered 97° on February 22, whilst during the preceding and following nights the exposed thermometer on the grass registered 11°. The lowest shade temperature for February was 109°, on the morning of February 23. The mean temperature at Greenwich for February was 37°, which is about 2°-5 below the average of the previous sixty years. Frost occurred in the open each night with the exception of February 4 and 5. The rainfall was less than one-half of the normal, whilst the sun was shining ninety-one hours, which is thirty-four hours more than usual. The summary given by the Meteorological Office for the thirteen weeks which constitute the winter, ending February, shows that the mean temperature was generally below the normal, the extreme readings ranging from 59° in the south of Ireland, and 58° in the east of Scotland and the east of England, to 3° in the Midland counties and the south- east of England. The rainfall was deficient over the entire kingdom, the deficiency ranging from 4-21 inches in the south-west of England to 0-24 inch in the north of Ireland. The duration of bright sunshine was generally in excess of the average, especially over the southern portion of England. At the close of February and on the opening days of March a touch of real. winter was experienced over the entire area of the British- Islands, as’ well as generally over western Europe; sharp frosts occurred in all parts, with heavy snow. Tue Bill ‘‘to promote the earlier use of daylight in certain months yearly ’’—formerly known shortly as the Daylight Saving Bill—is down for the second reading in 16 ‘the House. of Commons to-morrow (Friday). fhe Bill represents the shape of the resurrection of a measure which passed its second reading in the House a year ago, and was referred to a select committee. The unscientific «haracter of the proposal and the confusion which would follow should the measure ever find a place in the Statute- ‘book were stated clearly in Nature of July 9, 1908. To the views expressed in that article most competent authori- ties will subscribe. For the sake of history, we give the substance of the measure, but it is difficult to believe that the House of Commons will consent to the system of self- deception which is advocated by the promoters of the Bill, with complete disregard of the consequences. The operative clauses of the Bill are as follows :—(1) From two o’clock in the morning Greenwich mean time in the case of Great Britain, and Dublin mean time in the case of Ireland, of the third Sunday in April in each year until two o’clock in the morning Greenwich mean time in the case of Great Britain, and Dublin mean time in the case of Ireland, of the third Sunday in September in each year the local time shall be in the case of Great Britain one hour. in advance of Greenwich mean time and in the case of Ireland one hour in advance of Dublin mean time, and from two o’clock in the morning Greenwich mean time in the case of Great Britain, and Dublin mean time in the ease of Ireland, of the third Sunday in September in each year until two o’clock in the morning Greenwich mean time in the case of Great Britain, and Dublin mean time in the case of Ireland, of the third Sunday in April in each year the local time shall be in the case of Great Britain the same as Greenwich mean time and in the case of Ireland the same as Dublin mean time. (2) The time hereby established shall be known as summer season time in Great Britain and Ireland, and whenever any expression of time occurs in any Act of Parliament, deed, or other legal instrument, the time mentioned or referred to shall, unless it is otherwise specifically stated, be held :in the case of Great Britain and Ireland to be summer season time as prescribed by this Act. (3) Greenwich mean time as used for the purposes of astronomy and navigation shall not be affected by this Act. (4) This Act shall apply ‘to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, .and may be cited as the Summer Season Time (Great Britain and Ireland) Act, 1909. In the course of a paper published in vol. iv., Nos. 1 and 2, of the Bio-chemical Journal. on the relations of certain marine organisms to light, Prof. B. Moore directs particular attention to the periodicity of their phosphor- escence. That light from without influences this pheno- menon is demonstrated. by the fact that the periods of activity and rest in regard to phosphorescence follow, re- spectively, the hours of daylight and darkness. How deep- seated is this periodicity has been demonstrated by experi- ments on copepods, in which it persisted for no less than twelve days in the absence of the accustomed recurring stimulus of nocturnal darkness and diurnal light. It is added that the phosphorescence of these copepods in cap- tivity is spontaneous, and although increased by mechanical stimulation, goes on vigorously even when the organisms are at rest and undisturbed. Tue February number of the Zoologist contains a re- markably interesting account, by Mr. H. W. Bell-Marley, of hunting the hump-backed whale in Natal waters. For some years it has been observed that between May and August large numbers of hump-backs pass between Natal and the Delagoa Bay coast, and in May, 1908, some enter- prising Norwegians obtained permission to set up a NO. 2053, VOL. 80] NATURE [Marcu 4, 1909 whaling-station on the Bluff side of the channel. Their success may be judged from the fact that between July and the early part of September no fewer than one hundred and two hump-backs and two rorquals were taken. The supply is, however, not exhausted, as the writer describes steaming into the midst of a school of about a score of these monsters, the movements and gambols of which afforded a most wonderful and thrilling spectacle. Never- theless, such vigorous fishing cannot long be carried on without seriously diminishing the numbers of the whales, and Mr. Bell-Marley is of opinion that, if their extermina- tion is to be prevented, action ought forthwith to be taken by the Colonial Government. AN interesting pamphlet, written by Mr. H. A. Ballou, has just been issued by the Imperial Department of Agri- culture for the West Indies on ‘‘ millions ’’ and mosqui- toes. Millions are small fishes, the full-grown female measuring about 1} inches in length, while the male is much smaller; they belong to the species Girardinus, the particular variety dealt with in the pamphlet “being G. foeciloides, De Filippi. They live in shallow water, and are such voracious feeders on the eggs, larvae, and pupz of mosquitoes that these insects are unable to breed in streams and ponds stocked with them. They commonly occur in Barbadoes, and in consequence the Anopheles mosquito, which disseminates malaria and breeds only in shallow streams, pools, or marshes, has never been able to spread, and Barbadoes is free from malaria. The Imperial Department has since 1905 made shipments of these fishes to several West India islands, and from all sources favourable reports have been received. At Antigua the Board of Health has undertaken the work of stocking all the ponds and streams, and the mosquito nuisance has abated in consequence. It is pointed out, however, that certain varieties of mosquitoes, e.g. Culex fatigans and Stegomyia fasciata, breed in small temporary collections of water, such as those found on house-tops, in rain-water tanks, bottles, the concavities of leaves, &c., and will therefore escape destruction by the ‘‘ millions.’’ Darwin and the mutation theory form the theme of the opening article, by Mr. C. F. Cox, in the February number of the American Naturalist. After mentioning that the great evolutionist would not have accepted, at least in its entirety, the mutation theory of de Vries, the author states that ‘‘ he was compelled to concede that what we now call mutation had occasionally taken place and become the starting point of new races, but he was none the less unshaken in the conviction that this process was excep- tional and extraordinary, and that, as a rule, a new species originated by the gradual building up of minute and even insignificant deviations from the average characters of an old species. . .. For the doctrine of ‘ insensible grada- tions,’ which touched mainly a minor premise in his general argument for evolution, Mr. Darwin was almost willing to relinquish the essence of the whole matter, which was his claim to the discovery of a vera causa in the evolutionary process. . . . The establishment of the theory of natural selection was Mr. Darwin’s greatest and most original achievement. Time has proved that he could have afforded to stand upon the general validity of this theory, though everything in his argument in its favour had needed review and modification. . . . Properly regarded, the muta- tion theory does not antagonise or weaken the doctrine of natural selection—on the contrary, it merely offers itself as a helpful substitute for, or adjunct to, one of Darwin’s subordinate steps in the approach to a consistent philo- sophy of the origin of species, leaving the great cause of ~Marcii 4, 1909 | NATURE V7 evolution as efficient as ever. It is, therefore, one of the tragedies of science that in this matter Darwin should have been ready to surrender his main position rather than to receive and to join forces with those who were coming to his aid.” In the number of Man for February Mrs. M. E. Cunnington describes the result of the excavation of a late Celtic rubbish-heap near Oare, in Wiltshire. From the number of potsherds unearthed it was supposed by some authorities that the mound represents the accumu- lated débris of a pottery; but there are no signs of dis- tortion during baking in any of the fragments, and the number of animal bones points to the existence of a con- siderable settlement. The pottery falls into two classes, that of native manufacture and that imported. Most of the examples of the former type are not inelegantly shaped bowls with a contracted mouth and bead rim. These are of purely British manufacture, and are characteristic of the late Celtic period, like the examples from Weymouth in the British Museum and those of the same period at Colchester. The foreign ware is of various types—Belgic of the first century a.D., green-glazed Roman ware from Gaul, and several pieces of very thin white and cream- coloured pottery, which probably came from Rheims about the same time. More remarkable are examples of the rare Arretine ware, while the absence of the later Gaulish red Samian corroborates the date of this accumulation, which seems to have been made just before the Roman occupa- tion of that part of the island. If the date of the neigh- bouring Martinsell Camp could be established, it is possible that its garrison may have had some connection with the inmates of this settlement. Tue National Geographic Magazine for January con- tinues its campaign against the destruction of the State forests of America by lessons drawn from two countries of the old continent. Mr. E. L. Harris, in his notes on the buried cities of Asia Minor, shows that in the neighbour- hood of Pergamus the ruin has been so widespread that it is doubtful if any rational system of forestry can now restore the trees which once covered the higher grounds and permitted a flourishing agriculture in that region. Mr. F. N. Meyer points out that in a large part of northern China, which in the time of Marco Polo was the seat of extensive silk culture, the mulberry trees have disappeared, the rivers once used for carriage of goods have shrunk in volume, and the deserted wells bear witness to the shameful destruction of the forests. The denudation of the hill-sides is said to have diminished the rainfall, the soil on the slopes has disappeared, and disastrous floods result from the rapid dissipation of the water in the rainy season. Here, too, the mischief seems to be almost past remedy, and unless the Chinese Government takes immediate and active measures the eastern extension of the Mongolian desert is inevitable. THERE is certainly room for a popular, well-illustrated periodical dealing with the lighter side of geographical work, and this want seems likely to be supplied by the new magazine Travel and Exploration. The March number contains articles by competent writers describing expeditions in many parts of the world. The best of these is that by Lord Hindlip on a hunting trip in the Nahlin or Cassiar mountains, near the famous Dawson Trail leading to Klondike, in which he was successful in obtain- ing fine specimens of the wild sheep. Miss E. C. Sykes is also a little off familiar ground in her account of a ride along the little-known route in northern Persia from Meshed to the railway line which runs between Merv, Asikabad, and Krasnovodsk. The scheme of this new NO. 2053, VOL. 80] periodical includes reviews of current geographical litcra- ture, which, it may be hoped, will soon develop into an adequate bibliography. A summary and bibliography of literature dealing with Russian botany, that was published in 1906, has been issued as a supplement to the Bulletin du Jardin impérial botanique, St. Petersburg. The contents are, it may be mentioned, practically inaccessible except to Russian scholars. Sir JosepH Hooker has,made a further contribution to the classification of the genus Impatiens in the first number of the Kew Bulletin for the current year, where he furnishes a description of species from Indo-China and the: Malayan Peninsula. The comparison of selected characters. leads to the conclusion that the species from these regions are closely allied, and show some affinity with Burmese species, but differ greatly from the Chinese. Four of the specimens are made the types of new species. Another systematic article is provided by Mr. T. A. Sprague, being a revision of the section Omphacarpus of the genus Grewia. Dr. M. Samec communicates to the Sitzungsberichte der kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften (vol. cxvii., part v.), Vienna, a note on the variation in the intensity of light at different altitudes. During a balloon journey he took a series of readings for comparison with measure- ments made by Prof. Wiesner in the course of his investi- gations regarding the amount and nature of the Jight fall- ing upon plants. Readings were taken of the intensity of sun-light and of diffused light. The figures are some- what irregular, but the intensity of sun-light increased with ascent, and more rapidly than the intensity of the diffused light. The measurements of light reflected from below showed a series of maxima corresponding with the passage of the balloon over water. AN account of the constructive work for restraining the flow of torrents and of the reboisement of mountain slopes near Interlaken contributed by Mr. C. E. C. Fischer to the Indian Forester (January) should indicate to the authorities in India the value attached to such precautions in Switzerland, and may possibly help towards the establish- ment of a similar policy. Although avalanches and storms are important factors in denudation, the prime agent is the browsing goat. The chief features in construction are the retaining walls built at intervals across the valley, the channels for leading off the streams, and wattle fences for checking the downward flow. Grass is planted between the fences, and prepares the ground for early settlers such as Sedum annuum and Adenostyles; later on, Parnassia, orchids, aconites, and other plants appear on the scene, and in two or three years alders or pines may be planted. WE have received a discussion of the winds at Rome by Dr. I. Massarini, deduced from anemograph records for 1876-1905, and reprinted from the Annals of the Italian Meteorological Office, vol. xxvii., part i. The author has dealt with the subject in great detail, and has calculated, inter alia, the frequency of wind direction under sixteen points and their velocity with respect to the hours of the day, as well as for months, years, and for periods of ten and thirty years; also the velocity for the same periods, irrespective of direction, and has exhibited the results in fifty-four tables and nine plates. We can only note here the following general remarks :—(1) Direction. The most fre- quent winds are (in order of their frequency) N.N.E., N., and S.; the least frequent is the E. wind. (2) Velocity. The strongest winds are S.S.E., S., S.S.W., and N.N.E. 18 NATURE \ [Marcu 4, 1909 (the last two having equal values). The weakest wind is from) N.W. During three years, 1873-5, a Robinson anemometer was in operation; the author has supplemented his valuable work by a separate discussion of these data. Tue Memoirs of the Indian Meteorological Department, vol. xx., part v., contain a laborious and valuable analysis, by Mr. R. L. Jones, of the records of the anemograph (Meteorological Office pattern) at the Madras Observatory for eleven years, 1865-75. The tables give (1) the mean hourly movement of air, irrespective of direction, for each hour of the mean day of each month and for the year, and the constants of the periodical formule; (2) mean hourly southerly and westerly components, and the constants of the periodical formula, with computed values in each case. The chief features of the mean monthly air movement (irrespective of direction) are (a) a nearly uniform increase during the hot-weather period; (b) a more or less uniform decrease approximately during the south-west monsoon period; (c) a nearly uniform increase during the transition | period ; (d) a nearly uniform decrease approximately during the cold-weather period. ~The curves ‘showing the daily variations exhibit a general resemblance to the daily variations in air temperature. The resultant air movement deduced from the southerly and westerly components is (1) between north and east during the transition and cold- weather periods; (2) between east and south during the hot-weather period; and (3) between south and west during the south-west monsoon period. Some of the troubles which have to be faced by engineers in Egypt are described by Mr. J. B. Van Brussel in an article on mechanical irrigation plants in the Engineering Magazine for February. Part of the Nile irrigation station at Wadi Kém-Ombo consists of a steel canal 5200 feet in length and nearly semicircular in section, 20 feet diameter, and about 12 feet deep. The canal is used for conveying water from the service reservoir and distributing it to earth canals, or culverts, and is made up of seventeen sections, each about 310 feet long and constructed of riveted steel plates 6 millimetres thick. The sections are connected by expansion joints, and have a fall of level of I centimetre per 310 feet. Great difficulty was experienced in preserving the level while building, owing to the action of the wind passing through spaces where the dry founda- tion sand had been removed for riveting, thus causing the sand to drift and the wood cradles to sink. Often a whole section would sink several inches in a night. During the construction difficulty was also experienced due to unequal expansion. According to the side of the canal on which the sun was shining more strongly, the end of a section would move out of .the centre line to one side or the other to the extent of as much as 4 inches. This movement stopped when the earth was banked up round the. steel structural work, and the water began to flow through the canal. Tue January number of Jon contains a translation of the second memoir of the radium commission of the Academy of Sciences. of Vienna. It deals with the evolu- tion of heat by radium, and for it Drs. E. von Schweidler and V. F. Hess are responsible. Experimenting with more than a gram of radium-barium~ chloride enclosed in a glass tube a millimetre thick, surrounded by a copper vessel 5 millimetres thick, they have found that the heat generated by 1 gram of pure radium in these circumstances is 118 gram-degrees per hour. Jon, by a curious misprint, omits to give its readers this number. AN examination of the whole of the material at present scailable on the variation of the refractive indices of NO. 2053, VOL. 80] mixtures of liquids with their composition has led Dr. V. F. Hess, of the University of Vienna, to formulate, in a paper which appears in the July, 1908, number of the Sitzungsberichte of the Academy of Vienna, a simple law for the refraction constant of a mixture. If the excess of the observed density of a mixture over that calculated from the densities of the constituents be divided by the observed density, and if the corresponding quotient for the refraction constants be found, Dr. Hess shows that if it is assumed that the two quotients for each mixture are proportional to each other, the calculated values of -the refraction con- stants may, by a proper choice of the factor of proportion, be made to agree very closely with observation. The factor differs in value for each pair of liquids, changes a little with change of temperature, but is practically the same for all rays of the spectrum. Any one of the three refraction constants at present in use may be used in the calculations. Tue moving-coil galvanometer is now used so extensively on account of its insensibility to outside magnetic disturb- ances that Dr. M. Reinganum’s article in the Physik- alische Zeitschrift for February 1, describing two methods of making the instrument suitable for measuring smaller currents than it has been capable of measuring previously, will be welcomed by many of our readers. In the first method about 6 centimetres of soft iron wire, 0-33 milli- metre diameter, is attached to the top of the coil outside the strongest part of the magnetic field, and at right angles to the lines of the field. In the second method a similar piece of magnetised steel wire is attached to the coil parallel to the field, but with its poles reversed. In each case the sensitiveness of=the instrument is greatly increased, and in one case described by the author, with the steel wire, it was raised to ten times its original value without the deflections ceasing to be proportional to the current passing through the coil. In Reprint No. tor from the Bulletin of the Bureau of Standards, v., 2 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1908), Mr. Louis Cohen discusses the influence of terminal apparatus on telephonic transmission. It is pointed out that when a telephonic wave reaches the receiving instru- ment part of it is reflected, and that the proportion of the reflected and absorbed waves is a function of the frequency. Thus every harmonic will be affected differently, and a certain amount of distortion will be produced. The sub- ject is eminently suited for the methods of mathematical analysis which the author applies. The outcome of the discussion is that in short-distance transmission the intro- duction of a condenser into the circuit will improve the transmission. This is the conclusion derived from an application to a cable 30 km. long. For long-distance transmission, taking as an example a length of 300 km., the author finds that the condenser has little effect. Messrs. Macmittan anp Co., Ltp., have published the ““Mathematical Papers for Admission into the Royal Military Academy and the Royal Military :College for the years 1899-1908.’ The papers have been edited by Messrs. E. J. Brooksmith and R. M. Milne, who have also pro- vided answers. The price of the volume is 6s. Messrs. Crossy Lockwoop and Son have just pub- lished the edition of Dr. J. Erskine-Murray’s ‘“ Handbook of Wireless Telegraphy.’’ The original work was reviewed in Nature of October 3, 1907 (vol. Ixxvi., p- 563). About fifty pages of new matter have been added, and the whole text has been revised in the light of present knowledge of the subject. second Marcu 4, 1909} NATURE. 19 Messrs. H. W. Cox anp Co. have issued a new cata- logue of electromedical apparatus, which contains, in addition to the descriptions of the apparatus, short sketches of the theories of their action, and instructions how best to sect them up. It should prove of exceptional value to medical practitioners who have not had the advantage of au practical the manipulation of physical apparatus. training in We have received from Washington a copy of the report of the Librarian of Congress and of the report of the superintendent of the library buildings and grounds for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1908. Like all American reports, it is of a detailed and exhaustive character, and provides information as to accessions, expenditure, new arrangements, and other matters of particular importance to librarians. It is of interest to note that, in addition to the Library of Congress, with its million and a half books —to say nothing of manuscripts, prints, maps, and charts —there are above a score of libraries. maintained by the Federal Government at Washington. Among these may be mentioned those of the Department of Agriculture with 60,000 volumes, the Bureau of Education with 82,000, the Geological Survey with 80,000, the Patent Office with $0,500, and the National Museum with 20,000. Some of the special collections, like that of the U.S. Geological Survey, are unique in charactér, so it is easy to see that the American student is very fortunate in his facilities for reference to standard authorities and original sources. OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. Tue SpectRa OF Various NespuLta. The spectra of several nebule, as photographed at Heidelberg with the Waltz reflector, are briefly described by Prof. Wolf in No. 4305 of the Astronomische Nachrichten (p. 151, February 16). Prof. Wolf states that the planetary nebula N.G.C. 6210=B.D.+24°.3048 is so bright that he is able to photo- graph the ten lines of its spectrum with only a brief ex- posure. These include six of the chief lines, at AA sor (i.), 434 (ili.), 410 (iv.), 397 (v.), 387 (vi.), and 373 (vii.), lines at AA 412, 447, and 496, and Hf; the second nebula line, at A 469, is not recorded, and Hy is clearly double. The Ring nebula in Lyra shows the seven chief lines, HB, and the line at A 496, but no spectrum of the central star is registered. Exposures without the spectrograph give an image of the ring in twenty seconds, but give no trace of the star, thus showing that the latter is less active, photometrically, than the ring itself. Using Wratten and Wainwright’s “ panchromatic »” plates, Prof. Wolf also got the C line of hydrogen registered, and found it to be as bright as the other hydrogen lines. By using an open slit, annular images showing the monochromatic forms and sizes of the nebula were obtained; the ring at A 469 was found to be the smallest, whilst that at A 373 is the largest. Long exposures on the cluster of nebulze near the galactic pole (12h. 53m., +28°-6) showed continuous spectra with maxima, but the condensations are too weak to measure. The spectrum of N.G.C. 6960, HV 15 Cygni, is purely gaseous, the brightest line being that at A 373, followed by A 434 (Hy), and traces of other lines. N.G.C. 6992, HV 14 Cygni, shows the same spectrum with the addition of Hs. The Milky Way nebula, N.G.C. 2023, again shows the lines at AA 373, 434, and 486, but the line A 373 is abnormally bright, and there is a suspicion of an additional line at about A 345- ' Tue PRorosED PROGRAMME OF WORK FOR THE REYNOLDS REFLECTOR at Hetwan, Ecypt.—From a note in No. 27, vol. ii., of the Cairo Scientific Journal (p. 417, December, 1908), we learn that the Reynolds reflector at the Helwan Observatory is to be used, primarily, for the photography of nebulae lying between the equator and 40° south declination. NO. 2053, VOL. S8o| _Mr.. Knox Shaw shows that the instrument, owing to its comparatively short focal length, is unfitted for work on the sun and moon, whilst the absence of a large finder renders the photography of faint satellites impracticable ; the ratio of the focal length to the aperture (30 inches) is only 4:5. In the proposed zone there are between two and three | thousand known nebula, of which the great majority have as yet only been observed visually, and, according to Keeler’s estimate of their distribution, there should, in such a zone, be some 40,000 ; it therefore appears. that the Reynolds reflector is provided with a very useful pro- gramme for a lengthy period. OpseRVATIONS OF Comet TEMPEL,-SwirT.—In No. 4306 of the Astronomische Nachrichten (p. 159, February 18) Prof. Barnard records his observations of the periodic comet, Tempel,-Swift (1908d), during its recent reappear- ance, Observations were made on four days in December, 1908, and the comet was found to be a small faint body of less than the sixteenth magnitude. A new double star and two new nebulz were discovered during the observation of the comet, and Prof. Barnard found that the star B.D.+43°.53 is one of the finest crimson stars in the heavens; on December 20, 1908, he recorded it as an exquisite object as seen in the 4o-inch refractor. Tur Levets oF SuN-spots.—From Mr. Dodwell, of the Observatory, Adelaide, we have received a stereogram which confirms Dr. Krebs’s observation of the different levels of sun-spots, referred to in this column for August 27, 1908 (No. 2026, vol. Ixxviii., p- 402). The two photographs from which the stereogram was prepared were taken by Mr. A. W. Dobbie, of Adelaide, during the solar eclipse of 1905, and the two groups of spots then visible on the solar disc distinctly appear to be at different levels. Mr. Dobbie used an 18-inch Newtonian reflector of 13 feet focal length, made by himself, and stopped down to an aperture of 4-5 inches. The exposures given were of about 1/1o0oth of a second duration, and the interval between the two was about 2: hours. A New ‘“! CAVE-NEBULA ”” IN Crrneus.—On a plate taken by him with the Bruce telescope at Heidelberg, on October 21, 1908, Dr. MKopff discovered an interesting nebula in the constellation Cepheus. Later photographs taken by Prof. Wolf, with the Waltz reflector, show this object to be a good example of the singular phenomenon of cave-formation amongst. Milky Way stars. The star B.D. +69°.1231 is involved in the nebula, which is situated at the southern extremity of a long, starless space covered with intricate patches of nebulous matter and dark areas, and traversed by a bridge of stars, from east to west, at about 22h. 10m., +70° 0’. The position (1855-0) of the B.D. star is a=22h. tom. Is., 5= +69° 31'-7- } A reproduction of the region showing this interesting object accompanies Prof. Wolf’s paper describing 1t 1n No. 2, vol. Ixix., of the Monthly Notices (R.A.S.). Tue Recent MaGnitupE oF Nova Perser.—In No. 4303 of the Astronomische Nachrichten Prof. Nijland publishes the results of a series of magnitude observations of Nova Persei (No. 2) made at the Utrecht Observatory between July, 1904, and April, 1908. The apparent variations, if real, are unimportant and irregular, the four yearly values being 10:63, 10-53, 10-58, and 10-59, mean 10-58; on Father Hagen’s scale this magnitude lies half-way between his stars 42 and 49. DousLe-sTaR MeEasures.—Nos. 4301 and 4302 of the Astvonomische Nachrichten are devoted, to the extent of eighteen three-column pages, to the results of recent micro- meter measures of double stars, made by Prof. Burnham with the 4o-inch refractor of the Yerkes Observatory. The measures form part of the observer’s general programme of observing neglected doubles, to investigate proper motions, and to provide material which may in future have special value in any discussion of the pairs given in the general catalogue. 2 eS A series of notes, dealing respectively with the individual systems, is also given, and will undoubtedly prove useful in any subsequent discussions. 20 NATURE SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND THE CARNEGIE TRUST. THE seventh annual report, that for the year 1907-8, of the executive committee to the trustees of the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland, was sub- mitted at a meeting held in London on February 24. ‘The report contains a review of the activities of the trust during the seven years of its existence. In the first place, the committee directs special attention to the scheme of endow- ment of post-graduate study and research, which completed its first lustrum on September 30, 1908. The committee submitted the results of the scheme over the five years to independent authorities for examination and report. For this purpose the services were obtained, in the physical and chemical sciences, of Dr. J. J. Dobbie, director of the Royal Scottish Museum, and formerly professor of chem- istry in the University College of North Wales; in the biological and medical sciences, of Dr. J. Ritchie, super- intendent of the Royal College of Physicians’ Laboratory, and formerly professor of pathology in the University of Oxford; and in the historical, economic, and linguistic sciences, of Prof. P. Hume Brown, Historiographer-Royal for Scotland. 2 The assistance offered by the scheme was of three kinds —scholarships, fellowships, and grants—in order, so far as possible, to reach all classes of workers. Selection was made, not by competitive examination, but for fellowships on the merits of original work already published, and for scholarships on the evidence of experts regarding the applicant’s special fitness for the work proposed. No fixed number of foundations, nor even a definite total sum, was assigned to any one year. The aim of the scheme was, within the limits of the trust deed, to discover and supply the demand for assistance in higher study and research throughout Scotland. The actual expenditure upon the scheme for the first quinquennial period was 27,755]. Two points in connection with the reports of the experts referred to above are mentioned. The first is that the re- ports must be taken as representing only part of the out- put of the universities of Scotland in higher study and research; for in many departments, and not merely in those outside the scope of the trust, much independent work of the kind is being done. The second is that in providing the scheme with so many able workers, as well as in affording laboratory accommodation and supervision, the universities deserve much of the credit due to its success. In summarising the grants to universities and extra- mural colleges, the report states that, of the total grants during the past six years, amounting to 246,3741., 23,0001. has been allocated to libraries, 131,644l. to build- ings and permanent equipment, and 91,730l. to teaching. In this allocation the committee was guided by the special needs of each institution as set forth by its governing body. It is gratifying to find, in the statements received from the universities and other institutions regarding their claims under the second quinquennial distribution, their general recognition of the great benefits that have accrued. The second quinquennial scheme of distribution, besides making contributions of 65,2501. to buildings and per- manent equipment and 20,500/. to libraries, will at the close of the period of five years have increased the re- sources of teaching in the four university centres by per- manent endowments amounting to §87,s500l., and have afforded during the five years an annual income of about 4rsol. to mect ordinary expenditure. During the period of seven academic years in which the scheme of payment of class fees has been in operation, the individual students whose fees have been paid by the trust number 8263, and the fees paid reach the total of 298,687/. Fifty-five beneficiaries under the scheme have made voluntary repayment of fees paid on their behalf, amount- ing in all to 88xl. With regard to school education of applicants, the com- mittee has been able since the year 1907-8 to demand of all applicants a standard equivalent to that of the uni- versities arts and science preliminary examination, or of the leaving certificate of the Scotch Education Department. The expenditure for 1907-8 upon the research scheme and upon the laboratory was respectively 63401. and 2185/., NO. 2053, VOL. 80] {Marcu 4, 1909 towards the latter of which the Colleges of Physicians and of Surgeons have together contributed g5o0/. Under the head of grants to university centres a sum _ of 73,998!. 5s. od. was available for distribution during 1907-8. ‘Lhe statistics of the payment of class fees for the academic year 1907-8 give the total number of bene- ficiaries as 3269, the total amount of fees paid as 43,256l., and the average amount in fees paid per beneficiary as 13/. 4s. Sd., an increase as compared with the preceding academic year of 107, 2154l., 16s., and 4s. 8d. respectively. In his report on the scheme of endowment of post- graduate study and research, Dr. J. J. Dobbie, dealing with the physical and chemical sciences, remarks that a careful examination of the papers relating to the work of the Carnegie fellows, scholars, and grantees in the mathematical and experimental sciences has confirmed and strengthened the conclusions expressed in the report of January 19, 1905, as to the satisfactory working of the | scheme for the encouragement of post-graduate study and research. The high standard set in the appointment of the first fellows and scholars has been well maintained in subsequent appointments. With few exceptions, the bene- ficiaries have fully justified their selection by the trustees. They have carried out successfully a large amount of re- search work. During the past five years thirty-seven individuals have been appointed to fellowships or scholar- ships, and twenty-five, not including fellows, have received grants. The detailed numbers, excluding grantees, are :— mathematics, 2; physics, 8; engineering, 4; chemistry, 23. It is a noteworthy circumstance that the fellows and scholars in chemistry outnumber the total of all the other branches of the mathematical and physical sciences. This aiay, perhaps, be accounted for to some extent, but not altogether, by the fact that the comparatively fresh field of physical chemistry offers certain attractions to students who formerly would have devoted themselves to purely physical research. Some students are thus classed with the chemists, who might with equal reason be reckoned amongst the physicists. The fellows and scholars have contributed together one hundred and seventeen, and the grantees twenty-two, papers to the scientific journals. The papers in every case embody the results of original investigations conducted by their authors, and in the aggregate contain a very large number of new observations, some of which have proved of real value in furthering the development of the branch of science to which they relate. Nearly all the papers of the beneficiaries have been published in the journals of one or other of the great societies. It is well known that since the inauguration of the trustees’ scheme the output of experimental work by the Scottish universities has greatly increased. In chemistry alone, in the course of the last two years, the number of papers dated from the laboratories of the Scottish universities which have been published in the Journal of the Chemical Society is twice as great. as the number appearing in the two. years immediately preceding that in which the scheme came into operation ; and a still more important result is to be found in the opportunity which the scheme has afforded for co- operation within our laboratories. Although Scotland has in the past produced many eminent investigators, thev have, with a few notable exceptions, been solitary workers. It is only within the last few years that ‘‘ schools ’’ of research, such as have long been the strength of the scien- tific departments of the German universities, have come into existence there, and the encouragement which the Carnegie scheme has given to this movement is not the least of its claims upon the gratitude of the scientific world. Dr. James Ritchie, in reporting on. the biological and medical sciences, states that during the period under re- view cighteen fellows have been at work. Of the total number, ten had previous: to election to fellowships been beneficiaries of the trust, either as scholars or grantees. The distribution of the fellowships as regards the different branches of science were as follows :—agriculture, two; zoology, two (including one in protozoology); anatomy, three (including one in embryology and one in anthro- pology); physiology, six (including one in experimental psychology); pathology, five (including one in neurology). Of those appointed to scholarships, numbering in all forty- —s Marcu 4, 1909 | nine, eight have been promoted to fellowships. Of the others, eight resigned betore the beginning of the academic year, and nine during the academic year in question. The departmenty >f science in which the scholars proposed to work, or in which they have worked, are as follows, the numbers indicating the applicants in each branch :— geology, one; paleontology, one; botany, seven; agri- culture, five; zoology, five; anatomy, two; embryology, two; physiology, three; pharmacology, two; pathology, eleven; surgery, two. ‘he distribution of ninety-one grantees, according to their subjects, was as follows :— meteorology, one; geology, six; paleontology, two; botany, three; agriculture, four; zoology, ten; anatomy, seven; embryology, four; anthropology, one; physiology, sixteen; pharmacology, four; pathology, twenty-eight ; therapeutics, five. The grantees fall into three groups :— (a) cases where grants have been made to persons holding responsible positions as heads of scientific departments or to assistants in such departments; (b) cases where grants have been made to persons in other positions, and who are engaged in research work in leisure time; (c) cases where grants have been made to young workers often in lieu of scholarships for which they have applied. In concluding his report, Dr. Ritchie remarks that it is not difficult, in reading between the lines of the papers relating to the beneficiaries, to see that in very many cases the work which has been done would never have been undertaken unless the assistance of the trust had been given, and that in no corresponding period in the history of the universities of Scotland has so much research work of such uniformly high character been successfully carried on. As regards historical, economic, and linguistic subjects, Dr. Hume Brown reports that, out of eighteen scholars and fellows, there are only four who have failed in greater or lesser degree to fulfil the conditions of the trust. What is noteworthy is that the work done has been original work, which really advances the various subjects under- taken by the beneficiaries. There appear to be three chief causes of the few failures that have occurred. Some candidates were recommended on the strength of their record of study in the universities, but it may happen that students who have distinguished themselves under the pressure of competition may show a lack of concentration when that pressure is removed. Such cases will occur, and can hardly be prevented. Another cause of failure is that the scholar had no clear conception of the work he under- took, with the result that time and labour were lost before he found his way to the essentials of his subject. The majority of the applicants for scholarships have had little or no previous experience in research, and it is important that they should be carefully supervised. The beneficiaries who have received grants are seventeen in all, of whom only one or two have proved more or less unsatisfactory. At the annual meeting of the trustees on February 24 Lord Elgin moved the adoption of the report, Mr. Balfour seconded, and the motion was adopted unanimously. In the course of his remarks, Mr. Balfour said :—This is a special occasion in the history of the trust. It is the first time that anything in the nature of a complete survey of the work that has been done under certain sections of the trust has been possible to us. It is the first time that the public can be really put in possession of information which will enable them to judge of the value of the great benefaction which the founder established for his country- men and for the world. There is one department of the trust of which, since I am not a member of the executive, I may speak with a freedom of praise which would be quite impossible were any of the credit or any of the re- sponsibility due to me. I refer to that portion of the work with which this great report is chiefly occupied—the por- tion of the work which consists in encouraging original research. ‘ It is evident that this great object is partially ministered to by that portion of our endowment which is given to equipping libraries, laboratories, and providing our uni- versities with all the modern appliances which seem ever more costly as the progress of science advances, and with- out which it is quite impossible for a modern university to do its proper work. But it is not on that portion of NO. 2053, VOL. 80] NATURE 21 our labours on which I should like, specially at the moment, to congratulate Mr. Andrew Carnegie and the executive. It is rather upon the portion of the work. which deals with the encouragement of those competent to carry on original work—an encouragement over and above that of merely supplying universities with the neces- sary equipment of books and apparatus. It is obvious that the task of selecting people who can do this work is very difficult and very delicate. It is surrounded with puzzling questions of administration, but the way it has been solved by the executive committee of the universities concerned, and the success which has attended their efforts, raises even the highest hopes of even the most optimistic and hopeful in connection with the movement. There is no greater waste in the world, and no more serious waste in the world, than waste of brains and intellect, of originality, and of scientific imagination, which may be used to further the knowledge of mankind of the history of the world, if men who are capable of carrying on investigations of this sort are given the opportunity of doing so. Competitive examinations are literally no test whatever of ability for original research. What is wanted is something much higher, much rarer, than the mere capacity for absorbing knowledge, and reproducing it rapidly when the time for examination comes round. What is required is some spark of that divine genius which shows itself in many ways, but which is, after all, a great element to which we must look for the progress of our race and the improvement of our civilisation. What is it we want to do? We want to catch the man immediately after he has gone through his academic course, before he has become absorbed in professional life. At the moment when ideas spring most easily to the mind, when originality comes most naturally to the happily endowed individual, we want to catch him and turn him on to some inquiry which he is fully qualified to pursue with success. It is not an easy task to catch the man, and the number of men worth catching is not very large- The report speaks of a certain number of failures; there are not many among those who have been selected. It is amazing that the number is not much larger. No intuition will ever enable us to discover whether the man has any- thing beyond the ambition to do good work in original research. We have only to look at the reports of the experts who have dealt with the papers to consider the growth in the number of original papers accepted by scientific magazines which have issued from Scotland to see how much has been done to further this great cause of original research. We may divide the persons who are competent to carry on original research roughly into two classes, those who have the gift and ambition, but not one of those rare and overmastering ambitions which forces a man into this particular career for all his life. We have to catch them before they get absorbed in the necessary occupations of life and extract from them all we can ‘in the way of invention and originality. Then there is a rare and higher class, those who seem born for research, to whom the penetration into the secrets of nature or into the secrets of history is an absorbing and overmastering passion, from which they will not be diverted or arrested except by absolute overmastering necessity of earning their daily bread and supporting themselves and their families. To these men it is all important, not for the sake of the men, but for the sake of the community, that they should have a chance of devoting their talents—rare talents—to that great work for which God undoubtedly intended’ them. Work of the kind being done will never be able to be estimated by tables of statistics or measurement of out- put, but, in spite of that, will count, and count largely, among the affairs to which we shall owe the progress of knowledge, of invention, and of civilisation. Mr. Carnegie has, by this endowment of research, done a work which not only adds lustre to the history of his native country, but also has no provincial or national aspect about it, and will add to that stock of knowledge and invention which, when once made, is the common heritage of civilised man- kind. In so doing Mr. Carnegie deserves not merely the thanks of those to whom he has entrusted the administra- tion of his magnificent benefaction, but the thanks of the whole civilised world. NATURE [Marcu 4, 1909 THE FUNCTIONS OF TECIINICAL COLLEGES.* ]X glancing over the early history of mechanics’ institutes in this country, it is not at all clear that their founders believed that the maintenance of the position of Britain as an industrial nation was likely to depend in any direct way on the more scientific education of the working classes. The industrial position of the nation was still unchallenged, British labour was still as efficient as that of any other depend on the coefficient of diffusion of the cells. In addition there is a summary, and some suggestions are made as to possible practical applications of the subject considered in the paper.—The origin and destiny of cholesterol in the animal organism, part iii., the absorption of cholesterol in the intestine and its appearance in the blood: C. Dorée and J. A. Gardner. The authors, as a result of experi- ments already communicated to the society and a con- sideration of the work of previous observers, have been led, in the present paper, to formulate the following work- ing hypothesis as to the origin and destiny of cholesterol in the animal organism :—(1) Cholesterol is a constant constituent of all cells, and when these cells are broken down the cholesterol is not excreted as a waste product, but is utilised in the formation of new cells. (2). A func- tion of the liver is to break down dead cells, e.g. blood corpuscles, and to eliminate their cholesterol in the bile. (3) After the bile has been poured into the intestine in the process of digestion, the cholesterol is re-absorbed, prob- ably in the form of esters, along with the bile salts, and carried by the blood to the various centres and tissues for re-incorporation into the constitution of new cells. (4) Cholesterol is probably not synthesised in the animal body, and any wastage of cholesterol is replaced by direct absorption from the food. With the view of testing this hypothesis, the experiments detailed in the communication were carried out. On feeding rabbits on food freed from cholesterol or phytosterol, no cholesterol could be found in the faces. When, however, weighed quantities of chole- sterol were added to this food, a certain proportion was always absorbed. Analyses of the blood of these animals showed an increase in the cholesterol content in the case of animals fed with cholesterol compared with those with- out cholesterol. Similar experiments carried out on dogs showed that cholesterol was also absorbed from their food. —The origin and destiny of cholesterol! in the animal organism, part iv., the cholesterol content of eggs and chicks: G. W. Ellis and J. A. Gardner. This paper con- tains an account of a number of experiments carried out with the view of obtaining evidence of the truth of the hypothesis recently advanced, that cholesterol is strictly conserved in the animal organism, and that it is not synthesised by the animal, but taken into its organism as food. at any rate in the growing animal. detailed in this paper consist of a number of estimations of cholesterol in the total unsaponifiable matter obtained from hens’ eggs and newly hatched chicks. The estima- tions were carried out with the greatest possible accuracy, and the results leave no doubt that there is no increase n cholesterol during the change of the ovum jnto the complex aggregate of cells constituting the newly hatched The exneriments chick Ihe results seem to show a slishtly lower per- centage of cholesterol in the chick than in the egg, but this difference may be due to experimental difficulties in extracting all the cholesterol from the tissues of the chick. The averase percentages of cholesterol in eggs and chicks are given in the accompanying table. The percentages of cholesterol in the chicks are given in terms of the weights of the original eggs :— NO. 2053, VOL. 8o] NATURE [ Marcu 4, 1¢09 : Per cent. 6 eggs, analysed together a0 ss 0-4896 6 eggs, analysed separately ... one se. O-4121 Average ... mee aha ne) 0-45¢8 6 chicks, analysed together ... cas wos 0-4 Og 6 chicks, analysed separately coe ++ 0:3633 Average ... a ae ako see O4T55 Difference ... ot = s+» 00353 February 18.—Sir Archibald Geikie, K.C.B., president, in the chair.—The osmotic pressures of solutions of calcium ferrocyanide, part ii., weal solutions: the Earl of Berkeley, E. G. J. Hartley, and J. Stephenson. This communication records the observed equilibrium osmotic pressures from 25 to 5 atmospheres, and also the electric conductivities of the more dilute solutions; it is shown that to bring the two sets of observations into accord it is necessary to assume that the salt molecule is associated when in solution. Similar remarks apply to strontium ferrocyanide, and are not inconsistent with the data found for the potassium salt.—The spontaneous crystallisation of monochloracetic acid and its mixtures with naphthalene: Dr. H. A. Miers and Miss F, Isaac. In this investigation three different modifications (a, B, and y) of monochloracetic acid are described, and the transformations from one modification to another. The behaviour of aqueous solutions of monochloracetic acid was investigated as the solutions cooled by means of observations on their refractive indices. These experiments lead to the establishment of three supersolubility curves separating the metastable and labile regions, corresponding to the three modifications of the acid. These super- solubility curves have also been verified by an independent method. Aqueous solutions of monochloracetic acid of various concentrations were enclosed in sealed glass tubes and heated until the crystals had completely dissolved. The temperatures at which the solutions re-crystallised spontaneously as either a, B, or y crystals were found to agree with the temperatures at which the corresponding solutions passed from the metastable to the labile state as determined by the previous experiments. The three solu- bility curves for the three modifications of monochloracetic acid have also been obtained. The second part of the paper deals with mixtures of monochloracetic acid and naphthalene. These substances Cady describes as forming mixed crystals and possessing a minimum, or eutectic, freezing point (Journ. Phys. Chem., 1899, iii., 127). Ina long series of experiments, however, of which an account is given, there has never been any indication of the forma- tion of mixed crystals. The melting and freezing points of a large number of mixtures were carefully determined, but in no case was there found to be any appreciable difference between these points. The study of the crystal- lisation of these mixtures therefore yields results. similar to those obtained for salol and betol (Proc. Roy. Soc., A, Ixxix., 1907), a new feature being introduced by the exist- ence of the three modifications of monochloracetic acid. Four solubility curves have been traced, i.e. the solubility curve for naphthalene in monochloracetic acid, and the three solubility curves for the modifications a, 6, and y of monochloracetic acid in naphthalene. Each of the latter meets the naphthalene solubility curve in a eutectic point, thus giving three eutectic points. Similarly, four super- solubility curves for these mixtures have been determined, giving the temperatures at which naphthalene and the three modifications of the acid crystallise spontaneously. These curves intersect in three hypertectic points, showing the highest temperature at which naphthalene and each modification of the acid respectively can crystallise spon- taneously together. The four solubility and four super- solubility curves when plotted oma diagram show that in a mixture of two substances, of which one exists in three modifications, eight freezing points may be exhibited by a cooling mixture—An apparatus for measurements of the defining power of obiectives: J. de Graaff Hunter. The general principle of the method of measurement employed may be stated as follows. The image of a knife-edge formed by a photographic lens, when viewed with a micro- scope, will no longer appear as a sharp edge; the illumina- tion of the bright portion of the field will only gradually fade away to complete darkness at some position within Marcu 4, 1909] NATURE 29 the line ideally representing the true image of the edge. The object aimed at is to measure the actual intensity of illumination in the image at different distances on either side of this ideal line. The variation in the illumination with the distance is, of course, very rapid, and the total distance over which it is necessary to carry the measure- ments is in general extremely small. To isolate the strip parallel to the knife-edge, the illumination of which is to be measured, a narrow slit is placed in the focal plane of the microscope objective, and is thus magnified by the eye-piece. To measure the intensity of the illumination seen through this slit—i.e. the illumination along a line parallel to the ideal image of the knife-edge—a special mechanism is employed, whereby this image is made to alternate with light from a constant source, which, how- ever, can be varied in a measurable proportion, so as to become of equal intensity with the illumination to be measured. This equality is judged by the absence of “ flicker’? when the alternations are made to succeed one another with appropriate frequency.—Best conditions for photographic enlargement of small solid objects: A. Maliock. When it is desired to take an enlarged photo- graph of an object which is not flat, and which cannot, therefore, be in focus in all parts, the question arises as to what form of lens should be used in order to secure the best results. It is shown in the paper that if a certain minimum fineness of definition is required, say, the separa- tion of points the distance apart of which is a,, then, in the first place, the lens used must be capable of resolving points half this distance apart; and, secondly, that the greatest distance (b,) of the surface from the focal plane must not exceed a/2a, where a is the angular aperture of the lens. The resolving power of a lens being dependent on a and the wave-length, it is shown that if a=na, then b=n*1d nearly. The best that can be done, therefore, in photographing a curved or uneven surface is to use a lens which will resolve half the least distance to be defined in the picture. If this be done, all points which are not within a distance a, of one another, and not more than n° out of focus, will appear separated in the picture. On the other hand, if b is given, the least distance which will be resolved over the whole picture is 2/(bA). Zoological Society, February 16.—Mr. F. Gillett, vice- president, in the chair.—Fauna of the Cocos-Keeling Atoll : Dr. F. Woed-Jones. The work was based on collections made by the author during a stay of fifteen months in 1905 and 1906, and in the case of most orders was believed to be fairly complete-—The anatomy of certain Ungulata, including Tapirus, Hyrax, and Antilocapra: F. E. Beddard.—Le Rhinocéros Blanc du Soudan (Rhinoceros stmus cottoni): Dr. E. L. Trouessart. Institution of Mining and Metallurgy, February 18 — Mr. Alfred James, president, in the chair.—Adjourned discussion on a theory of volcanic action and ore deposits, their nature and cause: Hiram W. Hixon.—The follow- ing papers were also discussed :—An instance of secondary impoverishment: H. H. Knox. This paper dealt with deposits on the private estates of Kishtim, in the govern- ment of Perm, Russia, in which are occurrences of un- uxidised iron sulphides, which have been leached of their copper contents. The mines particularly dealt with were 4 group comprising the Tissoff, Koniukhoff, and Smirnoff todes_in the Soimonorsk WValley.—‘ Shrinkage ’’ stoping in Western Australia: F. Percy Rolfe. A description of the method of stoping used at the Lake View Consols Gold Mine, and a review of the advantages and dis- advantages of the method as compared with the common system of stoping adopted in Western Australia by means of “ mullock’’ or “ filled’? stopes. The reasons for utilising ** shrinkage ’’ stoping in this particular mine were stated, and the details of the method fully explained. Paris. Academy of Sciences. Febrnarv 22.—M, Emile Picard in the chair.—Hertzian waves and Fredholm’s equation: H. Poincaré. It is shown that several problems relating to Hertzian waves can be reduced to the integration of a Fredholm’s equation.—The sex in sea-urchins obtained by NO. 2053, VOL. 80] experimenial parthenogenesis: Yves Delage. ‘Two sca- urchins, which had survived their metamorphosis sixteen months, were accidentally killed by a change in their con- ditions of life. The determination of their sex showed that one was certainly, and the other probably, male. From this the conclusion is drawn that sea-urchins pro- duced by experimental parthenogenesis can be raised to the adult state, characterised by the presence of the sexual elements, and that males can be thus obtained.—Electrical discharges in intense magnetic fields: M. Gouy.—The principles of intrinsic projective geometry: A. Demoulin. —Some figures determined by the infinitely near elements of a skew curve: B. Hostinsky.—The application of the generalised theorem of Jacobi to the problem of Jacobi- Lie: W. Stekloffi—The search for roots of certain numerical transcendental equations: R. de Montessus. —The statical graphics of the aéroplane: Léon Lecornu. —The force and power of propulsion of aérial helices: René Arnoux.—The thermal effects of a musical arc; the probable fusion of carbon: M. La Rosa. The amount of energy in a singing arc is much greater than in an ordinary are possessing self-induction, and hence should possess a much higher temperature than the latter. By the action of a singing arc on sugar charcoal masses of graphite have been obtained possessing such firmness and tenacity as to suggest that the charcoal had been fused. —The constitution of subterranean telephone circuits in large towns: M. Devaux-Charbonnel. I[t has been known for some time that the presence of an underground section of a telephone circuit diminishes considerably the intensity of the voice, and particularly affects the distinct- ness of certain consonants. In the present paper a calcu- lation is given showing the relation between a given length of air line and the corresponding length of underground cable. The most advantageous diameter of wire for the cable is also worked out, and the important advantages possessed by cables of small capacity indicated.—The exist- ence of positive electrons in vacuum tubes: A. Dufour. The author has repeated the experiments of J. Becquerel on the existence of positive electrons in vacuum tubes, and has obtained the same experimental results. The author’s interpretation of the experiments is, however, different from that given by M. Becquerel, and does not necessitate the assumption of the existence of positive electrons in the vacuum tube.—The atomic weight of potassium: G. D. Hinrichs. The author applies his methods of calculation to the recent data of V. Lenher, and concludes that the true atomic weight of potassium is 39-125.—The colour reactions of indol bodies with sugars: Julius Gnezda.— The chloralic acids: M. WHanriot. The substances obtained by combining chloral with various sugars have been submitted to oxidation; acids, which are called chloralic acids, are produced, the properties of a number of which are described.—Syntheses by means of the mixed zine organo-metallic derivatives: E. Blaise and A. Koehler. This general method of synthesis starts from the ester-acids of the type CO,Et.(CH,),.CO.H, details being given of the best methods of preparing these acids. These are then converted into the chlorides CO,Et.(CH,),.CO.Cl, and then submitted to the reaction represented by the equation CO,Et (CH,),, COCI+ R.ZnI= ZnICl + CO,Et (CH,),,.CO.R. Symmetrical diketones can also be obtained by a modifi- cation of the conditions, and the properties of a number of these are given.—The preparation of indazylic deriva- tives by means of hydrazo-orthoketones: P. Carre. The nature of the cyano-compounds of Kirsch: X. Rocques and L. Lévy. The hydrocyanic acid in Kirsch two or three years old exists only partially in the free state, a part being combined with fatty derivatives of high molecular weight. —The coagulation of milk by the ferment of Carica papaya: C. Gerber.—Some new properties of the oxydases of Russula delica: J. Wotff.—The colloidal properties of starch with respect to its chemical constitution: Eugéne Fouard. The rotatory power of a limpid solution of starch, obtained by filtration through a collodion film, is a function of the alkalinity of the liquid. As the amount of potash added is increased, the rotation tends to a limit 30 NATURE {Marcu 4, 1909 of 141°; this figure is nearly identical with the specific rotatory power of maltose in dilute solution (140°-4). The conclusion drawn from the whole of these experiments is that starch is a unique chemical species, and is simply a condensation product of maltose.—The maltases of maize: R. Huerre.—The digestion of mannanes and galactanes : H. Bierry and J. Giaja.—A mould in tanning with oil: André Piedallu. An account of the appearance of Monascus purpureus in various culture media. This fungus acidifies oils, thickens, and colours them brown; it secretes an oxydase, and appears to play an important part in the preparation of chamois leather.—The composi- tion and utilisation of the pulp from sisal hemp after removal of the fibre: A. Hébert and F. Heim.—Com- parison between the commencement of the development of a perennial and annual plant: G. André.—A variety of organic iron in plants: P. J. Tarbouriech and P. Saget. The plant Rumex obtusiflorus contains the highest propor- tion of iron in any plant yet known, and this iron is pre- sent in a form not reacting with the ordinary reagents for iron. The iron compound, which contains carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, phosphorus, and iron (6-36 per cent.), is extracted from the root by alcohol containing 1 per cent. of hydrochloric acid.—Concerning the anatomy of the human thymus: Henri Rieffel and Jacques Le Mée. A reply to a criticism by M. Cruchet of a former paper by the authors.—The histological structure of. the seminal receptacle of Periplaneta orientalis: L. Bordas.—The dangers of chloroform. Incoagulability of the blood and necrosis of the liver following after chloroform anesthesia : M. Doyon.—The sterilisation of potable water by means of the quartz mercury vapour lamp: Jules Courmont and Th. Nogier. Potable water containing Eberth’s bacillus or Coli communis is sterilised in one minute within a range of 30 cm. from the lamp.—Measurements in d’ Arsonvalisation : E. Doumer.—The treatment of radio- dermatitis by the high-frequency spark : Hort.—Diaphylactic centres : of orientation and topographical memory in Patella vulgata: H. +Piéron.—The study of the geological dis- tribution of the Bryozoa: Ferdinand Canu. M. de Keating Pierre Bonnier.—The sense DIARY OF SOCIETIES. THURSDAY, Marcu 4. Rovat Society, at 4.30.—On the Presence of Ham-agglutinins, Hem- opsonins, and Hemolysins in the Blood obtained from Infectious and Non-infectious Diseases in Man (Second Report): L. S. Dudgeon.—The Action on Glucosides by Bacteria of the Acid-fast Group, with a New Method of isolating Human Tubercle Bacilli directly from Tuberculous Material contaminated with other Micro-organisms (Preliminary Note): F. W. Twort.—The Effect of Heat upon the Electrical State of Living Tissues: Dr. A. D. Waller, F.R.S. Roya InsTITUTION, at 3.—Problems of Geographical Distribution in | Mexico: Dr. Hans Gadow, F.R.S. RGNTGEN Society, at 8 8.15. —Some Vacuum Tube Phenomena: Campbell Swinton. LINNEAN Society, at 8.—A Contribution to the Montane Flora of Fiji, including Cryptogams, with Ecological Notes: Miss L. S. Gibbs Civit AND MECHANICAL ENGINEERS’ SoctETy, at 8.—Some Commercial qebects of the Management of Central Electricity Supply Stations: - Borlase Matthews. ALA FRIDAY, Marcu 5. GEOLOGISTS’ ASSOCIATION, at 8.—On the Sections of Inferior Oolite on the Midford-Camerton Section of the Limpley Stoke Railway, Somerset : L. Richardson.—The Geology of the Paris Basin: F. Dullfus. INsTITUTION OF Civit ENGINEERS, at 8.—Slips in Railway Earthworks: E. G. L. Lovegrove. SATURDAY, March 6. Roma RNa Gs at 3.—Properties of Matter: Essex Fietp Crus, at 6 (at Essex Museum, Stratford).—Some Essex Well-sections (Part iv): W. Whitaker, F.R.S.—Remarks on a Rone Object found at Braintree, Essex, and Comparison of Similar Objects i ind elsewhere: Francis W. Reader.—Insect ‘Transformations : F. Enoch. Sir J. J. Thomson, t MONDAY, Marcu 8. GEoGRAPHICAL Society, at 8.30.—Explorations in Central Asia: M. A. Stein. . Society or Arts, at 8.—Modern Methods of Artificial Illumin- Leon Gaster. ROVAI TUESDAY, Marcu 9g. STITUTION, at 3.—The Evolution of the Brain as an Organ of - F. W. Mott, F.R.S. Rovar Ay THROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE, at 8.15.—The Veddas: Dr. C. G. Seligmann INSTITUTION OF Civi1, ENGINEERS, at 8.—Concrete and Masonry Dam Construction in th Wales: L. A. B. Wade. WEDNESDAY, Marcu ro. Grouocicar S« ru vy, at 8.—Some Notes on the Neighbourhood of Victoria F alls: 1 homas Codrington.—A Contribution to the Petrography of the New Red. Sandstone in the West of England: H. H. Thomas. NO. 2053, VOL. 80] Society or Arts, at 8.—The Application of the Microscope to the Study of Metals: Walter Rosenhain. THURSDAY, Marcu 11. Roya Society, at 4.30.—Probable Papers: Nute on the Stability of Jacobi's Ellipsoid: Sir George H. Darwio, K.C.B., F.R.S.—On the Wave-lengths of Lines in the Secondary Spectrum of ‘Hydrogen : H. F. Watson.—The Measurement of Dielectric Constants by the Oscillations of Ellipsoids and Cylinders in a Field of Force: Prof. W. M. Thornton. Roya Institution, at 3,—Recent Advances in Agricultural Science: A. D. Hall. MaTHEMATICAL SoclETy, at 5.30.—The Kinetic Image of a Convected Electric System in a Ccnducting Plane Sheet: Prof. J. Larmor.—On an Integral Equation: G. H. Hardy.—The Use of Generalised Line, Sur- face, and Volume Integrals in Electrodynamics: H. Bateman. INsvITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—The Dielectric Strength of Compressed Air: E. A. Watson. FRIDAY, Marcu 12. Royat InstiTuTIoN, at 9.—Modern Submarine Telegraphy : S. G. Brown. PuysicaL Society, at 8.—The Effect of Radiations on the Brush Dis- charge: A. E. Garrett-—On Pirani's Method of Measuring the Self- inductance of a Coil: E. C. Snow.-—Exhibition of a High Potential Primary Battery: W. S. Tucker.—On the J.east Moment of Inertia of an Angle Bar Section: H. S. Rowell. { MALACOLOGICAL Society, at 8. —Description of a New Species of Oliva from the:Andaman Islands: F. G. Bridgman.—Notes on the Genera Cyprea and Trivia: H. O. N. Shaw.—On the Shell Mound at Sidon ; On the Habitat of Certain Species of Clausilia from the Coast of Syria: Rev. H. A. Cooke.—Notes on the Species of Cyclopborus found at Hong Kong : Staff-Surgeon K. H. Jones, R.N.—On the ‘‘ Conchological Illustra- tions,” by G. B. Sowerby, jun., and the ‘Descriptive Catalogue of Shells,” by J. E. Gray: C. Davies Sherborn. —On the Date of Issue of Sowerby’s ‘*‘ Conchological Illustrations”: H. O. N. Shaw. CONTENTS. PAGE Aspects of Modern Science . I The Experimental Method in Zoological Research. By Dr. Francis H. A. Marshall .. . 2 Modern Pharmacognosy. By Prof. Henry G. Greenish; ¢ i)... ee chs See 3 Science in the Textile Industries. By Prof. Walter M. Gardner . 2 rnc 4 Treatment and Pees of Sewage. By Edward Ardern.. Hig 0S O_o cep NDMDERERDS. 5 5 | Our Book Shelf :— Despaux : ‘‘ Explication méchanique des Propriétés de la Matiére, Cohésion, Affinité, Gravitation, &c.” . 6 Chappuis and Berget: ‘*Lecons de Physique eenerales ys. . 5 secs: 3 ee Rohmann : ‘‘ Biochemie. Ein Lehrbuch fiir Mediziner, Zoologen und Botaniker."—W. D. H. . 6 Workman and Cracknell: ‘‘ Geometry, Theoretical andPractical.””... <) "3 \:heeceeee eter .. \o hanys 7 Letters to the Editor :— The y Rays of Uranium.—Frederick Soddy and Alexander S. Russell ..... 8 The Radio-active Deposits from Actinium. — S. Russ . . 8 The Production of Prolonged Apnea i in Man.—_W. G. Royal-Dawson . . 8 A Winter Retreat.—Prof. John G. McKendrick, HeRSSs os aS Priestley and Coulomb’s Law. iG: ig Woodward 8 Barometric Oscillation. _W. H. Dines, F.R.S. . . 8 Life and Letters of Prof. A. Newton, F.R.S.—A. F. R. P Wollaston ‘ ae The Anthropology of the Murray Islanders. Tlus- trated.) . . BSc 9 The Californian Earthquake ‘of 1906. (Uustrated ) a 2) Radio-thorium By Frederick Soddy : 12 The Poor Law Commission Report . . ot D2! The Meteoric Fireball of February 22 ‘and its Streak; “By, W..F.-Denning’ saspsecneee o- - Reach 1s) Notes .. Bk, (A aA Our Astronomical Column :— The Spectra of Various Nebule . . 19 The Proposed Programme of Work for the Reynolds Reflector at Helwan, Egypt . . 5 19 Observations of Comet Tempel -Swift . . 19 The Levels of Sun-s spots . : 19 A New “ Cave-nebula”’ in Cepheus ; 19 The Recent Magnitude of Nova Persei 19 Double-star Measures 19 Scientific Research and the Carnegie Trust... Se 9) The Functions of Technical Colleges. By Dr. George T. Beilby, F.R.S.... o Jamies | 22 University and Educational Intelligence 2 ezo Societies and Academies ....... Sem oo 2 Diary ofsSocieties! —) ie . . «ee 30 NATORE 31 THURSDAY, MARCH 11, 1909. MODERN. GEOGRAPHY. Geography, Structural, Physical and Comparative. By Prof. J. W. Gregory, F.R.S. Pp. viii+305. (London: Blackie and Son, Ltd., 1908.) A Text-book of Geography. By G. Cecil Fry. Pp. xx+4o6. (London: W. B. Clive, University Tutorial Press, Ltd., 1908.) Price 4s. 6d. E learn from the preface to the first of these works that the book is intended for use in schools, and as it is likely to be much read, we take this opportunity of pointing out certain features which, in our opinion, are open to criticism, and might be reconsidered when a second edition is called for. In the first place it does not appear that sufficient care has been exercised in distinguishing between universally accepted generalisations and more or less tentative hypotheses. The frontispiece, only very briefly referred to in the text, is a case in point; it depicts the distribution of land and sea as it existed at some past epoch not specified, and in the absence of a word of warning is only too likely to be mistaken for a truthful record of observations. In reality it is to a large extent imaginary, and to render it a faithful representation of the existing state of our knowledge its bands of colour, so boldly and uniformly washed in, should be diversified by thickly sprinkled notes of interrogation. The letterpress is divided into four parts, the first of which treats of the structure and the materials of the earth. This would have been an excellent sum- mary had it not been marred by the introduction of doubtful hypotheses and unqualified statements which by their baldness become of questionable truth. Thus in explanation of a new term, ‘ fluidable,’’ invented by the author, we read (p. 5) :— “This term expresses the fact that though the internal material of the earth is rigid in the sense that it resists compression like a solid, it changes shape under pressure as readily as a fluid.” Again, on p. g we read, ‘‘ The earth therefore is not an oblate spheroid. In fact it is not a spheroid at all. . ..’’ and in the next chapter we pass to the so-called tetrahedral theory of the earth. The speculation this involves is in itself so crude that we fail to understand on what grounds it was selected as the only true representation of the facts, especially as other views had been formulated long previously. The admirable analysis by Prof. Love is referred to in an appendix, but in a manner which awakens a suspicion as to how far the author rightly appreciates its significance. ; Part ii. treats of ‘“‘ Earth forms and how they are made.”’ It is extremely sketchy, and contains many doubtful statements. The elevation of a part of New Zealand in 1855 was certainly accompanied by an earthquake, but there is no evidence to show that it was caused by one. The thorny question of NO. 2054, VOL. 80] isostasy is not a subject for schoolboys, and should be treated more fully or not at all. The diagram of an earthquake wave (Fig. 32) is unintelligible as it stands, that of a volcano (Fig. 33) crude and mis- leading. The fragments of topographical or hydrographical charts, introduced as examples of morphological types, are not to be compared with those of some recent American text-books. It is also unfortunate that there seems to be no consistent scheme of graphic representation; in the two adjacent maps on pp. 52 and 53, for instance, the shaded parts represent sea in the one and land in the other; in each isobaths might have been introduced instead of the sporadic numbers, which are confusing even to the eyes of an expert. Part iii. is devoted to climate, including an incomplete account of the winds, but not rain, and ocean currents. Why this amount of meteorology and hydrography should have been introduced and so much of equal importance omitted is not clear; in any case, the little that is given might have been correct; there is a strange blunder on pp. 84 and 85, where the explanation of land and sea breezes is accompanied by two diagrams, in each of which the wind is represented as blowing into a region of high pressure. The bulk of the work is contained in part iv., which includes a laudable attempt to popularise the study of structural geography, based chiefly on the un- finished work of Suess. ‘In the presumed ignorance of geology on the part of the reader, recourse is had to a phrase—‘ the grain of the land ’’—which is made to perform a task almost greater than it can bear. Thus the map of the British Isles inserted at p. 102 is scored with red lines, corresponding to various heterogeneous features all of which are to be referred to ‘the geological grain.’’ Not only the Caledonian and the Armorican folds are thus represented, but the posthumous axis of the Isle of Wight, and even the Cotteswold. and Chiltern hills, which are really sculp- tural rather than structural features. The simple diagram on p. 128 is of very doubtful utility, and the more elaborate scheme in plate xvi. is open to more serious criticism. The European plain, left white, is shown extending from central Russia through North Germany, Holland, and the middle of the British Isles as far west as county Clare, from which the schoolboy will either infer that the Pennine chain, Snowdon, and the Wicklow hills are negligible inequalities, or else suffer from a confusion of ideas. On the same map, Scotland and Scandinavia are designated the ‘‘ Archean. Plateau of North-Western Europe.’”’ Plateau is a term rather oddly applied to either the Scottish Highlands or the mountains of Norway, unless in a very remote palzographical sense. Further south the fragments of the Armorican and the Variscan mountains are coloured differently from the central massif of France, although on the new geological map of France (scale 1: 100,000) the connection of the trend-lines of Auvergne with those of South Brittany on the west, and, through the gneissose outliers of La Serre, with that of the Vosges Cc ¥ 32 on the east, is perfectly evident, and, as is well known, the connection has been confirmed by deep borings. The Spanish Meseta, notwithstanding its family like- ness with the other fragments ‘of the Armorican system, is also differently coloured. The manner in which the trend-lines of this area are drawn fails to express the true structure of Spain; as a matter of fact, the Carboniferous basin of the Asturias forms the centre of a nest of Hercynian folds, interrupted to the north by the Bay of Biscay, and diverging to the south-east like confocal parabolic curves. Tertiary lacustrine deposits sometimes obscure the facts, but ‘otherwise they are clear enough. The Tertiary mountain systems are represented very ‘diagrammatically by thin red lines which are some- times difficult to interpret, as, for instance, in the neighbourhood of Mont Blanc, where an hitherto unknown = syntaxis shown. The chain of the Apennines is marked in a different colour from its continuation to the west in the Alpes Maritimes, or to the south through Sicily into the Atlas. But by far the most remarkable feature on the map is the trend-line drawn almost straight from Cyprus to Baku. As regards the true structure of Asia Minor, reference may be made to a paper by E. Naumann (Geo- graphische Zeitschrift, 1896, vol. ii., pl. i.). The author himself does not seem quite confident as to this line, for in the next structural map (Asia, pl. xix.) it is no longer shown as extending to Baku, but takes a sharp turn to the east and joins the Pontic are. is A defect in the sense of proportion which is too characteristic of the work is nowhere more manifest than in Fig. 83, a section through eastern Asia, in which the depth of the Tuscarora abyss is represented as at least equal to the breadth of the Manchurian step, and the only reference to scale is the remark that the breadth of Japan is exaggerated. The illustrations to the anthropological descriptions are of very unequal value; many are very poor, but the worst is probably that of a Polynesian (Fig. 97), which is badly selected, and is not good even as a caricature. The Eskimos are said to be of Mongolian origin, but modified by the arduous conditions of their life in the frozen north. We should like to know more about the influence of the environment, and especially how it came to confer upon the Eskimos their long heads. We are told in equally direct terms that the Australians are Caucasians who have been modified by adaptation to life in the arid region of Central Australia—a statement open question from more than one point of view. There is much that is meritorious in this work; it is certainly interesting, and if equally trustworthy would be deserving of high praise. As regards the work by Mr. G. C. Fry, there is much less to be said; it seems intended to meet the requirements of an examination syllabus, and is probably well adapted to this purpose. The geological sections (Figs. 50 and 51) should be withdrawn, or replaced by better ones, such as almost any geological text-book will afford. NO. 2054, VOL. 80] to NATURE [Marcu It, 1909 A HANDBOOK OF INORGANIC CHEMISTRY. Handbuch der anorganischen Chimie. Edited by Dr. R. Abegg and Dr. Fr. Auerbach. Bd. ii., Abt. i. Pp. xiii+867. (Leipzig: S. Hirzel, 1908.) Price 24 marks. HREE earlier parts of this handbook of inorganic chemistry have already received commendatory notice in Nature (vol. Ixxvii., p. 25). The present one constitutes a further gratifying addition to chemical literature, and calls for the same cordial welcome that was extended to its predecessors. It deals with the first group of elements in the periodic system, the various members being treated individually as follows :—Hydrogen (Baur); lithium (Auerbach and Brislee); sodium, potassium, rubidium, caesium (Hinrichsen); copper (Donnan); silver (Baur); gold (Wohlwill). In addition to the general treatment of the elements and their compounds by these authors, certain sections are dealt with by separate contribu- tors: atomic weights (as in the preceding volumes) by Brauner, and colloidal chemistry, so far as it con- cerns the substances coming within the scope of the present volume, by Lottermoser and Donnan; this section is a new feature of the work. Since the rate of progress has not, so far, quite come up to original intentions, Prof. Abegg has now appointed as co-editor Dr. Auerbach, of the Imperial Public Health Department, in order that the publica- tion of the remaining volumes may be expedited. Prof. Brauner’s contributions are especially impor- tant in the case of the present volume; he has elected to deal here, not only with the individual elements included in it, but also, collectively, with the ‘* funda- mental ’’? atomic weights—those of the seven. elements sodium, potassium, silver, chlorine, bromine, iodine, with oxygen, of course, as standard, This takes up fifty pages of the book, and provides an excellent critical résumé of the older as well as the recent worl: on the subject; the atomic weight of hydrogen, treated separately, is also very fully dealt with. In the various descriptive sections a vast amount of important matter is collected, and particular promin- ence is, of course, given to the results of modern physicochemical investigation. This is particularly the case with copper and its compounds; in this section, which is easily the largest, and is in some respects the most important, in the volume, electrical matters naturally bullx largely. It is impossible to enter more fully here into the many good points of the book; taking these for granted, a few words of criticism may perhaps be allowable. The aim of Prof. Abegg and his colla- borators has avowedly been to treat the subject more particularly from the modern physicochemical stand- point, and they have therefore omitted much _ that one would look for in a handbook: of inorganic chem- istry which followed the usual lines. One cannot help thinking, however, that in places this process has been carried too far. For example, much more in- formation might surely have been given concerning the reactions involved in the Leblane soda-process, to which less than a page (p. 297) is devoted. The pre- Marcu 11, 1909! paration of salt calke is dismissed in (which is arithmetically incorrect) as ene stage only; not a word is said about the forma- tion of acid sulphate, or about the reverse action of hydrochloric acid on sodium sulphate, nor is the matter dealt with under either sodium chloride or the sodium sulphates. Then there is a discrepancy between the statement here, regarding the reduction of sodium sulphate, and that on p. 270; according to the former, the action is represented by the equation Na,SO,+2C=Na,S+2CO,, and the formation’of carbonic oxide is due to the later interaction of coke and calcium carbonate; according to the latter, the reduction of sodium sulphate produces carbonic oxide, though the action is complicated by the formation of some carbonic anhydride, In connection with the description of processes for manufacturing soda, a curious slip of quite a different kind is made. On p. 298 there occurs the statement :— ‘“ Es ist daher wohl nur eine Frage der Zeit, wann dieses Verfahren [ammonia process] den Leblanc- Prozess vollstiindig verdringt haben wird.” And then, three lines further down :— “In neuester Zeit endlich wird auch das Solvay- Verfahren durch die direkte Sodagewinnung aus if it took place in KKochsalz mittels des elektrischen Stromes in den Hintergrund gedrangt.”’ There is an undesirable lack of precision about statements such as that on p. 432, that rubidium per- sulphate has been prepared *‘ by electrolytic oxidation of a saturated solution of the sulphate in presence of sulphurie acid.’’ Here and there, also, there is room for criticism regarding inconsistency ‘in the formulz used to represent elements in some of the equations. On p. 681, in connection with the action of chlorine on silver nitrate, the chlorine appears in the equation as 3Cl,, but on p. 690, in the equation for the precisely analogous action of bromine, this appears as 6Br. In equations to represent actions which involve ““nascent ” hydrogen, it would be better to avoid using the molecular formula H,,. which appears on p- ol. ; Throughout the whole book, however, the occasions for criticism are gratifyingly few in number. MECHANICAL ENGiNEERING. (1) Lathe Design for High- and Low-Speed Steels. By Prof. John T. Nicolson and Dempster Smith. Pp. x+402. (London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1908.) Price 18s. net. (2) Mechanics of Engineering. Church. Revised edition, partly re-written. Pp. xxvit+854. (New York: John Wiley and Sons; London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1908.) 25s. 6d. net. . (3) Motor-car Mechanism and Management. Part ii. Electric and Petrol-electric Vehicles. By W. Poynter Adams. Pp. x+202. (London: Chas. Grittin and Co., 1908.) Price 5s. net. (1) By Prof. Irving P. Price HIS treatise is based largely upon two impor- tant pieces of research work carried out by the authors at the Manchester Municipal School of NO. 2054, VOL. 80] NATURE a single equation 2? pore) Technology—the one on the durability of tool steel, the other upon the cutting forces acting upon lathe tools; these researches have been published already in the form of reports; the practical side of the bools is also based upon data and particulars furnished to the authors by machine-tool makers. The book is, therefore, a successful attempt to supersede the empirical rules which have hitherto governed the design of these machine tools, and to substitute for them methods based upon experiment- ally ascertained facts; the general adoption of high- heat steel had, in fact, rendered obsolete much of the accumulated data of the tool-maler, and some change in methods of design was therefore essential, and, in offering a solution of this problem, the authors have fully realised that the economic or commercial side of the question must be taken into account as well as the scientific. The first few chapters are devoted to an account of the authors’ experiments, already alluded to, the results being given in tabular form and in the form of curves; the experimental results so obtained are then applied to the design of lathes for high-speed cutting and for low speeds, and for what the authors term compromise lathes also; such problems as greatest and least spindle speeds, number of speeds, and the belt drive are fully discussed. In chapters xix. to xxi. the principal designs of the fast headstock and its gear arrangements are described, both when the cone is mounted on the spindle and when it is off it, and also when the cone is replaced by a single pulley, and all variations of speed are obtained by gearing. Then follow chapters devoted to the general principles which underlie the choice and design of such fast head- stocks, the chapter devoted to the design of power gears and their teeth being an especially valuable one for the designer of machine tools. To the main spindle and its design three chapters are assigned, and every important feature in regard to their con- struction is fully discussed, especially in regard to frictional losses and the means for reducing them. The feeding mechanism to the saddle, and reversing mechanism for feed motions, are dealt with in a suc: cession of chapters, in which a perfect store of in- formation has been brought together; for a general- purpose lathe, the authors state that four to six turn- ing feeds meet all ordinary practical requirements ; this section of the book is followed by that which treats of the feeding mechanism on the saddle, a special chapter being devoted to the problem of such feeds in heavy lathes; all this section of the book is well illustrated with reproductions of photographs of complete lathes, and of working drawings, often fairly fully dimensioned, of the particular part of the mechanism under discussion. In chapter xxxiv. the application of the experimental data obtained by the authors to the problem of feed mechanism design is fully explained. The design of saddles and rests, the loose headstock, and the lathe bed are all discussed in detail, and in connection with the lathe bed it is shown that the proper form to give the section is the box or circular, the lathe beds of 34 ordinary design being weak to resist the torsional moments to which they are subject. The last chapters are devoted to the cost of machining and _ the factors which govern it, to the construction of the “characteristic ’? diagram for any given headstock, and the means of measuring from it the economic value of the design. In the last chapter, by way of illustration, the authors show the application of the torque-speed diagram, and the lathe characteristic to a series of selected lathes built by well-known makers. The book will be indispensable to the lathe designer, and to the manufacturer who employs large numbers of these machine tools; it is an admirable example of the way in which scientific research in our engineer- ing schools can be applied to advance and improve the great manufacturing industries of the country. (2) This is a revised edition, in part re-written, of Prof. Church’s well-known text-book on the mechanics of engineering. The book: is divided into two sections, one dealing with the mechanics of solids, the other with the mechanics of fluids, and a separate index has been provided for each section; the first section is again divided into three parts: the first part treats of statics, the second kinetics, while the third and most important part, covering 320 pages, deals with the subject of the strength of materials. The chief changes in the subject-matter in this edition are confined to certain chapters on the strength of materials, and to portions of the section treating of the mechanics of fluids. An important new chapter is that devoted to the flexure of reinforced concrete beams, a subject of much interest to engineers engaged in structural design; the author considers that for purposes of practical design it may be assumed that, as in homogeneous beams, cross-sections, plane before flexure, remain plane when the beam is slightly bent; this assumption is only valid if the modulus of elas- ticity of concrete is constant in value; this is not so, but, as the author points out, it does not vary much in value within the limits of stress to which such reinforced beams are subjected in good design work. Other useful fresh matter is that contained in chapters xii. and xiii.; in the former the subject of the flexure of simple and continuous beams is treated from the geometrical standpoint; that is, algebraic relations are deduced from the known properties of certain geometrical figures; this leads to a very simple and available form of the three moments theorem; in the latter there is a concise and lucid discussion of the relations between and strain in thick cylinders. In the section of the book dealing with hydraulics, the chief additions are those describing new appliances, such, for example, as the Cippolletti or trapezoidal weir, the Venturi meter, and the differ- ential manometer. Text-books dealing with the mechanics of engineers are constantly being consulted by practical men, who wish to refresh their memcry in regard to the theory of some particular problem which they meet with in their professional work, and for this purpose a very complete index is essential. In any further re-issue of this work, it would be a distinct improvement if the indices were made more thorough and complete. ‘NO. 2054, VOL. 80] stress NATURE [Marcu 11, 19¢9 (3) As in part i., this book is divided into two main sections, one dealing with the mechanism of the car, the other with its management, and, in addition, there is a brief general introduction on the subject of elec- tricity. As the book is intended rather for users of cars than for builders, the description of the car mechanism has been written in such a way that any intelligent non-technical reader should have little diffi- culty in appreciating the important points to which attention must be paid in design, and as to which the buyer must also be able to satisfy himself before deciding to purchase an electric car. In dealing with the management of the car, the author describes two forms of brake suitable for the measurement of the power of the motor, but he does not describe the simpler rope brake, which is much more satisfactory for such tests than the Prony friction brake, especially if, instead of a rope, a thin, hollow, flat band of metal is used through which a constant stream of water can be circulated to absorb the heat generated by the friction. Special attention has been given to the manage- ment of the battery, since success in driving an electric car depends so much upon the manner in which the battery is handled. In regard to the cost of running in London an electric car, fitted with pneumatic tyres, the author estimates that it will average with a good driver 292d. per car mile, the cost of the electric energy only amounting to o'12d., wear and tear of tyres accounting for 15d., depreciation of battery for 12d., the other expenses amounting to o1d. The last chapter of the book is devoted to petrol-electric vehicles, that is, to vehicles which combine with the motor and controller equipment of an electric car a petrol engine and a dynamo driven by it to supply electricity to the motor; this system possesses certain important advantages, and is being applied with success to commercial vehicles and omnibuses. — As soon as the battery problem is solved, the elec- tric car will, at any rate for town use, rule supreme —but we are a long way yet from solving that problem. Alms St. 183, BIOLOGY FOR TEACHERS. First Course in Biology. Part i., Plant Biology. Pp. xxv+204, and 302 figures; Part ii., Animal Bio- logy. Pp. 224, and 4o8 figures; Part iii., Human Biology. Pp. 164+x, and 132 figures. By L. H. Bailey and W. M. Coleman. (New York : The Mac- millan Co.; London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1908.) Price 7s. 6d. HIS book hails from across the Atlantic, and aims at supplying a course of work intermediate be- tween unorganised nature-study and the formal science of the more advanced courses. The general intenticn of the authors is :— ““To lay greater stress on the processes and adapta- tions of life as expressed in plants and animals and men, and to attach less importance to botany, zoology and physiology as such.”’ It is certainly well that teachers should do their utmost to prevent that study of botany which leaves the student ignorant and indifferent to the plants Marcu 11, 1909] arcund him, or of that physiology which does not lead to healthy living. The book appears to be in- tended for teachers rather than for students; but it is not very conveniently arranged. A certain amount of information is given on each topic handled, but usually not enough for a teacher who has not already consider- able knowledge of the subject; and a number of ques- tions is asked, often in a style that is almost irritating : e.g. ‘* Which senses are very acute? Why? Dull? Why? ”’ But apart from matters of taste in style, it would be better to separate the volleys of questions from the descriptive text. The unfortunate teacher attempting to get up his lesson has now to wade through dozens of unanswered queries in order to pick out from them a few morsels of information scattered here and there | over many pages of text. On the other hand, the trained and experienced teacher will derive few, if any, new ideas as to method, though he will probably wel- come the excellent coloured diagrams. The plants and animals examined are for the most part those which find place in the elementary courses in vogue in this country; but there are, of course, frequent allusions to American species. Of the three parts contained in the volume we prefer that devoted to human biology. In this part, information and ques- tions are kept distinct, and the standard is just what is wanted for instructing pupils in the healthy working of the human body and for emphasising the import- ance of cleanly and active habits. The pages are not entirely free from error. Ety- mologists will be startled to learn from Mr. Bailey (p. 60, part i.) that ‘* parenchyma=parent+chyma, or tissue.’’ We are tempted to inquire what derivation he would invent for ‘* prosenchyma,’’ and would ven- ture to recommend a study of the Greek prepositions. Similarly, we question whether ‘‘ batrachia’’ can be rightly translated ‘‘ twice breather’’; certainly the word is not synonymous with amphibia (p. 127, part ii.). The statements on p. 172, part ii., concerning migra- tion are inaccurate; nor is it correct to state that the ferments (or enzymes) present in the digestive juices are ‘‘ vegetable substances ’’ (p. 100, part iii.). The figure (219) on p. 116, part ii., is that of a lamprey, not of an eel as stated in the legend. (0), IBIAS OUR BOOK SHELF. Schlich’s Manual of Forestry. Vol. V., Forest Utilisa- tion. By W. R. Fisher. Pp. xii+84o. (London : Bradbury, Agnew. and Co., Ltd., 1908.) Price 12s. net. WitH the appearance of this edition the whole subject of forest utilisation is brought thoroughly up to date. Prof. Fisher has given to English readers an admirable translation of what maay be recognised as the best work on the subject. The German edition is itself based on Gayer’s ‘* Forst- benutzung,’’ which was for many years the standard work, but with the lapse of time a new up-to-date edition became necessary to bring the book into touch with modern experience and practice. The task of writing a new edition was undertaken by Prof. H. Mayr, a former pupil of Gayer, and at present NO. 2054, VOL. 80] bifocal eyes ? NATURE 35 his successor in the chair of forest utilisation in the University of Munich. The volume is divided into four parts. Part i. deals with the principal forest produce, wood, in re- lation to its harvesting, conversion, and disposal. Part ii. treats of minor forest produce, its properties, utilisation, value, and disposal. In part iii. is con- sidered the utilisation and disposal of the minor pro- duce from the soil of the forest, while in part iv. the utilisation of the components of the forest soil, such as stone, gravel, &c., is given, and at the end we have a very useful index. The whole work is profusely illustrated, and in this edition the number of illustrations has been in- creased by 73, making a grand total of 402, together with 5 full-page plates. Of the several volumes which constitute Schlich’s ““ Manual of Forestry,’’ this one is probably the most complete in the treatment of its subject. The various parts are divided into chapters, and these, again, into sections, each section containing a clear and concise account of the subject or operation with which it deals. The student as well as the practical forester will find this volume a regular mine of information. This work will be found equally useful in Britain, our colonies, and elsewhere, as it deals with forest utilisa- tion in its broadest sense. In fact, the authors have made use of all the available research of the nineteenth century in bringing the work up to date. The German work naturally gives most prominence to German matter, although at the same time taking into consideration that of other countries. The trans- lator has added to this, and based the work on a still broader foundation, in order that it may be ap- plicable wherever the English language is spoken. This volume is sure to be appreciated by a large number of forest-owners and foresters all the world over, and it can be confidently recommended as the best and most exhaustive work dealing with the important and world-wide industry of forest utilisa- tion. Parallel Paths: a Study in Biology, Ethics, and Art. By T. W. Rolleston. Pp. xv+299. (London : Duckworth and Co., 1908.) Price 5s. net. Tue author contributes this thoughtful book towards ‘“ the establishment of a spiritual view of the universe on a natural basis.’’ He believes that there is more in life than chemical and physical forces. The “living machine’? that we hear so much about “ differs essentially from other machines in not being a machine at all, or anything in the least like one.” In support of his vitalistic position, the author refers in a lucid way to the difficulty of giving any chemico- physical interpretations of development and adapt- ability. ‘‘ The master-word is nature’s will to live.” He considers the Lamarckian position and abandons it, noting, for imstance, that if bodily characteristics acquired by exercise were transmissible by inheritance, the new-born child of right-handed ancestry ought to show. some appreciable preponderance in weight and size of the right over the left limb. But he is not satisfied with Weismann’s explanation either, though he admires the brave attempt to steer between the Scylla of Lamarckism and the Charybdis of ‘“‘ metaphysics.’ All evolution theories assume the responsive powers of protoplasm. But what does it respond to? If, as Weismann says, “ the response is only to differences in the amount of nutriment obtainable by the various determinants of the germ- cell, and has only a fortuitous connection with the results attained,’’ then how can we interpret adapta- tions such as that of the fish, Anableps, with its Thus the author is led to ‘‘a directive 36 NATURE [Marcu 11, 19¢9 theory of evolution,’’ somewhat like that of the botanist Reinke. Man, the growing-point of progres- sive life, is conscious of directive control. Is there anything more real and certain to him, and is it not the x factor in all life and evolution? ‘‘ The master-word is nature’s will to live,’? and as man is not an outside observer of the universe, but an organic part of it, the author goes on to show, in very interesting chapters, that ethics is for life, and that art is man’s expression of life. Vo vals We A Course of Pure Mathematics. By G. H. Hardy. Pp. xvi+428. (Cambridge ; University Press, 1908.) Price 12s. net. Tue title of this book is rather a misnomer, As a matter of fact, the most interesting part of it is in the last two chapters, which contain an_ excellent discussion of the logarithmic and exponential functions based upon the definition of log z as an integral. The preceding eight chapters deal with real and complex variables, limits, convergence of series, and the funda- mental theorems of the differential and integral cal- culus, They are chiefly interesting as an illustration of the fact that there is a growing number of uni- versity teachers who are resolved that, if they have to teach elementary calculus, they will do it in the most rigorous way that they can, exposing the fallacies which used to be calmly ignored. There is a large number of examples, many of which show how much more attention has been given of late years in Cam- bridge to the elements of general function-theory. Mr. Hardy’s bool: is more likely to be regarded as a work on the calculus than anything else; as such, will be a useful companion to such treatises as nae of Lamb and Gibson. M. Clay Modelling in Manual Training from Plan, Elevation, and Section. By F. W. Farrington. With an Introduction by J. W. T. Vinall. Pp. 47; plates xl. (London: Blackie and Son, Ltd., 1908.) Price 3s. net. Clay Modelling in Manual Training. Scholars’ Handbook. (Same publishers.) Intermediate and Senior, plates xl., price 4d. net. Junior, plates XVi., price 3d. net. Any practical pursuit which leads to a scientific training of the hands and eyes of young pupils should receive encouragement in the schools; and modelling in clay can, in the hands of a skilful teacher, become a very useful aid in teaching several subjects. Mr. Farrington indicates how clay modelling may assist school teaching in arithmetic and geography, hardly develops sufficiently these and similar practical applications of this form of manual work. The books will serve to provide young teachers and pupils with helpful guidance. Handbook to the Technical and Colleges of the United Kingdom. Official Information. With an Index to Courses of Instruction. Pp. xii+140. (London : Scott, Greenwood and Son, 1909.) Price 3s. 6d. net. Tuts useful directory of some of the most important schools and colleges in the British Isles providing instruction in science, technology, and art gives infor- mation as to the governing authority, principal, and secretary of each of the institutions dealt with, and particulars as to the courses of instruction arranged at each centre. Though comprehensive, the directory is not complete, and it may be hoped that the request made by the publishers for data of schools omitted will be complied with by the respective authorities, so that the omissions may be rectified in the second edition. NO. 2054, VOL. 80] Art Schools and Compiled from but* JEST TIS, IKE) DN aiE JFDIIN 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.]} Ionisation in the Atmosphere. THE apparatus designed by Ebert has been widely used to determine the total charges per c.c. of the positive and negative ions in the atmosphere. Except under unusual conditions, the measurement of the positive charge exceeds that of the negative charge by an amount very variable, which averages perhaps about 20 per cent. Thus the ratio of the charges has an average value not far different from the ratio of the mobilities of the ions or from the ratio of their coefficients of diffusion. The apparatus consists of a metal cylindrical testing vessel with an insulated axial rod connected with the central system of an electroscope. Air is drawn through the testing vessel at a known speed by a small turbine driven by clockwork. The quantity of electricity received by the central charged rod is determined from a knowledge of the electrical capacity and observations of the loss of potential. The following simple experiments by Mr. F. W. Bates and the writer led to unexpected results. A large hollow cone of cardboard was placed so that the air entering the testing vessel all passed through the cone, and the air during its passage was strongly ionised by the 6B and »y rays of radium, or by the y rays alone. The instrument itself was well screened from the rays, and the radium bromide (14 mg.) was carefully sealed in a test-tube so that no emanation escaped. The position of the radium was varied, so that the number of ions detected in different experiments covered a wide range. Assuming the value of the ionic charge to be 3-4 10-7? E.S.U., and supposing that every ion carried unit charge, then the values obtained, after necessary small corrections, gave the following average number of ions per c.c. :— Series Positive ions Negative ions Ratio Thee ems 7557.0) 34,300 1°09 2. ss. 19,900 10, 100 1°99 Baris sen 225320 mae 16,820 1°33 Zs 14.350 11.850 1°21 Sic 7,280 5,800 1°25 Mean 1°39 Without radium 1,280 1,050 ae 1°22 The variation in the ratio may be due to changes in the humidity or to the presence of dust. The main point is, however, strongly marked. Whilst the y rays of radium produce equal quantities of positive and negative electricity when they ionise gas in a closed vessel, we find that on ionising air near Ebert’s apparatus there appears to be a large excess of positive electricity. Care has been taken in designing the apparatus to avoid an external field. Since negative ions are under almost all conditions more mobile than positive ions, we should expect the negative ions to be captured more readily than the positive in the testing vessel, unless, indeed, some of the positive ions had a double charge. Again, it is possible that a large number of the negative ions diffuse to the top and sides of the testing vessel before entering it. In that case the diffusion is unexpectedly rapid. More- over, the ratio, positive to negative, remained unchanged when the air was drawn through an earthed wide-meshed wire cylinder, when the loss by diffusion of the negative ions might be expected to show a relative large increase. The details require further investigation, but the main and important result seems to be well established, namely, that the Ebert apparatus, and others of like type, are misleading in indicating a large excess of positive over negative electricity in the atmosphere. Thus when observers have recorded the average ratio as 1-2 there may really have existed equality, and the apparent excess may be due to the inequality of the rate of diffusion of the two Marcil 11, 1909} NATURE 37 lsinds of ions, dependent on and varying with atmospheric conditions, such as humidity. The recent interesting work of Townsend proves that under some conditions the positive ion may have a double charge, two negative ions appearing at its formation. Hence it is possible that in the atmosphere a newly generated positive ion may for a short time be the more mobile, and the apparent excess of positive electricity may not improbably be traced to this cause, as some preliminary experiments seem to indicate. Even if that is so, the fact remains that the quantities of positive and negative elec- tricity in the atmosphere do not differ, at least not to the Jarge extent usually recorded. INS TSy3, WBN acs Montreal, February 17. The Absorption of X-Rays. Tue results of experiments that have been made by a qumber of investigators on the absorption of X-rays, secondary X and y rays, are so complicated by a variety of conditions that few general conclusions can be drawn from them. It is apparent that a knowledge of the simple laws governing the absorption of X-rays, and the emission of secondary rays, would in many cases enormously simplify the explanations, and save much fruitless labour. By the use of homogeneous beams of X-rays, and by a study of secondary X-rays, we have been enabled to arrive at the following conclusions :— Many. elements—possibly all—when subject to a suitable Réntgen radiation emit at least one homogeneous beam of X-radiation, which is characteristic simply of the sub- stance emitting it. When a radiation which is of more absorbable type than the radiation characteristic of a certain substance is incident on that substance, it does not appreciably excite that characteristic secondary radiation. When the incident radiation is of more penetrating type than that characteristic of the exposed substance, that characteristic secondary radiation is excited. The absorption of the radiation not sufficiently pene- trating to excite the homogeneous secondary radiation characteristic of an absorbing element is governed by very simple laws, the ratio of the absorption coefficients in elements A and B (say) being constant. That is, Aa/An is approximately a constant for any radiation experimented upon which is not more penetrating than the radiation characteristic of A or B. When the incident radiation is of more penetrating type, the absorption is greater than would be given by this law, additional absorption being evidently essential to the emission of the characteristic secondary radiation. As the general penetrating power of the incident radiation in- creases, the intensity of secondary radiation increases, and the absorption by this particular element increases, and finally for more penetrating primary rays the intensity of secondary radiation and absorption of primary rays decrease again in the ordinary way. The beam emerging from the absorbing plate consists of a weakened primary beam proceeding in its original direc- tion, a little scattered radiation, and a homogeneous radia- tion uniformly distributed (except for internal absorption). There is no evidence of any other kind of transformation— speaking purely of X-rays. We may, therefore, by a proper choice of primary radia- tion and absorbing element observe any of the following :— (1) Incident and emergent beams of identical penetrating power. (2) Incident beam, homogeneous; emergent beam a mixture of two homogeneous beams, the ratio of the intensities of which asymptotically approaches a constant value, as the thickness of the absorber increases. ° (3) Incident beam, homogeneous; emergent beam a mixture of two, the radiation of incident type ultimately vanishing and leaving a completely transformed radiation. A homogeneous radiation from an element appears specially penetrating to that element and to elements of neighbouring atomic weight, because it is of less pene- trating type. or only just more penetrating than the radia- tions from these elements. The change in the character of an ordinary heterogeneous NO. 2054, VOL. 80] beam of X-rays in transmission through an element is due to (1) the general selection of rays of the more absorb- able type; (2) the special selection of those rays of greater general penetrating power than the radiation characteristic of the absorbing substance; (3) the emission of secondary rays, which are more generally absorbable than the radia- tions which produced them, but which may be more pene- trating to the element emitting them. The energy of primary radiation transformed into secondary rays is so great that the secondary X-rays pro- ceeding from the antikathode of a Réntgen tube constitute a considerable portion of the heterogeneous beam. Many of Mr. Kaye’s experiments on so-called primary rays, for example, are obviously experiments on secondary rays, verifying our previous results. A comparison of the absorption coefficients shows the identity of the two. A fuller treatment of the subject of absorption will shortly be published. We wish, however, to point out the great simplification that results from the application of these simple laws to many of the phenomena which have recently been described in a variety of papers on X-rays and secondary X-rays. Probably the laws may be extended to include also the y rays. C. G. Barra. C. A. SADLER. University of Liverpool, March 5. The Rays of Uranium X. In continuation of the work published in a letter to Nature of January 28, p. 366, I have now carried out under more favourable conditions a second series of observa- tions designed to detect the growth, if any, of a feeble a radiation during the decay of the intense B radiation of uranium X. I used the preparations, obtained from 50 kilograms of uranyl nitrate, employed by Mr. Russell and myself in the study of the y rays (NatuRE, March 4, p- 7). The preparation was placed 1-6 cm. from the thin aluminium foil, forming the base of an electroscope, in a magnetic field of 10,800 units, so that no 6 rays with a value for Hp less than 8640 could enter the electroscope. Under these conditions, although the B radiation from the preparation was sufficiently intense to show luminosity on an X-ray screen in a fully lighted room, the leak in the electroscope was small enough for accurate measure- ment. About one-fourth of the leak was:due to y rays, and the remainder to still undeflected B rays. Initially the leak was not measurably altered by covering the pre- paration with a layer of thin tin foil sufficient to absorb any a« radiation. In a few hours after preparation a decided difference was noticed, pointing to a growth of a radiation from the preparation, as the considerations out- lined in my previous letter had led me to expect. Instead, however, of this absorbable radiation growing with the time according to the function r—e-A¢, where A is the radio-active constant of uranium X, contrary to all expecta- tion the absorbable radiation very quickly reached a maxi- mum, and has since remained constant. About one-half the maximum was reached after the lapse of one day, while after 2-5 days no further increase was observed. At this stage the absorbable radiation was about one-fifth of the total. The observations have now been in progress for one month. These observations and the whole of those previously made indicate that this @ radiation remains constant after the maximum is reached over a period of several years. This points to the existence of a new body. presumably somewhere in the uranium series, with a period of the order of one day, the product of which gives a rays, and has a very long period of life. I have thought it well to record these observations before being in a position fully to explain them, as there has just come to hand the announcement by M. Danne (Le Radium. February, p. 42) that, working with 20 kilograms of uranyl nitrate, he has succeeded in’ effecting the partial separation of the parent of uranium X, which he terms radio-uranium. From his description it appears that the new body is very closely allied to uranium in chemical nature. So far as can be judsed, it appears improbable that in preparing the uranium X for these experiments any of the radio-uranium was separated. One may conclude at 38 NATURE [Marcu 11, 1909 once from M. Danne's results that the period of radio- | the question: Are all so-called blind people absolutely in- uranium must be long compared with that of uranium X. Thus M. Danne’s discovery neither assists nor makes it more difficult to explain the results recorded in this letter. It is obvious that we have here really a very complex series of changes not capable of immediate interpretation. FREDERICK SODDY. Are the Senses ever Vicarious? It is a prevalent opinion that if a human being is bereft of one sense, one or more of the other senses become more acute, and thus establish a compensation. For example, it is generally believed that the blind have the senses of touch and of hearing, more especially of touch, developed to a degree of acuteness not found in those who see, and that, in this way, the blind find their way about the world with an accuracy that is often surprising. The blind have even been credited with the ability to discriminate colours by the sense of touch, and some have attempted to support this supposition by an appeal to the sense of heat or cold possibly, for physical reasons, associated with a particular colour. A compensating arrangement has also been attributed to the deaf, and more especially to the deaf-blind. Such notions, however, must be abandoned before the evidence of recent investigations. The question is discussed with much shrewdness in a paper on the physiology of the blind, by M. Kunz, director of the Institution for the Blind at Illzach-Mulhausen. He refers especially to the observations of Prof. Griesbach, made on a considerable number of blind persons in the Miulhausen Institution, and also, for the sake of compari- son, on pupils in the public schools of Miilhausen of the same age. The results are somewhat surprising. As regards perception of the direction of sound, there is no difference between the seeing and the blind. The average distance at which sounds could be heard was essentially the same in both classes. As tested by Zwaardemaker’s olfactometer, the delicacy of the sense of smell was rather in favour of the seeing. Griesbach used his own zsthesio- meter, with parallel pins on springs, instead of the old Weberian method with compasses, in testing the acuteness of touch, with the result that the average minimum distance, say on the tip of the forefinger, &c., at which two points were felt was greater in the blind than in the seeing; in other words, that the seeing had a finer sense of touch than the blind. It is generally supposed that the palp of the forefinger of the right hand, which is used by the blind in feeling the points in Braille’s system of teach- ing the blind to read, must be very sensitive, but this was “found not to be the case. Too high a degree of sensitiveness to touch is rather unfavourable to discrimin- ating the points in Braille’s type, and it is curious that when, in the blind, the epidermis of the skin covering the right forefinger becomes thickened by manual labour or by laborious practice in ‘‘ reading,’’ the discrimination of the points becomes easier. It was observed, also, that sometimes in the blind there was a difference as regards receiving impressions between the two forefingers. There. appears to be no evidence, therefore, that blind- ness, per se, increases the sensitiveness of the other senses, but, on the principle that if one sense is defective the others are likely to be also defective, the other senses, in the average blind, are less acute than in the seeing. How, then, are we to explain the wonderful way in which the blind avoid obstacles and find their way about? It has been supposed that by practice the skin of the face, in particular, becomes more sensitive, or, in other words, that the blind habitually pay attention to currents of air playing on their faces, and especially they may be influenced by sensations of temperature. They say that they ‘‘ know ’’ they are near a wall because they “ feel’’ it, although they do not touch it. It would be interesting to examine the blind as regards the sensitiveness of the hot and cold spots of the skin revealed by Goldscheider and others. The theory of sensitiveness to the direction and tempera- ture of air currents is supported by the observation that the blind do not so readily avoid an obstacle if the face is covered or even if they are blindfolded. This suggests NO. 2054, VOL. 80] sensitive to light? It is also believed that the blind pay an almost involun- tary attention to the direction and quality of sounds. The blind man ‘‘taps’’ his stick. When snow is on the ground the blind have difficulty in avoiding obstacles. One must not forget, however, the psychical element that enters into the question. The effort of attention is super- added to the sensory impression. Impressions may reach the sensorium of which we are usually unconscious, but they may be detected by an effort of attention. This was strongly pointed out by Helmholtz. The senses of the blind are not more acute than those of normal people, but the necessities of the case oblige the blind to pay attention to them. Joun G. McKeEnpRICK. The Zoological Position of Tarsius. Two years ago (Nature, May 2, 1907, pp. 7 and 8) I directed attention to the fact that the recent additions to our knowledge of the Primates would compel us to look upon this order as being composed of three diversely specialised phyla of subordinal rank. It seemed clear that we should have to adopt some such subdivision of the Primates as that employed by Gadow (‘‘ A Classification of Vertebrata,’’ London, 1898, pp. 52 and 53), who called the three suborders Lemures, Tarsii, and Simize respectively. The researches of Hubrecht had shown that in respect of certain phases in its developmental history Tarsius differs from the lemurs and resembles the apes, and, as the result of the examination of its brain, I had come to the conclusion that Tarsius is much more primitive, and at the same time distinctly more pithecoid, than the lemurs (Linnean Society’s Journal, 1903). But Hubrecht would interpret these facts (see Nature, December 24, 1908, p- 229) as a demand for the exclusion of the lemurs from the Primates. The memoirs published within recent years by Forsyth Major, Earle, Standing, and the writer have made it perfectly clear that the demonstration of the affinities of Tarsius to the apes does not in any way affect the recognition of the fact that it is at least as nearly related to the lemurs, so that Hubrecht’s proposal to restrict the term Primates to Tarsius and the apes lacks any adequate justification. At the last meeting of the British Association I pointed out that the results ‘of stimulation of the brain in lemurs and the examination of the distribution of the histologically distinct cortical areas by Page May, Wilson, and myself, had revealed a close resemblance to’ the condition found in the apes. In opposition to the views of Vogt, Brod- mann, Halliburton, and Mott, we found that a true sulcus of Rolando—which is peculiarly distinctive of the Primates —showed a tendency to develop in every prosimian family, and that in the lemur Perodicticus the morphology of the cerebral hemisphere is identical in almost every respect with that of the American monkey Pithecia. These facts bear unmistakable witness to the right of the lemurs to be included in the Primates. In a monograph on the human hair by Friedenthal, a curious distinctive feature of the distribution of the hair in the Simiz is mentioned. This author states that in man and all the other Primates (among which he does not include the lemurs) the sole of the foot is absolutely devoid of hair, not only in the adult, but also in the fcetus, and the line of demarcation between the hairless and the hairy skin runs across the back: of the heel; but in the Prosimize the posterior part of the sole of the foot is coated with hair. JI have examined a series of specimens of Tarsius given to me by Dr. Charles Hose, and find that in the manner of distribution of the hair on the foot Tarsius differs from the apes and agrees with the lemurs. At a time when so much weight is being attributed to facts of relatively slight significance on the other side, it seems worth pointing to this curious straw of evidence, which shows that, as the Primate stream flowed from its source among a group of Tarsius-like mammals, the apes and the lemurs were merely divergent branches of this stream, and that the latter suborder, although definitely specialised in structure, remained nearer to the Tarsii than the apes. Cairo, February 17. G. Ettior SMITH. Marcu 11, 1909] Number of Molecules in Unit Volume of a Gas. Tue following is an attempt to calculate the number of molecules of helium in unit volume directly, that is, with- @ut assuming Avogadro’s hypothesis and the known value of the number of molecules of any gas per unit volume. Various methods can be adopted leading to the five results given below :— (a) Meyer, in his ‘“‘ Kinetic Theory of Gases,’’ has calculated the molecular free path of helium at o° and atmospheric pressure to be L=24x10-° cm, (‘* Kinetic Theory of Gases,’’ p. 194, second edition). Now let Q=sum of the diametral sections of the spheres of all the molecules contained in unit volume, then, by the formula Q=1/4V2L 6 a oo ® GaGa) we calculate O for helium=7402 sq. cm. nearly. It is also proved in treatises on the kinetic theory that S=6,/2vL, where S=radius of the sphere of action of the molecule, y=space actually occupied by the molecules con- tained in unit volume or the coefficient of condensation. Now this coefficient of condensation is always less than the ratio E of the densities of the substance in the gaseous and liquid states, so that, putting E for » in the above formula, we shall get the superior limit to the value of S. We have then Epetinn = 4/5, where A,6 are the densities of helium in the gaseous and liquid states. Putting 3=0-15 (Onnes), we have SCS’ Ob q¢ AG A a Ae?) (b) This value is probably high, and Meyer has shown that a method involving deviations of the gas from Boyle’s law is more accurate. Onnes gives the value 0-0007 for b in van der Waals’s equation for helium (quoted in Nature, October 22, 1908, p. 635). Accordingly, assuming Max- well’s relation b=qu, where w=co-volume or volume actually occupied by the molecules per unit volume, we get the known formula S=(3/./2)pbL, where p=pressure in metres of mercury, for which the value of L which is employed holds good. We have, then, SHE — 2:5 TOR CM mearly yy) 6 s) - (3) (c) Adopting the relation b=4,/2u instead of Maxwell’s, we get SHe=1I'76x 107-8 cm. nearly. . . . (4) This calculation has, it seems, a claim to greater accuracy, since the relation b=4,/2u has been confirmed experiment- ally by Holborn (Exner’s Report, 1891, xxvii., p. 369) and by Sydney (Chem. News, 1808, Ixxviii., p. 200). (d) Calculating Sue by another method, which has been found, in many cases, to give an inferior limit to the value of S from the formula g=(u7—1)/(u*+2), where g=fraction of the volume containing the gas which its molecules actually occupy, and w=index of refraction. Hence, re- placing vy by g in Loschmidt’s formula, we have S=6/2gL. Taking data from the paper by Cuthbertson and Metcalfe (Phil. Trans., A, vol. ccvii., p. 138, 1907), we get §=3(u—1)=37 X10-* nearly, whence SHe=0°5x10-Scm. nearly . . . (5) (e) Lord Kelvin found that there must be from 200 to 600 molecules in the volume of one wave-length of the light emitted by the body. Taking the lower limit, 200, the mean distance between molecules is found to be x=5xX10,°x5876x1o-8cm, . . . (6) If N=number of molecules per unit volume, we find Nue=0'017 x ro!” nearly from (1) and (2) ” =1°4 x 1019 » (1) and (3) =28x 10” 59 (1) and (4) =36x 10 Aa (1) and (5) =4x 1019 ys Equ. (6). Na?=1. Comparing these values of N for helium, we see that the value obtained from the density of liquid helium is very low, whereas the refractivity method gives a very high value. Greater accuracy seems to belong NO. 2054, VOL. 80] NATURE 39 to those obtained from van der Waals’s equation; of these two, the latter value obtained from b=4/2 is probably the best. Hence, no doubt, it is safest to adopt 28x10'* as the value of N. It is interesting to compare with this the value of N as obtained by Rutherford and Geiger from their recent counting experiment (NATURE, November 5, 1908, p. 14), viz. N=2-72 x 101°, P. GHOSE. Physical Laboratory, Presidency College, Calcutta, January 14. An Electromagnetic Problem. I am glad to get Mr. Campbell’s views (NaturRE, January 21) on the electromagnetic problem which I sub- mitted (Nature, November 19, 1908). His method of going back to fundamental definitions is, of course, in general the only safe way where any doubt may enter. His remarks, however, considered as an answer to my question, are not quite to the point. As I carefully stated in the original letter, I am not desirous of setting up a conservation of energy paradox, but merely wish to show that apparently the ordinary expression for the energy of any electromagnetic field is, in the present case, not in harmony with the first law of energy. The accepted ex- pression for the energy in any electromagnetic field is tiie Py — i? H? ja ’ z|( es ) i where E is the force in dynes on a unit stationary test charge, H the force in dynes on a unit stationary ‘* mag- netic pole,’’ and dr is the element of volume. The test charge and pole are not parts of the system. This expression for the energy does not appear to re- main constant while the sphere of electricity is allowed to expand under the mutual repulsion of its parts, for the magnetic force on the test pole is obviously always zero, while the region of integration for E* is constantly diminishing. The difficulty, then, is with this generally accepted expression for the energy, and this is the only difficulty to which I refer. D. F. Comstock. Institute of Technology, Boston, Mass., February 10. I am sorry if I have misunderstood Prof. Comstock, but many others besides myself thought that he maintained that the difficulty vanished in some way if the distribu- tion of the electrification on the sphere was discontinuous. My letter was directed against this contention. I do not know how the integral expression for the energy is “‘ generally ’’ interpreted, but if it is interpreted with intelligence it will give perfectly accurate results. The system by which Prof. Comstock measures the electro- static energy is a uniform distribution of ‘‘ test points ” throughout space. When the sphere expands the ‘‘ region of integration ’’ diminishes, since some of the points pass within the sphere; but the loss of energy, as calculated by the integral due to this cause, is balanced by the amount of work which the sphere does in passing over these points. If we do not neglect to consider this work, the ordinary integral gives the amount of electrostatic energy whether the distribution on the sphere is continuous or not. Norman R. CAMPBELL. Trinity College, Cambridge, February 24. The Production of Prolonged Apncea in Man. In Nature of March 4 Mr. Royal-Dawson recalls a statement of Faraday to the effect that Mr. Brunel, jun., and a companion were able to stay under water about twice as long as usual if they had previously been breath- ing air at double the normal atmospheric pressure, and he inquires whether a similar relationship might not hold after forced breathing and oxygen inhalation, and so enable the maximum time of 8m. 13s. for which I could hold my breath under such conditions to be doubled. Increased pressure would, as a matter of fact, have scarcely any influence. As I pointed out in my letter of February 18, the essential conditions of prolonged apnoea are a previous removal of as much carbon dioxide as possible from the 40 body by forced breathing, and inhalation of oxygen just before holding the breath so as to prevent the system suffer- ing from oxygen want. Neither of these two conditions would be influenced by doubling the atmospheric pressure, as a few deep breaths of nearly pure oxygen at normal pressure afford one much more oxygen than is needed by the body even during eight minutes. If air is inhaled instead of oxygen, the duration of the apnoea is naturally increased with increase of the atmo- spheric pressure up to a certain point, as the total amount of oxygen thereby taken into the lungs, and rendered avyail- able for vital processes, rises proportionately to the pressure, H. M. VERNON. 22 Norham Road, Oxford. Moral Superiority among Birds. Two letters have recently appeared in Nature upon this subject, but they have mainly referred to the relative moral sense of different groups of birds. It may be of interest to note the relationships existing between allied species. Amongst Corvide, the rook is gregarious, and breeds in rookeries. It always allows the starling (Sturnida) and the jackdaw to associate with it, and even to breed in the midst of the same social com- munity as itself. Thus these birds are regarded as on an equality, or at worst as inoffensive satellites. A feasible explanation is found in the. fact that all three are social species, and frequent human habitations. On the contrary, the carrion crow lives at. most in pairs, never .collecting in a body to feed or to nest. It is a scavenger, a feeder.on offal, in a word, an outcast. Com- pared with the work of the rook or that of the two birds, just mentioned, so beneficial to the farmer, the carrion crow’s rdle is mean and degraded—though neces- sary. _ It is sly and cunning, and also addicted to purloining. Thus, compared with the rook, which is industrious and useful, and not usually sly, it exhibits a kind of moral inferiority. Very rarely does the rook suck the eggs of game or kill chicks, &c. (on which see Shoot- ing Times and British Sportsman, July 18, 1908). Indeed, the moral inferiority of the carrion crow is proved by the rook’s own attitude towards it. The latter will not allow the crow to invade its domains-or to feed with it, and if any One of its own species turns to the evil habits. of the crow it is ousted by general consent of the community. The same demeanour is maintained in the relations between the rook and the magpie and jay. Since psychic as well as morphic characters constitute the sum total of “‘ specific ’’ characters, the study of the moral sense in birds is important.’ In the animal. world its very existence is perhaps best proved by experiment and comparison. Its neglect in biological worl is a matter for regret. In the near future it must play an important part. A. R. Horwoop. Leicester Corporation Museum, February 24. The Dryness of Winter (1908-9). TuerrE has been a good deal of surprised comment on the very dry character of this winter, but the season is apparently quite normal in this respect; that is, a very dry autumn tends to be followed by a dry winter. Here is a table showing the ten driest autumns at Greenwich from 1841 to 1907, and the rain-character of the winter follow- ing in each case :— ies - infall Winters elati Ten driest Rainfall Se ees eee inches inches (1) 1858 2°80 3°36 —1‘9!I (2) 1890 3°32 2°38 — 2°89 (3) 1851 3°33 5°05 — 0°22 (4) 1884 4°12 6°29 + 1°02 (5) 1902 4°18 5°00 —0'27 (6) 1897 4°25 3°98 —1°29 (7) 1879 4°54 Bye 7, — 2°00 (8) 1901 4°62 4°46 —o'st (9) 1990 4°71 3:9 — 1°36 (10) 1904 4°73 3°97 — 1°30 Average 4°06 4°17 —1'Io NO. 2054, VOL. So] NATURE {MarcH 17, 19¢9 Thus in only one case (1884-5) was the winter rainfall in excess. The autumn rainfall of 1908 (3-94 inches) would come between (3) and (4) of the above list. The opposite tendency (with a very wet autumn) is also, I think, perceptible, though less pronounced. ALex. B. MacDowatt. Is there a Vertical Magnetic Force in a Cyclone? Tue discovery of a powerful magnetic force along the axis of a solar vortex will have suggested, no doubt, to others besides myself the possibility of a vertical magnetie force in a terrestrial cyclone. If such should exist, and the electrification of the air be positive, there would be a reduction in the magnitude of the vertical component of the earth’s field in the northern hemisphere when the centre of the cyclone passes over the place of observation. As to the magnitude of the effect, an elementary calculation shows that the intensity of the force in C.G.S. units at the centre of a mass of air roo miles in radius, revolving with a velocity of fifty miles per hour at that radial distance, would be less than 10!°p, where p is the volume density of electrification in coulombs per cubic cm. Under ordinary atmospheric conditions p has been estimated as of the order 10-**, although much larger values have been sometimes -obtained, and the magnetic force consequently would be of the order 10-°. Unless the density of electrification is very large in cyclones, it is not likely that a magnetic effect would be observed. Perhaps a tropical cyclone of great velocity, in an exceptionally highly charged atmosphere, might leave a small trace of its passage on the vertical force record. Rochdale. March 8 J. R. AsHwortn. DHE COAST (OF STEN CAUCAS Usa M. MARTEL’S description of his journey and ob- = servations in the Caucasus forms one of those all octavo: volumes, handsomely printed and super- abundantly illustrated, which are published in- Paris at about one-third of the price that would be thought necessary in London. It is the outcome of a voyage for geographical study undertaken in. 1903 -at- the re- quest of M. A. S. Yermoloff, Minister of .\griculture to the Russian Government. The war in the Far East has hitherto delayed the publication of the results, which now takes place in this agreeable form rather than in an official pamphlet. Among the towns that are rising on the eastern shore of the Black Sea, with a view to the attraction of visitors to a new and romantic Riviera, are Sotchi, the favourite of M. Yermoloff, and Gagri, the haunt of wealthy worldlings. Travellers in Russia will know how eager the rich are to get out of it in their weeks of leisure, and at Gagri since 1903 a pleasure station has been devised which may in time, within the limits of the empire, rival Biarritz or Monte Carlo. At present its richly oriental bazaar remains; in the fields behind the town the tombs of Mohammedan occupiers stand amid the lands they loved and tended ; and even at the back of a sea-front of luxurious hotels there must always rise the castle wall built by Mithri- dates, the dark zone of forests, and the limestone plateau of cable 8000 feet above the sea. M. Martel’s passage of the densely wooded ridges on the two flanks of the Arabika (pp. 172-87) sup- plied more adventure than is usual in a specially con- ducted tour, and this may have made him tolerant of civilised Gagri, then but a year old. But he is far more attracted towards Sotchi, farther up the coast (p. 90), where isolated villas are to rise on the margins of wooded parks, and where even the Grand Ry E. A. Martel. 1 “La Céte d’Azur Russe (Riviera du Caucase).” j Price 10 francs. Pp. 358. (Paris: Ch. Delagrave, n.d.—actually 1908). Marcu It, 1909| Hotel Pension has no licence for alcoholic liquors. “C’est Véquivalent,’’ says M. Martel naively, ‘‘ des temperance-hotels d’Irlande.” Near Sotchi, stratified gravels are noted, at times TV ALOE more than 25 metres above the shore, resting un- | conformably on the shales, and probably indicative of the former extension of the Black Sea in Pleistocene times. limestone hills, and here the conquered Tcherkesses may still be found. In a cavern of the Matsesta Behind the town, gorges extend up into the | valley, the author, who cannot keep above the earth | when there is a chance of descending into it, nearly lost his life from asphyxia in a hollow filled with sulphuretted hydrogen (p. 119). Only the prompt action of his friends restored him to the scientific world. But he writes of his experiences before faint- ing and during recovery with more interest in their | his own imminent danger. natives at the entrance to medical aspect than in Rags are hung by the 41 standard of living, may fortify the coast-dwellers against a disease primarily due to the mosquitoes (p- 334). A fine new road already leads up from Sotchi to Krasnaia-Poliana for those who would prefer the mountains, and the Alpine climber may use this village as a centre after passing through a noble limestone gorge. In chapter xiv. we reach the Caucasus itself, and the author’s photographs of snowy ranges are worthy of his fine views in the forests. He illustrates anti- quities with equal interest, as his castle of Tiflis (p. 243) and the pictures from Ani (p. 289, &c.) show. Ani, a superb creation of Armenian kings in the tenth century, is now within an hour or two of a railway station on the way from Tiflis to Erivan. Ararat rises snow-clad from a great plain on the south, and the plateau on which Ani is built is formed of tuffs and basaltic lavas. M. Martel found in this ruined city, with its churches and mosques, its walls and View of Ararat. the mineral springs, just as at holy wells in Ireland; as the author points out, the cult of medicinal waters probably goes back to prehistoric times. Travelling in these valleys must at present be done on horseback up the waterways—that is, largely in the streams themselves. Camping out in_ terrific rains, sometimes lasting forty-eight hours, seems an ordinary affair in September. On the other hand, June and July are not good months for this Riviera. The fine days and the exquisitely varied landscapes seem, however, to atone for everything, and M. Martel gives a special chapter on malaria, so prevalent in the low coastlands, in which he states that he felt touches of fever when coming below an dltitude of 200 metres. Yet he experienced no bites from insects, and ‘malaria does not seem to be serious in August, September, and October. He is evidently of opinion that a better water supply, on lines recom- mended by him for various places, and a higher | NO. 2054, VOL. 80] ae From ‘‘ La Céte d’Azur Russe.” towers, a combination of Carcassonne, Aigues-Mortes, Pompeii, the Acropolis of Athens, and a good deal else, while the desolate surroundings recalled to him the solitude of the Causses. How many of us know that there is a miniature Ani, also walled and towered, in the Causses, which has survived almost as many centuries—La Couvertoirade, a hospice for those who, like the Armenians, fought against the Moslems in the east ? The author brings his geological notes together in chapter xxiv.; but the value of his work lies mainly in the breaking of new ground, on which others will be glad to build. The book should be judged, in- deed, as a contribution to social geography, showing how the arts of peace are now bent, under Russian rule, on the completion of the conquest of the Caucasus. It is worthy of a far better map, and surely also of an index, GRENVILLE A. J. COLE. {= THE METEORIC STREAK OF FEBRUARY 22. EPORTS continue to come in descriptive of this remarkable appearance. It was distinctly visible to gh. 30m., though it had become faint and diffused, and could still be feebly glimpsed at 1oh. The length, as given by a few observers, was h. m. 3 Bournemouth ... i435; 45 Guernsey 5 7 45 65 Bruton, Som. ... 7 45 60 Petersfield 755 105 Bournemouth ... 8 o 110 Hereford 8 0 80 Purley, Surrey 8 12 100 Lyme Regis 8 15 110 Petersfield 330 8 25 120 Weston-Super-Mare ... 8 30 85 Petersfield eae 8 55 45 At Bournemouth, 8h. 25m., the whole length, including the bends, ‘‘ was well over 180°.”’ The middle portions of the streak apparently moved with greater celerity than the other parts. The drift was decidedly to N.W., and this nearly conformed with the direction of the wind, which was from the E. or S.E. quarter. The rate of motion of the streak is difficult to ascertain exactly, for there is no doubt that its various sections varied in height between about fifty-five and twenty-five miles, and were affected in different degree by wind currents. A mean of the displacement observed in a number of cases gives seventy-five miles per hour as the rate of velocity, while a few of the best drawings would indicate a rather greater speed of eighty or ninety miles per hour. The delineations and descriptions of observers are very discordant in some cases, and will not admit either of satisfactory comparison or explanation. It is a pity that photographs could not have been secured, but the rapid motion of the strealx and its increasing faintness prevented this being accom- plished, though the attempt was made at some places. Several observers noted flashes like very faint light- ning during the early period of the projection of the streak. Others allude to the fact that it exhibited bright pulsations, as though the lingering embers were fanned into brilliancy by the breeze. A few of the most careful spectators state that they noticed scintillations of the beam similar to the temporary light-waves which affect the streamers of Aurore. At the end of its westerly career the meteor appears to have met some dense air strata, which effectually barred further progress and directed it earthwards. No doubt the force of its initial velocity must have been nearly spent by its long and nearly horizontal flight through the atmosphere. The meteor was directed from an apparent radiant near B Leonis, situated so far from the Apex of the earth’s way that we should not expect the shower to provide meteors with streaks. Ordinarily, it is only the swifter class of objects, such as Leonids, Perseids, and Orionids, which evolve phosphorescent after-glows, and which are so helpful to observers in recording their flights accurately. The slower meteors, such as February Leonids, usually leave trains of yellow or red sparks of momentary dura- tion, and this was a feature of the meteor of February 22, but it also supplied the long-enduring streak which formed its most striking characteristic. In fact, many more observers were attracted by the streak than by the meteor, for comparatively few noticed the latter. This, however, is accounted for by the short duration of the actual flight of the NO. 2054, VOL. 80] NATURE [Marcu 11, 19c9 nucleus (about seven seconds) as compared with the persistency of the after-glow. The meteor had a long way still to travel before it couid have reached the earth had it continued its course westwards. Could it have withstood disruption and dispersion, it would have fallen into the sea about forty miles south of the Scilly Isles, and this is about 120 miles E. of the point where it appears to have collapsed, and its material to have been deflected southwards. W. F. DENNING. SECONDARY EDUCATION IN ENGLAND. pM DEPUTATION of the Parliamentary Committee of the Trade Union Congress waited upon Mr. Runciman, President of the Board of Education, last week to bring forward a resolution passed at the Nottingham Congress, stating that no solution of the educational problem would be satisfactory that did not give free education from the elementary school to the university, and demanding the imme- diate abolition of fees in secondary schools and train- ing colleges. It was urged by members of the depu- tation that the fees at secondary schools were becoming too high for working people to pay, and that in some cases the rule as to the reservation of 25 per cent. free places for pupils from public elementary schools is not observed. In his reply, Mr. Runciman expressed himself in sympathy with the deputation, but was able to show that above half the State-aided secondary schools provided in 1907-8 more than the stipulated 25 per cent. of free places, and the great majority of the whole provided the 25 per cent. He also pointed out that every child is not suitable to enter a secondary school, and that it is necessary to have a fairly good standard of examination for the children who wish to enter. As the views put forward by the deputation may give rise to misconceptions, and as the position and nature of secondary education in England are not widely understood, it seems desirable to bring together a few facts relating to them. By the Board of Education’s regulations for secondary schools, a uniform grant of 5/. is made by the State annually for every pupil between twelve and eighteen years of age, provided that the pupil is not evidently unfit to profit by the education given. The condition under which this grant is made is that 25 per cent. of the places in the school must be offered free to pupils who have for two years imme- diately preceding been in attendance at public elementary schools. An entrance examination is con- ducted by the governing body of the secondary school, but it must be qualifying and not competitive, unless the number of applicants is greater than the number of free places. The aim of the Board is ““to provide State-aided secondary education in the degree to which, and at the points at which, it is really needed; and to ensure free access to it for children of every class according as the individual is intel- lectually capable of receiving profit from it.’ With these aims most people will find themselves in agreement, and the regulations of the Board show how the desired object may be attained. There are now about 7oo secondary schools in which pupils from public elementary schools can claim free places. Grammar schools have sold their birth- right for the mess of pottage represented by the capitation grant of s5/.; and their doors are now open freely to a number of pupils from primary schools equal to one-quarter of the accommodation available. The result is that, of the 105,000 children attending State-aided secondary schools in -1907, just over 54 per cent. had previously attended public MakcH 11, 1909] elementary schools, and of these pupils about 45 per cent. were paying no fees at the secondary schools. That is to say, nearly one-half the number of pupils drafted from public elementary schools to secondary schools receive their education in these schools free. The 25 per cent. of free places in secondary schools, and the liberal distribution of scholarships by local authorities, has, in fact, placed secondary education within the reach of capable children in most districts. The provision of secondary schools in some districts may be inadequate, but a fair part of the school places are filled by children from elementary schools paying low fees or none at all. Indeed, it is scarcely too much to say that secondary education is now practi- cally free to all elementary school children who can derive advantage from it, and whose parents are prepared to let them accept it. If secondary educa- tion were made completely free to-morrow, the demand for places in secondary schools by children capable of entering such schools would probably not greatly exceed that at present. As a rule, working-class parents let their children leave school either at the minimum age or a year or so later. There are so many ways in which children from fourteen to eighteen years of age can earn comparatively high wages in unskilled employments that the temptation to their parents to make them immediate wage- earners is very strong. To induce such parents to keep their children at school it is not sufficient, there- fore, to make secondary education free; they have to be paid to let their children take advantage of it. Though the deputation to Mr. Runciman did not ask for maintenance grants for children at secondary schools as compensation for the loss of the immediate fruits of the children’s labour, this demand was included in a resolution adopted at the Trade Union Congress at Bath in 1907. It was then resolved, inter alia, ‘‘ That secondary and technical education be an essential part of every child’s education, and secured by such an extension of the scholarship system as will place a maintenance scholarship within the reach of every child, and thus make it possible for all children to be full-time day pupils up to the age of sixteen.’’ It is evident, then, that free education will not satisfy the demands of the organised workers of the country; there must also be maintenance scholarships for all children. Surely a more reasonable demand would be for secondary education to every child who is capable of benefiting by it, and maintenance grants for really poor children of exceptional aptitude. In some places there are more scholarships than children of a sufficient standard of attainment to justify their award. By an examination of scholarship statistics, Prof. Sadler found that in 1906 nearly 12,000 scholar- ships and bursaries were awarded by local education authorities to enable children to pass from primary to secondary schools, so that, assuming that on an average these scholarships were tenable for three years, this gives a total of 36,000 scholarships running con- currently, in addition to about 10,000 scholarships and bursaries confined to intending pupil teachers. The total amount spent annually by local education authorities on these junior and pupil teacher scholar- ships is apparently rather more than half a million. Nearly half the total number of scholarships awarded, however, were of the nominal value of 3l. or less, so, although they provided free secondary education. they could not be considered as grants for the main- tenance of the scholars while at school. The county scholarships of the London County Council provide a complete scheme under which a bov or girl may proceed by various stages from the public elementary school to the highest grades of education, NO. 2054, VOL. 80] NATURE 43 whether at a university, technical college, or other institution, providing advanced training for a profes- sional career. The junior county scholarships (ages of candidates, eleven to twelve) are awarded to all candidates — about 2000-—-who reach _ scholarship standard; and they provide free education at public secondary schools approved by the Council and a maintenance grant of 61. a year. The intermediate county scholarships, not less than one hundred of which are awarded annually, are open to candidates of ages fifteen to seventeen, give free education at approved secondary schools or technical colleges up to a fee of 251. a year and a maintenance grant of 25l. or 301. a year. The senior county scholarships (ages nineteen to twenty-two years), fifty of which are awarded each year, provide a maintenance grant of 6ol. a year for three years, and tuition and examina- tion fees up to 3ol. a year. All the scholarships are confined to candidates whose parents have incomes not exceeding r6ol. a year in the case of the junior scholarships and 4ool. a year in those of-the inter- mediate and senior scholarships. The weak point of the scholarship system in general is the disproportion between the numbers of junior scholarships and of those demanding exceptional ability. The scholarship net ought to have a wide mesh, so that only large fish are. caught, whereas the reverse is often the case. Prof. Sadler’s inquiry showed that the number of intermediate scholarships is only 4 per cent., and of senior scholarships only 3 per cent., of the number of junior scholarships. The result is that a large number of children of average powers are given an education unsuitable to their needs, instead of expending the money upon a few carefully selected individuals of unusual capacity. Scholarships and free places facilitate the passage from the primary to the secondary school, but statistics show that four-fifths of the pupils who enter such schools leave without completing their course, presumably to enter some trade or industry. A sum- mary of figures relating to State-aided secondary schools in England was published by the Board of Education in 1907. The number of schools dealt with was 600, and the total number of pupils, excluding pupil teachers, was 105,000. About 80 per cent. of this number of pupils were fifteen years of age or under, and the remaining 20 per cent. represented the number of pupils above fifteen years of age in State-aided secondary schools. The same rate ot educational leakage is indicated by recent statistics prepared for the London County Council Education Committee to show the ages of pupils attending London secondary schools which receive financial aid from the Council. The number of these schools is fifty, and there are in attendance 9917 boys and 6132 girls. The following table deserves study :— Age Boys Girls Under 10 years 504 552 Between 10 and 11 517 216 no ity Sa wap 1213 812 ” 12 ,, 13 1634 903 0 ey tue 2010 II3I 3 E45 5 1863 1055 ” My Fe 1135 683 jy HORS Ty 576 409 - iy A ow G3 261 Pee 233 Over 18 years 104 on 68 99:7 6162 The table serves, among other things, to show that even in London the majority of parents who send their children to the county schools regard fifteen as the age at which secondary education should stop, and that comparatively few appear to be able to allow their 44 NATURE [Marcu 11, 1909 children to remain at school after sixteen years of age. These facts apply both in the case of boys and girls. The net result is, therefore, whether we con- sider England as a whole or London in particular, only about one-fifth of the pupils in secondary schools receiving annual grants of 5. per pupil from the State, and supported largely by local rates, are more than fifteen years of age. Our State-aided secondary schools are, in fact, mostly of the nature of higher elementary schools which pupils leave before they are sixteen, instead of being true secondary schools in which students remain “until they are eighteen or nineteen vears of age. When the majority of pupils remain until this age, the higher work which should be the distinguishing characteristic of secondary education will be possible, but at present it is an euphemism to describe as secondary schools the numerous institutions which merely put a finishing touch upon primary education. Judged by German standards and the ages of the pupils, our secondary schools receiving State grants would for the most part be more correctly described as day continuation schools. It may be presumed that pupils who leave school at fifteen or sixteen years of age do so in order to begin industrial or commercial careers. The school course of such pupils should obviously differ from that of students who propose to continue their edu- cation to a later stage, with the view of entering universities or professional life. Schools which only keep their pupils until sixteen years of age or under ought, therefore, to have a curriculum appropriate to the needs of pupils who will enter offices or work- shops immediately they leave. To make such pupils commence a course which has a university examina- tion as its ultimate end is to waste time and oppor- tunity. Only in schools where most of the students remain until they are eighteen or nineteen years of age should a curriculum tending to the require- ments of professional careers or universities be adopted. The necessity for types of school for the education of boys and girls above fourteen years of age was urged last year by the Association of Yeachers in Tech- nical Institutions, and recommended in the report of the education committee of the British Science Guild, printed in Nature of January 28. Two types of secondary school should be recognised—one in which pupils leave at about sixteen years of age to enter industrial or commercial life, and the other in which pupils remain to eighteen or nineteen years of age and leave to enter the universities, the pro- the provision of different fessions, or technical institutions of university standard. The former type of school, described variously as a ‘‘trade,’’ ‘‘ preparatory trade,’’ or ““eraft ’’ school, should prepare definitely for trades, crafts, industries, or commerce. In the words of the British Science Guild report :—‘‘ Due regard should be paid in these schools to the continuance of the general education of the pupils, but special provision should be made for sound scientific and technical training in relation to the industries or requirements a the district.’? The true secondary school may aim a higher standard on the purely academic side; ie its curriculum should be of an entirely different character from that of the craft school. Up to the age of thirteen or fourteen there is really no sound educational reason against the adoption of a single curriculum for all boys and girls—whether in public elementary schools or in preparatory schools. From that point, however, the pupils who do not leave school should be able to continue their education in different schools, according to their needs. To use NO. 2054, VOL. 80] a metaphor, the train which a pupil will enter at the age of fourteen will differ according to his destination. In addition to the secondary schools referred to in the foregoing statement, and regarded as efficient by the Board of Education, about thirty technical institutions are recognised by the Board as giving an organised course of instruction in day classes, including advanced instruction in science or in science and art. These schools are attended by about 2700 students, mostly above seventeen years of age, of whom rather more than half attend a full course of instruction. The number of students in evening schools and classes carried on for the education of persons already engaged in some occupation whiclt takes up the greater part of their time is about 700,000. In the case of most of these students, their sole educational training has been in the primary school up to the age of thirteen or fourteen years. At about sixteen years of age or later, they enter the technical schools, after a period of three or four years in which they have received no systematic in- struction. The result is that a large part of the work now done in evening classes in technical schools is of a very elementary character. The teachers are capable of giving higher instruction, but the want of the most elementary knowledge on the part of the students will not permit them to do so. As was stated last year by Prof. W. M. Gardner in a discussion at the annual general meeting of the Association of Technical Institutions, that of a hundred boys passing through elementary schools, and ultimately taking positions as industrial work- men, foremen or managers, probably not more than four or five pass through a secondary school, and not more than three or four attend a day technical school. The great problem is, therefore, that of the boys who leave the primary schools at the ages of thirteen or fourteen, or even eariier, and constitute ninety-five out of every hundred boys of that age. Three courses seem to be open:—(1) to provide for practical instruction to occupy a large part of the time during the latter years of a primary-school course; (2) to pass boys forward from the primary school to specially arranged trade or craft schools for one or two years; or (3) to depend, as hitherto, upon evening schools for technical instruction. The provision of craft schools seems to offer the best solution of the problem. Where the leaving age is low—as it is in most of the State-aided secondary schools—the Board of Education should urge that the schools be of a commercial or industrial type in which practical work, having a direct bearing upon the needs of the district, will occupy at least half the time of the course. The leaving age should determine the scope of the curriculum, and the in- terests of the district should decide the technical tendency to be given to the practical moe in the schools which pupils leave at about fifteen years of age. As to secondary schools of a high educational type, consideration of the facts available leads to the con- clusion that there will have to be many more pupils in schools of this character if the position of secondary education in England is to be comparable with that in Germany. From a national point of view, much of the money expended to secure free places at secondary schools for pupils from public elementary schools is wasted, for the work at the schools leads usually to distaste for an industrial career, and ends in boys taking up some clerical occupation. The only secondary education which will assist the industrial progress of the country is that which results in an increase in the number of highly-trained men to become captains of industry. Any money expended Marcuitt, 1909] NATURE a) by the State in providing educational facilities for these leaders of men is a profitable investment. At present, the Government grant to meet expendi- ture in respect of elementary education about 11,500,009], annually; and the sum paid in grants for pupils in secondary schools in England and Wales taking an approved course between the ages of twelve and sixteen years is about 340,000l. In addition, local authorities expend about 3,400,000l. a year on education other than elementary. Of this amount, about 700,000l. is expended on secondary schools, 1,200,0001, on evening schools and_ institu- tions for higher and technical education, and 260,000l. upon day schools of similar scope. The State-aid and rate-aid to the seven hundred secondary schools, now accommodating about 113,000 pupils in England and Wales, amounts, therefore, to rather more than one million pounds annually. This is a modest sum compared with expenditure upon other objects, but little increase can be justified for secondary schools until the demand for secondary education is greater and more real than at present. Free education from the primary school to the university may be within the realm of practical politics, but unless it is accompanied by maintenance grants equivalent to the wage-earning capacities of poor students it will not satisfy the demands of the Trade Unionists. Whether it is desirable to offer this inducement to continued study to all children may be doubted; the nation should be concerned only in providing adequate opportunities for the develop- ment of children whose life-work is likely to promote national welfare. The way should be open from the primary school to the university, but a passport should be demanded at each gate to show that the student is capable of making the best use of the new fields to which he is admitted. By this system, and a judicious extension of the number of inter- mediate and senior scholarships to provide for main- tenance, any student of distinguished ability would be able to command the highest educational training this country can offer. R. A. G. is RADIUM INSTITUTES. HE March number of the Deutsche Revue} is to contain the announcement by Prof. P. Lenard, director of the Physikalische Institut of the University of Heidelberg, that a radium institute, of the kind already in process of formation in Vienna, London, and Berlin, is to be opened for work in Heidelberg in the Easter of the present year. Owing to the foresight and cooperation of the Senate of the University and the Ministry of the Grand Duchy of Baden, an endowment has been secured, and the Heidelberg Institute will thus be the first of its kind actually to come into existence and to commence work. It is to be known as the Radiologische Institut. The term Radiology, which we might also with advantage accept, is used in Germany to connote the newer branches of physics concerned with the study of the invisible radiations, particularly, of course, the kathode, Lenard, Réntgen, and Becquerel rays, but comprising also the older known invisible ultra-violet and infra-red light radiations, their methods of production, their relations to matter, in- cluding radio-activity, phosphoresence, and _photo- electric action, and their practical applications, for example, in medicine. Prof. Lenard prefaces his announcement with the remark that the new field of investigation has already proved itself of such fruitfulness that it is quite 1 Published by Richard Fleischer, of the Deutsche Verlags Anstalt. NO. 2054, VOL. 80] | impossible at the present time to delimit its true circumference. Every day arise new problems, for example, in such fundamental subjects as the consti- tution of matter, now assailable with hope of success. The cultivation of this field demands special foster- ing, not only on account of its immediate fruitfulness, but also on account of the costliness of its prosecu- tion—if only in the provision of those rare materials, like radium, which it has brought into recognition— and on account of the necessity for close cooperation between the scientific workers and those engaged in the practical applications of the new knowledge. The new institute at Heidelberg is to undertake this work. It is to be under the same direction as the Physikalische Institut of the University, and wilt thus secure full benefit from the whole existing resources of the institute. Provisionally 300 square metres area in the Frederichsbau will be set aside for it. Later it will be housed in a special wing of the new buildings of the Physical Institute. The endowment will ensure the furnishing of the institute with the best equipment that can be secured, while the spring sediments from the neighbouring State of Kreuznach, to be worked up by the Government salt department, will provide a source of radio-active material for clinical and scientific investigation. The institute will provide special instruction in the subjects it deals with, while the clinical work will be undertaken by Herren Czerny and Krehl in their own buildings, but with close cooperation with the Physical Institute, which will ensure that the work rests upon a thoroughly sound scientific basis. The constitution and work of the Radium Institute to be established in London are described in an official state- ment published in the British Medical Journal of March 6. From this statement we learn that the King has consented to become the patron of the institute. A site has been acquired in Riding House Street, Portland Place, upon which the necessary building will be erected with as little delay as possible. In general terms, it may be said that the institute will be conducted upon the lines of the Radium Institute in Paris. In addition to the superintendent, the assistant to the superintendent, and the director of the laboratory, there will be an honorary medical and surgical staff (not yet appointed). The institute hopes to acquire radium to the amount of 5 grams. The treatment carried out in the institute will be strictly limited to treatment by radium or other radio-active sub- stances. Treatment of cases by the Réntgen rays, the Finsen light, and by electrical currents will have no place in the institute, as such measures of treatment are already very amply provided for elsewhere. The building will be in two parts, entrances. One section will be devoted to necessitous patients, and the other to the well-to-do. The former will be treated free; the latter will be required to pay fees on such a scale as the medical and surgical staff may determine. No patient, poor or well-to-do, will be treated in the institute except upon the imprimatur of a qualified medical man. Demonstrations in the use of radium will be given, and medical practitioners can be advised as to the mode of employment and as to the radio-activity of their own speci- mens of radium. with separate THE SUMMER SEASON TIME BILL. HE debate upon the Summer Season Time Bilt, commonly known as the Daylight Saving Bill, in the House of Commons on Friday last, was, for the most part, a pitiful exhibition of the incom- petence of politicians to understand any question in- volving a knowledge of elementary science. Though the proposals in the Bill would dislocate the entire machinery of time-reckoning, less than forty members were present at the opening of the discussion; and 46 ——_ NATURE [Marcu 11, 1909 the House was only saved from being counted out on two occasions by sufficient members rushing in to form a quorum. The substance of the Bill was given in last week’s Narure. Briefly, it is proposed that at 2 a.m. on the third Sunday in April of each year, al! clocks shall be put forward one hour, and shall remain in advance of Greenwich mean time and Dublin mean time by this amount until 2 a.m. on the third Sunday in September, when the hands are to be put back again. We do not propose to repeat now the substantial arguments against this proposal stated in these columns on July 9, 1908, but we do suggest that the article could be read with profit by the members who voted for the second reading of the Bill, which was for the second time referred to a Select Committee ‘of the House of Commons. During the debate many illustrations were used to convey to the minds of the members some idea of the relation between local time and mean time, and of daylight to business hours. No one pointed out, however, that it would be more reasonable to change the readings of a thermometer at a particular season than to alter the time shown by the clock, which is another scientific instrument. Perhaps it is contemplated to bring in a Bill to in- crease the readings of thermometers by ten degrees during the winter months, so that 32° F. shall be 42° F. One temperature can be called another just as easily as 2 a.m. can be expressed as 3 a.m.; but the change of name in neither case causes a change ‘of condition. 7 The argument that inconvenience is not felt by travellers on the Continent changing their watches te mid-European and east-European time, or by the five standard times of America, has little bearing upon the question. The inhabitants of any of these regions use a particular standard time, as we use Greenwich time, but their hours of work and leisure are determined by national custom. The most note- worthy characteristic of life in France and Germany is the earlier hours at which places of business open in the summer compared with those usual in our cities. In. Germany many schools open at 7 a.m., and the usual hour is 8 a.m. The people adapt them- selves, therefore, to the daylight hours instead of pretending to do so by putting on the clocks by one hour in April and back an hour in September. In all places between the same latitudes as those of the British Isles, the relation of daylight to the time of the standard meridian is the same, so that whatever arguments can be advanced in favour of the proposed seasonal change of time in our country, beyond those of custom, would apply equally to the inhabited zone between fifty and sixty degrees completely round the world. It is only in a few great cities in England that the waste of daylight described by the supporters of the Bill really exists; and even in these places it is possible for people to rise an hour earlier for worl: or recreation if they desire to do so. Industries and occupations which can best be carried on in daylight make the fullest use of daylight hours at present. without any legislative compulsion. Agricultural operations begin shortly after sunrise during a large part of the year, and continue until nearly sunset; in the building trades the hours of work vary with the hours of daylight, and the same is true in most engineering shops. But when work or pleasure can be carried on equally well in artificial light, there is a tendency to continue it to the limits of endurance. So it has come about that the bedtime hour in cities has been pushed further and further into the night, and the hour of rising has become later. All that is needed is for banks, places of business, NO. 2054, VOL. 80] and schools to open at an earlier hour during the summer months, as they do in most places on the Continent. To introduce confusion into the whole system of time-reckoning because some people in cities have not sufficient strength of mind to make the best use of the daylight hours would be to acknowledge that, as we cannot alter our national habits and customs, Acts are passed by which we pretend to change them while they remain the same. PROF. JULIUS THOMSEN. HE two great enrichers of thermal chemistry were Berthelot and Thomsen. Berthelot died in the spring of 1907, at the age of eighty; Thomsen has just left us, at the age of eighty-three. Born at Copenhagen in February, 1826, and educated in the polytechnic there, Thomsen became professor of chemistry in the university of his native city in 1866; he retired from the duties of his post in 1901, but continued to live and work in Copenhagen. Julius Thomsen devoted his life to the experimental advancement of thermal chemistry. His first memoir on this subject was published in 1853, his last a few years before his death. The permanent memorial of Thomsen’s work is the four volumes of ‘‘Thermochemische Unter- suchungen,’’ published in the years 1882-86. In the year 1780 Lavoisier and Laplace announced that “ all thermal changes exhibited by a system of bodies which changes its state repeat themselves in the opposite direction when the system returns to its original condition.’ This generalisation was deduced from a theory of heat, and was to some extent verified by experiments. In the years 1839-42 Hess laid the foundations of thermal chemistry, sketched the lines on which the structure should be built, and began the building. Thomsen began his work soon after the appearance of Hess’s memoirs. He has formed a stately building—adorned perhaps with too many crockets and pinnacles—resting on the sure foundation of experimentally established facts. In the preface to his great work, ‘* Thermo- chemische Untersuchungen,’’ Thomsen tells us that he formed the plan of the whole before he began his experiments, and that he adhered almost rigorously to that plan. When the work was nearly completed, he recognised that the science of thermal chemistry would be benefited by collecting and digesting his materials, and so he published his investigations and his theoretical discussions thereof in the four volumes which have established his fame. In 1905 Thomsen published a résumé of his principal experimental results and discussions in one volume. Unfortunately, that book was written in Danish; fortunately for English workers in the field of thermal chemistry, an English translation of it has appeared in Long- mans’ series of text-books of physical chemistry, edited by Sir William Ramsay. Thomsen. set out with a determination to extend his thermal investigations over the whole field of chemistry. He carried that determination into effect. The first volume of the ‘‘ Untersuchungen ”’ deals with the thermochemical aspects of the neutralisation of acids and bases. The second volume is devoted to the reactions, and the classification of the affinity- phenomena of the non-metallic elements. The third volume is concerned with measurements of the heats of dissolution in water, with hydration, and with the affinity-phenomena of the metals. The thermo- chemical investigation of carbon compounds is the subject of the fourth volume. The most important results of Thomsen’s examina- tion of neutralisation were the firm establishment of Marcu 11, 1909] IVA PROT 47 the constancy of the heat of neutralisation of strong acids by strong bases, the introduction of the con- ception of the avidity of acids and bases, and the working out of a thermal method of measuring avidity. In his investigation of solution and hydra- tion, Thomsen paved the way for future work, cleared away many misconceptions, and put the thermal aspects of the questions on a secure basis. It is not yet time to interpret the thermal data con- cerning the classification of elements wherewith Thomsen has enriched chemistry; but the data are there, established by a most careful and ingenious experimenter. In speaking of Thomsen’s work on the thermochemistry of carbon compounds, one has to distinguish between the data and the theoretical discussion of them. The data are sure. Personally, I think his theoretical conclusions are inadmissible. The tremendous question of chemical affinity was attacked, thermochemically, by Thomsen with bold- ness. So long ago as 1854 he announced his much- discussed generalisation :—‘‘ Every simple or complex action of a purely chemical character is accompanied by production of heat.’’ In 1882 he was not quite so sure, and modified his dictum, asserting that ““the great multitude of chemical processes which are accomplished without the aid of foreign energy, and are free from by-reactions, are accompanied by produc- tion of heat.”’ This form of the law of maximum work is surely a sound generalisation, but it is purely empirical. Thomsen never thoroughly analysed the concept chemical affinity. Affinity is only one factor of chemical energy, as quantity of heat is only one factor of thermal energy. Thomsen’s great contri- bution to the subject of chemical affinity is the mass of his well-established thermochemical data. It seems to me that the two marks of Thomsen’s experimental work are its soundness and its orderli- ness. There is nothing haphazard, nothing slipshod about it. He worked on a definite plan; he worked with all his might; his work must remain to his everlasting honour. M. M. Pattison Muir. NOTES. Tue attention of all who are interested in the work of zoological exploration is directed to the expedition which is now being organised by Mr. W. R. Ogilvie-Grant to explore the Charles Louis Mountains of Dutch New Guinea, which form the highest part of the range extend- ing right across the island from east to west. The highest peaks have an altitude of some 17,000 feet. A rich harvest is expected, for until recently the hostility of the natives has frustrated all attempts on the part of European travellers to enter this territory. This hostility, however, has now been overcome, and no effort should be spared by the naturalists of this country to be the first in the field to tap what will certainly prove to be one of the richest zoological regions in the world. Mr. Grant is endeavouring to secure ample funds in order that both the zoology and botany of this region may be thoroughly investigated. If this is to be done, a sum of at least 3000]. will be necessary. A considerable portion of this sum has already been generously provided, but more, is yet required, and it is hoped that this will speedily be forthcoming. Those who desire to help should send sub- scriptions to Mr. C. E. Fagan, British Museum (Natural History), Cromwell Road, S.W. The leadership of the expedition has been entrusted to Mr. Walter Goodfellow, who has already done much valuable work in the explora- tion of New Guinea. To make the more certain of success he will be accompanied by Mr. W. Stalker and Mr. NO. 2054, VOL. 80| A. F. R. Wollaston, both of whom have done good worl: in New Guinea, as well as in other parts of the world. THE executive committee of the British Empire League is organising a movement to provide London with a monu- ment to Captain Cook. Cook was a man of science as well as an explorer; his hydrographical surveys are excel- lent examples of the scientific work of our navy, and he contributed also to astronomical and medical science. Last November the British Empire League appointed a sub- committee to promote the object and to form a general committee. We have received a list of the names of dis- tinguished persons who have consented to join the general committee, and these include representatives of Australasia, the Colonial Office, the Admiralty, the scientific societies, the shipping industry, and the Cleveland district of York- shire—of which Cook was a native. The general com- mittee will later appoint an executive to collect the neces- sary funds, to determine the character of the memorial, and to select the best available site. It is estimated that, if the monument be in the form of a statue, 3000l. will be needed. Fuller particulars can be obtained from the secre- tary to the British Empire League, Mr. C. Freeman Murray, Norfolk House, Laurence Pountney Hill, E.C. On Monday evening Dr. M. A. Stein read before the Royal Geographical Society a paper on his geographical and archeological explorations in Chinese Turkestan in 1906-8. We have from time to time noticed Dr. Stein’s discoveries while his expedition was in progress. His lecture on Monday evening strengthened opinion as to the importance of his researches, and brought out very clearly the widespread influence exercised by Indian and classical art on Buddhistic temple worship throughout Central Asia during the early centuries of the Christian era. Dr. Stein told the story of one important discovery about which until now he has kept a discreet silence. He was greatly desirous of examining a secret store of ancient manu- scripts which had been accidentally discovered by a Taoist priest in the Caves of the Thousand Buddhas, south-east of Tun-huang. The priest knew nothing about the character and importance of the treasures he was guard- ing, but it was only after prolonged discussion that he consented to produce some of the manuscripts for Dr. Stein’s inspection. These happened to be fine rolls of paper containing Chinese versions of certain Buddhist texts, which the colophons declared to have been brought from India and translated by Hsiian-tsang, the famous Chinese pilgrim, whom Dr. Stein is wont to call his patron saint. Much impressed by what he regarded as a special interposition by Hsiian-tsang on Dr. Stein’s behalf, the priest was induced to show the explorer the secret chamber containing his treasures. These were piled up without any sort of order to a height of 10 feet, and com- prised not only written documents, but fine paintings on silk and cotton, ex-votos in all kinds of silk and brocade, and streamers in various fabrics. Dated documents showed that the chamber must have been walled up about 1000 A.D., but some of the records dated back so far as the third century a.p. After prolonged negotiations, Dr. Stein was permitted to make a selection from the docu- mentary and other remains, and filled with them twenty- nine cases, which have now been deposited in London. We hope to return to the subject of Dr. Stein’s discoveries at greater length on the publication of his paper. Tue death is announced of Senhor J. Barbosa Rodrigues, director of the botanical garden at Rio de Janeiro, and author of several works on Brazilian flora. 48 NA TORE [MarcH I1, 1409 Tue guarantee fund for the International Aéronautical Exhibition, to be opened at Frankfurt a. M. in July, amounts to 700,000 marks. Count Zeppelin has con- tributed 10,000 marks to the fund. It is expected that a sum of one million marks will be raised. InvitTaTIoNs have been issued by the president of the Royal Society, chairman of the general board of the National Physical Laboratory, to meet the general board at the laboratory, Bushy House, Teddington, on Friday, March 19, when the various departments will be open for inspection, and apparatus will be on view. Tue thirty-sixth annual dinner of the old students of the Royal School of Mines will be held on Tuesday, March 30, at the Hotel Cecil. The chair will be taken by Mr. F. W. Rudler. Applications for tickets should be made to Mr. George T. Holloway, hon. sec. dinner com- mittee, 57 Chancery Lane, W.C. In the third biennial report of the commissioners of the Connecticut Geological and Natural History Survey, for 1907-8, attention is specially directed to the scientific interest and economic importance of the peat-deposits of that State. At the melting of the great ice-sheet the surface of Connecticut was dotted over with innumerable lakes and pools, many of which have since become obliterated, some by the growth of peat and some by other causes. Most of these peat-bogs have now been carefully surveyed and sounded, so that the amount of their cubic contents can be approximately ascertained. Peat is used in the State not only for fuel and as a gas-producer (for which it is specially suitable), but likewise as a fertiliser, and, incidentally, for various other purposes. Since the importance of ‘‘types’’ to the systematic naturalist can scarcely be overrated, the authori- ties of the U.S. National Museum have set a good example to museum curators gencrally by issuing a catalogue of all the mammalian specimens of this nature preserved in the institution under their charge. This catalogue, which is published at Washington as Bulletin No. 62 of the museum, has been drawn up by Messrs. L. M. Ward and W. H. Osgood, who appear to have discharged a by no means thoroughly satisfactory manner. The number of mammalian species of which the museum possesses the types is very large, but it should be borne in mind that, in addition to real types, the list also includes ““ cotypes,’’ “‘ lectotypes,’? &c. So far as practicable, all the type-specimens in the collection have been arranged in special cabinets, a plan which may be commended to the best attention of those in charge of other museums. working easy task in a Tue skull and brain of the horned dinosaurs, Triceratops, with notes on the brain-cases of Iguanodon and Megalo- saurus, form the subject of a paper by Dr. O. P. Hay, published as No. 1660 of the Proceedings of the U.S. National Museum (vol. xxxvi., pp. 95-108). Several speci- mens of the brain-case of the Ceratopsia are available for study, from which casts of the brain itself have been taken, but great difficulty has been experienced in homo- logising the different parts owing to the fact that the bones of this region of the skull are more or less completely welded together. This has led, in the author’s opinion, to several misidentifications, notably in the case of the supra- occipital. The paper is, however, of an extremely technical nature, and without explanatory figures it would be little use discussing the author’s emendations and conclusions. Certain amendments are suggested on previous determina- tions of the component elements of the brain-case in the iguanodon and the megalosaur. NO. 2054, VOL. 80] From the study of its crinoid fauna, Mr. A. H. Clark in an earlier paper suggested, with some hesitation, that the entire Australian coast, southern as well as northern, should be included in his ‘‘ Indo-Pacific-Japanese ’’ region. The determination was based on the fact that all the Australian crinoids are tropical forms, the element of hesita- tion being due to the apparent absence of the South Australian genus Ptilometra from the rest of the region. In a paper on crinoids from the Philippines, published in vol. lii. of the Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, the author announces the discovery of the genus in question to the north of the equator, thereby definitely determining the correctness of his earlier suggestion. The new paper is based on a collection of crinoids obtained from Philip- pine waters by the U.S. Fisheries steam-vessel Albatross. This collection includes not only a remarkably large number of new forms, but likewise examples of species previously known only by more or less imperfect speci- mens. In the December (1908) number of the Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Mr. R. Kirkpatrick, of the British Museum (Natural History Department), described two very remarkable new types of calcareous sponges, for which he proposed the generic names Minchinella and Merlia. These sponges bear many resemblances to some of the fossil Pharetronids, and are extraordinarily different from any other living forms. The history of the speci- mens is curious. Minchinella was found in an old bottle of Challenger material, still in an admirable state of histo- logical preservation! Merlia was represented by some dry and stony-looking fragments which had been given to Canon Norman, F.R.S., by a Madeiran naturalist. Being anxious to investigate the minute anatomy of Merlia, Mr. Kirkpatrick recently visited a small island near Madeira with dredging apparatus, and after much hard work succeeded in obtaining living specimens, which he pre- served in a variety of ways for minute histological investi- gation, so that we may expect shortly to have a full account of this interesting genus. In Man for February Mr. H. C. Brown gives an account of a curious device for cheating death practised in Burma. In this after a death in the family, one of the survivors was warned in a dream that the death of a child would follow. Accordingly, a bamboo was cut exactly the length of the body of the child, pieces of his hair and nails were enclosed in it, and the whole, as a repre- sentative of the child, was solemnly interred. The device failed to produce the desired effect, the mourners on their return from the mock funeral finding the child dead. case, Dr. G. F. Brack, of the New York Public Library, has undertaken a useful but difficult task in preparing a biblio- graphy of the literature connected with the Gypsies. The preliminary draft which he has issued, and for which he invites additions and corrections, is intended to include not only sepacately published books and pamphlets, but also the vast fugitive literature of the subject, papers in the proceedings of learned societies, reviews, and the like. The British Museum Catalogue, the Berlin Orientalische Bibliographie, the Leipzig Geschichte und Sprache der Ziguener, and the Bibliographia in Colocci’s Gli Zingari have all been laid under contribution. Even as it stands, this bibliography will be of much assistance to students of the history, sociology, and linguistics of this mysterious race, and it may be hoped that the compiler will receive the hearty cooperation of European and Oriental scholars in bringing it to a successful completion. Marci 11, 1909] IVA TORE. 49 Mr. Suepparp, the energetic curator of the Hull Museum, describes in his annual report for the past year *the steady increase of the collections. under his charge. Among recent additions in the department of antiquities are a bronze sword, 22 inches in length, found at Leven, near Hull, the largest implement of its class which up to the present has been discovered in that vicinity, and a fine collection of vases of the early English period from the cemetery near South Cave. The order Arachnida has been specially studied by local naturalists, and one of this class, Erigone spinosa, from the east Humber bank, is new to Britain. Gifts to the museum of an old pannier saddle and various domestic appliances of the Stuart, Georgian, and Early Victorian periods, now rapidly disappearing, suggest that:other provincial museums would be well advised to imitate Hull in forming a‘special collection of such objects. Mr. Jacobs, chief engineer of the Pennsyl- vania Railway and Hudson Tunnels.Co., New York, has presented to the museum a valuable model, made to scale in brass and steel, of the great tunnel shield used in the excavations carried on under his control. This, in view of a recent scheme for tunnelling the Humber, has proved to be a most attractive exhibit. Mr. E, O. GREENING discusses in ‘‘ One and All Garden- ing’’ annual for 1909 the. problem of town gardens for the poor, and describes the experience of the Vacant Lands Association, formed with the object of acquiring waste lands in the metropolis, if only temporarily, to turn into allotments. Thus in Fulham a piece of land comprising seven acres provided space for fifty-eight plots; land was also secured in East London and Balham. The annual also contains a pithy article, by Mr. R. L. Castle, on the French system of intensive cultivation, with a description and illustrations of the gardens worked by women gardeners at Thatcham, in Berkshire. A sHorT part (vol. xii., part v.) of the Contributions from the United States National Herbarium is assigned to the descriptions, by Mr. H. Pittier, of some new plants from Central America. The most interesting are three new species of Carpotroche, a genus of the Flacourtiacez, from Costa Rica. The flowers are characterised by their styles and a winged ovary, and the succulent fruit is pro- duced by the development of pulp from an aril-like outer layer of the seeds. The discovery of these species extends the distribution of the genus, formerly known only from Brazil. Another discovery of two new species of Phyllo- noma (Saxifragacez), also in Costa Rica, bridges a gap in the distribution of that genus, which had previously been collected in Peru, Columbia, and Mexico. In the Comptes rendus de la Société impériale des Naturalistes de St. Pétersbourg (vol. xxxix., part i.) two new epiphyllous lichens collected in the Caucasus are de- scribed by Messrs. A. A. Elenkin and N. N. Woronichin. The phenomenon of lichens growing on leaves, except in the tropics, is very rare; a former instance from the Caucasus was recorded by Mr. Elenkin some years ago, and in all three cases the lichens were taken on box leaves. Of the two new species, one, in which gonidia of the Chloro- coccus type were associated with apothecia, is assigned to the genus Sporopodium; the other was indeterminable, as only pycnidia of the fungus were obtained, and the alga, which was intracellular, is doubtfully referred to Trente- pohlia. DETERMINATIONS of plants collected by Dr. A. Weber- bauer in the Andes supply the main item in the first part of vol. xlii. of Engler’s Botanische Jahrbiicher. Numerous NO. 2054, VOL. 80] additions are recorded for the genera Palaua and Malvastrum (Malvacez), Vibouchina and Miconia (Mela- stomacez), Schefflera (Araliacee), and Lantana. (Ver- benacez). In connection with the recent discussion at the Linnean Society, attention should be directed to the article by Dr. H. Schenck on the phylogeny of the bryophytes and ferns, in which he presents a carefully prepared argument in favour of a descent from the brown alge, notably from Dictyota. The antheridia and archegonia of these groups are considered to be homologous with the plurilocular gametangia, while the spore mother-cell is regarded as homologous with the tetrasporangium of Dictyota. Tue Deutsche Seewarte. (Hamburg). has published its meteorological year-book for 1907, the thirtieth volume of the series, containing observations and results at ten stations of the second order, and hourly readings at four normal observatories. These carefully prepared tables follow the usual form adopted by all the German States, based upon the international scheme, and we note that the gravity correction is now applied to the barometrical observations. As in former years, statistics relating to alt storms which have affected a considerable area of the German coasts are given; these are prepared from observa- tions at fifty-seven storm-signal stations, and furnish very useful data for reference ; October was the only month in which no storms were recorded. An appendix gives a summary of the contents of all the German meteorological year-books for the year 1907. Tue meteorological statistics of the Colorado College Observatory for 1907, compiled by Mr. F. H. Loud, have been received. This institution has an exceptionally good supply of self-recording and other instruments, many of which were presented by General W. J. Palmer, who has for some years provided for the expense of reducing and publishing the observations. The tabular results are pre- pared with great care; e.g. the daily means of tempera- ture are obtained from hourly tabulations of a Richard thermograph, and the extremes shown by the maximum thermometers are checked by the same thermograph. The wind is resolved into four component parts (instead of two), as recommended by Prof. A. von Oettingen, of Yuriev, and others. The mean tempera- ture of the year was 48°-2, no reading being below zero (F.), whereas in 1905 the minimum was —22° The monthly range was not less than 63° in each of the months February—-May; the spring is always a very critical time for cultivation. The rainfall was under 10 inches, little more than two-thirds of the ordinary fall. and minimum An elaborate series of experiments has been undertaken at the Physikalisch-technische Reichsanstalt, Charlotten- burg, the results of which appear in the Deutsche Mechaniker-Zeitung for February 1. Altogether 454 single sensitivity tests were made—ninety-six in a water bath at 40° C., 222 in the mouth, and 136 in the arm-pit. By sensitivity is understood the time taken by the thermo- meters in assuming the constant temperature of the water bath or of the human body. According to the author, Mr. H. F. Wiebe, it would appear possible to increase the sensitivity of clinical thermometers in general, and to manu- facture actual minute thermometers to indicate correctly by measurements in the mouth in one or even in half a minute. It seems improbable to make minute thermo- meters for use in the arm-pit which will take up the temperature of the body in one minute, at least so far as glass thermometers are concerned. In order to obviate errors in this connection, when using clinical thermometers it would be desirable to supply instructions for their use, 5° NATURE [Marcu 11, 1909. in which it should be set forth that in taking measure- ments under the arm the thermometers should be allowed to lie for five minutes before the reading is taken. Messrs. SCHEEL AND HeusEe have published in the February number of the Zeitschrift fiir Instrumentenkunde the results of some investigations undertaken by them on ‘tthe methods of producing high vacua. The tests were ‘carried out on the Gaede pump, the Toepler pump, Reden and Rosenthal’s mercury pump, and on charcoal in liquid air used in connection with the air pump. The resultant pressures were measured by the McLeod vacuum gauge, the authors having found (Verhandlungen der deutschen physikalischen Gesellschaft, vol. xi., p. 1) that this method could be applied for the measurement of the lowest pressures. The most important result was that obtained by employing charcoal prepared from cocoa-nut shell, and using this charcoal, in liquid air, in conjunction with an air pump (Gaede’s), the initial pressure of 0-006 millimetre being derived from the pump. A vacuum of 0-oo001 milli- metre was obtained and kept up for some time by this method. Complete tables of readings, and a full descrip- ‘tion of the experiments, are given in the article. AN interesting report of trials on a complete steam plant at the Greenvale Mill, Littleborough, near Manchester, is given in Engineering of February 26. The trials were made under the direction of Mr. G. B. Storie, consulting engineer, of Rochdale, and his report is of special interest on account of the very full results given. The plant includes a Brush-Parsons parallel-flow steam turbine developing s5vo kilowatts at 3000 revolutions per minute and 200 Ib. per square inch steam pressure. Mr. Storie finds its thermal efficiency at 91-8 per cent. of the rated power to be 18-27 per cent., the efficiency ratio by com- parison with the Rankine cycle being 0-579. It is unusual to find a report on a steam turbine containing information regarding the pressure, temperature, and degree of super- heat of the steam at the end of each stage of the expansion, and it would be very useful if other experimenters would take Mr. Storie’s report as an example in this respect. There has been a tendency to withhold such information in the past. Special attention may be directed to the following table of results showing the importance of main- taining a good vacuum with steam-turbine plants :— Barometer, 29-29 inches. Steam pressure at entrance to tur- bine—lbs. per sq. inch nae 163 163 164 161 162 156 157 158 Steam temperature at entrance to tur- bine—degrees F.. | 524 | 526 | 530 | 530 | 533 | 512 | 528 | 530 ‘Vacuum—inches of | metcury «+ | 28°29 | 27°r 26 | 25°15 | 24°05 23 22 | 2 Kilowatts sos aes | 275 | 275 | 276 | 275 | 273 | 270 | 270 | 263 Pounds of steam | | consumed per kilo- | | | watt-hour ... 18°54 | 19°63 | 20°65 | 21°63 | 22°34 | 23°33 | 23°7 | 24°25 A PAPER on some recent grain-handling and_ storing appliances at the Millwall Docks, by Mr. Magnus Mowat, read before the Institution of Civil Engineers on March 2, ‘contained some interesting facts about grain elevators. The installation now provides for the discharge and weigh- ing of 550 tons of grain per hour ex ship, and for its delivery either partly or wholly into granary, silo, or barge. The elevators which come in contact with the ship’s hold are of the pneumatic or suction type. The granary and silo elevators are of the bucket type, and, like the band-conveyers, are of two-ply woven cotton, impreg- nated with rubber. These bands have a total length of NO. 2054, VOL. 80] 2; miles; they are electrically driven. In the waterway there is a dolphin, alongside which the ship is moored. This is a wooden jetty of greenheart timber, 350 feet by« 24 feet, placed 50 feet clear of and parallel with the quay. On its deck are four suction elevators, each of 75 tons per hour capacity, corresponding with the respective holds of the ship. The machinery within the dolphin includes four pairs of exhauster pumps, each 46 inches diameter by 60 inches stroke, which maintain in the grain-receivers on the top of the towers a partial vacuum of 7 inches to 10 inches of mercury. Flexible pipes connect the receiver with the ship’s hold, and the grain is elevated to a height of 80 feet by the inrushing air, the proportion of air being controlled by nozzles with adjustable sleeves. The grain separates itself from the air in the receiver, and automatic- ally discharges through ‘‘ tippers’? at the bottom of the chamber into hoppers which feed the weighing machines. These deliver through steel shoots into barges, or connect with the quay by band-conveyers on bridges spanning the intervening water-space. The band-conveyers within the granary and subways under the quay are endless, and are supported at 6-feet intervals by steel rollers on cast-iron standards, tied longitudinally by steel angles on each side ; their speed is 552 feet per minute. The bands and elevators form a series for mechanically conveying the grain from the dolphin elevator to the roof of the granary, from which it is distributed to the various floors by gravity through pipes provided with sleeves and doors for housing and delivery to or from any section. WE have received from Messrs. John Wheldon and Co., of Great Queen Street, London, W.C., a copy of their latest catalogue of geological works, containing particulars of 1761 publications they have on sale. The books con- cerned include selections from the libraries of the late Prof. Ramsay, Dr. R. Hunt, Prof. J. Percy, Prof. Phillips, Mr. William Topley, and Dr. Flight. Mr. Francis Hopcson has published the sixth volume of the second series of the Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society. The record deals with meetings of the society held from November, 1907, to June, 1908, and the papers read on these occasions, short abstracts of which have appeared already among our reports of socie- ties and academies. The volume also contains obituary notices of the late Lord Kelvin and Mr. C. Taylor. OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. ANOMALOUS REFRACTION AND SPECTROHELIOGRAPH Resutts.—Having spent some time, in August, 1907, at the Mount Wilson Observatory, and having employed the splendid equipment there in a number of experiments, Prof. Julius has derived further confirmation of his theory that some of the phenomena seen on various spectrohelio- grams are, at least in part, due to the anomalous refrac- tion which waves from the vicinity of absorption lines must suffer when passing through an absorbing medium of varying densities. The, experiments and the results obtained are described and discussed in No. 5, vol. xxviii., of the Astrophysical Journal. By selecting lines at different distances from the sodium, D, lines, and passing the rays through a tube containing sodium vapour, in which the density gradients could be controlled, Prof. Julius was able to obtain photographs showing the effects of anomalous refraction, and he shows that equivalent conditions probably exist in the solar atmo- spheres. Should the further work which is to be carried out on these lines prove confirmatory, it will no longer be necessary to explain ‘‘ dark’? and “* bright ’’ flocculi by the assumption of very marked differences in the absorbing and emitting conditions of a certain gas or vapour in con- tiguous regions on the sun, for the anomalous refraction - Marcu 11, 1909] caused by the existence in the sun of irregular density- gradients, comparable in magnitude with the vertical gradient in the earth’s atmosphere, will explain them efficiently. Tue ConstituTION OF THE SuN.—In No. 1, vol. xxix., of the Astrophysical Journal, Herr J. F. Hermann Schulz again brings forward the theory that the nucleus of the sun is in a liquid state. was propounded by Kirchhoff, modified by Zollner, and, about twenty years ago, advocated by Herr Schulz, but the prevailing ideas concerning the sun’s temperature then rendered it improbable. However, in the light of the recent researches of Moissan and others, from which it may be deduced that the mean temperature of the sun is about 5400° C., Herr Schulz believes that a liquid nucleus best explains the observed phenomena, and on these lines he revives his theory. He further argues that various stellar phenomena may be explained on the assumption that many stars, too, are not entirely gaseous. The paper in which the discussion was included was read before the last meeting of the Astronomische Gesellschaft in Vienna, September, 1908, and also appears as an abstract from the Vierteljahrs- schrift der Astronomischen Gesellschaft, part iv., 1908. Still another solar theory is expounded in No. 4305 of the Astronomische Nachrichten. In this paper M. A. Amaftounsky, of Kichineff, explains the phenomena of sun- spots, metallic and gaseous prominences, sun-spot zones, &c., on the assumption that spots are caused by the out- rush of heated vapour from the sun’s lower atmosphere, and the filling in of the funnels thus formed by the photo- spheric clouds. The agreement of observed phenomena with the phenomena which would follow were the theory correct is discussed in detail. RapraAL VeELocity or a PeERsEI.—From__ thirty-seven spectrograms of a Persei, taken by Prof. Kistner and Dr. Zurhellen between August, 1904, and March, 1906, Herr F. Goos has derived values for the radial velocities of the star during that period. Previous observers have found that the variation of the velocity is small or non- existent. In the present investigation Herr Goos made eight settings, each way of the plate, on twelve iron lines which are taken as standards, and found that the velocity, relative to the sun, varied between —3-65 km. and o, the prob- able error for each plate being +0-40 km. (Astronomische Nachrichten, No. 4300, p. 50). A CATALOGUE oF 1625 SOUTHERN StTarRs.—Vol. ii. of the ‘* Meridian Observations of the Perth Observatory (W. Australia) ’’ contains the results of the meridian observa- tions of 1625 stars between 39° and 41° south declination. As explained by Mr. Ernest Cooke, the director of the observatory, in the introduction, these results form part of the scheme undertaken by the Perth Observatory to determine, from time to time, the accurate positions of some 8000 stars lying in the zone 31°-41° S. declination. The positions now given are reduced to the equinox of 1900-0 at the epoch of observation, and, when known, the proper motions, for reduction to epoch, are also given. Tue Metspourne Opsservatory.—Mr. Baracchi’s report of the work done at the Melbourne Observatory during the period 1906 December 1 to 1908 April 30 shows that the observatory is, apparently, now well established as a purely astronomical institution, the meteorological work having been transferred to the new Weather Bureau, under the Commonwealth Government, from the end of 1907. The long-vacant post of chief assistant has now been filled by Mr. J. M. Baldwin, an 1851 Exhibition scholar, who has further qualified for the post by visiting and working at a number of English, Continental, and American observatories. Mr. Baracchi reports, concerning the astrographic chart work, that, to April 30, 1908, 707 Sydney plates, con- taining 430,468 stars, and 991 Melbourne plates, contain- ing 318,025 stars, were completely measured. The report concludes with a strong recommendation that, in accord- ance with the suggestion of the Solar Union, supported by the Royal Society, a solar physics observatory should be founded in Australia, preferably at Adelaide. NO. 2054, VOL. 80] NATURE This theory, in its earlier forms, 51 SCIENTIFIC AID FOR THE BRITISH TENANT FARMER. HE various agricultural colleges founded or subsidised by the county councils take a wide view of their functions, and not only give instruction in agriculture to young men wishing to take up this subject, but also carry out field experiments designed to instruct those who are already farming, and who will not or cannot attend lectures. The field experiments are not strictly in the nature of research work, since they do not usually involve any new principles; they are not always arranged to give all the results they might, but, taken as a whole, they serve the very useful purpose of demonstrating to the farmer certain facts which he ought to know, but often does not, and of giving him opportunities of seeing for himself the effect of special manures on crops or of special feeding stuffs on animals. The results of the field trials are published in pamphlet form by the college or department concerned, and widely distributed among the farming community. Recently the Board of Agriculture started a summary of these re- ports in its journal, and the idea is a very useful one- The South-Eastern Agricultural College publishes its re- ports in the form of an annual journal, while the University of Cambridge has periodically brought out full reports dealing with the whole of its experiments in the counties. In the nature of the case, many of the reports issued are of local rather than of general interest, and do not call for any full treatment here, but a few instances may be quoted to show the type of work being done. Experi- ments at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, have been made to find out what ration will prove profit- able for fattening bullocks. The fact that animals require a tolerably large maintenance ration (i.e. that they eat a fair amount of food without gaining in weight) renders it necessary that fattening should be rapid, but the diff- culty then arises that a large ration gives proportionately less increase in weight than a small one. Up to a certain point an increase in the ration is profitable; beyond this point the profit gradually decreases, and loss arises. Prof- Jones has illustrated these facts very well in the report before us. The Northumberland experiments deal with pasture problems. It has been demonstrated. that basic slag is the most effective manure for economically improving the heavy soils of Northumberland, and a mixture of basic slag and a potash manure is best on the lighter soils. It has also been shown that second, and even third, dress- ings of slag are quite as effective as the first. The mangel experiments have shown that nitrate of soda gives better results than sulphate of ammonia, that slag is more effective than superphosphate, that sulphate of potash is better than the muriate, and that common salt much increases the crop. Experiments on other crops are also recorded. Rather different results were obtained in the Scotch experiments on pastures summarised by Mr. Hendrick. Basic slag led to an improvement, but not much, and three or four years elapsed before sufficient return was obtained to pay for the slag. However, the improvement lasts, and can be seen six years afterwards, so that the method is profitable. No other manure was found to give profitable returns. This report gives analyses of the soils, and is therefore much more interesting than those in which soil analysis is ignored. The West of Scotland Agricultural College has issued reports by Prof. McAlpine. The experiments on varieties of oats made during the years 1902-7 are summarised, and the effect of manures is discussed. Manuring has but little influence on the kernel weight, and only very slightly increases the proportion of kernel to husk. The Lancashire County Council experiments were de- signed to test the relative value of limestone and of burnt lime for improving pastures, and the conclusion is drawn that limestone is the more effective, provided it contains gs per cent. of calcium carbonate and is ground to a sufficiently fine state. The farmer has not only to produce crops and beasts, but to sell them, and success in one branch of his pro- 52 INCA IEC I5 I) [Marcil 11, 1909 fession does not necessarily imply success in the other. No amount of field experiments will make the farmer into a successful business man, but there is one way in which he can rely on getting the full value of his produce—by cooperation. Only in this way can the small farmer hope to buy and sell to the best: advantage, and to make any- thing out of market fluctuations that are capable of yield- ing profit. This question is discussed in the Quarterly Review by ‘‘ Home Counties,’’ whose interesting article deserves to be widely read. In conclusion, no notice of current agricultural publica- tions intended for the tenant farmer would be complete without reference to the leaflets of the Board of Agri- culture, which deal in simple manner with a large variety of important topics. Every effort is made to ensure that these leaflets should reach the men for whom they are intended, THE BRITISH SCIENCE GUILD. HE verbatim report of the third annual meeting of the British Science Guild, held at the Mansion House on January 22, has just been issued. We give extracts from the speeches made by Sir William Ramsay and Sir Frederick Pollock. : After referring to the work done by the Guild during the year, summarised in Nature of January 28, Sir William Ramsay said:—‘‘ The greatest danger, I think, from which we suffer is this inherent one in the minds of so many of us, that it is not necessary to prepare before- hand for events which we can perfectly well prophesy will happen. I want to draw attention to one subject which I think a committee of the Guild ought to consider. It is not merely of the utmost importance to ourselves as a race, but it is of the greatest importance taken in con- nection with any legislative proposals of any Government. Let me give you an example from private life. No doubt most of us, perhaps all, have made our wills. We prepare, in a sense, for death. That is to save our successors from a considerable amount of trouble. Again, if we are well, we safeguard ourselves. We do not go into infected places, we indulge in exercise, we take a reasonable amount of sleep—in fact, we try to keep well; and if we fall ill from any chance we call in a doctor and take other measures to cure ourselves. In other words, we try our best to prolong our lives. Now, it appears to me that one of the duties of the State is to prolong the life of the nation. What does the life of the nation depend on? It depends not only upon the fitness of the people, but upon the amount of natural energy which is available to be used for driving power. We know pretty well from the results ef the Royal Commission that our coal mines will not last for an indefinite time., Some say three hundred, others eight hundred years. Let us. put it at five hundred. We can turn our minds back to the year 1400. We certainly did not know the people of England in those times, but many of us have a very lively knowledge of the sort of people they were and what they have done for us. They did great things in developing the ‘country, building many churches, carrying out reforms according to their lights. We are now enjoying the benefits of what they did. Is it not only right and natural that we ought to have some consideration for persons living three or five hundred years hence? It does not need many “ greats ’’ before ‘‘ grand- son ’’ until that time is reached in the picture of the mind —probably only six or seven. We ought in the present day to have consideration for the generations who will succeed us, and who will either profit by our foresight or regret our stupidity. Now, in this country our water- power is quite insignificant, and, indeed, if it were much Jarger than it is there is not much to be made of it. It has been calculated that the total water-power of Europe, excluding, perhaps, some few rivers in northern Russia, is equal to 2,000,000 horse-power. - Why, we use 100,000,000 horse-power in England, so that even if we possessed the whole water-power of Europe we should hardly be supply- ing one-fiftieth of what we use from coal. I know there isa popular Superstition that in view of the extraordinary inventions which we are witnessing in these days—long- distance telegraphy and so on—something will be discovered NO. 2054, VOL. 80] in the future which will replace our present source of energy. One cannot say with absolute certainty that that will not happen, but I think any scientific man will say it is in the highest degree improbable. And what else have we to come and go upon? You may say that we might have’ an apparatus to utilise the tides; but the first storm knocks’ to bits any apparatus. Or solar heat? Again the first storm plays havoc with any machinery— and that of the costliest. One possibility is to dig a big hole’ deep enough into the earth and hope to get boiling water. Well, curiously enough, to-day’s Morning Post, in its ‘‘ Discovery and Invention ’’ column, describes how Mr. Parsons has considered that very question. He says that to bore a hole twelve miles deep would cost 5,000,000. and take eighty years. If we are going to bore that hole, ladies and gentlemen, it is time we began. Joking apart, without that possibility, there is no other source of energy. Now this points to the economisation of coal. It points to legislation. in other directions. Are we going to limit the use of steam engines? Gas engines give us about three times the power for the same consumption of fuel. Are we going to pay attention to the afforestation of the country, so that when coal is done we shall still have wood? Are we going to stop the enormous loss of nitrogen, which is so serious, that it will be impossible after fifty years to get the necessary amount for the growth of our plants? Are we going to utilise our sewage? All these are questions of first importance, and I think the Guild should appoint a committee to see how we can save the waste that is going on, and so give our country a chance of longer life. It would be horrible to look for- ward to London becoming a fishing village of five to ten thousand people, built on the top of some magnificent ruins and supported by scanty agriculture. But it is only what we should have to look forward to unless something is done. Let us postpone that evil day as far as possible.”’ Sir Frederick Pollock, in moving that the annual re- port be adopted, said :—‘‘ I have been asked to say a few words on the Patents Act, 1907, and to explain that the new matter in that Act, the only matter which attracts public. attention, is not a revolutionary enactment or a breach with any established fiscal policy, but a revival of principles upon whieh the whole of our legislation for patents started, and on which it has been continued. In the earliest days of grants to inventors, the King exercised the power of granting monopolies at his own will and pleasure. In the course of the sixteenth century streag and well-founded objections were raised to the _ indis- criminate. granting of monopolies, and it came to be accepted as a principle that monopolies ought to be granted to inventors only on condition of their being able thereby to introduce new industries into the kingdom. That was assigned as the consideration for which monopolies were granted. And further, during the early history of this branch of monopolies, which ultimately became the founda- tion of our modern Patent Law, it was understood that the inventor was bound, not only to work his invention within the kingdom, but to teach the use of it to all who desired to learn it. Those principles continued to be observed until comparatively modern times. But from some time in the latter part of the eighteenth century the principle of effectively introducing the new invention to this country was rather lost sight of, and it was supposed that the rule of publishing the invention, so that any competent person could learn from the specification to make it and work it for himself, would be sufficient for the protection of the public. In recent days it has been found that specification is not enough, for it was discovered that there was such a thing as the “‘ obstructive ’? working of patents. That might be done in two ways. A man might acquire an invention, not for the purpose of intro- ducing it to this kingdom, but, on the contrary, to stifle it and prevent it from being worked at all. That is a point which has, I think, been rather overlooked in some of the public discussions on this subject. I believe that that mischief existed, and that it was quite prover to put an end to it. The other obstructive way was for foreign manufacturers to take out or buy up a British patent, and so get a practical monopoly by being able to stov anyone from manufacturing the invention here. It is obvious that.in both these ways ‘‘ unfair preiudice ’’ might MarcH ‘11, 1909] NATURE 53 be created. against British manufacturers or against endeavours to establish new industries in this country. Now ‘‘unfair prejudice’’ in the Act does not mean successful competition, a sense in which the word is some- times used. “* Unfair prejudice’’ is a novel term, but ‘“ unfair competition’’ is now a.recognised head of law in all civilised countries, though the words are less familiar here than in America. ‘“ That, so far as I know, is the history of the new pro- visions of the Patents Act of 1907. If you read Section 24, the operative section, which has really been the text of these few remarks, together with Section 38, you will see that the object of the Act is not the protection of manu- facturers against rival producers as producers, but the pro- tection of the public, both producers and consumers, against the evils of excessive monopoly. ““T should like to say one word on the decline of the study of German. For about thirty years we have been in danger of attaching a slightly exaggerated value to German as compared with other modern languages. Now, it appears, there is a reaction in favour of French. So far as the study of French is concerned, I have not a word to say against it, but that the study of German should be declining seems to me, as to the framers of the report—and to my learned friend, if I may still call him so, Mr. Haldane—a matter of serious national importance. I can think of only two reasons why people should prefer French to German. They may suppose French to be easier, or they may suppose it to be more useful. As to being easier—and I must say it dogmatically, because there is no time to give reasons—having given much time to the study of both, I believe French is really the harder language to learn well. As to being more useful, French is certainly very useful indeed. Taking literature and business all round, perhaps one may say that French is more useful for the literary study of our own language and the history of our own civilisation, but when you come to business—and therein I include what is being done abroad in science and the application of science to industry —German is quite as important as French. Finally, it is becoming more and more indispensable to have a know- rege? foreign languages for any branch of life what- yer. FORTHCOMING BOOKS OF SCIENCE. AGRICULTURE. Wm. Blackwood and Sons.—Land and Equipment : being the first volume, complete in itself, of the new edition of The Book of the Farm; Farm Crops: being the second volume, complete in itself, of the new edition of The Book of the Farm, James Macdonald; Divisions 5 and 6, and vol. iii., of Stephens’ Book of the Farm, illus- trated. Cassell and Co., Ltd.—Live Stock: Breeds and Management, P. McConnell, illustrated. John Murray.— Fertilisers and Manures, A. D. Hall. Kegan Paul and Co., Ltd.—Notes on Rubber Cultivation, with Special Reference to Portuguese India, Lieut.-Colonel J. A. Wyllic and O. G. Ferreira, illustrated; Para Rubber Cultivation : Manual of the Planter in Malaysia, C. Mathieu, in French and English, illustrated. ANTHROPOLOGY. Macmillan and Co., Ltd.—Yotemism and Exogamy: a Treatise on Certain Ancient Forms of. Superstition and Society, Prof. J. G. Frazer, 3 vols. The Oxford University Press.—Bushman Paintings, reproduced from _ tracings made by H. Tongue and D. Bleek. Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons, Ltd.—Native Life in East Africa, Dr. K. Weule, translated, with an introduction and notes, by Miss Werner, illustrated. The Rationalist Press Association, Ltd.—The History of Anthropology, Dr. A. C. Haddon, F.R.S. Swan Sonnenschein and Co., Ltd.—Bushman ¥olk-lore, L. C. Lloyd, edited by Dr. G. M. Theal, illus- trated: History and Ethnography of South Africa, 1505- «795, Dr: G. M. Theal, 3 vols., vols. ii. and iii. BroLocy. 1. and C. Black.—A Treatise on Zoology, edited by Sir Si. Ray ankester, K.C.B:, F.R-S., part ix., . First fuscicle: Vertebrata Craniata, E. T. Goodrich, F.R.S. NO. 2054, VOL. 80] | illustrated. The Cambridge University Press.—Trees, the late Prof. .H.. Marshall Ward, F.R.S., vol. v., Form and Habit, with an appendix on Seedlings, illustrated ;, Darwin and Modern Science, essays by Prot. J. A. Thomson (on Darwin's Relations to his Predecessors), Prof. Weismann (on The Selection Theory), Prof. de Vries (on. Variation), Prof. Bateson (on Heredity and Variation in Modern Lights), Prof. Strasburger (on ‘he Minute Structure of Cells in Relation to Heredity), Prof. Schwalbe (on ‘* The Descent of Man’’), Prof. Haeckel (on Charles Darwin as an Anthropologist), Dr. J. G. Frazer (on Some Primitive Theories of the Origin of Man), Prof. Sedgwick (on The Influence of Darwin on the Study of Animal Embryology), Prof. W. B. Scott (on The Paleontological) Record, i., Animals), Dr. D. H. 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Giles (on Evolution and the Science of Language), Prof. Bury (on Darwinism and History), Sir George Darwin (on The Genesis of Double Stars), Mr.. Wheatman (on The Evolution of Matter). The essays will be pre- ceded by an introductory letter from Sir Joseph Hooker to the editor (Prof. Seward), and by a short ‘biographical epitome, including the dates of publication of Charles Darwin’s books and of the principal events in his life, illus- trated. Cassell and Co., Ltd.—Gardening in the North, S. Arnott and R. P. Brotherston; The~Nature Book, in 2 vols., vol. ii.; Wild Flowers in their Seasons, Figured and Described, F. E. Hulme; Familiar Swiss Flowers, Figured and Described, F. E. Hulme. J. M. Dent and Co.—Zoology, Prof. Herdman, F.R.S. (Scientific Primers) ; Physiology, Prof. Sherrington, F.R.S. (Scientific Primers) ; Dent’s ‘* Open-air’? Nature Books, edited by .W.. P. Westell and H. E. 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Ltd.—Evolution, Dr. Wasmann. Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons, Ltd.—The Teacher’s Course of Elementary Science, F. Belton, part ii., Plant Life. Grant Richards.—The Complete Wildfowler Ashore and Afloat, G. Thorne and S. Dunean, illustrated; The Sport of Bird Study, H. K. Tob, illustrated. George Routledge and Sons, Ltd.— The Balance of Nature and Modern Conditions of Cultiva- tion: a Practical Manual of Animal Foes and Friends for the Country Gentleman, the Farmer, the Forester, the Gardener, and the Sportsman, G. Abbey. illustrated. Swan Sonnenschein and Co., Ltd.—Plant Life: a Manual of Botany for Schools. Prof. E. Warming, translated by M. Rehling and F. M. Thomas, illustrated; The Cell: its Anatomy and Physiology, Dr. O. Hertwig. edited by Dr. H. J. Campbell,, illustrated (new edition); The. Young Beetle Collector’s Handbook, Dr. E. Hofmann and Dr. 54 W. E. Kirby, illustrated (new edition). Williams and Norgate.—Surgical Anatomy of the Horse, J. T. S. Jones, part iv., Foot and Trunk; The Macrolepidoptera of the World: a Book of Reference and Identification, edited by A. Seitz and others; Oologia Universalis Palzarctica, edited by G. Krause, English edition revised by O. G. Pike, to be completed in 150 parts; Illustrations of Cyperacez, prepared under the direction of the late C. B. Clarke, F.R.S. Witherby and Co.—Sunset Playgrounds : being an Account of Fishing and other Days in California and Canada, F. G. Aflalo. CHEMISTRY. A. and C. Black.—Chemical Analysis, Qualitative and Quantitative, G. G. Gardiner, vol. i. Blackie and Son, Ltd.—Practical Organic Chemistry, Prof. J. J. Sudborough and Dr. T. C. James, illustrated; Systematic Qualitative Analysis, Dr. R. M. Caven. A. Constable and Co., Ltd.—Laboratory Guide of Industrial Chemistry, Dr. A. Rogers, illustrated; Exercises in Physical Chemistry, Dr. W. A. Roth, authorised translation by A. T. Cameron, illustrated. Longmans and Co.—Monographs on Bio- chemistry, edited by Dr. R. H. A. Plimmer and F. G. Hop- kins, F.R.S.; The Development and Present Position of Biological Chemistry, F. G. Hopkins, F.R.S.; Vegetable Proteins, Dr. T. B. Osborne; The Polysaccharides, A. R. Ling; Glucose and the Glucosides, Dr. E. F. Arm- strong; Fats, Dr. J. B. Leathes; Colloids, W. B. Hardy, F.R.S. Macmillan and Co., Ltd.—Chemical Techno- logy and Analysis of Oils, Fats, and Waxes, Dr. J. Lewkowitsch, 3 vols., illustrated (new edition). The Rationalist Press Association, Lid.—The History of Chemistry, Dr. T. E. Thorpe, C.B., F.R.S. Swan Sonnenschein and Co., Ltd.—Introduction to the Study of Organic Chemistry, Dr. J. Wade, now first issued in two volumes, vol. i. (parts i. and ii.), Aliphatic or Open-chain Compounds; vol. ii. (part iii.), Aromatic or Ring Com- pounds. The University Tutorial Press, Ltd.—The Junior Chemistry, R. H. Adie; The Elements of Organic Chem- istry, E. J. Lewis. Economic SciENCE AND STATISTICS. Longmans and Co.—Human Economics, books i. and ii., A. H. 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Fishery Unwin.—Prehistoric Rhodesia: an Examination of the Ethnological and Archeological Evidences as to the Origin and Age of the Rock Mines and Stone Buildings, with a Gazetteer of Medizval South-East Africa, R. N. Hall, illustrated ; The Panama Canal and its Makers, Dr. V. Cornish, illustrated; Through Uganda to Mount Elgon, with Glimpses by the Way, Rev. J. B. Purvis, illustrated; Conway and Coolidge’s Climbers’ Guides, 12 and 13, The Bernese Oberland, vol. iv., H. Dubi; part i., From the Grimsel to the Sustenlimmi; part ii., From the Sustenlimmi to the Uri Rothstock. GEOLOGY. Blackie and Son, Ltd.—The Stone Ages in North Britain and Ireland, Rev. F. Smith, illustrated. A. Constable and Co., Ltd.—Radium and Geology, Prof. J. Joly, F.R.S., illustrated. J. M. Dent and Co.—Geology, Prof. J. W. Gregory, F.R.S. (Scientific Primers). Methuen and Co.— The Natural History of Igneous Rocks, A. Harker, F.R.S., illustrated. The Oxford University Pyress.—The Stone and Bronze Ages in Italy, T. E. Peet. The Rationalist Press Association, Ltd.—The History of Geology, H. B. Woodward, F.R.S. MATHEMATICAL AND PuysicaL SCIENCE. George Bell and Sons.—Practical Solid Geometry, Rev- P. W. Unwin, part i.; Elementary Mechanics, C. M. Jessop and F. N. Havelock; Mathematical Reports (1902— 1908): being the Reports of the Mathematical Association Committee; Bell’s New Practical Arithmetic Test Cards, W. J. Stainer; for the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh years. A. and C. Black.—Practical Physics, A. McLean, vol. i. Cassell and Co., Ltd.—Popular Elec- tricity, W. Hibbert, illustrated. C. Delagrave (Paris).— Cours de Physique, Prof. H. Bouasse, vol. vi. Gauthier- Villars (Paris)—Lecons de Mécanique céleste, H. Poin- caré, Tome ii. (2® partie), Théorie de la Lune, Tome iii., Théorie des Marees; Les Oscillations électromagnetiques et la Télégraphie sans fil, Prof. J. Zenneéck, translated by P. Blanchin, G. Guérard, and E. Picot, 2 vols., Tome i., Les Oscillations industrielles, les Oscillateurs fermés a haute Fréquence, illustrated; Tome ii., Les Oscillateurs ouverts et les Systémes couplés,. les Ondes électro- magnétiques, la Télégraphie sans fil, illustrated; Lectures | de Mécanique, |’Organisation de la Mécanique, Jouquet, Marcu 11, 1909] NATURE 58) illustrated; Les Bases physico-chimiques de la Chimie analytique, Herz, illustrated; La Théorie des Courants alternatifs, A. Russell, illustrated. Harper and Brothers. —The Life of the Universe, Prof. Svante Arrhenius. Long- mans and Co.—Spinning Tops and Gyroscopic Motion, H. Crabtree, illustrated; Electric Furnaces: the Produc- tion of Heat from Electrical Energy and the Construction of Electric Furnaces, Prof. W. Borchers, translated by H. G. Solomon, part ii., illustrated. Macmillan and Co., Ltd.—Physical Science in the Time of Nero: being a Translation of Seneca’s ‘‘ Questiones Naturales,” J. Clarke, with notes on the subject-matter by Sir A. Geikie, K.C.B., P.R.S. John Murray.—The Interpretation of Radium, -F. Soddy (The Progressive Science Series), with diagrams. The Oxford University Press.—Elements of Non-Euclidean Geometry, B. J. L. Coolidge. Kegan Paul and Co., Ltd.—Music: its Laws and Evolution, J. Com- barieu (International Science Series); Periodic Law, A. E. Garrett (International Science Series). The Rationalist Press Association, Ltd.—The History of Astronomy, Prof. G. Forbes, F.R.S. The University Tutorial Press, Ltd.— Geometry, Theoretical and Practical, section vi., Solid Geometry (Euclid xi.), W. P. Workman and A. G. Cracknell. MepicaL SCIENCE. F. Alcan (Paris).—l.e Diabéte sucré, Lepine ; Les aliénés Voyageurs, Joffroy and Dupouy. Bailliére, Tindall and Cox.—Differential Diagnosis of Bacteriology, E. P. Minett and R. C. P. London. Cassell and Co., Ltd.— Health and Common Sense, W. Hutchinson; Mind and Work, M. H. Gulick; Parenthood and Race-culture: an Outline of Eugenics, Dr. C. W. Saleeby. A. Constable and Co., Ltd.—The Fluids of the Body, Prof. E. H. Starling, F.R.S. John Lane.—The Medical Diseases of Children, R. Miller. Methuen and Co.—Drugs and the Drug Habit: Chapters on the Dynamics of a Remedial Particle, Dr. H. Sainsbury. John Murray.—Children in Health and Disease, Dr. D. Forsyth; Problems in Animal Metabolism, J. B. Leathes (new edition). J. Nisbet and Co., Ltd.—Injuries and Diseases of the Knee-joint, con- sidered from the Clinical Aspect, Sir W. H. Bennett, illus- trated; Movable Kidney, W. Arbuthnot; Hip Disease in the Young, J. Berry; Prostatectomy, J. W. T. Walker; Enuresis, J. H. Thursfield; Some of the Common Affec- tions of the Tongue, J. Hutchinson; Some Clinical Points in the Surgery of the Intestine, F. C. Wallis; The Oper- ative Treatment of Chronic Constipation, W. A. Lane, illustrated. G. P. Putnam’s Sons.—The Art of Natural Sleep, with Definite Directions for the Wholesome Cure of Sleeplessness, illustrated by Cases Treated, L. P. Powell. Rebman, Ltd.—Text-book of Special Pathology, Drs. Beattie and Dickson, illustrated; Text-book of Hyperaemia as Applied in Medicine and Surgery, Prof. A. Bier, authorised translation from the fifth revised German edition by Dr. G. N. Blech, illustrated; Atlas of Clinical Surgery, with Special Reference to Diagnosis and Treat- ment, for Practitioners and Students, Dr. P. Bocken- heimer, English adaptation by Dr. C. F. Marshall, 3 vols., illustrated; Surgery of the Upper Abdomen, Drs. ‘Deaver and Ashhurst, in two volumes, vol. i., Surgery of the Stomach and Duodenum; vol. ii., Surgery of the Liver, Gall Bladder, Pancreas, and Spleen, each illustrated ; The Oral Cavities: an Elementary and Practical Treatise on the Diseases of the Pharynx and Larynx, Dr. E. J. Moure, authorised translation by Dr. J. M. Farquharson, illus- trated; Clinical Commentaries deduced from the Morpho- logy of the Human Body, Prof. A. De Giovanni, trans- lated from the second Italian edition by J. J. Eyre. George Routledge and Sons, Lid.—The Family Doctor: a Diction- ary of Domestic Medicine and Surgery especially adapted for Family Use, Dr. E. Barrett, illustrated ; Infant Eeeding by Artificial Means: a Scientific and Practical Treatise on the Dietetics of Infancy, S. H. Sadler (new edition), illus- trated. Swan Sonnenschein and Co., Ltd.—Exercises for Heart Affections, based on the Nauheim Treatment, Dr. J. G. Garson, illustrated. Williams and Norgate.—Inter- national Archives of Malaria, edited by C. M. Cassel; Epilepsia: being an International Quarterly Review de- voted to the Study of Epilepsia and Kindred Diseases from Pathological, Therapeutical, and Social Aspects. NO. 2054, VOL. 80] METALLURGY. Edward Arnold.—The Dressing of Minerals, Prof. H. Louis, illustrated. A. Constable and Co., Ltd.—Welding and Cutting of Metals by the Aid of Compressed Gases and Electricity, Dr. L. A. Groth, illustrated; The Precious Metals, Dr. T. K. Rose, illustrated. E. and F. N. Spon, Ltd.—Metallurgical Calculations, J. W. Richards, part lii., The Metals other than Iron. ‘TECHNOLOGY. A. Constable and Co., Ltd.—The Manufacture of Paper, R. W. Sindall, illustrated. Crosby Lockwood and Son.— Marble and Marble Working: a Handbook for Architects, Sculptors, Marble Quarry Owners and Workers, and all engaged in the Building and Decorative Industries, W. G. Renwick, illustrated. E&. and F. N. Spon, Ltd.—Sugar : Handbook for Planters and Refiners, J. A. R. Newlands and B. E. R. Newlands, illustrated. MISCELLANEOUS. F. Alcan (Paris)—La Crise du Transformisme, Le Dantec. Wm. Blackwood and Sons.—Studies in European Philosophy, J. Lindsay. Chatto and Windus.—A History of Babylonia and Assyria from the Earliest Times until the Persian Conquest, L. W. King; vol. i., A History of Sumer and Akkad: being an Account of the Primitive Inhabitants of Babylonia from the Earliest Times to about B.c. 2000; vol. ii., A History of Babylon from the Period of the First Dynasty, about B.c. 2000, until the Conquest of Babylon by Cyrus, B.c. 539; vol. iii., A History of Assyria from the Earliest Period until the Fall of Nineveh before the Medes, p.c. 606. Kegan Paul and Co., Ltd.— The Liturgy of Funerary Offerings, Dr. E. A. W. Budge; The Book of Opening the Mouth, Dr. E. A. W. Budge, 2 vols.: The Bock of the Dead, Dr. E. A. W. Budge (new edition), 3 vols. Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons, Ltd.—Body and Soul, P. Dearmer, a Study of ‘‘ Christian Science ” and ‘* Faith Healing ’’ from the Psychological and Physio- logical Aspects. G. P. Putnam’s Sons.—Beverages, Past and Present: an Historical Sketch of their Productions, together with a Study of the Customs connected with their Use, E. R. Emerson, 2 vols.; The Law of Psychic Phenomena: a Working Hypothesis for the Systematic Study of Hypnotism, Spiritism, Mental Therapeutics, &c., T. J. Hudson (new edition). Swan Sonnenschein and Co., Ltd.—A translation of Hegel’s Phenomenology of Mind, J. B. Baillie (Library of Philosophy); Thought and Things: a Study of the .Development and Meaning of Thought or Genetic Logic, Prof. J. M. Baldwin, 3 vols., vol. iii., Real Logic; The History of Philosophy : based on the Work of Dr. J. E. Erdmann (fifth edition, revised by his son, Dr. W. Bruno Erdmann), W. S. Hough; Valuation: its Nature and Laws, Prof. Urban (Library of Philosophy) ; Physiological Psychology, Prof. W. Wundt, a translation of the fifth and wholly re-written German edition by Prof. E. B. Titchener, in 3 vols., vol. ii., illus- trated. The University Tutorial Press, Ltd.—Principles and Methods of Physical Education and Hygiene, Wik Welpton; The Science of Speech: an Elementary Manual of Phonetics for Teachers, B. Dumville. UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE. BrrMincuaM.—Sir E. Ray Lankester, KG. Bs sb Ress, has been invited to deliver the Huxley lecture for the pre- sent. session. Dr. David Fraser Harris has been appointed lecturer in physiology to succeed Dr. Rhodes, who has resigned. Campripce.—The Public Orator, Dr. Sandys, spoke as follows on Thursday, March 4, in presenting Dr. Sven Anders Hedin for the degree of Doctor of Science honorts causa :— ; Scandinaviae filium intrepidum, post tot pericula peregre suscepta denuio Britannis redditum, Academiae totius nomine libenter salutamus. Salutamus quattuor universitatum illustrium alumnum insignem, qui et Persiam et Mesopotamiam et Caucasi montes et regiones trans mare Caspium late patentes olim peragravit, quique postea per annos decem Asiam mediam ter penetravit, ter scientiarum 56 spolia plurima victor reportavit. Quid commemorem camporum praecelsorum longitudines infinitas, quid .nivis aeternae’ solitudines. immensas ab eodem _ perlustratas? Quid grandinis» saxeae tempestates intolerabiles’ fortiter toleratas? Quid montium ignotorum labyrinthos inextrica- biles identidem pererratos? ~ Quid “Trans-himalayae lacus procellosos, quid fluminum ingentium fontes audacter exploratos? ~ Ibi originem: illam tricipitem primus con- spexit, € qua rex fluviorum, ‘ Brahmae’ filius nuncupatus, itineris longi cursum Indiam in orientalem dirigit. Idem in eadem regione rupem illam humilem primus detexit, unde Indus ipse exortus Indiam in occidentalem, Alexandri magni victoriarum olim conscius, defluit. '_ Atqui (ut poétae verbis utar) “ Magnus Alexander totum cum vicerat orbem, Non potuit sese vincere; maius erat.’’ Hic autem, et sui ipsius et rerum naturae victor -Alexandro felicior, etiam trans Asiam_ interiorem — scientiarum imperium fortiter propagavit. Idem, Alexandro humanior, terram periculis plurimis plenissimam sic obiit, ut in regione tam immensa nullum crudelitatis, nullum inhumani- tatis, vestigium reliquerit. Ergo laurea nostra libenter coronamus virum a Societate Regia Geographica numismate aureo plus quam semel merito donatum, philosophiae doctorem illustrem, Sven Anders Hedin. The next combined examination for sixty-seven entrance scholarships and a number of exhibitions at Pembroke, Gonville and Caius, King’s, Jesus, Christ’s, St. John’s, and Emmanuel Colleges, will be held on Tuesday, December 7, and following days. Mathematics, classics, and natural sciencés will be the subjects of examination at all the above-mentioned colleges. Some of the colleges allow candidates who intend to study mechanical sciences to compete for scholarships and exhibitions by taking the papers set in mathematics or natural science. Forms of application for admission to the examination at the re- spective colleges may be obtained as follows :—Pembroke College, W. S. Hadley ; Gonville and Caius College, The Master; King’s College, W. H. Macaulay ; Jesus College, A. Gray; Christ’s College, Rev. J. W. Cartmell; St. John’s College, The Master; 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 colleges desire it to be known. that any candidate for a scholarship may signify in writing his wish not to recéive the emolument of the same if elected thereto, and that such candidate may be elected to a scholarship which may be honorary only and without emolument, but shall carry with it all other privileges attached to the position of a scholar. The amount thus set free will serve to increase the number of scholarships or exhibitions open to other candidates. The syndicate appointed to obtain plans and estimates for. the new. museum of archeology and ethnology has reported that it has now in hand more than 10,0001., more than half of which has been contributed by members of the Foster family in memory of Mr. W. K. Foster. The syndicate is ot opinion that leave should be asked of the Senate to commence at once the first portion of a build- ing which will contain, when completed, a museum, lecture-rooms, class-rooms, library, workrooms, and private rooms for the curator and staff. Some of these rooms will be available for the meetings of the Cambridge Antiquarian Society. oj The .special board for physics and chemistry, and the special board for history and archzology, have issued schedules for the examination in architectural studies under the following headings :—(1) practical mathematics; (2) elementary applied mechanics; (3) strength of materials and elementary theory of structures; (4) descriptive geo- metry: projection of solids; (5) the principles of survey- ing; (6) outlines of the history of architecture of Europe and the Near East; (7) outlines of the general history of art; (8) architecture and the allied arts of the Classical period ; (9) architecture and the allied arts of the Mediaeval period; (10) architecture and the allied arts of the Renais- sance and Modern periods; (11) the theor¥ of art in relation to architecture. NO. 2054, VOL. 80] NAL OLE, [Marcu 11, 1909 Lonpon.—With reference to the statement in Nature of March 4, that ‘‘ the Senate has taken exception to the terms of reference to the Royal Commission on the Uni- versity,’’ Sir William Ramsay, as a member of the Senate of the University, present during the whole of the meeting on March 3, requests us. to make public the fact that that statement is without foundation. The note did not refer to the meeting on March 3, that being the day on which NatuRE went to press; and our correspondent informs us it was based upon, the official announcement made in the Times and other papers on February 26, though it failed to express exactly the substance of that announcement, Tne issue for 1909 of the ‘* Schoolmaster’s Year-book and Directory ’”’ is now available. The general character of the volume remains unaltered; the directory has been made much more complete, and the very large amount of information provided has been brought up to date. This annual work of reference continues the most convenient available source of particulars concerning every grade of secondary education for boys, and no schoolmaster should be without a copy. Ir is announced by Science that the 40,o00l. required to secure the gift of 120,000l. from Mr. John D. Rocke- feller for the Harper memorial library at the University of Chicago has now been obtained. Part of the money has been reserved. for an endowment. The president of Western. Reserve University announces the completion of a 100,0001. fund for the additional endowment of Adelbert College and the college for women. Of this amount 25,0001. was offered by the General Education Board, on the condition that 75,0001. -be raised by the University. Hamline University, St. Paul, Minn., has been offered 15,0001. by the General Education Board of New York on the condition that it will raise three times the amount, making a total of 60,o00l., a large portion of which is to be added to the permanent endowment of the University. The department of engineering of the University of Michigan has received a gift of the library of the late Mr. George Y. Wisner and a rotary engine of the value of rgool. from Mr. J. D. R. Lampson. The University of Virginia has completed an endowment fund of 200,000/., of which half has been given by Mr. Andrew Carnegie. Tue Board of Education has now published the second part of ‘‘ Statistics of Public Education in England and Wales, 1906-7-8.’’ This Blue-book (Cd. 4506) is concerned wholly with financial statistics. It is interesting to find that the net total expenditure during the school year 1907-8 of the Board of Education out of the Parliamentary ‘vote was 13,272,017]., and that 11,129,658/. was expended on elementary education. Under the headings ‘‘ secondary schools, pupil teachers, &c.,’’ the amount disbursed was 679,6121.. To quote the summary of payments, the grants made for ‘‘ technical institutions, schools. of art, day technical classes, art classes, for further education ’’ reached 456,5731. Parliamentary vote which went to higher scientific educa~ tion appears very small, as the following items show :— Roval College of Science, London, 24,843!.; Imperial College of Science and Technology, 5,783/.; Geological Museum and Geological Survey, 21,255/.; and Committee on Solar Physics, 1899]. These amounts probably do not quite account for the total amount which should be credited to higher scientific instruction, because fractions of the expenditure under ‘‘ works and furniture ’’ and ‘‘ museums and circulation of objects for exhibition ’’ were probably devoted to the purposes of education in science. THERE are many indications that eventually we shall have a science of education, and it is satisfactory to find that the number of persons engaged in educational work who are learning the value of the results of carefully and scientifically planned experiments steadily increases. The training college authorities in different parts of the country are beginning to take an active share in this important work, and the “spread of scientific methods in their institutions is reflected in the second issue of the Training College -Record. which has reached us. Among other important articles contained in this excellent magazine we notice that by Prof. Green-on experiment in education, and other schools and classes-~ The share of the - > MakCH II, 1909] NATURE 57 in which he gives a helpful summary of the more important educational experiments inaugurated in this and other countries during 1908. Dr. Perey Nunn describes briefly a pedagogical museum which is being arranged at the London Day Training College; the arts of reading and of clear speech are discussed ably by Prof. Wyld and Principal Burrell; and Mr. H. H. Hulbert deals with the teaching of hygiene in training colleges. The other contributions similarly indicate that the age of empiricism and the blind adherence to the obiter dicta of departed writers on educa- tion is giving place to an attempt to understand by observation and by suitable tests the working of the child mind and the ways in which it is influenced by environ- ment and other conditions. SOCIETizS AND ACADEMIES. Lonpon. Royal Society, November 26, 1908.—‘‘ The Proportion of the Sexes produced by Whites and Coloured Peoples in Cuba.”’ By Walter Heape. This paper deals with data contained in publications issued by the chief sanitary officer of Cuba, 1904-5-6, in which are recorded the sex of both legitimate and illegiti- mate births and still-births for both classes of the popula- tion. The totals dealt with amount to 177,704, viz. whites 135,881, and coloured peoples 41,823 births and still-births. It is found :— (1) That there is a racial difference in the proportion of the sexes produced ; for whites, 108-44 males, for coloured, 101-12 males, per 100 females. This result is in close agreement with other published statistics of both races, and shows the influence of heredity. (2) That for both races, for both births and still-births, there is a consistent variation in the proportion of the sexes produced by legitimate as compared with illegitimate union. For whites, legitimate 109, illegitimate 105-95 males per 100 females. For coloured, legitimate, 107-73, illegitimate 97-91 males per 100 females. Illegitimate unions result in a marked increase in the proportion of females produced, and it is claimed that they are chiefly induced by individual physiological conditions affecting the metabolic activity of the woman. (3) That both whites and coloured experience two sharply defined breeding seasons each year; sudden, brief bursts of reproductive activity, correlated with marked climatic changes, which tend to increase individual metabolic activity. Again, at these times of greatest fertility the largest proportion of females is produced. _ (4) That a considerably higher proportion of females are born in towns than in country districts, where life is associated with greater hardships. (5) Conclusions: although heredity, in the main, governs the proportion of the sexes produced by these two races, conditions occur under which that proportion is varied, and although different in degree it is similar -in character for both races. These conditions are directly associated with forces which affect the metabolic activity ‘of the mother, and suggest the probability that the ripen- ing and production of ovarian ova of different sexes is in- fluenced thereby. Thus it is held that a struggle for exist- ence is always going on among the sexual ovarian ova, and that these extraneous forces influence the result. Speaking generally, this investigation indicates that the greater the metabolic activity of the ovary the more females are produced. : January 14.—‘On the Passage of Réntgen Rays through Gases and Vapours.’’ By J. A. Crowther. Communicated by Sir J. J. Thomson, F.R.S. A series of experiments has been made, under com- parable conditions, on the behaviour of different gases and vapours with respect to the passage of Réntgen rays through them. The results obtained are thus sum- marised :— (1) The amount of ionisation produced by the direct action of the primary Réntgen rays on a gas is simply proportional to the pressure of the gas. No evidence was obtained of the emission of any appreciable amount of soft secondary radiation by the gas, the ionisation being appar- ently due to the direct action of the primary rays. NO. 2054, VOL. 80] (2) The relative ionisation in the different gases, com- pared with air as the standard, varies considerably with the hardness of the rays. Hydrogen and ethyl bromide show an increase as the hardness of the rays increases, Other gases remain constant or give a diminution. There is no indication of any approximation to a ‘‘ density law ”’ as the hardness of the rays is increased. (3) The relative ionisation in a gas follows approximately an additive law. It does depend somewhat, however, on the state of combination, especially for soft rays. (4) The absorption varies with the pressure according to an exponential law. (5) The amount of secondary radiation emitted by different gases relative to air is, generally, approximately independent of the hardness of the primary rays. For very hard rays ethyl bromide shows a slight decrease. On the other hand, the values for methyl iodide increase fairly rapidly as the hardness of the rays is increased. (6) The coefficient of absorption of the secondary rays emitted by a gas, in the gas itself, is not abnormal. (7) The total ionisation in different gases is not a constant, and the relative values obtained differ with the hardness of the rays. (8) The amount of energy required to produce an ion in different gases is different, and also varies with the hard- ness of the rays. No relationship has been found between the relative ionisation and the secondary radiation, or between either, and any other known property of the gases and vapours, and the explanation of the relatively large amounts of secondary radiation emitted by ethyl bromide and its class compared with air, and of the large relative ionisations in methyl iodide, ethyl bromide, &c., still remains to be sought. It appears that on the whole less energy is required to produce an ion in the more ionisable gases, but the values obtained do not differ very largely, and are totally in- adequate to explain the very large amounts of ionisation in these gases and vapours. Both the ionisation and the secondary Réntgen radiation follow, at any rate approximately, an additive law. It appears, therefore, that these properties are properties of the atoms themselves, and that an explanation must be sought in their atomic structure. February 25.—Sir Archibald Geikie, K.C.B., president, in the chair.—The statistical theory of the form of the curve of oscillation for the radiation emitted by a black body: Prof. H. A. Wilson. The view adopted in this paper is that the radiation from a black body is an irregular dis- turbance subject to statistical laws. It is shown that these laws can be deduced from the distribution of energy in the spectrum, and that they enable the character of the disturbance to be described. The disturbance at any instant is taken to be the sum of the displacements in the infinite number of simple harmonic vibrations of arbitrary phases which are obtained when the radiation is dispersed into a spectrum. Expressions are found for the chances that the displacement and its derivatives lie between given limits. These expressions enable the average number of zero values per cm. of the displacement and its derivatives to be calculated. The distribution of maxima and minima is estimated, and a curve has been drawn having approximately the statistical properties deduced. The mean wave-length (A’) of the radiation is defined as 2/n,, where n, is the average number of zeros per cm. in the displacement curve. If A,, denotes the wave-length in the spectrum at which the energy is a maximum, it is shown that A’/A,=2:5. It is shown that the number of maxima and minima is about double the number of zero values and about half the number of points of inflection in the curve.—The flight of a rifled projectile in air: Dr: J- B: Henderson. The problem is attacked from first principles simply as a case of a moving rotating body meeting with certain resistances due to the air, and it is found that all the known phenomena are accounted for by the precessional motions of the shot, due to the tilting and friction couples which arise from the obliquity of the axis of the projectile to the direction of motion. The complete trajectory in all its details can be thus constructed from the initial condi- tions and the laws of resistance so soon as these are 58 NATURE | Marcu £1, 19¢9 known. By assuming laws of resistance, the details of portions of trajectories are sketched by the traces which the direction of the axis of the shot and the direction of motion would leave on the celestial sphere. Mr. Mallock has also studied the physical phenomena of a moving pro- jectile from the same point of view in a paper on ranges and behaviour of rifled projectiles in air (Proc. Roy. Soc., June 6, 1907), and the two interpretations of the pheno- mena agree in their common portion. Mr. Mallock’s object, however, is to obtain an expression for the drift of the projectile, which he does by assuming that the axis follows the tangent to the trajectory. The present paper is concerned with the details of the motion, the deviations of the axis from the tangent, and with the method by which the axis approximately follows, on the average, the tangent to the trajectory. It is found that in the details lies the explanation of the horizontal and vertical ‘‘ drifts.”’ —The cross-breeding of two races of the moth Acidalia virgularia: Louis B. Prout and A. Bacot. The authors undertook extensive systematic breeding experiments with the geometrid moth Acidalia virgularia (Hiibner) with the view of ascertaining whether there were any ‘‘ Mendelian ”’ behaviour discoverable in the cross-pairing of two well- marked local races, the dark London form and a white form from the south of France (Hyéres). Between the years 1906 and 1908, ten generations were bred and analysed, the number of specimens being between 5000 and 6000. In each generation the two pure strains were maintained, and cross-pairings obtained between them, and many of the hybrids were also carried on to the succeeding generations, although some failed at one point or another. The results were entirely negative so far as Mendelian segregation is concerned. Hybrids of the first generation presented a facies intermediate between those of the parent stocks, and seldom varying materially. Their offspring, and the succeeding generations, showed usually a greater variability and a tendency—though indefinite and un- systematic—to revert to, or towards, the original pure forms, but the intermediate or hybrid forms were scarcely ever “bred out,’? and intergrades from one extreme to the other were so gentle that attempts to sort out hybrid broods into “‘ darks’ and ‘‘ lights’ gave only the merest approximations. A few selected pairings, e.g. of light x light ex hybrid, resulted in the recovery of nearly pure strains, so far as it was possible to test them, but nothing peculiar to any special theory of heredity was deducible from them. The authors consider that the behaviour of this hybridisation is confirmatory of that of certain races of Lasiocampa quercus, on which Mr. Bacot had earlier experimented (Entomologist’s Record, vol. xiii.), namely, that the bringing together of geographically separated races may be expected to result in the production of blends, and that it will therefore be necessary, in order to obtain segregation of the parental forms in a hybrid race, to pair aberrations inhabiting the same geographical area, where it may be assumed that natural selection has, for some reason, virtually eliminated the intermediates. All the recorded instances of this Mendelian segregation with which the authors are acquainted among the Lepidoptera are of this latter class, the forms the pairing of which has produced it being well-defined “‘ aberrations ’’ in the sense in which that word is used by Staudinger, e.g. Triphaena comes with ab. curtisii, Nanthorhoé ferrugata with ab. unidentaria, Abraxas grossulariata with ab. varleyata, Callimorpha dominula with ab. rossica, &c. Some. in- cidental observations on the inheritance of some minor characters in the wing-markings, or, in one strain, of manifest 9 sex-predominance, are noted as probably worthy of further attention, though outside the scope of the present Inquirv. March 4.—Sir Archibald P ; ; Geikie, K.C.B., president, in the chair.—The presence of hem-ageglutinins, ham- opsonins, and hzemo-lysins in the blood obtained from infectious and non-infectious diseases in man, second re- port L. S. Dudgeon. Haemo-lysins.—It was found that the blood in fourteen cases of typhoid fever showed hzemo on nine occasions. Those instances in which hemoly » occurred when the immune serum was added to normal red cells terminated fatally. In cases this . e the remaining action was demonstrated when normal serum NO. 2054, VOL. 80] was added to the immune red cells. Auto-hzmolysis was proved twice, once during an attack of paroxysmal hamo- globinuria; the other case was tertiary syphilis. Iso- hemolysis was found several times when normal serum was added to immune red cells, less frequently with immune serum added to normal erythrocytes. Haem- agglutinins.—Auto-agglutination was an extremely rare phenomenon. In one instance spontaneous and auto- agglutination occurred. In this case auto-hemolysis was also proved. Further experience has shown that iso- agglutination occurs in normal blood, but not auto- agglutination. Hemolytic agglutinins are present when- ever hamo-lysins can be demonstrated. The specificity of hem-agglutinins has been proved, and the absolute specificity of bacterial and hawm-agglutinins has been completely demonstrated. The agglutination resulting from the interaction of a serum and certain red cells could be completely prevented by previously saturating this serum with the heated (60° C. for one hour) specific red cells. Saturation of the serum with melanin failed to produce any effect. Phagocytosis —Hzmo-phagocytosis was often well marked. The phenomenon usually resulted from the interaction of immune red cells, normal serum, and normal leucocytes. Hzmo-lysins, agglutinins, and opsonins might be present together in a certain sample of serum, or the opsonins and agglutinins together, or opsonins singly. Usually, the agglutinins and opsonins had a distinct relationship.—The influence of glucosides on the growth of acid-fast bacilli, with a new method of isolating human tubercle bacilli directly from tuberculous material contaminated with other micro-organisms, pre- liminary note: F. W. Twort. This investigation was undertaken to test the action of acid-fast bacilli on the glucosides and to see how far any fermentation reactions obtained would differ with the various strains of human and bovine tubercle bacilli tested, and also to obtain, if possible, a better medium on which to isolate and grow tubercle bacilli. In all, forty-three glucosides were tested with acid-fast bacilli, including human and bovine tubercle bacilli, but there was no evidence of fermentation with any of the glucosides. One glucoside, ericolin, was found to kill off a large number of species of micro-organisms, especially bacilli of the Colon group and various cocci, but had very little effect on the acid-fast group of bacilli. By means of this glucoside the isolation of tubercle bacilli directly from human sputum contaminated with other organisms becomes quite easy. The glucoside should be made up with distilled water in a 2 per cent. solution; a lump of sputum is then placed into a test-tube containing the ericolin and placed at 38° C. for three-quarters of an hour to one hour; subcultures are then made on to Dorset’s egg medium, and pure growths of tubercle bacilli will be obtained in fourteen to twenty-eight days; the tubes are sometimes contaminated with a few other organisms, chiefly tiny colonies of Streptococci and slow- growing colonies of organisms of the Streptothrix group, but they are so few that they in no way interfere with the tubercle colonies, which can be easily subcultured.— The effect of heat upon the electrical state of living tissues : Dr. A. D: Watler. Method.—The tissue—muscle, nerve, or skin—is led off to the galvanometer by two electrodes, A, B. Warmth is applied by brief glow of a platinum wire under (not in contact with) A or B. Results are as follows :— 1 BR I. Muscle <_—— oS Heat > < Excitation Il. Nerve <- —_ Heat > —<— Excitation IlI. Skin — ~_ Heat ~< > Excitation Tne arrows under A and B indicate the direction of currents in the tissue in response to local warmth or local excitation at A and at B respectively, :e.g. if muscle led off at A and B to the galvanometer is heated at B, there is current in the galvanometer from B to A, in the muscle from A to B, as indicated by the first arrow under B. The local skin-currents both to heat and to excitation are of reverse direction to those of muscle (and of nerve), Marcu 11, 1909] NATURE 59 e.g. if skin, led off by electrodes A and B applied to its external surface, is warmed at B there is a current in the galvanometer from A to B (‘‘ ingoing ’”’ current at B, or B “‘ negative”’ to A). If it is excited at B there is current in the galvanometer from B to A. (“ outgoing ”’ current at B, or B “ positive ’’ to A). The internal surface is ineffective. Both surfaces of scalded skin are in- effective. _ Conclusion.—In muscle (and in nerve) where the electrical effect of local excitation is ‘‘ negative,’’ the effect of moderate heat is ‘‘ positive.’’ In the skin where the electrical effect of local excitation is ‘‘ positive,’’ the effect of moderate heat is ‘‘ negative.’’ Excessive heat, producing injury, gives a “‘ negative ’’ effect in muscle (and nerve), a “ positive ’’ effect in the skin. Thus in all three cases—muscle, nerve, and skin—the electrical effect of moderate heat is of the opposite sign to that of excitation. Royal Microscopical Society, February 17.—Sir E. Ray Lankester, K.C.B., F.R.S., president, in the chair.—The “red snow” plant (Sphaerella nivalis): Dr. G. S. West. —A German-silver portable microscope made by Powell in 1850: A. A. C. E. Merlin.—The measurement of very minute microscopic objects: E. M. Nelson.—The trans- formation of certain insects: F. Emock.—The fresh-water Crustacea of Algeria: Mr. Gurney. EDINBURGH. Royal Society, February 15.—Prof. A. Gray, F.R.S., vice-president, in the chair.—The electromotive force of iodine concentration cells with one electrode saturated with iodine: Principal A. P. Laurie. The- paper dealt with the question as to what was the distribution between iodine ions and I, ions in saturated solutions of iodine and potassium iodide, the strength of the latter being in- creased up to normal. This was determined by measuring the electromotive force of iodine concentration cells with a known and very small quantity of iodine- round one electrode and a saturated solution of iodine round the other, the potassium iodide being of the same strength in both cases. With the view of correcting the error due to contact electromotive force between KI, and KI, an inter- mediate solution of ten normal ammonium nitrate was introduced. The results show that up to a strength of normal potassium iodide there are no higher polyiodides formed beyond KI,, the increasing solubility of iodine being due to an alteration in the ratio of the dissociation of I, into 1, and I.—The magnetic properties of certain copper alloys: A, D. Ross and R. C. Gray. The paper was an investigation of the effects on magnetic quality of anneal- ing, quenching, baking, and liquid-air tests on manganese- aluminium bronzes, in which the relative proportion of manganese and aluminium was constant, while the content of copper varied. Comparison was made with similar effects in manganese, manganese bronze, manganese steel, aluminium bronzes, and very pure copper. It was shown that the effects obtained in Heusler’s alloy present a sug- gestive similarity to those in free copper.—Some low- temperature experiments in magnetism:. J. G. Gray and Hugh Higgins. According to Dewar and Fleming, a specimen of steel when magnetised to saturation at room temperature, and then cooled ‘and warmed alternately between —190° C. and 5° C., arrived at a reversible con- dition in which its magnetic moment at —r190° was greater than its magnetic moment at 5°. In the present paper the specimen was magnetised at —190° and subjected thereafter to the same treatment. The reversible condition was arrived at after the first warming, and the percentage increase then brought about by cooling was much greater than that which held for the specimen when magnhetised at the room temperature.—Lagrange’s equations of motion and elementary solutions of gyrostatic problems: Prof. A. Gray. The first part of the paper was a new dis- cussion of the difficulties in applying Lagrange’s equations to what are known as non-holonomic systems. The modified form of the equations which can be applied was given. The elementary solutions depended upon the generalisation of a theorem the fundamental nature of which could be indicated by the rule that the normal force on a particle moving in a circle was equal to the wpe multiplied by the angular speed of the radius vector. NO. 2054, VOL. 80] Paris. Academy of Sciences, March 1.—M. Emile Picard in the chair.—The supposed effect of crystallisation for modifying the properties of the solution of a body result- ing from the direct union of two solutions: D. Gernez. The author has repeated an old experiment, according to which a solution of the double tartrate of sodium and ammonium, or of sodium and potassium, possesses a different rotatory power according as the substance has been crystallised out or not. This result is not confirmed ; the rotatory power of the mixed tartrates is not affected by crystallisation, followed by subsequent solution.—A physico-chemical method of sterilising in the cold and at a distance: A. Billon-Daguerre. The ultra-violet rays from an are lamp kill Staphylococcus pyogenes aureus in five or six seconds.—The monogenic function of a hyper- complex variable in a commutative group: Léon Autonne. —The hypothesis of positive electrons. Reply to the note of A. Dufour: Jean Becquerel. The experiment described by Dufour is not a repetition of the one given by the author. While not supposing that the hypothesis of positive electrons is the only one capable of explaining the observed facts, it is worthy of consideration, since it coordinates and explains a number of magneto-optic phenomena.—Mole- cular volumes, densities, and atomic weights: A. Leduc. From the formula given in a previous paper the densities (oxygen taken as unity) of twenty gases are calculated, and the calculated numbers compared with the experi- mental figures The atomic weights deduced from these figures (O=16) are:—H=1-0075, N=14-005, C=12-004, Cl=35-463, and S=32-072.—Equilibria between the liquid and solid phases in the mixture NaCl+H,O. The fusion of snow: Camille Matignon. The complete curve for the lowering of the melting point by the addition of NaCl is given. The eutectic mixture contains 30-7 per cent. of salt, and solidifies at —21°-3.—The determination of some physical constants of the peptones: L. Lematte and A. Savés. The peptones used contained 16-8 per cent. of nitrogen and 0-756 per cent. of chlorine as HCl. Solutions of concentrations between 0-9 per cent. and 10 per cent. of peptones were examined for freezing point, density, and refractive index, and the results given in a table.-—The action of gaseous hydrochloric acid on amor- phous silicon: A. Besson and L. Fournier. In_ this reaction the authors have isolated two new _ products, SiH,Cl (boiling point about —10°). and SiH,Cl. (boiling point about +12°).—The ammoniacal iridium sulphates : Marcel Delépine.—The action of carbon monoxide upon chromium, nickel, manganese, their oxides and alloys: Georges Charpy. At 1000° C. nickel is practically with- out action on carbon monoxide; manganese gives a mix- ture of MnO and carbon, and chromium resembles manganese, but the action is slower.—Researches on the occluded gases contained in some common metals: B. Delachanal. The metals examined were aluminium, magnesium, zine, tin, spongy platinum, platinum foil, and platinum-iridium. Analyses of the gases evolved are given. —The condensation of the mesoxalic esters with aromatic hydrocarbons: A. Guyot and G. Estéva. The condensa- tion of mesoxalic esters with benzene and its derivatives under the action of sulphuric acid takes place in two stages, an aryl-tartronic ester, X.C(OH).(CO,R),, being first formed, and then a diaryl-malonic ester, X,.C(CO,R),. Numerous preparations are described showing the gener- ality of the method.—Elaterine and some of its derivatives : A. Berg.—The action of semicarbazide on chlorinated aldehydes: André Kling.—New very sensitive reactions for the detection and identification of glycerol: Georges Denigés. The glycerol is oxidised by bromine water to dioxyacetone, and application made of the various colour tests described in a previous note.—The experimental pro- duction of white and black tubercles, starting with seeds of pink radish: Marin Molliard.—The antagonism of sodium and calcium citrates in the working of the heart and its moderating nerve apparatus: H. Busquet and V. Pachon.—The course of the oxidation and hydrolysis of starch and its consti‘uents under the action of hydrogen peroxide: Mme. Z. Gatin-Gruzewski. There are distinct differences between the modes of transformation of amylose and amylopectin by diastases and by hydrogen 60 NATROL [Marcu 11, 1909 peroxide.—The action of light upon milk to which potassium bichromate has been added: A. Gascard. Milk samples to which potassium bichromate has been added as a preservative keep much better in the dark.— The sterilisation of milk by the ultra-violet rays: Victor Henri and G. Stodel. By the use of quartz mercury lamps milk can. be completely sterilised in the cold.— Relations between the mode of development of Tetra- corallia and that of MHexacorallia: L. Faurot.—The voleano of Eglazines, Aveyron: G. Fabre.—The modifi- cations of the coast of Poitou: the comparison with other points of the shore of the Atlantic Ocean: M. Welsch. The variations of the distribution of the atmospheric pressure at the surface of the globe: Henryk Arctowski. —The laws of the distribution of temperature with height at different latitudes and under different meteorological conditions: L. Teisserenc de Bort. DIARY OF SOCIETIES. THURSDAY, Marcu 11. Royat Society, at 4.30.—Note on the Stability «f Jacobi’s Ellipsoid: Sir George H. Darwin, K.C.B., F.R.S.—On the Wave-lenzths of Lines in the Secondary Spectrum of Hydrogen : H. F. Watson.—The Measure- ment of Dielectric Constants by the Oscillations of Ellipsoids and Cylinders in a Field of Force: Prof. W. M. Thornton. Rovat InstiTuTION, at 3.—Recent Advances in Agricultural Science: A. D. Hall. MaTHEMATICAL Society, at 5.30.—The Kinetic Image of a Convected Electric System in a Conducting Plane Sheet: Prof. J. Larmor.—On an Integral Equation: G, H. Hardy.—The Transformation of the Electro- dynamical Equations and the Laws of Motion: H. Rateman.—The Transformation of the Electrodynamic Equations of Moving Bodies: E. Cunningham. {nsvITUTION OF ELEcTRICAI. ENGINEERS, at 8.—The Dielectric Strength of Compressed Air: E. A. Watson. FRIDAY, Marcu 12. Roya InstituTION, at 9.—Modern Submarine Telegraphy : S. G. Brown. PuysicaL Society, at 8.—The Effect of Radiations on the Brush Dis- charge: A. E. Garrett.—On Pirani's Method of Measuring the Self- inductance of a Coil: E. C. Snow.—Exhibition of a High Potential Primary Battery: W. S. Tucker.—On the Jeast Moment of Inertia of an Angle Bar Section: H. S. Rowell. Mavacotoaicat Society, at 8.—Description of a New Species of Oliva from the Andaman Islands: F. G. Bridgman.—Notes on the Genera Cypreea and Trivia: H. O. N. Shaw.—On the Shell Mound at Sidon; On the Habitat of Certain Species of Clausilia from the Coast of Syria: Rev. H. A. Cooke.—Notes on the Species of Cyclophorus found at Hong Kong : Staff-Surgeon K. H. Jones, R.N.—On the “ Conchological Ilustra- tions,” by G. B. Sowerby, jun., and the ‘ Descriptive Catalogue of Shells,” by J. E. Gray: C. Davies Sherborn.—On the Date of Issue of Sowerby’s “‘ Conchological Illustrations” : H. O. N. Shaw. Roya AstTRoNnomIcaL SociETy, at 5.—Observations of the Partial Eclipse of the Sun, 1908 December 23, at Natal Observatory : E. Nevill.—Note on Mr. Franks's Analysis of the Colours and Magnitudes of 3630 Stars : Julia Bell.—The Brightness of Saturn, with Ring Invisible : ees Baldwin.—Radial Movement of Sun-spots: J. Evershed.—On the Data employed in Oppolzer’s Canon der Finsternisse: E.'Nevill —Comparison of the Ancient Eclipses of the Sun with Modern Elements of the Moon’s Motion : Simon Newcomb.—On Correlationand the Characters of Variable Stars: in reply to Prof. Karl. Pearson: H. C. Plummer.—The Recent Pendulum Observations in India : Major Lenox-Conyngham.—On the Relation between the Period and Density of the Algol Variables: Rev. je Stein.—On a Chinese Planisphere: E. B. Knobel.—Qccultations of Planets by the Moon in rgo9, visible at British Observatories : A. M. W. Downing.—Note on the Regnal Years in the Elephantine Papyri: J. K. Fortheringham.—Some Notes on Aberration: Prof. H. H. Turner. SATURDAY, Marcu 13. Royat InsTITUTION, at 3.—Properties of Matter: F.R.S; MONDAY, Marcu ts. Victrorta INSTITUTE, at 4.30.—Legislations of Israel and Babylonia: H. M. Wiener. TUESDAY, Marcu 16. Royar InstiTuTIoN, at 3.—The Evolution of the Brain as an Organ of Mind: Prof. F. W. Mott, F.R.S. Roya SociEty OF ARTS, at 4.30.—The Colonial Wool Trade: S. Bank Hollings. ZooLoaicaL Society, at 8.30.—Grouse-Disease Committee Reports: (a) Ectoparasites of the Grouse ; (4) The Thread-worms (Nematoda) of the Red Grouse (Tetrao scoticus); (c) The Tape-worms (Cestoda) of the =. Appendix: Parasites of Birds allied to the Grouse: Dr. A. E. F.R.S.—On a Fossil Bird from the Lower Pliocene: W. P. —On a Collection of Mammals from Western Java, presented to tional Museum by Mr. W. E. Balston: Oldfield Thomas, F.R.S., Sir J. J. Thomson, and R. C, Wroughton. Rovav SratisticaL Society, at 5s Institution or Civi. ENGINEERS, at 8.—Further discussion : Concrete and Masonry Dam Construction in New South Wales: L. A. B. Wade. WEDNESDAY, Marcu 17. at 8.—The Musical Aspect of Drums: Gabriel ArTs, OLOGICAL SOCIETY, at 7.30.—Wind Waves in Water, Sand, Vaughan Cornish. NO. 2054, VOL. 80] t Royat Microscoricat Society, at 8.—The Optical Examination of a Crystal Section in a Rock Slice: Dr. J. W. Evans. ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY, at 8. THURSDAY, Marcu 18. Royat Society, at 4.30.—Probable Papers: An Attempt to Detect some Electro-optical Effects: Prof. H. A. Wilson, F.R.S.—On the Influence of their State in Solution on the Absorption Spectra of Dissolved Dyes: Dr. ae Sheppard.—The Ferments and Latent Life of Resting Seeds: Jean White. Roya. InstiruTIoN, at 3.—Recent Advances in Agricultural Science: A. D. Hall. Linnean Society, at 8.—The Dry-rot of Potatoes: Miss Sibyl Longman. —The Structure and Affinities of Dawidia involucrata, Baill. ; A. Horne. INSTITUTION OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Experiments upon the Forces acting on Twist-drills when operating on Cast-iron and Steel: D. Smith and R. Poliakoff. FRIDAY, Marcu 19. Royvat InstiTuTIon, at 9.—Experiments at High Temperatures and Pres- sures; Richard Threlfall, F.R.S. InstiTUTION OF Civil. ENGINEERS, at 8.—Some Aspects of Chemical Engineering: C. J. Guttmann. SATURDAY, March 20. Ree at 3.—Properties of Matter: Sir J. J. Thomson, F.R CONTENTS. ModerniGeography . < -u-meeeenrenre. oan A Handbook of Inorganic Chemistry ....... 32 Mechanical Engineering. By T. H. B. .: . . > = 33 Biology for leachers. -BysOMHielos. |) 5s) een Our Book Shelf :— Fisher: ‘‘ Schlich’s Manual of Forestry” . ... 35 Rolleston: ‘‘ Parallel Paths: a Study in Biology, Ethics, and Art.”"—J. A. T. . . . Ae AG Hardy: ‘‘ A Course of Pure Mathematics.,—M. .. 36 Farrington: ‘‘Clay Modelling in Manual Training from Plan, Elevation and Section”; ‘‘Clay Modelling in Manual Training. Scholars’ Hand- (foe) ee EAC <5 fa"i60 oUGEEMBE open at ‘* Handbook to the Technical and Art Schools and Colleges of the United Kingdom” ........ 36 Letters to the Editor :— Ionisation in the Atmosphere.—Prof. A.S. Eve . 36 The Absorption of X-Rays.—Dr. C, G. Barkla and CrAtiSadler: |... 2 Eerie ersmerss: ts ue. Lupe The Rays of Uranium X.—Frederick Soddy ... 37 Are the Senses ever Vicarious?—Prof. John G. McKendrick, F.R.S. 6 Bricks eee : 2 ets The Zoological Position of Tarsius.—Prof. G. Elliot Smith, F.R.S. . . . Gt. oh PSC is Hh. She! Number of Molecules in Unit Volume of a Gas.— PpGhose, 8) 2 i ei ac cs es An Electromagnetic Problem.—Prof. D. F. Com- stock; Norman R. Campbell ........ 39 The Production of Prolonged Apncea in Man.—Dr. H.M. Vernon... - 39 Moral Superiority among Birds.—A. R. Horwood . 40 The Dryness of Winter (1908-9).—Alex. B. MacDowall . . : es PUR eee tes hire 2242) Is there a Vertical Magnetic Force in a Cyclone ?— epR--Ashworth) HO.CH:CH, —> HO.CH:CH.OH _———— Free C,H,+H,O \ 2CH,0=2CO+2H, {ac +H,+H.Of In a sufficient supply of oxygen, the transition from the original hydrocarbon to the dihydroxy state is probably so rapid that no breaking down of the ethylenic structure occurs in passing through the initial monohydroxy stage. Indeed, it is conceivable that under the extreme conditions of detonation the passage from o to 2 may be effected in a single molecular impact. The dihydroxy derivative would at once break down into carbon monoxide and hydrogen, via formaldehyde. But when the oxygen supply is reduced below the equi- molecular proportion, it is evident that the initial mono- hydroxy derivative cannot all be oxidised to the dihydroxy stage; some of it would, therefore, decompose partly into acetylene and steam and partly also into carbon, hydrogen, and .steam, together with some methane. In a similar manner the combustion of ethane would involve the rapid passage through ethyl alcohol to acetalde- hyde, and steam, with subsequent decomposition of the aldehyde into carbon, hydrogen, methane, and carbonic oxide, with the proviso that a reduction of the oxygen supply below the equimolecular proportion would bring about in some measure the decomposition of the alcohol into ethylene and steam, &c., at stage 1. o I H,C.CH, —> CH,.CH,OH —> CH,CH(OH); —_— SS { C,H,+ H,O CH;.CHO+H,0O 2C+2H,+H,O SS f {CHF COD i} (C+2H,+COJs But the cases of ethane and ethylene are typical of all other hydrocarbons, so that it may be said that, in general, the mechanism of explosive combustion involves (1) the initial formation and subsequent decomposition of hydroxyl- ated (or ‘* oxygenated ’’) molecules; (2) in a_ sufficient supply of oxygen, the independent oxidation of the decom- position products ; (3) in an insufficient oxygen supply, the subsequent breaking down of unsaturated hydrocarbons, interactions between carbon and steam, or between oxides of carbon, hydrogen, and steam, the final system depend- ing on the amount of available oxygen, the temperature of the flame, and the rate of cooling. Experiment V.—The influence of different rates of cool- ing of the flame on the final system may be illustrated by firing an equimolecular mixture of ethane and oxygen in two glass vessels having approximately the same volume but widely different surface areas. For this purpose I have selected (1) a tube about 1 metre long and 2 cm. internal diameter, and (2) a globe of 8-5 cm. internal diameter. Both these vessels have the same volume (about 300 c.c.), but the surface area of the tube is very nearly three times that of the globe. It is therefore to be ex- pected that, in consequence of the more rapid cooling of the flame, there will be a greater accumulation of the primary combustion products in the case of the tube experiment. On comparing the results of the two ex- plosions, it is at once evident that more water and less carbon have been produced in the case of the tube; more- over, the pressure ratio p,/p, is 1-45, as compared with about 1-75 in the globe experiment, and an examination of the products would show that the lower ratio is accounted for by the much greater survival of acetylene, ethylene, and aldehydic products in the tube experiment. These facts, which are set forth in the following table, are in complete harmony with the hydroxylation theory. Experiment VI.—The experiments I have so far shown you refer more particularly to the initial period of ‘‘ in- flammation” in explosive combustion, that is to say, to the conditions ordinarily prevailing in hydrocarbon flames. The question may be asked whether or not the views I have advanced are applicable: to the extreme conditions of : detonation ” or of explosions under high initial pressures. This question can best be answered by a consideration of NO. 2055, VOL. 80] NATURE [Marcu 18, 1909 the behaviour of an equimolecular mixture of ethane and oxygen under these extreme conditions. Inflammation of an Equimoleculay Mixture of Ethane and Oxygen. A B oe In Long Tube In Large Globe A 701 mm. 685 mm. i 1018 ,, 1187 ,, Prlhy 1°45 | 1°73 g CO; 4°20 3°40 S Ae CO 34°80 36°10 ese C,H, 5700) : ESS CoH, 2°65? 85 } tots Osh (ey, 8°85 7°25 xs Ay 44°50 53°05 Cc H oO (0) H oO Original mixture. | 694 | 1041 | 354 | 678 | 1017 | 346 Gaseous products | 643 738 | 220 | 558 805 | 255 Difference. .| 51 303 | 134 | 120 212 gr ¥, Difference 76 29 | 378] 18 207 2765 It is difficult to set. up detonation in this mixture; the gases must he fired at an initial pressure of about 13 atmo- spheres in a stout leaden coil of about 1-inch internal diameter. Even then it is necessary to start the explosion wave in a special firing piece containing electrolytic gas under pressure. I therefore regret that, owing to the special arrangements requisite for success, it is not possible to make the experiment to-night. I will, however, carry out an experiment on the explosion of the gases at an initial pressure of 15 atmospheres. The cylindrical steel bomb on the table is part of an apparatus recently installed in the fuel and metallurgical laboratories of the University of Leeds for investigations on gaseous explosions under high pressures. The bomb is about a foot long with an external diameter of 4 inches, and the central cylindrical explosion chamber is 8 inches long by 1 inch in diameter. It has been tested by hydraulic pressure up to 1000 atmospheres, and has been repeatedly used for experiments with mixtures of hydrocarbons and oxygen at initial pressures of as much as 4o atmospheres. The bomb is now connected, through a valve at the top, with a standard Bourdon gauge, and contains an equi- molecular mixture of ethane and oxygen at a pressure of 15-8 atmospheres. The valve will now be closed, and the mixture fired by means of an electrical arrangement in the special firing piece. ; All that is audible of the explosion is a sharp click, and on opening the valve connecting with the gauge again the final pressure of the cold products of explosion is re- corded. After applying the necessary correction for the ‘““dead space’’-in the -gauge connections, the final ““ corrected’? pressure is as nearly as possible 30-8 atmo- spheres, corresponding to a ratio p,/p,=1-93-. I would now direct your attention to the tabulated results of a’ similar bomb experiment carried out a few weeks ago at Leeds at an initial pressure of 25 atmospheres, and also at the same time to those of another experiment in which the gases were detonated in a lead coil at an initial pressure of 13 atmospheres. In both these experiments carbon was deposited, and it is evident also that steam was formed. The ratio p,/p, was as nearly as possible 2-0 instead of the 2-5 required by the theory of the preferential combustion of carbon. Moreover, a notable feature of the results is the presence of as much as 7 per cent. of methane among the products of the experiment at 25 atmospheres; the fact that so much methane survived when all other hydrocarbons were battered to pieces during the explosion (no traces of either acetylene or ethylene being found in the products) is a remarkable testimony to its relatively great stability at the Marcu 18; 1909] NATURE 83 There is no highest temperatures of explosion flames. evidence in these experiments of any real discontinuity between the chemical phenomena of ordinary ‘‘ inflamma- tion’’ and those of ‘‘ detonation.’’ The higher tempera- tures and more violent conditions in ‘‘ detonation’’ are responsible for the more complete breaking down of un- saturated hydrocarbons and a greater ‘‘ unburning’”’ of steam by carbon, but there is probably no difference as regards the mode in which the hydrocarbon is attacked by the oxygen in the two cases. Results of Explosion of an Equimolecular Mixture of Ethane and Oxygen under High Pressures. ae B = eoooeaon ia Lead Explosion in Steel Bomb A 1180 mm. 25°2 atms. po 2240 ,, SL a3 Dolpy 1°90 2°05 g CO, 1°80 2°6 3e (ore) 39°10 : 37°2 e235 C.H. 0°90)... \ . BE : GH; 0°50 J 1°40 J nil Os | 4 7°79 70 ae | ‘Hy 50°00 52°2 ‘ (el Saat fe) c Hal, 20 Original mixture. |1186\1779| 587 mm.| 25°35 38°0 \12°55 atms. Gaseous products |1151/1507| 488 ,, | 24°50 34°6 |11°0 Pe Difference - .| 35] 272} 99 ;; 08s 34] 1°5 | ~— — % Difference . 3} dis} 17. 34 | 9 |12°0 I therefore believe that, so far as our present knowledge goes, the views I have put forward afford a simple and consistent interpretation of | hydrocarbon combustion, whether it be the slow flameless kind discovered by Davy or the more complex phenomena of ordinary flames so wonderfully expounded by him, or, finally, the extreme conditions of temperature and pressure characteristic of the explosion wave. SUPPLEMENTARY LIST OF FORTHCOMING BOOKS OF SCIENCE. N addition to the books referred to in Nature of last week, the following works are announced :— ANTHROPOLOGY. G. Fischer (Jena).—Die palaolithischen Funde von Taubach in den Museen zu Jena und Weimar, Dr. G. Eichhorn, illustrated. Hodder and Stoughton.—New Impressions of Primitive Man, E. Clodd; The British Race, J. Munro. Elliot Stock.—Folk Lore and Folk Stories of Wales, M. Trevelyan, with introduction by E. S. Hartland ; Indian Folk Tales, E. M. Gordon (cheap edition). BroLocy. W. Engelmann (Leipsig).—Geschichte der biologischen Theorien, Prof. E. Radl, 2 Teil; Der Vegetation der Erde, xi. Band, Die Vegetationsverhaltnisse der Balkanlander, Prof. L. Adamovié, illustrated ; xii. Band, Botanical Survey of the United States of North America, Prof. J. W. Harshberger, illustrated; Prantls Lehrbuch der Botanik, new edition, illustrated; WVortrage und Aufsitze iiber Entwicklungsmechanik der Organismen, edited by Prof. W. Roux, vi. Heft, Uber chemische Beeinflussung der Organismen durch einander, Prof. E. Kiister; vii. Heft, Der Restitutionsreiz, Dr. H. Driesch. G. Fischer (Jena). —Recueil des Travaux botaniques Néerlandais, publié par la Société botanique Néerlandaise, vol. iv., illustrated ; Histologische Beitrage, Prof. E. Strasburger, Heft vii., illustrated ; Zoologisches Worterbuch, edited by Prof. H. E. Ziegler, Lief. iii. Hodder and Stoughton.—Germ Life : NO. 2055, VOL. 8o] Bacteria, H. W. Conn. T. Werner Laurie.—The Garden Booklets :—The Rose Garden; The Rock Garden; The Bulb Garden; The Formal Garden; The Water Garden; The Fern Garden. G. Philip and Son, Ltd.—School Gardening, W. E. Watkins and A. Sowman. GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. Hodder and Stoughton.—Camps and Cruises of an Ornithologist, F. M. Chapman, illustrated; The Story of Geographical Discovery, J. Jacob. Hutchinson and Co.— The American Egypt: a Record of a Sojourn in Yucatan and other Parts of Mexico, C. Arnold and F. J. Frost, illustrated. G. Philip and Son, Ltd.—A Guide to Geo- graphical Books and Appliances, J. F. Unstead and N. E. MacMunn, edited by A. J. Herbertson; A Rational Geo- graphy, E. Young, part ii.; Our Own Islands, H. J. Mackinder; and a new edition of L’Estrange’s Junior Course 6f Comparative Geography, revised and entirely re- arranged, with maps in black and white. GEOLOGY. W. Engelmann (Leipzig).—Das Salz, dessen Vorkommen und Verwertung in sdémtlichen Staaten der Erde, Dr. J. Buschman, 2 vols. MATHEMATICAL AND PHySICAL SCIENCE. W. Engelmann (Letpztg).—Tafeln fiir Maschinenrechnen, Prof. O. Lohse. Harper Brothers—The Ether of Space, Sir Oliver J. Lodge, F.R.S. T. Werner Laurie.—Every- day Electricity, F. Broadbent, illustrated; Everyday Astronomy, H. P. Hollis, illustrated. TT. Murby and Co.—Hobbs’s_ Electrical Measurements (new _ edition). G. Philip and Son, Ltd.—Practical Elementary Science, T. Samuel and H. Foxcroft, three parts; A Handy Book of the Stars, Captain W. B. Whall (new edition). S. Rentell and Co., Ltd.—New editions of the Telegraphist’s Guide ; The Telegraphist’s and Telephonist’s Notebook; and Questions and Solutions in Telegraphy. and Telephony : being Solutions to the Questions set by the City and Guilds of London Institute in the Ordinary Grades of Telegraphy and Telephony for the Years 1904-8, H. P. Few. MeEpIcAL SCIENCE. W. Engelmann (Letpzig).—Die aphasischen Symptome und ihre corticale Lokalisation, Dr. N. von Mayendorf, illustrated ; Die basedowsche Krankheit, Prof. H. Sattler, 1 Teil, Symptomatologie, illustrated; Anleitung zur Praparation und zum Studium der Anatomie des Gehirns, Dr. E. Villiger. G. Fischer (Jena).—Handbuch der Anatomie des Menschen, Erster Band, Skeletlehre, illus- trated; Landliche Hygiene, Dr. E. Roth, Zwanzigster Band. TECHNOLOGY. W. Engelmann (Leipzig).—Die Gasmaschinen, A. von Jhering, in 2 Teilen, 2 Teil, Geschichtliche Entwicklung und Beschreibung der Gasmaschinen, illustrated; Vorles- ungen iiber Ingenieurwissenschaften, Prof. G. Mehrtens, 1 Teil, Statik der Baukonstruktionen und Festigkeitslehre, Erster Band, illustrated (new edition). MISCELLANEOUS. W. Engelmann (Leipzig).—Die mnemischen Empfind- ungen in ihren Beziehungen zu den Originalempfindungen, Prof. R. Semon (Mneme, ii. Band). Hodder and Stough- ton.—Thought and Feeling, F. Ryland.—The St. Bride’s Press, Ltd.—Lectures on Sanitation, W. D. Scott- Moncrieff; The Polar Planimeter: How it is Used and How it Operates, F. J. Gray. UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE. CampripGe.—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 Cambridge as a member of Emmanuel College in October. The exhibition will be awarded .at the beginning of October. Lonpon.—The governors of the Imperial College of Science have decided to purchase a section of freehold property in Cornwall giving free access to a mine for the 86 practical study of surveying in connection .with the course in mining. Prof. E. W.- McBride, F.R.S., of McGill University, Montreal, has been appointed chief assistant in the zoological department of the college. The title of ‘“ Professor Emeritus ’’ has been conferred upon Prof. Tilden, F.R.S., in recognition of his long services as dean of the Royal College of Science and professor of chemistry. M. Pavut Lancrvin has been appointed professor of general and experimental physics at the Collége de France in succession to the late Prof. Mascart. Tue Scottish Meteorological Society offers for competi- tion among matriculated students or graduates of the four Scottish universities, including University College, Dundee, a prize of 201. for the best essay on a meteorological sub- ject. As an indication of the kind of essay the council is prepared to consider, the following subject is mentioned :— ““A discussion of the extent to which the heat set free when water vapour is converted into the liquid state in- fluences the temperature of the atmosphere, with special reference to. the climatology of different parts of Scotland.’’ An essay on any other subject will, however, be equally eligible. The essays must be lodged with the secretary to the Scottish Meteorological Society, 122 George Street, Edinburgh, on or before March 31, 1910. SEVERAL further gifts to colleges and universities in the United States have been announced. Science states that at the recent commemoration of the founding of Johns Hopkins University, which opened thirty-three years ago, it was reported that the gift of Mr. -Henry. Phipps, of New York, for the psychiatric clinic was considerably in excess of 200,000]. A gift of 40,000]. to the University of Pennsylvania from an anonymous donor has been announced. ‘The sons and daughters of the late Mr. and Mrs. F. C. A. Denkmaann, of Rock Island, Ill., have promised to give a libraty building to Augustana College, Rock Island, the building to cost not less than 20,000l. By the will of Dr. Gordon W. Russell, of Hartford, Trinity College receives 1oool. for the natural history department. and a collection of books on that subject. Tue Estimates for Civil Services for the year ending March 31, 1910, show an increase compared with ~ the grants in the 1908 session. The provision made _ for universities and colleges shows an increase of 15,0001. for university education in Wales, and among increases under the heading “‘ scientific institutions, &c.,’’ are 2o000l. for the National Museum of Wales and 450ol. for the National Library of Wales. ‘A building grant of 20,0001. is made in aid of the building fund of the University College, Bangor. The estimates for the an increase of 60,9861. Board of Education show The total estimates for the British Museum are 127,935/., and for the Natural -History Museum, South Kensington, 60,543/. It is interesting to notice under the estimates for the Board of Education an increase of 23,5501. available for grants for secondary schools and the instruction of pupil» teachers, and of 20,0001. for grants for technical institutions and evening schools. On Friday evening, March 12, at the South-Western Polytechnic Institute, Chelsea, the certificates and prizes were distributed by Dr. H. A. Miers, F.R.S., principal of London University. The principal of the polytechnic read a report which showed that the institute had been very successful in the university and other examinations. After the distribution Dr. Miers delivered an address. He said that twenty years ago he had taken a class in elec- tricity at an evening recreative centre under the old School Board in Chelsea, and he felt on this account that his visit to Chelsea was particularly appropriate. His great- grandfather, Francis Place, also had taken a leading part in founding some of the original polytechnics. He said that the great object of education should be to. stimulate intellectual effort, and he knew no better way than by studies in science and art. In both it was always possible to discover or to produce something. new, ‘provided the student had the seeing eye. He himself had been led to researches and discoveries by chance observations. At’ a lecture at the Royal Institution one of his experiments on crystallisation had acted differently from his expectation, NO. 2055, VOL. 80] NATURE [Marcu 18, 1409 and this: had led him to a year’s successful research. It was the seeing eye, educated. by scientific .study, -which: enabled discoveries to. be made, and the more. alert a‘ student was the more ‘likely he would be able to ‘Seize the opportunity when it came. Many discoveries had beeni made in this way, of ‘which he gave examples. The interest of scientific and artistic studies was to him akin to the sporting. instinct, ‘which: is merely a sense of ex- pectation and curiosity. of what was about to happen. All teachers should try to stimulate the spirit of research. SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES: Lonpon. Royal Society, January 14:—‘“‘On the Velocity of the Kathode Rays ejected by Substances exposed to the y Rays of Radium.’’ By-R. D.-Kleeman. Communicated by Sir J. J. Thomson, F.R.S. Part of the kathode radiation from a plate “exposed to the y rays of radium consists of very soft rays which are absorbed in 1 cm. or 2 cm. of air. The softness of the radiation is practically independent of the thickness of the radiator, and previous sifting of the y rays through a thick screen. The radiation appears to be considerably softer on the side of the radiating plate where the y rays emerge than on the side where they | jenter. : Measurements of the softness of the radiation for radiators of different materials on the side where the y rays entered showed that it is practically independent of the nature of the material of the radiator. . The soft radiation produced by the B ‘and vy, rays of radium together is of a more penetrating character than that produced by the y rays alone. The penetrating kathode rays produced directly by the y rays have been shown to possess different velocities. It was found that the penetrating power of the kathode radiation from a plate decreases with the increase of absorbability of the y radiation which produces it. ; The velocity of these secondary rays asa whole is, as a first approximation, equal to that of the B rays of, radium. , 4 March 11.—Sir Archibald Geikie, K.C.B., president, in the chair.—Note on the stability of Jacobi’s ellipsoid :, Sir, G. H. Darwin.—The wave-lengths of. lines in the secondary spectrum of hydrogen: H. E, Watson. A great, deal of work has been done by numerous investigators, with the object of discovering the causes which produce two ~hydrogen- spectra,—the~ view for which there appears to be -most- evidence being that the primary spectrum arises from atomic hydrogen, and the secondary spectrum from molecular hydrogen. On the other hand, information as to the: wave-lengths of the lines is very scanty, the only measurements: of the red and yellow lines being those of Hasselberg about the year 1883. The results are based on Angstrém’ s scale, and were made with a prism spectro- scope, so that they are not very trustworthy... As it seemed. highly important to have accurate information on the subject owing to the frequent necessity of eliminating hydrogen lines from a spectrum, the present work was undertaken. About 800 of the lines in the spectrum were measured by means of a Rowland concave grating, the error in the case of the stronger lines being probably not greater than 0-03 Angstrém-unit. Many of. the lines are very. weak, and can barely be photographed even with prolonged exposures. No lines have been detected which’ are less refrangible than the C line, and very few appear to exist beyond the theoretical limit of the primary series according to Balmer’s formula. In fact, of those which were seen in this position, the majority appear to be due to water-vapour, and it does not seem unlikely that the remaining ones are not due to: hydrogen. A remarkable feature is an apparently continuous spectrum, which extends. from. the extreme ultra-violet almost to the visible region. A list is also given of the wave-lengths of thirty- three’ mercury lines which were seen in the spectrum, and measured ‘with particular care in two orders.—The measurement of dielectric constants by the oscillations of ellipsoids. and’ cylinders in a ficld of force:' W.-M Thornton. The method used was to suspend by a quartz Marcu 18, 1909] NATURE 87 fibre in an alternating field of force very accurately formed ellipsoids or cylinders of the substance to be tested. The field had an intensity of about 300 volts per cm., and made sinuous alternations at a frequency of 80 a second. The polarisation couple upon the specimen was found by measuring the periods of small swings with and without the field. From these, and the dimensions of the body, the dielectric constant was calculated. The values so found for quartz and flint-glass ellipsoids, carefully made by Messrs. Hilger, agree to one part in a thousand with those calculated by the Sellmeier-Ketteler formula from optical data, and with Hopkinson’s values for glass. Sub- stances which could be moulded were formed in a split lead mould, using a steel ellipsoid, also by Hilger, as a matrix. In order that cylindrical specimens could be used, the longitudinal reaction coefficient N was found for a series of cylinders of known dielectric constants. Liquids were measured by enclosing them in thin paper cylinders suspended in a saddle of silk thread. The air in the test- ing vessel was thoroughly dried over phosphoric anhydride, and the drying was continued in each case until the period reached a steady value. Quite invisible traces of moisture on the surface of the specimens caused them to behave as conductors, and in the case of water the conductivity of the surface masked the polarisation effect completely. The following values were obtained :—Quartz, parallel to optic axis, 4-606; perpendicular to axis, 4-548. Flint-glass, A=4-65, 10:64; A=4-12, 8-52; A=3-30, 698. Paraffin Wax, 2-32. Beeswax, 4-75. Shellac, 2-49. Sealing wax, 4°56. Gutta-percha, 4-43. Chatterton’s compound, 3-98. Ebonite, 2-79. Amber, 2-80. Ivory, 6.90. Canada balsam, 2-72. Resin, 3-09. India-rubber, 3-08. Sulphur, 4-03. Olive oil, 3-16. Heavy paraffin oil, A=o-885, 2-55. Linnean Society, February 18.—Dr. D. H. Scott, F.R.S., president, in the chair; afterwards Lieut.-Colonel Prain, C.I.E., F.R.S., vice-president.—Alternation of generations in plants: discussion opened by Dr. W. H. Lang. After some introductory remarks and reference to some examples of well-marked alternation of generations, and the nuclear difference between the two generations, the author adduced the ontogeny of organisms without alternation of genera- tions, the concept of a specific cell corresponding to each specific form. The concept of the specific cell must be applied to organisms with alternation; the bodies of the two alternating individuals in the life-history may be similar or dissimilar. Two alternative explanations of the differences between the two generations in the complete life-history were stated :—(a) that the differences are due to the different state of the specific cell in the spore and zygote respectively; (b) that they are due to different environmental conditions acting on equivalent germ-cells. The mode of reproduction—sexuality or spore-production— appears to be necessarily associated with the state—haploid or diploid—of the specific cell. While the possibility of the different states of the specific cell in the spore and zygote having some causal influence on the difference of the resulting individuals must be borne in mind, it is sug- gested that this ontogenetic theory of the nature of the alternation seen in Bryophyta and Pteridophyta may prove a useful working hypothesis, that it will lead to work on new lines, and that it is to some extent open to experi- mental test. March 4.—Dr. D. H. Scott, F.R.S., president, in the chair.—A contribution to the montane flora of Fiji, in- cluding cryptogams, with ecological notes: Miss L. S. Gibbs. The Fiji group consists of 200 islands, only eighty of which are inhabited ; Viti Levu is about 4100 square miles in area, with forest-clad mountain ranges, the highest point being Mt. Victoria, 4ooo feet in height. The botanical history of the group begins with the visit of H.M.S. Sulphur in 1840, and in the same year the Wilkes expedi- tion touched at the islands. The Herald called in 1856, and Dr. Seemann visited the group in 1860-1, and embodied his results in his ‘‘ Flora Vitiensis.’? Mr. Horne, director of the Botanic Gardens at Mauritius, spent a year collect- ing in the late ’seventies of last century. Thanks to these investigators, the flora of the lower parts of the chief islands are fairly well known. The author therefore decided to confine her investigations to the region lying at 2900 feet and above, and the three spring months of | some NO. 2055, VOL. 80] August, September, and October were spent at Nadarivatu, the highest inhabited point. From the collections the flora may be described as Indo-Malayan. They contain about forty new species and many new records. Thus, of the eight species of Piper, Mr. C. de Candolle found five to be new, and of Peperomia all seven proved novelties. The introduction concludes with some observations as to the origin of the flora, and is followed by a systematic enumera- tion of the whole collection. Physical Society, February 26.—Dr. C. Chree, F.R.S., president, in the chair.—A laboratory machine for apply- ing bending and twisting moments simultaneously: Prof. E. G. Coker. The paper describes a machine built by students of the City and Guilds Technical College, Fins- bury, in which uniform bending and twisting moments can be applied simultaneously over the whole length of the specimen, and in any desired proportion to each other. The principle of the design is to suspend a rod at two intermediate points by wires depending from a fixed sup- port. The equal overhanging ends of the rod are loaded by weights W, so that the applied couple between the points of support is uniform and of amount Wa, where a is the length of the lever-arm. The rod is also twisted by weights W, attached to equal arms of length b, so that there is a uniform twisting moment of amount W,b between the points of suspension. The two systems of !oad- ing are independent, and their ratio can be adjusted to any value desired.—The self-demagnetising factor of bar magnets: Prof. S. P. Thompson and E. W. Moss. This paper consists of three parts:—(1) a discussion of the significance and definition of the self-demagnetising factor of magnets in general, and of bar magnets in particular ; (2) a re-determination of the values of the self-demagnet- ising factor for bar magnets of circular section; (3) deter- mination of the values of the self-demagnetising factor for bar magnets of rectangular cross-section of various pro- portions. It is shown that, in general, for every bar magnet there is a self-demagnetising action, the value of which at the middle of the bar depends, for a given intensity of magnetisation, on the length of the bar relatively to its cross-section, on the permeability of its parts, and on the distribution of its surface-magnetism. Owing to the circumstance that with every kind of steel the permeability is neither constant nor stands in any simple relation to the flux-density, any calculation of the actual polar distribution for rods and bars is impracticable. The only form of magnet that is practicable for calculation is that of the ellipsoid, the properties of which are that for any and every value of the permeability, and in any uniform field, the surface magnetism is so distributed that the magnetic force which this distribution exerts in the interior is uniform at every point within, and therefore the internal demagnetising force everywhere within is constant. Zoological Society, March 2.—Mr. G. A. Boulenger, F.R.S., vice-president, in the chair.—The development of the subdivisions of the pleuro-peritoneal cavity in birds: Miss Margaret Poole.—The growth of the shell of Patella vulgata, L., E. S. Russell. The breeding season of this limpet extends from July to January. Sexual maturity is reached at a length of 20-25 mm. An average size for a limpet of the last season’s brood in January or February is 10 mm.; at the end of the first year it may be 29 mm. Probable sizes at the end of the second and subsequent years are 38 mm., 44 mm., 48 mm., 53 mm. Shells more than so mm. may be considerably more than five years old. Sexual maturity is reached in the first year, and when the limpet is only half-grown. The rate of growth decreases with age and maturity, and is slower during the colder months of the year. Considerable changes take place in the ratios of the shells’ dimensions during growth, being probably in large part the expression of “* laws of growth, and not due to natural selection.—The life-history of the agrionid dragon-fly: Frank Balfour-Browne.—Growth stages in the British species of the coral genus Parasmilia : W. D. Lang. : Mathematical Society, March 11.—Prof. W. Burnside, vice-president, in the chair.—The transformation of the electrodynamical equations and the laws of motion: H. Bateman. The paper is occupied with the development of ideas introduced into the subject by Minkowski. 88 The transformations, which leave the electrodynamical equations unaltered in form, are obtained by considering the invariance-of two integral forms of which the coefficients are the components of the electric and magnetic vectors. In obtaining these transformations use is made of a pair of integral formula which have been used as equiva- lents of the electrodynamic equations by R. Hargreaves. —The transformation of the electrodynamic equations of moving bodies: E. Cunningham. The equations for moving media have been deduced from the general electro- dynamic equations by Lorentz by the use of a method of averaging. The question discussed in the paper is that of the changes produced in the equations for moving media by those transformations for which the electrodynamic equations are invariant.—The kinetic image of a convected electric system formed in a conducting plane sheet: Prof. J. Larmor. The question arises in connection with recent observations of the magnetic fields in the neighbourhood of sun-spots. It appears that such fields are confined to thin layers, and this effect is traced to the action of con- ducting layers in screening the magnetic fields due to moving charges. The details of the screening action are worked out by adapting the method used by Maxwell in the discussion of the effects produced by a magnetic pole moving in the neighbourhood of a conducting dise.—An integral equation: G. H. Hardy. The paper is occupied with functions defined by an integral formula which is a generalisation of Fourier’s integral theorem.—Term-by- term integration of oscillating series: Dr. W. H. Young. —Further researches in the theory of elimination: A. L. Dixon. CAMBRIDGE. Philosophical Society, February 22.—Prof. Sedgwick, president, in the chair.—The alleged influence of lecithin on the determination of sex in rabbits: R. C. Punnett. —Observations on the changes in the common shore crab caused by Sacculina: F. A. Potts. Giard first’ showed that the association of the parasitic cirripedes, the Rhizo- cephala, with crustacean hosts is the cause of sexual modification in the latter. In the spider crabs, the male, at the moult after infection, takes on all the external characters which are associated with the female. These changes are associated with the suppression of the gonads. In the common shore crabs the modification is of a much lower grade. In a single character the parasitised male becomes intermediate between normal male and female. The female, as in the case of the spider crabs, seems in- capable of change toward the male type. The male gonads may still remain in reproductive activity under the influence of the parasite, though the female is restrained from producing mature eggs.—A_ so-called ‘‘ sexual ’’ method of forming spores in bacteria: C. C. Dobell. The paper was an attempt to show that the process which has been described as a ‘‘ conjugation ’’ in certain disporic bacteria (Bacillus biitschlii and B. flexilis) should really be interpreted quite differently. From a study of the spore- formation of Bacillus spirogyra and Bacterium lunula, n.sp., the author was led to conclude that the ‘‘ conjuga- tion ’’ represented really an abortive cell-division, and hence that no ‘sexual’? phenomena exist. The bearing of these observations upon the problems of the sexuality of the Protista and the affinities of the bacteria were briefly indicated.—The migration of the thread-cells of Moerisia : C. L. Boulenger. The thread-cells of the oral battery of the Egyptian medusa M. lyonsi do not develop in situ, but are formed in the more proximal parts of the manu- brium, whence they make their way through endoderm and structureless lamella to the ectoderm of the mouth region. Similarly, the thread-cells on the tentacles develop in the eye-bearing tentacle-bulbs and migrate to the batteries when completely formed.—A note on a specimen of Pelagothuria from the Seychelles: J. C. Simpson. This pelagic holothurian was first discovered off the Pacific coast of America by Agassiz in 1880. Since then it has been taken in the Indian Ocean by the Valdivia expedi- tion, and in the North Atlantic by the Prince of Monaco. The present specimen was taken by Mr. Stanley Gardiner in 750 fathoms of water in the Indian Ocean north of the Seychelles. The general features of its anatomy conform NO. 2055, VOL. 80] NATURE [Marcu 18, 1909 fairly closely to the published descriptions of previous speci- mens, with the exception of the characteristic swimming membrane, which in this case is composed almost entirely of a sponge, which is evidently living commensally with the holothurian.—The study of discontinuous phenomena : N. R. Campbell. A further study of von Schweidler’s theory of radio-active ‘‘ fluctuations,’’ which has been applied experimentally by Kohlrausch, Meyer and Regéner, and Geiger. The theory is put in a somewhat more general and complete form, and its application to the inter- pretation of observations with actual instruments con- sidered at some length. Finally, the validity of the experiments mentioned is discussed. DvuBLIN. Royal Irish Academy, February 8.—Dr. F. A. Tarleton, president, in the chair.—Theorems on the twisted cubic: M. J. Conran. It is shown that the three diameters of a cubical hyperbola are situated in the ‘“‘ plane of centres,’’ and are the medians of the triangle formed by the ‘‘ points’’ of the curve in that plane. ‘The inter- section of the diameters is the centre of the ‘‘ locus of centres,’’ and is also the centre of the hyperboidal locus of poles of planes parallel to the plane of centres with respect to the conic sections of the developable. It is, moreover, proved that the osculating planes touch this hyperboloid, and that the points of contact lie on a second twisted cubic with the same plane of centres and the same three diameters. A theory of correspondence is developed from which a number of metrical theorems are deduced. Finally, the geometrical interpretations of some of the invariant and covariant forms of the general equation are given.— Proofs of generalised Fourier sum theorems in trigono- metrical and in Bessel functions: Prof. W. McF. Orr. Proofs are given of expansions in some respects more general than any which the writer has seen rigorously treated. Any function, ¢(x), subject to Dirichlet’s con- ditions, is expressed between the limits a, b, in the form D>(At* + Be7#*), KB where the admissible values of A, B, and yw are deter- mined by the equations AF \(u)e" + BF,(u)e""4=0, the F’s denoting polynomials. A similar expansion in Bessel functions is established which includes that employed in the treatment of problems in vibratory motion in the space between concentric cylinders and spheres. The method is that of contour integration previously used by Carslaw and others. The nature of the convergence and the possibility of term by term differentiation is dis- cussed to some extent. The statement in a previous paper (see Nature, December 24, 1908, p. 240) of an integral theorem analogous to Hankel’s, involving the derivatives of Bessel functions, is a blunder.—The limestone caves of Marble Arch, Co. Fermanagh: H. Brodrick. Several streams descending from the sandstone uplands sink when they reach the limestone, reappearing at intervals at the bottom of pot-holes or cliff-walled depressions, and return- ing to the open after a distance of about a mile. The course of the stream was determined, so far as practicable, with the aid of rope-ladder work in the pot-holes and a good deal of wading and swimming in the caves. Com- plete plans were submitted of the water-courses surveyed. Wai Ee AF,(u)e? + BF,(n)e“ #5 =0, Royal Dublin Society, February 23.—Prof. Barrett, F.R.S., in the chair.—Mechanical stress and magnetisation of iron: W. Brown. In this paper are given some quantitative results obtained from experiments with iron wires by varying the following four qualities :— longitudinal magnetisation, longitudinal stress, circular ‘magnetisation, and the cross-sectional area of the wire. The results so found are given in tables and curves.—The quantity of the alkaloid taxine in yew: Richard J. Moss. The leaves of common yew grown in south county Dublin were found to contain 0-082 per cent. of taxine, calculated from the weight of the leaves immediately after gathering. The leaves of the variety known as-Irish yew or Florence- Marcu 18, 1909] NATURE 89 Court yew (Taxus baccata, var. fastigiata), growing at the same place, contained 0-323 per cent. of taxine in one tree and 0-623 per cent. in another. In the fruit taxine was found in the seed only, 0-079 per cent. and 0-082 per cent. in two specimens of Irish yew. The wide variation in the quantity of taxine in the leaves of yew accounts for the very contradictory statements made from time to time about their toxic properties.—A proposed analytical machine: Percy E. Ludgate. The paper gives an account of a portable machine designed by the author to evaluate automatically any algebraic function for given values of the variables. Mathematically it is closely allied to the projected analytical engine of Charles Babbage, but it rests on different mechanical principles. The machine is guided in the development of any given function by a perforated ‘formula-paper,”’ which is specifically prepared for that function. A single “* formula-paper ’’ can be used for an infinite number of algebraically identical calculations, the numerical values of the variables for any particular case of the general formula being communicated by a key- board to the machine, which inscribes them in type-carry- ing shuttles. The shuttles are compactly stored in two coaxial cylindrical shuttle-boxes. The fundamental opera- tions of the machine, which take place under the guidance of the ““ formula-paper,” are the multiplication of the numbers inscribed in any two shuttles, and the inscription of the product in one or two shuttles. Important features of the machine are the use of a slide-rule method for multiplication, and the adaptation of the binomial theorem to provide’a converging series for division. It is claimed that a new rapid method of mechanically performing the carrying of tens is embodied in the machine. Paris. Academy of Scien es, March 8.—M. Beuchard in the chair.—The réle of the septic tank in the biological puri- fication of sewage: A. Mantz and E. Lainé. Whilst the utility of the septic tank in the biological treatment of sewage is generally admitted, there is no general agree- ment as to whether its chief function is that of a deposit- ing tank or whether the fermentative processes which take place are really an essential step in the purification. According to the authors’ experiments, the deposition of the material in suspension is practically all that happens in the septic tank.—The evacuation of tubercle bacilli by the bile in the intestine in animals affected with latent lesions: A. Calmette and C. Guérin. A portion of any tubercle bacilli introduced into the circulatory system may be eliminated by the hepatic gland and evacuated with the bile in the intestine. Owing to the bile acting on the envelope of the bacilli, the latter are more easily absorbed by the healthy intestinal membrane, and hence re-infection may easily take place.—The deter- mination of conjugate systems: S. Carrus.—The general- isation of a theorem of Poisson: Th. De Donder.— Certain systems of differential equations: E. Goursat. —The multiform integrals of algebraical differential equa- tions: Pierre Boutroux.—The thermal effects of the musical arc : M. La Rosa. From the sugar carbon heated in the musical arc, an experiment described in an earlier communication, small crystals possessing some of the properties of diamonds have been isolated.—Electrocapillary actions and discharge in rarefied gases: G. Reboul.— The unsymmetrical effect produced by a continuous current in chains of aqueous solutions of electrolytes possessing a common ion: M. Chanoz.—The part played by impuri- ties in the photoelectric effect with liquids: Eugéne Bloch. The effects have been traced to a superficial layer of grease. Water carefully purified, and placed in a vessel freed from all traces of grease, does not show the Hertz effect, but simply stirring with the finger is sufficient to make this water strongly photoelectric—The hypothesis of the existence of positive electrons in vacuum tubes. Reply to the note of M. J. Becquerel: A. Dufour. The author strongly denies the necessity of the hypothesis of the existence of positive ions to explain the phenomena described by M. J. Becquerel.—Spectrophotometry with a monochromatic field: J. Thovert.—The : NO. 2055, VOL. 80] influence of ! the thermoelectric power and resistance of H. Pécheux. The amounts of iron and silicon were determined in three specimens of aluminium, and measurements made of the resistance and also of the electromotive forces of Al/Cu thermocouples.—Researches on the coefficient of diffusion of the actinium emanation : G. Bruhat. The actinium emanation was shown to behave like a gas, since the coefficient of diffusion was found to vary inversely as the pressure. Measurements of the rate of diffusion into carbon dioxide and into hydrogen were then made, leading to 70 as the approximate mole- cular weight of the actinium emanation.—Observations on spontaneous crystallisation : René Marcellin. The hypothesis of the preexistence of crystalline nuclei in the solution does not accord with the experimental facts given in this paper; on the other hand, the supposition that particles of dust in suspension form the starting points of the crystals appears to be very probable.—The nature of the metatungstates and the existence of rotatory power in crystals of potassium metatungstate : H. Copaux.—The phosphides of tin: Pierre Jolibois. By heating together phosphorus and tin under atmospheric pressure, the phos- phide, Sn,P,, is the only definite compound capable of isolation in the pure state. Heating in a closed tube under pressure the compound SnP, was obtained. Chemical and microscopical examination confirmed the existence of these compounds; ingots containing tin and phosphorus in other proportions were shown to be hetero- geneous, and hence such phosphides as Snubs engks Sn,P,, SnP, and SnP,, described by earlier workers, have probably no real existence.—Experiments on an old vitrified glass which had become violet coloured under the influence of the sun’s rays: M. Delachanal.—A new method for determining the constitution of the sugars: M. Hanriot. This method is based on the formation of a chloralose, by the addition of chloral, and subsequent oxidation to a chloralic acid. It applies to any Cajon, aldehydic sugar, but fails with the two ketones (levulose and sorbose) examined.—The preponderance of temperature in direct decompositions: the case of the benzoic and salicylic esters: Albert Colson.—The transformation of pinonic acid into 1 : 3-dimethyl-4-phenylacetic acid: Ph. Barbier and V. Grignard. This unexpected intra- molecular change, in which the tetramethylene ring is opened up and a hexamethylene ring formed, takes place under the action of bromine and water at tooe ©. ) The yields are good, and a crude pinonic acid may be used in the preparation.—The preparation of the anhydrides of cyclic and acyclic acids : A. Béhal. A study of the action of benzenyl chloride upon the fatty acids.—The normal heteromerism of Phlox subulata: Paul Vuillemin.—The experimental determination of the effective doses of the X-rays retained by the tissues of the organism: H. Guilleminot.—The action of the quartz mercury vapour lamp on the toxin of tetanus: Jules Courmont and Th. Nogier. After a long exposure to the mercury lamp the activity of the toxin is slightly diminished.—The action of d’Arsonvalisation on the peripheral circulation: E. Doumer.—The constitution of the macronucleus of the ciliated infusoria; E. Fauré-Frémiet.—The interstitial sranulations of striated muscular fibres: Cl. Regaud and M. Favre.—The structure acquired by the seminiferous canal of the common mole (Talpa europaea) after the period of reproduction: A. Lécaillon.—The discovery of 4 Danian horizon with echinids in the basin of Seybouse, Algeria: J. Dareste de la Chavanne.—The _physico- chemical variations of sea-water on the coast at Con- carneau: R. Legendre. impurities on aluminium : CaLcutTTa. Asiatic Society of Bengal, February 3.—On the correla- tions of areas of matured crop and the rainfall and certain allied problems in agriculture and meteorology: S. M. Jacob. Apart from the fact that the data of this paper differ from those considered by Blanford, the special object has been to find equations which will predict within certain limits of error the amount of a crop from the rainfall on which it depends. These equations are the well-known regréssion equations, and in forming them the author go NATURE (Marci £8, 1909 believes that at any rate a first approximation to scientific prediction is attained. In each case diagrams are given from which the probable extent of a crop can be found from the antecedent rainfall for the localities considered. In this part of the paper there is also a theoretical dis- cussion of the way in which the regression equations are modified by errors of measurement such as certainly occur for agricultural statistics, and to a less extent in rainfall data. In part ii. the distribution of rainfall, a funda- mental problem both for agriculture and meteorology, is considered by the method of curve fitting developed by Prof. Karl Pearson.—Mosquito-larve-eating propensity of the genus Haplochilus: B. L. Chaudhuri. A _ note suggesting that fish of this genus are useful in keeping down mosquitoes, and saying that further observations will be made. GOTTINGEN. Royal Society of Sciences.—The Nachrichten (phvsico- mathematical section), No. 4, for 1908, contains the follow- ing memoirs communicated to the society :— July 11.—The uniformisation of given analytical curves, iii.: Paul Koebe. October 31.—The valency between metals and oxygen, and its dependence on temperature: W. Blitz. December 19.—The kinetics of dissociation-equilibrium and reaction-speed: F. Kriiger.—The conformal repre- sentation on a circular lamina of a solid angle determined by the intersection of a finite number of regular analytical surfaces: Paul Koebe. DIARY OF SOCIETIES. THURSDAY, Marcu 18. Rovac Society, at 4.30.—An Attempt to Detect some Electro-optical Effects: Prof. H. A. Wilson, F.R.S.—On the Influence of their State in Solution on the Absorption Spectra of Dissolved Dyes: Dr S. E. Spernard.— ite Ferments and Latent Life of Resting Seeds: Miss Jean ite. Royat InstiTuTIon, at 3.—Recent Advances in Agricultural Science: A. D. Hall. Linnean Society, at 8.—The Dry-rot of Potatoes: Miss Sibyl Longman. —The Structure and Affinities of Davidia involucrata, Baill. : A. Horne. INSTITUTION OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Experiments upon the Forces acting on Twist-drills when operating on Cast-iron and Steel: D. Smith and R. Poliakoff. FRIDAY, Marcu 10. Roya Institution, at 9.—Experiments at High Temperatures and Pres- sures: Richard Threlfall, F.R.S. INSTITUTION OF Civit. ENGINEERS, at 8.—Some Aspects of Chemical Engineering: C. J. Guttmann. SATURDAY, March 20. Roya Institution, at 3.—Properties of Matter : ee Sir J. J. Thomson, MONDAY, Marcu 22. Royat Society or Arts, at 8.—Steam Turbines: Gerald G. Stoney. Royat Grocrapuicat Society, at 8.30.—The Colorado Canyon: Some of its Lessons: Prof. W. M. Davis. TUESDAY, Marcu 23. Roya Institution, at 3.—The Evolution of the Brain as an Organ of Mind: Prof. F. W. Mott, F.R.S. Mineratocicat Society, at 8.—On a Stage-goniometer for Use with the Dick-pattern of Microscope: Prof. H. L. Bowman.—On the Electrostatic Separation of Minerals: T. Crook.—On the Identity of Guarinite and Hiortdahlite : Dr. F. Zambonini (with Chemical Analyses by Dr. G. T. Prior).—Note to a Paper “On the Comparison of Refractive Indices of Minerals in Thin Sections” : Dr. J. W. Evans. RoyaLt ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE, at 8.15.—Exhibition of Flint Im- plements of the ‘‘Older Series” from Ireland: Miss N. F. Layard.— Melanesians and Polynesians: Rey. Dr. Brown. InsTITUTION oF Civit, ENGINEERS, at 8.—Construction and Wear of Roads: A. Mallock, F.R.S. WEDNESDAY, Marcu 24 GeroLocicaL Society, at 8.—Glacial Erosion in} North Wales: Prot W. M. Davis. Royat Soctrry or Arrs, at 8.—Afforestation and Timber Planting in Great Britain and Ireland: Dr. J. Nisbet. THURSDAY, Marcu 2s. Roy » at 4.30.—Probable Papers: Liberation of Helium from ve Minerals by Grinding: J. A. Gray.—On Sphaerostoma stoma ovale et intermedium, Williamson) and Crossotheca = Ovule and Pollen-synangium of Heterangium Gricvii: Miss Royvat InstiTuTION, at 3.—On Aérial Flight in Theory and Practice : Prof. G. H. Bryan, F.R.S. INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—The Electrical System of the London County Council Tramways: J. H- Rider. Roya Society oF ARTS, at 4.30.—Native Man in Southern India: Edgar Thurston. FRIDAY, Marcu 26. Royat InstiruTion, at 9.—Recent Results of Astronomical Research : A. S. Eddington. Puysicat Society, at 5.—Note on the Production of Steady Electric Oscillations in Closed Circuits and a Method of Testing Radio telegraphic Receivers: Prof. J. A. Fleming, F.R.S., and G. B. Dyke.—The Effect of an Air Blast upon the Spark Discharge of a Condenser Charged by an Induction Coil or Transformer: Prof. J. A. Fleming and H. W. Richard- son.—On the Action between Metals and Acids and the Conditions under which Mercury causes Evolution of Hydrogen: Dr. S. W. J. Smith. SATURDAY, Marcu 27. Royat InstiTuTiIoN, at 3.—Properties of Matter: Sir J. J. Thomson, F.R.S. CONTENTS. PAGE New Lights on Protoplasm in Plants ....... 61 Admissions of an Anti-Vivisectionist. By E.S.G. 63 Strength of Structures and Materials... . ee ay Wireless Telegraphy. By Maurice Solomon ... 65 Our Book Shelf :— Darmstaedter : ‘* Handbuch zur Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften und der Technik” .. .. 66 Thomas: ‘‘ British Butterflies and other Insects’”’ . 67 Mortimer and Coulthurst: ‘‘ The Oil and Bromoil [ProcesseS ?\.-.,<+ i vic, 1s ceo tons cp eee 67 Letters to the Editor :— Suggested Effect of High-tension Mains.—Sir Oliver Lodge ER: S.-i = hy ee ST Scientific Societies and the Admission of Women Fellows.—Dr. T. E. Thorpe, C.B., F.R.S. .. 67 The Isothermal Layer of the Atmosphere.—E. Gold 68 The Promotion of Scientific Research.—Walter B. Priest:y.. 2: syuksy 4 cape tee oe te eS The “ Daylight Saving” Bill—L. C. W. Bonacina 69 Fireball of February 22.—W. F. Denning .... 69 Unusual Condition of Nasal Bones in Sphenodon. — HS Wi, Unthank? (5 eee, Cale ieee English Earthworks and their Orientation. (J///us- wageds) Rev. John Gritty.) a ae Darwin Celebrations in the United States. (///us- trated.) By H. F. O. a Cee er Ditce vhs 702 An Imperial Bureau of Anthropology. By Dr. A. C. Maddon, FO R.S."" 35, amen cctiens sc yon a nen enn INOtesie oe @: i: okcle eee mono pero oS Our Astronomical Column :— Sfellar, Evolution:235.%5 ee emee ee) ceehien eee 79 Hales: Solar. Vantices) cspusyes setwetine scat ene) Comet Tempel,-Swift, 190$@ . ae 79 wiheiCape’ Observatory, smear ets 79 Hours/of Sleep for-Children =. 25, 1) 5) ee ees eo) Magnetic Rays. (J//ustrated.) By R. S. W. So Prize Subjects for Scientific Research . . . 80 Papersand Reports onvinsects) s7a. . 1. sie) Ok Explosive Combustion, with Special Reference to that of Hydrocarbons. By Prof. W. A. Bone, AR Scare ciel a) +, «Rie eRe =r eae: OL Supplementary List of Forthcoming Books of Science 32). <.2. Gas ees. Oe OS University and Educational Intelligence. ..... 85 societies and/Academics) jum emieies ens 86 Diaryiosssocieties! -. pi.) ies eaeeencn: os Shomer go | UNATURE g!I THURSDAY, MARCH 1909. 25; TIDAL RESEARCHES. Manual of Tides. Part V., Currents, Shallow-water Tides, Meteorological Tides, and Miscellaneous Matters. By Rollin A. Harris. Appendix No. 6: Report for 1907 of U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. Pp. 231-545. (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1908.) HE author is to be congratulated on having brought to completion in the present volume a full and exhaustive study of existing knowledge relating to tides and tidal phenomena, previous in- stalments of which have appeared in similar form from time to time since 1894. The subject-matter dealt with is of a miscellaneous character, sum- marising those parts of the subject which could not be previously introduced without undue diversions. The early chapters deal with the nature of the horizontal flow in steady streams or pipes, and seek to establish simple laws governing the action of fric- tion in such streams. Various formulz are derived or quoted which appear to accord well with the results of observation, and in which for the most part the action of the cross-eddies set up is found to be well represented by a term proportional to the square of the velocity of flow of the main current. In applying these results to tidal phenomena, doubt- less the direct action of viscosity is insignificant, and it is through the medium of such cross-eddies that friction is chiefly effective. If, however, this is the case, it would appear that the sensible effects of friction in modifying ocean tides would be localised in those regions where the configuration of the land or of the ocean bed gives rise to a magnification of the tidal flow large enough to be accompanied by such eddies, and that the principal phenomena of the tides in the open ocean will suffer practically no dis- turbance from frictional causes other than those which may be attributed to pure viscosity. We are thus unable to accept the author’s conclusion, arrived at in the second chapter, as to the paramount effects of friction in determining the phases of ocean tides, a conclusion based on wholly unwarranted assump- tions as to the quantitative effects of friction (e.g. “‘ Suppose #/=3,”’ p. 281), and, further, on an almost complete disregard of its laws of action as exempli- fied in the preceding chapter. The author, in fact, reverts to the analogue of the simple pendulum subject to purely viscous dissipation. The conclusions, as we have elsewhere pointed out, are of vital importance? for the establishment of a theory of the tides put forward by the author in previous volumes which has not proved acceptable’ to ourselves, and, in our opinion, has vitiated much of the otherwise excellent work presented. For- tunately, the influence of this defective theory does not appear to extend further into the present volume, which contains much for which students of the tides, 1 NaTuRE, vol. Ixxiii., p. 249. ‘‘ 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 be substantiated.” NO. 2056, VOL. 80] whether from a practical or a theoretical aspect, will be grateful. In the theory of river tides the author follows Airy’s treatment, which, while admittedly inadequate, serves to elucidate some of the more pronounced phenomena indicated by observation, and draws in- teresting conclusions with regard to the form and dimensions of estuaries. The chapters relating to the distribution of tidal currents in various phases throughout the world con- stitute perhaps the most important contribution con- tained in the present volume. Besides giving a com- prehensive summary, amply illustrated by diagrams, from all available records, the author has included much material dependent on observational data specially worked up for the present publication. Among other matters dealt with, we may refer to the subject of seiche oscillations in lakes, the general circulatory system of the ocean, and many matters which will prove of interest to marine engineers. In relation to a work where so much is praise- worthy, it is with reluctance that we have felt it again necessary to emphasise these points on which we differ from the author. Were the work addressed to mathematicians alone, this would not have been considered necessary, but a word of warning seems to be desirable to a large class of readers to whom it will appeal who, without following out the intri- cate mathematics involved, might otherwise be dis- posed to accept the results as authoritative. The work as a whole can scarcely fail to stimulate further re- searches into the more recondite problems connected with tidal phenomena. Sosy Hi. THE MORPHOLOGY OF ASIA. The Face of the Earth. Vol. iii. By E. Suess, Translated by H. B. C. Sollas. Pp. viit400; 7 plates, 23 figures. (Oxford : Clarendon Press, 1908.) HE Oxford translation of the third volume of Suess’s great geomorphology will be welcomed as warmly as its predecessors, though this part of his work is perhaps of less educational value and a smaller proportion of it interesting to general readers. Most of this volume is occupied by a detailed account of the stratigraphy of central and northern Asia. Much of the licerature is so in- accessible that Prof. Suess’s summary of the researches of the Russian surveyors will be of perma- nent value as a work of reference, and as he interprets and correlates the facts with his usual genius, the work is of the highest value as an original contribution to the tectonic geology of Asia. It is accompanied by a most valuable map of the structural geography of Central Asia. The main thesis of this volume is Suess’s state- ment of the essential structure of Asia and of its relations to Europe. He maintains the fundamental unity of Eurasia, and shows that it has been built up, ‘around, or upon a vast sheet of ancient rocks, which form the Russian platform of Poland and south-western Russia, and most of Scotland and Scandinavia; the old rocks are buried beneath recent E 92 NATURE [Marcu 25, 19¢9 deposits in Western Siberia, but they reappear and form the surface of wide areas in central and eastern Siberia. This northern section of Eurasia forms Prof. Suess’s primitive ‘ Scheitel.¥ It forms the foundation of Asia, and is bounded along its southern edge by concurrent mountain chains. The Ural mountains might be considered the western member of this peripheral series, but Suess regards it as a mountain line lying on this continental block which extends beyond them into western Europe; and he describes the Variscan Mountains of southern Germany and the Armorican Mountains, the worn down fragments of which form the hills of Belgium, Brittany, Devon- shire, Cornwall, and southern Ireland, as the westernmost preserved parts of the marginal chains. it is, therefore, obvious from the broken ends ot the Armorican Mountains that Eurasia must once have extended far westward into the Atlantic. Scotland and Scandinavia, however, are now the westernmost portions of this ancient continent. Prof. Suess briefly re-describes them, in reference to the great overthrusts that have been demonstrated during the past twenty-five years; and he considers why the overthrusting was westward in Scotland and eastward in Scandinavia. This section of the book even now requires revision, since Bjorlykke’s monograph shows that Scandinavian opinion is not as unanimous as to the existence of the overthrusting as is represented, while the trend of opinion in Scotland for some years past has been against the view that the Scottish schists include altered Silurian rocks. The second fundamental element in the structure of Eurasia was the long inland sea, the Tethys, that once separated northern Eurasia from the lands to the south. The Tethys is. still represented in the western area by the Mediterranean; but in Asia it has been drained by uplift. The third constituent of Eurasia is the fragments of Gondwanaland left in the Asiatic peninsulas. The union of the ancient continent to the north with the southern peninsulas by the disappearance of the eastern Tethys has formed the existing continent of Asia. Even more care has been taken over the translation of this volume than of its two predecessors, and the accurate translation by Dr. Hertha Sollas has been revised by a group of distinguished geologists as a tribute of respect for Prof. Suess. The whole was then revised by Prof. Sollas. The French translation of this volume has the advantages of a fuller maps and which M. de Margerie has added to the rather scanty series supplied with the original; and the geographical terms in its sections are translated. A student might easily be confused by seeing Wasserschiede, Pass, and place-names in transliterations all on the same It would have been an advantage to English-speaking students if the proper names had been given in English instead of in German forms, as it is sometimes difficult to identify them in British atlases or indexes. series of sections German section. With this mass of foreign names occasional misprints are inevitable; thus, on P- 393, Sjorgen appears instead of Sjogren, and the Ekne NO. 2056, VOL. 80] schists are said to be possibly- of Devonian instead of Caledonian age. British geologists will be so grateful for this scholarly translation that they will be ‘little disposed to criticise the rendering of Suess’s geological terms; but it would be convenient if the original term were sometimes, as in the French translation, given in a footnote. Thus what Suess calls the ‘‘ Scheitel ”’ is translated the vertex, a term of doubtful suit- ability for an area extending from Scotland to eastern Siberia and from the Arctic Ocean to the Black Sea. Occasionally we find the other extreme and a German word retained where there appears to be an established English equivalent. Thus we read of a Garbenschist as if that were an accepted English petrological term. The translation of the next volume is promised at the same time as the publication of the German and French editions, and as in it we may expect the general summary of Prof. Suess’s conclusions, it will be eagerly awaited. wai Gre INFANTILISM. On Infantilism from Chronic Intestinal Infection, characterised by the Overgrowth and Persistence of Flora of the Nursling Period. By Prof. C. A. Herter. Pp. v+118. (New York: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1908.) Price 4s. net. ie a monograph of a hundred odd pages, the author presents a detailed study of five cases of severe nutritional disorder occurring in children. He regards them as typical examples of a distinct patho- logical condition, which he calls intestinal infantilism. He claims that this is a definite disease, distinct from, although sometimes associated with, other nutritional disorders, such as rickets, anamia, marasmus, &c. The patients were children between the ages of four and seven. They were all healthy at birth and during infancy, but in the second or third year of life they developed symptoms of intestinal disturbance, accom- panied by failure of nutrition, which culminated in a state of complete arrest of physical growth for periods of months or years. When they came under observation, a year or more after the onset of symptoms, these patients exhibited a striking clinical picture. Children of five, seven, or eight years of age weighed less than normal children of two. A boy (case 1), at the age of eight, weighed 3r lb., his development having been arrested since the age of three. Associated with their physical con- dition, the patients showed a chronic and ~ very marked degree of muscular fatigue, a moderate grade of anemia, and in some of the cases slight rickets. Their mental powers were retained to a very great extent, although naturally they were backward. in comparison with normal children who were able to play games and to go-to school. The disturbance of intestinal function was shown by: absolute intolerance of carbohydrates and great diffi- culty in the digestion of fats and earthy salts. The appetite remained ravenous, but the patients were unable to digest or assimilate food. The stools were Marcu 25, 1909] pale, bulky, with abundance of undigested fat, and showed evidence of putrefactive changes. -In the faces and stools obtained by calomel catharsis from the upper intestine, the normal bacilli, viz. gram-negative forms belonging to the B. coli communis and B. lactis aerogenes group, appeared absent, while the bacterial elements belonged to the gram positive group, the most constant being one which the author named B. infantilis. As improvement set in there was a gradual return to normal bacterial conditions. The author says that the relation of B. infantilis to the genesis of infantil- ism must be left open, but it is certain that in its most extreme form intestinal infantilism is associated with the persistence and dominance of types of intestinal flora which belong to the period of infancy, and the persistence of which, in the third to eighth year of life, must be regarded as pathological. The author believes that the cause of arrested de- velopment is due to serious defect in the power of absorption and digestion of food-stuffs. In treating these cases he found that drugs, purgatives, and in- testinal antiseptics, gave little help. With careful hygienic and dietetic supervision the intestinal dis- turbance was checked, and gradually, although often with the utmost difficulty, an increase of weight followed. The observations on which this study is based were of a purely clinical nature, and the deductions cannot be accepted as conclusive, but they are suggestive and interesting, and are presented by an investigator of experience. Dea Cros PLASTIGIZY. IN . PLANTS: The Heredity of Acquired Characters in Plants. By the Rev. Prof. George Henslow. (London: John Murray, 1908.) Pp. xii+107; 24 illustrations. Price 6s. net. HE object of Prof. Henslow’s book is ‘‘ to prove that evolution—so far as plants are concerned— depends upon the inheritance of acquired characters.” ** This was Darwin’s contention.’’ See, for instance, the summary statement on p. 424 of the sixth edition of the ‘“* Origin of Species’?! ‘* Present-day ecologists who study plants in nature are all at one in accept- ing the fact that evolution in plants is the result, not only of a natural response to. the direct action of changed conditions of life, by means of which they evolve new structures in adaptation to their new environments, but that these acquired characters can become hereditary.’’ The author calls this, for some strange reason, ‘‘ the true Darwinism.’’ His general argument, which is backed up by many _ very interesting facts, may be illustrated by taking the following instance:—‘‘A certain. plant of a Trichosanthes, happening to have its tendrils touch- ing the wall of the glass frame in which it grew, instantly developed a number of minute pads which adhered to the wall, though such a structure is not known to exist in the cucumber family at all.’’ A common sea-weed, Plocamium coccineum, makes similar pads if a tip happen to press against another sea-weed. Mere mechanical force produces through NO. 2056, VOL. 8o] NATURE 93 response hereditary structures. In the American Virginia creeper the tendrils form adhesive tips when they touch the wall. These are not hereditary, but the power to form them is. In the Japanese Virginia creeper they are partially developed before there is any contact with the wall. ‘‘ They are hereditary, but quite useless until contact has taken place, when they at once begin to develop into perfectly adaptive structures. Such is obviously a result of a response with adaptation to a purely mechanical contact of the soma with the wall, and before any reproductive germ-cells exist.’? As the author says, ‘‘ botanists have this great advantage; they have facts to deal with, and no theories whatever to maintain.’’ Prof. Henslow’s book is of much value in giving fine examples of the plasticity of plants under external stimulus, i.e. of the appearance of new features in unwonted conditions. But it is difficult to decide how far the observed change of structure in an individual plant is a direct result of the environmental influence, and how far it is due to the liberation or inhibition of constitutional - possibilities established long ago. The author thinks the first view is the correct one, and he points out that similar modifications are exhibited in similar conditions by many quite unrelated plants. As to the heritability of modifica- tions the individual occurrence of which is recognised by all, Prof. Henslow admits that changed plants may at once begin to change back again when the novel stimulus is withdrawn, but he maintains that the acquisition may last long enough to show that it , was hereditary. This is a crucial point, and should have been worked out more precisely. The author gives cases like the following :—Lesage made plants, such as garden-cress, succulent, by watering them with salt water; plants raised from seed of the some- , what succulent salted plants were still more succulent in the following year. The general conclusion of Prof. Henslow’s book is that ‘‘the origin of species is due to the joint action alone of the two great factors of evolution— Variability and Environment—without the aid of natural selection; although we are, and are likely to remain, profoundly ignorant of the mysterious process (of Response) within the organism by which it: is effectedaa AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. Elementary Agricultural Chemistry: a Handbook for Junior Agricultural Students and Farmers. By Herbert Imzle. Pp. ix+250. (London: C. Griffin and Co., Ltd., 1908.) Price 4s. 6d. net. EACHERS at agricultural schools and colleges are placed in the difficult position of having to teach a branch of applied chemistry to pupils who have little time, and often less inclination, to study pure chemistry. The best method of procedure has probably not so far been found, nor has agricultural chemistry as yet fallen into the hands of the text-book writer to anything like so complete an extent as its parents on both sides. It is, however, pretty clear what the agricultural student ought to be able to do.’ He should have a good working conception ot 94 we ee chemical change, and be able to trace out the broad outlines of the great natural cycles involved in the syn- thesis of plant substances from carbon dioxide, water, &c., and their decomposition in the animal system or the soil with production once more of carbon dioxide, water, and other bodies, He should study the factors concerned in plant growth, the soil in its relation to the plant, and the plant, considered as food, in its relation to the animal; and, as the subject has a commercial side, he must be able to interpret the analysis of a feeding stuff or manure, and to make simple calculations involving a knowledge of the chemical composition of a few common substances. The scheme of teaching must take account of the rather special nature of the student. A young man commonly chooses agriculture as a profession because he loves the outdoor life of the farm and is of a keenly practical turn of mind, and this temperament is generally incompatible with systematic study of a subject for its own sake; he will work, however, and work hard, when his studies obviously subserve a useful end and fit in with the central idea of his life. The book before us shows how Mr. Ingle teaches agricultural chemistry, and the record of one teacher’s methods and experiences cannot fail to be interesting to others who are engaged in the same work. The student is supposed to have gone through a course of inorganic and organic chemistry, but by way of recapitulation an introductory chapter deals with general chemical conceptions, and another with the composition of the atmosphere. We then pass on to a study of the soil, the plant, manures, feeding, and dairy work. The author tells us in the preface that the book was written whilst he was in touch with South African agriculture, and the illustrations are drawn sometimes from English, sometimes from South African practices. The chief defect of the book is that it fails to present the subject as a whole, and_ successive chapters seem to have little connection one with the other. There is no systematic discussion of the relationship between one branch of the subject and another, and the reader gets a sense of much detail but no general principles. In the mass of detail certain things have got left out which certainly ought to have gone in. Chief of these is the physical composition of soil as shown by mechanical analysis, concerning which not a word is spoken, in spite of its fundamental significance in soil work. No mention is made of the loss of nitrogen from soils by aerobic bacterial action. There is also, and perhaps necessarily, a lack of proportion; thus the grasses get no more space than the sweet potato, notwith- standing their enormously greater technical import- ance. Indeed, the book is not so much an elementary text- book as a short reference book, and from this point of view it will be found very useful for class work. There is a great collection of data from many sources, the compilation of which must have involved an enormous amount of labour, and for which the teacher will have much cause to be grateful to Mr. Ingle. ji E. J. RUSSELL. NO. 2656, VOL. 8o] NATURE [Marcu 25, 1909 TIMBER. Timber. By J. R. Baterden. Pp. ix+ 351. (London = Archibald Constable and Co., Ltd., 1908.) Price 6s. net. HIS popular manual undoubtedly contains in- teresting and miscellaneous information about the uses, preservation, and strength of timbers. The author, who is an engineer, occasionally refers to useful matter in engineering publications, and has compiled extensively from the reports of the forest officers of the various British colonies and of the United States. It is unfortunate, however, that he has attempted to write a general treatise. He is confessedly ignorant of botany; and his account of the structure and origin of the numerous species dealt with is usually meagre and defective, and in many instances almost puerile. His frequent de- scriptions of trees in the living state are out of place in a small manual, the subject of which is timber, and not forestry. The same remark applies to many of the illustrations, which are irrelevant. Hack- neyed pictures of the common oak, beech, larch, &c., growing in the isolated state, only serve to show (but Mr. Baterden and his publisher are unaware of this) how trees ought not to be grown, if they are to be regarded as producers of timber of proper shape and quality. European timbers, which should have been fully treated, on account of their great importance to the home grower and consumer, are dismissed by Mr. Baterden in a short chapter, which contains some singular errors and omissions. The bibliography at the end of the volume does not include the Quarterly Journal of Forestry and the Transactions of the Scot- tish Arboricultural Society, journals from which much useful material might have been extracted. Only three lines are devoted to the cricket-bat willow, the wood of which is the most costly produced in England. No allusion is made to native species, like the white-* beam and the service tree. A more glaring omission occurs in the account of home-grown poplars, where nothing whatever is said about the black Italian poplar (usually referred to Populus canadensis), which is the most common species in cultivation and the fastest in growth. Nobody will be much the wiser by reading. the following article :—* Plum, which is somewhat similar to pear, is also used for turnery. Weight about 4o Ib. per cubic foot.” The durmast is erroneously considered to be something different from Quercus sessiliflora, with which it is identical. The timber of the Turkey Oak, which every forester knows to be of poor quality, is said to be suited for the same class of work as the common oak. ' The timbers of North America are dealt with at great length; and Lebanon cedar appears amongst them. The Atlas cedar is never mentioned, though, both on account of its valuable timber in Algeria and its successful cultivation in England, it deserves an extended notice. The beautiful yellow cedar of British Columbia and Alaska, which may be scen growing with great vigour in many of our parks, NATURE Marcu 25, 1909 | is described, on p. 91, as Thuya excelsa, a name unknown to botanists. The author is unaware that it is already described in the preceding page under its correct name, Cupressus nootkatensis. The note on p. 77 about Douglas fir is misleading. The two kinds of this timber, which are distinguished by the Western lumberman, are “ red fir ’’ and *‘ yellow fir,”’ the colour and quality varying with the rate of growth of individual trees of the same species. The statement that only 500 Wellingtonia trees are now living is quite inaccurate, as this species occurs in countless numbers in the southern part of its area in the Sierra Nevada. Many more instances might be given of the care- lessness with which this compilation has been made, These errors detract seriously from the value of the book to the student. The price is cheap, only six shillings for 350 pages and 54 illustrations; and the practical man, for whom the work is intended, may find it worth the money, in spite of its inaccuracies. OUR BOOK SHELF. Biology and its Makers; with Portraits and other Illustrations. By Prof. W. A. Locy. Pp. xxvit+ 469. (New York: Henry Holt and Co.; London : G. Bell and Sons, 1908.) Price ros. 6d. net. Tuis is a carefully executed historical introduction to the study of biology, and should prove very useful to students. Its aim is to sketch the broad features of biological progress, ‘‘and to increase the human in- terest by writing the story around the lives of the great leaders.’’ Prof. Locy has shown shrewd judg- ment and a praiseworthy restraint in his selection of subjects, the result being that the student can get from this book a general view of the development of biology, yet with enough concrete illustration and biographical information to be vivid. The author has evidently gone to the original documents, and he has had his reward; he has given us a books full of fresh interest and suggestion. In the course of years Prof. Locy has made a large collection of interesting por- traits of biologists, many of which adorn the walls of his laboratory at Evanston, and point a moral too. Of this collection he exhibits a fine sample in this volume. Some of the rarer ones are unfamiliar even to biologists, and have been discovered only after long search in libraries. The book is divided into two sections. ‘‘In the first are considered the sources of the ideas—except those of organic evolution—that dominate biology, and the steps by which they have been moulded into a science.’’ The succession of chapters is as follows :— Aristotle and his foundations; Vesalius and the over- throw of authority in science; Harvey and experi- mental observation; the introduction of the micro- scope and the progress of independent observation ; the progress of minute anatomy; Linnzeus and scien- tific natural history; Cuvier and the rise of compara-, tive anatomy; Bichat and the birth of histology; the rise of physiology—Harvey, Haller, and Johannes Miiller; Von Baer and the rise of embryology; the cell-theory—Schleiden, Schwann, and Schultze; pro- toplasm the physical basis of life; the work of Pasteur, Koch, and others; heredity and germinal continuity —Mendel, Galton, and Weismann; and the science ‘of fossil life (a bad title). The second part of the book deals with the evolution theory, and the last chapter contains an interesting retrospect and pro- spect. NO. 2056, VOL. 80] | dictum of the psychologist oS It is difficult to avoid misprints when. dealing with many names and titles; we may note in illustration the title of Leydig’s treatise of 1864 (p. 102), Weiss- mann (p. 109), Fleming (p. 256), Carl Pearson (p. 318), Neumayer (p. 352), Downs as Darwin’s home (p. 426). Is it the case that Darwin spoke of “incredibly dull lectures’? at Cambridge? We doubt if it can be said that Lamarck was the first to use a genealogical tree to express relationship of types, for was not Pallas earlier? But these are trifling blemishes in a whole- some and interesting book, and we offer Prof. Locy our congratulations. Woree\S 1c Psychologie als Grundwissenschaft der Pddagogik. Ein Lehr- und Handbuch unter Mitwirkung von Seminardirektor Dr. K. Heilmann, herausgegeben von Direktor Dr. M. Jahn. Ftinfte verbesserte und vermehrte Auflage. Pp. xii+527. (Leipzig: Verlag der Diirr’schen Buchhandlung, 1907.) Price 7.50 marks, ‘Tue psychological principles useful to the teacher could be written on the palm of the hand.’’ This who is himself the most brilliant teacher of his subject to the English-speaking world rises in the mind by force of inevitable contrast as one takes up this portentous volume. Five hundred and six large and well-filled pages are the space which Dr. Jahn demands for the exposition of the psychology that he and _ his colleague regard as the necessary scientific founda- tion for the professional studies of German peda- gogues—and their estimate has been endorsed by their public to the extent of five editions. No one at least in this country—could pretend that the knowledge of all that is contained between these covers is necessary to professional salvation. As Mr. Benson has said, ‘‘ A brisk, idle man with a knack of exposition and the art of clear statement can be a scandalously effective teacher.’’ But if we are to have practitioners of the art of teaching comparable’ in point of professional culture with our engineers, our architects, and our medical men, there is no doubt that the topics discussed in this volume must become much more commonly studied among us than they are at present. To the student who reads German with fair facility and is not ina hurry, Dr. Jahn’s book may be warmly recommended. It is lucidly, though not brilliantly, written; it is clearly and sensibly arranged, though it preaches no strongly individualised doctrine; it is en- cyclopedic in range, and abreast of the present development of the subjects it touches. The notes at the end of each section, and the select bibliography at the end of the book, will be found a very useful guide to more extended reading—though the English and French works recommended appear to be confined to those that have been translated into German. A Brief Course in Elementary Dynamics for Students of Engineering. By Ervin S. Ferry. Pp. xit+182. (New York: The Macmillan Co.; London: Mac- millan and Co., Ltd., 1908.) Price 5s. net. A work on elementary dynamics written especially for engineers gives one reason to expect something rather different from the usual text-book on purely mathematical lines, but the present work does not appear to have any particular interest for an engineering student. We are asked to consider the usual problems of blocics sliding down inclined planes, particles moving in circles, ladders leaning against walls, and, in fact, we find all the usual paraphernalia which the mathematical schoolmaster has invented for teaching the subject. The work must therefore be regarded quite apart g6 NATURE [Marcu 25, 1909 from the special function which it claims by its title. It appears to be an orderly, well-written account of the principles of dynamics, but rather over-burdened with formulz, as, for instance, where a whole page of mathematics, in small print, is devoted to proving that the reading of a weigh beam of an ordinary platform scales is not affected by the position of the load. Apart from these minor blemishes, and under the limitations mentioned above, the work is a favourable specimen of the American college text-book. 1dg (Gs 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 Crocodile’s Nest. TuE accompanying photograph was taken in the bed of the river Rahad, south-west of Gallabat, and only a few miles west of the Abyssinian frontier, in May, 1907. This tributary of the Blue Nile begins to come down in flood in about June, continues to flow until the beginning of winter, and after this the bed is left dry, with the exception of a series of pools in the sandy river-bed. I came across the nest through finding a depression in the sand about 4 feet above the level of a neighbouring pool, and a number of sinuous tracks leading down to the water’s edge at once suggested a crocodile’s nest. The hollow was about 1 foot deep, and the eggs were 2 inches or 3 inches below the sand at the bottom of it. My guide soon pulled out a number of eggs and young crocodiles, which were quite willing, though not powerful enough, to sample one’s fingers. The find was of interest, and next vening, on returning to photograph it, I was surprised find another depression about a yard further along the and, covered with sand at the bottom of this, we the eggs and crocodiles shown in the picture. The bank, iound eggs were of the usual cylindrical shape, and about 3 inches long Che crocodile on hatching is about 10 inches long, perfectly formed, and makes a noise like the croaking of There is generally a blood-like stain about the place that would correspond to the navel in higher animals. NO. 2056, VOL. 8o] For the purpose of photography the eggs were taken out of the sand and laid in the hollow. A crocodile is seen just hatching out, and another is resting on the eggs. The shells are hard, and the dark patches on some of them are due to adhering sand. About a yard away, again, the presence of another nest was made evident by the croaking of young crocodiles beneath the sand, and it would appear that this enables the parent to know when to release its young by excavating a hollow to such a depth that only a thin covering of sand is left over the eggs. The first nest of eggs was not counted; a number of crocodiles had already escaped into the water, about eight were hatching out, and there were a good many eggs besides. In the second nest there were thirty-nine eggs, as the photograph shows, and the first probably contained about the same number. The third nest was not un- covered. There is no definite evidence for ascribing all three to one parent, but in view of their being so close together, and the young hatching out within two days in the different nests, there is a strong presumption in favour of doing so. If this is the case, the total number of eggs laid by one individual can hardly have been less than a hundred, and among the two batches seen only one egy was found to be addled. I do not know whether nesting is confined to a par- ticular period of the year, but in the case of a variable river like the Rahad there is a considerable risk of the eggs being either washed away or left at a distance by the retreating water, except during the late winter and spring months. Young crocodiles, up to about a yard in length, appear to be far more active than the older ones. They leave the pools, climb out of the river channel, and may be met at a distance of fifty yards away. They are able to run at a considerable pace. The older ones are generally seen float- ing about or lying on the banks close to the water. Khartoum, March 3. G. W. GRaBHAM. A Winter Retreat for Snails. Some of the reaction phenomena of Helix aspersa would probably account for the presence of thirty-seven specimens in an empty tea-pot as described by Prof. McKendrick in Nature of March 4. This species is, as is well known, negatively phototropic —‘ seeks ’’ dark places—and is also, especially at hiberna- tion, stereotropic, ‘‘ attracted by surfaces.” The empty tea-pot lay on its side by an herbaceous border, where many snails would be hidden from view. In November, when preparing to hibernate, these snails would wander restlessly, and by the combined reactions would find their way ‘‘ with mechanical certainty’ into the dark cavity of the tea-pot, and there come to rest. The number collected together in the tea-pot would increase, as, on arriving in the cavity, movement in each individual would cease; and, moreover, the individuals would cling together. As a result, the tea-pot would act like a trap in whiclr the snails were caught, and where they would remain until metabolic changes in their own bodics made them restless and compelled them to move about. W. Hoskyns-ABRAHALL. The Golden Fleece. In the review of Dr. Bowman’s hook on “‘ The Structure of the Wool Fibre, &c.’? (NatURE, March 4), there occurred the statement that the introduction of the domestic sheep into Greece was ‘‘ probably enshrined in the legend of the golden fleece.’’ Strabo, however, long ago gave a plausible explanation of this legend in stating (Book xi., ii, § 9): eV anhote occupy the heights of Caucasus above Dioscurias ”’ (the present Iskuria, at the mouth of the Kodor in Abkhasia). ‘In their country the winter torrents are said to bring down even gold, which the barbarians collect in troughs pierced with holes and lined with fleeces ; and hence the fable of the golden fleece.” Fetrx OSwWaLp. Soanes Nottingham. Marcu 25, 1909| NAT THE BOTALLEK CIRCLES. ORLASE, in his “ Antiquities of Cornwall” (p- 199), published in 1769, refers to what he terms ‘‘ the curious cluster ’’ of circles at Botallek, zee Botalleh Circles in I ust HOOF. cf tot: VercruahMdesnn3 Xk Precenisr of helt burch There ws rth great ‘ X Fic. 1. Lor respect wnscribil. ly Win Borlase . the seeming confusion of which led him to write ““[ cannot but think that there was some mystical meaning, or, at least, distinct allotments to particular uses.”’ aE Fortunately for science, he accompanies /-” his account with a plan, evidently care- ees fully prepared (Fig. 1), which is now the Ns only thing that remains; every stone has Nos: been utilised in building an engine house, or in other ways. Only the site is shown on the ordnance map. As the “cluster ’’ of circles exceeds in elaboration anything of the kind with which I am acquainted, it was of great interest to see if anything could be made> of it in the light of other researches in Cornwall, and I propose now to state the result in a very abridged form. Fuller details I have communicated to the Royal Society." The first point of inquiry concerned the N. point given on the plan—whether it was true or magnetic. A perusal of Borlase’s volume showed that he was fully acquainted with the necessity of referring in such descriptions to the true north, instead of, as he says, ‘‘such an inconstant and fluctuating index as the declination of the needle, which is not 1 Proc. Roy. Soc., March, 1909. NO. 2056, VOL. 80] ” oS: Eacter ORE 97 only different in different places, but varies also at different times in one and the same place ”’ (p. 115). When this point was settled, it became evident at once, when the circles were completed and lines drawn from centre to centre, that approximately the same azimuths were in question as those met with in other Cornish circles. Borlase does not give the heights of hills. I there- fore asked Mr. Thomas, an active member of the Cornish Society for the Astronomical Study of Ancient Monuments, to observe them for me. Among the azimuths were two, the first from the approximate centre of the circle F to the approximate centre of E, N. 83° E., and the second, from the approximate centre of F to that of H, S. 66° E. In sending his results to me Mr. Thomas remarked that the former line passes over the Carn Bean barrow and the latter passes 23° to the N. of the Goon Rith barrow; thus the azimuth of the Goon Rith barrow would be S. 63$° E. This enabled- me to check the accuracy of Borlase’s N. point. The two alignments to two still existing barrows are common to Botallek and other monuments in Cornwall. On the assumption of identity of object, Borlase’s orientation was true, and not magnetic, and, also, was not far from the mark. The next step was to make a very careful deter- mination of the centres of the circles, and it was found that the line, centre of F to centre of H, coincided with the line S. 63° 45’ E. from the former to the Goon Rith barrow. In other words, the difference between the azimuth we had provi- sionally determined from the circles and that of Goon Rith barrow was due to an error of centring, and no doubt was left that the line between the centres of F and H was really directed to the barrow. Similariy the line N. 83° E. joining the centres of F and E was directed tothe Carn Bean barrow. Both these lines were recognised as familiar, giving, approximately, the November sunrise and the heliacal rising of the Pleiades in May respectively. In the case of the S.E. azimuth there is an alternative explanation of the sight- line. Both in Cornwall and Wales we have found that azimuth-marks (barrows, &c.) were sometimes erected so that they gave the direction of sunrise a fortnight or three weeks before the critical date. I therefore decided to adopt the Jo Cara Bean Barrow 4, Jan tape 43 Pleiades azimuth, N. 83° E., as the fundamental line by which to fix the N. point, and it followed 98 NATURE [Marcu 25, 19c9 that Borlase’s N. west. Working on this basis, I joined up the centres of the circles, as shown on the plans (Figs. 2 and 3), and carefully measured the resulting azimuths. These I sent to Mr. Thomas, asking him if the slight modi- fications of azimuths that I had’ introduced had sensibly altered his values for the corresponding angular elevations. After a second series of observa- tions, he replied that the elevations were the same for the modified azimuths as they were before. It at once became obvious that the alignments divided themselves into two groups—one erected for the observations of the May-year, the other for solsti- tial phenomena—and with each group there is asso- ciated a cloék-star which affords a means of deter- mining the approximate date of each group. For this reason I give two separate plans (Figs. 2 and 3) showing the separate groups of alignments, and two separate tables giving the respective results. I will deal with the May-year circles first, table I. (Fig. 2). These results agree with the May-year results pre- viously obtained from the study of other Cornish circles, and to illustrate this I bring together a selec- | tion of the results previously published (table IJ.). An examination of Fig. 2 shows that the azimuths given in the table are exactly those obtained by joining up the centres of the circles and adopting the N.—S. line derived from Mr. Thomas’s two measures of direction. The results justify the 3° change of the orientation of Borlase’s plan. point was less than 3° to the I.—May-year Alignments The Solstitial Year. Joining up the centres of H, G, D, and C, as aye in Fig. 3, we obtain the results given in table TIES Fic. 3. results which are obviously connected inter se and with the solstitial year. at Botallek (lat. 50° 8! N.). Hill Alignment Azimuth (Mr. Thomas's) Declination Object Date measures Centre of circle B to centre of circle H | N. 67 o£, 3 0 16 31 N. May sun May 6; Aug. 7 Centre of circle F to centre of circle H | S. 63 45 E. 2 44 14 43S. November sun (possibly a | Noy. 2 ; Feb. 10 to Goon Rith barrow warner) Centre of circle F to centre of circle E | N. 83 oE. 3 35 Wea N Pleiades (warning May sun) 1680 B.C. to Carn Bean barrow Centre of circle H to centre of circle I | N. 3 30E. ome) 39 14 N. Arcturus (clock-star) 1730 B.C. I1.—Similay May-year Alignments in Cornwall (for comparison). Monument Lat. N. Alignment Azimuth Hill | Declination Object Date Merry Maidens... 50 4 Circle to Fougou N. 4 oE.| o 30 | 16 21 N May sun May 5; Aug. 7 Boscawen-Un 50 is stone : S-366 30K.) I 0 | 14 32)S: Nov. sun Novy. 2; Feb. 10 The Hurlers 50 31 |S. circle to N.E. stone No7847sE.| .0°12 | (7523iN- Pleiades 1610 B.C. Trippet stones ... | 50 33 | Centre ofcircleto Rough Tor; N. 15 OE.| 1 30 | 39 IN. Arcturus 1700 B.C. I11.—Solstitial Alignments at Botallek (lat. SOCLS INES | Hill Alignment Azimuth \(Mr. Thomas's)] Declination Object Date | measures Centre of circle H to centre of circle C | N. 53 o£. | I 45 23 41 N Solstitial sun (summer) Centre of circle D to centre of circle C |S. 49 30 E. | 1 35 23 44S. Solstitial sun (winter) Cent. of circ. H tocent. of small circ.G | N. 16 oE. | oe) 37 28 N. Arcturus (clock-star) 1420 B.C. i ra IV.—Similay Solstitial Alignments in Cornwall (for comparison). a Monument Lat. N.. Alignment | Azimuth Hill | Declination Object Date ; acer he ‘| 7 Bea) se a I vwen-Un | 50 5 | Circle to Fine Menhir N. 53 30 Errol 22823 23 59 N. Solstitial sun | (summer) The Hurlers .| 50 31 | N. circle to S.E. stone S2150)50) Ps)" 118 24 17S. Solstitial sun | (winter) Tregeseal | 50 9 | Longstone to Chin Castle... | N. 23 30 E.| 1 35 37 ON. Arcturus 1350 BC. NO. 2056, VOL. 80] Marcu 25, 1909] NATURE 99 As before, I give a selection from previous results, showing that the alignments we are now dealing with have become familiar by reason of their occurrence at the Cornish monuments investigated earlier (table Ve): From the results given above it is evident that in this ‘‘ curious cluster ’’ of circles at Botallek we have an epitome of the chief sight-lines used in Cornwall. May-year sun, clock-star, warning-star, and solstitial sun are all represented. The May-year group was the first, by something like 300 years, to be erected, and it should be noted that the date for the Pleiades circle E is coincident, within our probable error, with the date of the clock- star alignment H—I. Borlase’s plan (Fig. 1) affords us evidence on this point, for it shows that the circles F, H, and I are associated by being made up of two concentric rings of stones. Norman Lockyer. WESTERN TEACHING FOR CHINA. HE meeting which was held in the Mansion House last week, and presided over by the Lord Mayor, shows that at last an interest is being talen in this country in the education of China in Western science and literature. Further proofs of the same interest are given by the movement promoted by Sir Frederick Lugard, the Governor of Hong Kong, for the foundation of a university in that colony, and of another by the German authorities in the province of Shantung. The larger question of Chinese university education, already undertaken by the Chinese au- thorities, is at present under the consideration of a joint committee of members of the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, so that it looks as if the Chinese are not likely to want for advice and assist- ance in carrying out the educational development of their country. The four schemes which have been mentioned in no way conflict with each other, and if there are sufficient means there are no reasons why they should not all be carried out. Their success and usefulness will depend, in great part, on the spirit which ani- mates the work which they do. The interests of China must always be the chief object in view. If the proposed university at Hong Kong be looked upon simply as a means of advancing British interests, and that at Shantung of advancing German interests, they may at first have a certain amount of success, but they would be doomed to failure before long, as nothing touches the spirit of Eastern people so much as any attempt to thwart their legitimate national aspirations. The success of the Japanese has been in great part due to the fact that while they have taken advantage of Western assistance, all their in- stitutions have been moulded according to Japanese ideas, and with the object of enabling Japan to take her due place among the nations of the world. Other causes have been added as things developed, but this has been the fundamental one. No attempt must be made to mould the Chinese into Eastern Britons or Germans. . F The medical colleges proposed by the China Emer- gency Committee are very much needed, as was fully shown at the Mansion House meeting by the present writer’s fellow-student of forty years ago, Dr. J. Campbell Gibson, of Swatow, who was supported by Dr. J. B. Paton, of Nottingham. They pointed out ““that the importance of the steps suggested was not measured by the possibilities of the four colleges which were proposed, for the time will come—tlet us hope speedily NO. 2056, VOL. 80] —when the Chinese Government must itself take up medical education ; and the presence, as models, of institu- tions on Western lines will then be decisive as to the scientific principles on which the State action must pro- ceed. The ery in China of ‘ China for the Chinese’ will thus be satisfied in the best possible way.”’ The proposed university at Hong Kong is intended —at least, to begin with—chiefly to train medical men and engineers. Already useful work in the way of training medical men has been done by the Hong Kong Medical College, founded in 1887, and a begin- ning has been made in technical education in the so-called ‘* Technical Institute,’? which gives oppor- tunities for instruction in various subjects, but especi- ally engineering and. its allied subjects. The proposed university would therefore be a development of existing institutions, and there can be no doubt that Hong Kong would offer many facilities for the practical sides of the studies. Sir Frederick Lugard has pointed out that “Its dockyards and electrical and other works will afford practical instruction which can hardly be rivalled in China for very many years; while the location of the university in a British colony will, on the one hand, form an attrac- tion to students who desire to obtain opportunities for colloguial English and to acquire something of the Western atmosphere as well as the mere dry bones of knowledge, and, on the other hand, to professors who might less willingly accept an exile in China. In the medical faculty more especially, Hong Kong can offer facilities for practical anatomy in the dissecting-room which Chinese prejudice, at present at any rate, precludes in China.”’ Of course, other subjects and degrees would be added as circumstances permit, notably an _ arts degree. The preparation for that, however, should not proceed strictly on the lines of British colleges, but should comprise international law and treaties, geo- graphy, comparative history, and, not least, Chinese literature and classics, so that there may be no re- proach of dissociating Chinese students from their national sympathies and language. The colony of Hong Kong will soon be connected with the main railway system of China, so that the university would appeal to a very large area, as the Chinese will not be slow to recognise that here are to be obtained the advantages of Western education at a smaller cost, and under more desirable conditions in various ways, than by sending their sons to the West. More than thirty years ago, when I was in Japan, as principal of the Imperial College of Engin- eering, Tokyo, I very often discussed projects of this kind with the first Chinese Minister to Japan, and when I suggested a duplicate of our college in China, he said that ‘‘the streets of Peking were too narrow for such an institution.’? This, of course, was simply his way of saying that he did not think China was yet ripe for a fully developed scheme of technical education. Much has happened since then, and the students of the Imperial College of Engineering have been important factors in the making of New Japan, a fact which has been recognised by the Chinese, and now there are large numbers of Chinese students in Japan and considerable numbers in Europe and America. In Glasgow, for instance, they are almost as numerous as the Japanese students, but, of course, there is not the same necessity for the latter coming here as. formerly, as they have such good facilities for study in their own country. My Chinese friend was a philosopher in his way, and was not unacquainted with the very difficult poli- 100 tical, economic, and social problems which were to be found in the countries of the West, and he had very great doubts whether it was wise to bring the same problems into China by the introduction of Western science and methods. The Chinese now see that they cannot isolate themselves from the other countries of the world, and they are anxious to accept from them sufficient, at least, to preserve their national integrity, but the forces behind them will make it impossible to draw a limiting line. For many years I have been watching with interest the great evolution which is going on in the countries bounded by the Pacific area. Japan led the way, and now China follows, probably, however, at a slower rate; but, as my Chinese friend sometimes said to me, ‘*T wonder where you people of the West think you will be as regards trade and industry, as well as other things, when China is fully awake?’’ This opens up a wide vista for speculation, and I merely mention it in the hope that those who are proposing what seem to be small things may consider their future possibilities and their results on the civilisation of the world. Henry Dyer. THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF ARTS AND THE LONDON INSTITUTION. 1 Nature of April 6, 1905, attention was directed to negotiations that had commenced between the Society of Arts and the London Institution having for their object the amalgamation of the two institu- tions. A special meeting of the promoters of the London Institution was about to be held to consider the scheme, which was supported by a joint com- mittee of the two institutions; and whilst it was recognised that some opposition on the part of members of the London Institution would have to be reckoned with, it was assumed that amalgamation would be brought about. This expectation was not realised. Whilst there is reason to believe that the members of the Society of Arts would have been practically unanimous in their support of amalgama- tion, a vigorous minority of the London Institution opposed, with the result that the scheme was never voted upon. It was shelved, and for the time being no more was heard of amalgamation. After the failure to bring about union between the two institu- tions, no attempt was made to vitalise the London Institution. It remained, as it had been for some years, practically moribund, Impressed with the undesirability of allowing matters to continue as they are, and as_ convinced as ever that amalgamation would be for the advan- tage of both institutions, those members of the London Institution who moved in the matter in 1905 have now renewed their efforts to bring about an amalgamation of the two institutions. They first tested the feeling of members by means of a_post- card ballot, which resulted in 526 supporting the pro- posal for amalgamation and 84 voting against, some 4oo remaining neutral. This was a_ sufficiently decisive vote to warrant the managers of the London Institution in approaching the Royal Society of Arts, but before that could be done certain members of the institution, strong opponents of amalgamation, moved in opposition, with the result that there was a special meeting of members of the institution, and a ballot taken. This ballot resulted in 322 voting in favour of amalgamation, and 218 against it, leaving between 400 and 500 who preferred to be neutral. The managers of the London Institution did not consider that this vote was sufficiently decisive NO. 2056, VoL. 8o4 IN ATNITRL, [MakcH 25, 1900 | to warrant them in approaching the Royal Society of Arts without further consideration, and accordingly a meeting was arranged for March to to consider the position. The result of that meeting has not been made known to the public, but it is understood that it disclosed considerable hesitation in proceeding with the scheme unless, and until, the minority, or some of them, could be induced to waive their opposition. So the matter stands. It would be rash to predict the upshot. There is no reason to suppose that the members of the Royal Society of Arts are not as willing as they were three years ago to support a scheme of amalgamation approved by the secretary, Sir Henry T. Wood, and the committee. Nor do the arguments of the minority of the London Institution seem very convincing. One of their objections is that, under the proposed scheme, the institution would be moved from the City to somewhere ‘‘ east of Charing Cross and west of Chancery Lane.” We can understand this objection having considerable weight fifty years ago. Founded in 1805 by merchants and bankers of the City of London, the object of the London Institution was to maintain, in what was then a central position, an extensive general library of reference, and to promote the diffusion of know- ledge by lectures and conversazioni; for at that time, and for many years afterwards, the City contained a large residential population. This population has now practically disappeared, and the number of proprietors who use the institution is small, and every year becomes smaller. To remove the institution to a building just outside the City boundaries, at or near the east end of the Strand, would not be incon- sistent with the objects for which the institution is intended. The dissentient minority urge again that the Corporation of the City of London ought to take action to amalgamate the institution with the Gresham Trust. But whatever may be said in favour of this proposal, it means that the Corporation would have to endow the London Institution, and that, there is good reason for believing, they would not do, The arguments in favour of amalgamation seem to us very strong, and we hope that in the end they will prevail. The history of the Royal Society of Arts has been a highly creditable one. It is under sagacious control. Its financial position is sound, and its services to the community great. Amalgamation with the London Institution would mean for it some sacrifice of sentiment, but the union would be advantageous to it in certain ways. It would give it the permanent local building that it lacks. The site of the London Institution is estimated to be worth at least 150,o00l., and this would be amply sufficient to provide an adequate building, and might, indeed, supply accommodation for several other societies disposed to join in the scheme of building. The library of the London Institution, joined to that of the Royal Society of Arts, would make one of the best reference libraries in the metropolis, and the com- bined revenues would enable much more to be done in the interests of science, and provide a better know- ledge of scientific work and methods than is possible at present. On the whole, the arguments seem greatly in favour of amalgamation between the two institu- tions on terms equitable to both, and it may be hoped that when the dissentient minority of the London Insti- tution realise more fully than they seem to do at present that the Corporation of London is not prepared to subsidise their institution, their objections to amal- gamation with the Royal Society of Arts will not con- tinue to be pressed, ~ Marcu 25, 1909] AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION. HERE is abundant evidence that the report of the Departmental Committee on Agricultural Education is receiving the attention it deserves. The Farmers’ Club has issued a memorandum on _ the subject, and we learn from the Times of March 1 that the County Councils Association proposes to discuss various matters arising out of the report at its conference at the end of this month. The Central and Associated Chambers of Agriculture are also in- teresting themselves in the matter. On March 9 a de- putation waited on the President of the Board of Edu- cation and the President of the Board of Agriculture _ for the purpose of directing attention to the need for reform in agricultural education. It will be useful to recall the conclusions and recommendations of the report. The Committee considers that a satisfactory foundation has been laid for a national system of agricultural education, although much remains to be done in the develop- ment of details. In particular the facilities for lower- grade agricultural instruction and for itinerant instruc- tion are very inadequate. There is a shortage of teachers and of experts for higher work, but it is considered that existing institutions could make up the deficiency if only they were better equipped. Increased provision is needed for research work. More money, in fact, is wanted all round. A system of dual control is recommended. The Board of Education should look after elementary and secondary school instruction; the Board of Agriculture should, as now, deal with college and university instruction. The Farmers’ Club agrees with practically all these conclusions, and its memorandum is a most interesting document, showing, as it does, the value set by practical men on agricultural education. The club would probably not claim to represent the whole of the farming community, but it includes many of the best men, and its views may be taken as identical with those of the most enlightened agriculturists of the day. Great stress is laid on the fact that more money is wanted, and must be forthcoming. Winter schools are asked for, where the sons of small farmers may attend for about three months, to leave better equipped for their work. The schools must be staffed by the right sort of men. Itinerant instructors of the right kind are needed to get hold of the little farmer and show him where his methods can be improved. Men are wanted to carry out research work. In some of the existing schools and colleges the standard of the teaching requires raising, but the writers of the memorandum ‘“cannot attempt to lay any blame on those responsible, for they have made the best use of the small funds at their disposal, and cut their cloth in accordance with their means. The salaries offered are in many cases almost an insult to an educated man, and it is frequently found that no sooner has’ an instructor settled down in a college, institute, or county than he is offered a better post (generally abroad), and someone else has to be found at the same miserable salary with like results.’’ All this is beyond dispute. The real difficulty is the lack of men. The agricultural colleges ought to be able to supply all the men needed, but they do not, and no one will deny that the committee of the Farmers’ Club has discovered the correct reason. There is small inducement to go on to the teaching staff of the ordinary agricultural college, and still less to remain there. The result is a frequent change and loss of the best men, which is unsatisfactory now and unpromising for the future. Meanwhile, there are not enough of the right men either for the home or the colonial appointments. One of the best of the colonial agricultural departments has been. staffed NO. 2056, VOL. 80] NATURE IOI in part by Americans, because competent men were not available here; and it is much to be feared that some who have gone out to colonial appointments as the best we could send have. not given a particu- larly satisfactory impression. This is a subject which demands very serious consideration. The contentious part of the report is that relating to the control of agricultural education in -the various technical schools and colleges which deal with agriculture alone. The Departmental Com- mittee favours a dual control, and the Farmers’ Club agrees. It has been said that the Board of Education desires to control the whole system from start to finish. We gather from the Times that this question will be dealt with at length by the County Councils Association Conference. Undoubtedly, the ideal arrangement is to have the whole system under one Board, properly coordinated, with no break any- where from the elementary school to the agricultural college of university rank. But the fact must be recognised that the Board of Agriculture is, and has been for some years, in possession of the field, and it has, on the whole, the confidence of the farming com- munity, some of its officials being actually known to the farmers. The Board of Education, on the other hand, is not in touch with them, and until a few years ago had no official of agricultural standing. The Farmers’ Club fears that under the Board of Education agricultural education would never be more than a “‘ side show,’’ and this they most emphatically do not want. Of course, if the Board of Education were prepared to do the big thing, it would no doubt be best for it to take entire control, but if not, the dual arrangement suggested certainly seems more satisfactory. In any case only a few institutions are concerned; the universities and university colleges with chairs of agriculture are, and should remain, outside the sphere of action of either Board, except in so far as they accept grants for the upkeep of the department or farm. It is gratifying to learn, from the replies giyen to the deputation of March 9, that the two Boards are considering means by which they can have better organisation, and each is prepared to cooperate heartily with the other in finding the solu- tion of the difficulty. THE AIR OF COTTON MILLS. HE latest repurt on the subject of humidity and ventilation in cotton mills adds considerably to our knowledge of this difficult question, complicated as it has become since about 1870 by the introduction of artificial humidity by means of ‘ steaming.” Previous reports have shown that the ventilation of most sheds was far from satisfactory, and that the health of the workers suffered from excessive steam- ing. As a result an Act was passed in 1901 which prescribed, among other things, the amount of fresh air to be supplied per hour for every person employed, the amount of humidity permitted, and that the amount of carbon dioxide should not exceed nine volumes in 10,000 of air. Experiments carried on in 1906 show that the relative humidity is highest in the morning (79 and 80), and diminishes as the day ad- vances, falling to 70 and 71, also that the common supposition that the relative humidity inside the shed is less than that outside is true only for the’ winter months. The table of humidity in the Act of 1901 begins at a wet-bulb temperature of 35° F., and ends with a wet- bulb temperature of 91° F.; but weaving cannot be carried on at the lower temperature, and the operatives cannot endure the higher temperature. There is a 1 Report of the Departmental Committee on Humidity and Ventilation in Cotton Weaving Sheds. (London: Wyman and Sons, Ltd.) 102 consensus of opinion among medical men that the wet- bulb temperature should not exceed 70° F. to 75° F., and that operatives should not be called on to work above this limit. In regard to ventilation, some surprise will be expressed that the report recommends an increase in the permissible amount of carbon dioxide to 12 volumes in 10,000 instead of nine as formerly. Considering the researches of Parkes, Pettenkofer, Angus Smith, Carnelley, and others, all of whom recommend a much lower limit, it is not surprising to find that the committee brings forward a considerable amount of evidence in support of what it evidently considers may be regarded as a reactionary proposal, and it must at once be admitted that there is a good deal to be said in its support. The evidence submitted to it shows that in coal mines the average amount of carbon dioxide is 35 volumes in 10,000, and such air does not appear to have an injurious effect on the miners. No doubt this is explained by the fact that this carbon dioxide is formed by oxidation of carbon, and is not mainly due to respiration as it is in weaving sheds. Eminent medical authorities, both in this country, in America, and on the Continent, concur in stating their belief that the ill-effects in crowded rooms are due to excessive heat and humidity rather than to the amount of carbon dioxide. Direct experiments by Haldane and Lorrain-Smith showed that the condensed vapour from respired air, when injected into animals, pro- duced no injurious effects, and their further experi- ments are ‘‘ distinctly against the theory that a volatile poison, other than carbonic acid, exists in expired air.’’? Flugge has made an elaborate series of experi- ments on this subject, and comes to the conclusion that ‘‘ Temperature, humidity and movement are of enormously greater importance for our comfort and health than the chemical composition of the air.”’ Valuable confirmation of these scientific results comes from the practical experience of the operatives in cotton mills. Thus in one mill, where both dry and wet sheds were under the same roof, the health of the workers was equally good in both, but there was a general desire to transfer to the wet shed, in which the carbon dioxide in the air varied between 34 and 41 volumes in 10,000. Another point to which the attention of the com- mittee was directed was the quality of the water used for the supply of steam, If from an impure source, injurious organic matter may be introduced, and it is suggested that water used for this purpose should be of acertain legal standard of purity. The other recom- mendations of the committee may be surmised from what has been said already. RETURN OF THE BRITISH ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION. HE British Antarctic Expedition ship Nimrod has returned to New Zealand with Lieut. E. H. Shackleton and the other members of the landing party safe on board. A long despatch received from Lieut. Shackleton by the Daily Mail reports that he himself, with three other members of the expedition, started on an attempt to reach the South Pole from Ross Island, at the western end of Ross’s Great Ice Bar- rier, on October 29 of last year. Ross Island was reached again at the beginning of this month, the explorers having achieved in the interval—122 days— a journey of 1708 statute miles, in the course of which they reached a point in latitude 88° 23/ S. and longitude 162° E., or only about 111 miles from the South Pole, Pushing beyond the most southerly point reached by members of the National Antarctic Expedition on NO. 2056, VOL. 80] NATURE by Prof. Larmor, as an appendix. {MarcH 25, 1909 board the Discovery (82° 16! 33” S.), Lieut. Shackleton found the high mountains of South Victoria Land trending in a south-easterly direction across his route, and was obliged to ascend a long glacier leading up to a high tableland, on which the explorers eventually reached an altitude of 10,500 feet. Lieut. Shackleton concludes that the South Pole is doubtless situated in this plateau region. The motor-car, though proving useful for transport purposes in the neighbourhood of the winter quarters, was not employed on the southern journey, but the Manchurian ponies were of great assistance. Another party, under Prof. Edgeworth David, F.R.S., professor of geology in Sydney University, journeyed from the winter quarters northwards along the coast of South Victoria Land to Terra Nova Bay, in about 75° S., and then ascended to the high plateau-land which stretches inland, and journeyed at an altitude of more than 7ooo feet to the south mag- netic pole, the position of which was fixed, in the neighbourhood of latitude 72° 25’ S., longitude 154° E. On the return voyage, Lieut. Shackleton caught sight of the mountainous northern coast of South Victoria Land, stretching at least forty-five miles south-west and west of Cape North, the previous limit of observation. Throughout the expedition numerous and varied scientific observations were recorded. Special interest promises to attach to the geological studies of Prof. David, the biological work of Mr. James Murray, and the meteorological and magnetic observations. We shall hope to return to these when more detailed reports have been received. In some fresh-water lalkes near Cape Royd, Mr. Murray found abundant microscopic life. Rotifers were found of remarkable vitality, capable of living for years in the ice of the lakes. Large sheets of a fungus-like plant were found in the lakes, and the vegetation on Ross Island included many lichens and a few mosses. Systematic records were kept of all the appearances of the Aurora australis. An ascent was made of Mount Erebus, 13,120 feet high, by a party under Prof. David, and the old crater of the voleano, which was reached at an altitude of more than 11,000 feet, was found to be filled with large felspar crystals, pumice, and sulphur. The south magnetic pole seems to have been located with much exactness. Judging from the interesting communication to the Daily Mail, a large amount of valuable work has been accomplished. Lieut. Shackleton and the other members of the expedition are to be congratulated upon their remarkable achievements. UNIFORMITY IN MATHEMATICAL NOTATION AND PRINTING. ae subject of establishing a better understanding between mathematical workers and _ printers has for some time engaged the attention of the council of the Royal Society. It is desirable that the amenities of printing should be considered by authors, so that when: there are several ways of writing a formula that one should be employed which is easiest printed and looks best in the published work. It is especially undesirable that different ways should appear at random in the same volume, or even on the same page. In his anniversary address to the Royal Society on November 30, Lord Rayleigh incorporated a memo- randum on this subject, drawn up in the first instance After recounting earlier efforts in this direction made by a committee of the British Association in 1875, the paper offers the Marcu 25, 1909] following suggestions, which are here reprinted with a view to their being of use in a wider field :-— Recommendations regarding Mathematical Notation and Printing. Always, instead of a+— ' = —— 1 I ve ats rae, pas Vx NE es = oD 2 te Fe 3.4 write b a 0 - —1 = 4) 2t3 dade leMo\veces * Gtr Mee an Seat) Serge’ Cafe, ™ instead of w+ a Nx-y ioe if |z 0. write xieta) J(e-y)or(e-y)t emia ft J In current ordinary text, instead of x a+b x a . ord Fil ae ie 2 write x/a -(a+)/(c +d) x/(y + 42) Fe V b+e Excessive use of the slanting line, or solidus, is, how- ever, undesirable; it may often be avoided by placing several short fractions or formulas, with the intervening words if any, on the same line, instead of setting out each one on a line by itself. The last of the examples given above illustrates an improper use, in which symmetry is spoiled while nothing is gained; either both fractions should be written with the solidus, as x/y+a/(b+c), or else neither as above. The solidus should be of the same thickness as the hori- zontal line which it replaces; in some founts of type it is too thick and prominent. Irregularities in the spacing of letters and symbols. in the formulas as printed are often the cause of a general unsatisfactory appearance of the page. For centimetres, millimetres, kilometres, grams, kilo- grams, the abbreviations should be cm., mm., km., gm., kgm. (not cms., &c.), and so in similar cases. Present custom is against the use of the signs .*. and *. Symbols which are not provided in the usual founts of type are, as a rule, to be avoided. Compounded symbols such as @ or @ usually involve justification, and are thus liable to become deranged or broken. The two examples here given have, however, become so essential that separate founts should be provided for them. The use of a smaller fount for numerical fractions is now customary; thus always 3a instead of a/3. The use of negative exponents often avoids a complex fractional form; as also the use of the fractional exponents, such as 3 and }. In the latter case x? is usually preferred to x12, notwithstanding that the latter is more legible. Much is often gained in compactness and clearness by setting out two or more short formule on one line, instead of on consecutive lines; in that case they should be separated by spaces, indicated by the sign » on the MS. This would apply with even greater force to expressions Sci aS, %—@,0— ee Ce In the preface to his ‘‘ Mathematical and Physical Papers,’’ vol. i., 1880, the late Sir George Stokes success- fully introduced the limited use of the solidus notation, obtaining the assent and support of Lord Kelvin, Prof. Clerk Maxwell, Lord Rayleigh, the editors of the Annalen der Phystk, and many other mathematicians. He defined its use as restricted to the symbols immediately on the two sides of it, unless a brace or stop intervenes; thus sinnax/a is to mean sin(nzx/a); but sinné@./r”, in case it is used, would mean (sin n@)/r”. NO. 2056, VOL. 80] NATURE 103 NOTES. Pror. CLEVELAND AppE, of the U.S. Weather Bureau, Washington, Dr. J. R. Sutton, of Kimberley, South Africa, and M. Léon Teisserenc de Bort, of Paris, have been elected honorary members of the Royal Meteorological Society. Ar the meeting of the Royal Geographical Society on April 5, Sir Harry Johnston, who has just returned from his journeys through the southern States and the West Indies, will give a lecture on the scenery of Cuba, Haiti, and Jamaica, with many illustrations from photographs taken by himself. Tue death’ is announced, at the age of sixty-four years, of Prof. J. W. Moore, professor of physics in Lafayette College at Easton, Pennsylvania, since 1872. Str Row Lanp BLENNERHASSETT, whose death at sixty- nine years of age we announce with great regret, was not only distinguished in his political career and historical studies, but also by his influence upon education in Ireland. For about seven years he was H.M.’s Inspector of Indus- trial and Reformatory Schools in Ireland. From 1897 to 1904 he was president of Queen’s College, Cork, and in 1905 he was appointed a visitor of the college. He was a senator of the Royal University of Ireland in 1897, and was a member of the standing committee of the Senate. He was also one of the Commissioners of National Educa- tion in Ireland, and took an active part in the administra- tion of that department down to the time of his death. Ir should have been mentioned last week in the article on the Imperial Bureau of Ethnology (p. 73) that the Sirdar, Sir Reginald Wingate, is so impressed with the necessity of a thorough study of native conditions as the basis of good government that hé has provided a grant for an investigation of the ethnology of the Sudan, especi- ally from the sociological side. This work, which will extend over at least two winters, has been entrusted to Dr. C. G. and Mrs. Seligmann, who have recently made a joint investigation on the Veddas. Some of our colonial Governments also appreciate the value of such studies. For example, the:expedition of the Seligmanns was financed by the Ceylon Government, and Mr. N. W. Thomas has been appointed Government ethnologist to Southern Nigeria, and is at the present time engaged in collecting information concerning the sociology and religion of that district. Tue honorary secretaries of the Zoological Society of Scotland (42 Frederick Street, Edinburgh), which has recently been founded, inform us that the society has been formed for the purpose of establishing a living zoological collection and garden at Edinburgh. The garden will be arranged on the system adopted by Herr Hagenbeck, of Hamburg, and will be conducted on scientific lines. When the society has developed sufficiently, it is within its scope to establish branch gardens in the other large towns in Scotland. In addition to this—its main object—lectures of a popular nature by eminent zoologists will be arranged. The headquarters of the society, and the first and principal garden, will be at Edinburgh. To obtain the necessary capital a garden fund has been opened, to which donations are solicited. The annual subscription is 1. 1s., but members who join the society during 1909 pay tos. only for that year. This will entitle members to all the privileges usual in such a society. The aim of the pro- moters is to build up a strong society with a large member- ship, so that a considerable part of the annual sum re- quired for the upkeep of the gardens will be ensured from subscriptions, and less dependence will require to be placed \ on the receipts from the public for admission. 104 In a lecture given at the Bradford Technical College on science and the textile industries, Mr. W. P. Dreaper suggested the formation of central trade laboratories to deal with the pressing need for technical research. The laboratories were to be established privately, and subsidised by, the trade concerned, any associated firm being at liberty to bring forward technical problems for solution. The plan proposed appears only to be practicable in the case of a highly organised trade, since there would be great difficulty in inducing individual firms to support such a scheme, which they would think might easily be to the advantage of their competitors rather than of themselves. On the other hand, when a trade becomes highly organised and centralised its interests tend to become so amalgamated that a central laboratory will be established almost as a matter of course, and there are already several examples of such a development. Any suggestion for widening the basis of technical research is, however, welcome, and we hope that further discussion and inquiry may show Mr. Dreaper’s scheme to be feasible. Tue sixty-second annual meeting of the Palaonto- graphical Society was held in the rooms of the Geological Society, Burlington House, on March 19, Dr. Henry Woodward, F.R.S., president, in the chair. The report of the council referred to the completion of the monograph of Cretaceous star-fishes, and to the satisfactory progress of the monographs of Cretaceous Jamellibranchs, Chalk fishes, Cambrian trilobites, and British graptolites. Many offers of new monographs had been received, but the council had decided, so far as possible, to complete the works in progress before entering on new undertakings. Sir Archibald Geikie, P.R.S., was elected a vice-president in succession to the late Mr. W. H. Hudleston, and Prof. E. J. Garwood, Mr. C. Fox Strangways, and Mr. F. R. Cowper Reed were elected new members of council. The officers were re-elected, Dr. Henry Woodward as president, Dr. G. J. Hinde as treasurer, and Dr. A. Smith Woodward as secretary. Mucn interest has been aroused in Sussex by the dis- covery of the greater part of a skeleton of a mammoth (Elephas primigenius) on the shore of Selsey Bill. The remains were found below high-water mark in the estuarine or fresh-water deposit of black clay, which underlies the raised beach and coombe rock on that part of the Sussex coast. The thick mass of shingle, which usually covers this deposit, was temporarily removed during the recent stormy weather, and the teeth and broken bones were found projecting from the clay. Probably the whole skeleton was originally present, but when found the bones were already much eroded, and they were scattered over an area about 30 feet square. Both upper and lower molar teeth were recovered, and their condition shows that the animal was immature and of small size. Fragmentary remains, both of the mammoth and of Elephas antiquus, have been found at various times in the same deposit -in Bracklesham Bay, some of these specimens being now in the British Museum. Indications of complete skeletons are rare. They seem to have been recorded only twice in England, the first in the brick-earth of Ilford, Essex, the second in a corresponding deposit at Ealing, Middlesex. Towarps the scientific exploration of Spitsbergen no nation has contributed in a greater degree than Sweden. During the last half-century no less than twenty-four Swedish expeditions have visited it and the adjacent islands, at a cost of at least 75,oool., to which another 25,o00l. must be added if the expense of publishing the results be NO. 2056, VOL. 80] NATURE [MaARcH 25, I1g09 reckoned. Signs are not wanting, however, that much of the valuable work accomplished by the Swedes is unknown to the scientific men of other countries. To remedy this, Profs. A. G. Nathorst and G. de Geer, and Dr. J. Gunnar Andersson, have just published in Ymer (1909, Haft i.) a | brief English summary of the work, occupying ninety pages, and have distributed reprints. This comprises a historical sketch by Prof. Nathorst, illustrated by maps and views of the Swedish stations; a list of men of science, physicians, ‘and officers who have taken part in the expeditions; a classified and annotated bibliography by Mr. J. M. Hulth, containing 376 items; and a list of sixty maps by Prof. de Geer. In 1908 it was 150 years since the first Swedish naturalist, A. R. Martin, instigated thereto by Linnzus, set foot on Spitsbergen; but the true foundation of Swedish exploration was laid by Sven Lovén, when in 1837 he undertook a two months’ voyage thither on his own initiative and at his own expense. The subsequent record is one of which any country might be proud, and English geographers and naturalists in particular should thank their Swedish colleagues for abandoning their habitual modesty so far as to publish this concise account. WitH great regret we have noticed the announcement of the death of Senhor Joas Barbosa Rodriguez, director of the Botanic Garden and professor of botany in the uni- versity at Rio de Janeiro. Barbosa Rodriguez was born in the State of Minas Geraés in 1842. After a varied career as secretary, drawing master, traveller, manager of a chemical factory, and director of a museum at Manaos he was, in 1889, appointed director of the Botanic Garden at Lagos de Rodrigo de Freitas, near Rio de Janeiro, a post which he held until his death. Numerous and ex- tensive journeys took him over a great part of the Amazon basin, and later on also the southern States, Uruguay and Paraguay. One might have expected that large collections would have resulted from those expeditions ; but his artistic inclinations—he handled pencil and brush with considerable facility—and his predilection for studying plants on the spot and from life led him rather to fill his portfolios with sketches and analyses and his note-books with descriptions from the living material. His favourite plants were Orchidaceze and Palme, and his publications on them will always rank among the most valuable contributions to our knowledge of those families, even if we admit the disadvantages of his method, which involved a certain neglect of the documentary evidence accumulated in the herbaria of Europe. He was a fertile writer, and his publications extend beyond botany into the domains of archeology, paleontology, ethnography, and the Indian languages. He intended to publish a complete icono- graphia of the Orchidacee of Brazil. To that end he amassed a large collection of drawings, all from life and by his own hand; however, their publication was beyond his means. Only a volume of descriptions appeared, whilst with great magnanimity he placed his illustrations, amounting to between 500 and 600 sheets, at the disposal of Prof. Cogniaux, who had undertaken to elaborate the family for the ‘‘ Flora Brasiliensis.’”” He was, however, more fortunate with his great work on the palms of Brazil. Congress having passed a special vote for its publication, it appeared in two huge folio volumes (pp. 140 and 114, with 91 and 83 chromolithographs) in the following year. In him Brazil has lost a good botanist and a man of many accomplishments. A .errer from Mr. Edgar R. Waite, curator of the Canterbury Museum, Christchurch, New Zealand, asking for information as to the length of skeletons of great whales Marcu 25, 1909] preserved in museums, was published in NaTuRE on November 26 last (vol. Ixxix., p. 98). It will be remem- bered that:a blue whale cast on to the beach at Okarito, on the. west coast of South Island, New Zealand, was measured by Mr. Waite and found to be 87 feet in length. A reply to this letter has been received from Mr. F. A. Lucas, curator-in-chief of the museum of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, New York, in which he states that in 1903 he measured a number of blue whales taken off the coast of Newfoundland. Of twenty-six whales measured, only six reached a length of 74 feet, from the tip of the nose to the notch of the fluke, the tape-line being ‘carried along the side of the body. The six whales ranged in length from 74 feet 4 inches to exactly 75 feet. Adding to this the under-hang of the lower jaw, which is 1 foot 4 inches, and the depth of the fork of the flukes, which is 2 feet 6 inches to 3 feet, a total length for the largest whale of a little under 80 feet was obtained. Mr. Lucas points out that the measurements taken from a mounted skeleton are of little value, as the inter-vertebral cartilage is made too thick almost invariably. Mr. Lucas’s letter was submitted to Mr. Waite, who, in his reply, says he is at present unable to give the exact length of the skull of the Okarito whale, but the length of the ramus of the lower jaw in a straight line is 20 feet 8 inches, and round the outer curve 22 feet 6 inches. Respecting the statement that there is the skeleton of a whale in Copenhagen 150 feet in length, Mr. Waite adds he has received a private letter from Prof. Jungersen saying the largest whale in the Copenhagen collection measures 75 feet. WE have received a copy of the report of the Maidstone Museum, Library, and Art Gallery for 1908. As regards the museum, the year has seen an important advance in the arrangement and display of the collections, more especially those of minerals and fossils. In response to an appeal for providing cases for the Kent county room, the amount available for that excellent purpose is now just more than 174l. A STRONGLY endorsed appeal has just been issued at Berlin for the purpose of obtaining funds for the fitting up of the Phylogenetic Museum recently established by Dr. Ernst Haeckel at Jena. Preparations, models, and diagrams for the proper illustration of phylogeny are urgently needed, and for this purpose a sum of soool. is required, in addition to the funds already expended or in hand. The appeal is backed by a number of the leading German professors and teachers. In vol. xcii., part ii., of Zeitschrift fiir wissenschaftliche Zoologie, Dr. F. Fritz, of Stuttgart, describes the carpal vibrissee and underlying structures situated on the under surface of the lower part of the fore-arm of the cat. These vibrissze are connected with a dermal sinus supplied by a relatively large branch of the ulnar nerve. Beneath the sinus occur structures of the so-called ‘‘ lamellen K6rperchen”’ type, and the vibrissae themselves contain minute sweat-glands. The whole organ, the details of which are fully described in the paper, is evidently sensory in function. It is suggested that the presence of such vibrissz in most Carnivora and their absence in Ungulata is connected with the active functions of the claws of the former. In the introduction to his paper the author mentions that these vibrissal organs have an important bearing on the nature of the callosities on the limbs of the horse, and it may be inferred, although this is not definitely stated, that he regards the latter as the degenerate representatives of the former. Several papers on the nature of the equine callosities are quoted, but no NO. 2056, VOL. S80] NATURE 105 reference is made to one by Mr. Lydekker, in which these structures are regarded as degenerate glands—an_inter- pretation not far from the one apparently adopted by the author. Tue advice given by Mr. G. G. Lewis in the Amateur Photographer, that tree outlines provide a suitable study for the landscape photographer in spring, can be thoroughly endorsed, but it will be apparent from the snapshots repro- duced that photographs should be taken of the whole tree where possible. All the trees mentioned can be found in or around London. With regard to the specific outlines of different trees, it should be the aim of the photographer to evolve these from his own prints. Tue spit of land known as Wilson’s Promontory has been reserved by the Government of Victoria as a national park, and the authorities of the Victorian National Herbarium have been deputed to make a botanical survey of the area. The first report by Prof. A. J. Ewart regarding the plants collected on an expedition in 1908 is published in the Victorian Naturalist (January). The list consists of 350 phanerogams and ferns, including a dozen naturalised aliens. The rarest species are Fieldia australis and Xanthosia tridentata. The reserve contains many fine trees, amongst which are specimens of Eugenia Smithii, the bright flower- ing Cotrea speciosa, Banksia _ serrata, Prostanthera lasiantha, Acacia melanoxylon, Hedycarya Cunninghami, Eucalyptus globulus, E. amygdalina, and E. obliqua. Unper the title of ‘‘ Flora yon Paderborn,’? Dr. M. P- Baruch contributes to the Verhandlungen des natur- historischen Vereins der preussischen Rheinlande und West- falens (part i, 1908) an account of the general features of the vegetation, and a list of plants collected in the north-east of Westphalia. The scene is a sandy and marshy tract forming part of the Miinster inland ‘‘ bay,’’ where Scleroderma verrucosa, Polytrichum piliferum, and Racomi- trium canescens are typical cryptogams in the sand-dunes, and Myrica gale grows by the streams. In the neighbour- hood of Salzhotten, where salt is worked, Aster Trepolium, Samolus Valerandi, Triglochin maritimum, and other halophytes may be collected. Aconitum bycoctonum, Thalictrum flavum, Galium boreale, and Serratula tinctoria are noted as rare plants in the district. The ridge known as the Haarstrang provides chalky soil where many calci- philous plants are to be found. Tue subject of the latest issue—a double number—of the Vegetationsbilder, published by Gustay Fischer, Jena, is the volcanic region of Java and Sumatra, including the adjacent island of Krakatau, for which Dr. A. Ernst has supplied the material. The first set of illustrations repre- sents the strubby vegetation in the craters of extinct vol- canoes, where the composite Anaphalis javanica takes a prominent place. The vegetation of the sulphur and hot springs is too diverse to be discernible in a photograph, but an expanse of Acorus calamus on a crater lake is depicted. The next topic is the colonisation of land that has been devastated by eruptions. The photographs taken on Mount Gunung Guntur, the scene of eruptions in the years 1840 to 1847, show masses of Imperata arundinacea and Saccharum spontaneum in which a few bushes are gradually forcing their way. The last illustrations taken from the island of Krakatau indicate the remarkable growth made since the eruption in 1883. The littoral formation of Ipomoea pes-caprae is well established, and behind rises a belt of trees. The author states that he collected 92 phanerogams and 16 ferns; of the former he estimates that about 55 per cent. were sea-borne, 25 per cent. wind-borne, and about 15 per cent. were introduced by birds. elo) Iv is well known that the common crow is omnivorous, and occasionally preys on young birds; two instances are recorded in the report of the Rhode Island Agricultural Experiment Station, where serious losses were caused to poultry-keepers by crows. During the three and a half months from April 1 to July ro no fewer than 1oo chicken are said to have been taken from one farm. The larger ones, some of which were a pound in weight, were killed and eaten where they were caught; the smaller ones were carried away. On another farm 180 ducklings out of 205 were killed. The only effective way of stopping the damage was to shoot a crow and hang up the dead body. Messrs. FaGan AND ALLAN recently issued as Bulletin No. 16 of the Edinburgh and East of Scotland College of Agriculture a useful list of analyses of brewers’ and distillers’ grains, materials which are largely used as feed- ing-stuffs in farm practice. The analyses usually quoted in text-books are old, and were probably made before the practice of using light, husky barleys for brewing became common. The average results were as follows :— Brewers’ grains oS > 3 4 Distillers’ Limits of grains I 2 Variation 5 6 eo"—wH| Old |26recent) ——\——, | Wet |Dried 7 8 $ average | samples| Max. | Min. | grains|grains|] Wet | Dry Oil tole fepiella si 772 4°99 7700} 2°70| 1°20] 4°56 1°42 5°45 Nitrogenous matter . . .| 22°76 20°61 | 23°12| 17°56] 4°98 | 18°85 |] 4°48} 17°15 Nitrogen free extract . . .| 46°77 | 48°87 | 53°22 | 43°30 | 11°83 | 44°74 || 13°02 | 49°77 Fibre 17'56 2103 | 23°40] 17°61 | 5°08] 19°24 || 4°23 | 16°18 INI EAS ADE a6 5°19 | 4°50 5°50} 3°70] 1°08} 4°11 || 077] 2°95 Waters te | — — | 75°83] 8°50 || 76'08| 8°50 { Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4 show the composition of the dry matter, Nos. 5 and 7 represent the average of a number of samples as received from the brewery or distillery, and Nos. 6 and 8 show what these samples would contain if sold as dried grains with 8-5 per cent. of water. In the March number of Man Dr. Seligmann gives an interesting account of a curious series of canoe ornamental carvings from south-eastern British New Guinea. They are known at Murua under the name of munkuris, and re- present in one series the reef heron, the wings of which are joined to support a specimen of a variety of fish said to be found in mangrove swamps. In others the cockatoo, with its crests well defined, or the tern is the subject of the carving. The reef heron and the cockatoo are well- known totems in this district; but this is not the case with the tern. The supposed efficacy of these carvings cannot, then, be ascribed to totemism. It looks rather as if this were one of the many cases of mimetic magic. The carving of the fish may denote a desire that the canoe may glide with safety through the water; it is to swim over the surf with the grace, ease, and rapidity of the reef heron or the tern. Needless to say, these things are highly valued, and the specimens collected in the Daniels expedi- tion, which are now in the British Museum, are of excep- tional interest. Ir has been asserted by M. L. Sainéan in his ‘‘ L’Argot Ancien ’’ (Paris, 1907) that we have no knowledge of any artificial language in Europe befgre the fifteenth century. This view is contested by Prof. Kuno Meyer in the January number of the Journal of the Gypsy-lore Society. He points out that most of the processes in the manufacture of artificial language are described minutely and with examples in the commentary, dated in the eleventh century, on the Irish composition called ‘“‘ Amra Choluimb NO. 2056, VOL. 80] NATURE [MarcH 25, 1909 Chille,’? a eulogy on St. Columba composed in the ninth century. Much later than this we have another artificial Irish language called Ogham, of which he gives an interesting example in facsimile from the original in the library of Trinity College, Dublin. Of the two living secret languages current in Ireland, one, Shelta, discovered by Mr. G. G. Leland, has been proved by Mr. J. Sampson to be a deliberate and systematic modification of Irish Gaelic at an early period of its growth. Of the second, known as Béarlagar na Saor, the information is still scanty. It seems to be mainly confined to Cork and Water- ford, where a few sentences are known by most masons, though they cannot always explain the words. It is to a large extent'’a borrowed tongue, from genuine archaic Irish, Irish words used in a figurative sense, from foreign languages, such as Hebrew, and it has added many words modified by back spelling. Prof. Meyer promises a further discussion of this question, interesting both to the philo- Iggist and the student of social history. Tue Bulletin of the Sleeping Sickness Bureau (No. 4, February) contains abstracts of recent papers on trypano- somiasis and its treatment, notably one by Ehrlich on chemotherapy. SEVERAL important contributions to medical science appear in the Philippine Journal of Science for November, 1908 (iii, No. 5). Messrs. Marshall and Teague dis- cuss the precipitin and complement fixation reactions, especially in their forensic application in the recognition and differentiation of blood stains, and Mr. Garrison describes a new intestinal trematode parasite of man (Fascioletta ilocana), for which a new genus is created. Dr. F. Erepia has sent us a copy of his laborious dis- cussion of the temperature at Rome for the fifty years 1855-1904, being an extract from vol. xxviii. of the Annals of the Central Meteorological Office of Italy. The tables exhibit for each of those years (1) ten-day means; these show that the warmest epoch is the third decade of July, the mean being 77°-4 F., the coldest being 43°-7, in the second decade of January. (2) Mean values of maxima and minima for each decade; the epochs agree with those above mentioned, being respectively 87°-6 and 38°-3. (3) Mean monthly and yearly values; the warmest month is July, average 76°-6, the coldest, January, average 44°1. The mean annual temperature is 59°-7. (4) Absolute extremes for months and years, with dates of occurrence ; maximum, 104°-2, July, 1905, minimum, 20°-8, February, 1885, giving an extreme range of 83°-4 F. The author has grouped the values in various ways to find any relation between them and the frequency of sun-spots, but with a negative result. The discussion contains many interesting details to which special reference cannot be made here. Tue Geographical Journal for March contains a very useful paper by Mr. G. B. Williams on the mean annual rainfall of Wales and Monmouthshire. The map which accompanies the paper shows the geographical distribution in that locality in greater detail than in any map hitherto published, and gives the areas having an annual rainfall below 30 inches, and those: for each additional 10 inches up to 100 inches, the localities with 100 inches to 150 inches and above that amount. It has been prepared chiefly from the data given annually in ‘‘ British Rainfall” for a period of thirty-five years, viz. 1872-1906. in North Wales, and 1868-1902 in South Wales and Monmouthshire. A large number of short records had to be “‘ standardised ”’ by comparing them with those of long and trustworthy means. The isohyets, or lines of equal rainfall, bear Marcu 25, 1909] NATURE 107 obvious relationship to the contour lines, but it is by no means a constant one, owing to the positions of the moun- tains and the local air currents. The wettest parts include the portion of the Carnarvon mountains within a radius of about two miles from the centre of Snowdon, in which area the average fall is more than 150 inches per annum; at Glaslyn, on the lee side of the summit, and within the Snowdon crater, the mean rainfall is apparently 197 inches. An area of about 167 square miles on these mountains has a rainfall of more than too inches per annum. In South Wales, at the Bwlch Pass, the mean is about 130 inches. Over the whole country, the fifteen years 1872-86 had an average annual fall of 110-14 per cent., and the fifteen years 1887-1901 had 91-44 per cent., of the mean. Many localities are still poorly provided with rain-gauges; no record appears to be kept on Cader Idris. Tue Electrical Review for March 5 devotes three pages to reports of the discussions at London, Manchester, and Dublin of the paper on the use of large gas engines for the generation of power, read last month before the Institution of Electrical Engineers by Messrs. L. Andrew and R. Porter. In a leading article on the subject it points out how little has been done in this country to make gas engines of more than 1000 horse-power a success, and attributes this state of affairs to a tendency of our fellow-countrymen to leave’ other countries to do the pioneering work, and to hope to take up the subject when. the main difficulties have been overcome. In its condemna- tion of this practice the Electrical Review has our cordial support. Parts viii., ix., and x. of vol. xliv. of the Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences consist of papers by Mr. P. W. Bridgman, of the Jefferson Physical Laboratory of Harvard University, dealing with high hydrostatic pressures. The first describes a primary mercury gauge in which the pressure of the mercury on a piston, kept in rotation to minimise friction effects, is balanced by weights. By means of this gauge pressures up to 7ooo kilos. per square cm. may be determined to an accuracy of one-tenth per cent. The second describes a gauge in which the change of the electrical resistance of mercury under pressure is utilised to determine the pressure. The author finds that at 7ooo kilos. per square cm. the resistivity of mercury is reduced to 0-83 of its value at atmospheric pressure. In the third paper the apparatus used in the measurement of the compressibilities of certain solids and liquids is described. For solids, a bar of the material is enclosed in a strong cylinder of steel, and is pressed against one end of the cylinder by a spring. The other end of the bar carries a brass ring which is in contact with a shoulder in the cylinder. When the bar is compressed the ring is forced along it, and the extent of the motion gives the difference between the changes of length of bar and cylinder. The latter is measured by microscopes outside the cylinder. In this manner the compressibilities of stee], aluminium, and glass have been determined by Mr. Bridgman. A PAPER on hydroplanes, or skimmers, was read by Sir John I. Thornycroft, F.R.S., at the Model Yacht Club on March 4. Any vessel which greatly reduces its displace- ment at high speeds is generally called a hydroplane, but as the gliding surfaces are not always plane, skimmer is a more appropriate term. Steady gliding on the surface of water is difficult to secure; this may probably be obtained by the use of a number of planes, but at the expense of more power. Mr, Froude was of opinion that a single plane was best, but this must maintain a particular angle NO. 2056, VOL. So] to the water surface. In a boat intended for skimming there are a number of elements to be considered, which, unfortunately, do not all lead to the same proportions of design. The lifting force depends on the amount of surface and the speed, while the friction for a certain amount of surface decreases with the length. Again, the speed at which skimming will commence increases with the length ; naturally this limit should be kept as low as possible. Below a certain velocity the formation of large waves causes bad performance in skimmer models; this difficulty may be lessened by extending the amount of supporting surface or by reducing the weight of the vessel, the surface remaining the same. A boat very wide and short in shape leads to excessive air resistance—an important factor at speeds of thirty miles per hour. The author gives the results of much of his experience with models. The com- plete paper, together with the lines and a photograph of the successful motor-boat Gyrinus at full speed, the latter, built by the author’s firm, having won the International Race for 8-metre boats last year, will be found in Engineering for March 12. In the issue of Nature for February 11 last (vol. Ixxix., p- 438) a note was published dealing with the general report on the operations of the Survey of India administered under the Government of India during 1906-7. A remark in the note concerning the pendulum experiments carried out states that ‘‘ the results obtained have been found to agree with those obtained by Prof. Hecker in 1905.’” Major Lenox Conyngham points out to us that this remark is calculated to give the impression that the Survey of India had merely been going over ground already traversed by Prof. Hecker, whereas the reverse was the case. The words of the report are:—‘* The results of Prof. Dr. Hecker’s observations at Jalpaiguri in 1905 have been received and found to agree perfectly with those of Major Lenox Conyngham.”’ : Ir will be remembered that the centenary of the Geo- logical Society of London was celebrated in 1907. Articles dealing with the celebration proceedings appeared in the issues of NaturE for August 1 and October 3, 1907 (vol. Ixxvi., pp. 317 and 569). Messrs. Longmans, Green and Co, have now published for the Geological Society a de- tailed account of the varied meetings, held from September 26 to October 3, 1907, in honour of the occasion. The volume, which runs to 166 pp., and costs 2s., has been compiled by the senior secretary of the society, Prof. W. W. Watts, F.R.S., and includes an exhaustive account of the excursions, the reception, the congratulatory letters and addresses, the presidential address, the social functions, and the visits of the guests of the society to the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. An excellent portrait of Sir Archibald Geikie, K.C.B., president of the Royal Society, forms the frontispiece to what is in every way an interest ing memorial of an important celebration. A FIFTH edition of the late Mr. Catchpool’s ‘‘ Text-book of Sound ”’ has been published by Mr. W. B. Clive. The work has been revised and enlarged by Mr. John Satterly. The revision has consisted more of additions than of altera- tions, and these include many instructive experiments, with descriptions of apparatus and manipulation. AmonG the forthcoming publications of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge are :—* The Spectroscope and its Work,’? by Prof. H. F. Newall, F.R.S., and “English Wild Flowers,’? by Prof. Henslow, with more than 200 coloured illustrations of plants, natural size, drawn by G. Layton. 108 NATURE [MarcH 25, 1909 OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. PHotoGrapHs OF MoRrEHOUSE’s COMET, 1908c.—Four excellent photographs showing remarkable details in the structure of comet 1908c are reproduced on two plates accompanying Circular No. 148 of the Harvard College Observatory. These photographs are selected from a series of fifty- three taken, between September 3 and November 29, by the Rey. Joel Metcalf at Taunton, Mass. The instru- ments employed were two photographic doublets, one of 12 inches aperture and 87-5 inches focal length, the other of 5-8 inches aperture and 20 inches focal length, both constructed by the observer. As the nucleus of this comet was too indefinite to be “* followed ’’ successfully, Mr. Metcalf employed the method by which he has obtained such remarkable success in the photography of minor planets. This consisted in following on an adjacent star and moving the cross-wires, with a Comet Morehouse(1308c), 1908 November 21, roh. 32m,—1rh. 48m. (G.M.T.) micrometer screw, every minute by an amount sufficient to compensate for the comet’s theoretical motion as indicated by the ephemeris. The photographs are reproduced in half-tone from double- contact prints, thus intensifying the fainter details of the although some of the finer structure of the more nosed head has been lost in the process. On the photo- raph of 1908 November 15, 11h. 6m. (G.M.T.), the main resents a twisted appearance more marked than on r photograph we have yet seen. shows a. remarkable waviness of the stronger > of the tail with curious interlacings, and, as > configuration of the surrounding stars, it is a conr ng link between the November 16 and 18 photo- P graphs reproduced by Prof. Barnard in the January number of the Asty ysical Journal. NO. 2056, VOL. 80] The second photo- | The photograph which we here reproduce was taken with 76 minutes’ exposure on November 21, the time of mid- exposure being 11h. rom. (G.M.T.). It will be noticed that, in addition to that contiguous to the nucleus, there are two constrictions in the main tail, apparently indicating two separate outbursts of activity on the part of the nucleus in the ejection of tail matter; the approximate position of the centre of the plate is 18h. 58m., +1° 30’. For the benefit of other observers who wish to make a detailed study of comet 1go8c, Prof. Wolf publishes in Astronomische Nachrichten, No. 4311, a list of the photo- graphs taken with ten different objectives at the Heidel- berg Observatory. Between September 6 and November 27, 1908, 147 plates were taken on thirty-three different nights, and the present list gives the date, time, and duration of each exposure, with a note as to the instrument employed. RELATION BETWEEN THE MAGNITUDES AND COLOURS OF Stars.—In No. 4312 of the Astronomische Nachrichten (p. 249) Herren Muller and Kempf discuss the relationship which holds between the magnitudes and colours of the stars of the Potsdam Photometrischen Durchmusterung. The number of stars included in the discussion is 14,172, and these are tabulated, in tenths of a magnitude from 0-0 to 9-9, under four divisions of colour, viz. white, yellowish-white, whitish-yellow, and yellow, the last- named including the few orange and red stars. A summary table shows that by far the greatest number (6324) of the stars considered are classified as yellowish-white,.a little more than half this number are whitish-yellow, whilst the ‘white’? and the ‘‘ yellow, &c.,’’ stars are equal, 2043 in each case. In another table, showing percentages, the white stars show a tendency to increase as the fainter stars are reached, and this increase is more marked in the yellowish-white class. In the whitish-yellow class the per- centage decreases in both directions from the seventh magnitude, although the deficiency is more marked towards the fainter The most striking variation is in the “vellow, &c.,’’ class, where the percentages rapidly decrease between magnitude 4-5 to magnitude 9-0. A second part of the discussion deals with the rela- tion between colours’ and magnitudes and the galactic latitudes of the stars. The results show, inter alia, that the maximum of the brighter white stars occurs in galactic latitudes —11° to —30°, whilst for the fainter white stars the minimum is not at the galactic pole, but in galactic latitudes +30° to +50°. stars. A REMARKABLE PROMINENCE.—NoO. 2, vol. xxxviii., of the Memorie della Societa degli Spettroscopisti Italiani con- tains an account of two remarkable prominences observed by Father Chevalier at the Zé-sé Observatory on July 30 and 31, 1908. Both prominences were observed in about position-angle 80°, and were evidently connected with the fine spot groups which appeared round the limb at the beginning of August last. Their changes of form and their general shapes are shown by a series of drawings given on a plate accompany- ing the paper, and it is seen that both formed well-marked arches; but it is to the spectrum observations that the greatest interest is attached. On July 30 not only were C, D,, and F seen reversed, but also the lines of helium at AA 6678-2 and 7065-5; none of the metallic lines was bright, but between b and F two bright lines, probably helium A 5016 and A 4922, were found. In addition to the bright lines, however, there was a continuous spectrum, due to the prominences, strong enough to efface, or weaken, the atmospheric spectrum on which it was superposed. A similar phenomenon was observed on August 3, 1872, by Young, who attributed its appearance to an abnormal pressure on the gases emitting it. In the present case it is difficult to how pressure could operate, and Father Chevalier is inclined to attribute the bright continuous spectrum to heated solid particles condensed from the metallic vapours carried up by the rush of gases. A strange bright line at about A 5872-50 was also seen both on July 30 and 31, and on the latter date a similar, but weaker, line was seen on the other side of D, at about A 5879-9- Marcil 25, 1909 | THE NATIONAL PHYSICAL LABORATORY DURING 1908. HE annual meeting of the general board of the National Physical Laboratory was held at Tedding- ton on the afternoon of Friday, March 19, when the report of the executive committee for the year 1908 was formally presented, and the various departments of the laboratory were thrown open for inspection. The fifth volume of the ‘‘ Collected Researches,’’. which is now ready for issue, was also laid before the general board, and includes the results of the more important investiga- tions recently carried out at the laboratory. In connection with this year’s gathering, the absence of Lord Rayleigh from the meeting cannot be allowed to pass without remark. Lord Rayleigh has always taken the warmest interest in the development of the laboratory ; he has been from the first, and is still, chairman of the | executive committee, though during his temporary absence abroad his duties have been undertaken by Sir John Wolfe- Barry, and this is the first occasion on which he has been prevented from being present at the annual inspection. His absence was de- plored by none more than the staff, by whom his appreciation and his ready counsel on innumerable matters of detail are especially valued. Sir Archibald Geikie, as president of the Royal Society, acted this year as chairman of the general board. The report of the executive committee gives some particulars as to the expenditure during 1905-8 on new buildings. These com- prise buildings © for electrotechnics, in- cluding photometry, for metrology, and for metallurgical chemistry, as well as an extension of the engineering buildin They have been erected at a cost of about 25,000/., and an additional 8oool. has been spent on equip- ment. This latter amount, however, does not include what has been provided out of annual income, nor the many gifts of apparatus. Of the total thus expended, 25,0001. has been provided by the Treasury. The grants promised by the Treasury for building purposes have, how- ever, now come to an end; no new buildings have been added during 1908, the funds available being devoted to equipment, which is still by no means complete. There is thus, unless funds are provided sources, no immediate prospect of any considerable extension of existing departments, though the rapid development of the work has shown clearly that the need of further accommodation must shortly become urgent. The department of metallurgy, which js doing work of the greatest value in connection with the most important of British industries, is at present quite inadequately housed in the old kitchen and a few scattered rooms in the basement of Bushy House. Plans have already been prepared for a new building, which would be an extension of that devoted to the Indian railway test-work, but the committee is unable at present to do more than commend the importance of such a department to the attention and generosity of those to whom metallurgical research is of interest and value. The only development of first-rate importance immedi- NO. 2056, VOL. 80] from other NATURE 109 ately in prospect is thus the experimental tank for investi- gations on ship models, building operations for which will be commenced in the spring. The construction of the tank has been rendered possible by the munificence of Mr. A. F. Yarrow, who has placed 20,0001. at the disposal of the Institution of Naval Architects for the erection at the laboratory of a tank of the most modern type, under the proviso that a sufficient sum be found to provide for maintenance during the first ten years. The guarantee fund has now reached a total sufficient to warrant the work being begun, and another department of great public interest and utility will thus be added to the laboratory. Turning now to the details of the work carried out during the year by the several departments, reference may first be made to the re-organisation of the thermometry division of the physics department. Arrangements have been made for transferring to Teddington some of the thermometer testing at present undertaken by the observa- tory department, and at the same time it has been found necessary to provide increased facilities for the rapid and accurate verification of high- and low-range thermometers, as well as of standards and thermometers of special types. UT es Se Fic. 1.—Comyarison Baths for Verification of Ordinary and Standard Thermometers. For this purpose the old chemical laboratory, vacated by the transfer of the chemical work to the new building for metallurgical chemistry, has been re-fitted with a new and special equipment for the testing of mercury thermo- meters, designed by Dr. Harker and Mr. W. A. Price, 2 description of which is given as an appendix to the report. The chief requisites in connection with baths for thermo- meter comparisons are efficient stirring, convenient and rapid heating, and satisfactory. temperature regulation, with arrangements for avoidance of emergent stem errors. At the same time, suitable provision must be made for the rapid recording of observations. The type of bath and the general arrangements adopted are shown in Fig. 1. The containing vessel of the apparatus consists of two flat boxes of cast brass, the larger containing the thermometers to be tested, while the smaller is occupied by the stirrer above and the electric heating appliances below. The stirrers in all the baths are driven with endless cord and pulleys from an electric motor. The heating is effected by means of special resistance units, each of 400 watts capacity, con- structed of ‘* Eureka’”’ strip. The baths are well lagged, and the temperature can be run up very quickly to any desired point. A desk is provided for the observer, above 1 Ge) NATURE | MARCH 25, 1909 SSS SS SSeS EE ESS which is the telescope for taking the readings, while a series of switches allows of temperature regulation. By means of a handle on the left of the desk, connected by a flexible shaft to the cage carrying the thermometers, the cage can be rotated so as to bring the thermometers successively into the field of view. The bath on the right in the illustration is reserved for the comparison of standards. It is of the same general type as above described, but is being fitted with a telescope carried on a traversing support fixed to the bath itself, giving greater rigidity, and thus allowing the employment In addition there are a bath baths for the ordinary and The of a higher magnification. for very long thermometers, oil and nitrate higher temperatures, zero-point apparatus for standard thermometers, and steam-point apparatus. Fic. 2.—Steam Point Apparatus for Standard Thermometers. steam-point apparatus for standard thermometers is of the form designed by Chappuis, and is shown in Fig. 2. The upper part can be turned into a horizontal position, so that observations can be made with the thermometer either horizontal or vertical, as required for determination of 3300 watts to 1400 watts, the new furnace being at the same time of greater internal capacity than the old. A new type of spiral carbon-tube furnace has been devised, of which a description will be published shortly, and much preliminary work has been done with a view to the greatly needed investigations into the different methods employed in measuring temperatures up to 2000° C. The chief item of research work completed during 1908 was an investigation, in which Mr. F. P. Sexton assisted, into the effect of pressure on the boiling point of sulphur. _ In the electrical standards division much time was spent in intercomparison of standards with those of other labora- tories, and the excellent work accomplished by Mr. F. E. Smith was of great value in connection with the Inter- national Conference on Electrical Units, held in London in October. The papers published during 1908 in- LS clude an account of the secular variations in the pressure coefficients. A second steam bath of similar form, but not arranged to tilt, serves for ordinary work. The work of the thermometry division has also included the equipment, for work at very high temperatures, of the new electric furnace room. Much attention has been given to the perfecting of furnaces, and some interesting figures are printed in the report showing the increased efficiency | obtained in the ordinary platinum-foil wound type with improved construction and lagging. The power required to maintain a temperature of 1350° C. has been reduced from NO. 2056, VOL. 80] laboratory standards of resistance, and of the effect on manganin resistances of atmospheric humidity. Vol. v. of the ‘‘ Collected Researches ”’ contains also a paper describing an improved procedure for setting up mercury standards of resistance. In addition to this work, good pro- gress has been made in the construction of the Lorenz apparatus for the determination of the ohm in absolute measure, which is being pre- sented to the laboratory by the Drapers’ Com- pany in memory of the late Prof. Viriamu Jones. Mr. Campbell has continued his worl: on self- and mutual-inductance standards. Of special interest the method he has devised for the direct comparison of a mutual inductance and a resistance, from which may be made a deter- mination of the ohm in absolute measure. A preliminary account of the method has been pub- lished in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, and it seems possible that in the further experi- ments to be made a high degree of accuracy in the absolute determination may be attained. Valuable work has also been done in setting up standards for the determination of oscillation fre- quencies in wave telegraphy. From the optics department, a paper by Mr. Hunter describing an apparatus for determining the intensity curve for the image of an “‘ edge” is formed by an optical system was recently read before the Royal Society: Of general interest also is a new apparatus for testing the speeds and efficiencies the method consisting of light reflected from of photographic shutters, in photographing a spot the mirror of one of Mr. Campbell’s vibration galvanometers. The time is determined from the known frequency of the galvanometer, and a satisfactory trace is obtain- able even for very high shutter speeds, which can thus be determined with considerable accuracy. Work which has been in progress for some time on the standardisation of oculists’ cases of trial lenses was completed during the year, and the testing and certifying of such trial cases is now regularly undertaken by the laboratory. The testing of .microscope objectives is also under consideration. In the electrotechnics building the chief addition to the equipment is a 100,000-volt transformer by the Westinghouse Co., which was recently installed, and is now working satisfac- torily. This will be employed in the continuation of a research on insulating materials, while an investiga- tion into the dielectric strength of ebonite of various compositions is already in progress. A large amount of test work on alternating-current instruments was dealt with during the year, and the equipment for such work has been greatly improved. A new electro- static wattmeter, constructed in the laboratory workshop, deserves special mention, as well as a series of manganin water-cooled tube resistances with a device for bringing the voltage drop at their terminals into phase with the current passing through them. In the photometry section, also, good progress has been made, especially in the arrangements for life tests on glow Marcu 25, 1909] lamps. Life-test frames, designed for dealing with large numbers of lamps, have been constructed in the laboratory ; the racks can be tilted, so that the lamps may be burnt at any angle, and resistances are provided for each lamp to bring the voltage on the terminals to the value at which the lamp will run initially at the standard watts per candle. A new specially designed photometer bench, by Alex. Wright and Co., is employed for rapid candle-power measurements of lamps under life test. Following upon a suggestion made by Dr. Glazebrook at the British Association meeting in Dublin, agreement has been arrived at with the standardising iaboratories of some other countries in regard to the adoption of an inter- national light unit, and it is hoped that from an early date it may be possible to express light measurements in terms of the international candle. The matter is engaging the attention of the International Electrotechnical Com- mission. The metrology division has been much occupied during the year in transferring apparatus to the new building completed in 1907. A special feature of the building is the long gallery, in which 50-metre surveying tapes can be verified, whether on the flat or in catenary. Special apparatus for the measurements has been constructed by the Cambridge Scientific Instrument Co., and the installa- tion is now nearly complete. One of the rooms in the’ metrology building will be devoted to the apparatus for ruling diffraction gratings which belonged to the late Lord Blythswood, and which has been placed on loan at the laboratory by Lady Blyths- wood. After some alterations which were contemplated by Lord Blythswood, the apparatus will be capable of ruling gratings up to a length of 8 inches. As in previous years, the division has undertaken a con- siderable amount of work in connection with the Engineer- ing Standards Committee, and in particular diring 1908 important work has been done on the measurement of screws and screw gauges. In the engineering department Dr. Stanton is still con- tinuing his very valuable and interesting researches with regard to wind pressure. His paper relating to the wind pressure on structures in the open, and discussing the difference in the resultant pressure on large and small plates, is included in vol. v. of the ‘‘ Collected Researches.’’ The question considered during 1908 has been the possi- bility of inferring the maximum pressure on a large area during a gale from the maximum pressure registered at a single point of the area. The attempt to measure the mean pressure over a large area of 1000 square feet was made by means of pressure tubes distributed over the area, and some interesting theoretical results were obtained when a self-recording apparatus was set up to register the mean pressure from more than two such tubes. At present con- tinuous records are being taken of the mean pressure at two points 40 feet apart, and will no doubt furnish in- formation of value. Dr. Stanton has also been investi- gating the resistance of plates and models in a uniform current of water. Some of the results obtained are in- cluded in a communication to be made to the Institution of Naval Architects. A research on the heat transmission and resistance of air currents in pipes is also in progress. The important work on the behaviour of materials under repeated stresses has been very considerably advanced. An ingenious machine has been devised to make a combined abrasion and bending test under conditions approximating to those of a steel rail in practice; the conditions may be varied from pure abrasion to pure bending. A paper on the resistance of materials to impact was read before the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, and Mr. Bairstow has completed a research on the elastic limits of material, under alternating stress. The work on superheated steam has been continued, and in connection with this a research has been carried out on the loss of heat from steam-pipe flanges. In both branches of the work of the department of metallurgy and metallurgical chemistry material progress has been made. A paper on cooling curves was read by Mr. Rosenhain before the Physical Society; a paper entitled ‘‘ Eutectic Research, No. 1, the Alloys of Lead and Tin,’’ was presented to the Royal Society and printed in the NO. 2056, VOL. 80] - NAT ORL, Tar Philosophical Transactions, and the research on the copper- aluminium-manganese alloys for the Alloys Research Com- mittee of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers was carried on continuously throughout the year. A report on the first section of this work will shortly be communicated to the institution. In addition, a considerable number of important cases of failure were investigated in coopera- tion with the engineering department, and some account of this work was given in a paper on the study of breakages, read before Section G of the British Association at Dublin. In the section of this department devoted to metallurgical chemistry, special attention has been given to the improve- ment of the equipment and to the organisation of the work. The methods of steel analysis and the apparatus employed were described in a paper read by Mr. Rosenhain before the Iron and Steel Institute, which is reprinted as an appendix to the laboratory report. Of special interest are the silica-tube combustion furnaces for the estimation of carbon, a new type of electric muffle furnace, and the apparatus for electrolytic deposition. New methods of analysis have been investigated, and an improved proce- dure for the estimation of phosphorus, especially in phosphor-tin, has been described by Messrs. Gemmell and Archbutt. The work done at the observatory department under Dr. Chree, and the allied work at Eskdalemuir under Mr. Walker, are of special character, and cannot properly be dealt with here. Dr. Chree has completed a monumental piece of work in the reduction and analysis of the mag- netic records obtained by the Discovery Antarctic Expedi- tion, while in addition he has discussed the magnetic observations of the Scotia and the temperature and pen- dulum observations of the Discovery. His work on the Kew records has been continued in a paper, ‘‘ Magnetic Declination at Kew Observatory, 1890 to 1900,’’ Phil- Trans., A, vol. ccviii., 1908, reprinted in vol. v. of the “Collected Researches ’’; a similar discussion of the hori- zontal force curves is in progress. Much attention is also being given to the improvement of methods of meteor- ological observation. The new observatory at Eskdalemuir was occupied in May, 1908, and the work of installing apparatus was at once commenced. Regular meteorological observations are now proceeding, and the seismographs have been running” since September, but the magnetographs have not yet been erected. The delay has been due chiefly to difficulties with damp in the magnetograph houses, which, however, it is hoped are now finally overcome. Absolute magnetic observations have been made three times weekly since October. The past year has been marked by steady and con- tinuous progress in all branches of the work of the labora- tory rather than by any new development of first-rate importance. The construction of the experimental tank will add to the laboratory a new department of special interest, and it is to be hoped that in the near future means may be found of providing the much-needed extensions of existing departments. THE AERO AND MOTOR-BOAT EXHIBITION. HIS exhibition, which opened at Olympia on March 19 and will close on March 27, is the first of its kind to be held in this country. The exhibition has been organised’ by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, Ltd., of which Mr. E. Manville is president, and is under the management of Mr. H. A. Blackie. The society has had’ the cooperation of the Aéro Club, and has succeeded in presenting a valuable collection of models of aéroplanes, several full-sized complete machines, together with ordinary and dirigible balloons, and motor-boats. ’ Probably the most striking object in the hall is the inflated Wellman dirigible America. This airship, in which Mr. Wellman proposes again to attempt to reach the North Pole this year, is about 184 feet long, 52 feet in diameter, and about 70 feet from the top of the envelope to the bottom of the basket. The ship is suspended from the roof of the hall, and has a capacity of 300,000 cubic feet. The car is 125 feet long, the base forming a petrol tank of 112 NATURE [Marcu 25, 1909 two tons capacity. Provision is made for three explorers, a pack of dogs, two sleds, a boat, &c., and, when com- pletely equipped, the ship weighs about five tons. Owing to the few opportunities of inspecting aéroplanes in this country in the past, these machines at Olympia are easily first in public interest. Included among them is the aéroplane, of French make, used by Mr. J. T. C. Moore- Brabazon, who was one of the first two Englishmen actually to fly. The machine is a bi-plane, i.e. two planes one above the other, built by Voisin, there being 2 metres’ distance between the planes, and it is fitted with an eight-cylinder E.N.V. engine. Three flights of from one to two kilometres, and about a dozen flights of from one to five kilometres, at a height up to 50 feet, have been made with this machine. The Société Commercial. des Automobiles Gobron-Brillie show an unfinished Breguet aéroplane of the bi-plane type. This machine is fitted with means of warping the planes differentially, which is intended to produce automatic balancing, to facilitate turning, and to act as an elevating rudder. A British-made aéroplane, designed by Mr. Weiss, is shown by Handley Page, of Woolwich. The machine is a monoplane, having a span of 34 feet and an area of 150 square feet. There are two propellers driven by a 12 horse- power three-cylinder motor, air-cooled. Steering is effected by means of two flaps placed at the back of the main plane. The Miesse Petrol Car Syndicate show a machine having wings, which are given a bird-like movement by an in- genious mechanism. Messrs. Short Brothers, of Battersea, show, a bi-plane, and. also an. inflated balloon of 11,000 cubic feet capacity constructed for the Hon. C. S. Rolls. A bi-plane designed by W. Windham, of St. John’s Hill, is shown, but, like several of the other machines, has not yet been tried. The Continental Tyre and Rubber Co., of Clerkenwell Road, show an inflated passenger balloon of 49,000 cubic feet capacity. Mr. Howard T. Wright, of Marylebone, shows a beauti- fully constructed bi-plane, the main planes being 4o feet wide and 6 feet 6 inches deep. There are two propellers running in opposite directions driven by a 20 horse-power motor. Vertical steering is provided for by a double rudder in front. of the main planes, and horizontal steering by a vertical rudder in the tail. Messrs. Lamplough and Son, Ltd., of Willesden Junction, show a compound lifter plane and glider. The design is the first of its kind, and awaits trial. Mr. Frederick R. Simms shows a Simms-Voisin bi-plane of the type used by Farman, Delagrange, and Fournier in their flights. The main planes are 32-8 feet long, 6-5 feet wide, 5 feet space; the rudder cell or tail is 8.5 feet wide, 5 feet space, and contains a vertical rudder for horizontal steering. Vertical steering is secured by a hori- zontal rudder in front of the main planes. The total length is 37-8 feet; the weight complete is 1500 Ib. The 50 horse- power motor has six cylinders, and weighs 528 lb. com- plete with water and petrol for a two hours’ run. The propeller is 7 feet 5 inches diameter, 5 feet pitch, and weighs 33 Ib. P An R.E.P. monoplane is shown by the Etablissement Robert-Esnault-Pelterie. This machine won third prize for 200-metre flight last year, the wind having a speed of 6 metres to 8 metres. A Delagrange bi-plane, by Voisin, is shown by the Mass Cars firm. The Cody war kite is on view by permission of the War Office. Messrs. Willows show a dirigible balloon built at Cardiff. Con- spicuous among the exhibits of motors are those of the Wolseley Tool and Motor Car Co., Ltd., and also those of Messrs. John I. Thornycroft and Co., Ltd. It is un- fortunate that no machine used by the Wright brothers is on view, although a small model of one may be seen. The exhibition is well worth a visit, and shows that manufacturers in this country are alive to the potentialities of recent developments in France and other countries, and are taking steps not to be left behind in the race for the conquest of the air. It will assist in arriving at a proper estimation of the value of the exhibition if the fact is realised that all is as yet in the experimental sfage, even in the case of the most successful of the machines shown. NO. 2056, VOL. 80] HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES. ‘THE report of the U.S. Commissioner for Education for the year ended on June 30, 1907, has been received from Washington. This is the first report issued by Dr. Elmer E. Brown, who succeeded Dr. William T. Harris as commissioner on July 1, 1906. The two volumes, which» together run to 1214 pages, deal exhaustively with every branch of American education, and in addition include valuable reviews of educational progress in many European and other countries. : The carefully arranged and remarkably complete tabu- lated statistics of the 606 universities, colleges, and technological schools of the United States, contained in the second volume, shows what valuable assistance our own Board of Education could render students and adminis- trators of education if it would provide similar conspectuses concerning British institutions of higher learning. From this part of the report we learn that the total value of all gifts and bequests reported by the 606 institu- tions referred to, as having been received during the year under review, amounted to 4,574,000], Of this amount about 1,540,000l. was given for buildings and improve- ments, and 2,540,000]. for endowment. The remaining amount was for current expenses. Forty-two institutions each received 20,000l. or more. ‘The six institutions which benefited to the largest extent in this way were the Uni- versity of Chicago, which received some 1,189,000l.; the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, of New York, with its 215,400l.; Yale University, 198,oool.; Cornell University, 156,o0ol.; Princeton University, New Jersey, 153,000l. ; and Harvard University, 139,000. The report shows that the Washington Bureau of Educa- tion received full particulars for the year which ended in June, 1907, from 606 universities, colleges, and techno- logical institutions in the United States. Of these institu- tions, 150 are for men only, and 330 are open to both men and women. The teaching force of the whole of the institutions aggregated 24,679—an increase of 729 teachers of different grades over the preceding year. The total enrolment of students was 293,343. Leaving out colleges for women only, and dealing with the remaining 480 institutions, tables are provided in the report which show that, in the session 1906-7, 3,399,0001. was received by students’ fees, 782,o00l. being for board and other non- educational purposes. The amount received from productive funds was 1,955,000l. ; the receipts from State or city for increase of plant were 755,000l., for endowment 45,000l., and for current expenses 1,628,oool. From the United States Government certain of the institutions, including agri- cultural and mechanical colleges, received 533,0001. The grand total of the receipts of these 480 colleges from every source was 13,616,o00l. Exclusive of amounts for endow- ment purposes, the total sum available for current expenses, improvements, and building was 11,083,o00l. These institutions had in the year under review in their libraries 12,472,530 volumes, valued at about 3,613,000l. The value of their scientific apparatus, machinery, and furniture was 5,639,0001., and of grounds and buildings 48,816,000l1., while their productive funds reached 50,238, 0001. Some aspects of higher education in the United States are dealt with in an article by Prof. R. C. Maclaurin, president-elect of the Massachusetts Institute of Tech- nology, which appeared in the Revue scientifique of January 16 under the title ‘‘ L’Enseignement technique supérieur aux Etats-Unis.’’ After referring to the interest taken in France in the progress of technological education, Prof. Maclaurin remarks that the European suspects an excessive development of the utilitarian spirit across the Atlantic, and thinks that America’s enthusiasm for her own institutions too often displays some lack of the critical faculty ; but it is maintained that a good deal of the right spirit is at work, and that the problems of education in America are being attacked with seriousness and strength of purpose. Referring to the better technological institu- tions in the United States, the article points out that, judged by French standards, the expense of conducting Marcu 25, 1909] them is very great. It is not generally known that all the better institutions are developing so rapidly that their large revenues are inadequate. It is often thought that in America there is.an excessive expenditure on buildings and grounds, but this expenditure has been greatly exaggerated, and as to equipment, many American institutions are far behind the best of those in Europe. The number of professors is large, and in many cases this fact arises from excessive teaching or too much specialisation. In the best schools, however, it is due to an effort to. encourage close relations between teacher and student. The administrative side of American institutions is highly developed, and, in fact, in matters of organisation and administration American institutions differ markedly from those in other countries. In the best schools a strong effort is made to avoid an excess either of ‘‘ theory’ or of ‘‘ practice.’” The length of. the course is usually four years, with a tendency to establish fifth-year courses for post-graduate study. Great importance is attached to means for keeping the schools in close touch with in- dustry. One means of effecting this is the custom of encouraging professors to take an active part in the prac- tice of their profession. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is described in detail. The property of the institute is valued at about 800,o00l.; its annual expenditure is about 100,000l. There are about 1500 students, and the annual fee is sol. The teaching staff consists of about two hundred men, of whom nearly half are professors. The programme of studies involves thirteen different courses, each leading to the degree of Bachelor of Science. The student is free to choose whatever course he names, but in any given course most of the work is prescribed, although there is always a considerable number of options. The studies are not purely “ professional '’; a certain amount of modern languages, literature, history, and even of political economy is provided for. Prof. Maclaurin directs attention to special features of the institution, such as the facility offered for researches in chemistry, physics, and sanitary science. For this re- search work special laboratories are provided. The chemical laboratories are planned to hold about a thousand students. The chemical department occupies forty-five rooms, including twenty-five laboratories, four lecture- rooms, a library, three rooms for weights and measures, and so on. The laboratory of chemical research occupies six separate rooms, and the chemical library has 10,000 volumes. Prof. Maclaurin doubts the wisdom of separating science and technology. He thinks that a properly managed insti- tute of technology should be an admirable training ground even for the man destined to devote his life to the advance- ment of “ pure’’ science. It would avoid that separation of head and hand that is so bad for both. Science is sometimes in danger of becoming preoccupied with abstrac- tions; its detachment from practice deprives it of a much needed stimulus, and makes for the detriment both of science and technology. SOME BIRD-PAPERS. BSERVATIONS made in the neighbourhood of Tun- bridge Wells have led Messrs. C. J. and H. G. Alexander to conclude that in the case of many of our migratory species of birds, each pair occupies a definite and restricted area during the breeding-season, into which other pairs of the same species do not intrude. This has led to the formulation of a scheme for mapping the in- dividual distribution of such migratory birds in their breeding-haunts, the details of this plan being explained by the authors'in the March number of British Birds. In noting on the map the nesting-area of any particular pair of birds, the authors generally relied upon the singing of the cock in one special spot. A reproduction of the Ordnance Survey map on the 6-inch scale of a small dis- trict in the neighbourhood of Tunbridge Wells, on which have been marked the nesting-areas of the individual pairs of migratory birds, serves to illustrate the plan. To vol. vi, part v., of Annotationes NO. 2056, VOL. 80] Zoologicae NATURE BIZ Japonenses, Mr. M. Ogawa contributes a hand-list of the birds of Japan, arranged on the same plan as the British Museum ‘* Hand-list of Birds.” In a paper on the kingfishers commonly known under the generic designation of Pelargopsis, published as No. 1657 of the Proceedings of the U.S. National Museum (vol. xxxv., p. 657), Mr. H. C. Oberholser proposes to abolish that name, on account of insufficient definition, and to replace it by Ramphalcyon of Reichenbach. If the innovation be adopted, it may be hoped that the spelling of the name will be amended, and also that ornithologists will not follow the author in using the absurd designation Ramphalcyon capensis capensis for the typical race of a species restricted to the Malay Islands. Ornithologists have generally considered the sexes of these kingfishers to be externally indistinguishable, but this Mr. Oberholser points out is incorrect, the females being generally larger than the males, with the back and wings, and some- times also the tail, duller and browner or greener in colour. The January number, vol. viii., part iii., of the Emu contains the second part of a paper, by Mr. A. H. E, Mattingley, on the mallee-fowl (Lipoa ocellata), which is largely devoted to the eggs, young, and nesting-mounds of these remarkable birds. The Lipoa does not commence to lay until two years old, and during the first half of the breeding-season the eggs are laid regularly every third or fourth day, after which the intervals between the de- position of the eggs increase according to the disposition of the individual birds and the amount of food available. Hot and dry seasons have a noticeable effect on these birds, which under such conditions lay fewer eggs than usual. Laying usually commences early in September, but may be deferred until December is well advanced, and the total number of eggs laid by the individual hens in a season varies from one to a score. The eggs have un- polished shells of. a delicate salmon-pink or pinkish-red colour when first laid, but soon fade to earthy-brown. They are laid in the mound in tiers, with four in the basement tier; between each tier is a layer of sand 3 or 4 inches thick, and the eggs in the same time are separated from one another by from 6 to 12 inches of the same material, and placed near the solid wall of decaying vegetable matter bounding the egg-chamber. The eggs are always placed with the narrow end down- wards, so that when hatching the head of the chick, which occupies the larger end, will be uppermost. In the Times of March 3 Mr. P. McKenzie announces the shooting in the Polela district of Natal of a white stork, which bore on one leg a metal band with the inscription ‘* Ornith. Késpont, Budapest, Hungaria, 209.” To this letter there appeared in the same journal for March 17 a reply from Dr. O. Hermann, director of the Royal Hungarian Central Bureau for Ornithology, stating that the bird in question was liberated in Transylvania in July, 1908. This, taken with another event of the same nature, serves to settle the disputed question whether European storks cross the equator on their winter migra- tion. - P Naturalist To the February number of the Victorian u Mr. A. J. Nuth contributes notes on the habits of Australian bower-birds. After alluding to the fact that the species of the genera Ptilonorhynchus and Chlamydodera adorn their bowers chiefly with bones, next to which come shells, stones, berries, and fragments of metal, while Prionodura uses flowers alone, and thus approaches the Papuan gardener-bird (Amblyornis), the author points out that the tooth-billed Scenopoeetes dentirostris forms a con- necting link, in the matter of habits, between the more typical bower-birds and the cat-birds (Eluredus). In place of constructing a bower, the tooth-billed species merely clears a space, which it decorates with leaves, usually placed with the under surface uppermost ; cat-birds, on the other hand, neither build a bower nor clear a space. Special attention is directed to the bowers of Newton’s bower-bird (Prionodura newtoniana), some of which ‘are stated to be more than 8 feet in height, and are decorated with flowers, generally orchids. At the larger bowers males alone are usually seen during the nesting-season, as the females are engaged elsewhere. 114 SCIENTIFIC WORK OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.* Explorations and Researches. “THE resources of the Smithsonian Institution are at present too limited to permit of large grants for ~xtensive explorations or investigations, but, so far as the income allows, aid is given in various lines of research work, and it is sometimes found possible to engage in expeditions likely to accomplish important results. Through the National Museum, the Bureau of American Ethnology, and the Astrophysical Observatory, the institu- tion has been enabled to carry on various biological, ethno- logical, and astrophysical researches during the year covered by the report. Studies in Cambrian Geology and Palaeontology. In the last report reference was made to studies of the older sedimentary rocks of the North American Continent which Dr. Walcott has been carrying on for the past twenty years. This work was continued in the Canadian Rockies during the field season of 1907. Early in July a camp outfit was secured at Field, British Columbia, and work begun on Mount Stephen. Subsequently sections were studied and measured at Castle Mountain, west of Banff, Alberta; at Lake Louise, south of Laggan, Alberta; and on Mount Bosworth, on the Continental Divide near Hector, British Columbia. Upward of 20,000 feet of strata were carefully examined and measured, and collections of fossils and rocks made from many localities. It was found that the Cambrian section included more than 12,000 feet of sandstones, shales, and limestones, and that the three great divisions of the Cambrian—the Lower, Middle, and Upper—were represented in the Bow River series and the Castle Mountain group. Characteristic fossils were found in each division. Aérial Navigation. Within the past year there has been a renewed interest in experiments in aérial navigation, to which the institu- tion, through Dr. Langley, made notable contributions. Toward the end of the year the demand for literature on the subject so entirely exhausted the supply of papers on hand that a special edition of some of Dr. Langley’s more popular memoirs was issued. It is gratifying to be able to say that his pioneer work in heavier-than-air machines, resulting as it did in the actual demonstration of the possi- bility of mechanical flight, has now received universal recognition, Besides numerous popular papers, Dr. Langley wrote two technical works relating to the general subject of aérodromics, which form parts of an incomplete volume of the Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge. The record of his experiments from 1893 to 1905 was kept by him partly in manuscript form and largely in the shape of voluminous notes and waste-books. These have been turned over to his principal assistant in this work, Mr. C. M. Manly, who has been for some time engaged in preparing them for publication and adding such necessary information, especially on the engineering side, as comes within the immediate purview of Mr. Manly’s work. Meteor Crater of Canyon Diablo, Arizona. An investigation of the remarkable crater-like depression at Coon Butte, near Canyon Diablo, Arizona, was made in 1907 by Dr. G. P. Merrill, head curator of geology in the National Museum, aided by a grant from the Smith- sonian Institution. An article upon studies of this crater by other geologists appeared in Nature of September 13, 1906. The “‘crater’’ is some three-fourths of a mile in diameter and 500 feet in depth in a region of undisturbed sedimentary rocks and remote from volcanoes. The object of the study was to determine, if possible, whether the crater was caused by volcanic action, as assumed by some investigators, or due to the impact of a mass of meteoric iron, as asserted by others. From the available evidence Dr. Merrill concluded that the crater could not have been formed by volcanic action, all the observed phenomena being of a superficial nature. Some 300 feet of overlying limestone and 500 feet of sand- stone have been shattered as by some powerful blow, and 1 From the Report of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Dr. C. D. Walcott, for the year ending June 30, 1908. NO. 2056, VOL. 8o] NATURE. [Marcu 25, 19¢9 the quartz particles in the sandstone in part fused, in- dicating a very high degree of heat. The deeper-lying sandstone, however, is entirely unchanged. These facts absolutely preclude the formation of the crater by any deep- seated agency, and forces the conclusion that it resulted from the impact of a stellar body. No record has been found of a meteoric fall comparable with this, the largest known meteorites, such as that from Cape York, Greenland, and the enormous irons from Oregon, having fallen under such conditions as scarcely to bury themselves. The nearest approach to the Canyon Diablo occurrence was that at Knyahinya, Hungary, where a 660-lb. stone penetrated the ground to a depth of 11 feet. No meteoritic mass of sufficient size to have made this enormous crater has been brought to light, but it is thought there still remains the possibility of its having become dissipated through the heat developed by its impact while travelling at a speed of many miles a second. In his report Dr. Merrill goes very thoroughly inte details. He has secured many specimens of the meteoritic irons and their associations from the locality, which are deposited in the U.S. National Museum. The specimens include a hitherto unrecognised type of meteoritic iron and. a peculiar form of metamorphism in the siliceous sandstone of the region. Mining operations carried on in the crater afforded special opportunity for this research. These operations were discontinued during the winter, but their resumption in May, 1908, presented a second opportunity for the observation of the unique phenomena at the crater, and Dr. Merrill was authorised to proceed again to Arizona to be present during this second, and probably final, series of drillings. The greatest depth reached during his stay at the crater was 842 feet, and the results of the examina- tion of the ejectamenta thus secured confirmed the former conclusion. Alaskan Expedition. In the last report mention was made of an expedition to be made to the Yukon country in Alaska for the collec- tion of the remains of large extinct vertebrates, par- ticularly mammals. A Smithsonian expedition had been made to this region in the summer of 1904 by Mr. Maddren, the results of which were published by the institution in 1905. The present expedition of 1907 was in charge of Mr. C. W. Gilmore, of the National Museum. The results of the explorations have been published in the Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections. Mr. Gilmore was not successful in finding what was most desired, a fairly complete skeleton of a mammoth, but the expedition was by no means barren of results. He found that scattered remains of Pleistocene animals occur throughout the unglaciated region of Alaska and adjacent Canadian territory in the black muck accumulated in gulches and the valleys of the smaller streams, in the fine .: elevated clays of the Yukon silts and Kowak clays, and in the more recent fluvial and alluvial deposits. Some of =the specimens are so well preserved that they could not have travelled far from the original place of interment, while many bones are broken, abraded, and waterworn. Mr. Gilmore gives a list of the various genera and species of extinct vertebrates thus far reported from Alaska, followed by a brief review with a number of illustrations. He believes that when more perfect material is available it will be found, probably in all instances, to be quite dis- ~ tinct from the living forms. The skull of an Ovibos-was found sufficiently complete to warrant its separation from the living form O. moschatus, to which nearly all musk-ox material from this region had previously been referred. Geology of the Alps. The investigation by Mr. Bailey Willis of the current theories of Alpine structure, under the grant approved in 1907, Was successful in offering opportunities for consulta- tion with leading European geologists, among whom were Rothpletz, Suess, Lugeon, Margerie, and Saccord. In cooperation with several distinguished students of the great _problems of the Alps, Mr. Willis*made detailed studies of critical districts, and was thus enabled to compare opposing theories by object-lessons on the ground. Mr. Willis’s full report is expected early in 1909. Marcu 25, 1909] NALORE 115 Absolute Measurement of Sound. Dr. A. G. Webster announces the approaching com- pletion of his research on the measurement of sound, which has been in progress for two years past. The investiga- tion comprises an exhaustive treatment ‘of the theory of the production of sound, with a description of a standard source, the transmission of sound through the air as modified by the effect of the ground, and its measurement by a receiving instrument. A description of experiments confirming the theory of Dr. Webster will be included in his finished report, with several practical applications, such as the examination of the sounds of speech, the diagnosis of deafness, the improvement of fog signals, and the test- ing of materials for the insulation of sound. Re-calculation of Atomic Weights. In February, 1908, Prof. F. W. Clarke, chairman of the International Commission on Atomic Weights, was authorised to begin the preparation of a third edition of his work on that subject, with the aid of a grant from the Smithsonian Institution. The second edition of Prof. Clarke’s *‘ Atomic Weights ’’ was published in 1897, since which time the data on this subject have so largely in- creased as to render a new edition desirable. Some time will necessarily elapse before the completion of the work. Properties of Matter at Temperature of Liquid Air. In October, 1907, a Smithsonian grant was approved on behalf of Prof. E. L. Nichols, of Cornell University, for the continuation of his experiments on the properties of matter at the temperature of liquid air. Reports of the progress of this research are to be made from time to time in the recognised journals of physics, and, at the completion of the research, a memoir describing the in- vestigation will be submitted to the Smithsonian Institu- tion for consideration as to publication. It is believed that the prompt announcement of results in the way mentioned will be an immediate advantage to students, and that their publication as a whole by the institution will also prove of great service. Flow of Air at High Pressure through a Nozzle. The inquiry to determine the cooling effect of the nozzle expansion of air for large pressure differences, which has been conducted by Prof. W. P. Bradley, of Wesleyan University, with the aid of a grant from the Hodgkins fund of the institution, is announced as nearing comple- tion. The investigation was intended specifically to deter- mine whether the cooling process is due to the Joule- Thomson effect or to the performance of external work by the expanding air in pushing back the atmosphere from before -the nozzle. The results of the inquiry make it clear that pressure is an important factor, and that the cooling effect. increases very rapidly indeed as the initial temperature falls. Prof. Bradley is now engaged in an exact mathematical discussion of this research. As to the apparatus- employed, an interchanger of the Hampton type was so constructed, in vertical sections, that the amount of interehanger surface in actual use could be varied at-will, from nothing to more than enough to induce liquefaction. In this manner it was possible to maintain theeinitial temperature constant, within one-third of a degree, at any desired point between +20° and —120°, and the final temperature similarly constant between _ +20° and the temperature of liquefaction. The tempera- _ tures were measured by resistance thermometers placed close to the valves in the high- and low-pressure circuits. The pressures employed range from 500 |b. to 3000 lb.’ The expansion was exclusively to one atmosphere. The inquiry is of interest as related to the functioning of air liquefiers in which the air is throttled by a valve and expands without performing external work, in the usual sense of that expression. Study of the Upper Atmosphere. A. further grant from the Hodgkins fund was made to _ Prof. A. Lawrence Rotch, director of the Blue Hill Meteor- ological Observatory, to aid in the completion of his ex- periments with ballons-sondes at St. Louis. This was NO. 2056, VOL. 80] accomplished in October and November, 1907, under the direction of Mr. S. P. Fergusson. The object of’ these latest ascensions, twenty-one in number, was to supply data for the high atmosphere during the autumn, a season when there are few observa- tions, and also to establish a comparison with the results obtained simultaneously in Europe on the international term days in October and November. Prof. Rotch reports that all but two of the instruments used in these ascensions were recovered, and an examination of the record sheets indicates generally the presence, at an altitude exceeding eight miles, of the isothermal, or relatively warm stratum, which was found somewhat lower in summer. For example, on October 8 the minimum temperature of 90° F. below zero was found at a height of 47,600 feet, whereas at the extreme altitude reached, namely, 54,100 feet, the temperature had risen to 72° F. below zero. Similarly, on October 10 the lowest temperature of 80° F. below zero occurred at 39,700 feet, while 69° F. below zero was re- corded at 49,200 feet, the limit of this ascension, showing that the temperature inversion had come down about 8000 feet in two days. The prevailing drift of the balloons during the autumn of 1907 was from the north-west, while in previous years they travelled more from the west. A description of the methods employed in launching seventy-seven ballons- sondes from St. Louis, and a discussion of the results obtained, will soon appear in the Annals of the Astro- nomical Observatory of Harvard College. Air Sacs of the Pigeon. For several years there have been in progress under the general direction of Prof. von Lendenfeld, of the University of Prague, aided by grants from the Hodgkins fund, various investigations bearing upon animal flight. The results of one of these investigations, on the air sacs of the pigeon, by Bruno Miiller, was published during the past year in the Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections. The author summarises the conclusions of his studies as follows :— I do not consider the air sacs, including the air cavi- ties of bones, as organs having a positive and special func- tion, but rather as a system of empty interspaces. Their value lies in their emptiness—that is, in their containing nothing that offers resistance or has an appreciable weight. Flying is the highest form of locomotion, and as such only possible to a body of high mechanical efficiency. Our most effective machines are by no means compact and solid, but composed of parts as strong as possible in them- selves and arranged in the most appropriate manner. The interspaces between the parts are left empty and taken up by air. The Sauropsida, at the time they obtained the power of flight, became adapted to its mechanical requirements, and thereby similar to the efficient machines mentioned above ; they divested themselves of all superfluous material, filling the body spaces thus obtained with air sacs. While the body wall, adapting itself to the mechanical requirement, became a compact, hollow cylinder serving as a support for the organs of movement, the mobility of the parts was assured by surrounding them with air sacs. The lengthening of the neck, produced by quite a different adaptation, made necessary an increase in the quantity of air moved during respiration. This demand was met by air currents generated through a rhythmical change in the volume of the air sacs. The connection of the air sacs with the lungs is a consequence of their phylo- genetic development, which is repeated in their embryo- logical development, and has no physiological significance other than that the air sacs assist in renewing the air in the trachea. Preservation of Archaeological Sites. Attention has been directed previously to what had been done toward the preservation of archeological objects on the public domain from destruction by vandals and relic hunters, and toward making these antiquities accessible under proper rules and regulations. Under the terms of an Act of Congress approved June 8, 1906, uniform regu- 116 lations for its administration were prepared by the Secre- taries of the Interior, War, and Agriculture, with the cooperation of the Smithsonian Institution, and were promulgated on December 28, 1906, in the form printed in the last report. Under Rule 8, applications for permits are referred to the Smithsonian Institution for recommenda- tion. During the past year several such applications have been acted upon. .The conservation of the nation’s archeological possessions was regulated by law none too soon to prevent further mutilation or useless destruction of interesting antiquities in many places. The President of the United States, by executive pro- clamation during the year, made several additions to the list of national monuments, including three. of, archzo- logical interest :—(1) the Tonto National Monument in Arizona, where there are two cliff-dwellings not yet re- ported on; (2) the Gila Cliff-dwellings National Monu- ment in the Gila National Forest in New Mexico, com- prising a group of cliff-dwellings; and (3) the Grand Canyon National Monument, which includes a_ large number of cliff-dwellings, pueblos, dwelling sites, and burial places in the Grand Canyon of the Colorado. Casa Grande Ruin in Arizona. In 1906 Congress granted an appropriation of 3000 dollars to be expended under the supervision of the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution for the preservation of the Casa Grande ruin in Pinal County, near Florence, Ariz., and for the excavation of the reservation.. An: account of the work accomplished by Dr. Fewkes up to June 30, 1907, was published in the Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collec- tions under date of October 25, 1907. The work done during the past fiscal year, under a second appropriation, is noted in an appendix of.the present report. The largest structure excavated at Casa Grande is a building 200 feet long with eleven rooms, the massive walls enclosing a plaza. In the central room there is a seat called by the Pima Indians ‘‘ the seat of Montezuma.’ The ruins at Casa Grande are found to be very much more extensive than was anticipated, and their permanent preservation is of great archeological importance. In addition te the work of excavation, preservation, and repair of the cliff-dwellings and other prehistoric ruins in the. Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado, studies have been made of:the prehistoric culture of the. Gila Valley, outside the Casa Grande Reservation. Dr. J. Walter Fewkes, who directed the Mesa Verde explorations, has prosecuted this later research also, and will submit an account in detail of what he has done for publication by the institution. Bureau of American Ethnology. The Bureau of American Ethnology has continued. its in- vestigations among the Indian tribes of the country begun more than a quarter of a century ago. Since it has not been possible to study all of the tribes in detail, a sufficient number have been taken as types to stand for all. The work accomplished in securing knowledge of these tribes has been recorded in the annual reports of the bureau, and the results obtained have been published, so far as circumstances . will permit, in bulletins of the bureau. Many manuscripts are preserved in the archives of the bureau. To the present time there have been collected data relating to some sixty families of linguistic stocks and upward of 300 tribes. During the past year this fund of knowledge was added to through researches carried on in Arizona,’ New Mexico, Colorado, Texas, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Ontario. For the first time the study of native Indian music was seriously taken up by the bureau in connection with certain investigations relating. to the grand medicine ceremony of the Chippewa on the White Earth Reservation, ‘Minn. The phonograph was employed in recording the songs. Records of songs were also secured from members of various Indian delegations visiting the capital. This study and recording of the Indian tribes is not only of national importance, but urgent. The native American Tace, one of the four races of men, is fast disappearing, and the processes of obliteration are sure. If authoritative investigations are not made now, they never can be made NO. 2056, VOL. 80] NA DLORE [Marcu 25, 1909 with any like degree of accuracy or of thoroughness. It is a work the nation owes to science, to the Indian race, and to itself. It is a work worthy of a great nation, and one which can be carried on systematically only by a nation. Through the researches of the bureau the world is not only securing, while possible, a permanent record of one of the great races of men now dying out, but is gaining a knowledge of the Indian for practical purposes of administration and in the interest of humanity. Astrophysical Observatory. At Washington the observation of the relative brightness of different parts of the sun’s disc has gone forward as there was opportunity. Improved methods of observing and reducing these observations have been adopted. Pre- parations for observing the absorption of water vapour in long columns of air, for the region of the spectrum ‘ where rays are chiefly emitted by the earth, have been carried to such a state that preliminary measurements have been made. The investigation is being carried on with a column of moist air about 4oo feet in length. A bolometric study of the solar corona was made on Flint Island, in the Southern Pacific, during the eclipse of January 3, 1908. The intensity and quality of sunlight was determined within twenty-five minutes of totality, both before and after, and during totality measurements were made at five different regions of the corona and on the dark moon. = of the minor legislative achievements of last session was an amendment of the Poisons and Pharmacy Acts. So far as poisons are concerned, ‘it may be noted that these Acts restrict the facilities for obtaining certain substances which experience has shown to be often responsible for fatalities, whether by accident or by intentional administration. Besides the commoner violent poisons—the arsenic and strych- nine of the wilful poisoner, the prussic acid and carbolic acid of the suicide—there are milder varieties of toxic substances which may lead to fatal results through ignorant or careless usage, and which should therefore not lightly be dealt out to ignorant or care- less users. Such, for instance, are the narcotics, as morphine and sulphonal; the emetics, e.g. tartar emetic; and the abortifacients, such as ergot and Savin. What is a poison? Precise definition is difficult. Very largely it is a matter of quantity; most medicines are poisonous if taken in excess. Personal idiosyn- cracy and immunisation are also factors. The proverb ‘‘ One man’s meat is another man’s poison ”’ contains at least the half-truth characteristic of proverbs; and the Styrian arsenic-eaters, as Sir Henry Roscoe showed nearly fifty years ago, can easily with- stand doses of arsenic which would be fatal to ordinary people. In the Act before us the legislature defines its poisons by enumerating them. ‘To toxicologists and pharmacists the list is no doubt familiar enough. To other readers, however, it may be of interest to glance at the list of articles now included in the schedule of poisons. These, as explained below, are only to be sold under certain specified conditions. Part i. of the schedule is concerned generally with the more active poisons, upon the sale of which the more stringent restrictions are naturally placed. The buyer must be known to the seller, or must be intro- duced to him by a third person known to both; the sale must be recorded in a special book and the entry signed by the purchaser, and the purpose for which the drug is required must be stated. : Arsenic; alkaloids, and the poisonous cyanides form most of this first division. Several of the alkaloids— aconite, aconitine, atropine, ‘belladonna, strychnine, and morphine—are specifically named; but there is also a general category of ‘‘ all poisonous vegetable alkaloids,” which brings in any not otherwise enumerated. Coca, cantharides, corrosive sublimate, tartar emetic, ergot, picrotoxin, and savin complete the list as regards part i. Part ii. of the schedule contains a list of articles which (1) are to be sold only by registered chemists, and (2) must be labelled as poisons when sold. It includes oil of almonds (unless deprived of prussic acid), antimonial wine, carbolic acid and its homo- logues, chloral, chloroform, digitalis, the iodide, NO. 2059, VOL. 80] NATURE 191 sulphocyanide, chloride, and oxides of mercury; poppies, strophanthus and sulphonal, together with all preparations which contain a poison within the meaning of the Pharmacy Acts and are not otherwise dealt with. Most of the foregoing articles are well-known poisons, and the reasons for including them are, perhaps, sufficiently obvious. But a few notes upon the less familiar of them may not be without interest. One of the most noteworthy is the drug coca. This, the source of the alkaloid cocaine, consists of the dried leaves of Erythroxylon coca, a ‘shrub which flourishes on the slopes of the Andes. -It has been. used as a nerve stimulant bythe Peruvian and Bolivian natives. from time immemorial. Furnished with a small stock of the leaves to chew, they will work or travel without food from morning until night. As there is no appreciable amount of nourishment in the leaves, the sustaining effect is regarded as prob- ably due to the nerves of. the stomach being locally benumbed by the drug, thus preventing the feeling of hunger. ' Although’ habitual- excessive use of coca brings on insomnia, dropsy, and:death, yet a single large dose is said, in the case of the natives, to give a sensation’ of peculiar physical beatitude. “Joyous visions and brilliant phantasmagoria are recorded as. the result of a very large dose in ‘one’ case.‘ On Europeans, however, the action: appears to be curiously different from this, fear and terror rather than- joy having been noted in numerous cases of coca poisoning. °° . : ah pr - Cantharides,- the Spanish blistering fly, is the dried beetle Cantharis vesicatoria. It comes chiefly from Spain, Italy, and’ Russia. Internally, the drug acts as a powerful irritant, with a peculiar direction to the urinary and genital organs; externally it is used as a blister and rubefacient. Ergot is the sclerotium of a fungus, Claviceps purpurea, arising in the ovary of the rye plant. It is scarcely a poison in the ordinary sense of the word, as most persons—the exceptions being women in pregnancy—can take large doses without fatal effect. Nevertheless, epidemics of poisoning on the Continent have been ascribed to the use of rye-bread con- taminated with the fungus. Medicinally it produces contraction of those muscles which act involuntarily, and slows down the action of the heart. A poison which is said to have been used as a hop- substitute in, malt liquors has a place in the schedule. It is‘picrotoxin, a bitter, crystalline substance obtained from the berries of Cocculus indicus (Anamirta pani- culata).. The-drug is a potent poison, producing con- vulsions and violent peristalsis. Savin has been much used in uterine affections. It consists of the dried tops of the shrub Juniperus sabina, Lin., a native of southern Europe and the United States. The volatile ‘oil of savin,” obtained from it is a powerful local irritant “which has been employed, often with fatal results, in producing criminal abortion. Strophanthus, the seeds of S.. Kombé, is notable as the source of the Kombé arrow-poison, used in Senegambia, Guinea, and other parts of Africa. For the rest, space allows only a brief mention of sulphonal, which is a soporific drug (dimethyl-methane-diethyl sulphone) synthesised from acetone and mercaptan. Its narcotic action is usually quiet, without disagreeable after-effects; but chronic poisoning and fatal results have frequently accrued from long-continued and injudicious use of the drug. A large number of deaths by accident and suicide are yearly attributable to poisoning by mineral acids. Restrictions are therefore now placed by the Act upon the sale of hydrochloric, sulphuric and nitric acids, as also of soluble oxalates. These articles must he 192 NATURE [ArkiL 15, 1909 labelled as poisonous, and bear the name and address of the seller; but the latter need not be a registered chemist, as in the case of the scheduled poisons. On the other hand, greater facilities are given for obtaining certain toxic substances used in agriculture and horticulture. In country places there has often been difficulty in obtaining poisonous insecticides, fungicides, and bactericides, as also sheep-dips and weed-killers containing arsenic or nicotine; it has consequently been enacted that these articles may henceforth be sold by any persons duly licensed for the purpose by the ‘local authority. No doubt this provision will be a convenience in rural districts, and will to this extent assist the farmer in dealing with the pests which encumber agriculture. C. Stmmonps. RAINFALL IN ITALY. HE Italian Meteorological Department has issued an important work on the rainfall of Italy. The tabular matter contains the total precipitation and the number of rain-days for each month of the twenty-six years 1880 to 1905 for 215 of the 700 rainfall stations in connection with the Italian office. The records are not complete in all cases, but fifteen years is the shortest period dealt with. The largest annual total is 90 inches, at Gemona, near the Austrian frontier, the smallest 186 inches, at Foggia. On looking through the tables we are struck by the fact that no attempt seems to be made to secure uni- formity of exposure for the gauges. The heights above the ground vary between 60 metres and half a metre. A set of excellent coloured plates shows the average rainfall conditions for each month, each season, and for the whole year. The seasonal variation of rainfall differs widely in different regions. In the extreme north we have a single very pronounced maximum at midsummer, while in Sicily there is an equally pronounced mid- winter maximum. The one curve is almost exactly the reverse of the other. Over the northern plains and in the northern half of the peninsula there are two maxima, one in May, the other in October. or November, the latter being the more pronounced. Over the southern half of the peninsula the winter rains make themselves felt, and we find a principal maximum in October and secondary maxima in January and April. The preparation of the work has been in charge of Dr. Filippo Eredia. SIMPLE STUDIES IN NATURAL HISTORY.? HE subject of forest trees is such an attractive one and-is just now so much to the fore that the little book at the head of our list ought to have a warm reception. It is well illustrated by thirty-two coloured drawings of trees, their leaves, flowers, and fruits, and the text is simply and well written. For children such a work is invaluable, and will enable them to identify trees with great ease. At the present time, when so much ruthless destruction is being effected in country districts by the wholesale felling f young and old timber, it is urgently necessary to emphasise the value of trees. This little book should | “Le precipitazioni atmosferiche in Italia dal 1880 al 1905.” Annals iell Ufficio Centrale Meteorolo: e Geodinamico Italiano, vol. xxv., parte i L're wn to the Children.” By Janet Harvey Kelman, and de ib C. E, Smith. Pp. xiv+131r; with coloured plates. (Edin- burgh and idon: T. C. and E. C. Jack.) Price 2s. 6d. net. * Anir t n By W. P. Westell. Pp. 240; 24 plates. (London: Dent and ( ) Price 3s. 6d. Nature Study By J. R. Ainsworth, Davis, M.A. Pp.. xiit+274. Lond dD id C 1oB.)” Price 2s. 6d. Oe ee 2059, VOL. 80] be especially useful, not only in teaching the different kinds and their uses, but also in nurturing that affee- tion for the noblest of plants which must be more widely entertained if the policy of devastation is to be checked. Mr. Westell’s stories form a complete contrast to this unassuming work on trees. They consist of re- prints from publications of the Society for the Pre- vention of Cruelty to Animals, and contain a series of sketches of animal life that is disjointed, unor- ganised, and sententious. There are so many good books on this subject suitable for children that it is difficult to see on what grounds this series has been resuscitated. The affection of the author for flies is Drinker moth (Oadnestis From Prof. potatoria) just emerged from Cocoon. Ainsworth Davis's ‘‘ Nature Study.” not a very discriminating one. The pupal stage of the house-fly does not last ‘‘ some weeks,’’? nor is the blue-bottle fly a desirable acquaintance. The style of the author may be judged from the following refer- ence to the feet of the house-fly :—‘‘ The adhesive power of our little feet is not impaired when atmo- spheric pressure is removed,’? a sentence that is fol- lowed by the naive remark, ‘*I have tried to make (this explanation) as simple as possible, and trust I have succeeded ’’; or, again, apropos of the lapwing, ‘“Notice the lapping movement carried out, after which we have been accorded one of our English names,’’'a sentence that is as cryptic as it is ungainly. APRIL 15, 1909] Principal Davis’s little book consists of two parts. The first, devoted to plants, gives an admirable résumé of their being and well-being, their varieties and adaptations. The second treats in systematic fashion the chief groups of animals, and, though less “ bio- logical,’’ is well arranged and packed with informa- tion. The illustrations throughout are most attrac- tive, and the plan of the text well designed. For schools the book is certain to be found useful, and the only faults we have to find with it are the attempt to explain everything and the absence of any attempt to give practical directions for the simplest. experi- ment. The first is certainly a serious mistake. The too ready application of the magic word “‘ protection ”’ in regard to colouring, for example, is frequently un- justified, and the bald statement, e.g., that bir Ss. are derived from reptiles that rose on aéroplanes, is at feast a daring one when its. speculative nature is not hinted at. Phylogenetic speculation should be rigorously excluded from elementary. teaching. The absence of experimental advice is a too common drawback to books-of this kind, and yet perhaps no method is equal to this one in value. With animals there is always a difficulty in suggesting an experi- ment that has not an unnatural or even.a cruel look, but plants are. made for experiment, and a training in that branch of work is one that can be effected cheaply and conveniently. These defects do not, however, prevent this little book from being a fund of attractive information on both animals and plants. The subject-matter is highly compressed, and teachers will find that a single paragraph has to be expanded and illustrated before it can be properly grasped by their pupils. Such compactness is, however, inevitable in a work of such small size and wide compass. INTERNATIONAL CHART. OF THE HEAVENS. Tee permanent committee of the Astrographic Congress of 1887 will meet at the Paris Ob- servatory, April 19 to 24. Our readers will remem- ber that the great international undertaking—the Carte du Ciel—was inaugurated at a congress held at Paris in 1887. No astronomer who attended the meeting can forget the man whose name will ever be associated with that work—Admiral Mouchez, then director of the Paris Observatory. But for his earnest and sympathetic character and genial influ- ence it is doubtful if this great work could have been launched at all; it certainly could not have been -so with the same prospect of success without his tactful and energetic cooperation. At that congress a scheme was’ prepared and permanent committee appointed to carry the work into execution, The committee in question consisted of eleven members, selected by vote, to- gether with the directors of observatories cooperating in the work whose names did not appear in the original list. This committee met at intervals of from two to four years at Paris until the year 1900 inclusive, but since that time no further meeting of the permanent committee has taken place, and we shall see presently how urgent is the need for the coming meeting. Broadly speaking, the programme entrusted to the committee was as follows :— (1) To construct charts of the entire sky, each map measuring 2°X2°, and containing all stars to the thirteenth magnitude. (2) To catalogue the exact positions and magnitudes of all stars to the eleventh magnitude. _ At first the chart appeared, even to some astro- aomers, to be the more important object to’ be NO. 2059, VOL. 80] NATURE 193 realised, but there has been a growing conviction that, for the broad fundamenta of astronomy, the catalogue, though by far the more laborious, is in- finitely the moré important of the two objects. The chart, it is true, preserves a permanent record of the state of the sky for a mean epoch about 1g00, to which reference can be made, as occasion may arise, in connection with variable stars and the appearance of new stars, and, after special measures, it will yield the places of stars fainter than the eleventh magnitude which may be suspected of large proper motion, &c. But, with the completion of the catalogue, astro- nomers will be provided with absolute places of all the stars down to the eleventh magnitude, and this will enable them, when the work has been repeated after a sufficient interval, to derive the proper motions of all stars to theeleventh magnitude in the most simple and direct manner, and so to investigate such prob- lems as the precession, the solar motion in space, star-drift, &c., and to discuss the general problems of sidereal astronomy. with a completeness unattain- able in any other way. By the complete execution of our present pro- gramme we lay.upon astronomers of the future the moral compulsion -to execute. a-similar work, say, one hundred years hence, and, in addition, to derive from the three or four millions-of proper motions so obtained the broad cosmical conclusions which must follow from the proper discussion of these motions. This, surely, is a large enough task to bequeath to futurity—a noble bequest indeed if it be left in the complete, permanent and accessible form of a printed catalogue of positions and magnitudes. To leave it in any other form would be to endanger the per- manent value of our work by throwing such an undue share of labour upon our successors as almost to justify them in refusing to utilise what we have done. The work of the chart and of the catalogue was originally divided amongst sixteen observatories, and naturally has proceeded at different rates in different observatories according to their opportunities, the varied energy of their directors,- and the means at their disposal. Practically the work has. now con- tinued for nearly twenty years, but, of course, a good deal of time was lost at first in the construction of instruments and in experimental research before definite routine work was commenced. But whilst some of the observatories have nearly completed their share of the work, others are far behind, and it will be an important duty of the present meeting to inquire into the progress of each zone, to divide up the unexecuted work amongst the more active observatories, and to take such other steps as are necessary to bring the whole to an early and satisfactory completion. In a circular letter addressed to the directors of the cooperating observatories and to others invited to attend the present meeting, M. Baillaud,. director of the Paris Observatory, and president of the per- manent committee, makes the following requests, Viz. :— (a) That each observatory which, up to the present time, has cooperated in the work, shall prepare a report show- ing the amount of work done, not only in taking the plates, but in the measurement, reduction, and publication of the results. (8) That those astronomers who find themselves in a position to aid in the completion of zones which have fallen into arrear either in the matter of taking the plates or in their measurement and reduction, should intimate their readiness to assist in the work. In entering into the whole question of the present state of the work, and taking such farther steps as 194 shall ensure its completion, the present meeting of the permanent committee has a most practical and important duty before it. But it has still further matters of interest and importance to deal with. First, as regards the chart and catalogue, it must - be remembered that to a great extent the sixteen observatoriés have been working independently, and it is impossible that, in existing circumstances, these results can be entirely homogeneous. For example, at some observatories the diameters of the star-discs have been measured; at others, the magnitudes have been estimated by comparison with sets of photographed images assumed to represent stars of known magnitude. It will be the business of the ‘‘ Magnitudes Committee ’’ to devise effective means for reducing these measures of diameter and miscellaneous estimates to a uniform and absolute system of magnitudes. Another committee will deal with the systematic errors which have been found to exist in the coordinates of star-images measured in certain series of plates. In some cases these errors depend on the magnitude of the star, in others on its distance and position angle from the centre ot the plate. The optical committee will have to trace, so far as possible, the origin of these errors, and devise means for eliminating their effects from the final results. The coordinates of the star-images measured on the plates are of no value for the purposes of funda- mental astronomy unless the system of the coordinates of each plate is referred to a number of stars the abso- lute positions of which on the sphere are known. In the case of some of the zones the places of the refer- ence stars depend on meridian observations, few in number and made a considerable number of years ago; in other cases they depend on recent but only locally observed zones. It is essential that not only should adequate provision be made for proper meridian observation of the zones, but also for their coordina- tion to a common system on the plan so far carried out by Dr. Kastner at Bonn. The arrangement of this part of the work will rest with the fundamental stars committee. At the last meeting of the permanent committee in 1900, a good deal of time was given to con- sideration of the steps to be taken for the observation of the then recently discovered planet Eros, at its opposition at the end of 1900. The bureau of the committee has published a large number of the observations of Eros that were secured at the opposi- tion of 1900, as well as the results of meridian and photographic observations of the comparison stars, and an accurate ephemeris of the planet for that opposition. The unique characteristics of the orbit of Eros present conditions which are exceptionally favourable for researches of extraordinary astro- nomical interest and importance, viz. for the trigonometrical determination of the solar parallax and mass of the moon, and for the dynamical deter- mination of the mass of the earth by the perturba- tions which it produces in the motion of Eros. In 1900 Eros approached the earth within one-third of the earth’s mean distance from the sun, but at the opposition of 1931 it will approach the earth within half that distance, viz. within one-sixth part of the earth’s mean distance from the sun. It is not, even now, too soon to begin preparation for this unique opportunity, and accordingly an Eros committee will be appointed for the following purposes :— (a@) Tu receive reports on the actual state of the reduc- ductions of the past observations of Eros, and to prepare report upon them. (b) To take steps for the preparation of an approximate ephemeris of Eros at the opposition of 1931 of sufficient NO. 2059, VOL. 80] NATURE [ArrIL 15, 1900 accuracy to permit the selection of the most suitable com- parison stars. 2 (c) To discuss the best methods of observing the opposi- tion in question, especially with a view to avoid systematic error in the final results. i (d) To discuss the basis of the choice of comparison stars, and how to ensure their proper observation. (e) To devise means for the regular observation of Eros from this time forward in order to perfect the ephemeris that will be finally employed in the definitive reduction of the observations of 1931, that is to say, for the direct determination of the solar parallax and mass of the moon, and also for the ultimate determination of the mass of the earth by means of the perturbations which it produces in the motion of Eros. There can be no doubt that all these objects can only be attained by international cooperation, and that they furnish ample material for an interesting and important meeting. The following astronomers have accepted M. Baillaud’s invitation on the part of the French Government to be present on the occa- sion :— Prof. Andoyer, Paris; Ch. André, Lyon; M. Angot, Paris; T. de Azcarate, San Fernando; O. Backlund, Pulkova; B. Baillaud, Paris; J. Baillaud, Paris; H. G. van de Sande Bakhuyzen, Leyden; Le Général Bassot, Nice; de la Baume Pluvinel, Paris; M. Bayet, Paris; G. Bigourdan, Paris; G. Boccardi, Turin; Prince Roland Bonaparte; F. Boquet, Paris; H. Bourget, Marseilles; Sir W. H. M. Christie, Greenwich; W. E. Cooke, Perth, W. Australia; M. Cosserat, Toulouse; M. Deslandres, Meudon; A. Donner, Helsingfors; F. W. Dyson, Edin- burgh; John Franklin-Adams, London; A. Gaillot, Paris ; P. Gautier; Sir David Gill, London; M. Gonnessiat, Algiers; G. E. Hale, Mount Wilson; M. Hamy, Paris; A. R. Hinks, Cambridge; S. S. Hough, Cape Town; Fernand Jacobs, Brussels; J. C. Kapteyn, Groningen ; E. B. Knobel, London; M. Kromm, Bordeaux ; F. Kistner, Bonn; Le R. P. Lais, Rome; I. Lagarde, Paris; A. Lebeuf, Besancon; G. Lecointe, Brussels; G. Leveau, Paris; M.. Lumiére, Lyon; Major P. A. MacMahon, London; J. Palisa, Vienna; C. D. Perrine, Mount Hamil- ton; L. Picart, Bordeaux; A. A. Rambaut, Oxford; H. Renan, Paris; A. Ricco, Catania; J. Scheiner, Pots- dam; M. Stéphan, Marseilles; E. Str6mgren, Copenhagen ; H. H. Turner, Oxford; F. ° Valle, Tacubaya; ) M: Verschaffel, Abbadia; W. Zurhellen, Bonn. DR. ARTHUR GAMGEE, F.R.S. H's numerous friends and fellow-worlkers in ; science, both in this country and abroad, will hear with deep regret of the unexpected death of Dr. Arthur Gamgee, in Paris, on March 29. He was in his sixty-eighth year, and though not a young man was in full possession of an exception- ally endowed intellect which was ever urging him on in the path of research. Throughout a some- what unsettled life his enthusiasm for research never waned from the time of his early student days, when he followed his natural leanings towards original physiological work, to which his exact knowledge of physics and chemistry was to be applied with a success that gained for him a wide and well-deserved reputation. To many of the younger physiologists Dr. Gamgee was personally unknown. He was born in 1841, in Edinburgh, a younger son of Joseph Gamgee, a distinguished veterinary surgeon and _ pathologist, whose work, particularly that on rinderpest, was well known in England and on the Continent. An elder brother, Joseph Sampson Gamgee, long con- nected with the general hospital in Birmingham, was a man of great mental gifts and remarkable personality, who made a name for himself in his profession, and will be remembered for the introduc- tion of improved methods in the treatment of wounds APRIL 15, 1909] NATURE 195 in the pre-antiseptic days of surgery. Educated at University “College School, Arthur Gamgee_ subse- quently entered Edinburgh University, and came under the influence of John Goodsir and Christison, for both of whom he retained a warm affection throughout his life. After taking his medical degree in 1862, the subject of his thesis, for which he was awarded a gold medal, being ‘‘ An Inquiry into the Physiology and Pathology of Foetal Nutrition,’’ he became assistant to Maclagan, who was at that time professor of medical jurisprudence. Ten years later, after the publication of several physiological papers, among which the most important are those on the action of nitrites on hamoglobin, on _ the development of heat in the process of arterialisation of the blood, which Mario Camis has only recently shown to be an exothermic reaction (Mem. Real. Acc. del Torino, 1908, 58, pp. 141-69), and, with J. Dewar, on the constitution of cystine—urinary calculi being at that time the only known source of this amino-acid, Gamgee was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. He was at that time thirty-one years of age. In 1873 he became the first Brackenbury pro- fessor, of physiology in Owens. College, Manchester, where he founded the school in this subject, and as Dean of the medical school actively assisted in the transformation of the college into the Victoria Univer- sity. His work in this direction seems to have been most unaccountably ignored, for his name is not even mentioned in a recently published history of the development of the university. From 1882 to 1885 he was Fullerian professor of physiology in the Royal Institution. A few years after leaving Manchester in 1885 Gamgee was elected assistant physician at St. George’s Hospital, where he lectured on pharma- cology and materia medica, and then, having decided to reside abroad, he practised as a consulting physi- cian in Switzerland at Lausanne, and for several years.at Montreux. During this time he was also actively engaged in research, and on his return to England in 1904 he continued his original work in Cambridge and in the physiological laboratory of the University of London, where, indeed, he was at work on the morning of the day of his departure for Paris. On two occasions, in 1902 and 1903, he was invited to America, and his first visit was under- taken with the view of reporting upon the present state of our knowledge of nutrition, a subject which was being elaborately investigated by Chittenden, Atwater, and Benedict. From the Universities ot Edinburgh and Victoria he received the honorary degrees of LL.D. and D.Sc., and during the last few months of his life was engaged in furthering the success of the International Congress of Applied Chemistry, which meets on May 26; of this he was vice-president of the physiological chemistry section. The council of the Royal Society chose him to repre- sent the society at the celebration of Albrecht v. Haller’s bicentenary at Berne last year. The twelve years during which Dr. Gamgee worked in Manchester were in some respects the period of his greatest activity. Owens College was the foremost scientific institution in this country at that time, which was one of stress and strain for all who had the real interests of scientific work at heart. The paramount influence of Owens College in the ’sixties as a centre of scientific thought is hardly realised to-day, when the struggle from which an entirely new type of education was to be evolved is over, indeed is almost forgotten. The names of Sir Henry Roscoe, Balfour Stewart, Stanley Jevons, Boyd Dawkins, and Julius Dreschfield occur to us, among others, whom Gamgee found as his colleagues and friends, and he will always be associated with NO. 2059, VOL. 80] them as aiding in making the college the most con- spicuous school of scientific research in the country. The science of physiology, which has actually arisen and developed in this country within the last three decades, and become a school which easily ranks with any on the Continent or in America, owes much to its real founders, Michael Foster, Burdon Sanderson, and Arthur Gamgee, who were all well acquainted with the work of Claude Bernard, Carl Ludwig, Du Bois Reymond, Helm- holtz, and Kuhne, and had recognised that only by an application of the experimental method to physio- logy, which was a subject that must be studied in adequately equipped laboratories, was there any prob- ability. of. bringing this subject into line with other experimental sciences. In the development of this movement Arthur Gamgee took his share, and brought an acute intellect and a highly trained knowledge of chemical and physical methods to bear on the study of physiology. Apart from the original work which was done under his direction, the publi- cation of the first volume of the ‘‘ Text-book of the Physiological Chemistry of the Animal Body, includ- ing an Account of the Chemistry of Pathological Processes,’? marks an epoch in English physiology. This volume was dedicated to Christison. It at once established Gamgee’s reputation, and even to-day remains one of the most accurate and valuable works in medical literature. The subject is. treated from. the biological rather than from the. purely chemical point of view; it involved a vast amount of experimental work, and the book was what the author claimed it to be, an original work, and not a compilation of facts obtained by the evisceration of pre-existing treatises on physiological chemistry. The book will: long remain a lasting credit to British physiology. Thirteen years later a second volume, which dealt with the chemistry of diges- tion, appeared, and, like its predecessor, this gave a complete survey of what was known at _ that time on the subject; that portion of the work which treated of the bile, jaundice, and the forma- tion of gall-stones was of particular excellence. His address in 1882, when as president of the Biological Section of the British Association it fell to his lot to express the loss which science had suffered by the deaths of Darwin and F. M. Balfour, was an histori- cal account of the growth of our knowledge on. the process of secretion. This address may well be studied by those who wish to grasp clearly the literary and scientific qualities of Gamgee’s mind. The application of physical and chemical methods to physiology was well seen in Gamgee’s work. In the Croonian lecture before the Royal Society in 1904 he gave a full account of his life-long researches on hamoglobin—the dextro-rotatory properties of this pigment, its absorption bands in the violet and ultra-violet portions of the spectrum, the para-mag- netic property of hamin and hematin, together with the demonstration that hamoglobin falls as a coloured cloud in the colloidal state through a clear supernatant liquid in the anodic compartment of an electrolytic cell. These additions to knowledge we owe entirely to Gamgee. In later years his attention ,was devoted to the solution of a problem which had occupied his mind from the early days when he worked in Tait’s laboratory, and in a paper published in the Philosophical Transactions for 1908 he showed for the first time how, by the employment of special thermoelectric junctions, improved thermo- stats, and the photographic recorder or the string re- corder devised by Horace Darwin, a continuous or quasi-continuous registration of the diurnal curve of the fluctuations in the body temperature of animals 196 eould be obtained. He completely solved this problem, and believed that this method was destined to prove an indispensable aid to clinical diagnosis. In this we do not think he was mistaken, though the technical difficulties in carrying out the method are consider- able. Dr. Gamgee, as is well known, was a man of the most affectionate disposition, enthusiastic in his work, a good linguist, a fluent speaker, and an excellent classical scholar. The simplicity of his mind and his single-heartedness of purpose endeared him to a wide circle of friends by whom he will be sincerely mourned; for those even nearer and dearer to him, his wife and children, his loss is great and irreparable. G. A. B NOTES. Pror. H. G. vAN DE SANDE BakuuyzEeNn has retired from the directorship of the Leyden Observatory. His place as professor of theoretical astronomy in the Uni- versity. is to be taken by Dr. W. de Sitter, of the Groningen Astronomical Laboratory, whilst Mr. E.. F. van de Sande Bakhuyzen is to succeed him as professor of general astronomy and director of the observatory. Pror J. BauscHInGER has been appointed to succeed Prof. E. Becker as professor of astronomy and director of the university observatory at Strassburg, and Prof. Becker asks that all communications for him should now be addressed to Freiburg i. B., Reichsgrafenstrasse, 17. WirtH regard to the expedition for the exploration of the Charles Louis Mountains in New Guinea, announced in our issue of March 11, we are asked to state, on behalf of the subscribers, that this expedition is being sent out under the auspices of the British Ornithologists’ Union in commemoration of its jubilee, held last December, and described in Nature of December 24 (vol. Ixxix., p. 238). It was then decided that this expedition should be known as “The British Ornithologists’ Union Jubilee Explora- tion of the Charles Louis Mountains.”’ ARRANGEMENTS have been made for a visit by Count Zeppelin in his airship to the International Aéronautical Exhibition to be opened at Frankfort in July next. The airship will be accommodated during the exhibition in one of the large halls now being built in the grounds, and ascents with it will be made. WE learn from the Times that a wonderfully vivid mirage was witnessed from Grimsby on April 8 in the evening. The Humber is six miles wide there, and beyond is three miles of land. This appeared to be lifted high into the air and reversed, the trees inland having the appear- ance of growing upside down. The Spurn Lighthouse, reversed, was seen four miles from its position, and below the reflection of the land was the North Sea, on which were large steamers, with masts and funnels downwards, passing to and fro. Tue Health Congress, Leeds, 1909, organised by the ‘City and the University of Leeds, with the cooperation of the Royal Sanitary Institute and the Royal Institute of Public Health, will be held on July 17-24. The presi- dent is Colonel T. W. Harding, J.P., D.L., and the general secretaries are Dr. Spottiswoode Cameron and Mr. Robert E. Fox, the medical officer of health and town clerk re- spectively of Leeds. A programme of the preliminary arrangements is published in the Journal of the Royal Sanitary Institute for April (xxx., No. 3). One of the special features of the great Missionary Exhibition, entitled ‘‘ Africa and the East,’’? which will be NO. 2059, VOL. 80] NATURE [APRIL 15, 1906 held at the Royal Agricultural Hall from June 8 to July 3, under the auspices of the Church Missionary Society, will. be a special exhibit of outfit suitable for missionaries and travellers, which will be shown in a special outfit section. One of the special features of this section will be an exhibition of the various methods of protection from mosquitoes and other insects, which play an important part in the spread of many tropical diseases. The organiser of the section is Dr. C. F. Harford, principal of Livingstone College, Leyton, E. To encourage enterprise and experiment in British avia- tion, the Daily Mail offers a prize of 1o0ol. to the aéro- planist who, within twelve months of April 7, flies a distance of one mile either in a circuit or from a given point to another and returns to the starting point without touching the ground. The other conditions of the award are :—(1) that the motor, planes, propellers, and all other parts be entirely of British manufacture; (2) that the in- ventor and the aéroplanist be British subjects, and by British subjects we naturally include those in British colonies; (3) the flight shall take place within the British Isles, and be approved by officials of the recognised avia- tion organisation. Other prizes offered by the Daily Mail are :—10,000l. for a flight by a heavier-than-air machine from London to Manchester with not more than two stops to take in petrol. Offered in November, 1906; and open to aéronauts of all nations. t1oool. for a flight across the Channel by a heavier-than-air machine before the end of 1909. Open to all nations. Dr. Wittiam JONES, assistant curator of the Field Columbian Museum of Chicago, has been murdered by tribesmen in the Philippines about fifty miles south of Echague. He had gone to the islands in 1906 on a four years’ expedition to study the life of the Ilingots. Dr. Jones had Indian blood in his veins, and was born among the Sauk and Fox Indians of Oklahoma about thirty- four years ago. He was educated at the Indian school at Hampton, at Andover Academy, and at Harvard, where he had a distinguished career. He took a post-graduate course at Columbia University, and was then engaged by the Carnegie Institution at Washington on ethnological investigations. His success in unravelling many mysteries of Indian religions led to his appointment at Chicago. According to his chief, Prof. G. A. Dorsey, he was the most promising student of ethnology in America, and a similar opinion has been expressed by the head of the Federal Bureau of Ethnology. The day before the receipt of the cablegram announcing his death, Prof. Dorsey had heard by letter from Dr. Jones of his intention to leave the friendly tribe with whom he had been living in order to pursue his researches in a remote section of the country, which would necessitate his passing through a hostile territory. TuE geological department of the British Museum (Natural History) has received from the National Museum of Natural History, Paris, a plaster cast of the finest skull and mandible of the long-chinned mastodont, Tetrabelodon angustidens, from the Middle Miocene of Sansan (Gers), France. The specimen has just been mounted for exhibi- tion with Dr. Andrews’s well-known models of the skull and mandible of Mceritherium and Palzeomastodon from the Upper Eocene of the Fayum, Egypt. These three specimens are arranged in series with the American Pleistocene Mastodon americanus, so that the principal stages in the evolution of the proboscidean head can now be studied in one view. They show very clearly the lengthening of the symphysis of the lower jaw, which APRIL 15, 1909] must have been accompanied by an elongation of the soft face, as the mastodonts increased in size in successive geological periods. In the latest genus, Mastodon proper, this elongated soft face, no longer supported by an extension of the lower jaw, must have formed a hanging proboscis, as in the true elephants. WE regret to announce the death, at the age of sixty- eight years, of Prof. F. E. Hulme, author of several works on botany of a popular character. THE annual meeting of the Iron and Steel Institute will be held at the Institution of Civil Engineers on May 13 and 14, when the following papers may be expected to be submitted :—On the production of iron sheet and tubes in one operation, by S. Cowper-Coles; on the preservation of iron and steel, by A. S. Cushman; on the manufacture of peat fuel, by Dr. M. Ekenberg; on the chemical physics involved in the decarburisation of iron-carbon alloys, by W. H. Hatfield; on the relation of the solubility of iron and steel in sulphuric acid to its heat treatment, by Prof. E. Heyn and O. Bauer; on high-tension steels, by P. Longmuir; on the Bristol recording pyrometer, by P. Longmuir and T. Swinden; on a heat-treatment study of Bessemer steels, by Prof. A. McWilliam and E. J. Barnes; on the Roechling-Rodenhauser electric furnace, by W. Rodenhauser; on the value of physical tests in the selec- tion and testing of protective coatings for iron and steel, by J. Cruickshank Smith; on further experiments on the ageing of mild steel, by C. E. Stromeyer; on a comparison of the methods of determining the hardness of iron and steel, by Prof. T. Turner; on the rusting of iron, and modern methods for its prevention, by Prof. W. H. Walker. A supplement to the report on the determina- tion of carbon and phosphorus in steel, presented by the special committee appointed in 1901, will be submitted by Mr. A. A. Blair. The autumn meeting of the institute will be held in London on September 28, 29, and 30. On Tuesday next, April 20, Prof. F. W. Mott, F.R.S., will begin a course of two lectures at the Royal Institu- tion on ‘‘ The Brain in Relation to Righthandedness and Speech,’’ and on Thursday, April 22, Mr. J. Paterson will deliver a lecture on ‘‘ How a True Art Instinct may be best Developed,’”? being the first of three lectures on “Aspects of Applied A&sthetics.”’ On Saturday, April 24, Mr. R. T. Giinther will begin a course of two lectures on ““The Earth Movements of the Italian Coast, and their Effects.” The Friday evening discourse on April 23 will be delivered by Mr. Alexander Siemens on ‘* Tantalum and its Industrial Applications,’? and on April 30 by Dr. Edmund Gosse on “‘ Pitfalls of Biography.” On April 7 the Guernsey States or legislative assembly rejected a proposal to introduce daylight-saving legisla- tion by a practically unanimous vote. A proposal that Guernsey standard time should be Greenwich mean time was adopted. A CONFERENCE of members of the Museums’ Association and others interested will be held at Towneley Hall, Burnley, on Saturday afternoon, May 15, for the purpose of discussing subjects of interest to those concerned in the work of museums, art galleries, and kindred institutions. Offers of papers or suggestions of suitable subjects for discussion should be ‘Sent to the hon. secretary, The Sycamores, Burnley. A COMMITTEE, consisting of the members of the scientific staff of the Royal Observatory of Belgium at Uccle, is undertaking the preparation and publication of a list of magnetic and seismological observatories, and this list is NO. 2059, VOL. 80] NATURE 197 to be followed by another dealing with the societies and periodicals particularly concerned with: magnetism, seismo- logy, and atmospheric electricity. Such lists will prove of great assistance to physicists occupied with these subjects, since by their aid reference to the researches of other workers will be facilitated greatly. To assist in the work which has been undertaken, the Belgian committee would be glad to receive information from the officials of scien- tific societies concerned with the physics of the globe. The committee desires to be informed as to the rules of such societies, the date of their foundation, the place of meeting, the subscription, the number of members, the frequency of the meetings, the names of the executive committee, and the publications of the society, and would be greatly assisted by receiving specimen numbers of these. Communications should be addressed to the committee at the observatory. For some time past very alarming reports have been in circulation as to the work on the Panama Canal, and especially as to the stability of the proposed great-dam at Gatun, Three years ago it was settled, after an exhaustive inquiry by a commission of engineers, that, taking everything into consideration, and under the special conditions that prevail on the Isthmus of Panama, it was desirable that the canal should have locks in preference to being made throughout at sea-level. There has, how- ever, since that decision was arrived at, been a continuous agitation kept up in the American Press impugning the recommendation of the commission, and alarmist reports have been circulated, especially with reference to the safety of the Gatun dam. About three months ago another commission was appointed by President Roosevelt to inquire into this matter and generally to report as to the works. The main findings of this commission are a full endorsement of the scheme and works as now being carried out, and an expression of confidence in the engineers entrusted with the work. The dimensions of the locks as finally settled are to be 1000 feet in length and 110 feet in width, It is now estimated that the cost of the canal will be seventy-two millions sterling, whereas a sea-level waterway wotNd cost upwards of one hundred millions. It is anticipated that the lock canal will be completed in five years’ time, whereas a sea-level canal would take several years longer. From 40,000 to 50,000 men are now employed on the canal. Owing to the very efficient sanitary arrangements that have been carried’ out, the district has now become fairly healthy, and yellow fever and other diseases common to a tropical swamp, which formerly prevailed, have almost entirely been stamped out. AmonG the contents of No. 5 of the Bulletin of the Imperial Academy of Sciences of St. Petersburg for 1909) is an article, by Dr. W. Salensky, on the development of the nemertine worm Prosorochmus viviparus (=Monopora vivipara). As the result of the author’s investigations, it appears that the proboscis is in no wise concerned with the formation of the cesophagus; the proboscis and the cesophagus are, in fact, developed independently of one another, and only later come into mutual connection; and, finally, the atrium of the proboscis in Prosorochmus (and very probably also in all metanemertines, in which the mouth-opening lies in a so-called rhynchodzum) forms, not only a portion of the proboscis, but also a part of the cesophagus. THE parasites of the cotton-worm are under investiga- tion in the West Indies, and a report of some of Mr. Jemmett’s work thereon appears in a recent issue of the 198 Agricultural News. The two parasites dealt with are Chalcis ovata and a Spirochalcis. The latter was found to be parasitic on the Sarcophagidz, which in turn are parasitic on the cotton-worm, but whether they attack healthy or only damaged pupz is not yet clear. Tue February number of the Journal of Agriculture of South Australia contains the results of manurial experi- ments on wheat made at certain centres in South Australia. Small dressings of superphosphate were found to give remarkable increases in crop, but neither nitrate of soda nor sulphate of potash had much effect. These results are so unusual that it would be interesting to know the com- position ‘of the soil and the meteorological data at the various centres. A PAMPHLET was recently issued by the Midland Pub- lishing Company, Cradock, Cape Colony, on lucerne, in which the characteristics of this valuable crop are set out in detail. The methods of cultivation and of dealing with the pests to which it is liable are described; sections are also devoted to discussing the value of lucerne as food and as green manure. For ‘the South African farmer lucerne has the double advantage of being a leguminous crop, and therefore increasing the amount of nitrogenous organic matter in the soil, and of withstanding drought, because of its deep-rooting habit. Tue rainfall conditions of many districts of the Transvaal are not altogether favourable for vegetation; the fault does not lie so much jin the amount of the rainfall as in its irregular distribution. Similar conditions exist in parts of the United States, but have been overcome by special methods of cultivation, and ‘‘dry farming ’’ is now extensively practised. The essential part of the scheme is to plough the soil deeply and cultivate the surface fre- quently, but to keep the subsoil compact; in these circum- stances the water is found to remain near the surface, and is not readily dissipated by evaporation. Mr. Macdonald, the official of the Transvaal Agricultural Department who devotes himself to dry farming, has given in the current number of the Transvaal Agricultural Journal an interest- ing account of the various methods adopted and the prin- ciples on which they are based. -BuLteTIn No.,5 of the Sleeping Sickness Bureau con- tains a summary of various papers on the development of trypanosomes in, and mode of transmission of trypanosomes by, tsetse-flies, on treatment, on human trypanosomiasis, &c. Now that so much is being written on this subject, it is very useful to have a summary of this kind. TusERcuLOs!s is the subject of two papers in the March number of the Bulletin of the Johns Hopkins Hospital (xx., No, 216). One, by Dr. Kober, deals with the in- fluence of sewerage and general sanitation on the pre- valence of the disease; the other, by Dr. Moss, outlines a plan of study of tuberculosis in all its bearings, and is well worthy of consideration. The place of protozoology in the medical curriculum is also discussed by Dr. Schultz, and the ground such a course should cover is indicated. Tue influence of radium rays on germination and other life processes in plants is discussed by. Prof. C. S.. Gager in the. Popuiar Science Monthly (March). Experiments were made, with sealed glass tubes ,containing radium bromide of different degrees of activity, and with a rod eoated with radium bromide. It was found that radium of strong activity or a long exposure produced .retardation of growth, or even, killed the, plants, but emanations of less activity, im certain cases, produced acceleration of §rowth. NO. 2059, VOL. 80] NATURE [APRIL 15, 19c9 Aw article on sand-binding plants is published in the Indian Forester (February), in which the author, Mr. V. Subramania Iyer, furnishes an ecological account of the plants growing on the Coromandel coast. The ten species noted as typical sand-binders are Spinifex squarrosus, Cyperus arenarius, Ipomoea biloba, Canavalia obtusifolia, Hydrophylax maritima, Spermacoce hispida, Launaea pinnatifida, Pupalia orbiculata, Pandanus odoratissimus, and Casuarina equisetifolia. It is mentioned that Cyperus arenarius throws out shoots to a distance of 50 feet, and an underground stem of Ipomoea biloba measured 40 feet, with internodes averaging 6 inches in length. : Tue. hardness of oil-palm kernels might well be pro- verbial, so that the reported discovery on the West Coast of Africa of a variety with soft shells has aroused much interest. Information on the subject, received from various British and foreign colonies along the coast, has been collated in the Kew Bulletin (No. 2). The reports con- firm the existence of such a variety in the various countries from the Gold Coast to the Cameroons, and point to its being, a botanical variety, microsperma, of Elaeis guineensis, It is doubtful whether this variety comes true to seed, and in this connection experiments are necessary to ascertain whether the plants are generally self-pollinated or if cross-pollination occurs. THE account of a South African bamboo, contributed by Dr. O. Stapf to the same number of the Kew Bulletin, illustrates the difficulty of naming some of these grasses. It has been known for seventy years that a bamboo grows in Cape Colony, but the reference to a genus was un- certain until flowering specimens were collected recently on the Drakensberg above an altitude of 5000 feet, when it proved to be an Arundinaria. Mr. J. M. Hillier sup- plies an article on the lalang grass, Imperata arundinacea, distributed through Ceylon and parts of Asia, where it is regarded as a veritable pest. In the search for plants which might provide the material for paper pulp, samples of lalang were submitted to analysis and manufacture. The paper produced was very suitable for a wrapping paper, and was somewhat improved by the addition of cotton. In the April number of the Reliquary, Mr. W. Turner describes a collection of Roman metal-work found at Deep Dale Cave, about three miles from Buxton. The objects seem to have belonged to a party of Roman-Britons who were massacred here by some invading host, possibly Picts or Scots. It is almost certain that the victims met a violent death, because in the talus of the cave hundreds of human~teeth were found, but very few interments, indicating that the bodies were devoured by beasts and birds. The objects discovered consist of various fibulz, one of Celtic origin, with the head of a dragon, or, as some say, of a-sea-horse; a lady’s toilet appliances hung on a ring; a+ Celtic penannular brooch; a ring and tweezers—all these articles being of bronze. An iron spear- head: was found in a part of the cave near a human inter- ment. The collection,: which belongs to Mr: Micah Salt, of Buxton, resembles in many respects the articles found by Prof. Boyd Dawkins at the Victoria Cave, near Settle, and it is believed to be the largest assortment of Romano- British remains found in any single cave in England. Tue Francis Galton Eugenics ‘Laboratory (University College, London) has commenced the issue of a new periodical ‘under the title of the Treasury of Human Inheritance, in which will be given collections of pedigrees illustrating ,the inheritance of, various characters in man. In the first double part, which is before us, the pedigrees, APRIL 15, 1909] collected from various sources, relate to the transmission of diabetes insipidus, pulmonary tuberculosis, chronic hereditary trophcedema, split foot, polydactylism, brachy- dactylism, deafmutism, and ability. Each group of pedi- grees is accompanied by an introductory memoir by the contributor, giving a brief description of the character itself, illustrated in several cases by very finely executed plates, a verbal description of the individuals referred to in the pedigrees, and a bibliography. The pedigrees them- selves, of which there are seventy-four, are given on large plates, special symbols being used to -denote individuals possessing or not possessing the character, or showing it only to a modified degree. The Treasury, which is pub- lished by Messrs. Dulau and Co., promises to be of the highest value, and Prof. Karl Pearson, who acts as general editor, is to be heartily congratulated on his adoption of the scheme. Anyone who has attempted to trace the pub- lished pedigrees relating to the transmission of any one character knows how much labour is involved in the search, and the collection of such pedigrees, both new and old, into one publication will render inestimable service to all those who are interested in the study of heredity. THE summary of the weather for the week ending April 1o, just issued by the Meteorological Office, shows the period to have been quite phenomenal for the dura- tion of bright sunshine. The sky was almost cloudless, especially over England and Wales, where the maximum shade temperatures generally exceeded 70°, whilst at night there were sharp radiation frosts. Over the kingdom generally the week was reported as among the brightest ever recorded, the possible duration amounting to 89 per cent. in the east of England, 87 per cent. in the south- east of England, and 82 per cent. in the English Channel. The highest percentage of the possible amount reported from individual stations was 93, at Lowestoft, Yarmouth, Felixstowe, Tunbridge Wells, and Worthing. At Green- wich Observatory the sunshine for the week was 90 per cent. of the possible duration. The thermometer in the sun’s rays at Greenwich was 110° or above each day, and on April 9 registered 130°. The week was rainless in most parts of the kingdom. We have received a copy of the international balloon observations made by the Bavarian Meteorological Service at Munich in 1908, compiled by Dr. A. Schmauss. They are given in the form of the publications of the Aéro- nautical Committee, and the separate ascents are generally accompanied by useful remarks and deductions. The results for the year have also been carefully discussed ; the following are some of the conclusions arrived at, which agree with those obtained in previous years :—(1) The zone of least variation of temperature is in the region of the upper inversion, while the greatest amplitudes of tempera- ture are recorded at the surface of the earth and at a height of about 8 kilometres; between these places, at about 3 km. above sea-level, a relative minimum is found. (2) The temperature gradient has a maximum variation where, generally speaking, it has the smallest values, viz. at the earth’s surface and in the region of the upper inversion, and a minimum in the strata of greatest decrease’ of temperature, viz. from 3 km. to g km. (3) The boundary of the upper inversion is higher in summer than in winter ; the lowest temperature occurs, on an average, in summer at 14 km. and in winter at 13 km. (4) The summer temperatures in the inversion are generally 3° C. to 4° C. higher than in winter. In the Atti dei Lincet, xviii., 4, Prof. P. Pizzetti dis- cusses the theorem according to which the mean value NO. 2059, VOL. 80] NATURE 199 of. a continuous function V of the coordinates over the surface of a sphere of radius R is (sinh Rv/Rv)V,, the suffix referring to the centre of the sphere and y? being Laplace’s operator. Tue réle of thermal analysis in many metallurgical and chemical problems is so important that considerable interest attaches to the report.on methods of obtaining cooling curves, by Mr. George K. Burgess (Reprint No. 99, Washington Bureau of Standards). Using a thermocouple and a galvanometer, the method of obtain- ing photographic records is fairly obvious; for autographic records the friction of the pen is obviated by limiting the tracing to a series of dots. The paper is illustrated by curves representing the relations between temperature and time, differential, rate of change of temperature and reciprocal of the latter, for typical transformations, one being isothermal, another .exothermous, and the last endothermous. : ; A NuMBER of papers have recently appeared dealing with electromagnetic theories, and in particular with the impossibility of explaining electrical and mechanical actions on the hypothesis of a continuous medium. This question forms the subject of a paper, by Dr. Hans Witte, in the Annalen der Physik, xxvi., and contributions on pure electromagnetic fields, by Prof. Tullio Levi Civita (Atté del R. Istituto veneto, \xvii. [2]) and Leonella Caffaretti, of Rovigo (Nuovo Cimento, xv., xvi.). In two contribu- tions to the Atti dei Lincei, xviii., 2, 3, Prof. Levi Civita obtains asympt tic expressions for the action of currents and for electric radiations, while the dispersion of energy due to moving charges is described by Dr. Hannibalh Comessatti in the Nuovo Cimento, xvi. WE have received the first two numbers of the Inter- nationale Revue der Gesamten Hydrobiologie und Hydro- graphie, a journal specially devoted to the study of oceanography and limnology in all their branches. Prof. Weismann contributes an introductory article, and amongst the authors of original papers are Sir John Murray, Drs. R. Hertwig, Raffaele Issel, A. Nathansohn, Alfred Fischel, C. Klausener, and Gustav Gétzinger. An important part of the magazine is a series of reports on recent work and summaries of new publications, by experts. The editor is Dr. R. Woltereck, of Leipzig, and the appearance of the journal, as Sir John Murray justly says, “‘is a very important event for the future progress of these sciences, and may possibly mark an era in the development of know- ledge concerning the Hydrosphere as a whole.’? We wish our new contemporary every success. By the courtesy of Mr. Alfred E. Dean, of 82 Hatton Garden, who is the London agent of Messrs. Jougla, we have been able to try a sample of the ‘‘ omnicolore ae plate to which we referred on February 4 (vol. Ixxix., p- 409). These, like other colour-screen plates, contain in themselves all that is necessary for the photography of objects in ‘‘ natural colours.’’ The general character of the plate we have already given, and as Lumiére’s auto- chrome plates have been in common use for a year or two, it is natural to compare new-comers with them, The procedure recommended by the makers of the omnicolore plate is much simpler than the method of working the autochrome; indeed, it is the simplest possible, consider- ing the general principles involved. The plate, after ex- posure, is developed, rinsed, placed in an acidified solution of potassium bichromate to dissolve away the silver image, rinsed, returned to the original developer to reduce the silver salt to the metallic state, rinsed, fixed, and washed. Intensification is not necessary, for the sensitive film gives 200 NATURE [AprIL 15, 1909 ample density without it; no clearing baths are necessary, and the criginal developer works excellently for the second treatment—in all these details the manipulation of the new plate is simpler than what is desirable, if not necessary, in the case of the autochrome.. The, colours of the omni- colore plate are much more transparent than those of the autochrome, being applied as paints or varnishes instead of being absorbed by translucent starch granules; but this method has its drawbacks as well as its advantages, for the density of the colour is not even all over each little patch of red and green. The colour is lighter towards the margins of the patches, and their shapes, too, are rather irregular, but doubtless improvements will be made in these directions. The plates, as they are, are simple and easy to manipulate, and give results that must be dis- tinctly useful to those who wish to reproduce, or, more correctly, to imitate, by the simplest known method, the colours of the objects they photograph. OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. OBSERVATIONS OF ComET Morenouse.—Comet 1908¢ was observed, with the 284 mm. Amici equatorial, at Arcetri on forty-one days between September 4 and December 7, 1908, and 127 determinations of its position ‘were made with the micrometer. These are now recorded ‘by Prof. Abetti in No. 4316 of the Astronomische Nach- vichten, together with a valuable set of notes describing the comet’s visual appearance on a number of days. Mr. Metcalf’s note and excellent photographs are also reproduced, from the Harvard Circular No. 148, in. the same journal. A series of six photographs taken at the Dominion Observatory, Ottawa, between October 6 and November 26, is reproduced and described by Mr. Motherwell in No. 1, vol. ili., of the Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society (Canada). The comet was visible at Ottawa for more than three months, but dense smoke and unusual cloudi- ness prevented an extensive series of photographs from being obtained. Those reproduced show similar knots in, and displacements of, the tail-matter, as previously re- corded. On October 20 the head of the comet passed over an eighth-magnitude star without perceptibly dimming it. Observations, of the comet, made with a sextant on board the German steamship Paranagua, are recorded in No. 4317 of the Astronomische Nachrichten. Measures Or Douste Stars.—The micrometer measures of double stars made by Dr. Lau and Herr Luplau- Janssen at the Copenhagen Observatory during 1908 are recorded in No. 4315 of the Astronomische Nachrichten. The stars observed chiefly lie between declinations o° and 20°, special attention having also been paid to neglected pairs. In addition to the date, position-angle, and distance, the authors give brief notes concerning the colours of the components, and, where possible, compare the values obtained with those computed from previously published elements. DIAMETER AND Position oF Mercury.—In these columns on December 24, 1908 (No. 2043, vol. Ixxix., p. 232), we noted the corrections to the diameter and position of Mercury, derived by Prof. Stroobant from the observa- tions of the transit of the planet, on November 14, 1907, made at thirty-three observatories. Since the publication of the memoir in which he gave those corrections, Prof. Stroobant’ has received observed values from eleven additional observers, and has incorporated them in the final results which appear in No. 4317 of the Astrono- mische Nachrichten. These show, from the time between first and second contact, that the planet’s apparent diameter was 9-166, whilst the observations of the third and fourth contacts give, similarly, 9-092. These ‘values correspond to diameters, at unit distance, of 6".20 and 6"-15 respectively, the latter being probably the more correct. The corrections to the equatorial and ecliptical co- ordinates are found to be Aa=+0-070s., AdS=—o".25, NO. 2059, VOL. 8o] and AA=+1"-03, AB=-+0"-02, respectively, in the sense observed-calculated. The agreement of the Italian observations of this passage of Mercury with the data given in various ephemerides is discussed by Signor Pio Emmanuelli in No. rio of the Revista di Fisica, Matematica e Scienze Naturali (Pavia) for February. Tue Vatican OpBservaTory.—We learn from the Times Milan correspondent that the inauguration of. the new. section of the Vatican Observatory, which was to have taken place on March 18, was postponed because one of the components of the 4o-cm. object-glass for the new equatorial refractor was found to be defective, and has | to be re-cast. When this new section is complete the Gregorian Specola will be abandoned, and the whole of the observa- tory will be located on the summit of the Vatican hill, 100 metres above the square of St. Peter’s, where Father Lais has been engaged, since 1891, in taking the photo- graphs for the International Astrographic Chart (the Times, Engineering Supplement, April 7). : PRODUCER GAS FOR ENGINES. '].—PROCESSES AND PLANTS. ~ It is well known that what is technically called ‘‘ pro- ducer gas’’ has been in use for many years in con- nection with furnace work. Herr Bischof, of Magdesprung, Was the first to use an internally fired gas producer for this purpose in 1839; but little progress was made in our country until 1857, when the late Sir William Siemens introduced the combined gas producer and regenerative furnace with which his name is associated. Some twenty years later it occurred to me that a gas engine might be worked with producer gas if a suitable plant were devised. For furnace work the hot gas is taken direct from the pro- ducer to the furnace without cooling or cleaning, and. the condensable hydrocarbon vapours, which usually accom- pany the gas, and add appreciably to. its value, are burnt. But for engine work it is essential to wash and clean the gas, especially as it must be free from tar. It is also desirable that the gas should be cool when it enters the cylinder of the engine. Incidentally, this involves the removal by condensation, &c., of the con- densable hydrocarbons which leave the producer, and after their removal the gas must still be strong enough to fire well and give good working’ results in the engine. I succeeded in making a suitable plant, and it was first tried with a.small. Otto engine in 1879; the results were good, and they encouraged the makers of the engines to build them of- larger size so as to compete favourably with steam-power. Many thousands of horse-power are now working with gas plants of this type, and during the last few years a still further impetus has been given to the subject by the. use of a modified plant, which is known among engineers as a suction plant, and which will be more fully described later. For the moment we will consider briefly the process of making producer gas, and some of the chemical reactions involved. Producer gas is made by forcing or drawing air, with or without the addition of steam or water vapour, through a deep bed of incandescent fuel in a closed pro- ducer. Usually the fuel is fed in at the top, and the currents of air, or of steam and air, enter af the bottom, the gas outlet being near the top. An important characteristic of the process is that. no external heat is applied to the producer, as in the case of an ordinary gas retort. When once the burning of the fuel inside the producer has been started, the air which is used to make the gas keeps up a continuous process of combustion, and a sufficiently high temperature is maintained to decompose the steam and to effect other necessary reactions. We know that if there were a shallow fire of carbon- aceous fuel and a sufficient supply of air, the carbon would be completely oxidised. The product of this complete com- bustion would be carbon dioxide, with the development of a large amount of sensible heat; but if there were a con- siderable depth of carbon in the producer (as there should always be in practice) the resulting gas would be carbon APRIL 15, 1909] WALORE 201 monoxide instead of carbon dioxide, for when there is an excess of highly heated carbon the dioxide formed in the lower part of the fire is reduced to the monoxide. Carbon monoxide may also be formed.by the direct combustion of the carbon with oxygen, and actually both these reactions may, and probably do, occur. Theoretically, if we were dealing only with carbon and air, about 30 per cent. of the heat of combustion would be liberated in the producer, and about 7o per cent.. would be liberated when the carbon monoxide is afterwards burnt to carbon dioxide in a furnace or engine, &c.; the practical result, however, is still less favourable, and prima facie the conversion of solid fuel into gas does not seem a promising performance. It is true that not all the heat set free in the producer need be lost if the gas can be used while it is hot (as in furnace work); but for gas engines it must be cold. Apart from this, the liberation of so much sensible heat in the producer overheats it, and indirectly it promotes the forma- tion of clinker, which is a practical drawback. To avoid these and other difficulties, the almost invariable practice is to add a certain proportion of steam or aqueous vapour to the air sent into the producer. Wim Fic. 1.—Steam-jet pressure plant. It should, however, be clearly understood that from the point of view of the heat quantities involved, the use of steam in a gas producer is simply a means for absorbing the sensible heat developed by the partial combustion of the fuel, and storing it for future use. Obviously there can be no actual increase of the total amount of heat which can be obtained from a given quantity of fuel- Besides avoiding excessive heat in the producer, the use of steam has the further practical advantage that a gas of considerably greater calorific power per unit volume can. be obtained than is possible when air alone is used. The use of air necessarily involves the presence of the diluent nitrogen, and when steam is decomposed the resulting hydrogen and, carbon monoxide displace some of the nitrogen. With the exception of coke and charcoal, all ordinary fuels give off volatile substances when subjected to heat; and in a gas producer, working in the ordinary way with an upward draught, each fresh charge of fuel is heated, and is then subjected in some degree to a process of dis- tillation before it descends into the zone where partial combustion takes place. The gas actually obtained may a, superheating steam boiler ; 4, steam jet and air injector ; c, gas producer ; @, waste cock and pipe ; e, coke scrubber with water seal; 4, water sprayer; g, gas-holder and tank ; 4 gas outlet. We are therefore led to consider how steam reacts with the carbon with which it comes in contact. If the carbon is at a sufficiently high temperature, the steam (H,O) is decomposed, and an equal volume of hydrogen is produced ; the oxygen of the steam combines with the carbon to form either carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide, according to the conditions under’ which the reaction takes place. When hydrogen combines with oxygen to form water vapour heat is liberated, and when this water vapour is decom- posed by the reaction of highly heated carbon (or by any other means) an equal amount of heat is absorbed. The combination of the oxygen of the steam with the carbon is accompanied by the evolution of heat, but the quantity of heat thus evolved is much less than the quantity of heat absorbed by the decomposition of the steam, and this is why the addition of small quantities of steam to the air going into the producer reducés the working temperature. Part’ of the sensible heat is absorbed by the reactions which take place between the steam and the | incandescent carbon, so that the gas leaves the producer at a lower temperature than is the case when air alone is used ; the heat so absorbed is stored up in the gas, and is | again set free when the gas is burnt. NO. 2059, VOL. 80] | therefore be regarded as producer gas obtained from | carbon, mixed with the volatile substances given off by the distillation. The actual composition of the gas depends a good deal on the nature and amount of these volatile sub- stances, and they vary considerably, the fuels used being chiefly anthracite, coke, and bituminous or semi-bituminous coal. Both these coals give off a considerable quantity of tarry matter, which may represent as much as 8 per cent. or g per cent. of the total heat value of the fuel. When the gas is cooled and scrubbed before use, the tar which is removed has little value; it is therefore desirable that producers should be designed to burn the tar in the pro- ducer itself, or to decompose it and convert it into com- bustible gases which will not condense at ordinary tempera- tures. Even anthracite when heated yields both hydrogen and methane, and this is why it makes a better gas than coke. In Fig. 1 we give a typical example of a gas plant in which the producer is worked with a jet of superheated steam which injects the air required. | In some plants the steam required is produced by the sensible heat of the gas after it has left the producer, and | this effects a certain saving; but even then the gas must 202 NATURE [APRIL £5, 1909 feave the steam-raising apparatus at a higher temperature than that of the steam, and there is still a considerable loss of heat when the gas is cooled for use in an engine. There is also the loss due to radiation from the producer. Other conditions which have to be considered are the depth of fuel, its porosity, the size of the pieces used, and the velocity of the air blast—all are interdependent; for ex- ample, the depth of fuel required to give the best results will depend on the nature of the fuel, its size, and the velocity of the currents passing through it. It is obviously desirable that this velocity should not be excessive, and the producer should have a sectional area large enough for a given maximum rate of production. The fuel consumption and the cost of repairs with a gas_engine worked with a pressure plant, as shown in Fig. 1, have been much lower than can possibly be obtained with the best steam engines and boilers of the same horse-power; but in recent years the modification called a suction plant has given even better economical results for moderate powers. In some of the early gas producers for furnace work air was drawn into the producer by suction, instead of being forced in under pressure, and the idea of working the producer by suction has been reverted to in connection with gas engines. In 1862 Dr. Jacques Arbos, of Barcelona, patented a com- bination of gas plant and gas engine in which the latter drew gas direct from the producer. It was not a very practical arrangement, and the charge of gas and air was not compressed before ignition, but it deserves to be men- tioned as one of the early suction plants devised. The first to give effect to this idea in a practical way, in a com- pression engine, was M. Léon Bénier, of Paris. His first patent was in 1891, and he afterwards took out others ; the engine had a suction pump by the side of the motor cylinder, and this pump was connected by a pipe with the outlet of the gas plant. As soon as the fire was lighted it was blown up with a hand-power fan, and when the gas was good enough to work the engine the latter was started. The pump on the engine then drew gas from the pro- ducer and forced it into the motor cylinder. This suction of gas from the producer lowered the pressure in the latter, and as a consequence air from the outside flowed in. Steam was produced in the apparatus and mixed with the air, so that both steam and air were drawn together into the fire. By suitable adjust- ments the volume of air drawn in varied with the rate at which gas was consumed in the engine; in other words, the rate of producing the gas was governed automatically by the engine itself, and the gas- holder and the independent boiler used in a pressure plant were dis- pensed with. As this plant, and those of which it is the type, work by suction, they are now generally known as suction plants, to dis- 4 tinguish them from~ pressure plants worked by air and steam at pressure. The results obtained with this combination of gas plant and engine were disappointing, and the fuel consumption with a full load was greater than with a pressure plant; with a low load it was relatively worse. The gas was poor, in quality compared with that made in, a pressure plant, and there were other drawbacks; but the idea was an ingenious one, and it was seen that the working of a plant by suction, in combination with an. engine, would have distinct advantages if the practical details could be worked out satisfactorily. Several engineers gave their attention to the subject, and the next step of importance was to do away with the pump on the engine and to use the suction of the engine itself, i.e. the suction caused by the out-stroke of the piston in the motor cylinder, to draw &as from the gas plant. This reduced appreciably the loss NO. 2059, VOL. 80] aCe —— from friction. Various methods have. also been devised for producing the steam required and for removing the clinker formed in the producer, as those adopted by M. Bénier were not satisfactory. In Fig. 2 we give a typical example of a modern suction plant. _ The production of the steam required to make gas of good quality and to keep the temperature of the fire low enough to prevent the formation of an excessive amount of clinker, presents many difficulties.. Steam at pressure is not needed, and some makers have a water vapouriser inside the producer, sometimes near the bottom of the fire, but more often near the top. They heat it by the fire or by the hot gas which leaves the fire, and in some cases both these sources of heat are used. On the other hand, Fic. 2.—Suction plant. a, starting fan; 4, gas producer ; c, water vaporiser ; d, waste cock and pipe; cc ¢, coke scrubber with water seal ; 4, water sprayer ; g, gas outlet. some makers prefer to have the vapouriser outside the pro- ducer, and to heat it by the sensible heat of the gas after it has left the producer. The latter system has the advantage of cooling the gas more, but the amount of steam raised is less than in other systems, and there is the risk that gas will not always be hot enough to make the full quantity of steam required. This not only affects the percentage of hydrogen, &c., in the gas, but has an important bearing on the formation of clinker. Apart from producing a sufficient quantity of steam. when the maximum volume of gas. is required, there is the further necessity for regulating the quantity of steam drawn into the fire when the load on the engine is variable. By some it has been supposed that when less gas is pro- duced, i.e. when less air is drawn into the fire, the lower- ing of the temperature which follows causes less steam to be produced, and that in this way the quantity of steam APRIL 15, 1909 | NATURE 203 produced is proportional to the quantity of gas required. This is only partly true, as actually the temperature of the fire does not vary as quickly as the load on the engine may vary, and although there may be a considerable fall in the load, there is usually heat enough in the fire to produce more steam than is then desirable. If this excess of steam continues, it not only causes an excess of carbon dioxide to be formed, but it damps down the fire. Then, when the load is increased suddenly, the temperature of the fire is not high enough to develop the power required. Some makers of suction plants try to get over this difficulty by having regulating valves worked by the engine, by means of which the admission of steam to the fire is governed by the engine. Some merely allow a vent in the vapouriser for the excess of steam to escape when the joad is reduced, some make no special provision at all, while others use the suction of the engine to draw water into the vapouriser in very small quantities, just enough at each suction-stroke to give the steam required for the quantity of gas to be consumed. This can only be done provided the vapouriser flashes the water into steam; if the vapouriser holds a body of water, as in a boiler, steam is given off continuously, and although there might be a governing of the feed-water, the quantity of steam pro- duced would not be governed. J. Emerson Dowson. (To be continued.) THE SCOPE OF EUGENICS. “THE first edition of the Robert Boyle lecture ‘‘ On the Scope and Importance to the State of the Science of National Eugenics,’’ delivered by Prof. Karl Pearson in 1907 before the Oxford University Junior Science Club, being out of print, the author has re-issued the same through Messrs. Dulau and Co. as the first of -a ‘‘ Eugenics Laboratory Lecture Series,’’ intended to place the purport of the investigations conducted in that laboratory before the public in a-simple form. The series should serve a useful purpose, as many of the original memoirs are some- what repellent even to a reader of rather more. than average intelligence owing to the use of. highly specialised statistical methods. .A translation of the. lecture into German, by Dr. H. Fehlinger, has been published by, the firm. of Teubner (Leipzig and- Berlin) in the Archiv fiir Rassen- und Gesellschafts-Biologie. ; In the present lecture Prof. Pearson gives in. brief the whole eugenics. argument. .‘‘ The Darwinian hypothesis asserts that the sounder individual has: more chance of surviving in the contest with physical and organic environ- ment. It is therefore better able to produce and rear. off- spring, which in their turn . inherit its. advantageous characters. Profitable variations are thus, seized on: by natural selection, and perpetuated by heredity.’’ -If these ideas apply to the case of man, ‘* we must have evidence (1) that man varies; (2) that these variations, favourable or unfavourable, are inherited; (3) that they are selected.”’ On the first head special evidence is_hardly necessary ; our own eyes afford evidence day by day that man varies, but there is plenty of definite knowledge also as to the amount and magnitude of variation. There is similarly a growing mass of evidence that such variations are not mere individual fluctuations, but are heritable. On the third head, however, the evidence is weaker and somewhat conflicting. In the population at large, natural selection appears to be operative to a greater or less extent, as we find that the age at death is inherited. It would be quite possible, however, for that selection to be ineffective if the weaker stocks nevertheless survived to a_ sufficient age to reproduce their kind as freely as the stronger stocks, and this seems to be the case to a large extent. The families of deaf-mutes, the tuberculous, and the mentally defective are as large as those of normal in- dividuals, and the lower we go from one social grade to another the higher does the fertility rise. In these facts lies the stimulus to possible action directed towards the betterment of ‘the race, negatively by placing hindrances in the way of the reproduction of the hopelessly unfit, positively by creating an altered ‘tone and public spirit which may lead to a more normal and less restricted re- production of the prosperous and the intellectual classes. NO. 2059, VOL. 80] a If one sentence may be cited with special approval, it is a statement near the commencement of the lecture :— ‘* Our science does not propose to confine its attention to problems of inheritance only, but to deal also with problems of environment and of nurture.’’ The improvement of the environment is as much a method of improving the quali- ties of future generations as the method of selection, not, of course, because somatic variations are heritable (which we do not believe that they are), but because the improve- ment of the environment endures. In so far as housing, education, and the treatment of the diseased are improved in this generation, the next starts from a fresh basis. Eugenic and eugeic methods should aid each other, and racial improvement be based on care of both the seed and the soil. Hitherto the methods have been too often treated as if they were opposed. SCIENTIFIC WORK OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD. Tas report? of the Local Government Board is the first to be submitted by Dr. Newsholme, and in the introduction he pays a graceful tribute to the work of the retiring principal medical officer, Sir William Power. The vaccination returns show a slight increase in the percentage of births vaccinated and of infants exempted under certificates of ‘‘ conscientious objection.” i In the appendix on auxiliary scientific investigations carried out for the Board, Dr. Klein has continued his studies on immunity in plague, and shows that a watery extract of the liver and spleen of a rabbit which has recovered from an attack of plague possesses curative properties. ; Drs. Andrewes and Gordon contribute a report on the defensive mechanisms of the body against infection by the pyogenic cocci, and, while admitting that the chief means of defence is a phagocytic one, conclude that the bacterio- lytic power of the body fluids is by no means. negligible. “Dr. Andrewes has also investigated the micro-organisms present in sewer air, with the result that the bacteria of sewage are to be found in the air of sewers and drains, and that therefore sewage in certain circumstances gives up its bacteria to sewer and drain air, though such bacteria ordinarily form but a small proportion of those present in sewer air. So far, the organisms detected are not in themselves known to be prejudicial to health, but their presence suggests that the more harmful sewage-borne microbes may likewise gain access to sewer alr. : Dr. Savage submits a report dealing with the bacterial contamination of milk as obtained from healthy cows, and with the examination of milk samples obtained from cows suffering from an inflammatory disease, garget (mastitis), of the udder. In another report he details the results obtained in an examination of the intestinal contents of domestic animals for bacteria belonging to the Gaertner group—organisms which cause certain outbreaks of meat poisoning. From three bullocks and six pigs the results were negative, but from a calf numerous organisms belonging to this group were isolated. Of late the view has been gaining ground that acute rheumatism is a microbial disease, and various organisms have been described by investigators. Dr. Horder con- tributes a report on the subject, but his results are mainly negative, and further research is evidently called for. : The action of the Streptococcus faecalis and of its chemical products has been investigated by Dr. Sidney Martin. The organism is capable of producing various disease conditions in man, such as cystitis and septicaemia. Preliminary experiments on the toxin _of the microbe suggest that the main poisonous product is an endotoxin. In an appendix Dr. Blaxall and Mr. Fremlin record experiments on the effect of cold on the potency of vaccine lymph, and show that a temperature of —180° C: has no effect, and that lymph stored at —5° C. for a year suffered no diminution in potency. ; It will thus be seen that the volume contains papers of considerable importance in scientific medicine an ped 1 Thirty-sixth Anniia! Report of the Local Government Board, 1906-7. Supplement containing the Report of the Medical Officer for 1906-7. : 204 NATURE [APRIL 15, 1909 GERMAN ANTHROPOLOGICAL PAPERS. HE two volumes, xciii. and xciv., of Globus for 1908 are especially interesting for the numbers of papers dealing with South American ethnography. The more important of these are:—Dr. T. Koch-Griinberg’s articles on fishing and hunting among the natives of north-west Brazil, in which the implements employed are fully and carefully illustrated; the arrow release is described, and details given of large communal fish-traps and private tackle, the blow-pipe, arrow-poison, and a variety of weapons in use on the Upper Amazon tributaries. G. von Koenigswald’s_ series of papers on certain tribes of southern Brazil deal somewhat briefly with the Boto- cudos, and more exhaustively with the Cayuas, a nomadic hunting tribe of the Guarani family. Weapons, lip-orna- ments, physical types, and other points are figured. Freiherr von Nordenskiéld contributes an account, with carefully executed figures, on tobacco-pipes of South America. He concludes that they occurred sporadically before the Discovery. The tubular pipe, the most primitive form, is discussed and compared with the North American varieties. _ H. Beyer gives an account of the Mexican ““dragon,’’ in which he states that the god Quetzalcoatl, who is identical with Xiuhcoatl, is represented not only as human, but as a feathered snake. He jis the most important deity in Mexico. The feathered snake was probably a sign of the ecliptic or of the zodiac, and Quetzalcoatl would thus be not only the deity of time, but also, like Xiuhcoatl, the symbol of the year. T. von Koenigswald’s series of articles is continued in vol. xciv., valuable and copiously illustrated descriptions being given of the Coréados and Carayas, hunting, fishing, and agricultural tribes who have resisted European in- fluence to a very large extent. Prof. V. Giuffrida-Ruggeri, of Naples, gives an account of Florentino Ameghino’s dis- coveries in Patagonia, which point to South America as the home of the ‘‘ half-apes.’”’ He discusses the remains of the various strata, but says that the question must now be left for geologists to decide. He defines the genus Homunculus, and figures the skull of Homo pampaeus ameghinot. The German colonies are represented in vol. xciii. by well-illustrated papers by Dr. R. Péch on New Mecklen- burg (New Ireland) and Kaiser Wilhelm’s Land. As regards Africa, negro music and musical instruments in Togo are described in two papers by Smend, in which variations in the musical bow, primitive harp, drum, and trumpet, are described and figured. An account is given by Missionary B. Gutmann of curses and blessings of the Wadschagga. Dr. H. Krauss contributes an illustrated article on the household utensils of the German East African coast negroes. Vol. xciv. contains a brief descrip- tion (with figures) by Missionary C. Spiess of the secret Yevhe and Se cults among the Evhe of the Guinea Coast. The origin of these mysterious objects, possessed of magical significance, has not yet been ascertained. B. Struck describes and figures some of the really able topographical efforts of King Ndschoya, of Bamum, West Africa. The Jabim shields of German New Guinea are described by B. Geisler, with illustrations of the method of giving a permanent warp to the shield and of the ornamentations on it. The hitherto uninvestigated natives of the Tanga Islands, off New Mecklenburg, are the sub- ject of a short illustrated paper by Dr. O. Schlaginhaufen. Europe is not neglected. To vol. xciii. Dr. A. Baldacci contributes an account of the Slavs of Molise (central Italy), and Dr. M. L. Wagner gives notes of a trip in Sardinia (continued in vol. xciv.). An appreciation is given by H. Seidel of Robert Townson, an eighteenth- century traveller in the Tatra, Hungary. Vol. xciv. contains a beautifully produced copy of Sebastian Miinster’s map of Germany, recently brought to light after long oblivion; Dr. A. Wolkenhauer gives a most interesting explanation of the astronomical devices with which the sixteenth-century topographist and astro- logist accompanies his map. In the same volume Dr. V. Lazar contributes an account of marriage customs among the southern Roumanians. F As regards Asia, in vol. xciii. F. Grabowsky gives an interesting account of rice-culture among the Dayaks of NO. 2059, VOL. 80] ” south-east Borneo. In vol. xciv. we have a description by Prof. G. Behaghel of his travels in the Chinese province of Fokien. Dr. Ten Kate furnishes further points of Japanese popular belief in regard to omens, dreams, astrology, and mythology. Dr. M. Moszkowski gives a short illustrated account of the modified Danigala and Hennebedda Veddas, and a more detailed description of the inland tribes of east Sumatra. Among the folk-lore articles in vol. xciii. mention must be made of Dr. Emil Fischer’s description of the Paparuda procession among the Roumanian peasants, which takes place on the third Tuesday after Easter or after continued drought, when girls go round the village singing the rain- song. He cites another instance of southern Slav influence in. the Scaloian procession, when children, mostly girls, form a mock funeral procession about a clay figure in a coffin, singing a dirge; the Scaloi, of which an illustration is given, is supposed to personify the drought which will end with its funeral. Prof. Mehlis describes the ‘‘ Hexen- hammer ”’ of Dérrenbach (Palatinate) and other Neolithic implements still associated with thunder and magic by the peasants of those parts; he also alludes to the nomen- clature of these objects in the Greek and Roman authors. For Africa other than the German colonies, reference must be made to F. J. Bieber’s paper in vol. xciii., on the political organisation of Kaffa, which lies in the south-west corner of the north-east African highlands, north of Lake Rudolf. With regard to Australia, vol. xciv. contains an account, by Frh. v. Leonhardi, of dog- figures of the Dieri tribe in central Australia; they are painted red and black, and are thought to represent the dogs of various tribal ancestors. These animal figures are apparently unknown among the neighbouring Aranda and Loritja tribes. Of general interest are Dr. J. H. F. Kohlbrugge’s discussion of red hair and its significance in vol. xciii. He compares the occurrence of erythrism and albinism in mammals and man, and discusses the question of pig- mentation. In conclusion, he expresses the hope that the question may be more thoroughly investigated in the future, and alludes to E. Fischer’s work on the subject, published after his article was written. In vol. xciv. Dr. C. Kassner gives a number of illustrations, with brief descriptions, of Bulgarian clapping-boards, salt-mill, wells, church taper-stand, and a variety of objects of antiquarian interest. Dr. S. Weissenberg discusses the problem of growth in human beings according to age, sex, and race. Tables are given illustrating the comparative annual growth of both sexes, of Jew and Jewess, Russian boy and girl, English boy and girl, Belgians, also of annual increase in weight, height, and size according to external circum- stances. In conclusion, he points out that the third period of life, from ten or twelve to seventeen or eighteen years of age, is the crucial time of development, as it is then that racial, sex, and individual differentiation sets in. NEW CRUCIBLE SUPPORT AND FURNACE. MESSRS. J. J. GRIFFIN AND SONS, LTD., have sent us for examination a universal crucible support. It consists of three iron rods, which pass obliquely through the legs of an iron tripod and are held firmly in the correct positions by the action of brass springs. The three rods have fitted over them quartz tubes drawn out into pointed ends. By simply pushing in or drawing out the rods can be adjusted to take either small or large crucibles—up to three inches in diameter. Quartz fusing at a higher temperature than platinum, this crucible support is very handy, and is much cheaper than using a platinum tripod. The heating of the crucible is also more uniform, as it is held in position simply by the pointed ends of the quartz tubes. There is therefore no necessity to turn the crucible about in order to make sure that the whole of its contents are completely and uniformly ignited. We have received from the Cambridge Scientific Instru- ment Company a small crucible furnace heated with a Méker burner, and called the Méker furnace. We have tested the furnace and find it very efficient, as within a few minutes there is no difficulty in melting copper. The main features of the new burner are the careful and exact pro- ApRIL 15, 19¢9] portioning of the size of the air inlet holes and of the gas injector, thus causing a perfect mixing of the air and gas for combustion. The lower part of the burner is con- stricted and the upper part enlarged so as to allow a thorough mixing of the gas and air before combustion. The top part of the burner is furnished with a deep nickel grid to prevent back-flashing of the flame. This nickel grid is of very stout make, and is about 1 cm. deep, thus making it practically impossible for the flame to: flash back. Although the burner gives a very hot flame, the amount of gas used is by no means excessive, and as metals are very rapidly melted, and other operations, such as fusion and reduction, carried out very quickly, the gas consumption for a given operation is less than with other burners. One of the greatest advantages is that, by using the Méker burner, operations which used to require a large amount of leg-work with the blow-pipe can now be carried out without employing a blow-pipe at all. In order to obtain very high temperatures another form of the Méker burner is arranged for use with the blow-pipe or compressed air. These burners are made in a large variety of sizes and shapes, and from our experience with them we shall expect to see them largely employed in the future. THE DEFECTS OF ENGLISH TECHNICAL EDUCATION AND THE REMEDY.* VV HEN writing the paper which I am going to read to you I have rarely been free from the oppressive thought that many of my audience will justly consider it forwardness, bordering even on arrogance, on my part to lecture to an association of English technical teachers on the defects of English technical education. Not only have I been interested in this subject merely for a few years, whereas many of my audience have spent a life- time in it, but I am not an Englishman myself. Your secretary, however, insisted that the exceptional opportunities which I have had of becoming acquainted with technical education as it affects, not only the lecturer and the student, but also the employer of labour, in this country as well as in Germany, would carry weight with you and would assure your serious consideration of my views; but further, standing as I do outside the teaching profession, and having no private interests to serve, I thought that, whatever criticism I might experience, I should not be suspected of any ulterior motive if I came forward to point out what, to my mind, are the weak- nesses and faults of our present system, and to advocate shat appears to me the only right course to adopt. So 1 accepted your secretary’s invitation, and will, with your permission, now proceed to place my somewhat unconven- tional views before you. The importance of technical education for any modern nation, but most particularly for England, cannot easily be overestimated, a fact which is being pointed out so frequently and acknowledged so generally that I need not dwell upon it at any length. There is not a student of national economy who fails to realise that Germany and the United States, now serious rivals to English trade, owe their rapid industrial and commercial development fargely to the magnificent system of technical education which they have established. Indeed, the recognition of this fact by all thoughtful men has led to vigorous efforts being made during the last ten years or so, and to a prodigious amount of money now being annually spent in this country for the purposes under discussion, No one will deny that a very great deal has been accom- plished, and personally I should be the last to under- rate the value of the work now being done in numerous institutions, or to belittle the services of so many pioneers, to whom, indeed, the nation owes a debt of gratitude. Nevertheless, it must be, and is, widely recognised that technical education is only in its infancy, that it is as yet far from exercising to the full and in an efficient a Paper read before the Association of Teachers in Technical Institutions (West Yorkshire branch) in Huddersfield, on March 27, by Dr. Robert Pohl. NO. 2059, VOL. 80] NATURE 205 manner that propelling influence on the industries of the country which is its aim and duty. Almost invariably, however, when this fact is recognised and pointed out, on whatever occasion it may be, the con- clusion is drawn from it that the people of England must be prepared to spend more money in erecting and thoroughly equipping technical colleges and universities. The main object of this paper is to prove the fallacy of that conclusion, and that every new college erected is another stone round the neck of technical education. It is, in my opinion, certainly not lack of money which is to blame for the admittedly unsatisfactory state of affairs. From the statistical data contained in the Government Blue-books and Budgets I have made a calculation as to the total expenditure of public money in England and Wales as compared with Prussia. The two countries are similar in industrial activity and in the character of their population. Prussia, with its highly efficient educational system and its technical institutions admired by all the. world, spends roughly 600,000l. per annum on current expenditure. The statistics available for England, particularly as to local contributions, are rather scanty, but from a very moderate estimate I find that at least 1,000,o00l. is annually spent for equivalent purposes. Taking into account the larger population of Prussia, we arrive at the result that England already spends about twice as much money as Prussia, reckoned per head of population, with educational results which—I say it, without hesitation—will not bear any comparison. If one would compare the extraordinary expenditure in- curred in building and equipping new institutions, the result, I believe, would be even more unfavourable to England. ; Neither lack of money nor of effort is the fault, but the fundamental principle is wrong on which rests the whole structure of technical training in this country. Technical education is not a private or. local, but by its very nature a national affair, and the most essential condition for efficiency and economy is that it should be established on the basis of systematic national organisa- tion, and that it should be nationally managed. The numerous objections raised by employers and the general public against technical colleges, and the still more numerous grievances of those actively engaged in technical training, are largely, if not solely, connected with the present unsound foundation. With the object of proving the truth of these sweeping statements, let us briefly consider what are the complaints I refer to. (1) The number of day students in all institutions, and consequently the attendance at the majority of classes, is far too small, Taking the figures given by the British Education Section of the Franco-British Exhibition for 1908, there were in England and Wales forty-five technical and agricultural colleges, with a total attendance of 3344 day students. This corresponds to an average of seventy- five students per college, or approximately six students per class. These figures do not include the technical students of universities and university colleges, but, never- theless, the facts are even worse, because the large number of smaller technical institutions providing for day instruc- tion is omitted from the list, and the preponderance of students in the first-year courses must also be kept in mind; and, further, even in the largest colleges, in such institutions as the Birmingham University and the Man- chester Municipal School of Technology, the attendance of day students bears no proportion to the cost of their beautiful equipments. -Manchester, for instance, reports a total attendance in all departments of 165 full-course day students during the present session. In numerous institu- tions it is by no means an exception to find classes, especi- ally in more advanced subjects, consisting of ‘two or three students, and many classes only exist on paper, there being no students at all to take advantage of the facilities offered to them. (2). The average education of day students entering for technical instruction is poor, and the diversity of their previous training so great, that the gravest educational difficulties result.. This is only partly due. to the unsatis- factory state of primary and secondary education. The 206 chief reason is the scarcity of students, which leads to little regard being taken of the previous education of a would-be day student. ; 5 Tso g (3) The undue importance attached to external examining bodies, and the consequent variety of examinations’ to which the training must be adapted, detract from ‘a con- centration of effort and uniformity of purpose. °.: | (4) The usual management of municipal institutions by a committee, the constitution and policy: of ‘which may change every year, and which only too’ often consists of a number of private gentlemen more or less strangers to technical education, is unsound and wasteful. It ‘often stultifies the really enthusiastic teacher by delaying neces- sary and urgent improvements. How long will this country continue to leave the manage- ment of so vital a matter as day technical education largely in the hands of amateurs? (5) The equipment provided in individual institutions cannot be kept up-to-date, owing to lack of funds and of students. All these serious obstacles result in financial wastage as well as educational inefficiency, the latter all the more, as they make it exceedingly difficult for a: téacher to find that amount of satisfaction in his work necessary to keep alive his enthusiasm and that of his students. : Coming to the attitude of the employers of, labour toward technical education, it is not altogether surprising to find that little college training. ere A comparison of the advertisements for vacant posts appearing in English and German technical Prove this better than anything else. ; Generally speaking, ‘there appears to be employers a lack of interest in technical education, much willingness to cooperate with technical amongst importance, as a whole, is attached, to | NAT Papers will and not , institutions. This impression I have received in numerous conversations . and inquiries concerning this subject. Specific, complaints | there are few; I have occasionally heard it stated that day technical training is not of a sufficiently practical character, that day colleges not rarely fail sufficiently to impress on the minds of the students the importance of practical experience, and that, thereby, they indirectly make them look down on shop-trained ‘men and unwilling to adapt themselves to the routine of the workshop and to acquire practical knowledge and skill; that technical teachers are often recruited from the ranks of those day students who have found it too difficult a task working themselves up to a good position in practical life; this, in turn, is said to be the cause of the colleges remaining alienated from Practice. Finally, the statement is sometimes made that too little original work, especially such as requires experi- mental research, is carried out by the staffs of day colleges. My personal opinion as to these points is that none. of them is quite without justification, though specific cases are often exaggerated and unduly generalised. It is certainly a great mistake permitting students to remain as assistants in the college after their final examination, and gradually to work themselves up into the position of lecturers in technical subjects, without having ever entered into practical life. : The main cause for such complaints, however, lies in the fact that even in the technical universities the number of students is not sufficient to permit of a number of specialised experts being appointed in each department, as is the practice in Germany. The professor or lecturer in an English college is expected to deal with a variety of subjects, each of which is a science in itself, and his spare time is’ very limited. Personally, I think it is surprising that so much original work is done in spite of such adverse circumstances, Evening classes stand in greater favour with employers, being considered a necessary complement to the day-work of apprentices. Complaints are made, however, on account of the heavy nervous strain imposed on youths. Only quite recently two cases of nervous collapse have come to my notice which, according to the doctor, were without doubt due to excessive strain imposed by the college work, which consisted of lectures on three nights a week and a large amount of home-work. Proper cooperation between the employer and the college would have secured the amount of relief during daytime necessary for the physical | NO. 2059, VOL. 8o] URE [ArniL 15. 1909 and mental well-being of the boy. . Such ,cooperation is absolutely necessary in connection with all evening work. Coming, finally, to, the general public and its attitude towards technical education, I need hardly refer to the cry heard throughout the length and breadth of the land that the technical schools impose a far too, heavy burden on the ratepayer, a burden altogether out of proportion to the work accomplished, both qualitatively and quantita- tively. We hear that cry every day. I am afraid, how- ever, of losing your sympathy altogether when I state -it as my opinion that these complaints’of the ratepayer are fully justified. I-consider, some of the figures- which: were recently published as to the cost of technical education per student-hour are absurdly high, and a conclusive proot of the inefficiency of our present system; but, apart from that. consideration, the ratepayer contributes. about 75° per cent. of the cost of technical education, whereas it is only just that the bulk of it should come from national sources..- This list of defects of technical education could be still further, extended, -but I have only referred to the most important ones, the majority of which are felt in all technical schools and colleges, and on which I believe we are agreed. . ; Nk pes : oo Now,.I venture to submit to you that all these defects could be removed by placing. technical education on -a national basis. ~Day~ technical teaching, to be efficient, must, in my opinion, be thoroughly organised all over the country, so that a ‘limited number of excellently equipped colleges, with a very large number of students and a corresponding number of specialised lecturers in each department, will ‘satisfy the needs of their correspondingly large districts. That is the secret of Prussia’s success; and though many English people, justly proud of their free institutions, may look down on Prussia as a State governed by army officers and policemen, so much they ,will have to admit, that England not only can, but must and will, learn a good deal from Prussia in regard to the organisation of education. May I, for example, refer to the Charlottenburg College, about which so much was said and written in connection with the founding of the Imperial College of, Science and Technology? Very rarely have I found that the English admirers of Charlottenburg understood the real difference between the German and any corresponding — British technical college. It is this: technical education being nationally organised in Prussia, there exist only . four technical universities in the whole country, with a popula- tion of 38,000,000 people. The average number of day students is about 2500 per day. Charlottenburg, the largest of them, is the technical university, not only for the whole of Berlin, but in addition for a district of some 40,000 square miles. The number of its ,students, which, of course, are all day students, is about 5000, and the most stringent regulations as to their previous training are in force. With such an attendance the State can afford to appoint for each department a number. of professors, each of whom is a recognised authority in some branch of that department. As an example I may mention that there are at Charlottenburg not less than seventeen professors and lecturers in electrical engineering subjects alone. Instead of this, what do we find in England? The British Government has chosen the easier course of leaving the founding and management of technical institutions. to the enterprise of charitable private persons, , corporate bodies, and the local authorities. -As a result, there are— not in greater London, but in the administrative County of London only—at least six colleges of university stand- ing and six day colleges recognised by the Government as technical institutions competing with one another, not to mention ten other institutions with day technical classes and eighteen schools of art. Similarly, in -the provinces quite a number of lavishly equipped university colleges have been founded, and:technical day schools have sprung up like mushrooms, their number now being many times in excess of the well-understood needs of. the country. Many of these institutions are in- close proximity to and com- peting with one another. The educational consequences require no repetition. » You may go through all the defects which we have considered, and you will easily see that every one of them is directly attributable, not to lack of energy or ability on the part APRIL 15, 1909] NALORE. 207 of the ‘technical teacher or to unwillingness of the British rate- and taxpayer to part with his money, but to the absence of national organisation and the consequent disastrous competition between the existing schools. Money can build the most beautiful edifices and buy the most excellent equipments, but it will not cure this evil. Technical education will, in my opinion, never to the full exercise its highly important functions in the life of the nation until the Board of Education awakens to its duty and establishes a sound national system of technical education; and such system will require to be enforced, as the petty jealousies invariably found to exist between neighbouring corporations do not permit of any hope that a similar result may be obtained by voluntary cooperation. To this you will reply that the establishment of a national system of technical education would be a revolu- tionary and almost impossible step in England. I beg to disagree, and to believe that technical education can be far more easily organised on the basis of a national system than, for instance, primary education. In fact, I even doubt as to whether any new legislation would be required for the purpose. The pressure which the Board of Education, by means of the grant alone, can bring to bear on the governing bodies will prove sufficient to bring the majority, if not all, of the existing schools into line with a national scheme, and to make them take up the position assigned to them in it. I will go further, and venture to prophesy that before many years have passed the Government will have to take this matter up, under the combined pressure of the two parties chiefly interested in efficiency and economy, i.e. the technical teacher and the ratepayer. It will, on this account, not be a waste of time to consider briefly the question as to an ideal system for England. I am well aware that any such system could only very gradually be developed out of the present chaos. A definite, practical scheme, however, even if not fully attainable, always serves as an invaluable and unfailing guide. a Naturally, opinions on this question will differ very greatly, and all I have to say must be taken merely as a suggestion towards a very careful and exhaustive investi- gation of the subject, which, I think, this association ought to carry out. Let me state, first of all, that I should not recommend an imitation of any existing foreign system, not only because I am unaware of any system that could not be materially improved upon, but chiefly because the educa- tional system of any country must, of course, be adapted to its particular industrial and educational conditions; and, again, far from condemning the present English system root and branch, I consider that some of its features are most excellent, and should be maintained and further developed—features which are entirely absent, for instance, in the Prussian system. I refer, first, to the evening courses, which are doing exceedingly good work, and are deserving of the highest praise, and, secondly, to its democratic spirit, which shows itself in the low fees for evening instruction and in the extensive system of scholar- ships. I am well aware that complaints are often voiced against the methods now adopted in the awarding of scholarships, to the effect that they do not effectively pre- vent the tremendous leakage in the nation’s brain re- sources. Still, I think it will be possible to modify it in such a manner as really to detect the very best brains of the whole country, wherever they may be found, and to lead them up to the highest possible development, to the benefit, not only of themselves, but of the whole nation. These factors, I suggest, should form two of the corner- stones of a national system. However, in discussing these matters we are really taking the second step before the first. Before erecting corner-stones we ought to remember that no superstructure, however well designed, can stand erect unless it rests on sound foundations; and this leads me to what is perhaps the most important consideration in connection with this subject. Unless English primary education is put into a much more satisfactory condition, technical education must re- main severely handicapped. Does it not almost amount to NO. 2059, VOL. 80] a national crime that many thousands of children are per- mitted to leave school when only twelve years of age, and when the instruction is just becoming most valuable? Words fail in face of such overwhelming evidence as is contained, for instance, in a report of the Huddersfield Education Committee, issued a few months ago, of which the following is an extract :—‘ His Majesty’s Inspector conducted a labour certificate examination. 162 candidates were examined, 136 passed and 26 failed. Of those who passed, 125 were between the ages of twelve and thirteen, and only 11 were over thirteen years of age.’’ It is the duty of this association and of all individual technical teachers to work for the final abolition of the half-time system, the extension of the age limit for compulsory school attendance to fourteen years, and also for the stopping of street hawking and other exploitations of child labour. All men interested, not in cheap labour, but in the well-being of the nation, are agreed upon the desira- bility, and even the absolute urgency, of these reforms. Surely if other and less wealthy nations can afford care- fully to educate every future citizen until he or she be at least fourteen years of age, England would not overtax her resources by doing likewise; indeed, she would make a step towards true economy. A Children’s Bill was passed during the last session of Parliament containing, I admit, some excellent provisions ; but it passes my comprehension how the Government can be as proud of its ‘‘ Children’s Charter ’’ as it seems to be so long as no attempt whatever is made towards the above indicated reforms, so highly important and so long over- due. In addition to the extension of the school age, primary education should, in my opinion, be rounded off by com- pulsory attendance at evening continuation schools for three years. On the basis of sound primary education, the structure of technical training which I wish to suggest is as shown in the following diagram, which indicates the various ways leading up to the technical university :— | = = Years of = ae : Second year 20 f/ Technical Technical Uni- | : 4 i | University versity Technical University | (Apprentice- Apprentice-, a [a dEven- ship and Even- : pand Even- ship an ven af ea ing Technicaling Technical \ Eup} [paeteee ) | School School 8 pa Ap prentice- choo 16 ( PP | | | |} ship and Even- Trade or 3 |e Continua- ee. School Hiieenrat Equivalent a tion School} || Secondary 13 Saas and 12 rimary II Primary School School 10 9 8 7 6 A boy of fourteen, leaving the primary school and wish- ing to go in for a technical trade, has two courses open to him. If his parents cannot afford to let him continue in the day school, he should be apprenticed and should attend the evening continuation school up to his seventeenth year. He may then obtain a more specialised technical education, according to his requirements, by attending the technical evening classes for another three or four years, proper cooperation with the employers being an essential condition if success is to be obtained; and should his teachers find that his is.a brain of exceptional ability, deserving and desiring to be developed as highly as possible, I suggest that an extensive system. of national. maintenance scholar- ships should enable him then to enter the technical university. i : ite This is not the place ‘to discuss the details of conditions and requirements. I only wish to emphasise that the son 208 of even the poorest parents should not, by reason of his leaving school at fourteen, lose his opportunities of reach- ing the very top of the educational ladder; and I am anxious to lay the greatest stress on the desirability of extensively drafting the very best evening students into the technical universities. The second alternative for the boy of fourteen is to continue his school life in a trade school to his seventeenth year, when the final certificate will give him access to the technical university after an apprenticeship or pupilage of at least one, better two, years. This would be the easiest and the more general road to the technical university ; but, again, on leaving the trade school the student may be apprenticed for three years, attending also the evening classes, and he may qualify for the second year of the uechnical university, or even obtain a maintenance scholar- ship. The third way of reaching the technical university would be through the grammar school or equivalent secondary schools. The certificate of having passed a certain standard either on the modern or the classical side would, again, without further entrance examination, be accepted as sufficient proof of adequate education, though for engineering, building, and textile departments at least one, but preferably two, years’ practical work should precede the university studies. The above forms an outline, though a very rough and compressed one, of my ideas. Let us, in conclusion, con- sider the most important question as to how the general introduction of any such national scheme would affect existing schools, and also the position of the technical teacher. The majority of the existing technical day institutions would cease to exist as such; they have given conclusive proof that they have no right of existence. They would be transformed into trade schools for the daytime. The evening technical classes, however, would not only be maintained, but further developed, as they would grow enormously in general importance. A number of the existing colleges and universities, spread at sufficiently large intervals over the country, would be developed into technical universities of the highest order, challenging comparison, not only as regards equip- ment, but in every other respect, with the very best institutions of other nations. According to the nature of the district, such technical university might be split up, where necessary, and an engineering college be established in one centre, a textile college in another, a mining college in a third, &c. Thus regard could be paid to local re- quirements to a considerable extent, while at the same time abolishing the present disastrous multiplication of efforts. The technical university should in its management be independent of local authorities; it should be entirely self-governing, and be under the direct control of the Board of Education. It should be permeated by a thoroughly democratic spirit, and those recruited from the technical evening classes by means of maintenance scholarships should form a very large percentage of its students. Now, as to the position of the technical teacher, will it suffer or improve under such a scheme? _ The answer is obvious if we: will only consider what it is at present. The technical teacher is overburdened with day and with evening work, in addition to which, as is well known, he must spend a great deal of spare time in private study if he wishes to keep up to date in his rapidly progressing subjects; but, in spite of this, his salary, on the whole, is hardly better than that of the elementary teacher. In the endeavour to economise at all costs, cor- porations seem more and more inclined to consider the salaries of technical teachers as the most appropriate sub- ject for curtailment; and, further, it seems to me, the technical teacher does not stand very high in the estima- tion of either the general public or the employer of labour. i 4 Summing up, I find that his position is far from being in accordance with the importance of his work with regard to the life and development of an industrial nation. The reason is obvious. As yet technical education itself occupies @ position far below that which is its due, and, of course, NO. 2059, VOL. 80] NATURE [APRIL 15, 1909 the technical teaching profession is inseparably connected with it. By lifting technical education up to its proper level and making it a national affair you. would make the technical teacher a national or, to use the ordinary term, a Civil Servant, and the technical teaching profession would receive the recognition which it deserves, and which it receives in other countries. ee That is, in my judgment, the only way in which English technical Education may be enabled to exercise that amount of guiding and enlightening influence which it must possess if this industrial country wishes to maintain its front seat in the council of the nations. UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE. AT a meeting of the East Lancashire Branch of the Association of Teachers in Technical Institutions on April 17 at the Municipal School of Technology, Man- chester, Prof. W. W. Haldane Gee will open a discussion on ‘‘The Optical Lantern and the Microscope, with Special Reference to their Educational Uses.” Durinc the last three years an investigation has been in progress in the United States to trace the cause of the failure of the physics teaching in the secondary schools of the country, and the educational journals have devoted much space to the question. It now seems possible to give a summary of the most important facts which the inquiry has brought to light. When physics was first introduced into American secondary schools, a distinct effort was made to present it as a means of explaining the various natural phenomena witnessed by the pupil in his daily life. Few experiments were performed, and those by the teacher with the simplest possible apparatus. Then came the decree that methods must be changed so as to meet the requirements of college entrance examinations, and, as a result, pupils were on the one hand forced into ‘inductive’? or first-hand work, for which they were quite unsuited, and on the other were overwhelmed with mathematical formule, in which the physics was buried past disinterment. Now there is a strong desire to return to the ideals which prevailed in the past, to sever the school teaching from college control, to reduce the emphasis now laid on mathematical formula and on extreme accuracy in experimental work, and to base the subject on the daily experience of the pupils. The national com- mission has our cordial support in its efforts at reform. Tue March number of the Psychological Bulletin is devoted to child and educational psychology. Prof. O’Shea writes of progress in this field, and puts his finger definitely upon the necessity for the establishment of institutions for educational research in which children of every age will be available for observation and experiment. There are many psychological laboratories, but no institution in which the resources of the experimental psychologist are solely devoted to the problems of the teacher. Perhaps the nearest approach to this ideal is to be found in Leipzig, - where the enterprise of the teaching profession has estab- lished a centre for scientific research into those unknown forces with the behaviour of which the schoolmaster is expected to have expert knowledge. Prof. Bagley’s article, on the psychology of school practice, gives an excellent summary of recent work in this field, and admits the importance of the evidence, which is steadily accumulating, in favour of the doctrine of formal training, albeit in a form less crude than that against which the Herbartian has always tilted. The survey of work in Germany, France, and elsewhere is useful, though the omission of the name of Binet from that part which deals with French activity in this direction is surprising. Prof. Earl Barnes writes of England, and finds our national activities taking traditional forms—Royal commissions, congresses, inter- departmental committees. Public interest in psychological questions is steadily growing in our country, forced upon us ‘‘ by a disorganised school system, by industrial stagna- tion and an army of unemployed people, by the agitation for woman’s suffrage and by-the unrest in India.’ Truly outsiders see most of the game! APRIL 15, 1909] SOCIETiES AND ACADEMIES. Lonpon. Faraday Society, March 30.—A new electrical harden- ing furnace: E. Sabersky and E. Adler. The furnace consists of a fireclay crucible containing a bath of metallic salts. By means of an electric current these salts are melted and kept at any desired temperature up to 1400° C. An alternating current of a voltage not exceeding 70 is employed. The process consists in heating the steel to a temperature above the transition line and then rapidly cooling it down. The cost of operating this electrical furnace is lower than that of gas-fired muffle or bath furnaces.—The relation between composition and conduc- tivity in solutions of meta- and ortho-phosphoric acids : Dr. E. B. R. Prideaux. The results of simultaneous determinations of amounts of HPO, and H,PO, and of the electrical conductivity show that the conductivity of the changing solution decreases at first slowly and then more rapidly, and then more slowly again.—The electro- analysis of mercury compounds with a gold kathode: Dr. F. Mollwo Perkin. The results obtained were always slightly too high, from o-5 per cent. to 1 per cent. This was at first attributed to occluded hydrogen, but this was finally not considered to be the cause, and no good explanation could be found. With silver kathodes similar results were obtained. Two new quartz vessels for de- positing mercury on a mercury kathode were also de- scribed. It is considered that for mercury determinations a mercury kathode with rotating anode should be employed. Royal Astronomical Society, April 7.—Prof. H. H. Turner, F.R.S., vice-president, in the chair.—Description of a Chinese planisphere: E. B. Knobel. This _plani- sphere had been exhibited at the Franco-British Exhibition as ‘‘a bronze compass,’’ believed to be Japanese. It was undoubtedly Chinese. The stars are shown by raised dots, linked together in groups, forming the Chinese asterisms, each of which consists of one or more stars. These. asterisms do not represent areas of the heavens like our constellations, with which they have no relation. The Chinese “siou,’’ or lunar mansions, were explained and described.—The 60-inch reflecting telescope of the Mount Wilson Observatory, California: Dr. G. W. Ritchey. The mirror was successfully cast in France, and figured and polished at Pasadena, in the observatory workshops, where the Cassegrain mounting was also constructed. Details of the whole work were given and illustrated by lantern-slides. The great difficulties connected with the transport of the mirror and mounting to the summit of Mount Wilson were overcome, and the telescope is now mounted in a 50-feet dome erected for it. Dr. Ritchey is now on a visit to Europe arranging for the casting of the disc for a still larger reflector, 100 inches in diameter, which has presented considerable difficulties.— Photographs of comet Morehouse: S. S. Hough. These have been taken at the Cape after the comet’s perihelion passage, and show that the remarkable changes of form exhibited by the comet from September to November have continued after its perihelion passage.—Astronomy in Australia: W. E. Cooke. An account was given of the conditions for astronomical research, and the difficulties experienced in maintaining the efficiency of the public observatories.—Photographs of Jupiter taken at the opposition of 1908-9: J. H. Reynolds.—The number of faint stars with large proper motions, and further note on the position of the sun’s axis of rotation: H. H. Turner.—The orbit of the eighth satellite of Jupiter: A. C. D. Crommelin. The orbit, as determined by Messrs. Cowell, Crommelin, and Davidson, was in good agreement with the observed positions of the satellite, but must at present be considered as provisional, and did not form a closed curve. MANCHESTER. Literary and Philosophical Society, March 23.—Pro!. A. Schuster, F.R.S., in the chair—The moving force of terrestrial and celestial bodies in relation to the attraction of gravitation: Dr. H. Wilde. Reference was briefly made by the author to the historic controversy which exercised the minds of distinguished men of science and learning for more than two centuries ‘as to whether the NO. 2059, VOL. 80] ,bands of crystals. NATURE 20g force of a body in motion by the free action of gravity is simply as the velocity, according to Descartes and Newton, or as the square of the velocity in agreement with Leibnitz and proved experimentally by Smeaton, Wollaston, Ewart, Dalton, Joule, and others; but no attempts have been made to extend the results of these experiments to the motions of celestial bodies. The author has demonstrated that the moving force, and the attraction of gravitation, are alike inversely proportional to the square of the distance, and are correlated equally in amount to maintain and retain the moon and other celestial bodies in their orbits during their revolutions round their primaries.—The action of hydrogen on sodium: A. Holt, jun. Some experiments were described on the action of hydrogen on sodium which, when considered with the work of Moissan and of Troost and Hautefeuille, point to the conclusion that the hydride Na,H described by these latter authors should probably be regarded as a solid solution of the hydride NaH in sodium, and not as a definite compound.—Differ- ences in the decay of the radium emanation: Prof. E. Rutherford and Y. Tuomikoski. Paris. Academy of Sciences, April 5.—M. Bouchard in the chair.—Observations on Lepidostrobus Brownti: R.- Zeiller. The specimen, a detailed study of which is given in the present paper, was collected at Cabriéres by M. Abbé Théron.—Remarks by M. Carpentier on a set of standards of length, presented by M. Johansson. These standards are in the form of parallelepipeds, two faces of which are rigorously plane and parallel, and the distance between these two faces is known to 1/100,o00th of its value. Any length between 1 mm. and 200 mm. can be built up, the error being less than 1 micron. A smaller set of standards have an accuracy of o-1 micron. These standards are manufactured on the commercial scale, and represent a surprising advance on any test-pieces hitherto obtainable.—A new general method for the preparation of the alcoholic amines: Paul Sabatier and A. Mailhe. In a previous paper the authors have described the catalytic decomposition of alcohols by certain oxides, such as alumina, thoria, and the blue oxide of tungsten. If, in this experiment, the alcohol vapour is replaced by a mix- ture of dry ammonia and alcohol vapour, no ethylenes are produced, but the action which predominates is the forma- tion of the amine. Details are given of the method, which is extremely simple, the reaction product contain- ing unchanged alcohol, ammonia, primary amine, secondary amine, and a little tertiary amine.—M. Wiesner was elected a correspondant in the section of botany in the place of the late M. Clos.—Contact transformations : S. Lattes.—The representation of the solutions of a linear equation of finite differences for large values of the variable: M. Galbrun.—The radiation apd temperature of the flame of a Bunsen burner: Edmond Bauer. Two methods of measuring the flame temperature, the measure- ment of the ratio of emission to absorption and the reversal of the D ray, gave identical results, about 1760° C., for the Mcker burner. The author comes to the conclusion that temperature is the essential factor in the emission of line spectra by flames.—The radiation of potassium salts: E. Henriot. It has been shown that potassium salts possess a distinct, although very small, radio-activity. It has not yet been settled whether this radio-activity is due to the presence of traces of one of the radio-active bodies already known. From the experiments described in the present paper, it would appear that this is not the case; the observed radio-activity must be either due to the potassium itself or to an unknown body associated with it. —A new type of magnetic decomposition of the absorption The simultaneous production of systems circularly polarised in opposite senses: Jean Becquerel. The line 625 ma of tysonite, at the temperature of solid hydrogen, —253° C. to —259° C., gives a quadruplet formed of two doublets polarised in opposite senses. The effects observed can be explained by the hypothesis of the existence of both negative and positive electrons, and the author replies to some objections raised by M. Dufour concerning the theory of positive electrons.—The deter- mination of the constant of Stefan’s law: C. Féry. In a preceding note it has been shown that in measurements 210 of radiation it is absolutely essential to use an integral receiver. In the present paper a form of receiver is descrihed satisfying the necessary conditions, and with this apparatus the exactitude of Stefan’s law has been proved. The constant found is 6-30x10-' watt/cm.2, as against the earlier figure of 5:32, for ma, from which a is 2x10-"* watt/em.*—The atmosphere of rooms for the inhalation of mineral water in the form of fine spray. The identification of the mineral water spray with the water of the spring: M. Cany.—The formation of graphitic oxide and the definition of graphite: Georges Charpy. Brodie’s reagent, fuming nitric acid and potassium chlorate, may be replaced by other oxidising mixtures, such as concentrated sulphuric acid and potassium perman- ganate or chromic acid. The reaction is accelerated by a rise of temperature, but with loss of carbon as carbon dioxide. The definition of graphite based on the action of such oxidising mixtures is unsatisfactory.—The prepara- tion of pure iodic anhydride: Marcel Guichard. The iodic acid prepared by the action of sulphuric acid on barium iodate is not pure, containing either barium iodate or barium sulphate, according as the salt or the acid is in excess. Jodie acid is very soluble in water (187-4. per 100), but is much less soluble in nitric acid (S.G. 1-4), and advantage is taken of this fact for the Purification of iodic acid. A better method is the oxida- tion of iodine with nitric anhydride; a yield of 4o per cent. of the theoretical is thus obtained.—The complete synthesis of laudanosine: Amé Piectet and Mlle. M. Finkelstein. This synthesis of laudanosine (methyl- tetrahydropapaverine) is the first artificial preparation of an opium alkaloid——The catalytic preparation of the ketones: J. B. Senderens. The catalytic production of ethers by the action of alumina on the alcohols has been found to be limited in practice to methyl and ethyl ethers, other condensation products appearing with the higher alcohols. The corresponding reaction for the production of Iketones, on the other hand, is much more general. Anhydrous thoria is used as the catalytic agent, and the fatty acid is found to give good yields of ketone at a temperature of about 400° C. A description is given of the preparation of diethylketone, dipropylketone, and di-isopropylketone by this method.—The formation of peroxides in the oxidation of the organo-magnesium com- pounds: H. Wuyts.—The tetrahydronaphthylglycols (cis and trans) and their combination: Henri Leroux.—A new region with sodic rocks in Auvergne. Tephrites and nephelinites in ‘“‘la Comté”’: J. Giraud and A. Plumandon.—The composition of bauxite: M. Arsan- daux.—Some variations of Monophyllaeca Horsfieldii: M. Chifflot.—T he sexual reproduction of Magnusii: A. Guilliermond.—The exact estimation, by gasometry, of urea and urinary ammonia: M. Florence. —New analogie$ between the natural and artificial oxydases: J. Wolff.—Animal invertins and lactases: H. Bierry.—Bovine piroplasmosis in the neighbourhood of Algiers:: H. Soulié and G.: Roig.—The calcification of tuberculous lesions in bovine animals: their richness in Koch bacilli: M. Piettre. Calcification of tuberculous lesions is no sign of cure, and any therapeutic method based on the introduction of calcium salts into the economy is illusory.—The palleal cavity and its attachments: Rémy Perrier and Henri Fischer.—The fossil Bryozoa of the Middle Miocene of Marsa-Matrouh: Ferdinand Canu.—The cause of the heat developed in the terrestrial rocks: J. A. Le Bel. The effect observed appears to be due to radiation, and not to radio-activity. DIARY OF SOCIETIES. FRIDAY, Apri 16. Mavacotoaicat Society, at 8.—Description of Pomatias Harmeri, n.Sp., from the Red Crag of Essex: A. S. Kennard.—Fossil Pearl Growths : J. Wilfred Jackson.—The New Zealand Athoracophoridz, with Descrip- tions of Two New Forms: Henry Suter.—On the Family Ampullariide, No. 1, Ampullarina (sexsw stricto), List of Species, Varieties, and Synonyms, with Descriptions of New Forms: G. B. Sowerby. TUESDAY, Apri 20. INSTITUTION, at 3.—The Brain in Relation to Right-handedness Roya d Speech: Prof. F. W. Mott, F.R.S. In ION OF Civit, ENGINEERS, at 8.—The New York Times Buildin >. T. Purdy. Royvac Sc 7 OF ARTS, at 4.30.—South Africa: Hon. C. G. Murray. Royat ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE, at 8.15.—The Blackfeet Indians of Montana: W. MacLintock. NO. 2059, VOL. 80] NATURE Endomyces | [APRIL 15, 1909 WEDNESDAY, Aprit 21. Rovat MeErrorotocicat Society. at 7.30.—Percolation, Evaporation, and Condensation: B. Latham.—The Metecrological Conditions in the Philippines, 1908: Rev. José Algué, S.J. Royat Microscoricat Society, at 8.—On the Recent and Fossil Foraminifera of the Shore-sands of Selsea Bill, Sussex: E. Heron- Allen —The Disappearance of the Nucleolus in Mitosis: E. AG Sheppard. THURSDAY, Apriv 22. ' Rovat Society, at 4.30.—Probable Papers: Dynamic Osmotic Pressures : The Earl of Berkeley, F.R.S., and E. G. J. Bartley.—(1) The Thecry of Ancestral Contributions in Heredity; (2) The Ancestral Gametic Correlations of a Mendelian Populati n Mating at Random: Prof. Karl Pearson, F.R.S.—The Intracranial Vascular System of Sphenodon : Prof. A. Dendy, F.R.S —On the Graphical Determination of Fresnel’s Integrals: J. H. Shaxby. Matuemaricat Society, at 5.30.—The General Principles of the Theory of Integral Equations: F. Tavani.—The Equations of Electro- dynamics and the Null Influence of the Earth’s Motion on Optical and Electrical Phenomena: H. R. Hassé.—The Solution of a Certain Transcendental Equation: G. N. Watson. INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—The Electrical System of the London County Council Tramways: J. H. Rider. FRIDAY, Aprit 23. 14 he Royat Institution, at 9.—Tantalum and its Industrial Applications: A. Siemens. Puysicat Society, at 5.—On a Want of Symmetry shown by Secondary X-Rays: Prof. W. H. Bragg, F.R.S., and J. L. Glasson.—Transformations of X-Rays: C. A. Sadler.—Theory of the Alternate Current Gererator : Prof. T. R. Lyle. INSTITUTION oF CiIvit ENGINEERS, at 8.—The Development of Hydro- electric Power Schemes; with Special Reference to Works at Kinlochleven : J. M. S. Culbertson. : InstTiTUTION OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—Presidential Address : J. A. F. Aspinall. CONTENTS. PAGE Popular Science. By William E, Rolston. . . . . 181 Rarepelements.’ By]: He (Gis eeamene ae nT A’General History of Science) | 5°95 | | 5) 4s. aamse Sanitary Science MEO GONG ee BUM ool teae ly Crustacea of Norway. By W. A. Cunnington. . . 184 Britishymune i) «By A.) DiiCaaaaan 184 Our Book Shelf :— Freeman: ‘‘The Planning of Fever Hospitals and Disinfecting and Cleansing Stations” 185 Johnson: ‘‘ Photographic Optics and Colour Photo- graphy, including the Camera, Kinematograph, Optical Lantern, and the Theory and Practice of image Formation 7) ) Sees) nem fossiler Holzer aus dem Platen: Untersuchungen westen Vereinigten Staaten von Nordamerika ” 185 Letters to the Editor :— The Rate of Fall of Fungus Spores in Air. (JZ//us- trated.)—Prof. A. H. Reginald Buller .... 186 Tonisation by Réntgen Rays.—Dr. Charles G. Barkla 3... ise eee sat A Simple Fabry and Perot Interferometer. (Z//us- trated.)—Prof. James Barnes «5 eT) An_ Ornithological Coircidence.—Dr. Henry H. Giglioli’: . _.. 4 So, Re se April Meteors.—John R. Henry. ........ 188 The Gramophone as a Phonautograph. (///ustrated.) By Prof. John G. McKendrick, F.R.S...... . 188 The Poisons of the Pharmacy Act. By C. Simmonds © 2. . 2) SRS an eer Rainfalliintaly . >. ogee Ann wee Simple Studies in Natural History. (///ustrated.) . 192 International Chart of the Heavens... ..... 193 Dr. Arthur Gamgee, F.R.S. ByG. A. B. 194 INGtCSwee oe. see BAGUIO OOF aed to 4 CLs Our Astronomical Column :— Observations of Comet Morehouse ....... . 200 Measures of Double Stars |); 1). . . ... . 2, 200 Diameter and Position of Mercury... ... . . 200 The Vatican Observatory .......-...... 200 Producer Gas for Engines. I. Processes and Plants. (///ustvated.) By J. Emerson Dowson. . 200 The Scope of Eugenics . PEcmo HO NniES wotodp. deo 0S Scientific Work of the Local Government Board. By R. T. H. MER ce hy Sis oS rot, 1 OY German Anthropological Papers ... , 204 New Crucible Support and Furnace. ....... 204 The Defects of English Technical Education and the Remedy. By Dr. Robert Pohl Mao cd > a ob, University and Educational Intelligence. . . . . . 208 Societies and Academies ............. 209 DiarysohiSocieties . . . Lege hc af LO 201 NATORE THURSDAY, APRIL 22, 19009. MAN’S HAIRY COVERING. Beitrige zur Naturgeschichte des Menschen. Liefer- ung i., Das Wollhaarkleid des Menschen (7 coloured and 3 uncoloured plates); Lieferung ii., Das Dauer- haarkleid des Menschen (6 coloured and 7 un- coloured plates); Lieferung iii., Geschlechts- und Rassenunterschiede der Behaarung, Haaranimalien und Haarparasiten (9 coloured and 4 uncoloured plates); and Lieferung iv., Entwicklung, Bau und Entstehung der Haare, Literatur iiber Behaarung (7 coloured plates). By Dr. Hans Friedenthal. Pp. 31+39+49+57- (Jena: Gustav Fischer, 1908.) Prices of volumes: 10, 20, 20 and 15 marks respectively. HE distribution of the hair, its characters, and the curious phases of its growth present such obvious features of contrast between man and the other hair-clad vertebrates, as well as such marked differences in the various races of mankind, that they have formed a very frequent theme—the author of the work before us quotes the titles of more than 1270 memoirs, and says that the list is far from complete !—for the anatomist, zoologist, and anthro- pologist. - Moreover, the anomalies of growth and distribution of hair are often forced upon the atten- -tion of pathologists and medical practitioners. The author of this bulky monograph on the human hair calls his work a research on the. physiology of “* Behaarung,”’ and explains his purpose by the state- ment that a knowledge of mankind which deals with morphology only and does not include physiology in its scope cannot be other than partial and unsatisfac- tory. His aim in this work has been to explain the interdependence of structure and function;. to show that the position of man as a being set apart from other mammals, so far as many features of his hair equipment are concerned, is correlated with the corre- spondingly distinctive nature of his vow; and to indicate that anthropology is a field of research for the physiologist. It is a well-known fact that the growth and distri- bution of the hair may be strangely influenced by internal secretions, especially of the genital glands. The development of the distinctive arrangement of the ‘‘terminal’’ hair at puberty is determined by the activity of these glands. Premature stimulation of the ovary, as, for example, by a malignant growth, leads to a precocious development of pubic hair. Mal- formations of the generative organs are sometimes associated with an altered distribution of hair re- sembling that of the other sex. After the hair dis- tinctive of sexual maturity is fully developed, the ovary seems to exercise a restraining influence on the further growth of the body-hair (in contradistinc- tion to the influence of the testicle in the male), for when the influence of the ovarian secretion is with- drawn at the menopause there is often a renewed activity in the growth of hair on the face and body in women. NO. 2060, VOL. 80] But the physiological study of hair is not limited to the examination of such phenomena. According to Dr. Friedenthal, the intimate relationship that exists between the hair and the nervous system is responsible for the result that the emotional state of the individual is able to exert an influence on the growth of hair by reflexly affecting the blood supply of the hair roots. Moreover, in addition to this little- recognised relationship between hair-growth and the emotional life, there is a further intimate correlation between man’s mental isolation and his physical isolation as a relatively hairless primate. The hairy covering of the body, which is necessary for the protection of most mammals, interferes with the sensitiveness of the skin as a tactile organ. By such an argument Dr. Friedenthal pretends that the height of man’s intelligence is associated with his isolation among hairy mammals as a relatively hairless being, because the fulness of his mental life stands in inti- mate relationship with the number of impressions pouring into his brain. I need not follow him in his further flights into the psychological significance of hair, except to mention his curious conception of one of the uses of the woolly hair (lanugo) of the unborn child as an instrument for ‘‘ reinforcing the feeling of contact between mother and child’? and awakening the maternal instinct! ; On the purely morphological side the author has made some very interesting observations. At the present time, when Schwalbe, Kohlbrugge, and Dwight are suggesting doubts as to man’s affinity to the apes, the author is justified in emphasising once more, not only their general points of identity of structure, and especially the striking similarity in the arrangement of the hair, but also the positive evidence of a ‘“blood-relationship’? which the biological precipitin tests of blood afford. There is a striking resemblance between the dis- tribution and limits of the absolutely hairless skin areas in man and the anthropoid apes. However, the skin on the back of the ungual phalanges of both fingers and toes and on the outer part of the back of the foot in the human fcetus is quite free from the hair rudiments which are found in the chimpanzee in these situations. The distribution of the temporary hair (lanugo) of the human feetus presents the closest resemblance to that of the permanent hair of the American apes, both Cebide and Hapalide; whereas the distribution of the hair which develops in the human being at the time of sexual maturity recalls that of the overgrown hair-tufts of the old- world apes. In a series of other features the human hair is disposed like that of various apes, in contra- distinction to the arrangement found in _ other mammals, not excluding even the lemurs. The work treats in considerable detail of the nature and significance of lanugo; the racial and sexual variability of the permanent hair, which develops in early childhood, and the ‘‘ terminal’? hair, which de- velops at puberty or during the period of maturity; the texture of the various kinds of hair and its mode of insertion in the skin, its coloration, its anomalies of distribution and of excess or defect, the changes I 2m, NATURE [APRIL 22, 1909 it undergoes in old age, and the parasites that may populate it at various times of life. The large number of illustrations, many of them excellently executed, is probably the reason for the large, unwieldy quarto form of these volumes and their considerable price. If the text had been printed in type of the size usually adopted in scientific works, and many of the wholly unnecessary and offensively- coloured illustrations of the nude human figure had been omitted, the book could have been produced in the form of a small and cheap octavo volume. In such a form the mass of valuable and often suggestive information which it contains would have been made available for a much larger body of serious students, to many of whom the present volumes will be inaccessible by reason of their cost. G. Exiior SMITH. THE HABITABILITY OF MARS. Mars as the Abode of Life. By Percival Lowell. Pp. xx+288. (New York: The Macmillan Co. ; London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1908.) Price Ios. 6d. net. HEN a worker in science devotes a considerable portion of his life to a definite piece of research work, and enriches his science with a series of valuable publications embodying the details of such an inquiry, he renders a good service to mankind at large by expounding the main results of his investigation in general and popular form. It is not often that the investigator is able to accom- plish both of these, but in Prof. Lowell we have a man who is capable of bringing to a successful issue the one form as well as the other. The title of the book under review is sufficient to inform the reader as to the lines on which Prof. Lowell has treated the interesting subject-matter concerning the planet which he has made his own. While his chief energies have been devoted to learning as much as possible about Mars when favourably situated, he has by no means ignored the opportunities afforded him of minutely studying the physical features of the other planetary members of the solar system. Such a general survey has thus enabled him to make an interesting comparison of the conditions on Mars with those seen on the other planets, and thus form an idea of the different stages of evolution in a planet’s life as represented by members of our system. It will be remembered that the author’s work entitled ‘‘ Mars and its Canals,’’ which was published in the year 1906, he was led to formulate the opinion that Mars was inhabited by beings of some sort or other, which he considered as certain as it was uncer- tain what those beings may be. This view was in opposition to that formulated by Dr. Alfred Russel Wallace, who, in his book entitled ““Man’s Place in the Universe,’’? published in 1903, claimed that there were enormous probabilities in favour of the earth being the only inhabited planet of the solar system, and, further, that the probabilities are almost as great against any other sun possessing inhabited planets. Since both the above books were published, a very NO. 2060, VOL. 80] in important fact has been observed which must un- doubtedly alter some of the conclusions drawn. While Dr. Wallace held that Mars had not sufficient mass to retain water-vapour, and that the polar snows were caused by carbonic acid or some other heavy gas, Prof. Lowell was almost convinced that the dark rifts round the caps when they were in the process of melting were caused by water from the melted ice. Recent spectroscopic evidence produced by Mr. Vv. M. Slipher has, however, shown that there is undoubted evidence of water-vapour in the atmosphere of Mars. Granting, therefore, the presence of water-vapour in the Martian atmosphere, the observed changes on the planet can be more easily and naturally explained than the assumption of other matter the behaviour and effects of which are not so familiarly known. Thus the seasonal change of colour of the different portions of the planet Mars is readily associated with the melting at the two poles, thus giving rise to the seasonal variability of the canals as exhibited by Lowell’s cartouches. In the book before us the arguments used are in the main to show that Mars can be an inhabited planet, and the canals and oases, according to Prof. Lowell, are proofs that life of no mean order prevails there. Thus in his final paragraphs he writes :— “* Part and parcel of this information is the order of intelligence involved in the beings thus disclosed. Pecu- liarly impressive is the thought that life on another world should thus have made its presence known by its exercise of mind. That intelligence should thus mutely communicate its existence to us across the far stretches of space, itself remaining hid, appeals to all that is highest and most far-reaching in man himself. More satisfactory than strange this; for in no other way could the habitation of the planet have been revealed. It simply shows again the supremacy of mind. Men live after they are dead by what they have written while they were alive, and the inhabitants of a planet tell of themselves across space as do_ individuals athwart time, by the same imprinting of their mind.”’ In the very brief interval of time in the evolutionary history of a planet, when the conditions are such that life in some form or another can exist, that interval, in the case of Mars, is approaching an end. The one great aim and object of the whole of the intelligent minds on Mars is concentrated on making the utmost use of the slowly diminishing water supply, and, as Prof. Lowell finally remarks, ‘‘ the drying up of the planet is certain to proceed until its surface can sup- port no life at all.” Our earth, fortunately, is not in such an advanced stage of its own life-history that like measures are necessary, but undoubtedly the time will come when all nations will have to work together to one common end, namely, to survive at all. In the volume before us, which may be looked upon as a delightful essay on the birth and development of worlds, Prof. Lowell has presented us with a vein of thought which will appeal to a very wide circle of readers. Technicalities are avoided as much as pos- sible, and when more detailed information is required the notes brought together in the second part of the volume can be referred to. APRIL 22, 1909] AN ATLAS OF THE EMPIRE. The British Empire (and Japan). Its Features, Resources, Commerce, Industries, and Scenery together with the Physical and Economic Conditions of the World. By W. Bisiker. 213 maps and 272 illustrations. (London : The Geographical Publishing Company, 1909.) Price 11. 1s. net. HE author offers this volume “as a contribution to ‘Education and the Empire,’’’ and since his contribution has taken the shape of an atlas, presum- ably he had in view geographical education. Now while the British Empire, as such, might well enter into college or university curriculum as an historical subject, it cannot be treated in a geographical course. The Empire is not a geographical unity; from a geographer’s point of view it is a heterogeneous collec- tion of the whole or parts of widely different natural regions. We must treat of fragments, large or small, ‘of tropical West Africa, of an isolated scrap of South America, and a similar arbitrary selection from other continents. The majority of the colonies and depend- encies of the Empire cannot be geographically treated apart from the regions to which they belong. To attempt to carry the criterion of political ownership into geography is, to say the least, unscientific. The author admits the necessity of considering the economic productions of the entire world as a basis for the study of British trade. In that he is right, but surely the only true understanding of the Empire and the right conception of its place in the world must be reached through a study of the geography of the entire globe. However, if this atlas falls short of educational requirements it will certainly prove of great service as a work of reference, especially for commercial pur- poses. Each of the large regions within the British Empire has two maps devoted to it, a photo- relief map and an ordinary political one. The former are finely executed and very instructive, but we doubt if they have as great a value as good contour maps. However, the physical names which they bear have been wisely chosen, and—a feature of geographical value—the railways are shown in relation to the surface relief. Submarine relief is well portrayed in these maps. In addition there are pressure, temperature, and rainfall maps, and various small economic charts for each region, all crowded with information graphic- ally or statistically displayed. Each colony is illustrated by several small views, but these have often more artistic than scientific value. A number of general physical and economic charts of the world, most of which are too crowded and small to be instructive, complete the atlas, except for two pages devoted to Japan. We do not understand why that country alone of extra-British lands should have been included. The author would surely have been better advised to in- clude the United States of America as a country the commercial interests of which lie nearest to those of Britain. The statistical information, if rather condensed and summary, seems to be thoroughly up-to-date, and, so far as we have tested it, accurate. But a little expan- sion in this direction might not have been out of place. The bare statement, for instance, regarding Ireland’s total trade, that it was in 1907 17,767,6571., might be NO. 2060, VOL. 80] NAT OTE. 213 misleading without a qualifying note that this refers only to trade with lands beyond the British Isles. In reality Ireland’s total trade was (1906) more than six times that figure. The index to commercial products is too meagre to be of much use, and should have been considerably expanded. One or two minor errors should be pointed out. The South Orkney and South Shetland Islands, despite recent assertions to the contrary, are not British, but Argentine possessions. South Georgia is used as a whaling station, and exploited for its sea-elephants and penguins rather than ‘“‘as a field for mining’ (p. 56), though gold and coal have been reported. King penguins do not breed on the Antarctic continent (p. 55). On plate 44, Fig. 18, the house shown is not, as stated, Napoleon’s dwelling at St. Helena, but quite another building. The state- ment that the Nile floods are caused chiefly by the Blue Nile (p. 53) does not convey the whole truth, for the Sobat and the Atbara largely contribute. Nor is it quite accurate to assert that pearls are formed “round grains of sand or other hard substances,”’ since they are generally formed round encysted larvee of parasitic worms; and we are at a loss to under- stand who the Buddhists are who figure so largely in the south-western United States on plate 15. How- ever, these are small points, and care and thought have evidently been expended on the work. But a less restricted outlook would undoubtedly have enhanced the value of this atlas. A cheaper edition at 16s. seems only to differ in the binding. INDUSTRIAL ELECTRICITY. Electricité Industrielle. By C. Lebois. Deuxiéme Partie, Deuxiéme Edition. Pp. 437. (Paris: Ch. Delagrave, n.d.) Price 4 francs. HE author is Inspector-General of Technical In- struction in France, and on the title-page we read that his work has been honoured by a subscription by the Ministers of Commerce and Technical Instruc- tion. In these circumstances the reader may expect a book of exceptional merit, but in this expectation he will be disappointed. The book is no better and no worse than scores of others with which the market nowadays is flooded. The subtitle is ‘‘ Second Part; Complementary Study of Continuous and Alternating Currents and Their Applications.” This subtitle describes sufficiently the contents. We find the usual explanation of the generation of an E.M.F. in the wires of an armature moving in the interpolar space, various armature windings, some examples of brush gear, different forms of magnet frame, the calculation of the magnetisation curve, formula for the E.M.F. and torque of a machine, the latter called a new formula, although it is certainly not new to English readers, some hints and examples on the design of continuous-current machines, and then a similar treatment of alternating-current machinery, including synchronous and _non-syn- chronous motors, for which the author has coined the name ‘‘ alternomoteurs.”’ Further, there are chapters on transformers, measur- ing instruments, meters, and other accessories. The 2 Ta NATURE [APRIL 22, 1909 industrial application of the science is represented by examples of machinery made by French firms, some descriptions of transmission plant and wireless tele- graphy. ‘This short account of the contents will show that the book covers, within its compass of some 430 small octavo pages, a wide field, and that for this reason alone anything like exhaustive treatment cannot be expected. Its usefulness is also marred by the defect very frequently found in Continental books of having no index, In one respect the book is, however, an improve- ment on other French works on the same subject, and that is the use of mechanical illustrations of electrical phenomena. French men of science have always been adverse to graphic treatment or mechanical analogies. They are content to represent the subject in a purely analytical manner, and although it must be confessed that in elegance of mathematical treatment the French school is supreme, this kind of treatment does not lead so easily to an understanding of the subject as the use of graphic methods and mechanical analogies, which is a characteristic of the English school. Even so highly-trained a mathematician as Maxwell did not disdain the use of some very simple mechanical con- trivance in order to make clear an intricate electrical phenomenon, and since Maxwell’s time all English writers and most German have followed this lead. Now we find that the author of the book under review has also gone over to the school of Faraday and Maxwell, and uses mechanical analogies to express electrical processes. As a good example of his methods may be talen the vectorial addition of currents illus- trated by the apparatus of Prof. Gaillard, which was primarily designed to illustrate an alternating current of so slow a periodicity that it can be shown by the harmonic movement of a spot of light to a whole class of students (p. 185). Another model to represent three-phase currents and their properties is shown on p- 311. The mechanical representation of the prin- ciple of the inductor alternator, although, strictly speaking, not a model, but merely an incomplete machine, should prove useful to beginners. The book is, in fact, written for beginners, if we may judge by the omission of many matters of more intricate nature. Thus, after explaining the process of commutation in a general way, the author dis- misses the subject of sparking in a few lines by saying that in modern machines there is hardly any necessity to shift the brushes when the load changes. Nothing is said about commutation by brush resistance or inter- poles, or Deri winding, or Parsons’ compensating coils. Again, the short paragraph on inductive drop in a transformer is quite inadequate; we are told that the drop is from 1 to 13 per cent. in each coil, but not a word is said about the influence of the details of the design on the drop. In the matter of cooling a trans- former. the author is equally superficial; he merely says that 20 sq. cm. cooling surface per watt lost will produce an admissible temperature rise. Such general statements are perfectly valueless, and, in fact, worse than that, for they are untrue. The author seems to have a great aversion to the use of mathematical formulae even when they are very simple and convenient. He seems to start from the NO. 2060, VOL. 8o| supposition that his reader is so much of a beginner that he cannot even grasp the meaning of a very simple analytical expression, and to overcome this imaginary difficulty he uses numerical examples by preference. Most readers will consider this point of view to be wrong in principle. A man who is quite ignorant of even the simplest mathematics had better not attempt to study electrical matters, and if he has the modicum of mathematical knowledge required for the study of such elementary books as that under review, his task is not made easier, but more tedious, if matters that could be presented in three lines of mathematics are worked out in two pages of numerical examples. A striking instance of the cumbersomeness of this method is the deduction of the virtual value of an alternating current given on pp. 174 to 178. Here more than four pages of algebra and arithmetic are used to prove that the virtual current is equal to the crest value divided by the square root of 2. All this could have been shown by a few lines of very simple calculus, or, better still,- by Blakesley’s graphic method. GisBERT Kapp. A GERMAN TEXT-BOOK OF ZOOLOGY. Lehrbuch der Zoologie fiir Studierende. By Dr. J. E. V. Boas. Fiinfte vermehrte und verbesserte Auflage. Pp. x+668; 603 figs. (Jena: Gustav Fischer, 1908.) Price 12 marks. HE fact that Prof. Boas’s well-known text-book | has now reached its fifth edition speaks volumes for the importance attached to the study of zoology in Germany. The book, although it contains 668 large and closely-printed pages, is an elementary one, and is designed especially, as we are told in the preface, for students of medicine, veterinary science, and forestry. German ideas as to the preliminary education of medical students must be very different from those which are held by the medical profession in this country. Perhaps the German students work harder, or it may be that they cover a wider field in a more superficial manner. Dr. Boas’s text-book makes us suspect that it is a little of both, and although we think that the subject might well receive more atten- tion from English medical students than it now does, yet we should hardly care to place the present volume in their hands. Excellent and interesting as it is in many respects, it appears to us to suffer greatly from over-condensation, from the attempt to cover far too much ground. We miss the detailed anatomical de- scription of types to which English students have become accustomed, and although this can easily be, and we fear frequently is, overdone, it can hardly be altogether dispensed with in an elementary text-book. It is true we find a short description of the Amceba by way of general introduction to the study of struc- ture and function, but this is the only special type which is at all adequately dealt with. Probably it is intended that the detailed study of types should be undertaken in the laboratory with the aid of a special practical text-book, but we have not noticed any re- ference by the author to the importance of such prac- tical worl. The book illustrates very clearly the great difficulties which attend the teaching of zoology at the present APRIL ‘22, 1909] NATURE 215 day, and which are due, in the first place, to the enormous extent and variety of the animal kingdom, and in the second place to the many different points of view from which the subject may be approached. No elementary book can deal adequately with the entire field. In the present work, for example, the problem of heredity, which is of vital importance to medical students, is dealt with in a single page, while five pages aré devoted to a general account of the Coleoptera. We should have thought that the medical student would have found the former altogether in- sufficient and the latter superfluous, and that a forestry student would require to know far more about beetles than can be compressed into five pages. Prob- ably the latter studies entomology later on as a special subject, but if so it seems hardly necessary to attempt to deal with it systematically in his preliminary course. We have already realised in our own country that systematic zoology, as such, is of very little use to medical students, and there can be no doubt that the insistence, in former years, upon an unnecessary degree of intimacy with the animal kingdom has done much to discredit the subject in the eyes of the medical profession, and has brought about a reaction which threatens to remove both zoology and botany from the medical curriculum. This, of course, would be a disastrous error. Medical studies must have a scientific foundation. The human body cannot be rationally interpreted except as the last link in a long chain of animal forms stretching back to the Pro- tozoa. If the study of anatomy and embryology is to be inspiring it must be comparative. Scientific physiology must be founded on some knowledge of the lower animals, and the problems of heredity cannot be solved from the merely medical point of view. The zoology which is offered to medical students needs to be rigidly selected with such ends in view, and in this way only can the matter to be studied be kept within reasonable limits. In the book before us we cannot help feeling that the distinguished author has been unable to do justice either to himself or to his subject, but at the same time it is evident that his work has met with much appreciation in Germany. The numerous and excellent illustrations form a striking feature of the book. J IDE SOME NEW CHEMICAL BOOKS. (1) An Organic Chemistry for Schools and Technical Institutes. By A. E. Dunstan. Pp. viii+160. (London: Methuen and Co., n.d.) Price 2s. 6d. (2) An Intermediate Course of Laboratory Work in Chemistry. By E. K. Hanson and J. W. Dodgson. Pp. viiit124. (London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1908.) Price 3s. 6d. (3) Laboratory Notes on Industrial Water Analysis. A Survey Course for Engineers. By Ellen H. Richards. Pp. iii+49. (New York: John Wiley and Sons; London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1908.) Price 2s. net. (x) R. DUNSTAN’S organic chemistry is intended for the use of the higher forms of schools and first-year course in technical institutions. NO. 2060, VOL. 80] as a Although the author disclaims writing to a syllabus, he thinks his book may be useful as a preparation for certain examinations, and especially for evening students connected with chemical industry. There are so many elementary text-books of organic chemistry at present available that one naturally looks for some special feature which may distinguish one from another. In the present case the fusion of the aliphatic and aromatic series is a somewhat new departure. As systems of classification of organic compounds are mainly matters of convenience, it is questionable whether any real advantage is offered by the new arrangement. The parent hydrocarbons of the two series, as well as the majority of their derivatives, present such marked differences in properties that their separation seems to us almost a natural one. The new system has, however, no serious significance, and does not detract from the sound merits of the book, which is clearly written, and illustrated by numerous experiments and plain outline drawings of apparatus. We would direct the author’s attention to a few inaccuracies. The definition of organic chemistry as ‘the chemistry of compound radicals ’’ (p. 17) belongs rather to the past than to the present; it is not quite correct to say that Russian petroleum contains no paraffins (p. 79); the explanation. of specific rotation is misleading (p. 98); the formula for copper acetylide is incorrect {p. tog), and there is something wrong about the two formulz for sodium ethyl malonate numbered (1) and (2) on p. 117, which seem to be iden- tical. The two space formule for d- and I[-tartaric acids are not enantiomorphous but identical, and repre- sent the meso-form, whilst the one on the following page, which is intended for the meso-acid, is in reality one of the active forms (p. 124). The differences are most easily recognised by means of models. Acetoxime is twice spelt wrongly on p. 148. (2) Messrs. Hanson and Dodgson’s intermediate course is intended for students preparing for the inter- mediate science examination of the London Univer- sity. It consists of series of simple preparations of inorganic and organic compounds, which are followed by exercises in volumetric and gravimetric analysis and qualitative analysis. There is little that calls for criti- cism. The preparations are well selected, and cover a variety of operations and reactions, and the analytical exercises are thoroughly representative and instructive. If it were not ‘‘ assumed throughout that the student is not working by himself, but can obtain the advice and assistance of a teacher at all times,’? one might feel disposed to suggest the addition of equations to explain the different preparations, and of some refer- ence to the use of the balance and the graduation of the volumetric apparatus. We would also suggest that the yield in each pre- paration should be roughly estimated. It is scarcely correct to describe acetone as a pale yellow liquid (p. 29), or the acid from olive oil as a solid (p. 30). Photography applied to glass apparatus is rarely satisfactory. Simple outline or shaded drawings are much more convincing, and the ‘teacher, it is to be 216 feared, will be called in to explain many of the illus- trations. (3) The laboratory notes on water analysis are intended for the use of engineers, who, it is presumed, have already received a sound training in practical and theoretical chemistry. For there are no equations or explanations of the reactions involved in the various processes, which are described in the briefest manner, so briefly, indeed, that we should doubt if some of the operations could be successfully carried out. Thus, the reader is told (p. 19) to ‘* neutralise with 1 c.c. of the reagent and compare the standards,’’ without other reference. It seems unnecessary and merely confusing to in- troduce indiscriminately both centigrade and Fahren- heit scales, and an over-elaboration to count the drops of a reagent the strength of which is not given (p. 20). It may also be pointed out that the method described as Dr. Thresh’s (p. 21) is usually known as Forch- hammer’s or Tidy’s process. Youlsy OUR BOOK SHELF. Mental Pathology in its Relation to Normal Psycho- logy. A Course of Lectures delivered in the University of Leipzig. By Dr. Gustav Storring. Translated by Thomas Loveday. Pp. x+298. (London: Swan Sonnenschein and Co., Ltd., 1907.) Price 10s. 6d. Tue bearing of the study of abnormal mental pro- cesses upon general psychological doctrine has long been understood. In some cases invaluable light may be thrown upon the normal nature of a complicated psychosis by the abnormal heightening or lowering in degree of one of its constituents; in other cases a pathological phenomenon may supply the ‘‘ negative instance ’’ that checks the harmful progress of a plausible but erroneous theory. Thus the leading pathological cases are familiar to English readers from their appearance in one or other of these capacities in the pages of several treatises on general psychology. Nevertheless, Prof. Loveday is undoubtedly right in thinking that a systematic collection of such cases by a psychologist competent to select them judiciously, to describe them accurately but without unnecessary clinical detail, and to illuminate them by a cautious commentary, would be a useful addition to the student’s library. Further, we believe him to be right in thinking that Dr. Storring’s lectures prove that he possesses these qualifications in at least as high a degree as any other writer on the subject. The besetting sin of the morbid psychologist is to erect elaborate and novel systems of interpretation upon a too narrow basis of fact. Dr. St6érring avoids this fault, and exhibits a conservatism and restraint which will favourably impress even those who, like his translator, do not find themselves able to accept all his conclusions. No one who is acquainted with the present unsettled state of psychological opinion upon fundamentals will be surprised to find himself frequently unable to agree with the author’s view, or at least compelled to trans- late his interpretations into what he deems a more satisfactory psychological idiom. But in any case it remains true that on fundamental questions of psycho- logical theory—such as the nature of perception and of the consciousness of self—and on questions of great importance in the practical science of pedagogy—such as the teaching of reading and writing, and the “training of the will’’—Dr. Stérring’s cases (though NO. 2060, VOL. 80] NATURE [APRIL 22, 1909 they need supplementing and correction by more modern instances) throw a light the strength of which is due largely to the way in which the several rays have been disposed and concentrated. It is doubtful whether the translator did well to decline the task of finding English equivalents for such Teutonisms as ‘ disease-picture,’? which occu~ rather frequently in his pages. In a second edition he should certainly Anglicise the index letters of his diagrams, which are, as they stand, provokingly difficult to use. The Evolution of the Atmosphere as a Proof of Design in Creation. By John Phin. Pp. 191. (New York: The Industrial Publication Company, 1908.) AccORDING to its subtitle, this work is ‘‘a simple and rigorously scientific reply to modern materialistic atheism,’’ and, after perusing it, we find no reason to dispute the first portion of the description. But when we see “ rigorously scientific,’? we feel inclined to question the accuracy of the descriptive phrase. The purpose and tenor of the volume may be gathered from the following extract (p. 184) :—‘* Any one who will carefully read the works of Haeckel, Tyndall, Huxley and men of that stamp cannot fail to see that their intense hatred of ecclesiasticism has swayed their logic, embittered their language and even led them to distort their facts when they came to write about anything relating to the religious faith taught in the churches.” The greater part of the book is taken up by defini- tions, and by the demonstration of simple scientific experiments illustrating the physical and chemical pro- perties of the atmosphere, the idea being to show that, had not an intelligent creator adjusted the pro- portions of terrestrial elements to the very finest con- ceivable degree, the atmosphere could not have beer suitable for man’s existence. That such creative design must have superintended the composition of the primi- tive nebula of the solar system, at least, and also its proper partition, is not stated by Mr. Phin, although to be ‘‘ rigorously scientific ’? this aspect. would, pre- sumably, have to be considered. The probable sequence of the evolution of the atmo- sphere is reasonably stated on lines similar to those indicated in Lockyer’s ‘‘ Inorganic Evolution.’? But the ‘proof’? of design apparently consists of Mr-~ Phin’s statement that, because man exists, therefore an intelligent designer mixed the eighty or so terres- trial—speaking more logically ‘‘ cosmical ’’—elements in such proportions that, after all their combinations and dissociations, their expansions and condensations, there remained just enough nitrogen, oxygen, &c., uncombined, to provide an atmosphere exactly suited to the requirements of the preconceived organic life. That such life might have developed with, say, even a little less oxygen, or even a little of the uncondensed sulphuric acid he mentions, and yet not have beem radically different in form, is not considered by Mr. Phin; yet we know that one species, of one age and of one development, is able to exist under very different conditions of atmospheric pressure and composition. The author concedes, for the moment, that previous ‘evidences ’? have been materially weakened by the theory of organic evolution, and gives that as his reason for considering ‘‘ inorganic’? phenomena, wherein Haeckel’s ‘‘ sexual cell-love ’’ is, presumably, inoperative. The readers to whom the book will appeal will no doubt feel reassured by the author’s statement that, whilst betting or gambling for gain is immoral, ‘ the throwing of dice .. . or the tossing of coins for the purpose of determining the scientific principles in- volved in the theory of probability ’’ is innocuous. W. E. Roiston. APRIL 22, 1909] Essays and Addresses. By the late J. H. Bridges. With an introduction by Frederic Harrison. Pp. xxi +307. (London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1907.) Price 12s. 6d. net. Tue essays included in this volume (unobtrusively edited by Prof. L. T. Hobhouse) form an admirable memorial of one of the noblest spirits that have been touched to fine issues by the “ religion of humanity.” It is, naturally enough, chiefly as a splendid evan- gelist of the Positivist movement that Dr. Bridges is considered in the introduction—itself an interest- ing and illuminative essav—which Mr. _ Frederic Harrison has cantributed to the book. But there is no reader, however unsympathetic with the Com- tist propaganda, who could rise from the perusal of these essays without having acquired deep admira- tion for the earnestness and spiritual charm, the learning, worn lightly as a flower, and presented with extraordinary vividness and freshness, the wonderful industry, fecundity, and versatility of the man whose literary achievements were the fruit of the leisure hours of a busy physician and hard-worked Government inspector. The scientific reader who first made Dr. Bridges’ acquaintance as the learned and indefatigable editor of Roger Bacon will accept almost as a matter of course the masterly summary of his long study of the great Franciscan, delivered as a university ex- tension lecture in 1903. He will find in the oration on ‘‘ Harvey and his Successors’’ merely another delightful example of the combination of critical, historical, and expository powers that illuminated so effectively the ‘“‘ Opus Majus.’’ He will be prepared also for the familiar knowledge of the medizval world shown in the two essays on Dante. But in these latter essays, particularly in the one entitled ‘‘ Love the Principle,’ he will have revelation of spiritual powers perhaps unsuspected and of the noblest type. Moreover, his progress through the book will con- stantly deepen the impression that, even more ad- mirable than the ability, the industry, and the taste that made Dr. Bridges so interesting and instructive a critic of topics ranging from Thales to Calderon and Diderot, was the self-sacrificing enthusiasm ever burning at the core of his indefatigable life. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. {The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertale 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.] Upper Air Temperatures. Wit reference to Dr. Chree’s letter published in Nature of April 1, may I state that the conditions I postu- lated were violated in every one of the cases quoted in his former letter? The ascents were all made after sunrise and before sunset. They cannot, therefore, be fairly used as evidence to suggest that my conclusions were inaccurate in the direction of underestimating the influence of radia- tion. At the same time, it may be worth while to consider these cases. Dr. Chree specified three occasions on which the differ- ences between the temperatures recorded by two instru- ments of different types exceeded 2° C., the maximum differences being 2°-1, 2°-5, 2°9 C. The first, as he stated, was probably due to a scale or zero error, one thermometer being continually below the other. The third, on which he lays most stress, occurred in an ascent at Uccle on February 7, 1907. The readings of both instruments agreed during the ascent, the greatest differ- ence being o%8 C. (or 1°1 C. at the highest point). During the descent larger differences occurred. Now, at the time of observation, the sky was covered by a veil of cirro-stratus, and it appears extremely probable that the NO. 2060, VOL. 80] IAT OKs any, instruments, in descending from cold to warmer, perhaps saturated, air, would be affected by condensation of ice- vapour. The difference in exposure and type, combined with the bad conductivity of hoar-frost, may quite reason- ably account for the differences between the temperatures of the two instruments which arose when they left the isothermal region. In addition to this, at the time of maximum difference the downward velocity was about 10 m.p.s., and there would be some lag in the instru- ments. This descent was, in fact, exceptional. In the second case, an ascent at Strassburg on the same day, the readings indicate a slight lag in one instrument until the lowest temperature is reached. The sudden passage to a relatively warm upper layer was accompanied by a sudden jump of 1°-2 C. in the difference between the readings of the two instruments. The type of instrument which shows the lower temperature is the same as that which showed the higher temperature in the Uccle descent. This is just what we should expect if the instruments passed from a saturated layer, in which they became covered with hoar-frost, to a drier region. There is no record of the upper clouds at Strassburg at the time of the ascent, but it occurred simultaneously with the Uccle ascent, so that the explanation is a possible one. In an earlier letter Dr. Chree suggested the possibility of errors of +10° F. in the instrumental records. In order to show as fairly and clearly as possible the errors that may arise, I have taken, for Munich, all the cases from January, 1907, to March, 1908, in which the read- ings from two types of instrument were obtained, and the following table gives the height of the ascent, the extreme differences that occurred, and the mean of the absolute values of the differences at all the points for which they are published. The types of instrument were the same as those considered by Dr. Chree. Height in Extreme values of Mean value of kilometres T,-Te (degrees (C) IT, - Tol 10°5 Tze -16 o7 10°5 o's —1'5 O'5 98 06 -13 o°5 14°8 06 —1°6 03 Iro o-2 —0o'6 o'2 12°4 2°4 -0'2 o5 13°5 O'S -0'2 o'2 12°7 1°8 -07 O'5 13'0 1'0 —0'2 o3 17:0 3°55 -—o'9 Tol 130 370 -06 09 12°9 3 -1'2 o'5 14°2 I'l -'l o'5 13°4 1'5 eels o'5 14°8 ae 14 -28 o'8 16°0 17, -—29 08 In interpreting these results, it ought to be borne in mind that they are chiefly from ascents, and include errors owing to lag, which could be largely eliminated in deal- ing with the observations. The records I have seen usually show that the thermometer, which is higher in the ascent, is lower during the descent, and that the lag occurs almost entirely in the worse instrument, so that the differences are representative of the absolute errors arising from this cause. Considering the very many sources of error to be guarded against, especially the difficulty of testing the instruments at very low temperatures under the conditions to which they are to be exposed, I can only regard these results as a tribute to the care and ingenuity displayed by those engaged. in the experimental exploration of the upper air. Dr. Chree does undoubted service in directing attention to the need for great care in testing and comparing instru- ments, but I think he is inclined to be a little unjust to those who are tackling the difficulties of upper-air investi- gation and nomenclature. These difficulties are exemplified by the examples he quoted and by a term which he him- self accepts, apparently without demur, when he describes a phenomenon as an “‘ inversion of temperature.’’ Personally, I am quite prepared to discard the term isothermal ’? when another is suggested which is short, equally expressive, more accurate, and more characteristic. The greatest variation of temperature in a vertical direc- “ 218 NATURE - [Apri 22, 1909. tion in the region under discussion is about 20° C. in 14 kilometres. Usually it is much less. In the lower part of the atmosphere the variation is generally 60° C. to 70° C. in 10 km. The upper region is therefore comparatively isothermal. The rapid increase of temperature between 12 km. and 13 km. in the Uccle ascent of July 25, 1907, is an example of a phenomenon which occurs in the lower layer of the isothermal region in about one-third of the ascents. E.. Gotp. Vienna, April 7. The Greenwich Winter of 1908-9. Ir the art of long-range forecasting is ever acquired, it will probably be through a careful study of past experi- ence (of which we have now nearly seventy years’ excellent data for Greenwich), including, among other things, what are known as “ sequences,’’ cycles (if any), and the rela- tion of weather to solar, and possibly lunar, changes. I propose to offer a few remarks on the state of avail- able knowledge regarding winter, at the end of last autumn, and year, and its bearing on what followed. By the end of November we had had only three frost days. After such autumns as the last, with all three months dry, December (as was pointed out in a table) has nearly always been mild (twelve cases out of thirteen). Thus it was pretty clear that the second half of 1908 would have less than the average of frost days (18). The actual number is 8. The same table seemed to point to at least two of the three winter months being mild; and that is what happened, though, of course, with the cold of February the winter (proper) was slightly severe as to mean tempera- ture and number of frost days (the latter 36, which is +3). When the second half of a year has less than the average of frost days (18), the total, from September to May, is generally also under average (54). There are only three exceptions (1857-8, 1891-2, 1894-5) in a total of thirty-one cases. Thus it would be reasonable to expect that the total for the first half of 1909 would not be more than 46 (i.e. 54—8). There have been 42 up to the end of March, and it is possible the total may be a little in excess, conforming to the ‘‘ exception’ instead of the ‘rule’? (a contingency which has often to be regarded). The number up to April 20 is 46. If we indicate by a plus or minus sign the character (as regards frost days) of each winter (December—February) ending in a sun-spot maximum year, and the four winters following, we have the following table :— Max. 2 3 + — Max. year 1848 1860 1870 1883 1893 TQS)... es ay nap a We might here note (without pressing the point too much) that each of the first five groups has at least two plus values, and as the four winters 1905-8 show only one, a plus in the vacant place seemed the more likely. Further, one might show that the average for the first four vertical columns is a minus value; for the fifth, a plus The winter, as stated, had an excess of three frost ays. Another point of view. We might fairly expect the next sun-spot minimum in 1912 (the series before is 1843, 1856, 1867, 1878, 1889, 1901). Then this year would be the third before. Consider how many frost days there were in the first half of the third year before previous os =a Se nase, pum cdg + War lb Sea ar [amar Wasi Il Seaear ids minima. We find :— F.D. Relation to average 1840 a eon ? ? 1853 iis an 2 + 6 1864 es Ro 4o + 4 1875 55s me 42 + 6 1886 ons ae 55 +19 1898 ais =n 21 -15 Av. 40 Th This points to a probable excess, is 42. The number to March 31 NO. 2060, VOL. 80] After a very-dry autumn the winter tends to be dry. Thus of the ten driest autumns, nine were so followed. The winter (December—February) was a very dry one, I submit, then, that, on the threshold of last winter, there was reason to expect (1) December to be mild, and frost days in the second half of 1908 under average (18) ; (2) at least two mild months in winter (December— February); (3) frost days in first half of 1909 not more than 46, but (4) over average (36); (5) frost days in winter, over average (33); (6) a dry winter. While most of the above facts were, I think, known to me at the outset, I quite agree that it is one thing to make a retrospective comparison like this, and another thing to predict successfully. Of many pieces of evidence, some may seem in conflict, and one has to try and judge which is the more weighty and trustworthy. I may further admit that the cold this year has a little exceeded what I looked for. It may be useful, nevertheless, to direct attention to these comparisons, emphasising the fact that there is a large body of evidence (as I believe) in relation to the character of a coming season. It seems to have been too readily assumed, hitherto, that we have absolutely no light on the subject, and that any one venturing an opinion on an approaching season is, by that fact, declared a dreamer or a charlatan, his ‘‘ hits ’’ and his ‘‘ misses ’’ being alike mere chance. That the winter season of 1908-9 would at least not be a very severe one (say, more than sixty frost days in September—May) I consider to have been provable by a strong consensus of facts. ALEx. B, MacDowatt. Fluorescence of Lignum Nephriticum, Wirt reference to Mr. Benham’s letter in Nature of April 8 (p. 159), the following statements may be of interest. The wood known as Lignum Nephriticum reached Spain probably about or before the middle of the sixteenth century. Monardes (1574) and Fr. Hernandez (about the same time) were familiar with the fact that a watery infusion of the wood in a short time assumes a blue colour, but they do not mention the peculiar dichroism of the infusion. This was described for the first time by Athanasius Kircher in his ‘‘ Ars Magna Lucis et Umbre ”’ (1646), and, apparently independently of him, by Joh. Bauhin in his ‘‘ Historia Plantarum Universalis ’’ (1650). The origin of the wood has so far remained obscure. Linnzus—and already Plukenet and Dale before him—re- ferred it to Moringa pterygosperma, the horse-radish tree of India, but without reason, as was pointed out long ago. Researches, however, made at Kew within the last few weeks have convinced me that Lignum Nephriticum is the wood of LEysenhardtia amorphoides, H.B.K., a small Mexican tree or shrub of the order Leguminosz. The blue inflorescence exhibited by an infusion of the wood of this tree is very brilliant indeed. O. STAPF. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, April 16. Morphology of the Enteropneusta. In a paper ‘“‘On the Morphology of the Excretory Organs of Metazoa: a Critical Review,’’ recently pub- lished in the Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society (vol. xlvii., 1908), the author, Dr. T. H. Mont- gomery, states on p. 577, with reference to the Entero- pneusta, that in Spengelia I described rudimentary pores along the whole trunk in 1899. What I did describe in this connection was a single pair of structures which I thought might represent a single pair of truncal canals and pores. . Dr. Montgomery says that he had not seen the original description, and consequently was unable to add further details. The work — (‘f Zoological Results’’) can be obtained at an easy cost from the Cambridge University Press. Perhaps, however, the original description is not deemed worthy of perusal, although it would be charitable to assume that, like the proverbial egg, it must be good in. parts. ARTHUR WILLEY. Colombo, Ceylon, March 22. APRIL 22,1909] NATURE 219 GENERAL RESULTS OF THE METEOR- OLOGICAL CRUISES OF THE “ OTARIA ”’ ON THE ATLANTIC IN 1905, 1906, AND 1907. \ E have already reported preliminary results of the expedition which we organised in 1905 for the study of the trade-wind and the anti-trade by means of free balloons the trajectories of which were determined by triangulation (Nature, vol. Ixxiii., pp. 54-6, 449-50). » Since then two expeditions have been sent out on the Atlantic during the summers of 1906 and 1907, and Fig. 1 shows the regions which have been studied. As may be seen by the dates entered on the route of the Otaria (Fig. 1), many of the important points were visited in different years and eA lished by M. Teisserenc de Bort twenty years ago, it is seen that at about 4000 metres there exists a barometric gradient extending from the Gulf of Mexico towards the north-east, a gradient which should in most cases, at these heights, produce currents from the west or north-west. In his communication to the Meteorological Conference at St. Petersburg, Prof. Hergesell questioned the of the ordinary south-west anti-trade, believing that these north-west winds were themselves a much deflected return branch of the equatorial current. As we endeavoured to demonstrate by our first expe- dition of 1906, the anti-trade exists generally above the trade, and, as will be seen by the following results | of the two later éxpeditions, the existence of the | | | existence (Agores) >Madere fot a rz) pe YY va™ cece erence LH Fic. 1.—Map of the Cruise of the Ofavia. at different times during the same year. a much greater value to our conclusions, because the accidental phenomena are thereby, to a_ certain extent, eliminated. In consequence of the investigations made by Prof. Hergesell on board the Prince of Monaco’s yacht Princesse Alice, in the region between the Canaries and the Azores, this distinguished meteorologist was impressed by the existence of the north-west winds which he observed at a variable height above the surface winds, represented generally by the north- east trade. These north-west winds, which had not been observed before because the methods of aérial soundings have only been employed for a few years, do not themselves present marked peculiarities, since, as Dr. Hann has remarked, if one turns to the chart of isobars at different heights, which was _ pub- NO. 2060, VOL. 80] This gives | north-west winds is not incompatible with the presence of the anti-trade, and this fact should be emphasised. Of course, since the meteorological phenomena do not follow the regular zones that theory requires, but group themselves around barometric maxima having thore or less ellipsoidal contours, it cannot be expected that the normal superposition of winds above the same place will be encountered every day. There are days, for example, when the north-east winds, ordinarily confined to a few hundred metres, extend up to five or six kilometres, or even more; in other cases a north-west current, superposed on the trade, en- croaches more and more on the high atmosphere up to such a height that the balloons do not show any anti-trade. But the normal condition is easily deduced from the documents gathered by our three expeditions, and it occurs so frequently that each expe- 220 I ATEORAD, [APRIL 22, 1909 dition, considered individually, leads to the same conclusion. In general, the zone where the anti-trade is most regular appears to be situated to the eastward of the meridian passing through the centre of greatest pressure. To the southward of the maximum, and when it is very pronounced, northerly winds are frequent up to so great a height as eleven kilometres, which was the limit of observation. here. From the beginning of the year 1906 we were able to show by ascensions of pilot balloons, made over the open ocean to the south-west of the Canartes, that the winds with a southerly component, which we had already observed in 1905, also occurred far away from land, and even appeared to be more marked than near the islands. During the months of May, June, July and August, Ballon hw t Aplonbe go7 Lat: Visi song W 3770 strata, sometimes of great thickness, then winds with, a northerly component mixed with interlaced currents from the south-west, corresponding to the north-west winds of the northern hemisphere (Fig. 3).. This | region, however, has only been studied to about | latitude 8° S. At the limit of the two trades the winds are easterly N A W E 5 — LL Siacd hotigmlad a a Wisse dc verk ; £6 a e ony Fic. 2.—Motion of air in the region of the trade winds, showing a layer of N.W. wind and anti-trades. 1906, the Otaria made another cruise which extended to Ascension Island (latitude 7° 55’ S.), and on this expedition a number of ballons-sondes were launched. These results, combined with those from kites flown at the same time, enabled the types of vertical temperature distribution to be de- termined for the regions traversed. The lower stratum, having a drift from north-east, shows a rapid decrease of temperature (0°9 to 1°8 C. per 100 metres) in the first 500 or 600 metres, and an especially rapid decrease north of latitude 25°. Usually, above the zone of rapid decrease there is an inversion of temperature in which the wind velocity diminishes. Above the trade there is generally a north-west current (Fig. 3); then higher up, at about 2500 metres, near the Tropic of Cancer, and at 3000 or 3500 metres north of the tropic, there occurs a wind with a southerly component, except in the cases already mentioned. The direction of these winds possessing a southerly component, however, changes with the lati- tude, as might be expected from the effect of terrestrial rotation. They are south-east near 15° N. and west-south-west near 25° N., no doubt gradually changing from one to the other of these directions after passing by the south. These same characteristics are found in the south- €ast trade, above which there are in general calm NO. 2060, VOL. So] Ciallon au 15 juin 906 — a Ae SZ'SS' tong Wig ry at all heights, up to at least 14 kilometres, with a component which is sometimes north and sometimes south, but in general very weak, depending upon the exact spot where the rise of air takes place. North of the Tropic of Cancer the distribution of — theless, — Size’ Aoegontad. Sy te Uitesse da vent: 7) 77 Fo Yee N Fic. 3.—Mot‘on of air at 7° south, showing S.E. trade winds and general eastwar1 motion in upper atmosphere. the winds becomes much more irregular, and it fre- quently happens that there is no anti-trade (Fig. 4). However, the regular régime of the trades appears to persist to about latitude 35° N. for places situated to the east of longitude 37° W. Farther west, winds from APRIL 22, 1909] NATURE 220 south to south-west prevail, which are explained by the distribution of the isobars. Another campaign from July to October, 1907, gave the same general results, as well for the direction of the atmospheric currents as for the vertical distri- bution of temperature (Figs. 2 and 4). This voyage was not continued further south than 10° N., but the vessel remained twice during twelve days near this parallel, this latitude having been selected on account of the regularity of the trade wind. Again the easterly — Ballon ou 21 septembre 1gez — Let W586" 30" — cing Wide [ Fe wos Fic. 4.—Motion of air in the atmosphere in the region of the Azores. Note.—In all the figures the numbers give the altitude and the breadth of the lines the velocity of the wind, current predominated at all heights, and also the layer of inverted temperature near 1000 metres. The ballon-sonde ascensions made in 1907 were somewhat higher than before, and the isothermal layer was reached at 14 kilometres in latitude 25° 18’ N. North of 25° the isothermal layer was often met with at altitudes varying from 12 to 14 kilometres, while to the south of this parallel it was not reached, although the balloons many times exceeded 15 kilometres. Therefore, NO. 2060, VOL. 80] it appears that the altitude at which the tempera- ture ceases to decrease is much greater near the equator than in moderate latitudes. This distribution |of temperature is also confirmed for the regions of | flight; _phugoid 42408 the Azores and Canaries, as far as about 25° N., by the ascensions of ballons-sondes made by Prof. Hergesell. Our conclusions concerning the direction of the upper currents correspond in substance with former ideas about the anti-trades, apart from the situations which produce currents of very different and almost opposed directions lying one above the other. This new and unexpected fact, which was also observed at Trappes in the barometric maxima of our own regions, agrees tolerably well with certain of Maury’s theories. Also near the equator it can be distinctly seen that a portion of the anti-trade comes from the opposite hemisphere. Finally, it may be said that, if the exploration of the high atmosphere over the Atlantic does not show a different circulation from that already supposed, at least in its main features, it emphasises the import- ance of superposed strata flowing in various direc- tions, which appear to persist in the regions where cyclonic disturbances of large diameter rarely form. | We shall attempt later to give an explanation of the superposition of two or three strata having different directions; but the stratification of numerous thin currents, varying in their motions, is a fact worthy | the attention of meteorologists, for we must recognise that to-day no theory explains this special mode of circulation which extends over a very large region. This is certainly one of the important facts brought to light by the three cruises of the Otaria. L. TEISSERENC DE Bort. A. Lawrence Rotcu. AVIATION, MATHEMATICAL AND OTHERWISE." HE second volume of Mr. Lanchester’s large work deals mainly with the following points :— The forms of the paths described by bodies in free the conditions of longitudinal, lateral, and directional stability; the theory and use of scale- models; theories of soaring flight; and a large number of experimental verifications. The theoretical discussions are based, to a large extent, on the consideration of what the author calls curves. According to the ‘‘ Glossary,” ‘‘phugoid theory ’? means ‘‘ the theory dealing with the longitudinal stability and the form of the flight path,’’ though in a footnote the author raises some doubt as to the appropriateness of the Greek deriva- tive which he has himself coined. The simplest form of phugoid curve, to the study of which the author devotes considerable attention, might form the subject of problems that would delight the heart of the old-fashioned tripos examiner. Like the latter’s particle on his perfectly smooth surface, the gliding body is supposed to have its mass concen- trated at a single point and to travet without loss of energy, and the sup- porting surface is supposed to be small and to be always tangential to the direction of motion. In other words, the problem reduces to that of a particle acted on by gravity and by a_ supporting force (due to the air) which is always normal to the ” 1 (1) ‘‘Aérodonetics.”’ Constituting the Second Volume of a complete Work on Aérial Flight. By F. W. Lanchester. Pp. xvi+433. (London: A. Constable and Co., Ltd, 1908.) Price rd. 15. net. (2) “ Artificial and Natural Flight.” By Sir Hiram S. Maxim. Pp. xv+ 166. (London: Whittaker and Co., 1908.) Price 5s. net. 222 direction of motion and proportional to the square of the velocity. In view of the fact that classes on calculus for engineers form an integral part of every modern technical course of instruction, it is to be regretted that Mr. Lanchester has not made some attempt to bring his equations more into conformity with ordinary well-recognised notation. When he writes down the equation of his curve as SEL € cos mane): al VE and the expression for the radius of curvature as his readers will talke some time to find out what these equations mean; whereas any student who has attended the classes above referred to would under- stand at a glance the same equations if written as ax _ y c ds = ot digo ds 3m ny! dp When Mr. Lanchester applies his phugoid theory to investigate the longitudinal stability of aérofoils, he at once comes into conflict with the theory which the present writer, in conjunction with Mr. Williams, worked out some few years ago. There has been some difficulty in making out how Mr. Lanchester arrives at his results, and Mr. Harper has examined the matter independently. It was not intended at first to deal with what might be a controversial point in a review in NarTure, but the difference between the two methods is probably not so very difficult to explain. According to our theory, the small oscillations about steady motion of an aéroplane, or indeed any body moving in a resisting medium in a vertical plane, depend on the roots of a biquadratic equation, and the conditions for stability are those given by Routh. This method enables account to be taken of every circumstance which may affect the stability, in parti- cular, variations in the position of the centre of pressure for different angles. Mr. Lanchester, on the other hand, considers only the case of a single aéroplane, the variations of the centre of pressure of which are not taken into ac- count, stability being maintained by means of a tail. He starts with the assumption that his ‘‘ phugoid”’ oscillations, when small, are simple harmonic in character, and that the effect of the moment of inertia of the machine, as well as of resistances, is to change the amplitude of these oscillations. In estimating the effect of these changes he assumes the equations of simple harmonic motion to hold good. For example, in considering the rotatory motion about the centre’ of gravity (§ 63) he writes 2In? 2 2 ™=—z, * 20, — 40 In" ae > where 7, is the maximum torque, ©, the maximum angular displacement, t, the time of oscillation (cal- culated, it would seem, from the ideal ‘ phugoid ”’ motion), and I the moment of inertia. ° This step is unjustifiable. The correct equation is 1a", at* where rt is the torque at any instant. A similar consideration applies higher up, and when the neces- sary corrections have been made they are found to lead to the biquadratic equation of the Bryan- Williams theory. It is as if, in working out the theory of the com- pound pendulum, it were attempted to treat one weight as a simple pendulum, and to assume that NO. 2060, VOL. 80] NATURE [APRIL 22, 1909 the motion of the other weight did not affect the period, or the relation between velocity and displace- ment, but merely produced variations of amplitude. Mr. Harper has applied the Bryan-Williams method to the particular kind of tailed aéroplane considered by Mr. Lanchester, and he obtains a numerically different result, the discrepancy being accountable for by the assumptions contained in Mr, Lanchester’s method, é | There is thus a good bit of work of a theoretical character requiring to be done before the problem of stability can be regarded as completely solved. In the meantime, it must be remembered that airship designers have not, as a rule, undergone even the elementary training in practical mathematics referred to in this review, and that most extraordinary views commonly prevail in this country regarding the sub- ject of stability. It is not improbable that Mr. Lanchester’s conditions may be sufficiently near the mark for practical purposes, and his experimental verifications seem to support this view. Moreover, they may err on the side of safety. It seems also certain that unstable machines have been safely guided through the air by skilled manipulators, and the stability of the Wright machine has been seriously questioned. Indeed, there are good reasons for be- lieving it to be unstable. Mr. Lanchester’s method applied to the Lilienthal machine shows it to be unstable, although, in view of its broad curved sup- porting surfaces, a complete investigation would require account to be taken of several neglected factors for which no experimental data exist. A great deal of rubbish has often been written on the ‘‘ soaring bird,’’ and much that has been stated in print has been incompatible with the doctrine that perpetual motion is impossible. Mr. Lanchester’s observations and experiments are deserving of the most careful consideration, and the same applies to his chapter on ‘‘ Experimental Aérodonetics.’’? The book represents the result of a serious effort to place the theory of flight on a scientific basis, and should do much to convince would-be aviators that ‘‘ airship design ’’ can no longer be regarded, as it has been in the past, as a mere exercise for the imaginative faculty, but as a subject requiring hard thought, endless experiments, and great care in drawing con- clusions from them. Sir Hiram Maxim’s book is distinctly disappoint- ing. An account of his early experiments, if some- what out of date, would be at least of historic in- terest; but when the author indulges in a tirade against mathematicians, the question which naturally suggests itself is, Where on earth does he find his mathematicians? He tells us that “During the last few years a considerable number ‘of text-books have been published. These have, for the most part, been prepared by professional mathe- maticians who have led themselves to believe that all problems connected with mundane life are susceptible of solution by the use of mathematical formule, provided, of course, that the number of characters employed are numerous enough.” Now Prof. Chatley, who certainly has got a pretty clear grasp of the present state of the flight problem, recently wrote :— “A few great mathematicians (including Lords Kelvin and Rayleigh) have devoted some attention to the matter, but the author is not aware that any mathematician worthy of the name has considered it worth while to make an exhaustive study of the question... . .”’ When, Sir Hiram says that ‘‘ Up to twenty years ago Newton’s erroneous law as relates to atmospheric resistance was implicitly relied upon, APRIL 22, 1909] and it was not the mathematician who detected its error, in fact we have plenty of mathemati- cians to-day who can prove by formule that Newton’s law is absolutely correct and unassailable. .’ his information does not agree with the facts of the case. What about Kirchhoff’s theory of discon- tinuous fluid motion, to mention nothing else? Again, it is rather amusing to see mathematicians accused of demonstrating ‘‘ by formula, unsupported ‘by facts, that there is a considerable amount of skin- friction to be considered,’’ when the usual complaint is that they will assume all their bodies to be per- fectly smooth, and will not take account of frictional resistances in solving their problems. But some clue as to where Sir Hiram finds his mathematicians is afforded by his reference (preface, p. x) to a recent controversy in Engineering. Surely he cannot sup- pose that the authors of difficult mathematical re- searches would, as a rule, publish their best work in journals devoted to the interests of practical engineers, even if the editors would consent to print them! If he would consult the pages of journals and transac- tions devoted to researches in mathematics and mathematical physics, he would soon discover the paucity of papers to which Prof. Chatley refers. On pp. 104 to 108 he publishes figures of- stream- lines taken (so he says) from ‘‘ mathematical ”’ treatises, and all he is able to say is that ‘‘ just how or why’’ the air moves in these particular ways is not evident. Now, in the first place, the diagrams show complex systems of eddies, the equations of motion of which no mathematician would ever attempt to integrate, and in the second place. the question is not how the air is likely to move, but how it actually does move? As an exponent of experimental versus mathe- matical methods, why did not Sir Hiram put the matter to a decisive and conclusive test by deter- mining experimentally the form of the stream-lines produced in the neighbourhood of the various sur- faces shown in these illustrations? Experimental, and in particular photographic, methods of plotting stream-lines are not difficult, and they can be con- ducted at a very trifling expense. Some of those who are, or have been, conducting such experiments are not altogether unmathematical in their methods. Surely Sir Hiram Maxim has missed a grand oppor- tunity of scoring off his ‘‘ mathematicians.” It was in 1894 that the author’s gigantic experi- mental machine ran to and fro between rails. To all that has been done since that time only about five pages, including illustrations, are devoted in a chapter on ‘‘ Some Recent Machines,’’ and an equal number in a chapter headed ‘‘ Balloons’’; and yet the fifteen years that have just elapsed form the most eventful period in the whole history of artificial flight. It is the experimenters who have expended time and money, and have even sacrificed their lives, rather than the mathematicians, who have cause for disap- pointment at the scanty recognition they have received. An address on “* Recent Progress in Aéronautics,’’ delivered before the engineering section of the American Association at Baltimore by Major George ©. Squier, is published in Science for February 19. It is in the nature of a general summary, and deals both with balloons and aéroplanes, but the treatment of resistances on “arched surfaces’? reveals an im- portant gap in the experimental information dealt with in the address. It is tacitly assumed that the only effect of arching the surface is to increase the coefficient of resistance, the angle of flight being taken ‘‘ to be the inclination of the chord of the sur- face to the line of translation.’? This would be all NO. 2060, VOL. 80] NATURE BAe! 2oS, right if we were sure that the resultant reaction was always perpendicular to the chord, but it is pretty certain that such is not the case. If the aérocurve forms a circular arc, the resultant must (in the absence of skin-friction) pass through the centre of curvature, and if the centre of pressure is in front of the centre of the arc, the effective angle of flight will be less than the inclination of the chord, that is, the ratio of drift to lift will be less than the tangent of the inclination of the chord. Experimental in- formation on this point is very scanty as a rule, a notable exception being Mr. Turnbull’s investigations of plane, concave, convex, and doubly curved surfaces. Again, exception may be talen to the statement that ‘the helicopter type of machine may be considered as the limit of the aéroplane when by constantly increas- ing the speed the area of the supporting surfaces is continuously reduced until it practically disappears.’’ In his suggestions for ‘‘ the stabilisation of aéro- planes” in La Revue des Idées (Paris, February 15), M. Etienne Maigre deals with lateral stability, and assumes that the lateral balance is to be main- tained, not automatically, but by the voluntary or involuntary effort of the aviator. He suggests the use of two triangular surfaces attached to the main aéroplane and controlled by hand. He assumes Otto G. Luyties’ law, according to which the normal resistance varies as 2 sina—sin?a, and finds a maxi- mum lift for an angle of 37°. Captain Renard has been giving a series of con- ferences before the Société d’Encouragement pour l’Industrie national, of which the first has ap- peared in the Bulletin (Paris, January). Captain Renard distinguishes six different methods of experi- menting on air-resistance, including the use of ex- periments in water, with suitable allowances for difference of density. The need of further experi- ments in this direction is strongly emphasised. It is to be noticed that the art of designing gigantic airships fitted with saloons, cabins, and mess-rooms has not yet faded away into past history, despite the recent advances in aéroplanes and dirigibles. About the beginning of February the Standard devoted more than half a column to an American project very sug- gestive of the Minerva of Robertson or the gigantic apparatus for which M. Petin raised roool. in the early days of ballooning, but for which the gas supply proved inadequate. G. H. Bryan. DEW-PONDS. GROWING interest in the subject of dew-ponds has been exhibited in recent years, but it has yet to be proved whether there is actually such a thing as a true dew-pond. Dew-and-mist ponds there undoubtedly are, but dew and mist, similar in essence as they may be, are yet distinct and separate meteor- ological phenomena. The term ‘ dew-pond’’ has arisen from the careless habit of assuming that every form of condensation of aqueous vapour which is not seen as rain or snow must be called dew. The Journal of the Society of Arts (March 5) con- tqins a paper on the subject by Mr. Geo. Hubbard, and he has therein endeavoured to show how artificial deposition of dew may be brought about in a pond. He maintains that by laying down a bed of straw beneath puddled clay, the water may be chilled suff- ciently to cause the atmosphere to give out aqueous vapour as dew. In his earlier remarks on the subject, it was the chilling of the puddled clay to which he attributed deposit of dew. Of course, if a pond were fairly full there would be but little puddled clay ex- { posed, so now he attributes the additional supply to 224 NATURE [APRIL 22, 1909 the chilling of the water, and this, of course, pre- supposes that the pond is fairly full, otherwise there would be no water-surface at all to speak of. Perhaps it is intended that when empty the puddled clay commences the operation, and when the water has arrived this carries on the process. What evidence is there that this is so? The chief evidence is found in that ice is obtained in India by placing pans of water in shallow beds filled with rice-straw. This is excellent so far as it goes, and Dr. Wells records that he performed the same experiment in England nearly a hundred years ago. Thus there is a presumption that if straw be laid down under a pond, it may act in such a way as to cut off the heat of the earth below. The difficulty lies in carry- ing out a similar process on a large scale, and at the same time in keeping the straw dry. Should it become moist, and it must do so if in contact with puddled clay, it will cease to be an efficient non-con- ductor of heat, and it must be borne in mind that whereas the straw under the ice-pans in India can be, and is, frequently changed, this cannot be done under a pond. Mr. Hubbard says:—‘‘ In numerous dew- ponds in this country the dew-point is reached without difficulty.’’ Nothing is given in support of this state- ment, and we may well ask on what evidence it is based. It presumably means that the water itself reaches a temperature which is below the dew-point. A number of observations made by the writer have never yet revealed the fact. The water of a pond parts with its heat extremely slowly. To be of value toward the replenishment of a pond, the dew must be received in the height of summer, when there is but little rainfall, and when, as is admitted, the ponds at lower levels are drying up. The pond is heated during the day, and evidence is wanting as yet that it falls below dew-point at night. Of course, dew is being received on the grassy banks around, that is to say, on vegetation, but the radiat- ing powers of water and grass are apart as the poles, and on radiation dew-fall, as we know it, depends. As Mr. Hubbard states, the altitude of the ponds may result in some amount of condensation, owing to the lowering of temperature resulting from the expansion of the air. This would, however, be but a small factor, whilst the condensation would show itself as mist. There may be something, too, but not much, in the osmotic action of dew-pond water, con- taining as it does a small proportion of sodium chloride. But there must be some greater factor at work if we are to credit the few records which have been made of the acquisition of, for instance, ‘‘ 34 inches of water after five nights of heavy dew.”’ Mr. Hubbard rightly judges the importance of the dew-pond principle, if fully established, in coun- tries where there is no natural water-supply other than dew. He is also quite correct in dwelling upon the importance of vegetation in increasing the rainfall of a district. But when we hear of the rising of the water in a pond by an inch or more in a night, we desire to know if there are any overhanging trees, and whether there are grasses rooted in the bottom of the pond, with several inches of their growth ex- posed to the atmosphere. The dew deposited on these would be a large item, and would go to feed the pond. Still, there are undoubtedly some ponds, of large size, with no vegetation appearing above the sur- face, no drainage except from their own shelving bank, the only visible means of recruiting of which consists of rain and driving mists. Given a period of drought, yet these ponds seem to suffer but little. JI am not at all satisfied that straw is really a necessity of the case. I have collected information from several different quarters as to the manner of construction of dew- NO. 2060, VOL. 80] ponds, but straw is not used in all cases, and when used it is frequently placed above the clay merely to prevent cattle from trampling through the bottom and so allowing the water to escape. If dew-point is reached in the air above a pond, there must be some other factor than the alleged chilling of the clay or the water to bring it about. There is room for more experiment. E. A. M. NOTES. At the last meeting of the Royal Society the following were elected foreign members of the society :—Prof. Santiago Ramén y Cajal, Madrid; Prof. Emile Picard, Paris; Prof. Hugo Kronecker, Berne; and Prof. George E. Hale, Mount Wilson. Lorp anp Lapy RayLercH, who have been travelling abroad for several months, have returned to Terling Place, Witham, Essex. A Centrat News message from New York states that Prof. F. L. Tufts, professor of physics at Columbia Uni- versity, was killed on April 15 while testing some electric feed wires. Tue annual dinner of the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy will be held at the Hotel Cecil on Friday, April 30. The president, Mr. Edgar Taylor, will preside. Tue death is reported, at Louisville, Kentucky, of Dr. Letchworth Smith, at the age of thirty-seven. For several years he had been specially engaged in the study of milk, first at Cornell Medical School and afterwards at the research laboratory of the New York Board of Health. He was the founder of the Babies’ Milk Fund Association. America has lost one of her veteran naturalists by the death of Dr. W. H. Edwards, who was born in 1822, and made a voyage up the Amazon in 1846 to collect objects of natural history. In addition to a volume describing this expedition, he published three series of books on the butterflies of North America. He also contributed to scientific journals a large number of entomological articles. By the death of Prof. F. E. Hulme, which was announced in the last number of Nature, botany has lost an assiduous votary. Although his professional career lay outside the subject, as he was for many years professor of drawing on the engineering side at King’s College, London, he found time to prepare several popular illus- trated works on flowers. The best known is ‘* Familiar Wild Flowers,’’ published originally in five series, then extended to eight, and a ninth was revised in proof by the author before his death. ‘‘ Familiar Garden Flowers,” produced in conjunction with Shirley Hibberd, was a con- temporaneous publication, and another pleasurable volume, “ Familiar Flowers,’’ appeared last year. The charm of his illustrations lies in the combination of artistic feeling with accuracy of form and colour, while the text discloses an intimate knowledge of plants and flower lore. A sHortT essay by Mr. Edward Greenly in the Rationalist Press Association Annual suggests that the ancient Greeks, if they were with us to-day, would be much more likely to favour the teaching of natural science than compulsory Greek in schools. Mr. Greenly points out that the geological observations of Pythagoras were as correct, and his conclusions from them as sound, as those of the founders of modern geology. Archimedes, Aristotle, and Eratosthenes of Alexandria also followed ; the plain and profitable paths which deviated later into Swiss APRIL 22, 1909] NATURE 225 the mazes of a priori metaphysics, and thus prevented the growth of a scientific Hellenic world. Had the scientific method of inquiry and experiment been pursued, Greek science would have been comparable with that of the nineteenth century, and the whole course of history would have been changed. Mr. R. Hay Fenton has presented to the Natural History Museum of Aberdeen University his fine collection of British birds’ eggs—his labour of love for twenty years. The entire collection consists of about 7000 eggs, and includes good series of all the breeding species. There are some interesting rarities, such as the eggs of Ross’s gull, the nesting place of which was discovered by Mr. Buturlin in the delta of the Kolyma River in 1905. There is also a fine series of cuckoo’s eggs, about fifty altogether, and the foster-parents’ clutches. The last addition to the collection was the egg of the great auk purchased a short time ago in London. In handing over his collection to the University, the generous donor makes the interesting state- ment that his gift has been largely prompted by his recollection of happy visits which he paid to the museum in his boyhood. The bulk of the collection is now well displayed in carefully protected drawers in the University museum at Marischal College, and may be consulted by all serious students. In reference to the recently recorded discovery of a skeleton of a mammoth on the beach at Selsey, Sussex (March 25, p. 104), Mr. W. J. Lewis Abbott writes to express the opinion that nearly complete skeletons both of this extinct elephant and of Elephas antiquus are commoner in English Pleistocene deposits than is usually supposed. He thinks that the fragmentary nature of many of the specimens recovered is due to unskilled collecting. To the skeletons recorded from Ilford and Ealing, Mr. Abbott adds one from Endsleigh Street, near Euston Station, described by Dr. Henry Hicks. in 1892, and one from West Thurrock, Essex, discovered by himself in 1890. Mr. E. Heron-Allen informs us that the whole of the bones recovered at Selsey have been collected by him, and will in due course be deposited in the Natural History Museum, South Kensington. The presence among the remains of the right and left patella and a metatarsal bone, all three flawless, will enable experts to judge accurately of the size of the animal when living. Mr. Heron-Allen adds :—‘‘ A superficial microscopical examina- tion of the mud in which the skeleton was found has been made by Mr. Clement Reid, F.R.S., and by myself, and proves the deposit to have been fresh-water. The seeds hitherto identified are those of the Potentilla comarum (cinquefoil), Myriophyllum (water milfoil), Eleocharis palustris (spike rush), Ranunculus aquatilis (water crows- foot), Zannichellia (horned pond weed), Carex (sedge, two species), Potamogeton (pond weed), Stellaria (stitchwort), and Htppuris vulgaris (mares’ tail).”’ In the report for 1908 of the museums and art-galleries under the control of the Corporation of Glasgow, it is mentioned that the total number of visitors to institutions again touched a, million and a quarter, and this without any special new attraction. A number of new specimens have been added to the natural-history collec- tions. A meTHOD of mounting rotifers and protista in Canada balsam is described by the Rev. Eustace Tozer in the Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society (February). Various fixatives, namely, osmic, picric, and glacial acetic acid, absolute alcohol, and formalin, are used, the choice NO. 2060, VOL. So] these [| depending on the species to be prepared. An important feature is the performance of the processes of hardening, staining, and dehydrating on a glass slip under a cover- glass, which is kept from crushing the objects by a thread of white cotton placed under one side. The fluids are drawn off by placing blotting-paper outside the cotton thread, the subsequent fluids being applied at the opposite side of the cover. Euglenz and diatoms are amenable to suitable modifications of the treatment. In the Museums Journal for March Mrs. Roesler (in a paper read at the Ipswich Museums’ Conference of 1908) gives an account of the work done, chiefly by herself, in the matter of instruction by American museums. To teachers desirous of giving lectures to their classes on special natural-history subjects, the American Museum of Natural History offers the use of a class-room or lecture- hall, and a lantern with a large stock of slides from which to select. For classes desirous of visiting the exhibition- hall, the museum also provides the gratuitous services of an instructor, who meets the classes by appointment and explains the collections. At the Boston Museum a ‘“docent ’? performs the same services for classes and visitors for a small fee. The author then proceeds to describe the arrangements for instruction made by herself at the New York Museum. These hung fire for a time, but eventually became much appreciated. Among the arrangements are two. courses—in spring and autumn—of informal lectures for children, and the museum also pro- vides several hundred cabinets of natural-history objects for loan to the public schools of New York and its neigh- bourhood. AFFORESTATION and timber-tree growing in Great Britain and Ireland forms the subject of a paper read by Dr. J. Nisbet before the Society of Arts, and published in its Journal (March 26). It is mainly a criticism of the re- port of the Royal Commission issued this year. An article is contributed by Dr. T. S. Hall to the Melbourne Argus (February 20) on the national park which has been formed by the Government of Victoria on Wilson’s Promontory, explaining the objects for which the land is being reserved. It is intended to preserve the indigenous plants growing on this area, and introduce such native animals as the grey kangaroo, emu, and lyre- bird. Certain parts of the promontory compare with the famous arboreal and fern scenery around Healesville. BULLETINS on plants poisonous to stock, ramie cultiva- tion, and pure maize seed have been received from the Transvaal Department of Agriculture, and the same topics are discussed by Mr. J. Burtt-Davy in his annual report for 1907-8. Maize cultivation in the colony has received a great impetus owing to the growth of an export trade, and farmers are pressing for a supply of pure seed of good quality. The bulletin points out how good seed may be obtained by selection or by breeding in accordance with Mendelian principles. Three plants are noted as being especially poisonous to stock, Homeria pallida, known as yellow tulp, which grows with lucerne, but dies down before the lucerne is ripe, Chailletia cymosa, and Urginea Burket. A new journal, Mycologia, edited by Mr. W. A. Murrill, in continuation of the Journal of Mycology, was initiated in January. It is announced that each number will con- tain a coloured plate of fungi in natural colours; the plate in this number illustrates five species of different genera, including Boletus scaber and Hypholoma per- plexum. The editor contributes a first list of American 22:5 NATURE [APRIL 22, 1909 ‘Boletineze of North America, and favours the establish- ment of numerous small genera; besides adopting Tylo- pilus and Rustkovia of Karsten, he creates four new senera, one of which, Suillellus, is founded on the species Boletus luridus. Mr. J. B. Rorer communicates a note on a bacterial disease of the peach which is pretty certainly the same as Bacterium Pruni, reported by Dr. E. F. Smith as the cause of leaf spots on plum and peach. TuERE is considerable opportunity for critical observa- tions regarding the classification of the Polypodiacee. In this connection an article by Dr. E. B. Copeland in the botanical series of the Philippine Journal of Science (vol. iii, No. 5) respecting the limitation of the genus Athyrium merits special attention. The opinion is advanced that Athyrium, Diplazium, and Anisogonium do not form distinct natural genera, and that certain species of Diplazium show closer affinities with certain species of Athyrium than with other species of Diplazium. There- fore it is recommended to unite the species under the one genus Athyrium, and the author has collated with a key the large number of Philippine species that would come under the genus. In the following number of the journal Dr. Copeland makes a similar suggestion with regard to ‘Cyathea, Alsophila, and Hemitelia, and applies his views in naming a few Philippine species under the generic name of Cyathea. Pror. GIGLiott, of Pisa, has issued as a reprint a paper published in the Bollettino della Socteta degli Agricoltors Italiani in which he discusses some of the newer phases of manurial action. In particular he has collected the results of a number of experiments on the manurial value of. manganese dioxide, which has frequently given an increase in crop, although it is not an essential plant food. Indirect manurial actions of this kind are of interest in connection with the idea now being developed in certain ‘quarters that soils contain substances toxic to plants, and a discussion of the phenomena from this point of view is given in the paper. Buttetin No. 131 of the Purdue University Agricultural Experiment Station contains a report on the working of ‘the recent Feeding-Stuffs Act of Indiana, which, like ours, compels the merchant to guarantee the percentages of oil, protein, and the maximum amount of fibre, and imposes ‘penalties in case the feeding-stuff does not come up to guarantee. There is some difference in detail, and, on the whole, the Indiana Act is more stringent, but it is said to have been entirely effective, and to have improved con- siderably the standard of goods supplied to the farmer. THE report from the Transvaal Government Laboratories for the year 1907-8 shows a decrease in the total number of samples examined, which, however, is more than accounted for by the falling off in the number of plague specimens. A large number of waters, milks, flours, meals, and other food-stuffs were examined, and attention is ‘directed to the bad state of some of the tinned meats sup- plied. A number of poison cases were investigated, but ‘it is pointed out that little or no progress can be looked for in dealing with native poisoning cases until a complete examination has been made of the plants indigenous to South Africa and the poisons they contain. Mr. F. V. Emerson contributes a paper, entitled ‘A Geographic Interpretation of New York City,’’ to the Bulletin of the American Geographical Society (Nos, 10 and 12, vol. xl.; No. 1, vol. xli.). An elaborate inquiry into the geographical position of New York, and examina- ‘tion of statistics concerning its position in relation to NO. 2060, VOL. 80] other towns on the Atlantic coast of the United States, leads the author to the conclusions that the commercial growth of New York is due, primarily, to its easy route to the interior, but that there is some evidence that the ““momentum’’ which it has enjoyed from this cause is decreasing. Business men in New York have realised this danger, hence the enlargement of the Erie Canal. In the March number of the Bulletin of the Imperial Academy of Sciences at St. Petersburg, Prince Galitzin discusses the records of the Calabrian earthquake obtained at Pulkowa. This observatory is specially devoted to a comparative study of the behaviour of various types of instruments, not to that of the movement of the ground; some interesting results seem to have been obtained, among which may be counted the value of electromagnetic damp- ing. This is the only form which gives a_ constant coefficient of damping for all amplitudes of swing, and its efficiency in eliminating the idiosyncrasies of individual instruments is strikingly exemplified by the reproduction of a double record of two similar Zollner pendula, each recording independently on the same sheet of paper, in which the two curves follow each other with hardly a perceptible divergence in course. It is noticed that all the records indicated an initial movement towards the origin; Prince Galitzin explains this by assuming that the first displacement was outwards, but that the piers, acting as heavy pendula of short period, were tilted backwards by their own inertia, thus producing an apparent inward movement on the instruments which they supported. In the February number of the National Geographic Magazine Captain F. M. Munger, of the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service, gives an account of ‘‘ the most wonderful island in the world,’’ that near Bogloslof, in the Aleutian Islands, Alaska. In 1886-7 a new island, named “ Fire Island,’’ made its appearance. In 1905-6 a new peak rose between this and the adjoining ‘‘ Castle Rock.’’ Next year a third elevation, called ‘‘ McCulloch Island,’’ showed itself in the same area. This seems to have exploded in September, 1907, a heavy fall of ashes having covered the entire region for a distance of sixty miles. At the survey in 1907 the formation of the remaining portions of these various volcanic peaks was found to consist of disintegrated rock, basalt, felspar, scoria, tufa, pumice, obsidian, trachyte, and other igneous rocks, with volcanic mud, all more or less discoloured with a deposit of sulphur. The series of excellent photographs obtained by Captain Munger gives an excellent idea of the successive stages of this remarkable exhibition of volcanic energy. Tue British School at Rome recently issued an appeal for help towards excavations in the western Mediter- ranean, accompanied by a_ report, by Dr. Duncan Mackenzie, on the mysterious Nuraghi of Sardinia and their west-European relations. At Sena he found the so- called ‘‘Giant’s Tomb,’’ closely connected with the Nuraghe-castle, and remarks :—‘‘ On the other hand that the Nuraghe-villagers should turn out to have buried in constructed chamber-tombs that themselves were imita- tions of the Nuraghe-hut as well as in rock-shelters and rock-cut chamber-tombs would in itself not be a singular phenomenon, but one that has a wide illustration in the Mediterranean Basin and elsewhere in Europe. At the same time an ethnological puzzle of a curious order may well underlie the fact that the people of the Nuraghe- castles should arrogate to themselves for their exclusive use a type of tomb which owes its origin to the primitive dolmen at the same time that they inhabit houses of the same round type as the Nuraghe-huts of the simple APRIL 22, 1909 | NATURE 229 villagers.’ He goes on to illustrate the connection of these remains with the migratory movement through Spain which civilised Europe in the early prehistoric period, France forming the chief highway from north to south. The same tomb-types characteristic of pre-Gallic France recur in the British Islands in the case of New Grange, and the Mediterranean types exhibit special analogies with the horned cairns of Caithness. Excavations in Sardinia and Malta are thus likely to throw much light on the ethnology and prehistoric past of western Europe, and it may be hoped that this appeal will result in liberal aid to a most important investigation, which will continue in the competent hands of Dr. Mackenzie. ‘Tue U.S. Monthly Weather Review for November, 1908, contains a suggestion, by Prof. A. G, McAdie, for the re- form of meteorological methods, by the gradual adoption of metric and centigrade measures in the records and work of the Weather Bureau. For atmospheric pressure a distinctly new proposition is advanced; the author thinks that if pressure changes were charted in percentages of a standard atmosphere, the result would be more satisfactory to both meteorologists and the public. ‘‘ Instead of 29-92 inches or 760 mm. we should have the value 1000, meaning thereby the pressure of the atmosphere at sea-level reduced to standard temperature and gravity. Then on any given weather map, in place of 30-3 inches we should have r1o12. . . . The great advantage of this is that pressure gradients can be read at a glance, and the average man can readily understand the significance of pressure variation.’’ Prof. McAdie considers this method as much superior to the metric system as that is to the one now in use. The editor of the Monthly Weather Review points out that the publication of the paper does not imply the approval of the chief or other officials of the Weather Bureau, but he invites discussion thereon. Tue Weather Bureau of the Philippine Islands has pub- lished part i. of its annual report for 1906; this volume occupies 153 quarto pages, and contains the hourly meteorological observations made during the year at the central observatory at Manila. Each of the tables shows also the hourly, daily, and monthly means; the extreme daily values of the various elements, together with the times of their occurrence, are given in a separate table. All the observations are expressed in the metric system, according to the practice adopted at the time of the re- organisation of the Weather Bureau by the United States Government. This detailed publication of observations and means, which began with 1885, is of great value for the purpose of scientific inquiry, and complies with an inter- national understanding that each country should publish such data for one or more of its principal stations. From the general summary we note that the normal annual duration of sunshine (1890-1906) is 2266 hours; rainfall (1865-1906), approximately 76 inches, on 139 days; shade temperature (1880-1906), 80°-4 F. A statement printed in the English edition of the report of the International Meteorological Committee (Paris, 1907) gives the absolute extremes of temperature (1885-1907) as 100° F. and 59° F. The observations at outlying stations of this important organisation form separate parts of the annual report. Drawincs and photographs of a 4o-feet gas-driven launch are given in the Engineer for April 9. This launch has been built for cruising purposes by Maclaren Bros., of Dumbarton, and is fitted with a 30 horse-power four- cylinder Crossley gas engine and suction gas-producers using anthracite. The gas is cleansed and cooled in a wet scrubber charged with coke; the ascending gas meets NO. 2060, VOL. 8o] . a spray of sea-water supplied at the top, and then passes downwards through a dry scrubber also charged with coke. The maximum speed of the engine is about 800 revolutions per minute, and with a compression of 120 lb. per square inch combustion is so complete that there is an entire absence of smoke and smell both in the engine- room and at the funnel. The engine when cold is started on petrol, and runs with this fuel until the producer has settled down to supply the necessary quality of gas. At the trial runs of the launch, under unfavourable weather conditions, a speed of 9 knots was attained, the cost of running being about 23d. per hour. ATTENTION is directed in a leading article in Engineering for April 9 to the extent and special character of the plant necessary in warship construction, and to the fact that much of this plant is kept idle during prolonged periods owing to the method of the Admiralty in placing orders- Protective decks, armour, guns, and gun mountings re- quire special plant involving very heavy capital charges without any possibility of return except in naval work. At present, armour for ten or twelve battleships per annum can be produced in this country, but in the past three years armour for eight ships only has been ordered. The time required from casting the ingot until completion of the plate is seventy-seven days, and, of this time, thirty- five days’ work may be done before any dimension other than the thickness has been specified. It is therefore urged that armour could be ordered early in the pre- liminary design of a ship. A 12-inch gun takes .ten months to construct, and eighteen months are required. for the completion of the latest type of barbette mounting for two 12-inch guns. The Dreadnought gun mountings were ordered six months before the ship, and took nine months longer to construct than the ship itself. This plan of ordering gun mountings long before the detailed design of the ship is completed might usefully have been adopted with the ships at present contemplated. Woolwich is not adapted for modern gun mountings, and, in the absence of some guarantee of steady work, it is unreasonable to expect private firms to increase their plant to meet a rush, We have sufficient armour and ordnance plant at present to meet all needs if they are utilised with judg- ment, Boru the Electrician and the Electrical Review in their issues of April 9 direct attention to two new systems of electric wiring which seem destined to do much in the near future to popularise the electric light amongst those to whom the cost of an installation has hitherto been an obstacle. The new systems are the ‘‘Stannos’’ and the “Kuhlos,’? and both use a conductor encased in a thin brass or copper tube about a fifth of an inch in diameter. The tube can readily be bent by hand, and is attached to the wall by means of a small clip nailed to the wall and bent over the tube. The cost of wiring is thereby greatly reduced, and the wires are of so small a diameter as to be inconspicuous. In the Physikalische Zeitschrift for April 1 Dr. O. Kriiger describes an addition he has made to the Atwood machine in order to show experimentally that the time of swing of a pendulum depends on the acceleration of its point of support. One of the falling weights of the machine carries the pendulum, and is guided in its fall by two vertical wires, so that the swing of the pendulum will not drag it out of its path. The bob of the pendulum carries a fine brush kept inked by means of a tube in the bob, and this brush writes on a vertical strip of paper during .its fall. By regulating the two falling weights 228 NATURE the pendulum may be made to ascend or descend with a given acceleration; in the former case the time of swing is decreased, in the latter increased, and the two times are determined from the strip records of the upward and downward motions. In the example given by the author the agreement between the observed and calculated ratio of the times of swing is within one part in one thousand. THE Journal de Physique for March contains a descrip- tion of the apparatus for radio-active measurements by the electroscope method exhibited by Messrs. C. Cheneveau and A. Laborde at a recent meeting of the Société francaise de Physique. The electroscope is of the type introduced by the late Prof. P. Curie, the leaf of aluminium being supported by a plate rising from the base of the instrument, where it is insulated by passing through a plug of ‘‘ambroid.’’ To its lower end a short or a long rod may be attached. Radio-active solids are placed in a shallow cylinder under the electroscope into which a short rod connected with the leaf projects. Gases are tested in a longer cylinder, into which a long rod projects. The aluminium leaf is observed through a microscope with a scale in the eye-piece, one division of which corresponds to o-4 volt. The normal rate of leak of the instrument is 1 volt in twelve minutes, and the minimum for a measurement 1 volt a minute. The lowest rate of pro- duction of radium emanation measurable with the larger cylinder is 0-002 milligram per minute. The authors hope that the simplicity of the apparatus will lead to its extensive ase. Messrs. J. W. Gray anp Son, the well-known lightning- conductor experts, of 91 Leadenhall Street, have sent us a pamphlet, from the pen of their senior partner, Mr. Alfred Hands, entitled ‘‘ Lightning and the Churches.” The author estimates that not more than 25 per cent. or 30 per cent. of the ecclesiastical buildings in this country are provided with lightning conductors. Statistics which he has collected show that about twenty-four such build- ings are damaged every year by lightning, and that of these about three are fitted with conductors which have failed to afford protection. Failure, he considers, may be due to original faults of construction or arrangement, to decay of important parts, or to alterations made in some of the metallic portions of the building after the conductor had been fixed. It is urged that the system of protection should be designed by an expert to suit each particular case, and should be inspected and tested at least once in every three years. The book contains many interesting photographs illustrating the destructive effects of lightning, and concludes with a list of 244 cathedrals, churches, and chapels which have been damaged by lightning during the last ten years. Tue principal features of the Bulletin de la Classe des Sciences (1908, No. 12) of the Royal Academy of Belgium are a paper by P. Bruylants on the derivatives of tri- methylene and a paper by J. Fraipont on the okapi and its affinities with living and with extinct giraffes. The former paper, extending over eighty-four pages, contains a description of a wide range of compounds containing the CH, - rou HX 2 the boiling points and densities of which are contrasted with those of the isomerfc allyl com- pounds CH,=CH.CH,X, and of the isopropyl compounds ets CHX; the trimethylene compounds usually have a CH,/ ‘ higher boiling point and a higher density than the corre- sponding allyl and propyl compounds. The latter paper is NO. 2060, VOL. 80] [APRIL 22, 1909 illustrated by an excellent picture in colours of the Okapia johnstoni, a map showing its distribution in the Congo basin, and a series of six comparative photographs of the skull of the okapi and related species. ATTENTION has been directed in these columns to observations by Noyes which indicated that the mobility of the hydrogen ion in hydrochloric and in nitric acids continued to decrease at dilutions considerably greater than those at which other ions exhibit constant mobilities. A recent paper by Chittock in the Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society records a number of observations in which the same experimental result was obtained, namely, an increase in the migration value of hydrogen in hydrogen chloride from the normal value 0-167 to 0-275 in very dilute solutions. The explanation given is, however, of a much simpler character, the suggestion being .made that the decreased mobility of the hydrogen ion is due to its association with traces of ammonia present as impurities in the water, whereby the hydrochloric acid is converted into ammonium chloride. A similar conclusion had already been reached by Whetham and Paine from observations of the conductivity and migration velocities of dilute solutions of sulphuric acid. It should not be difficult, e.g. by distilling from phosphoric acid, to prepare water practically free from ammonia and basic impurities, and it would be of interest to know whether such samples of water would give rise to abnormalities similar to those described above. Messrs. WiTHERBY AND Co. have in preparation a work on the ‘‘ Birds of Kent,’’ by Dr. Norman F. Ticehurst, who has for many years been well known among ornitho- logists as a close observer of the avifauna of the county. The work will be published by subscription, and only a limited edition will be issued. A SPECIAL meeting of the council of the Iron and Steel Institute was held on Tuesday, April 20, under the presi- dency of Sir Hugh Bell, Bart., to consider the situation created by the resignation of the president-elect, Sir W. Thomas Lewis, Bart. A resolution of regret that Sir W. Thomas Lewis had found himself unavoidably pre- cluded from assuming the office to which he had been elected was passed, and at the unanimous desire of those present Sir Hugh Bell consented to retain the presidency for a further term of twelve months. In that capacity he will, therefore, take the chair at the annual meeting and at the dinner on May 13 and 14 respectively. OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. Hattrty’s Comet.—Science Progress for the current quarter (No. 12, April, p. 543) contains an interesting article by Mr. Crommelin, who reviews the past history of Halley’s comet and discusses the probable time of the approaching perihelion passage. In the retrospect Mr. Crommelin directs attention to the fact that a fifteen- months’ variation of the period caused Halley to hesitate before accepting the conclusions regarding the object’s periodicity ; it is now known that the planetary perturba- tions may cause a five-year variation, from seventy-four to seventy-nine years. The identifications of returns are now carried back so far as 240 B.C., although there is no certain identification of Halley’s with any observed comet until 12 B.c.; its appearance at that return is very fully described in the Chinese annals. Mr. Crommelin regards it as certain that the comet will be re-discovered as soon as the region of Orion, where it now is, becomes observable in the autumn of the present year. January or February, 1910, should find it visible in small telescopes, or even to the naked eye. ‘— ApriL 22, 1909] NATURE 229 As. showing the enormous difference between the aphelion and perihelion velocities, Mr. Crommelin points out that nearly half the period, from December, 1856, to April, 1889, was spent on the small are of the path which lies beyond the orbit of Neptune. At perihelion the similar are will be traversed in two years. On the assumption that perihelion will occur on April 16, 1910, the comet should appear at its brightest for a few days after May 17, its distance from the earth being then only about 12,000,000 miles. PRESSURE IN THE SuN’s ATMOSPHERE.—Apropos of the discussion as to the pressure obtaining in sun-spots, the results published by MM. Fabry and Buisson in No. 11 of the Comptes rendus of the Paris Academy of Sciences are of special interest. Using their interference method, they have investigated a number of the displacements of solar lines which may be due to pressure. They find that all the lines do not behave alike; some are displaced in one direction by different amounts, whilst others are dis- placed in the opposite direction. Such displacements may not be attributed wholly to pressure, but are allied to the asymmetrical broadening of lines in the are investigated by Dr. Duffield. For the solar work MM. Fabry and Buisson selected fine lines such as are symmetrically broadened, and for twenty lines between AA 4o00 and 4500 they find a displacement corresponding to a pressure of four or five atmospheres above atmospheric pressure. Twelve lines between AA 5100 and 5500 gave a similar result, and it therefore appears that a pressure of 5 or 6 atmospheres obtains where the iron absorption takes place in the sun’s atmosphere. Tue SprectRA oF NesuLt#®.—In these columns’ on March 11 (Nature, No. 2053, p. 19) we briefly summarised some results, dealing with the spectra of nebulz, recently published by Prof. Wolf. Some interesting comments on these results are now published by Dr. Eberhard in No. 4318 of the Astronomische Nachrichten. First he directs attention to the enumeration of the nebular lines adopted by Prof. Wolf; this is not in accord- ance with the conventionally accepted enumeration, and seems likely to lead to confusion. Prof. Wolf found that the central star of the Ring nebula in Lyra is apparently less active, actinically, than the ring itself; Dr. Eberhard points out that this is a matter of the relative aperture of the instrument used, and the result was to be expected from the instrument employed by Prof. Wolf. He also re- minds us that the unknown line at A 345, suspected by Prof. Wolf in the spectrum of N.G.C. 2023, was certainly observed by Palmer in Nova Persei and in N.G.C. 6886. According to Prof. Wolf’s observations, Hy was found to be double in N.G.C, 6210, but Dr. Eberhard suspects that, as the dispersion employed was small, this was not an actual doubling, but the incidence of two separate lines, A 4341 and A 4363; he also questions some of the identi- fications given, THe Orpits or Specrroscoric Brnarirs.—In_ recent numbers of the Publications of the Allegheny Observatory the. orbits of several spectroscopic binaries are discussed. In No. 10 (vol. i.) Mr. R. H. Baker discusses the orbit of the spectroscopic components of a Virginis, and derives final elements, which give the period as 4.01416 days, the eccentricity as 0-10, and the apparent semi-major axis as 6,930,000 km. In No. ir the same observer discusses the results obtained for the spectroscopic components of u Herculis, whilst in No. 12 the orbit of a Coronze Borealis. is derived, by Mr. F. C. Jordan, from measures of 136 plates taken during 1907 and 1908 with the Mellon single-prism spectrograph attached to the 30-inch reflector. The final elements give the period as 17-36 days, the eccentricity as 0-387, and the apparent semi-major axis as 7,671,000 km, Tue Crireurarity oF PLANETARY Orspits.—From Prof. T. J. J. See we have received an abstract from the Astronomische Nachrichten in which he discusses the origin of the planetary system, and the reason for the circularity of the orbits of the planets and _ satellites. Rejecting Laplace’s hypothesis of a central rotating nucleus, casting off successive portions which became NO. 2060, VOL. 8o] planets, Prof. See suggests that the planets are bodies which came from outside into-such a nebulous mass as Laplace’s original ‘‘ solar nebula.’’ The circularity of the orbits then becomes the natural. consequence of the revolution of such bodies, around the central nucleus, through the resisting medium of the nebulous matter. THE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM. “THE subjoined letter appeared in the Times of Monday, April 19. It will be generally admitted that the Natural History Museum is one of the greatest scientific institutions in this country. It receives a grant of more than 60,0001. a year of public money, and is the national centre for the cultiva- tion. and organisation of the natural-history sciences. It is therefore a matter of concern, not only to naturalists, but to the public generally, that this great national institu tion should be administered in the best possible way, Unfortunately, in the opinion of all independent naturalists now living and of all the leading naturalists of the last forty-five years, the system of administration of the natural history departments of the British Museum is so defective that the accomplishment of the great objects for which the museum exists is seriously hampered. Rumours of this have already reached the public ear. It is not, how- ever, our design, for the present, to refer to these rumours beyond stating that there is a strong a priori probability of their truth, for they indicate a state of affairs which could hardly be avoided under the present system of administration. The defects in this system to which we now desire to direct attention are as follows :— (1) The government of the Natural History Museum is nominally, and in the eyes of the public, in the hands of the trustees of the British Museum, a large body of dis- Tinguished men, forty-nine in number, of high rank and great importance in the State. This number is so large that the trustees cannot act effectively as a single body. The result is that the executive is restricted to a small section of them, known as the standing committee, an entirely irresponsible body, subject to no control or criticism except of a purely formal kind, though spending annually large sums of public money. (2) While the actual government of the museum is in the hands of the standing committee, the appointment of all officers and servants is in the hands of the principal trustees—the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lord Chan- cellor, and the Speaker of the House of Commons. This arrangement, by which the control after appointment is in different hands from those which make the appoint- ment, is highly unsatisfactory. For, should the principal trustees appoint a director not acceptable to the other trustees, as has happened, it is clear that a very difficult position must necessarily be created, alike for trustees and director. Moreover, it is, in our opinion, inimical to the proper conduct of the museum that the appointment to the subordinate offices should be made by the principal trustees. This point has already been touched upon in the fourth report of the Royal Commission of 1874. The commissioners state that :— “Tt is held to be singularly inappropriate that the three important personages who are the principal ‘Trustees, occupied as they are in the discharge of the highest func- tions in Church and State, should be burdened with the duty of making appointments to offices of every grade in the British Museum.”’ (3) The standing committee of the trustees control, not only the Natural History Museum at South Kensington, but also the Library and the Museum of Art and Archzo- logy at Bloomsbury. This arrangement cannot be re- garded as satisfactory, because with the rapid growth of archeology and natural science in the last fifty years the interests represented by the two museums have become so vast, complex, and divergent that it is beyond the power of a single body of men, even of the knowledge of affairs and distinction of the trustees, to fully understand the interests involved. The subdivision of the subjects was recognised when the natural science part of the museum was removed to South Kensington, and it is obvious that two institutions situated so far apart, and dealing with 230 — NATURE [APRIL 22, 1yc9 such different material, cannot be adequately administered by a single governing body. (4) These remarks apply equally to the remarkable regulation according to which the director of the Natural History Museum is subject to the direction of the prin- cipal librarian. This arrangement, by which the director of the largest and most complex natural science institution in the country is subordinate, not merely theoretically, but actually, to a literary man at Bloomsbury, with no scien- tific Knowledge, is so extraordinary, and has had such baleful effects, that we must devote a few words to it. Quite apart from the welfare of the Natural History Museum, it seems unfair to expect of the principal librarian that he should be responsible for the institution in Crom- well Road in addition to his other heavy responsibilities ; but it is when we look at the other side of the question that. the faultiness of the arrangement becomes fully obvious. To choose as director at South Kensington a man distinguished for his technical knowledge, and then to fail to give him reasonable freedom in the employment of his training and experience, seems as bad a plan as it is possible to conceive. We think it is clear that at one time the trustees were of this opinion. Sir Wiliam Flower was in 1884 granted a large amount of independence, and this might have been greater had he not declined part of the responsibility offered him. When the late director was appointed this freedom was curtailed. It was, we think, unavoidable that in these circumstances difficulties should arise, and we feel very strongly that the recurrence of such difficulties ought to be made impossible; and this can only be done with certainty by making the Natural History Museum an independent unit. The Prime Minister, in his reply to the deputation on this subject which waited upon him last July, said that the trustees were men of wide experience and equally cognisant of natural history and archeology. These state- ments are doubtless true, but the question is, are they competent to interfere in the management (as apart from the general supervision and financial control) of a great institution like the Natural History Museum, as complex and highly technical in its constitution as a modern labora- tory or observatory? In our opinion, and in that of others who have looked into the question, they are not com- petent to do this. Yet they do interfere in details of management, not only on their own initiative, but also under the guidance, not of their own “‘ director ’’ especially appointed for his knowledge of museum work and of the larger needs of science, but of a librarian who makes no claim to knowledge under either of these heads. A _ pro- posal to place an eminent man of letters or an archzeologist at the head of the National Observatory or of the National Physical Laboratory would justly excite the ridicule of the literary no less than of the scientific world, yet under the present system, based upon an Act of Parliament of the eighteenth century, the librarian at Bloomsbury is forced into just such a position with regard to the National Museum of Natural History. These are some of the principal defects in the present system of administration of the museum. There are others to which, had we space, we should like to direct atten- tion, but we have said enough to show that the present system of administration is defective in important par- ticulars, which it is very desirable in the interests of science and education to remedy without delay. In conclusion, we may point out that, in addressing this letter to you at the present moment, we cannot be accused of acting in haste. The defects to which we have directed attention have long been known to men of science, and many attempts have been made to remedy them. A short history of these attempts from 1864 to 1898, in which every distinguished man of science has participated, is appended to this letter. The present attempt originated in September, 1907. when the professors of zoology of the United Kingdom addressed a petition to the Prime Minister asking for an inquiry into the methods of administration which, as they subsequently explained by a detailed state- ment made in a deputation to the Prime Minister in July, 1ao8, had had such lamentable results. Tt only remains to be added that this last effort has apparently been as devoid of result as have been its pre- decessors, and it has therefore become necessary to place NO. 2060, vor. So] before the public the main facts of the case. That public pays the cost of the Natural History Museum to the tune of 60,0001. a year. lt does so presumably because it regards the museum as an absolutely efficient and well- organised scientific institution, having the full confidence of the scientific experts of the country. It is, therefore, necessary that the public should realise that, in the opinion of the professional naturalists, a continuance of that confidence is being gravely jeopardised by the con- tinued refusal of those in authority to bring up to date its administrative methods. What we demand is an inquiry by a Royal Commission into the present adminis- tration of the Natural History Museum. The way would then be open for the establishment of a satisfactory scheme of reconstruction. J. C. Ewart. A. SEDGWICK. Sypney J. Hickson. Gitsert C. Bourne. April 17. . DAYLIGHT AND DARKNESS. MEETING in support of the Summer Season Time Bill, otherwise known as the Daylight Saving Bill, was held at the Guildhall on Tuesday, April 20, when the following resolution was adopted :—‘‘ That the passing of the Daylight Saving Bill would improve the physical, mental, moral, and financial welfare of the nation, and that it is deserving of the support of all classes of the community.” The chief speaker at the meeting was Sir Robert Ball, who referred to the effect of latitude upon duration of daylight, and described the zone system of time reckon- ing. It is difficult to understand, however, how his remarks can be considered to give support to the pro- posals of the Bill. The fact that different meridians are used in different parts of the world as standards of time- reckoning, or that a date-line exists about longitude 180°, provides no reason for a seasonal change of the standard meridian. The reference to the difference in the duration of daylight in different latitudes was also unfortunate; for when the difference of latitude is taken into considera- tion we find that the people in North Britain already enjoy about an extra hour of daylight in summer com- pared with those in the south, so that they do not need legislative action to obtain it. As much misconception appears to exist as to the system of time-reckoning and the effect of latitude upon the length of day, it may be of interest to state a few elementary facts relating to them. The number of hours the sun is above the horizon of different latitudes within the limits of the British Isles is shown in the subjoined table for the ends of the months from April to August :— Latitude SES x =e 5 5 60" nm. ho ae Eee oe he ee April 30... 14 37 14 40 AX 2) 15016) 15 33) r5ase May 30 .... 16 0 1618 1640 17 § 17 34 18 8 June 30 ... 16 18 16 40 17 4 17 32 18 5 18 45 July 30 ... 15 18 15 34 15 50 16 10 16 32 16 58 Aug. 30... 13 38 3 42) 13750) 13,58) 14.93) aaarg In this table no account is taken of the lengths on dawn and twilight, which vary both with the season and the latitude. Twilight lasts until the sun is about 18° below the horizon, and where the apparent diurnal path does not descend to this point there is twilight all night. Thus defined, at the end of April places in our islands between latitudes 57° and 60° have twilight all night; during June the sun does not get 18° below the horizon of any place in our islands, and all places north of Edin- burgh have twilight all night from about the end of April to the end of July. It is not suggested that work or recreation can be carried on without artificial light during the whole duration of twilight, but even if half this duration be taken it will be found that over a large part of our islands there is sufficient natural light for these purposes up to 10 p.m. or Ir p.m. APRIL 22, 1909] Suppose we consider eight hours’ sleep as the normal amount to be taken out of the twenty- four hours of a day, and that a reasonable hour to retire is 11 p.m. The difference between this hour and the time at which the lamps of road vehicles have to be lighted will show the interval during which work or recreation cannot be carried on out of doors, assuming that the lighting-up time is always one hour after sunset. In Scotland there is sufficient light to work or play during a large part of the summer months for a much longer. period than one hour after sunset, but for simplicity the rule for lighting- up time may be applied to the whole of our islands. The following table gives the interval between this time as thus defined and 11 p.m. Greenwich Time :— Latitude 50” 52° 54° 56° 58° 60° h, m. h. m. h. m h. m. m h. m. April 30.25) 92540"... (2 35 .-. 2 30 2208-02) 10 .:. 2 O pay 30) enn cat) 50)... 1). 40-30 UetO}--- 0155 june 30) ees sees. os 40) J... TL 30) et 2O 18) a5 AG july: 30) meee aire 20 ... 2) TO) 2 ON... 50) <... 1.40 Aug. 30... 3 10 COOMBES toss st 5 (2) 2yi55i2-4 2) 50 An examination of this table shows that, taking the bed- time hour as 11 p.m., daylight can be used within two hours of this time during June in the lowest latitude of the British Isles, and within about one hour of 11 p.m. at any place north of Edinburgh. If we consider 9.30 p.m. a time at which people have worked long enough at business or pleasure out of doors to desire rest or recrea- tion indoors before retiring at 11 p.m., it will be seen that the actual interval of darkness before 9.30 is small. For instance, taking latitude 52°, which is a little north of London, during May, there is one hour before 9.30 p.m. during which artificial light may be necessary; during June, there are less than twenty minutes; during July, about fifty minutes; and during August, about one and a half hours. If the latitude of Edinburgh (56°) be con- sidered, then at 9.30 p.m. there is no darkness during May and June; in July people give up outdoor occupations needing daylight about half an hour before 9.30 p.m., and in August about one and a half hours before that time. In higher latitudes the people can play or work out of doors up to 9.30 p.m. or longer during the whole of May, June, and July. The only argument that can be derived from latitude is that North Britain should be excluded from the provisions of the Bill. Now as to the zone or international system of time- reckoning. In the days when places were not within easy communication with one another, either by rail or telegraph, local time was commonly used. The necessity for a uniform standard became clearly evident when railway time-tables had to be printed. We have now become so used to this single system of time-reckoning that few of us remember that formerly it was common to see the announcement of railway companies, ‘‘ London (Greenwich) Time observed at all stations.’’ By the introduction of standard time, order was called out of chaos, though it meant that for places west of the Greenwich meridian time indicated by the sun is after the time indicated by clocks. A still further advance was made when the Greenwich meridian was adopted as the prime meridian for the interrational system of time- reckoning. Thanks chiefly to the persistent advocacy of Sir Sandford Fleming, twenty-four piandard meridians are now recog- nised, beginning with Greenwich, and counting toward the east. The time of each of these meridians is thus one hour behind that of the next meridian to the east of it, and one hour in advance of the next meridian to the west. Each meridian may be regarded as the mid-line of a zone 15 5° of, longitude in width, so that the twenty-four meridians | give the standard times on the international system for “the whole world. It is usual for places within half an hour of the standard meridian to adopt the time of that meridian as its mean time, but in some cases the line midway between two consecutive meridians of the twenty-four hour system is taken as the standard meridian. As Sir Robert Ball has given his support to the Daylight Saving Bill, it is of interest to notice what he says in his NO. 2060, VOL. 80] NATURE 231 “Popular Guide to the Heavens ’”’ as to the value of uni- formity and system in the reckoning of time. Describing standard time, he remarks :—‘‘ As soon as communication by railway and telegraph is established in a country, it is convenient to adopt throughout the country a uniform system of time. Very usually the time adopted has been at first the mean time of the capital. But as communication between different countries increases, great inconvenience arises when allowance has to be made for a difference of adopted time involving an odd number of minutes and seconds. A large number of countries and States have therefore adopted a standard system of time based upon that of Greenwich, and differing from it by an exact number of hours, with occasionally an odd half-hour.’’ The subjoined table, from ‘* Whitalker’s Almanack,’ shows the countries in which this system of standard time; with the prime meridian at Greenwich, has been adopted :— Central Fast or Slow on Country. Meridian. Greenwich Time: Mid-Europe ... 15> th. fast. East Europe, British Ss. Africa, Eeypt 307 BE. 2h. fast. Mauritius and Dependencies .. = 60" EK. 4h. fast. Chagos eee WS ba | ss) aS aeetsta Indiage--seeee ve 822° E. ... 5th: fast. Calcutta 90° E. 6h. fast. Burma ae 974° E. 6th. fast.. Hong Kong, Borneo, “West Australia 120° E. 8h. fast. Japan .. eee eee es 1395 ee gh. fast. South (Nastraliaee 4 1424° E, oth. fast. Victoria, New South Wales, Queens. land, Tasmania... Gea bead pence clon! toh. fast. New Zealand Peon el 2awi. a. labs taste Iceland S-sset-c aan) -e3 sy se ES: We on | hyslows America, Attlanticuemirsc® osc a etg aes) see, 000 Wi: a5) -4buuslows astern eeeeeee esc tuessa ues ens 75eWVe 1s, Sbieslows Central ... Peed teespils. ee Om We 6h. slow. Monte nee etc eii=s a) nee tates LO Sta 7h. slow. Pacific on 120° W. ... 8h. slow. Greenwich Time is used in Spain, Belgium, Holland, Gibraltar, and Faroe (Sheep Islands). What the Daylight Saving Bill proposes, therefore, is that from the third Sunday in April to the third Sunday in Sep-- tember we shall use the mid-Europe meridian as our standard meridian, and the Greenwich meridian during the rest of the year. It is only necessary to state this fact to show how the proposals of the Bill would introduce con- fusion into what is now a simple and scientific system. If, as is suggested, some other countries in various latitudes may follow suit and change their standard meridians during various months, the result would be absolute chaos instead’ of scientific order. There is only one other point to which we can refer now ; it relates to the portion of the year during which the pro- visions of the Bill are to take effect. As Mr. L. C. W. Bonacina pointed out in Nature of March 18, the division is unscientific, and follows no natural order. The following table shows the days on which the sun’s declination is approximately the same. In any given lati- tude the duration of sunlight upon each day in any pair is: equal, that is to say the amount of daylight is the same. Sun's Declination Days of Equal Sunlight 20° N. May 21 July 24 Ge 95 May 1 Aug. 13 TOn 5 Apnil 16 Aug. 28 ie & April 3 Sept. 11 Oras March 21 Sept. 23 The Bill proposes that the change of time shall be fronr the third Sunday in April to the third Sunday in September, but it is evident that whereas the latter date is about the autumnal equinox, the former is nearly a month after the spring equinox. The declination of the sun in the third week of April is about 12° N., and the corresponding de-- clination after the summer solstice is about August 22. If, therefore, the duration of daylight is intended to determine the dates of change of time, these dates should be the third week in March and the third week in September, or the third week in April and the third week in August. 232 NATURE ‘[APRIL 22, 1909 PRODUCER GAS FOR ENGINES. IIl.—Tests anp EFFICIENCIES. Me. DUGALD CLERK had careful tests made with a 30-B.H.P. piant and a 4o-B.H.P. plant of the type shown in Fig. 2 of the article published last week, and found that the heat efficiency of the former gas was 83 per cent. and that of the latter as high as 90 per cent., both with hot starts.” In Table A, I give the results obtained with the last-named suction plant, and for comparison the results with a steam-jet pressure plant of the same power, and the average of results with seven other pressure plants of different sizes :— TABLE A. Comparison of Suction and Pressure Plants. Suction | Pressure RGSS plant plant ablants. f 40 B.H.P.|40 B.H.P.|1Vorage O} = | 7 plants (bot start) | (hot start) (hot start) Fuel used ea te ee ... |Anthracite| Anthracite Anthracite Composition of gas (per cent. by volume)— | | | Hydrogen nae oD one 15°64 19°8 17°36 Methane ... cc 1°16 13 1°20 Carbon monoxide 20°13 23°8 25°55 Carbon dioxide ... eee oe ct 6°09 63 5°77 Oxygen ... at Ae a a 074 — 0°30 Nitrogen ... (a eee 3 cis 56°24 48°8 49°82 Total combustible gases (per cent. by volume) 7 me oh a se 36°93 449 44°11 Calorific power (higher scale)— alories per cubic metre 1204 1463 1432 _ B.Th.U. per-cubic foot Sioe||, Sasi 164°4 1610 Air required for combustion of unit volume fa eco 0°927 1°162 1'122 Yield of gas— Cubic metres per kilo. of fuel 5 80 5/04 5°Or Cubic feet per ton of fuel «. | 208,000 181,000 180,c0o Approximate power given by an engine | which will give 100 H.P. with gas of | Column 3 ... ae aa ah oon 93 100 | 100 The practical outcome of many tests made with engines worked with suction plants is that with a full load, or nearly full load, the consumption: when running is a little under 1 Ib. of anthracite, or about 1$ Ib. of gas-coke per B.H.P.-hour. This is exclusive of the fuel burnt when starting and during the stand-by hours. The consumption of fuel and water in the small plants (about 20 B.H.P.), tested at Derby in 1906 on behalf of the Royal Agri- cultural Society was as follows :— » (Full load ... 11 lb. per B.H.B.-hour, including fuel for starting and ( banking during the night. J Half load... 1°6 lb. per B.H.P.-hour, including fuel for starting and banking during the night. Water » 1 gallon per B,H.P.-hour at full load. 4 ” 93 half ,, a (at load ... 1°3 Ib. per B.H.P.-hour, including fuel for starting. © (Water - 1’5 gallons per B.H.P.-hour at full load. It e Anthrac I had an interesting test made with a 250-B.H.P. engine and suction plant, working night and day for 123 hours without a stop. The engine worked a dynamo, and read- ings were taken every half-hour of the current generated. The general result was that the consumption of small anthracite, including all sources of waste, was only 1-23 lb. per kilowatt-hour. On the assumption that the efficiency of the dynamo was go per cent., this corresponds with 0-82 lb. per B.H.P.-hour. Close attention is usually given to the consumption of fuel per H.P.-hour, sometimes to the thousandth of a pound, and it is not a little remarkable that a separate account is seldom taken of the consumption of fuel while the steam or gas plant is standing with a fire in it. The stand-by loss of a boiler is much greater than that of a gas producer, and the explanation is not far to seek; for a given H.P. the producer is much smaller, and has far less radiating surface than a boiler; it has no water in it to be heated, and it can be worked up to its maximum production in about fifteen minutes, after standing almost any length of time. With a boiler, except in the vertical or portable type, there is a large amount of external brick- 1 Continued from p. 203. 2 For full details of these trials see ‘ Producer Gas,” 2nd edition (Longmans). NO. 2060, VOL. 80] work to be heated, and there is a considerable quantity of water, even in the tubular type. When the boiler is standing the water and the brickwork lose heat, and not only more time, but more fuel, is required to make up this loss than in the case of a gas producer. Doubtless the heat efficiency of a good boiler is high when it is working to nearly its full capacity, but the reverse is the case when it is standing. Table B gives some comparative results :— TABLE B. Consumption of Fuel in Stand-by Hours. Steam power Gas power | Coal con- Coal con- Ty f boil Max. H.P. | sumed per | Max. H.P. | sumed per BESO cour | of boiler standing | of producer | standing | hour hour | | Ibs. Ibs. Various 100 I4°0 250 ee Lancashire... en| 450 37°51 250 39 Babcock and Wilcox. | 210 67'0 100 2'E ” ” 210 67°0 250 4°5 ” ” } 500 1800 225 38 a ae | 500 112'0 375 18 Niclaussé... eco |) 400 500 | Lancashire 400 44°7 | Average ... 715 | Average ... 3°5 | | On this basis, if a 200-B.H.P. steam plant works eight hours and is standing sixteen hours, and if it consumes 2-5 lb. per B.H.P.-hour, the stand-by loss will be more than 20 per cent. of the total fuel consumed in twenty- four hours. Under like conditions, if a gas plant of the same power consumes 1 lb. per B.H.P.-hour, the stand-by loss will be under 4 per cent. With a 500-B.H.P. plant the stand-by loss with steam will be about 15 per cent., and with gas under 2 per cent. If we take the percentage of the stand-by loss on the fuel consumed during the work- ing hours, we have the following results :— 200 B.H.P. 500 B.H.P. Steam power 26°8 per cent. ete 17°y per cent. Gas power ... tog £q) 3°8 ” 2'0 o6 The accompanying Figs. 3, 4, 5, and 6 show at a glance the relative heat efficiencies of a steam boiler and steam engine, and of a gas plant and gas engine of the same power; Figs. 3 and 4 are each for 250 B.H.P., and Figs. 5 and 6 are for go B.H.P. The blank space at the top of each column represents the number of heat units (100 calories or B.Th.U.) in the fuel consumed to produce the same amount of useful work. For the 250-B.H.P. steam plant I have talken 80 per cent. as the heat efficiency of the boiler, and for the 4o B.H.P. 75 per cent.; for the condensation in pipes, driving feed-pumps and other usual losses, I have taken 10 per cent. of the total heat for the larger plant and 5 per cent. for the smaller one. For the larger steam engine I have assumed a_ heat efficiency of 15 per cent., and for the smaller one ro per cent. For the 250-B.H.P. gas power I have assumed that the gas plant is of the steam-jet pressure type, cand that, including its small boiler, the heat efficiency is 80 per cent. For the 40-B.H.P. gas power I have assumed that the gas plant is of the suction type, and that its heat efficiency is 85 per cent. With gas plants there are no losses from condensation or other causes beyond those allowed for in the above percentages. For the gas engines I have assumed a heat efficiency of 28 per cent., and in all the diagrams I have taken the friction of the engine as 15 per cent. The figures given for the fuel consumed correspond approximately with the following consumptions of fuel of average quality :— goo grams (2 |b.) per B.H.P.-hour for 250 B.H.P. steam power 450 5, (rlb.) ” 35 “5 gas power (pres- sure plant) 7350 ,, (3 1b.) x sr 40 mn steam power _ 400 5, (0°9 Ib.) i 7 yyy BAS power (suction plant). In Fig. 3, 1120 heat units are absorbed in the boiler, and of these 224 are taken as lost in ashes, radiation, flue 1 Exclusive of raising the steam pressure from 90 lb. to 120 Ib. APRIL 22, 1909 | gases, &c.; the steam generated represents 896 units, and of these 112 are lost by condensation, &c. The steam supplied to the engine represents 784 units, and of these 667 are lost in the exhaust, so that only 117 are converted into indicated work, and from this 17 are deducted for friction. In Fig. 4 525 heat units are absorbed in the pro- ducer, and of these 105 are taken as lost in ashes, radia- tion, cooling of gas, &c. The gas supplied to the engine represents 420 units, and, as in Fig. 3, 117 units are con- verted into indicated work, and of these 17 are deducted for friction. In Fig. 5 1680 heat units are absorbed in the boiler, and of these 420 are lost in ashes, radiation, &c.; the steam generated represents 1260 units, and of these 84 are lost by condensation, &c. The steam supplied to the engine represents 1176 units, and of these no less than 1059 are lost in the exhaust. In Fig. 6 494 heat units are absorbed in the producer, and of these 74 are taken as lost in ashes, radiation, cooling of gas, &c. The gas supplied to the engine represents 420 units, and the remain- ing losses are similar to those in Fig. 4. general result is that for the 250-B.H.P. size, in order to obtain 100 heat units in useful work with steam power there must be 1120 heat units in the fuel con- sumed in the boiler ; whereas with gas power there need only be 525 units in the fuel consumed. This shows a saving of 53 per cent. in the weight of fuel in favour of the gas plant. The result still more striking in the case of the 4o- B.H.P. size, as there must be 1680 units in the fuel consumed for steam power compared with 494 for gas power. This is a saving of 70 per cent. in favour of the gas plant. These figures do not in- clude any allowance for stand-by losses, which would be con- fuel consumed in boiler_/680 ----—------------> is | Heat-Units in fuel consumed IN Gas producer ____ 525 in Heat-Unirs in Fuel consumed in gas 4.94. <--- Heat-Units producer Go <--- Heat-Units in fuel consumed in boiler_ 1120 ----* In S fig.5. Fig 6. Fic. 3.—250 K.H.B. steam. Fic. 4 —230 B.H.P. gas. J Fic. 5. ~40 B.H.P oes siderably less for gas Fic. 6.— 40 B.H.P. gas. than for steam power. After general certain smaller strong considering the two types of plant, I think our conclusions may be as follows :—A suction plant has practical advantages—it costs less and occupies a ground-space; but the gas made in it is not so as in the older form of pressure plant, and in the case of large engines this advantage may be important, as it affects the maximum power of the engine. The fuel consumption per H.P.-hour and the labour required are about the same in both types of plant, provided the steam required is raised without an independent boiler. The con- sumption of water is the same in both types. Where there are several engines to serve, a pressure plant better, as all can be served with one main from the gas- holder, with a branch to each engine. This simplifies the piping and reduces its cost considerably; it also facilitates the starting of the engines. It seems to me that each plant has its own province, and that in some cases the NO. 2060, VOL. 80] is On these bases the | NATORE 205 pressure type is better than the suction type; in others suction is better than pressure. Looking at the matter broadly, one cannot but be struck with the enormous development in gas power which has taken place during the last ten, and especially during the last five, years. Small steam engines are being rapidly superseded, and in several cases the makers of steam engines are now making gas engines. At first only small gas engines were supposed to be within the range of prac- tical politics, but those days are over, and there are many gas engines developing more than 1000 H.P. each which are working satisfactorily. Gas power has come to stay, and now has a recognised position among engineers, J. Emerson Dowson. TRANSATLANTIC WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY.’* ON previous occasions I have had the honour of describing before this institution some of the stages through which the application of electric waves to tele- graphy through space has passed. This evening I propose to confine myself chiefly to describing the results and observations recorded during the numerous tests and experiments which my collaborators and I have been carry- ing out with the object of proving that wireless telegraphy across the Atlantic was possible, not merely as an experi- mental feat, but as a new and practical means for com- mercial communication (Journ. Inst. Elec. Eng., xxviii., 1899, p. 291). In March, 1899, communication was established by means of my system of wireless telegraphy across the Channel between England and France (see Fig. 1), and the Times E.GOODWIN vewrue? SOUTH FO RELAND ER 1 CHART or mc STRAITS of DOVER GROWING MARCOR! WIRELESS TELECRAPR SUORS AF SOUTH FORELAND oo WIMEREUX 1899 of March 29 of that year published the first Press telegram ever transmitted to England from abroad by means of electric-wave telegraphy. At that time a considerable discussion took place in the Press as to whether or not wireless telegraphy would be practicable for much longer distances than those then covered, and a general opinion prevailed that the curvature of the earth would be an insurmountable obstacle to long- distance transmissions, in the same way as it was, and is, an obstacle to signalling over considerable distances by means of optical signals such as flashlights, the heliograph, or the semaphore. Other difficulties were anticipated as to the possibility of being able practically to employ and control. a transmitter capable of radiating an amount of electrical energy large enough to actuate a receiver at really great distances, and, 1 From a discourse delivered at the Royal Institution on Friday, March 13» 1908, by Commendatore G. Marconi. 234 NATURE [APRIL 22, 1909 granting the possibility of this, whether such a powerful radiator would not interfere with the working of all other wireless stations which might be established on shore or ships within the sphere of influence of the long-distance sender. What so often occurs in most pioneer work has repeated itself in the case of long-distance wireless telegraphy—the anticipated obstacles and difficulties were either imaginary or else easily surmountable; but in their place unexpected barriers manifested themselves, and my efforts and those of rice CHAR? or tHe ENCLISH CHANNEL SHOWING MARCONI WIRELESS. TELECRAPH STATIONS AT NITON(isce oF wicht) ano THE LIZARD my collaborators have been mainly directed to the solution of problems presented by difficulties which were not antici- pated when the tests over long distances were first initiated. In January, 1901, wireless communication was estab- lished between St. Catherine’s Point in the Isle of Wight and Lizard in Cornwall, over a distance of 186 miles. The height of these stations above the sea-level did not exceed 300 feet (100 metres), whereas to clear the curvature of the earth a height of more than a mile at each end would have been necessary. The result of these tests went far to convince me that electric waves pro- duced in the manner I had adopted were able to make their way round the curvature of the earth, and that therefore it was not likely that this factor would constitute a barrier to the transmission of waves over greater A 19s) distances. At this time I had achieved a considerable measure of success, by means of syntonic or tuning devices, in preventing mutual interference between stations, and Prof. Fleming described, in a letter to the Times, dated October 4, 1900, the results obtained, and which he and others had witnessed (Journ. Soc. Arts, xlix., No. 2530, 1901). The principle on which the transmitters and receivers at St. Catherine’s Point and the Lizard were worked is shown in Figs. 3 and 4. At the transmitting end a condenser, usually taking the form of a battery of Leyden jars, had one terminal con- nected to one spark-ball of an induc- tion coil or transformer and the other to the primary circuit of an oscillation transformer. The opposite terminal of this transformer circuit was joined to the second sparl-ball. The condenser was charged to the potential necessary to produce a suitable spark by means of an induction coil. The secondary circuit of the oscilla- tion transformer was inserted between the vertical conductor, or aérial wire, and earth, and an adjustable inductance coil included in the circuit. The circuits, consisting of the oscillating circuit and radiating circuit, were more or less closely ‘‘ coupled ”’ by varying the distance between the primary and secondary of NO. 2060, VOL. 80] the oscillation transformer. By the adjustment of the in- ductance inserted between the elevated conductor and earth, and by the variation of the capacity of the primary circuit of the oscillation transformer, the two circuits of the transmitter could be brought into resonance, a con- dition which I first found was absolutely necessary in order to obtain efficient radiation. The receiver consisted also of a vertical conductor or aérial connected to earth through the primary of an oscilla- tion transformer, the secondary of which included a con- denser and a coherer, or other suitable detector, it being necessary that the circuit containing the aérial and the circuit containing the detector should be in resonance with each other, and also in tune with the periodicity of the oscillations transmitted from the sending station. The energy employed to signal over a distance of 186 miles could be brought as low as 150 watts, and even less if a higher or larger aérial had been used. The facility with which distances of more than 100 miles could be covered prior to 1900, and the success of the methods for preventing mutual interferences (Journ. Soc. Arts, xlix., No. 2530, 1901), led me to advise that two large power stations be constructed, one in Cornwall and the other in North America, in order to test whether it was possible to transmit messages across the Atlantic Ocean. I have often been asked why I did not first endeavour to establish commercial communication between places situated at a shorter distance. The answer is very simple. The cables which connect England to the Continent, and between most Continental nations, are Government-owned, and these Governments would not, and will not, allow the establishment of any system, wireless or otherwise, which might in any way tamper with the revenue derived from these cables. As regards Transatlantic communication, however, the conditions were different. There was no law either here, in Canada, or in the United States to impede the working of wireless telegraphy across the Atlantic. Ble. FIC.4 A further potent reason, moreover, an economical reason, prompted me to attempt communication with America. Notwithstanding the cost of high-power stations, I am convinced that it is more profitable to transmit messages at 6d. a word to America than at, say, 3d. a word across the Channel, and that the economical advantage of wire- less over cables and land-lines increases instead of diminish- ing with the distance. A site suitable for a long-distance station was chosen at Poldhu, in Cornwall, and here in 1900 work was com- menced in earnest—work in which I was ably assisted by APRIL 22, 1909] Prof. J. A. Fleming, of the University of London. The transmitter at Poldhu was similar in principle to the one I have already described, but it is obvious that the con- siderable distance over which it was proposed to transmit signals necessitated the employment of more powerful electromagnetic waves than those ever previously used. These were obtained by means of a generating plant con- sisting of an alternator capable of an output of about 25 kilowatts, which, through suitable transformers, charged a condenser having a glass dielectric of great strength. Time does not permit me to describe in detail all the engineering difficulties which were encountered in control- ling electrical oscillations of a power which at that time was certainly unprecedented, and as the tests were made possible by commercial organisation, the objects of which do not consist solely in the advancement of science, you will understand that a detailed description of the plant used at the Transatlantic stations cannot, for the present at least, be made public. My early tests on wireless transmission by means of the elevated capacity method had convinced me that when endeavouring to extend the distance of communication it was of little utility merely to increase the power of the electrical energy applied to the transmitting circuits, but that it was also necessary to increase the area or height of the transmitting and receiving elevated conductors. As it was economically impracticable to use vertical wires of very great height, the only alternative was to increase their size or capacity, which, in view of the facts I had first noticed in 1895, seemed likely to make possible FIC. 5 the efficient utilisation of large amounts of electrical energy (Journ. Inst. Elec. Eng., xxviii., 1899, pp. 278-9). The form of aérial which I first proposed to employ consisted of a conical arrangement of wires insulated at the top and gathered together at a lower point in the form of a funnel. This aérial was supported by a ring of twenty masts each 200 feet high, arranged in a circle 200 feet in diameter. During the first tests an arrangement of circuits (Fig. 5) proposed by Dr. Fleming, and consisting of a modification of the system shown in Fig. 3, was employed. In this arrangement, in place of one high-frequency oscillation circuit, two are employed, and the constants of the two circuits are so arranged that very high-tension discharges can be obtained from one of the condensers—the one which is inductively connected with the aérial—without danger of damage to the circuits of the generator (‘‘ The Principles of Electric Wave Telegraphy,’’ 1906, p. 506). Simultaneously with the construction of the station at Poldhu, the erection of another one on substantially the same plan was undertaken at Cape Cod, in the United States of America. The completion of the arrangements was delayed owing to a storm, which wrecked the masts and aérial at Poldhu on September 18, 1901, but by the end of November the aérial was sufficiently restored to enable me to complete the preliminary tests which I considered necessary prior to making the first experiment across the Atlantic. Another accident to the masts at Cape Cod seemed likely to postpone the tests for several months more. I therefore decided that in the meantime I would use a purely tem- NO. 2060, VOL. 8o] NATURE 235 porary receiving installation in Newfoundland for the pur- pose of testing how far the arrangements in Cornwall had been conducted on right lines. The transmitting elevated conductor employed at Poldhu during the experiments with Newfoundland consisted of fifty almost vertical copper wires supported at the top by a horizontal wire stretched between two masts 48 metres high and 60 metres apart. These wires converged together at the lower end in the shape of a large fan, and were con- nected to the transmitting instruments situated in a build- ing (Fig. 6). The transmitting condenser used with this aérial had a capacity of one-fiftieth of a microfarad, and was charged to a potential sufficient to produce a suitable spark dis- charge between spheres 3 inches in diameter, 13 inches apart, the wave-length being 1200 feet. The actual power employed for the production of the waves was about 15 kilowatts. I left for Newfoundland on November 27, 1901, with two assistants. As it was impossible at that time of the year to set up a permanent installation with poles, I decided to carry out the experiments by means of receivers con- nected to elevated wires supported by balloons or kites—a system which I had previously used when conducting tests across the Bristol Channel for the Post Office in 1897.* It will be understood, however, that when it came to flying a kite on the coast of Newfoundland in the month of December this method was neither an easy nor a com- FIC.G When the kites were got up much difficulty fortable one. was caused by the variations of the wind producing con- stant changes in the angle and altitude of the wire, thereby causing corresponding variations in its electrical capacity and period of electrical resonance. My assistants at Poldhu, in Cornwall, had received instructions to send on and after December 11, during certain hours every day, a succession of S’s followed by a short message, the whole to be transmitted, at a certain pre-arranged speed, every ten minutes, alternating with five minutes’ rest. Owing to the constant variations in the capacity of the aérial wire in Newfoundland, it was soon discovered -nat an ordinary syntonic receiver was not suitable, although, at one time, a number of doubtful signals were recorded. I therefore tried various microphonic self-restoring coherers placed either directly in the aérial or included in the secondary circuit of an oscillation transformer, the signals being read on a telephone. On December 12 the signals transmitted from Cornwall were clearly received, at the pre-arranged times, in many cases a succession of S’s being heard distinctly, although probably in consequence of the weakness of the signals and the constant variations in the height of the receiving aérial no actual message could be deciphered. The follow- ing day we were able to confirm the result. The signals were actually read by myself and by my assistant, Mr. G. S. Kemp. 1 ‘Signalling through Space without Wires,” lecture by Sir William Preece, Royal Institution, June 4, 1897. Proc. R.I., xv., p. 467. 236 I have often been asked why I adhered to the practice of transmitting series of the letter S for these tests. The reason is that the switching arrangements at the send- ing station at Poldhu were not constructed at that time in such a manner as to withstand long periods of opera- tion—especially if letters containing dashes were sent— without considerable wear and tear, and that if S’s were sent an automatic sender could- be employed. Moreover, the immediate object of these experiments was -not: to transmit actual messages across the ocean, but to ascertain the possibility of detecting the effects of electric waves at a distance of 2000 miles. The result obtained, although achieved with imperfect apparatus, was sufficient to convince me and my co-workers that by means of permanent stations (that is, stations not dependent on kites or balloons for sustaining the elevated conductor) and by the employment of more power in the transmitters it would be possible to send messages across the Atlantic Ocean with the same facility with which they were being sent over much shorter distances. About two months later, in February, 1902, further tests were carried out between Poldhu and a receiving station on board the American liner Philadelphia, en route from Southampton to New York. The sending apparatus at Poldhu was the same as that used for the Newfoundland experiments. The receiving aérial on the ship was fixed to the mainmast, the top of which was 60 metres above sea-level. As the elevated conductor was fixed, and not floating about with a kite, as in the case of the Newfound- land experiments, good results were obtained cn a syntonic CHART OF NORTH ATLANTIC SHOWING TRACKS OF RN.CARLO ABERTO U,S.FLS. PHILADELPHIA _AND TRANSATLANTIC TELEGRAPH STATIONS. ——SSSSSSSSSS———————— Fic. 7. receiver, and the signals were all recorded on tape by the ordinary Morse recorder. On the Philadelphia readable messages were received from Poldhu up to a distance of 1551 miles, S’s and other test letters as far as 2099 miles. Although I never -had the slightest doubt in my mind as to the genuineness of what was accomplished between Poldhu and Newfoundland, the results obtained on’ the Philadelphia amply prove that the station at Poldhu was capable at that time of transmitting signals to a distance of at least 2000 miles, which is the -distance separating Cornwall from. Newfoundland, and that if it was practic- able to send a message over 2000 miles of sea from ‘shore to ship, it should also be practicable to send it over the same space of ocean from shore to shore. A result of some scientific interest which I first noticed during the tests on the s.s. Philadelphia was the very marked effect of sunlight on the propagation of electric Waves over great distances. At the time of these tests I was of opinion that this effect might have been due to the loss of energy at the transmitter by daytime, caused by the dis-electrification of the -highly charged transmitting elevated conductor operated by the influence of sunlight. I am now inclined to believe that the absorption of electric waves during day- time is due to the ionisation of the gaseous molecules of the air effected by ultra-violet light, and as the ultra- violet rays which emanate from the sun are largely 1 Proc. Roy. Soc., Ixx., p. 344, ““A Note on the Effect of Daylight upon the Propagation of Electro-magnetic Impulses over Long Distances.”’ Paper read June 12, 1902, NO. 2060, VOL. 8o] Nal TORE [APRIL 22, 1909 absorbed in the upper atmosphere of the earth,-it is prob+ able that the portion of the earth’s atmosphere whichis facing the sun will contain more ions or electrons: than that portion which is in darkness, and therefore, as Prof: J. J. Thomson (Phil. Mag., August, 1902, Ser. 6, ‘iv., p- 253) has shown, this illuminated and ionised air: will absorb some of the energy of the electric waves. The fact- remains that clear’ sunlight- and: blue skies, though transparent to light, act as a kind of fog to powerful Hertzian waves. Hence the weather conditions prevailing in this country are usually suitable for long-distance wire- less telegraphy. } Apparently the amplitude of the electrical oscillations and the lengths of waves radiated have much to do with the interesting phenomena, small amplitudes and long waves being subject to the effect of daylight to a less degree than large amplitudes and short waves. I never considered that this daylight effect would: be an insuperable ‘obstacle to Transatlantic telegraphy, as sufficient sending energy could be used during daytime to make up for'the loss of range of the transmissions. , . Turning again to Newfoundland, I ought to add that the experiments could not there be continued or exterided in consequence of the hostile attitude of the Anglo-American Telegraph Company, which claimed all ‘rights for tele- graphy, whether wireless or otherwise, in Newfoundland. ' BN Tae x \ xT: x Ka x] ci Xe KA ky M CX ex XxX KX mm KY 2, x K mx Kd ke ‘2 XX Q XX DIOS SZ axa X2 QO Dx However, as I had received an offer of assistance from the Canadian Government, it was decided to resume the tests between Great Britain and Canada, and these tests were very greatly facilitated by the subsidy of 16,o00l. granted by the Canadian Government to support my ex-~ periments. The construction of another long-distance station was, therefore, commenced at Glace Bay, in Nova Scotia, and .very extensive. tests and experiments . were carried on with Poldhu during the latter part of 1902. Contemporaneously with the construction of the station at Glace Bay, alterations and modifications were executed at Poldhu. Four wooden lattice towers, each 210 feet high, were erected at the corners of a square of 200-feet side. The towers carried insulated. triatic stays, from which was suspended a conical arrangement of four hundred copper wires forming the aérial, put,up in sections, so that more or less could be employed (Fig. 8). .The buildings for the generating plant were placed in the middle of the space between: the; towers. Additional machinery was’ obtained; and alterations carried out in accordance with the experience obtained from previous tests. Identical towers and aérial time adopted at: the stations similar installation Mass. : In most of the experiments carried on from Poldhu the capacity of the sending condenser was one-thirtieth’ of. a microfarad, the spark-length 12 inches, and the wave-length 3600 feet. In these and subsequent tests the double con- arrangements were at that at Glace Bay, and at’ the in course of erection at Cape Cod, APRIL 22, 1909] NATURE 237 denser arrangement of Dr. Fleming was replaced by a single condenser, the arrangement being similar to that shown in Fig. 3. During the time that constructional work was in progress at Glace Bay, I carried out some tests with Poldhu over considerable distances, and these tests were greatly facili- tated by the interest taken in them by the Italian Govern- ment, which placed the cruiser Carlo Alberto at my dis- posal. During these experiments the interesting fact was observed that, when using waves of more than 1000 metres in length, intervening land or mountains do not bring about any considerable reduction in the distance over which it is possible to communicate. Thus messages and Press des- patches were received from Poldhu at the positions marked on the map (Fig. 9), which map is a copy of the one accompanying the official report of the experiments (Revista Marittima, Rome, October, 1902). In December, 1902, messages were for the first time exchanged at night between the stations at Poldhu and Glace Bay, but it was found that communication was ex- ceedingly difficult and untrustworthy from England to Canada, whilst it was good in the opposite direction. The reason for this is that the Glace Bay station was equipped with more powerful and more expensive machinery—a con- dition rendered possible by the subsidy granted by the Canadian Government; whilst as regards Poldhu, owing to TRACK OF RNCARLO-ALBERTC LY AGT «TOE 1302 the uncertainty of what might or might not be the attitude of the British Government at that time towards the work- ing of the station, my company was unwilling to expend large sums of money for the purpose of increasing its range of transmission. As, however, messages could be sent then for the first time by wireless telegraphy from Canada to England, inaugural messages were dispatched to the Sovereigns of England and Italy, both of whom had previously given me much assistance and encouragement in my work, and who, by their gracious replies, attested their appreciation of the results which had been achieved. Other messages were also sent to England by the Government of Canada. Further tests were shortly afterwards carried out with the long-distance station at Cape Cod, in the United States of America, and a message from President Roosevelt was transmitted from that station to His Majesty the King in London. It is curious to note, in regard to the transmission of this message, that the energy employed at Cape Cod was barely 10 kilowatts, and it was not anticipated that this amount of energy would be sufficient to carry direct to Poldhu. The message was therefore transmitted from Cape Cod, instructions having been given to the operators at Glace Bay to be on the look-out, and to repeat wirelessly on to Poldhu any message received from Cape Cod, and my assistant, Mr. P. J. Woodward, at Poldhu, took in the message on one of my magnetic detectors.‘ The electro- magnetic waves conveying this message travelled, therefore, 3000 miles through space over the Atlantic, which distance included about 500 miles of land, following an arc of 45 degrees on a great circle. (To be continued.) 1 Proc. Roy. Soc., Ixx., p. 341, “‘ Note on a Magnetic Detector of Electric Waves which can be employed as a Receiver for Space Telegraphy.” NO. 2060, VOL. So] [ THE, PHYSICS OR (GOL N two articles recently published in the Times (March 16 and 23) Sir Ralph Payne-Gallwey has extended in an interesting way the earlier results in the physics of golf which the late Prof. Tait communicated to Nature between the years 1887 and 1894. In Sir Ralph’s experiments the golf balls were projected mechanically by means of a catapult, the ball being either thrown from a cup at the end of the rotating arm or hit off as it hung at the end of a gossamer thread by a blow from the arm. In either case the initial conditions of projection must differ from those which exist in the ordinary mode of propulsion, and it would have been interesting to have had some com- parisons. As Tait conclusively showed, the great factor in long driving was the underspin communicated to the ball by the impact of the club in a line below the centre of gravity. Hence the value of the roughened ball, causing not only a better grip between the ball and the club, but also making more efficient the effect of the resistance of the air in producing the uplifting force. Sir Ralph Payne- Gallwey shows experimentally that the ball must not be too much roughened, and that, indeed, a distinctly less roughening than is usual is sufficient to ensure the maxi- mum carry. It is obvious that with a very rough surface the resistance of the air will rapidly cut down the rotation, and thereby diminish the transverse force which lifts the ball against gravity. Sir Ralph does well in directing attention to the necessity of a truly centred ball. The golfer can readily test the ball in this respect by floating it in water (Tait used to use mercury) and noting whether or not it comes quickly to the same position. If it comes quickly always to the same position it is badly centred, and must be rejected. As all bowlers know, the lack of true centring will give a bias which cannot but produce inaccurate putting. In the flight through the air the bad effects due to the centre of gravity being non-coincident with the centre of figure will probably come into evidence because of the shifting of the axis of rotation. Such a badly centred ball, when projected from the tee, will in general be sent off rotating about an axis which, though initially horizontal, is not a principal axis of inertia. Of necessity precessional motion will result, and the axis of spin will move away from its horizontal position. The phenomena which lead to the evils of slicing and pulling will at once declare themselves. Moreover, if the pre- cessional motion be rapid enough, it is conceivable that the ball might swerve in one direction during one part of its course, but in the other direction during another part of the same trajectory. A sinuous flight is. indeed, occasionally observed, but is generally attributed to the direct action of the wind. Sir Ralph Payne-Gallwey does not himself touch upon the ultimate dynamics of the problem, but confines himself entirely to the direct teach- ing of experiment. His conclusions are of great practical value to all devotees of the game, and it would be well if the manufacturers of golf-balls would test every ball they put on the market by the simple methods described by him. UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE. Tue Bristol Town Council has decided to contribute in the proportion of one penny in the pound on the rate, or about 7oool. per annum, towards the support of the pro- posed university for Bristol and the West of England, for which more than 200,000/. has been subscribed, mainly by members of the Wills family. Tue estimate of the amount required in the year end- ing March 31, 1910, for grants in aid of the expenses of certain universities and colleges in Great Britain is 217,400l. The following are the sub-heads under which Grants this vote will be accounted for by the Treasury. in aid, universities and colleges:—(A) University of London, Soool.; (B) Victoria University of Manchester, 2000l.; (C) University of Birmingham, 20001. ; (D) Uni- versity of Wales, 4oool.; (E) University of Liverpool, so00l.;. (F) Leeds University, 20001. ; (G) Sheffield Uni- versity, 20001.; (H) Scottish universities, 42,000l. ; (1) colleges, Great Britain, 100,000].; (J) university colleges, Wales, 12,0001.; (K) Welsh university and colleges, additional grant, 15,o00l.; increase, 15,000l. University College of North Wales (building fund), decrease, 20,0001. Provision is made as follows in other estimates for expenditure in connéction with the University of London :—buildings, external maintenance and repairs, 33581. ; rates, 45001. ; non-effective, 13171. ; total, 9175]. Tue Times announces that ‘‘ the German Aérial Navy League is organising a school for aéronauts which, it is said, will be opened at Friedrichshafen on October 1 of this year. The object of the school is to provide the necessary scientific and practical training for the crews of military and other airships. Only those who have been through an ‘ intermediate’ school and, in addition, have worked for a year in engineering shops, will be admitted as pupils. The course will extend over three years, of which the first will be devoted to theoretical instruction, the second to work in a construction yard, and the third to ascents in airships and flying machines.’? This announcement will be read with the more interest as a somewhat similar project forms a part of the programme of the recently formed Aérial League of Great Britain, the inaugural meeting of which at the Mansion House was so highly successful. It is much to be hoped that the promoters of the English scheme will succeed in maintaining the same high standard of admission, and the same length of training, that are contemplated in the above notice. It would be highly undesirable that an institution founded for the training of aéronauts should have to waste its resources by providing classes in elementary calculus and mechanics such as can be found at any technical college. Tue National Union of Teachers held its annual con- ference of delegates at Morecambe from April 10 to 15, and the meeting was thoroughly successful and the discussions full of interest, notwithstanding the rather unusual circumstance that there was no new Education Bill to be considered. The president, Mr. C. W. Hole, delivered the inaugural address, in the course of which he stated that the elementary schools have made great progress during recent years. The ancient system of payment by results has passed away, leaving all concerned happier and better for its disappearance; the liberty and confidence reposed in the teachers have resulted in the children being, not only rationally instructed, but also more properly educated. It remains for the Government to provide financial assist- ance in order that the size of the classes may be reduced and the staff rendered efficient in number and quality. In this connection Mr. Hole warmly approved Mr. Runci- man’s recent staffing circular. Resolutions were carried unanimously (1) in favour of larger grants from the National Exchequer; (2) regretting attempts made by certain local authorities to repudiate settled contracts of teachers in their service. At the sectional meetings papers were read by Mr. C. H. Wyatt and Mr. Ernest Gray on the supply and training of teachers, by Mr. A. R. Pickles on leaving examinations and scholarship competitions, and by Mr. Charles Bird on the teaching of handwork. Mr. Pickles quoted with approval the report of the British Science Guild on the relations of primary and secondary education, particularly the recommendation that the reports of teachers should supersede largely the present system of estimating ability by examinations. Tue Colonial Conference in 1907 pronounced in favour of reciprocity between the Governments and examining bodies throughout the Empire. The council of the Surveyors’ Institution has taken an important step for- ward by submitting a memorandum to the Colonial Secre- tary, which Lord Crewe has approved and dispatched to the officers administering the Governments of Canada, Newfoundland, Australia, New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, Cape of Good Hope, Natal, Transvaal, and Orange River Colony. The memorandum states that under existing conditions a surveyor has to pass examinations and comply with requirements, varying in different parts of the Empire, before he is allowed to practise. It is NO. 2060, VOL. 80] ATURE [APRIL 22, 1909 hoped, as a result of the present movement, to arrive at a uniform standard of qualification. A surveyor would then, having taken his diploma in England or one of the colonies, be eligible to practise in any part of the Empire, subject to an examination in the local land laws and conditions. In the event of an Imperial conference of surveyors being held, it will take place at the Surveyors’ Institution, and the chief points, so far as they have been formulated, for discussion would probably be the desira- bility of establishing reciprocity throughout the Empire :— (a) that a candidate must have matriculated at some recognised university, or passed an equivalent examination ; (b) that an examination in the theory of land surveying be then taken, the standard of this examination to be as high as that now in force in South Africa; (c) that the candidate be then required to pass an examination in practical surveying, and that he be ineligible to sit for this final examination until he has had at least two years’ experience with a practising surveyor. SOCIETiES AND ACADEMIES. Lonpon. Royal Society, December 10, 1908 —‘‘The Specific Heat of Air and Carbon Dioxide at Atmospheric Pressure, by the Continuous Electrical Method, at 20° C. and at 100° C.” By W. F. G. Swann. Communicated by Prof. H. L. Callendar, F.R.S. The continuous electrical method possesses two main advantages over the method of mixtures; it enables the specific heats to be measured over small ranges of tempera- ture, and further, the elimination of the heat loss does not depend upon the results of a set of experiments in which the conditions are different to those which hold in the main experiments. The mean of a large number of measurements of the specific heats, agreeing to about I part in 1000, gave the following results :— Air Carbon dioxide. 0'24173 cal.per gram degree at 20° C, | 0'20202 cal.per gram degree at 20° C. 0°24 301 Ss i] too" C. | o'22141 ap a 100° C. An accurate comparison with the values deduced on theoretical considerations from Joly’s measurements at constant volume can be made in the case of air, and the agreement is shown to be nearer than to 1 part in 1000. The comparison can only be made in a rough manner for carbon dioxide, and the agreement is to 1 per cent. : The results obtained are about 2 per cent. higher than those obtained by former investigators. The experiments of Regnault are discussed as a typical example, and it is pointed out that an uncertainty amounting to 5 per cent. (tending to make the results too low) probably exists in those experiments, owing to the fact that the heat loss was determined by a set of observations in which the con- ditions were different to those which held in the main experiments. March 25.—Sir Archibald Geikie, K.C.B., president, in the chair.—Liberation of helium from radio-active minerals by grinding: J. A. Gray. (1) Helium is liberated from thorianite, and a liberation of 28 per cent. has been effected; (2) the smaller the mineral is ground the more helium is liberated; (3) this liberation has a temporary limit when the mineral is reduced to a size of about 3p; (4) it is impossible to say how the remaining 72 per cent. of helium is contained in the mineral, and to how much finer than 1 mw the mineral would have to be reduced to liberate the helium.—The expulsion of radio-active matter in the radium transformations: Sidney Russ and W. Makower. When the radium emanation is transformed into radium A, the process is accompanied by the emission of a particles with a velocity of 1-70X10° centimetres per second. The portion of the atom from which the a particle has been emitted, which constitutes the radium A, must therefore recoil in a direction opposite to that in which the @ particle is projected. If we further consider that the mass of the a particle is 4(H=1), and that of the active deposit of the order roo, it follows that at the moment of its formation this product must be travelling with a velocity of the order 10’ centimetres per second. In ordinary circumstances, when the emanation is mixed with air at atmospheric pressure, the radium A particle ———-—tO APRIL 22, 1909] NA LORE 232 will possess only sufficient energy to permit it to travel produced in any convenient manner, thrown upon the a fraction of a millimetre before being stopped by collision with air molecules. On the other hand, at very low pressures, these particles should travel considerable distances without being stopped by the rarefied air, and come to rest on the enclosure containing the emanation. The case is similar for the formation of radium B from radium A. To investigate these phenomena, discs were suspended, in vacuo, above surfaces rendered active by the various disintegration products of radium, and the activity obtained on the discs after exposure was measured in the normal manner by a quadrant electrometer. The principal results obtained in this paper may be summarised as follows :—(1) When radium emanation, in radio-active equilibrium with its products of disintegration, is con- densed at the bottom of an evacuated tube immersed in liquid air, active deposit particles are radiated up the tube. This phenomenon is ascribed to the recoil of the residual atom when an a particle is emitted. (2) The law of absorption of this radiation, both in air and hydrogen, has been investigated. The radiation reaching a surface at a fixed distance from the condensed emanation is an exponential function of the gas pressure. (3) From the rate of decay of the activity collected on a surface ex- posed to the radiation from the emanation, it appears that both radium A and radium B reach the surface. (4) Radium B and radium C are both radiated through a vacuum from a surface previously rendered active by exposure to the emanation. Supposing that radium B emits only f particles, the radiation of radium C must be due to the recoil of the atoms when 8 particles are emitted.—Sphaerostoma ovale, n. gen., and Crossotheca Grievii, n. spec., an account of the structure and relations of the reproductive organs of Heterangium Grievii: Dr. Margaret Benson. Sphaerostoma ovale (Conostoma ovale et intermedium, Williamson) is the earliest Palaeozoic ovule ; so far known structurally. It is a small ovule 3-5 mm. in length, and shows the same general type of organisa- tion as the ‘‘ Lagenostoma ”’ series of ovules. The pollen- chamber, however, does not engage with the micropyle, but opens and closes with a very perfect mechanism, some- what reminiscent of the peristome and epiphragm of Poly- trichum. The paper also deals with the relation of this ovule to Heterangium Grievii, and with a new Crossotheca | which is attributed to the same plant. Physical Society, March 26.—Dr. C. Chree, F.R.S., president, in the chair.—The production of steady elec- trical oscillations in closed circuits, and a method of test- ing radio-telegraphic receivers: Dr. J. A. Fleming and G. B. Dyke. By the use of two such nearly closed oscillatory circuits, one being employed as a transmitting station and the other as a receiving ‘station, these being placed at a distance of a few hundred yards from each other, what is practically equivalent to radio-telegraphic stations with open oscillators at very large distances can be constructed. Methods were described for producing in one of the closed circuits extremely constant damped oscillations by means of an induction coil or transformer, a spark-gap on which a steady jet of air is allowed to impinge, and a suitable mercury break. Means were described for ascertaining when the current in this trans- mitting circuit is constant. Instances were given of the ease with which detectors of various types, such as a magnetic detector, electrolytic detector, crystal detector, and ionised gas detector, could be compared for relative sensibility.—Effect of an air blast upon the spark discharge of a condenser charged by an induction coil or trans- former: Dr. J. A. Fleming and H. W. Richardson. When an oscillatory discharge of a condenser takes place across the spark-gap in the usual manner by charging the condenser by an induction coil or transformer, the inter- mittent spark which takes place is a complex effect. It consists partly of a true condenser discharge and partly of an alternating-current arc due to current coming directly out of the induction coil or transformer. This arc dis- charge is a source of difficulty in making accurate quanti- tative measurements with electrical oscillations, and to produce a uniform oscillatory discharge this true arc dis- charge must be prevented or arrested. It was shown in the paper that this can be done by a regulated air blast NO. 2060, VOL. 80] spark-gap, provided that the spark-gap is small. The paper also described experiments made to investigate the effect of breaking up the spark-gap into smaller spark- gaps in series, both when the gaps were subjected to an air blast and also without the air blast.—The action between metals and acids and the conditions under which mercury causes evolution of hydrogen: Dr. S. W. J. Smith. The action between an acid and a metal, which results in the replacement of hydrogen, can be formulated without the aid of any hypothesis beyond the assumption that it is approximately reversible. The mode of formula- tion suggests a kinetic picture of the process by which equilibrium is in certain cases attained. This was de- scribed by the author, and it was pointed out that if a steady state is reached, after a certain quantity of hydrogen has been evolved, it will be defined by an equation of the form ahM=bmH. In this, a and b are constants at a given temperature, h and m are the concentrations of the hydrogen ions and of the metal ions respectively in solu- tion, and H and M are specific constants of hydrogen and of the metal. The experiments described in the paper may be regarded as an attempt to justify the above equation when the metal is mercury. Zoological Society, April 6.—Mr. F. Gillett, vice-presi- dent, in the chair.—Description of a new form of Ratel (Mellivora) from Sierra Leone, with notes upon the de- scribed African forms of this genus: R. I. Pocock.—An ichthyosporidian causing a fatal disease in sea-trout : Muriel Robertson.—A small series of fishes from Christmas Island, collected by Dr. C. W. Andrews: C. Tate Regan. Seven new species were described, com- prising five blennies, a Pampeneus, and a Cirrhites. In connection with the last-named, it was pointed out that the Cirrhitide, as defined and limited by Dr. Giinther, with the addition of Haplodactylus, form a very natural family.—Some new and _ little-known Hesperide from tropical West Africa: H. H. Druce. The paper contained remarks on, and descriptions of, some new forms of these butterflies lately obtained by Mr. G. L. Bates on the Ja River, Cameroons, and others from Nigeria. New species of the genera Abantis, Acleros, Gorgyra, Parnara, and Ceratrichia were described. Paris. Academy of Sciences, April 13.—M. Bouchard in the chair.—The diffraction of Hertzian waves: H. Poincare. —A general solution of the spectroheliograph: H. Deslandres. The spectroheliograph described, which is installed at Meudon, consists of four different spectro- heliographs arranged round one collimator and astro- nomical objective, and controlled by four synchronised electric motors. These spectrographs are arranged for different classes of work, some having two and others three slits. The apparatus has already given interesting results on the black filaments of the upper layers of the solar atmosphere, especially the images of K, and Ha.— The transformations of the associated O networks: Cc. Guichard.—The integration of certain functional in- equalities : Arnaud Denjoy.—A problem of Fourier : Henri Larosse.—The action of a continuous current on sym- metrical Ghains of electrolytes not having common ons: M. Chanoz. Study of the gases disengaged by the action of copper ‘salts on steels: E. Goutal. Three steels were studied, containing respectively 0-29, 0-64, and 1-38 per cent. of carbon, the solution used for the attack being that of the double chloride of copper and potassium con- taining a few drops of hydrochloric acid to the litre. The carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and hydrocarbons evolved were determined separately. The loss of carbon thus deter- mined amounted to o-o1 to 0-05 per cent., and this loss is reduced by about one-half if the carbon in the residue is estimated without drying.—The quantitative analysis of the occluded gases in the lava from the last eruptions of Mt. Pelée and Vesuvius: M. Grossmann. Estimations were made of the total quantity of gas per 100 grams, and figures given for the amounts of carbon dioxide, oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and methane. The various products from Vesuvius show marked differences in the quantity and composition of the gases evolved.— 240 NATURE [APRIL 22, 1909 The distribution of ferments in plant members and tissues : C. Gerber.—The hypotensive function of choline in the organism: Jean Gautrelet. By means of the Florence reaction, choline has been recognised in various glands of the horse, sheep, pig, ox, and dog. The hypotensive action of the alcoholic extract is shown to be due to the choline present, since this action disappears if the choline is pre- cipitated. The alcoholic extract of the glands exactly neutralises the hypertensive action of adrenalin.—The intra-dermo-reaction to tuberculin in the treatment of tuberculosis: Charles Mantoux. The intradermal re- action can be used to measure the sensibility of the sub- ject, and to control the quantity of tuberculin necessary for injection. The local reactions serve as a guide for the conduct of the treatment, and render it much more certain.—The treatment of genito-urinary troubles by direct action on the nervous centres: Pierre Bonnier. Details are given of the beneficial effects of slight cauterisations of the nasal mucous membranes in various diseases, especially those connected with the genito-urinary functions.—Sero-anaphylaxis of the dog: Maurice Arthus. —Sero-anaphylaxis of the rabbit: Maurice Arthus. —Some new facts concerning the transgressivity and the tectonic observed in the mountains of Algeria and Tunis : J. Roussel.—The polar magnetic storms in 1882 and 1883: M. Birkeland. DIARY OF SOCIETIES. THURSDAY, APRit 22. Royat Society, at 4.30.—Dynamic Osmotic Pressures: The Earl of Berkeley, F.R.S., and E. G. J. Hartley.—(t) The Thecrv of Ancestral Contributions in Heredity ; (2) The Ancestral Gametic Correlations of a Mendelian Population Mating at Random: Prof. Karl Pearson, F.R.S.—The Intracranial Vascular System of Sphenodon: Prof. A. Dendy, F.R.S —On the Graphical Determination of Fresnel’s Integrals: J. H. Shaxby. Matuematicat Soctety, at 5.30.—The General Principles of the Theory of Integral Equations: F. Tavani.—The Equations of Electro- dynamics and the Null Influence of the Earth’s Motion on Optical and Electrical Phenomena: H. R. Hassé.—The Solution of a Certain Transcendental Equation: G. N. Watson.—The Physical Applications of Certain Conformal Transformations of a Space of Four Dimensions and the Representation of a Space Time Point by Means of a Sphere: H. Bateman.—Some Criteria for the Residues of Eighth and Other Powers : A. E. Western.—On the Discontinuities of a Function of One or More Real Variables: Dr. W. H. Young. INSTITUTION OF MiInING AND METALLURGY, at 8.--The Valuation of Mining Areas on the Rand: W. Fischer Wilkinson.—The ‘ Wholesale” Idea in Gold Mining: W. R. Feldtmann.—The Computation of the Present Value of Developed and Undeveloped Mines : W. H. Goodchild. INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—The Electrical System of the London County Council Tramways : J. H. Rider. FRIDAY, Apri 23. Royat InstiruTion, at 9.—Tantalum and its Industrial Applications : A. Siemens. PuysicaL Society, at 5.—On a Want of Symmetry shown by Secondary X-Rays: Prof. W. H. Bragg, F.R.S., and J. L. Glasson.—Transformations of X-Rays: C. A. Sadler.—Theory ‘of the Alternate Current Generator : Prof. T. R, Lyle. INSTITUTION OF CiviL ENGINEERS, at 8.—The Development of Hydro- electric Power Schemes; with Special Reference to Works at Kinlochleven : J. M. S. Culbertson. INSTITUTION OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS, J. A. F. Aspinall. at 8.—Presidential Address : SATURDAY, Apri 24. Roya InstITUTION, at 3.—The Earth Movements of the Italian Coast and their Effects: R. T. Giinther. MONDAY, Aprit 26. Roya Socirty or Arts, at 8.—Aérial Flight : F.W. Lanchester. INSTITUTE OF ACTUARIES, at 5.—Notes on Mortality and Life Assurance in India: A. T. Winter. InstiTUTION or Civ. ENGINEERS, at 8.—Road Motors (‘James Forrest’ Lecture): Colonel H. C. L.- Holden, F.R.S. TUESDAY, Apri 27. Royat InstiTuTION, at 3.—The Brain in Relation to Right-handedness and Speech: Prof. F. W. Mott, F.R.S. Roya STaTiIsTICAL Society, at 5. ZooLoGicaL Socirry, at 8.30. Farapay Society, at 8.—Experiments on the Current- and Energy- Efficiencies of the Finlay Alkali Chlorine Cell: Dr. F. G. Donnan, Dr. J. T. Barker, and B. P. Hill.—On the Coefficients of Absorption of Nitrogen and Oxygen in Distilled Water and Sea-water, and of Atmo- pheric Carbonic Acid in Sea-water: Dr. C. J. J. Fox. —On the Electro- motive Force of Certain Platinum Compounds, with Special Reference to the Oxygen-Hydrogen Gas Cell: Dr. P. E. Spielmann. UnstiruTion oF Civic ENGINEERS, at 8.—Annual General Meeting. NO. 2060, VOL. 8o] WEDNESDAY, Apri 28. Geo.ocicat Society, at 8.—The Boulders of the Cambridge Drift: their Distribution and Origin: R. H. Rastall and J. Romanes.—The ene and Magnesian Rocks of the South Island of New Zealand: A. M. Finlayson. Royat Society oF ArTS, at 8.—The Resources of the Peruvian Andes and the Amazon: C. R. Enoch. BritisH ASTRONOMICAL ASSOCIATION, at 5. THURSDAY, Apri 29. Roya Society, at 4.30.—Probable Papers: A Phenomenon connected with the Discharge of Electricity from Pointed Conductors (with a Note by Prof. J. Zeleny): Prof. H. T. Barnes and A. N. Shaw.—On the Effect of Temperature on Ionization: J. A. Crowther.—The Wave- making Resistance of Ships; a Theoretical and Practical Analysis: T. H. Hayelock.—The Ionisation in Various Gases by Secondary y Rays : R. D. Kleeman. Royat Society oF Arts, at 4.30.—The Problem of Indian Labour Supply : S. H. Fremantle. FRIDAY, APRIL 30. Roya Institution, at 9.—The Pitfalls of Biography: Dr. Gosse. SATURDAY, May 1. Roya InstiruTion, at 3.—The Earth Movements of the Italian Coast and their Effects: R. T. Giinther. Edmund CONTENTS. PAGE Man’s Hairy Covering. Eye Prof. G. Elliot Smith, F.R.S. Ate c eee ee 2) 2Ly The Habitability oF Mars Ah he oar 212 An Atlas of the Empire... . + D2 Industrial Electricity. By Prof, Giepent Kanoe Shs eZ A German Text-book of Zoology. By A.D. .. 214 Some New Chemical Books. ByJ. B.C. ..... 215 Our Book Shelf :— Stérring: ‘‘ Mental Pathology in its Relation to Normal Psychology. A Course of Lectures delivered in the University of Leipzig” 216 Phin: ‘* The Evolution of the Atmosphere as a Proof of Design in Creation.” —W. E. Rolston . 216 Bridges: ‘‘ Essays and Addresses” . . . 217 Letters to the Editor :— Upper Air Temperatures.—E. Gold . . aoe, 37) The Greenwich Winter of 1908-9. —Alex. B. MacDowall. . . 218 Fluorescence of Lignum. Nephriticum. _Dr. O. “Stapf, 11 Ratsb wl Bond eae 218 Morphology of the Enteropneusta.—Dr. Arthur Willey, F.R.S. 4 218 General Results of the Meteorological (earace ar the Ofarza on the Atlantic in 1995, 1906, and 1907. (With Diagrams.) By L. Teisserenc de Bort and Prof. A. Lawrence Rotch . ae ee . 219 Aviation, Mathematical and Otherwise. By Prof. G. H. Bryan, RSS? eee Ss hays meee Dew-Ponds. By E.A.M. 2: .... 223 Notes . : le Bs 224 Our Astronomical Column: a Halley’s Comet . . . Oa diesico 228 Pressure in the Sun’s Atmosphere ; Sere nn 229 The Spectra of Nebulee 6 Guo) ns Meta 229 The Orbits of Spectroscopic Binaries 5 é 229 The Circularity of Planetary Orbits Sete o> 22%) The Natural History Museum. By Profs. J. C. Ewart, F.R.S., A. Sedgwick, F.R.S., Sydney J. Hickson, F.R. S. , and Gilbert C. Bourne . 229 Daylight and Devinces Macel? ero, Ube fd : 2g0 Producer Gas for Engines. II Tests and Efficiencies. Eee) By J. Emerson Dowson. : Wists ed , 232 Transatlantic Wireless iteleararee (Lilustrated.) By Commendatore G. Marconi cheat: 233 The Physics of Golf : cha 237 University and Educational Inveliicencen 5 « 237 Societies’and Academies) 2\5n 71-1) yes) ee Diayysof Societies” |... |. lcmew ee areneninls 240 NATURE 241 THURSDAY, APRIL 29; 1909. CENTRAL-AMERICAN ORTHOPTERA. Biologia Centrali-Americana. Insecta. Orthoptera, Vol. I., by Dr. Henri de Saussure, assisted by Dr. Leo Zehntner and A. Pictet. The Forficulide, by Count de Bormans (1893-1899). Vol. II., the Acridiidz, by Prof. Lawrence Bruner [the Tettiginae, by Albert P. Morse], and the Phasmidz, by Robert Shelford (1900-1909). (London: Dulau and Co.) HE Orthoptera have been sadly neglected by British entomologists, and the sound systems of classification of the component families, which we now possess, are due almost entirely to the researches of Continental naturalists. It is therefore not sur- prising, though perhaps a little galling to one’s sense of patriotism, to find that the study of Central American Orthoptera in the Godman-Salvin collection was entrusted to French, Swiss, Austrian, and American entomologists. The result of their combined labours is a magnificent memoir on a most interesting order of insects from one of the most interesting regions of the world; it is, in fact, the only complete memoir on a tropical orthopterous fauna that has been published, and we venture to prophesy that this posi- tion will long remain unchallenged. The faunistic memoirs of Grandidier’s ‘‘ Histoire de Madagascar,”’ which alone can compare with the ‘‘ Biologia Centrali- Americana,’’ appear to have come to a premature end; whilst naturalists like Dr. Godman and the late Mr. Salvin, with the energy, public spirit, and sufficient pecuniary resources to institute zoological surveys of other tropical lands, are unfortunately seldom found. The first volume of the memoir under notice began to appear in 1893, and it was completed in 1899; it treats of the Forficulida, Blattide, Mantide, Gryllide, and Locustide. The Forficulide were worked out by de Bormans, and are referred to forty- one species, of which eight are new to science; the author merely enumerates the species with descriptions of the new forms, but adds nothing to what was previously known on the taxonomy of the group. De Saussure and Zehntner, on the other hand, in their work on the Blattidze and Mantidz, publish valuable keys to the genera and species, and, in order to make the keys as complete as possible, have included a number of extra-Central-American forms; consequently these treatises have been since their publication standard works of reference. The largest cockroach known, Megaloblatta rufipes, occurs in Central America, and is fully described and well illustrated in this memoir. The authors remark on its resemblance in details of structure to the genus Blabera of a totally different subfamily, and they appear to regard the resemblance as mimetic. This interpretation is obviously erroneous; mimicry implies the superficial resemblance of structurally different animals, but Megaloblatta is superficially very different from Blabera, especially in colouring, and the structural resemblances of the two forms must be due either to convergence in development or to genetic relationship ; for our own part we are inclined to favour the latter NO. 2061, VOL. 80] view, and to believe that the systematic position of Megaloblatta has been wrongly determined. Since Brunner von Wattenwyl once enthusiastically that the system of of the Gryllidz evolved by de not the system! jof (ME de bien celui du Créateur Lui-méme,’’? it is only fitting that to the Swiss naturalist should have been entrusted the study of the Central American species, and entomologists may be congratulated on now possessing a most illuminating monograph of a difficult but fascinating group of insects. De Saussure was a systematist who delighted in discovering the relation of structure to function, and his entomological writings are full of references to the bionomics of the insects he studied, and of ingenious suggestions as to the use of the structures that they present. When dis- cussing, in the memoir now reviewed, the presence of four cerci in the genus Tridactylus, a character unique amongst the Orthoptera, he alludes to the amphibious habits of these little crickets, and suggests that the appendages serve to hold an air-bubble when the in- sects dive and swim under the surface of the water. The various modifications of elytral structure and venation to form stridulating organs in the Gryllida and Locustidze are admirably explained and clearly figured ; the fact is mentioned that many of the apterous Stenopelmatinze are endowed with auditory organs on the front tibize, and that stridulation is produced, as in the Acridiidze, by the friction of the hind femora, which are roughened on their inner aspect, against an apposed surface—in this case the sides of the abdomen. The second volume, containing a monograph on the Acridiida by L. Bruner and A. Morse, and a list of Phasmidz compiled by R. Shelford from the recent monograph on the family by Brunner von Wattenwyl and Redtenbacher, bears the dates 1900- 1909. The considerable period of time elapsing between the commencement and the completion of this volume is partly to be accounted for by the difficulty of working out the large collections of the difficult family of Acridiide, and partly by the conditions imposed by the Austrian entomologists when they undertook the determination of the Godman-Salvin collection of Phasmidz. They were unwilling to anti- cipate by preliminary memoirs their exhaustive mono- graph of the Phasmidze of the world, and would only undertake to describe the new genera and species from Central America in the monograph itself ; consequently it was impossible to publish anything on these insects in the ‘“ Biologia Centrali-Americana”’ until the monograph appeared in 1906-1908. The plates illus- trating the Central American species were prepared some years ago, but since, in some cases, the views on nomenclature of Brunner von Wattenwyl and Redten- bacher were subsequently modified, the legends on the plates do not always correspond with the names of the species as published in their monograph; such dis- crepancies as exist have, however, been explained in the references to the plates. The memoir on the Acridiidze is a valuable piece of work, and adds largely to our knowledge of them; some of the keys to the genera in the different subfamilies are, however, of most portentous length, occupying ten or twelve quarto K exclaimed classification Saussure was Saussure, ‘* mais 242 NATURE [APRIL 29, 1909 pages; it would have been advisable to split up the subfamilies into sections, and so to subdivide the keys into more handy form. A word of special praise must be accorded to the general editing and indexing of these two volumes, a task that has been most efficiently and conscientiously carried out. Res: COAL MINING. Practical Coal Mining. By Leading Experts in Mining and Engineering, under the Editorship of Prof. W.S. Boulton. Divisional Vol. VI. Pp. viii+177-440. (London: The Gresham Publishing Company, n.d.) HIS volume forms the final instalment of the above-named book, and brings to a conclusion this somewhat heterogeneous collection of articles re- lating to coal mining. The fifth volume was noticed in Nature of October 1, 1908, and it concluded in the midst of an article by Mr. A. H. Cooke on mine surveying, the entire article consisting of five chapters ; for reasons best known to themselves the pub- lishers have here again given an example of their irritating practice of concluding a volume in the midst of a paragraph. Mr. Cooke’s contribution maintains throughout a high standard, and in the absence of any modern British text-book on the subject is more especially welcome. He quite rightly lays stress upon the importance of triangulation for the purpose of survey- ing the surface of mining royalties, and his description of the field work of triangulation is very good and complete; the only omissions that we have noted, and these are not very important, are those of the use of such modern alloys as ‘‘invar’’ for bands for base- line measurements, and some reference to the employ- ment of satellite stations, when trigonometrical stations, otherwise highly suitable, are not cessible for setting up the theodolite. It would have been well to have devoted some space to the office work and calculations required, especially to the methods for calculating the coordinates of the triangulated points direct by the use of traverse tables alone. It might also be pointed out that whereas a chapter has been devoted to the correlation of underground and surface surveys, there is no mention made of the impor- tant portion of the mine surveyor’s duties that is com- prised under the general head of “ setting out,”’ e.g. the laying out of surface and underground roadways, curves, &c.; yet the latter is almost a daily part of the surveyor’s routine work, whilst the former, im- portant though it certainly is, constitutes an excep- tional operation that has only to be performed at long intervals. The second article, by Mr. S. W. Price, deals with the preparation of coal for the market. It is a great pity that more space was not devoted to this subject, in view of its great and daily increasing importance, and of the fact that the literature on the subject is so scanty. This latter reflection justifies the expression of some surprise that the author has not made use of the best—almost the only—contribution to his subject in modern British literature, namely, the report of the committee of the Mining Institute of Scotland on coal NO. 2061, VOL. 80] ac- cleaning, which he might have consulted with much advantage. The present article contains three chapters, the first on the handling and tipping of coal-tubs, the second on screening and picking coal, and the third on washing coal. The first two are entirely satis- factory, but the third is too short and sketchy, and is decidedly weak, especially in the theoretical portion. Thus the author seems to rely almost wholly on the principle of equal falling in order to explain the action of the jig or bash, without making it at all clear that in these appliances the régime of equal falling (when the particles are falling with practically uniform velo- city) is never really reached; it is, moreover, not quite correct to say with Pernolet that a particle reaches this ultimate velocity in the first second of its fall, because the time required to reach this condition depends upon the size and density of the particle, and may be much more than a second or only a fraction of that time. The author quotes Maurice and Bring with equal approval, or, if anything, lays more stress on the conclusions of the former, although Bring reaches his as the result of a vast amount of experimental work, whilst those of Maurice are mainly deduced from mathematical reasoning, which is, moreover, vitiated by the fact that it is all based on the assumption that the resistance offered by the water (or viscosity, as Maurice wrongly calls it) varies always as the square of the velocity of motion of the particle, whereas this relation is only approximately correct when a certain velocity has been attained, and is therefore not true in the initial stages of falling. Prof. W. Galloway contributes an excellent article on coke ovens, dealing exclusively, however, with retort and by-product ovens. He has gone almost exclusively to Germany for his data, and has succeeded in condensing a large amount of very valuable and not generally accessible information into his article. The last article is on the economics of coal, by Messrs. H. S. Jevons and David Evans. ‘This difficult subject is dealt with here far too briefly, and the writers do not seem to have the intimate technical knowledge that is required to discuss this subject thoroughly, though it is only right to say that in deal- ing with a subject like this, on which every writer has , own, wide differences of opinion to be expected. Thus to many it that the authors’ classification of the demand for coal is not satisfactory, and that a sharp line should be drawn between the demand for furnaces, factories, and the like, and the demand for transport purposes, by railways, and, above all, by steamships, the economic effects of these two requirements being quite different. The authors have included the requirements for manufacturing and for transport under one head, and thus obscure the results of certain conditions that are economically of distinct importance, as, for example, the effect that the annual closing of the Baltic Sea to navigation in winter has upon the price of coal. Further, it might be objected that the question of the life of a colliery and the necessity of the corresponding amortisation of the capital invested in the shafts and other permanent works has not received the consideration which this very important subject deserves. Henry Louts. views of his are naturally would seem APRIL 29, 1909! NATURE 243 A COMPREHENSIVE WORK ON DIPHTHERIA. The Bacteriology of Diphtheria. Edited by Dr. G. H. F. Nuttall, F.R.S., and Dr. G. S. Graham- Smith. Pp. xx+718. (Cambridge: University Press, 1908.) Price 25s. net. gle important work aims at a much more com- prehensive account of the essential facts under- lying the pathology of diphtheria than its title suggests. It is by far the most complete record of our present knowledge of this disease hitherto written in the English language. Not only is the bacteriology of diphtheria dealt with very fully, but chapters are included which cover the history of the disease, its epidemiology, its mortality, and an account of its toxins and antitoxins. Seeing that we have come to regard the antitoxin treatment as the only rational method of therapeusis in this disease, the reader has here before him practically all he may need to know about diphtheria, except certain clinical facts which he can easily find in any text-book of medicine. The inclusion of a short chapter embodying these facts, indeed, would have completed the whole subject from beginning to end. Of all the infective diseases which trouble mankind, diphtheria stands foremost as the one concerning which our knowledge seems most complete. It may be mere vanity to say so, but this knowledge appears to contain few, if any, gaps of vital consequence to the human race. The nature of the causal micro- organism is known, the methods of detecting this in afflicted persons are matters of everyday practice, and, most important of all, the specific remedy is in universal use. It is quite doubtful if all this can be said of any other infective disease. Were there room for boasting in the sphere of medical science, this array of brilliant discoveries connected with diphtheria might be quoted with pride as conquests for humanity, won by much toil in the face of great difficulties. These discoveries, of the utmost practical value in the treatment of the disease, constitute one of the greatest arguments against the statement oft- times made, that the results of animal experimentation prove this method of research to be devoid of useful results. Not only the discovery of the cause of the disease, but the very manufacture of the only remedy known to cure it, has depended almost solely upon animal experiments. The book opens with a short series of biographical sketches of the men whose names figure most pro- minently in connection with these discoveries: Bretonneau, who first recognised the clinical picture presented by the disease; Loeffler, who discovered the specific microbe; Behring, who first enunciated the principles of toxin and antitoxin; and Roux, to whose. studies we owe the preparation of anti-diphtherial serum. Excellent photographs accompany these sketches. The subject-matter proper of the book is contributed by well-chosen authors. To Prof. Loeffler is given the task of writing the history of the disease, resulting in fifty pages of most fascinating reading. Dr. News- hoime treats of the epidemiology and Prof. Mallory ' NO. 2061, VOL. 8o] of the pathology of diphtheria. The causal bacillus and its various congeners, with the modes of infection and methods of diagnosis, are dealt with by Dr. Graham-Smith. Matters of immunity, including the Gifficult subject of toxin and antitoxin, are discussed by Dr. Dean, and a most carefully written chapter on mortality comes from the pens of Drs. Park and Bolduan. The last-named writers also contribute a section upon serum sickness. A very full biblio- graphy, including all the papers extant upon the subject, and a useful index, complete the work. Sixteen plates are inserted, and the photomicrographs in these are excellently reproduced. Despite a most thorough acquaintance with the work, we have failed to find anything at which to carp. There is nothing to say except praise for the editors, who have produced a magnificent exposition of modern knowledge on this important disease—an exposition which must certainly take its place as the classical authority upon the subject. ASG dele ALLOYS. Alloys and their Industrial Applications. By E. F. Law. Pp. xvi+269; with numerous illustrations and plates. (London: C. Griffin and (Cos, Letds; 1909.) Price 12s. 6d. net. T is not easy to realise the unimportance or even insignificance of metals, as such, in the workaday world. Generally speaking, it is only when they are mixed together that they are converted from chemical curiosities into useful materials. The improvements in the properties of metals usually brought about by alloying them are a reduction in melting point so that they can be more easily melted and cast, and an increase in hardness, which confers’ greater strength and durability. The only general de- terioration caused by alloying a reduction in malleability and ductility, which can be put up with if it is not allowed to get out of hand. It is typical of the extent to which the essential and fundamental may be lost sight of amid the wealth of detail in modern study that the comparative lowness of the melting points of alloys is never once alluded to in the volume under review. It must not be concluded, however, that Mr. Law’s book is lacking in clearness of thought or in balance. It is the most important summary of the state of knowledge on the subject that has appeared for many years. More than this, it is a well-considered attempt to make the results of the recent scientific investiga- tions on alloys available to manufacturers and engineers. How far the attempt will be successful cannot yet be said. It is not the’ author’s fault that English manufacturers are wary birds, and that it is difficult to put the salt of research on their tails. It is not even his fault that much recent research has been somewhat beside the mark. Besides, efforts have not been spared to apply inves- tigations to the problems that most need solution. As soon as trustworthy pyrometers made their appearance, there was a rush to determine the melting points of alloys and then to ascertain the nature and extent of is 244 NATURE [APRIL 29, 1909 their pasty stages. The hardness of alloys was found to be due in many cases to the formation of inter- metallic compounds, and straightway the conditions of formation of numbers of these were investigated. The toughness and ductility of alloys were seen to be con- nected with their structure, and the effects of anneal- ing, quenching, and the like on the structure were accordingly subjected to careful scrutiny. It is natural for scientific observers to lose sight of the practical bearing of their work, and to wander, in the author’s words, ‘‘in the intricacies of solid solutions, hyper- eutectics, solidus curves and phases,’’ whither the manufacturer refuses to follow them. It has been Mr. Law’s business to show that there is another side to research, and that something has been done besides the manufacture of a set of new labels. On the whole the result of his labours is promising. The book is written in an easy conversational manner, which encourages the reader to continue seeing what the author has to say. About 100 pages are devoted to the general properties of alloys and the methods of investigating them, and the remainder to special descriptions of particular alloys. Only those employed in the industries are dealt with, and though at first sight this seems to leave many gaps, we are reconciled to the method as we realise how much space is saved for useful and practical remarks. Both sections have been carefully prepared, and mistakes are far from numerous. Among those noticed is the statement on p. 219, and again on p. 221, that 5 per cent. of cadmium is added to standard silver in America as a deoxidant. This should, of course, be § per 1000. Then the definition of ‘‘ isomorphous ”’ in the glossary, ‘‘a term applied to crystals exhibiting similarity in form,’’? leaves much to be desired. The “ glossary of terms ”’ generally is weal, alike in respect of omissions and of inexactness. The author is happier when dealing with photomicrography. Both the colour photographs reproduced in the frontispiece and the series of plates at the end of the book are really handsome illustrations of the structure of metals, and are far in advance of the smudgy photographs or diagrammatic drawings usually associated with such work. Tike Re ASTRONOMICAL DETERMINATION OF POSITION FROM BALLOON. Astronomische Ortsbestimmung im Ballon. Adolf Marcuse. Pp. 67. 1909.) HE great advances made in aérial transit, by which long-distance voyages are rendered possible by ordinary spherical balloons, while hundreds of miles may be travelled by dirigibles, and the prospect of long-distance voyages in the rapidly improving aéro- planes, suggest at once the important problem of the determination of the astronomical position of these craft at any moment. During the daytime, while the earth is in view and not rendered invisible by cloud strata below, the experi- enced aéronaut can easily locate his position by means NO. 2061, VOL. 80] By Prof. (Berlin: Georg Reimer, of the many excellent large-scale charts at his dis- posal. On clear nights, by means of the light of the moon, he is also able to follow his course, and, failing the moon, he can pick up his whereabouts by closely observing the lighted-up cities and towns as he approaches them. With, however, no glimpse of the earth below him, the only two facts which he has in his possession are his height from the ground and the magnetic cardinal points. In a spherical balloon this knowledge does not inform him whether he is travelling in a northerly, southerly, easterly, or westerly direction. In a dirig- ible he may head his craft in the direction of any of the points of the compass, but then his leeway will be an unknown, probably a very considerable, quantity, and he will soon find that his position in relation to the earth’s surface is unknown. For navigating purposes it is as important to know exactly where one is when travelling in the air as it is to a sailor when his ship is ploughing the ocean. The volume before us is therefore very welcome, for Prof. Marcuse brings together, in a very concise and simple manner, methods which can and have been employed on actual voyages. It must be understood, in the first instance, that very rigid determination of position cannot at present be attempted. In the first place, the basket of a balloon is seldom steady, and is nearly always in a slow state of rotation. Again, the envelope above the observer cuts off a considerable portion of the sky that would be available under land or sea conditions, but against this he is in an elevated position and his horizon is clearer. Possibly better observations can be made from the platforms of dirigibles than from the baskets of spherical balloons. The instruments necessary for the determination of the latitude and longitude, to which reference is made ia this book, are the level-quadrant for the observation of altitude, a chronometer for recording Greenwich time, and a fluid compass with an alignment addition for azimuth observations. The first portion of the book, parts i. to iii., deals with the instruments, their use, and the general nature of the problems to be solved. Part iv. is devoted to the formule, forms for working them out quickly, and numerous worked-out examples; this portion is divided into two parts, treating of day and night observations. In part v. the use of the tables given at the end is explained in detail, and a description is also given of the charts which conclude the book. These maps include a chart of the northern hemisphere, showing the brighter stars which are best available for use, and following this are two magnetic maps, showing by isogonic lines the deviation of the compass from the true meridians for the year 1909 for (a) the whole cf Germany and (b) for Europe. This brief summary of the main features of this book shows that it is well adapted for the purpose it has in view. British aéronauts should therefore make themselves acquainted with some of the methods here expounded, for the subject will increase in importance as years go by. W. J. S. Lockyer. APRIL 29, 1909] NATURE 245 SOCIAL AND EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY. (1) An Introduction to Social Psychology. By William McDougall. Pp. xv+355. (London: Methuen and Go., n.d.) Price 5s. net. (2) Lectures on the Elementary Psychology of Feeling and Attention. By Prof. E. B. Titchener. Pp. ix+ goq. (New York: The Macmillan Company ; London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1908.) Price 6s. net. (1) "T° HE general nature and scope of Mr. McDou- gall’s book is admirably expressed, in the words of his preface, as ‘‘ an attempt to deal with a difficult branch of psychology in a way that shall make it intelligible and interesting to any cultivated reader, and that shall imply no previous familiarity with psychological treatises on his part;...a book that may be of service to students of all the social sciences, by providing them with the minimum of psychological doctrine that is an indispensable part of the equipment for work in any of these sciences.’’ After an intro- ductory chapter pointing out the grave need in the sciences of ethics, economics, history, and politics for a more accurate and thoroughgoing psychological analysis than that employed at the present time, the author proceeds to give a description and classification 11, so that the frequency is high, if (L,R) be the inductance and resist- ance per unit length of the pair, a a Cia 2 cial —— “) L=a(1 5) log. + #(1-?) repr? 4p + 3 loge” gat wiv & =o Sie The Saf AXA) acpAP *P fa] Atcip saan 2 & |? eeecneen logs] where A-°, a*/c*, and a?/A%c?p have been neglected. (b) For iron wires, ignoring also “A-* and w-*, = CaN ba 2 Nail i é pas( Ins 8) 8(+-2)-25(0-1) (e208) Re, Toned ax c\ @2 — (t+ 5 on (2-P— loge ae 2 loree 4p p> — ploge” (c) For copper wires with low frequency, SG eae (A rns L=4 log, £ +26 +45 (1 2Bpz 4) 5 Mas ¢ = (zen — 2apys— Bz+ 2by) log. = Roy == ( 2) oS -— nn | B= 2+ 2yp2" Saf az. 2c Rr ape 27n Be 3 5 x2 ar? wine nc Age A we * a ' eee ES Wee VOPPER A ry : 4 ’ ‘ Fic. 1.—Section through a fracture of mild steel, after embedding in an electro-deposit of copper. The path of the fracture among ‘the con- stituents of the steel can be clearly traced. Magnification, 100 diameters. ment it wherever possible by the data of a careful chemical analysis and complete mechanical tests, dynamic as well as ‘‘static.’”? Even where these additional data are not needed to confirm the conclu- sions drawn from the microscopic examination, they are valuable as throwing a light upon the indications of the various forms of test relied upon by engineers in drafting their specifications. This consideration raises the question how far it would be possible or desirable to include an examina- tion of the micro-structure in the regular tests carried out on engineering materials. Some time ago metal manufacturers, and more particularly steel makers, would have met such a proposal with every means of opposition in their power, but greater familiarity with questions of micro-structure has, it may be supposed, diminished this feeling. If it were simply a question of imposing an additional test, or of placing an additional difficulty in the way of the manufacturer who has to comply with specifications, a hostile attitude would, of course, be readily under- stood, but the effect of the inclusion of microscopic examination in regular testing would not be at all likely to increase the stringency of the specifications in question, Thus, as regards chemical compositions, specifications are so drafted that, even with un- favourable structure, the material may be strong enough to meet the mechanical requirements of the engineer. Were it possible to rely upon obtaining a favourable structure in the material as used, the necessity for stringency in regard to composition would be materially reduced. Further, the use of the microscope in this connec- tion should enable the engineer to rely more securely upon both the uniformity of his materials and on their conformity with the test specimens. The reason is that, by the microscopic examination of a number of very small pieces chosen from a variety of different pieces or parts of the material, it would be at once ascertained whether the material was uniform, and whether the test-pieces chosen for mechanical testing or for chemical analysis fairly represented the bulk NO. 2061, VOL. 80] of the material. This again is an application of the microscope in engineering practice which could not be regarded as operating against the interests of the makers of the material; the rejection of metal on the results of tests carried out on samples which happen to be below the average of the batch would be prevented quite as often as the acceptance of a batch on results obtained from an unduly favourable sample. In the case of large pieces of metal also, the appli- cation of the microscope would prevent the occurrence of failures which sometimes arise as a consequence of want of uniformity in the materials forming different parts of the same forging. . Such differences may arise either from segregation, i.e. from a non- uniform distribution of the constituents’ or the impurities in the metal as originally produced, or it may be the result of insufficient or of wrongly applied working. Thus, if rods of ductile metal, such as brass, are drawn down cold too rapidly, or if the reduction at each pass through the dies is incorrectly adjusted, the result is the production of a surface layer of material which has been much more heavily deformed than the core of the rod, and this results in a condition of serious internal stress which may even produce subsequent spontaneous fracture. In large forgings also, an external layer of fine- grained material is sometimes found superposed on a coarse-grained core as the result of inadequate working. This also is liable to lead to failure in use, while the indications of test-pieces cut from the fine-grained layer are entirely falsified by the- real behaviour of the piece as a whole. An example of the diversity of structure to be met with in different parts of the same piece of metal is shown in Fig. 2, the two halves representing, to the same magnifica- tion, the structure as seen in the outer and central Fic. 2.—Sections from two parts of the same large forging ; the right-hand half of the figure represents the fine structure of the external layers, while the left-hand half represents the coarse structure of the interior. The magnification of both is 50 diameters. The dark and light areas in both portions represent pearlite and ferrite respectively. layers of a large forging. This example is, of course, abnormal, but the intelligent use of the microscope in ordinary testing practice would prevent such a piece from passing into use. Examples of other uses of the microscope in con- nection with the materials of engineering could be given in great numbers. Perhaps one of these which 252 is already most appreciated in practice is the use of the instrument to control the annealing processes in connection with copper and its alloys. The whole history of the constitution and structure of the more important alloys of copper with one added element at a time has been worked out and embodied in what appear at first sight to be highly theoretical ‘equilibrium diagrams.’’ These diagrams, however, enable us to understand the precise effect produced upon the constitution and structure of any of these alloys by thermal treatment. The structures resulting from exposure to certain temperatures, followed by either slow or rapid cooling, have been determined, as well as the particular properties of the alloys which correspond to these structures. An _ under- standing of these diagrams therefore enables the manufacturer or user to treat his alloys at the proper temperatures, and to control the results with ease and certainty by examining a few specimens of the metal under the microscope and noting the type and the size or scale of the structure. _At the present moment the control of these pro- cesses is only satisfactorily available for those groups of alloys the constitution of which has been fully investigated, but this is so far the case only for binary alloys—i.e. those consisting of two metals only. The majority of industrial alloys are much more complex, and for these the theoretical guidance is not yet available, principally because the complete study of these complex systems is a matter of much greater difficulty than that of the simpler binary series. The fullest benefit of the microscope will therefore only become available for workers who deal with these complex alloys when the purely scientific investigations have covered this difficult ground; but meanwhile it is quite possible in practice to obtain empirical data as regards the best micro-structure and the treatment required to obtain it. Such data, although not of equal value with the more complete knowledge, form a useful temporary substitute. These few indications of the present practical utility of the microscope in connection with engineering materials, while very far from covering the whole range of the subject, may perhaps be enough to show that, even with existing knowledge, the instrument is capable of rendering—and is, in fact, rendering— the greatest service to engineering and metallurgical practice. These fruits are already derived from little more than twenty years of metallographic investiga- tion. For the future of this young science, therefore, the highest hopes appear to be well founded. WALTER ROSENHAIN. THE YIELDING OF THE EARTH TO DISTURBING FORCES. HE problem of determining how much the earth as a whole actually yields to the tidal disturbing forces of the sun and moon was definitely brought before scientific men by Lord Kelvin. He pointed out that, from observations of the tides of long period, it ought to be possible to obtain some definite information, and he urged the establishment of gravitational observatories fitted with instruments for detecting the lunar disturbance of gravity. However rigid the body of the earth may be, it necessarily yields a little to the deforming action of the sun and moon. This action produces two kinds of effect. In the first place, it alters the shape of the earth. If the earth were a perfect sphere, it would be drawn | & 1 Based on a paper by Prof. A. E. H. Love, F.R.S., read before the Royal Society on January rq. NO. 2061, VOL. 80] NATURE [APRIL 29, 1909 out by the attraction of the moon, for instance, into a prolate ellipsoid of revolution. The actual earth, of a shape that is nearly spherical but presents certain inequalities, acquires under the action of the moon a slight additional inequality of figure, of the same type as that which answers to elongation in the direction of the long axis of the ellipsoid and flatten- ing round the parts remote from that axis. As the moon moves relatively to the earth, the long axis of the ellipsoid moves about in the earth, so that a corporeal tide is raised in the earth. Besides raising a corporeal tide, the action of the moon alters the attraction of the earth. If the change of external shape only is taken into account, the alteration of the attraction consists of the added attraction, due to the protuberances at the ends of the long axis of the ellipsoid, coupled with the loss of attraction, due to the flattening round the parts remote from these ends. But, since the material of which the earth is made up is not homogeneous, a_ similar effect is produced by the elongation and flattening of the surfaces of equal density, and, since the material is not absolutely incompressible, the density must be in some parts increased and in others diminished, owing to the attraction of the moon being different in different parts. The alteration of the earth’s attraction by the action of the moon is there- fore of a somewhat complex character. The effects produced by the action of the sun are similar to those produced by the action of the moon. Many attempts have been made to measure the changes of level that are due to the tidal disturbing forces of the sun and moon. In the majority of such attempts, instruments of the horizontal pendulum type have been used. The displacement of a horizontal pendulum that would be produced by the attraction of the moon, or the sun, if the earth were absolutely rigid, is known, for the attractions of the moon and sun are known. In the actual case, owing to the yielding of the earth, all we can hope to determine by observations of the tides or of the displacement of horizontal pendulums is a relative change of level, and to measure this is far from easy. The effect to be measured is extremely minute, and it is liable to be obscured, or even disguised altogether, by the effects of air currents and of changes of temperature. Recently Dr. O. Hecker, of Potsdam, has succeeded in overcoming the experimental difficulties. By setting up two horizontal pendulums in an under- ground chamber, and observing their behaviour during a protracted period, he was able to show that the effect of the moon, in particular, is perfectly definite, that in phase it follows very closely the motion of the moon, and that in amount it is almost exactly two-thirds of what it would be if the earth were absolutely rigid. Hecker’s result confirms decisively the results which had been found with much less perfect experimental means by previous observers. It leaves no shadow of doubt of the actuality of a corporeal tide produced by the moon. It accords also with those results, deduced from observations of fortnightly tides, which were used by Lord Kelvin in his famous estimate of the rigidity of the earth. This estimate was obtained by working out mathematically the change of shape that would be produced by the attraction of an external body, such as the moon, in a solid elastic globe, of the same size and mass as the earth, if the material of which it is made were homogeneous and absolutely incompressible. When these simplify- ing assumptions are made, the change of attraction is calculable in terms of the change of shape, and the measurement of the relative change of level leads easily to the determination of the absolute change of APRIL 29, 1909] fevel. If with these simplifying assumptions there is combined the observed fact that the relative change of level is two-thirds of what it would be if the earth were absolutely rigid, it is found, as Lord Kelvin did in effect find, that the calculated rise and fall of the surface is one-third of what it would be if the earth were made of homogeneous incompressible fluid, and the calculated change of its attraction due to the sun, or moon, is one-half of the tide-generating force of the sun, or moon. The rigidity which the material, supposed homogeneous and incompressible, would need to have in order that the two numbers may have the calculated values, } and 3, is about the same as the rigidity of steel. Both the numbers z and 3, which are thus calculated are inferred, partly from a result of observation, and partly from the sub- sidiary hypotheses of homogeneity and incompres- sibility. If these hypotheses are discarded, all that can be inferred from observations of fortnightly tides and horizontal pendulums is a single equation con- necting two numbers. The number which in the special case is $ is in general conveniently written as 2h, and the number which in the special case is } may be called k. The observations in question concur in leading to the equation h—k=3. (In the special case §—3=3.) It was first suggested by Prof. Simon Newcomb that the length of the earth’s free period of nutation, usually called the ‘‘ Chandler period,’? may be an independent index of the yielding of the earth to small forces. It has long been known that if the earth were absolutely rigid this period would be about 306 days. A free nutation of the earth would be manifested by periodic changes of latitude of places on its surface. Small variations of latitude have long been known to exist, but all efforts of astronomers to detect a period of 306 days in these variations failed. It was announced by Dr. S. C. Chandler, in 1891, that the variations are roughly periodic, but that the period is really 427 days instead of 306. Newcomb pointed out that the lengthening of the period must be due to a yielding of the earth. At any instant the earth is rotating about an axis which does not quite coincide with a principal axis. A solid globe would be deformed by rotation into an oblate spheroid in the same way as a fluid one, but not so much. The inequality of the so-called “ centrifugal force,’’ due to the deviation of the instantaneous axis from a principal axis, produces a slight deformation of the surface, accompanied by a slight alteration of the attraction, and these effects can be specified by means of the same two numbers h and k as are required to express the effects of tidal disturbing forces. Mr. S. S. Hough, H.M.’s Astronomer at the Cape of Good Hope, calculated, in 1896, the lengthen- ing of the period in the case of a solid elastic globe of homogeneous incompressible material. The problem has recently been discussed in a more general way by Prof. G. Herglotz, who was able to dispense with the hypothesis of homogeneity. A review of the theory, as presented by Herglotz, shows that it is possible to dispense with the hypothesis of incom- pressibility also, and that the lengthening of the period depends upon the number k, and not upon the number h. The number k is found to be expres- sible in terms of the two periods (306 and 427 days), the ellipticity and mean radius of the surface, the angular velocity of rotation, and the mean value of gravity at the surface. This number is therefore known. Its value is found to be about ;£. The result that k=;: means that the alteration in the attraction of the earth on account of the distortion produced in it by the sun or moon is actually about four-fifteenths | NO. 2061, VOL. 80] NATORE ) of the tide-generating force of the sun or moon. This result does not depend upon any hypothesis as to the homogeneity or incompressibility of the material. The only assumptions that are used in obtaining it are the assumption that an equilibrium theory is applicable to the forces in question, and the assump- tion, commonly made in the theory of the figure of the earth since the time of Laplace, viz. that the surfaces of equal density within the earth are main- tained in ellipsoidal shapes by the rotation. The result does not depend upon the special hypothetical law of density which Laplace introduced. Any law of density which satisfies the ordinary laws of hydrostatics will suffice.* When the result expressed by the equation k=;4; is combined with the result of observations of the tides and horizontal pendulums (h—k=}), it is found that =%. This result means that the surface of the earth actually yields to the tidal deforming influence of the sun and moon by six-twenty-fifths of the amount by which it would yield if the earth were made of homogeneous incompressible fluid. The number 3% takes the place of Lord Kelvin’s number }. The result that the earth actually yields a good deal less than Lord Kelvin supposed it to do suggests that it is decidedly more rigid than he estimated it to be. There are, however, many difficulties in the way of a more precise estimate, the chief being the heterogeneity of the material. If this fact is dis- regarded, and the simplifying assumption of homo- geneity is made, it appears to be impossible to satisfy both the equations h=3 and k=. An additional difficulty arises from the compressibility of the material, but, although this cannot be met directly, it is not very serious, because the general effect of compressibility must almost certainly be that any esti- mate of rigidity based on the simplifying assumption of incompressibility is under the mark. A _ possible method of procedure is to assume the earth to consist of a central nucleus of incompressible material of one density and rigidity, enclosed in a shell of incompres- sible material of a smaller density and a different rigidity, in the manner advocated by Prof. E. Wiechert, who regards the earth as made up of an iron core enclosed in a rocky shell. This method was developed by Dr. W. Schweydar, who found that, with the densities proposed by Wiechert, the rigidity of the core would have to be nearly three times that of steel, and the rigidity of the shell about one-eighth of that of steel. The possibility of a comparatively small rigidity in the enclosing shell suggests that there may be within it, or between it and the core, a layer of molten rock, devoid of rigidity, such as has sometimes been invoked in connection with the explanation of seismic and volcanic phenomena. This hypothesis is found, when tested mathematically, to require much too great rigidities both of the core and of the outer part of the shell. It appears, however, to be quite possible that the earth may consist of a very dense and very rigid core enclosed in, and con- nected by solid matter with, a lighter shell or crust, the greater part of which is solid and of a rigidity comparable with that of granite (about one-third of that of steel), the shell being honeycombed with hollow spaces containing molten matter. But it seems to be impossible that the molten matter should form a continuous layer separating the outer portions of the earth’s body from the inner portions. 1 Since the paper was written and sent in to the Royal Society, Prof. Lar- mor has shown that the result is independent of the supposed ellipsoidal shape of the surfaces of equal density. It is therefore established, quite generally, for any constitution of the earth which would admit of the application of an equilibrium theory to forces of the type in question. It is practically certain that the actual constitution is such that a theory of this kind can be applied. 254 NATURE [APRIL 29, 19cQ THE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM. ““ An independent government of the Natural History Museum is one of the most pressing scientific needs of the times.’’—Michael Foster in 1906. ait. government of the Natural History Museum, to which forcible attention was directed in a letter to the Press on April 19, published in last week’s Nature, stands in urgent need of reform. This has long been recognised by men of science, and, as the writers show in the historical appendix to their letter, the attention of the Government and of the trustees has been directed to it on several occasions in the last forty-three years. Almost every man of science of importance during that period has taken part in one attempt or another to obtain a reform of some of the more serious of the administrative defects. We notice the names of W. B. Carpenter, Charles Darwin, M. Foster, Francis Galton, Hooker, Huxley, Kelvin, Lubbock, Newton, Ramsay, Sclater, Sharpey, Henry Smith, Spottiswoode, Stokes, Turner, Wallace, and all the present professors of zoology and natural history in the universities and principal col- leges of the United Kingdom. Further, two Royal Commissions have reported in the same sense, ‘that of 1850 appointed to inquire into the conduct of the museum, and that of 1870 on ‘‘ Scientific Education and the Advancement of Science.’’ It would thus appear that for some forty-three years the whole body of scientific opinion has been the same, and has from time to time urged, speaking generally, the same measures of reform, but nothing has been done, and recently the existing arrangements have given rise to grave dissatisfaction. At the outset we desire to point out that, if we understand the letter aright, the signatories, in directing attention to this dissatisfaction, impute no shortcomings to the present working staff of the museum, but they make it clear that the present administrative methods, if persisted in, must lead to failures in the general working of the museum. At present the museum stands at the head of the natural history museums of the world, but, as the Times remarks, ‘if the present system continues it will not only be over- taken, but rapidly put in the background.” The question is a complicated one, and in our opinion cannot be properly dealt with until a full inquiry into the working of the present method of government of the museum has been made. We agree with the deputation to the Prime Minister of last July and with the present writers to the Press in thinking that a Royal Commission is demanded, partly because that is the only means by which the information required can be obtained, and _ partly because of the dignity and importance of the matter to be inquired into. But if a Commission is ap- pointed we hope that the high social position and importance of the existing board of trustees will not be used to render nugatory its conclusions, as seems to have been the case with the two Royal Commissions which have already dealt with the problem. The first point that comes up for settlement is the nature and functions of the controlling body. If the trustees are retained, as we think it desirable that they should be, and in this we are again in agreement with the deputation of last July, it will clearly be necessary that their number should be reduced, and that those of them who are responsible for the Natural History Museum should be separate from those who are re- sponsible for Bloomsbury. The magnitude and diver- sities of the interests involved render this reform neces- Sary. We are further of opinion that the trustees should be, as is largely the case at present, men of the world skilled in affairs, able to attend regularly, and NO. 2061, VOL. 80] anxious to do their best for the museum, and that the scientific element, whether professional or other, should not be represented as such. This may seem a hard saying, but the reason for it becomes apparent when we consider the function of the trustees. Their powers should be defined and limited. They should not attempt to interfere in the management, because they have neither the time nor the knowledge to do so effectively. Nor should orders be given in their name, but in that of the director. It may be, and has been, replied to this that they should be reinforced and made a competent body from the ‘‘ expert ’’ point of view; but a little reflection will show that this cannot he done effectively, because it is practically impossible to find men with the requisite knowledge who can without payment give the time necessary for the proper performance of such work. If it is at- tempted it can only result in the establishment of an inefficient committee of management irregular in at- tendance (see Panizzi’s evidence before the Royal Commission of 1850 on this point), and will almost certainly result in dissatisfaction among those schools of naturalists who are not represented in the manage- ment. We think it clear that the management of the museum should be carried on by the director, acting in cooperation with the senior members of his staff, and that the trustees should exercise general super- vision and financial control, and act as a final court of appeal. If the trustees require expert advice other than that given by their director, it should come from a board of visitors such as exists in the case of Greenwich Observatory, and was recommended in the fourth report of the Commission on ‘“ Scientific Education and of the Advancement of Science’’ in 1874. The next fundamental point which comes up for consideration is the relation between the two museums. This has been fully dealt with in the letter referred to, and we are in complete agreement with what is there said. The present arrangement, by which the director of the Natural History Museum is the official | subordinate of the principal librarian at Bloomsbury, is, of course, historically intelligible, but from all other points of view is not only unintelligible but absurd. If our suggestion as to the division of the trustees into two bodies is carried out, this anomalv will naturally disappear. It is perhaps unnecessary to labour the point, but we should like to ask the Astronomer Royal or the director of the National Physical Laboratory how they would like to have to submit to the direction of a man of letters or of an antiquarian, however eminent. A third point of great importance relates to the method of appointment of the officers and servants of the museum. The present method, by which the principal trustees appoint, the subsequent control being in the hands of the general body of trustees, stands condemned, not only by the Commission of 1874 to which we have already referred, but also by the recent lamentable occurrences as a result of which the museum has lost the services of one of the most distinguished naturalists of Europe. In our opinion it is necessary, in the interest of justice and historical accuracy, as well as of the museum, that these occur- rences should be inquired into. The Prime Minister, in his reply to the deputation last July, said that he was “still unable to grasp in what way the museum failed to perform its functions.’? The deputation had carefully, and in our opinion rightly, avoided referring to this point and others similar to it. We admire them for their restraint, but had they done so they would have had no difficulty in convincing the Prime Minister of the radical defectiveness of the present method of government. APRIL 29, 1909] NALTORE 259 However, it is unnecessary for us to deal further with the anomalies of the present system. Enough has been said to show that we are in full general agreement with the views expressed in the letter to the Press of April 19, and by the deputation of last July (see Narure, July 30 and August 6, 1908). We do not pin our faith to any particular treatment of the problem. That can only be done after a full inquiry by a Royal Commission, which we sincerely hope will be granted. The suggestions we have offered have been made more with the view of bring- ing out the most important of the points at issue than with that of laying down the law as to their treatment. -In saying what we have said we are deeply im- pressed with the great importance of the Natural History Museum to science and to education. Not only is it a most important means of scientific organisation and of research into problems which have an intimate bearing on human welfare and happiness, but, to quote the words of Sir Michael Foster in his admirable article on the museum in the Quarterly Review for 1906, p. 496 :— ““Tt has other uses as well. The museum belongs to the people; it is supported by the people’s money; and it is only right that some benefit to the people more direct than that yielded by abstract science should come from it. And great direct benefit can, with some little adminis- trative care, be got from it for the people. In this dull life of ours, above all in this dull city of ours, with its murky surroundings, it is no small thing that an easy stroll, without fee, should bring the dweller in slum alley and unlovely street face to face with the countless beauties of the animal creation; and much of the animal world is beautiful even in death. It is perhaps even a greater thing that, as is clearly shown by what has been done in the past few years, the collections may be so arranged and displayed as to bring to even the careless stroller lessons not only of beauty, but also of wisdom, opening his eyes to some of the great truths of the world of life.”’ What nobler aims, for which to work and to sink ali minor differences, than these, the welfare of man and the happiness of the people? Let these be our watchwords, and the evils born of misrule and ignor- ance shall not prevail. NOTES. Pror. R. Metpora, F.R.S., has been elected a member of the Atheneum 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.”’ Lieut. E. H. Suackreton will describe his recent Antarctic achievements at a meeting of the Royal Geo- graphical Society to be held in the Albert Hall on June 24. In reply to a question asked by Sir Philip Magnus in the House of Commons on Monday with respect to the administration of the natural history collections of the British Museum, the Prime Minister said he is in com- munication with the trustees of the British Museum upon the subjects. On Tuesday next, May 4, Prof. Svante Arrhenius will begin a course of two lectures at the Royal Institution on ““ Cosmogonical Questions.’”’ These are the Tyndall lec- tures. The Friday evening discourse on May 7 will be delivered by Major Ronald Ross, on ‘‘ The Campaign against Malaria,” and on May 14 by Prof. George E. Hale, on “‘ Solar Vortices and Magnetic Fields.”’ Lorp Avesury will take the chair at the annual con- versazione of the Selborne Society, which will be held on NO. 2061, VOL. 80] May 7 at the offices of the Civil Service Commission (Old London University). Two lectures will be given, the first on “‘ How Birds Fly,” by Mr. F. W. Headley, and the second on ‘‘ How Men Fly,’”’ by Mr. T. W. K. Clarke. Mr. James Buckland, the original promoter of the Plumage Bill, will exhibit a number of lantern-slides illustrating the birds that are in danger of extermination in various parts of the world. There will also be a display of microscopes and natural-history exhibits. Tue Home Secretary has appointed a departmental com- mittee to investigate and report on the best means of standardising with greater accuracy than at present the apparatus and materials employed in the Abel heat test for explosives, and to examine and report on any sup- plementary test or tests that may be submitted. The committee is constituted as follows :—Major Aston Cooper- Key, Sir Frederic L. Nathan, Captain A. P. H. Des- borough, Mr. F. W. Jones, Captain M. B. Lloyd, Mr. C. O. Lundholm, and Major J. H. Mansell, R.A. The secretary of the committee is Major H. Coningham, R.A., to whom correspondence may be addressed at the Home Office. Tue Lisbon correspondent of the Times reports that a severe earthquake occurred in Portugal on April 23 about 5 p-m. Reports from up the Tagus show that serious damage has been done in the neighbourhood of Salvaterra, Benavente, and Samora, midway between Lisbon and Santarem. The shocks, which in Benavente extended over three hours, lasted at Lisbon from three to fifteen seconds. A Reuter message from Madrid states that earthquake shocks were registered there on April 23, and also at the towns of Valladolid, Huelva, Val de Pefas, Jerez, Villa- manrique, Malaga, and other neighbouring places. The movement registered at the Ebro Observatory lasted 5h. 49m. THE committee for the forthcoming International Aéro- nautical Exhibition at Frankfort-on-Main is making great efforts to ensure the success and attractiveness of the under- taking. By the middle of April the amount of the guarantee fund, 50,000l., was over-subscribed, and the sum of 65001. had already been promised for prize competitions. Prizes of 5ool. each are offered (1) by Count Zeppelin for the smallest dirigible balloon which shall make at least five journeys of not less than half an hour’s duration, re- turning to the starting point without intermediate landing, and carrying at least two men; (2) by Dr. Gans Fabrice to anyone who has made the greatest number of flights of more than five minutes’ duration; (3) by Baron Krupp von Bohlen-Halbach, the conditions to be arranged by the committee. An ornithological exhibition for the representa- tion of natural flight is being prepared by the Sencken- berg Philosophical Society, with the assistance of Prof. Schillings. AN investigating party sent out by the Government at Manila has obtained further particulars of the death of Dr. William Jones, reported in our issue of April 15. It appears that, in returning to the head-waters of the River Cagayan in order to obtain boats, he unwittingly crossed a ‘‘ dead line ’’ that had been established by a hostile tribe. He was met by a party of warriors, who offered him a dish of fish as a token of defiance, in accordance with tribal custom. Not suspecting that he was thereby accept- ing their challenge, he ate the fish, and was immediately attacked. He managed to fight off his assailants with his revolver until he could reach a boat, in which he escaped, but he died five hours later from his wounds. His bedy 255 NATURE [ArrIL 29, 1909 was rescued by friendly natives. The investigating party hhas recovered the valuable ethnological collection made by Dr. Jones during his two years’ stay in the hills, and it will be sent to the Field Columbian Museum in Chicago. Tue Berlin correspondent of the Westminster Gazette gives in the issue of April 22 a résumé of an article pub- lished by Prof. O. Lehmann in the Berliner Tageblatt, in which is described the principal conclusions arrived at as the result of his long series of investigations of the proper- ties of liquid crystals and the observations upon which they are based. The subject has already been discussed in Nature for January 7, and attention was directed to the part that liquid crystals appear to play in the growth of living organisms. Prof. Lehmann is so fully alive to the far-reaching importance of his discoveries that he endeavours to arouse popular as well as scientific interest in them. To the general public without knowledge of the phenomenon of double refraction and of the crystalline symmetry which it portends, the fact that a substance possessing the mobility of a liquid should at the same time display polarisation effects which were supposed to be peculiar to rigid structures would seem of little import- ance, but, when it appears that these curious liquids may in some way be connected with the origin of life, the question ceases to be merely academic. Captain Henry Toynsre, whose death was recorded in the Times of April 22, was born on October 22, 1819. He entered the mercantile marine at the age of fourteen, and followed the sea until 1866. In the following year he accepted the appointment of superintendent of the marine branch of the Meteorological Office. It was in this capacity that most of his scientific work was done, though he had published a number of papers on meteorological, astronomical, or geographical subjects before his retirement from active service. The office had been founded in 1854 for the express purpose of dealing with marine meteorology, and at the time when Toynbee joined it, sufficient data had accumulated to enable a commencement to be made with the publication of average values for the various elements. Among the kest-known publications with which his name is associated is a very detailed discussion of the meteor- ological data for ‘‘ Square 3’ (lat. o° to 10° N., long. 20° to 30° W.), issued in 1874. This area, lying in the region where the two trade winds meet, is one of special meteorological interest, and the discussion is probably the most detailed that has been attempted hitherto for any oceanic area of equal size. Two years later a somewhat similar, but less detailed, survey of the area between lat. 20° N. and 10° S., and long. 10° W. and 40° W., was issued. This work marked an epoch in the application of meteorology to practical life, for it gives in concise form much information necessary for determining the routes to be followed by sailing ships crossing the equator if they wish to take full advantage of the most favourable winds and to avoid, so far as possible, the equatorial belt of calms. Toynbee retired from the Meteorological Office in 1888, on attaining his seventieth year. Tue death of Dr. Simeon Snell, president of the British Medical Association, during his tenure of this important office, and at the early age of fifty-seven, has created a painful impression. Widely known for many years as an assiduous contributor to societies and journals of ophthalmology, his observations have been recognised as ef quite exceptional value and importance. A man of wide sympathies, he wielded a great influence in the in- tellectual life of the city of Sheffield, wherein his ophthalmic practice was conducted, and established many NO. 2061, VOL. 8o] friendships with men of science who visited Sheffield to deliver lectures under the auspices of its Literary and Philosophical Society. His endeavours, both as quondam president and long as secretary of this society, served to maintain the usefulness and reputation of one of those active local associations such as formed the origin of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. In Sheffield he was also recognised as one of the most in- defatigable workers in the development of the city uni- versity. Outside his own locality, thoroughly practical man as he was, he was well known for contributions to practice and to knowledge arising from work con- ducted within it. This great centre for the manufacture and manipulation of steel afforded unlimited opportunities for the treatment of eye injuries produced by splinters of metal, and Dr. Snell was the first to elaborate the use of the electromagnet for their removal. Placed in the centre of a large colliery district, his attention was early directed to those peculiarly embarrassing rotations of the eyeball which characterise the disease known as ‘‘ miners’ nystagmus.’’ Whatever may be the cause of this disease, Dr. Snell’s monograph on the subject, and the carefully observed conditions described by him as modifying the frequency of its occurrence, will remain as the basis of suggestions and as testimony to the true scientific spirit of medical practice. AN excerpt from the Harvard Graduates’ Magazine, December, 1908, gives particulars of the expedition which the Harvard Observatory is sending to the elevated plateau of South Africa in charge of Prof. S. I. Bailey. The primary object is the determination of the character of the climate, with the view of finding an ideal site for an astronomical observatory. The first requisite for an astro- nomical station is a clear sky, free from cloud, haze, smoke, and dust. Since no locality is entirely free from clouds, it is very’ desirable that those clouds which do occur should be distributed fairly evenly throughout the year, rather than condensed into one decidedly ‘‘ cloudy season,’ a condition. which prevails in many countries. An ideal station would have freedom from strong winds, a small annual, and especially a small diurnal, range of temperature, low humidity, a reasonable altitude, accessi- bility, together with the necessaries and some of the com- forts of modern life. For the present purpose, also, a station not much less than 30° south of the equator is desired, in order that the entire southern sky may be studied to the best advantage. Such meteorological re- ports as have been published, together with the accounts of various observers, indicate that excellent conditions for astronomical work exist on the tableland of South Africa. The altitude, which varies from 4000 feet to 6000 feet, is sufficient for the purpose. The records which have been published, however, give only a portion of the data which are needed. The problem can be settled only by a careful study, lasting through one year at least. The present ex- pedition will endeavour to carry out this investigation. In addition to the study of climate, various astronomicai investigations will be undertaken. A 10-inch visual tele- scope, provided with a Rumford photometer, will be used for the measurement of the magnitudes of a large number of stars, among which are sequences of standard stars in selected areas, sequences of comparison stars for southern variables, and so on. A pair of small photographic lenses will also be provided, carried on a single mounting. These are of different focal lengths, and of wide angle. They will be used in certain pieces of routine work, but especially to photograph the faint extensions of the Milky Way and other nebulous regions of the southern sky. ArriL 29 19¢9] NATURE 257 A reaping New England paper, the Springfield Republican, recently devoted an editorial article to the subject of the popularising of scientific knowledge, as suggested by a speech of Mr. Balfour’s a few weeks ago. According to the American writer, the supply is not equal to the demand. ‘‘ Magazine editors who try to offer their readers first-rate work are in despair for lack of qualified writers. Newspaper editors who glean instructive notes for their columns find a deluge of the hasty, the super- ficial, the inaccurate, but seldom come upon really com- petent and well-written work.’’ As to men of science themselves, their habits of intense and concentrated appli- cation make them impatient of popular writing. ‘‘ They are experts, and when they write they write for experts. They think habitually in technical terms, and when it comes to explaining matters to an outsider they do not know where to begin.’? The Springfield Republican offers a practical suggestion to meet the difficulty. There should be established in some university a post-graduate ‘* depart- ment of scientific interpretation,’? open to young men with a literary gift and an interest in science, but too versatile and active minded to make good specialists—men who had already passed through scientific and mechanical courses in their undergraduate years. ‘‘ The head of their depart- ment, if only his services were available, would be Prof. Thomas H. Huxley.’”’ The purposes to be especially kept in view in their training would be ‘‘ the acquirement of method, a clear comprehension of scientific principles, a broad survey of current scientific work, comprehension of the scientific type of mind, the ability to understand men who cannot explain themselves, the technique of simplify- ing, elucidating, illuminating by simile and analogy.” The Republican is confident that a training of this kind would be an excellent preparation for all kinds of writers for the Press. ‘‘ They would be ground between scientific accuracy and the demand for intelligibility as between the upper and the nether millstone, and if they did not emerge a finished product it would not be the fault of the process.” Mr. E. Tuurston’s paper on ‘‘ Native Man in Southern India,’’ delivered before the Royal Society of Arts on March 25, is a popular and anecdotal résumé of a subject already dealt with by him in his ‘‘ Ethnographic Notes from South India,’’? and the Bulletins of the Madras Museum, of which he is curator, He points out that while the population of the Tamil country and Malabar is dolichocephalic, that of the more northern districts is mesaticephalic or sub-brachycephalic. He declines to enter into a discussion of the causes which may have led to this variance of race type, and he thus tacitly rejects the theory of Sir H. Risley, that the short-headed people of the southern Deccan represent a Scythian immigration from northern India. Mr. Thurston gives interesting details of some curious customs—the dilation of the ear lobes among Shdnan women; the rule which forbids women to drape the breast; the use of leaf garments; and the gradual rise in status of the primitive jungle man, who nowadays makes a caste mark on his forehead with ashes or anilin dyes, and uses lucifer matches in lieu of the old method of obtaining fire by friction. It is shown that’ it is a popular misconception to suppose any of the non- Aryan tribes to be woolly-haired, and the puzzling appear- ance of the cross-bow as a weapon among the Ulladans of Travancore is proved to be the result of Portuguese influence. We have received cuttings of several articles from the Melbourne Argus, in which Mr. J. W. Barrett describes the experiences of a party of tourists interested in natural NO. 2061, VOL. 80] history who made a new year’s trip to some of the small islands in Bass Strait. One of the features of the excursion was a visit to the seal-rocks at Westernport, where the seals which formerly frequented several of the islands alone survive. It has been suggested that the numbers of these animals should be reduced, on account of supposed future injury to the fisheries, but, apart from the fact that they do not usually eat fish, the writer points out that their numbers have probably not altered appreci- ably for centuries, and that the “‘ balance of nature ”’ is almost certain to be maintained in the future. The trip also included an inspection of the wonderful breeding- colony of gannets on Cat Island, where some 4000 of these birds were nesting at the time of the visit. Tue heredity of the colour of hair in man is discussed at considerable length by Gertrude and Charles Davenport in the April number of the American Naturalist. As re- gards the nature of the colouring, the authors consider that there are probably two main types of pigment in human hair, one a reddish-yellow, which finds its highest development in bright red, and the other a sepia- brown, the intensity of which ranges from light yellow to dark brown and black. As the result of a combined study of both eye-colour and hair-colour, the writers finally arrive at the conclusion ‘‘ that two parents with clear blue eyes and yellow or flaxen straight hair can have children only of the same type, no matter what the grandparental characteristics were; that dark-eyed and haired, curly- haired parents may have children like themselves, but also of the less developed condition. In the latter case what the proportions of each type will be is, for a fairly large family, predictable by a study of the immediate ancestry.” We have received from the Bureau of Entomology of the United States Department of Agriculture a paper by Mr. J. J. Davis containing biological studies of three species of Aphididae, the corn-root aphis (Aphis maidi- radicis, Forbes), the corn-leaf aphis (Aphis maidis, Fitch), and the sorghum aphis (Sipha [chaitophorus] flava, Forbes). The life-cycle of the aphis is very curious, no fewer than five forms being recorded for the corn-root aphis, viz. winged viviparous females, wingless viviparous females, oviparous females, males, and eggs. From the eggs some ten to twenty-two generations of viviparous females follow, but the last generation of the season consists of oviparous wingless females and males, which pair, and the females produce eggs. Evidence is adduced to show that external conditions of temperature, &c., deter- mine whether a particular generation is to be viviparous or oviparous; it is considered that aphides could repro- duce parthenogenetically for an indefinite period if the environment was favourable. The biological problems in- volved are of great importance. Bulletin No. 66, by F. H. Chittenden and H. M. Russell, deals with the semi-tropical army worm (Prodenia eridania, Cram.), a hairless caterpillar doing much damage to market-garden crops. Arsenical sprays were found to be effective against it. Mr. C. Baker, of 244 High Holborn, London, W.C., has issued his quarterly classified list of second-hand scien- tific instruments for sale or hire. He offers a very large stock of microscopes and microscopic apparatus which, as in the case of all instruments catalogued, have been in- spected and where necessary repaired. The list also con- tains a varied selection of surveying instruments and other apparatus classified under eight sections. 258 ' Tue report of the commission for the flora of Germany regarding new localities for plants recorded during the years 1902 to 1905 has been published as a supplement to last year’s volume of the Berichte der deutschen botanischen Gesellschaft (vol. xxvi., A). It is a continua- tion of the reports issued as part of the supplements to the twentieth and earlier volumes of the Berichte, but is confined to phanerogams. The arduous task of compila- tion has been undertaken by Prof. K. W. von Dalla Torre. As in previous reports, the systematic list of records is arranged according to the floras of Koch and Garcke, and is preceded by a bibliography of publications consulted. Tue notes contributed by Mr. J. E. C. Turner to the Indian Forester (February) on the germination of myra- bolan seedlings, Terminalia chebula, are of interest, as the conditions must be somewhat similar in the case of not a few drupaceous fruits yielded by trees. Some myra- bolan fruits are plump and round, others are strongly ridged; the latter are preferred commercially, but the former are recommended for propagation. The ridges are due to the shrinking of the mesocarp, which causes also the tighter and more solid encasement of the seed. The fruits are sometimes penetrated by a fungus which reduces the mesocarp to powder; in this case, or when for other reasons the mesocarp does not shrink, the fruits remain round, and at germination the embryo has little difficulty in emerging. AN important contribution to the classification of the Geoglossace, a family of ascomycetous fungi, has been furnished by Dr. E. J. Durand, who has published in the Annales Mycologici (vol. vi., No. 5) a systematic account of North American species. It is based on the examina- tion of many type-specimens and duplicates in American and European herbaria, and is fully illustrated with out- line drawings and photomicrographs. Two groups are dis- tinguished, the Geoglossexz, mostly clavate, like a simple type of Clavaria, and the Cudoniezw, mostly pileate. Under Geoglosseze seven genera are identified, including Microglossum and Corynetes for the hyaline-spored species, and a genus, Gloeoglossum, for species of a viscid, gela- tinous consistency. The Cudoniee are arranged under the four genera Leotia, Vibrissea, Apostemidium, and Cudonia. Confirmation is given to the researches of Dittrich that the young hymenium of many species is covered by a veil, comparable to the ‘‘ volva’’ of the agarics; it is best seen in Cudonia lutea and Spathularia velutipes. Tue report of the East Kent Scientific and Natural History Society for the year ending September, 1908, contains the presidential address delivered by Mr. S. Harvey at the commemoration of the jubilee of the society. Among the notes there is reference to the discovery of Salvia verticillata near Dover, where, according to the Rev. J. Taylor, it appeared to be well established; this plant is not listed in Hooker’s ‘‘Student’s Flora’’ or in the “London Catalogue,’’ but is given in Dun’s “‘ Alien Flora of Britain.’? Another interesting find, made by Mr. W. R. Jeffery on Westwell Down, was an apparent hybrid between Verbascum Lychnitis and Verbascum Thapsus. The hybrids were much taller than the species, produced inflorescences similar to Lychnitis, but bore yellow flowers like Thapsus. Dr. L. Ritter von Sawickr publishes a discussion of the vexed problem of the Rhine-Rhone water-parting in the Zeitschrift of the Berlin Gesellschaft ftir Erdkunde. The conclusions at which he arrives are four in NO. 2061, VOL. 80] main NATROL: [APRIL 29, 1999 number :—(1) the present Rhine-Rhone water-parting was formed during the Quaternary period, and destroyed the unity of the former system which flowed to the Rhine; (2) it was formed by a displacement of the old divide caused by lowering of the Geneva basin. This lowering (3) can be correlated with the levels of inter-Glacial times ; (4) the ‘‘ Buhl’’ period is an important epoch in the glacial time, and on the Lake of Geneva it can be divided into at least three phases, of which the second is the most important. Tue International Council for the Exploration of the Sea has issued a supplementary part of the ‘‘ Bulletin Trimes- triel ’’ for 1906-7, containing a résumé of the observations made and the results obtained in the areas under investiga- tion. The region is divided into eight sections :—the Gulf of Bothnia, the Baltic (including the Gulf of Finland, the waters between Riigen and Scania, and the Baltic proper), the Belts and the Kattegat, the Skagerak, North Sea and English Channel, the Irish Sea, the Atlantic, the Nor- wegian Sea, and the Arctic Sea, and in each case a short description is given of the general distribution of tempera- ture and salinity. Twenty-three plates giving mean values from August, 1902, to May, 1906, accompany the memoir, which is invaluable as marking a stage in the discussion of the vast quantity of material acquired by the council. It is obviously impossible to give, in the space at our dis- posal, even a short abstract of the results stated; suffice it to say that in each subdivision marked progress has been made in the elucidation of the difficult problems of surface and under-surface circulation. Tue Bulletin of the Imperial Society of Naturalists of Moscow (vol. xxi., No. 4) contains a detailed and valuable discussion, by Dr. E. Leyst, of the meteorological observa- tions made in 1907 at the observatory in connection with the university of that place. Observations are made thrice daily, and these are used as standards for checking the hourly tabulations from the self-recording instruments, of which the observatory possesses a very complete set. The year 1907 was about 2°-2 F. below the normal; the mean was 36°-9; January 4°-6, July 65°-5. The extreme read- ings were 85°-3 and —27°.2; the absolute extremes during the last fifteen years were 96°-3 and —34°-6. Only 198 days in the year 1907 were quite free from frost. The rainfall, &c., amounted to 20-87 inches, the number of days being 209; the amount was normal, but the average number of days of precipitation is 171. The hours of bright sunshine numbered nearly 1300—about the average for the north-east of England. Although the results are not published in this summary, the observatory records earthquake phenomena, observations of atmospheric elec- tricity, and terrestrial magnetism. The investigation of the upper air has been temporarily suspended for want of funds. WHEN carbon, metals, or metallic oxides are heated in a vacuum they give out negative electrons, and expressions for the number of electrons emitted in a second, the electric charge they carry, and the energy with which they leave the surface from which they are emitted, have been given by Profs. O. W. Richardson and H. A. Wilson. Part iv. of the Verhandlungen der deutschen physikalischen Gesell- schaft contains an abstract, and part iii. of vol. xxviii. of the Annalen Physik a complete account, of the measurement of the energy of these electrons recently made by Drs. A. Wehnelt and F. Jentzsch, of the University of Berlin. They measure the energy necessary to keep the temperature of a platinum wire covered with calcium oxide constant, first electrons are, secondly when der when APRIL 29, 1909] NATURE 259 they are not, emitted by the agreement between theory and experiment altogether un- satisfactory, and conclude that the present theory is not a correct representation of the phenomena of emission of electrons from glowing bodies. surface. They find the Tue March number of Terrestrial Magnetism and Atmo- spheric Electricity contains an abstract by the author, Dr. L. A. Bauer, of the report recently issued by the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, dealing with the results of the magnetic survey work in the country up to 1906. This report is the most complete summary published up to the present, and supersedes previous re- ports. ' The stations used in the survey are on the average thirty-one miles apart, and the charts cover a considerable area of the surrounding ocean. All values relate to 1905 January 1, and are corrected for diurnal variation. The secular changes in the United States appear to be much more complicated than has been supposed hitherto, and if cyclic must have subperiods as well as a principal period. Dr. Bauer is already examining the data with the view of determining what part of the magnetic field is refer- able to a potential, and hopes to base other investigations on the material the report supplies. Tue Journal of Physical Chemistry has during recent months been occupied largely by a series of papers by Prof. Bancroft on the electrochemistry of light. In the fourth and fifth papers of the series the ‘* problem of solarisation ’’ is discussed at length, the two papers cover- ing ninety pages of the January and seventy pages of the March issue. Bulky quotations are given from the original literature, and the monograph therefore does for one branch of modern scientific work the same service that Ostwald has performed by reprinting various classics of exact research. The February number will be read with interest, as it contains Kahlenberg’s reply to the criticisms of Cohen and Commelin of his work on the osmotic pressure of solutions in pyridine with a rubber membrane. It will be remembered that Kahlenberg obtained pressures for inferior to those deduced by means of the gas-equation; Cohen and Commelin, with an improved apparatus, also failed to reach the calculated pressures, but attributed their failure to experimental imperfections. In the present communication the validity of the original experiments is maintained, but no new evidence of importance is brought forward. One of the principal machines to which the require- ments of a modern boiler-house have given birth is the automatic recorder of carbon dioxide. Such recorders are devised to take samples of the flue gases at intervals of, say, two or four minutes, analyse them for the percentages of CO,, and record the results on a chart driven by a clock. A continuous record is thus obtained throughout the whole period at which the boilers are at work, and is of value in showing whether proper conditions for main- taining complete combustion have been preserved. As the record is visible at all times, stokers rapidly learn to pre- serve economical conditions. Some tests on the Simmance- Abady combustion recorder have been made recently by Mr. Rosenhain at the National Physical Laboratory, and are commented on in Engineering for April 16. Samples giving 4-99 per cent. of CO, by the Sodeau hand analysis apparatus were recorded by the automatic instrument as 491 per cent., the draught being 0-75 inch of water. This result corresponds to an avoidable loss in fuel of 32 per cent. Another sample, showing 9-09 per cent. by hand test, was automatically recorded as 8-98 per cent., the avoidable loss of fuel in this case being 10 per cent. NO. 2061, VOL. 80] Another sample, showing 15-88 per cent. by hand test, was recorded as 15-39 per cent.; this percentage represents the highest possible under economical working with bituminous coal. Taking the mean of all the tests, the recorder was less than half of 1 per cent. low. As. the charts are graduated to read to 1 per cent. only under ordinary con- ditions, the results of the trials must be regarded as extremely satisfactory for this recorder, A PAPER on problems connected with the construction of the New York Times building was read by Mr. C. T. Purdy before the Institution of Civil Engineers on April 20. The Underground Railway passes through the basement of the building, and the paper describes the special features of the steel construction due to the exist- ence and operation of the railway. The height of the building from the pavement to the twenty-third storey is 329 feet, and above this is an observatory and lantern, the roof of which is 30 feet higher; the basement storeys ex- tend 48 feet below the level of the sidewalk. The total dead weight of the building is 33,611,000 Ib. (15,000 tons). The problem of vibration arising out of the Underground Railway needed special treatment. In addition to making the structure of the subway independent of the building, it was arranged to found the supporting columns of the former on cushions of sand, and thus still further to insulate the building. The results at first were quite satisfactory, and no vibration was felt from passing trains ; but later distinct vibration was detected, and at last this became very pronounced. Seismograph observations were taken, and a thorough examination of the two structures was made. The trouble disappeared when the railway company re-laid the tracks through the building, all per- ceptible vibration then ceasing. The author considers, nevertheless, that the insulation of the two structures and the provision of the sand-cushions for the subway columns have a material effect in producing this result. Under many conditions such insulation of structural members would be the most effective and economical method of preventing vibration. It is stated that it was certainly efficient in the new building, which has four railway tracks through it, and often three or four trains in the building at the same time, some stopping and others passing through at high speeds. OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. ASTRONOMICAL OCCURRENCES IN MAy :— May 1. 12h. Jupiter stationary. : 5. gh. 43m. Satellite III. occulted by Jupiter, reappear- ance 13h. 12m. é Red spot visible on Jupiter’s disc between Sh. and oh. 7. Red spot visible on Jupiter between 1oh. and 1th. 13. 3b. Mars at quadrature to the Sun. | aoe 6. 3h. 33m. Satellite III. transits Jupiter’s disc, egress h. 3m. 19. Bi 34m. Venus in conjunction with the Moon (Venus 1° 6’ N.). ; 20. 4h. Mercury at greatest elongation E. of the Sun (22° 22’). 23. (7h: )2em: roh. 57m. . 26. 11th. 5m. Jupiter in conjunction with the Moon (Jupiter 4° 13'S.). Satellite III. transiis Jupiter, egress 26. 23h. Jupiter at quadrature to the Sun. 30. 11h. 27m. Satellite III. transits Jupiter, egress 14h. 56m. Tue Meteoric SuowErR OF Hatiey’s Comet.—Mr. W. F. Denning writes :— a “The stream of meteors radiating from near 7 Aquarii in the mornings between May 1 and 6 should be looked 260 NATURE LAPRIL 29, 1909 for with special attention this year, as the shower is sup- posed to owe its parentage to Halley’s comet. The latter is approaching the sun rapidly, and will probably be dis- covered next September. “Should the meteors prove to be unusually abundant this year and in 1910, the fact may be accepted as con- elusive evidence that they are directly associated with Halley’s comet. Experience has proved that meteors may swarm in front of a parent comet as well as behind it. Prof. Newton pointed out that the Andromedid meteors precede Biela’s comet to a distance of 300 millions of miles along the orbit. “At Greenwich the radiant of the Aquarids does not rise until about 1.30 a.m., so that observations will be useless before that time, and there is only a short interval left for effective watching, for daylight has so far advanced at 3 a.m. that only really conspicuous meteors can be observed. This year the moon will be full, and her strong light will obliterate the fainter meteors, but the Aquarids are generally pretty bright, with long flights of 4o or 50 degrees, so that should the shower abundantly return this year it may be expected to present a striking aspect, notwithstanding the presence of our satellite.” Comet MorrnousE, 1908c.—This comet was observed by Prof. F. Ristenpart at Santiago de Chile on March 28 and 30, and the observations show that, on these dates, the ephemeris published by Herr Ebell in No. 4296 of the Astronomische Nachrichten required corrections _ of +2m. 2s., —1-0’, and +1m. 43s., —2-2', respectively (Astro- nomische Nachrichten, No. 4318). Tue “ Orictnat ’’ Canats oF THE Martian Doustes.— Usually the twin lines forming the double canals on Mars are equally intense, but on occas#ms one line appears to ‘be more conspicuous than its fellow. The reduction of Prof. Lowell’s 1907 observations shows that, with one or two exceptions, it is always the same canal of any pair that becomes weakened, sometimes to extinction. A table given in Bulletin No. 37 of the Lowell Observa- ‘tory shows that. of twenty-two double canals observed during the opposition of 1907, eighteen definitely presented the phenomenon of unequal intensities. Of these, sixteen always showed the one line of the pair, the ‘‘ original ”’ ‘canal as Prof. Lowell names it, stronger than the other; the period of observation covered the epoch of minimum visibility of the doubles. The two exceptional canals were the Gihon and the Is, and in both cases there is a possible explanation of their apparently anomalous behaviour. For the former this depends upon the fact that when the eastern line was the stronger the canal was still being fed from the north polar cap, whilst when the western line preponderated the canal was sharing in the general southern darkening of the canals of the southern hemisphere. A similar explana- tion holds in the case of Ts. Comparisons with Schiaparelli’s observations confirm the phenomenon. CuromospHErRIc Catcium Lines In Furnace SpEcTRA.— ¥n No. 32 of Contributions from the Mount Wilson Solar Observatory Dr. A. S. King discusses the behaviour of the calcium Jines H, K, and A 4227 in the spectrum obtained by heating calcium to various temperatures, and under varying conditions of density, in the electric furnace. His experiments at the Pasadena laboratory show that whilst the line 4227 appears at a low temperature, and is not sensitive to increases of temperature, it is enormously strengthened by increasing the amount of calcium vapour present. On the other hand, H and K do not appear until the temperature approaches 2500° C., and are very sensi- tive to temperature variation, whilst but little affected by increasing the quantity of calcium vapour. Dr. King points out that although these results do not throw much light on the study of sun-spot spectra, they are in strict accordance with eclipse observations of the chromosphere. H and K appear alone in the higher regions of prominences, but 4227 does not appear until the chromospheric vapours reach a considerable density. Mount Witson Sorar Orservatory ReEportT.—Prof. Hale’s report of the work done at the Mount Wilson Observatory during 1908 is too compendious to notice in detail, and many of the results mentioned have already NO. 2061, VOL. 80] been abstracted in these columns, but there are one or two points which may be mentioned. Prof. Hale states that the electric-furnace experiments have confirmed the con- clusion that the temperature of the vapours of Fe, iin &c., in sun-spots is lower than that in the “* reversing layer ’’ outside spots. - Mr. Abbot, of the Smithsonian Institution, is still engaged in the studies of the solar constant, and arrange- ments have been made by the institution to construct a permanent station on Mount Wilson, where such studies will be regularly maintained. The total number of spectro- heliograms taken with the 5-feet spectroheliograph amounted to 5196 on September 30, 1908. An investigation dealing with the absorption and scatter- ing of light in the solar atmosphere has just been com- pleted by Prof. E. F. Nichols, of Columbia University, and the observations are in course of reduction. A spectrocomparator has been added to the laboratory equipment, and is being used for the comparison of the intensities of spectrum lines. The definite reduction of the — photographic sun-spot spectra is being carried out, and some idea of the magnitude of the task is afforded by the statement that between A 5000 and A 5500 there are more than 1500 lines for which wave-lengths and laboratory identifications have to be determined. THE ELECTRIFICATION OF RAILWAYS. THE presidential address delivered by Mr. John A. F. Aspinall in the lecture hall of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers on Friday, April 23, proved to be a most agreeable surprise to those members who were fortunate enough to be present. Addresses on such occasions are apt to take a historical or academical form, and many experiences of this character served to emphasise the interest talken by the audience in Mr. Aspinall’s~ clear account of the electrification and experiences gained in the working of the Liverpool and Southport branch of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, of which the author is the distinguished head, since its inception in October, 1902. ae is too often stated that a general electrification of our railways would be of very great advantage. In certain instances this work can be undertaken with great com- mercial success, but each case has to be considered with great care, not only on account of the costly character of the work, but also because the conditions upon which success or failure depend vary in almost every place or district. To warrant the electric equipment of a main line of railway, dealing in present circumstances with long steam-hauled trains at high speed for long distances with- out a stop, some great commercial advantage must be shown. Business men can easily arrange their journeys at present between Liverpool or Manchester and London so as to have five hours in town. Even supposing a speed of 120 miles per hour to be attained by electric traction, the gain to the traveller would be small, while the in- creased cost to the railway would be enormous. Again, such fast trains would practically prohibit the use of the same tracks for the running of slower local trains, and would necessitate separate tracks for these. The earning capacity of the express tracks would thus be diminished. On the other hand, in the case of many suburban lines from our great cities, electrification will at once double the train-carrying capacity of the tracks, while in others it will allow a greater time space between trains, which may be utilised for the passage of steam-worked express trains coming in from the more distant parts of the line. In a district where a railway has had its tracks paralleled by tramways, the creation of an electric railway service will have the immediate effect of bringing back large numbers of passengers who have used the trams in the early stages of their construction, but who find that they cannot tolerate the great waste of time which results from the very slow speed and the many stops due to the crowded streets through which the trams have to run. Some of the advantages of electrification for local services are :— (a) High schedule journey speed. (b) Much more frequent service when required. (c) Increased acceleration and deceleration. APRIL 29, 1909] NATURE 261% (d) Greater possible mileage per train per day, increas. ing the earning capacity of any given quantity of rolling stock, and increasing the loading and unloading capacity of existing platforms. The Southport branch of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway has proved to be a commercial success under electric working. It consists of a coast line of 183 miles, having fifteen stations. The total length of electrified line in the district amounts to four miles of four tracks and twenty-five miles of double tracks, making a total of seventy miles of single track, including sidings. It has been found possible to run all the passenger traffic on the double track on the section having four tracks, leaving the other double track free for goods traffic, thus enabling several stations on the goods track to be closed. The line is considered to provide the fastest service of this character in existence. Stopping trains run 18% miles, stop fourteen times, and do the journey in thirty-seven minutes. Express trains run the same distance in twenty- five minutes. During the transition stage from steam to electrical working there came a period when it was necessary to run steam trains in between the electrical trains at the same speed in order to keep them out of the way of the latter. An opportunity was thus afforded of comparing the coal consumption of the locomotives and the power house, and it was found that the six-wheeled coupled tank engines which did the work in 1904 consumed 80 lb. of coal per train mile with express trains, and 100 Ib. with stopping trains. The consumption of coal at the power station in 1908 works out at 49 Ib. per train mile for the electrical trains. The time necessary for the conversion from steam haulage to electric traction is of importance. In the case of the line under discussion, the order for commencing the work of electrification was given on October 22, 1902, and the work was finished and the steam trains entirely withdrawn on May 13, 1904. _ After considering the questions of the wear in third and fourth rails, Mr. Aspinall dealt with the important matter of the excessive wear of track rails in electrical work- ing. In his opinion, the special rails introduced by Sand- berg were not the real cure. The real fault is one of construction. The more or less modern motor truck has all the defects of the older-fashioned locomotives on account of the low position of the centre of gravity. The modern steam locomotive with a high centre of gravity is a very easy riding machine. A motor-car, with its four axles, has a total weight of 12 tons, which is not carried by the springs. Raising the centre of gravity so as to enable this weight to be spring-borne would introduce additional mechaaism, and would also block up the passages from car to car. The great advantages of direct drive would be lost, and as the present gears run extremely well it may be a more commercial method to wear out the cheap rail instead of expensive mechanism. The cars on the Southport line are 60 feet long, and have large side doors at each end. These doors are opened or closed by the public themselves, who, by a bye-law sanc- tioned by the Board of Trade, are required to enter the car by the rear door and leave by the front door. This system requires a smaller platform staff, but as the larger number of electric trains requires more guards, the total number of men employed remains the same. During the rush hours the cars are emptied in fifty seconds at terminal stations, while intermediate stops consume fifteen seconds only. Mr. Aspinall favours overhead conductors wherever possible. In the particular case of the high-tension line connecting Aintree with Seaforth, the cost per mile of the overhead equipment was 1300l., while the cost per mile of the cable line was 2030l. It was decided in 1905 to install battery plants; the general idea was to provide for running the whole rail- way for one hour in the event of any serious accident at the central generating station. The battery substations are placed at points intermediate to the rotary substations, and have had the effects of reducing the momentary peaks in the load from a maximum of 7ooo kw. to 4500 kw., and the hourly peak during the rush hours from 3800 kw. to 3100 kw., enabling the load to be carried during the NO. 2061, VOL. 80] winter with 4500 kw. of plant, and during the summer with 3750 kw. of plant. The total over-all efficiency was found in July, 1906, to be 81 per cent. from the alternating current bus bars to the circuit breakers on the trains. The coal burned at the power house per unit of direct current delivered to the third rail, including all conversion losses, amounted to 3-28 lb. for the twelve months ending December 15, 1908. In 1907 the Aintree line was electrified, and has led to the recovery of much of the traffic which had been taken away by the Municipal Tramways, which run parallel to the railway. On Grand National Day the race traffic on this section amounts to 13,000 people in about 22 hours. Mr. Aspinall estimates that any railway company having facilities for putting its own plant down in the country, with opportunities of getting cheap coal and water, should be able to produce current at the generating stations at a ‘‘ works cost’ of 0-25 penny per B.T.U. A high-speed service could then be worked at a cost of 9-5d. per train mile. No amount for depreciation, other than battery depreciation, is included in this, or for interest on outlay. The figure does not include the maintenance of running track and stations, costs of platform staff, or other items common to both steam and electric lines. The great economy to be hoped for in the future for electrical rail- ways, where no water power is available, is in the pro- duction of electricity in very large quantities; the total current-producing charges amount to the large proportion of 4-52d. out of the above-mentioned 9-5d. Other possible economies are in the direction of such improved design in the motors as will lead to less repairs and a very careful consideration of the whole design of the motor truck. Items which may be put down as giving no trouble whatever are controllers, commutators, steel spur-gearing, and the third rail. Mr. Aspinall looks forward to the opportunity which he hopes to afford members of the institution during the summer meeting at Liverpool of seeing the Liverpool and Southport line at work. The proceedings terminated with a hearty vote of thanks to the president for his interest- ing and valuable address, moved by Sir Wm. White, K.C.B., and supported by Mr. W. H. Maw. There are ten appendices, with curves and photographs, eiving minute information regarding the working of this line of railway. SOME RECENT PALAZONTOLOGICAL PAPERS. THE description of the fossil flora of Tegelen-sur-Meuse, near Venloo, in Holland, by Clement Reid, F.R.S., and Eleanor M. Reid (Verhandel. d. kon, Akad. van Wetenschappen te Amsterdam, September, 1907), is re- markable as showing how skilfully devised methods of observation will reap a rich harvest from ‘‘ a box of clay easily carried by a man.’’ The specimens of seeds washed or floated out of this Pliocene clay were temporarily pre- served in formalin or salicylic acid; they were then washed in water, and each was placed, still wet, on a film of paraftin wax on a glass slide. The plate was immediately warmed from below, and the paraffin rose to take the place of the water evaporated from the seed. The surface could be cleaned with benzine, and the seed was now so tough that it could be easily handled. The Tegelen flora indicates a stage just earlier than that of the Cromer Forest bed. An illustrated paper on historic fossil cycads, by G. R. Wieland (American Journal of Science, vol. xxv., 1908, p. 93), directs attention to new points in some of the great cycad stems and casts in the museums of Europe. The type Cycadeoidea etrusca in Bologna is a silicified stem that was used as a sharpening stone in an Etruscan city some 4000 years ago, and it is claimed as “‘ the most anciently collected of all geological specimens.” From Japan come two papers on fossil plants (Journal of the College of Science, Tokyo, vol. xxiii., 1908, articles 8 and 9). In the former, M. Yokoyama describes spoils of war, in the form of Upper Carboniferous plants collected during the recent campaign in Manchuria. In the latter, H. Yabe, whose work on Fusulina has been previously noticed in NatuRE, shows how the occurrence of Giganto- 262 NATURE [APRIL 29, 1909 plerts nicotiaenifolia in the Mungyong beds of Korea marks these strata as of Triassic age. In the Proceedings of the United States National Museum, vol. xxxiy. (1908), p. 281, G. H. Girty describes an interesting series of sponges from the Carboniferous of Kansas, for which he is obliged to erect three new genera, Heteroccelia, Meaandrostia, and Ccelocladia. The specimens are now calcareous, and the first two were probably calcispongize, while Ccelocladia was a lithistid. Mr. Girty goes on (p. 293) to describe several new Carboniferous brachiopods. The brachiopods of the Cam- brian are added to by C. D. Walcott (Smithsonian Miscel- laneous Collections, ‘vol. liii., No. 1810, October, 1908). In a subsequent paper (tbid., No. 1811) the same author gives a useful classification and terminology of the Cam- brian Brachiopoda, in which attention is given to the Structure of the shell and to the terms applied to its numerous details. A plate illustrates the microscopic structure. Prof. A. P. Pavlow devotes a finely illustrated folio memoir to the relationships of the lamellibranch Aucella, with a review of all known species. An appendix deals with the Aucelline from the Russian Cretaceous strata (Nouv. Mém. Soc. imp. des Nat. de Moscou, tome xvii., 1907, p. 1). Dr. L. Waagen, as an addition and a tribute to Bittner’s work on the lamellibranchs of the Alpine Trias, has de- scribed ‘‘ Die Lamellibranchiaten der Pachycardientuffe der Seiser Alm ”’ (Abhandl. d. k.k. geol. Reichsanstalt, Bd. xviii., 1907, Heft 2, folio, price 30 kronen). Material gathered by Bittner before his death has been utilised and compared with a series of specimens in the collections of the University of Vienna. The memoir is no mere record of species, but contains philosophic criticisms of the posi- tion of several genera, such as Neumayr’s Heminajas (p. oe Sowerby’s Myoconcha, and King’s Pleurophorus (p. 154). “Die Acanthicus-Schichten im Randgebirge der Wiener Bucht,”” by Franz Toula (Abhandl. d. k.k. geol. Reichsanstalt, Bd. xvi., Heft 2, 1907), forms yet another handsome folio, and is mainly devoted to ammonites. The author in 1905 found to his surprise, south-west of Vienna, a highly fossiliferous exposure of Upper Jurassic lime- stone. Quarrying operations allowed of the collection of a large amount of good material, including a new species, Phylloceras giganteum, measuring 44 cm. in diameter. Eight new species of Perisphinctes alone come from this limited locality. The author modestly explains that he has dealt with these fossils personally, since they came direct into his hands, and he felt a sort of devotion to them which it might have been hard to arouse in another worker. Nineteen exceptionally fine photographic plates place the features of the actual specimens before the critics whose comment is invited by the author. An important stratigraphical and zonal paper, by N. T. Karakasch, on the Lower Cretaceous of the Crimea, appears in the Travaux de la Société impériale des Naturalistes de St. Pétersbourg, vol. xxxii., 1907. Numerous new species of cephalopods, among other fossils, are described and figured. Hoplites, it is noted, disappears in the Crimea before the Aptian epoch, though it occurs in higher series in other parts of Russia and in the Caucasus. The paper is accompanied by an abstract in French. Dr. Kitchin’s memoir on the invertebrate fauna and palzontological relations of the Uitenhage series (Ann. South African Museum, vol. vii., part ii., 1908) is also mainly concerned with molluscs. Bivalves are here prominent, but the ammonites furnish new species of Holcostephanus, which are shown among the beautiful figures drawn by Mr. T. A. Brock. The author strongly confirms the opinion, which has been gradually spreading, that these interesting beds in Cape Colony are of Lower Cretaceous and not of Jurassic age. In “‘ New Cretaceous and Tertiary Fossils from the Santa Cruz Mountains, California,”? by R. Arnold, of the U.S. Geological Survey (Proc. U.S. National Museum, vol. XXXiv., 1908, P- 345), a number of new molluscan species are figured from strata ranging from the Cretaceous to the Pliocene. Dr. Otto Wilckens issues a paper of faun- istic importance on “ Die Lamellibranchiaten, Gastro- NO. 2061, VOL. 80] poden, &c., der oberen Kreide Siidpatagoniens” (Ber. d. naturforsch. Gesell. su Fretburg-im-Breisgau, Bd. vey 1907, Pp. 97). The material collected by Prof. Hauthal and sent to Prof. Steinmann was not in a good state of preservation, owing to earth-pressures and weathering processes, but a great deal that is new among molluscan species has come to light. Dr. Paulcke follows (p. 167) with an account of the cephalopods from the same Strata, including several new species of Hoplites. On p. 83 Dr. Wilckens, in a sketch of the geology of south Patagonia, places these fossiliferous beds as Upper Senonian. Almost simultaneously, the seventh volume of the Anales del Museo Nacional appeared in Buenos Aires, consisting of H. von Ihering’s memoir of 600 pages on ** Les Mollusques fossiles du Tertiaire et du Crétacé supérieur de l’Argentine.’’ Dr. von Ihering places himself in accord with Dr. Florentino Ameghino and against Dr. Wilckens on the question of the ‘“ Pan-Patagonian is system, which he consequently regards as Eocene. With some justice, he claims that the Tertiary beds of South America are to be judged by their own inter-relations, and not by the sequence in North America or Europe. He believes that a continental barrier, required also on z00- logical grounds, united southern Brazil and Africa in Eocene times. The characters of the Eocene fauna of Argentina are thus Antarctic and Indo-European rather than North American. The author, in determining his systems, relies on the principles of Lyell and Deshayes, laying great stress on the proportion of the molluscan species that are to be found in existing seas (pp. 95, 113, and 419). The Pan-Patagonian system is thus regarded as Eocene, the Entrerian as Miocene, and the gap between these as filled by the Magellanian or Oligocene. Ame- ghino, however, has placed the Entrerian as Oligocene. The pebble-beds that extend along the Patagonian coast- lands from Tierra del Fuego to the Rio Negro are now known to contain molluscan bands, and Darwin’s belief that they were marine is thus confirmed (p. 391). This ““Araucanian ’’ formation is classed as Pliocene. Von Ihering thinks that the lower part of the much-discussed Pampas system may be Pliocene, while the higher marine beds proclaim the upper part as Pleistocene. In southern Brazil and on the Buenos Aires coast there are still younger Pleistocene deposits, representing a consider- able incursion of the sea (p. 431). The section of. the memoir (p. 482) which traces the history of the successive marine faunas raises many questions that affect palze- ontology, zoological distribution, and general geology. On P- 545, for instance, examples are given of the influence of oceanic climate in sending the littoral species of temperate zones into deeper waters near the tropics, and in allowing of a “bipolar” distribution of other forms, since they can live at great depths over all the oceanic area intervening between the poles. The criticism of so extensive a memoir must be left to specialists, but it is clear that its conclusions will interest geologists of very different lines of study. a: In the Proceedings of the Cotteswold Naturalists Field Club, vol. xvi. (1908), p. 143, Mr. E. Talbot Paris describes echinoids from the Lias of Worcestershire, and, with Mr. L. Richardson (p. 151), writes on the stratigraphical and geographical distribution of the Inferior-Oolite echinoids of the west of England. The latter paper, while relying in part on Wright’s work, makes useful additions to it, new species being introduced and figured. Pal Mr. A. W. Slocom describes several new crinoids, belonging to genera already known, from the Niagara Limestone of Chicago (Field Columbian Museum, Geol. Series, vol. ii., 1907, p. 273). Two new species of the aberrant genus Zophocrinus are included. Mr. R. Arnold, whose molluscan work is above referred to, describes a new species of the ophiurid Amphiura from the Upper Miocene of California (Proc. U.S. National Museum, vol. XXXiv., 1908, p. 403). u Mr. C. D. Walcott, having completed his work on brachiopods, promptly enters on an investigation of Cam- brian trilobites (Smithsonian Miscell. Collections, vol. liii., 1908, p. 13). The present instalment describes the new genera Burlingia. Albertella, and Oryctocara. The first- named, from the Middle Cambrian, is placed with Moberg’s Schmalenseeia in a special family, the Burlingide. APRIL 29, 1909] NATURE 7 263 The Geological Survey of Great Britain issued in October, 1908, a welcome quarto memoir on ‘** The Higher Crustacea of the Carboniferous Rocks of Scotland,’’ by b. N. Peach, F.R.S. (price 4s.). Four new genera, one being appropriately styled Tealliocaris, and twenty-three new species, are described. The forms are all transferred from the macrurous decapods to the schizopods, following an opinion early formed by the author, and confirmed by Sars’s report in the Challenger series in 1885. Palzeocaris is interestingly placed in G., M. Thomson’s Anaspide (p. 53), a family erected in 1894 to include a less specialised fresh-water form still living isolated in lakes among the mountains of Tasmania. ‘The illustrations to the memoir show the excellent preservation of much of the material, and it is pleasant to learn that the work was undertaken -by Dr. Peach on his retirement from the Survey directly he was free from pressing official duties. Passing to vertebrates, Messrs. F. R. von Huene and R. S. Lull are engaged in a re-consideration of the affinities of Hallopus, a reptile described by Marsh from Wyoming, and now known to be of Upper Triassic age (Am. Journ. Science, vol. xxv., 1908, p. 113). Mr. G. E. Pilgrim gives us a new genus of Suide, Telmatodon, from Lower Miocene beds in Baluchistan (Records Geol. Surv. India, vol. xxxvi., 1907, p. 45). Mr. tf. B. Loomis shows how the rhinoceros Diceratherium was comparatively common in the Lower Miocene of North America in beds where few vertebrates were known until some three years ago (‘‘ Rhinocerotidaee of the Lower Miocene,’’ Am. Journ. Sci., vol. xxvi., 1908, p. 51). Two species of Acerotherium, a genus abundant in the American Oligocene, lived on amid a rich variety of Diceratheria. By the close of the Miocene, the latter forms had also run their course. Herr Wilhelm Freudenberg introduces the Pleistocene Rhinoceros Mercki, var. Hundsheimensts, TYoula, in his account of the fauna of the Hundsheim cave in Lower Austria (Jahrb. d. k.k. geol. Reichsanstalt, Bd. lviii., 1908, p. 220). The animals of this cave, including Mach- _airodus, which may have preyed on rhinoceroses and elephants, are held to have lived in the district at first under cold conditions, and then during a warm _ inter- glacial interval. The striped hyzna occurs (p. 212), a species that goes back far into the Pliocene. The absence of the horse and man also gives the deposit an early aspect. (Geol Wo (Ge PAPERS ON MOLLUSCS AND INSECTS. HE molluscs of the family Pyramidellida inhabiting the coasts of New England and the adjacent region form the subject of an illustrated monograph, by Mr. P. Bartsch, published in the Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History, vol. xxxiv., parts Ixvii.-cxiii. Atten- tion is chiefly concentrated on the characters of the shell, although mention is made of some of the soft parts in diagnosing the genera. The new genus Couthonella is proposed for the species hitherto known as Pyramis striatula. To the proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia for December, 1908, Prof. H. A. Pilsbry contributes the twelfth instalment of his account of the clausilias of the Japanese Empire, in which a number of new species and subspecies of various sections, or sub- genera, of Clausilia are described and figured. Especial interest attaches to certain species belonging to the section Euphazdusa, such as Clausilia echo, on account of their exhibiting stages in a degeneration-series leading on to the section Reinia. In the same issue Prof. Pilsbry and Mr. Y. Hirase describe a number of new land-molluscs from the Japanese Empire, including forms from the main island of Japan, the Benin Island, the Ryukyu (Liu-Kiu) Islands, and Formosa. Particular interest attaches to the clausilias and operculated shells from the small volcanic isles of the Tokara group. The pteropods and heteropods of the Irish coasts form the subject of a paper, by Miss A. L. Massy, published as No. 2 of Irish Fisheries Scientific Investigations for 1907 (1909). The list includes seventeen species of ptero- pods, among which is a new species of Clio (C. gracilis) NO. 2061, vor. So] an seven other species not previously recorded from British waters. Heteropods, on the other hand, are represented, according to present information, in Irish waters only by a few occurrences of Carinaria lamarckt. The habits of the British carnivorous slugs of the genus Testacella form the subject of an illustrated note by the editor in the April number of the Selborne Magazine. Special interest attaches to the figure of one of these slugs seizing a worm with its protruded “‘ radula.”’ Turning to insects, we have first to notice the first three ‘‘ leaflets?’ on injurious insects issued by the Indian Forest Department. Of these, No. 1 is devoted to the sal bark-boring beetle (Sphaerotrypes siwalikiensis); No. 2 treats of the moth known as the teak-defoliator (Hyblaea puera); and No. 3 describes the teak-leaf skeletoniser (Pyrausta machaeralis), which, in its adult condition, is also a moth. As two at least of these insects have been noticed in NaturE in connection with other publications of the Forest Department, it will suffice to add that the three leaflets have been drawn up by Mr. E. P. Stebbing. In vol. ii, No. 7, of the entomological series of the Memoirs of the Department of Agriculture in India, Mr. Maxwell-Lefroy discusses the scale-insects, or Coccide, of the country, the life-history of three species being illus- trated by coloured plates. None of the Indian species of the group inflicts much harm on crops. Brazilian grasshoppers of the subfamilies Pyrgomorphinz and Locustinze (or Acridinze) form the subject of No. 1661 of the Proceedings of the U.S. National Museum (vol. XXxVi., pp. 109-163). Fifty-three species are discussed in this paper, among which the author, Mr. J. A. G. Rehn, describes seventeen as new, four new genera being also named and defined. The greater portion of the collection came from Matto Grosso and Rio de Janeiro, and the remainder from the neighbourhood of Pernambuco and Bahia. In the February issue of the Proceedings of the Academy of Sciences of Philadelphia, Messrs. Rehn and Hebard continue their survey of the Orthoptera of the south-western United States, dealing in this instance with those of New Mexico and Texas. On a previous occasion reference was made in our columns to a paper in the Proceedings of the Philadelphia Academy of Sciences, by Dr. F. Creighton Wellman and Mr. W. Horn, on the tiger-beetles of Angola. In the same serial for December, 1908, the first-named author gives an account of Angolan oil-beetles (Meloidz), in which special attention is directed to interesting features connected with the habits of these insects. Throughout the driest district of Angola various species of these beetles may be seen in thousands on a roseaceous plant of the genus Tribulus, which occurs in enormous masses, and forms almost the sole food-supply of the adult Meloidze of the district. This plant produces large masses of yellow flowers, upon which the beetles cluster. It is remarked as 1 curious fact that the young of these oil-beetles should feed on the eggs, and later on the larve, of orthopterous and other insects, while the adults have such an intimate relation to certain plants, the appearance of the full-grown Meloidee being synchronous with the flowering of the Tribulus, which lasts only for a few weeks. An important contribution to morphology is formed by a paper on the so-called sclerites of insects, by Dye (Er, (Ce Crampton, published in the Proceedings of the Academy of Sciences of Philadelphia for January. According to the author, there exists a most confusing want of uniformity in regard to the homology of these small chitinous elements and the names applied to them, this being, apparently, in sreat degree due to the fact that each investigator has been content to confine his studies to one or two groups of insects. Many important points have been brought to light by such investigations on the different orders, but they stand, for the most part, as isolated facts. The object of the investigations undertaken by the author has been to bring these isolated facts into harmony, and to construct a nomenclature for these structures which shall be applicable to the Hexapoda as a whole. With this object in view, Dr. Crampton first reviews the various theories of his predecessors on this subject, and then furnishes a revised and general system of nomenclature. A further communication on the subject is promised. Publications by the Entomological Bureau of the U.S. 264 IN AL TELS: [APRIL 29, 1909 Department of Agriculture include a Bulletin on the peach- tree bark-beetle (Phlaeotribus liminaris), by Mr. H. F. Wilson, a paper on the orange-thrips (Euthrips citrt), named for the first time, by Mr. D. Moulton, and a leaflet on fleas. Starting with the fact that no sensible difference between the variability of the sexes in the human species can be found, if accurate measures be taken to determine that variability, it is of considerable interest to ascertain whether there is differentiated variability in the castes of the social insects. In a memoir published in Bionictrika, vol. v., it was shown that the worker-wasp was more variable than the drone, and the drone than the queen. In vol. vi., part iv., of the same serial, Dr. Ernest Warren investigates the variability of the six castes of South African white-ants, or termites. The author finds that the sexual are less variable than the asexual castes, and considers that the difference of variability between the inhabitants of different nests cannot be accounted for by heredity, but must be due to post-embryonic environmental influences. It is also held that the relative variability of the whole population as compared with that of a single nest cannot be attributed to heredity, but must be due to the influence of environment on a plastic organism. Dr. Warren finds a high correlation between the mean sizes of the different castes in the same nest, and little correlation between the variability of different castes in the same nest, thus indicating that a similar environment does not affect the different castes in the same way. In the April number of the Zoologist Mr. A. H. Swinton continues his account of the vocal and instrumental music of insects. TRANSATLANTIC WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY.: Il. IN the spring of 1903 the transmission of news messages from America to the London Times was attempted, in order to demonstrate that messages could be sent from America by means of the new method, and for a time these messages were correctly received and published in that newspaper. By reference to the files of the Times I find that 267 words of news, transmitted across the Atlantic by wireless, were published in the London Times during the latter part of March and the early part of April of that year. A breakdown in the insulation of the apparatus at Glace Bay made it necessary, however, to suspend the service, and, unfortunately, further accidents made the transmission of messages uncertain and untrustworthy. In consequence of this it was decided not to attempt, for the time being, the transmission of any more public messages until such time as a trustworthy service could be maintained in both direc- tions under all ordinary conditions. As I found that many improvements evolved during the course of the numerous tests and experiments could not be readily applied to the plants at Poldhu and Cape Breton, it was decided to erect a completely new long-distance station in Ireland, and to transport the one at Glace Bay to a different site in the vicinity, where sufficient land was available for experimenting with aérials of much larger dimensions than had been hitherto employed. = Experiments were, however, continued with Poldhu, and in October, 1903, it became possible to supply the Cunard steamship Lucania, during her entire crossing from New York to Liverpool, with news transmitted direct from the shore. In November of the same year tests similar to those carried out with the Italian cruiser took place on behalf of the British Admiralty between Poldhu and H.M.S. Duncan. Communication with Poldhu was maintained during the entire cruise -of this battleship from Portsmouth to Gibraltar, and further communication was established between Poldhu and the Admiralty station situated on the Rock of Gibraltar. It should be noted that the distance between Cornwall and Gibraltar is 1000 miles—soo over land and 500 over water. 1 From a discourse delivered at the Royal Institution on Friday, March 13, 1908, by Commendatore G. Marconi. Continued from P: 237+ NO. 2061, VOL. 80] The aérial at Poldhu was shortly afterwards extended by the addition of wires sloping downwards, umbrella-fashion, as shown in Fig. 10. This increased the capacity of the aérial, and some further tests were carried out with a station at Fraserburgh, in the north of Scotland. From these tests considerable advantage appeared to be derived, at least for communication over land, by the adoption of much longer waves than had been hitherto employed, and with a wave-length of 14,000 feet it was found possible to telegraph over a distance of 550 miles with an expenditure of energy of about 1 kilowatt. The operation of the long-distance stations in England and America made it possible to transmit messages to ships, whatever their position, between Europe and North l I —Ey\ re = I | wy — AES iA SU, Wire = \) \\ . A vA KC ih / MAL DX K ABA \B xX cS = CF ZZ J 2 SZ ZN —= SO SSS 77 XX xXx XX \) 5 Fic. ro. America; and to the Cunard Company belongs the credit of having greatly encouraged the long-distance tests, a circumstance which enabled them to commence, in June, 1904, the regular publication on their principal vessels of a daily newspaper, containing telegraphic messages of the latest news from Europe and America. This daily newspaper has now been adopted by nearly all the large liners plying to New York and the Mediter- ranean, and it obviously owes its entire existence to long- distance wireless telegraphy. Therefore the tranquility and isolation from the outside world, which it is still possible to enjoy on board of some ships, is rapidly becoming a thing of the past; but, however much travellers may sigh over the innovations which have lately been brought about, Fic. 11. they seem anxious enough to avail themselves of the new method of communication on all possible occasions. Early in 1905 the construction of the new station at Glace Bay was sufficiently advanced to allow of preliminary tests being carried out. The aérial was very large, and consisted of a vertical portion in the middle 220 feet long supported by four towers and attached to horizontal wires, 200 in number, each tooo feet long, extending radially all round, and supported at a height of 180 feet from the ground by an inner circle of eight and an outer circle of sixteen masts (Fig. 11). The natural period of oscillation of this aérial gave a wave-length of 12,000 feet. The capacity employed was 1-8 microfarads, and the spark-length 38-inch. Signals and messages from this station were received at APRIL 29, 1909 | NATURE 265 Poldhu by day as well as by night, but no commercial use of the station was made at that time, in consequence of the fact that, although the signals came through by day as well as by night, they were exceedingly weak and faint, and also because the corresponding station on the same plan had not yet been erected in Ireland. A further step in advance was the adoption at the Trans- atlantic stations of the directional aérial shown in Fig. 12.* The ordinary wireless telegraph aérials, which I have already described, send out electric radiation equally in all directions. This is, however, in many cases a disadvantage. Many suggestions respecting methods for limiting the direc- tion of radiation have been made by various workers, notably by Messrs. Artom, Braun, and Bellini Tosi. In some of my earliest experiments, in 1896, I used copper mirrors, by the aid of which it was possible to project a beam of electric radiation in a certain direction, but I soon found that this method would only work over short distances. About three years ago I again took up the subject, and was able to determine that by means of horizontal aérials, disposed in a particular manner, it was possible to confine the effects of electric waves mainly to certain directions as desired. True, the limitation of transmission to one direc- tion is not-very sharply defined, but it is nevertheless very useful. The practical result of this method has been, so far, that messages can be sent over considerable distances in the desired directions, while they travel only over a comparatively short distance in other directions, and that, with aérials of moderate height, greater efficiency in a given direction can be obtained than can be obtained all round by means of the ordinary aérials. When this type of aérial was adopted at Glace Bay a considerable strengthening of the received signals at Poldhu Fic. 12. was noticed. It was therefore decided to adopt the direc- tional aérial at all long-distance stations. A further improvement introduced at Clifden and Glace Bay consisted in the adoption of air condensers, composed of insulated metallic plates suspended in air at ordinary pressure. In this manner it is possible to prevent the dissi- pation of energy due to losses caused by the dielectric hysteresis in the glass dielectric of the condensers previously employed, and a very appreciable economy in working, resulting from the absence of breakages of the dielectric, is effected. These air condensers, which have been in use since May, 1907, have been entirely satisfactory. After very considerable delay and expense, the new station at Clifden was got ready for tests by the end of May, 1907, and experiments were then commenced with Glace Bay. The wave-length used during these tests was 12,000 feet, the capacity employed 1-6 microfarads, and the potential to which the condenser was charged 80,000 volts. Good signals were obtained at Cape Breton from the very commencement of the tests, but some difficulty was encountered in consequence of the effects of atmospheric electricity due to the prevalence of thunderstorms in the eastern part of Canada during the first few days of the tests. Simultaneously with these tests others were carried out from Poldhu to Glace Bay with a new system of trans- mitting apparatus, by means of which continuous or semi- continuous oscillations could be produced. Proportionately to the energy employed the signals from Poldhu were so much better than those from Clifden that I decided at once to adopt this new method of transmission at Glace Bay and Clifden. The apparatus which I have been using for producing continuous or closely adjacent trains of electric oscillations is as follows?:—A metal disc 1 “On Methods whereby the Radiation of Electric Waves may be mainly Confined,” &c. Proc. Roy. Soc., (+. Marconi, A. Ixxii., 1906. ? Patent Application No. 20,119, September 9, 1907. NO. 2061, VOL. 80] “the generator H. A (Fig. 13), insulated from the earth, is caused to rotate at a very high speed by means of a high-speed electric motor or steam turbine. Adjacent to this disc, which lI shall call the middle disc, are placed two other discs, C,, c,, which may be called polar discs, and which also can be rotated at a high rate of speed. These polar discs should have their peripheries very close to the surface or edges of the middle disc. If a small amount of energy is used, stationary knobs or points may be used in place of the side discs. The two polar discs are connected respectively through suitable brushes to the outer ends or terminals of two con- densers K, joined in series, and these condensers are also connected through suitable inductive resistances to the terminals of a generator, which should be a high-tension continuous-current dynamo. On the high-speed or middle disc a suitable brush or rubbing contact is provided, and connected between this contact and the middle point of the two condensers is in- serted an oscillating circuit consisting of a condenser E in series with the inductance, which last is connected inductively or conductively to the aérial. If the necessary conditions are fulfilled, and a sufficient E.M.F. is employed, a discharge will pass between the outer discs and the middle disc, which discharge is neither an oscillatory spark nor an ordinary arc, and powerful FIC 1th oscillations will be created in the signalling condenser EB and oscillatory circuit F. I have found that in order to obtain good effects a peri- pheral speed of more than 100 metres per second is desir- able; therefore particular precautions have to be taken in the construction of the discs. Electrical oscillations of a frequency as high as 200,000 per second can be obtained. The apparatus works probably in the following manner :— Let us imagine that the source of electricity is gradually charging the double condenser and increasing the potential at the discs, say c, positively and c, negatively; at a certain instant the potential will cause the charge to jump across one of the gaps, say between c, and a. This will charge the condenser rE, which will then commence to oscillate, and the charge in swinging back will jump from a to C,, which is charged to the opposite potential. The charge of © will again reverse, picking up energy at each reversal from the condensers kK. The same process will go on indefinitely, the losses which occur in the oscillating circuit EF being made good by the energy supplied from If the disc is not rotated, or rotated slowly, an ordinary are is at once established across the small gaps, and no oscillations take place. The efficient cooling of the discharge by the rapidly revolving disc seems to be one of the conditions necessary for the production of the phenomena. By means of this apparatus tests were carried out, but it was found, as was to be expected, that the oscillations were too continuous and of too high a frequency to affect a receiver, such as the magnetic detector, unless an inter- rupter was inserted in one of the circuits of the receiver. 266 NATURE, [APRIL 22, 1909 A syntonic coherer receiver would, however, work, in con- sequence, no doubt, of. the considerable rise of potential which occurred at its terminals through the cumulative effect of resonance. The best results over long distances have, however, been obtained by a disc as shown in;Fig. ‘14, in which the active surface is not smooth, but consists of a number of knobs or pegs, at the end of which the discharges . take place at regular intervals. In this case, of course, the oscillations are not continuous, but consist of a regular succession of trains of undamped or slightly damped waves. In that manner it is possible to cause the groups of oscillations radiated to reproduce a musical note in the receiver, distinguishable in a telephone, and thereby it is easier to differentiate between the signals emanating from the transmitting station and noises caused by atmospheric electrical’ disturbances. By this method very efficient re- sonance can, moreover, be obtained in appropriately designed receivers. A few tests with apparatus based on the principle de- scribed were carried out between Glace Bay and. Clifden, and on October 17 of the year 1907 a limited. service for Press messages was commenced between Great Britain and America. Difficulties were experienced, however, over the question of rates with the telegraph companies working the land-lines between Glace Bay and the principal towns of Canada and the United States, and at present the strange FIC.I4 ( S anomaly exists that the rates for Press messages on the American land-lines are much cheaper for messages going from England to New York than in the reverse direction. On February 3, 1908, this service was extended to ordinary messages between London and Montreal. : The stations at Clifden and Glace Bay are not complete, and the necessary duplication of the running machinery has not yet been executed, but nevertheless communication across the Atlantic has never been interrupted for more than a few hours since the commencement of commercial working on October 17, 1907. There have, however, been several serious interruptions at Clifden, due to the untrustworthiness of the land-lines connecting Clifden to the ordinary telegraph system. On one occasion one of these interruptions lasted from 5.20 p.m. to 10.30 a.m., a duration of seventeen hours, and on another occasion the land telegraph wires were struck by lightning and disabled for twelve hours. There have also been recorded numerous other interruptions of shorter dura- tion, which resulted in delays to private and Press messages. Further delays have also been caused through interruptions on the land-lines connected with the Canadian station. During the first months, on account of imperfections in the auxiliary apparatus connected principally with the operating keys and switches, only a fraction of the avail- NO. 2061, VOL. 80] able transmitting power was used. In consequence of. this the speed of transmission was slow, and short-interruptions. somewhat frequent. Many of these difficulties have now been overcome, and in a few more months, when it should be possible to utilise the full power available, a very!:much, greater speed and efficiency is likely to be attained.; | ;!, Messages can now be transmitted across the Atlantic. by day as well as by night, but there still exist certain: periods,, fortunately of short duration, when transmission. across -the Atlantic’ is difficult and at times ineffective, .unless. an. amount of energy greater than that used. during: what. I, might call normal conditions is employed. Bete 2 7. : Thus, in the morning and evening when, due to the difference in longitude, daylight or darkness extends only, part of the way across the Atlantic, the received; signals are weak and sometimes cease altogether. ms , It would almost appear as if illuminated space possessed for electric waves a different refractive, index from dark- space,’ and that in consequence the electric waves may be refracted; and reflected in passing from: one! medium to the, other.’ It is therefore probable that these difficulties would not be experienced in telegraphing over equal distances from north to south, or vice versd, as in this case the passage from daylight to darkness would occur almost simultaneously in the whole of the medium between the two points. In the same manner a storm area in the path of the signals often brings about a considerable weakening of the received waves, whilst if stormy conditions prevail all the way across the Atlantic, no interference is noticeable. Electric-wave shadows, like sound shadows, may be formed by the interference of reflected waves with the direct waves, whereby signals may be much less effective or imperceptible in the area‘of such electric-wave shadow. : In the same manner as there exist periods when signals across the Atlantic are unusually weak, there exist other conditions, especially at night, which make the signals abnormally strong. Thus on many occasions ships, and stations equipped with apparatus of a normal range of 200 miles, have been able to communicate over distances of more than 1000 miles. This occurred recently when a ship in the English Channel was able to correspond with another in the Mediterranean. But the important factor about wire- less telegraphy is that a service established for a certain distance shall be able to maintain trustworthy communica- tion over that distance. Long-distance stations are now in course of erection in many parts of the world, the most powerful of all being that of the Italian Government at Coltano, and I have not the slighest doubt but that telegraphy through space ‘will soon be in the position of affording communication between distant countries at cheaper rates than can be obtained by any other means. As to the practicability of wireless telegraphy working over long distances, such as that separating England from America, there is no longer need for any doubt.: Although the stations have been worked for only a few hours: daily, 119,945 words of Press and commercial messages had been transmitted across the ocean by this means up to the end of February, 1908, since the service was opened. . The best judges of a service are those who have made use of it, and amongst newspapers, the chief users have been the New York Times and the London Times, which have already publicly expressed their opinion of this new method of communication. : Whether the new telegraphy will or will not injure or displace the cables is still a matter of conjecture, but in my opinion it rests a good deal on what the cables can do in the way of cheaper rates. It is not, as some appear to imagine, either the business or the wish of those con- cerned in the development of wireless telegraphy to injure the cable industry. They are endeavouring at present to demonstrate that the new method is not only valuable for shipping, but that it should be also regarded as a new and cheaper method of communicating with far distant countries. Whatever may be the view as to its short- comings and defects, there can be no doubt but that wire- less telegraphy across the Atlantic has come to stay, and will not only stay, but continue to advance. In seven years the useful range of wireless telegraphy has increased from miles to 2500 miles. In view of! 200 APRIL 29, 1909] NATURE 267 that fact, he will be a bold prophet who will venture to affirm what may not be done in seven years more. I shall not presume to say that at the present moment the wireless telegraph service between London and New York is as efficient and as rapid as that supplied by the cables. For nearly fifty years the Transatlantic cable organisation has been in existence, and there are now sixteen cables working across the North Atlantic, so that in the case of a breakdown of one cable the traffic is sent by one of the others. Moreover, long experience has served to bring their land-line connections to a high state of perfection. Nevertheless, I am convinced that if there were only one cable and the present wireless service, inter- ruptions would be more frequent and much more serious in the case of the cable than in that of the wireless service. We have only to look towards those parts of the globe such as India, South Africa, and so forth, where trans- oceanic communication is dependent upon only one or two cables, and the force of my remarks will be more readily appreciated. The cases of delay in regard, not only to commercial messages, but also to Government despatches, are only too frequent, as no doubt you have observed from time to time in the daily Press. _ Among many people there seems to be a rooted convic- tion that wireless telegraphy is not suitable for the handling of code or cipher messages. Whatever gave rise to this idea I do not know, but I wish to emphasise that it is purely fictitious. Code messages can be sent just as well by wireless as by ordinary methods of telegraphy. 1 need hardly say that most of the wireless messages passing between warships are now expressed in code, as are likewise the majority of the commercial messages handled by the Clifden and Cape Breton stations. I do not wish to claim that wireless telegraphy is in- fallible, and although errors do sometimes occur, it is absolutely certain that, having regard to the London and Montreal service, most of the mistakes can be traced to the land-line telegraph transmission between London and Clifden, and between Glace Bay and Montreal. I find, however, that probably the greatest ignorance prevails in regard to what is termed “‘ tapping,’’ or inter- cepting wireless messages. No telegraph system is secret. The contents of every telegram are known to every operator who handles it. It is incorrect to suppose that anyone can at will pick up wireless messages. On the other hand, it is easy for anyone knowing the Morse code to step into many telegraph offices and read off the messages by the click of the instruments. Further, it is practicable, but illegal in this country, to make arrangements so that messages which pass over a telegraph line can be read by persons who are not operating the line at all. It is also expensive to erect a tall pole or tower and fix up all the instruments which are neces- sary before wireless messages can be taken in, and, more- over, such proceeding is contrary to the law of the land. It should be remembered, too, that any ordinary tele- graph or telephone wire can be tapped, and the conversa- tion going through it overheard, or its operation interfered with. Results published by Sir William Preece show that it is possible to pick up at a distance, on another circuit, the conversation which may be passing through a tele- phone or telegraph wire. At Poldhu, on a telephone connected to a long hori- zontal wire, the messages passing through a Government telegraph line a quarter of a mile away can be distinctly read. In a paper on his method of magnetic space tele- graphy, Sir Oliver Lodge mentions an occasion on which he was able to interfere, from a distance, with the work- ing of the ordinary telephones in the city of Liverpool. Many instances can be enumerated showing that electric light and tramway power-stations have interfered with cables and land-lines. Nevertheless, there are penalties attached to the tapping of a telegraph wire, and it ought to be as well known that, since the passing of the Wire- less Telegraphy Act, there are penalties involved if any wireless stations are erected or worked without the consent of the Postmaster-General. In conclusion, I may say that I am very confident that it is only a question of time, and that not a very long time, before wireless telegraphy over great distances, possibly round the world, will become an indispensable aid to commerce and civilisation. NO. 2061, VOL. 80] UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE. CaMBRIDGE.—Applications to occupy the University’s table in the zoological station at Naples should be addressed to Prof. Langley on or before Thursday, May 20. Mr. C. L. Boulenger has been appointed assistant to the superintendent of the museum of zoology from March 15 to September 30. Mr. G. I. Taylor has been appointed assistant demon- strator of experimental physics for five years from January 1, 1909. The Anthony Wilkin studentship in ethnology and archeology will be available at the end of 1909. Applicants should send their names, qualifications, and a statement of the research which they wish to undertake to the Vice- Chancellor before November 1. ‘Oxrorp.—A new departure was taken in Oxford some time ago by the establishment of a department of forestry. A site for the necessary building was provided by St. John’s College on a plot of ground adjoining their own gardens, and the work of the department was placed under the direction of Prof. W. Schlich, F.R.S., formerly of Coopers Hill. Coincidently with this movement, the chair of rural economy, founded by John Sibthorpe, who in 1747 succeeded Dillenius as professor of botany, was re-endowed and put on a new footing by the liberality of the same college. A building for the use of the present occupant of the Sibthorpian chair, Prof. W. Somerville, was also provided by St. John’s College, this, together with the new quarters of the forestry department, forming a hand- some block nearly opposite the University museum. The combined structure was opened on April 20 by the Vice- Chancellor, the president of Magdalen, in the presence of a large company, which included Sir Thomas Elliott, Sir Charles Crosthwaite, Mr. Rider Haggard, and many resi- dent members of the University. The president of St. John’s, who is now in his ninetieth year, was unfortunately prevented from being present by slight indisposition. In his speech at the opening ceremony the Vice-Chancellor dwelt on the traditions associated with the names of Sib- thorpe and Dillenius, and referred in appreciative terms to the services rendered by St. John’s College to the scientific studies of the University. Unper the Irish Universities Act, 1908, a professor of botany will be appointed shortly for the Queen’s University of Belfast. Other appointments will include readerships or lectureships in physics, organic chemistry, bio-chemistry, and geology and mineralogy. In furtherance of the movement for the establishment of a National Aéronautical College, we learn from the daily papers that the Aérial League has appointed a sub- committee consisting of Dr. Hele Shaw, F.R.S., Mr. Arthur du Cros, M.P., Lord Montagu of Beaulieu, Sir Buchanan Scott, and Mr. Stephen Marples. We are glad to see that the promoters are keenly alive to the import- ance of placing the movement on a strictly scientific basis, and that the mathematical side of the problem is to receive its due share of attention. This is the more important as the practical experimental side is pretty certain to be efficiently represented. That a serious effort is being made to wake up our country in the present connection may be gathered from the following remarks of | Mr. Marples as reported in the Standard :—‘‘ Our object, he said, ‘‘is to prevent Great Britain from being beaten in aéronautics by foreign countries in the same way as we have been in commercial enterprise. France and Germany have had their technical and commercial colleges, which have produced such good results, and now they have their aéronautical colleges in full swing. Unless we have one we shall fall behind in aéronautics too. Aéronautics is a most scientific subject, and goes more deeply into higher mathematics than any other subject connected with engineering. Hence the great necessity for putting the college on a sane, sound, and businesslike footing to meet the needs of the moment. It is no use teaching even the practice of flying unless we have something of the theory. We hope that the Government will help us. We are also appealing to the public for money.” 268 On July 12, 1908, King Edward VII. and Queen Alexandra visited Sheffield and opened the new University buildings. On the day of the King’s visit Mr. Wm. Edgar Allen gave 10,0001, to the University on the sole condition that it should be used for the erection of a building for the University library. On Monday, April 26, to the great satisfaction of the University authorities and of the people of Sheffield and district, the Prince and Princess of Wales opened the Edgar Allen Library. At a special Congrega- tion honorary degrees of Litt.D. were conferred on His Royal Highness and on Mr. Wm. Edgar Allen, the donor of the library. During the ceremony the Chancellor, the Duke of Norfolk, announced that Mr. Allen had that morning given donations of 5oool. to the Royal Infirmary and soool. to the Royal Hospital, on condition that a ward or wing in each should be called after the Prince and Princess respectively, a condition their Royal High- nesses were pleased to accept. The educational value of these fresh gifts was aptly referred to by the Chancellor, who pronounced them ‘‘ a very thoughtful work in connec- tion with this University, because it is undoubtedly a fact that the medical students of this University derive great advantages from what they can learn and see at the great hospitals of this city.’’ The Prince, in the course of an interesting speech, said:—‘‘ The great development of the university movement is a remarkable feature in the march of education during the latter part of the nine- teenth century. Our important industrial centres recognise that there are problems to be solved differing widely from those dealt with in the more ancient universities. Sheffield was quick to see the necessity of adapting herself to the industrial needs of the people, and to realise that scientific and technical knowledge is indispensable to success in the strenuous commercial struggle among the nations of the west. Thanks to the liberality of Mr. Mark Firth, the college which bore his name was founded in 1879, and incorporated twenty-six years later with those other institutions which constitute the University of Sheffield, including among them schools of engineering and metal- lurgy which are famous throughout the land... .”’ Tue Lord Mayor will preside at a meeting, to be held at the Mansion House as we go to press, in support of the National League for Physical Education and Improve- ment. The speakers will include the Bishop of Ripon, the Duke of Argyll (probably), Lord Halsbury, Lord Ash- bourne, Sir Henry Craik, M.P., and others. The follow- ing report, prepared by a strong and representative com- mittee organised by the league, will be presented and dis- cussed :—(r) That physical education should be compulsory in all schools, subject to the conditions of ‘sections (2) and (3). (2) That medical inspection and report should be compulsory as a preliminary to pedagogical gymnastics and at intervals thereafter; the report to make special reference to the conditions of eyes, ears, teeth, lungs, and heart, and to be drawn up on an authorised form to be supplied to the medical officer. A special report should also be made on the return of a pupil after severe illness. That a local education authority does not adequately carry out its duties in regard to medical inspection unless pro- vision is made for this. (3) That there should be regular pedagogical gymnastics at the schools, the number of lessons, the duration of each, and the nature of the exercises to be adapted to the age and physical condition of the child, the time so allotted not to curtail the play hours, games being an important part of physical educa- tion. The committee consider that, when possible, this instruction should be carried out daily, though they recognise that for the present this may be impossible, and that three days a week should be the minimum. They consider that, as far as possible, exercises not demanding apparatus should be carried out in the open air. (4) That in all secondary and intermediate schools specially trained gymnastic specialists should be appointed; in elementary schools, where the physical education is necessarily carried out by ordinary school teachers, such teachers should possess a qualification in physical training. (5) The studies of gymnastic specialists should be carried out on the general lines of the Swedish system, with such modifica- tions as are necessitated by the different conditions of school life in this country; recognition to be made of NO. 2061, VOL. 8o] NATURE ‘random. [APRIL 29, 1909 various grades of qualifications, and corresponding differ- ences in the course of study required. (6) The studies of the gymnastic specialist should embrace anatomy, physio- logy, hygiene, mechanics, and pedagogics. (7) For the present, certificates of efficiency as teachers will have to be granted or approved by a central body, whether or not in the future these powers can be delegated to universities or other local bodies. (8) The committee have considered the question of a central institute, and are of opinion that, although such an institute is highly desirable, they are not in a position at present to give definite recommendations in regard to its formation. SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. Lonpon. Royal Society, April 22.—Sir Archibald Geikie, K.C.B., president, in the chair.—‘ Dynamic ’’ osmotic pressures : the Earl of Berkeley and E. G. J. Hartley.—(r1) The theory of ancestral contributions in heredity; (2) the ancestral gametic correlations of a Mendelian population mating at random: Prof. Karl Pearson. The purpose of these two papers is to place in a somewhat clearer light the relationship of the biometric to the Mendelian stand- point. The law of ancestral heredity, as stated by the present writer in a paper published many years ago in the Proc. Roy. Soc., involved the following three points :— (a) the linearity of the regression of offspring on any ancestor; (b) the diminution of the ancestral correlations in a geometrical progression; and (c) the determination of the probable character of the offspring, when the mating was at random, by the multiple regression formula. It was shown, in a memoir of 1896, that when the ancestral correlations were of the type p, p*, p*... then the character of the offspring depended only on. the characters of the two parents, and ancestry need not be considered. In a memoir in vol. cciii. of the Phil. Trans. it was shown later that (a) and (b) held for a generalised Men- delian. population, for the somatic characters, but that the somatic correlations were not of the type p, p*, p®...- and accordingly that ancestry, in the biometrician’s sense, did matter even in a population following the simplest Mendelian formula, providing the mating was at A recent paper in the Proc. Roy. Soc. might be interpreted as meaning that the law of ancestral heredity did not apply to a Mendelian population. In the first of the ahove papers the writer indicates how, in a population originally consisting of p dominants, s recessives, and q hybrids, mating at random, the percentage of the number of dominants in the offspring increases with the number of dominants in the grandparentage, and this is true in the case of any grade of ancestors, whatever be p, q, and s. In the second paper the writer turns from the somatic to the gametic correlations, which were not discussed in the earlier memoirs, and shows that the gametic correlations form a series of the character p, p*, p* -; in other words, a knowledge of the gametic character of the parents makes a knowledge of the gametic character of the ancestry unnecessary. Apart from symbols, this must be a truism, because the offspring arises solely from the gametes of the parents; but a point of some interest is that the Mendelian gametic correlations, whatever be the mixture of protogenic, allogenic, and heterogenic elements in the freely mating population, take the same values, i.e. 0-5, 0-25, 0-125, &c., diminishing one-half with each ancestral grade. These gametic correlations are much nearer to the values obtained by biometric investigations for the somatic correlations, the theoretical Mendelian somatic correlations being considerably too small. It would thus appear that the Mendelian gametic correlations accurately obey the fundamental conceptions of the law of ancestral heredity, and the only real outstanding antinomy lies in the principle of absolute dominance. The correla- tions found biometrically suggest that there is a closer relation between the gametic and somatic constitution—at least for certain characters in the species investigated— than is represented by the first ftendelian ptinciple of absolute dominance.—The intracranial vascular system of Sphenodon: Prof. A. Dendy. This memoir contains a detailed description, with illustrations, of the intracranial —s= APRIL 29, 1909| MAT ORE 269 blood vessels of the Tuatara, of which no account has hitherto been published. The description is believed to be more complete than any hitherto given for any reptile, and a considerable number of vessels are described which have not hitherto been noted in Lacertilia. This com- parative completeness of detail is largely due to the employment of a special method of investigation. By this method the entire contents of the cranial cavity are fixed and hardened in situ, and are then in excellent condition either for dissection or for histological purposes. The brain does not occupy nearly the whole of the cranial cavity, there being a very large subdural space (especially above the brain) across which many of the blood vessels run, together with delicate strands of connective tissue which connect the dura mater with the pia. The eyeballs are removed, and an incision is made on each side in the cartilaginous wall which separates the cranial cavity from the orbit. Acetic bichromate of potash (made up accord- ing to the formula given by Bolles Lee) is injected into the cranial cavity through these incisions, and the entire animal, after opening the body cavity, is suspended in a large volume of the same fluid for about five days, ana then graded up to 7o per cent. alcohol. When the cranial cavity is now opened up the cerebral vessels are seen with extraordinary distinctness, although they have not been artificially injected. Further details were made out by means of serial sections, both transverse and longitudinal, and both of the adult and of advanced embryos (Stage S). In most respects the arrangement of the intracranial blood vessels agrees with that found in the Lacertilia, so far as these have been investigated but there is an important difference in the fact that the posterior cephalic vein leaves the cranial cavity through the foramen jugulare, and not through the foramen magnum, while a slightly more primitive condition is shown in the less complete union of the right and left halves of the basilar artery. Spheno- don makes some approach to the condition of the Chelonia in this latter respect, but differs conspicuously from this group in the fact that the circle of Willis is not com- pleted anteriorly, as well as in the fact that no branch of the posterior cephalic vein leaves the cranial cavity through the foramen magnum. A very characteristic feature of Sphenodon is the development of large trans- verse sinuses resembling those of the crocodile, but these communicate with the extracranial ‘vascular system in quite a different manner from that described by Rathke in the latter animal.—The graphical determination of Fresnel’s integrals: J. H. Shaxby. Fresnel’s integrals x x [ cos $722 and [sin 37x" can readily be evaluated by / 0 10 applying Simpson’s rule to the calculated values of cos 37x* and sin3ax? for a sufficient number of values of x. In the cosine case, the curve y=cosimx? gives a series of loops, cutting the x-axis at x=1, 73, 75, &c. The areas of these loops, after the first few, are shown to be proportional. to the lengths of the bases upon which they stand; a loop extending from x, to x, has an area Thus fairly large values of x as upper limit may be simply per- formed by adding together (a) the area for the first few loops (with due attention to + or — sign) obtained by Simpson’s rule; (b) kx&d, where Xd is the quantity obtained by summing (again paying attention to sign) the base lines of the complete loops of higher order than those in (a); and (c) the area of the part of a loop bounded by the upper limit, viz. from x,=/2n—1 to the upper limit of integration x,, where x,? is the greatest odd whole number less than x,*. The area (c) is given by the 2 : : k(x,—%,), where k=" =0'6366. integration to eee 2 ce expression—— Similar methods can be m(X,+x,) used for the sine integral. Values of the integrals calculated as above are tabulated, and agree with Gilbert’s values to within 1 part in 1000. (sin d4x,? +1). Linnean Society, April 1.—Dr. D. H. Scott, F.R.S., president, in the chair.—Amphipoda Hyperiidea of the Sealark Expedition to the Indian Ocean: A. O. Walker. The Amphipoda Hyperiidea of the Sealark Expedition consist of thirty-five species in twenty-eight genera, none NO. 2061, VOL. 80] new to science. « | of certain dimorphous bodies : Scina borealis, G. O. Sars, has not previously been found in tropical seas. Most of the speci- mens were taken in open tow-nets, so the actual depth at which they occurred is uncertain, but an ovigerous female of Platyscelus armatus (Claus) was taken “ off sounding-lead ’’ at 209 fathoms, which shows that this species deposits its ova on the bottom.—Marine Mollusca of the Sealark Expedition: Dr. J. Cosmo Melvill. The marine Mollusca obtained during the Stanley Gardiner Expedition of 1905-6 are especially interesting from the standpoint of geographical distribution. Accompanying the catalogue of nearly five hundred species are given tables of comparison with the molluscan faunas of nine or ten selected “‘ are ’’ of the Great Indo-Pacific region, one curious result of this investigation being that, whereas many are identical with species found in Polynesia or even Japan, the reverse obtains when comparison is made with the more contiguous fauna of the Persian Gulf and North Arabian Sea. This last has been made the subject of special study during the past fourteen years, and a total of nearly seventeen hundred species chronicled, of which something like five hundred proved new to science. Only one of these new forms (Peristernia corallina, Melv.) has been found to occur in the Stanley Gardiner collections made in the more southern portions of the same ocean, and comparatively few of the better-known forms are identical. Indeed, the affinities of this collection are, as might be expected, Mauritian.—Land and fresh-water Mollusca of the Seychelles Archipelago: E. R. Sykes. The author gives an account of the land and fresh-water shells collected by Mr. Stanley Gardiner in the Seychelles Islands. Nearly all the known forms are included in the collection, and three species belonging to Ennea (2) and Priodiscus (1) are described as new. A table showing the inter-insular distribution is given, and a list of all known forms. The origin of the fauna is uncertain, but the islands have evidently been for some considerable period separated from the mainland.—A blind prawn from the Sea of Galilee, constituting a new genus and species, Typhlocaris galilea: Dr. W. T. Calman. Paris. Academy of Sciences, April 19.—M. Bouchard in the chair.—Examination of the upper layers of calcium and hydrogen in the solar atmosphere, and of the same black filaments in the two layers: H. Deslandres and L. @Azambuja. The large spectroheliograph at Meudon permits of the examination of the K, and K, lines, quite pure and free from other light. The black filaments of K, have been compared with the image of Ha. It is concluded that in all previous work the lines obtained for hydrogen represent a mixture of different layers. To obtain the upper layer only, it is necessary to isolate the centre of the black line.—The slowness of the spontaneous transformation of the variety unstable at low temperatures D. Gernez. An _ experi- mental study of the equilibrium of yellow and red mercuric iodide and the corresponding varieties of thallous iodide. —The “‘sense of direction’’ in bees: Gaston Bonnier. The fact that bees, up to a distance of 3 kilometres, fly in a direct line for the hive, has been explained as due either to the sense of sight or of smell. The author’s experiments clearly demonstrate that neither sight nor smell serve for this purpose, and that bees possess a “‘ sense of direction.’? This sense is not located in the antennz.—The map of south Imerina: the methods of work employed: E. Colin. This map is on the scale of 1/100,000, with contour lines of 50 metres.—Remarks relating to the communication of M. Deslandres: G. E. Hale. In the photographs of Ha it has been found that the relative intensity of the black and brilliant flocculi is determined by the position of the slit relative to the line Ha. If the slit only allows the light from the central portion of the line to fall on the plate, the brilliant flocculi are very intense in the image. If, on the contrary, the image is formed exclusively from the light of the edge of the line, the black flocculi are well seen, but the brilliant flocculi are faint or even invisible. The results are not favourable to the theory of anomalous refraction as the cause of the hydrogen flocculi.—Letter from Dr. J. B. Charcot describing the voyage of the Pourquoi-pas? 270 NATURE [APRIL 29, 1909 (Antarctic expedition)—The determination. of the solar parallax from observations of the planet Eros made in several observatories in 1900-1: Arthur R. Hinks. The photographic observations lead to w=8-807"+0-0027"; the principal micrometric observations give 8-803” +0-0039". The reduction of the eye observations by the method of passages is not yet completed. The mean value 8-806" is not consistent with a greater constant of aberration than 20-47".—The distribution in space of large proper motions: H. H. Turner.—Infinitely small deformation of ruled surfaces: J. HWaag.—Differential systems of isomorphs: E. Vessiot.—The analytical function equal to the maximum modulus of an integral function: Arnaud Denjoy.—The electrical properties of copper-aluminium alioys: H. Pécheux. Alloys containing 3, 5, 6, 7-5, 10, and 94 per cent. of aluminium were examined. The electromotive forces of thermocouples consisting of alloy/ copper were measured for temperatures up to 820° C., and the resistances of the same alloys measured for temperatures up to 350° C.—Some consequences of the use of a selective receiver in the measurement of radiant energy: Ch. Féry.—The physico-chemical properties of the colloidal particles known as micelles: G. Malfitano. The author maintains that the experimental data of J. Duclaux are not in contradiction with his own experi- ments.—The function of contact electrification in the permeability of membranes to electrolytes: Pierre Girard. —The determination of added water in decomposed milks : André Kling and Paul Roy. The total nitrogen corre- sponding to the albumenoids of the milk is not affected by the fermentative processes, and hence is suggested as more suitable for the detection of added water than the estimation of the non-fatty solids——The suspension of life in certain seeds: Paul Beequerel. Seeds of lucerne, mustard, and wheat were kept at the temperature of liquid air for three weeks, and then further cooled to —253° C. (boiling hydrogen) for seventy-seven hours. All the lucerne and mustard seeds germinated normally, and four out of fivé of the wheat grains. The seeds had been well dried and placed in a vacuum before cooling.—Remarks on the preceding communication: Armand Gautier.—The lowering of the diaphragm: A. Thooris.—The diastases of milk: F. Bordas and F. Touplain. The oxydase re- action given by unboiled milk in presence of hydrogen peroxide. and _paraphenylene-diamine appear to be due, not to an oxydase, but to the casein, or compound of casein. and lime.—The comparative harmlessness of carbonic acid in incubation: M. Lourdel.—The inequali- ties of electric potential at several points of the organism : J. Audrain and R. Demerliac.—Passive congestion of the liver and arterial hypertension: E. Doumer and G. Lemoine.—The hydroids of the Lamouroux collection : Armand Billard.—A storm at sea: M. Halluitte. DIARY. OF SOCIETIES. THURSDAY, Royat Society, at 4.30. —Note on the Results of Cooling certain Hydrated Platin-cyanides in Liquid Air: Prof. J. Emerson Reynolds, F.R.S.—A Phenomenon connected with the Discharge of Electricity from Pointed Conductors (with a Note by Prof. J. Zeleny): Prof. H. T. Barnes and A. N. Shaw.—On the Effect of Temperature on Ionisation : J. A. Crowther.—The Wave-making Resistance of Ships ; a Theoretical and Practical Analysis: Dr. T. H. Havelock.—The Ionisation in Various Gases by Secondary y Rays: R. D. Kleeman. Roya Society oF Arts, at 4.30.—The Problem of Indian Labour Supply : S. H. Fremantle. APRIL. 29. FRIDAY, Aprit 30. Reel, INSTITUTION, at 9.—The Pitfalls of Biography: Dr. 7osse. Society oF Dyers anp CotouristTs, at 8.—Recent Developments of the The ry of the Colloidal re and their Bearing on the Dyeing and Cleaning of Textile Hibres sD E. Feilman. SATURDAY. May i. Roya INsTITUTION, at 3.—The Earth Movements of the Italian Coast and their Effects: R. T. Giinther. MONDAY, May 3. Society OF CHEMICAL INDusTRY, at 8.—Vulcanisation Tests in Plantation Rubbers: Clayton Beadle and Dr. H. P. Stevens.—The Indian Magnesite Industry: H. H. Dains.—A New Steam Meter: A. Girtle.—A New Edmund _ Refractometer: J. Lewkowitsch. RovaL Society oF Arts, at 8.—Aérial Flight: F. W. Lanchester. TUESDAY, Mav 4. Re es AL INSTITUTION, at 3.—Cosmogonical Questions: Prof. Svante rrhe snius Roy AL ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE, at 8.15.—(1) A Note ona Stone n the Rock of Cashel : (2) Some Irish Stone Circles: A. L. Lewis. NO. 2061, VOL. 80] WEDNESDAY, May 5. Enromotocicat Society, at 8. Society or Pupric ANatysts, at 8.—The Analysis of Air: W. J. A. Butterfield.—The Estimation of Iron by Permanganate in Presence of Hydrochloric Acid: G. Cecil Jones and J. H. efi -—The Composition of Butter from a Cheshire Herd of Cows: metham.—A Rapid Method for the Estimation and Separation of Milk Sugar and Cane Sugar in Sweetened Condensed Milk: I. S. Jamieson. THURSDAY, May 6. Roya Society, at 4.—Election of Fellows.—At 4.30.—Probable Papers : Reciprocal Innervation of Antagonistic Muscles. Note XIV. On Double Reciprocal Innervation: Prof. C. S. Sherrington, F.R.S.—Note on a Curious Property of Neon: Prof. J. Norman Collie, .R.S.—The Proper- ties of Colloidal Systems. I. The Osmotic Pressure of Congo-red and of Some Other Dyes: Dr. W. M. Bayliss, F.R.S.—The Origin and Destiny of Cholesterol in the Animal Organism. Part V. On the Inhibitory Action of the Sera of Rabbits fed on Diets containing Varying Amounts of Cholesterol on the Hzmolysis of Blood by Saponin: Miss Mary T. Fraser and J. A. Gardner. Linnean Society, at 8.—On some Zoanthee from Queensland and the New Hebrides: Mrs. Leonora J. Wilsmore.—The (C£cological Relations of the Tiger-Beetles : Dr. V. E. Shelford. RéntGen Society, at 8.15.—An Illustrated Description of the Historical Collection of Tubes recently deposited at the Albert and Victoria Museum: Dr. G. H. Rodman.—On X-rays Produced at a Magnetically Deflected Kathode Focus: J. H. Gardiner. InsTITUTION OF ExEcTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.—The Theory an Application of Motor Conyerters: H. S. Hallo. FRIDAY, Mav ifs Rovyat InsTITUTION, at 9.—The Campaign against Malaria: Majo Ronald Ross, C.B., F.R.S. CONTENTS. PAGE Central-American Orthoptera. ByR.S. ..... 241 Coal Mining. By Prof. Henry Louis . . . 242 A Comprehensive Work on Diphtheria. By T. J. H. 243 Alloys. By T. K.R. . 243 Astronomical Determination of Position from Balloon. By Dr. W. J. S. Lockyer . a ead Social and ig eae Bee aa William Brown . . ‘ ess ao 245 Our Book Shelf :— Escherich : ‘‘ Die Termiten oder weissen Ameisen.’’— Wi, eee 245 Lieckfeld: ‘Oil Motors: their Development, ‘Con- struction, and Management”’ . 246 “Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew,” 1908 246 Pierce: The Genitalia of the Group Noctuide: of the Lepidoptera of the British Islands. An Account of the morphology of the Male Clasping Crete W. F. 246 Renal “Paleolithic Vessels of Enypt, or the avliest Handiwork of Man” .. , : 246 Letters to the Editor :— Australian Kinship.—Dr. A. Lang. . . 247 Forms, Markings, and Attitudes in Animal and Plant Life.—Dr. Arthur Willey, F.R.S. 247 The Simple Equivalent of an Alternating Circuit of Parallel Wires.—Dr. J. W. Nicholson . 247 Gigantocypris and the eS a w. T. Calman .. 248 Persistent Trail of a Meteor on March | 14. —Edward i: Steen. = A oo StS) Lignum Nephriticum. — John i. Shaxby . Bona peg ete The Nandi. (ilustrated.) By A.C. H. . Sood oe) The Microscope in Engineering. (Ilustrated.) By Walter Rosenhain. . . 250 The Yielding of the Earth to Disturbing Forces. By Prof. A. E. H. Love, F.R.S. . 252 The Natural History Museum duoneedadie Oplc 6 eZkyib Notes=.:.. . Sonbo A io ome 0 AG Our Astronomical Column :— Astronomical Occurrences in May . OR Spase to aoa a 28) The Meteoric Shower of Halley’s Comet . 259 Comet Morehouse, 1908¢ . . 260 The ‘‘ Original” Canals of the Martian Doubles 260 Chromospheric Calcium Lines in Furnace Spectra... 260 Mount Wilson Solar Observatory Report ... . . 260 The Electrification of Railways ........ . 260 Some Recent Palzontological Papers. ByG.A.J.C. 261 Papers on Molluscs and Insects . . 263 Transatlantic Wireless Telegraphy. Il. (Wlustrated.) By Commendatore G. Marconi . . a 6 5 0) Zan University and Educational Intelligence . Sear oe, 2eh/ SocietiesiandyAcademics “0 a een menos Dianysosesocieties) <<). ca wee oneal 270 — NATURE THURSDAY, MAY 6, 1909. VERTEBRATE DEVELOPMENT. The Development of the Chick. An Introduction to Embryology. By F. R. Lillie. Pp. xi+472. (New York: H. Holt and Co.; London: G. Bell and Sons.) Price 16s. net. HE first feeling of an embryologist on examining this beautiful volume is of disappointment and regret that it treats solely of the development of so familiar an animal as the chick. The like style of work, dealing with some less-known form, might have been a very valuable original monograph. The chick has, indeed, played a very large and undeserved part in the history of embryology from the time of Harvey, Caspar Friedrich Wolff, and earlier,’through all the years during which Pander and Carl Ernst von Baer devoted themselves to its study, down to to-day. The incubator of the embryological laboratory is a silent witness of the importance often still attached to the development of the common fowl in the teach- ing of embryology. In addition to the employment of this animal in the laboratory, many embryologists have found the incubated egg of the hen useful, at times invaluable, in their researches. None the less, like the type-system of the zoological laboratory, the chick has seen better days in embryological work and teaching. Convenience has become the sole reason for its continued employment. For most, if not all, of the subjects of a course of embryology it is not difficult at all to find far more suitable material for instruction. No embryologist would think of attempting to demonstrate the wonderful story of the germ-cells, the phenomena of the maturation of germ-cells, fertilisation, egg-cleavage, or even of the formation of the so-called germinal layers with material sup- plied by the development of the chick. In almost every field of embryological research, where funda- mental questions have been solved or brought nearer solution, material from other. animals has been em- ployed. ‘‘ The book is meant for beginners in em- bryology,’? we are told in the preface, and the long list of literature at its close is intended doubtless as a further guide to him. It embraces, however, only those memoirs in which the developmental features of the highly specialised bird find a place. The beginner, therefore, having worked through the book and some or all of the literature, will have gained a very erroneous idea of what modern em- bryology really is. Most of the important parts of its literature on all sorts of questions will not have been brought to his notice. For example, the classic memoirs of Boveri and F. Meves on odgenesis and spermatogenesis, those of Mark, Whitman, and E. B. Wilson on egg-cleavage, or of E. van Beneden, Hubrecht, and Duval on the trophoblast and placenta, can of necessity find no place or mention in a work designed as this has been. After a close study of the work, the student may not: unnaturally put a question we have often heard, ‘‘ What is trophoblast ? Is it a name invented for something existing only in NO. 2062, VOL. So] 271 the imagination of some ‘ versatile ’ embryologist? ”’ What a revelation would it not, then, be to him to read Hubrecht’s classic monograph on the tropho- blast and placentation of the hedgehog (1889), to be followed by the study of the works of Duval, E. van Beneden, and J. P. Hill! Were one, indeed, to search for the cause of the existence and persistence of so much that is erroneous in embryology, the convenient chick would probably be found to be the chief culprit. Of what value is it'to the student to learn that the thymus arises from the walls of the third and fourth branchial pouches, if at the same time he remain ignorant that such a restricted origin be not by any means universal, and that there be fishes in which each and every branchial pouch may furnish its thymus element? The nature of the thymus could never be solved from its develop- ment in the chick. The mode of development of important structures from well-defined placodes. or plates of cells, each placode probably having a first origin in a single cell, cannot be demonstrated. from the embryology of the chick. This animal has always been, and it still is, the bulwark of the doctrine of epigenesis, and this because the true developmental phenomena are often | here obscure. The placodes of piscine development lead us in the direction of the large single cells or teloblasts of the earthworm, and the two things have significant bearings on the question of the mode of the development, whether by epigenesis, as Wolff and most other embryologists have thought, or by evolution with pre-determination, not pre-formation, as some embryologists are beginning to suspect. What the beginner requires, we imagine, is so much: facts as principles, those underlying development. Unless it be the formation of the germinal layers, and concerning the truth of the germ-layer theory sceptics are not wanting, it is difficult to say what embryological principle can be illus- trated from the developmental pictures presented by this animal. Direct development or alternation of generations, epigenesis or evolution, somatic origin of germ-cells or germinal continuity from generation to generation, these- and many other fundamental questions receive no certain replies from the study of the development of the chick, and no discussion in the pages of the book before us. What is a larva and what an embryo? are natural questions for a beginner to ask, but he will find no answer in the work before us. He will not even read that, as many embryologists think, the larva becomes the embryo; still less as, wonderful to say, happened recently in a well-known work, the embryo in its turn could become a larva. From the account of the rudimentary pronephros of the chick he will be able to form no conception of what a functional pronephros, such as that of the frog or newt, really is. In short, it may be doubted whether from a study of the development of the chick the -beginner can hope to obtain any real insight into the facts and tendencies of modern embryology. The book is clearly written, and evidently much labour has been expended upon its production, while E not the 2712 NATURE {May 6, 1909 the illustrations are excellent. Lillie’s ‘‘ Develop- ment of the Chick’’ is, indeed, one of the hand- somest books available for embryological study, and it will be indispensable in every laboratory, though we should not care to regard it as a text-book of em- bryology for the student in quest of the scientific principles underlying animal development. B. MODERN EXPLOSIVES. The Manufacture of Explosives. Twenty Years’ Pro- gress. Four Cantor Lectures delivered at the Royal Society of Arts in November and December, 1908, by Oscar Guttmann. Pp. viiit84. (Lon- don: Whittaker and Co., 1909.) Price 3s. net. T is now fourteen’ years since Prof. V. B. Lewes gave a series of Cantor lectures at the Royal “Society of Arts on ‘* Modern. Explosives.’’ The period which has elapsed has been so’ fruitful in -research and manufacturing improvements that the ‘series of lectures delivered by Mr. Guttmann, which form the subject of the present volume, is very - welcome. Mr. Guttmann’s treatise on ‘‘ The Manufacture of Modern Explosives’? was published in 1895, and the present small volume is a useful addendum to: the larger work. As is pointed out in the preface, it is ‘impossible in’ so small a compass to give more than a general outline of the many improvements and researches during the past twenty years, but this outline is certainly valuable, especially as the author ‘gives full references to all important patents and papers. In spite of all advances, it is of interest to note ‘that black powder was employed in mines and quar- ‘ries to the extent of 7000 tons in 1907. In addition, nearly 3500 tons of ‘‘ safety ’’ explosives were also used. The world’s annual production of celluloid is sput at the enormous total of 24,000 tons, whilst arti- ficial sillk reached the astonishing total of 5000 tons. Nitro-cotton in some form or other is, without -doubt, the most important explosive compound at 7present made, not only because it forms the basis of all smokeless propellant explosives, but alsc of celluloid and artificial silk. No possible pains must be spared to ensure stability of the nitro-cotton, and the causes which may give rise to instability or pro- mote further decomposition’ are well treated by the author, but many will differ from him as to the extent of deterioration arising from the preliminary treatment of the cotton and the effect of alkaline stabilisers. It will be admitted that nitro-cotton has its defects, but such statements as ‘‘ picric acid is a treacherous substance,’’ ‘a more inconvenient material still is nitro-cotton,’’ ‘‘ we have an almost uncontrollable substance in nitro-cotton,’’ are open to criticism. Later the author himself says that the stability of nitro-cotton below 20° C. is assured. So far as our Navy is concerned, exception must be taken to the statement that ‘it was and still’ is the practice in’ men-of-war to arrange the ammuni- tion stores and powder magazines in close proximity to boilers and engines, frequently without any ventila- NO. 2062, VOL. 80] tion.’’ This has never been our practice; there have been unavoidable instances where such an arrange- ment has been forced upon designers by other con- siderations, but in such cases the magazines have been thoroughly heat-insulated. Moreover, magazines have always been specially ventilated independently of the general ventilation of the ship. It is fully recognised by those responsible for the designs that the lower the temperature the better preserved will be the powder, and for that reason refrigerating machinery has been introduced, but the author’s fear as to possible breakdown. at a critical moment has not been left unprovided for by men who can evolve such an engine of destruction as a modern battleship. One turns hopefully to the question, ‘‘ What: will be the powder of the future?’’ only to find that ““the future belongs to a stable nitro-compound of the aromatic series.’’ Possibly; but is there even remote promise of the production of any such body which will meet the varied requirements of a smoke- less propellant as distinct from a simple explosive substance ? Vo Se Se 18}5 CHEMICAL ANALYSIS FOR STEEL-WORKS’ LABORATORIES. Rapid Methods for the Chemical Analysis of Special Steels, Steel-making Alloys, and Graphite. By C. M. Johnson. Pp. vit+221. (New York: John Wiley and Sons; London: Chapman and_ Hall, Ltd., 1909.) Price 12s. 6d. net. HE author of this book gives a detailed account of his methods for the determination of chromium, vanadium, copper, titanium, nickel, molybdenum, and tungsten in steel and steel-making alloys, besides those for the ordinarily occurring elements, viz. carbon, silicon, sulphur, phosphorus, and manganese. No reference is made to tantalum and uranium. Most of the methods described are to be found in the standard English works on the subject, but there are several new features which deserve to procure a place for the book in all steel-works’ laboratories. Of these features, the exact determination of phos- phorus in ferro-vanadium, and the application of potassium ferricyanide to the separation of small amounts of copper and nickel from large amounts of iron are specially worthy of note. Many of the methods described, however, are by no means ‘‘rapid,’? and much unnecessary time is spent washing precipitates, &c. The analysis of tungsten powder is very tedious, although the author supplements his methods by a well-known rapid method of English’ origin, erroneously stated by him to give low results. Again, the author fuses impure tungstic oxide residues with about four times the. necessary amount of sodium carbonate and for at least four times longer than necessary, whilst two hours are required for lead molybdate to settle, whereas it may be safely filtered off immediately after its formation. Many other similar points might be cited which are of little importance beyond the fact that the author aims, as the title-page suggests, at rapidity of execution. in fusions, May 6, 1909] The determination of carbon is dealt with very well indeed, and it is shown that the most trustworthy method is that of burning the drillings mixed with red lead in a stream of oxygen. This direct combustion process has been in constant use in most of the Sheffield works’ laboratories for several years. Red lead is at present, however, being largely discarded in favour of pure manganese dioxide, which is in nearly every case quite as effective, and more than doubles the life of a porcelain boat. The concluding chapters of the book include one on the examination of graphite and graphite crucibles, and one on the annealing of steel. In the former, the existence of silicon carbide in used plumbago crucibles is considered, and an account given of the determination of its amount. The chapter on the annealing of steel, to which attention is specially directed in the preface, contains the extraordinary statement that ‘‘ rapid cooling of perfectly annealed steel has no effect whatever on its hardness.’’ The author considers steel to be perfectly annealed when it has been kept at 700-720° C. for from ten to twelve hours, and states that it may then be cooled slowly or quickly—in fact, it may be plunged. whilst at this temperature into cold water—without becoming hard. This statement cannot be accepted. The book is very well printed, is singularly free from typographical errors, and is provided with an excellent index. The author may be interested, by the way, to learn that the use of silver iodide indicators in the cyanide titration of copper solutions was suggested twelve years ago in the Chemical News. 18 Ue HYPNOSIS AND SUGGESTION. Die Hypnose und die Suggestion, ihre Wesen, ihre Wirkungsweise und ihre Bedeutung und Stellung unter den Heilmitteln. By Dr. W. Hilger. Pp. 185. (Jena: Gustav Fischer, 1909.) ie is a most interesting, scientific and readable book. After a somewhat detailed historical introduction, the author demonstrates in a clearer way than we have hitherto read, that there is at least a very close resemblance between normal and hypnotic sleep ; indeed, one is left with the impression that there is practically no difference between them. Inter alia it is pointed out that there is an element of sub- conscious thought even in normal sleep, and that this is only partial (Teilschlaf) ; and, among other examples, the oft-cited mother is instanced who sleeps soundly through the noise of traffic or a thunderstorm, but wakes at the feeblest cry of her new-born child. In discussing the nature of suggestion, Dr. Hilger directs attention to what he calls mental (seelische) reflexes, such as the flow of saliva at the thought of food, contraction of the pupils on thinking of a bright light, erection of the nipples and flow of milk when a lactating mother thinks of suckling her child, and so on. He also points out that memory-images are stronger in normal sleep than during waking hours, just as they are in hypnotic sleep. Some methods of hypnosis are described, and it is rightly said that a NO. 2062, VOL. 80] NATURE 27-3- feeling of goodwill between the patient and the physician is essential to successful hypnotism. In a chapter on suggestion and will, the author insists on the importance of the moyement-idea in the performance of a voluntary action and on. the coopera- tion of expectancy of and practice in the particular action. Instinct, motive, and interest are in turn duly considered. The next chapter is devoted to a discussion of the influence of the will, suggestion, and similar psychical factors on disorders of perception; and many interest- ing cases bearing on the subject are reported, of which the following is a typical example. A man was afflicted with a tickling in his throat shortly after kissing his sweetheart, and he became convinced that it was due to a hair in his throat. His doctor examined the throat and found nothing more than a slight pharyngitis, which was treated in the usual way. Before the next visit, when the patient was no better and still convinced of the presence of the foreign body, the medical man had provided himself with a hair, which he surreptitiously introduced into but ostentatiously withdrew from the throat. The tick- ling was instantaneously and permanently cured. In the last chapter, dealing with reflex disorders and their treatment, the author first points out that attention to a stimulus strengthens the reflex which it excites, and he makes special reference to Haab’s cortical pupillary reflex. Many examples are then given of the cure by hypnotism, &c., of such reflex disorders as sea-sickness, the vomiting of pregnancy, hiccough, nervous diarrhoea, nocturnal enuresis, morbid blushing, palpitation, hay fever, nervous cough, asthma, &c. It will be a surprise to most people that the periods of menstruation may be modi- fied by suggestion. The volume concludes with an account of some cases of chorea and other functional disorders of the nervous system successfully treated by hypnotism. There is a good index, and we can cordially recommend the work to those interested in the subject. THE STRUCTURE OF THE SCALLOP. Pecten. By W. J. Dakin. Being No. 17 of the Memoirs issued by the Liverpool Marine Biology Committee. Pp. viiit+136; 9 plates. (London: Williams and Norgate, 1909.) Price 4s. 6d, HE scallop, clam or queen as it is called in. different parts of our coasts is an animal. of considerable interest. To the pilgrims of the Middle Ages who sought the famous shrine of St. James of Compostella, the shell was both a badge and a bowl, and from this old association it has become incorporated in many coats of arms, as, for instance, in that of the city of Reading. More utilitarian is the interest associated with the scallop as an article of food, and in this respect the rare delicacy of its flavour should bring ‘‘ queens ’’ into greater favour than they now enjoy. To the more curious inquirer the scallop offers many attractive features, both in its structure and habits. The gem-like green eyes that sparkle under the fringe of tentacles have NAT ORE [May 6, 10c9 274 long been known to present a peculiar and highly- organised structure. Pecten is perhaps the most highly coloured of all molluscous animals. The strength and activity of the movements by which it evades its chief enemy, the starfish, form a remark- able contrast to the lethargy of most bivalves. It is therefore with particular pleasure that we welcome a monograph on the large British species, Pecten maximus. To the considerable body of existing facts on this animal which have been drawn upon by the author, he has added confirmatory and in some cases new evidence from his own dissections and observations. The result is an admirable piece of work, which will be of great assistance to all who wish to gain acquaintance with this especially interesting and accessible type of shellfish. The structure of Pecten is so largely modified in association with its active life that Mr. Dakin has been well advised in giving an introductory sketch of its habits and of their change during life. When the free-swimming larva first settles down, the only mode of progression is that of crawling by means of the mobile foot. A little later, the ‘‘ byssus”? spins its threads and forms an anchorage by the help of the foot, In some species this mode of attachment is permanent, but in most it is rarely employed when adult life is reached. By that time, or even before, the mantle, and shell secreted by it, have assumed the peculiar form that enables both forward and backward leaping movements to be executed. Among the specially good features of this work may be mentioned the biochemistry of the digestive gland and the account of the eye structure. Mr. Dakin has the advantage of knowing the structure of other lamellibranchs, and his book gains much from the comparative method. He has studied Pecten at different places, and knows the variation which it exhibits. As a result we have a most careful, work- manlike, and fully illustrated account. The author and publisher are to be congratulated on the appear- ance of this valuable addition to biological literature. The only disappointing section is that on development, our knowledge of which is very deficient. We hope the author will be able to add to it’in a subsequent paper. A STUDY OF THE AUSTRIAN SEA-BOARD. The Shores of the Adriatic. The Austrian Side. By F. Hamilton Jackson. Pp. xv + 420; with numerous woodcuts, photographs, plans, and maps. (London : John Murray, 1908.), Price 21s. net. HOSE who have had the pleasure of reading Mr. Jackson’s previous volume on the Italian Adriatic towns will be very pleased to find that the author has extended his researches to the ‘‘ other shore; you know, upon the other side.’? The tour outlined in this volume commences at Aquileia, some- what west of Trieste, and extends down. to the Bocche di Cattaro, thus covering Istria and Dalmatia, Geo- graphically speaking, the. two shores of the Adriatic differ widely, the Italian side being an almost’ unbroken flat coast-line, while here a nearly continuous chain of NO. 2062, VOL. 80] islands extends from Pola down to Ragusa, and a number of arms of the sea furnish excellent harbours well shut in by mountains. The vegetation of the dis-: trict is described as distinctly Mediterranean, while the only fault of the climate appears to be the prevalence of a cold north wind. The people of these districts are of a very different race from the Italians over the water, and a fair account is given of their history, customs, proverbs, and superstitions. At the present time the Croat majority is abolishing the use of Italian in schools, and the author advises those who wish to acquire a knowledge of Dalmatia without learning Croat to do so before Italian is forgotten. In this attempt to per- petuate multiplicity of languages, the Dalmatians are very like the British, and we noticed another re- semblance of a small kind in one or two of their superstitions. The descriptions lead us to believe that the interest of the tour is not so exclusively confined to rummaging over old churches, as on the Italian side, but that the architectural features, as well as the relics in the treasuries of the churches, are none the less worthy’ of attention, and a study of the reciprocal influences of the two shores, and of the extent to which the archi- tectural similarity is due to Eastern influence, forms a suitable’ concluding chapter. The fact that the author met no English on his’ second tour would have been considered remarkable thirty years ago, when middle-class English formed the main bulk of European travellers. At the present time the absence of English visitors is equally notice- able, even in many of the best-known tourist and: health resorts. It is now no longer necessary to go to Dalmatia to get away from one’s compatriots; on the other hand, there is perhaps less inducement for those who travel to keep to the beaten tracks, and’ they may evidently have a very enjoyable tour in these Adriatic provinces. The illustrations are partly from photographs, but mainly from line drawings, which well show up the beautiful carving and ornamentation. in the churches. A number of plans are also given, and if the author had not obtained a special permit from the Austrian Government his artistic and photographic studies would probably have got him into great trouble. We commented on the absence of a map in the Italian volume. Here there is a map, and it is most useful. OUR BOOK: SHELF. Les Planétes et leur Origine. By Ch. André. Pp. 285. (Paris: Gauthier-Villars, 1909.) . Price 8 francs. Like Gaul, M. André’s book is divided into three parts. The first part is devoted to planets, the second to satellites, and the third to the formation of the planetary system The book is well written and well illustrated. It deals very thoroughly with an important branch of astronomy. It will serve the purpose both of a popular treatise and of a book of reference. The comparison of orbital motion’ with theory seems to have been beyond the plan of the author. In other respects it is hardly possible to natice the omission of any matter relevant to the title of the book. : May 6, 1909 } The author decides in favour of a rotation period for both Mercury and Venus approximating to that ef the earth. He gives an excellent résumé of Prof. Poynting’s investigations of temperature. He obtains for Mercury 193° C., for Venus 66° C., and for the earth, by the same method, 16° C. This last result inspires’ some confidence in the two former. M. André decides against the canals of Mars. It is one of the many evidences of the up-to-date character of the book that reference is made to the experiments by Mr. Maunder and Mr. Evans on this question with the help of the boys of the Royal Hospital School at Greenwich. The chapter on minor planets is excellent. M. 'Mascart has, however, recently covered the same ground. The present volume contains a_ reference to 1906 TG. The chapters on Uranus and Neptune consist for the most part of what is now ancient history. The author considers that planets inside Mercury or outside Neptune would have been already discovered if they existed. In the second part the author gives a_ historical account of various announcements of a satellite of Venus. His chapter on the satellites of Mars, and the first half of the following chapter, is. necessarily somewhat hackneyed. The latter chapter concludes with Mr. Melotte’s discovery of Jupiter’s eighth satel- lite and Mr. Crommelin’s announcement that the orbit was retrograde (fait absolument inattendu). Mr. Crommelin’s original period of three years and a half, based on the supposition of a circular orbit, enables one to date the writing of this paragraph to within a month or two. The interest of the next chapter centres on Phoebe and the still unconfirmed tenth satellite. The last chapter of the second part refers to the masses of the planets and their satellites. The third part, on the formation of the planetary system, describes Laplace’s nebular hypothesis and its subsequent extensions and modifications by Roche, Darwin, Faye, and Stratton. On p. 239, in four short paragraphs, we have a statement of the case against Laplace’s hypothesis. In these paragraphs the retrograde motion of Jupiter’s eighth satellite is again mentioned. The Care of Natural Monuments, with Special Refer- ence to Great Britain and Germany. By Prof. H. Conwentz. Pp, xi+185; illustrated. (Cambridge : University Press, 1g09.) Price 2s. 6d. net. Tue title of this little work scarcely gives a sufficient clue to the nature of its contents, as there are com- paratively few persons who would regard wild mammals or wild birds as ‘‘natural monuments.”’ As he tells us in the introduction, the author has himself felt this difficulty, but has nevertheless used the term as a translation of the German ‘‘ Natur- denkmal’’; though we fear this rendering may result in checking the sale of an excellent and _praise- worthy volume. Prof. Conwentz writes as one having authority, since he is the Prussian Government com- missioner for the care of natural monuments. On this subject he delivered an address at the Leicester meeting of the British Association in 1907; and it is that lecture which forms the groundwork of the book now before us. The book is divided into two sections— “*Nature Threatened’’ and ‘‘ Nature Protected ’’— * the. former particularising the various natural objects and types of scenery which require protection, and the latter what has been and is being done in this direction in different countries, but more especially in the United Kingdom and Germany. On the whole, the author appears to consider that we are doing our duty as regards the protection of the indigenous fauna NO. 2062, VOL. 80] NATURE 275 fairly well, and bestows unstinted commendation on the action of local authorities in establishing reser- vations in various parts of the country. He is, how- ever, of opinion that more attention might be devoted to securing small areas as reserves of this nature; and as regards other ‘‘ natural monuments ”’ suggests that private landowners might be induced to do more in the way of conservation than is at present the case. It is also suggested that the central com- mittee for the study and survey of British vegetation might include in, its programme the protection of characteristic associations of plants, as well as of single rare species. By directing attention to what has been done and what remains to be done, the appearance of the volume will doubtless serve to awaken renewed interest in the subject. R. L. The Mineral Kingdom. By Prof. R. Brauns. Trans- lated, with additions, by L. J. Spencer. With or plates (73 of which are coloured). (Stuttgart: Fritz Lehmann; London: Williams and Norgate, 1908.) Parts i, to v., price 2s. net each, WHILE popular introductions to botany and zoology are numerous and find a ready sale, little has been done to familiarise the general public with the ap- pearance and characters of the commoner minerals. The chief obstacle has been found in the difficulty of depicting the colour and lustre of minerals so accurately that they may be recognised without the employment of the ordinary methods of determination. To judge by the five parts which have already appeared an unusually successful attempt has been made in the present work to solve the problem of the representation of minerals by colour printing. The reproductions of topaz, tourmaline, and phos- genite are excellent, and even minerals with metallic lustre are in most cases very effectively rendered. The plates measure 9} inches by 63 inches, and, as a rule, contain numerous coloured figures. The book can be recommended to all who wish to take up the study of mineralogy, and have not the opportunity of referring to a collection containing as many examples as those illustrated in these plates. The text is clear and readable, and comprises a simple introduction to the principles and methods of the science, as well as a detailed account of the different mineral species. J. W. E. Man in the Light of Evolution. By Dr. J. M. Tyler. Pp. xiv+231. (London: Appleton and Co., 1909.) Price 6s. net. Tuis is the sort of book about which there is no need to say anything harsh, It is calculated to produce a vague edification in the mind of the unscientific reader. Prof. Tyler’s attitude’ towards disputed problems of evolutionary science is so conciliatory and non-committal that one fails, for instance, to dis- cover what view he holds about the inheritance of acquired characteristics; or whether he has any view of his own. He alludes in a distant way, but always politely, to Mr. Darwin, Mr. Haeckel, and so on. (But why is poor Mr. A.’ J. Balfour ‘ Balfour ’’?) So far as he has any point to make, it would seem to be this, that the springs of progress lie not so much in the environment as in our own “ higher powers,” and that these ‘‘ higher powers ”’ consist especially in our .moral and religious tendencies, All this may be quite true;, but it cannot be said that our author helps in the slightest degree towards a clear under- standing either of what those are or of how. they have come about. A perfectly worthless bibliography is appended, in which the name of J. M. Tyler appears more than once, but that of E. B. Tylor not at. all. 276 An Explanation of the Adjustment of Ships’ Com- passes. By Commander L. W. P. Chetwynd, R.N. Pp. 24. (London: J. D. Potter, 1909.) “Price 2s. Tuis useful little book, the sections of which are accompanied by diagrams, is an endeavour on the part of the author to convey to the reader in as concise a manner as possible the various causes of deviation, and the methods of overcoming them, with- out the use of mathematical formule. In most treatises dealing with this subject it is, un- fortunately, the case that they are too theoretical and contain too many symbols to suit the average seaman ; therefore great praise is due to Commander Chetwynd for the able manner in which he has brought out a practical book for practical people, HCl 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.] An Inquiry concerning Scientific and Medical Journals. Can any of your readers kindly inform me where copies of the following journals can be found in England, if possible in London? (a) Lo Stallanzani. This is a journal of the medical and natural sciences published at Modena in the ’seventies and eighties. (b) Mittheilungen d. Wiener embryol. lished in the ’eighties, and perhaps still. (c) Gazette médicale d’Algérie. Published at Algiers in the “fifties. : (d) Ann. Soc. méd. d’Emulation de la Flandre occid. Roulers, 1849. There are other references to a Soc. méd. d’Emulation, without place or name. I should be very glad to have these Soc. méd. d’Emulation cleared up, as there must, I think, have been several such societies. : (e) Baltimore Sun, 1876. The stock of this journal was Institut. Pub- burnt. Is there a file of it anywhere in England? (f) Archiv de méd. nav. Published at Paris in the *seventies. (g) Archiv f. Psych. wu. Nervenkrankheiten, for the *eighties. (h) Sociedad medica Argentina, 1901. (t) International Med. Magazine. Philadelphia, 1892. (j) Zeitschrift f. Tiermedicin, 1897. (Sought at Royal Veterinary College.) (k) Soc. med. Wiirttemberg, 1905. - These have been sought for at the likely places, but it is possible that they exist and have been overlooked. It is a pity that some of the larger libraries in London dupli- cate certain of the rarer scientific and medical journals, whereas by a division of material they might provide a more comprehensive collection. Further, there ought to be at least one library in London with a complete set of university dissertations and degree theses. No library at present appears to maké a speciality of such material. I have always found German university librarians most will- ing to lend copies, but the delay is vexatious, and a cursory examination of five minutes’ duration would often have settled the point required. Karv_ PEARSON. Biometric Laboratory, University College, London. Radio-activity in Relation to Morozoff’s Theory of the Constitution of Atoms. Tue fact that the @ particles of radium, as shown lately by Prof. Rutherford and Geiger,’ carry two elementary charges of positive electricity, 24:65 x10-*° E.S.U. per atom of helium, appears quite unexpected, and requires consideration. Since the atom of helium carries 1 Proc. Roy. Soc., Ixxxi., 162 (1908), and Physikalische Zeitschrift, X., 42 (1309) Also NaTuRE, November 5. 1908, NO. 2062, VOL. 80] NATURE. [May 6, 1g09 more than a single charge, which would present the simplest and most natural contingency,.there arises the question, Why does it carry just two charges and not one or more? an answer to which has been proposed by N. L. Miller in the ‘*‘ Jahrbuch der Radioaktivitat’’ (v., 702, 1908), but it seems to me that the following explanation, based upon the Morozoff theory of the constitution of atoms,’ will not be devoid of interest. According to Morozoff, all the chemical elements are formed by manifold combinations of three primordiat elements, viz. archonium (nebulium) (Z),’ with a combining weight 4; protohelium (x), with a combining weight 2; and. protohydrogen (h), with a combining weight 1. “Of these, protohelium, as shown by the value of its com- bining weight, presents half an atom-of ordinary helium, the re-combination of two of which yields again a helium atom, ' 2 Archonium (Z), with its eight affinities, plays the part of carbon in organic compounds, the archonium elements, more or less saturated with protohelium (x) and proto- hydrogen (hk), building the main atomic chain. “The chains of various chemical elements are built of one to eleven such links, which, combined after certain rules, allow us to reconstitute the whole periodic system of elements. As in the notation of organic chemistry, the atom of radium is represented in Morozoff’s system by the follow- ing symbol :— x—Z(x,h) —[Z(xh) glo —(xoh)Z — x. Radio-activity is due to closing of the chain, accom- panied by splitting off of two helium half-atoms (x), Z(xoh) — [Z(xh) gly — (Xg2)Z + 2.2, r | | ; which yield the material carriers of electricity of the @ particles. Since both extreme helium half-atoms (x) are expelled under similar conditions, and since they carry electricity, each of them cannot carry less than one elementary charge of 4-65x10-7° -E.S.U., hence a whole atom of helium must carry at least two elementary electric charges, or 9:3.X10—>7°+E.9.U. As not only radium, but also thorium and uranium, are represented by similar symbols, and their radio-activity is always accompanied by the expulsion of two helium half- atoms, it is evident that in all known radio-active changes an atom of expelled helium .-must carry at least two elementary charges. If we call, further, as has been done by Maxwell, an elementary charge an atom of electricity, we can consider the combination of two of them as a molecule of electricity, and state the following general Jaw :—in all radio-active changes the smallest quantity of electricity associated with an atom of matter is. mot an atom (4:65xX10-*°), but a molecule of electricity (9:3 X 10-1°). B. pE SzySzKOWSKI. Kieff, Zolotoworotska 6, Russia, April 16. The Gravitative Strain upon the Moon. In his discourse on ‘‘ The Ather of Space’’ at the Royal Institution, February 21, 1908 (abstracted in NATURE, vol. Ixxix., p. 323), Sir Oliver J. Lodge states that ‘‘ the force with which the moon is held in its orbit would be great enough to tear asunder a steel rod four hundred miles thick, with a tenacity of thirty tons per square inch,’’ and he further states that Maxwell calculated the gravitational stress near the earth to be 3000 times that which the strongest steel could stand, and near the sun it should be 2500 times as strong as that. For convenience we may call the diameters of the earth and of the moon S000 and 2160 miles respectively, and the moon’s distance from the earth 240,000 miles. At the surface of the carth the moon would fall 16-1 feet, or 1/328 mile, in one second. The velocity necessary to counteract this fall is, therefore, equal to »/8000X 1/328, or about five miles per second, at which velocity the centrifugal force of the moon, revolving at a distance of 1 Physical Review (Russian), ix., 73, 121 (1308). May 6, 1909] NATURE 277 4000 miles from the earth’s centre, would just balance the earth’s attraction of gravity. So that, if this attrac- tion were absent, and the two bodies were connected by a rod, or material bond, instead, there would be continual strain on such bond equal to the moon’s weight at the earth’s surface. Now, the volume of the earth is 8000°X0-5236 cubic miles, or about 4X10°* cubic feet, which, multiplied by 53 and 62%, gives 1375x107 Ib., or 6875x10** tons (the value given by Cavendish’s experiment is 6-14X10*' tons, the difference being due to the larger value of the earth’s diameter here used), the moon’s weight at the earth’s surface being, therefore, 6875+80, or 86X10'* tons, which would be the strain on the material bond connecting the two bodies as above in the absence of gravity. As this strain varies directly as the mass of the revolving body and the square of its velocity, and inversely as its distance or radius of revolution, then at the moon’s actual distance of 240,000 miles, and velocity of 0-64 mile per second, the strain would be diminished by the factors 4000/240000 X (0-64/5)° or t/3600; that is, to 86x 10'*/3600, or 24xX10"° tons. Thus if some Titan should, like a stone in a sling, whirl the moon at its present velocity and distance around his finger, the strain upon the string would be 24x10'° tons, which, if the string be of the same thickness as the moon itself, gives about 1-6 tons per square inch, necessitating a steel rod about 400 miles in thickness of thirty tons per square inch tenacity, just as Sir O. Lodge states. But have we not neglected a very important factor in this computation? As the moon moved away from the earth’s surface to its present distance, we allowed for its change of velocity and distance as affecting its centrifugal force; but should we not also allow for the diminution of gravity at the increased distance? The tension of the stone in the sling upon its restraining cord would be less at the greater distance owing to the decreased velocity and to the effect of the increased distance upon the centrifugal force; but as the stone moved outwards it would also come into a weaker field of gravitative force, which would further reduce the strain inversely as the square of the distance (just as if its mass had been diminished), or by the factor 1/3600, thus reducing the total strain of 24x10'° tons obtained above for the moon at its present distance and velocity to 24x 10'*/3600, or 63x10" tons for its actual present value, requiring a steel rod only about 63 miles thick and of the same tenacity as before. Evan McLennan. Corvallis, Oregon, U.S.A. The Inheritance of Acquired Character. I HAVE received the following from my brother, Dr. A. W. Smyth, late superintendent of the United States Mint at New Orleans. He has experimented with bees and written papers on them, which have been published in several bee-journals throughout the world. He says, The commonly accepted view, stated by Dr. Francis Darwin in his presidential address, that the queen bee is entirely isolated, so as to bar the ordinary course of inheritance, is not so. According to Dr. Smyth, some of the workers occasionally lay eggs, and these eggs always produce drones, which, coming to fertilise the queen, opens the path for the ordinary course of inherit- ance. Upon this principle he bases an explanation of the following facts. In Morocco the honey-bee has foes in the form of certain beetles. To guard their stores the bees have come to build pillars of wax at the entrance to the hive, which prevents the entrance of the beetlé. This becomes a habit, and a habit that could only have arisen as an acquired character, and it could only have reached workers through the queen being fertilised by drone-offspring of the workers. When a Morocco queen is brought to this country, where these beetles do not exist, the progeny of the queen continue to build pillars of wax; in the course of time this acquired habit becomes attenuated. Wa. Woops Smytu. Maidstone, April 17. NO. 2062, VOL. 8o] THE IMPERIAL SIDE OF THE FUEL QUESTION. {Pee returns issued by the Board of Trade on February 24, dealing with the output of coal in the United Kingdom during 1907, should go far to convince the most callous that our fuel supply is at the present moment every whit as important an Imperial question as keeping up our first line of defence to the two-Power standard or forming an efficient citizen army, and that unless due prominence and consideration is given to it, it is impossible for our Navy and Army, no matter how good, to save the nation for more than a limited period. Our kingdom has but two capital assets, labour and coal, and without the latter labour would count for but little in face of competition with nations pos- sessing the means of economic power production; so that the real measure of England’s power and prosperity is to be found in her store of unwon coal and her ability to husband the resources with which nature has endowed her in order that she shall retain the same relative position towards other nations that she does at present. Not only has America the largest store of coal in the world, but until lately the amount. that has been mined has been comparatively small, and out of all proportion to the magnitude of her coalfields. The close of the last century, however, saw her an easy first as regards the output of coal, and she now raises at least a third more than the United Kingdom. It is, however, with the position of nations nearer home in respect to this question that we are at the present time more deeply interested, and in order to gain an idea of the relative life of their fuel supplies as compared with our own, it is necessary to contrast their rate of output with the available quantities of coal still unused. The Royal Commission on Coal Supplies, which sat from 1gor to 1905, collected all the evidence pos- sible as to the amount of coal still existing in this country, which at the rate of output then obtaining would last something like six hundred years, but they also gave warning that ‘‘ vast as are the available resources, it must be borne in mind that a large per- centage of them are of inferior quality, or are con- tained in deeper and thinner seams which cannot be worked at the present cost’’; whilst the rate of consumption is increasing so rapidly that the output of 236,000,000 tons of coal in 1905 had risen in 1907 to 267,831,000 tons. Such factors as these mean an inevitable and in- creasing rise in the price of coal, and it must be clear that it will be the time when coal has risen to such a price as seriously to hamper our power of competing with other European countries that will govern the period of our commercial supremacy, and not the date of the complete exhaustion of our coalfields. Taking such figures as are available for the coal resources of the more important coal-producing European countries and the returns of the coal raised in 1905 and 1907, we may tabulate them as follows :— Total existing Coal, raised coal, in millions —_ of tons 1905 1907 United Kingdom ... 140,000 ,.. 236,130,000 ... 267,831,000 Germany ... . 150,000 ... I19,349,000 ... 140,835,000 France . :17,000 ... 34,780,c00 .... 35,586,0c0 Belgium 16,000 ... 21,500,000 ... 23,324,000 So that for all practical purposes the quantity of coal still existing in Germany may be taken as being the same as ours, the extra 10,000 million tons which that nation possesses being made up for by the superior quality of our steam and gas coals. 278 When, however, we turn to the output we find that we are raising nearly double the quantity that is being brought to the surface in Germany, so that if the ratio between the two outputs remains fairly steady, it must follow that Germany will still be a flourishing and powerful nation at the time when the depletion of our coal supply has reduced us to the position of a second-rate Power. In searching for the cause of the enormous demand for coal in this country as compared with Germany, where the climate is far colder, we find that our coal production amounts to 6 tons per head of population, as against 32 tons in Belgium, 2} tons in Germany, and less than 1 ton in France, where wood is the chief fuel for domestic use; and it is clear that there must be something more than commercial activity to account for our consumption per head being more than double that of Germany. The Royal Commission on Coal Supplies compiled statistics as to the proportion of the coal raised that was utilised for various purposes, which may be repre- sented in percentages as follows :— Per cent. Factories ... vee oe oe — 22°97 Domestic ... wae a oa6 te 13°87 Tron and steel manufacture 12°17 Mines nas 7°80 Gas works ao 6°50 Railways ... as a ot oe Sea ISG Potteries, brick works, glass works and chemical works AY eds ee side) Metals and minerals 0°43 Coasting steamers 0°87 Steamers over seas 7°25 Exported .. 20°35 The first thing that strikes one is the high propor- tion of coal exported from this country, and further inquity shows that this drain upon our coal supply is rapidly increasing, having more than doubled in the last thirty years, whilst the actual quantities ex- ported in the last three years of which we have record were as follows :— Total quantity of coal exported from the United Kingdom 1905 47;477,000 1906 55,000,000 1907 63,601,000 Of this more than 14,000,000 tons went to Germany, an amount twice as large as was exported five years ago. An instance of the amount of coal exported can be cited in the case of one colliery alone, the annual output of which is not less than a million tons per annum, but of this quantity not a single ton is re- tained in England, the whole amount being exported, and at a price at which it is able to compete with German coal even as far up the Rhine as Mayence. We must bear in mind, however, that of the 20 per cent. of exported coal a good deal is used for foreign coaling stations, and is there loaded into British ships, but this does not detract from the fact that steps should certainly be taken to prevent the depletion of our coal supplies for the benefit of our trade rivals. As before stated, the estimated life of our coal supply is six hundred years, but at the rate at which it is being consumed it will not last, from a commer- cial aspect, for anything like this period, so that it is necessary for us to find out some means whereby economy in use can be secured. Isolated cases of fuel economy would have no effect on the consumption, but in the interests, not only of the country, but of each individual unit in our Empire, it behoves every- NO, 2062, VOL. So] NATURE [May 6, 1909 one to do his best to attain this result. It is possible, by slight alterations in the method of fuel consump- tion, to obtain the same manufacturing results as by the present system, with the added advantages of greatly reduced cost and reduction in the fouling of the atmosphere, a consummation which would soon. tend to the benefit of the health and wealth of the community. In England, conservatism to old ideas and methods. has to a large extent checked the march of progress, but this does not obtain in other countries. In America and Germany, for instance, as soon as an improved method of working shows economy in manufacturing costs, the old machinery is regarded as obsolete and is ruthlessly scrapped; and although in certain directions we have begun to realise the logic of this practice, yet the majority of commercial firms are still pursuing the wasteful methods of their forefathers in the production of power and the genera- tion of heat. The Editor of Nature having kindly afforded me an opportunity of perusing the foregoing article in proof, it appears to me worth while to add the follow- ing note :— It is a popular superstition that some new source of energy will be discovered before our coal supplies become scanty. The recent ‘‘ marvels of science ’” have been so striking that the average semi-scientific or unscientific man, if directly asked, will almost con- fidently reply that ‘‘ electricity,’ or something else, will replace coal. Now, there are possible sources of energy other than coal :—(a) Water-power, derived from rivers and reservoirs. These are few in Great Britain, and of no great potentiality. If they were all utilised, little would be added to our store of energy. (b) Water-power, derived from the tides. While such power might be utilised in a few favoured spots, it is certain that any machinery erected on our coast would be liable to destruction at any moment. When we. consider that heavy breakwaters are every now and then demolished by storms, it is vain to expect that machinery to utilise the energy of the tides would escape. Moreover, the capital cost of such machinery (apart from the heavy depreciation charges) would preclude its use as an economical source of energy. (c) Wind-power, used for driving wind-mills, is a possible source of energy. It has been shown here, too, that the cost of installation and repair is so great as to make it an uneconomical source. (d) It is certainly possible to bore a shaft eight or ten miles in depth, and so tap the internal heat of the earth. Apart from questions of the slow flow of heat into such a shaft, the cost is prohibitive; and the time required to drive the shaft enormous. (e) Lastly, a catalytic agent might be discovered to: accelerate the loss of energy by certain forms of matter. But we do not know for certain that common forms of matter are losing energy; we have, on the contrary, every reason to believe that any change would be endo-, not exothermic. Substances of the nature of radium are few in number, and small in quantity. It would be fair to state that it is in the highest degree improbable that any important supply of energy whatever is to be derived from such sources. (f) Heat engines, driven by solar heat, however pos- sible in warmer climates, are for us impracticable. For these reasons, as well as for those given by the author of the above article, the conservation of our coal-supply is of the very highest importance to the nation, and indeed to the human race. W. Ramsay. May 6, 1909] NATURE 5- Sif g PLANT-LIFE IN KRAKATAU AND THE MEXICAN DESERT. PNG. readers owe a debt of gratitude to Prof. | Seward and the Cambridge Press for an English | edition of Prof. Ernst’s account of the re-colonisation of Krakatau. It is five-and-twenty years since Kra- | katau and the neighbouring islands in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra were transformed by the most violent volcanic outburst of historic times from forest-covered islands to deserts of pumice and voleanic ash. Long regarded as an extinct vol- cano, Krakatau, in the early summer of 1883, re- sumed activity, and towards the end of August the eruption culminated in an outbreak the effects of which were felt over almost the whole of the earth’s surface. For a distance of twenty-two miles neigh- bouring land was covered with glowing stones and hot ashes, and it is estimated that the finer dust was spread over an area of some 234,000 square miles. As a result of this enormous loss of material, a large portion of the island fell in, and the Krakatau of to-day is less than half the size of the island of 1883, and has a quite different outline. The islands therefore afforded an unprecedented opportunity for studying the development ab initio of the organic popula- tion of an oceanic island .which rose several thousand feet. above sea-level. The nearest land, the islands of Sebesi and Seboekoe, themselves half de- stroyed by the effects of the erup- tion, is twelve to fifteen and a half miles distant; the nearest points of Sumatra and Java are twenty-two to twenty-eight miles distant. Krakatau, the largest of the three islands’ affected, consists of the peak Rakata, 2700 feet high, which, on the north side, towards the disappeared portion of the island, forms an almost vertical wall, but on the south-east slopes steeply to a flat base in front of which is a small, level beach. In 1886, when Dr. Treub visited the island, its repopulation had already begun. Blue-green algz, without doubt wind-borne, had formed a gelatinous layer on pumice and voleanic ash, and on the exposed rocks in the ravines on the mountain slopes; these formed a suitable nidus for the germination of wind-borne spores of mosses and ferns, as well as of seeds. Ferns preponderated at this early stage, being repre- sented by eleven widely spread Indo-Malayan species; in the drift-zone of the beach were seedlings of nine phanerogams which had grown from sea-borne fruits or seeds; two of these were found in the interior and on the mountain slopes, with the addition of four species of Composites and two grasses, the fruits of which had obviously been brought by air-currents. Thus it was seen that the colonisation of an isolated high volcanic island does not proceed on the same Fic. 1.—Clearing in the From ‘‘ The New F 1 “ The New Flora of the Volcanic Island of Krakatau.” Ernst. Translated by Prof. A. C, Seward, F.R.S. sketch-maps and 13 photographs, Price 4s. net. “*Camp-fires on Desert and Lava.” By W. T. Hornaday. Pp. xx +366; with 72 illustrations (3 in colour) and 2 maps, (London: T. Werner Laurie, :n.d.) Price 16s. net. NO. 2062, VOL. 80] By Prof. A. Pp. vi+74; with two (Cambridge: University Press, 1908.) grasses (Sacchavum spontaneum) a group of coco-nut palms, lines as those of a coral island, where the elements of the strand-flora, brought by sea, are of the first importance. Here the wind-borne element played the principal part, and the flora of the interior had developed independently of the strand-flora, and with much greater rapidity. It is to be regretted that more than ten years elapsed before the segond exploration of the.new Kra- katau in March 1897. The,number of species was then much increased, and ,amounted to-, fifty-three seed-plants and twelve vascular, cryptogams; the ground was, in some cases, completely covered, and characteristic plant associations were , forming; thus the Ipomoea Pes-caprae formation was a dom- inant feature on the beach. Further inland the vegetation constituted a kind of grass-steppe, the grass occasionally reaching a man’s height and some- times forming a thick jungle. On the hills and To the left in the foreground Scaevola Koenigii ; behind the South-east coast of Krakatau. Strand-forest. lora of the Volcanic Island of Krakatau,” | ridges were lower grasses with numerous ferns and a few seed-plants; ferns still predominated largely on | the rock surfaces. Shrubs were few and trees rare. Of the fifty-three seed-plants it was estimated that thirty-two had come by sea, seventeen had been in- troduced by wind agency, and four by fruit-eating animals or by man. The results of a third expedi- tion, in 1905, have not been published. In April 1906, was planned the short expedition of which the present is an account. 3 The progress made by the vegetation since 1897 was remarkable; almost the whole south side of the island was seen to be covered with green. In the drift-zone on the beach was a great variety of fruit and seeds of land-plants, some quite fresh, some already germinated and rooted to the ground. They represent the widely distributed strand-plants which are the first colonists of recently formed coral reefs and islands, and owe their buoyancy to air spaces or light tissue in pericarp or seed-coat. Within the l 280 NATURE | May 6, 1909 ’ drift-zone was the low growth of the familiar Pes- caprae formation—long, trailing, rooting shoots of Ipomoea Pes-caprae, with runners of Spinifex form- ing a network with which was associated some low- growing leguminous species, and here and there tall grasses, sedges, and other familiar strand-plants. Beyond this a young strand-forest of trees and shrubs recalled the similar formation on the Javan coast. Most conspicuous were tall Casuarinas (C. equisetifolia), 40 feet to 50 feet high, while slender climbing plants, such as Cassytha, Canavalia, Vitis _trifolia, and others formed an almost continuous mass of foliage. Among the trees, Calophyllum Inophyllum, Terminalia Catappa, and the beautiful Pee pies Fic. 2,—The*Finest Organ-pipe Cactus. From “‘ Camp Fires on Desert and Lava.” Photograph by the author. white-flowered Barringtonia speciosa, which has given a name to this type of strand-forest vegetation, were conspicuous. Coco-nut palms, clumps of screw-pine (Pandanus), and large-leaved figs were also seen. Beyond the strand-forest a monotonous steppe-like vegetation of tall grasses and reeds, sometimes asso- ciated with climbing plants to form dense jungle, ex- | tended into the ravines and on to the steep sides far up on the cone. A deep ravine, rich in trees and shrubs, extending half-way up the slopes of Rakata, promised a rich botanical harvest, but, unfortunately, the party was unable to make a way through the thicket with the equipment and time at its disposal, NO. 2062, VOL. 80] | mental and much of the flora remains, therefore, still unex- plored. Nevertheless, the results bring the total number of species collected up to 137; the ferns have not materially increased in number, but the seed- plants have risen to ninety-two species. Of the strand-flora, two-thirds are species which are cosmo- politan on tropical coasts, and the plants of the in- terior are also cosmopolitan, or represent the com- monest species which are widely spread over the old- world tropics. Nitrogen-fixing bacteria were found in abundance in the soil. As regards the means by which the islands have been colonised, it is esti- mated that of the seed-plants 39 per cent. to 72 per cent. have been brought by sea-currents, 10 per cent. to 19 per cent. by birds, and 16 per cent. to 30 per cent. by air- currents; air-currents are also re- sponsible for the presence of the ferns and lower cryptogams. In ‘*‘ Camp-fires on Desert and Lava” the ‘author gives @ graphic account of the vegetation and animal life of the desert country in the extreme south-west of Arizona and the Mexican bor- derland. The book is a diary of a trip led by Dr. D. T. Mac- Dougal, director of the recently formed Desert Botanical Labora- tory at Tucson, Arizona. The ostensible object of the trip was the exploration of the unknown country round about Pinacate Peak, which lies between the in- ternational boundary and_ the Gulf of California. Mr. Godfrey Sykes, geographer to the expedi- tion, supplies two new maps which show the route of the ex- pedition and add considerably to geographical knowledge of the Pinacate district. But it is the naturalist and, above all, the botanist, who will find most of interest in the book. Mr. Hornaday poses as Dr. MacDougal’s pupil, but he has a keen eye for the plants, and has given as graphic an account as we have seen of the remarkable adaptations of plant-life. to the almost waterless conditions of the sand-deserts or lava-strewn plains and mountains. The nu- merous excellent photographic illustrations are a great help towards realising the general ecological conditions of the dis- trict, as well as the habit of the components of its flora. The various Cacti, such as the giant cactus, or Saguaro (Cereus giganteus), the organ-pipe cactus (Cereus Thurberi) (Fig. 2), /the Choya (Opuntia sp.), and the barrel cactus (Echinocactus), the Ocatilla (Fouquiera splen- | dens) —‘‘ next to the giant cactus the most monu- and picturesque thing of plant growth found in two hundred miles of fertile deserts,’? when 'in full leaf resembling a bouquet of green wands held at the bottom by an invisible hand—the mesquite tree (Prosopis velutina)—the most persistent bush-tree of the deserts, the leaves and beans of which are eaten by horses and cattle when grass is not obtain- able, while its wood is the general stand-by for fuel May 6, 1909] NATURE 281 and almost the only available for house-building in the deserts of the south-west—and the palo verde (Parkinsonia microphylla), which, according to soil and water supply, varies from 3 feet to 15 feet in height—these and the many other characteristic xero- phytes become very real to us from Mr. Hornaday’s quite non-technical descriptions and the photographs taken by one or other of the party. The author is also a sportsman, and the text has many interludes which will interest the sportsman rather than the botanist; and it would be unfair not to mention the numerous observations on animal-life, especially the valuable chapter on the mountain sheep of Mexico and the range of the species. TNS 183, IRS THE .MOUNTAINS OF THE MOON.? _ Pe AStERN equatorial Africa has three mountain groups capped by perpetual snow—Kilimanjaro, Kenya, and Ruwenzori. Though the last is the lowest, and was the most recently discovered, it has aroused the widest popular interest ; for its discoverer, Stanley, with characteristic insight, recognised it as ‘‘the Mountain of the Moon,’’ the snows of which, according to the well-known passage in Ptolemy’s ‘‘ Geography,’’ nourished the sources of the Nile. Ptolemy’s general account of the Nile lakes is sufficiently accurate to show that he wrote from positive information. Otherwise, as Signor De Filippi re- marks, he must have been gifted with prophetic insight. The state- ment about the Mountain of the Moon and its snows is, however, probably only an Arab _ interpola- tion; that view, so plausibly ad- vanced by Cooley in 1854, is ac- cepted as probable by Dr. Luigi Hugues in an appendix to this volume. Stanley’s identification of Ruwenzori with Ptolemy’s Moun- tain of the Moon has been, of course, called in question, but the alternative theories are as emphati- cally rejected in this work as in most of its predecessors. Since the discovery of Ruwenzori by Stanley, the mountain has been repeatedly visited and partially ex- plored. Stiihlmann passed along its western side and took some fine photographs of the snow-capped peaks. Scott Elliot entered the range, saw some of its glaciers, and discovered that they were formerly more extensive. showed that instead of Ruwenzori -having been vol- canic, as had been suggested from analogy with Kili- manjaro and Kenya, it is a tilted block of Archean rocks left upstanding between the Victoria Nyanza basin and the rift valley of the Semliki. The later expeditions that visited the mountain found it usually shrouded in the clouds that had hidden it from His observations and collections | Stanley’s predecessor, Baker. The peaks could seldom | 1“ Ruwenzori: an Account of the Expedition of H’R.H. Prince Luigi Amedeo of Savoy, Duke of the Abruzzi.” By F. de Filippi. Pp. xvi+408 ; illustrations. plates, 5 maps. With a preface by H.R.H. the Duke of the Abruzzi. (London: A. Constable and Co., Ltd., 1908.) Price 31s. 6d. net. NO. 2062, VOL. 80] be seen, but gallant attempts were made to reach them, as is duly recorded in Cay. De Filippi’s narra- tive. Most of the expeditions added materially to our knowledge, and the repeated failures to | achieve complete success tempted the Duke of the Abruzzi to undertake the exploration of Ruwenzori. He organ- ised an expedition on a royal scale, judiciously selected the most favourable time of year, and the easy route by the Uganda Railway and steamer across the Vic- toria Nyanza. He left Entebbe, the capital of Uganda, on May 14, 1906, at the head of a caravan of 400 men, including -a distinguished scientific staff, a company of Swiss guides and porters, and the great Mount Speke seen from the Senecio Forest at the foot of Scott Elliot's Col. From ** Ruwenzori.” mountain photographer, Sella. Aided by the British officials, to whom warm thanks are expressed in the book, the Duke of the Abruzzi soon reached the eastern foot of the mountains, and established a light camp near the head of the valley, up which most of his predecessors had climbed to the Alpine regions of Ruwenzori. The expedition had been carefully equipped, and its resources were handled with the Duke’s usual energy and courage. He overcame all obstacles, climbed all five of the ice-capped mountains, and most of the chief peaks; and his expedition re- turned with a series of mountain photographs un- rivalled in African literature, a geological map of the main part of Ruwenzori, and detailed information as | to its geography. 282 NATURE [May 6, 1909 The history of the expedition has been compiled by Cav. De Filippi, and it is clear from his narrative that the expedition required great personal strength, courage, and endurance. The Prince and his two guides were badly smitten with snow blindness after the ascent of Mount Stanley, for they had to work all day in a glaring white fog, which was too dense to allow the use of goggles. The author mentions (p. 243) that the Prince spent seventeen days above the height of 13,000 feet, with a very light equipment, sleeping with the two guides in a Whymper tent, with- out a camp bed, and with clothes nearly always soaked with rain and snow. The climbing was in places very difficult, and the dangers were increased by the prevailing mists and bad weather. Some of the ascents taxed the skill of such expert climbers as the Prince and his two guides; but others were easy ; thus the highest point of Mount Speke, 16,080 feet, though snow covered, did not require the use of the rope. orimtanter Cagni, the surveyor of the expedition, has compiled a full sketch-map of Ruwenzori, includ- ing all its snow-covered peaks. The topographic data are stated in appendices. The mountains are illus- trated by a series of magnificent photographic pano- ramas by Sella. The survey shows that the snow- capped peaks of Ruwenzori are arranged in a line curved like the letter G. Going from the upper point of the G to the tail, the peaks in succession are Mount Gessi, Mount Emin, Mount Speke, Mount Stanley— which includes the highest peaks of the ridge—Mount Baker, and at the end of the tail of the G is Mount Luigi de Savoia. The height of the highest point, Mount Margherita on Mount Stanley, is given as 16,815 feet. The nomenclature is very carefully explained, and a table of synonyms (pp. 218-9) will be useful, as geographers are above rules of priority. Stiihlmann’s early names are quietly put aside, and the proposed native names are also rejected. There had been con- siderable confusion in the application of the early names, but this is perhaps hardly likely to be removed by some of the changes. For the worst alteration of names, the Prince, however, is not responsible, as he only yielded to the wish of the Geographical Society. It naturally desired that the Prince’s name should be attached to one of five mountains, but unfortunately selected the one that had been named Mount Moebius by Stiihlmann years earlier. The name Moebius has, therefore, been transferred to a minor peak in the central part of the range. The peaks called by StiihImann Mount Semper are re-christened the Alexandra and Margherita peaks of Mount Stanley. The full scientific results are being published in a supplementary volume which has not been translated, but some account of the results is included. The geo- logical collections and geological sketch-map of the central part of Ruwenzori fully confirm the Archean age of its rocks, as to which doubt had been suggested by Mr. Wollaston’s description of craters and crater- lakes; the author refers to some veins of basalt in the gneiss (p. 222) as the only formation on Ruwenzori of a volcanic nature, and such veins do not necessarily indicate volcanic action. The glaciers are proved to be ice-caps or calottes, with the glaciers extending as finger-shaped processes. The snow limit is at present at the height of from 14,700 to 14,800 feet, but it is now suggested that the glaciers extended even lower than was claimed by Scott Elliot. The evi- dence on which this low-level glaciation is based is, however, not given, and some doubt as to its value is raised by the remark that the exfoliation surfaces of NO. 2062, VOL. 80] ! granite, the characteristic weathering of granite in the tropics, are ‘‘ somewhat similar to the rocks known as moutonnées in regions which have passed through a glacial period’ (p. 91). However, as the rainfall in Ruwenzori is probably exceptionally heavy, it may well be that the glaciers there reached a lower level than on Mount Kenya. All students of African geo- graphy, and all interested in mountain exploration, will feel indebted to the Duke of the Abruzzi for the brilliant feat of travel by which he has wrested from the clouds of Ruwenzori the secrets they have con- cealed so long. J. W. GreGcory. SOME ASPECTS OF THE WHEAT PROBLEM, pew. agricultural problems appeal to a wider circle both among agriculturists and the general public than wheat production; the layman often considers it to be the farmer’s chief business, and many farmers are still to be found who look back with regret on the days when it actually was so. The area under wheat in the whole world exceeds 200 million acres, and something like 400 million quarters are raised. About 220 million quarters are grown in Europe, Russia being the chief producer, followed by France, Hungary, and Italy; 107 million quarters are grown on the American continent (more than 75 million in the United States, 20 million in the Argentine, and 1o million in Canada), and about 53 million quarters in Asia, three-fourths of which comes from India. It is noteworthy that the wheat area tends to decrease in old and highly farmed countries, but to expand in new countries or in old, backward countries just beginning to utilise their resources. To a certain extent, wheat is, therefore, a pioneer crop, and is relatively more important in the early stages of development of a country than later on when it simply takes its place in the rotation with other crops. It cannot remain so indefinitely, but there are still immense tracts to which it can spread. It requires warm, sunny summers, and not too much rain; indeed, it can do with astonishingly little rain if appropriate cultivation methods are adopted; where the summers are suitable, severe winters are no bar to the cultivation of wheat, though they may limit the yield. The fact that wheat is one of the first crops grown in a new country renders necessary a thorough study of the effect of external conditions such as soil, climate, and manuring on its development. Much still remains to be done, especially with regard to the influence of water supply. There are also im- portant breeding problems. No crop can be success- fully grown on a large scale unless it is adapted to the local conditions, tolerably resistant to the local diseases, and commands an adequate price in the market. The first two conditions afford fairly straightforward problems. Wheats suitable to a given district are usually found by trying a number of varieties, and then improving on the most promising by the slow and mechanical process of selection—in other words, waiting for a ‘‘ mutation’? form to turn up. Resistance to rust, one of the worst diseases of wheat, has been shown by Biffen to be in all prob- ability a Mendelian character; it should, therefore, 1 A.’E. Humphries: Journal of the Royal Society of Arts, No. 29343 A. Howard and G. L. C. Howard: Bulletin 14, Agricultural Research Institute, Pusa; A. FE. V. Richardson : Journal of Agriculture of South Australia, vol. xii., No.6; K. J. J. Mackenzie: Journal of the Board of Agriculture, vol. xv., No. 10. May 6, 1909] NATURE 283 only be a matter of time to obtain rust-resisting varieties. Saleability in the market is a somewhat artificial affair, At the present time millers require a ‘‘hard’”’ wheat yielding a ‘strong’ flour rather than a ‘‘ weak’ wheat, and, therefore, pay more for it. It is not claimed that strong wheat is more nutri- tious, but merely that it makes larger and more shapely loaves; there is the further advantage to the baker that a given quantity of strong flour makes a greater weight of bread because it takes up and retains more moisture than an equal weight of weak flour. No doubt an _ excellent case could be made out for ‘‘ weak ’’ flour, but that is not the business of the agriculturist; he has simply to provide what his customer wants. The scientific problem of discovering what constitutes strength is under investigation, and the fact that strength is inherited indicates the possibility of crossing it on to wheats possessing other desirable features. The economic problems in wheat production have rarely been stated better than in Mr. Humphries’s lecture before the Royal Society of Arts. For a number of years past British wheat has been sold at prices substantially lower than the best foreign wheat because it lacks strength. Probably few bakers would risk making bread from British wheat alone; they require foreign wheat to be mixed with it. Con- sequently, the mills are handicapped unless they are within easy access of a seaport. The Home-grown Wheat Association are trying to find whether strong wheat can be profitably produced in England; their ‘experiments have already shown that strength is in- herent in the variety, and is not the result of external conditions, though it is influenced by them; they hhave also demonstrated that the great Canadian wheat, Red Fife, keeps its strength when grown here. ‘The Canadian farmer is satisfied with 20 bushels to the acre, but the British farmer, having heavier charges to meet, must get more than 30, and on occa- sions, in favourable districts, will even get 60 or more bushels of grain and good crops of straw. Unfor- tunately, Red Fife does not give these heavy crops, and is, therefore, not in much favour here. It it hoped, however, that crosses combining the ‘strength of Red Fife with the cropping power of the ‘standard English varieties will in time be avail- cable. a Other countries are also seeking to improve the strength of their wheats. Indian wheat, for instance, is at present no stronger than ours, but Mr. and Mrs. Howard have grown wheats at Pusa which were very favourably reported on by the English milling expert who examined them. One especially was praised, a wheat (Pusa 6) selected in 1906 and grown from a single plant. It has the further advantage that it is resistant to rust, and matures well even on second-class wheat soils. Canadian wheats are under constant investigation at Ottawa. The Agricultural Department of South Australia also con- ducts experiments, the results of which appear from time to time in its journal. The introduction of strong wheats into English agriculture would unquestionably alter the conditions of wheat-growing here, and whilst strong varieties are ‘being raised it is desirable to ascertain the precise cost of wheat production by modern methods and using modern labour-saving appliances. There is a great deal of work to be done in this direction. Mr. Mac- kenzie’s paper in the Journal of the Board of Agri- culture provides data for ascertaining the cost of har- ‘vesting ; similar records for other operations are badly ceeded. 1 : E. J. RusseEtt. NO. 2062, VOL. So] THE LONDON INSTITUTION, Ne the annual meeting of the proprietors of the London Institution, held on April 28, it was announced that, in view of the appointment of the Royal Commission on University Education in London, which had officially informed the Institution that they regarded it as coming under their purview, the scheme for amalgamation with the Royal Society of Arts must remain in abeyance. The solicitor of the institution had advised that Parliament would not pass a Bill altering the status of an institution the position of which was already under the consideration of a Royal Commission, and, assuming that opinion to be sound, as it probably is, it would certainly be inexpedient immediately to proceed with the Royal Society of Arts scheme, or any other that involved an Act of Parliament. A considerable opposition to the ratification of the scheme had been worked up, and an attempt was to be made to alter the con- stitution of the board, but upon the announcement that the scheme was not to be proceeded with at present, the opposition to the existing board was with- drawn. Whether the scheme which has now been shelved, at any rate for the present session, will be revived after the Royal Commission on University Education in London has reported is very doubtful. From the outset the Royal Society of Arts has been unwilling to be a party to the scheme unless there was something like practical unanimity on the part of members of the London Institution. If the manage- ment of that institution had been in stronger hands it is probable that little would have been heard of opposition. Very similar opposition to the proposal to dispose of the Zoological Society’s freehold premises in Hanover Square, and to expend the proceeds in providing suitable accommodation for the Society’s offices and library at the Zoological Gardens, was summarily dealt with on April 29.. But there seems to have been no strong hand at the helm at the London Institution, and the final result will probably be that a scheme which would have been of considerable benefit to two important institutions will fall through. The idea seems to be to make the London Institution a sort of school of economics, an excellent thing in itself, but not wanted, seeing that there is already existing an institution amply able to meet the re- quirements of the public in this direction. At the meeting last week Lord Aldenham stated that the managers had received a letter from the Cor- poration asking whether they were open to receive proposals, and they answered in the affirmative, but no definite suggestion has been received from that source. Probably the best thing to do with the in- stitution, if the scheme of amalgamation with the Royal Society of Arts is to fall through, would be to sell its land, and whatever else it has to sell, and divide the proceeds, so far as other claims permit, amongst certain educational institutions in the City. NOTES. THE first of the two annual soirees of the Royal Society will be held on Wednesday next, May 12. WE announce with regret the death of Dr. F. G. Yeo, F.R.S., emeritus professor of physiology, King’s College, London, at sixty-four years of age. We regret to see the announcement of the death, at seventy-five years of age, of Dr. J. Marshall Lang, Chancellor and Principal of Aberdeen University since 1900. 284 A Reutpr message from Ottawa states that the Govern- ment has established a geodetic survey department’ for Canada. under. Dr. W. F. King, chief astronomer of the Dominion. Ar a meeting of the Aéronautical Society of Great Britain held on Monday, the gold medal of the society was presented to Messrs. Wilbur and Orville Wright in recognition of their distinguished services to aéronautical science. At a special general meeting of the Zoological Society on April 29 it was decided to dispose of the site of the society’s freehold premises in Hanover Square, and to expend the proceeds upon the erection of new offices, library, and meeting-room at the Zoological Gardens in Regent’s Park, and on the general improvement of the gardens. A pespatcH to the New correspondent in the West reports Esperanza, Mexico, of a stone inscription believed to have been carved by the Mayas of Yucatan, and to be more than a thousand years old. Some pottery of the Mayas was found at the same time. There had previously been no evidence of their having come so far north. The dis- coveries have been made by Major F. R. Burnham, D.S.O., and Mr. C. F. Holder, of Pasadena. York Evening Post from a the discovery, near Tue Royal Society of London invites applications for two Mackinnon studentships, each of the annual value of 1sol. These studentships, which are restricted to British subjects, are awarded for the purpose of conducting re- searches, one in the group of the physical sciences, in- cluding astronomy, chemistry, geology, mineralogy, and physics, the other in the group of the biological sciences, including anatomy, botany, paleontology, pathology, physiology, and zoology. The present holder of the studentship in biology offers himself for re-election. Applications must be sent in to the Royal Society not later than June 1 on forms which can be obtained from the assistant secretary of the Royal Society, Burlington House, ‘W. STATEMENTS have been made in the medical and general Press that the electric waves used in wireless telegraphy are injurious to the operators and produce various diseases, such as conjunctivitis, corneal ulceration, and leukoma. Mr. Marconi, writes to the Times to deny these sugges- tions, for which, he says, there is no evidence whatever. He adds :—‘‘ During the twelve years or so of our opera- tions we ‘have had to deal with no single case of com- pensation for any injury of this origin, nor, so far as I can ascertain, has any such injury been suffered. Speak- ing for myself, I may remark that my own good health has never been better than during the often extended periods when I have been exposed for many hours daily to the conditions now challenged, and in the constant neighbourhood of electrical discharges at our Transatlantic stations, which I believe are the most powerful in the world.”’ Tue annual meeting of the Naples Table Association for Promoting Scientific Research by Women was held on April 24-at the American Museum of Natural History. Miss Caroline McGill, of the University of Missouri, was appointed a scholar of the association at the Naples station. We are informed that the award of the prize of one thousand dollars offered every second year for the best thesis written by a woman on a scientific subject, embodying new observations and new conclusions based on NO. 2062, VOL. 80] NATURE | May 6, 1909 an independent laboratory research in biological, chemical, or physical science, was made to Miss Florence Buchanan, D.Sc., of London University, fellow of University College, London, for a thesis entitled ‘‘ The Time Taken in the Transmission of Reflex Impulses in the Spinal Cord of the Frog.’’ Miss Buchanan has been engaged in research work at the University Museum, Oxford, since 1896, and has published sixteen papers. It is worthy of remark that, of the eleven theses presented in competition, five were sent from England and one from Canada. The subjects of four were morphological, of two bacteriological, of two zoological, one physiological, one was in the domain of physical chemistry, and one in parasitology. The general average of these investigations was very high, dis- tinctly above those of the three previous competitions. A fifth prize will be offered in 1grt. Tne year 1911 will be the centenary of the publication of Avogadro’s celebrated memoir on the molecular con- stitution of gases. In that memoir he arrived at the generalisation that equal volumes of gases at the same temperature and pressure contain the same number of molecules—a law which has borne rich fruit both in chemistry and physics. To commemorate the discovery of Avogadro’s law, a committee has been formed by the Royal Academy of Sciences of Turin to obtain subscrip- tions for the publication of the most important of Avogadro’s works in one volume, and the erection of a monument to him at Turin, where he was born in 1776, and died, while still professor of physics there, in 1856. An appeal is made to chemists and physicists for contri- butions to the fund being raised. The committee is inter- national in its constitution, and includes the names of many men of distinguished eminence in the world of physical science. Subscriptions should be sent to the treasurer, Royal Academy of Sciences, Via Maria Vittoria 3, Turin. THE seventy-seventh annual meeting of the British Medical Association will be held in Belfast on July 23-31. The president-elect is Sir William Whitla, professor of materia medica and therapeutics, Queen’s College, Belfast. The address in medicine will be delivered by Dr. R. W. Philip, that in surgery by Prof. A. E. J. Barker, and that in obstetrics by Sir John W. Byers. The popular lecture will be delivered by Dr. J. A. Macdonald. The scientific business of the meeting will be conducted in fifteen sections, which will meet on Wednesday, July 28, Thursday, July 29, and Friday, July 30. The presidents of the sections are as follows :—Anatomy and physiology, Prof. C. S. Sherrington, F.R.S.; dermatology and electro- therapeutics, Dr. W. Calwell; diseases of children, Mr. H. J. Stiles; hematology and vaccine therapy, Sir Alm- roth Wright, F.R.S.; hygiene and public health, Dr. L. C.. Parkes; laryngology, otology, and rhinology, Dr. St. Clair Thomson; medicine, Prof. J. A. Lindsay; navy, army, and ambulance, Fleet-Surgeon J. Lloyd Thomas, R.N.; obstetrics and gynecology, Dr. J. Campbell; ophthalmology, Dr. J. W. Browne; pathology, Prof. Wm. St. Clair Symmers; pharmacology and therapeutics, Prof. R. Stockman; psychological medicine, Dr. IT. Outterson Wood; surgery, Prof. T. Sinclair; tropical medicine, Mr. C. W. Daniels. Tue Liverpool Marine Biological Station at Port Erin, in the Isle of Man, has been utilised, in all its depart- ments, to the fullest possible extent during the past Easter vacation. A class of senior students from the University of Liverpool occupied the large upper laboratory, and went through a course of practical marine biology under May 6, 190)] NARORE 285 the direction of Dr. Pearson and Mr. D. Laurie. The ground-floor laboratories have been occupied during the last six weeks by about ten or twelve investigators, in- cluding Dr. H. E. Roaf, working on the digestive fer- ments of various Invertebrata; Mr. W. J. Dakin, working on the nervous system of Pecten, and also making hydro- graphic observations on samples of sea-water; Mr. W. Riddell, assisting Prof. Herdman in his plankton investi- gations at sea; and several others. In the fish hatchery Mr. Chadwick has this year increased the output of young plaice; between nine and ten millions of eggs have been dealt with in the hatchery boxes during March and April, and Prof. Herdman has set free between seven and eight millions of young fry of the plaice from the S.Y. Ladybird at distances of from five to thirteen miles off land, in directions ranging from south-west to north of Port Erin, so that some millions have been carried by the south-going tide around the Chicken Rock to the eastern side of the Isle of Man, while others have been carried by the northern tidal system up the west and round the northern end of the island. In each year, recently, some fry produced in the fish hatchery have been retained in the spawning ponds until they underwent their meta- morphosis and appeared on the bottom as healthy young flat-fish. These specimens reared in captivity were found on investigation to be feeding on diatoms, and at the present time, in the Irish Sea, the vernal diatoms seems to be at about its greatest height. WE have received a communication from Dr. J. B. Charcot, leader of the French Antarctic Expedition, from Deception Island, South Shetlands, dated December 24, 1908. The Pourquoi-pas? left Puntas Arenas’ on December 16, and arrived at Deception Island on December 22 in company with a Norwegian whaler that was met with off Smith Island. At Deception Island Dr. Charcot met two other Norwegian and one Chilian whaler, and thirty tons of coal were taken on board from the whaling station set up in Pendulum Cove by La Sociedad Ballinera Magellanes. So far, Dr. Charcot has naturally little news of interest, since the voyage has only begun. In fact, the chief interest is that now, for the first time for nearly a century, an exploring ship has met with sealers and whalers south of the latitude of Cape Horn. That an exploring ship can obtain its last supply of coal in 63° S. instead of 53° S. is of the utmost importance. Ships are able to cross the heavy seas of Drake Strait in better time, and have 600 miles extra start towards the south. The fact of this whaling station, with 200 men, two large steamers of more than 3000 tons, and eight small ones, existing at Deception Island is an eloquent testimony of commercial success following up scientific investigations. There was no word of such an industry being opened up. before the departure of the Scottish and Swedish expeditions in 1901-4. When Dr. Charcot left Deception Island on December 25 general physical and biological investigations had begun, in- cluding actinometric observations during the eclipse of the sun on December 21, and pendulum records at the same point as Foster made them in 1829. He intended to steer for Port Lockroy and Port Charcot, and thereafter to - the south and west along the west coast of Graham Land. During’ the three years the whaling station has existed, this region has never been so free of ice, which augurs well for the success of the French expedition. increase in APRIL was a record month for bright sunshine over the southern and eastern portions of England, and the duration of sunshine was in excess of the average in most parts of the kingdom. At Dover the sun was shining for 273 NO. 2062, VOL. Su| _there was only one day. without sunshine. hours, and at several places in the south and east of England the duration exceeded 250 hours. At the London reporting station ‘of the Meteorological Office, in West- minster, the bright sunshine amounted to 220 hours, whilst the previous - brightest April occurred in 1906, with 207 hours. At Greenwich the duration of. bright sunshine was 250 hours, which is 103 hours more than the normal, and The mean temperature at Greenwich was 2-3° in excess of the aver- age, and rain fell on. thirteen days, yielding a total of 1-71 inches, which is 0-14 inch more than the average. The summary of the weather issued by the Meteorological Office shows an excess of sunshine since the beginning of the year over the whole of England and Ireland, but a slight deficiency in Scotland. In the south-east of England the excess of sunshine for the past four months amounts. to ror hours, and in the north-west of England to ninety-four hours. ° In No. 1665 of the Proceedings of the U.S. National Museum (vol. xxxvi., pp. 191-6) Dr. O. P. Hay describes specimens of two fossil chelonians, one of which forms a new species. In the Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society (1908, PP. 529-43) Messrs. E. Heron-Allen and A. Earland describe, under the name Cycloloculina, a new genus of Foraminifera collected from the shore-sand of Selsey Bill between Bracklesham Bay and Chichester Harbour. The specimens on which the genus is founded are fossils, and were found in company with many other Foraminifera washed out of Secondary and Tertiary strata. They resemble Planorbulina in their general appearance, but when mounted in balsam are seen to have quite a different mode of growth. Two species are described as C. annulata and C. polygyra. IN commemoration of Mr. Roosevelt’s projected hunting trip in East Africa, the National Geographic. Magazine devotes its March number to papers-on Africa. Sir -H. Johnston gives a delightful account, illustrated by admir- able photographs, of the region which. the ex-President hopes to explore. The Nandi forests he believes to be vestiges of the ancient forest-belt that stretched from. the Indian to the Atlantic Oceans, and.he points out that its fauna is more closely allied to that of East India. and Malaysia than to West India or East’ Africa. The dis- covery of the okapi encourages the hope that if he ex- plores this region in a systematic way, Mr. Roosevelt may discover other beasts and birds unknown to science. He may obtain specimens of the giant pig first discovered in Stanley’s Ituri forest by Mr. N. E. Copeland, and he is anxious to secure the white or square-lipped rhinoceros, long supposed to be confined to Africa south of the Zambezi, where it is nearly, if not quite, extinct; it is now reported to exist’ in the north-western parts of British East Africa. He may also encounter the wonderful earth- worm as large as a snake and coloured a brilliant verditer- blue. At any rate, he will find forests rivalled in luxuriance only by those of the Congo Free State and the Kameruns, the finest conifers in Africa, the largest continuous area of. marsh, the largest lake, and the highest point in the continent. . As for the people, he will .meet pygmies, fanatical Mohammedans, enthusiastic Christians, and speci- mens of nearly all the most marked and interesting types of African man. Some years ago Sir Lauder Brunton suggested that it might be possible to relieve certain forms of heart disease by a surgical operation on the valves of the heart. Dr. 2806 NALUOLE: | May 6, 1909 iBernheim records, in the Bulletin of the Johns Hopkins | Hospital for April (xx., No. 217), some experiments per- “formed on dogs in this connection; the results are -encouraging, and suggest that the procedure offers no greater technical difficulties than numbers of others which are in daily practice. In a report by Mr. E. H. Ross on the prevention of ‘fever on the Suez Canal (Cairo: National Printing Depart- ment, 1909), mosquito destruction at Port Said and its *results are reviewed. After three years’ work a great reduction in the number of mosquitoes has been effected, and in consequence malaria has much diminished, also “continued fever and dengue. Although the population is increasing steadily, the death-rate for 1908 is 150 below ~the average for the previous five years. It is not possible completely to exterminate mosquitoes, and the campaign has to be continued. In an appendix certain interesting ‘features in the biology of mosquitoes (Culex fatigans and Stegomyia fasciata) are detailed. It is found that male mosquitoes do not live more than a few days, and are much more numerous than females. The females appar- - ently desire to suck blood only after fertilisation. In a third report on research work, Dr. Houston, -director of . water examinations, Metropolitan Water Board, discusses the value of the storage of raw river -water antecedent to filtration as a means of purification. The medical advisers of the Local Government Board have long held the view that ‘‘time’’ is to be regarded as an important element among conditions that in nature com- "bine to annul the vital activities of particulate matter which is the cause of disease, and in no direction perhaps is this ‘‘ time factor ’’ of more importance than in the storage of impure river water. The results of a large amount of experimental work, chemical and _bacterio- logical, undertaken to investigate this question are given in this report. They show that the total number of micro- organisms and of B. coli are very considerably reduced by storage. The stored waters also contained less ammoniacal nitrogen and less oxidised nitrogen, and absorbed less oxygen from permanganate; as regards albuminoid ammonia, however, only Chelsea water showed a reduction; Lee water was unaltered, and Staines and Lambeth suffered an apparent increase. The engineers reported that the use of stored water prolongs the life of ‘the filter-beds. It is concluded that an adequately stored water is to be regarded as a ‘‘ safe’’ water, and its use would render any accidental breakdown in the filtering arrangements much less serious than’ otherwise might be the case. Although it would be preferable to regard thirty days as a minimum period of storage, this would entail the construction of huge reservoirs, and it is suggested that thirty days’ storage might be considered a maximum, adopting in addition, during times of stress and storm, an intermediate system of purification (e.g. by mechanical filters or by precipitation tanks) between storage and sand filtration. A sECOND part of the illustrated studies in the genus Opuntia, by Mr. D. Griffiths, has been received, being an advance publication from the twentieth annual report of the Missouri Botanical Garden. It consists chiefly of descriptions of new species from the States of Mexico, Texas, and Arizona, with illustrations to indicate the general habit, fruits, and seeds. An article by Mr. E. Maigre on geotropism and the statolith theory appears in the Revue générale des Sciences (March 15). Discussing the much-debated question as to ‘the exact position at which the root is sensitive to geo- NO. 2062, VOL. 80] tropic stimulus, the author lays stress on Picard’s experi- ment, in which the root was rotated round an axis oblique to the longitudinal axis of the root. The root was placed in different experiments so that the axis of rotation cut it at different points between the tip and region of growth, and thereby the stimulus produced by centrifugal force acted oppositely on the two regions. The author defends the statolith theory mainly on the strength of Buder’s recent researches, which consisted in turning the root sharply through an angle of 180° at stated intervals, when it was found that the curvatures produced were in con- formity with the theory. Mr. E. D. Merritt contributes three articles to the botanical number of the Philippine Journal of Science (vol. iii, No. 6) published in December, 1908. A revision of native species of Garcinia shows seventeen species, of which twelve are endemic and five are new to science. The indigenous Ericaceze are collated under the genera Vaccinium, with nineteen species, Gaultheria, Diplycosia, and Rhododendron, with sixteen species; all are plants growing at medium or high altitudes, and according to existing records, out of thirty-nine species as many as thirty-six are endemic. The third contribution relates to collections of plants from the Batanes and ,Babuyanes islands, which furnish evidence of a strong affinity with the flora of the other Philippine jslands and a very slight affinity with the flora of Formosa. There is also a note- worthy communication to the journal by Dr. E, B. Cope- land regarding new genera and species of Bornean ferns. The new genera are Macroglossum, a marattiaceous fern, and Phanerosorus, the latter being, however, a new title for Matonia sarmentosa. THE reports on the botanic station, agricultural instruc- tion, and experiment plots at Grenada are to hand. The chief industries of the island are cacao and nutmeg cultiva- tion, but it is suggested that fodder crops and ground provisions might with advantage be more extensively grown. Interest is being taken in rubber planting; Hevea brasiliensis appears to be more promising than Castilloa elastica. It has been demonstrated that Sea Island cotton can be produced on land near the coast. The importance of improved methods of cultivation and treatment in cacao orchards has been continuously urged upon growers, and both large and small owners are adopting such methods. Prize-holdings competitions have been introduced among the peasantry, and have been found to encourage better methods of working. Mycotocists will be interested in the regulations drawn up by the Board of Agriculture of British Guiana, and recorded in the Agricultural News for March 20, dealing with the importation of sugar-canes, and having for their object the exclusion of plant diseases so far as is possible. Canes from stated places must not be imported in any description of earth or soil. They are to be inspected on arrival by the Government botanist, and if infected with any pest or disease not commonly known in the colony they are to be destroyed; if infected with any common pest or disease they are to be treated as the botanist directs. Those passed by the botanist are to be planted in a nursery apart from the general cultivation, and sub- ject to inspection for twelve months; if during that time any pest or disease appears, they are to be destroyed if the pest is new, or treated as the botanist directs should it already occur in the colony. The regulations are very stringent, but the introduction of new pests and diseases is a very serious matter to agriculturists, and entails a great amount of trouble besides considerable financial loss. May 6, 1909] NATURE 287 “cc Turte parts of the ‘* Palzontologia Indica,’’ just received from the Geological Survey of India, contain important memoirs on the Lower Mesozoic invertebrate faunas of the Indian region. A collection of fossils, chiefly bivalved shells, obtained by Messrs. T. D. La Touche and P. N. Datta from the Napeng beds of the Northern Shan States of Burma, is described by Miss Maud Healey, who shows the fauna to be remarkably similar to that from the Rhetic formation of Europe. Even the characteristic Avicula contorta occurs. The fossils, however, are much distorted, and preserved only as imperfect casts, so that their exact determination is almost impossible. Miss Healey remarks that very similar bivalves have also been ’ found in rocks on the west coast of Sumatra which are not Eocene, as hitherto supposed, but really of Rhetic age. New collections, chiefly of Cephalopoda, from the Trias of Spiti, in the Himalayas, are described by Prof. Carl Diener, who makes an interesting contribution to our knowledge of this much-discussed formation. He treats especially of the Upper Muschelkalk, and compares in detail the several zones with those recognised in Europe. A remarkable collection. of fossils from scattered blocks of Upper Triassic and Liassic age, found in the frontier dis- trict between Hundes and Malla Johar, is also described by Prof. Diener. Basing his studies chiefly on ammonites, he concludes that ‘‘ the difference between the Liassic faunze of Wirtemberg or England and the Alps is more con- spicuous than that between the Mediterranean and Tibetan faunz of the Lower Lias.”’ Mr. B. Gomme recently issued the ‘‘ Index of Archzo- logical Papers published in 1907,’’ which forms the seventeenth annual number of this publication, originally started by his father, Mr. G. L. Gomme. It contains references to the proceedings of fifty-two learned societies in Great Britain and Ireland, and is likely to be useful to all who are interested in archeology. Many societies are subscribers to this index, which they issue with their annual Proceedings, a course which may be safely recom- mended for general adoption. This ‘publication would be of much more practical value if, in addition to the bare titles of communications, a short abstract of the contents or a summary of the views advocated by the author were appended. In the April number of Man Mrs. M. E. Cunningham directs attention to a remarkable feature in the entrench- ment known as Knap Hill Camp, in Wiltshire. Along the exposed side of the camp the entrenchment is pierced by no fewer than six openings or gaps, which were formerly supposed to be cattle-tracks or made for agricultural pur- poses. Excavations, however, show that none of them is the result of wear or accident, and that they represent gangways intentionally left in the circumvallation. Some- thing of the same kind was remarked by General Pitt- Rivers at Winkelbury Camp, and he supposed that they were gangways adapted to allow in an emergency a con- siderable number of cattle to enter the camp. In this case, Mrs. Cunningham urges that it would have been simpler to make one or two wide entrances. From the fact that these causeways lie askew to the gaps in the rampart she suggests that they may have been purposely left as positions from which the defenders could enfilade the ditch, the distance from one causeway to another being not greater than could be covered by hand-thrown missiles. It is to be hoped that the fuller exploration of the site which the writer promises will throw further light on the interesting problems connected with prehistoric fortresses which are raised in this communication. NO. 2062, VOL. 80] TueE report of the Danish Meteorological Institute on the state of the ice in the Arctic seas during 1908 shows that the general distribution of the Polar ice was almost the opposite of that observed in the preceding year. During 1907 greater masses of ice than usual drifted from the Arctic Ocean towards Franz Joseph Land and Spitsbergen and along the east coast of Greenland, whereas during 1908 those regions were more approachable and free from ice than is normally the case. The supposition that the change was due to the ice having found an outlet else- where is supported by the fact that the ice conditions were reported as specially unfavourable in the Bering and Beaufort Seas. THE meteorological and magnetical report of the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society, containing the observations made at Falmouth during 1908, has been received. This important observatory receives an annual grant of 25ol. from the Meteorological Committee for the supply of hourly meteorological observations, and is at present subsidised’ by the Royal Society and British Association for the main- tenance of magnetic observations. At the request of the International Conference on Terrestrial Magnetism it supplies a table of the daily magnetic records to. the Royal Netherlands Institute for publication with similar data from other observatories; the magnetic results are also published by the National Physical Laboratory. A com- parison of the air- and sea-temperature observations for 1908 shows that the mean of the latter (52-9°) was 1-37 above that of the air; from May to July inclusive the mean sea temperature was lower than that of the air. The rainfall amounted to 37-6 inches, being 4-4 inches below the average. A chart is added to the report show- ing the annual rainfall for thirty-seven years, 1872-1908, | registered by the self-recording rain-gauge; the wettest year was 1872, rainfall exceeding 64 inches, and the driest 1887, rainfall less than 30 inches. The mean magnetic declination for the year was 17° 54’ W. Mr. S. S. Buckman has sent us a copy of a paper (Oxford: Parker and Son) in which he advocates a scale of notation with radix 8 instead of 10. His proposals are more revolutionary than this change necessarily implies, for he would write the numerals upside down, and com- pletely alter his weights, measures, and coinage down to a charge of 73d. for telegrams. Apart from the object- lesson that in Austria even the change from kreuser to heller took years to accomplish (and kreuzer are probably not dead yet), we note that the advantages of ‘‘ octonary numeration ’’ were clearly and plainly set forward, with- out the introduction of unnecessary complications, by Prof. Woolsey Johnson in October, 1891 (Bulletin New York Mathematical Society, i., 1). Tue importance of the discovery made by Prof. Towns- end last year, that when a gas is ionised by Rontgen rays positive ions are produced having double the electric charge previously regarded as the ionic charge, has led Drs. J. Franck and W. Westphal, of the University of Berlin, to investigate the properties of these doubly charged ions in some detail, and their results were communicated to the German Physical Society on March 5. They find that the mobility of the ions in an electric field, as measured by a modification of Zeleny’s method, is identical with that of the singly charged ions, while their rate of diffusion, as measured by a method identical in principle with that first used by Townsend, is only half that of the singly charged ions. The double charge is thus accom- panied by double mass, and the number of double ions produced by Réntgen rays is, the authors find, only about. 9 per cent. of the total number of positive ions. 238 NATURE [May 6, tg9c9 Dr. W. W. CosLentz, of the United States Bureau of Standards, recently completed an investigation of the radiation constants of metals with a view to account for the high efficiency of the new metallic filament incandescent electric lamps, and his results are published in part iii. of vol. v. of the Bulletin. The radiation from the filament of an incandescent lamp provided with a fluorite window, after passing through a fluorite prism, was measured by the bolometer while the temperature of the filament was kept constant. From the curve of distribution of energy throughout the range of wave-lengths examined, the radia- ‘tion constant a of the formula dE=Ca7*%e~/A¢da is found for the material of the filament Its value for a ‘‘ cavity ’”’ black while for platinum it is 6. Dr. Coblentz finds it to be about 6 for ‘‘ flashed ’’ and for untreated carbon, to be between 7 and 8 for silica-coated carbon, between 6 and at various temperatures. body is known to be 4, 8 for platinum and tungsten, between 6 and 7 for tan- talum, and to be about 6-8 at all temperatures for osmium. As the temperature at which the lamp is run increases, the radiation constant decreases in the case of the metallic filaments with the exception of osmium. At the normal voltage the constants have the following values :— metallised carbon, 6-1; tantalum, 6-3; tungsten, 6.6; osmium, 6-9. The high value of a explains the superiority of the osmium lamp. THE Proceedings of the American Academy for March contain two papers from the Harvard Laboratory on the atomic weight of chromium. Since the early determina- tion of Berzelius in 1818 (Cr=55-95), thirty-three values -have been placed on record, the earliest being those of Peligot (1844) and the latest those of Meineke (1890). Rejecting one high and one low value, the eleven figures given by Meineke ranged from 52-03 to 52:27, mean: 52-12, in good. agreement with the earlier values of Siewert (1861), 52:07; Baubigny (1884), 52-13; and Rawson (188Q), 52-09. The. methods now adopted by Baxter and his colleagues consisted in converting -silver chromate and dichromate into the chloride and bromide, and thus, deducing the .per- centage of silver in the chromium compounds. : Conversion of chromate into chloride gave Ag=65-0345 per cent., and into bromide Ag=65-0321 per cent., mean 65-0333: per cent., whence. if Ag=107-88, Cr=52.008;. conversion of dichro- mate into bromide gave Ag=49-9692 per. cent.,. whence Cr=52-013. -It.. is’ -noteworthy that the final value, Cr=52-01, differs from. the whole number by. only one- hundredth of, a unit, whereas the figure. adopted by the International Committee for the - present - and- previous years, Cr=52-1, differed by a-tenth of a unit.- It will be remembered that the recent revision of: the atomic weight of nitrogen also resulted in bringing the value within o-o1 of the integer. Mr. J. ‘H. Suaxsy asks us to state that, by an un- fortunate mistake, ‘he | wrote ‘‘‘ Faraday ’’~ instead ‘of “* Tyndall ’’ in his letter upon’ the fluorescence of Lignum Nephriticum, published last week (p. 249). OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. DEVELOPMENT OF Martian Canats.—Through the agency of the Kiel Centralstelle (Circular No. 107) we have re- ceived a message from Prof. Lowell saying that the development of the Martian canals corroborates the pre- diction ‘that they would be seen leaving the south polar cap of the: planet. CoLours anD MaGnitupEs oF Stars.—In a note appear- ing in these columns on February 4 (p. 410, No. 2049, vol. Ixxix.) we directed attention to Mr. Franks’s con- NO. 2062, VOL. 80] clusions regarding the relation of star colours to star magnitudes in galactic and non-galactie regions. . A note by Miss Bell, appearing in No. 5, vol. Ixix., of the Monthly Notices, confirms Mr. Franks’s in showing that there appears to be a slightly more intense relation between luminosity and colour in the galactic regions. This result was obtained by the statistical method of con- tingency, and a further calculation shows that, as a chance coincidence, the chances are 500 to 1 against there being a group of stars so divergent from stars as a whole as are the galaxy stars, whilst they are 2500 to 1 against any random sample showing the divergency from the whole that the non-galactic stars display. A Group oF Rep STARS IN SaGiTTaRtus.—Whilst examining the Draper memorial photographs of stellar spectra, Mrs. Fleming has found that a plate covering the area R.A. 18h. 48m. to 19h. 29m., dec. -13-0° S. to 23-1° S. (1900), shows an abnormal number of red stars having peculiar, spectra. The positions and spectral types of these stars are given in Circular No. 149 of the Harvard College Observatory. The area includes the n.f. portion of the constellation Sagittarius, and is in the southern’ border of the Milky Way. Besides twenty-one stars having spectra of the third type, there are six of the same type with the addition, of bright hydrogen lines (class Md) and one of the sixth type (class R). In contradistinction to the above, Mrs. Fleming found that a similar plate of a neighbouring region (R.A. 17h. 24m. to 18h. rim., dec. 27° 8’ S. to 38° o’ S:) shows a deficiency of red stars, but contains several stars having peculiar spectra. These include stars of the third type, a variable of the fourth type, two of the fifth type with bright lines, and two gaseous nebule. Tne CaLcuLation oF ComeETARY Orpits.—It frequently occurs that the definitive calculation of a comet’s orbit is carried out by two or more calculators working independ- ently, and without the whole of the available observational data. This leads to varying results and confusion, which Prof. Kobold is trying to obviate. For this purpose he publishes in No. 4319 of the Astronomtische Nachrichten a list of comets since 1757, with the names of the workers by whom the definitive orbits have been, or are being, worked out. The present list accounts for forty-six comets, and Prof. Kobold will welcome any additions thereto. PHOTOMETRIC OBSERVATIONS AT Catanta.—A paper by Signor A. Bemporad, in which he describes and discusses the photometric observations made at Catania during the three years 1904-6, appears as an abstract from vol. xxxvii. of the Memorie della Societa degli Spettroscopisti Italiant. The programme of work included (1) the determination of the wedge constant; (2) the study of the extinction curve for Catania and then for the Etna Observatory ; (3) the determination of the atmospheric absorption at both plac.s; and (4) the observations of variable stars. The results obtained under each heading are fully discussed in the memoir, and the light-changes of a number of variables are compared with previously published ephemerides. - RECENT SOLAR ResEaRcuH.—As a reprint from vol. xxxvii. of the Memorie della Societa degli Spettroscopisti Italiant we have received an interesting paper, in which Prof. Ricco discusses the recent work done in the field of solar research. Most of the subjects have already been discussed in these columns, e.g. Hale’s vortices, Deslandres’s fila- ments, Belopolsky’s anomalous forms of the K line in 1906-7, &c., but readers of Italian will find Prof. Ricco’s review to be a useful résumé of all these researches. OccuLTATIONS OF PLaneTs.—In a brief note appearing in No. 5, vol. Ixix., of the Monthly Notices (p. 431), Dr. Downing gives the data for two occultations of planets by the moon, during the present year; observable at British observatories. Times and position-angles of immersion and emersion are given for occultations of Mars and Venus visible at Ottawa and Sydney respectively, the former on September 1, the latter on November 17. SS Auric# (31.1907) aN IRREGULAR VARIABLE.—A_ note from Prof. Hartwig, appearing in No. 4319 of the Astro- nomische Nachrichten, .announces that the Bamberg observations show the star SS Aurige to be an irregular variable of the SS. Cygni type. May 6, 1909] NATURE 289 THE ERUPTION. OF VESUVIUS OF. APRIL, 1906.* FOR thirty years Dr. Johnston-Lavis has devoted much of his life to the investigation and elucidation of volcanic phenomena as illustrated by the classical type- volcano Vesuvius. To him we owe the great geological map of Vesuvius and Somma, and a detailed memoir in which he worked out the geology of that very complex i ae Fic. 1.—The aspect of the great cone of Vesuvius on May 4, 1906, as seen from the Punta del Nasone on M. Somma looking due south. The dotted line is that of the outline of Vesuvius in October, 1903, taken with the same camera and lens, and represents, except for a faint variation at the extreme summit, the actual outline of the cone before it was truncated by the late eruption. Neapolitan voleano, as well as numerous papers upon | several eruptions. | In a monograph lately issued by the Royal Dublin | Society we have a careful vulcanological study of the great | paroxysm of 1906, and an attempt to read from the re- | corded phenomena and the ejected materials the physics of such an eruption. A quarter of a century ago, and in frequent communica- tions since, Dr. Johnston-Lavis has pointed out that in the ejecta, and especially in the fragmentary materials, we have a key for interpreting the physical causes and phases of an erup- tion. He holds that the aqucous and other vapours of an igneous magma are derived from materials acquired and dissolved by the igneous paste on its way towards the. surface. There is evidence that the H,O and other vola- tile elements really exist in the form of a solution of gases in a liquid, and that variations in the phases of an eruption are due to the separation of such vola- tile materials from solution and the expansion to the gaseous state on the relief of pressure or the increase of the © amount and resulting tension of them. He maintains that’ the same physical laws that govern the solution of CO, in water under varying pressure and temperature are identical with those which govern the solution of H,O, | volatile chlorides and sulphates in a mixture of fused silicates. This is the thesis that the author follows in the description of the last great outburst of Vesuvius, and _ still further claims his old favourite as the type-volcano of the world. In the first chapter is a review of the changes that have occurred at Vesuvius since 1872, the date of the last important eruption. Next follows a diary of the daily and hourly changes at the volcano during its great paroxysm, partly from Dr. Johnston-Lavis’s own observations and partly from those of other observers. The observations are then analysed in a chapter on general considerations and a scheme of grades and varieties of the activity of 1 Scientific Transactions of the Royal Dublin Society, vo'. ix. (Series ii.), part 8. (Dublin: University Press.) NO. 2062, VOL. 80] volcanoes is given, in which the-eruption of April is: classed under. the paroxysmal vesuvian type, as distinguished from ordinary. Vesuvian type. .A protest is made against the application of the terms vulcanian and pelean to this out- burst, the term being considered to be more applicable to acid volcanoes, in which the higher viscosity of .an- acid magma gives rise to a very different series of phenomena, namely, (a) amount of lava above the lateral . outlet; (b) the secular output of lava; (c) the ~-vsostioveee: ‘vise’ of magma due to its expansion : from. increased vesiculation « after: ‘the relief of pressure from the fluid column above it has drained or blown away. The different phases of the eruption are studied, and the varying output of lava examined from these points of view. The lava in this eruption was of the usual aa type of .Vesuvian rapid out- flows, and differs from the pahoehoe type of slow dribblings such as built up the great ‘lava cones of 1891 and 1895. A comparison of microscopic characters shows that the felspars are move de- veloped in the slow outflows, whilst the leucites dominate in the rapid floods of lava. -A series of excellent photographs taken by the author exhibit many striking phenomena of lava flows on the open slopes, along narrow ravines, and amidst streets, houses, railroads, bridges, Xc. The so-called bombs which are frequent on the surface of lava streams were shown by the author some years ago to be due to the fragments of solid materials caught in the lava stream and floated to the surface by the vesi- culation on their surface, which latter acts in a catalytic manner. They have condensed on their surface a crust derived from the fluid rock which gives them their bomb- like appearance. A photograph is given in which the Fic. 2.—The great cone of Vesuvius as seen from the west at the foot of the Colle Umberto, looking due east across the Atrio on May 3, 1906, to show the truncation of its top and the remarkable barrancos formed on its sides by the slipping of loose fragmentary ejecta. nucleus is composed of a piece of wall, thus indicating their true origin. The author aptly compares them to a dumpling, and proposes in future to call them by that name to distinguish them from other so-called bombs. Several reasons are given for the slight variations in the composition of the lavas, scorias, and dusts, such as the effect of aérial sorting, loss of chloride and sulphates, or the acid radicles of such salts leaving the bases behind, fumarolic exhaustion, &c., which are each reviewed in turn. 290 NATURE [May 6, 1909 Two plates are devoted to a series of detailed sections of the fragmentary materials as distributed around the volcano, and the conditions that influenced the distribution of such materials are discussed. The essential ejecta are shown to be represented by two strata of brown and black scoria that form the base of the great sheet of lapilli which covered the north-east sector of the volcano, and were so destructive to Ottajano, ‘S. Giuseppe, and other towns. These were followed by the still more important and larger volume of the accessory rejecta derived from the fragmentation and ejection of the upper part of the great cone. One-third of that great cone has gone, as can be seen by the photographs in some of thes plates, and a tremendous crater half a mile in diameter and of unknown depth afforded these materials. The remarkable photographs of the great cone showing ‘this truncation, compared with its original outline and that of the new crater at different dates, make impressive pictures. Plate V. of the memoir, here reproduced in ‘Fig. 2, will remain as a classical view of the general shape of the cone with its scored sides, and Plate VI. of the details of those remarkable barrancos that are like the pleats in a half-opened umbrella. This scoring of the slopes of volcanoes was formerly supposed to be due to aqueous erosion, but is shown in this eruption to ‘be caused by the slipping down of avalanches of loose FI . ne Pet Fic, 3.—Lava that invaded the court of the villa of M. and T. Borosio at Boscotrecase. fragmentary materials piled on the steep slopes of the cone towards the end of the eruption, when the ballistic energy was unable to throw them farther afield. Some remarkable ‘‘ hollow dykes,’’ first described in the 1885 eruption, are given on p. 185, and the mechanism of their formation explained. The author believes they were possibly the canals by which issued the lavas of the *Colle Margherita and the Colle Umberto. The microscopic and other characters of the essential -ejecta are illustrated by some plates of photomicrographs. The size of the vesicles, the relative amount of glass, microliths, and state of the magnetite are shown to indicate the position of the magma in the volcanic conduit, the amount of volatile constituents it acquired or lost at ‘different depths, and their relationship to the different phases of the eruption. The minerals and other eruptive products of the eruption are described in ‘so far as they bear on the interpretation of the eruptive phenomena, but the author avoids petro- graphical and mineralogical details that he considers have no special bearing on the study of this outburst. In ‘addition to a large number of reproductions from photographs taken by the author, there are plans, figures, and’ maps. The last plate is a plan, on ‘the scale of t/10,000, of the modifications wrought in the cone and crater, printed specially for this memoir by the Istituto ‘Geografico Militare of Italy. : NO. 2062, VOL. 8o] TANTALUM AND ITS INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS.' - HEN the announcement was made in the year 1878 that ‘‘ the division of the electric light had been successfully accomplished,’’ .nany people believed that the days of lighting by gas had come to an end, and acted accordingly, much to their own disadvantage, for the com- petition of the glow-lamp served only to stimulate its rival to new life. Burners of improved construction, regenerative burners, and finally gas mantles, helped to restore to gas the ground it had lost, and until a short time ago even threatened to check the spreading of electric lighting. Not only this growing competition of gas, but the universal necessity of cheapening ‘the production of com- modities that are for general use, forced electrical engineers to study in all its aspects the question of improying the efficiency of electric lighting. As a guide in their researches they had the well-known principle that the illuminating power of a solid body increases at a much greater ratio than its temperature, or, in other words, that with the increase of temperature a greater percentage of the energy expended for heating the body is converted into light. There is plenty of room for improve- ment, for even the most economical source of light, the electric arc lamp, converts only about 1 per cent. of the energy of the electric current flowing through it into light, the rest appearing as heat, so that in reality all methods of lighting devised by men are to a much greater extent methods of heating. The first successful incandescent lamp consisted of a carbon filament, and for a long time carbon appeared to be the only suitable substance, although the temperature to which such a filament can be raised is limited to about 1600° C., as above this point the carbon begins to dis- integrate rapidly. At this temperature the lamp consumes from three to three and a half watts per candle-power, while any attempt to produce light more economically by raising the temperature of the filament results only in shortening its life and destroying, thereby, its power of competing with gas lighting. An improvement on this result was introduced by Prof. Nernst, of Géttingen, who suggested as the source of light refractory earths, similar in character to those used for gas mantles, which, however, conduct electricity only when they are hot. Lamps constructed on Prof. Nernst’s principle have, therefore, to be fitted with contrivances for heating their filaments when starting, which compli- cate the construction of the lamp. Another step forward was made by the invention of the osmium lamp, which is produced in a somewhat similar manner to the carbon lamp, by squirting a plastic mixture of metallic oxide and a reducing agent into the shape of a filament, which is gradually heated in a glass bulb by the passage of an electric current, while the bulb is being exhausted by an air-pump or an equivalent device. So far as utilisation of energy goes, these lamps are a great improvement on carbon lamps, but their filaments are very brittle, and the total production of osmium per year is only about 8 kg. for the whole world, of which 5 kg. are required for medical purposes. In January, 1905, Dr. W. von Bolton, the head of the chemical laboratory of the firm of Siemens and Halske, announced in a lecture to the Elektrotechnische Verein of Berlin that he had succeeded in producing pure tan- talum, and his discourse was followed by Dr. O. Feuerlein describing how tantalum had been utilised for filaments in the lamp works of the firm. These discourses pre- sented the result of long years of research work based on the general principle already alluded to, that that fila- ment would give the best economical results which could be maintained for the longest time at the highest tempera- ture. The number of substances capable of conducting elec- tricity and of sustaining such high temperatures is very limited, and platinum, the most refractory of the well- known metals, had been tried and found wanting. It became, therefore, necessary to start the research by 1 Discourse delivered at the Royal Institution on Friday, April 23, by Alex. Siemens. May 6, 1909] devising methods for producing the rare metals in a com- mercially possible manner, and then to try one after the other as filaments of incandescent lamps. While working on these lines Dr. von Bolton succeeded, in the first instance, in producing a vanadium filament by heating a mixture of vanadium pentoxide and paraffin to 1700° C., and thereby producing sticks of vanadium trioxide, which in their turn were heated by electric currents in a glass bulb exhausted by an air-pump, and so converted into metallic filaments. As it was found that vanadium melts at about 1680° C., such filaments were no improvement on carbon filaments, and the next substance to be investigated was niobium, which belongs to the same group of elements, but has nearly double the atomic weight. Treated in a similar manner, the niobium fila- ment gave somewhat better results, but still its melting ‘point, estimated at 1950° C., was too low for practical purposes. In this connection it should not be forgotten that at a temperature considerably below their melting points all these metals begin either to soften or to disintegrate, so that their “‘ working ’’ temperature is not identical with their melting temperature. Turning his attention to tantalum, which has an atomic weight of 181, Dr. von Bolton experimented with the black metallic powder produced by the method of Berzelius and Rose, and found that it could be rolled into a fairly coherent mass in the form of ribbons. Alternative experi- ments, conducted on the lines by which vanadium and niobium had been obtained, resulted in the production of pure tantalum in the form of a metallic button, which was found to be tough and malleable like steel. These and other qualities convinced Dr. von Bolton that nobody before him had handled pure tantalum, although Berzelius had. first. obtained the metal by a chemical process in, 1824, and later Moissan succeeded, in 1902, in producing it in his electric furnace. The latter describes tantalum. as a hard, brittle metal of the specific gravity of 12-8, and a non-conductor of electricity, but he adds that the substance obtained by him contained about half a per cent. of carbon. Considering the high atomic weight of tantalum, this admixture of carbon evidently exercises a great influence on the physical qualities of tantalum, and explains the differences between the observations of Dr. von Bolton and those of his predecessors. In nature, ores containing tantalum are found in many places, principally -in Scandinavia. North America,- South-west Africa, and Western Australia. Columbite from South Dakota con- tains from 10 per cent. to 40 per cent. of tantalum pent- oxide (Ta,O,), and a good -deal of niobium, combined with iron and manganese in various proportions. c As the separation of tantalum and-niobium is somewhat troublesome, it is preferable to utilise the tantalite, which consists almost entirely of iron and manganese combined with tantalum pentoxide. From these ores tantalum is separated in the form of a fluoride in combination with potassium (K,TaFl,), and subsequently reduced by metallic potassium. to the black powder already mentioned, which, however, still contains some oxide and some hydrogen. In order further to purify the product, the powder is pressed into the form of small cylinders, which are melted in a vacuum, by an electric current under certain precau- tions, into small buttons of pure tantalum such as are exhibited. Since the production of tantalum has been carried out on a commercial scale it has been possible to improve many details of the process, so that the tantalum produced by it at the present time is even purer than that shown in 1905 at the discourse of Dr. von Bolton and Dr. Feuerlein. - Some specimens of this latest tantalum have been sub- mitted to Sir James Dewar, who has very kindly made experiments with reference to its specific heat and to its thermal conductivity. He ascertained the specific heat by plunging small spheres of tantalum, which had been heated to the temperature of boiling water, into water of 14° C., then transferring them to melting carbonic acid (—78° C.), and finally to liquid air (—183° C.), and as an average of several experiments the specific heat was found to be between 100° C. and 14° C.=0-033, 14° C. and NO. 2062, VOL. 80] NATURE 291 —78° C.=0-032, —78° C. and —183° C.=0.028, while Dr.- von Bolton in 1905 gave the specific heat as 0:0363-- Multiplying these results by the atomic weight (181), it- will be seen that Dr. von Bolton’s value (6-57) is slightly higher and Sir James Dewar’s value (5-97) lower than. 6-4, which, according to Dulong and Petit, is the atomic specific heat. The result of Sir James Dewar’s experiments proves- tantalum to have about three-quarters the conductivity of iron and about one-eighth the conductivity of copper. At ordinary temperatures, say below 300° C., pure tantalum resists the action of all acids except fluoric acid, of all alkalies, and of moisture, so that it is an ideal material - for chemieal apparatus which do not require high tempera- tures, and for any implements which, when made of steel, are liable to rust. It has already been stated that pure tantalum is tough- and malleable, so that it can be hammered out into thin sheets or drawn into fine wire, the diameter of the fila- ment wire being 0-03 mm., or about one eight-hundredth of an inch; all the same, it is elastic and as hard as softs steel, and has a tensile strength of 93 kg. per square mm., which is equal to 57 tons per square inch. This means that the filament wire is capable of supporting about 80 grams, or 2-8 ozs., as can be shown by actual experi-- ment. Tantalum sheet can be stamped into. various shapes, and out of bars of tantalum springs can be bent. Another~ use made of tantalum is as material for writing pens, manufactured in the usual way. When it was first offered” for this purpose it was found that the material could not pass the test prescribed for pens made of steel. These are pressed by a weight of 180 grams on writing paper which is moving at the same speed as ordinary writing, and while 10 km. (63 miles) of paper are passing the loss. by abrasion must not exceed 0-7 mg. (0-0r grain). At first the tantalum pens lost more than double the permitted weight, but it was found that slightly oxidising the surface of the pens hardens them so much that they only lose’ o-8 mg. by the 10 km. test. By weight this: is still more than is permitted for steel pens, but having regard to the specific weights of the two substances the actual volumetric abrasion of the tantalum pen is the lesser of the two. Although only the surface of the pens had been oxidised, it was found that the rate of abrasion remained the same for the whole length of 10 km., when it was expected that’ this rate would increase materially after the skin of oxide had been ground off. Adyantage was taken of this circumstance when an inquiry was received from India as to whether it would be possible to manufacture cataract knives for oculists out of tantalum. The qualities demanded of such a knife are that its blade should be (1) intensely hard, so as to be able to acquire a very sharp edge of great smoothness, and to retain this fine edge for a long time; (2) very tough, without any tendency to bend; (3) chemically and” mechanically stable, so that it can be easily sterilised and that it is not liable to rust; (4) capable of acquiring a high polish. Manufacturing such a blade out of pure tantalum, and slightly oxidising it before polishing it, appears to fulfil these stringent conditions, but as the knife, which is on the table, has not yet been actually tried for an operation, it can only serve to demonstrate the similarity of tantalum to steel for such purposes. Another field for the application of tantalum may be found in the supply of dental instruments, owing to its immunity from chemical changes, but beyond showing two cases of such appliances there is no necessity to go further into details. While possessing all these qualities of a true metal, tantalum has some others which rather. limit its usefulness. When heated to a dull red heat it absorbs gases greedily, especially hydrogen and nitrogen, and by combining with them it loses its tensile strength and becomes brittle. ; Here are three pieces of tantalum wire taken from_ the same coil; one of them has been heated in an atmosphere of nitrogen, the other in hydrogen, and the third has: not been interfered with. The consequence is that the -latter has retained its strength, while the former have become brittle and useless. On heating tantalum in air, it shows= 5 292 first a yellow and then a blue tint like steel, but when the heating is continued it burns to pentoxide. The black powder and thin wires can even be lighted by applying a match to them, as the experiment shows. Its melting point in vacuo lies between 2250° C. and 2300° C., which makes it particularly suitable for elec- trodes in vacuum tubes, especially as it does not dis- integrate. For example, it is extensively used in Roéntgen tubes. Its specific weight is 16-6. Turning now to the electrical qualities of tantalum, its specific resistance was stated by Dr. von Bolton’ in 1905 to be, on the average, 0-165, with a temperature coefficient of 3 per cent. between 0° and 100° Celsius. Further experiments conducted by Dr. Pirani in the laboratory of Siemens’ and Halske revealed the fact that wires of various thicknesses varied in their specific resist- ance from 0-173 to 0-188, but after they had been heated to 1900° C. in a high vacuum for from 100 to 200 hours, they all possessed the same specific resistance, viz. 0-146, and their temperature coefficient between o° and 100° C, had risen to 0-33 per cent. As the temperature of a tantalum filament, when con- suming 1-5 watt per candle-power, is about 1850° C., and its resistance about six times its resistance at 100° C., the temperature -coefficient between 100° C. and 1850° C. may be taken, on the average, as 0-29 per cent. No doubt the difference between these results is caused by alterations in the structure of the wires during their manufacture, and the heating in vacuo served a similar purpose to the annealing of steel, so that Dr. Pirani’s results published in 1907 may be taken as standards. At present the most important industrial application of tantalum is its use for filaments of incandescent lamps, which may be said to date from July, 1903, when Dr. Feuerlein succeeded in producing a tantalum wire one-twentieth of a millimetre in diameter. Of this wire he made a glow lamp with a filament 54 mm. long, using a current of 9 volts 0.58 ampere, and giving a light of 3:5 candles (Hefner), at the rate of 1-5 watts per candle- power. A simple calculation shows that for a current of 1ro volts 660 mm. of the same wire would be required, giving at the same rate of consumption of energy a light of 43 candles. In carbon lamps, for 220 volts the length of filament is only 400 mm., and the filaments remain hard until they disintegrate. Tantalum filaments, like other metallic filaments, soften, however, to such a degree that they cannot be used in the same shape as carbon filaments. After trying various methods of housing the long Ta filament in. a glass bulb of approximately the same dimensions as the carbon glow lamps, the present form was arrived at during the year 1904. In this lamp, which was adopted as standard, the length of the filament was 650 mm., its diameter 0-05 mm., and its weight 0-022 gram, so that about 45,000 of these lamps contain 1 kg. of Ta. Since then these dimensions have been modified to a certain extent; for instance, the diameter of the filament is now only 0-03 mm., but the external shape has not been altered. It was soon found that after burning a short time the filament underwent certain structural changes and _ lost its great tensile strength. Examination under a micro- scope revealed the fact that in about 1000 hours the smooth, cylindrical filament shows signs of capillary con- traction, as if the cylinder was going to break up into a series of drops, and the surface, from being dull, com- mences to glitter. This contraction of the filament after being heated is readily recognised by comparing a new lamp with.an old one.. On the stars of the new lamp the filament hangs loosely, while in the old lamp the filament is evidently in tension. The characteristic difference between carbon filaments and tantalum filaments is shown by a diagram represent- ing the influence of temperature on the electric resistance vf the two filaments in proportion to each other. In order to have the differences at once shown in per when giving the light of 1 candle for 15 watts, is marked as 100, and it is immediately seen that NO. 2062, VOL. 80] NATURE | May 6, 1909. the resistance of Ta alters directly, and that of carbon- inversely, as the temperature.- Owing to this quality a- Ta filament is better able to resist overheating than a carbon filament, as the following experiment shows, where two lamps, one Ta and one C, burning normally at 110 volts with 1-5 watts per candle-power, are gradually exposed to higher voltages. The C lamp breaks, while the Ta lamp stands up to 200 volts, the highest voltage available’ here. than at its normal voltage. As stated at the beginning of the discourse, the primary object of all the research was to find a filament more economical in the consumption of electrical energy than the C filament, and the following experiments will show that the Ta filament is in this respect a great improve- ment-on the C filament. To begin with, a comparison can be made by burning’a Ta and a C lamp under water, each being immersed in a vessel containing the same quantity of water.’ Owing to the C lamp requiring more energy to give the same light as the Ta lamp, the temperature of the water in the C vessel rises quicker than in the other vessel. Another way of showing the difference is by measuring the current taken by each of the two lamps when giving approximately the same light, or by send- ing the same current through both lamps in series and noting the difference in candle-power. In conclusion, two interesting qualities of Ta should be noted. The first is that, when a Ta filament is heated in a high vacuum, it will expel any oxygen that has com- bined with it. contains any oxide by very gradually heating it up, when the parts containing oxide will appear brighter than those consisting of pure Ta, owing to the greater electrical resistance of the oxide. These lamps have been purposely exposed to the air while they were being exhausted, and have become “spotty ’? in consequence, but if they are raised a little above their proper voltage and left burning for a few minutes their filaments become quite uniform by the ex- pulsion of the oxygen. The second quality is that Ta will act as a rectifier when used in an electrolyte, that is to say, it will allow the passage of the positive current only in one direction. Inthe apparatus shown the positive current passes through the lamp to a Ta anode, thence to a Pt kathode, but in a very short time the Ta anode covers itself with a film of oxide which stops the current. When the current is reversed the lamp lights again, and continues to burn. When an alternate current is connected to the lamp it will also continue to burn, but with diminished brilliancy. All these experiments are intended to show the remark- able qualitics of this material, and when they are fully appreciated and its limitations are properly understood there appears to be a great field open to tantalum and its industrial applications. CONFERENCE ON ROADS. CONFERENCE arranged by the County Council Association, in conjunction with the Association of Municipal Corporations, the Urban and Rural District Councils’ Association, the Association of Municipal and County Engineers, and the County Surveyors’ Association was held in London last week, and lasted over three days. The meetings were divided into three sections, which met at the Institution of Civil Engineers, the Mechanical Engineers, and the Surveyors’ Institution. This conference was very largely attended by borough and county engineers, chairmen and members of the Roads and Bridges Committee of county councils, and others interested in automobiles. Followi.g on the International Road Congress held at Paris last year, this gathering together of those responsible for and interested in the management of the highways of this country shows the increasing importance of road traffic and of the interest taken in the condition of our highways. Forty papers were contributed for reading and dis- cussion, the subjects dealt with relating to the construction and maintenance of roads; motors and traction engines, Of course, its useful life will be shorter - It is possible to detect whether a filament: May 6, 1909} their weight and-speed, and effect of wear and tear on the roads; nationalisation of .the. roads, and . Exchequer grants towards. their maintenance; the collection of Statistics and standardisation of these. There. can be no doubt. that a very considerable change has come. about .in the requirements of roads since the advent of the motor-car. After the, introduction of rail- ways the main roads-_became very much neglected, and little interest was taken in their condition, but now they are more used than even in the old coaching days. For the traction engine, the motor-car, or the steam trolley the old methods of management are unsuitable, and the new conditions require different treatment. The greater part of the roads in rural districts may be described as having grown or developed, and have been built up by the use of the metalling placed on the surface without any founda- tion. This accounts for their unsuitableness for the rapid and heavy traffic with which they have now to contend, and for the excessive cost of maintenance. The old turnpike roads, which constitute the greater part of the main roads now under the control of the county or borough councils, have been, as a rule, well made, and are under the management of qualified engineers, and on these roads considerable attention has been paid in the endeavour to adapt them to the altered circumstances; but on the highways which are under the management of rural district councils the case is different. These rural councils, from a false idea of economy, make use of perishable materials for repairing the roads, such as limestone or gravel, because these can be procured in the neighbourhood, and can be obtained at less price than suitable road material brought from a distance. With the same false idea of keeping down the cost, unqualified men are employed as surveyors at small salaries. Some- times the only qualification that the applicant for this office possesses is that he has been unsuccessful in his business as a farmer, ; In a pamphlet on the repair and management of roads, issued by the Roads Improvement Association for the use of surveyors of highways, it is clearly shown. that roads well maintained and kept in good order cost less than bad roads repaired with inferior material. An example is given of a turnpike road which had been much neglected, of which, owing to change of management and the use of granite in place of local stone, the cost was not only con- siderably reduced, but from the improved surface of the road one horse was able to draw as large a load as formerly required double the number. In the same dis- trict it was also shown that the parish roads, which cost the most to maintain, were without exception those that avere kept in the worst condition, and that when _ these were placed under efficient supervision, while the roads improved, the cost of their maintenance diminished. The use of self-propelled vehicles, owing to the way in which they affect the surface of the roads, more than ever emphasises the necessity for the use of skilled supervision. ‘There was a unanimous expression of opinion at the con- ference that the cost of maintaining the roads had very considerably increased, and that in many cases; owing to the want of proper foundations or inadequate metalling, they are quite unsuited for the class of .traffic that they have now, to bear. ’ In one of the papers read at the congress it was shown that to cover such roads with a coating of suitable material of a thickness of 3. inches,-in place of the flint or lime- stone at present in use, would cost r11ool. per mile,. or five millions of pounds for the south-eastern division of England, where the motor traffic is the heaviest, and to which the paper more particularly referred. - The cost of maintaining the main roads has been very largely increased owing to: the wear: and tear of auto- mobiles. During the last nine .years the annual cost of the main roads,- which extend over-a length of. 27,600 miles, has risen from 2,024,7111. to 2,766,9031., or at the rate of 76-11. to 100-21.,per mile. In.one of the southern counties the cost has been doubled. A matter that received considerable attention. at the con- ference was the nuisance due, to the dust: which ‘prevails in dry weather along the roads frequented -by self-propelled vehicles moving at great speed. Motor-cars not. only raise and distribute dust in a manner previously unknown, but NO. 2062, VOL. 80] NATURE 293 also are responsible for its production.; This is especially the case on the roads that. are in the worst state. of. re- pair. Ona loose surface the fine particles, which act as a binding material to the larger stones, are sucked up by. the tyres of the wheels and distributed over the road, causing inequalities and providing material for dust. A great deal of damage is also done by the sucking out of the water from the puddles when the road is wet. A rubber-tyred wheel splashing into’ a puddle sends the water flying out of it with a speed and force greater than any other vehicle, and converts a small puddle into a larger one. This effect is greatest where the surface is repaired with soft material, or where the material used for binding is unsuitable. On roads under the manage- ment of unskilled surveyors any material is considered sufficient for binding the larger stones used for covering the surface of the road. The scrapings of the mud off the road in winter are often.made use of for this purpose, and in one of the papers read at the conference it is stated that in one district even material was dug from the sides of the road, and the metalling bedded with this. Under such practices the result, of course, cannot be otherwise than a muddy surface in winter and dust in dry weather. Various processes have been tried as a means’ for pre- venting the generation of dust, but the one most generally adopted in this country is to make the surface of the roads waterproof by the use of pitch. or tar, either as a matrix for binding the stones together or-as-a_ surface dressing. Already 1500 miles have been treated in this way. The best results are obtained where there is a good foundation, and a surface covering of sufficient thickness of the hardest and toughest material, well consolidated by rolling, with just+ sufficient fine chippings of the same stone to fill the void spaces, the. surface being rendered impervious to water or the action of frost by the use of tar or some bituminous material. Tar macadam, which consists either of the whole material used or only of the binding material being mixed with tar before being placed on the road, has been largely used. Opinions varied as to the use of this process. In some cases it has been a complete success, in others a failure. This is probably. owing to the manner in which the material has been prepared and laid, and to the quality of the tar or pitch used. To be successful it requires that the material must be mixed with the tar when it is dry, and dry weather is required when it is put on the road. If improperly mixed it either breaks up in patches, which are difficult to repair, or becomes so soft in hot weather as to work into a very uneven surface. For surface dressing on roads already made and in good condition, spraying with tar either by hand or by a machine made for. the purpose is effective, and as it adds considerably to the life of the road it does not add much to the cost of maintenance. No reference was made in any of the papers to the practice in use in the United States, and. which now extends over many hundreds of miles in California and other States, of using petroleum or bituminous oil for spraying instead of tar, which is there found to be very effective. The oil is spread from a specially designed tank-car at a rate varying from one to two gallons to the square vard. Roads so treated are fit for traffic twenty-four hours after being sprayed; they are thus rendered impervious to rain-water, and the surface remains hard and firm in hot weather. MAGNETIC SURVEYS." THE first volume referred to below may be regarded L as the coping-stone of the work doné for the Coast and Geodetic Survey by Dr. Bauer during his tenure~of the: office of chief of division of terrestrial magnetism. Dr. Bauer had actually transferred his. services’ to the Carnegie Institution of . Washington before the~ volume 1 Department of Commerce and Labour, Coast and Geodetic Survey, United States Magnetic Tables and Magnetic Charts for 1905. By L. A. Bauer. Pp. 154. (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1908.) Magnetic Survey of the Dutch Fast-Indies, 1903-7.. By Dr..W. van Bemmelen. Pp. 69; with charts. (Batavia: Government Printing Office, 1900.) % Survey of India, Extracts from Narrative Reports, 1906-7. Superintendent Government Printing, 1909.) (Calcutta : 294 appeared, but the responsibility for the work seems entirely his. The volume represents a complete magnetic survey of the United States for the epoch January 1, 1905, based on observations at 4149 stations, including 3311 in the United States itself, 575 in Canada, 201 in Mexico, and 62 in the West Indies. The great majority of the stations were occupied by Coast and Geodetic observers, but acknowledgments are made to Senor Felipe Valle for results from some seventy of the Mexican stations, and to Dr. King and Prof. Stupart for a good many results from Canada. In the United States the density of the stations varied from one per ninety square miles in Mary- land to one per 2924 square miles in Idaho, the average being one per 973 square miles. Details as to instru- ments, methods, and sites of stations are not given, having been dealt with in previous volumes of the Survey. Table I., pp. 18-87, summarises all the observations. It gives the name, latitude, and longitude of the station, the date of observation to o-1 of a year, the observed values of the three elements declination (D), inclination (I), and horizontal intensity (H), the values of the elements reduced to the epoch 1905-0, and, finally, the authority. D and I are given to o1, and H_ to o-ooor C.G.S. (or 10 y). The results are grouped under the States of the Union. Table II., pp. 91-5, summarises results obtained at sea in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and: in the Gulf of Mexico, at 241 stations, between January 1, 1903, and midsummer, 1907. In this case results are given for total intensity as well as for D, I, and H. Table III., pp. 101-7, shows the secular change in D at eighty stations representing specified portions of different States of the Union. Values of D are given at ten-year intervals from 1750, when available, down to 1900. The values for 1905 and the estimated annual changes at that date are added. Table IV., pp. 114-0, gives secular-change data for D, I, and H for five-year intervals, from 1840 downwards, for forty-seven geo- graphical positions; e.g. twelve have latitude 45°, their longitudes being respectively 65°, 70° . . . 110°, 115°, and 122°-5 W. Table V., pp. 123-150, contains values of D, I, H (along with its north and east components), as well as values of the vertical intensity (V) and total intensity (T), at the intersection of all degrees of latitude and longi- tude on the North American continent between 17° N. and 49° N. Values of D and I are given to 0°-1, values of H to ooo1 C.G.S. These data for D, I, and H are obtained by scaling from the charts, the process not claiming an accuracy exceeding 0°-o5 in D and I, or 0-0005 in H. The other force elements were apparently computed from these, but they are given to four significant figures. The first five charts, dealing respectively with D, I, H, V, and T, are each about 28 inches by 22 inches. As to the method of construction of the charts for the three first elements, we are told (p: 153) that ‘‘ the reduced values for 1905-0 were plotted on a base map of about four times the size of the charts. Next the lines (isogonals, isoclinals, isomagnetics) were drawn to con- form as strictly as possible with the plotted results.’? The V and T charts are based on values calculated by com- bining values of H and of TI scaled from the charts for these two elements. The aim is at least to indicate all local irregularities of any importance, and, as Dr. Bauer truly remarks, ‘‘ one cannot fail to be impressed by the manifold irregularities shown by the lines.’? This remark is especially true of the isogonals, but the V and T isomagretics are also exceedingly irregular in the regions bordering on the great lakes. In the charts, successive D and I lines differ by 1°, successive H, V, and T lines by oor C.G.S. These lines are drawn in red, geographical details: being in black. The D, I, and H charts also contain blue lines, drawn to pass through the places where the secular change of the element is the same. In 1905 the agonic line—along which the needle points to the true north+ran from a little to the west of Charleston, in South Carolina, in a north-westerly direction to the north- east corner of Lake Michigan. The line of no secular change ran, roughly, parallel to the agonic line, but about 250 miles to the west of it. To the east of the line of no secular change the needle is moving to the west, and to the west of this line it is moving to the east. The extreme annual change—met with on the Pacific coast— NO. 2062, VOL. 80] NATURE. [May 6, 1909 is only about 4’.. The phenomena, in a general way, are such as would ensue, from a southerly movement of the north magnetic pole, and this is in general harmony with the secular changes in the other elements. H is falling and I increasing over nearly the whole United States, except in the extreme north-east, west, and north-west. There have, however, been remarkable changes in the set of the secular change of late years, showing that the real phenomenon is of a very complicated character, which renders any forecast for the future very uncertain. The two last charts are of a different. character from the others. No. 6 shows ‘‘ magnetic meridians,’’ defined as horizontal lines which have for their tangent at every point the direction of the compass needle. No. 7 gives. secular-change curves of two types, one showing the change of absolute direction in space of the freely dipping needle, the other showing changes in the horizontal intensity. The work is one which merits, and will doubtless receive, close attention from all who are engaged, or are likely to be soon engaged, in magnetic surveys. It is interesting to learn (p. 13) that corrections for diurnal inequality were applied only in the case of the declination. In the case of the inclination and horizontal intensity, Dr. Bauer’s opinion seems to be that corrections for diurnal inequality ““are, in general, of the order of the error of observation, and certainly much less than the ‘station error’ due to the irregular distribution of the earth’s magnetism.”” He was presumably influenced, in part, by the consideration that secular change in H varies over the United States from +20 y to —70 y per annum, so that a knowledge of the annual change, even to the nearest 10 y, must be difficult to acquire in the regions more remote from mag- netic observatories. How disturbances are dealt with does not seem to be stated. If Dr. Bauer’s views are correct, and they are based probably on a wider experience thar that of any other man living, one cannot help thinking that extreme refinement in field instruments or observa- tions may be largely thrown away in the case of a general survey of a large area. If we may borrow and extend @ military metaphor, supreme importance attaches, not so much to the gun, or even to the man immediately behind it, as to the general. In the second volume we have a survey for the epoch 1905'5 of the Dutch East Indies, made under the direc- tion of Dr. W. van Bemmelen, of the Batavia Observa- tory. The area included extends from Sumatra in the west to the borders of Dutch and German New Guinea in the east (95° to 141° E.), and from Timor in the south to Mandanao (Philippines) in the north (11° S. to 8° N.). The area is thus very big, including much sea and many small islands, in addition to Sumatra, Java, Celebes, and parts of Borneo and New Guinea. There were 158 stations, a considerable number being on the smaller islands, but none at sea; they were occupied during 1903 to 1907. Owing, no doubt, in part to the rela- tively small number of his stations, Dr. van Bemmelen’s practices are in many respects the antithesis of Dr. Bauer’s. The former attaches comparatively little import- ance to the exact site of his stations. On the other hand, though having continuous records from only one observa- tory, he applies corrections to all the elements to eliminate the diurnal inequality and irregular variations, going to o’-1 in declination and dip, and to 1 y in horizontal force. The Dutch charts, again, unlike the American, take no account of local peculiarities, but resemble the world charts of the British Admiralty in the bold sweep of their lines. They are drawn on thick paper in the body of the volume, and, again unlike the American, present quite an artistic appearance. ; Dr. van Bemmelen gives the values of the magnetic elements at intersections of degrees of latitude and longi- tude, going to 0°-or in declination, o°z in dip, and to o-ooo1 C.G.S. in the total force and in its vertical, hori- zontal, southerly, and easterly components. He repro- duces, with some corrections, the results of two previous surveys of the East Indies, one for the epoch 1848-0, by Captain C. M. Elliot, the other for 1876.5, by Dr. E. van Ryckevorsel, and makes use of these in discussing the secular change. Though representing a much smaller amount of field work than the American, the Dutch survey May 6, 1909] NATURE 295 presents—as one expects from Dr. van Bemmelen—many ingenious ideas, which, if not all equally valuable, are at least suggestive. Observers in tropical countries, for instance, will be interested to learn how he dealt with mosquito troubles, and how he rendered the beats of his chronometer audible during rain-storms. To those now engaged in the magnetic survey of India, the work must be one of especial interest. The third volume describes the work done in 1906-7 by the Survey of India. Besides interesting details as to pendulum and tidal work, levelling and ordinary survey- ing, it gives an unusually full account of the progress of the magnetic survey under Captain Thomas, R.E. As in previous volumes, there is an account of elaborate instru- mental investigations, but the most novel part is a dis- -cussion of formula got out by Mr. J. Eccles—acting, appar- ently, on a suggestion by Sir A. Riicker—for deducing the diurnal inequalities of declination and horizontal force at any intermediate place from those recorded at two magnetic observatories. There are comparisons of the in- equalities observed at one magnetic observatory with those calculated for its latitude and longitude from the inequali- ties at two other observatories. The agreement is pro- nounced very satisfactory. The formulz seem based on the assumptions that the diurnal inequality at a given latitude is a function only of the local time, and that for the area concerned the rate of variation with latitude of the departure at any local hour from the mean value for the day is constant both for the northerly and easterly laaemeense Arboriculture in Germany. ByT.J. .... 325 Growth of Nerve Fibres Bint cy oso 1 0-seeO AD 325 University and Educational Intelligence. .... 326 Societiesjand/Academies| <> |) fi. suimenn elms 20 DiarysofmSocieties:.... .. 5 2 aautae nnn SO WALT ORL 33! THURSDAY, MAY 20, 1909. THE UNIVERSITY TEACHING OF CHEMISTRY. Lecons sur le Carbone. La Combustion. Les Lois chimiques. By H. le Chatelier. Pp. xiv+456. (Paris: Dunod and Pinat, and A. Hermann, 1908.) Price 12 francs. HIS is a book which is likely to have a most important influence on the teaching of chemistry, certainly in France, and probably in other countries. The fact that it is the first general treatise on chemistry from the hand of M. le Chatelier is suff- cient in itself to attract the attention of chemists. But it is much more than this; it is an attempt to lead a reform of a far-reaching character, to part from traditions honoured by time, and to show uni- versity teachers a more excellent way of presenting the essential science of chemistry to the ever-increas- ing number of students who come to them for guid- ance. It is very rarely that a book on general chemistry appears which exhibits anything like the individuality that is to be found in M. le Chatelier’s new work, one that is at the same time so free from extravagance in developing a new idea, and one, it may be added, that is so entirely worthy of study by all who have the duty of teaching chemistry. According to M. le Chatelier, the system of teach- ing inorganic chemistry in France has been com- pletely unchanged for three-quarters of a century. In 1825, Gay-Lussac and Thénard inaugurated what was then a new treatment of the subject, and this was stereotyped in the text-book of Regnault founded on his notes of Gay-Lussac’s lectures. Whilst Lavoisier had treated chemistry primarily as a body of principles and generalisations, the new system re- garded it primarily as a classification and description of substances. The only attempt to break away from the tradition is due to Mendeléeff, whose treatise is arranged on an entirely special plan. In pleading for a change of our methods, M. le Chatelier admits that chemistry cannot be placed in the same position as physics. It is impossible merely to lay down general principles and tables of constants; chemistry must still include the enumeration of a host of de- tailed facts, methods of preparation, methods of analysis, methods of manufacture. It is to be re- membered that this is not in itself science, but mere documentation, and that it is the body of chemical principles which really constitutes the science of chemistry. Since 1825 a revolution in chemical know- ledge has taken place by the discovery and applica- tion of the laws of chemical mechanics, and to this full effect should be given in the courses of chemical instruction. Special chapters dealing with these matters are, indeed, commonly included in the text- books, but whereas the subsequent detail of the books is permeated by the laws of quantitative composition, no such general application is made of the laws of chemical dynamics. There is a second matter of importance that leads NO. 2064, VOL. 80] the author to depart from established custom. Higher scientific teaching to-day has not, he says, the ex- clusive aim of training future teachers; the majority of students will spend their lives in quite different fields—-medicine, agriculture, industry. The instruc- tion given in universities ought to be so conceived as to fit people for doing their best for themselves and their country in the particular sphere they will occupy. It is necessary, above all, to form des ésprits pratiques. It is often said with some justice that scientific teaching does not develop good sense; it produces too often, not men of action, but théoriciens, des ésprits faux. Scientific instruction is, in fact, essentially analytic; it regards things too much in one aspect at one time. In speaking of the electric conductivity of copper we ignore deliberately its other properties, and yet in all the electrotechnical uses of copper we cannot get rid of the existence of mass, specific heat, tenacity, &c., nor prevent them from exhibiting themselves sometimes in a most embarrass- ing manner. Some examples of industrial science should be introduced into a scientific course to direct the attention of students to the complexity of the actual phenomena, to the importance of applying the details of knowledge and sifting them according to their relative practical importance for achieving the end in view. The usual superficial description of industrial processes is not enough; it is merely a part of general culture. “‘Tl faut avoir vu, sinon en nature, au moins en image, un haut fourneau, une chambre de plomb, une cornue Bessemer, au méme titre que des tableaux de Raphaél, l’are de Triomphe, ou la Tour Eiffel, mais ces descriptions rapides n’ont aucune valeur didactique, elle ne peuvent contribuer ni a la forma- tion intellectuelle, ni au développement des aptitudes professionelles.”’ M. le Chatelier insists again and again on the fruitfulness of a close association between theory and practice. Lavoisier, he says, was led to his great work by taking part in an open competition for a better system of lighting Paris. His constant pre- occupation with practical questions—the making of plaster of Paris, the exploitation of coal mines, the metallurgy of iron, the manufacture of gunpowder, the organisation of hospitals, agriculture—enabled him to escape without effort from the fictions and conven- tions amid which the chemists of his day simply marked time. Similar remarks apply to Carnot, Deville, Pasteur, and others. M. le Chatelier has some trenchant and timely remarks to make about another aspect of chemistry. The science, he says, is suffering from a very grave malady, le surmenage. Since chemistry has begun to afford a remunerative calling, chemists have be- taken themselves to an intensive cultivation, seeking at all costs to make discoveries which shall create a title to promotion—quantity, from their point of view, superseding quality. To happen upon a sub- stance sufficiently devoid of interest to ensure that, in all probability, no one else will examine it for a decade, procures a situation free from all anxiety; the mis- takes will not be discovered before the published work N 332 NATURE | May 20, 1909 ‘has produced its useful effect. From this point of view, organic chemistry, with its innumerable com- pounds, offers precious opportunities, but inorganic chemists also, though less favourably situated, are too often led into this artificial adding to the number of real substances. Taking a large general treatise on chemistry, M. le Chatelier hazards the opinion that at least half the substances described have never had any existence. It is, therefore, of great import- ance to give young chemists a timely respect for ex- actitude, to accustom them, not only to make measure- ments, but to discuss their degree of precision and to criticise systematically every experimental result. With regard to the use of hypotheses, M. le Chatelier is no less decisive. He dispenses with all hypotheses relating to the constitution of matter. These hypotheses, he says, can render great service to a trained mind that will use them as tools, to be cast aside when they are no longer useful; in the instruction of young minds they are dangerous, as tending to imprecision, which is the most redoubtable enemy of science. Too often one comes to believe firmly in these products of imagination, to bandage one’s eyes and blind oneself to the most evident ex- perimental facts. When we see what has become of the two fluids of electricity, of the projectiles of the emission theory of light, of the india-rubber mole- cules of Berthollet, of the indivisible atoms of Dalton, we have a right to entertain some anxiety about the future in store for ions and electrons. The text of M. le Chatelier’s book is a verbatim report of his first course of lectures on general chemistry in 1907-8, given at the Sorbonne, where he occupies the place of Moissan. Probably few chemists would care to have their wisdom offered to the world in this way, and it is to be hoped that few will do so. But it is not too much to say of this particular case that one can only rejoice in the author’s lack of time to give the book the revision which he con- templated, for its supreme value lies in the reflection. it gives of’ the living teacher. It is a good deal to say of a book on chemistry that it is human, at least in any other respect than in being tinged with error, but M. le Chatelier’s book is human in ex- hibiting, not only the mind, but something of the personality’ of one of the greatest contemporary chemists, and assuredly of a very exceptional and inspiring teacher. The aim of the book is to use carbon and some of its inorganic compounds as a vehicle for imparting the essence of modern chemistry. The chapters bear the following headings :—Henri Sainte-Claire Deville— Moissan; propriétés physiques et chimiques; com- bustibles; chauffage, pouvoir absorbant, allotropie; carbures meétalliques; acide carbonique; carbonates métalliques; oxyde de carbone; combustion des mélanges gazeux; origines de la chimie; résumé des lois de la mécanique; lois de la mécanique chimique ; lois pondérales de la chimie; poids moléculaires et peids atomiques; détermination expérimentale des poids moléculaires. The treatment of these topics is in accordance with NO. 2064, VOL. 80} the general principles which have already been in- dicated. The choice of carbon as the central subject is, of course, arbitrary. It may be defended on several grounds, and doubtless it may be criticised on others, but it must be remembered that M. le Chatelier lays down no law about such choice. It is the method and spirit of the treatment that are all-important, and in choosing carbon the author brings himself into the region where his own re- searches have given him quite exceptional knowledge and authority. We feel that we are reading some- thing altogether different from the compilations to which we are so inured, and that the author is im- parting what he has made his own. It is for this reason that it is impossible in the present notice to give any adequate idea of the quality of the book. No doubt there is much left out in the way of facts that many people would consider very important, but M. le Chatelier has boldly faced a problem that con- fronts every teacher, and has refused to carry on the burden of teaching all that convention sanctioned a generation ago along with the vast accumulation of new things that have since come to light. Much of the old matter of chemical books and chemical lec- tures has become relatively unimportant, and may well be left to take care of itself. Nowadays a man may be an excellent chemist, and withal profoundly ig- norant of cadmium and its compounds, of the various formulz proposed for bleaching powder, of the methods of analysis of German silver, and of a thousand other things which were the common stock of his immediate scientific ancestors. The criticism, exhortation, and censure to be found in M. le Chatelier’s book are no doubt primarily addressed to his own countrymen, but they are ap- plicable elsewhere. Perhaps more has been’done than M. le Chatelier implies to alter the form and sub- stance of introductory university courses of chemistry. Prof. Ostwald's ‘‘ Inorganic Chemistry ’’ and Prof. Alexander Smith’s recent work are, perhaps, the most notable books indicative of a movement that is prob- ably existent in many university centres, but to judge from examination papers the old order still largely prevails. There is no doubt a national genius which exhibits itself in science as in other domains of thought and action. M. le Chatelier’s book displays this scientific genius of his country in its classic form. “Les uns,’’ he says, ‘‘ ne trouvent a la vérité toute sa grace que lorsqu’elle est parée d’ornéments a la mode du jour, d’autres préférent admirer sa_ fire beauté dégagée de tous voiles. A chacun la liberté de prendre sa joie ot il la trouve.” The Frenchman, with a language incomparable for expository uses, can tell us the plain truth without the chill that is associated with our own ‘‘ dry light.”’ He is apt, perhaps, to lay a little disproportionate weight on the achievements of his own countrymen, and this tendency appears in M. le Chatelier’s book to an extent that may provoke some readers. But in all other respects there can be no question that a strict fidelity to facts characterises the book from cover to cover. ARTHUR SMITHELLS. May 20, 1909] THE FLOWERING PLANTS OF AFRICA. Die Bliitenpflanzen Afrikas. Eine Anleitung sum Bestimmen der Gattungen der Afrikanischen Siphonogamen. By Franz Thonner. © Pp. xvit+672; with 150 plates and 1 map. (Berlin: R. Fried- lander und Sohn, 1908.) Price 1o marks. HIS is not the first attempt by the author of making keys on a large scale. In 1895 we had from him an ‘ Analytical Key to the Natural Orders of Flowering Plants,’? in 1901 an ‘‘ Excur- sionsflora von Europa,”’ essentially a key to the genera of the flora of Europe, and now we find him directing his energy in the same way to the whole of the phanerogamic flora of Africa and the African islands. If we consider that this flora includes 262 families and 3648 genera, the formidable character of the task becomes at once apparent. No one can possibly claim an intimate knowledge of so vast a number of genera, and if some one came near to it he would probably be the last to care for the work. In fact, if the thing is to be done it is just as well that the author should not know too much of the details and of the real complexity of the problem. General and rather extensive than inten- sive familiarity with the families, sound judgment in the selection of the authorities which supply the material for the key, method, good memory, and infinite patience will further the work more than anything else. The book is distinctly one of those which must be tried, and frequently tried, before it is possible to judge whether they serve their purpose or not. In this instance the object aimed at is to provide the traveller or colonial in Africa, as well as the student outside Africa, with a key for the easy and correct determination of the generic names of the African plants. A general inspection of the book and occa- sional checking on some of the more puzzling genera have certainly created the impression that the author, to a considerable degree, possesses the qualities necessary for the task he has set himself. There are, of course, blemishes and weak points; but they are practically unavoidable, and it would be un- gracious to insist upon them. On the whole, the kkey—or, rather, the system of keys—works well enough. Nobody expects more than a certain amount of guidance from a key of such dimensions, particu- larly when applied to a flora so rich and in many aspects still imperfectly known. The difficulties with which the key-maker has to contend arise mainly from the overlapping and the varied combinations of char- acters, the sexual heteromorphism and the dicecism of flowers, and the so-called anomalous forms; they are smaller towards both ends of the taxonomic ladder, but really formidable where the families are concerned. This accounts, no doubt, for the fact that dichotomous keys to families on a large scale have so seldom been attempted. To devise such a key purely on’ the basis of affinities, and so that the units follow the same sequence as in the system, is impracticable, and the author has very wisely not hesitated. to break up the families whenever neces- sary, and to let them or their components come NO. 2064, VOL. 80] NATURE 333 in where the characters which were found most workable bring them in. But if twenty-seven families of Choripetale are cut up, each into from six to fourteen parts, and therefore appear in as many different places in the key, one cannot help thinking that the author has gone too far. The same applies to a still higher degree when we find relatively so homogeneous families as the Ericaceze, Apocynacee, and Convolvulacez each in eight to ten places, and the small families of the Pedaliacez and Plantagin- aceze in six and seven places respectively. It ought to be possible to focus, if I may say so, those families far better. The author has freely used combinations of characters, and, although much more rarely, con- ditional alternatives. The key-links are in this way apt to run into several lines, and we may occasionally get impatient over having to read through them; but it pays in the end, whilst those terse and trim apodictic keys which play with pairs of contrasting characters, and allow barely one line to each link, generally break down in practice. In establishments with large herbaria, where the naming of African plants is part of the regular routine, there will probably be little demand for the book. On the other hand, it ought to prove very useful where the workers, without being especially familiar with the African floras, have occasionally to “run down ” members of those floras, and particu- larly so when the plants belong to families which have been dealt with in the early volumes of the ‘* Flora of Tropical Africa ” and the ‘** Flora Capensis,’’ volumes which for completeness have long been out of date. It is, however, a very different question whether the ordinary botanically inclined traveller or colonial will benefit very much by the book. As it covers Africa from Algiers to Cape Town, and from the Canaries to Madagascar, a very great portion of the work must for either of them necessarily remain ballast, and the traveller especially will feel little disposed to burden himself with an extra 43 Ib. on the chance of worry- ing out a few generic names which he can, after all, not verify on the spot. There remains of field-workers only the professional collector, and he will probably find it quite worth his while to take the volume with him, provided he grasps the purely German. ter- minology, which, with the Latin equivalents, is ex- plained in a glossary at the end of the book. The conception of the families and genera is, as might be expected, that of Engler’s ‘‘ Natiirliche Pflanzenfamilien,’? and in so far quite up to date, whilst the recent English literature has perhaps been considered less fully, witness, for instance, the reten- tion of the West Indian genus Biovularia. A peculiar feature of the work is the addition of not fewer than 150 plates representing types of as many distinct families. They are throughout originals, and many, if not most of them, portray species which had not been figured previously. The habit figures which we owe to the skilled and artistic draftsmanship of Herr J. Fleischmann are as charming as they are exact. They alone are worth buying the book for. Analyses are added in all cases. They are, on the whole, satisfactory; but the absence of all lettering 334 NATURE [May 20, 1909 of parts, even in cases of complicated figures, will occasionally be felt as a great drawback. The volume also contains a map of Africa, with Engler’s ““ Florengebiete und Provinzen,’’ and a census of the African flora, as compared with that of the whole world. The figures, especially for the species, are, of course, mostly approximate, but even so the totals are interesting enough to be quoted, namely :— Genera (of Siphonogams or Phanerogams) for the whole world 9942 (species 136,000); Africa 3486 (species 38,600); North Africa 981 (species 4850); Tropical Africa (continental) 2185 (species 18,300); Mascarenes and Madagascar 1266 (species 5950); South Africa 1393 (species 13,300). The publishers deserve great credit for the excellent get-up of the book and the astonishingly cheap price. Taking the book as a whole, it is remarkable as a feat of painstaking industry, and it bears witness to the extraordinary development of the botanical exploration of Africa during the last twenty or twenty-five years, and to the general interest in its flora; but, after all, on laying down the book one cannot quite resist a suspicion that so much labour, so much skill, and last, not least, so much know- ledge, might have been applied to a more lasting purpose than the making of a stupendous key which in five or ten years may be out of date. Orro Srapr. SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY. Volkerpsychologie, eine Untersuchung der Entwick- lungsgesetze von Sprache, Mythus und Sitte. By Wilhelm Wundt. Zweiter Band, Mythus und Re- ligion, Dritter Teil, 1909. Pp. xii+792. Price 18 marks. Dritter Band, Die Kunst, second edition, 1908. Pp. x+564. (Leipzig: W. Engelmann.) Price 12 marks. HIS encyclopedic work, of which we have here two volumes, is a prolegomena to sociology. Wundt is tracing the evolution of language, art, myth, religion, and custom from their beginnings to the civilisation of the present day. In his own phrase, he is giving us a study of the development of ‘ mental communities,’’ those ‘ changing pluralities of mental unions which are interlaced in the most manifold ways and become more and more numerous as development progresses.”’ The basis of such development is language. ““The prime necessity of every mental community at its beginning, and a continually operative factor in its further development, is the function of speech. This is what makes the development of mental communities from individual existences psychologically possible. . . +. It becomes the indispensable form for all the common mental contents. These common contents, or the mental processes which belong to the whole community, may be divided into two classes, which are merely interrelated components of social life... . The first of these classes is that of the common ideas, where we find especially the accepted conclusions on the questions of the content and significance of the world—these are the mythological ideas. The second class consists of the common motives of volition, NO. 2064, VOL. So] which correspond to the common ideas and their at- tending feelings and emotions—these are the laws of custom.” The whole mental development of man in society is thus schemed out, with language as its essential condition, into mythology and religion, decorative, pic- torial, and plastic art, epic, lyric, and romantic litera- ture, dance, music, opera, mime, and drama; _ the result is a philosophy of culture based on the latest psychological principles. The greater part of the study naturally is occupied with the earlier stages of development, but each form of mental activity is followed right up to the present time. In one volume, for instance, we may find an exposition both of primitive magic and of latter-day pragmatism and modernism. The author omits nothing of importance; recent and ancient theories are assigned positions according to their relevance; the facts selected are generally well chosen. The whole work, encyclopedic as it is, has the unity of one mind—that of the greatest of psychologists. It is significant to compare the author’s treatment of ethnographical data with that of the majority of anthropologists to-day, and with that of Tylor and Spencer some years ago. Spencer applied the exact psychology of his time to the data for his sociology ; Tylor treated the data for his primitive sociology in an acute but inexact method, the result being that the conclusions of the amateur have outlasted those of the professed psychologist. In the interval of thirty years or so psychology has been revolutionised and become more and more an exact science. It is, of course, the only concrete science. Its predominant importance to-day is due to Wundt himself above all. In these volumes we have, for the first time since Tylor and Spencer, a scientific analysis of the develop- ment of culture; carried out by a psychological instru- ment far surpassing theirs in exactness and precision, the analysis is correspondingly a great advance. Comparing it with the anthropological work of the day, it is to be regretted that so much of the latter has no’ psychological value. The author shows on every page—solvitur ambulando—that the only sound results producible for anthropology are those which are based on psychological evidence. He has pointed out to anthropologists ‘‘ the only way.”’ At the same time, the anthropologist may regret that the author has not driven his analysis more deeply and more searchingly in various directions. To do so is more than can be expected of one man, but perhaps a reduction of the historical description and an amplification of the psychological analysis would have been more useful to science. For in- stance, a closer analysis of the facts of animism and fetishism is much to be desired. There is considerable obscurity about the origin of these ten- dencies. They are, as a rule, slurred by students, or receive an additional superstructure to crown an edifice built upon misconception and pseudo-science. The author should be better able than any man te give a final explanation of spiritism, but he has not done so. May 20, 1909] Again, in reference to the mythologic process, his position is that in the function which gives rise to all mythological ideas we have a characteristic kind of apperception belonging to all naive consciousness, and suitably designated by the name _ personifying apperception. ““Myth-making or personifying apperception is not to be regarded as a special form or even as a distinct sub-form of apperception. It is nothing but the natural inceptive stage of apperception in general.”’ - There is nothing to complain of here, in this illu- minating identification of primitive mythological im- pulse with primitive apperception, except the term ““personifying.’’ For the sociological amateur the term ‘“‘ personification,’? and its connotation to the effect that early man assigned a human personality, with sensations, feelings, and volitions, all human, to everything in nature, from the mammoth and the lion to the humblest insect, and not only this, but to all inanimate objects, all processes, from the sun and the moon to the sand on the sea-shore, from the thunder and lightning to the rustling of a leaf—this has been an intellectual fetish for too long. But un- less the author’s meaning has been misunderstood, it would seem that he has not reached the true explana- tion, simple as it is, of the facts which gave rise to this easy result of ‘‘ mythology in science.’’? We still need an exact demonstration by psychology of the mental habits of early man in the direction of ani- mistic and personificational beliefs. The content of the social mythological conscious- ness is huge. Wundt, we are glad to observe, em- phasises the predominance of the motive of “ luck” in Méarchen, fable, and saga. Here the free mental activity connects with the economic basis of life, which, by the conditions of the work, is not brought forward to any great extent. The hypothesis of an original menotheism or crypto-monotheism is rejected. The complex origin of religion is fully discussed, and its development is traced to the present day. Popular Christianity as tritheism, Christianity as a religion of feeling and will in contrast to intellectualistic systems like Buddhism, are among the interesting side-issues which the author follows out. The origin and function of art supply a peculiarly fruitful field for psychology. It is interesting to notice that from Aristotle onwards the criticism of this ex- pression of mind has been in striking contrast to that of other expressions in its freedom from metaphysical prejudice. The theory of art has been studied more or less empirically from the beginning. **Play,’’ as Wundt remarks, following the well- established opinion, ‘‘is the mother of art.’’ motor-expression of ideas art is in interesting con- nection with cult and custom. Like everything else, it has its historical and its psychical origin. Thus, the Greek drama has its historical origin in the re- ligious play,’ its psychical origin in imitation and catharsis. Aristotle gives us both; we mention his explanation by way of directing attention to the modern development in psychology of his original idea. He would recognise in the present analysis of the play- NO. 2064, VOL. So] NAT ORE 335 As a| impulse his own germ-idea in a complete differentiated form. In the description of early forms of art, significant tendencies are well illustrated. Its momentary char- acter and its frequent bondage to assimilation are interesting peculiarities. For instance, the double- formed objects of Egyptian and Assyrian art are equally prevalent in savagery. The curious tables made out of animals with flat backs; the decorative motive of the alligator in Chiriqui art; the Gorgon series in Greek sculpture, are well-chosen types. The dramatic magical plays of the Central Aus- tralians deserve analysis. Is not also the theory of sexual selection still to be reckoned with in the origin of art? These are but ‘‘ requests for more ’’ where so much is given. Science owes a debt to one of her greatest intellects for this application of his psychology to the concrete mental history of the world. A. E. CRAWLEY. ” THE RIDDLE OF OLD AGE. The Problem of Age, Growth, and Death: a Study of Cytomorphosis. By Prof. Charles S. Minot. Pp. xxiiit+280. (London: John Murray, 1908.) Price 6s. net. ROM the time of Cicero, perhaps before, the problems of longevity and of the cause of old age have again and again been subjects of specula- tion. Not long ago, Metchnikoff, in his optimistic work, ‘The Nature of Man,’’ ascribed old age to a poisoning by bacterial poisons developed as a result of fermentations occurring in the large intestine. The effect of this poisoning is to produce a weakening of various cells and tissues, which then become a prey to the scavenging cells of the body, the phagocytes. Prof. Minot, in the work under review, develops ; another conception of the nature of ‘‘ growing old.”’ Although in old age a condition of atrophy is fre- quent, and various degenerations of cells and tissues are usually present, in particular of the arterial system, so that it has been said ‘‘a man is only as old as his arteries,’’ Prof. Minot combats the view that old age is a kind of disease, and regards it as a necessary consequence of the changes in the cells of the body, which are inevitably progressive from birth to death; this succession of cellular changes is termed ‘‘ cytomorphosis.’’? In the development of his subject, the author first discusses the rate of growth in the embryo and in the young after birth. The rate of growth, very rapid at first, becomes slower and slower, and with the progress of growth various structural changes in the cells can be demonstrated to occur. These changes always progress, and ulti- mately end in degeneration and death, so that even at the period when the body is most vigorous, cellular death is of constant occurrence. The rate of growth is instructively illustrated by tables and curves of the height and weight of boys and girls, and of the weight of rabbits, guinea-pigs, and chicken at various age periods. It is shown that the greatest 336 NATURE {May 20, 1909 percentage increase of weight after birth occurs in those animals which are born least mature. Thus in the guinea-pig, which is born in a relatively mature state, the daily percentage increment of weight just after birth is 5 per cent., while the rabbit, which is born much less mature than the guinea-pig, daily adds 17 per cent. to its weight. In embryonic life, cellular division and increase in weight are still more marked, and Prof. Minot estimates that 98 per cent. of the original growth power has been lost at birth, and the power of growth becomes less and less as age advances. Differentiation and rejuvenation of cells are next considered. In the embryo the cells differ but little from one another; they do not display structural differentiation, whereby it could be said from what part of the embryonic body they were derived; while in the adult the microscopic characters of a_ cell generally suffice to determine its place of origin. Moreover, with the differentiation of cells with age, the protoplasm increases in amount relative to the nucleus. The conception is therefore reached that the growth and differentiation of the protoplasm and relative diminution of nuclear matter are the cause of the loss of the power of growth, If cells suffer from old age as their protoplasm increases and becomes differentiated, a general and progressive process in the individual, there should be some mechanism for rejuvenation; this the author regards as accomplished by the segmentation of the ovum, during which process an increase of nuclear matter takes place at the expense of the protoplasm. The author believes that there is no_ satisfactory evidence that the progeny of old cells (other than of the ovum) can resume the primitive state and undergo re-differentiation. In cases in which regeneration of excised parts, &c., is effected in the individual, e.g. in_planarians and ascidians, the regenerated part is always the product of undifferentiated cells, and is not derived by the growth of the old tissues. The usual method of rejuvenation adopted by nature is by the separation of cells in the primitive and undifferentiated condition, and their isolation as the germ or sex cells. Age then represents the result of a progressive cytomorphosis of which death is the culmination. Longevity, the duration of. life, depends, therefore, upon the rate of cytomorphosis, which varies much in different species, and perhaps in different individuals of the same species. Whether rejuvenation can be improved and senescence delayed are questions to which the author gives no definite answer, though he surmises that in the future it may be possible to increase the activity of nuclei and prolong the younger system of organisation. Death he regards as acquired during the process of evolution in consequence of cytomorphosis. As organisation becomes higher and higher, the need for differentiation becomes greater; this involves the end, and death is the price we have to pay for the differen- tiation which exists in us, and to which we owe our great array of faculties! This, in, brief, is the argument of Prof. Minot, which is presented in an attractive form with many NO. 2064, VOL. Sal appropriate illustrations, and we have perused this work with considerable interest. Finally, a sugges- tion of some importance is made. The author develops the conception that not only physical but also psychological development is most rapid in early life, and progressively declines as age advances. He suggests, therefore, that the tendency there is in some quarters to postpone the period of learning is wrong, and that as much use as possible should be made of the early years of life. Ree de, Ele THE SONGS OF BIRDS. Kunst und Vogelgesang in ihren wechselseitigen Beziehungen von naturwissenschaftlich-musikal- ischen Standpunkte beleuchtet. By Dr. B.. Hoff- mann. Pp. ix+230. (Leipzig: Quelle und Meyer, 1908.) Price 3.80 marks. HIS is the most interesting book on the songs of birds that has appeared since the late Mr. C. A. Witchell published his ‘‘ Evolution of Bird- song’’ in 1896, and it excels that work both in soundness of judgment and in- knowledge of- music. Its object, however, is not quite the same as that of Mr. Witchell’s volume (which does not seem to have fallen into Dr. Hoffmann’s hands); the latter was an attempt to trace the. development of song from call- and alarm-notes, and also from imitation of natural sounds, while Dr. Hoffmann’s work may be described as an essay on the relation between the music of birds and the’ music of art. For dealing with this’ subject the writer is evi- dently well qualified; he is clearly a close observer of all sounds made by birds in their wild state, and wisely abstains from making use of the music of birds in captivity, and at the same time he is quite at home in the subtleties of the musical art. The result is that we have here no foolish attempt to represent the music of birds on our- musical scale, except in a few cases where it is possible to do so as a means of illustrating certain points rather than as an exact reproduction of ,the notes of the singer. For Dr. Hoffmann is - well aware that the great majority of singing birds do not use the intervals of our scale, though he is right in claiming that a few occasionally do so. So, too, in a very interesting section on rhythm in song, he denies that it is to be found in any sense in a great number of songs, while rightly asserting that it is present in those of certain species, such as quail, great tit (Kohlmeise), wood-pigeon, and song-thrush. In another section (pp. 99-122) he asks the ques- tion how the bird comes by a sense of rhythm, and, rejecting Blicher’s theory that rhythm in music can be traced to the movements of the body, he is dis- posed to think that in the case of birds it has its origin in the action of the heart; but this is a delicate question, for which the reader must be re- ferred to the author’s own statement of it. Dr. Hoff- mann also discusses the question of ‘‘ Metril ” in bird-song, 7.e. Can the strains sung by any birds be divided into feet or bars? On p. 84 foll. he maintains that in the song of the nightingale, the most highly May 20, 1909] NATURE 337 developed singer of all, this quality can be found as well as rhythm and invention. Whether we agree with him or not in some of these details, it is a pleasure to be able to say with confidence that all he writes deserves careful study, for which every conscientious ornithologist will be the better. The only thing that seems wanting is a discussion of the quality of tone (not quantity) in various species. Thus the formal likeness between the songs of the chaffinch and the willow-wren is noticed (p. 31), but nothing is said of the fact that they are produced by totally different instruments. To the ear of the present writer the songs of both species of redstart are ‘‘ played’’ on an instrument which no other bird possesses. We would suggest that Dr. Hoffmann should add a section on this subject in another edition, and shorten, if need be, the discussion at the end of the volume on the use made by musical composers of the songs of birds, which is only of incidental interest. Before leaving this interesting work, which well merits translation into English, it may be as well to say that the author is disposed to reject Darwin’s theory of the development of song by sexual selection, and to hold that the root of it is to be found in the enjoyment of life and the love of play, especially, but not entirely, in the breeding season. W. W. F. OUR BOOK SHELF. The Scientific Aspects of Luther Burbank’s Work. By D.S. Jordan and V. L. Kellogg. Pp. xiv+115. (San Francisco: A. M. Robertson, 1909.) Price 2 dollars net. Tuis .is a small book, consisting of two papers re printed from the Popular Science Monthly, describing and appreciating the work of the great American plant-breeder. It is attractively illustrated by photographs, and is intended for the general as well as the scientific reader. Luther Burbank was born in 1849, and after a local education started life in his. uncle’s plough factory. He soon gave this up for market garden- ing, and in 1875 moved to Santa Rosa, California, where he has since worked on a large scale, and produced many new and important varieties, both of fruits and flowers. He has discovered no new laws, but his results are so obviously successful that it is interesting to know the methods by which they have been obtained. Like most practical men, he is a firm believer in the heritability of the direct effects of environment, but he makes most use of the indirect ones—the ‘‘indefinite variations’? of Darwin—and recognises as their chief cause the re-combination of characters consequent on hybridisation, and, in a lesser degree, on cross- or self-fertilisation. The first step in the method usually followed is the inducing of these variations by nutritive changes or by the crossing of forms as widely separated as is compatible with fertility. The useful variations are then accumulated by stringent selection until they become fixed. Mr. Burbank finds that six genera- tions are generally sufficient to accomplish the pro- cess. He holds that there is practically no limit to the results which can be obtained by unassisted selec- tion, and many of his size and colour varieties of flowers have been obtained by this method alone. Sometimes, on the other hand, a new variety is pro- duced by the careful propagation, without . much NO. 2064, VOL. 80] selection, of one individual which showed a fortunate mutation. The Burbank stoneless plum is an ex- ample of the effective combination of the three pro- cesses of searching for natural mutations, hybridising, and selection. A plum was found in a small wild species with only part of a stone. This species was crossed with the French prune, and some of the offspring found to be quite stoneless. Further selec- tion is still increasing the proportion of stoneless, and at the same time large, fruits. The desirable qualities of two varieties can generally be combined by cross- ing; indeed, some of the offspring often possess a quality in a higher degree than either of their parents. Some of the photographs illustrating the increase of size in fruits show this in a striking manner. We do not for a moment doubt that Mr. Burbank has ‘‘ a broad intelligence and a sensitive soul.’? If he is also ‘‘as sweet, straightforward, and as un- spoiled as a child,’”? it is just possible that he can stand being told so. But his portrait is so singularly curiae that it might have been left to speak for itself. Text-book of Petrology, containing a Summary of the Modern Theories of Petrogenesis, a Description of the Rock-forming Minerals, and a Synopsis of the Chief Types of the Igneous Rocks and their Distri- bution, as illustrated by the British Isles. By Dr. F. H. Hatch. Fifth edition, revised and- re- written. Pp. xvit4oq4. (London: Swan Sonnen- schein and Co., Ltd., 1909.) Price 7s. 6d. net. Tus new edition of a_ well-known text-book. for students marks a decided advance on its predecessors. It is clearly written, well illustrated, and has, as a rule, been brought up to date. There is a brief but readable account of the eutectic theory of the process of crystallisation of igneous rocks, as well as of the different explanations which have been offered of the formation of porphyritic crystals. The descriptions of the rock-forming minerals are in most respects accurate and sufficient. The author disclaims any intention of dealing with the optical determination of minerals, but as he makes use of the interference colours for the purpose of estimating the birefringence, he might with advantage have gone a little further and shown how easily an approximate quantitative determination of the relative retardation and birefringence may be made. Such expressions as ‘“ weak,’’ ‘ moderate,” ‘‘ very strong,’ ‘‘ polarising in grey tints,’’ ‘‘ brilliant chromatic polarisation,” though commonly employed, have very little scientific value, especially when the variation in thickness of rock-slices, even by good makers, is considered. In the same way, if the angle of extinction be employed for determinative purposes, the student should be taught to discriminate between the positive (slow) and negative (fast) directions of extinction. The statement that ‘*‘ between crossed nicols the rhombic pyroxenes extinguish of course straight ’’ is too sweeping. Cer- tain directions of section show quite an appreciable angle of extinction. The author adopts analytical formule for the rock- forming minerals, a procedure which is justified by the clearness with which the composition is indi- cated and the ease with which it is remembered, but it may be noted that the abbreviation ‘‘ Ab”’ for albite represents, not Na,O.AI,O,.6SiO, as stated, but half that formula. The primary classification of igneous rocks into plutonic, hypabyssal and volcanic, which is adopted, is sanctioned by almost universal usage, though it is as unreasonable as a fundamental division of the vegetable kingdom into roots, stems, and leaves. Each class of rocks is separated into families and types, 338 NATURE | May 20, 1909 with the definition of which little serious fault is, in most cases, to be found, though there may often be room for difference of opinion. Perhaps the most valuable feature is the section which describes the distribution of igneous rocks in the British Isles, and the maps, mostly taken, by permission, from well-known papers, with which it is illustrated. The work may be safely recommended as a text- book for students, but they should be warned against the employment of the numerous little-known and un- necessary rock-names to be found in its pages. In almost every case the same idea can be more happily expressed by prefixing a word or phrase to a well- established name. Their presence, however, undoubt- edly increases the value of the book as a work of reference. Mes WAead Bs Catalogue of the Lepidoptera Phalaenae in the British Museum. Vol. vii. Catalogue of the Noctuide in the Collection of the British Museum. By Sir George F. Hampson, Bart. Pp. xv+709; plates cviii-cxxii; 184 text-figures. (London: Printed by Order of the Trustees, 1908.) In no group of animals and plants is the enormous increase in our knowledge more conspicuous than in insects. Thus, at the time of the publication of the twelfth edition of Linné’s ‘‘ Systema Nature ’’ (1767), we find only 112 species described under Noctue. Sir George Hampson now divides the family Noctuidee into fifteen families, of which the first three are Agrotine, Hadeninz, and Cucullianz, the species be- longing to each being described in vols. iv.—vi. of the general ‘‘ Catalogue of Moths”’ respectively, and vol. vii., now before us, forms the first of three volumes intended to be devoted to the fourth sub- family of Noctuidae, the Acronyctinze, and includes descriptions of species numbered from 2748 to 3590, a considerable number of which (and also many genera) are described as new by the author. It is possible that all the remaining families of Noctuidee may not require a whole volume apiece, and it would be difficult to estimate the total number of Noctuidz which the present work is likely to contain when completed, but it can scarcely be less than 20,000 species, and may well be 30,000, or even more, as against the 112 species which were all that were known to Linné, the most learned entomologist of his time, in 1767. We notice no alteration in the general arrange- ment of the work, and the usual high standard of letter-press and illustrations is fully maintained in the present volume, Physikalische Musiklehre. Eine Einftthrung in das Wesen und die Bildung der Téne in der Instru- mentalmusik und im Gesang. By Dr. Hermann Starke. Pp. viii+232. (Leipzig: Quelle and Meyer, 1908.) Price 3.80 marks. Tuts little work on the physical theory of the nature and production of musical sounds is almost entirely free from mathematics, and may be regarded for the most part as an abstract of the simpler portions of Helmholtz’s great classic, ‘‘ The Sensations of Tone.”’ The text is, however, freely illustrated by cuts, many of which, the author acknowledges, are borrowed from other books; thus at every few pages may be found an old and familiar figure.? The treatment is divided into five parts or chapters. Of these the first and second are occupied with the origin and propagation of waves and sound, while the third describes musical tones, intervals, and 1 Perhaps it is this practice which has led to the representation of a metal strip vibrating like a stving (p. 22), for the same error occurs in Tyndall's “Sound” (p. 128), 1895. NO. 2064, VOL. 80] scales. The fourth chapter consists of four parts, deal- ing respectively with (i.) stringed instruments, (ii.) wind instruments, (iii.) vibrating bodies with inharmonic overtones, and (iv.) human speech and song. The last chapter is devoted to consonance and dissonance, and after giving Helmholtz’s theory concludes with a résumé of more recent work on the subject. This part includes notices of intermittence and variation tones, and of the work and theories of C. Stumpf. To those who wish for a bright, readable treatment of this borderland between music and physics, free from mathematics, but with the opportunity of im- proving their conversance with German, this book is heartily recommended. E. H. B. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. [The Editos 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 noiice is taken of anonymous communications.} Electrons and the Absorption of Light. On the theories of dispersion given by Drude and Lorentz, an absorption band in the spectrum corresponds to the free period of an electron, and, if we assume that only one electron in each molecule is concerned with an absorption band, it is theoretically possible to calculate e/m for this electron from the values of the coefficient of extinction throughout the band. I have made this calculation, apparently for the first time, using the formula é A,-A 2 Oecd m Pee Age which may be derived on both the above theories, & is: the maximum value of the coefficient of extinction, A, the position of the maximum, A, the wave-length, for which the coefficient of extinction has a value equal to half its. maximum, and y the index of refraction. The following table gives some results :— Substance Ao ene Source of data Fuchsin in alcohol... Phloxin in water ... ... Crystal violet in alcohol Corallin in alcohol = Methylene blue in water Water blue in water Eosin in water 1o7 | Stanislaw Kalandek to? | Phys. Zezt., 9 Jahr., s. 128-35; hu ost} Ou Eosin in water... «. «| 516 | 9'2 108 | Georg. J. Katz Cyanine inalcohol ... ... | 587 | 5°8 106 | Inaug. diss., Erlangen, 1398 Cobalt chloride in water... | 504 | 2°5 10% | Houstoun and Russell Uranyl nitrate in water... | 486 34_ Proc. Roy. Soc. Edin., vol. 473 752 xxix., part ii., p. 68 | 6 4|R. Zsigmondy, Ann. d. sses colo ~ “< 44 | 5,0 Io’ . sigmondy, An. & Three glasses coloured with| 631.| 310 104 Phys. (4); 4) 1901, S. 60 CoO D3T | | Ae ts ses sss eel! G49 | 3°0 104 | Figures taken from curves Two glasses coloured with{| 620 | 3°2 104 | roOginse ccs us. «eel (G55 |) aeen mos Wave |) sce 4 | Three glasses coloured with/) 24° | 73 7° | Nio 170 10’ xe oct jes eee For the anilin colouring matters e/m is of the order 10’, whereas for the glasses and inorganic salts it is of the order 10* and under, showing that in the one case we are dealing with electrons and in the other with ions. A calculation made by Drude from the dispersion of solid’ cyanine in the neighbourhood of its band gave e/m=8-5x10°. If there are two electrons for each of the original molecules of the colouring matter the values of e/m should be halved, or if there is only one electron for two molecules the value of e/m should be doubled. According to Kalandek, corallin probably undergoes some change in solution. This may account for the low value of e/m. May 20, 1909] NATURE 339 These results cannot be obtained on Planck’s theory. I hope shortly to publish a full account of the assump- tions involved in this calculation, together with additional results. R. A. Houstoun. Physical Laboratory, University, Glasgow, May 14. Dimensional Changes produced in Iron and Steel Bars by Magnetism. WuiLe engaged on research work of an engineering nature, I came upon some facts with regard to the ‘behaviour of magnetism on iron and steel bars in the semi-plastic state beyond the yield point that I am un- aware have been noted before. I propose, therefore, to give a brief account of the experiments carried out and the results obtained, on the chance that they may prove of interest to others who have time to pursue the matter further. A specimen of mild-steel about 18 inches long, #-inch diameter, and 8 inches between gauge points, having been fixed in the jaws of the testing machine, was surrounded by a solenoid, and a current supplied sufficient to cause magnetic saturation. The specimen had then a tensile load applied to it in the usual way until it ruptured, the magnetism being kept at the saturation point all the time. Other bars were then tested, with and without magnetism, and in the result it was found that the magnetised bars were distinctly less in length between gauge points than the unmagnetised—in other words, that the elongation was less in the first case than in the second. In order to make the comparison as fair as possible, and to eliminate the effects of difference of composition and of manufacture, the specimens for each experiment (consist- ing of the rupturing of one unmagnetised and one magnetised specimen) were each cut from the same bar. A few of the results are given in the table below. These ‘were taken at random from a large number of examples, and will serve to give some idea of the nature of the changes. The material in each case (with the exception of experiment No. 10, in which it was wrought iron) was ordinary mild-steel taken from bars about 12 feet long, just as they were delivered to the laboratory. | | rH | i] a 2 ls. |sei|eiz| 2, |ee.| 223 | B23 § |S22|Ses | seg) 22 | $92] was Bhs S 1GES | Bue |eme| $2 | eee) 222 5 Be © |egelesa\(sse| 52 \/282| See | Fee 3 [gee |g22 |ge2| 25 |e83| s52 | 35s 3 |A Res | Ae | ann ace Z SS} St | : j ef (a) 18,680(2) 26,185 I 2 |'2°6 | 2°19 | O41 | 15 8) () 18,845 (3) Bond : oe | ro-of \(2@) 18,080)(a2) 26,115 2) £ | 25 | 2°25 | 0°25 | 10°) 15) 18:800(4) 26,040 sae ._.{ (a) 18,960 (a) 26,170 Beanie 275 | S28 10°04 {9} 18,970 (4) 25,930 | 26,240 4 2 | 25 | 2:25] 0-25 roro{ a seabe aie : . f(a) 20,030(a) 26,580 5 ~ | 265 | 2°35 | 0°30 | 11°9\ (4) 20.130\(5) 25,400 a, "| ae , { (a) 18,630(a) 26,770 e i 2745)|- 2°25),) O-ZEaIES 2\ (4) 18,120(4) 26,290 ¥ ; 5 f (a) 23,030\(az) 33,300 7 | 25 | 2°43) | Sea cay 23,000(4) 33,000 . 5 f(a) 12,950\(a) 18,500 : 8 25 253511) Oats oe) (4) 13,010\(4) 18,400 | oe - .,f (a) 38,680\(a2) 51,360 ae | BS | 2°25 | 0125") 20°) 16) 36,2101(6) 50,515 1 . a 4 soll (a) 30,900 , 70. Saget cama \ (0) 30,900 II I | 2°57 |) 2:30) | onronlere6: | 12 2 2°4 2°25 | O15 | 672 | 13 # 2°38 | 2:28 | oro | 4:2 | 14 I | 2°63 | 2°35 | 0°28 | 10°6 Units=inches and pounds. The results may be summarised as follows :— (a) The amount of the decrease of elongation caused by tthe magnetism varies from about 3 per cent. to 16 per cent. NO. 2064, VOL. 80] (b) The composition of the steel, its hardness, &c., affect the amount of the decrease of elongation. (c) The average maximum load without magnetism seems higher than the average maximum load with magnetism. (d) The average breaking load without magnetism seems lower than the average breaking load with magnetism. (With regard to (c) and (d), nothing definite can be put forward, as it is an extremely difficult matter to gauge the maximum and breaking points to a hundred pounds or sO on a 70-ton testing machine.) (e) Careful measurement shows that, after rupture, the magnetised specimen is thicker all over its length than the unmagnetised, but that the greatest difference is at the place of local extension. This points to the likelihood that the magnetism hinders the flow of the metal, and that this hindering action begins just after the yield point is reached, and attains its maximum value at local extension. This is also brought out in the case of the experiment with wrought iron (No. 10), which shows on fracture numerous planes of cleavage that no doubt hindered the formation of waist,’’ and caused the relatively small decrease of elongation. The following are readings, taken inch by inch, between 8-inch gauge points on #-inch mild-steel specimens cut from the same bar :— After Rupture. “ | | | Ist | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | sth | 6th | 7th | 8th inch | inch | inch | inch | inch | inch | inch | inch 1°24"|1°26"|1 30" 1°38"1 "70"1°36” 1°24"|1°20" 17201 °23"|1'28"|1°50"\1 "50" 1°26"/1'24"\1 *20" | | Unmagnetised Magnetised... The unmagnetised specimen broke almost exactly between the fourth and fifth inches, and the magnetised at the end of the fourth inch. It was thought possible that if the diminution in elonga- tion were due to the magnetism hindering the flow of the metal, tests on a Brinell hardness testing machine might give some results, but though many were carried out, nothing decisive was obtained. A few compression tests were also made, but insufficient to give trustworthy data. W. J. Crawrorp. Municipal Technical Institute, Belfast. “ Blowing ” Wells. In a village about three miles from Norwich, and situated about 140 feet above sea-level, there are three of these ‘‘ blowing’’ wells. They are, roughly, about too yards apart, and each is 3 feet in diameter and from 7o feet to 80 feet in depth. When last opened, some years back, they were found to be empty of water. One of them was then domed over with an iron dome, which after a time blew off owing to the pressure of air (or other gases) within the well. The other two wells have since been domed over in a similar manner, but it was necessary to insert a 3-inch ventilation pipe into the dome in each case because of the great pressure of air that sometimes accumulates within. Observation shows that this pressure is sometimes positive for several consecutive days, and that the air then comes out of the ventilation pipe with considerable force, so much so that, in the case of one well which has a grating over the end of the pipe, the well ‘‘ roars'’ so loudly that it can be heard for a distance of several yards. At other times the pressure in the well is negative, and then leaves and other débris get sucked into the grating. There is a strong belief, locally, that an accurate fore- cast of the weather can be gauged by the intensity of the “ blowing.”” I have never heard or read of similar “blowing ” wells, and it is difficult to assign an adequate explanation for this alternating positive and negative pressure in the well. Can there be any connection between the blowing and changes in atmospheric pressure, as is locally supposed, or do the rise and fall of the level of the water in the river Yare (which is about two miles distant, and is at this point only about 4 feet above sea- level) have anv possible effect on this curious phenomenon? Norwich, May 3. Sypney H. Lone. 340 NALORE, [ May 20, 19c9 THE USES AND DATES: OF ANCIENT TEMPLES. T PROPOSE in the present article to make some very general statements concerning the work so far done on the orientation of ancient temples, and to bring together some of the chief conclusions to which it has led. I may begin by stating that the inquiry has been carried on at intervals during the last nineteen years —that is, since March, 1890—when I observed the magnetic bearing of the temple axis of the Parthenon. From 1891 to 1894 the research was almost entirely limited to Egypt. ‘‘ The Dawn of Astronomy,’’ pub- lished in 1894, gives the result. The first definite conclusion arrived at deals with the use of the temples; why they were built, and for what purpose. It was found that the Egyptians care- fully built their temples so that the rising and the set- ting of certain stars, and of the sun at certain times of the year, could be watched along the temple axis by the priest in the sanctuary. It was not until after my first winter in. Egypt that I learned that Nissen, of Bonn, had anticipated me in suggesting that this might have been so, and that several references to the practice which I had made out occur in the inscriptions. One of the chief difficulties in the Egyptian work arose from the fact that in most cases the date. of the foundation of the temples was unknown. There were, however, some notable exceptions where the results of the orientation theory could be compared with records, and in these there was a perfect agree- ment, which also enlightened us on the method em- ployed by the Egyptian astronomer-priests for reducing to a minimum the disadvantageous’ effects of the change of the places of stars brought about by the precessional movement.? The next conclusion dealt with the actual astro- nomical observations made by the ancient Egyptians. They were of three classes :—(1) To determine the time at night. The stars used for this purpose I have called ‘ clock-stars.’’ (2) To observe a_ star rising or setting ‘‘ heliacally ’’—-that is, about an hour before sunrise on the chief festivals. (3) To deter- mine when the sun had reached a certain part of its yearly path at which the festivals occurred. For (1), as they had no instruments, they used a star rising near the north point of the horizon, and watched its movement round the pole; one quarter of its path would, of course, represent six hours, and so on. The stars so used were the brightest ones in the Great Bear and the Dragon. Stars rising near the south point of the horizon were also observed, and, doubtless, for the same purpose. For (2) any bright star rising or setting at the proper time between the north and south points would do; as a matter of fact, they used Capella, Spica, the Pleiades, Sirius, @ Centauri, Canopus, and others. For (3) they commenced with a year beginning in May—the “May year,’’ the first used in Britain, and still deter- mining the quarter-days in Scotland; later they passed to the ‘‘solstitial’’ year, June 21, the beginning of the Nile rise and the longest day, being the new new 1 In two instances of the dedication of the same temple to different stars at widely different epochs, the orientation theory tells us that the temple of Denderah was built either to observe the rise of the principal star in the Great Bear in 4950 BC. or the principal star of Draco in 3100 B.c. or both; the inscriptions tell us that the temple was founded in the times of the Shemsu Heru before Mena, whose date, according to Budge’s ‘* History of Esypt,’ was 4409 B.C., and was afterwards restored by Pepi, whose date, ording to the same authority, was 3233 B A Annu there was a restoration of an old annie by Usertsen (2433 B.C.). story is told ina roll still extant. The theory tells us that, as at Den- ade Y ah this restoration was undertaken to watch the rise of the principal star of the Dragon in 2500 nc., the restored temple having been originally founded to watch the rise of the principal star of the Great Bear in 5200 B.c. NO. 2064, VOL. 80] year’s day. This is the origin of our present Eueee year. The inquiry thus begun in Egypt was Subsea dently carried on in Greece by Mr. Penrose with admirable results, -because there he was able to deal with temples. the foundation dates of which are known within narrow limits. The first attempt to apply the orientation theory to British monuments was made by Mr. Penrose and myself in 1901 at Stonehenge. At the first blush there appears to be no resem- blance between the Egyptian and Greek temples and the British stone monuments, but a careful study of both shows that this view is an erroneous one. ‘The study of the British monuments from the astro- nomical point of view has enabled us to grasp one object which, in spite of their varied forms and com- plexities, they all had to fulfil. It also enables us to classify them, and this classification not only suggests the order of their evolution, but shows their strict relationship. to the Egyptian temples. This was the next advance. The demonstration is as follows. The simplest of our ancient British stone monu- ments is represented by what is called a stone-row or avenue; good examples of these are to be seen at Merrivale; one is a single line of stones; the other is a compound avenue consisting of two double lines of stones running parallel with each other at some distance apart. The most famous compound avenue in our own country is that of Challacombe, on Dart- moor, which consisted once of eight rows of stones. I am sorry to say only two or three rows now remain. Avenues were in some cases built of earth instead of stones; one at Stonehenge can still be studied; it extends towards the north-east from the centre of the temple and naos. The next form we have to consider after the avenue is the cromlech or dolmen—that is, the skeleton of an old barrow. Here again we get the gradual elaboration from a single cromlech to compound ones. A good example of the former is that at Trevethy, in Cornwall. In this, which consists of very large stones, the only entrance into the chamber is provided by a small portion cut out at the bottom corner of one of the stones. There is another very good example called the Devil’s Den, near Avebury, which is rather more simple than the cromlech at Trevethy. It consists of one big stone supported by three others. Another kind of monument called a cove must be regarded as an uncovered cromlech. It consists of three stones occupying three sides of a square, the open side indicating the direction; the finest example is at Avebury. Cromlechs do not always occur singly. At times they are compounded into pairs or triplets, as at ‘Plas Newydd. We next find a combination of the avenue and cromlech. In this form the direction of the opening of the cromlech is defined by marking and extending it with a double line of stones. We thus get a creep or alley-way, or allée, as the French archeologists call it, and this may be either open or covered—allée ouverte or allée couverte; fougou is the Cornish term for the latter form. The best example that I have seen of this combina- tion of avenue and cromlech in Britain is that at Bryn Celli Ddu. This, like the avenue at Stonehenge, looks out to the north-east of the horizon; in fact, it is practically parallel to that avenue. The most perfect example of a barrow containing a cromlech with an alley-way is at Maeshowe, in the Orkneys. The cromlech is in the centre of a still existing mound; it is a very elaborate one, with side May 20, 1909] 341 (sleeping) chambers and a small chamber at the end, and a long alley-way .which points to a menhir not far away called the *‘ Barn Stone,’’ and to the place of sunset in December, twenty days from the winter solstice. : The most compound example of avenues and crom- lechs that I know of as yet is one of which ~photo- graphs and particulars have recently been sent to me by Captain Devoir, of the French Navy; in it we have three cromlechs and three alley-ways, using the same outlook, and, doubtless, once covered by one barrow. One alley-way is directed to the sunrise in May, another to sunrise at the winter solstice, and there is another directed to a ‘‘ clock-star’’ rising near the north point, so that, in association with one barrow, we have three distinct and well-marked alleys in direc- tions with which we are perfectly familiar. This oneness of aim which the orientation theory enables us to discover leads us further. In the avenues, alley-ways, and cromlechs we are absolutely face to face with the ground-plan of Egyptian temples,.so much so that there can be no question that those who built those magnificent monu- ments in Egypt some 2000, 3000, or 4000 years B.C. got their ideas of the buildings they wished to erect from the traditions of people who built cromlechs and who had lived in and used them. A general plan of Thebes shows how in Egyptian architecture, in a country of wonderful civilisation, large population, and infinite wealth, we get a tre- mendous elaboration of the avenue; each temple is provided with one, long or short, leading outwards from the pylon. ~ The avenue, which in our case is built of rough stone, is elaborated into long lines of beautifully carved sphinxes, and, further, if we study the most elaborate Egyptian temples, we see there are, in the temple itself, very many openings in one straight line in various walls; in some places we have an allée ouverte, and in others an allée couverte. These all lead to a closed chamber at the end, a darkened. chamber, the naos or the holy of holies, which is nothing but a glorified cromlech. The temple access never’ pierces the end of the closed chamber any more than the wall was pierced at the back of the cromlech, but it led to a darkened chamber, so that here we have the closest possible relationship from the architectural point of view between the British cromlech and the most elaborate temples at Thebes, while from the astronomical point of view the similarity of use is obvious. So much, then, for the intimate connection between the avenue and the cromlech, however simple or com- plicated either may be, and the strict relationship of both to the Egyptian temples. But there is another and completely different set of ancient monuments still to be classified. I refer to circles, which, like the avenues and cromlechs, may be simple or compound. Archzeologists so far have not noticed the close relationship of circles with avenues and cromlechs, for the reason that the circles to which their attention has been almost entirely con- fined only represent one part of the apparatus. When we consider a circle and its outstanding stone indi- cating a certain direction, the strongest astronomical resemblance to the alignments of avenues and crom- lechs is at once apparent. There is no doubt that the circle represents an encrmous advance in astronomical knowledge, possibly, to a certain extent, connected with the building con- ditions brought about by the poverty or the economical ideas of the people who constructed them. In densely NO. 2064, VOL. 80] NATURE populated and rich Egypt a temple was devoted to the rising or setting of one heavenly body, whether star or sun, the place of rising or setting being in- dicated by the long temple axis, and each sacred place contained many such temples, because there were many heavenly bodies to be watched. The temple of Amen-Ra, if contracted for now, could not, I fancy, be built for less than 5,000,000. sterling, and it might take ten or fifteen years to erect. But it simply had one outlook, one use. Now, to carry on this method of observation and worship where the population was scarce, the best and cheapest thing to do would be to build a bank or set up a line of stones to represent a temple axis, or to build a circle to represent a sanctuary, and from its centre to imitate various temple axes by sight- lines marked out by a stone or barrow at some distance , outside the circle. Six such outstanding marks, each of stone set up in a day or two, would then replace, and quite effectually from the astro- nomical point of view, six majestic temples taking tens of years to build, and the elaborate system of avenues and cromlechs represented by all the temples at Thebes or in any other locality, however numerous. Only the holy of holies as a dark chamber would have to go; the centre of the circle would replace it as the priest’s place. That was a matter for the priests, and had nothing to do with astronomy. In any case, from the astronomical point of view, what was done by the Theban priests by building all these majestic temples could be done by one circle with properly arranged outstanding stones, so that the circle represents a distinct advance over the idea connected with the avenues and the cromlechs. We shall not, then, be far wrong in supposing circle building to represent a later development, and this view is strengthened by the fact that there are no circles in Egypt, where the avenue-cromlech system is most developed. The next upshot of the inquiries arrived at, soon after I had measured several stone monuments in Cornwall and on Dartmoor, was that the directions indicated by the avenues, cromlechs, and circles with outstanding stones were certainly not helter-skelter. When they were classified it was found that only a small number of directions was used—that is to say, directions embracing sunrise and sunset throughout the year, and directions to the north or south parts of the horizon which the sun never reaches. Next it was found that these directions were prac- tically the same, and had the same uses, as those I had previously studied in Egypt—in short, that the British avenues and stone circles bear precisely the relationship to the Egyptian temples indicated above. The ‘‘clock-stars’’ used in the British monuments were the precise equivalents of the stars in Ursa Major and Draco used by the ancient Egyptians, when we take the difference of latitude between Egypt and Britain (25°) and the effect of the precessional move- ment on the declination of the star into account. The same may be said of the ‘‘ morning stars’ they employed. These ‘‘ morning stars ’’ were of very great import- ance. We are familiar with them from Bible refer- ences. These were stars which rose about an hour before the sun itself rose. In the earliest times there were sacrifices, and the morning sacrifice was a very elaborate affair, which required about an hour for its preparation, so that unless the priest could get some idea of the time of the actual sunrise some hour or so before the sun itself rose, he might go very wrong, and be either too early or too late at the moment of the rise of the great luminary. When the align- ” 342 NATURE | May 20, 1909 ments to the places of the sun at different periods of the year were investigated, another conclusion of first-rate importance was arrived at. At first the all-important positions of the sun, as indicated by the alignments, were not the solstices or the equinoxes, but at intermediate points when the sun _ occupied the declinations 16° 20/ N. and S. The year was thus. defined by the sun’s stations in May, August, November, and February. This I have called the ‘‘ May year,’’ a vegetation year. I think it must be acknowledged that one of the most important results of the new method of looking at monuments has been the demonstration of the existence in early times in Britain of a year which began in May or November and ended in November or May; and this, one of the teachings of the monuments touching our early history, will in the future greatly help folklorists and others interested in antiquity and the dawn of the so-called Celtic literature. There is now no doubt, after the researches of the Rev. J. Griffith, that the Welsh Gorsedd circle brings before us, in stone, traditions of a time when the May year was in vogue. The reason that we had that year before we had the real astronomical year, which works from the solstices in June and December to the equinoxes in March and September, is that the worship and use of the sun began before the length of the year had been made out, and that the worship was at its highest in Babylonia and Egypt at the time the sun was giving to us the most that it could give— that is to say, the harvests of the fruits of the earth. The earliest temple that I know of directed to the May sun is at Memphis, which must date from some 4000 years B.c., and it may well be that at that time little was known about the length of the year, because it looks very much as though the Theban cult was established at Thebes as opposed to Memphis some 2000 years after the date I have mentioned, simply because the Egyptian astronomers had then found out the length of the year and had begun to use it. One reason why they reckoned their year from solstice to solstice, which is what we do now, was probably because at the solstice the sun rises at the same place on the horizon for three days, whereas the determination of the exact position of the sun on May 6 or March 21 is a matter of difficulty as compared with the determination of the solstice. When Mr. Penrose and myself were making observa- tions, we were led to the belief that the present Stonehenge, with its complete sarsen stone circles, is relatively a modern affair, and that there had been at Stonehenge, long before the sarsen circles were erected, an old temple directed to the ‘‘ May year.’’ I have since found in many cases traces of the ‘““May year’’ anticipating the solstitial year. The solstitial cult in Britain followed the ‘‘ May year” cult, just in the same way as in Egypt the: solstitial cult at Thebes followed the ‘‘ May year’’ cult at Memphis and Heliopolis. In relation to the sun’s seasonal times, then, we find temple axes, avenues, and circles with outstand- ing stones indicating the direction in which sunrise or sunset was to be looked for at the critical times of the year—that is, the beginning of May, August, November, and February, dealing with the May year, and the longest and shortest days of the solstitial year. In connection with these solar alignments, evi- dence is forthcoming that in some cases warning was given of the chief festivals by erecting stones NO. 2064, VOL. 80] marking the sun’s sunrise place from some twenty. one days before they occurred. It is thus possible that the structure of the Roman calendar with the 21 dies ante calendas and the ecclesiastical period of Lent, which was originally of three weeks’ duration, may have had their origin in the stone-circle practices. The next main conclusion derived from the work has to do with the dates of erection of the various monuments, With regard to these, I limit myself now to Britain. The determination of dates is rendered possible by the change of the declination of the sun at the sol- stices and of stars, brought about by astronomical causes into which we need not now enter. This de- clination, indeed, is constantly changing, but we have, thanks to the researches of Stockwell and Dr. Lockyer, tables of the declinations of the solstitial sun and of the principal stars, century by century, as far back as 4000 B.c. It is fortunate that, to determine the de- clination to which the direction of each monument corresponds, very simple observations alone are re- quired. It is as well to recapitulate them here. Tirst, the exact direction of the temple axis or avenue, or of the outstanding stones or barrows, as seen from the circle, in astronomical terminology their azimuth, is obtained by measurements made at the actual monument or on the 25-inch Ordnance map. The angular height of the horizon on this line has next to be measured. With these data and the lati- tude, the declination (that is the distance from the equator) of the body observed along the sight- line indicated can be calculated. The solar group of monuments practically does not help us with regard to dates, for the reason that the change in the position of the sun every succeeding 1000 years is very small, but the change in the position of the stars every 1000 years, or even 300 years in some cases, is considerable, so that in the matter of dates we are thrown back almost entirely upon the stars. Still, there is one solar temple so perfectly arranged at Stonehenge that it has been possible to suggest the date for it within something like 200 years; the measures of that, quite independently of any view determined from other considerations, gave us about 1680 B.c. for the erection of the solstitial sarsen stones at Stonehenge. Observations have been made at a large number of monuments in Britain during the course of the last three or four years, by the help of a great many friends in different regions, who find it a _ very pleasant occupation for their holidays. Already some- thing like 140 or 150 alignments of avenues or of cromlechs, or of outstanding stones, have been measured, and 113 results have already been tabu- lated. These are as follows :— SuN May Sor Pas a “Be ie 15 November... Saf ae ba . 9 Summer solstice ... ue Dor ee 17 Winter solstice... =: BS ts II Stars North clock-stars Arcturus . a 24 . ” Capella 503 a 13 South clock-star a Centauri... 00 6 Warning stars Pleiades ... is net 16 3 a Antares ... sels ae 2 Total 113 It will be seen how overwhelming the evidence is becoming that blind chance had nothing to do with the setting out of the various alignments, how they all fall into a few definite groups, and how the large mass of evidence now accumulated entirely justifies the conclusions derived from those first placed on record. With regard to the dates given later on, all May 20, 1g09 | INL TOOT EL: 2 o 43 are approximate only; there is nothing perfect about them. The Welsh Commission and the other com- missions will, I hope, make measures, using solar instead of magnetic methods, and determine the height of hills in minutes instead of half degrees, and if they do that these dates will certainly be changed, though they cannot be changed very much. I have already shown that the May year and the solstitial year had temples sacred to them in Egypt. I may now add that in the Egyptian temples we found one set for the northern stars, the equivalents of Arcturus and Capella, and another set for the southern stars, among them a Centauri. One of the most recent results of this inquiry has been that we have found a number of avenues, not circles, in Brittany and in different parts of Britain, not in Cornwall, the equivalents of the Egyptian temples aligned to the southern stars. The probable align- ment corresponds with the southern star a Cen- tauri. There is the Challacombe avenue on Dart- moor, the Borobridge avenue near Harrogate, and others at Avebury and Shap. Now if we deal with the ‘‘ clock-stars’’ in order of date, « Centauri comes first, B.c. 3600-2700. This is followed a thousand years later by Arcturus, B.c. 2600-1350, and Capella, B.c. 2250-1250. In all these cases there is a complete series of dates from one end to the other. Now these are the ‘“ clock- stars.’ Coming to the warning stars, it will be noted that the Pleiades were observed rising, and Antares set- ting, heliacally—that is, about an hour before sun- wise. The dates are:—Pleiades, B.c. 2120-1000; Antares, B.C. 1720-1310. We see that about the same dates are in- volved as those found in connection with the northern ‘“‘clock-stars,’’ and this, of course, strengthens the view that we are really dealing with alignments set out for a definite purpose at a definite time. The story, then, is that astronomer-priests familiar with Egyptian methods began work here by building avenues in different parts of Britain about 3600 B.C. The star employed as a ‘‘clock-star,’’ then, was a Centauri, one of the stars used in Egypt. This cult was succeeded by another, in connection with which circles were introduced and northern **clock-stars ’’ were used. This was the chief cult in Cornwall from 2600 B.c. onwards. If we accept the dates thus astronomically revealed | by the stellar alignments, several interesting conse- quences follow. The British circles were in full work more than a thousand years before the Aryans or Celts came upon the scene, if the time of their arrival favoured by archzologists is anything like correct. Stonehenge began as a May temple—a _ British Memphis—and ended as a solstitial one like that of Amen-Ra at Thebes. Another conclusion is that, whatever else went on some four thousand years ago in the British circles, there must have been much astronomical observation and a great deal of prepara- tion for it. Some of the outstanding stones must have been illuminated at night, so that we have not only to consider that the priests and deacons must have had a place to live in, but that a sacred fire must have been kept going perpetually, or that there must have been much dry wood available. then, is raised whether dolmens, chambered barrows and the like were places for the living rather than for the dead, and, therefore, whether the burials found in some do not belong to a later time. The determination of dates, in conjunction with the | NO. 2064, VOL. 80] The question, | conclusions arrived at concerning the various kinds of monuments, opens up another point of view which possibly in the future may lead to fruitful inquiries. Why have we in different temple regions such great differences in the relative numbers of avenues, crom- lechs, and circles, the extreme case being that only one class is represented ? When the order of the evolution of the different classes of structure is settled, the geographical dis- tribution of them may lead us to further conclusions. The tremendous development of avenues in Brittany and in some parts of Britain where circles are almost entirely absent suggests that a people came here who knew nothing about circles, but did know much about avenues. These in Britain to which I refer were on a scale almost rivalling that of the Brittany avenues. The avenue at Shap was more than a mile long, that at Borobridge was nearly a mile long, and some of the stones were more than 20 feet high. The avenue at Challacombe must, when complete, have been a most stupendous monument. Further, the builders of all these worshipped a southern star; they were not miners, they did not go to Cornwall, and there is a difference of more than 1000 years in the dates derived from these avenue-builders and from the circle-builders of Cornwall and South Wales. It may be worth while to refer briefly to some of the objections still urged against the orientation theory by those who are either unwilling or incompetent to test it by actual observations. One is that there are so many stars that any align- ment is certain to hit the rising- or setting-place of one of them. The fact that, with all the host of heaven to choose from, only six stars were used, and those among the brightest visible in these latitudes, and, further, that a good reason has been found for using those particular stars, is a strong argument against this objection. Another objection made is that the theory demands a much greater knowledge of astronomy than the early temple-builders were likely to possess. Those who put forward this objection entirely forget the conditions under which early man lived and moved and had his being. The conditions now are so different that we must not be astonished at the early peoples apparently behaving like astronomers; they could not behave like any other kind of men. The movements of the sun by day and the movements of the stars by night were the only things they could learn about, and it was imperative that they should learn about them. People without almanacks and without any idea of the length of a year would find life absolutely impossible, at all events from the agricultural opera- tions point of view, unless they could get, somehow or other, a general means of telling when they should plough and sow and reap. That depends upon the time of the year, and the time of year is written out very large indeed to anybody who will take the trouble to note where the sun rises. Similarly, if these people wanted to know about the flow of time at night, they would be under very great difficulties. In the first place, they had no clocks, so that unless they could get some idea of the time at night by ob- serving the stars they would be entirely out of it so far as the lapse of time during the obscured part of their lives was concerned. It no doubt is difficult for the average English- man of the present day, unless he happens to be a sailor, to picture to himself a townless world without artificial light and any useful purpose served by lonk- ing at the sun by day or the stars at night. Calendars, 344 almanacks, clocks, and watches have done away with the necessity of using his eyes in this direction, and the modern priest, like the- modern layman, though he prates about the heavens declaring the glory of God and the firmament showing His handiwork, too often does not know that the sun rises to the east- ward, and, if he does, he imagines that it rises in the same place all the year round; natura rerum does not interest him. The ancient priest need not have been a _ pro- found astronomer to build the monuments, which were simply calendars. I do not mean to say they were calendars and nothing more, but they were, from an astronomical point of view, simply calendars, enabling people to know and recognise from past experience the different parts of the year by the place of sunrise or sunset, and they were also night- dials, enabling them to differentiate between the early and the late hours of the night. In my inquiry I have not confined myself to the astronomical side of the question. I have tried to dip into the folklore and tradition already garnered in relation, not only to the sacred stones, but to the sacred wells and sacred trees. From what I have learned I am convinced that much light will be thrown on both when an attempt shall have been made to picture what the lives of the first British astronomer-priests must necessarily have been. It is interesting to note that, while the astronomical side of the inquiry suggests a close connection with Egyptian thought, the folklore and traditions, when studied in relation with the monuments, indicate a close connection between the ancient British and the Semitic civilisations. I do not wish for one moment to suggest that the work in all these various kinds of monuments was limited to practical astronomical purposes. Our tradi- tions render that view impossible. There was worship in its highest forms, perhaps in its lowest forms; there was magic, there were all sorts of things going on in relation to the wants of the people, and it was because there were some people who did know all that was required to meet general and special needs, including their agricultural wants, that they eventually became priests, because they were the men who knew, and that I believe to be the origin of priestly power throughout the world. : This work, if subsequently confirmed by other in- vestigators, has the double advantage of supplying us pretty accurately with the date of erection of the monuments and of indicating the methods of observ- ing the movements of the sun and stars employed in Britain in prehistoric times; and if risings and set- tings were so abundantly utilised—for utility as well as priestcraft was certainly at the bottom of it—in Britain four thousand years ago, the remarkable testi- mony to the knowledge and wisdom of the ‘‘ Druids ”’ given by Czsar and Pomponius Mela two thousand years nearer their time is now seen to be amply justified. Multa praeterea de sideribus et eorum motu, de mundi magnitudine, de rerum natura, de deorum immortalium vi ac potestate disputant et juventuti tradunt.—Caes. De Bello Gallico, VI., c. 14. Hi terrae mundique magnitudinem et formam, motus coeli ac siderum, ac quod dii velunt scire, profitentur.— Pomp. Mela, II., c. 2. The ‘‘ Druids’ of Casar’s time were undoubtedly the descendants of the astronomer-priests some of whose daily work has now perhaps at last been revealed. Norman Lockyer. NO. 2064, VOL. 8o] NATURE [ May 20, 1909 RECENT STUDIES ON ANIMAL AND PLANT LIFE. (1) TP second volume of ‘‘ Nature-study ’’ con- sists of three parts. The first of these is composed of chapters by Mr. O. H. Latter on sundry disconnected topics—some insects, centipedes, spiders, a mussel, and a snail. The second, written by Miss Newbigin, treats of fresh-water and marine aquaria. The last describes the haunts of animals and. methods of field observation. It is due to Prof. Arthur Thomson. With such able coadjutors, the editor could hardly fail to produce a work of per- manent value and of practical suggestiveness. The articles, taken singly, are excellent. The subjects are treated with accuracy and first-hand knowledge; practical difficulties are faced and often solved; lines of thought are suggested from a single fact. The only thing lacking is a better coordination between the topics, and the want of it has led, in this volume, to’ a regrettable amount of. repetition. Mr. Latter describes, for example, the water-beetle and its life- history. Miss Newbigin repeats the story in connection with aquaria, and Prof. Thomson refers to it again in dealing with fresh-water faunas. Thus we have five ‘figures of the same beetle and four of its larva (not always consistent). | It is called Dyticus at first and Dytiscus ‘afterwards: Repetition also occurs in text and figure as regards the gnat, the pond- mussel, certain fish and hydroids. The text in other respects is not edited with care. Thus, with respect to the keeping of the pond-mussel, two of the con- tributors make contrary statements. These blemishes apart, the work is one that will give much pleasure and information to students of animal life, and stimulate to closer observation. The illustrations are of unequal merit, and many might have been saved or greater variety employed by a keener editor. The anatomical diagram at the commencement represents the structure of the pond-mussel. (2) Prof. Kellogg, following in the footsteps of Fabre, gives a delightful series of episodes in the life of American insects. These have-been told so well by his predecessors that it is difficult to intro- duce any novelty or charm to the description. But the visitations of insect pests in America give the author an opportunity for some new matter on scale- bugs and locusts. We can heartily recommend this little book for reading aloud to children. (3) Mr. Farrer’s rock-garden’ in Yorkshire is famous, and his advice will’ be most welcome to all who pursue this attractive form of imitating nature. In the present volume, a continuation of his former work, his experience and zeal are continually mani- fested, for Mr. Farrer has travelled far to watch and gather his alpines. Most amateur gardeners know too little of the principles on which rock- and bog- gardens are best planned, or of the natural habitats of the plants employed for stocking them. One of the great charms of this work is the way in which Mr. Farrer takes his readers into the resorts of his favourites, and describes the varying fortunes that have followed his attempts at acclimatisation. There is, for example, a description of the alpines near Arolla. The author’s experience should be of great assistance to those who wish to know the best sites and conditions under which this class of plants can Edited by Prof. J. Bretland 1 (1) “The Book of Nature-study.”’ 7 i (London: Caxton Publishlng Farmer, F.R.S. Vol. ii. Pp. viii+202. Co,n.d.) Price 7s. 6d. (2) “ Insect Stories.” By Vernon L. Kellogg. G. Bell and Sons; New York: Hult and Co. (3) Alpines and Bog Plants.” By Reginald Farrer. Pp. xii+288. (London: Kdward Arnold, 1908.) Price 7s. 6¢. net. (4) ‘‘Life-histories of Familiar Plants.” By John J. Ward. 204. (London: Casselland Co., Ltd., 1908.) Price 6s. Pp. vii+2098. (London: 1908.) Price 5s. Pp. xx-- May <0, 1999] NATURE 345 be cultivated. Those who possess his earlier volume will require the supplementary one, and those who do not will, on reading this one, be anxious to possess it. The illustrations are very well executed, but have, as a rule, little connection with the text. The latter part of the book (dealing with bog-plants) is of especial value to those who are attracted to the practice of this frequently misunderstood style of decorative work. Among the alpines most heartily commended are Saxifraga peltata, Oxalis enneaphylla, Hypericum reptans, and Hypericum coris. The index contains several misprints. (4) This book is a series of detached simple essays on problems presented and solved by familiar. plants. In matter and plan, the book compares somewhat closely with the delightful essays by Prof. Miall. The constitutional advantages of such weeds as camomile Hairs from Body of a Bee, showing Pollen Grains entangled. From “ Life- histories of Familiar Plants.” and coltsfoot, the relation between insect fertilisation and floral adaptations, the markings of leaves and the fertilisation of grasses, the evolution of the buttercup order, and the movements of sensitive leaves are some of the topics which Mr. Ward dis- courses upon pleasantly and illustrates clearly. On some points, indeed, he offers new hypotheses, and it is with them that we shall chiefly deal, premising that the whole volume is full of suggestion, and is* based upon close observation. Among the problems of diverse form and detail with which the book deals, the diverse behaviour of certain composites at nightfall is one to strike the most casual observer. Daisies mark the oncoming of night by closing, camomile by opening more widely. The explanation here given is the protection of the nectaries from dew- and rain-depletion of their store. The outer florets only successfully protect the disc NO. 2004, VOL. 80] of the flower from rain if they can cover it. If this is beyond their span, the method of acting as spouts to carry off the surplus moisture is an alterna- tive rendered effective by the more horizontal position of the central florets on.a raised disc. It is this adapta- tion which camomile effects, and such an explanation, whether new or not, is eminently a feature of the educational value of this work. The relative evolutionary order and efficacy of colour and scent in relation to insect pollination of flowers is a point still in dispute; indeed, the dictum about cross-fertilisation being so eminently superior as a racial stimulus over self-fertilisation is coming up again for consideration. Most entomologists would, we think, consider scent of primary import- ance, and floral decoration as a means of directing the attracted insects to the right spot. The author, we notice, takes the view that the eye of the insect is caught first. It is, of course, almost impossible to write popularly on this subject without assuming a broad general conclusion as to its efficiency, which is, perhaps, hardly warranted. At least, the tendency to become dogmatic may blind us to a further explana- tion of these intricate associations between insects and plants that is as yet unknown. In this connec- tion, we notice that, without stating definitely what insect pollinates the primrose, the author refers to the bee or the moth as doing it, in a misleading way. He would have been wiser to ask readers to notice what insect is really effective in the case of this plant. Neither honey-bees nor moths are known to be so. An interesting chapter is given to the markings of spotted orchis-leaves. ‘““The exposed part of the olive body of the viper, striped and spotted with dark markings ... was almost identical with the appearance of some of the leaves of the orchis when similarly placed.’’ This resemblance is said in a footnote to be borne out by the occurrence of unspotted leaves of the plant in Ireland, where, of course, the viper is absent. But at present the suggestion, instead of throwing light on the subject, makes it more mysterious than ever, for it is surely more to the point to regard the viper as assimilating to the spotted leaves than vice- versd, and for that there is as yet no particle of evidence. We could have wished for more information on grasses. We notice also the strange word ‘trinary.’’ The illustrations are very good. REFORM AT CAMBRIDGE. OR the last eighteen months the University has been inquiring into its management and consti- tution with the view of reform. At the end of his first year of office in October, 1907, the then Vice- Chancellor, the Rev. E. S. Roberts, the Master of Gonville and Caius College, spoke these words to the Senate :-— ‘“T venture to touch now on dangerous It is a matter of common knowledge that in debate of the House of Lords some of the speakers urged His Majesty’s Government to appoint a Royal Commission to inquire into the endowment, govern- ment, administration, and teaching of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge and of their constituent colleges, in order to secure the best use of their resources for the benefit of all classes of the com- munity. The Government, through their spokesman the Earl of Crewe, held that the moment was not opportune for appointing such a Commission, nor did he encourage the idea that a Royal Commission should be appointed in the immediate future. “The attitude of neutrality incumbent by a whole- ground. a recent 346 NATURE | May 20, 1909 ssome tradition on my office forbids that I should in -any way prejudice or anticipate any opinion to which the University, or any part or parts of our body, may give expression formally or informally during what may be called years of grace. But I think I may hazard one observation. I believe that there is hardly a single suggested change which could not be effected by existing statutory powers, by internal reorganisa- tion, and by cooperation of colleges. The opportunity is a unique one; shall we miss it? ”’ Since this address a considerable number of the members of the Senate who take an interest in the affairs of the University have been periodically meeting to consider how far a common basis can be arrived at for reform in the Constitution and Govern- ment of the University. Cambridge has thus proceeded on different lines from Oxford. Within the last six months the Hebdo- ‘madal Council has from time to time brought forward Graces suggesting alterations in the Constitution of Oxford University. These have in almost all cases ‘been thrown out. Now they are confronted with a comprehensive scheme, due to the energy and statesmanlike thought of a single mind, that of their ‘Chancellor. The Council has accepted nine-tenths of his suggestions, and it now rests with Convocation and Congregation to see how many of these will be arried into effect. Cambridge, on the other hand, has sought to find a point of reform which would b2 accepted by what we might term the moderate conservative. The leaders of both parties are agreed on certain questions, and ‘it may be that, as the Times of May to says, ‘‘ We are much mistaken nevertheless if at the present time the Cambridge method has not made more real and more substantial progress than that’? of Oxford. Some reforms which Lord Curzon’s ‘“ scarlet letter ”’ suggests were long ago effected at the sister Uni- versity, but in many of the most important features there is still a large margin for change at Cambridge, and we cannot but regret that the sug- gestions now put forward, however likely to be carried into effect, do not go a little farther. The first of the three committees which has had these matters under consideration had as its duty the consideration of the Constitution and the Government of the University, and it has limited its report to two questions, (1) the reconstruction of the Elec- toral Roll, and (2) the functions of the Senate and of the Electoral Roll as reconstituted. Its object was ‘to suggest a scheme which would give to the body of residents engaged in teaching, research, and adminis- tration a larger share than it at present possesses in the legislative action of the University. It is proposed that two houses should be established, one a body of residents, the other the Senate as at present con- stituted. Excepting in certain formal matters, and matters of wide and great importance, all kinds of “business would come, in the first instance, before the residents; but in every case an appeal would lie to the Senate as a whole, provided that a_ sufficient number of the opponents of the proposal submitted were prepared to take the necessary steps. Should this reconstruction of the Electoral Roll be carried into effect, it is suggested that the smaller body should be termed ‘‘ Congregation,’’ and its decisions should be entitled ‘‘ Graces,’’ whereas the decisions of the larger body, the Senate, should be’ termed ‘*' Decrees, 2? Elaborate and careful regulations have been drawn up for the suggested alterations. They are full of detail, and need not be considered here. The main feature of the proposal is entrusting much greater powers to the resident members of the University NO. 2064, VOL. 80] actually engaged in teaching than his hitherto been the case. The second committee dealt with the question of scholarships, both of the colleges and the University. But as, at the present time, the question of college scholarships is under consideration by an_ inter- collegiate body in conference with the Oxford colleges, Committee No. 2 confined itself to the ques- tion of university scholarships, and its resolutions are now being considered by the Special Board for Classics. The third committee was appointed to consider the relation of the colleges to the University and to one another. It has dealt with the following ques- tions :—(A) The teaching for honours examinations. On this subject its suggestions involve (1) The reconstitution of the Special Boards of Studies so as to make them more fully representative of the teachers. (2) More detailed and careful consideration of the list of lectures in order to prevent overlapping. (3) An attempt to grade lectures so as to adapt them to students of different ability and attainment. (4) Some closer agreement than at present obtains as to the date of the students’ return at the beginning of each term and the commencement of lectures. Although at the present there is much cooperation between certain groups of colleges, the committee feels that this might be rendered more effective without interfering with the legitimate freedom of the colleges in arranging their own teaching. It also suggests that combination between colleges might be rendered more effective if the governing bodies informally con- sulted each other in making elections to fellowships or lectureships. In this way the needs of the different subjects might be more frequently and more fully taken into account. In the last twenty years the number of professors in the University has risen from thirty-nine to forty- seven, of readers from six to twelve, of university lecturers from thirty-two to fifty-six. The number of demonstrators and teachers has also largely increased. In spite of this several wants remain unsatisfied, and others will certainly arise, and the committee refers to methods which it has discussed of raising money for further endowment. The same committee has also (B) before it the question relating to the contribution of colleges to the common University fund. It is of opinion that col- leges which contribute money for university purposes should be entitled to deduct from their taxable income any sum voluntarily so paid. It also holds that colleges in which fellowships are held by professors who are not professorial fellows, or by ex-professors, or by readers, or by certain university lecturers, should be entitled to deduct from their taxable income the sum of 20o0l. in respect of the fellowship held by each of such officers; and it makes other sugges- tions which would lighten the tax on colleges which are directly supporting University work. The com- mittee is further of opinion that it is desirable that colleges should have power under their statutes to attach conditions to fellowships, such conditions to be defined within a specified time from the date of election; that in general a fellow should in the first instance be elected for a term of three years, and should be eligible for re-election for a further term of three years. The same committee has also considered the neces- sary expense incurred by a student at Cambridge, and, after prolonged investigation, is of the opinion that the expenses of a careful student need not exceed 120l. for the academic year. This, of course, does not include expenses incurred in the vacation, for travelling, or for clothes. If this calculation errs, it May 20, 1909] is on the side of under-estimating. The amount must be somewhat increased for students of medicine and engineering, and for a non-collegiate student some- what lowered, say to 8ol.—gol. per annum. Finally, although, perhaps, not carrying the weight of a document which has been considered by a repre- sentative committee, a circular issued by the Bursar of Trinity is regarded by many of the members of the Senate as one of the most important and valuable contributions to reform in the University. The matter with which it deals is difficult to explain shortly, but roughly it amounts to this:—A graduate, in taking his degree, pays high fees for the degree of B.A. and M.A.: after graduating, if he wishes to continue a member of the University and the college in which he was educated, he has to pay an annual sum to keep his name on the boards of the University or the college. It has always been a little difficult to explain to the young B.A. to what purposes this latter sum is devoted, and what, beyond a vote for the University Members of Parliament, advantages accrue to the graduate who remains a member of the University. There is thus a slight sense of irritation amongst those who keep their names on the boards, and in the case of those who do not compound this irritation recurs annually. On the other hand, those (and they are a large majority) who do not remain officially connected with Cambridge have the feeling that they have been “Shown the door,’’ and that no longer are they officially and technically members of the institution in which many of them spent the happiest years of their lives. Mr. Innes’s proposal is to reduce the degree fees to a nominal amount, and to abolish the fees for keeping names on the boards. If this were done, there would | undoubtedly be a large increase in the numbers of | graduates proceeding to the M.A. degree, and every graduate would remain a member of his college and of the University. To compensate for the loss of the fees which would thus be lowered or abolished, it is proposed that an additional charge should be imposed upon the student whilst in residence. If this could be effected, the whole body of graduates would become, and would remain, members of the Senate, and would, one cannot help believing, be more loyal and enthusi- astic members of the University than is the case with those who have technically ceased to belong to their Alma Mater. THE ROYAL SOCIETY’S CONVERSAZIONE. A LARGE company assembled in the rooms of the Royal Society at Burlington House on Wednes- day, May 12, on the occasion of the first of the two conversaziones given annually by the society. The visitors were received by the president, Sir Archibald Geikie, K.C.B., and great interest was shown in the exhibits of apparatus and results of recent scientific investigations. During the evening short demon- strations were given by Dr. A. E. H. Tutton, F.R.S., and Dr. Hans Gadow, F.R.S. Dr. Tutton’s subject was crystals and colour: the revelation of crystal structure by polarised light. He gave a demonstra- tion of the use of a new form of lantern polariscope to illustrate recent progress in knowledge of the internal structure of crystals. Magnificent colours were projected upon the lantern screen, though no coloured materials whatever were used to produce them, all the crystals employed being colourless. A new method of performing the Mitscherlich experi- ment with gypsum, without any extraneous heating | of the crystal, was also shown. Dr. Gadow gave an account of the fauna, flora, and native races of | Mexico. The subjoined notes on the exhibits have been sum- } NO. 2064, VOL. 80] eee NATURE 347 marised from the official catalogue, and are here classified according to related subjects :— _Dr. G, E. Hale, For.Mem.R.S.: Photographs illustra tive of work at the Mount Wilson Solar Observatory. (1) Three photographs of the sun, taken at the Mount Wilson Solar Observatory, April 30, 1908, showing. (a) the photosphere, with sun-spots and faculze; (b) the flocculi of calcium vapour; (c) the flocculi of hydrogen, at a higher level in the solar atmosphere. The hydrogen. photographs, which are made with the spectroheliograph,. reveal the existence of cyclonic storms or vortices associated with sun-spots. (2) Photograph of the sun, taken on Mount Wilson, October 7, 1908, with the red. line of hydrogen. The vortices surrounding two large spots in the northern and southern hemispheres appear to- rotate in opposite directions. (3) Six photographs, show- ing the mounting of the 60-inch reflector of the Mount Wilson Solar Observatory and the mode of transporting the tube to the summit on a motor-truck. (4) Blue print,. showing design for tower telescope, of 150 feet focal length, now under construction for use on Mount Wilson. An image of the sun, 16 inches in diameter, will be formed in a laboratory at the base of the tower. The spectrograph for studying this image will have a focal. length of 75 feet, and will be mounted in a well beneath the laboratory.—Solar Physics Observatory, South Kensington: (1) Photographs and diagrams illustrating. researches in solar physics and its relations with terrestrial meteorology. (2) Astrophysics. (i.)- Spectrum of e Urse- Majoris; (ii.) spectra demonstrating temperature differ- ences, or similarities, of typical stars; (iii.) laboratory spectra—(a) oxygen (vacuum tube); (b) erbium (arc); andi (c) tungsten (spark) ; (iv.) spectra showing identification of hitherto unknown lines in the spectrum of e€ Orionis.— Mr. A. Fowler: Spectroscopic comparison of the star Mira, Ceti with titanium oxide; to illustrate the origin of the characteristic bands of the Antarian or third-type stars.— Mr. C. P. Butler: Thorp-Butler concave replica-grating. spectroscope. Some years ago several applications of the Thorp plane replica diffraction gratings were exhibited, not- ably their use with an opera-glass for eclipse work. Recent. experiments have shown that concave replica gratings can be made to give very satisfactory results, and by slight modifications of the design of mounting, this form of spectroscope may be employed for any investigation for which the ordinary spectroscope is fitted.—The Astronomer Royal: (1) Photographs and diagrams of the observations of the distant satellites of Jupiter and Saturn. (2) Photo- graphs of comet c, 1908 (Morehouse), taken with the 30-inch reflector at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich. (3) Tabular diagram showing the number and distribution of stars in the Greenwich section of the Astrographic Chart and Catalogue. The Greenwich section covers 2088 square degrees from the Pole to 26° N.P.D. Two series, each of 1149 photographic plates, were taken, one for the chart, with an exposure of forty minutes, and the other for the catalogue, with exposure of six minutes and twenty seconds, and the number of stars shown with each exposure has been counted. The total numbers are :— (a) with forty minutes, 719,000; (b) with six minutes, 178,600; (c) with twenty seconds, 38,373. The diagram shows the distribution of these stars in different parts of’ the area photographed, and the resulting star density. Dr. W. J. S. Lockyer: Cloud photographs taken from | balloon.—Dr. Chree, F.R.S.: Antarctic magnetic records and results.—Prof. J. Milne, F.R.S.: Seismograms of the Messina earthquake of December 28, 1908. These records were obtained at Shide, in the Isle of Wight, from two Milne horizontal pendulums. One of these recorded north- south motion and the other east-west motion.—Prof. E. Hull, F.R.S.: Admiralty charts along the coast of Europe and the British Isles, showing the continuation of the river-valleys under the ocean to depths of about 1000 fathoms (6000 feet). Prof. J. Norman Collie, F.R.S.: A curious property of neon. Perfectly pure neon, when enclosed in a glass tube with mercury and shaken, glows with a bright orange- red colour. As neon does this at ordinary pressures, it appears to be different from other gases.—Sir William Ramsay, K.C.B., F.R.S.: Liquid radium en.anation. 348 NATURE [May 20, 19c9 Radium emanation, produced in a week from about half a gram of radium bromide, is frozen with liquid air, freed from hydrogen by pumping, and introduced into a fine capillary tube. This is connected with an apparatus for compressing the gas; at. ordinary temperature the gas liquefies to a colourless liquid of high density, which phos- phoresces strongly—more strongly than the gas. At about 70° the liquid freezes to a solid, which, when further cooled, phosphoresces. with remarkable brilliancy. The Rev. H. V. Gill, S.J.: A new kind of glow in vacuum tubes (see p. 358).—The National Physical Laboratory : (1) Electrically heated laboratory muffle furnace (Mr. W. Rosenhain). The special feature of the furnace is the high degree of heat insulation aimed at, together with ready access to the working parts. The muffle attains a temperature of g20° C. with a current consumption of g amperes at 105 volts, and the platinum winding shows no signs of deterioration after months of continuous use. (2) Quadrant electrometer for alternating current power measurements of high precision (Mr. C. C. Paterson and Mr. E. H. Rayner). (3) Standard non-inductive water- cooled manganin tube resistances of 0-001, 0-002, and 0-04 ohms respectively, to operate with currents of 2500, 1000, and 100 amperes respectively (Mr. C. C. Paterson and Mr. E. H. Rayner). (4) Metallic filament electric glow-lamp for photometric substandard (Mr. C. C. Paterson and Mr. E. H, Rayner). (5) Apparatus for testing definition and for determining the variation of light intensity in an image due to diffraction (Mr. J. de Graaff Hunter). . Prof. W. I. Barrett, F.R.S.: (1) Apparatus (a) for deter- mining the light-threshold of the eye, and (b) for: measur- ing the amount of light irregularly reflected from rough surfaces. (2) New form of optometer for the examination and measurement of defects in vision. Optometers have hitherto been defective owing to the impossibility of pre- venting involuntary accommodation of the observer’s eye. In the present instrument this difficulty is overcome by the use of an inclined semi-transparent mirror in the eye- piece. By changing the attachment: both . pupillometric and entoptic examination of the eye can readily be carried out.—Prof. Silvanus P. Thompson, F.R.S.: (1) Experi- ments on the contraction, by heat, of india-rubber. India- rubber, under tensile stress, contracts strongly when its temperature is raised. Work is done by its contraction at the expense of the energy of the heat. Hence, it would be possible to construct a thermal engine in which the working substance is india-rubber, instead of steam or hot air, and operating by contraction, instead of ex- pansion, of the working substance. (2) Standard magnets for quantometric work. Mr. T. H. Laby and Mr. Horace Darwin, F.R.S.: A string electrometer, used to measure minute quantities of electricity, and as an oscillograph.—Mr. T. H. Laby: The counting of a particles (electrically charged helium atoms): by Prof. E..Rutherford’s method. By an electrical method a deflection of an electrometer is obtained as each a particle passes into a cylinder. A wire is supported in the axis of this narrow metal cylinder, from which it is electrically separated by a guard-ring insulator. This ionisation chamber is enclosed in a sealed glass tube, and the air exhausted to a small pressure (¢ mm.). A tap admits a particles from uranium, which pass into the cylinder and ionise the air in it. To detect these ions, Prof. Rutherford multiplied them by producing others from them by collision. The field between the cylinder (—) and the wire (connected to the electrometer) is adjusted of such intensity that the first-formed negative ions travelling to the wire produce others by collision with the air molecules. Thus, when an a particle travels through the cylinder lengthwise, many negative ions reach the wire, and so the electrometer, the string of which is suddenly deflected, but returns, as it is connected to earth through a high resistance of thin rubber.—Mr. A. W. Porter: Electric splashes on photographic plates. material of a similar kind was discovered by Jean Paul Richter. It is known that in 1502 Leonardo, then in. the- service of Cesare Borgia as a military engineer, made a tour through Urbino, Pesaro, Rimini, and other places,. where he carried out a survey and constructed maps. The Sor NATURE [May 20, 1909 most interesting of these represent Tuscany and the Pontine Marshes, while he made an accurate plan of the town of Imola in the Romagna, of Milan, and other cities. Besides being a topographical he was also an eminent physical geographer and astronomer. He held that the earth was a planet, and. denied that it occupied a privileged position in the universe, thus being one of the forerunners of Copernicus. He must also be regarded as the founder of the modern theory of wave motion, and his investigations of the question of currents and of other hydraulic problems are remarkable. He believed that rocks were of sedimentary origin, and that mountains were accumulations of river alluvium. He held, for his time, advanced views on the subject of the Deluge, and as he laid much stress on the influence of erosion he anticipated much of the modern doctrine of valley formation. He did good service for meteorology by his study of winds, and he was one of the pioneers of Alpine exploration. Dr. Oberhummer follows his account of the scientific work of Leonardo by a description of the world and star maps constructed. by Albert Diirer. He gives interesting repro- ductions of the work of these artistic and scientific men from the originals in the collections at Windsor, the British Museum, and other places. THE prospect of a short water supply during the coming summer is predicted by the Rev. F. C. Clutterbuck, of Abingdon, in Symons’s Meteorological Magazine for April. Speaking particularly of the Thames Valley, Mr. Clutter- buck bases his. prediction on the measurements of a well in the Upper Greensand of which he has a daily record for the last forty years, this well having always been con- sidered a good test. as regards water supply. Only on two occasions has the well been so low as it is now, viz. in the autumn of 1898 and in the spring of 1905, which was a year of very short water supply in the Thames Valley. In the six months. October—March inclusive, 1904-5, the rainfall at Abingdon was 9:24 inches; in 1908-9. it was 9-13 inches, almost similar . conditions. Therefore, Mr. Clutterbuck concludes, we. may expect the same deficiency this year as was experienced in 1905. In an editorial article on the rainfall of the winter half-year it is pointed out that for England and Wales there was a deficiency of more than one-quarter of the normal rain- fall. The dry autumn may produce an exceptionally good wheat harvest this year, but, - the. editor observes, the general dryness of the whole winter half-year cannot fail fo cause anxiety as to the yield of wells and the replenish- ment of reservoirs. UNpeR the title of ‘* Bibliographia Botanica,’ Messrs. W. Junk, of Berlin, have issued a classified catalogue of nearly: 7000 books, journals, and pamphlets dealing with all branches of botany. In the Atti dei Lincet, xviii. (1); 7, Dr. G. Agamennone describes certain remarkable long waves that were recorded by the seismographs at Rocca di Papa on the occasion of the recent earthquakes of December 28, 1908, and also in the Calabrian earthquake of September 8, 1905. The same slow: waves were observed at Gottingen in 1905 by Angenheister. In the Annals of Mathematics (April), x., 3, broly Lass Wilson gives an exposition of the applications of probability to mechanics. The discussion is presented in’ the form of an introduction to the study of statistical mechanics. It is illustrated by the consideration of simple examples, and well shows how ‘mean value’? and probability for a continuous function depend on the distribution, or, in other NO. 2064, VOL. 80] words, on the variable with respect to which the function is assumed to be uniformly distributed. Messrs. W. Cramp ANd B. Hoyre, in a paper on the electric discharge and the production of nitric acid by means of it, which appears in the April number of the Journal of the Institution of Electrical Engineers, give a résumé of the various methods which have been used in the attempt to produce nitric acid direct from the nitrogen of the atmosphere, and criticise them in the light of their own researches. They have investigated the relative efficiencies of various forms of electric discharge, and of different methods of introducing and withdrawing the gases, and have found that a considerable number of the results obtained are in agreement with the ionisation theory. It is unfortunate that the authors were unable to proceed far enough with their researches to enable them to state definitely the yield of acid per kilowatt hour under the best conditions, and on a commercial scale. In the April number of the Journal de Physique M. A. Dufour gives a detailed account of the examination of the Zeeman effect for certain bands in the emission spectra of gases, on which he has been engaged for the last two years, and of which he has given short accounts in the Comptes rendus.- He finds- that the bands of the emission spectra of the chlorides and fluorides of the alkaline earths examined, and of the second or molecular spectrum of hydrogen, may be-divided into three classes, the first of which show the normal Zeeman effect in the direction of the magnetic field, i.e. that component of the doublet which has the shorter wave-length is circularly polarised, the direction of rotation agreeing with that of the electric current producing the field. The second class show no appreciable effect, while the third are abnormal, the direction of rotation being reversed, and the polarisa- tion incomplete. M. Dufour .is inclined to attribute .this abnormal behaviour to negative electrons moving in com- plicated paths determined by the whole of the atoms con- stituting the molecule of the gas, while the normal effect is due to the negative electrons moving in comparatively simple paths in the atoms. From Messrs. Adam Hilger, Ltd., we have received an eight-page catalogue giving illustrated descriptions, and prices, of several of the spectroscopes specially designed for the observation of stellar and solar spectra. For amateur observers the Zéliner star spectroscope, supplied for fifty shillings, is a useful and adaptable instrument. Spectro- scopes for prominence and other solar observations range from 4l. for a small direct-vision, grating instrument, to the 35/. to 6ol. ‘*‘ Evershed’’ protuberance spectroscope, which is a most efficient instrument for the observation of sun-spot spectra and prominences. For laboratory re- searches the Littrow type spectrograph is now largely employed, and a specially designed instrument of this type, having an achromatic objective of 23 inches aperture and 8 feet focal length, and a 23-inch Rowland -or Michelson grating, costs about 65]. We have received from Messrs. John J. Griffin and Sons, Ltd., a description of ‘‘ The York Air Tester,’’ an apparatus for the rapid estimation of carbon dioxide in air. The advantages claimed ‘for this apparatus are that it is simple enough to be placed in unskilled hands and sufficiently accurate for controlling ventilation. It is a minimetric method, resembling in principle the apparatus described by Lunge and Zeckendorf about fifteen years ago. In the latter apparatus a measured volume of a weak solution of sodium carbonate, coloured with phenol- May 20, 1909] INA POLE 353 was decolorised by a measured volume of the examination, the quantity of air being deter- the number of fillings of a rubber pump. In apparatus the rubber ball is replaced with advantage by a metallic pump, and the sodium carbonate solution by baryta solution. With the latter solution the absorption is quantitative under the conditions of use pre- scribed in the instructions. As to the disadvantages of the York apparatus, the quantity of carbon dioxide measured is based on a preliminary calibration with atmo- spheric air, assumed in the table as 3-6 parts per 10,000. As in towns the amount may be as much as 4:5, the results may be uncertain by 25 per cent. The stock bottle for the weak baryta solution carries sufficient solution for eighty tests, or two litres. This amount seems too large, and makes the whole apparatus unnecessarily heavy. The mode of working is simple, and should give good results in unskilled hands. phthalein, air under mined by the York Tue claims of reinforced concrete as a suitable material for buildings likely to be subjected to earthquakes are advanced in Concrete and Constructional Engineering for May. For such buildings either the very lightest form of wood construction should be applied,-as in Japan, or, if permanence and architectural effect are desired, some form of monolithic construction as is obtainable in reinforced concrete. Masonry and brickwork are entirely out of place, and steel frames covered with concrete do not seem to have the advantages possessed by reinforced concrete in its simplest forms. In the opinion of the writer, steel- frame construction has been adopted too freely in San Francisco and elsewhere. Reinforced concrete buildings need not necessarily be eyesores; this is altegether a question of good design, and there are sufficient examples of such buildings now in existence to show that the re- proach of the older generation of architects cannot be directed at the productions of a really good designer. The article is of interest in view of the now well-known disastrous effects of the recent earthquake in Messina. A cataLocue of new books and new editions added to Mr. H. K. Lewis’s medical and scientific circulating library (136 Gower Street, W.C.) during the first quarter of this year provides a concise summary of the chief works of scientific interest issued in recent months. Tue fifth revised edition of Prof. Max Verworn’s “Allgemeine Physiologie’’ has been published by Mr. Gustay Fischer, Jena. The price of this work, which now occupies 742 pages, is sixteen marks. Tue Bulletin of the Pasteur Institute of Southern India (No. 1, 1908) contains details of several researches carried out by Major Cornwall and Dr. Kesava Pai on rabies, e.g. diagnosis of the disease, the Negri bodies, histology of the blood, toxins, &c. THE commemorative address on Darwin and his work, delivered by Prof. August Weismann at Freiburg in Baden on February 12, has been published in pamphlet form by Mr. Gustav Fischer, Jena. A note upon the address appeared in Nature of March 18 (p. 75). Pror. W. James’s “ Principles of Psychology’ has been translated into German by Dr. Marie Dir, and published by the firm of Quelle and Meyer, Leipzig, with notes by Prof. E. Dirr. The same publishers have just issued a translation into German, by Prof. A. Kalahne, of M. L. Poincaré’s work on “* Electricity,’’ already trans- lated into English. NO. 2064, VOL. 8o] Tue report of the sixth meeting of the South African Association for the Advancement of Science, held last year at Grahamstown, has now been published. An account of the proceedings of the meeting appeared in Nature of August 27, 1908 (vol. Ixxviii., p. 395), to which reference may be made for the chief subjects discussed in the volume. The amount of work recorded in the 408 pages of the report is a very creditable record for an association founded so recently, and the officers are to be congratulated upon the success of their efforts to arouse and maintain an interest in scientific work in the South African colonies. Tue Smithsonian Institution of Washington has issued a classified list of Smithsonian publications available for distribution in March, 1909. These publications are sup- plied by the institution either gratuitously or at a nominal cost as an aid to research. Of the many activities of the Smithsonian Institution, this wide distribution of papers, scientific and otherwise, among original workers for the extension of knowledge is one of the most useful. The list has been prepared in such a way as to conform as closely as possible with the classification methods used by the International Catalogue of Scientific Literature, and will be found convenient for reference. Mr. L. F. Cocrtati, 17-Corso di Porta Romana, Milan, has made arrangements to publish the manuscript of Leonardo da Vinci in the library of the Earl of Leicester at Holkham Hall. The volume will contain a double Italian transcription of the text, be printed on hand-made paper, and contain seventy-two heliotype plates, comprising the entire reproduction of the original manuscript and of its numerous illustrations; it will contain an introduction and index, and include a biography of Leonardo da Vinci by Dr. G. Calvi, the editor of the volume. It may be mentioned that the compilation obtained the Tomasoni prize from the R. Istituto Lombardo di Scienze e Lettere. The manuscript contains the material Leonardo gathered for his treatise on hydraulics, and many of his opinions on questions in cosmography and geology are also to be found in it. Only 160 copies of the volume will be pub- lished; the first 100 are offered to subscribers at 3l. 4s. net (postage, &c., 4s. additional), and the remaining volumes will be 41. net. OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. Mars.—A telegram from Prof. Lowell, communicated by Circular No. 108 of the Kiel Centralstelle (May 11), announces that two rifts have appeared in the snow-cap of Mars in longitudes 350° and 240°. JurrrerR.—In Bulletin No. 38 of the Lowell Observatory Prof. Lowell describes the different features of Jupiter observed at Flagstaff during the period March 28 to June 4, 1907. The most interesting feature was the system of wisps, or lacings, between the north and south equatorial belts. These festoons were detected by Mr. Scriven Bolton (see Nature, No. 2000, vol. Ixxvii., February 27, 1908, p. 401), and they form a curious network across the equatorial region of the planet. The individual wisps leave caret-shaped markings in the belts, generally at an angle of 45°, and show increased curvature throughout their length. Mr. Lampland has succeeded in obtaining faint photographic images of these peculiar features. All the dark belts observed were of a cherry-red colour of varying depths, and even the polar hoods at times showed tints of the same hue. The Great Red Spot was but dimly visible, but many dazzling white spots were, from time to time, made out. The equatorial and tropical belts of each hemisphere were seen to be connected by wisps similar to those described above, and the bright 354 NATURE [May 20, 1909 equatorial belt was divided into two parts by a longitudinal belt practically encircling the planet. On March 30, at 5h. 55m. (standard mountain time), the shadow of satellite I. was seen to be nearly twice as broad as it was high, and at 6h. 13m. a penumbra to it was observed. Markings were seen on satellite III. on April 2. Tue Upper Layers OF THE SOLAR ATMOSPHERE.—In a paper published in No. 16 (April 19) of the Comptes rendus M. Deslandres describes some results obtained with his new spectroheliograph. Photographs obtained previously showed long dark streaks of calcium vapours when the secondary slit was set on the centre of the ‘‘K”’ line; these streaks were named ‘‘ filaments.’’ By employing a larger dispersion and an additional slit of an improved form, M. Deslandres succeeded in isolating entirely the K, line, and found that these filaments were shown much more definitely than on the earlier negatives, when the light employed was a mixture of the K, and K, lines. A similar result follows if the Ha line of hydrogen be employed. These dark filaments, then, are the characteristic feature of the sun’s upper atmosphere, and differ from Hale’s ‘‘ dark flocculi’’ in that they are black on both the K, and Ha (centre of line) photographs. In the same number of the Comptes rendus Prof. Hale makes some remarks relative to Deslandres’s paper, and states that on employing the large spectroscope he found that the relative intensity of the bright and dark flocculi depends upon the part of the line (Ha) employed. With the slit set on the central part of the line the bright flocculi are very intense, but if the light from the edge of the line is exclusively used, the dark flocculi are shown strongly, whilst the bright flocculi are faint or even invisible. SPECTRA OF SOME SPIRAL NEBUL AND GLOBULAR STAR Cuusters.—With a_ specially designed spectrograph attached to the Crossley reflector, Mr. E. A. Fath has succeeded in photographing the spectra of a number of spiral nebulae and globular clusters, the investigation having been undertaken in order to test the statement that the spectra of the former are continugus. The collimator of the spectrograph has an aperture of 54 mm. and a focal length of 315 mm., and the prism is of light flint glass and 30° angle, whilst the camera objective is com- posed of two plano-convex lenses of 51 mm. aperture and 155 mm. equivalent focal length. The scale of the spectrum is such that the distance from A 3727 to A 5007 on the plate is approximately 3-3 mm.; exposures varying from 3h. 19m. to 18h. 11m.—for the Andromeda nebula— were found necessary. There is not space here to reproduce the detailed dis- cussion given in Lick Observatory Bulletin No. 149, but the general conclusions are of great interest. No spiral nebula investigated has a truly continuous spectrum, although this is the fundamental feature of all their spectra, which range from those having principally bright lines to those containing only absorption lines of the solar type. The great nebula in Andromeda comes in the Jatter category, and fourteen absorption lines were measured. The spectra of the spiral nebulz are best interpreted by the hypothesis that these bodies are unresolved star clusters with varying conditions of gaseous envelopes. Thus, if the Andromeda nebula were such a cluster in which stars of the solar type preponderated, its spectrum would be sufficiently explained. The exposures on globular clusters showed that clusters in which one spectral type of star predominates do exist. But this question needs a great deal more investigation before the theory can be accepted, and, as Mr. Fath points out, Bohlin’s parallax for the Andromeda nebula, 0-17”, would require that, if this object is an unresolved star cluster, the size of the components is, with reasonable assumptions, of the order of that of the asteroids. The difficulty of the investigation lies in the extreme faintness of the objects to be observed. While two minutes’ exposure on Arcturus, with the Mills spectrograph attached to the 36-inch refractor, gives a measurable spectrum, it would require about soo hours to give a satisfactory spectrum of the Andromeda nebula, one of the brightest of the spiral nebula. NO. 2064, VOL. 80] THE INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION FOR SCIENTIFIC AERONAUTICS. — HE sixth Congress of the International Commission a: for Scientific Aéronautics commenced at Monaco on April 1. Thirty-three members were present, representing fourteen countries. The Prince of Monaco, by whose invitation the meeting was held at Monaco, placed the rooms of the new Oceanographical Museum at the service of the commission. Among the members present were Prof. Hergesell (the president), Profs. Assmann, Berson,. and Captain Hildebrandt from Germany, M. Teisserenc de Bort from France, Prof. Hildebrandsson from Sweden, Prof. A. L. Rotch from the United States, Generals Rykatcheff and Kowanko from Russia, Colonel Vives y. Vich from Spain, Prof. Bjerknes from Norway, Prof. Palazzo and Dr. Oddone from Italy, Hofrat von Konkoly from Hungary, M. Vincent from Belgium, Captain Ryder from Denmark, and Messrs. P. Alexander and C. J. P. Cave from this country. Prof. Hergesell, in opening the congress, spoke of the extent of the observations now made by members of the commission, and of the work that had been done since the last meeting at Milan. He mentioned particularly the series of ascents made in July, 1907, the full results of which had just been published, and which included a network of observations extending over a great part of the northern hemisphere. The instruments used were very satisfactory, but Prof. Hergesell warned observers to make frequent calibrations to ensure accuracy in the observa- tions. He also mentioned the important work on wind direction and velocity by means of theodolite observations on ballons sondes and pilot balloons. The Prince of Monaco, in welcoming the congress, spoke of the work that had been done by Prof. Hergesell and himself on his yacht the Princesse Alice, and of the find- ing of ballons sondes at sea. By means of observations to determine the trajectory, Prof. Hergesell was able to determine the point of fall with such accuracy that balloons are now found at sea more easily than on land. At the morning meeting on April 2 Prof. Assmann read a paper on rubber balloons, and spoke of the improve- ment that had lately been made in their manufacture; it had been found possible to eliminate small foreign particles in the rubber, which consequently could be stretched far more before bursting occurred. M. Teisserenc de Bort spoke of goldbeater’s skin for captive balloons, and men- tioned that, by a system of elastic lacing, expansion could be secured during the ascent and ‘‘ pocketing ’’ avoided during the descent. Prof. Hergesell spoke of the rapid deterioration of rubber balloons owing to the effect of light, especially in the tropics; to guard against this Prof. Assmann uses a_ yellow covering for captive rubber balloons. Prof. Assmann then read a paper on a method of ventil- ating the instrument for a short time during an ascent, when, owing to decrease of vertical velocity, insolation might cause too high a temperature to be recorded ; the apparatus consists of a polished metal sphere containing compressed air, which can be opened by an electric con- tact actuated by the barometer at any desired height. He spoke of the doubts that had been expressed, particularly in England, on the reality of the isothermal layer, or ‘stratosphere ’? as it has been named by M. Teisserenc de Bort, and hopes that his apparatus may definitely set these doubts at rest. Mr. Cave said that no one in England who is working at the study of the upper air has any doubts as to the reality of the stratosphere; Prof. Hergesell cited cases of rapid descents of instruments, and M. Teisserenc de Bort mentioned night ascents as proving the real existence of the phenomenon. Prof. Hergesell noticed that no member present doubted the fact, and asked the secretaries particularly to note this agree- ment of opinion. Prof. Hergesell showed a new meteorograph for use with manned and captive balloons, Prof. Palazzo an apparatus for detaching balloons, and similar instruments were shown by Prof. Hergesell and General Rykatcheff. M. Teisserenc de Bort deprecated the idea of limiting the ascent of a ballon sonde. | ‘May 20, 19c9] Prof. Rotch urged that all kite ascents should be tabu- lated on a uniform plan, and that temperatures on the ground-level should be given at intervals during the flight ; he also spoke of the confusion that existed with regard to the sign of the temperature gradient. Prof. Hergesell announced that a communication had been received by Prof. Képpen, who was unable to attend the congress; he proposed that all measurements of atmo- spheric pressure should in future be given in absolute C.G.S. units. At the afternoon meeting on April 2 Prof. Bjerknes read a paper on the theoretical applications of upper-air observations, and spoke of the necessity for further co- operation. He advocated a series of strictly simultaneous ascents at all the stations, and suggested that on certain days observations should be made at 7 a.m., 1 p.m., and p-m. Greenwich mean time. At 1 p.m. ascents of ballons sondes and kites should be made, and at the other hours, besides the ordinary barometer and thermometer readings at the ground-level, there should be as many observations of pilot balloons as possible; if possible, ballons sondes might be sent up at the other hours, but the mid-day ascent should be the principal one. He also strongly supported Prof. Képpen’s proposition, and said that the use of dynamical units for atmospheric pressure would greatly facilitate theoretical work. M. Teisserenc ce Bort said that he saw no difficulty in changing the units if there were any real advantage to be gained by ‘he change. Mr. Cave said that the practice had already yeen introduced in England in the official publication of the upper-air observations in the Weekly Weather Report, and that Dr. Shaw was strongly in favour of the change being generally made.’ Prof. Bjerknes said that he would publish tables to enable observers to change the old units into the new ones. In regard to the series of simultaneous observations advocated by Prof. Bjerknes, M. Teisserenc de Bort proposed that one of the smaller series of ascents should be set apart to be made on Prof. Bjerknes’s plan, and General Rykatcheff suggested that the time of the ascents should remain as at present, but that they should be made strictly simultaneously, and that additional’ pilot balloon ascents should be made. M. de Massani then read a paper on the proposed upper- air observations in Hungary, and Mr. Alexander one on the instruction in aérodynamics in the United Services College, Windsor. M. Teisserenc de Bort read a paper on the results of theodolite observations on ballons sondes at Trappes, and the importance of this method in the verification of heights as determined by the barometer. As a result of his cbservations, he finds that the cyclonic circulation of the air in low-pressure systems does not extend to great heights in the atmosphere, but that the balloon sooner or later gets into a general wind current, mostly from west to south-west in these latitudes; over high-pressure areas the wind is light, and great irregularities in direction are found; there are often several entirely different currents superposed one above the other; this condition had also been observed in the tropics. With regard to the wind in the stratosphere, M. Teisserenc de Bort has often found a small change in direction at its lower limit, but the changes are neither so regular nor so great as might have been expected. In the discussion that followed Prof. Hildebrandsson said that the observations of M. Teisserenc de Bort in low-pressure areas confirmed his own observa- tions of clouds; it was clear that at 3000 metres or so the isobars over a low-pressure area were no longer closed on the polar side. Mr. Cave said that his observations showed only a small change of direction when a balloon entered the stratosphere, but there had generally been a considerable decrease of velocity; his observations had Seen made at times when the wind velocities in the lower jayers were considerably higher than in most of the cases mentioned by M. Teisserenc de Bort. Prof. Hergesell said that he had not found any regular change of wind direction in the upper layer, but he had in general found a diminution of velocity ; but this diminution often occurred at some distance above the lower limit of the stratosphere. Prof. Hergesell gave an account of the experiments he 1 See introduction to the Weekly Weather Refort, 1909- NO. 2064, VOL. 80] NATURE 355 had made to determine the rate of ascent of rubber balloons in still air. From these experiments he has deduced a formula from which, within certain limits, the rate of ascent of a balloon may be calculated from its weight and from its free lift when inflated with hydrogen. Both he and M. Teisserenc de Bort consider that the vertical velocity is constant up to moderate heights; the theoretical increase of velocity due to decreased density of the air is probably more or less balanced by loss of gas from the balloon. If we know the rate of ascent, and determine the heights trigonometrically, we are able to measure vertical currents in the atmosphere. From his own observations Prof. Hergesell concludes that there is almost always some vertical motion, and sometimes he has observed a vertical current downward of as much as 1 metre per second, or even more; but in general a downward movement at one time is more or less counterbalanced by an upward move- ment at another, and therefore the one theodolite method, when the height of the balloon is taken as a function of the time, gives the wind velocities with very fair accuracy. Some discussion ensued about the theodolites used for the observations, and it was agreed that for accurate work with a base line the theodolites should read to five minutes of arc, but for the one theodolite method less accuracy was needed. A triangular base with three observers was also strongly recommended. M. Teisserenc de Bort read a paper on the theory of the isothermal layer, which formed the subject of Mr. Gold’s recent theoretical investigations (Proceedings of the Royal Society, vol. Ixxxii., 1909). Prof. Hergesell said that he had not seen the original paper, but he thought from the account that M. Teisserenc de Bort had given that the theory had much to recommend it. M. Teisserenc de Bort said he thought the adiabatic distribution of temperature in the lower layers was due entirely to the vertical circulation of air in this part of the atmosphere. On the afternoon of April 5 the Prince of Monaco was present, and Prof. Berson gave an account (which has appeared in Nature, April 8, p. 171) of his observations on the Victoria Nyanza and off the east coast of Africa. Prof. Palazzo gave an account, illustrated by numerous lantern-slides, of his expedition to Zanzibar and its neigh- bourhood. ; At the meeting on Tuesday morning Prof. Hergesell said that he had received a gift from the Kaiser to the commission in the shape of two portable houses, which could be used as a temporary observatory at any place where an extended series of observations might be useful; it had been proposed to erect them for a year or two on the Peak of Teneriffe, but the Spanish Government had now decided to establish a permanent observatory there. Colonel Vives y Vich gave an account of what it is pro- posed to do, and said that kite and pilot-balloon ascents would be made; to hasten on the commencement of the meteorological work, the Spanish Government would be willing to accept the temporary loan of the houses under certain conditions until the permanent buildings are ready. It was resolved to send a telegram to the Kaiser thanking him for his gift to the commission and for the interest he had taken in the work, and one to the Spanish Govern- ment accepting the conditions as to the houses. Dr. Assmann spoke of the importance of the study of the upper air for aérial navigation, and thought that the cooperation of aéro clubs and others interested might be obtained, and that by this means a wider study of the subject might be possible. He looked forward to the establishment of more observatories where daily ascents should be made as at Lindenberg, and hoped that in time it might be possible to publish daily synoptic charts giving the isobars at different heights above the surface. At the last meeting, in the afternoon of April 6, the following resolutions were carried :— (1) Prof. Képpen’s proposal to adopt absolute measures for atmospheric pressure was referred to the International Meteorological Committee. (2) The July series of observations to be made at 7 a.m. Greenwich mean time, and pilot balloons to be sent up three times a day in accordance with the proposals of Prof. Bjerknes. (3) M. Vincent’s proposal that frequent observations of 356 —_—_ the state of the sky should be. made on international days was recommended. : (4) The importance of observatories for -the study of the upper air to be urged on all countries which do not possess them, (5) M. de Massani’s project to establish an upper-air observatory on the plains of Hungary, near Kecskemét, was endorsed. ; (6) It was resolved to bring to the notice of aéro clubs the importance of observations during ascents of manned balloons for sport, &c. C . (7) Copies of traces of registering instruments are to be exchanged between members of the commission if required. (8) Titles of new publications to be sent to Prof. Assmann for publication and analysis in Fortschritte der Physik, or to the U.S. Weather Bureau for the Monthly Weather Review. (9) Prof. Rotch’s proposition to express. the temperature gradient as positive when the temperature decreases with altitude was adopted. ' y (10) Prof. Rotch’s proposal that in the published observa- tions of kite ascents simultaneous observations at ground- level be given was adopted. (11) The thanks of the commission to be sent to the Austrian Minister of War and to the Vienna Aéro Club‘for their assistance, and to other. Governments which have encouraged the study of the upper air. (12) The thanks of the commission to be sent to the Spanish Government for its promise to- establish an observatory on the Peak of Teneriffe, and to the Spanish military aéronauts and to the German Government for aiding the project. _(13) Various new members were elected—MM. Trabert, Vincent, Kleinschmidt, Bjerknes, Ryder, and Bamler ; the directors of the observatories of Irkutsk, Tiflis, and Ekaterinburg; and several military aéronauts, including Colonel Capper. : i (14) It was resolved that the next meeting of the com- mission should be held in Vienna in the autumn of 1912. Besides the formal meetings -of the congress, the members were entertained on several occasions by. the Prince of Monaco. A lecture was given by M. Bourée on the oceanographical work that has been done by the Prince on his yacht the Princesse Alice, and on April 4 the members were taken by motor to the Nice Observatory by the Corniche Road. PROBLEMS OF APICULTURE. ‘A BOUT four years ago a mysterious disease appeared among the bees of the Isle of Wight, and caused great mortality. The most characteristic features were disinclination to work, some distension of the abdomen, frequent dislocation of the wings, and, later, inability to fly. At this stage the bees could only fly a few feet from the hive, and then dropped and crawled about aimlessly on the ground. They could often be seen crawling up grass stems or up the supports of the hive, where they remained until they fell back to the earth from sheer weakness, and soon afterwards died. An investigation was begun by Mr. A. D. Imms, but, as he was unable to continue the work, the Board of Agriculture secured the services of Dr. W. Malden, whose report is issued in the February number of the Journal of the Board of Agri- culture. He finds that the only organ affected is the chyle stomach, all other organs being normal; there is no paralysis of the wing muscles. The disease is almost certainly infectious, and a plague-like bacillus was fre- quently found in the chyle stomachs of diseased bees, but not in those of healthy bees. Owing to- difficulties of manipulation,- it-was impossible to establish definitely any causal connection between the disease and the presence of the organism, although the experiments strongly ‘suggest that there is such a connection, It is to be hoped that the investigation may be completed; it promises to be of general importance for the solution of problems connected with infectious diseases of bees. The whole question of bee diseases needs working out more fully, for little is as yet known with any degree of NO. 2064, VOL. 80] NATURE [May 20, 1909 certainty about the causes of some of them, and few of the disease-producing bacteria have been investigated. An important. administrative question is also raised: if a diseased hive -is-not.at once destroyed it becomes.a source of infection for surrounding hives, and one careless bee- keeper can in this way-do serious harm to others round about. him without becoming liable. to compensate them for their loss. In a recent Bulletin issued from the United States Department of Agriculture Bureau of Entomology (No. 75), discussing the status of apiculture in the United States, it. is urged that’ bee-keeping should not be popularised, but should be. confined, so far as possible, to competent men having a sufficient financial stake in the business to ensure that the bees: should have proper atten- tion. ‘‘ No question in apiculture,’? says the writer, ‘‘ at all .compares..in importance with the control of bee diseases.’? Two contagious brood diseases already. cause serious loss, and there is reason to believe that they are spreading at a rapid-rate. The bee industry of the States is. quite -important. enough to deserve consideration; the value of the honey is put at 20,000,000 dollars annually, but the work of the bees’ in fertilising the blossoms of fruit trees is valued at a still higher figure. Among other bee problems that are still obscure, few are more interesting than the mating of bees. A host of questions suggest themselves as one watches the wonderful flight of the virgin queens and the drones, but investiga- tion is rendered difficult by the absence of methods. It is no easy matter to arrange that only selected drones shall mate with the queens. Only few cases are on record where mating took place when the bees were caged, even though all the conditions were normal and. the cages used were very large—Mr. Davitte’s was 30 feet high and of the same diameter. Mr. Miller recently made some experiments, with negative results, at the Rhode Island Agricultural. Experiment Station on this subject, and his paper, in the current annual report, affords a good illus- tration of the difficulties that the investigator meets. METEOROLOGY OF THE DUTCH EAST : INDIES. WE are indebted to the Roval Observatory of Batavia for the following valuable publications :—(1) meteor- ological, magnetical, and seismometric observations for 1906, and (2) rainfall observations made at~the Nether- lands. East Indian stations for 1907. It may not be generally known that the establishment of this important observatory was primarily due to a suggestion made by Baron A. v. Humboldt to the Governor-General of Nether- lands’ India in 1856 (Bayard, Presidential Address to the Royal Metcorological Society,’ January, 1899). Humboldt pointed out the great value that a magnetical and meteor- ological observatory at-Batavia would be for the promotion of . knowledge. coneerning those phenomena’ between the tropics.: The Amsterdam ,Academy strongly supported the suggestion, and invited Prof. Buys Ballot to draw up a plan. The proposal of the latter, in 1857, included the organisation of hourly observations. at, Batavia and the establishment of secondary stations at some places in the East Indian Archipelago, and Dr. P. A. Bergsma was subsequently appointed director of’ the’ proposed system. Hourly observations were commenced at Batavia in 1866, and have been continued without interruption down to the present time, with summaries: after each’ five-yearly period, but the establishment -of second-order stations was not carried out on account of expense.. Wind observations are, however,» made- at many places by non-official observers, and are collected’ by the observatory. In 1879 Dr. Bergsma organised a system of rainfall observations throughout the archipelago which has since been regularly continued. © The data for 1907 are published in two volumes, giving (1) daily and monthly amounts, and (2) monthly and yearly amounts and the number of rain-days, together with the results for 1879-1907, at all stations having observations for five years and upwards. At the end of the year the official stations numbered 292, and-included Java, Sumatra, Borneo, North Guinea, and the many islands lying between them, some of the principal places being provided May 20, 1909] NATURE 357 with self-recording gauges. The rainfall oyer this vast area varies very greatly, according to position and _ alti- tude and the strength of the monsoons. On the whole, the amounts for 1907 differed little from the average; in Java the extreme yearly values were about 29 inches and 1963 inches (both in the eastern part), and at outlying stations about 21 inches to 1974 inches (both in Celebes). The results at more than 7oo stations in Java, including the observations at non-official stations, for the period 1879-1905, have recently been separately published by Dr. W. van Bemmelen. In addition to the above-mentioned publications, the observatory has issued the results of several valuable investigations relating to seismology, tides, &c., and has completed a magnetic survey of the whole archipelago. Papers have also been published bear- ing upon the moon's influence on meteorological and magnet’cal phenomena. RECENT PAPERS ON FISHES: REVIEW, by Mr. E. W. L.. Holt, of recent contri- butions to our knowledge of the life-history of the eel, forms the subiect of No. 8 of Irish Fisheries Scientific Investigations for 1907 (1909). After a survey of the development and migration of the species, the author is of opinion that the breeding-resort of the eels of northern Europe is in the deep water outside the 5o00-fathom line to the south-west of Ireland, where alone their lepto- cephali have been taken in abundance. It by no means follows from this that all north European eels which reach the sea succeed in arriving at the breeding-area, and possibly Finnish eels never breed at all. If this be so, it becomes a practical certainty that elvers—unlike salmon —do not return to the rivers from which their parents started, as, indeed, is improbable on other grounds, seeing that eels—unlike salmon—are hatched in the sea. In the second part of vol. xxxi. of Notes from the Leyden Museum, Prof. Max Weber, of Amsterdam, describes a large number of new species of fishes collected by the members of the Siboga Expedition in Austro-Malaya. A large proportion of these were taken in littoral or sub- littoral waters, but others were captured on coral-reefs or in deep water’ with nets. Many of the new forms are blennies and gobies, no fewer than seven new species of the type-genus (Gobio) of the latter group being described. The present preliminary notice is published on account of the interest attaching to these fishes from a distributional point of view. To vol. vii., part i., of Annotationes Zoologicae Japonenses, Mr. S. Tanaka contributes two papers on Japanese fishes, one dealing with those inhabiting rock- pools at Misaki, and including descriptions of two new species, while the second is devoted to cight new species from Japan generally, two of these being gobies and one a blenny. Finally, three new species of cisco, or lake-herrings, of the genus Argyrosomus from the great lakes of North America are described by Messrs. Jordan and Evermann in No. 1662 of the Proceedings of the U.S. National Museum (vol. xxxvi., pp. 165-172), where a note is appended on the species of white fish (Coregonus) inhabit- ing the same region. UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE. BirMinGuaM.—Sir E. Ray Lankester, K.C.B., has ‘re- signed his appointment as Huxley lecturer for the coming session, and Mr. W. Bateson, F.R.S., has accepted an invitation to fill the vacancy thereby caused. On July 7 the King is to perform the opening ceremony of the new buildings of the University. These buildings, which are situate in the south-west corner of Edgbaston, are about three miles from the centre of the town. They comprise the Great Hall, an imposing structure. about 160 feet in length, 80 feet in width, and 60 feet high; two separate blocks devoted to engineering in its various branches, civil, mechanical, and electrical; another block for mining and metallurgy, with additional buildings for \ versity, and the NO. 2064, VOL. 80] the manufacture and working of iron and steel; and a_ power-station for the generation of electrical power, which. is distributed to the different blocks for driving machinery and for lighting purposes. These sections have all been in working order for two or three years; and at the present time there are approaching completion two blocks. for the departments of physics and chemistry respectively, and a third structure which will serve the function of a central library. Rising high above all these is the Chamberlain Tower, with its clock and bells, measuring, from base to summit about 325 fect, the gift of a local donor as a tribute to the Chancellor of the University. CampripGE.—In connection with the Darwin centenary, it is proposed to confer the degree of Doctor of Science, honoris causa, upon:—E. van Beneden, professor of zoo-- logy in the University of Liége; Robert Chodat, professor of botany in the University of Geneva; Francis Darwin, F.R.S., of Christ’s College; Karl F. von Goebel, pro- fessor of botany in the University of Munich; L. von Graff, professor of zoology in the University of Gratz ;. H: Hétrding, professor of philosophy in the University of Copenhagen; J. Loeb, professor’ of physiology in the University of California, Berkeley ; E. Perrier, director of the Natural History Museum, Paris; G. A. Schwalbe, professor of anatomy in the -University of Strassburg ; H. von Véchting, professor of botany in the University of Tiibingen; H. de Vries, professor of botany in the Uni- versity of Amsterdam; C. D. Walcott, secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington; E. B. Wilson, pro- fessor of zoology in the Columbia University of New York 5 and C. R. Zeiller, professor of palaobotany in the Kcole- Nationale Supérieure des Mines, Paris. The special board for biology and geology has approved a grant of 25]. from the Balfour fund made by the managers to Mr. R. C. Punnett, in furtherance of his experiments to investigate the inheritance of certain. features in rabbits. ; The syndicate on alternatives for the general examina-- tion, after consultation with the special boards affected, recommends that the schedules for the first examination for the M.B. degree be adopted for the proposed pre- liminary examination in science, and that the examina- tions be conducted by the same examiners and on the same- papers. It is proposed to allow that the three subjects of the examination—chemistry, physics, and elementary biology—be taken separately, but all candidates must pass in each subject. Detailed regulations have been issued as regards the amendment of the ordinances which the various suggestions will involve. The new agricultural buildings are now well advanced, and it is hoped they will be ready for occupation by October. The amount of expenditure already incurred is 14,000l., and it is now necessary to obtain specifications | and estimates for furniture and fittings. It is estimated that these, together with the architect’s commission and! incidental expenses, will amount to 35001. At the present time the building fund amounts to 17,000l., and there is thus a balance of 30001. in hand. A further sum of 20001. has been promised as soon as 18,0001. has been subscribed. Strenuous efforts are therefore being made to obtain the roool. required to reach this amount. Lonpon.—Wednesday, May 12, was Presentation Day at the University. In the absence of the Chancellor (Lord’ Rosebery), the Vice-Chancellor (Sir Wm. Collins, M.P.) presided. Before the proceedings in the Great Hall com- menced, the first general parade of the University con- tingent of the Officers’ Training Corps, which mustered more than 4oo strong, was held in front of the University. Addresses were delivered by the Vice-Chancellor and by Sir Henry Mackinnon, Director-General of the 1 erritorial Force. The first report of the new principal, Dr. Hiae Miers, F.R.S., showed continued progress, the Hamas of matriculants having risen from 3277 in 1907-8 to, 3886 in 1908-9. A corresponding increase was also reported in the number of first degrees granted (from 1192 to 1336) and of higher degrees (from 64 to 78). In concluding his report, the principal directed attention to the great pro- gress which had been made in the organisation of higher education in London since the re-constitution of the Uni~ “ appalling deficiencies ’’ which still existed 358 NATURE [May 20, 1909 ‘in certain particulars. ‘‘ I found a university,’’ he said, “* housed in the half of a building which, though splendid, is entirely inadequate and bears another name, without any proper accommodation for its examinations, without ‘even sufficient room for its normal business or for the mectings of its Senate, councils, and committees; a uni- versity which sorely needs endowments and buildings for advanced teaching and research; which has no place that can become a centre for the intellectual and social life of the teachers and students belonging to its numerous schools; a university mainly dependent upon examination ‘fees for its existence, while compelled to consume one-half of these fees in the expenses of the examinations them- -selves.’? The presentees included 13 Doctors of Science and 26r Bachelors of Science. It is remarkable that the number of B.Sc.’s presented slightly exceeds the number ‘of B.A.’s (254). In addition, 86 B.Sc.’s in engineering Were presented. The new physiology institute at University College, ‘funds for the building of which were provided by the generosity of Mr. Ludwig Mond and Dr. Aders ‘Plimmer and by the bequest of the late Mr. T. Webb, will be opened on June 18 by Mr. Haldane, Secretary of State for War. Tue King has signed the warrant for granting a charter establishing the University of Bristol. Lorp Reay will open the new buildings of the Merchant Venturers’ Technical College, Bristol, on June 24. Mr. R. A. Cntsoim has been appointed Greville research student for research in connection with the subject of ‘cancer at Guy’s Hospital Medical School. Tue old Galway students of Prof. Senier have just pre- sented him with an address encased in a silver casket, expressing their pleasure at the recent action of the Royal University in conferring upon him the honorary degree of Doctor of Science in recognition of his services to science and to university education in Ireland. WE learn from Science that subscriptions to the C. W. Eliot fund have been received from about 2050 graduates of Harvard University and others, and amount at this ‘time to about 26,0001. The committee hoped that the fund would amount to more than 30,0001. by May 19, when President Eliot retired. The subscriptions have been placed in the hands of trustees, to invest and hold for the benefit of President and Mrs. Eliot. The fund will eventually pass to Harvard University. Tue Goldsmiths’ Company recently offered a gift of 50,0001. to the governors of the Imperial College of Science and Technology towards the cost of the proposed extension ‘of the engineering department of the college, and on May 14 the-offer was gratefully accepted by the governors. Writing to Lord Crewe, as chairman of the governors, Sir Walter Prideaux, on behalf of the Goldsmiths’ Com- pany, pointed out that the gift was irrespective of the ‘company’s support to the City and Guilds Institute, and that their subscriptions in the latter direction would not be curtailed. The letter reminded Lord Crewe that the whole of the engineering department of the Imperial ‘College is to be called ‘‘ The City and Guilds College.”’ The Goldsmiths’ Company has expressed the hope that the company will be given separate representation on the delegacy which it is proposed shall administer the entire department of engineering, and the governors of the college have promised that the wishes of the company shall receive immediate attention. The Goldsmiths’ Company will pay 10,0001. on the day whereon the contract for the work is signed, and the remainder by instalments spread over a period of not fewer than three years. In his annual address as president of the Royal Institu- tion of Cornwall, Dr. R. Pearce discussed the attempts made by the society to provide instruction for miners in the subjects connected with their occupation. One of the objects of the institution, founded in 1818, was to establish a mining school, the first of the kind in England. The results were at first unsatisfactory; but in 1859 the school was re-organised with the advice and assistance of Mr. NO. 2064, VOL. 80] R. Hunt, and at a later date by Sir C. Le Neve Foster. The result has been, not so much to improve the methods of Cornish mining, as to provide students qualified for work in other places. Out of 221 students at the Cam- borne School only forty-one are Cornishmen, the balance being made up from natives of other parts of the country and several foreigners. The school has supplied mining engineers for the colonies and foreign countries, and the president, summing up the results, remarks :—‘ We may, I think, congratulate ourselves on the fact that, although Cornwall is not deriving any very important benefit by the application of scientific instruction to its mining industry, our colonies and our colonial mining and metal- lurgical enterprises are being built up from material furnished from our Cornish mining schools.”’ SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. Lonpon. Royal Society, May 13.—Sir Archibald Geikie, K.C.B., president, in the chair.—Recent solar research; Dr. G. E. Hale.—Utilisation of energy stored in springs: A. Mallock, F.R.S. The ‘‘ dynamic worth ”’ of a substance is the work which can be elastically stored in it, divided by its mass. It may be expressed either as the square of the velocity which the stored work could impart to the mass, or, in gravity measure, as the height to which the stored work could raise the weight of the mass. The dynamic worth of india-rubber is more than ten times as great as for any other known substance, and for this reason india-rubber may be used with advantage in certain cases as a source of motive power. It is pointed out in the paper that if the potential energy in the strained material is to be efficiently converted into mechanical work, no frictional contact must occur while the strained material is returning to its original shape. Thus, if the strained material is in the form of a long cord wound on a reel (as the most convenient method of storage), the condition as to the absence of friction during contraction makes it necessary to develop the stored energy in cycles. In the first place, keeping the tension of the cord constant, a certain length must be unwound from the reel and the reel clamped. The cord also must be clamped in two places, first, near the place where it leaves the reel, and again at the extremity of the strained part, to some moving piece of the mechanism. If the’ part of the cord included between these points is then allowed to contract, the whole elastic work it contained is transferred to the machine. The above cycle may be repeated as long as any stretched cord remains on the reel. Any change of tension, however, in the process of unwinding involves loss of efficiency, due to the sliding of the cord on the reel or on the underlying coils, which must occur if the tension in the wound and unwound parts differs—A new kind of glow in vacuum tubes: Rev. H. V. Gill The experi- ments described in the paper were made with the object of investigating the nature and causes of a phenomenon observed by the writer when occupied with a_ research connected with palladium foil. A piece of palladium foil, or platinum foil coated with palladium black, is heated to a white heat in air at a pressure of about 0-15 mm. A purple-blue glow is seen to surround the hot metal. Between the glow and the palladium there is a dark space. The thickness of the dark space varies with the tempera- ture of the foil. The glow disappears when the tube is heated to a high temperature, and returns when it is cooled. It is shown that the presence of the glow depends on a reaction between the gases introduced into the tube when the palladium is heated and the disintegrated particles of palladium. Water vapour is required to be present in the tube, and the glow can be made to disappear by freezing out the vapour by means of a few drops of liquid air applied to the outside of the tube, or by intro- ducing some phosphorous pentoxide into the tube. The spectrum of the glow shows certain regions which corre- spond to portions of the spectrum of carbon monoxide gas. It is also shown that carbon monoxide is present in the tube which shows the slow. No effect was observed when electric and magnetic fields were applied to the glow. The probable cause of the luminosity is the luminous union May 20, 1909} sof carbon monoxide and oxygen brought about by palladium charged with hydrogen in the presence of water vapour. A second effect is also briefly described, which appears to be due to the causes which give rise to thermo- luminosity.—The elastic limits of iron and steel under eeyclical variations of stress: L. Bairstow. An explana- tion of the fatigue of materials due to the repetition of stresses of sufficiently great magnitude has been investi- gated experimentally, and found to agree completely with -experiments to destruction. The theory was proposed by Bauschinger in 1886, and states that fatigue occurs when the cycle of stress is so great that the extensions produced thereby are not wholly within the limits of elasticity of the material. For this to be true for the whole of ‘Wohler’s well-known experiments, the inferior and superior -elastic limits must be variable, but it must not be possible to vary one limit independently of the other. The experi- ments dealing with this question have been made in a specially constructed testing machine, the repetitions being, produced so slowly that the extensions of the specimen at the extreme loads in the cycle could be observed under the normal conditions of test. This new feature in experi- ments on fatigue has led to the discovery that iron and steel can be made to yield by the repeated application of. -a cycle of stress in which the maximum stress is consider- ably less than the static yield stress. Such yielding accompanies any change in the position of the elastic limits, the change being greater as the amount of the yielding is greater. The position of the elastic limits has been found for a number of ratios of maximum to mini- mum stress, and the relationship of the results to Wohler’s experiments shown. The well-known Gerber parabola is shown to be only a rough approximation—Functions of positive and negative type: J. Mercer. Geological Society, April 28.—Prof. W. J. So'las, F.R.S., president, and afterwards Prof. W. W. Watts, F.R.S., vice-president, in the chair.—The boulders of the Cam- bridge drift: R. H. Rastall and J. Romanes. For several years past a large number of boulders have been collected from the Glacial drifts of Cambridgeshire, and from the post-Glacial gravels which have been derived from the drifts. These specimens have been classified geographically, and then subjected to a careful petrological examination, with’ a view to the determination of their origin. Rocks of Scandinavian origin, and especially those of the Christiania province, are abundant throughout the whole area. Rocks from the Cheviots and central Scot- land are more abundant than was formerly believed, and ‘specimens have also been identified from the Old Red Sandstone conglomerates of Forfarshire and from Buchan Ness (Aberdeenshire). Lake District rocks probably also occur in small quantity. Much of the Chalk and flints appear to be of northern origin. It is concluded that an -older Boulder-clay, containing foreign erratics, the equiva- lent of the Cromer Till, once extended over the whole district, but was subsequently incorporated with the Great ‘Chalky Boulder-clay. The Scandinavian ice advanced from the direction of the Wash, bringing with it Red Chalk and bored Gryphzeas from the bed of the North Sea, and carrying them as far west as Bedford. Rocks from the north of the British Isles become progressively scarcer from west to east, and the distinctive types are absent to the east of Cambridge. They appear to have ‘been brought by an ice-stream coming from a_ northerly direction, which probably to a certain extent replaced the Scandinavian ice towards the east.—The nephrite and magnesian rocks of the South Island of New Zealand: A. M. Finlayson. The magnesian rocks described in this paper are a disconnected series of intrusive peridotites, forming a more or less defined belt along the western portion of the South Island, parallel to the trend of the island and to the structural and geographic axes of the main Alpine range. The course taken by these rocks apparently follows one of the main Pacific trend-lines, the nature of which will be more fully understood with the further elucidation of the structural geology of the region. The rocks are intrusive into sedimentary strata of ages varying from Ordovician to Jura-Trias, and, so far as «an yet be determined, all the exposures appear to be of ‘approximately contemporaneous origin. ‘NO. 2064, VOL. So] NATURE 359 Royal Anthropological Institute, May 4,—Mr. J. Gray, treasurer, in the chair.—Some stone circles in Ireland: A, L. Lewis. The author described several large circles in the neighbourhood of Lough Gur, co. Limerick. These differ from the British circles, being thick banks of earth faced on each side by large stones, but they are furnished with outlying single stones in a manner similar to that found at many of the circles in England and Scot- land; these outlying stones are apparently in the direction of the rising of some star at a very early date. One of the largest circles was “ restored’”’ shortly after 1860, and now consists of a wall, 150 feet in diameter and 5 feet high, of stones, backed outside by a bank of earth 30 feet wide, through which there is but one entrance, a passage 3 feet wide, lined with stones on each side; this entrance is in the direction of the rising sun in May. The author suggested that, assuming the restoration of this circle to be correct, it differed in construction from the others, and possibly also in its purpose, and that it might have been used as a pound for wild animals driven into it from out- side over the sloping bank, and kept inside to be killed as required. There were also circles of stones without earthen banks, remains of cromlechs or dolmens, locally called “‘ giants’ graves,’’ and many other interesting ruins belonging to various ages, and there was also the usual melancholy tale of monuments of all sorts destroyed. In another short note Mr. Lewis directed attention to some concentric circular markings, similar to those found at New Grange and other prehistoric places, faintly incised on a stone on the Rock of Cashel, on which the early kings of Munster were said to have been crowned, and which now serves as a pedestal for a very ancient cross. Linnean Society, May 6.—Dr. D. H. Scott, F.R.S., 7 resi- dent, in the chair.—Some Zoanthex from Queensland and the New Hebrides: Mrs. L. J. Wilsmore.—Two new genera of Thysanoptera from Venezuela: R. S. Bagnall. Mathematical Society, May 13.—Sir W. D. Niven, president, in the chair.—Ternary quadratic types: H. W. Turnbull.—Gauss’s theorem, and on the semi-convergence of certain force integrals in the theory of attractions: Dr. J. G. Leathem.—The continuity or discontinuity of a function defined by an infinite product: J. E. Littlewood. MANCHESTER. Literary and Philosophical Society, April 20.—Puof. H. B. Dixon, F.R.S., president, and later Mr. F. Jones, in the chair.—The Guatemalan earthquakes and eruption of 1902: W. S. Ascoli. The earthquake occurred on April 18, 1902, at about 8.25 p.m., the intensity being greatest in western Guatemala, where the second and richest city of the country, Quezaltenango, was completely destroyed. Many other places suffered greatly, and about 1400 of the 20,000 people living in the disturbed region lost their lives. Six months later, on October 24, 1902, there followed the eruption of the neighbouring volcano, Santa Maria, the ash of which covered an area of more than 125,000 square miles. The region, over which nearly 8 inches of ashes and pumice-stone fell, extended to about 2000 square miles, and within it most of the houses and farm buildings fell in under the weight of the ejectamenta, and in some places were totally destroyed. It is estimated that 6000 persons were killed. The cloud from the volcano was eighteen miles in height, and the detonation was audible at Costa Rica, 500 miles away. The whole of the side of the moun- tain was blown out, exposing a perpendicular cliff 7ooo feet high, and forming a crater seven-eighths of a mile long, threc-quarters of a mile wide, and 1500 feet deep. Apical pigment-spots in the pluteus of Echinus miliarts : F. H. Gravely. In advanced living plutei of Echinus miliaris from the plankton of Port Erin Bay there are present in close association with the apical plate two pairs of pigment-spots, and one pair of tufts of stiff cilia. The anterior pair of pigment-spots is small, and of a transparent red colour. The posterior pair are smaller, and of an opaque yellow. They are situated in the general cavity, closely applied to the inner surface of the apical plate, and are probably composed of the same substance as that of similar cells described by MacBride as being found in other parts of the body—especially in large masses beneath 360 NATURE [May 20, 1909 the four cpaulettes—of the pluteus of Echinus esculentus. This substance oceurs, with a similar distribution, in the pluteus of E. miliaris. CarE Town. Royal Society of South A:rica, March 17.—Dr. Wm. Flint in the chair.—The spectrum of the ruby: J. Moir. On placing a ruby before the slit of a spectroscope, using strong illumination, preferably sunlight, a very remarkable absorption spectrum is obtained, which differs from all others in resembling an ordinary emission spectrum. The light is cut off except for a sharp narrow red band situated just beyond the B line of the solar spectrum, and _ this band bears the closest resemblance to the potassium or lithium line as commonly seen in the Bunsen flame when a rather wide slit is used. The limiting wave-lengths of the band are about 6915 and 6945 tenthmetres. Its width is therefore about half its distance from the B line in the solar spectrum. The phenomenon is most easily seen in pale rubies; corundum with even the faintest pink shade generally shows the characteristic line; but even the darkest true rubies show it if the illumination be strong enough. No other pink or red stone—pyrope, almandine, spinel, or tourmaline, for example—shows this line, which would therefore appear to be characteristic of the colour- ing of the true ruby. In addition to the red line the spectrum contains wide green and orange bands, which are, however, not characteristic.—Remarks on some ex- periments with the venom of South African snakes: W. Frei. The author contends that, from a toxicological point of view, the classification of the snakes in (1) Oglypha, (2) Opistoglypha, (3) Proteroglypha, (4) Solenoglypha, is the most. satisfactory.—An upper limit for the value of a determinant. Note on a theorem regarding a sum of differential coefficients of principal minors of a Jacobian : Dr. T. Muir.—Note on a Ccenurus of the Duiker bok : L. H. Gough. The parasite was found imbedded in the muscles between the scapula and the vertebral column of a Duiker Bok (Cephalophus Grimmi).—The evolution of the river system of Griqualand West: A. L. Du_ Toit. The drainage system in the area dealt with consists of the Orange River with its tributaries, the Vaal, Harts, Riet, and Brak rivers, sections of the first three forming the continuous valley facing the edge of the Kaap Plateau from Vryburg almost to Prieska. DIARY OF SOCIETIES. THURSDAY, Mxvy 20. Roya Society, at 4.30.—Observations on the Urine in Chronic Disease of the Pancreas: Dr. P. J. Cammidge.—7rspanosoma ingens, 0.Sp.? Colonel Sir David Bruce, C.B., F.R.S., and Captains A. Hamerton, H. R. Bateman and F., P. Mackie.—The Incidence of Cancer.in Mice of Known Age: Drs. E. F, Rashford and J. A. Murray.—A Method of Investigating the Total Volume of Blood contained in the Living Body: Drs. J. O. Wakelin Barratt and W. Yorke, Roya InstiruTIon. at 3.—Newfoundland: J. G. Millais. INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at’ 8.—Annual Meeting.—Some Tests and Uses of Condensers: W. M. Mordev. INSTITUTION OF MINING AND METALLURGY, at.8.-—Notes on the Zangezour Copper Mines: A. J.. Simon.—The Determination of Tungstic Acid in Low-grade Wolfram Ores: H. W. Hutchinand F. J. Tonks. —Cupellation Experiments: the Thermal Properties of Cupels: C. O. Bannister and W.N. Stanley.—The Bessemerising of Hardhead : Donald M. Levy and D. Ewen.—The Use of Standards in Reading Gold Pannings: Stephen J. Lett.—Notes on the Scaling and Sweating of Copper Battery Plates : General Sydney F. Goddard. FRIDAY, May 21. Roya InsTITUTION, at 9.—Afforestation: Hon. Ivor C. Guest, M.P. SATURDAY, May 22. Rovat INSTITUTION, at 3.—The Secret Societies of the Banks’ Islands: Dr. W. H. R. Rivers, F.R.S. MONDAY, May 24. LINNEAN Society, at 3.—Anniversary Meeting Royat GEOGRAPHICAL SociETY, at 3.—Anniversary Meeting. TUESDAY, May 25. Roya InstTiruTIon, at 3.—The Hittites : (2) Recent Discoveries in Asia Minor and Northern Syria: Prof. John Garstang. ZooLocicaL Society, at 8.30.—Description of a New Species of the Genus Alpheus, Fabr., from the Bay of Batavia: Dr. J. G. De Man.—On the Skull of a Black Bear from Eastern Tibet, with a Note on the Formosan Bear: R. Lydekker.—The Anatomy of the Olfactory Organ of Teleostean Fishes : R. H. Burne. WEDNESDAY, May 26. GEOLOGICAL Society, at 8.—The Cauldron Subsidence of Glencoe, and the Associated Igneous Phenomena: C. T. Clough, H.:B. Muff, and E. B. Bailey —The Pitting of Flint Surfaces : C. Carus-Wilson. NO. 2064, VOL. So] Roya Society or Arts, at 8.—The Manufacture of Nitrates from the Atmosphere by the Electric Arc: S. Eyde. BritisH ASTRONOMICAL ASSOCIATION, at 5.—Chinese Astronomy : Knobel. THURSDAY, May 27. Royat Society, at 4.30.—Probable Papers: Notes concerning Tidal Oscil- lations upon a Rotating Globe: Lord Rayleigh, O.M., &.R.S.—The Absolute Value of the Mechanical Equivalent of Heat in Terms of the International Electrical Units: Prof. H. T. Barnes.—An Approximate Determination of the Boiling Points of Metals: H. C. Greenwood.—Some Results in the Theory of Elimination: A. L. Dixon.—The Liquidus Curves of the Ternary System, Aluminium-Copper-lin: J. H. Andrew and C. A. Edwards. Royat InsTiTuTION, at 3.— Newfoundland : J. G. Millais. INSTITUTION OF Mininc ENGINEERS, at 11.—Presidential address: Dr. R. T. Moore.—Electricity in Coal-mines: R. Nelson.—Comparison between the Value of Surplus Gas from Regenerator Bye-product Coke- ovens and Steam produced by the Waste Heat from Bye-product Coke- ovens, with Special Reference to the Evence Coppée new Bye-product Ovens: M. H. Mills. FRIDAY, May 28. Royat InstituTion, at 9.—Advances in our Knowledge of Silicon as an Organic Element: Dr. J. Emerson Reynolds, F.R.S InsTITUTION OF MINING ENGINEERS, at 10.30.—The Use of Concrete for Mine Support: Prof. W. R. Crane.—Mining in British Columbia: Mrs. Rosalind Young. E. B. SATURDAY, May 29. Roya InstiTuTIoN, at 3.—The Secret Societies of the Banks’ Islands = Dr. W. H. R. Rivers, F.R.S. CONTENTS. PAGE. The University Teaching of Chemistry. By Prof. Arthur Smithells, F.R.S. . 2... 2. aa 6.0 332 The Flowering Plants of Africa. By Dr. Otto Stapf, RS cues ss Sigfell +. obestew op et Bocas in lta Lets PS See Social Beycholosys By Rev. A. E. Crawley. .. . 334 he sRiddlevof \OldvAige. “By (Rim Hie e-em oes The Songs of Birds. By W.W.F.... 336: Our Book Shelf :— Jordan and Kellogg: ‘‘The Scientific Aspects of Euther Burbankis! Work?) Sesiegemcntes entero Hatch: ‘*Text-book of Petrology, containing a Summary of the Modern Theories of Petrogenesis, a Description of the Rock-forming Minerals, and a Synopsis of the Chief Types of the Igneous Rocks and their Distribution, as illustrated by the British isles]. WHE. eee yeou(e 337 Hampson : ‘‘ Catalogue of the Lepi done rSteiksee inthe: British: Museum)s4n-9 eens) a) eee oe Starke: ‘* Physikalische Mansitienres at H. B. 338: Letters to the Editor :— Electrons and the Absorption of Light.—R. A. Houstoun : 33 Dimensional Changes predteeh in fren Ane Steel Bars by Magnetism.—W. J. Crawford 339: ** Blowing” Wells.—Sydney H. Long . te. 3308 The Uses and Dates of Ancient Temples. By Sir Norman Lockyer K.C.Bi) BoR.S.6 =.) oeMnngdo Recent Studies on Animal and Plant Life. (///us- Ciattcth)) sae es S| ocd ghee oe meneL he 344. Reform at Cambridte . Aer Se Conc hyet eee 345 The Royal Society’s Conversazione . Sfotaeie ec ie) SAE INotes: .).. Geto (OR. ch tolicwanon syle Our Astronomical elamn: — Mars 353 Jupiters . 7%. - a3 353. The Upper aye ers tor the Solar JNeaorenecs 354 Spectra of some Spiral Nebulze and Globular Star Clusters .-., . by toe 354 The International Canchenion for Sceange Aéro- nautics . c RUNS hide increas urn wal gh Sy! Problems of Aprcaintre | Ate Bute baler BO Meteorology of the Dutch East Tagicet 356: Recent Papers on Fishes. . . : es ie University and Educational Intelligence . Ch sees 357 Societies)and)Academies’ 3 5. 0s) +> 6) cee eee DiaryyoteSocieties.s).. . leach ch ceca cee eS Oe NEA IMCD Je 361 THURSDAY, MAY 275 (1) A Student’s Text-book of Zoology. By Prof. Adam Sedgwick, F.R.S. Vol. iii. The Introduction to Arthropoda, the Crustacea, and Xiphosura. By J. J. Lister, F.R.S. The Insecta and Arachnida. By Dr. A. E. Shipley, F.R.S. Pp. xiitgo6. (London : Swan Sonnenschein and Co., Ltd., 1909.) Price 24s. (2) A Treatise on Zoology. Edited by Sir Ray Lankester, K.C.B., F.R.S. Part vii. Appendicu- lata. Third Fascicle, Crustacea. By Dr. W. T. Calman. Pp. viiit346. (London: A. and C. Black, 1909.) Price 15s. net. HESE two ample volumes suggest that a compre- hensive text-book on the whole animal kingdom can no more be written by a single zoologist. The advanced student needs an encyclopedic work in which several naturalists with wide general and deep special knowledge have united their labours. The great ‘‘ Treatise ’’ which is slowly taking shape under the editorship of Sir Ray Lankester has been planned from the outset on these lines, and Dr. Calman’s volume is worthy of the best of its predecessors. Prof. Sedgwick now issues the third volume of his text- book, eleven years after the appearance of the first, and he tells us in his preface that, but for the help of his colleagues, Messrs. Lister and Shipley, this present volume would still be far from completion. (1) When Prof. Sedgwick’s second volume was re- viewed in Nature (November, 1905), the arrangement by which the Chordata were placed in the middle of the series, and the Arthropoda widely separated from the Annelida, was naturally criticised. The author, in his preface, now briefly replies to this criticism, point- ing out that he followed ‘“‘the clue given by the ccelom,’’ and postponed the section on the Arthropoda until after that on the ‘‘ enteroccelic’’ phyla. In de- fending this separation of the Arthropoda from the Annelida Prof, Sedgwick differs from Sir Ray Lan- kester, who adopts a single phylum—the ‘‘ Appendi- culata ’’—to include Arthropoda, Annelida, and Roti- fera. Prof. Sedgwick is fully justified in regarding the Arthropoda as an independent phylum, as they “* differ so fundamentally from the Annelida in their ceelomic arrangements,’’ but in separating the two groups so widely in his system he surely puts too great a strain on the fascinating coelomic theory. To the volume before us Prof. Sedgwick himself contributes the chapters on the Tunicata, Entero- pneusta, Echinodermata, Onychophora, and Myria- poda. His account of the Tunicata, which occupies sixty-five pages, is a masterly summary of the complex details of structure and life-history which characterise that interesting and puzzling class. The author's scepticism as to many current morphological ideas is shown by his remark that the ascidian subneural gland is ‘‘in its origin actually a part of the embryonic brain which the pituitary body never is.” Nearly fifty pages are devoted to the Enteropneusta, a testi- mony to the great advances lately made in our know- ledge of the group and to its zoological importance. NO. 2065, VOL. 80] While upholding the vertebrate affinities of the Enteropneusta, Prof. Sedgwick insists that several fundamental features clearly indicate relationship to the Echinodermata, and his account of that great phylum, occupying nearly 200 pages, comes next in the volume. His discussion on the relationship between echinoderms and chordates is especially valuable and suggestive. Besides the well-known cor- respondences in the coelomic spaces, the central nervous system, and the mesodermal limy skeleton, and the likeness of the tornaria to the echinoderm type of larva, attention is directed to the left-hand position of the mouth, both in the developing echinoderm and in the larval Amphioxus. This character is considered of the greater importance because no adaptational ex- planation of it, at least in the latter instance, is forth- coming. Incidentally, the author discusses the Dipleurula theory as elaborated by Bather, and gives reasons for doubting the existence of bilateral sym- metry among the ancestors of echinoderms, though he has no other explanation of the free-swimming larve to offer. He further differs from most special. students of the Echinodermata in his rejection of. the. association of the Crinoidea with the Palaeozoic Blas- toidea and Cystidea in a sub-phylum Pelmatozoa, hold- ing our knowledge of the structure of the two latter. classes to be too incomplete for any certain estimation of their affinities, while ‘‘ Holothurians stand further from Asteroids and Echinoids than do the Crinoids.” The value of the chapter on echinoderms is much enhanced by a remarkably well-chosen series of illus- trations, including some hitherto unpublished drawings by Prof. E. W. MacBride. The remainder of the volume (about 550 pages) is devoted to the Arthropoda. Mr. J. J. Lister con- tributes a short but admirable introduction. on the, phylum as a whole. On the disputed question of the segmentation of the crustacean and insectan head, Mr. Lister follows in the main the views of Hansen and Folsom, accepting the maxillulz of the Apterygota as true appendages; but he ranges the arachnidan chelicerze with the insectan feelers, and thus makes the whole cephalothorax of a scorpion equivalent to the head of acockroach. There is a remarkably good account of arthropodan eyes and vision. (2) Mr. Lister has also written the chapter on the Crustacea, which occupies some 200 pages, and this section can be appropriately compared with Dr. Calman’s volume of Lankester’s ‘‘ Treatise.” In the, former work the Trilobita are included among the Crustacea, while in the latter they are relegated to. the Arachnida. Both writers agree that this ancient’ group of arthropods has affinities with the Arachnida : and with the typical Crustacea, but, in view of their feelers and biramous limbs, their actual inclusion ‘among the Arachnida can hardly be defended. In‘ the classification of the Crustacea Mr. Lister is con- servative, preserving the Entomostraca as a subclass, and holding to the long-recognised and familiar orders. Dr. Calman, on the other hand, rejects the Entomo-. straca as a natural group, and raises the Copepoda, Ostracoda, Cirripedia, &c., to the rank (oni, sub- classes,’’ dividing each into two or more “ orders.” | Oo 362 NATURE {May 27, 1909 In this matter Mr. Lister’s caution may, perhaps, be commended. In his arrangement of the Mala- costraca, Dr. Calman adheres to his published views, in agreement with Boas and Hansen, splitting up the old order Schizopoda, so that the Mysidacea, with their reduced carapace, developed brood-pouches, and elongate tubular heart, are grouped with the Cumacea, Isopoda, Amphipoda, &c., in a division Peracarida, while the Euphausiacea are associated with the Decapoda to form the division Eucarida, charac- terised by an extensive carapace, a condensed heart, and the absence of brood-pouches. Mr. Lister, on the other hand, retains the order Schizopoda in its familiar signification. Here he clings to a position that must ultimately be abandoned, and he has little, except the opinion of Claus, to offer in its defence. As might have been expected by those who have followed his excellent work, Dr. Calman’s volume is especially strong in the morphological and systematic aspects of carcinology, while Mr. Lister deals more fully with development and bionomics. For example, we find in the latter author’s chapter a summary of Keeble and Gamble’s recent important work on colour- changes in the Decapoda, which has no place in Dr. Calman’s volume. In both accounts of the Crustacea due regard is given to paleontology, and Mr. Lister appreciates no less than Dr. Calman the great im- portance of the Tasmanian Anaspides and its Palao- zoic allies. By a judicious use of the two works, no student can fail to gain an admirable introduction to the study of the Crustacea. Prof. Sedgwick has himself written the chapters on the Onychophora and the Myriapoda included in his volume. His epoch-making work on the struc- ture and development of the Cape species of the former class might have prepared us for the excellence of his descriptions. In spite of Goodrich and Lankes- ter’s recent teaching on ccelomoducts, he still calls the peripatid excretory tubes ‘ nephridia,” a piece of conservatism in which he may find support from some zoologists; but it is hard to understand his rejection of the generic distinctions in the group, introduced by Pocock, and supported and extended by Bouvier, Dendy, and other recent workers. Except for Evans’s Eoperipatus, he refuses to use the terms of these authors even in a subgeneric sense, needlessly coin- ing a series of uncouth zoogeographical compounds such as ‘‘ Chilio-peripatus,”’ ‘ Congo-peripatus,’’ and “ Capo-peripatus.”’ The unattractive yet interesting groups of Arthro- poda known as ‘ Myriapods ’”’ are dismissed in thirty pages. It is a matter for regret that the unnatural “Class Myriapoda ’’ is retained, and in the discussion wherein the author defends this arrangement he does not even mention the natural solution of the difficulty —to treat the Chilopoda, Symphyla, and Diplopoda as independent classes—though he rightly insists on the insectan affinities of the Symphyla. Mr. A. E. Shipley contributes a good chapter on the Insecta to Prof. Sedgwick’s volume, giving a trust- worthy account of the main structural features, and a clear, if brief, introduction to insect embryology, though the general discussion of metamorphosis is dis- NO. 2065, VOL. 80] appointingly curtailed. The denial of evidence for pre- Carboniferous insects ignores the ephemeroid and other remains described by Scudder from the American Devonian. Mr. Shipley’s classification of insects is modified from Sharp’s recent scheme; its only serious fault is the presence of the unnatural group ‘* Ana- pterygota,’’ including the Mallophaga, Anoplura, and Siphonaptera. In the account of the Apterygota, the two very remarkable genera, Anajapyx and Acerento- mon (the latter regarded as the type of a new order), recently described by Silvestri, and the systematic work ‘of Bérner on the Collembola, should not have been neglected. In the description of the Lepidoptera, attention should have been directed to the importance of larval and pupal stages in the classification of the order, as pointed out by Chapman and others; from the statement on p. 710 it might be inferred that no lepidopterous pupa emerges partially from its cocoon. The last chapter of the volume, occupying 90 pages, is devoted to the Arachnida. For this also, except a section on the Xiphosura by Mr. Lister, we are in- debted to Mr. Shipley. The Pycnogonida, which: appear as a subclass of the Arachnida, are too briefly dismissed; no reference is given to the works of Sars, ; Meinert, and Cole, nor is there any allusion to the’ puzzling ten-legged Antarctic genera; but the account of the Xiphosura and Eurypterida is especially good. The scorpions, spiders, and mites are excellently de- scribed, while the fairly full accounts of the Phalan- gidea and Palpigradi are welcome. The Tardigrada and Pentastomida appear as ‘‘ appendices ’’ to the Arachnida. It is easy in reviewing such volumes to point out omissions, if not errors, and to suggest how this or that feature might be better otherwise. But the lead- ing thought with which one lays them down is of gratitude to the authors for the labour expended on them and on the other volumes of the series to which they belong. With the yearly increasing output of re- search, the trustworthy text-book becomes more than ever necessary, and the modern English student is fortunate with sets of ‘‘ Lankester ’’ and ‘* Sedgwick ”’ on his shelves. G. H. Carpenter. THE FLORA OF THE PRESIDENCY OF BOMBAY. The Flora of the Presidency of Bombay. Theodore Cooke. Vol. ii., parts ii. to v. Taylor and Francis, 1907-8.) HE appearance of the last part of the second volume of the above completes the first instal- ment of the series of local floras projected to carry on the task of which ‘‘ The Flora of British India,”’ by Sir Joseph Hooker, aided by other eminent botanists, forms the foundation. The object of these “local” (or, as they might well be styled, provincial) floras is to amplify and, where necessary, to revise for a particular area the taxonomic information set out in the more general publication, and the present volume, judged in this light, must be held to have attained a high standard both in fulness and pre- cision. The descriptions, although answering the severest By Dr. (London : May 27, 1909] NATURE 363 —— = technical requirements, are sufficient to guide even a beginner, and this is attained, among other means, by the inclusion of the whole account in a single paragraph, in place of the old plan of subjoining to an often curt diagnosis, sometimes barely intelli- gible without special study of the family or genus, a more or less loosely constructed note, usually in small print, on sundry features of the species, which might or might not, as things fall out, fulfil the end of a detailed description. Another commendable feature of the work is pre- sented in the analytical keys that are prefixed to the larger or more difficult genera. There is nothing easier, in a way, for a systematic writer than to make such a key on paper, and the more easily it has been made the more likely is it to be found in practice unworkable, or worse than useless; but the keys in this instance have been manifestly framed with some regard to the natural groupings of the species, and are clearly the result of personal and accurate examination of the material. As_ illustra- tions we may mention the synopsis at pp. 98-9 of the Bombay species of Diospyros, of Cordia (p. 199), Strobilanthes (pp. 365-6), and of the often almost hopeless genera of grasses (in the stricter sense). For the last-named very important family—the despair almost of taxonomists—Dr. Cooke has followed rather closely the arrangement made by Dr. Otto Stapf in the ‘‘ Flora Capensis,’? which is that most generally now adopted, and, whatever may be thought. of this as a comprehensive scheme for this difficult family, it must be admitted that Dr. Cooke’s treatment of such genera as Panicum and Eragrostis, to say nought of Andropogon, has been fitted to it in a very workmanlike and skilful manner, without sacrificing detailed observations of the actual structure of the species, that are palpably the fruit of indefatigable work with the lens, by the author. A like scrupulous accuracy pervades the nomen- elature throughout the volume, though in some cases whole-hearted disciples of the Vienna Congress will miss sundry emendations that have doubtless been avoided purposely, for reasons analogous to those that have dictated, in the preparation of these Indian and colonial floras, adherence to the ‘‘ Genera Plan- tarum’’ of Bentham and Hooker, as against the more recent work of Engler and Prantl. In the case of compendia founded, as the present is expressly, on the ‘‘ Flora of British India,”’ this is practically unavoid- able, but in the analysis of families, and in some minuter matters, Dr. Cooke has shown, if anything, a shade too much deference to those monumental authorities. Take, for example, the arrangement of the tribes and subtribes in Composite (pp. 1-6). Assuming that Astereze can be kept up as a tribe apart from Inulez, and that both should continue, even in a linear arrangement, to stand far apart from Senecionidew through the intercalation of Heliantho- ideze, Helenoidez, and Anthemidez, surely it is time to revise the subtribes of Asterez. No doubt the solitary representative of the genus Erigeron found in Dr. Cooke’s area, if it should be kept as an Erigeron at all, conforms to the defini- NO. 2065, VOL. So] tion of the subtribe ‘‘ Heterochromee’’ by G. Bentham; but discoveries by the Abbé Delavay, by Wilson, and others in the Indo-Chinese region have that there are true Asters, and perhaps members of the allied genus Erigeron, that have the disk florets of the same bluish tint as the ligules, though of deeper intensity. In the ‘‘ Genera Plan- tarum’”’ it was-admitted that in several genera all the florets are yellow, but now that the converse exception is known to affect the type-genus of the tribe, the division into Heterochromez and Homo- chromeze seems to call for reconsideration. A minor case suggests itself at pp. 1030-31, where the careful work of Jaubert and Spach on the actual forms of Melanocenchris has been swamped for the sake of resuscitating Koenig’s practically barren title for the genus (Gracilea). This, of course, is a debat- able example, but the same can hardly be said for the citation of Linnzeus at p. 479 for the genus Boer- haavia, which Linné himself was most careful to attribute to its real author, Vaillant. In restoring B. diffusa, Linn., to the rank of a variety, Sir Joseph Hooker had, in fact, given the clue, because one or other of the two forms put under B. repens in the ‘““ Species Plantarum ”’ was the type of Vaillant’s genus. Whether either of those be identical with the B. diffusa of Linné can be decided only by inspection of the authentic types collected in Abyssinia by Lippi. Dr. Cooke’s ‘‘ Flora’? was commenced in 1g00, and the first part appeared in July, 1901. On May 1, 1902, the Bombay herbarium at the Poona College of Science was destroyed by fire, and he has since had to depend largely on his own collections and those of Woodrow to supplement the classical material at Kew. He has examined and described 2502 indigenous species, and dealt with more than 500 introduced or cultivated plants known to the Presidency, distributed among 1029 genera and 148 families, embracing types of widely divergent affini- ties, and belonging to such diverse phytogeographical regions as the Oriental, East African, and Indo- Malayan. It is no mean achievement in itself to have completed such a task successfully. The final part is accompanied by a carefully prepared index to the book as a whole, and this is in two parts, the vernacular names being indexed by themselves, which, for most purposes, is the most convenient arrange- ment. THE TEACHING OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY. (1) The Elements of Physical Chemistry. By Prof. J. Livingston R. Morgan. Fourth edition, revised and enlarged. Pp. xivt+539. (New York: John Wiley and Sons; London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1908.) Price 12s. 6d. net. (2) Outlines of Physical Chemistry. shown By Dr. George Senter. Pp. xviit+369. (London: Methuen and Coz, nid5)) /Pricerss.. Gd: (1) HE fact that the former of the above-mentioned text-books has, in the space of a single decade, passed into its fourth edition, is sufficient evidence that the work has met with a large share of approval, and has shown it to be adapted to the requirements 364 NATURE of a large number of students of physical chemistry. Within the limits which the author has _ allowed himself, a very large amount of experimental work has been collected and discussed, and in this connec- tion even the most recent worl: has received attention. In the initial chapters, however, dealing with the physical properties of substances, the author has been somewhat niggardly, and one is struck by a want of balance. Thus, whereas twenty pages have been allotted to the discussion of surface tension and the molecular weight in the liquid state, together with an excellent account of the author’s drop method, barely a page has been devoted to refraction of light, and no mention at all is made of the rotation of the plane of polarised light. It must be confessed, also, that at times the condensation of language makes the reading of the book somewhat of a strain, and is productive of want of lucidity; so that the book, in parts, assumes the character of lecture notes rather than that of a self-explanatory text-book. In many cases, however, the author has been successful in minimising this evil by the insertion of tables of experimental results, and by the working out of numerical examples. This last feature of the book is indeed one to be greatly commended. No one can obtain a useful grip of physical chemistry without the study and actual working out of numerical problems. The collection of such problems inserted at the end of the book will therefore be of great value, both to the teacher and to the student. The author has not been afraid to employ the methods of the calculus or to introduce the student at an early point to the study of thermodynamics. We can only wish that such a method might be adopted with some prospect of success in this country. During the period which has elapsed since the appearance of the first edition, change has taken place in the attitude of mind of the author. Before the appearance of the third edition, the author states that he had come under the influence of Ostwald’s ‘‘ Natur- philosophie,’’ and as a result he sets before himself the aim ‘to distinguish sharply between hypothesis and fact, avoiding the former as far as is possible.” Now, it cannot be denied that among students of science too little attention is usually paid to the philosophical side of the subject, so that the true meaning of a law, an hypothesis, and a theory is insufficiently appreciated, leading as a result to the confusion of hypotheses and theory with fact. Still, it cannot be said that the cure for this is to discard hypotheses altogether. Hypotheses are most valuable for the development of a science, so long as they are recognised as such, and are kept in their place. But the author himself is apparently none too sure of his ground here. It is, of course, perfectly competent for him, if he thinks it good, to eliminate hypotheses and theories, and to confine himself to what is experi- mentally determinable, and to generalisations of such observed facts, but when he states (p. 187): ‘‘ By the word theory, then, we do not. mean a hypothesis in which something not observed is added to the facts to ‘explain’ them, but only a generalisation of ob- NO. 2065, VOL. 8o| \ [May 27, 1999 served facts,’’ surely he is taking undue liberties with language which can be productive only of confusion. Such a standpoint is to be regretted, for it greatly reduces the value of a book which has otherwise very much to recommend it. (2) The second of the two books mentioned above can be heartily welcomed. It is put forward by the author as ‘‘an elementary introduction to physical chemistry,’? and as such the reviewer believes that it will, on the whole, be found very satisfactory. It cannot, and does not pretend to, treat in detail the whole subject of physical chemistry, but it does attempt, and this successfully, to introduce the student to the more important parts of the subject, special stress being laid on the modern theory of solutions,: the principles of chemical equilibrium, electrical con- ductivity, and electromotive force. The order in which the author treats his ibiecee is as follows:—Fundamental principles of chemistry ; the atomic theory; gases; liquid solutions; dilute solutions; thermochemistry ; equilibrium in homogen- eous systems; law of mass action; heterogeneous equi- librium; the phase rule; velocity of reaction; cata- lysis; electrical conductivity; equilibrium in electro- lytes; strength of acids and bases; hydrolysis; theories of solution; electromotive force. In the above treatment the author intentionally devotes comparatively little space to the discussion of physical properties and their relation to chemical con- stitution. In this, doubtless, he was wise; and yet one cannot help feeling that the addition of twenty, or even of ten, pages devoted to experimental results would not have greatly added to the bull of the volume, and would certainly have been of great value in giving the student some idea of the utility of physical methods for the elucidation of chemical con- stitution. In connection with the subject of dilute solutions, the treatment is not altogether satisfactory, insuffi- cient emphasis being laid on the probability that solutions are essentially different from gases. Some indication might have been given that there is not only an experimental, but also a theoretical reason for substituting the mass of the solvent for the volume of the solution in the general osmotic equa- tion; also the unsatisfactory character of the kinetie explanation of the mechanism of osmotic pressure should have been pointed out. Further, rather more definite guidance might have been given to ‘the student than merely to say, ‘‘ other views are that it (i.e. osmotic pressure) is connected with attraction between solvent and solute, or perhaps with surface tension effects,’’ especially as the reviewer has pointed out that the surface-tension theory is untenable. It is true that the author inserts, as a saving clause, the sentence ‘‘ It may be pointed out that the equivalence of osmotic pressure and gas pressure in great dilution is no evidence that they arise from the same cause,’’ but the student will still probably continue to believe that the kinetic explanation is the best one. The discussion of electrical conductivity and of electromotive force, two very important subjects, is very well done. May 27, 1909] NATURE 365 The book is wonderfully free from misprints, at least of a serious character, and on the whole the book is one which can be highly recommended to all students who wish to obtain a first acquaintance with the subject of physical chemistry. In language it is clear and well-expressed, and the practical illustrations which are appended to most of the chapters will be found very useful for laboratory work. The cost of the book, also, is extraordinarily low. A grave emission on the part of the publishers is the date of publication on the title-page. AEs ‘ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING. (1) Transformers, for Single and Multiphase Currents. A Treatise on their Theory, Construction, and Use. By Prof. Gisbert Kapp. Second, revised and en- larged edition. Pp. ix+363. (London; Whittaker and Co., 1908.) Price tos. 6d. net. 2) Electrical Engineer’s Pocket Book. A Hand- book of Useful Data for Electricians and Electrical Engineers. By Horatio A. Foster, with the Colla- boration of Eminent Specialists. Fifth edition, completely revised and enlarged. Pp. xxxvi+1599. (London: A. Constable and Co,, Ltd., 1908.) Price 21s. net. (1) NEW edition of Prof. Kapp’s well-known book on transformers is bound to be in- teresting to all electrical engineers. Moreover, when the new edition is so much enlarged as to become practically a new book, the publication is of still greater importance. The first two chapters are introductory in char- acter, and deal respectively with general principles and with the losses in transformers. We cannot but feel some regret that the constants for hysteresis loss are not given in the form KxB'’*. This form gives practically the same result as the B‘* formula if a suitable value of IX is chosen (as Prof. Kapp states on p. 17), and the calculation of the loss if the index is 15 can be much more readily made. The second chapter includes some valuable results of tests on the newer alloyed irons. One of the best of the new chapters is chapter iii., where the subject of heating of transformers is dealt with very completely. The method of estimating temperature rise graphically for intermittent loads by combining the heating and cooling curves is very clearly given. Chapter v. is a very interesting one, dealing with the much neglected subject of the design of choking coils; the method of determining the neces- sary volume of the air-gap to give a certain amount of wattless current is both novel and useful. In chapter vi. the design of the core of a trans- former is considered, and a good deal of space is devoted to the discussion of the distribution of losses in a transformer. Some exception must be taken to the statement on p. 123 :— “The law of equal losses gives the maximum _efficiency of a transformer which is the right size for the load. Arnold’s law?! gives it for a trans- former which is slightly too large for the load.” 1 Copper loss =0'8 hysteresis loss teddy current loss. NO. 2065, VOL. 80] Arnold’s law and the law of equal loss are ob- tained on totally different premises, and both laws are correct for the given premises. It is true also that for.a transformer designed on Arnold’s law a higher efficiency can be obtained by increasing the load until the copper loss is equal to the iron loss, but this load may be more than the transformer can stand, and it is no more accurate to say that Arnold’s law gives maximum efficiency for a transformer that is slightly too large for its load than it would be to say that the law of equal losses gives the maximum efficiency for a transformer that is slightly too small for its load. In chapter vii. the design of a shell transformer is worked out in detail. One must enter a protest against the introduction of ‘‘ Fill Factor.’’ This is a literal translation of the German ‘‘ Fullfaktor,’’ but the English ‘‘ Space Factor,’’ introduced by Thomp- son, is now. so well recognised that it seems a pity to use another term. In chapter viii. the transformer theory is worked out in the same clear way as is done in the earlier edition. Prof. Kapp’s well-known diagrams are de- scribed in detail, as well as the simplified drop diagram now so largely used. In the next chapter the calcu- lation of magnetic leakage is considered, and some useful formule are given for calculating it in specific cases. j Chapter x. deals with the measurement of power; the usual methods of measuring power are described, including the three amperemeter and three voltmeter methods. Students might perhaps have been warned of the great accuracy of measurement in voltage and current which is necessary to obtain good results with these two methods. Chapter xi. deals with the test- ing of transformers, and includes also a description of most of the modern iron-testers, including the Epstein tester for total loss, the Grassot fluxometer, and Prof. Kapp’s device for measuring magnetic quality. 3 The next chapter deals with a number of subjects, including safety appliances for transformers, three- wire transformers, auto-transformers, series working, and Scott’s system of transformation from two-phase to three-phase working. It is similar to the corre- sponding one in the earlier edition, though the matter is greatly increased and brought up to date. The last chapter gives some examples of modern single-phase and three-phase transformers, and is one of the most valuable in the book, both for the student and the designer. Not only are many plates and drawings included, but the details of the designs are worked out in many cases. This book is likely to remain a standard treatise on the subject in English for some time. (2) The ‘Electrical Engineer’s Pocket Book” is similar to many other pocket books of the same class already on the market. It aims, however, at giving more complete and comprehensive information than most of these compilations, and deals with such sub- jects as electrochemistry, illuminating engineering, electrolytic action, firing mechanism for guns, -electro- metallurgy and X-rays, while more than 250 pages 366 are devoted to electric railways. The method of giving two tables for the same constant in two separate parts of the book is open to much criticism, and there are one or two obvious mistakes. In the description of the Weston cadmium cell, for ex- ample, the elements are stated to be cadmium and mercury instead of cadmium amalgam and mercury, while in the table of specific inductive capacities on p. 227 the specific inductive capacity of gutta-percha is given as 2°5, whereas on p. 36 we have the proper value of from 33-49. The whole of the table on p- 227 might well be omitted. Apart from a few minor defects, which it is very difficult to avoid in a compilation of this kind, the tables appear to be trustworthy, and are readily referred to by the aid of an excellent and complete index. E. W. M. FOOD AND NUTRITION. Human Foods and their Nutritive Value. By H. Snyder. Pp. xvi+362. (New York: The Macmil- lan Co.; London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1908.) Price 55. net. UR author remarks that the study of foods is “ the oldest, most important, most neglected, and least understood of any that have a direct bearing upon the welfare of man.”’ No doubt there has been, and still is, neglect of systematic and coordinated scientific investigation into the many problems which arise in connection with the task of nourishing the human body. Yet a vast amount of work has been done on the subject. The list of books referred to in the present volume reaches the respectable total of one hundred. True, many of them—as, for example, the ‘‘ Bulletins ’’ of the United States Department of Agriculture—are only short studies of isolated points, but, on the other hand, the list is chiefly confined to American works, and is not intended to be a complete bibliography. Perhaps the indications point not so much to general neglect as to the present stage being one of accumulating evi- dence. By and by, it may be, some dietetic Kepler will discover laws of nutrition which will coordinate the facts better than can yet be done. Meanwhile, distinct progress is being made. The opening chapter of the volume is devoted to expounding the general composition of foods. It de- scribes how they are made up of water, inorganic salts, and organic compounds, and how the latter may consist of proteids and fats, starches, sugars, pectose, cellulose, and so on. After explaining the changes which foods. undergo during cooking, the author passes to a consideration of the various classes of foods—e.g. vegetables, fruits and flavourings, milk and other dairy products, meat-foods, cereals, condi- ments, and beverages. In each case a short descrip- tion of the article is given, indicating its composition as regards nutrient substances and, generally, its value as a food. Tables are appended which show, for ordinary American foodstuffs, the proportion of non- edible refuse, water, protein, fat, carbohydrates, and ash, together with the heat-equivalents of the foods. NO. 2065, VOL. 80] NATURE {May 27, 1909 Naturally in so small a book the information is often meagre, but it appears to be generally trust- worthy. The treatment, though elementary, should serve to make the work a good introduction to the study of dietetics. Probably the sections dealing with the digestibility of foods and with dietary studies will be found the most interesting. The author distinguishes between the completeness and the ease of digestion, and sum- marises the factors which influence the two as (1) combination of foods, (2) amount, (3) method of pre- paration, (4) mechanical condition of the food, (5) its palatability, (6) its physiological properties, such as astringency and laxativeness, (7) the individuality of the consumer, and (8) psychological influences—e.g. preconceived ideas as to the wholesomeness or other- wise of the food. On such questions as vegetarianism, the use of ‘‘ whole-meal’’ bread, and heavy meat diets, Mr. Snyder takes a moderate and reasoned atti- tude. As regards the last, he maintains that at present the available results are too meagre to justify the formulation of other than tentative standards. ““In the matter of diet,’’ he says, quoting Hutchi- son’s *‘ Food and Dietetics,’ ‘‘every man must, in the last resort, be a law unto himself... . giving due heed to the warnings which nature is sure to address to him should he at any time transgress.”’ C. SimMonps. THE BODY AT WORK. The Body at Work. A Treatise on the Principles of Physiology. By Dr. Alex. Hill. Pp. xi+448. (London: Edward Arnold, 1908.) Price 16s. net. R. HILL has given us a book at once instructive and attractive. He writes for the amateur in science, but men deeply versed in physiology will find much to interest and to learn in his work. There is not a sentence in the book that could be spared, yet, although the reading commands close attention, it never fails to attract and to please. After a preliminary review of the subject of physi- ology, the second chapter, on the basis of life, re- minds one of the great man whose name appears in the first line of the chapter, for ‘‘ The Body at Work ’” is quite in the style of Huxley at his best. The subject is approached from the unit of struc- ture—the cell—through its groupings and specialising of structure and function to form the higher tissues and organs. The importance of the leucocytes, their manner of travelling, of multiplying, and of grouping, is graphically told, and the sections devoted to the blood and circulation in chapters iv. and ix. are simply but most explicitly handled. Amateurs in science can peruse with understanding the abstruse subjects of the functions of the thyroid gland, the suprarenal capsules, and the pituitary body. Diges- tion and dietetics, respiration in all its bearings, ab- sorption and excretion are given in language that reads almost like a fairy-tale, yet with a scientific accuracy and bearing wholly trustworthy. Throughout the book the meaning of vital processes is brought out in a fashion which leaves its impress. May 27, 1909] NATURE 367 “ The relationship of ‘vital action’’ to ‘ physical phenomena ”’ is carefully discussed, for the expres- sions ‘‘ physical’? and ‘‘ vital’’ point a contrast con- stantly present to the physiologist’s mind, and lead to much confusion. He is apt to regard as physical whatever he can test and measure in his laboratory, but cannot, however, make a model of a living cell or isolate it from the ‘‘ vital’? process which sur- rounds its existence in the living body. The techni- calities of the nervous system are relieved by applied side-issues, often in the form of conversations, which enliven what are apt to be mere dry details. The chapters on the special senses which close the book are fraught with infermation useful to physiologists, to musicians, and to teachers of singing and voice production. There is a message in the book to men and women of almost every calling, and every- one will find the text to be a model of writing and of how to convey information in a manner which commends itself to a teacher. Scientific writings are, as a rule, mere catalogues of facts, put together in a manner more or less irre- levant.- There is no reason for this except the absence of literary ability, a factor which obtains all too widely’ in medical and scientific writings generally. Huxley’s works on scientific subjects, Sir Thomas Watson’s on’ medicine, and Druitt’s on surgery are exceptions to the rule, but they belong to a past generation, and seem to have left behind them no writers of their literary capacities. Dr. Hill, however, appears to have caught something of their inspiration, and we can only hope that he will deal with other subjects within his ken in a manner similar to that which he has given us in ““The Body at Work.’’ OUR BOOK SHELF. British and American Customary and Metric Legal Measures for Commercial and Technical Purposes. (Forming the Measure Section of Part i. of ‘‘ The Mechanical Engineer’s Reference Book.’’) By N. Foley. Pp. 25. (London: Crosby Lockwood and Son.) Price 7s. 6d. net. THE necessity for these tables reminds us what an immense amount of time is wasted by the retention of the barbarous and cumbersome English system of measures. In two nations with more than too million people, not a small proportion of the school-time of every child is wasted in learning, and those engaged in industry and commerce in using, a system of measures which could not be less adapted to rapid and easy calculation. Yet we seem little nearer the time when our measures will be decimal and efficient, even though. most of the opposition to the decimal system merits no respect. The tables before us are for commercial and in- dustrial use. All ordinary lengths, areas, volumes; weights, &c., in English measure can be converted, with their aid, at a minimum of calculation, to the metric equivalent. The range and arrangement of the equivalents have been thoughtfully chosen, and the printing is excellent, so the book lends itself to rapid use, and fits its purpose admirably. We have only noted two serious misprints (‘‘ Tonne 2 =1 ton, 1 qr., 9 lb.,’’ and the equivalent of 3 tonnes); there is also an unimportant slip in the equivalent of NO. 2065, VOL. 80] 15 c.c. in cubic inches on p. 10; in many other places where we have tested the tables they are correct. Page 6 is reprinted on p. 7, and p. 10 on p. 11 with only the decimal point moved, which seems a waste of space. In. defining the ohm, volt, and ampere, the last is confused with 1/10 of the electromagnetic C.G.S. unit of current, while each of the former is ‘‘ defined ’’ in terms of the other and the ampere. The correct definitions, however, are mentioned by the author, but not as such. It would prevent confusion if the larger unit of heat were called in these tables a ‘“ kg.- calorie ’’ instead of merely a ‘‘ calorie.’’ It increases considerably the simplicity of the metric system if C.G.S. units are uniformly used in_ it. It is hoped that the author will help, as he well can, to attain this end by giving wherever possible in future editions of these conversion factors, the C.G.S. equivalent as the metric equivalent. The units of pressure used in these tables are the engineer’s lb. per square inch or kg. per square cm. Though they are thoroughly bad units, as they vary in magnitude from place to place and lead to con- fusion, they have, however, the advantage of con- ciseness over the physicist’s ‘‘ 760 mm. of mercury at o° C. in latitude 45° C. and at sea-level.’’ The mega- dyne per sq. cm., which is nearly the average baro- metric pressure, deserves to be more generally used. 05 1Sl5 1bs (1) Leitfaden der Tierkunde fiir hohere Lehranstalten. By K. Smalian. Erster Teil, pp. iv+4o, price 1.20 marks; Zweiter Teil, pp. iiit+41-100,. price 1.50 marks; Dritter Teil, pp. 101-208, price 2 marks. (Leipzig: G. Freytag; Vienna: F. Tempsky, 1908.) (2) Baw und Geschichte der Erde. By O. Abel. Pp. viiit220. (Same publishers, 1909.) Price 450 marks. (1) IN response, we are told, to a widely expressed wish, the author of the first of these works decided to con- dense and simplify his ‘‘ Grundzuge der Tierkunde ” (reviewed on a previous occasion in NaTuRE) so as to make a text-book. The result is the ‘‘ Leitfaden,’’ which is issued in three separate fasciculi, respectively suited (beginning with the last) to the requirements of the fourth, fifth, and six forms. The general plan of the work is to take a series of typical animals, and to make them texts for dissertations on the groups they represent. Despite the fact that some of the text-figures are of a somewhat ancient and obselete type, the work seems well adapted for its purpose. We cannot, however, congratulate the author on the coloured plates. In the first part, for instance, we see a fox crawling over a slab of blue limestone or slate on which its red coat stands out so conspicu- ously that the presence of the marauder would be at once detected. In the third part the plate of African animals wherein Grant’s bonte-quagga (Equus bur- chelli granti) does duty for the zebra (E. zebra) re- appears in spite of attention having been directed to the error in our notice of the ‘‘ Grundzuge.”’ (2) The appearance of the second of the two works is due to a reform which has been made in science- teaching in the middle schools of Austria. To put such reform in action, a suitable and up-to-date text- book was, of course, a sine quad non; and Dr. Abel was accordingly entrusted with the compilation of such a work. No better man could have been chosen, as is demonstrated by the volume before us, which is practically all that such a text-book should be. It is not overladen with detail, each of the different sections of the subject receives its proper. amount of space, and the illustrations, if not in the highest style, are at all events numerous. The volume commences 368 with a short account of the universe generally; this is followed by a short précis of dynamical geology, and the rest is devoted to stratigraphy and palzonto- logy. A map of the geology of the Vienna basin directs the attention of the scholar to the importance of studying the strata of his own neighbourhood. Goethe und Pestalozzt. By Karl Muthesius. Pp. vii +275. (Leipzig: Durr’schen Buchhandlung, 1908.) Price 4.50 marks. Wuen all Europe was keenly excited by the social and educational work of a schoolmaster in a Swiss country town, Goethe held aloof. Pestalozzi’s bio- graphers have not hesitated to ascribe this to want of sympathy with the common people. Goethe, Minister of State and intellectual aristocrat, despised the poor and ignorant, and the Schwdrmerei of early- nineteenth-century philanthropy seemed to him exag- gerated, if not foolish. Such, at least, is a com- monly received account of the matter, and the author of this interesting little book has shown what a libel upon the great man’s memory it is. There can be little doubt, however, that Goethe made no effort to cultivate Pestalozzi, and still less that he distrusted Pestalozzian educational doctrine as it came under his notice. It was his misfortune to be acquainted with its weakest points. Goethe had no patience with an educational system which left out of its pur- view literature and _ history—everything, in fact, which could not be reduced to an A BC. In his view, geometry and geography, nature-study and language could never be made to fill up this gap, no matter how carefully they were systematised and ordered for school use. Even the religious instruction of the traditional primary school was dropped by many of the new schoolmasters who had brought their inspiration from the shores of Lake Neuchatel. The tendency was to give up everything that would not fall into the Pesta. lozzian plan of beginning with concrete examples and ending with a definition. This was poison to.Goethe. It had all the vices of current naturalism. Every- thing great that men had done and thought might remain unknown. The school youth was not brought into touch with types of human greatness—moral, poetic, or artistic. He was taken out of his historical connections and set afresh in an environment of things that could be defined! Small wonder the poet was distrustful. We have learned to know Pestalozzi better than Goethe did. La France et ses Colonies au Début du XX Siécle. By M. Fallex and A. Mairey. Pp. vit660. (Paris: Ch. Delagrave, n.d.) Price 5 francs. Tuis is one volume of an excellent series of regional studies ‘‘ at the beginning of the twentieth century,’’ throughout which M. M. Fallex’s has been the prin- cipal hand. We find here a proper conception of geographical study thoroughly well applied. In the first part of the work a general survey of France is provided—its position, area, configuration, structure, climate, hydrography, and population. In the second and most important part the country is divided into natural regions, each one of which is considered in succession on the same lines as those of the general survey. The division itself is worthy of commenda- tion and notice—(i.) the Central Massif, subdivided between the east and centre. and the west and south, (ii.) the Pyrenean region, (iii.) the basin of Aquitaine, (iv.) the Alps of Savoy, (v.) the Alps of Dauphiné and Haute-Provence, (vi.) the Jura, (vii.) the Saéne-Rhone valley, (vili.) the Midi, (ix.) the north-east, (x.) the north, (xi.) the basin of Paris in three subdivisions, (xil.) Brittany. Next follows political and economic NO. 2065, VOL. 80] NAT ORE, [May 27, 19 9 geography, worked out no less satisfactorily than the regional. France itself occupies nearly five-sixths of the volume; the colonies, therefore, come in for what is perhaps disproportionately scanty treatment. It is of no little interest to gather the French point of view as to the prospects of some of the colonies, for the authors are not content merely to make state- ments of fact and leave their readers to make in- ferences; here the inferences are found ready drawn, even if they are unflattering. Of the French establish- ments in Oceania we read “ ... ils ont toujours végété. C’est qu’ils sont trop loin de la France; en France on les connait a peine.’? If this is so, the French student has an excellent opportunity of re- pairing his ignorance from this book and of extend- ing the knowledge he gets from it, for excellent bibliographies are provided. There is also a full topo- graphical index, a feature worthy of remark in a French work of this type. The illustrations are numerous and good. The Interpretation of Radium. Being the Substance of Six Free Popular Lectures delivered at the Uni- versity of Glasgow. By Frederick Soddy. Pp. xviii+256. (London; John Murray, 1909.) Price 6s net. Tuts book is based on popular experimental lectures delivered by Mr. Soddy at the University of Glasgow last year. The lecture form of address is retained, most of the experiments described being illustrated by photographs and diagrams. ‘The book is intended chiefly for the lay reader, the author’s object being rather to show the bearing of the new discoveries on our general outlook on nature than .to give a detailed treatment of the subject. The author gives a very clear and interesting account (in non-technical language) of radio-active phenomena and the light which the disintegration theory throws on them. The important work which Mr. Soddy has done in helping to establish this theory is a guar- antee of the accuracy of his treatment. He confines his account mainly to the uranium-radium disintegra- tion series. The book will be found quite up-to-date, containing as it does reference to such recent work as Ruther- ford’s proof that the « particle is an atom of helium, the experiments by Rutherford and Geiger in count- ing the number of a@ particles expelled by radium, and the author’s own experiments on the production of helium from uranium and thorium. Many members of the general public, and workers in various depart- ments of science, will find the book rich in interest. Flower and Grass Calendars for Children. By Agnes Fry. Pp. 31. (Clifton: J. Baker and Son; Lon- don: Simpkin, Marshall and Co., Ltd., n.d.) Price 3d. net. Tue idea of making use of children’s ability for com- mitting verse to memory to introduce a few facts regarding the time of flowering and habits of plants, and thereby to stimulate their interest in botany, is commendable. The stanzas are short, and each is prefaced by a heading. There are four objects to be sought in such a calendar—the first to get true measure and cadence, the second to give good rhyme, the third to choose the correct month of flowering, and the fourth to introduce any striking facts regard- ing the character or habitats of the plants. The weakness of Miss Fry’s verses lies chiefly in the measure, which is apt to be halt or forced; in this respect the grass calendar is more pleasing. As pointed out, the stanzas may and should be altered to suit the flowers in different localities. May 27, 1909] LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. (The Editos 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.] Baskets used in Repelling Demons. Untit about the end of the Japanese ancien régime, i.e. 1867, it was an invariable annual usage with the people of Yedo (now Tokyo), on the eighth of the second moon, to erect high before every house a bamboo pole with a basket on its top (Kawakita, ‘“‘ Morisada Manké,”’ ed. 1go8, vol. ii., p. 251). However, from Tanehiko’s “‘ Yéshabako ’? (Yedo, 1841, bk. i., ch. ix.), it appears that about the seventeenth century a basket or a sieve was displayed on a tall pole or above the main doorway, not only on this so-called Work-start Day (Koto-hajime), but also on the eighth of the twelfth moon, named Koto- osame, or Work-finish Day—both these appellations primarily of agricultural concern, indicating to us a bygone age, when the New Year holidays of the Japanese husbandmen, with their preliminaries and after-games, covered some thirty days besides the whole first moon. Citing many an old authority, and, among others, a stranger’s statement, that in his native island nobody would stir out of doors on certain dark nights without carrying a basket to ward off the roving spirits, Tanehiko clearly shows the usage we are describing to have origin- ally been meant for repelling demons. He argues, also, that this Work-start Day usage in Yedo had been first intro- duced—though with a manifest deviation as to the day of its performance—from certain provinces, whence the founders of its governing families had mostly sprung, and where, even so late as in Tanehiko’s time, the inhabitants customarily displayed baskets, neither on the Work-start nor on the Work-finish, but only on the Setsubun, or Last Winter Day. Indeed, the Last Winter Day seems to ‘have proved the fittest occasion for repelling or expell- ing malevolent souls, for, in its evening, apparently from time out of memory, it. has been a universal custom in Japan to eject demons with baked beans forcibly thrown just before shutting all the doors and windows, and to stick upon the, door-case a branch of the tree Osmanthus aquifolium and a half-roasted sardine, the strongly spined leaves of the former, with the unpleasant odour of the latter, sufficing to put to flight the spirits that try to intrude into any human dwellings.* Whether or not Tanehiko’s view is correct in tracing the Work-start Day usage of the past Yedo folks into an earlier provincial practice on the Last Winter Day, it is very significant in this connection that a Jesuit missionary of the seventeenth century observed every native of Tonquin to plant before his house a pole topped with a basket on the Final Night of the year, in order to scare away the intrusive demons. He relates it thus :-— ““Gionti all’ultimo giorno dell’anno nel farsi sera, ciascuno dinanzi sua casa vi pianta ’un albero secco, o una longa pertica, nella cui cima, in vece di bandiera legano una cesterella, con attorno appesovi carte dorate, a modo di oro stridente, persuasi, che come ne’seminati, e negli horti si mettono i spauracchi, per tenerne lontani gli uccelli, cosi quella cesta con quell’oro inst la pertica vaglia a fugare i Demonij, e non farli accostare alle loro case: che se in auell’ultima sera dell’anno, non ritro- vassero quel riparo dinanzi l’uscio, senz’altro entrerebbero loro in casa a fargli sfortunati tutto l’anno. E se avviene, che alcuno tralasci di far questa cerimonia, e non curi di esporre la detta insegna, ne é mostrato A dito, e si dice: Ecco la casa del Demonio ”’ (Filippo de Marini, ‘‘ Historia 1 This Last Winter Eve rite of the Japanese reminds us of the Australians annually driving from their midst the accumulated ghosts of the last year’s dead ; of the modern Bohemians at Pentecost, and the Tyrolese on Walpur- gisohnacht, hunting the witches, invisible and imaginary, out of house and stall (Tylor. “‘ Primitive Culture,” New York, 1888, vol. ii., p. 199); and of the archaic Chinese ceremony of Va, which was to foree the demons away from the imperial palace on the Final Night of the lunar year (C/z-yve), and which, since its adoption into the Tapanese court ritual, 706 a.p., has become graduallv confused in vulgar minds with the native observance of the Last Winter Eve, in spite of the but very rare coincidence of these two nights (Yashiro, “‘ Kokon Yéran K6,” ed. 1905, vol. i., p. 931). Cf the Tonquinese custom given in the text. NO. 2065, VOL. 80] DN Ald CUE 369 et Relatione del Tunchino e del Giappone,’’ Roma, 1665, Pp. 133). I fully know that I am exposing my great ignorance in asking the following questions upon the subject. Are there any other people than the Japanese and the Ton- quinese who used, or still use, baskets in frightening the demons? How has the origin of the custom been scien- tifically described? Also I have a note, taken from Waitz, ‘* Anthropologie der Naturvélker,’’ i., s. 347, Leipzig, 1872, to the effect that some Polynesians often apply, to mark a tabooed place, a basket-worlk moulded into shark or lizard. Why has basket-work been particularly chosen for this purpose ? The reason Tanehiko (loc. cit.) adduces to account for the Japanese use of baskets in repelling demons is that the basket originally employed in the rite had some of its openings shaped in star pentagon—the figure formerly held as specifically efficacious in averting evil influences, and termed Seimei’s signature, after the greatest sooth- sayer Japan has ever produced (921-1005 a.p.). Someone opines that the star pentagon terrifies demons extremely, because it much resembles the eye of Fang-Shang, the principal demon-hunter in the Chinese ceremony of Na (see footnote), whom the ‘‘ Ritual of the Chau Dynasty ” (written c. 1100 B.C.) prescribes for this occasion to wear red trousers and black coat, a headdress of bearskin, and a mask with four golden eyes. Yet another opinion has been advanced which states that some wicker-works, e.g. the sieves, are so fabricated as forcibly to put the spirits in mind of the Taoist, and thence Buddhist, emblem named Kuji (lit., Nine Letters), formed lattice-like by intercross- ing five vertical and four horizontal lines, and said to represent the nine Chinese characters, that make up a charm most powerful against all manner of demons. In this exposition I see the order of cause and effect quite inverted, it being obvious that the very raison d’étre of the symbol Kuji is the assumed efficacy of the wicker- or lattice-work in keeping all within it in complete safety and well-being. This will be well understood should one inspect an old-fashioned Shinto shrine with its front strongly defended by a lattice, or should he peruse this subjoined passage :— ““The generality of the huts used as dwelling-houses [in Kordofan] are furnished with a flat-roofed shed of some twelve feet square immediately in front of them, which, in the dry season, forms the usual sitting-room. . .. It has a spacious doorway in front, through which light is admitted in sufficient abundance to dispense with windows, and is never closed when any of the family are at home. When they are absent, a piece of wicker-work, placed against it and sustained in its position by a piece of wood, serves to keep out dogs, fowls, and cattle; and being a sufficient indication that the inmates are absent, no one will approach it. Locks are dispensed with, and, as housebreaking is unknown, they are not required” (John Petherick, ‘‘ Egypt, the Soudan and Central Africa,” Edinburgh and London, 1861, pp. 213-4. Kumacusu Minaxkata. Tanabe, Kii, Japan, April 4. Vapour-density and Smell. In Nature of May 13 (p. 308) Dr. Hill states that ‘“‘ no volatile body, the density of which is not greater than that of air, is a stimulant of our olfactory membrane.”’ I venture to suggest some important exceptions to this rule, if, indeed, it is a rule, viz. ammonia, density 8-5; hydrocyanic acid, 13-5; and hydrofluoric acid, 10. Although the last-named consists mostly of molecules H,F, at the ordinary temperature of the air, it contains a consider- able proportion of HF molecules at 40° C. I have never heard of any of these (or, indeed, of formaldehyde) being prepared in such a way as to have no smell, and it does not seem probable that it could be done. I have myself prepared ammonia with the greatest possible care, and in several different ways; the product obtained has certainly a different smell from the commercial article, but it is still very pungent. It seems to me that the reason for this rule of smells is simply that the atomic weights of the large majority of the elements have a much greater numerical value than the density of air, putting hydrogen 37° equal 1 in both cases; and to this may be added that the vast array of organic compounds are mostly of complicated constitution, and must necessarily have high vapour densities. E. P. PERMAN. University College, Cardiff, May 15. “ Blowing” Wells. the writer of the letter on ‘‘ blowing ” should refer to an article on ” Mr. S. H. Lona, wells in Nature of May 20, “The Movement of Air in Fissures and the Barometer (Nature, vol. xxvii., 1883, p. 375), in which phenomena similar to those observed by him are described in the case of several wells in different parts of England. 12 Marloes Road, W., May 21. A. STRAHAN. NATURAL HISTORY IN “INDIA. HE annual report of the natural history section of the Indian Museum for 1907-8 repeats the usual complaint that ‘lack of trained officers has again retarded progress,’’ and the complaint is justi- fied by the information that the trained staff—for a section that includes zoology, archzology, and numismatics—consisted of one permanent officer and one. assistant engaged for a term, with a few casual assistants and humbly remunerated clerks, and a couple of Bengali students to help them. In_ plain language, this big assemblance of a staff, when measured by European standards, comes to but one man with life-interest at stake. From this statement of the case it might be thought that a museum of natural history situated in the capital of the Indian Empire must be one of the many blessings of western civilisation that the oriental mind regards with pious indifference. But no; when we turn to an interesting appendix we learn that the ‘“‘ number of visitors to the museum during the 237 days on which the institution was open to the public was 580,161, or a daily average of 2447.” Or. it might be supposed that zoology is a subject of little or no consequence to the welfare of our Indian Empire. Again, no. If it be called to mind that the majority of our fellow-subjects in India are directly dependent for their very lives upon crops that are ravaged by every sort of insect-pest, and that-diseases carried by animals of many kinds, and diseases caused by divers parasitic animals and animalcules—not. to spealk of death by snake and beast of prey—account for about 75 per cent. of the mortality of the population, and for no one knows what. percentage of the mortality of stock, it can hardly be said that the study of zoology is a matic: with. which India has no concern. “No; the only possible conclusion is that the Indian’ Government. humane, just, and intelligent as it undoubtedly is, resembles all other administrations of the British pattern in its stolid indifference, not merely to natural science in the abstract, but even—and that is, indeed, hard to comprehend—to the pocket value of natural science. But what it lacks in official thews and sinews the museum—thanks to the moving energy, the trained ability, and the wonderful versatility of its superintendent, Dr. Annandale—makes up in spirit, and nowhere is this more clearly shown than in its published output of research. Publications now before us include parts ii. to iv. of the second volume of the ‘‘ Records ’’ and the third part of the ‘‘ Memoirs,”’? these containing papers by twenty-six authors, many of whom are European specialists. One of the most: striking and original features of these museum records is that, besides paying the attention justly due to such orthodox museum. topics NO. 2065, VOL. 80] NA LORE [May 27, 1909 as vertebrates, mollusca, insects, crustacea, A&c., they take thought of many small things that in many museums are regarded as somewhat off the beaten track—such as fresh-water polyps and polyzoa and plankton. The series of reports on the fauna of brackish ponds is of great interest, for we are here on that plastic ground whence the fresh water receives its recruits from the stragglers of the sea. Solutions of several little problems depend upon careful observa- tions, continued through the whole round of seasons, of the fauna of a definite delta station, such as are now being carried on and recorded by Dr. Annan- dale. An interesting item in this latest series of reports is Mr. T. R. R. Stebbing’s account of an amphipod, a species of Grandidierella, the only con- gener of which inhabits a closed lagoon six miles from the west coast of Madagascar; here we get a peep at one of the pitfalls which this kind of study fences off. Equally interesting are Dr. Annandale’s reports upon the fresh-water fauna of the Indian continent a subject which, outside vertebrate limits, has hitherto hardly been touched. A paper upon the fresh-water fauna of a district of Tibet has also the charm of novelty, and Captain F. H. Stewart, who, in the course of other (official) duties, collected the material for it, deserves much credit for making such good use of an exceptional opportunity. The collection includes Hydra fusca from an altitude of 15,000 feet, and much lake- plankton which, as would be expected, is practically identical with that of northern Europe, except in the case of the ostracods. Among other papers, that of Captain W. S. Patton, upon the differential diagnosis of Cimex lectularius and Cimex rotundatus, must be mentioned, by reason of the part played by the latter species in the dis- semination of the microparasite of the insidious disease, kdla azar. The part of the memoirs in review is devoted to the earthworms of India, and consists of a systematic monograph by Dr. W. Michaelsen, and anatomical descriptions of certain aquatic forms by Major Stephenson. The value of Dr. Michaelsen’s mono- graph is somewhat difficult to estimate. The systematic part of it, which includes a concise index of all the Indian species of oligochates known, is undoubtedly. a most useful piece of work, although in some places it is marred by an unfortunate con- troversial tone. But that part of it which deals with geographical distribution can scarcely be meant to be taken seriously, especially as it completely ignores the comprehensive and critical worl accom- plished in this field by that eminently judicial and preeminently qualified naturalist, the late Dr. W. T. Blanford. To say that well-established facts relating to the present geographical distribution of animals must be talsen into consideration in reconstructing the con- figuration of the land in former geological epochs is to state a proposition to which no reasonable geologist will object. But to make the unqualified assertions, as Dr. Michaelsen does, that the ‘‘ endemic terres- trial oligochates give us one of the best documents for the geological history of a country,’’ and that “the recent geographical distribution and the rela- tions between the different groups ’’ (of land oligo- chetes) ‘‘enable us to determine the different paths of the former migrations, and thence the configura- tion of land and sea in former periods’’ is to put oneself out of court. It is unprofitable to criticise conclusions deduced from such a sweeping major premise. May 27, 1909] INDI OTS 3, 371 A PERSIAN TREATISE ON FALCONRY.' LTHOUGH the ancient sport of falconry is still upheld to a limited extent in western Europe, it is to the East that we must turn at the present day if we would see ‘‘ the pride and pomp and circum- stance ’? that continues to attend a diversion practised from the remotest ages the art from the Persians; for not only do many Arabic MSS. state that the first falconer was a Persian, but many of their technical terms relating to the sport are borrowed from the Persian language. In India, too, where hawking has always been popular | with the native princes, the text- The Arabs probably learnt | | Persia and around Baghdad the name of Taymur Mirza is still ‘‘a household word.’’? It was not until quite late in life that he began to think of writing down his experiences as a falconer, to leave ‘‘as a memento for all lovers of the sport, whether tyros or | experts.’’ ‘‘ Sixty-four years of my life,’’ he writes, | ““ have now passed, all spent in hunting and shooting. | I have had no hobby but sport, no recreation but it.’’ | He died in 1874 at the age of seventy. His work, relating as it does to a special branch of sport, naturally appeals most strongly to those for whom it was designedly written; but, putting aside books (MS. or lithographed) are not in Hindustani, as might be supposed, but in Persian, although very corrupt, and disfigured by Punjabi and Sindhi idioms and technical terms. It is probably for this reason that these MSS. have remained so long untrans- lated; for it is certain that no one but a Persian scholar, who is like- wise a proficient falconer, could attempt the task of translation with any chance of making him- self understood. Col. Phillott, in his preface to another work, the ‘‘ Qawanint ‘s-Sayyad,’’ published last year in the ‘ Bibliotheca Indica,’’ says, ‘Had I not been a practical fal- coner of more than twenty years’ experience of falconry in the East, I would not have ventured to edit the present text.’’ This admission applies with even greater force to the ‘‘ Baz-Nama-yi-Nasiri,’’ © of which his translation is now before us; for treating, as it does, of the art of hawking, it is full of technical terms inseparable from the sport, with descriptions of the Persian method of captur- ing and training hawks, and treating their ailments, which no one but a falconer would properly understand. Thus it would be difficult to find a more competent translator and editor for such a work than Col. Phillott. We learn from his introduc- tion that the present worl: is of no antiquity, having been com- posed in 1868, when the author was sixty-four. It was originally lithographed in Teheran, and a second (and perhaps a_ third) edition was lithographed in Bom- bay. The present translation has been made from the Teheran text. The author was Taymur Mirza, a Persian prince of some celebrity, who, in 1836, accompanied by two of his brothers, paid a visit to the court of William the Fourth on a political mission, in which they succeeded, through the good offices of Lord Palmer- ston, eventually returning to Baghdad. Devoted from his youth to field sports, the author was well received by the Shah (Nasir ‘d Din Shah), and became a constant companion in his sporting aa In Trans- 3ernard 1 “The Baz-Nama- Le -Nasiri, a Persian Treatise on Falconry. lated by ee -Col. D. C. Phillott. Pp. xxiv+ro5. (London: Quaritch, 1908.) Price. 21s. net. NO. 2065, VOL. 80] Fic. 1.—From an Old Persian Painting, probably of the Mughal Period. From ‘‘ The Baz-Nama- yi-N4siri : a Persian Treatise on Falconry.” technicalities, the general reader cannot fail to be amused with the anecdotes which are told of sport in Persia, as well as with the quaintness of oriental diction. Thus, speaking of a worthless hawk that defied his best efforts as a trainer, the author says (p. 39), ‘‘ What could be the cause of her extraordin- ary behaviour? Puzzled and perplexed, I buried my head in the collar of 1eflection determined to unravel the tangled skein of the difficulty,’’? &c. To criticise any of the methods or devices of Persian falconers would here be out of place, though there are many passages which suggest comment. The Ske NAT ORE [May 27, 1909 Persian fowlers, like their Indian confréres, are adepts in the art of snaring, and it is curious to note that one of their devices for capturing a wild hawk at night by means of a lantern (p. 75) is, with slight variation, to be found in the ‘‘ Book of St. Albans, 1486.’’ Similarly a recipe for a slow-moulting hawk (p. 151) is also prescribed in that famous work of Julyana Berners. Yo explain such unexpected coinci- dences would take us now too far afield. A valuable feature in the present translation is the number of footnotes which Col. Phillott has supplied, to explain and illustrate the Persian writer’s mean- ing, to reconcile apparent discrepancies, or to confirm his statements from his own experience. To English readers interested in the literature of falconry, these footnotes will prove very instructive. The illustrations which accompany the text are of two kinds—repro- ductions of Persian drawings of hawking scenes, and Fic. 2.—Young Passage Saker (Dark Variety). From “The Baz-Nama-yi- Nasiri: a Persian Treatise on Falconry.” photographs from life of hawks employed by Persian falconers. The reader is here presented with a sample of each. ISLES IRIE DR. SVEN HEDIN ON CENTRAL ASIA. qr April number of the Geographical Journal contains two papers by Dr. Sven Hedin de- scriptive of his journeys through Tibet in 1906-8. The first of these is a narrative of his travels, which is necessarily so much abridged that it barely does more than give an idea of the extent and difficulties of his exploration; the other is a summary of the most important, or, rather, what Dr. Hedin regards as the most important, of his discoveries. The two are not necessarily identical, and it may be that when we have the full account of his travels the NO. 2065, VOL. 80] discoveries to which he now attaches greatest im- portance may prove of minor interest. For the present, however, we have only this summary, in which he enumerates the four most important results of his journey as the discovery of (1) the true source of the Brahmaputra, (2) the source of the Indus, (3) the ‘““ genetic’? source of the Sutlej, and (4) the discovery of a continuous mountain chain, to which he applies the name Trans-Himalaya. Of these the two first are of interest, especially the fact that no part of the drainage of the Kailas mountain finds its way into the Indus river; the third is a doubtful discovery, for though Dr. Hedin has discovered and visited the source of the largest of the feeders of the Manasarowar lake, it cannot in any proper sense of the word be regarded as belong- ing any longer to the drainage area-of the Sutlej river. At one time there was continuous flow from Manasarowar to Rakas Tul, and again from that to the Sutlej, but this latter has been dry for at least half a century, while the former seems to have become intermittent and likely to cease in the near future; except for a possible escape by underground perco- lation, no part of the water of these lakes now finds its way into the river, and even this supposititious com- munication would not justify us any longer in de- scribing a tributary of either of the lakes as the source of the Sutlej, nor does the matter seem much bettered by the addition of the adjective genetic. The most important, in his own view, of Dr. Hedin’s discoveries, and the one around which con- troversy has settled, is that of a great continuous mountain range, coextensive with and parallel to the Himalayas, to which he has given the name Trans- Himalaya, a name to which exception has been taken, and which seems to require greater justification than Dr. Hedin has given. We may ignore the objection that the term was applied by Cunningham to the mountains lying between the Sutlej and the Indus, but we cannot accept. the quotations from other authors cited as justification for the use of the term. A writer from the Indian side may use, with perfect correctness, the expression Trans-Himalayan, as ap- plied to the country, or to explorations carried out, on the further side of the Himalayas, but it is a different matter when we are asked to accept the words as a definite geographical term, and once this proposal is brought forward the two questions arise as to whether the word is either justifiable in itself, or necessary. Of these two questions the first is a literary one, and it must be confessed that some real objections may be urged against the word adopted by Dr. Hedin, and accepted by Lord Curzon of Kedle- ston; but the second is the important one, for, unless the supposed range of mountains to which ‘it is applied has a real individuality and independent existence, no special term is required or can be justi- fied. From earliest times it has been recognised that the great system of mountains which rises to the north of the Indo-Gangetic plain has an individuality of its own which deserves and requires a name, and the word Himalaya, originally applied to a part, has been extended to the whole chain of snowy peaks together with their dependent mountains of lower elevation. It has not, however, been so generally recognised that this unity belongs less to the moun- tains than to the plain at their foot, and some modern geographers, not content with merely recognising the individuality of the great chain, have attempted to trace the individual ranges of which it is composed along the whole length of the system, and thereby have retarded a proper appreciation of the true nature of this system of mountains. A simile proves nothing, May 27, 1909] NATURE 3 his) re) but is often useful as an illustration, and, Sante | pressing the resemblance too far, the organisation of the Himalayan mountains may be compared to that | of a great army, composed of many thousands of | individual soldiers, grouped in regiments, these, again, | in brigades and divisions, each having a separate | individuality; but the individuality of the soldier differs from that of the regiment to which he belongs; this, again, merges in the individuality of the brigade, | and the whole in that of the army. So with moun- tains, the peaks may be grouped into massifs, these into ranges, a series of which may form a great chain or system like that of the Himalayas or the Andes; but just as the brigades of an army are not each extended along the whole front, so the ranges do not extend along the whole length of the system. Each in turn comes to an end, and the chain is taken up by another, not as a direct continuation, but over- lapping the end, so that the direction of the in- dividual ranges is oblique to that of the system as a whole. Any other arrangement would probably be as physically impossible, with material such as that of which the earth’s crust is composed, as the mar- of lofty, snow-clad peaks, misleading if meant as a name of a mountain range or system. Range it is not, for Dr. Hedin is clear enough on this point, as he repeatedly speaks of the separate ranges of which it is composed, and gives their number as no less than ten; mountain system it equally is not, having no separate existence. If a new name is required at all, it must be one which will unite these ranges with the Himalayas, not one which suggests a separation, for the valleys of the Sanpo and Indus no more separate the mountains on either side of them than, on a smaller scale, are the analogous valleys of the Rhone and the Rhine a reason for splitting up the unity of the Alps. This criticism must not be taken as in any way a disparagement of Dr. Hedin’s achievements; there can be but one opinion of the brilliance of his ex- ploration and of the courage and determination with which he overcame the obstacles in his way. The publication of a detailed account of his travels will necessarily form an important addition to our know- ledge of central Asia, but the fullest recognition of its importance does not involve an acceptance of Dr. 4] Mars Kailas from the south-west shalling of an army in brigades or divisions drawn up in lines extending along the whole length of the front would be militarily impracticable. This interpretation of the orography of the Hima- layas is borne out by such maps as we possess, and | especially by those maps attached to Messrs. Burrard and Hayden’s valuable sketch of the Himalayas, which exhibit the facts, rather than Colonel Burrard’s interpretation. In these it will be seen that the high peaks of the Himalayas do not form a single range, but rather a band crossed obliquely by a series of ranges, and if we are to group these individual ranges into a single system, and to include in it the lesser ranges lying to the north and south, there is no reason, geographical or geological, for separating it from the mountains of southern Tibet and _ the northern territories of Cashmere. Structurally and orographically, the whole of the mountains between the Indian plains and the lake region of central Tibet belong to one great system, and the term which Dr. Hedin wishes to introduce is either unnecessary or misleading; needless if it merely indicates the country north of the first belt NO. 2065, VOL. 80] From the Geographical Journal. Hedin’s deductions, nor does a difference of opinion in regard to them imply any question of the accuracy | of his observations. THE TEACHING OF GEOMETRY. {pe circular recently issued by the Board of Education on ‘‘ The Teaching of Geometry and Graphic Algebra’’ is an important document from at least two points of view. First, it has a very considerable educational value in indicating the suc- cessive steps or stages which it is proper for a teacher to take, and, secondly, it supplies information as to the way in which the changes, introduced mainly by the Mathematical Association, have worked out. Those who have advocated the reformation of the teaching of geometry will be glad to know that the verdict of the Board of Education is favourable. ‘“ It | should be stated at the outset that the general effect has been beneficial.”’ The reformers had most serious difficulties to face, the greatest, perhaps, being the almost divine authority B74 NATURE attributed in England to Euclid’s definitions, postu- lates, axioms, and propositions. Euclid’s system was here regarded as the highest, and an infallible, type of logical accuracy. That it is still so regarded by some people is evident from the somewhat flippant and jesting comments made on the circular of the Board of Education in some of the daily papers. It may not be hopeless to point out to the writers of such comments that Euclid in at least one instance contra- dicts himself. His definition of a circle, for example, makes it to be, not a curve, but a surface: “a circle is a plane figure bounded by one line which is called the circumference.’’ This clearly makes a circle to be a surface, and, moreover, it is lacking in definite- ness, because it does not say whether the plane- bounded figure is that which is contained within the circumference, or that infinite external space which lies outside. Again, if a circle is a plane surface, what becomes of the proposition that two circles can inter- sect in only two points? Further, Euclid made the mistake of supposing that every geometrical concept can be defined, whereas there are some that can be only described: witness his attempted definition of a straight line, which merely encourages a pupil to deceive himself with a vague word. The imperfections of Euclid are an old controversy which need not be enlarged upon. His merit as a logician is very great, and his logic is, on the whole, a type of accurate reasoning. Those who took part in reforming his system sought at once to preserve his logical excellence and to improve the subject- matter on which it was to be exercised. This they tried to do by familiarising the beginner with the main concepts of geometry in ways more natural and more easy than those adopted by Euclid—by an early use of rule and compass, for example, which dis- pensed with that somewhat complicated and ridicu- lous problem which forms the very second proposi- tion of Book i., ‘‘ through a given point to draw a right line equal to a given finite right line,’’ a most gratuitous stumbling-block to the beginner. They assumed the potent Baconian principle that ‘ ex- amples give a quicker impression than arguments.” There is no doubt that the new system has made geometry much more easy in its initial stages for the young pupil, but it contains one great element of danger—it may, to a great extent, replace strict logic by rule of thumb, and accurate expression by slip- shod language. Those who have to examine papers on geometry sent by pupils from scores of different schools must admit that this danger has not been averted, and the reason is easily found. We are at present teaching geometry on syllabuses. So long as this plan is “adhered to, there will be most per- plexing diversities in the sequence of assumptions and propositions in school teaching, not unmixed with inaccuracy of expression. The present writer knows from experience that it is necessary for an examiner to keep before him several books on geometry when dealing with the work of various schools, owing to the fact that a proposition which one pupil thinks it necessary to prove another assumes as an axiom. Moreover, the whole of the pupils of a school are sometimes found to speak of a circle as touching a triangle at its three vertices. This is a matter de- pendent on the individual teacher, and it cannot be cured by any syllabus. There are, of course, several excellent text-books on geometry, with little difference in the order of propositions, but no one of them is universally adopted. The successful reformation of the teaching of geo- metry seems to require an authoritative text- book which will serve as a definite guide to all teachers— such as that sanctioned by the Minister of Education NO. 2065, VOL. 80] [May 27, 1999 in France. In the absence of such a definite guide, the present somewhat chaotic system will continue. The writer of this article suggested, in the columns of Nature, in the early days of the reformed system, that such an authoritative book should be issued conjointly by the universities, but the university authorities felt difficulties. Why should not the Board of Education issue such a work? Its recent circular is in itself an excellent syllabus, but the practical teacher will regard it simply as one more added to the bundle which he already possesses. There is one recommendation in the circular with which it is impossible to agree :—‘‘ Axioms and postu- lates should not be learnt or even mentioned ’’—that is to say, they are to be treated as suppressed premises. Now every mathematical physicist encounters occa- sionally what seems to be a fundamental contradiction of some proved result with other known results, and it is only after it is pointed out to him that his reasoning contains a suppressed premise that the difficulty is removed. The neglect of the explicit re- cognition of an axiom is the same in kind as the sup- pressing of an important premise, Two excellent sentences, containing a fundamental truth, must be quoted from the circular :—‘‘ It should be frankly recognised that unless the power of doing riders has been developed, the study of the subject is a failure. Although examining bodies may con-- tinue to pass candidates who merely reproduce proofs they have learnt, eked out by definitions or other matter, masters should not be satisfied with this; the only proof of knowledge worth having is the power of applying it to new matter.’’ (The italics are ours.) This is, indeed, a great truth, the import- ance of which in the teaching of applied mathematics is still greater than it is in the teaching of geometry, and one which every teacher should lay to heart. GEORGE M. MINCHIN. PHOTOMETRIC UNITS. JANN important announcement with regard to the photometric units maintained at the Bureau of Standards, America, the Laboratoire Central d’Elec- tricit¢, Paris, and the National Physical Laboratory, Teddington, has been issued by the Bureau of Standards in its Circular, No. 15, dated April 1, 1909. It was at first intended to make this announcement simultaneously in America, France, and Great Britain, but circumstances prevented this. It is desirable, however, to state authoritatively that the agreement described in the subjoined memorandum has_ been arrived at, and has the approval of the gas referees; and that the photometric standards of the National Physical Laboratory are being maintained in accord- ance with it. R. T. GLazEBROOK. Memorandum as to Photometric Units. In order to determine as accurately as possible the relations between the photometric units of America, France, Germany, and Great Britain, comparisons have been made at different times during the past few years between the unit of light maintained at the Bureau of Standards, Washington; at the Laboratoire Central d’Electricité, Paris; at the Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt, Berlin ; and at the National Physical Laboratory, London. The ‘unit of length at the Bureau of Standards has been maintained through the medium of a series of incandescent electric lamps, the values of which were originally intended to be in agreement with the British unit, being made 100/88 times the Hefner unit. The unit of light at the Laboratoire Central is the bougie decimale, which is the twentieth part of the standard defined by the International Conference on Units of 1884, May 27, 1909 | and which is taken, in accordance with the experiments of Violle, as o-104 of the Carcel lamp. The unit of light at the Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt is that given by the Hefner lamp burning at normal barometric pressure (76 cm.) in an atmosphere containing 8-8 litres of water vapour per cubic metre. The unit of light at the National Physical Laboratory is that given by the 10-candle-power Harcourt pentane lamp, which has been prescribed for use by the Metro- politan Gas Referees, burning at normal barometric pressure (76 cm.) in an atmosphere containing 8 litres of water vapour per cubic metre. In addition to the direct intercomparison of flame standards carried out recently by the national loboratories in Europe, one comparison was made in 1906 and two in 1908 between the American and European units by means of carefully seasoned carbon filament electric standards, and as a result of all the comparisons the following relationships are established between the above units :— The pentane unit has the same value within the errors of experiment as the bougie decimale. It is 1-6 per cent. less than the standard candle of the United States of America, and 11 per cent. greater than the Hefner unit. In order to come into agreement with Great Britain and France, the Bureau of Standards of America proposed to reduce its standard candle by 1-6 per cent., provided that France and Great Britain would unite with America in maintaining the common value constant, and with the approval of other countries would call it the international candle. The National Physical Laboratory, London, and the Laboratoire Central d’Electricité, Paris, have agreed to adopt this proposal in respect to the photometric standardisation which they undertake, and the date agreed upon for the adoption of the common unit and the change of unit in America is April 1, 1909. The following simple relations will therefore hold after that date :— Proposed new unit=1 pentane candle. =1 bougie decimale. =1 American candle. =1-11 Hefner unit. =o-104 Carcel unit. Therefore 1 Hefner unit=o-90 of the proposed new unit. The pentane and other photometric standards in use in America will hereafter be standardised by the Bureau of Standards in terms of the new unit. This, within the limits of experimental error, will bring the photometric units for hoth gas and electrical industries in America and Great Britain, and for the electrical industry in France, to a single value, and the Hefner unit will be in the simple ratio of 9/10 to this international unit. The proposal to call the common unit of light to be maintained jointly by the national standardising labora- tories of America, France, and Great Britain the. ‘‘ inter- national candle *’ has been submitted to the International Electrotechnical Commission, and through it to all the countries of the world which are represented on that commission. It is hoped that general approval will be secured, and that in the near future the term ‘‘ international candle ’’ for the new unit will have official international sanction. NOTES: At the anniversary meeting of the Linnean Society on Monday, the gold medal of the society was presented to Dr. F. O. Bower, F.R.S., regius professor of botany in the University of Glasgow. WE regret to announce that Dr. G. von Neumayer, Foreign Member of the Royal Society, and for many years director of the marine observatory at Hamburg, has died at Neustadt, at eighty-four years of age. “ EpmMonp Hattey, the second Astronomer Royal, died on January 14, 1742, and was buried in the churchyard of St. Margaret’s, Lee by Blackheath, in the same grave as his wife, who had died five years previously. In 1854 the memorial stone being much out of repair, the Com- NO. 2065, VOL. 8o}] NATURE aa5 missioners of the Admiralty, who by that time had the Royal Observatory in their control, evidently considered the tomb as a national monument, and replaced the stone by a new one, the old stone being removed to Greenwich Observatory, where it is now to be seen attached to a wall. By lapse of time the second stone now requires renovation, and we are glad to know that the Com- missioners of the Admiralty have under consideration the question of the repairs to be done. An International Congress of Applied Photography is to be held from July 8-10 next at Dresden, in connection with a photographic exhibition. Particulars may be obtained from the secretary, Dr. Veisz, Winchelmann- strass, 27, Dresden. WE regret to see the announcement, from the Berlin correspondent of the Times, that Prof. Wilh. Engelmann, professor of physiology in the University of Berlin, died on May 20, at sixty-five years of age. Prof. Engelmann, who held a professorship at Utrecht for many years before his removal to Berlin in 1897, was an eminent authority upon muscular and nervous, especially cardiac, anatomy. Pror. C. D. Perrine, of the Lick Observatory, has been appointed director of the Argentine National Observa- tory, Cordoba. His work with the Crossley reflector is to be taken over by Dr. H. D. Curtis, now in charge of the D. O. Mills expedition at Santiago, and the latter will be succeeded by Mr. J. H. Moore, of the Lick Observa- tory. Prof. Perrine will arrive at Cordoba at the end of this month, and he asks that all correspondence shall be -directed to him there. Pror. Davin Topp, of Amherst College, Massachusetts, is about to undertake an experiment for determining the composition of the air at high levels, and the cause of mountain sickness. He intends to make several balloon ascents in a closed car from Canton, Ohio, the interior of the country being considered preferable owing to freedom from seaward air currents. Rarefied air will be pumped into the car to keep the pressure at normal. The Aéro Club of New England has offered Prof. Todd the use of its new, balloon, the Massachusetts, of 56,000 cubic feet capacity, for the purpose of his experiments. Tue Blue Hills Meteorological Observatory, near Boston, is about to lose, by his resignation, the services of Mr. Henry Helm Clayton, who has been in charge of it since 1894, and has made it one of the most important weather stations in America. He is to be succeeded by Mr. A. H. Palmer, now at Harvard. Mr. Clayton intends to attempt shortly a balloon trip from San Francisco to the Atlantic coast, as a preliminary test of the possibilities of an air voyage over the Atlantic. He believes that he can accomplish these feats by taking advantage of an upper air current which appears to flow constantly eastward at a height of about two miles above the earth’s surface. AN incident reported from Wisconsin some- thing of the possibilities latent in ‘‘ Christian science ’” and allied notions as a menace to public health. In the Legislature of that State there was recently introduced a Bill providing that, in connection elementary hygiene, the pupils in the ‘* public schools ’’ should be taught how to avoid contagion and the commoner ailments. There immediately poured in hundreds of letters and petitions protesting against such a policy, as it would give children the impression that disease was real. The opposition was so strong that the Assembly Committee on Public Health, in spite of the efforts of suggests with lessons in “ec ) three physician members, was intimidated into killing the proposal at its first hearing. 376 NALTORE [May 27, 1909 A pirecror will be appointed shortly for the Australian Institute of Tropical Medicine, which has been founded to further the scientific study of the diseases peculiar to tropical Australia, and to afford opportunities for the train- ing of medical men in this department of medicine. The institute will be situated in Townsville, Queensland, where a large and well-equipped general hospital exists. The general control of the institute is vested in a committee appointed by the Universities of Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide, and one representative of the Government of Queensland. The director will be required to organise and administer the institute, to conduct investigations into the tropical diseases of Australia, and to give such instruc- tion in tropical diseases as may be determined upon, and superintend research work undertaken in the laboratories of the institute. The appointment will be, in the first instance, for five years at a salary of 600l. per annum. The selection of the director will be made by a committee of three representing the Royal Society, the London ‘School of Tropical Medicine, and the Liverpool School of ‘Tropical Medicine. Last week we referred to the new museum, at Truro, of the Royal Institution of Cornwall. At a meeting of the institution held on May 25 it- was announced that the following letter had been received from the Duchy of ‘Cornwall Office :—‘‘ The Prince of Wales has been pleased to sanction a donation of 200 guineas from the Duchy revenue to the fund for a new county museum at Truro. His Royal Highness directs that the donation may be given in memory of Sir Humphry Davy and Richard Trevithick, two great Cornishmen who commenced their careers with few advantages and left names which can never be forgotten. His Royal Highness hopes that with increased facilities for the study of science and art the great traditions of the Duchy may be more than main- tained.”’ In his article on ‘‘ The Government and Aéronautical Research ’’ in Nature of May 13 Prof. Bryan re- marked :—‘‘ The Aéronautical Society mainly exists for the purpose of promoting discussions on aéronautical matters.’? Mr. Eric S. Bruce, late honorary secretary of the society, writes to say that, from the days of its founda- tion in 1866, the society has had wider objects and aims than merely debate. Experiments have been encouraged, a “* well-illustrated ’? journal has been published, and it is hoped that a well-equipped aéronautical laboratory may before. long be established. ‘‘ Another special object has been the establishment of a comprehensive aéronautical library, and many of the important works on aéronautics in various languages have already been collected.’’ Prof. Bryan has favoured us with the following remarks upon the subject of Mr. Bruce’s letter:—‘‘ No difference of opinion can possibly exist as to the value of libraries, laboratories, practising grounds, and properly conducted experiments in furthering the progress of aéronautics. But while the Aéronautical Society deserves full credit for all that it has done in the right direction, it would be invidious to single it out without referring in equal detail to claims of a similar or different kind possessed by the other two bodies under discussion. The Aéro Club also has its experimental ground, while the Aérial League attaches the greatest importance to scientific research, which it proposes to further by founding and endowing a college. If this movement receives the support which it deserves, that institution should certainly become the lead- ing authority on all scientific developments of aéronautics. In the accounts of the amalgamation given in the daily NO. 2065, VOL. 80] papers a claim to that position was put forward on behalf of the Aéronautical Society. But the right of a society to rank among the leading scientific bodies must neces- sarily depend largely on the maintenance of a uniformly high standard of scientific value and accuracy in the com- munications published in its Proceedings, and an examina- tion of the Journal shows that such a claim could not be admitted unchallenged in the columns of Nature any more than the description of the Journal as ‘ well illus- trated’ could be allowed to pass without referring to the figures on pp. 52, 53, Of the April number. For this reason the sentence quoted by the energetic and enter- prising ex-secretary was chosen after careful consideration as indicating the special and distinguishing characteristics of the society better than any statement of a more ambitious character.”’ Wuat is perhaps the largest prehistoric relic found in England has just been secured for the Hull Municipal Museum. This is the well-known ‘‘ dug-out ’’ boat found during excavations at Brigg, Lincs, in 1886. The boat is cut from a single piece of oak, more than 48 feet in length and 6 feet in width—a much larger size than any oak tree living in Britain to-day. With the boat were found many interesting relics, and these have also been presented by Mr. V. Cary-Elwes. Mr. T. Sheppard, the curator of the museum, has successfully removed the boat to its new quarters, where it forms a welcome addition to the already large series of Lincolnshire antiquities. A MAGNETIC storm of some size was recorded at Kew during May 14 and 15. It commenced suddenly at about 5-0 a.m. on May 14, the initial change of horizontal force —about 70¥ in five minutes—being unusually large. The total range was about 4007 in horizontal force and 54' in declination. The largest and most rapid changes took place between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. on May .14. Westerly declination diminished by about 48’ between 5.12 p.m. and 5.18 p.m. The vertical force was continuously in excess of its normal value between 2 p.m. and 10 p.m. on May 14, the excess not falling short of 100y between 2.40 p.m. and 8.40: p.m. There were no large movements after 4 a.m. on May 15, but the curves remained somewhat disturbed until the evening. There was a marked appear- ance at. times of continuous oscillatory movements of the type which usually accompany aurora. In his recent discourse at the Royal Institution, which we hope to publish in an early issue, Prof. Ronald Ross referred to the neglect of malaria prevention for ten years in many British possessions. In answer to a question upon the subject asked by Mr. Ramsay MacDonald in the House of Commons a few days ago, Colonel Seely referred him to the report of the advisory committee for the Tropical Diseases Research Fund for the year 1907 (Cd. 3992) containing reports relating to malaria. He added :—‘‘ These reports show, I regret to say, that nothing of any consequence had been done in the direc- tion indicated at that time. The reports in question have, with the rest of the matter contained in the Blue-book, been brought to the notice of the schools of tropical medicine, but action to be effective must needs be taken by the Governments concerned, with the cooperation of the general community.” In the House of Commons on May 20 Mr. Balfour asked the Prime Minister whether he could state the nature of the duties entrusted to the scientific committee on aérial navigation, and explain the relation of the com- mittee to the executive officers who were understood to be May 27, 1yo9] NATURE 377 o designing balloons and aéroplanes for naval and military purposes. In answer to the question Mr. Asquith said :— ““Tt is no part of the general duty of the advisory com- mittee for aéronautics either to construct or to invent. Its function is not to initiate, but to consider what is initiated elsewhere, and is referred to it by the executive officers of the Navy and Army construction departments. The problems which are likely to arise in this way for solution are numerous, and it will be the work of the committee to advise on these problems, and to seek their solution by the application of both theoretical and experi- mental methods of research.” On Tuesday next, June 1, Dr. F. Gowland Hopkins will begin a course of two lectures at the Royal Institution on “ Biological Chemistry ’’; on June 3 Prof. W. E. Dalby will commence a course of two lectures on ‘‘ A Modern Railway Problem: Steam v. Electricity ’’; and on Satur- day, June 5, Dr. F. F. Blackman will deliver the first of two lectures on ‘‘ The Vitality of Seeds and Plants,”’ (1) ‘A Vindication of the Vitality of Plants,’’ (2) ‘* The Life and Death of Seeds.’” The Friday evening discourse on June 4 will be delivered by Prof. J. A. Fleming, on “* Researches in Radio-telegraphy,’’ and on June 11 by Sir James Dewar, on ‘“‘ Problems of Helium and Radium.” An extra discourse will be delivered on June 18 by Mr. A. Henry Savage Landor, on ‘A Recent Visit to the Panama Canal.” We have received a copy of a special report on the establishment and organisation of a research laboratory at the Crichton Royal Institution, Dumfries, which has been submitted to the board of direction by Dr. C. C. Easter- brook, the physician superintendent. It is suggested that the laboratory shall be devoted to study and research in nervous and mental disorders. Dr. Easterbrook pro- poses that three Crichton fellowships be established for the promotion of psychiatrical research, one in clinical neurology and psychology, one in pathology and chemistry, and one in pathology and bacteriology. Each fellowship should be, he maintains, of the value of 250/. a year with residence in the institution, or 5o0l. additional in lieu thereof. Particulars are given of what might well be the general qualifications and previous training of candidates, and indications are supplied of how such fellows could, by working in a research laboratory, benefit the institution as well as medical science. In a note upon changes in the staff and administration of the London Zoological Gardens which appeared in Nature of May 13, it was announced that the curators will have to devote their whole attention and time to the care of the animals under their charge, and therefore ‘will have no time to spend on scientific zoology.’’ Dr. Chalmers Mitchell, secretary of the society, writes to say that while it is certainly intended that the first duty of the curators shall be the care of the living animals in their charge, ‘* such work opens as wide a field for research in ‘scientific zoology’ as the anatomical and systematic investigations to which, by implication, the writer of your note would seem to restrict the phrase.’? He is convinced that ‘the council will welcome the scientific work of the staff in whatever direction that may be, so long as it is compatible with the discharge of their duties.’’ In the Times announcement of the changes it was stated that the curators were expected to devote all their energies to ‘‘ curating,’? an expression which the writer of the note took (and still takes) to mean that they were not to spend time on scientific work. NO. 2065, VOL. 80] Tue British Fire Prevention Committee, which was founded on the occasion of the great Cripplegate fire of 1897 and incorporated in 1899, is celebrating the tenth anniversary of its incorporation this week. The greater knowledge of building materials and appliances obtained by scientific independent tests at the committee’s testing station has done much to obtain a better understanding of the value and also the limitations of different methods of construc- tion and equipment, whilst considerable influence has also been exerted by the committee in guiding building and fire service legislation in directions where it is most effective to prevent loss of life and loss of property. The objects tested by the committee since its formation numbered 160 to the end of last year, and it should be understood that the investigation into any one object sometimes re- quires as many as twenty or thirty testing operations. Notable tests have been those with large reinforced con- crete floors, a series of fifty fire-resisting doors, fire- resisting glazing, and latterly also with safety devices. Perhaps a final feature that claims remark is that the whole of the funds required for the establishment of the committee’s testing station and the execution of its work have been raised voluntarily, that more than 20,000]. have been expended in ten years on the work of the committee, and that the whole of the services rendered by the com- mittee and its officers are voluntary. SOME interesting details of the scientific achievements of the British Antarctic Expedition under Lieut. Shackleton are. given in Monday’s Times. The communication is from the New Zealand correspondent of the Times, and is based upon information provided by Prof. Edgeworth David. From the article we learn that a number of the rotifers found in the lake muds were of the same variety as those already described by the biologist of the expedition (Murray) in Spitsbergen and Franz Josef Land. This was especially the case in regard to the species Macrobiotus arcticus. A point of special interest in regard to the marine fauna near Cape Royds is that it may provisionally be concluded that it bears some distant resemblance to the types of animal life of the Coal-measure series of Australia and Tasmania. The possibilities of the Antarctic having been an archipelago can no longer be entertained. There is a high continental plateau extending from the new mountains recently dis- covered by the Nimrod expedition forty-five miles west of Cape North to the magnetic pole across the plateau traversed by Captain Scott of the Discovery, and over the portion traversed by Lieut. Shackleton in his furthest south journey to beyond the South Pole itself—probably for a distance of 1800 miles. The most interesting geo- logical discovery was that of Coal-measures at least 1500 feet thick in latitude 85° S. There were at least seven seams of outcrop in the cliff face of the great nunatak where the discovery was made; they varied in thickness from 1 foot to 7 feet. Abundant small fossil root impressions were present in the fire-clay found with some of the seams. The general geological results of the expedition show that there is a very ancient series of crystalline rocks similar to those already described by Ferrar, of the Discovery, forming the foundation plat- form from near the South Pole to Cape North. The whole of this basal series gives every promise of minerals of the rare earths in more or less abundance. Super- imposed upon these basal beds is the sandstone formation already described by Ferrar as the ‘‘ Beacon ”’ sandstone. Above the sandstones, on a series of volcanic rocks, occur immense lava sheets more or less horizontally bedded. As regards volcanic eruptions, it is interesting to note that 378 Erebus, like Stromboli in the Mediterranean, formed a good barometer, for as the mercury fell in the barometers of the expedition so did the steam cloud over Erebus rise higher and higher. Nearly all the principal steam erup- tions took place when the barometer was at its lowest. WE have to acknowledge the receipt of vol. v., part ii., of the Boletim do Museu Goeldi (Museu Paraense), the greater portion of which is devoted to botanical subjects, although there is one paper, by Dr. Emilia Snethlage, on new Amazonian birds in the collection of the museum, and a second by the same author on certain new fishes from the Amazon and its tributaries, recently described by Dr. Steindachner. Tue categories of variation form the subject of the first and longer article, by Prof. S. J. Holmes, in the May number of the American Naturalist. After directing special attention to mutations, the author concludes as follows :— “Tf sudden mutations have been a not uncommon source of varieties of domesticated animals and cultivated plants, it does not follow that the selection of comparatively small variations has not been the predominant method of species- forming in a state of nature. After fifty years from the publication of Darwin’s ‘ Origin of Species’ we are still debating, and more lively than ever, the central problem of that epoch-making book; but it is not improbable the views of its sagacious author will prove more nearly correct than those of most of his modern critics.” In describing, under the name of Isocrinus knighti, a new crinoid from the Upper Jurassic of Wyoming, we are glad to see that Mr. F. Springer, in No. 1664 of the Proceedings of the U.S. National Museum (vol. xxxvi., Pp- 179-99), decides not to replace the well-known name Encrinus liliiformis or to transfer it to another species, although, according to strict interpretation of rules, there may be grounds for so doing. ‘‘I shall maintain,’’ he writes, ‘‘ that, irrespective of the merits of their original titles to priority, the names of Encrinus and Millericrinus have become valid simply by the lapse of time, by long usage in the sense in which they are now generally under- stood; and that by reason of universal acquiescence in such use for nearly a century, zoologists are now estopped from disputing them.’’ These are golden words, and it is most satisfactory to find that Mr. Boulenger’s revolt against the priority-fetish has spread to America, where the fetish is most highly worshipped. We trust the revolt will continue to spread. Brown-BEaR hunting in Alaska forms the subject of a very fully illustrated article, by Mr. G. Mixter, in the April number of the National Geographic Magazine, the article concluding with an extract of a report on these bears by Mr. W. H. Osgood. After mentioning that Alaska is unrivalled in regard to the number and variety of its bears, and that the brown bears are the largest in the world, with the exception of the Polar species and their own relations in Kamchatka, the latter author con- siders that the days of these bears are numbered, and that these animals will ere long be exterminated except in the more remote districts. The brown bears vary greatly in colour, ranging from dark seal-brown to buffish- brown, with the legs and under-parts generally darker than the back. Although the ends of the hairs are often paler than the bases, the silver-tipped fur of the ’grislies is never seen, while the front claws are shorter, thicker, and more sharply curved than those of the latter. Tue osteology and affinities of the Jurassic American iguanodont reptiles of the genus Camptosaurus form the NO. 2005, VOL. 80] NATURE [May 27, 1909 subject of a long paper, by Mr. C. W. Gilmore, published as No. 1666 of. the Proceedings of the U.S. National Museum (vol. xxxvi., pp. 197-332). As the result of addi- tional materials, the author is enabled to give a new definition of the genus, while special attention is also directed to the three English reptiles. which have been assigned to the genus by Mr. Lydekker. All three are admittedly very nearly allied to the American genus, and the author at present sees no reason for separating the Kimeridgian C. presiwichi, although in certain points it comes closer to Iguanodon than to the typical Campto- saurus. On the other hand, the femur from the Oxfordian on which C. leedsi was founded appears to come nearer to the corresponding bone of the American Dryosaurus, and the species may therefore be distinct from Campto- saurus, the same remark applying to the still more imperfectly known C. valdensis of the Wealden of the Isle of Wight. WE have been favoured with parts of the . Journal botanique de la Société impériale des Naturalistes of, St. Petersburg (Nos. 2 to 6, 1908). Papers on the alge of the Black Sea are contributed by Mr. K. N. von Decken- bach and Mr. N. N. Woronichin. The former provides new records for species and localities; the latter, a more extensive paper, deals with the identification of green algz from several collections, and supplies a list of nearly fifty species, but none of them is endemic. Two articles on the distribution of plants are contributed, the one, by Mr. J. Perfiliew, on: the government of Wologda, the other, by Miss H. Poplavska, on the government of Pskov. A genus, Luenovia, is created by Mr. W. Sukatscheff for a new blue-green alga under the order Hormogonee. ADDITIONAL notes on the economic aspects of the oil palm, Elaeis guineensis, are given in the current issue (No. 4) of the Kew Bulletin, compiled from information supplied by officers in Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Gambia, and the Gold Coast. The chief factors affecting habitat are a rainfall of more than 7o inches and a soil rich in humus but well drained. Plantations are only occasion- ally met with, as among the Krobos of the Gold Coast, but there is no difficulty in raising young plants. The method of tapping the palms for ‘* wine,’’ which tends to the destruction of numbers of trees, is described. At the present time, and until transport facilities are improved the sources of supply are more than adequate. Pror. C. F. Ciampertain has supplemented his paper on the female gametophyte of the cycad Dioon edule by an account, published in the Botanical Gazette (March), of spermatogenesis in the same plant. The staminate cones measure 10'cm. to 20 cm. in length; the numerous sporo- phylls bear about 250 sporangia, and the average output of a sporangium is placed at 30,000 spores. One persistent prothallial cell is developed. The sperms, produced in pairs in a mother-cell, are only slightly smaller than the sperms of Zamia, and, like them, are just visible to the naked eye, as they measure about 1/4o-inch. The move- ment of cilia is accompanied by pulsating and amoeboid movements. Two blepharoplasts are formed which eventu- ally break up into granules from which the spiral ciliated band of the sperm is developed. AN account of trees on the Dawyck estate, in Peebles, by Mr. W. B. Gourlay, is published in the latest number (vol. xxiil., part iv.) of the Transactions and Proceedings of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, in which it is stated that larches were planted on this estate in 1725, or thirteen years before the first introduction to Dunkeld; the survivors are much weather-beaten, but the estate lies May 27, 1909] NATLORE 379 in an extremely cold region. Silver fir, Abies pectinata, grows well, and some large trees, one of which reaches a height of 115 feet, date back to the year 1735. Two horse-chestnuts, said to be the first planted in Scotland, probably date back a few years earlier. Plantations of the common larch are subject to disease, but the Japanese larch is healthy, and the Douglas fir thrives in sheltered situations. Tue classic experiments by Moll concerning the absorp- tion of carbon dioxide from the air will be familiar to most botanists, more especially as illustrations are given in Vines’s ‘‘ Physiology of Plants.’’ The experiment where a leaf was inserted between two glass dishes has been further investigated by Dr. V. Zijlstra, who has embodied his results in a brochure on the transport of carbon dioxide in leaves. He finds that when part of a leaf is placed in an atmosphere devoid of carbon dioxide, and the adiacent part of the leaf is covered, then the carbon dioxide formed in this part of the leaf in respiration diffuses through the leaf, and a band of starch is formed beyond the screen. The band varies from 5 mm. in the dahlia to 2-5 cm. in wheat, while through the leaves of Eichhornia and Pontederia the gas can diffuse much more readily. In the May number of Man Dr. F. C. Shrubsall describes two crania and some long bones from ancient ruins in Rhodesia. The skulls seem to be of the Bantu, not of the Bushman, type; in other words, they belong to a negro race similar to the inhabitants of Rhodesia at the present day. The position in which these remains were found seems to indicate that they were coeval with the buildings near which they were discovered. While this does not, of course, prove that negroes were the builders of the famous ruins, it is significant to note that the remains do not belong to any of the more northern races. The fact that the bones were associated with valuable gold ornaments precludes the supposition that these negroes had been enslaved by the foreigners, who, according to one theory, were the builders of these remarkable structures. WE have received copies of two fasciculi, one dealing with Oligocheta and Hirudinea, and the other with Nema- todes, Gordiidz, Xc., of Die Susswasserfauna Deutschlands, eine Exleursionsfauna (Jena: G. Fischer). The parts (of which those before us are respectively numbered 13 and 15) are sold separately, at a price varying between one and two shillings each, and they are issued in narrow duodecimo form, so as to be convenient for carrying in the pocket. Eath part is, written by a_ specialist, and sufficiently, although diagrammatically, illustrated, and the whole work appears, therefore, to be admirably adapted for the purpose for which it is intended, namely, as a companion for the field-naturalist. moreover, Tue report of the Bombay and Alibag observatories for the year 1908 has been received. White ants cause much damage at the Colaba (Bombay) Observatory; glass insulators filled with kerosene have been provided for the presses containing the records, but it is doubtful if they will prove efficacious. The rainfall for the year amounted to 53°54 inches, being 21-62 inches below the average for 1873-96; of that amount, 52-70 inches fell between June and September inclusive, the period of the south-west monsoon. Milne’s seismograph registered forty-cight earthquakes, besides several small movements; great dis- turbances occurred on January 11, February 9, August 20, and November 2. A table prepared in accordance with the suggestion of the International Commission for Terrestrial Magnetism, representing the magnetic character NO. 2065, VOL. 80] of each day, shows that there were 135 calm days, the remaining days of the year showing small or larger dis- turbances; six of the latter were days of great disturb- ance. The mean declination was 1° 2’ east. Tue ballistic galvanometer method of measuring quanti- ties of electricity has proved so convenient and flexible that it has been used to determine changes of magnetic induction in cases to which it was not strictly applicable. According to the simple theory of the instrument, ‘the whole of the electricity must have passed through it before the moving ‘part of the instrument has had time to move appreciably from its position of rest. Prof. O. B. Pierce, of Harvard, has investigated the behaviour of a d’Arsonval galvanometer the period of swing of which was raised to ten minutes by attaching to the coil a circular disc with a weighted rim. He finds that the simple theory is still applicable to such an instrument, and has by means of it measured the changes of magnetic induction through large electromagnets. His memoir forms No. 11 of vol. xliv. of the Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. SoME comparison tests between the new Feéry spiral pyrometer and a standardised thermoelectric Féry radiation pyrometer are recorded in Engineering for May 14. The spiral pyrometer has the advantage over other types of radiation pyrometers in that it is self-contained. The instrument consists essentially of a very small spiral made of a strip of two metals having very different coefficients of expansion, and having a pointer attached. The spiral unrolls when heated, and the pointer travels over a scale indicating the temperature of the furnace. Rays coming from the furnace are reflected by a concave mirror and sent to the spiral, any radiation passing through the spiral being reflected back to it by means of a second small mirror. The whole is contained in a tube furnished with a focussing arrangement by means of which the observer instrument towards the furnace and obtains Adjustment of the zero of the instrument is easily effected. The tests were conducted by Mr. G. C. Pearson in the retort-house of the Birmingham Gas Works, and ranged between 845° C. and 1260° C. The greatest difference between the readings of the two instru- ments amounted to 10° C. at 930° C.; the mean of twelve readings shows the spiral pyrometer to be reading about 1° C. in excess of the thermoelectric pyrometer. The directs the an image of it. | maker’s claim of an accuracy within 1 per cent. or 2 per cent. is thus amply justified. The instrument is being constructed in this country by the Cambridge Scientific Instrument Company. A series of special demonstrations on the use of micro- scopes, and various microscopic appliances and accessories, has been held during the past week or so at the London depot, 9-15 Oxford Street, of Mr. Ernest Leitz, of Wetzlar. It is generally known that this firm was prac- tically the pioneer in the production of cheap microscopes and objectives of Continental make, and an inspection of the apparatus now shown clearly indicates that, though a low standard of price is maintained, the apparatus pro- duced is of a very high class. It is interesting to note that in the production of the new types of microscope stands the firm is being largely influenced by English ideas of design; the result is a type of instrument which combines to a considerable extent the Continental horse- shoe foot and the much more stable English tripod foot. Could Mr. Leitz carry this innovation somewhat further, he would be in a position to produce an instrument which in point of design and for general stability and convenience 380 in use would have few equals and probably no superiors. The episcopic and diascopic projection apparatus is of a very complete order, and admits of being used for photo- micrographic work as well. The dark ground illumina- tors, and also some recently introduced appliances for metallurgical work, are of special interest. An entirely new design of apparatus, adapted for both visual and photographic purposes in metallurgy, is also exhibited, and in this a definite departure from existing methods is to be seen. The microtomes are also of new design, and are of very substantial construction. A visit to the premises of Mr. Leitz at the present moment cannot fail to be of interest to microscopists, or to those to whom the micro- scope may be of either practical or scientific value. Mfr. Joun Murray has just issued the fourth edition of Mr. W. C. D. Whetham’s book on ‘‘ The Recent Develop- ment of Physical Science.”? The book was published first in 1904, and was noticed in Nature of January 26, 1905 “vol. Ixxi., p. 291). The present issue is fundamentally the same as the third edition published four years ago, though a few additions have been made. No. 168 of Ostwald’s Klassiker der exakten Wissen- schaften, published by Mr. W. Engelmann, Leipzig, con- tains papers on the stereoscope by Wheatstone, Brewster, Riddell, Helmholtz, Wenham, d’Almeida, and Harmer, edited and annotated by Mr. M. von Rohr. The volume makes an interesting contribution to the history of the stereoscope for German readers. Tue thirteenth revised and enlarged edition of ‘‘ Prantls Lehrbuch der Botanik,’’ edited by Prof. F. Pax, has been published by Mr. W. Engelmann, Leipzig. The text has ‘been extended, and now occupies nearly five hundred pages. The price—six. marks—for a volume of this number of pages, and almost the same number of figures, is remark- ably low. Pror. R. Zs1GMonpy’s valuable work upon the applica- tion of the method of ultramicroscopy to the study of solutions of colloids has been translated into English by Mr. T. Alexander, and published by Messrs. J. Wiley and Sons (London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) under the title ** Colloids and the Ultramicroscope.’’ An appreciative notice of the original German work appeared in NaTuRE of March 1, 1906 (vol. Ixxiii., p. 410). The price of the English edition is 12s. 6d. net. OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. A GENERAL SOLUTION OF THE SPECTROHELIOGRAPH.—A paper by M. Deslandres, published in No. 15 of the Comptes rendus, describes a ‘‘ general purposes ” spectro- heliograph recently set up at Meudon in which are com- bined four distinct instruments for the photographic registration of the phenomena of the solar atmosphere. All these instruments are fed by the same ccelostat and objective. ‘ The first is an ordinary spectroheliograph giving the forms of the flocculi in Ha light, the dispersion. and reflection being performed by a reflection grating. If the grating be removed from the path of the collimated ray the latter falls on a train of prisms, which deviates it into a second camera of 3 m. focal length giving K, and K, images, for comparison with the Ha images, of 80 mm. ges, diameter. If it is desirable to isolate a special line the objective of the second instrument is replaced by a plane ‘mirror, so that the ray is reflected into the third spectro- heliograph arranged for the easy isolation of any special wadiation, whilst if this instrument be removed the ray passes into the fourth instrument, of much greater length NO. 2065, VOL. 80] camera NATORE [May 27, 1906 and having three slits, so that very fine lines, or definite portions of broad lines, may easily be isolated. It is with the latter form that M. Deslandres has recently obtained the fine images, with K, and Ha radiations, showing the dark filaments. The requisite motions are imparted to the objective form- ing the primary image, and to the photographic plate, by synchronised electric motors and speed transformers, and M. Deslandres states that the change from one instrument to another is a simple matter; the complications’ are more apparent than real. Tue BriGHTNESS OF THE Corona.—Lick Observatory Bulletin No. 153 contains a brief review, by Prof. Perrine, of the results obtained from the attempts 10 measure the total brightnesses of the corona during the total solar eclipses of 1905 and 1908. Among other things, it is shown that the ratio of the intrinsic actinic brilliancy of the brightest parts of the corona to that of the surrounding sky is 744/1, whilst the ratio of total coronal, to full moon, light is o-rr1. The results also indicate that there are sufficient differences of brightness of the corona at successive eclipses to be detected by the methods employed at Flint Island in 1908. A STANDARD ScaLE oF PuHotToGRaPpHic MaGnitupEs.—In Circular No. 150 of the Harvard College Observatory Prof. Pickering points out the urgent importance of fixing upon: some standard scale of photographic magnitudes for international adoption, and describes the work already done in this connection at Harvard. The method of polar sequences, in which the region to be investigated is photo- graphed on the same plate and under the same conditions as the polar region, has been found to give satisfactory results, and the absolute magnitudes of a sequence of forty-seven stars in the latter region have been determined. Other sequences are being prepared, and Prof. Pickering states that the Harvard College Observatory is prepared to devote a large part of its resources to the work if a satisfactory scale can be universally adopted. THE ORIGINS OF SATELLITES.—In a telegram to the Astronomische Nachrichten (No. 4323, May 17), Prof. See announces that he has rigorously demonstrated that satellites were all captured, and states that he is sending a paper setting forth his demonstration. Tue SpectRUM OF Morenouse’s Comet.—With a quartz spectrograph attached to the S8o-cm. refractor of the Potsdam Observatory, Prof. Hartmann obtained a_spec- trum of comet 1908c on October 27, 1908; the exposure was 140 minutes, and the slit width 0-1 mm. Three faint pairs of lines are shown at wave-lengths 3874-2, 3908-6; 4001-1, 4020-0; and 4252-8, 4275-8. The first of these is very broad, and corresponds to the head of the third cyanogen band, whilst the origins of the other pairs are as yet unknown (Astronomische Nachrichten, No. 4322). Tne Oreir or €& Boédtis.—An orbit for & Bo6dtis, previously published by Prof. Doberck, was determined by aid of Sir Wm. Herschel’s position angles, and no longer represents the observations. Consequently, Prof. Doberck has determined a new orbit, using only the measures made since 1830, and publishes it, together with an ephemeris until 1915-5, in No. 4322 of the Astrono- mische Nachrichten; the following are the elements :— B=171° 37’, A=346° 52’, y=32° 54’, e=0-5061, P=179-60 years, T=1907-84, a=5-015", retregrade. The hypothetical parallax of this system is 0-158”. Tue Birt oF Wortps.—In Cosmophysics, ‘‘ an inter- national journal of astrophysics,’’ described as the organ of the Wainoni Parl Astrophysical Society, Christchurch, New Zealand, Prof. A. W. Bickerton sets forth his com- plete theory of stellar creation. Numerous recent observa- tions of stars, nove and their spectra are introduced into this summary in order to demonstrate that lucid stars are formed by the collision of two cosmical masses. The new body, however, is not the combined mass, but, accord- ing to Prof. Bickerton’s theory, is a third body formed by the masses detached from the colliding bodies by the force of the impact; the latter, after their impact, go on their respective journeys as variable stars. May 27, 1909] SELECTIVE WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY. A PAPER by Dr. Alex. Muirhead and myself, on some experiments and measurements in accurate wireless tuning with open-circuit radiators, and the conditions under which perfect selection is possible, was read to the Royal Society in January of this year, and will appear in a forth- coming issue of the Proceedings. The essence of it is that in signalling across land both radiator and receiver must be completely insulated from, and elevated above, the earth, if they are to be persistent oscillators such as are capable of accurate tuning. Earth connection damps out the vibration and spoils tuning : and to get the best effect the lower capacity area must be not only insulated, but must be elevated above the earth until its capacity with respect to the upper aérial is a minimum. To prove this, the received energy was measured at a distant station by a Duddell hot-wire meter; and several series of measurements were taken with the lower capacity at different heights above the earth, and also when con- nected with the earth. The sensitiveness of a thoroughly tuned Lodge-Muirhead system is extreme; small power is sufficient, and the in- ductive connection of the collector to the receiving instru- ment may be separated by a surprising interval without stopping communication. Under these non-earthed conditions every other station, even near and powerful ones, can be tuned out and their disturbance eliminated. Directly earth connection is made, tuning of the radiator and. collector is nearly gone, for they no longer have any persistent free vibration period. Samples of a large number of measurements are recorded in the paper. But from the paper as originally sent in an account of the most striking experiment to illustrate the facility and perfection of tuning on this system, when insulated capacity areas are employed without any earth connection, was accidentally omitted, though it has since been communi- cated to the society. The experiment was made on May 14, 1907, and may be briefly described. Preliminary Information. Each aérial of the Lodge-Muirhead system consists of a pair of capacity areas in the form of a couple of very open ‘* Maltese crosses’’ or squares of wire suspended horizontally from .four posts like the framework of a carpet, one above the other, and both well insulated from the earth, Connection with each is made in the middle by a special elaborately stranded cable to the instruments, but no earth connection is made at all. A wheel coherer—revolving steel disc dipping into oiled mercury—is employed as detector under the conditions of accurate tuning; or sometimes a point coherer, similarly treated with oil. An electrolytic coherer is even more sensitive, but its leakage .damps vibrations out and _ pre- vents the accumulation of impulses necessary for accurate tuning, whereas the film of oil on the wheel coherer insulates until the oscillations in the receiving tuned con- denser circuit have mounted up sufficiently to break it down and overflow through the detector. That is in brief summary the way signalling works, and the following account has reference to signalling across Kent between Elmer’s End and Downe. Experiment in Diplex Telegraphy. At two stations, Downe and Elmer’s End respectively, the upper capacity area of each aérial was_ bisected diagonally, the two triangular halves being insulated from each other, and each connected to its own independent receiving or sending arrangement. The lower aérial was not bisected, but was doubled, an additional insulated area being placed a few feet below the ordinary one. By this means each station was practically doubled, and the two halves at each station made to correspond to a different wave-length. Two senders at Elmer’s End were then set to work simultaneously, one to transmit the word ‘‘ Liverpool ”’ continuously for a long time, the. other the word “steamships ’’ continuously in the same way. Two in- dependent receivers at the Downe station—one of them a siphon recorder and one a telephone, though both might NO. 2065, VOL. So] NATURE 381 easily have been automatic recorders—each of them in- ductively connected with one half of the aérial there, now received simultaneously, one of them a succession of ‘“* Liverpools,’’ the other a succession of ‘* steamships,’” without the slightest confusion or interference or over- lapping of any kind. In other words, diplex telegraphy (as distinct from: duplex) was found quite easy on this system of tuning, which was specified by one of us in 1897. Experiment in Selection or Tuning Out. Another experiment more recently tried is the following. Two stations were arranged at Downe, 1200 feet apart, either of which could speak with great ease to Elmer’s End, and was strong enough-to speak to a station thirty miles away. One of the Downe stations was then switched! on to ‘‘ receiving,’’ and both Elmer’s End and the other station at Downe were set speaking to it. The wave-length of one was 300 metres, of the other 660 metres, so as to compare Civil with Admiralty con- ditions. By the mere motion of a handle the frequency of the receiving station could be altered at will so as to corre- spond either with the neighbouring ‘sending station 1200 feet off, or with the distant sending station seven miles off—which distance might, however, have been increased’ immensely without any difficulty. A few trees intervened between the neighbouring stations. In these circumstances, when properly adjusted, each station could be heard separately; that is to say, messages could be received first from one tuned-in station and then from the other, without any disturbance from the station tuned-out, although both stations were sending all the time strongly and simultaneously. The ease and large margin with which selection could be achieved shows that the two neighbouring stations could have been put still nearer, while still retaining the power of complete tuning-out. Testing of Margin of Selection. Further experiments in the same direction were con- ducted as follows :— The two stations at Downe, 400 yards apart, were re- arranged so that there were no trees between, only a few low hedges, thus making the test manifestly more severe. A given power was then employed for sending at one of these neighbouring stations, and the same power at the distant Elmer’s End station, while the other neighbouring station was arranged for receiving from either of these two at pleasure. Experiment was now directed to deter- mine the conditions under which the neighbouring station could be completely cut out, while still the distant one could be clearly heard. In other words, to determine the amount of separation between the primary and secondary of the inductive connection which would eliminate all dis- turbance from the neighbouring station adjusted to ordinary commercial wave-length, while it would permit perfect signals to be received on the siphon recorder from the distant tuned station of longer or more nearly naval wave- length. ; Case 1.—Elmer’s End sending with a wave-length of 580 metres. Neighbouring Downe sending with a wave- length of 300 metres. The receiving Downe station was attuned so as to cover a range of wave-length about 580 metres on the average, but extending more than 20 metres above and below. Under these conditions it was possible completely to cut out the local station on a coupling of 32 inches, that is, with 33 inches separating primary and secondary coil of the inductive connection; whereas from Elmer’s End perfect signals could be obtained without dis- ‘turbance on any coupling between 33 inches and 7 inches. Indeed, as the exact pitch was reached at the receiving adjustment, the signals received boomed out, as it were, very strongly. Case 2.—The Elmer’s End wave-length was shortened’ to 510 metres, the local Downe station remaining at 300 metres, and again a series of readings was taken at the receiving Downe station adjusted to ‘an average of 510 metres wave-length. ; The coupling separation, which now just managed to cut out the local station, was 4 inches. Anything above 382 NATURE [May 27, 149. 4 inches gave perfect signals from Elmer’s End, and no disturbance. Case 3.—On shortening the distant wave-length still more, so as to make it 450 metres, the neighbouring station could not be completely cut.out without at the same time introducing a trace of superposed disturbance into the messages received from the distant station. Case 4.—The difference of wave-length between the two stations was now, therefore, again slightly increased, the Elmer’s End wave-length being adjusted to 480 metres, with the local station still remaining at 300. In this case perfect and strong signals could be received from Elmer’s End again, but the separation of the in- ductive connection had to be as much as 6 inches in order completely to cut out the local signals from the neighbour- ing station. It follows, therefore, that when two powerful stations are so excessively near each other as they were in this case—namely, in adjoining fields—a distant signal can be heard with perfect clearness, i.e. without any trace of disturbance, only when its wave-length is more than half as great again as that of the neighbouring station; but that undisturbed signalling is much. more easy when it approaches double that magnitude, or, of course, when the neighbouring stations are not quite so close together. In no case was any trace of harmonic detected; e.g. when a station was sending 300 metres, and the neigh- bouring receiving station was attuned to 600 metres, it did not necessarily feel any disturbance. The waves emitted and received by these radiators appear to be prac- tically pure. OLIvER Lopce. MARINE BIOLOGY IN. THE TORTUGAS. THE volumes referred to below contain a series of nine- teen papers based on work done or material collected at the Marine Biological Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution, situated on Loggerhead Key, off the south- west coast of Florida. The observations recorded bear ample testimony to the exceptionally favourable situation of the laboratory for the prosecution of marine biological research, and also to the facilities afforded on a liberal scale for work on a wide variety of subjects. Dr. A. G. Mayer, the director of the laboratory, describes the annual breeding swarm of the Atlantic palolo (Euntce fucata, Ehlers), which occurs within three days of the day of the last quarter of the moon between June 29 and July 28. The worm when mature (and immature worms take no part in the swarming) is about 10 inches long, and its sexual products are limited to its posterior half. Before sunrise on the day of the annual breeding swarm the worm crawls out backwards from its burrow in the coral or limestone rock until the whole of the sexual por- tion is protruded. By means of vigorous twisting move- ments this portion is detached, swims vertically upwards to the surface of the water, and there continues to swim about with its posterior end in front. These sexual por- tions of the worms, which show no tendency to congregate, are present in great. abundance at Tortugas, scarcely a square foot of the surface above the coral reefs being free from them. At sunrise the worms undergo violent con- tractions, which cause the expulsion of the sexual products through rents or tears which are formed in the body wall; the torn and shrivelled remains of the body wall then sink down to the bottom and die. Although light is probably a contributory cause, it is not the sole cause of this spasm of contraction, which takes place, though it is somewhat delayed, in swimming worms which have been removed to a dark room. After casting off its posterior sexual seg- ments the anterior part of the worm crawls back into its burrow, and regenerates a new sexual end. The author has attempted to determine the nature of the stimulus to which the worm responds when it swarms, and he shows that the worms never swarm when moonlight is prevented from falling upon the rocks in which they are ensconced. The paper is a most interesting contribution to the study of this remarkable phenomenon. 1 Papers from the .Tortugas Laboratory of the Carnegie Instituti n of Washington. » Vol. i., pp. v+r9r; vol. ii Wachinecens Carnegie Institution, 1908.) se - ii, pp. v+325. (Washington: NO. 2065, VOL. 80] Dr. Mayer describes a series of experiments on the scyphomedusan Cassiopea xamachana, from which he con- cludes that the stimulus which causes pulsation is due to the constant formation of sodium oxalate in the terminal endoderm cells of the marginal sense organs. The sodium oxalate precipitates calcium as calcium oxalate, thus setting free sodium chloride, which he shows acts as a nervous and muscular stimulant. Pulsation is thus caused by the constant maintenance at the nervous centres in the sense organs of a slight excess of sodium over and above that found in the surrounding sea-water. The late Prof. W. K. Brooks and Mr. B. McGlone have studied the origin of the lung of Ampullaria. They find that the gills, the lung, and the osphradium arise simul- taneously, or nearly so, that they are developed from a ridge or thickening of the mantle, and that they should therefore be regarded as a series of homologous organs specialised among themselves in different directions. The lung becomes functional before the gill, as is shown by the fact that the newly hatched young quickly die if they are prevented from leaving the water, while adults can survive an immersion of a month or more. Other papers, the last productions of the late Prof. Brooks, contain a discussion of the subgenus Cyclosalpa, a description of the rare Salpa floridana (Apstein), and of a new appendi- cularian—Otkopleura tortugensts—to the tail of some of which a new species of Gromia was found attached. Prof. Reighard discusses the significance of the con- spicuousness of the coral-reef fishes of the Tortugas. He concludes, as the result of a long series of ingenious ex- periments, that the coral-reef fishes do not possess that combination of conspicuousness, with unpleasant attributes, necessary to the theory of warning coloration. The con- spicuousness of these fishes, since it is not a secondary sexual character and has no necessary meaning for pro- tection, aggression, or as warning, is without biological significance. These fishes have no need of either aggressive inconspicuousness, because they feed chiefly on fixed in- vertebrates, or of protective inconspicuousness, for they are afforded abundant protection by the reefs and their own agility. Selection has therefore not acted on their colours or other conspicuous characters, but these have developed, unchecked by selection, through internal forces. An attempt is made to apply this conclusion to the ‘* warning coloration ’’ of conspicuous insects. There are other memoirs on the formation of chromo- somes in various echinoderm ova; on the spermatogenesis of the ‘‘ wallking-stick ’? phasmid, Aplopus mayert, in which the history of the accessory chromosome is traced and its probable significance as a sex determinant discussed; on the habits and reactions of the crab Ocypoda arenaria, of Aplopus, and of the woody and sooty terns; on the early development of the scyphozoon Linerges, on actinian larvze referable to the genera Zoanthella and Zoanthina; on the rate of regeneration in Cassiopea; on regeneration of the chele of Portunus, on the life-history of the booby and man-o’-war bird, and on the cestodes of the Tortugas. THE RELEVANCE OF MATHEMATICS. ONE of the most important achievements of the thought of the last fifty years has been the conclusive proof of the logical nature of all. mathematical conceptions and methods, in opposition to Kant’s view that mathematical reasoning is not strictly formal, but always uses a priort intuitions of space and time. This does not, of course, imply that the methods of investigation followed by in- dividual mathematicians are essentially different from those followed by other inquirers, the objects of whose researches are not purely logical; it is well known, in fact, that, though a proposition A may logically imply a proposition B, yet B may be deduced from A by con- siderations quite outside those of logic. Thus the exist- ence of the solution of a certain important and famous mathematical, problem—known as ‘‘ Dirichlet’s principle ”’ —was, we may say, felt, and actually applied in domains of pure mathematics, for certain physical reasons con- nected with the equilibrium of statical electricity long before rigorous logical methods were discovered for proving the existence in question. The fact that propositions are May 27, 1909] NATURE 383 connected logically by no means implies that this connec- tion is obvious, nor does it preclude their being discovered, even in a correct form, by the exercise of what is popularly called ‘‘ intuition.” By the side of this ever-deepening investigation into the principles of mathematics went on an inquiry, carried on by entirely different men, into the nature and purposes of our conceptions in physics. Through the work of these men, the true relation of mathematics to physical science, which had been a subject on which there had been until then much confusion of thought, appeared clearly. We will glance at the history of mathematics and of the application of mathematics to physics. From the earliest times until the seventeenth century mathematicians were chiefly occupied with particular ques- tions—the properties of particular numbers and the geo- metrical properties of particular figures, together with simple mechanical questions concerning centres of gravity, the lever, and so on. The only exception to this was afforded by algebra, in which symbols (like our present x and y) took the place of numbers, so that, what is a great advance in economy of thought and other labour,? a part of calculation could be done with symbols instead of numbers, so that the one result stated a proposition valid for a whole class (often an infinity) of different numbers. Such a result is that which we now write :— (a+b)*=a'+3a7b+3ab?+b', which remains valid when we substitute any particular numbers for a and b, and labour in calculation is often saved by the formula, even in this very simple case. The great revolution in mathematical thought brought about by Descartes in 1637* consists in the application of this general algebra to geometry by the very natural thought of substituting the numbers expressing. the lengths of straight lines for those lines. Thus a point in a plane (for instance) is determined in position by two ‘‘ co- ordinates or numbers denoted by x and y, x denoting the distance from a fixed point along a fixed straight line (the abscissa) to a certain point, and y denoting the distance from this last point along a perpendicular (an “ordinate ’’) to the abscissa to the point in question deter- mined by x and y. As the point in question varies in position, x and y both vary; to every x belongs, in general, one or more y's, and we arrive at the most beautiful idea of a single algebraical equation between x ‘In The New Quarterly for October. 1908 (vol. i., p. 498), Mr. N. R. Campbell has objected to the idea of Mach that ‘economy of thought” is the end for which scientific theories are formed, for reasons based, it seems to me, on a misunderstanding of what Mach really meant. Perhzps the phrase “economy of thought” is not well chosen, and may lead to such misunderstandings ; for the principle directs attention to a rule of scientific method which can be readily admitted, and certainly the goal of science, as guided by this principle, will not ‘have been attained when its students have ceased to think.” This rule may be thus described. | As science advances, besides actually overcoming an obstacle, it, consciously or unconsciously, leaves marks of guidance for those who come after ; so that those obstacles which required great genius to overcome in the first instance aferwards became quite easily so. This is necessary in order that our energies may not be spent by the time that we reach a new obstacle not hitherto surmounted; and “economy of thought” means that we are to be spared waste of the energy of thought whilst treading the path already trodden by our predecessors, so that we may keep it for the really important new problems—not that we may cease to think about prohlems, new or old, And_ thus we have legacies left by great men, such as Lagrange’s analytical mechanics and Fourier's theory of the conduction of. heat, which are merely inventories of extensive classes of facts, arranged with wonderful compactness. In this description of an infinity, perhaps, of facts by a few formule, there is undoubtedly an zsthetic motive and value; but, apart from this, there is this important economical aspect, that a multitude of particular facts and ‘‘laws,”” which we had hitherto to remember, actually or artificially (in a note-book or library), is, in the theory, comprised in a few symbolical formulz, which only require /ogicad development to get at the particular cases. From this point of view we get the apparent paradox that “economy of thought” leads to the replacing of memory by reason. ‘The solution of the paradox is that logical development can be made more mechanical even than memory, and that thus thought is spared, so that we can concentrate it on the unsolved problems which are always coming into our. field of vision as we advance. . The tendency to economy of thought, which is shown in the growth of physics—for example, in the inclusion of the particular Biot’s law of the distribution of temperatures in Fourier's theory—may also be seen in the symbolism of pure mathematics. 2 We need hardly point out that this change was not sudden—that Descartes’s ‘‘Géométrie"’ was not a ‘‘proles sine matre creata,” but that here, as everywhere, the development of mathematics has followed the principle of continuity. . NO. 2065, VOL. 80] and y representing the whole of a curve—the one equation, called the ‘* equation of the curve,’’ expressing the general law by which, given any particular x out of an infinity of them, the corresponding y or y’s can be found. Thus y=3x+2 gives one y for each x, y*=3x-+2, or, more generally, y°=mx-+n, where m and n stand for any fixed numbers, gives two y’s, one positive and one negative (above and below the abscissa respectively), for each x, ex- cept when ~x is zero. The problem of drawing a tangent—the limiting posi- tion of a secant, when the two meeting points approach indefinitely close to one another—at any point of a curve came into prominence as a result of Descartes’s work, and this, together with the allied conceptions of velocity and acceieration ‘‘ at an instant ’’* which appeared in Galilei’s classical investigation, published in 1638, of the law according to which freely falling bodies move, gave rise at length to the powerful and convenient ‘‘ infinitesimal calculus of Leibniz and the ‘‘ calculus of fluxions ’’ of Newton. It is now clearly established that those two methods, which’ are theoretically—but not practically—the same, were discovered independently ; Newton discovered his first, and Leibniz published his first, in 1684. The finding of the areas of curves and of the shapes of the curves which moving particles describe under given forees showed themselves, in this calculus, as results of the inverse process to that of the direct process which serves to find tangents and the law of attraction to a given point from the datum of the path described by a particle. The direct process is called ‘‘ differentiation,’’ the inverse process “‘ integration.”’ Newton’s fame is chiefly owing to his application of this method to the solution, which, in its broad outlines, he gave, of the problem of the motion of the bodies in the solar system, which includes his discovery of the law according to which all matter gravitates towards (is attracted by) other matter. This was given in his ‘‘ Prin- cipia’’ of 1687; and, for more than a century afterwards, mathematicians were occupied in extending and applying the calculus. Of the great mathematicians of this time—the brothers Bernoulli, Euler, Clairaut, d’Alembert, Maclaurin, Lagrange, Laplace, Legendre, Fourier, Poisson, and others —most were Frenchmen; and the successful application of mathematics to celestial and molecular mechanics, to hydrodynamics, to the theory of the conduction of heat, and to electricity and magnetism, brought about, in a great measure, that enthusiastic trust in science, that faith that the whole mystery of life and of our lives was about to be uncovered by it, and that waning of faith in religion, which are so characteristic of France in the eighteenth century, and which are met with in the highest degree in Laplace. Whether or not it was due to the indirect influence of Kant, whose ‘* Critique of the Pure Reason ”’ first appeared in 1781, an increasing tendency towards critical examina- tion into the validity and the limits of validity of mathe- matical conceptions and methods appeared in the mathe- matics of the nineteenth century. First of all we must mention Gauss, who, in an unexampled degree, combined the power of discovery and profound critical insight, so’ that in the seven volumes of his publications, in the col- lected edition of his works, there is hardly a page which” is not both important in the history of mathematics. and free from error. But perhaps of still greater influence was the work of the French mathematician Cauchy; it is he who must be regarded as the chief inspirer—perhaps in- direct—of Weierstrass ; it is Weierstrass who was the chief inspirer of Georg Cantor, and it is to the influence of Cantor and Dedekind, most of all, that we owe that trend of thought which, with modern mathematical logicians, has resulted in the great discovery of the logical nature of mathematics. Of course, in this short description there is no implica- tion that the nineteenth century has been poor in the more technical achievements or physical applications of mathe- matics; in England alone the names of Stokes, Thomson 1 Mathematically, the finding of the tangent at a point of a curve, and finding the velocity of a particle describing this curve when it cets to that. point. are identical problems. _Thev are expressed as finding the ‘‘ differential coefficient,” or the ‘‘ fluxion”’ at the point. 384 NATURE [May 27, 1909. (Lord Kelvin), and Maxwell, and those of many living show this; and in Germany one of the greatest influences in pure mathematics was Riemann, who is usually con- trasted with Weierstrass as a type of the creative, as opposed to the critical, genius.* But in this article we are only concerned with questions in the theory of know- ledge, with the principles of mathematics, and the basis of their application to physics, and, through these ques. tions, with the relevance of mathematics to our whole civilisation and, what is still more important, to our whole lives.~ The critical inquiries into the nature and purposes of our conceptions in physics, which have been mentioned above, have put in a clear light the fact, which seems to have been overlooked by Laplace in that flush of enthusiasm which a mathematician can so readily under- stand, and which, without the excuse of the sudden illumination brought about in the eighteenth century by the development of mathematics, is still overlooked by the cruder physicists, that the ‘‘ world’’ with which we have to deal in theoretical (mathematical) mechanics, for example, is but a mathematical scheme the function of which it is to imitate by logical consequences of the proper- ties assigned to it by definition certain processes of nature as closely as possible. Thus our ‘‘ dynamical world ’’ may be called a model of reality, and must not be confused with the reality itself. That this model of reality is constructed solely out of logical conceptions results from our conclusion that mathe- matics is based on logic, and on logic alone; that such a model is possible is indeed surprising, and the surprise only goes when we follow up in. history the growth of the application of mathematics to physics. The need for com- pleting facts of nature in thought was, no doubt, first felt as a practical need—the need that arises because we feel it convenient to be able to predict certain kinds of future events. Thus, with a purely mathematical model of the solar system, we can tell, with an approximation which depends upon the completeness of the model, the relative positions of the sun, stars, and planets several years ahead of time; this enables us to publish the ‘‘ Nautical Almanac,”’ which is so useful to sailors, and makes up to us, in some degree, for our inability ‘‘ to grasp this sorry scheme of things entire . . . and. re-mould it nearer to the heart’s desire.” The need of the completion of facts in thought is not merely practical; it is also intellectual. The striving after logical completeness, whether in generality of results or consistency of its own premisses or those of its models of reality,” is accompanied by a feeling of zesthetic pleasure or of intellectual honesty, or of both. We may say that mathematics has an zesthetic and a moral value. Mathematics is relevant to those who go down to the sea in ships, to those who stay on dry land and build bridges or locomotives, and to those who observe the sun’s corona during a total eclipse to find out what the sun is made of. Mathematics is relevant to the philosopher, for not only has it investigated and does it investigate its own foundations, but also it explains what is meant by the philosophers’ own phrases, such as ‘‘ the postulate of the comprehensibility of nature’? (which seems to be the postulate that a purely logical model is possible), and the “laws of uniformity, continuity, and causality.’’ And lastly, mathematics, besides being relevant to zsthetics and morals in the above sense, is of moral significance in 1 On a closer consideration, this distinction breaks down almost entirely. Apart from the numerous instances which can be quoted of particularly critical work by Riemann and particularly creative work by Weierstrass, surely it is always true both that there should be no creation without criticism (otherwise we run the risk of building castles in the air) and that there cannot be any relevant criticism which does not add to our knowledge, and is in so far creative. 2 Cf A. Voss, “ Uber das Wesen der Mathematik.” Pp. 3-4. and Berlin: B. G. Teubner, 1908.) 8 Ihave tried to show by some examples that we can and ought to examine the details of our models with the aid of the most refined conceptions of modern mathematics, in order to be certain that the models are logically consistent (‘On some Points in the Foundation of Mathema- tical Physics,” Zhe Monist, April, 1908, vol. xviii., pp. 217-26; ch Voss, of. cét., pp. 71-2). An example of the results of critical inves- tigation into applied mathematics is the discovery—which has also obvious practical results in the avoidance of labour doomed to unfruit- fulness—by Poincaré of limits of validity for certain of Laplace's formule. (Leipzig NO. 2065, VOL. 80] another respect. Since the basis of mathematics is logic, and logic alone,‘ all those personal, national, and historical questions which are from time to time mixed up with mathematics—however essential some of them may be to. the understanding of certain points and to education—show themselves, when looked at from a higher plane of truth, to be irrelevant. Puitie E. B. Jourpain, THE IRON AND STEEL INSTITUTE, HE fortieth annual general meeting of the Iron and Steel Institute was held at the Institution of Civil Engineers on May 13 and 14, under the chairmanship. of Sir Hugh Bell, who retains the office of president for another year, and will be succeeded next May by his Grace the Duke of Devonshire. The report of the council for the past year shows that the affairs of the institute are in a prosperous condition. Five Carnegie research scholarships had been awarded, and Mr. Carnegie had presented 11,000 dollars, the income of which would assist in meeting clerical expenses and those incurred in issuing special memoirs. The proceedings on May 13 opened with three papers, taken together for discussion, dealing with corrosion and protection of iron and steel. The paper by Mr. W. H. Walker, of Boston, U.S.A., contains the fundamental conceptions involved in the modern electrolytic theory of the corrosion of iron, develops this theory from the facts now known, and shows that the older carbonic-acid theory can be, and is, included therein, and points out some of the practical applications of this theory to the problem of corrosion. Mr. Allerton S. Cushman, of the United States Department of Agriculture, contributed a paper on the preservation of iron and steel. The author favours the view of corrosion as an electrochemical phenomenon, and deals with the questions of the production of a metal highly resistant to corrosion, of protective coatings, and of the passive condition which iron is capable of assuming. If seems to be a fact that carefully made open-hearth metal, in which the ordinary impurities are cut down to mere traces, and in which the heat treatment has been carefully controlled, is much more resistant to corrosion than the ordinary types of metal with a comparatively high percentage of impurities. The preservation of iron and steel by application of other metals to the surface, and of paint and other coatings, is fully. discussed, and certain experiments having the object of determining their relative values under ordinary weathering conditions, which are now being carried out in America, are described and illustrated with photographs, Mr. J. Cruickshank Smith, of London, contributed a paper on physical tests for pro-. tective coatings for iron and steel. Tests are described for examining the following points :—that the proper propor-' tion of pigment and vehicle has been obtained with the_ minimum of free oil space in the dry film; the smallness and uniformity of size of the pigmentary particles; the possession of the property of minimum tendency of the’ pigment and vehicle to separate; the determination of the thickness and uniformity of the film and its strength and elasticity ; the permeability and hardness of the film. An important paper on the solubility of steel in sulphuric acid was contributed by Messrs. E. Heyn and O. Bauer, of Gross-Lichterfelde. This paper contains 120 pages of matter, together with plates, and can only be briefly noticed here. The authors’ researches show that the transition from the martensite of hardened steel to pearlite of annealed steel is not continuous through the inter- mediate stage of tempering as has been hitherto supposed. There is an intermediate metastable form to which the authors have given the name of ‘‘ osmondite,’’ in honour of Osmond. The fact is shown by the curve of solubility in dilute sulphuric acid attaining a sharply defined maxi- mum at 400° C, The researches dealt with the influences of the quenching and tempering of steel on its solubility, of quenching and re-heating soft mild steel, and of the quenching temperature; the influence of cold working and annealing on the solubility of mild steel, and of the: - 1 Mathematics is a wonderfully refined syvzdolic (for the importance of this character, see Voss, of. cit, pp. 25-26) logic, the product of thousands of minds, and so adapted as to spare all waste of thought on unessentials. May 27, 1909 | NATURE 385 chemical composition of iron on its susceptibility to attack by dilute sulphuric acid; the influence of the nature of tne sulphuric acid employed on the solubility of iron. ‘the regularity and trustworthy character of the results obtained prove the great utility of this method of deducing the nature of the previous treatment of the metal under examination. A paper on the chemical physics involved in the decarburisation of iron-carbon alloys was read by Mr. W. H. Hatfield, of Sheffield. In this the author refutes the view of Dr. Wiist that it is necessary that the temper- carbon be precipitated before elimination. There generally remained at least 1 per cent. temper-carbon in so-called decarburised malleable cast iron. _ The proceedings on May 14 opened with the presentation of the Bessemer gold medal to Mr. A. Pourcel, who first manufactured ferro-manganese and silico-spiegel in the blast furnace. A paper was then taken on the electric furnace and the electrical process of steel-making, by W. Roden- hauser, of Saarbriicken. Such furnaces can be divided into two groups, electric arc furnaces and those in which the arc is avoided. The paper contains working drawings and photographs of many furnaces of these types, and notes of their working and defects. A paper on fuel from peat was read by Dr. M. Eken- berg, of London, dealing with the author’s researches for finding a suitable process for converting peat into fuel without air-drying. An experimental apparatus for wet- carbonising peat-pulp and a peat briquette factory are described and illustrated. A heat-treatment study of Bessemer steels was con- tributed by Prof. M‘William and Mr. E. J. Barnes, of Sheffield University. This paper gives a large number of tests carried out by the authors on commercial English steels of varying carbon content. Many tables of results are appended. The Bristol recording pyrometer was described by Messrs. P. Longmuir and T. Swinden, of Sheffield, together with notes of tests made with this low-resistance *“ shop-tool’’ at the works of the Sheepbridge Coal and Iron Company. Mr. C. E. Stromeyer, of Manchester, added another paper to his previous work on the ageing of mild steel and the influence of nitrogen. The net result of the experiments may be summarised as follows :— {a) the usual tensilé and bending tests do not detect those treacherous steels which, after behaving well under the steel-works’ tests, fail in the workshop; (b) the test strips which have been injured on their edges by chisel nicks and then bent clearly indicate that mild steel does change some of its qualities with time, and these changes can be accelerated by heating the samples to the temperature of boiling water. Papers were contributed on high-tension steels, by Mr. P. Longmuir; on tests for hardness, by Prof. Turner, of Birmingham; and on the determination of carbon and phosphorus in steel, by Mr. A. A. Blair, of Philadelphia, U.S.A. Papers from the Carnegie research scholars dealt with the special steels in theory and practice, the strength of nickel-steel riveted joints, the preparation of carbon- free ferro-manganese, steels suitable for gears, and gases occluded in steel. SCIENTIFIC WORK IN THE ENGLISH POTTERIES.* “THE English Ceramic Society, founded in 1900, has just issued the seventh volume of its annual Trans- actions. The membership report shows a steady growth from thirty members in the first two years to a little more than 200 during 1907 and 1908. Ten meetings were held during the session 1907-8, at Tunstall, Longton, Hanley, and Fenton. For the current session the president is Mr. F. H. Wedgwood, and the secretary Dr. J. W. Mellor. Special attention appears to have been directed to the question of gas-firing, which formed the subject of a paper read by Dr. Seligman in December, 1907; of a second paper, by Mr. Schmatolle, read in January, 1908; and of 1 Transactions of the English Ceramic Society, vol. vii., Session 1907-8. Pp. xii+170. (Published by the Society, County Pottery Laboratory, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire.) Price, Non-members, 21s.; Members, tos. 6¢. NO. 2065, VOL. 80] a discussion in March, 1g08; as the former speaker dealt with Continental types of furnace, and the latter came over from Berlin, it is evident that those who control the English potteries have something to learn from their Continental colleagues. The advantages claimed for gas- firing are economy of fuel (especially when a battery of kilns is arranged to work in series, using the same gas- current to cool one furnace and heat the next), a great reduction in breakages and in wear and tear, and, finally, the complete abolition of the smoke nuisance, which has made the ‘‘ Potteries’? and the ‘‘ Black Country’’ synonymous terms. An important paper is contributed by Messrs. Moore and Mellor on the adsorption and dissolution of gases by silicates, a question that derives great commercial import- ance from the tendency which some glazes show to “ spit- out ’’ by the liberation of bubbles of gas; the conclusion is drawn that, although the glaze itself may sometimes be responsible for the spitting, the trouble is usually due to the presence of moisture or of organic matter in the “body,’? and that the nature of the glaze is usually of secondary importance. The uninitiated may well wonder at the nature of the topics referred to in the discussions on “‘ blungers’’ and on ‘‘ pugging,’’ but the address on “Porcelain,’’ by the retiring president, at least is free from this obscurity of nomenclature. In addition to arranging for scientific meetings, the society has appointed a committee for the purpose of adopting, in conjunction with workers in other countries, a standard method of clay analysis. The volume under review affords the fullest confirmation of the statement of the incoming president that, whilst ‘‘ the society can easily make a president, it is the secretary who makes the society,’’ his contribution including a share in the author- ship of six of the seventeen papers now published. THE CULTIVATION OF TEA.? THIS little pamphlet of sixty-eight pages deals with the cultivation, and particularly with the manuring, of tea. A considerable amount of information on the subject has been gained through the experiments of Dr. Mann and others, and has been drawn on freely by the author. Tea requires a heavy rainfall—1oo inches is mentioned as a suitable amount—and rather special con- ditions of cultivation obtain in consequence. Many of the plantations are situated on very sloping ground, and the soil is liable to be washed away; the difficulty is met by several devices, among others by growing plants with big leaves alternately with the tea plants, and thus covering the ground so far as possible. Leguminous plants like crotalaria, ground-nuts, dadaps, &c., are commonly used, and when they die or are cut down they supply both nitrogen and organic matter to the soil. Other nitrogenous manures are, however, in use, including oil cake (rape or castor), which is one of the cheapest, and ammonium sulphate. Potash manuring has been found to be very effective, and also phosphates, but lime is not popular among tea-growers. The question of quality is dealt with at some length. As a rule, the higher the position of the plantation the better the quality of the tea, but the yield per acre is less; probably the lower temperature of the high ground is the determining factor. Heavy dressings of manure are pre- judicial to quality, but Dr. Mann’s experiments are quoted to show that light dressings frequently applied will increase the crop without iniuring its quality. The results of the manurial trials on the Pitakande Estate, Ceylon, are discussed in detail, and a very useful little chanter is given on the way to conduct such trials. ““Tt is of paramount importance,’’ says the author, “ that every owner of a tea plantation should be in a position to experiment for himself and ascertain the most profitable way to manure his crops.’’ This is a very sound position to take. The manures found most profitable at Pitakande would not necessarily be most profitable elsewhere; the real lesson for the tea-planter is to make his own experi- ments, and so to discover the fertiliser or mixture of fertilisers giving the best results on his own plantations. 1 “The Fertilisation of Tea.” By George A, :Cowie. (Tropical itfe Publishing Office.) 386 UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE. CambBrIDGE.—The » following have been appointed members of the board of electors to the professorship of astrophys Sir George Darwin, K.C.B., Sir Robert Ball, Sir William Huggins, K.C.B., O.M.; hon. LL.D., Mr. Fitzpatrick (president of Queens’ College), Dr. Hob- son, Dr. Liveing, Sir J. J. Thomson, and Dr. R. T. Glazebrook. : The Rede lecture will be delivered on Thursday, June 24, at-12 noon,-in the Senate House, by Sir Archi- bald _ Geikie, K.C.B., P.R.S. The’ subject will be “Darwin as Geologist.” The special board for “biology and geology has re- appointed Mr. J. J. Lister to be a manager of the Balfour fund for five years to June, 1914. Lonpon.—The governors of the Imperial College of Science and Technology, following on the appointment. of Prof. Adam Sedgwick as professor of zoology at the college, and of Prof. McBride as his special assistant, have lost no time in making their intentions known with regard to the work of next session. Provision has been made, quite apart from the general work: of the depart- ment, for a series of special courses of lectures. These include marine biology and fishery science with practical work at the college, and, during the summer vacation, at the Plymouth station of the Marine Biological Association by Dr. E. J. Allen, director; an advanced course of vertebrate embryology, by Mr. Richard Assheton; and, in addition, courses of entomology and the physiology of development, the lecturers for which have still to be appointed. In addition to the above, the governors have appointed Mr. Dobell as special lecturer in cytology and protistology, subjects of rapidly growing importance so intimately concerned with the phenomena and the causes that underlie the conditions cf heredity, health, and disease. At the meeting of the Senate of the University on May 19, the degree of D.Sc. in physiology was granted to Dr. N. H. Alcock, an internal student of the -physio- logical laboratory, for a thesis entitled ‘‘ The Physiology of the Peripheral Nerves, especially with regard to their Electrical Phenomena,’’ and other papers. The degree of D.Sc. was also granted to the following external students :—in chemical physiology, to Mr. Charles Dorée, for a thesis on ‘‘ Cholesterol,’’ and other papers; and in geology, to Mr. John~ Ball, for a thesis entitled ‘‘ A Description of the First or Aswan Cataract of the Nile,” and other papers. Mr. F. W. Twort has been appointed superintendent of the ;Brown Animal Sanatory Institution in succession to Dr. Gregor Brodie, resigned. Mr. A. R. Brown has been appointed university lecturer in ethnology for the session 1909-10, under the Martin White benefaction. The principal of the University (Dr. H. A. Miers, F.R.S.) has been appointed a member of the governing body of the Imperial College of Science and Technology in succession to Prof. D. S. Capper, resigned. The certificates of the joint matriculation examination of the northern universities have been recognised under certain conditions as exempting from the London matricu- lation examination. Mr. C. A. Eatanp, staff instructor in biology at the Essex County Laboratories, Chelmsford, has been appointed principal of the laboratories. Pror. G. Etriot Situ, F.R.S., professor of anatomy in the Government School of Medicine, Cairo, has been appointed to the chair of anatomy in the University of Manchester. Lorp .Curzon or KepiLeston, Chancellor of the Uni- versity of Oxford, was the principal guest at the summer dinner of the Oxford Graduates’ Medical Club on May 20. Replying to the toast of ‘‘ The Visitors,’’ Lord Curzon said that to most people Oxford is identified with the study of what is properly known as humane culture. Very few people outside the colleges are aware of the fact that Oxford was once the home of the school of medicine, and NO. 2065, VOL. 80] NATORE [May 27, 19c9 that it has turned out some of the most distinguished physicians who have cast lustre upon the English naime. After eulogising the achievements of Linacre, Sydenham, Wren, Harvey, and Radcliffe, the Chancellor went on to remark that about the middle of the last century the con- dition of science at Oxford might almost be compared to that of the Dark Ages, and the attitude towards medical science in particular, and to science in general, was one of suspicion if not of active hostility. ‘‘ In 1850, when the first commission was about. to commence its labours at Oxford, there was not a single scientific laboratory in that University, and had the whole of the medical students in Oxford at_that time been, sent down, they could have been taken to the station, if station there was, in a single four- wheeled cab. But even when the night was darkest, the dawn was nigh; and, there has been no more dramatic, more inspiring, or more creditable page,in the history of learning than the steps by which science fought its way back into Oxford until, at ‘the present moment, it sits enthroned alongside the. humanities and has a crown of equal authority and prestige upon its brow.”’ Tue Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruc- tion for Ireland has: published the results of an inquiry, by Mr. F. C. Forth, director of technical instruction for Belfast, into the number of students of each age enrolled in the classes of the Belfast Municipal Technical Institute, together with notes on the increase in attendance that is possible at technical classes. The statistics published in the report are rendered more intelligible when it is remem- bered that the population of Belfast in 1901 was 349,180, and that about one-fifth of the population, or 63,870, were from five to fourteen years of age, of whom 50,000 were on the rolls of national schools; 7000 were fourteen years of age, of whom only 730 were attending national schools. A satisfactory feature of -the statistics is the great increase they show in the number of students at each age during the seven years of the institute’s existence. It is clear, too, that the students now begin their evening studies at an earlier age after leaving’ the day school than was formerly the case. In 1901 there were more students at seventeen than any other age; in 1907 the largest number were sixteen years of age. Another outstanding fact is the large increase in the number of women students as compared with the men. Mr. Forth discusses what he calls ‘‘ ideal ’’ conditions of education, and arrives at some interesting results. He takes one-sixth of the population to be of elementary-school age and about 2 per cent. as of fourteen years of age—which he thinks might be taken as the age for leaving the day school and entering even- ing classes’ If half the number of children of fourteen years of age joined the evening classes and followed up their studies. that would mean 1 per cent. of the popula, tion,- and if certain other ‘‘ ideal ’’ conditions prevailed 53 per cent. of the population would be undergoing technical instruction, and this in the case of Belfast would raise the total number of students’ scientific and techno- logical subjects from about 5000 to 20,000 students. SOCIETIES’ AND ACADEMIES. Lonpbon. Royal Society, May 20.—Sir Archibald Geikie, K.C.B., president, in the chair.—Observations, on_ the urine in diseases of the pancreas: P. J. Cammidge. In the course of a series of observations on the metabolic changes associated with diseases of the pancreas it was found that if the urine of a patient suffering from an inflammatory affection of the gland. were boiled with hydrochloric acid, the excess neutralised with lead carbonate, and the freed glycuronic acid precipitated out with_tri-basic lead acetate, treatment of the filtrate -with phenylhydrazine, after the excess .of lead had been. removed, with sulphuretted hydrogen, yielded a crystalline. preduct- which varied in amount with- the intensity, and stage of the disease. Normal urines, and specimens from. patients suffering from diseases in which there was no-reason ‘to think that the | pancreas. was involved, -gave no reaction. Twenty-eight cases in which the urine had been examined during life were investigated post-mortem, and the results of the urinary examination confirmed. The urines of three dogs May 27, 1909} NATURE 387 With experimentally induced acute or chronic pancreatitis were found to give a characteristic reaction. A detailed examination of a large quantity of urine from each of eight patients giving a well-marked reaction showed that it was due to a sugar having the reactions of a pentose, and yielding an osazone with a melting point of 178° C. to 180° C. Attempts to isolate the mother-substance were not successful; it would appear to be derived from the pancreas, and is probably set free as the result of degenerative changes in the gland, passing into the blood, and being excreted in the urine.—Trypanosoma ingens, n.sp.: Sir David Bruce and Captains A. E. Hamerton, H. R. Bateman, and F. P. Mackie.—The incidence of cancer in mice of known age: Dr. E. F. Bashford and Dr. J. A. Murray. The relative frequency of cancer at different age periods in female mice has been determined on animals bred for the purpose, the ages, sex, and parentage being carefully recorded. The diagnoses have been made by combining clinical observation with micro- scopical examination and transplantation of the tumours, | and with post-mortem examination of the animals. Following Jensen, the authors demonstrated in 1903-4 that cancer can be transmitted artificially from one individual to another of the same species by the implantation and con- tinued growth of living cancer-cells, and have shown that this form of transmission is not responsible for the great frequency of the disease. Other authors have since described ‘‘ epidemics ’’ of cancer in animals, especially mice. In the course of a year the present authors observed nineteen cases of cancer in their mice. This aggregation of cases corresponds to the ‘“‘ epidemics’? adduced as evidence that the disease is infective. The cases have been analysed with reference to the age at which the tumours were first observed. The following table gives the liability to cancer at different age-periods :— Age 6-9 -12 -15 -18 —21 —24 months months months months months monthsand over Total as) BR 110 94 21 — Cancer... 3 4 i 3 2 -- Wercentt. (2:2 3°5 7°4 14°2 333 _— The progressive increase shown in the table presents a remarkable parallel with the age-incidence of cancer in the human subject, and confirms the earlier statements (Proc. Roy. Soc., .January, 1904, &c.) that in animals, whatever their length of life, the recorded frequency- of cancer varies, as in man, with the opportunity for examining a sufficiently large number of adult and aged individuals. The observations also add a statistical con- firmation to the results of the comparative histological and biological studies of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund, which have shown the close parallel, amounting in many particulars to complete identity, between malignant new growths in man and other vertebrates. They demonstrate that the law of the age-incidence of the disease holds for the shortest-lived mammals as it holds for man. Since the facts agree with the less perfect data for other verte- brates, the general application of the law of age-incidence 13 probable, and, therefore, any explanation of the etiology of cancer must accord with the circumstance that, when considered statistically cancer is a function of age, and when considered biologically a function of senescence.— A method of estimating the total volume of blood con- tained in the living body: Dr. J. O. W. Barratt and Dr. W. Yorke. The principle employed in this method is that of injecting into the blood stream a known amount of dissolved haemoglobin, and then determining the degree of the resulting hemoglobinemia.. This enables the volume of the blood plasma to be calculated, and, with the aid of a hemocrit determination of the composition, by volume, of the blood, the total amount of blood present in the living body is ascertained. The hemoglobin employed is obtained from the red blood cells of the sub- ject of observation. No ill-effect has been observed after injection of dissolved hemoglobin. The estimation of hemoglobin is generally made with von Fleischl’s hazmo- globinometer, the scale of the instrument having been previously standardised by means of solutions containing known amounts of red blood cells. When the depth of the natural colour of the blood plasma, before injection, is markedly increased, as sometimes happens, it is difficult to NO. 2065, VOL. 80] obtain haemoglobinometer readings of the amount of dis- solved haemoglobin present after injection. In such cases the blood plasma, suitably diluted, is matched, by means of a comparison spectroscope, with solutions containing known amounts of dissolved haemoglobin. Zoological Society, May 11.—Prof. E. A. Minchin, vice- president, in the chair.—(i.) Hitherto unrecorded specimens of Equus quagga; (ii.) differentiation of the three species of zebras; (iii.) a portion of a fossil jaw of one of the Equide: Prof. W. Ridgeway.—The batrachians and reptiles of Matabeleland: E. C. Chubb. Royal Astronomical Society, May 14.—Sir David Gill, K.C.B., F.R.S., president, in the chair.—Spectroscopic comparison of o Ceti with titanium oxide: A. Fowler. The spectrum of the star had been taken by Mr. Slipher at the Lowell Observatory, and that of titanium oxide at South Kensington. The two spectra were, for the most part, identical, and their comparison forms a contribution to the analysis of the third type of spectra, showing the titanium oxide origin of many bands in the red, the details of. which are not given by Vogel and Dunér.—Solar parallax papers, No. 7: A. R. Hinks. The present paper gives the details of the general solution from the photo- graphic right ascensions of Eros at the opposition of 1900, the resulting parallax being about 8-807”. A further com- ! munication, giving results from micrometric observations, will shortly be presented.—An easily constructed sun-dial : W. E. Cooke. The sun-dial shown was of wood; it could be made by an ordinary carpenter, and was being intro- duced among the planters and farmers of Western Australia. An adjustment, to be made once for all, re- duced local to standard time, and a further adjustment for the equation of time enabled the dial to be read to within about half a minute without the necessity of con- sulting tables.—Researches on the solar atmosphere : H. Deslandres. M. Deslandres gave an account of his spectrographic work at Meudon Observatory, illustrated by photographs showing the facule, &c., in monochromatic light. Royal Anthropological Institute, May 18.—Prof. W. Ridgeway, president, in the chair.—Tibetan and Burmese amulets: Dr. W. L. Hildburgh. The author first referred briefly to the general principles underlying the employ- ment of amulets. He touched on the beliefs in demons or evil spirits as producers of certain diseases, and on the use of protections against such diseases and against others not necessarily caused by similar influences. He also out- lined the principal reasons guiding primitive peoples in their choice of amulets. Passing to Tibetan amulets, the author divided them, for convenience of reference, into religious, secular, and natural amulets. The religious amulets consist principally of the well-known printed paper charms, of which a considerable number were exhibited, small images of deities or the like, and relics and other articles with which religious ideas are associated. The secular amulets are such as are formed artificially, but in which the intercession of supernatural beings is not immediately concerned. Such are twisted metal bracelets against strains in the arms, or charms of plaited cords. The natural amulets consist of natural substances in which the protective or curative virtues are inherent, frequently so because of supposed sympathetic connection. Such are parts of the tiger, the elephant, the musk-deer, and other animals, particularly such parts as the teeth, claws, bones, or hairs. The medicinal use of such objects was also mentioned. The paper on Burmese amulets covered the ground in much the same manner. Amongst the principal ‘Burmese amulets referred to by the author were rings made of genuine or imitation elephant hair, ornaments of elephant-nail, parts of various animals, coral, amber ornaments, representations of animals, and objects which had been subjected to magical ceremonies. Royal Meteorological Society, May _19.—Mr. H. Mellish, president, in the chair.—The anticyclonic belt of the northern hemisphere: Colonel H. E. Rawson. In a previous communication the author brought forward some facts regarding the anticyclonic belt of the southern ; hemisphere, derived from an examination of the South 388 NATURE | May 27,-1909 African records from the year 1841 to 1906. He found that the indications of a cyclical oscillation of the belt to and from the equator over South Africa were strong enough to encourage the belief that an analysis of Australian records on the one side, and of Argentine on the other, would prove that all the action centres of the atmosphere were moving together over this wide area, and that a similar oscillation existed in the northern hemi- sphere. He subsequently found that investigations of Mr. H. C. Russell and Dr. W. J. S. Lockyer supported his conclusion that there is a period of about 9-5 years between the greatest north and greatest south position of the anti- cyclonic belt in the southern hemisphere, the double oscillation thus taking nineteen years. He has since ex- tended the inquiry into the movements of the action-centres in the northern hemisphere with the view of ascertaining whether they show any similar oscillation to and from the equator, which is not to be explained by seasonal changes of position. Dealing with the Nile floods, he draws the inference that the high-pressure systems which affect North- east Africa are farther north when the floods are in excess and nearer to Egypt when they are deficient. He also made an analysis of the tracks of the hurricanes which passed north and south of Manila Observatory, and found that these throw an interesting light upon the oscillations of the action-centres of the atmosphere.—Errors of estima- tion in thermometric observations: A. Walter. In examining the returns from a newly inaugurated series of second-order meteorological stations in Mauritius, it was noticed that a large percentage of the thermometer read- ings was in whole or half divisions. This led the author to analyse the returns, and he gave in the paper the frequency curves of the ‘‘ tenths of estimation.’’ Institution of Mining and Metallurgy, May 20.—Mr. Edgar Taylor, president, in the chair.—Notes on the Zangezour copper mines: Dr. A. L. Simon. A _ brief description of the geology, mines, and mining conditions and costs of mining, reduction and production of copper in this district of the Little Caucasus.—The determination of tungstic acid in low-grade wolfram ores: H. W. Hutchin and F. J. Tonks. A description of a new method introduced by the authors, for which it is claimed that it combines the accuracy of the mercurous nitrate method with an improvement in the attack of the mineral, fusion with alkalis being replaced by digestion with caustic soda solution. The preliminary treatment with hydro- fluoric acid becomes unnecessary, and the charge of ore can be much larger than is customary. The paper consists of two parts, section i. dealing with the working details of the assays employed, with a tabulation of results for comparison, whilst section ii. is supplementary, and consists mainly of an investigation of conditions affecting the aqua regia method and that here brought to notice.— Cupellation experiments; the thermal properties of cupels : C. O. Bannister and W. N. Stanley. The authors here record a series of careful experiments made for the purpose of comparing patent cupels (i.e. cupels made with a magnesite base) with bone-ash cupels, as regards their relative diffusivity of heat, specific heat, and rate of cool- ing, &c., and the result of their tests was to establish the existence of great differences in the thermal properties of the two classes of cupel mentioned, notably as follows :— the diffusivity of heat and specific heat of patent cupels are greater, and the actual temperature of the cupelling button is much lower, at the same temperature of muffle, in patent cupels than in those made of bone-ash, and silver beads take longer to solidify and spit, and are, indeed, much less likely to spit, on patent than on bone-ash cupels. —The bessemerising of hardhead: D. M. Levy and D. Ewen. The authors found, in the course of researches conducted to that end, that it is possible by bessemerising to convert hardhead, which is one of the waste products of tin smelting, into a highly ferruginous slag, and a fume consisting to a large extent of arsenic oxide with some tin oxide, whilst nickel and cobalt gradually concentrate in the diminishing button. The heat evolved by the operation Is sufficient to keep the products molten and the process self-supporting. It remains to be ascertained, however, whether the slags can be obtained of sufficiently low tin contents to make the process a commercial success.—The NO. 2065, VoL. 80] use of standards in reading gold pannings: S. J. Lett. Having procured for his own use weighed standards of gold dust for comparison when reading pannings, the author submitted a description of these for the benefit of others requiring a handy and portable apparatus by means of which it is, the author claims, possible to gauge accurately a much smaller quantity than 1 dwt.—Notes on the scaling and sweating of copper battery plates: S. F. Goddard. This is a brief account of the results of cleaning two copper plates after fifty months’ running, during which period 33,000 tons of quartz ore were crushed. It was found subsequently, by melting the plates, that only an exceedingly small percentage of gold was actually absorbed by the copper, and that only in the upper portion. MANCHESTER. Literary and Philosophical Society. May 4 —Mr. F. Jones, president, in the chair.—The tent-building habits of the ant Lasius niger, Linn., in Japan: Dr. Marie Stopes and C. G. Hewitt. The species of ant constructing the nests, which were cylindrical in shape, is Lasius niger, the common brownish-black ant occurring in our English gardens. In this particular district of Hayama, within fifty miles of Tokyo, it constructs shelters of minute grains of sand cemented together on the twigs of the Ilex as axes. The object of these nests is to afford shelter for aphides or “‘ plant-bugs’’ which live upon the plant and are looked after by the ants for the sake of the ‘* honey- dew ’’ which they secrete. The shelters not only keep the aphides warm, and so increase their yield of ‘‘ honey- dew,’’ but also prevent them from escaping and protect them from their enemies and other ants. For their own convenience the ants also construct covered galleries of the sand detritus, which wind round the trunk of the tree and communicate with the tents in which the aphides are confined and with their own nest on the ground. This is the only case described of L. niger, which has a world-wide distribution, constructing tents of this kind.—The per- manent change of volume effected in cast irons by repeated heatings: Prof. H. F. Ruganm and Prof. H. C. H. Carpenter. DUBLIN. Royal Dublin Society, April 20.—Mr. J. E. Gore in the chair.—Mechanical stress and magnetisation of iron: W. Brown. Results have been obtained with iron wires in a perfectly uniform magnetic field throughout their entire length by varying the magnetic field, the load, the size of wire, and the magnitude of the current through the wire.—Methods of determining the amount of light irregularly reflected from rough surfaces: Prof. W. F. Barrett. The amount of light irregularly reflected from rough surfaces is a matter of considerable practical importance, especially in the case of large surfaces, such as walls and buildings, but no satisfactory data appear to be obtainable. The law of inverse square being in- applicable to such surfaces, the author has employed two methods, which yield satisfactory results. A Lummer- Brodhun or other similar type of photometer is employed, and the intensity of the stronger light reduced by (1) a rapidly revolving opaque disc having a sector cut out, the size of which can be accurately adjusted until a photo- metric balance is obtained, or (2) by an adaptation of the author’s instrument for determining the ‘“‘* light-thresh- hold’ of the eye. In this case the stronger light is re- duced by absorption through a column of liquid of neutral tint, the length of the column being capable of easy and accurate adjustment. By this means measurements can be made of the light diffused at various angles from small surfaces, which are used to replace the silvered mirror that reflects the standard light through the liquid column. This arrangement also affords a convenient method of testing different systems of lighthouse illuminants.—A new form of polarimeter for the measurement of the indices of refraction of opaque bodies: Prof. W. F. Barrett. By means of Brewster’s law the index of refraction of opaque non-metallic bodies can be found if the angle of maximum polarisation by reflection can de determined. In the instrument devised by the author this angle is ex- peditiously found by causing the telescope, which projects a parallel incident beam on to the reflecting surface, and May 27, 1909] NATURE 389 o the collimator which carries the analyser, to move | for giving a simple. constant oscillation, and the arrange- simultaneously through equal angles by means of a simple : form of link motion. A source of monochromatic light (a small glow-lamp in a coloured globe) is rigidly attached to, and moves with, the telescope. To enable opaque liquids to be examined, the graduated circle over which the telescope and collimator move is fixed in a vertical plane. Fusible substances are contained in a porcelain capsule, which can be heated by steam or by an electric current, so that a reflecting liquid surface is thus obtained. Further observations on the powdery scab of the potato, Spongospora subterranea (Wallroth): Prof. T. Johnson. The author brought forward evidence in favour of the view that the organism responsible for the scab is a true slime-fungus identical with the Erysibe subterranea described by Wallroth in 1842. He also gave an account of experiments conducted last year to prevent the scab. Paris. Academy of Sciences, May 10.—M. Emile Picard in the chair.—Critical examination of the monochromatic images of the sun with the hydrogen lines: H. Deslandres and L. d’Azambuja. A further instalment of the results obtained with the large spectroheliograph at Meudon, a description of which instrument is given in an_ earlier paper. For the red hydrogen line, the first-order spectrum with a grating gave sufficient dispersion. With this arrangement, not only has the entire line been isolated, but also separately the centre of the dark line and its edges. The image of the centre, representing the upper layer of hydrogen, has been compared with the correspond- ing layer K, of calcium, and was found to present the same characters, although somewhat weakened. Some of the phenomena previously observed are shown to be due, not to peculiarities in the emissive or absorptive power of hydrogen, but to an instrumental cause, a defect of the spectroheliograph._The unsymmetrical enlargement of the lines of the are spectrum and their comparison with those of the solar spectrum: Ch. Fabry and H. Buisson. When the arc is produced between iron poles in a vacuum it is less luminous than when produced at atmospheric pressure and all the lines are much finer. Certain lines, which in the air arc are distinctly thickened, in a vacuum cannot be distinguished from the others. The observations form a complete cenfirmation of the explanation given by the authors of the anomalies observed in the comparison _of the sun and are spectra.—A recent note of M. Stekloff : E. Goursat. A claim for priority—Problems of elasticity in two dimensions: C. Kolossoff.—The nomographic re- presentation of equations with four variables: Maurice d’Ocagne.—An arrangement of a carrying surface for an aéroplane: Maurice Caron.—An apparently abnormal fact which occasionally occurs in commercial transformers : M. Gacogne and A. Léauté. The anomaly described is due to the capacity of the transformer.—An influence of radium on the velocity of crystallisation: Louis Frischauer. Comparative measurements were taken of the rate of crystallisation of droplets of surfused sulphur, a portion of the sulphur only being exposed to the radia- tion from radium salt. In the latter case the velocity of crystallisation was increased. The radium emanation gave a similar result, but exposure to the Réntgen rays was without influence. It would thus appear that it is the a rays which are active in this respect.—Thermo- endosmosis: M. Aubert.—The charge of a negative ion of a flame: Georges Moreau. The charge found e=43xX10—-"°, and may be compared with the value for the charge of an electron found by Millikan (4-06), Perrin (4-1), and Rutherford (4-65), all divided by 10'°.—The discharge of inductors: E, Caudrelier.—The teleauto- copyist for the transmission of images to a distance: Laurent Sémat. A description is given of the apparatus and of the method of securing the necessary iso- synchronism. All ‘the operations take place in daylight, and are controlled by purely mechanical methods, neither photography. nor selenium being used. About five minutes are required to transmit a plate measuring 7 cm. by 12 cm.—Wireless telephony: MM. Colin and Jeance. The special advantages of the apparatus described are the arrangements of the negative electrodes of the arcs to ensure steadiness, the utilisation of an intermediate circuit NO. 2065, VOL. 80] ment of the microphones.—The radium emanation: A. Debierne. The volume of emanation in equilibrium with I gram of radium was found to be, in mean, 0-58 cubic millimetre, in close agreement with the results of Ruther- ford and Royds, but much smaller than the 7 cubic milli- metres of Ramsay and Cameron. From the curves of decrease of the intensity of the radiation a diminution to one-half takes place in 3-81 days.—The anhydrous combina- tions of thorium chloride with the alkaline chlorides: Ed. Chauvenet. Anhydrous thorium chloride combines with the alkaline chlorides, giving compounds of the type ThCl,.2MCl with the metals Li, Na, K, Rb, and Cs, and ThCl,.4MCl with Rb and Cs only. Ammonium chloride forms the exceptional compound ThCl,.NH,Cl.—Benzoyl- acrylic acid. The condensation of glyoxylic acid with some ketones: J. Bougault. In alkaline solution glyoxylic acid readily condenses with acetophenone and analogous ketones, forming diphenylacetic acid or analogous acids. Dianisylacetic and diperacylacetic acids, prepared by this reaction, are described.The modifica- tions of anthesterol and its benzoate: M. T. Klobb.—A nephelinic syenite from the Transvaal: H. A. Brouwer. —The energy necessary for kneading by machinery: M. Ringelmann.—Observation of ovules of the rabbit with two germs, contained in a common envelope of albumen secreted by the oviduct: Cl. Regaud and G. Dubreuil. —A popular remedy for cancer: Robert Odier.—The regulation of the secretions by d’Arsonvalisation: Foveau de Courmelies. The high-frequency treatment leads to increased secretion of urea, uric acid, and chlorides, together with a diminution in the amount of phosphate eliminated.—Costiasis and its treatment in young trout: Louis Léger. The use of a weak solution of formalin (35 c.c. to 40 c.c. of the 4o per cent. solution in 100 litres of water) is suggested for destroying the parasite (Costia necatrix), the cause of the disease. The young trout are not injured by this solution. Another trout disease gyro- dactylosis, is cured by the same treatment. May 17.—M. Emile Picard in the chair.—Biaxial crystallised liquids: Fred. Wallerant. Liquid azoxyanisol shows the true properties of biaxial crystals. This is regarded as an argument in favour of the absolute identity of liquid and solid crystallised bodies——A new Australian Onychophorus: E. L. Bouvier. The new species resembles Peripatoides Suteri, but this resemblance is only superficial, since many distinctive characters are different. —Surfaces of total constant curvature: C. Guichard.— The value of the invariants p and p, for surfaces of the fourth order with double isolated points: L. Remy.—The residues of measurable functions: Frédéric Riesz,—The principle of Dirichlet and the development of harmonic functions in polynomial series: Serge Bernstein.—Linear differential equations and uniform transcendentals of the second order: René Garnier.—An example of the Zeeman effect, positive and longitudinal, in the emission spectra of vapours: A, Dufour.—The chromatic circle according to Young’s hypothesis: A. Rosenstiehl. The new chromatic circle designed by the author gives colours possessing the following qualities of the fundamental colours required by Young’s theory :—the complementary of the orange is the first green-blue; the third yellow-green, of which the com- plementary is the first violet; and the third blue, having as complementary the yellow placed between the first and second yellow. The defects of the old colour circle are discussed.—Measurements of the Brownian movements in gases and the charge of particles in suspension: M. de Broglie. From an ultramicroscopic study of the motion of a charged particle of tobacco smoke in an electric field, followed by the application of the formulz of Stokes and Einstein, the value for the charge e is deduced as 4-5X10-1°, agreeing well with the results obtained by different methods.—The lower harmonics: G. Sizes and G. Massol.—Kathodic projections: L. Houllevigue. It is known that a kathode placed in a vacuum projects, besides corpuscles deviable by a magnet, particles of itself. Since these are not appreciably deviated by a magnetic field, it follows that these particles have either a relatively large mass, .a small electric charge, or a high velocity. The experiments here recorded accord 390 NATORE [May 27, 1909 with the first hypothesis.—The freezing point of gaseous mixtures at very low temperatures : Georges Baume. An apparatus is described and figured by means of which accurately measured volumes of pure gases can be mixed and frozen, and the freezing point determined. The apparatus has been applied to the cases of mixtures of methyl oxide and hydrochloric acid, methyl oxide and sulphur dioxide, and methyl oxide and methyl chloride.— The theory of organic bases according to the viscosity of their solutions: D. E. Tsakalotos. From measurements of the viscosity of aqueous solutions of trimethylamine, pyridine, piperidine, and nicotine, the conclusion is drawn that all these bases form molecular combinations with water.—Study of the system water, liquid ammonia. Concordance of the results with the hypothesis of ammonium hydrate: E. Baud and L. Gay. Measure- ments were made of the heat disengaged and the contrac- tion accompanying the mixture of water and anhydrous ammonia. The experimental results agree with the hypo- thesis of the existence in aqueous solutions of ammonia of the hydrate NH,.H,O, in equilibrium with water and free ammonia.—The colouring properties of lead chromate : Léo Vignon. Chromate of lead in suspension is taken up by cotton, wool, and silk, the depth of dye varying with the -proportion of chromate in the bath, but being nearly identical for all three materials.—Dipropargyl : magnesium derivative, octadiinedioic acid: -MM. Lespieau and Vavon.—tThe gaseous, respiratory exchanges of the aérial vegetative organs of the vascular plants: G. Nicolas.,— The presence of indol-producing bodies in culture broths : Ch. Porcher and L. Panisset. The use of the indol reaction as a test for certain bacteria is liable to lead in certain cases to erroneous conclusions, since the reaction may sometimes be given by the original culture fluid.— The action of the Bulgarian ferment yoghourt on various sugars: Gabriel Bertrand and F. Duchacek. Arabinose, xylose, sorbose,’ maltose, saccharose, and mannito] are not fermented by this agent, but glucose, mannose, galactose, levulose, and lactose are easily fermented. In all cases the fermentative products contain d- and I-lactic acids, a small proportion of formic and acetic acids, and succinic acid.—The influence of boric acid on diastatic actions: H. Agulthon.—The ichthyological fauna of Lake Tchad: J. Pellegrin.—The stratigraphical characters of the layers of the French and Swiss Alps: Emile Haug. —tThe tectonic of the southern slopes of the massifs of Canigou and Puigmal: O. Mengel.—The stratigraphical results of an expedition in Chaouia, Morocco: Louis Gentil.—The cranial capacity of fossil men of the type known as Neanderthal: Marcellin Boule. Direct measure- ments of the capacity of the fossil skull from La Chapelle- aux-Saints gave a volume of. about 1600 c.c., and it is suggested that the volume of the Neanderthal skull is of the same order, and that the 1230 c.c. attributed to it by Schaafhausen, Huxley, and Schwalbe is too. small.—The bend of the Rhine at Bale: Gabriel Eisenmenger. DIARY OF SOCIETIES. THURSDAY, May 27. Royat Society, at 4.30.—Notes concerning Tidal Oscillations upon a Rotating Globe: Lord Rayleigh, O.M:, F.R.S.—The Absolute Value of the Mechanical Equivalent of Heat in Terms of the International Electrical Units: Prof. H. T. Barnes—An Approximate Determination of the Boiling Points of Metals: H. C. Greenwood.—Some Results in the Theory of Elimination: A. L. Dixon.—The Liquidus Curves of the Ternary System Aluminium-Copper-Tin: J. H. Andrew and C. A- Edwards.—Studies on the Structure and Affinities of Cretaceous Plants: Miss M. C. Stopes and Dr. K. Fujii. Roya INstiTuTIoN, at 3.—Newfoundland ;: J, G. Millais. InsTITUTION OF MiInING ENGINEERS, at 11.—Presidential address : Dr. R. T. Moore.—Electricity in Coal-mines: R. Nelson.—Comparison between the Value of Surplus Gas from Regenerator Bye-product Coke- ovens and Steam produced by the Waste Heat from Bye-product Coke- ovens, with Special Reference to the Evence Coppée new Bye-product Ovens: M. H. Mills. FRIDAY, May 28. RovaL InstitTuTIon, at 9.—Advances in our Knowledge of Silicon as an Organic Element: Dr. J. Emerson Reynolds, F-R S. INSTITUTION OF MID >; ENGINEERS, at 10.30.—The Use of Concrete for Prof. Ww. R. Mine Support : Crane.—Mining in British Columbia: Mrs. Rosalind Young SATURDAY, May 209. Roya Inst TION, at 3.—The Secret Societies of the Banks’ Islands: Dr. W. H. R. Rivers, FiR.S. NO. 2065, VOL. 80] TUESDAY, June 1. Roya InstiruTion, at 3.—Biological Chemistry: Dr. F. Gowland Hopkins, F.R.S. WEDNESDAY, June 2. Enromonocicat Society, at 8.—On the Colonisation of New Nests by Myrmecophilous Coleoptera : H. St. J. Donisthorpe. Society of Pusiic ANALYSTS, at 8. THURSDAY, June 3. RoyaL INsTITUTION, at 3.—A Modern Railway Problem: Electricity : Prof. W. E. Dalby. LinnEAN Society, at 8.—On the Alcyonaria of the Sea/arz Expedition : Prof. J. A. Thomson.—On the Cephalochorda of the Sea/ark Expedition : H. A. S. Gibson.—Report on the Porifera collected by Mr. C. Crossland in the Red Sea; R. W. Harold Row. R6ntTGEN Socrety,. at 8.15.—Annual General Meeting. INSTITUTE OF ACTUARIES, at 5.—Annual General Meeting. FRIDAY, June 4. Roya USS UELON, at 9. —Researches in Rodiotelegraphy: Prof. J. A. Fleming, F.R.S GEoLosisTs’ ASSOCIATION, at 8.—The Fossiliferous Lower Keuper Rocks of Worcestershire : L. J. Wills. SATURDAY, June 5. Steam vz. Royat InsTITUTION, at 3.—The Vitality of Seeds and Plants: he A Vindication of the Vitality of Plants: Dr. F. F. Blackman, F.R.S. CONTENTS. PAGE Two Standard Works on Zoology. By Prof. G. H. Carpenter... « 4 5 fae ees The Flora of the Presideney of Bomber Pasi cecules OF The Teaching of Physical Chemistry. By A. F. 8 Steg} Electrical Engineering. By E.W.M. ..... . 365 Food and Nutrition. By C. Simmonds ...... 366 MhesBody,at Work: s \ypstveneupeilel Gp «sates OO. Our Book Shelf :— Foley : ‘‘ British and American Customary and Metric Legal Measures for Commercial and Technical Purposes.” —T.H.L. . . 307 Smalian : “ Leitfaden der Tierkunde fir ‘hohere Lehranstalten”” ; Abel: ‘f Bau und Geschichte der Erde”... cyte Neuen O71 Muthesius: ‘Goethe und Pestalozzi” . . : 368 Fallex and Mairey: ‘‘La France et ses Colonies au Début du XXe Siecle”. asus owe siete! Soddy: ‘‘ The Interpretation of Radium”. . - 368 Fry: ‘‘ Flower and Grass Calendars for Children ” 368 Letters to the Editor :— Baskets used in Repelling Demons.—Kumagusu Minakata... be S88) Vapour- density and Smell. —Dr. E. P. ‘Perman a9 Ee) “* Blowing”? Wells.—Dr. A. Strahan, F.R.S. . 370 Natural History in India : 370 A Persian Treatise on Falconry. ‘(Unstrated) By 135 22 Geen Cerna rea, Sy/ik Dr. Sven Hedin on Central Asia. i(usiratea): 372 Py, Prof. George M. ae 373 By Dr R. T. Glazebrook Minchin, F.R.S. Beorometric Units. The Teaching of Geometry. IS] cA. Che air taecieermre Rea oe G6 . - + 374 CLE 53 =a age A SMI 6 = Our Astronomical Column: — A General Solution of the Spectroheliograph. . . 380 The Brightness of the Corona . . onc 380 A Standard Scale of Photographic Magnitudes i 380 The Origins of Satellites . 0 . Being ste) The Spectrum of Morehouse’s Coiet Goes eee 380 The Orbit of & Bodtis . . . . 380 The Birth of Worlds ... aati ideeten cg 2 Site) Selective Wireless Telegraphy. By Sir Oliver Lodge, F.R.S.. . Rae kets. ee OL Marine Biology in the ‘Tortugas . Ril taht bec eee te iy StS The Relevance of Mathematics. By Philip E, B. Jourdain aCe ORGAO, th kee The Iron and Steel Tnstienee 384 Scientific Work in the English Potteries + as 55 The Cultivation of Tea... Slee 6 5 University and Educational Intelligence oiled erties 386 Societies and Academies B Biative 62k SO Diary of Societies . F i sc elser wee gO IEA TIC Tels 391 THURSDAY, JUNE 3, 1900: THE EVOLUTION OF THE VASCULAR SYSTEM IN FERNS. Lectures on the Evolution of the Filicinean Vascular System. By A. G. Tansley. Pp. viiit143. New Phytologist Reprint, No. 2. (Cambridge: Botany School, 1908.) Price 3s. 6d. HIS is the second ‘‘ New Phytologist Reprint ”’ of special courses of lectures in botany, delivered under the auspices of the University of London. The publication of these advanced lectures serves a very useful purpose, and it is to be hoped will be continued. The present reprint differs, as regards the intro- ductory lecture, from the original report in the New Phytologist, of which Mr. Tansley is editor. This lec- ture has been re-written, in the light of some friendly criticisms published since its first appearance, so that it is necessary to consult the reprint in order to learn the author’s mature views. The first lecture is of wide interest, for it deals with the question of the origin of the Pterigophyta, involving that of the vascular plants generally. As the author says (p. 4), there is much reason to believe that the true vascular plants had a common origin—in other words, that the Pteridophyta are a monophyletic group. We have, however, no direct knowledge of any plants which suggest ‘* Pro-Pteridophyta,’’ and are forced to take refuge in speculation. The author first notices the well-known ‘‘antithetic theory,’? which traces the origin of the spore-bearing plant from a sporogonium or fruit like that of the Bryophyta (see Nature, November 5, 1908, pp. 1-4). The author points out that this theory involves some tremendous morpho- logical assumptions in the way of the origin of new organs, particularly leaves. The position has changed considerably since this book was published, and the theory is no longer maintained by its chief advocate, Prof. Bower, in its original form; * we have, probably, in the future to look rather for some explanation such as is here suggested by Mr. Tansley. He starts from a form like the seaweed Dictyota, ‘fin which two morphologically identical generations, the one bearing sexual organs and the other bearing tetrasporangia, follow one another in regular 1th. 41m. Minimum of Algol (8 Persei). ,, 14h. Sun enters Cancer, summer begins. 22. 18h. Venus in conjunction with Neptune. »» Saturn. Major axis outer ring = 39°78", Minor axis =8°85". 23. wh. Jupiter in conjunction with Moon (Jupiter Av 20 ASe)s 24. 9h. 15m. to gh. 59m. Moon occults v Virginis (4°2), Tne Disrersion oF Licut IN INTERSTELLAR SPace.—In the Revue générale des Sciences (No. 8, p. 350), Dr. Ch- | Nordmann reviews the work recently performed by MM. Tikhoff and Belopolsky and himself on the dispersion of light in interstellar space. The results obtained in the first experiments have been questioned by a number of and, in re-stating the case clearly, Dr. Nordmann disposes of many of the objections. As has already been recorded in these columns, Dr. Nordmann’s method consists in observing the difference, in time, of the minima of variable stars when screens of different colours are employed, whilst in the Tikhoff- Belopolsky method the dispersion is shown by the various displacements of lities in the different parts of the spectra of spectroscopic binaries. It has been suggested that the observed differences may be due to physical changes in the binary system itself, but Dr. Nordmann argues that if this were the case the dis- placement of the curves for different parts of the spectrum would vary at different parts of the orbit, whereas _ if the displacement is due to dispersion in space it would be the same in all parts of the orbit. At present he is content that a matter of so great an importance to astronomers and physicists is re-opened, and would attach no rigorous significance to the quantitative results so far obtained ; qualitatively they are in the right direction, and are in accordance with the results of ordinary refractive media. Should the validity of these results be established their importance in any cosmological discussion can scarcely be overestimated; for example, the determination of the distances of binary systems would become greatly simplified. A REMARKABLE TRANSIT OF JUPITER'S TumRD SATELLITE.— No. 4324 of the Astronomische Nachrichten contains -an account, by Mr. Innes, of a remarkable transit of Jupiter’s 410 NATORE [JUNE 3, 1909 third satellite observed at the Johannesburg Observatory on April 3. Before and after the transit both the north polar cap and the dark marking along the north torrid zone of the satellite were noticed. When the satellite was about three- guarters of its journey across the planet a double. dark spot was seen in its position, and re-focussing failed to alter the apparition. Approaching the limb of the planet the n.p. part of the double spot was replaced by a bright spot, smaller than the satellite, but s.p. the remaining grey mark. A few minutes before internal contact took place the dark grey spot disappeared, whilst the bright spot increased in size. Immediately after last contact J 11. was seen against the sky nearly round, but perhaps shaded off a little towards Jupiter, and with a small north polar bright spot with a darkish band below it. When the dark double spot was visible it looked like a close double star, dark instead of bright, having a separation of o’9’ and an angle estimated at 300°. Tur SpectRuM or MaGNesium in Hyprocen.—The signi- ficance of the ‘‘ magnesium hydride ”’ bands in the spectrum of sun-spots lends great importance to any investigation of their nature, and a paper, by Mr. E. E. Brooks, which appears in the April number of the Astrophysical Journal qvol. xxix., No. 3, p. 177), is therefore of astronomical interest. Experiinenting at the Leicester Technical School with magnesium in hydrogen, Mr. Brooks employed a unidirec- tional, but pulsating, current, which is intermediate between are and spark, and arrived at the following con- ‘clusions regarding its spectrum :—(1) The spectrum repre- sents some transitional unstable state; (2) although hydrogen is essential, the production of the ‘‘ hydride ’”’ spectrum appears to depend far more upon the nature of the discharge than upon the quantity of the gas present; (3) a trace of water vapour appears to be more effective than hydrogen, yet its presence cannot be regarded as essential; (4) if due to a hydride the substance is probably ~decomposed as fast as it is formed. 4 THE PERTURBATIONS OF Brooks’s Comet (3889 V) By Jupiter in 1886.—From his investigations of the perturba- tions, and the resulting path, of Brooks’s comet, Prof. Poor concluded that this object could not be identified with ithe lost comet of Lexell. In this regard an interesting paper, by Herr G. Deutsch- land, appears in No. 4321 of the Astronomische Nachrichten, viving the results of a re-investigation of the planetary perturbations, taking into account the oblateness of Jupiter. These results exhibit variations from those previously obtained by Prof. Poor, especially in the time of the comet's nearest approach to the planet. RECENT OBSERVATION OF DANIEL’S Comet, 1907 d.— Among the photographic observations recorded by Prof. Wolf in No. 4321 of the Astronomische Nachrichten is one of an object which is, possibly, Daniel’s comet of 1907. Owing to the faintness of the object and the poor sky, the identilication is not quite certain, although the image appears on two plates. The middle of the exposure was at 13h. 25-4m. (KXGnigstuhl M.T.) on April 19, and the position of the object was a=15h. 18-7m., 3=—7° 37’; magnitude 16'5. Tue VARIABLE STAR 6.1909 Ursa: Majoris.—In a note appearing in No. 4324 of the Astronomische Nachrichten, Prof. Wolf announces that the variable star near the spiral nebula Mror had decreased in brightness more than half a magnitude by May 9. ; POLAR MAGNETIC STORMS. THE last ten or twenty years have been marked by great activity in Arctic and Antarctic expeditions. The results obtained in the department of terrestrial magnetism form a great contribution to knowledge, and prove that continued effort in this direction will do much to remove the difficulties that enshroud the problem. _1 The Norwegian Aurora Polaris Expedition, 1902-3. Vol. i., ‘“On the Cause of Magnetic Storms and the Origin of Terrestrial Magnetism.” By Kr. Birkeland. Pp. viiit+3r53 21 plates. (Christiania: H. Ascheboug and Co. ; London: Longmans, Green and Co., n.d.) Price 22s, net. NO. 2066, VOL. 80] The present expedition was the development of pre- liminary expeditions carried out in the preceding six years by Dr. Birkeland, the object being the study of the con- nection between and origin of aurore and magnetic storms. The funds were provided by the Norwegian Government, by learned societies in Norway, and by Dr. Birkeland himself. The preliminary expeditions had indicated the frequent occurrence of magnetic storms having a probable origin vertically above the vicinity of the North Cape, and the plan of the 1902-3 expedition was to make simultaneous observations at four stations in that region. ‘The four stations were on Iceland, Spitsbergen, Nova Zembla, and in Finmark. Each of the stations was provided with a similar set of recording magnetographs of the pattern due to Eschenhagen. These are admirably suited for ex- peditions on account of their portability and simplicity of adjustment. They can be given a high sensibility, although some may doubt whether the high value used by Dr. Birkeland was altogether a blessing for the purpose of studying magnetic storms. It was, of course, a distinct advantage in studying the minute and extremely regular periodic movements that were frequently observed. In addition, each station was provided with auxiliary meteor- ological and electrical apparatus, and one of the stations had an instrument for recording earth currents. The present volume begins with a description of the equipment and installation of the various stations, and those of us who live in temperate regions may well reflect on the advantage of making physical observations without having to interrupt work for the purpose of suppressing the scientific ardour of a polar bear. In analysing the magnetic storms, Dr. Birkeland was able to obtain simultaneous records from twenty-three observatories in various parts of the world, in addition to those from the four special stations. Dr. Birkeland at the outset indicates that the results have been analysed and presented with the view of supporting the theory he holds, viz. that these storms are due to the incidence of (negatively) charged corpuscles projected from the sun. The desirability of such a method of procedure may be open to question, but we think that the author has gained immensely by so doing, and the results are put in such a form that their value is not in the least prejudiced by whether we accept his ultimate conclusions or not. The method is in outline as follows. Any disturbance - of the magnetic needle may be represented as the effect of a certain electric current. The course of a storm may thus, so far as the horizontal components are concerned, be represented by an arrow of certain length in a certain direction. For each particular storm discussed the records from the various observatories are shown in a plate re- duced to a uniform time scale. In the text a general description of the storm is given, followed by charts show- ing with arrows the direction and magnitude of the assumed disturbing current at different stages and at different places. These are followed by a discussion as to the general character of the horizontal current required to produce the storm. The current charts are remarkably simple, and give an extremely clear presentation of the results free from any theory. In this way the existence of certain well-defined types of storm is established. The supposition that these arrows represent true electric currents of corpuscles is almost a natural consequence. Arguments are given to show that they cannot be earth currents, but that they are probably due to streams in the upper regions of the air, the general height being some 4oo kilometres. It is remarkable that the stream so frequently sets between the four stations, and thus confirmatory evidence is obtained from the different signs of the vertical-force variations on opposite sides of the stream. It is found that the horizontal stream is not always sufficient to account for the faets, but that the horizontal portion must be regarded as a bend in a stream descend- ing vertically, and then with greater or less rapidity re- turned into space. 3 Dr. Birkeland supports, and we think very ably, his arguments by reference to experiments on a highly magnetised sphere (a terrella) placed in the path of kathode JuNE 3. 1909] NATURE AII rays, the arrangements being made to imitate the earth with the sun as kathode. The experiments, of which numerous photographs are given, are exceedingly beautiful, | and present distinct analogies with the deductions from | the magnetic storms. At the ‘same time, the analogies are by no means conclusive, and may in some cases be very misleading. The work of analysing each storm independently must have been tremendous, but the results amply justify the work, It is impossible to enter into details in such a brief review, but we think no serious student of terrestrial magnetism will read this book without feeling that a very distinct step has been made towards the solution of the _ refractory problem of terrestrial magnetism. ; G. W. W. ROCK-ENGRAVINGS IN SOUTH AFRICA. R. L. PERINGUEY, ‘n the eighteenth volume of the _ Transactions of “ne South African Philosophical Society, continues his sport on rock-engravings of animals Fic. 1.—Rock-engraving of an elephant and hunter armed with bow and arrow. and the human figure. The examples now described are | superior in finish and artistic merit to those hitherto known. We have no longer mere lines or outlines produced by | rough pointing “or punching; the technique is more | Size 60x 40 cm. Fic. 2.—Rock-engraving of a buffalo. | elaborate, and the figures are drawn in relief. Thus, in the illustration (Fig. 1) of an elephant fleeing before a | hunter armed with a bow and arrow, the lines in relief | represent the skin corrugation; and the position of the | NO. 2066, VOL. 80] | by ears, the hanging lower lip, the curves c. the back and. legs, are all strikingly artistic, and suggest keen observa- tion on the part of the sculptor. Equally artistic is the representation of the buffalo (Fig. 2), the figure of which is fully hollowed out, the attitude of the animal and the twitching of its tail being full of life. The age of these sculptures is still uncertain. Mr. Péringuey, comparing them with similar rock-engravings. in Algeria and the Sudan, and remarking the patination. of the rock surfaces, the presence of Palaolithic implements in the neighbourhood, and the absence of scenes represent— ing domesticated animals, believes them to be anterior to- the Hottentot immigration. As in Mauretania, the most- highly finished. sculptures, as. well as paintings, are the most ancient, and a decadence of artistic skill seems to have set in with the arrival of the newer immigrants. There is no evidence that these engravings were the work. of the Bushmen, and it is equally difficult to attribute them to the Strand Looper Hottentots, whom Dr. Shrub- sall has recently identified on the southern seaboard. On the whole, they suggest intercourse between North and? South Africa, a view corroborated by the analogies between the engravings in Mauretania and those of South Africa, the identity of type in the stone imple- ments in both these regions, and other considerations generally accepted by modern ethnologists. CENTENARY OF THE PHYSICO-MEDICAL SOCIETY OF ERLANGEN} HE Physico-medical Society _ of Erlangen, founded by Joh. Christian Friedrich Harles in 1808, reached its one hundredth birthday on March 20, 1908, and celebrated the occasion on June 27 by an anniversary meeting and” a dinner. The first of the two publica- tions cited below contains (a) a history of the society, by Prof. M. Noelther, of the University of Erlangen, covering eighty-three pages, and illustrated by portraits of Harles, Henke, Leupoldt, Korn, Wagner, Canstatt, Gerlach, Gorup, Zenker, and Beetz; (b) an address, by J- Rosenthal, ‘‘ Ueber die Bezichungen der Physik und Chemie zu den medizinischen Wissenschaften ’’; and (c) a report of the anniversary celebrations, by Oskar Schulz. Honorary doctorships in medicine were conferred on Prof. Becquerel, Prof. Curtius, and Prof. Nernst; doctorships in philosophy were conferred on Sir Victor Horsley, Prof. von Leube, and Prof. von Kries. Honorary membership of the society was conferred, on general grounds, on Queen Margherita, Count Zeppelin, and Dr. Oskar von Miller; of the special sciences, chemistry was honoured by in- cluding in the list-the names of Bechmann and Buchner ; physics was represented by Blaserna, zoology by Dohrn, mineralogy by Zirkel, botany by de Vries, mathematics Poincaré, geography by Giinther, physiology by Pfliiger, anatomy by Roux, and the medical sciences by Erb, Ehrlich, Kocher, and Kraepelin. Amongst the new corresponding members we notice the names of Prof. Rutherford, of Manchester, and Prof. Sherrington, of Liverpool. : The Sitczungsberichte for 1907, sent out with the re- Size 60x 39cm. port of the centenary, is a bulky volume containing seventeen scientific communications. Nearly half the volume is devoted to a memorial notice of Henri Moissan, written by Gutbier, and extending over 260 pages; a com- plete list of Moissan’s papers is given, and his work or | fluorine, boron, silicon, ammonium, calcium, diamond, the 1 (x) Festschrift der Physikalisch-medizinischen Societaét zu Erlangen, zur Feier ihres roo jahrigen Bestebens am 27 Juni, 1908. Pp. ix+124. (Erlangen : Kommissionsverlag von Max Mencke, 1908.) _ (2) Sitzungsberichte der Physikalisch-medizinischen Societat in Erlangen. Redigiert von Oskar Schulz, 39 Band, 1907. Pp. xxiv+s62. (Erlangen > Kommissionsverlag von Max Menche, 1908.) : 412 NATURE | JUNE 3, 1909 metallic carbides and hydrides, and the electric furnace is fully described. Three Beitrage zur Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften, numbered xi., xii., and xiii., are contributed by Prof. Eilhard Wiedermann, and a paper on the emission-spectra of cadmium and zine vapours jointly with A. Pospielow. Papers on the atomic weights of rhodium and of palladium are contributed by A. Hiitt- linger and by P. Haas, and papers on electrolysis by Gutbier and by Herzog; papers dealing with medical subjects are contributed by de la Camp, by Griinbaum, and by Jamin, and a mathematical paper appears under the name of Nocther. At the end of 1907 the society included fifty-one ordinary, fifty-four honorary, and seventy-eight corresponding members ; nine meetings had been held, and sixteen papers had been read and discussed. The ‘‘ yield’? of scientific work will bear comparison with that of many societies claiming a wider range of membership, but in view of the large variety of topics discussed and the small number of papers dealing with any one branch of science, it is at least doubtful whether the publicity attained can be sufficient to compensate for the heavy cost of setting up and printing; as a general rule, the disadvantages of focal publication are so serious as to outweigh the advantages which arise from stimulating the local centres of research. THE INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF APPLIED CHEMISTRY. “THE seventh International Congress of Applied Chem- istry was opened on Thursday, May 27, in the after- noon, at the Royal Albert Hall by the Prince of Wales, who was accompanied by the Princess. . 54, 47|/1008] 590) 90) — | 97] — 435) 843) — 280 Helsingfors ... ... 46 ,, 401008|1008 679 oe 395, 32/1232/1232) 300 Pofsdam:%; })... 32.,,, 25/1180|/1180 1180) 1180) — | — Oxfordiieny 5. IRANIS Hot icn utes 24,,, 18}1260)1260 540) 540) 373) 373 Bordeaux 17,, 11/1260} 958 819) 493| 127| 127 Toulouse roe wees 16,, 5|ro80} 738) 698} ? | 3191] 162 Algiers .... ... ...|N. 4,,S. 2/1260) — | 517} 425] 335] 335 San Fernando _.. |S. 3,,, N. 9|1260)1260 1125, 323} ? | 215 Tacubaya ... 10,, 16/1266)1260 1121) 360] 108) 88 Cordobaz ise... s.. 24 ,,, 31/1360) 854) 299} — | 167) — exthiape cami ass pices 25, 40/1376)6376) 195) — | — | — Cape of Good Hope 49, 5§1/1512\1512 1402) 803/1512) — Sydney \.c.. 2s 52,5, 64/1400/1400, 705} — | — |; — Melbourne... 65, 9011491149 1104) — | There was throughout the meeting an earnestness of purpose of a very marked kind, a feeling that decisions having an important influence on the future of astronomy were being taken. Every resolution had been so fully dis- cussed in one or other of the five commissions that in the end they were all adopted with unanimity, not only in the commissions, but at the general conference. Perhaps the most important of these are the resolutions dealing with the methods to be adopted in connection with the organisation of a united series .of meridian observa- tions, and the establishment by international effort of a system of intermediate stars, as originally suggested by Sir David Gill in his presidential address to the British Association at Leicester. Hardly less important are the resolutions in regard to the adjustment of the scale of photographic magnitudes to an absolute and uniform system for the whole sky. Indeed, it is hardly possible to over- estimate the resulting importance of these resolutions to sidereal astronomy if due effect is given to these resolutions. The plans for the observation of Eros show a still further extension of the work of the committee, for they carry us into another field of astronomy by providing the most refined determinations of the positions of that re- markable planet. If due effect is given to these resolu- tions, the gravitational astronomer will be provided with means of research on the masses of the moon and of the earth and other planets of a kind never before available. The meeting will also be memorable for the communica- tion made to it by Mr. Hinks as to the result of his eight years of labour in deriving the solar parallax from the international observations of Eros. Widely indeed has the permanent committee of the Astro- graphic Congress of 1887 extended the field of its labours, and with the best results. Paris was, as usual, profuse in kindly hospitality. Prince Roland Bonaparte gave a reception to the members of the conference and their wives and families at his charm- ing house in the Avenue d’Iéna. On the Thursday Baron Rothschild entertained some of the members to dinner, and on the same evening there was a delightful reception at the Paris Observatory, at which was given a little comedy by members of the Théatre Francais, and a little operetta by members of the Opéra Comique, the evening concluding with a tour de valse. Many private entertainments to members were given at the hospitable homes of the Paris members of the confer- ence, and the whole concluded with a banquet at the observatory on the Saturday evening, at which covers were laid for eighty-two guests. 1 The zones -17° to ~ 23° were originally allotted to La Plata, but as the work has not been done, they are assigned, if not entirely. at leact in chief part, to Santiago and the new observatory of Hyderabad (Deccan). NO. 2067, VOL. 80] THE general meeting of the American Philosophical Society was held on April 22, 23, and 24. The even- ing of Friday, April 23, was devoted to a Darwin celebra- tion commemorative of the centenary of Charles Darwin’s birth and of the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of the ** Origin of Species,’’ at which addresses were given by the Right Hon. James Bryce, the British Ambassador, on personal reminiscences of Darwin and of the reception of the ‘* Origin of Species’’; by Prof. G. L. Goodale, of Harvard University, on the influence of Darwin on natural science; and by Prof. G. S. Fullerton, of Columbia Uni- versity, on the influence of Darwin on the mental and moral sciences. On the afternoon of April 24 there was a symposium on earthquakes, at which papers were presented by Prof. E. O. Hovey, Prof. W: H.: Hobbs, and Prof. H. F. Reid. In addition to the three papers presented at the Darwin celebration on April 23, forty-four papers were read at the morning and afternoon sessions. We have been favoured with a list of these papers and summaries of their contents, but limitations of space prevent us from giving more than an abridged statement of the proceedings. Abstracts of a few of the papers read are subjoined. The brains of two white philosophers and of two obscure negroes, Prof. B. G. Wilder. The brains of Chauncey Wright and of James Edward Oliver were compared with the brains of two obscure negroes, one a mulatto, the other black, and a remarkable resemblance in the form of Wright’s brain with that of the negro brains was pointed out, from which Prof. Wilder drew the inference that the negro is capable of as high development as the Caucasian. Some conditions modifying the interpretation of human brain-weight records, Dr. H. H. Donaldson. An account of the brain-weight records that have been collected at the Wistar Institute of Anatomy. After the fifteenth year, up to the fifty-fifth, the human brain loses slightly in weight, and then more rapidly after that period. This slight loss in weight between the fifteenth and fifty- fifth years is attributed to the influence of those diseases which ultimately end in death. Some notes on the modifications of colour in plants, Prof. H. Kraemer. After reviewing the previous work on the control of colour in plants, and enumerating the factors which influence the colour in flowers, the author gave the results of his own experiments, which were begun in the autumn of 1904, and have been continued up to the present time. Various soils were experimented with, including an artificial soil, and sand to which a special nutrient was added. The chemicals used to modify the colour principles were supplied to the plants in the form of solutions of varying strength, or added to the soil in the solid form, solution gradually taking place. Probably the most striking result obtained by the use of chemicals was the production of a red colour in the petals of the white rose, Kaiserine. The red pigment occurred in the basal portion of the petals, and was produced in the flowers of plants which were supplied with potassium hydrate, potassium carbonate, calcium hydrate, and lead acetate. Blue flowers were produced by the red-flowering form Hydrangea (H. Otaksa), growing in both sand and garden soil, when supplied with potassium and aluminium sulphate, aluminium sulphate and calcium hydrate. Recent work on the physics of the zther, P. R. Heyl. Considerable interest has been taken of late in the ques- tion as to whether the ether is or is not a dispersive medium with regard to light. The work of the author, published about a year and a half ago, leads to the con- ,clusion that any dispersion in the zther must be less than r part in 250,000. Since that time others have arrived at the conclusion that there exists a dispersive effect of much smaller magnitude, about one part in a million. There seems to be no doubt of the correctness of their observations, but it is not clear that it is to be attributed to a real dispersive effect in the zther. It is more likely that it is due to tidal phenomena in the atmosphere of the variable stars used. as sources of light in the experiments. The detonation of gun-cotton, Prof. C. E. Munroe. In the use of gun-cotton in mines and torpedoes advantage is taken of the discovery of Mr. E. O. Brown that gun- 444 cotton which is completely saturated with water may be detonated by the detonation ef dry gun-cotton in direct contact with it used as a ** priming charge,’’ thus securing a large margin of safety for the naval vessels carrying the explosive. Wet gun-cotton containing as high as 35 per cent. of water has been shown to be a more etticient rupturing and shattering explosive than dry gun-cotton, but the question of how much water the discs of priming gun-cotton could contain to be efficient was the object of the research detailed in this paper. The primer was in all cases fired by the service detonator, containing 36 grains of mercuric fulminate. The results show that detonation of the entire charge was effected in every case in which the primer contained less than 12 per cent. of moisture, and occasionally was complete in cases where the moisture ran as high as 15 per cent., and therefore that such gun- cotton primers containing not more than 12 per cent. of moisture, fired by means of a detonator containing 35 grains of mercuric fulminate, may be relied upon to detonate wet gun-cotton with which they are in contact. South American fossil Cetacea, Dr. F. W. True. Dr. True remarked that, in connection with a revision of the fossil whales and porpoises of the United States, he had had occasion to examine various specimens from Patagonia. Some of the Patagonian forms belong to families still represented in South America by living species. Others represent families no longer existing. The fossil fauna includes sperm whales, various forms allied to the Inia, others allied to Squalodon, and at least one species of whalebone whales, allied to the finbacks, but no ziphioid, or beaked, whales, nor any true dolphins, have been found. On the remarkable changes in the tail of comet c 1908 (Morehouse), and on a theory to account for these changes, Prof. E, E. Barnard. The changes that occurred in the tail of this comet appear to indicate resistance to the passage of the body through space. In the discussion of the paper it was suggested that this resistance might arise from clouds.of meteoric dust, too fine to be visibly appreci- able, but. still dense enough to offer a resistance that would account for the changes in the form of the tail of the comet. On the ruling of diffraction gratings, Prof. A. A. Michel- son. The paper gave a brief statement of the development of the grating. From the point of view of resolving power, the important fact is not so much the number of rulings per inch as the total number of rulings, and this greater number. of rulings necessitates a correspondingly greater degree of regularity, an accumulated error of one ruling in the entire number being fatal. The ruling engine now set up in the Ryerson Laboratory gives this necessary increase in perfection of ruling, so that the spectra are almost free from ghosts, and those of the higher orders can be used. The resolving power is proportional to the product of the total number of rulings into the order. A photograph of a part of the mercury spectrum was shown, in which the distance between two of the lines was only 1/200 of the distance between the sodium (D) lines, and it was evident that lines separated by only half this distance would be distinctly resolved. This ruling engine is the result of seven years’ work. The large 10-inch gratings are ruled on metal, to save the cutting edge of the diamond, and weigh about 30 Ib. The greater part of this weight is supported by a float in mercury, only a small part pressing upon the ways. It is moved along the ways by a screw with a large head working by fine teeth in an automatically actuated worm. This screw was made as perfect as possible by long, careful grinding, and the remaining errors, which are of the order of the one- millionth part of an inch, are automatically compensated for by the slight tangential motion of the worm. This motion is a function of the position of the nut, determined empirically. Solar activity and terrestrial magnetic disturbances, Dr. L. A. Bauer. This paper deals with the connections between the various manifestations of solar activity, e.g. sun-spots and the so-called magnetic storms which at times affect compass needles simultaneously all over the earth by several degrees, and even cause serious interruption in telegraph and cable lines, and -are usually accc.npanied by fine auroral displays. One of the most important of the NO. 2067, VOL. So] NATURE [JUNE 10, 1909 conclusions arrived at is that an increase in sun-spot activity is accompanied by a decrease in the earth’s magnetisation, or that the magnetisation superposed on the earth’s mag- netic field during solar outbreaks is opposite to that of the earth’s own field. It appears questionable whether the earth’s magnetism ever settles down precisely to its former condition after the occurrence of a magnetic storm. The facts are not yet sufficient to draw a definite conclusion whether solar activity and magnetic storms stand to each other as cause and effect, or whether they are both effects of the same cause. The indications are that during a period of intense solar activity, in some as yet unknown manner, considerable fluctuations are caused to take place in the electric field that we know from various facts exists. in the regions above us. These varying electric currents. in turn affect the magnetic needles on the earth’s surface. On the Hevelian halo, Prof. C. S. Hastings. The paper reviewed the various kinds of halos that have been described and the explanations that haye been offered in regard to their origin. It had been assumed by writers on the sub- ject that the snow crystals, which are in the form of plates or prisms, would fall with the plate or prism pre- senting the least resistance to the air. Thus, according to this idea, the hexagonal plates would fall edge on and the prism end on. This was shown to be incorrect, and the contrary was the case; the plates and prisms could fall through the air with their longer dimensions horizontal. The plates would assume a horizontal position as well as the prisms. The halo was then caused by total internal reflection from the plates or prisms, and not by surface reflection. Assuming these general positions for the long or short prisms (or plates) and total internal reflection, the various types of halo that have been described could be explained, with the exception of the Hevelian halo. Ta explain this on the basis of total internal reflection, it was necessary to assume pyramidal planes in the crystal of such an angle as to produce the go-degree halo of this rare type. The effect of temperature on the absorption of certain solutions, Prof. H. C. Jones. Increase of tempera- ture of the solution was found to alter the absorption spectra in the same way that they are changed by con- centration of the solution. Symposium on earthquakes, Prof. E. O. Hovey, Prof. W. H. Hobbs, and Prof. H. F. Reid. Prof. Hovey’s paper served as an introduction to the subject. The ideas_ in regard to the cause of earthquakes were considered, especial attention being given to a discussion of volcanic earthquakes. Prof. Hobbs pointed out the fact that the seismic focus or centrum, as determined by the method of Mallet, was at best a line, and practically had no exist- ence. He explained the production of earthquakes by the shifting of segments of the crust along already existing fissures, and insisted upon the tectonic origin of earth- quakes. Prof. H. F. Reid considered three phases of the subject :—(a) conditions leading to tectonic earth- quakes ; (b) instruments used in the study of earthquakes ; (c) suggestions for a national seismological bureau. The burning bush and the origin of Judaism, Prof. F. Haupt. The burning bush was explained as the shrubbery on the heights of a volcano, lighted up at night by the glow of the incandescent lava. The story of the pilla~ of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night was no that it hung over the Tabernacle, but over Mount Sinai; the cloud of steam from the active volcano was the ‘“pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night.’’ ‘The destruction of Jericho and of Sodom and Gomorrah were attributed to earthquakes. At the Darwin commemoration meeting, after the pre- sentation of the three addresses, attention was directed to the fact that there are two members of the American Philosophical Society still living in England who were friends of Charles Darwin, Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker and Dr. Alfred Russel Wallace. It was unanimously resolved that the society should cable to them its greetings and congratulations on the general acceptance of the views in the elaboration and promulgation of which they had ~ taken such an effective part. : The following resolutions were adopted in the course of the meeting :—(1) Whereas the United States in former JUNE 10, 19¢9} years made many brilliant discoveries in the Antarctic, including the continent of Antarctica by Charles Wilkes, and whereas the United States have not taken any part in the recent scientific explorations of the South Polar region, therefore be it resolved that the American Philo- sophical Society requests the cooperation of the scientific and geographical societies of the United States, to urge on the, navy of the United States and through the general Government, that it do make sufficient appropriations to fit a Government vessel thoroughly to explore and survey ‘the coast of Wilkes Land and other parts of Antarctica. (2) Whereas earthquakes have been the cause of great Joss of life and property within the territory of the United States and its possessions, as well as other countries, and whereas it is only through the scientific investigation of the phenomena that there is hope of discovering the laws which govern them, so as to predict their occurrences and to reduce the danger to life and property, and whereas such investigations can be successfully conducted only ‘with the support of the general Government, be it there- fore resolved that this society urges upon Congress the and establishment of a national bureau of seismology, ‘suggests that this bureau be organised under the Smithsonian Institution with tthe active cooperation of the other scientific departments of the Govern- ment, and that this bureau be charged with the following duties :—(a) the collection of seismological data; (b) the establishment of observing stations; {c) the organisation of an expeditionary corps for the investigation of special earthquakes and volcanic eruptions in any part of the world; (d) the study and investigation of special earthquake regions within the national domain. The annual election of members, held at the executive session on April 24, resulted in the election of the following candidates :—Residents of the United States: L. A. Bauer, M. T. Bogert, H. C. Bumpus, A. Carrel, E. B. Frost, R. A. Harper, W. H. Hobbs, A. V. W. Jackson, J. F. Lewis, A. L. Lowell, 1 W. R. Newbold, C. B. Penrose, W. H. 1 _Taft, C. R. Van Hise, V. C. Vaughan. Foreign residents: Francis Darwin, H. Diels, E. Fischer, F. Kohlrausch, W. F. P. Ofeffer. THE ITALIAN EARTHQUAKE OF DECEMBER 28, 1908. PRELIMINARY account, based on material collected for the official report, on the Calabrian earth- quake of December 28, 1908, by Dr. G. Martinelli, is published in the last issue of the Bolletino Bimensuale of the Italian Meteorological Society. The earthquake was felt, not only : over the whole of Sicily and of Italy south of Naples and Campobasso, but also in Montenegro, the coastal districts of Albania, and in the islands of Zante, Corfu, and Cephalonia. The greatest violence was experienced in the neighbourhood of the Straits of Messina, but there were also two independent centres in Sicily, one near Raddusa ‘and the other near Augusta, in which the violence reached seven and eight degrees of the Mercalli scale respectively. The epoch of the shock was 5h. 20m. 23s., and its duration about 30s. to 40s.; outside the central area it attained 50s. at Capo d’Armi, Capo Spartivento, Palmi, &c., and as much as 60s. at Cataforio, but at greater distances the duration became less, being only 20s. to at -Naples. The character of the shock is described as un- _dulatory, perpendicular, and rotary or vorticose in the central district, but the vorticose movement was not qoticed where the shock fell below the eighth degree of the Mercalli scale, or a destructive degree of violence. NO. 2067, VOL. 80] 258. NATURE } on _the west of Sicily, 445 The disturbance of the sea produced by the earthquake was greatest along the opposite coasts of Italy and Sicily, and much greater to the south than to the north of the Straits of Messina. It was noticed all along the northern coast of Sicily as far westwards as Termini, but on the Italian coast the only record is from Vibonati, where the sea is said to have been agitated for a short time, and it is expressly stated that no sea wave was noticed at Bagnara, Scilla, or anywhere north of Cannitello, which is situated at the entrance to the straits. The marine effects of the earthquake form the special sub- ject of a note by Prof. G. Platania in the Rivista Geo- grafica Italiana (vol. xv., 1909, p- 644), who gives some particulars not mentioned by Dr. Martinelli. The first effect everywhere was a retreat of the sea, and then the advance of a great wave, followed by two or three others of decreasing amplitude, except at Catania and Giampileri, where the second is said to have been greater than the first. The height of the wave, as shown by the marks left on buildings, was 2-70 m. at Messina, but considerably higher at other places, the greatest rise measured being 8-40 m. at Giardini and Ali, and 8-50 m. Cefatomra &y a dene? : ‘ ’ at Briga Marina; at Catania the rise was 2:70 m., at Brucoli, just north of Augusta, 1-75 m., and at Pozallo, the south coast, 1.60 m. North of the straits the amplitude of the wave was much less, being only 0-80 m. at Torre di Faro and 0-75 m. at Milazzo. The sea waves were recorded by tide gauges at Naples, Ischia and Civita- vecchia, at Porto Corsini, near Ravenna, at Mazzara, in and at Malta; the amplitude was small, except at Malta, where the total height of the waves reached o-g1 m. The cable between Gazzi and Gallico was broken at 3-3 km. from Gallico, and so deeply buried that part of it had to be abandoned, but the cable between Torre di Faro and Bagnara was uninjured, as were those connecting the Lipari Islands. The cable from Milazzo to Lipari was broken, and also, so it is said, that between Malta and Zante. 446 NATURE [JUNE 10, 1909 THE ROYAL OBSERVATORY, GREENWICH. “HE annual visitation by the Board of Visitors of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, was held on Satur- last, June 5, when, in accordance with the usual custom, the Astronomer Royal presented his annual report showing the work performed during the twelve months ended May 10. the transit and circle observations, 10,142 and 10,034 respectively, included the sun, moon, planets, and funda- mental stars, and observations of stars brighter than magnitude 90 in the zone 24° to 32° N. for the Oxford astrographic work. From the observations made in 1907, the value of the’ co-lutitude, using Pulkowa_ refractions, was found to be 38° 31’ 21-71". From the solar observations of 1907, the tabular value for the obliquity of the ecliptic requires a correction of —o-01", whilst the discordance between summer solstice and winter solstice observations, +0-20", indicates that the mean of the observed distances from the pole to the ecliptic is apparently too small by 0-10”. The 1908 values of the diurnal changes of level and nadir are sensibly smaller than the mean values for the period 1897—1905. The mean error of the moon’s tabular place, deduced from ninety-six observations made during 1907, is —0-387s. in R.A. and —0.37” in N.P.D., while from 105 observations the mean error in R.A., for 1908, is —0o-417s. The Second Nine-year Catalogue (1900), 1905, will shortly be ready for distribution. The altazimuth was employed as in previous years, and a comparison of the +results from the two instruments, altazimuth and transit circle, shows that the lunar observa- tions agree very satisfactorily. A ten-year catalogue of the stars observed with the altazimuth in the meridian, during the period 1899-1908, is to be prepared, and will contain about 1500 stars of day completed in the following classes:—(1) stars in Newcomb’s Funda- mental Catalogue; (2) stars used for Es heliometer observations of the major planets at the Cape; (3) Eros reference stars, 1900-1; (4) moon culminators and. other selected stars; the star-places will be reduced to the equinox of 1900-0. With the reflex zenith tube 1040 double and seventeen single observations were obtained during the year, eighty- eight different stars being observed. An arrangement for controlling the field illumination of this instrument by tilting the annular reflector proved unsatisfactory, and the variation of brightness is now controlled by a rheostat. With the 28-inch refractor, observations of double stars were made from a working catalogue including all known double stars showing relative motion, Hough stars not previously observed at Greenwich, and a number of pairs, having separations of less than 2”, selected from Hussey’s and iNitieen s catalogues; among fhe stars observed were « Pegasi, 6 Equulei, 70 Ophiuchi, and Procyon. Bifilar and double-image micrometer measures of the polar and equatorial diameters of Jupiter were also made with the 28-inch refractor, some measures being made by Mr. Bowyer, before sunset, to ascertain the effects of irradia- tion. The new dusky ring of Saturn, discovered at the Geneva Observatory, was examined on thirteen nights. Nearly 300 photographs were taken with the 30-inch reflector, including 23 of Phoebe, 20, 8, and 15 of J vt, Jvu., and J vin. respectively, 32 of comet 1908c for position, and 139, on thirty-seven nights, for the study of the rapid changes in its tail and form. Twenty long exposures were made in the search for Halley’s comet, but without success. Whilst comet 190%¢ was under observa- fion it was found that the sensitiveness of the plates was lowered by the absorption of moisture during the ex- posures, and the difficulty was overcome by placing an electric heater, designed by Mr. Davidson, in the flate- holder behind the plate. In astrographic work, the photographic division made about 12,000 prints, reproducing, on double scale, 202 plates. Only 125 plates now remain to be reproduced ere ane Greenwich contribution of 1149 plates is complete, and it is hoped that the work will be completed this year. : iN re “computation of the perturbations of Halley’s comet, by Pontécoulant’s method, gave April 13, instead of April 8, 1910, as the probable date of perihelion passage, NO. 2067, VOL. 80] whilst the method _ of - April 16; the. carried back to 240 B.c., records exist. j - The observed magnetic elements for 1908 were :-— 15° 53°5 W : 40184 (in British ae 1°8528 (n metric units) Mean dip (with 3-in. needles)... 66° 56’ 17” and there were two days of great, magnetic disturbance. In the testing division both chronometers and chrono- meter watches showed an improvement in their perform- ances over those of the previous year. The time-signal report shows satisfactory performance, but the signals from January 1 to January 7 were to some extent erroneous, being affected by an uncertain error of the Greenwich clock. ; In concluding his report, Sir William Christie outlines. the growth of the observatory’s work since 1836. For many years, it is stated, the work of the observatory has been seriously hampered by the inadequacy of the permanent staff. mechanical quadratures. gave identifications. of. the comet have now been beyond which date no 0 -satistaetry: Mean declination Mean horizontal force and six of lesser, THE ASSOCIATION .OF .TEACHERS IN TECHNICAL INSTITUTIONS. HE third annual conference of the Association of Yeachers in Technical Institutions, held at Liverpool during Whitsuntide, was highly successful. On the morn- ing of Monday, May 31, after addresses of welcome from representatives of the Liverpool Education Committee, the president, Mr. J. Wilson, delivered the presidential address. In the course of the address he stated that one of the objects of the association was to further the progress of technical education by breaking down the barriers separating technical institution teachers from those engaged in primary, secondary, and_university worl. After discussing certain matters of professional interest, such as the proposed minimum scale of salaries, the con- ditions of service of part-time teachers, superannuation of teachers, and the representation of technical institution teachers upon such bodies as local education committees, . the consultative committee of the Board of Education, and the proposed Teachers’ Registration Council, Mr. Wilson said members may congratulate themselves that, upon. the whole, an increasing amount of attention is being directed to technical education. _Employers-are recognising its value more and more, and. sociologists of all phases of political thought are increasingly insisting upon the vital import- ance of technical education to the. community. The higher ranks in the commercial world recognise more clearly than their predecessors the necessity for technical educa- tion. The main obstacle lies in the opposition of the fore- men, the Trades Unions, and the apathy of the workers themselves during the critical period from fourteen to twenty-one years of age. : The work done inside the technical institutions has been characterised of recent years by a steady improvement, both in quantity and quality., The calibre of the students is slowly rising, and systematic courses extending over a period of years are being taken by many students, instead of isolated subjects as in the past. The character of the staff, equipment, and courses of instruction (both day and evening) in some of the technical schools places them now on an equal educational level with many university colleges. , After discussing the educational reforms recommended in the Majoritv and Minority Reports of the Poor Law Commission, Mr. Wilson pointed out that, partly as a result of, the Act of 1902, the country is now covered with a network of more or less efficient secondary schools, generally of one type, that is; the old-fashioned ‘‘ grammar- school ”? type. We need two distinct groups of secondary , schools, one preparing for the universities or the learned professions, and the other preparing the boys (and girls) for commerce, scientific and technical industries. trades and crafts, while continuing the general education of the JUNE 10, 1909] pupils. Attention was directed to the necessity of develop- ing day courses of instruction in technical schools or poly- technics, of which there should be one in each large town or centre of population. These day courses should be of a high standing, and should be restricted to students of at least sixteen years of age. One possible reform of great urgency is the improvement in the organisation, curricula, and methods of the evening continuation school, which should link on with the even- ing technical school. At present, evening continuation schools, save in a few towns, are profoundly unsatisfactory. Tt was suggested that the time is now ripe for the appoint- ment of a Royal (or Departmental) Commission to deal with the general question of the organisation and coordina- tion of technical education and its relationship to primary and secondary. education. With respect to the Imperial College of Technology, it was stated that if the desires of its founders and the needs of the country are to, be satisfied, this institution should not undertake work of a diploma or degree standard, but it should restrict itself to post-graduate work, technical research, and such branches of higher technological teaching which are not provided for at present. A danger facing technical education at the present moment is the tendency in some quarters to. close the higher classes in pure science in technical institutions, partly through motives of economy and partly through efforts towards an illusory coordination with university college work. Mr. Wilson then discussed the ‘“‘culture’’ value of technical education, maintaining that a broad scientific, technical, or artistic training affords a highly valuable mental discipline, and is truly educational in the strictest sense of the term. The technical schools of this country must be judged, not only by their purely economic results, but by their gradual leavening effect upon the mental inertia and intellectual sluggishness of the nation. Pass- ing on to certain aspects of the work inside the institutions, doubts were expressed as to the value of the elaborate system of scientific and technical examinations now held by the Board of Education and the City and Guilds Insti- tute. In concluding, Mr. Wilson dealt with the subject of ‘‘ research” in technical institutions. At present the teaching staff of these institutions, although keenly anxious to engage in research, partly for its own sake and partly from motives of professional advancement, is generally unable, save in isolated cases, to do so. The stress of institution work, including, say, ten to fifteen lectures per week, with another ten to fifteen hours’ laboratory work, to which is added departmental work, correction of notes and exercises, and preparation of lectures, is so great that ‘‘ research’’ under the present conditions is generally impossible. : In the afternoon of May 31 a valuable paper was read by Mr. A. Galbraith (Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College) detailing the successful efforts recently made in the Glasgow district to coordinate the work of thirty-seven local evening continuation schools with that of the Glasgow Technical College, resulting in approxi- mately five hundred fully qualified evening students, who have successfully passed through a preliminary scientific two years’ course in these schools, being annually passed on to the technical college. In the evening the annual dinner of the association was held, the chief guests being the Lord Mayor and the Lady Mayoress of Liverpool, and representatives of educational organisations and_institu- tions, as the National Union of Teachers, the Liverpool University, and local education authorities. The morning session of June 1, devoted to pro- fessional. matters such as the salary scale, conditions of service of part-time teachers, superannuation scheme, and legal matters, was opened by the Lord Mayor of Liver- pool (the Right Hon. H. Chalenor Dowdall), who in the afternoon gave a reception in the Town Hall to the delegates and members of the association. At night a public meeting was held, when addresses on various phases of technical education were delivered by Mr. Max Muspratt | and other prominent local educationists. The following resolutions on general educational matters were passed during the conference :— (1) The preliminary training which students receive at present before entering technical institutions is not such NO. 2067, VOL. 80] NATURE 447 as to fit them for benefiting by the instruction provided. Yo improve this, the following reforms are desirable :— (a) No child should be allowed to leave school before the age of fifteen, and the half-time system should be abolished. (b) In the education of children attending elementary schools special attention should be paid to the teaching of practical arithmetic, elementary science, and to manual training. (2) Resolutions concerning the present evening continua- tion schools :— (a) The evening continuation schools should be affiliated to the higher institutions in their respective districts. (b) The curricula of the evening continuation schools should be arranged in conjunction with the authorities of the higher institutions, who should have the right of entry or inspection. : (3) Admission to technical schools should, in general, be conditional on the student having reached a standard of education to be subsequently fixed. ; (4) (a) The work of the) secondary schools should be divided into three branches, viz. (i.) technical-secondary schools (including trade schools);, (ii.) commercial secondary ; (iii.) classical-secondary. (b) There should be a properly graded system of scholar- ships, with maintenance, available at these schools. (5) This association heartily approves of the -general principles embodied in the following recommendations of the Minority Report of the Poor Law Commissioners :— It should be illegal to employ boys below the age of fifteen or any youth below eighteen for more than thirty hours per week, and boys should be compelled to attend some suitable public institute giving physical and technical training for not less than thirty hours per week at periods to suit the convenience of employers in different industries. - The main points emphasised during the discussions’ at the conference were the following :— (1) The pressing need for coordination of technical educa- tion with primary and secondary education, especially . the linking on of the technical school to the elementary school through the evening continuation school. (2) The need for the provision of technical-secondary schools in which, while continuing the general education of the pupils in English, a modern language, and science, the curricula shall be such as to afford a suitable training for those who at the end of their secondary-school period will pass on direct to the day technical institution or enter upon industrial or commercial work. (3) The necessity. for the development of higher day technological training, coupled with a generous provision of scholarships with maintenance grants. ECONOMIC ZOOLOGY. HE black-currant mite (Eriophyes ribis) is a pest only too well known to fruit-growers at the present time, dnd also one which seems to be rapidly increasing and spreading. Anything that- will check its ravages is there- fore of great importance, and it is satisfactory to learn that two new parasites of this mite have been discovered and their life-histories described by Miss A. M. Taylor in the April issue of the Journal of Economic Biology. The first of these is a minute fungus of the genus Botrytis, near akin to the one which attacks silkworms. This fungus, which is deadly in its action on the mites, makes its appearance when the currant-buds. begin to swell abnormally owing to the presence of the mites. Spores of the fungus become blown on such mites as are exposed by the bursting of the buds, and under suitable conditions rapidly develop on their new hosts. Neighbouring mites hre speedily infected, and the disease spreads until the tiny parasite has worked completely through the bud, destroy- ing not only the mites and their eggs, but the grub by which they are accompanied. These grubs are the larvae of a-minute fly of the family Chalcididze, and they, too, depend for their existence upon the mites, although the number they consume is com; paratively insignificant in comparison with the swarms which exist in ‘‘ big-bud.’”? It is manifest, therefore, that the hope of parasitic infection proving efficacious in the case of the currant-mite must rest with the fungus. 3 448 The economic loss to the United States through disease- carrying insects forms the subject of Bulletin No. 78 of the Entomological Bureau of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Dealing first with malaria, the author, Dr. L. O. Howard, points out how large is the number of persons incapacitated, for a time at least, from work by this fell disease, and how easily the plague may be stayed by the destruction of mosquitoes. As examples, are cited the work that has been so effectually done at Ismailia and also at Havana. Still more serious are the results of yellow-fever, which, in addition to the huge death-losses during epidemics, is responsible for checking the develop- ment of cities such as New Orleans, Memphis, Jackson- ville, and Charleston. Their progress has been greatly impeded by this one cause, which has led to a general retardation in the industrial advance of the whole of the southern States, The house-fly, or ‘‘ typhoid-fly ’’ as Dr. Howard thinks it might well be re-christened, is in some degree an even worse enemy to human progress and development than the yellow-fever mosquito, and the urgent need of a war of extermination against both these pernicious insects is strongly emphasised. Although the influence of these enemies to progress has been ignored by historians, it has, nevertheless, been great in the past, and promises, unless checked, to be still greater in the future. ‘‘ The world has entered the historical age when national greatness and national decay will be based on physical rather than moral considerations, and it is vitally incumbent upon nations to use every possible effort and every possible means to check physical deterioration.” The second annual report of the committee of the South African Central Locust Bureau, drawn up by Mr. C. Fuller, and recently issued by the Government printers at Cape Town, contains a full account of the means taken by the different local administrations for the destruction of locusts during the summer of 1907-8. It is somewhat unfortunate that the Central Bureau has no control over the action of these local bodies, so that its functions are in great measure limited to receiving and transmitting warnings of the approach of locust-swarms. It is, however, satisfactory to learn that German South-west Africa and Mozambique are cooperating with the British Government in the work of prevention. For years past, it is stated, the hope has been entertained by the farmers that the locusts would disappear for a time, as has been the case on previous occasions. Such a disappearance cannot be accelerated by the work of the Bureau, but when it does come, the information gained by the recent work of that body cannot fail to be of the highest value to the country in the future. The work of extermination in South Africa is rendered the more onerous on account of the presence in some parts of the country of two species of locust, one of which breeds much earlier than the other. Con- sequently, no sooner is one campaign completed than pre- parations have to be made for a second. UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE. CampripGe.—Prof. M. C. Potter, professor of botany at Durham University, has been approved by the general board of studies for the degree of Doctor in Science. The chemical laboratory will be open for the use of students during the ensuing vacation from July 5 to August 21. Dr. Fenton will give a course of fifteen lectures on the outlines of general chemistry. Mr. J. E. Purvis will give a course of lectures and practical instruc- tion in pharmaceutical chemistry. Mr. F. G. Smart has offered to give to the University the sum of 60ol. in order to found two prizes to be awarded in each year, one for botany and one for zoology. The council of the Senate recommends that Mr. Smart's offer be gratefully accepted. Lorp AND Lapy Staniry or ALDERLEY have endowed the London School of Tropical Medicine with a capital sum prod icing a yearly income of sol. in memory of their son, the Hon. E. J. Stanley, who died at Sokoto, in Northern Nigeria, on November 14, 1908. NO. 2067, VOL. 80] NATURE [JUNE 10, 1909 Pror. SaMuget Avery, who has been head of the depart- ment of chemistry in the University of Nebraska since 1905, has been elected president of that institution. He was born in 1865, and was educated at Doane Colle e, the University of Nebraska, and the University of Heidel- berg. Tar University of Glasgow has conferred the honorary degree of LL.D. upon Mr. W. H. Maw, past-president of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and of the Royal Astronomical Society, and Prof. C. S. Sherrington, F.R.S. Tue Darien Press, Edinburgh, has published for the International Academic Committee of the Students’ Repre- sentative Council of Edinburgh University ‘* A Handbook on Foreign Study,’’ which has been compiled and edited by Mr. H. J. Darnton-Fraser, convener of the committee. Copies of the handbook may be obtained, price sixpence net, from the offices of the Students’ Representative Council. The object of the handbook is to popularise in British academic circles the idea of studying abroad, and to afford persons who desire to follow this course some general guidance as to the best place to go to with the maximum of pleasure and profit, The volume is provided with a short introduction by Mr. Haldane, in which he refers to the value of foreign study, and seven articles on study abroad in various subjects are included. Prof. A. S. Pringle-Pattison deals with philosophy, Prof. William Osler, F.R.S., with medicine, Dr. J. Howarth-Pringle with surgery, Mr. J. A. S. Watson with agriculture, and Dr. ‘I. C. Thomson with science and engineering. Valu- able information of the kind a student must have is given about the various universities of Europe, and useful general information concerning study in the various countries of Europe. SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. Lonpon. Royal Microscopical Society, May 19.—Mr. F. J. Cheshire, vice-president, in the chair.—The Foraminifera of the shore-sands of Selsey Bill, Sussex, part ii.: E. Heron-Allen and A. Earland.—A new illuminator for the ~ microscope: J. W. Gordon. The apparatus provides a simple and effective means by which the intensity of the light can be regulated without disturbing any focal or aperture adjustment. Linnean Society, May 24.—Dr. D. H. Scott, F.R.S., presi- dent, in the chair.—Presidential address, adaptation in fossil plants: Dr. D. H. Scott. Geological Society, May 26.—Prof. W. J]. Sollas, F.R.S., president, in the chair.—The cauldron subsidence of Glen Coe and the associated igneous phenomena: C. T. Clough, H. B. Muff, and E. B. Bailey. The succession of volcanic rocks in Glen Coe is mainly a series of lava- flows, of which there are three types, augite-andesite, hornblende-andesite, and rhyolite. Agglomerates, tuffs, and sediments form but a small portion of the sequence. The Lower Old Red Sandstone age of the rocks is proved by the occurrence of plant-remains in shales at the base. ‘Lhe sequence is divisible into groups, which are not, how- ever, persistent over the whole area. Each group may contain different types of lava, which interdigitate one with the other. It is probable that the district was sup- plied from more than one centre, the foci being in- dependent as regards type of material erupted, although their periods of activity overlapped. “The volcanic pile with patches of conglomerate and breccia at the base rests upon an uneven floor, evidently a land-surface, of the Highland Schists, and, further, the eruptions appear to have been subaérial. The cauldron subsidence, which let down the volcanic rocks and the underlying schists some thousands of feet, affected an area roughly oval in shape and measuring eight miles by five.—The pitting of flint- surfaces: C. Carus-Wilson, Regular pittings of uniform size are occasionally seen on flints which have been ex- posed to the weather. It is believed that the pittings are due to mechanical action. Observations and experiments carried out by the author indicate that such markings cannot have been produced by blows, or by any process of desiccation, and that the freezing of the absorbed [June 10, 1909] NATURE 449 water seems to be the only satisfactory explanation to account for the various details of the phenomenon. Paris. Academy of Sciences, May 24.—M. Bouchard in the chair.—A hypothesis relating to the nature of the internal pressure in fluids: E, H. Amagat.—The infinitely small deformation of ruled surfaces: J. Haag.—Mixed linear equations: G. Bratu.—The sum of the n first coefficients of a Taylor’s series: Carl Hansen.—General representa- tions of functions: L. Desaint.—Certain singularities of differential equations: Richard Birkeland.—Differential equations of the second order with fixed critical points: Jean Chazy.—The preliminary map of the Chari region (French Congo): G. Bruel.—A self-recording compass : M. Heit. An apparatus is described and illustrated capable of recording automatically the deviations of a marine compass, and hence the course of the ship. The instru- ment is capable of furnishing valuable evidence as to the responsibility in cases of collisions—The theory of dis- continuous discharges in Geissler tubes: H. A. Perkins. Regarding the tube as a condenser in circuit with a high resistance, a theory of the discharge through a Geissler tube is developed which is in accord with some hitherto unexplained experimental results.—Internal pressure in gases: A. Leduc. From Amagat’s results, the internal pressure for any gas at constant temperature is inversely as the square of the specific volume. From a discussion of experiments made on gases at low pressures, 0-5 to 3 atmospheres, this law is confirmed, and the author regards this as furnishing a proof of the accuracy of his experimental work, especially that dealing with the coefficients of expansion.—The solubility of lead sulphate : J. Sehnat. The solubility of lead sulphate appears to be the same at 20° C. and 100° C., 00824 gr. per 1000 c.c., and this figure is reduced by the addition of very small amounts of sulphuric acid. The experiments are in accord with the hypothesis that lead sulphate is insoluble as such, its apparent solubility being due to a slow inter- action with water, lead hydroxide and sulphuric acid being formed.—Revision of the atomic weight of phosphorus : G. Ter Gazarian. The mean of six concordant experi- ments on the density of carefully purified hydrogen phos- phide gave 1-5293 grams as the weight of a litre under normal .temperature and pressure. This gives 30-906 as the atomic weight of phosphorus (O=16). It is worthy of note that this is exactly the figure calculated by Bernoulli, starting from certain hypotheses on the constitu- tion of the elements.—Syntheses of some derivatives of racemic fenone: L. Bouveauit and M. Levallois.—Ring formation of. ketonic acids: E.. E. Blaise and A. Koehler.—The oxidation of the polyhydric alcohols by a peroxydasic system: E. de Stoecklin and E. Vulquin. The oxidising agent used is a saturated solu- tion of quinhydrone containing a trace of a ferric salt, together with hydrogen peroxide. The application of the reagent to the oxidation of glycerol, glycol, mannitol, sorbitol, and dulcitol is described——The phenomena of fertilisation in the Zygnema: P. A. Dangeard.—New observation on the moth of the olive (Prays oleae): Th. Dumont. This moth, in development, does not always have three complete generations; it may have two or three, according as the eggs are deposited on the leaves or fruit. If for any reason the flowers are lacking, only a single generation can be observed.—The action of the vibrations of the vowel siren on the ear in a pathological state: M. Ranjard.—The relation between sleep and the retention of interstitial water: M. Devaux.—The meta- morphosis. of the muscular system in the Muscide: Charles Pérez.—-The existence of gemmiform conjugation in Ephelota gemmipara: B. Collin.—The function of external water in impregnation and first stage’ of develop- ment of Rana fuscd: E. Bataillon.—The formation of the body by the union of two independent halves in Syllis : Aug. Michel.—Two different modes of regeneration in Lineus ruber: Mieczyslaw Oxner.—The phenomenon of intermittence of the Gouffre de Poudak: FE. A. Martel. This basin is situated at a height of 540 metres, at Poudak (Hautes-Pyrénées), and has a depth varying from 3 to 14-5 metres. The water-level rises 4 metres in fifteen minutes, remains steady for three minutes, and NO. 2067, VOL. 80] descends to the original level in forty minutes, each com- plete pulsation thus taking fifty-eight minutes. A complete explanation is wanting for this curious phenomenon.— The roots of the higher strata of the western Alps: Emile Haug.—tThe extension of the chalk marl in the neigh- bourhood of Foucarmont (Seine-Inférieure): Paul Lemoine. June 1.—M. Bouchard in the chair.—The relations between the permeability of soils and their aptitude for irrigation: A. Mumtz and L. Faure. Alluvial deposits, contrary to the generally received idea, differ greatly in their permeability to water. Thus one of two supposed identical soils proved to be 600 times more permeable than the other, and the results of cultivation obtained were in close relation to the permeability. A method of measuring the permeability of a soil is described, and also a mode of establishing a scale by means of which different soils can be compared. Details of the results obtained with seventeen soils are given, showing permeabilities ranging from o to 141, and these figures are discussed from the point of view of the suitability of these soils for irrigation. The first results obtained by the commission for studying the water-power of the Alps and Pyrenees: Michel Lévy. The mean altitude of the greater part of the hydrographic basins of the French Alps has been calculated. The yields are considerably below the figures accepted before the survey.—The granite, gneiss, and porphyry of the island of Elba: Pierre Termier.—The ° perpetual secretary announced the death of T. W. Engel- mann, correspondant of the academy for the section of medicine and surgery.—The theory of functions: Paul Koebe.—The evolution of heat by radio-active bodies : William Duane. Two evacuated glass bulbs containing ether, and connected by a capillary, form a differential calorimeter of great sensitiveness, the whole being enclosed in a massive block of lead. Any heat evolved in one bulb results in an increase in the vapour pressure of the ether and the motion of an air bubble in the connecting capillary. This bubble is brought back to the original position by utilising the Peltier effect in an iron-nickel couple. The instrument has been applied to the measurement of the heat evolved from radio-thorium, 0-025 calories per hour, a quantity of the same order as that disengaged by radium. —The radium and uranium contained in radio-active minerals: Mlle. Ellen Gleditsch. A new method for determining the radium in radio-active minerals is described. The minerals examined were a French autunite, a Joachimsthal pitchblende, and a Ceylon thorianite; the ratio of radium to uranium was not found to be constant in these minerals—The composition of atmospheric air: Georges Claude. A description of further results obtained by the fractional distillation of liquid air by the apparatus described in an earlier paper. The conclusion is drawn that 1,000,000 volumes of air contain 15 of neon, 5 of helium, and 1 of hydrogen.—The conditions of electric charge of particles in suspension in a gas: the charges of chemical fumes: MM. de Broglie and Brizard. The fumes were examined by the ultramicroscope in an electric field. Any fumes produced by chemical action without rise of temperature are not charged electrically, and this also holds for sulphur distilled in a current of nitrogen. Fumes produced in vigorous chemical reactions, with marked rise of temperature, are charged.—The physico- chemical study of some pharmaceutical incompatibles: E. Caille. Certain mixtures, such as salol and camphor, form eutectics fusible at ordinary temperatures. Curves are given for salol-camphor and resorcinol-camphor mixtures.—Observations on the oxides of uranium : Oechsner de Coninck.—A_ chromyl subchloride: P. Pascal. Chromyl chloride, CrO,Cl,, is reduced by nitric oxide, a chloride, (CrO,).Cl,, being formed. Details of the chemical properties of this substance are given.—A new medicinal bark from the Ivory Coast and its alkaloid : Em. Perrot.—The catalase of the blood: C. Gessard. Hemoglobin and fibrin, carefully freed from catalase, are without action on hydrogen peroxide solutions.—The determination of the temperature of Pasteurisation of milk with respect to its industrial applications. The influence of the heating on the conservation of the physio- logical properties of milk: P. Mazé, P. Guérault, and 450 M. Dinescu.—The hypotensive and myotie action of normal human urine: J. E. Abelous and E, Bardier. —The metamorphosis of the muscular system in flies: Charles Pérez.—Lathraea clandestina, a parasite of the vine in Loire-Inférieure: M.| Cot.—The strata of the eastern Alps and their roots: Emile Haug.—The existence of a conglomerate and an Eocene discordance in Greece : Ph. Négris.—New observations on the strata of eastern Corsica: E, Maury. DIARY OF SOCIETIES. THURSDAY, June 10. Roya Society, at 4.30.—Crooniaun Lecture: The Functions of the Pituitary Body: Prof. E. A. Schiifer, F.R.S.—(1) A Wave-length Comparator for Standards of Length; (2) The Use of Wave-length ange as defining Lines on Standards of Length: Dr. A. E. H. Tutton, Royat InstiruTion, at 3.—A Modern Railway Problem—Steam v. Electricity ; Prof. W. E. Dalby. MATHEMATICAL Soctety, at 5.30.—On the Behaviour at the Poles of a Series of Legendre’s Functions representing a Function with Infinite Discontinuities: F. J. W. Whipple.-—An Analogue of Pascal’s ‘Iheorem in Three Dimensions : W. H. Salmon.—Some Symbolical Expressions for the Eliminant of Two Binary Quantics: A. L. Dixon. FRIDAY, June 11. Roya Institution, at 9.—Problems of Helium and Radium: Sir James Dewar, F.R.S. Puysicat Society, at 8.—The Arthur Wright Electrical Device for evaluating Formula and solving Equations: Dr. A. Russell and Arthur Wright.—The Echelon Spectroscope, its Secondary Action and the Struc- ture of the Green Hg line: H. Stansfield.—The Proposed International . Unit of Candle Power: C. C. Paterson.—Inductance and Resistance in Telephone and other Circuits : Dr. J. W. Nicholson.—Note on Terrestrial Magnetism: G, W. Walker.—On the Form of the Pulses constituting White Light: A. Eagle. Roya ASTRONOMICAL SocigTy, at 5.—Observations me Helium Dg Absorp- tion in the Neighbourhood of Sun: -spots in 1908 : . R. A, C. Daunt.— The Constants of the Moon's Physical Libra Gene F. J. M. Stratton.— On certain a aera in the Algebraical Development of the Perturbative Function: R. T. A. Innes.—Magnitude of 7 Argfis, 1909: R. T. A. Innes.—Recent Cheats of the Rings of Saturn, and their Bearing on some of the Phenomena of the Disappearance of the Rings in 1907: . E. E. Barnard.—Ephemeris of Flora near the Time of Opposition in 1909 : A. M. W. Downing.—Report on the Measurement of an Arc of Meridian in Uganda: Col. C. F Close.—On the Erroneous Results of Stereoscopic Observations of a Comet: E. E. Barnard.—A Method of Double Star Measurement: J. B. Dale.—Note on an Electric Heater for use in a Plate Holder on Damp Nights: Astronomer Royal.—Probadble Paper: Numerical Example of Mr Innes’s Method for the Development of the Perturbative Function: F. Robbins. MALACOLOGICAL ee at 8.—Diagnoses of new Trochoid Shells from North Queensland: H. B. Preston.—Notes on some of the Ampullariidz in the Paris and Geneva Museums: G. B. Sowerby.—On the Radulx of British Helicidw; Rev. E. W. W. Bowell. SATURDAY, June 12. Roya Institution, at 3.—The Vitality of Seeds and Plants : Life and Death of Seeds: Dr. F. F. Blackman, F.R.S. MONDAY, June 14. Rovat GroGRrapuIcat Society, at 8.30.—Survey and Exploration in the Ruwenzori and Lake Region, Central Africa: Major R. G. T. Bright, C.M.G. TUESDAY, June 15. Zoo.ocicar Society, at 8.30.—On some Points in the Structure of the Lesser Anteater (Tamandua tetradacty/a), with a Note on the Cerebral Arteries of Myrmecophaga: F. E. Beddard,. F.R.S.—On Decapod Crustacea from Christmas Island, collected by Dr. C. W. Andrews, F.R.S.: Dr. W. T. Calman.—Notes on_a Young Specimen of the Walrus lately living in the Society’s Gardens: Dr. P. Chalmers Mitchell, F.R.S.—Notes on the Viscera of a Walrus (Trichechus rosmarus): R. H. Burne. Royar SratisticAt Socrety, at 5.—Annual General Meeting. Farapay Society, at 8. —The National and International Conservation of Water for Power: E. R. Taylor.—The Formation of Silicon Sulphide in the Desulphurisation of Iron: W. Fielding.—A Contribution to the Study of Electric Furnaces as applied to the Manufacture of Iron and Steel: C. A. Keller.—Automatically Circulating Furnaces of the Gin Type for the Electrical Production of Steel: G. Gin. MINERALOGICAL Soctery, at 8.—On Carnotite and an.Associated Mineral Complex from South Australia: T. Creok and G. S. Blake.—On the Species Pilolite, and the Analysis of a Specimen from China: G. S. Whitby.—On Phenacite from Brazil: Dr. G. F. Herbert Smith.—The Composition and Structure of a Meteoric Stone from the Dokachi Shower (2) The (1903): H. E. Clarke and Prof. H. L. Bowman. WEDNESDAY, June 16. GroLocicat Society, at 8.—The Carboniferous Limestone of County Clare The Howgill Fells and their Topography: Dr. and G. W. Fearnsides.—The Mandible of Sthenurus : L. Glauert.—(1) On some Reptilian Remains from ossiemouth (2) On some Reptilian Tracks from the : (3) The Anatomy of Lefidophloios laricinus, Sternb: OLOGICAL SOcIeTY, at 4. mperature in Antarctic and an.— Testing of Registering NO. 2067, VOL. 80] -The Interdiurnal Variability Sub- Antarctic Regions: R. C. Jalloon Apparatus at Low Tempera- NATURE [JUNE 10, 1909 tures: Dr. W. Schmidt and E. Gold.—A_ Plea for the Use of Freel exposed Thermometers in Addition to Sheltered Ones: L. C, W. Bonacina, Rovat Microscoricat Sociery, at 8. bape aes 17. Roya Society, at 4.30. — Pro Papers: On the Origi Certain Lines in the Spectrum of « HOG (Alnitam): Sir Norman Lockyer, K.C.B., F.R.S., F. E. Baxandall, and C. “ Butler.—On Electrostatic Induction through Solid Insulators: Prof. H. A. Wilson, F.R.S.—The Effect of Pressure on the Band Weg of the Fluorides of the Metals of the Alkaline Earths: Rossi.—The Tonisation roduced by an a Particle. Part I.; Dr HY "Geiger. —On the Diffuse Refection of the a Particle: Dr. H. Geiger and E. Marsden.—The, Decay of Surface Waves produced by a Superposed Layer of Viscous Fluid: W. J. Harrison.—The Passage of Electricity through Gaseous Mixtures: E. M. Wellisch.—A Study of the Use of hotographic Plates = the Recording of Position: C. E. K. Mees.—The Coefficients of acity and the Mutual Attractions or Repulsions of Two Electrified Sober? Conductors when close together: Dr, Alexander Russell. hens Society, at 8.—On the Growth of a Species of Battarea ; .G. A. oy per.—The Deposits in the Indian Ocean: Sir John Murray, ser B., F. RS.—The Sealark Perseidea, Stenopidea, and Reptantia : I. A. Borradsile. —The ge Polychaeta. Part Il.: F. A. Potts.— The Sealark Lepidoptera: T. Bainbrigge Fletcher.—New Species of Malesian and Philippine pense Dr. te Christ.—The African Species of Triumfetta, Linn: TT. A. Sprague and J. Hutchinson.—The Acaulescent Species of Malvastrum: A. Gray and A. W. Hill. FRIDAY, JUNE 18. Rovat InstrruTion, at 9.—A Recent Visit to the Panama Canal: A. H. Savage Landor. CONTENTS. PAGE widal' Friction, By A. E. Hd 2). see) sae Raper-making:. : 94). . %: 0: 4 eneeel > on een seeeenee Hints for Mineral Collectors, By G, F.H.S,.. . 423 The Plant Kingdom ... 5 2 ee or The Comparative Physiology of Man 2° 9) >, cicero eae Practical Physics; By H.C) OUND 0. . > 77.) eee Our Book Shelf :— Paterson: ‘‘ School Algebra” > : i) . = « « swenaee “Eliza Brightwen: the Life and Thoughts of a Naturalist.”—R.L. 2. Yee ©. hse eee Wrench: ‘‘ The Grammar of Life”... .... . 426 Letters to the Editor :— The Need of a Great Reference Library of Natural Science in London.—Sir E. Ray Lankester, BC.B., FE. Ris... oe - oe well mang Vapour-density and Smell. =e ‘Aes: ‘Hill POR sostee 6, The Germ-layer Theory.—J. Stanley Gardiner, F.R.S. ; TheiReviewereucns +1. sees Gaskell’s ‘‘ Origin of Vertebrates.’"—Dr. W. H. Gaskell, F.RiS) .. . lope vans aoe: = apc ‘* Blowing” Wells: —Beeby Thompson ..... 429 Dew-Ponds.—Arthur Marshall ......... 429 The Colours of Leaves.—George Abbott. ... . 429 A Great Naturalist. (///ustrated.) ByJ.S.G. .. . 430 An Angler in North America. (J///ustrated.) By ev. Le. me; Per ACME tor The Water Supply ee Kent BywtaeB: sy s